When I first met Alan (which the Lad says was also in the Dark Ages) I was kindly gifted the newly published rules Dux Bellorum to tempt me to the Dark Ages way of things; not that I needed much of a push, admittedly. And while we have played many Dark Ages games with Lion Rampant and SAGA we somehow never got back to Bellorum. Our first game of the new year seemed a good way to rectify that omission and scratch a growing Dark Age itch once more.
 |
| Some of Alan's fabulous Post Romano British army |
Its always great to play with Alan's extensive collection of fantastic Dark Age models, which is not small. We decided to leave the Mounted troops at home to simplify our first game and I got to field his Saxons, taking Companion Foot, 2 Noble Warriors, 5 Ordinary Warriors and 2 foot skirmishers (with bows). Alan took his Post Roman Britain/Arthurians with Companion Foot, 2 Noble Shieldwall, 4 ordinary shieldwall, 1 foot skirmisher (with bows), an 1 extra Leadership point and the Experienced Leader Tactic. It made for an interesting matchup of Warriors vs Shieldwall
We learned much along the way and the mechanics reminded me of a mix of SAGA, DBA and Lion Rampant (no surprise on the latter!) that flowed well, though we still have a few questions! I liked the Leadership points resource management, and the battle did indeed feel like a big battle as opposed to a large skirmish. We also saw that Shieldwall units did not stand up as well to Warriors as might be expected, though I did roll an unfeasible number of 6s which skewed the outcome (in fact there was 6 of them across 2 x 5 dice attacks!)
Overall I enjoyed Dux Bellorum and would like to play more. Unfortunately they do suffer from Osprey 'Blue Book' syndrome in which they are published, have a couple of follow up articles but then left behind and unsupported. With some tweaking they could forward in time into the Viking Age, or earlier in the Roman period. Certainly not 'beyond the wit of man' if we get around to it anyway...
 |
| The return of Dux Homunculorum! |
Great looking game
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil, it was even better IRL!
DeleteThanks for sharing this - it's a favourite period of mine. I'm curious that many units appear to be 14 figures strong which seems unusual [perhaps it's what fits on a certain base size].
ReplyDeleteI bought Dux Bellorum but like you haven't really used it. [I tend to use the more skirmish feel of Dux Britanniarium]
Perhaps if you have more games i might rectify that.
Stephen
Thanks Stephen- yes, some of Alan's bases are sabot style, others are mass ranked with dynamic poses and he has packed heaps of figures onto them! They are wonderfully dioramic.
DeleteWe are definitely planning some more DB, and I have promised to try Impetus as well for comparison.
Great looking game Paul, Are they 28's or 15's?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeremy! All 28s.
DeleteThose shieldwalls look amazing mate!
ReplyDeleteFrank
Cheers mate!
DeleteThat's a great looking game, we had our "fussy" with Dux Bellorum a few years ago, but then the new shinies arrived on the scene and we have not gone back.
ReplyDeleteWe are using the upcoming Midgard rules for this period, it helps being on James's testing team.
Yes the rolling barrage of new rules does make consistency difficult!
DeleteHaven't heard of Midgard, I'll keep an eye out!