DBA cover from edition 1.1 |
All these innovative elements appealed to me so I ordered a copy. When I got it, I was very pleased with the results. I began building armies in 6mm (using half size bases). I had enough stands to field 2 Roman armies in addition to Carthaginians and Gauls. I never managed to build Greeks but with imaginative substitution (pila-armed Romans stood in as Hellenistic phalanxes) I could also field Successor armies. Following a trip to Ireland, I started painting medieval Irish, Vikings, and Normans.
Shortly after DBA was published, fans of the game began modifying it for other eras. After I found a horse & musket variant, Eighteenth Century Prussians and Austrians, American Civil War Yanks and Rebs, and Victorian British and Pathans all battled on my tabletop using DBA-esque rules.
Alas, they only held my attention for so long. Problems cropped up. The system worked great for armies with disparate troops types (it is especially good at recreating Roman vs. barbarian battles, which is not surprising considering its origin as rules for battles between Romans and Gauls) but it tended to lapse into stalemate when the armies were of similar make-up. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, the combat system just did not feel right to me for combat with muskets. I began searching for alternatives and have since adopted other mechanisms.
Nevertheless, DBA gave me many enjoyable hours of gaming. It inspired me to paint up armies for a wide variety of eras. It also influenced my designs when I tried my hand at creating my own rules. For many years, I used its activation system (activate a number of units or groups of units equal to the roll of a single die – a simple system that still created some fog of war). The latest version of my medieval rules uses an opposed roll system, which I first found in DBA. Finally, it introduced (at least to me) a design philosophy that I still embrace: small armies + compact battlefields + simple rules allowing for quick games.= awesome fun.
HAve you looked at DBN (for Napoleonics)? http://www.dbnwargaming.co.uk/
ReplyDeleteI have, Captain Nolan. I struggled with it because, in my mind, opposed dice rolls don't really "feel" like shooting to me. They work better for melee for me. Just a personal hangup :D
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