Bakewell DBA Tournament 18 June

As a relative newcomer to DBA, it was with no little trepidation that I offered to organise a tournament.

The theme was based on a dreadful pun (Bakewell TARTars and T’ARTillery) after the local delicacy.  This meant that armies had to have at least four Light Horse and/or Artillery elements.  In order to give LH room to roam around the flanks and give elements the chance to stay out of artillery range, the boards were large ones at 800mm square.

On the day, 14 gallant competitors cantered in on their light horse, some dragging their artillery with them – in some cases (well Arnaud to be precise!), dragging quite a lot of artillery.

The players:

Back row, left to right – Tom Whitehead, Paul Murgatroyd, Richard Pulley, Scott Russell, Pete Whyman, Neil Mason, Graham Fordham, Tristan Gale (observer), Phil Duncan, David Constable (obviously worried about being seen at a v3 event as he tries to edge out of picture!)

Front Row – me, Tamara Fordham,  Arnaud Marmier (the winner),  Martin Myers (edging forward and trying to look like the winner!), Pete Duckworth and Phil Johnson.

The prizes were kindly donated by John Roberts of Naismith and Roundway (http://naismithandroundway.co.uk/ ).  First prize was a 15mm Late German army IV/13d – hopefully to be seen at the next Mercian tournament when the theme will be the Italian Wars.

The results:

Bakewell DBA results

A few photos from the event:  (Pictures of the armies to follow)

The games get under way – partially obscured by Arnaud’s big hair

Paul looks in horror as his first throw is a 1 and that plough mysteriously turns to mud!

Richard tries to guess which of Arnaud’s three artillery pieces will blast him first.

Martin looks on, amazed as he witnesses David, former v2 infantryman, enjoying a v3 cavalry game!

Neil and Graham take a brief respite from the game to discuss beard trimming techniques

Arnaud and Neil practice levitation – or is that an ouija board?

Pete squints to avoid snow blindness while trying to stop his sleeves catch the table edge

Tom uses his magic wand on his d6 to make sure it continues to throw high while Phil J reaches for the brandy.

Tamara helps Scott understand what a base width is.

Scott gets ready with his canister of sevoflurane in the hope it will knock Graham out at the critical moment.

Phil D looks on aghast as more Lithuanian LH reincarnate as 3Bw