| advocate | 24 Aug 2012 2:52 a.m. PST |
I really don't need another set of rules. I shouldn't be spending money on them. But I like what I'm hearing about Dux Bellorum. I don't want to jump into a new period, though, so how well would it work for the 11th Century? Obviously I'd have to be able to make up new army lists. They would need to include Normans (do the rules allow for effective heavy cavalry?) and ideally I'd want to extend to the Mediterranean (lots of light cavalry) as well. |
| Who asked this joker | 24 Aug 2012 5:15 a.m. PST |
I don't want to jump into a new period, though, so how well would it work for the 11th Century? Obviously I'd have to be able to make up new army lists. They would need to include Normans (do the rules allow for effective heavy cavalry?) and ideally I'd want to extend to the Mediterranean (lots of light cavalry) as well. I played the Battle of Civitate with the rules once and Normans worked pretty well. They would just get a bunch of mounted nobles. That's all. There are no army lists for Normans etc but you could easily make some. |
| advocate | 24 Aug 2012 8:21 a.m. PST |
Thanks, joker. In many ways I would have preferred an answer along the lines of "No, it's absolutely tied to the Arthurian period" because then I could have safely ignored it. |
| Who asked this joker | 24 Aug 2012 8:28 a.m. PST |
NP. It is a low cost game. If you have the armies already and you can base them in elements, you are set to play as soon as you buy the book. If you have a kindle, the electronic version is only something like $10 USD! |
| Pedrobear | 24 Aug 2012 5:39 p.m. PST |
I think the question is whether or not you think the basic mechanics of DB applies to 11th century warfare in Norman Mediterranea as you see it. I used it for 1066 as the troop types available in that theatre are the same as those given in DB. Depending on what "exotic" troop types you have in the Mediterranean, DB may or may not be an instant fit. link |
| vtsaogames | 24 Aug 2012 10:26 p.m. PST |
I plan on using it for Huns vs. Late Romans and such. |
| yorkie o1 | 27 Aug 2012 4:26 a.m. PST |
I wonder if it could be used for the crusades? Steve |
| advocate | 27 Aug 2012 1:59 p.m. PST |
Pedrobear – might be worth giving the Norman knights the 'Imposing Cavalry' benefit for an extra Aggression faction in melee; in fact I wondered if (for the period) they ought to be considered cataphracts… |
| Pedrobear | 27 Aug 2012 5:28 p.m. PST |
When I playtested the rules there wasn't an "Imposing Cavalry" option yet. :) I think the main problem in taking these rules eastwards is that horse-archers tactics are not represented. |
| Marshal Mark | 29 Aug 2012 10:15 a.m. PST |
I agree that Normans could be represented quite easily, with Knights being Noble Cavalry with the Imposing Cavalry special rule. I don't think they would work so well for armies with lots of light troops though, as they are not designed for this type of warfare. |
| rampantlion | 29 Aug 2012 10:52 a.m. PST |
I plan to give them a try for feudal armies soon. |
| Madprofessor | 01 Sep 2012 11:58 a.m. PST |
After my first couple of run-throughs I would say that the rules could easily be adjusted to suit many genres beyond the rather narrow focus of dark age Britain. It doesn't cover things like Eastern horse archery, mounted knights with stirrups and couched lances, or massed archery, but these things would be fairly easy to incorporate into the rules if somebody wanted to. I certainly think the rules would do well to cover other dark age European topics such as the era of Viking conquests, Charlemagne's wars, the end of the Western Roman Empire, the Arab conquest of Spain (I might try a song of Roland scenario), etc. All you really need is some lists. The game is really well-suited to small scale battles (not skirmishes) with irregular armies where heroism was a bigger factor than maneuver. Its the first game I've played there really does the dark ages justice. |
