Posted by me to the Bronze Age Gamer Yahoo group:
This is not a proper in depth review, just a quick overview and first impressions.
I ordered myself the English version of Venexia's King David rules (or should that be Dadi&Piombo?) I also got a DBA army pack for the Early Hebrews of which more anon.
The rules are 30 pages or so long, roughly US Legal or European A* size. Colour cover and quick reference sheet insert.
The translation and editing are not always perfect. In places there are carry throughs from the original Italian, but nothing that isn't immediately clear from context.
The rules are written for 15mm figures, but as they are element based rather than single figure based should work with any sized figures without modification. The usual caveats about the look and feel of the game if played with other sized figures apply. Standard basing is 80mm frontage for infantry, 40mm frontage for Chariots. Essentially 4 DBA bases stuck together. Each base represents a single unit. Basic armies are in the 8-16 unit range. Table size is 4 feet (120cm) square. I am trying a 2' square table with single DBA elements and halved movement, it works but looks a bit crowded.
Players of both DBA and Warmaster Ancients will find some things familiar. Army size, terrain and troops classifications are similar to DBA, while command control, combat (especially the hit and save process) and presence of heroes and divine favor will seem familiar to Warmaster players.
The rules include 19 army lists, each with their own special rules and adjusted points costs for units. The focus is definitely on Old Testament armies, although Egyptians, Hittites and Trojan Wars are also covered.
One notable lack is any provision for campaign or siege scenarios. Built up areas are treated as impassible terrain in King David. This makes sense in a set of rules designed for field battles, especially as most of the accounts we have depict fighting around or near settlements, not in them. Still it would have been nice to see rules for sacking Troy or Jericho.
The rules do require each army to have a "baggage" similar in function to a DBA Camp. As this is an 80mm square base lots of scenic modeling is possible.
Other special rules include the option for non-chariots armies to field an ambush of up to two units and 2 hill or dune scenic pieces when facing foes with chariots. This nicely models the use of terrain to give foot soldiers and advantage against chariots. The terrain set up rules allow the players some, but not total control over terrain set up. General locations are diced for with a chance that any given terrain piece is discarded.
Several types of heroes are included. These each confer a special bonus on the unit to which they are attached. Leaders likewise can be average, good, or outstanding quality. Again a lack in the rules is for duels between champions to take place.
Unit activation and initiative is an interesting variant on IgoUgo, Each player rolls d6 modified by leadership quality. The high roller activates a number of units equal to the die score, the low roller than activates a number of units equal to his die score. This process is repeated until all units have activated. Each activating unit rolls in turn for the number of action points it has to spend. It is possible for a unit to activate and then not roll sufficient points to do anything.
The final special rule I will mention is divine favor. This grants a number of positive interventions on a player's behalf. Each allows him to re-roll one dice. Players also get a like number of dis-favor rolls to force enemy re-rolls. Sacrificial lambs may be purchased to allow a chance to cancel divine displeasure.
Over all the rules are simple and flavourful. It should be an easy matter for players to write additional house rules to for any points that are not covered in the rules. As Dadi&Piombo have just released their Impetus rules and are selling prepackaged armies for DBA and Impetus but not King David I am uncertain if any additional support for King David will be forthcoming.
A good set for players new to the period. Players with armies based for any of the popular Ancients sets should find them usable for King David without need to rebase. At most the addition of unit sized sabot bases under bases of smaller size should be all that is needed.
A word about the miniatures: I received two archer pose variants, 2 or 3 open-handed unarmoured infantry variants, two armoured command figures, and a large assortment of spears, javelins, swords (straight and sickle), maces and a Star of David standard this is double ended (one end has the pole attaching to a point, the other to the angle between two points) so it is like getting two standards for the price of one. I also received a selection of shields of various sizes and shapes (mostly round with different bosses). This is a bit fiddly to work with, but does allow for easy variation of pose and weaponry. The figures are cleanly cast and sculpted and appear to mix well with other 15mm Biblicals I have.
Also worthy of mention is that the 15mm David vs Goliath pair is still available free for the asking with any order over 25 Euros. Goliath is a true giant of a man and looks very fierce. He is also a 15mm figure, not a small 25. David has his sling and tunic, Goliath is in full armour, plumed helmet, sickle sword, spear and shield. I am thinking of mounting my pair as a small vignette.
paints a legend from the Trojan Wars.
