"DBA-HX3.0 (1670 – 1700)" Topic

Curious as to how well a single command of 24 elements would work for this era, I decided a few small steps were in order to refresh my memory of the rule variant. A report and photos can be read by following the link.

link
Cheers,
Robert

We have been toying with this idea. I like your rules for the "subordinate general" but I have thought a pip boost would be appropriate given double the elements. Are you still rolling one d6, or 2? If two, I have always thought that the rule should be C-in-C always takes the higher; I have also thought about maybe only giving a +1 or +2 on a single d6 pip roll, so as to cut down on lots of single element moves and force the player to keep his army in larger groups. One of the valid complaints about DBA, IMHO, is how high pip rolls (along with a larger difference between player's pip rolls) can result in lots of single-element moves that seem ahistorical in exploiting flanks and such; it doesn't bother me if one army becomes more maneuverable, but lots of fancy light troop's geometric maneuvers are annoying,

Also, we have become adamant that at 24 elements, we want a single 8-element break point and not two 4-element ones. We had decided after years of DBM that the command breakpoint system always resulted in a small command breaking, and inevitably that side would lose as the whole command became useless. We understood the concept, but in playing we found it dissatisfying. Even when we play BBDA at 36 elements, we have begun experimenting with army breakpoints rather than by command, or lessening the effect of the breakpoint if still on a command basis.

YogiBearMinis,

Good questions.

The objective of the exercise is to manoeuvre one command of 24 elements using one die for pip score. This has been well tested for ancients and results have shown no appreciable increase in time needed to reach a decision.

The pace of the game seems slower but this is an illusion. What does occur are moments of inactivity when an assault has reached its high-water mark, or reserves are needed forward to support or troops of the forward line remain in position as loose elements regroup.

Victory is reached when eight elements are lost. You will note camps are actually off board which means eight elements must be eliminated, the CinC is the only element which counts as two.

Cheers,