Great
Lakes Area Great
Lakes Area
The Great Lakes Area DBA Gamers (G.L.A.D.B.A.G.) is an active association of players of the Ancient miniatures rules, De Bellis Antiquitatis, or DBA. The group takes its name from the area of the country where most of the members live -- Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia and Western Pennyslvania/New York. Most are also members of the Great Lakes chapter of the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS). Acronyms aside, GLADBAGers are a sporting group of gamers who like to have fun, hold tournaments, run campaigns, and so on. Courtesy and friendliness is a hallmark of members of this group -- this is no antagonistic, "win at all costs" group. Our unofficial motto is:
That is Latin for "drink first, win later" -- in other words, our goal is to have fun, not necessarily to win.
Origins 2008 DBA and HOTT TournamentsOnce again, Origins was a great success for our DBA and HOTT. We had at least two tournaments each on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They brought in up to 32 players in each, setting new records for the Open and HOTT. It wsa nice to see so many folks come in from far afield -- such as Marty Schmidt from Florida and Rob Runnels and Dan Henderson from California. Thanks to Splintered Light Miniatures, Osprey and The Last Square for their sponsorship! Lots of pics of Origins, too, on the pages describing the individual tournaments -- check them out!
Drums Along the
Maumee "Bring & Battle" eventsThis year, John Lawitzke doubled the fun for DBA at Drums 9. Instead of only one tournament, he ran two of his "Bring & Battle" events which feature a teaching session immediately beforehand. This lets new players learn the game, and gives a refresher for those who haven't played in awhile. Dave Zecchini needed no refresher course, as he schooled the opposition in both events -- winning the Book I & II event with his Marian Romans and the Book III & IV event with his Samurai. Dave's dice were hot, as all who played him found out to their demise...!
John Loy -- lover off all things Big Battle -- added this tournament to the Great Lakes yearly smorgasboard of DBA, this year. Apparently there is an appetite for it as 20 players showed up, some from as far away as Virginia! In response to suggestions, he reorganized the tournament format, breaking it into eight player or less brackets, so that each could come up away with a clear cut winner. Andy Swingle won the Early Bracket, John himself took the Middle, and Mike Stelzer triumphed in the Later Bracket. If anyone has photos they can send me, I'll add them to the pages, as I was out of town for this event...
Warband 2008 DBA
& HOTT TournamentsEric Luczaj ran his unique "Wars of Aggression" DBA tournament, this year with a Warband theme. Players received extra points for each warband element in their army, in addition to the normal points weighing heavily towards mass carnage (the more elements dead on the tabletop, the more both players receive!). Eleven players vied for this year's master of carnage title. DBA was followed by Dave Zecchini's "Thingband 08" Hordes of the Things tournament. A dozen players in the rolling thunder format (no set rounds -- you are matched up immediately with another opponent when you finish your game) fought it out, only to have Steve Cole repeat as Thingband winner this year. Click on the "Thingband" link to be taken to Zeke's home page with lots of photos and details of the action.
"An Afternoon
at the Crusades": Battle at the Crossroads '08Tom Graves and John Loy's ambitious "pyramid style" tournament was a resounding success. 15 players attended (with Tom and John subbing in as the 16th spot) from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Round 1 featured one-one-one matchups, with the opponents teaming up in Round 2 for a two-on-two big battle. The final round featured two separate four-on-four big battle DBA games, with Larry Chaban and Mike Demana's coalitions proving victorious.
HOTT
Wax 2008 36 AP Hordes of the Things TournamentLast year we had some ice and snow, this year we had flu bugs conspire to cause last minute cancellations. Nevertheless, we had a dozen players again this year join in Dave Zecchini's "big battle" 36 AP Hordes of the Things tournament. Tom Graves was the winner with his Black Hoof Clan and battlecry, "Don't herd me, bro'!" Tom was one of four players that went 3-1, as he knocked off second place finisher (and previously undefeated) Ron Holtz in the final round. Thanks a ton for Splintered Light Miniatures donating a painted army for the grand prize, and Alternative Armies for the prize support as well!
COGA DBA Teaching
Session & TourneyAndy Swingle taught a handful of regular members of the Central Ohio Gamers Association, assisted by some GLADBAG members, the rudiments of DBA and ran a 3-round tourney. Most of the folks seemed to enjoy the game, and Andy gave out a bagged Essex Macedonian army to the highest scoring newbie. Prize winner Dave Barr vowed to get it painted in time for this October, when Andy will run another Teaching Session & Tourney at COGA.
Spartacon
2008 DBA TournamentJohn Lawitzke ran another of his Bring & Battle events at Spartacon in January. This time, though, all the players who showed up were experienced, so he didn't need to run the usual DBA School beforehand. This demonstrates the success he is having in forming a community of DBA players to show up to the conventions in Michgian. Congrats to John, and also to his repeat winner, Dennis Schroder, who triumphed with his Polybian Romans.
* EVERY MONTH - Monthly DBA Day at Gamers Haven in Middleburg Heights, OH. Michael Porter and company are making their get together at the store a regular, monthly Sunday event. Join them from 1-5 pm, and do a little shopping at the nice historical miniatures selection at the store. Read about their escapades on Michael Porter's DBA Blog.
* AUGUST 16 - 8th Annual HMGS Great Lakes Big Battle DBA Tournament. This will be held at the New Song Community Church in Reynoldsburg, OH. Same format as the Post-Tax BBDBA Tourney...John Loy will break out the brackets in sizes of 8 or less, by date/geography/etc. We do 3 rounds, so you get finished in a normal day's gaming. John, the BBDBA glutton, promises to hang around and encourage and assist any truly fanatical types if they want to play a 4th round -- but it is purely optional. The more sane of us go out and have dinner and rehash our triumphs and failures...join us!
* SEPT. 12-14 - Advance the Colors 2008, Springfield, OH. We'll have a number of DBA tournaments, a HOTT tourney, and even Field of Glory event this year. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will all have at least one tournament each. The schedule will likely be the same as last year, which was:
Friday Evening: 15mm Double Size DBA Tournament. Bring one DBA army x2 (24 elements) or an army plus legal ally for this fast-playing version of a BBDBA Tourney. GM: Mike Stelzer
Saturday Morning: 15mm ATC Open. This event also seems to get bigger and bigger each year. Bring your DBA army and enjoy four rounds of Ancients action. GM: John Lawitzke
Saturday Evening: "Rolling Thunder" style 15mm HOTT Tournament. Get in as many or as few games as you like. Turnout last year was good for the inaugeral year of HOTT at ATC, so let's make it grow! GM: Eric Luczaj
Sunday Morning: The Emperor of Great Lakes campaign tourament. This year's theme is "Classical Mediterranean," which means dig out those armies and enemies of Rome and Greece. A list of eligible armies will be uploaded here soon. I may try something new this year and add in "Rolling Thunder" style sequencing. GM: Mike Demana
* OCTOBER 17-18 - Charcon, Charleston, WV. The guys are Charcon are looking for DBA players for what will be their third annual tournament. Not sure exactly who will be running the event...if anybody is planning on attending and would be interested in GMing the DBA Tourney, contact Nick Gillispie.