Well after many, many years of hearing about these rules, I finally had a chance to play them on Friday. I must admit I was very taken with them and have put up some thoughts on my Blog. I know they have those that love and those that hate them as rules, but I think this is the case with every ruleset!
http://wwiiwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/less-is-more-discuss.html
Nice one Steve ;)
Still drag out DBA from time to time for quick games where time is tight. Prefer it to Dux Bellorum, in fact the first time I played DB I remembered playing DBA and thought it quite similar in scale and scope.
Good game, in fact, and the origin for my beloved DBMM.
DBA, especially the new version is an excellent set of rules.
Definitely 'love/hate' rules - i'm in the love camp.
DBA, DBM and HotT are perennial favourites. DBR amd DBMM less so.
Played a v3 DBA big battle a while ago http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/DBA%20v3 (http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/DBA%20v3)
I love hauling out HoTT every now and again, why HoTT and not DBA, well you can just about chuck any minis that you have lying around into an army. I've just given my Orcy boyz a 28mm Minataur as a behemoth, busy painting up a 28mm young dragon as a forest dragon for my Elven pansies. But yeah if you want to fit in 4 or 5 games in a normal club night DBA or HoTT is the way to go, DBR/DBM/DBMM less so as they can tend more towards gameyness depending on the player.
The variations are pretty good too, like DBA RRR for Renaissance. Different army lists than DBA of course with extra troop types but rules identical, uses same book.
DBA is a nice enough game on it's own, often discarded as DBM's 'little brother', but it's a bit more than that. And where it really shines (IMHO anyway) is the little campaign system. If you can get enough players together, and sufficient time, you should really try this some time. The added level of the slow attrition during sieges, the strategic position around the battle and all the diplomatic shenanigans makes playing for keeps =) very interesting. And it's quick enough to actually finish in a reasonable amount of time.
We had some nice short quick campaigns when it first came out, we could get as campaign done in a month with maybe a night a wekk set aside to play a lot of the games..fond memories, though it sort of died when DBM came out
DBA leans towards the "game" side of wargaming. I've always thought it was a half-way house between chess and proper free-form wargaming. The advantages have been set out above; the great disadvantage is that, as it's reliant on dice rolls, it can be something of a lottery. However, as an hour or so's entertainment it's first rate.
The DBA RRR version looks very interesting :). I am looking forward to the campaign side of things as well.
Were using Basic Impetus now for the same thing..standard armies and quick games though not as quick as DBA was
DBA is great with 10mm figures on 28mm bases and a 4'x4' table. It looks like a battle, plays really well, armies can be assembled cheaply and quickly (in my case it means I can have more) and the armies can be expanded for use with Impetus. What's not to like! I do like Dux Bellorum though.
A great set of rules though only used the 2.2 version, not the earlier ones though I may give the new 3.0 a go if and when it comes out.
Jason.
Quote from: Bishop Lord on 30 April 2013, 07:24:00 AM
A great set of rules though only used the 2.2 version, not the earlier ones though I may give the new 3.0 a go if and when it comes out.
Jason.
Latest draft version is in the files section of the DBA Yahoo Group (need to be a member to get it).
Its jolly good too.
The tweaks have made it a much better game in my opinion.
I will give those a look :)
Jason.
I've always preferred HOTT to DBA, even for historical armies. With DBA it always felt that just as the game was starting to get interesting, someone had won!
Not half useful when you're pushed for time and there's that awkward bugger, work, tomorrow.
Picked up the 're-released' 2.2 rulebook at the table top sale yesterday. Very nicely produced though out, although I thought the paper a little on the thin side, but nothing to worry about. Well worth the money IMHO. The only downside is the sheer number of armies that are available and that I would love to game :o ;) :D.
Note to self, must finish Dux Bellorum armies first!
Quote from: Steve J on 13 May 2013, 01:01:33 PM
Picked up the 're-released' 2.2 rulebook at the table top sale yesterday. Very nicely produced though out, although I thought the paper a little on the thin side, but nothing to worry about. Well worth the money IMHO. The only downside is the sheer number of armies that are available and that I would love to game :o ;) :D.
Note to self, must finish Dux Bellorum armies first!
Yup, that's a significant problem and a rock I more or less perished on :-[ I Built up too many armies without historical match-ups. Best plan is to collect the armies in pairs of opposing contemporary factions..
But with each army being 12 elements, its easy to collect many of them!!!! ;D ;D
QuoteBest plan is to collect the armies in pairs of opposing contemporary factions..
That's definitely my plan :). The idea of say an Assyrian army fighting a Polish one of around 1450 somehow doesn't do it for me...
In v1, the army lists used to have historical opponents listed, are they still there? :-\
77a - Later Imperial Roman West vs 77b Later Imperial Roman East was always a good scrap! :D
Quote from: mad lemmey on 13 May 2013, 09:44:57 PM
In v1, the army lists used to have historical opponents listed, are they still there? :-\
77a - Later Imperial Roman West vs 77b Later Imperial Roman East was always a good scrap! :D
Certainly in 2.2 as lists of E (enemies) and A (allies) against each entry in the army lists. Don't know what rev 3 will have, likely the same though.
Yep, still has Enemies and Allies listed which is cool, especially for Big DBA battles, which look great for multi-player action.
I looked at the new rules, and struggled through the text and remembered why I gave them up in the first place..To paraphrase the film Amadeus "Too many words"
That's where the WADBAG guide to DBA 2.2 is a God send, as you don't have to struggle with Barkerese :D.
Now thats handy
Very handy indeed.
http://www.wadbag.com/DBAGuide/TheUnofficialGuideToDBA_single.pdf
Barkerese will be a boon to linguistics Ph.D. students some day. In the original Klingon.
Only if they find the fabled "Rosetta Brick".
Wow! Thanks for the Wadbag link. Brilliant!
using wadbag guide can you play the game without having a copy of DBA??
No army lists! :(
Quote from: mad lemmey on 17 May 2013, 08:23:03 AM
No army lists! :(
Have a look here:
http://fanaticus.org/
Some, not all are on it.