"You say Dux Britanniarum, I say Dux Bellorum... " Topic

…Let's call the whole thing off.

One set from the Lardies, another from Osprey. Not only very similar names, but also similar release dates and historical period.

Could get a bit messy. Hollywood does this sometimes with high-concept films, and usually only one succeeds at best.

I'd suggest one of the games needs to change names.

No offence to the Lardies, but I think they'd be better off biting the bullet and changing the name of their game now. Not a judgement of the likely relative quality of the games, but a reflection of the relative amount of noise the publicity/advertising is going to make.

I actually thought there was more noise about the Lardy set around the web than the Osprey one.

Midpoint – I'd thought much the same – suddenly there's a whole flock of Duxs on the pond.

As long as you get your Dux in line…

The Lardies game will publish first,I believe was in development first and since the premises of the game is a campaign to become Dux Britanniarum it seems to me that Osprey is the one who needs to change.

Or I suppose we could all do our level best to just remember the two names. I mean seriously, how difficult can it be?

I think morrigan is right. I"ve had a look on line and it seems that the Osprey book is the standard Osprey size of sixty or so pages and is basically black and white text with some colour pictures, many of which are old stock from other Osprey books. The Lardy rules seem to be full colour A4 with all new artwork, 84 pages plus a deck of cards. You"re hardly going to mistake one for the other.

Of course Osprey are a big company, but then the Lardies are one of he big indies who specialise in rules, so they have an established following . At the end of he day it will b which set people prefer to play, not who has the biggest advertising budget. Personally I will get hold of both. They seem to be quite different, with the Lard set having a campaign system with maps as well as the basic rules.

'Or I suppose we could all do our level best to just remember the two names. I mean seriously, how difficult can it be?'

Watch us. Just watch us.

I am purchasing both.

I have Glutter of Ravens and I have been looking forward to Dux Bellorum since I first heard about the playtesting in late 2010. I pre-ordered them in January and I plan to pre-order Dux Britannairum when it is available to do so, so I am really looking forward to late July and early August!

Cheers,

Barry

Also, clearly we'll need to work on the TMP acronyms.

DB is a crowded start for those…

I believe TFL is taking pre-orders now.

I am vaguely amused that the original poster considers we should change the name of our rules.

In fact Dan Mersey and I are much less exorcised about this issue than some people seem to be, indeed we were discussing the rules yesterday and he is looking forward to purchasing my set, I am looking forward to purchasing his set. We did discuss the potential clash when both sets started to appear on the web and the conclusion was that they were quite different beasts. Indeed visually one is quite clearly an Osprey book, the other a Lardy book.

Unlike the film industry I do not see Dux Britanniarum as in competition with Dux Bellorum or vice versa, both are priced at a level where gamers interested in the period can hopefully consider both. Indeed the campaign system in Dux Britanniarum could, I am 99% certain, be used for Dux Bellorum or indeed any Early Dark Age rule set focussing on that post Roman period.

Rich

PS: We're not quite taking advanced orders yet, we're about a week or so from that point.

"Indeed the campaign system in Dux Britanniarum could, I am 99% certain, be used for Dux Bellorum or indeed any Early Dark Age rule set focussing on that post Roman period.

Rich"

That's pretty much what I plan to do Rich.

The idea is to use Dan's 'Song of Arthur and Merlin' for small skirmishes involving characters and unit or two, Dux Britanniarum for large skirmishes and Dux Bellorum for larger set battles and to also utilise my Dark Age DBA armies.

That's the plan anyway…

Cheers,

Barry

The idea is to use Dan's 'Song of Arthur and Merlin' for small skirmishes involving characters and unit or two, Dux Britanniarum for large skirmishes and Dux Bellorum for larger set battles and to also utilise my Dark Age DBA armies.

Spoiled for choice apparently!

As Rich says, we've discussed this and trust that gamers can differentiate between the two. Plenty of rules have similar titles but stand or fall on how well they play.

When my Glutter of Ravens game first appeared in the 1990s, you'd have been hard pressed to find rules designed specifically for the Dark Ages, let alone the even more niche Arthurian period, so with TFL's rules, mine, and the various other Dark Age offerings out there right now, I think this is a good time for Arthurian gamers.

Rich, the other alternative is that we settle this for the baying crowds with a dance off. I'll choose the genre as 70s disco, you can choose the tune. What do you think? :-)

Dan

Barry S: Nice idea on scaling out different games using Song of Arthur and Merlin, Dux Britanniarum, and Dux Bellorum. I might take a look at doing that myself. Cheers!

Two words spring to my mind, tempest and teapot. I will certainly be buying both sets of rules, it would be churlish to do otherwise!

Thank you Princeps! Wise words :-)

I aim to purchase both sets of rules too; after all one can never have enough rules/guidelines. Personally, I think that it's great that there is such a plethora of rule sets out there.

Rich, the other alternative is that we settle this for the baying crowds with a dance off. I'll choose the genre as 70s disco, you can choose the tune. What do you think? :-)

Video to be posted on Youtube with a voting facility….

I can't see any real problems with the names sounding vaguely similar. I'll be buying both of them anyway.

Some folks will twine about anything- as we say in these parts.

Funnily enough my own semi-DBA set for the Post Roman period in Britain was always called "Dux Bellorum" by myself and I was amazed that it had never been used in a set of rules before. I'm Sparticus!

I for one will be buying them all.

"Rich, the other alternative is that we settle this for the baying crowds with a dance off. I'll choose the genre as 70s disco, you can choose the tune."

Mud wrestling! Best two out of three! Getcha tickets here!

Or I suppose we could all do our level best to just remember the two names. I mean seriously, how difficult can it be?

Based on previous evidence, I would not count too much on it. Considering that TMP people have troubles for example with the following:

- Nubians vs. Numidians
- Roman Empire vs. Holy Roman Empire
- Battlefront (manufacturer) vs. Battlefront WWII (rules set)
- Close support tank vs. infantry tank
- Wargames Foundry vs. Wargames Factory vs. Warlord Games
- English vs. British
- Russia vs. Soviet Union

Surely the TFL set should be named either Dux Britanniae – Leader of Britain- or Dux Britannorum – Leader of the Britons.

Trust me, I'm a Latin teacher!

Considering that I have somewhere in the neighborhood of forty pounds (weight) of Arthurian Dark Ages figures plus scenery and rules on top of that, I will definitely be getting both sets.

They sound quite different in style and approach. I doubt there will be much confusion among purchasers and that even rarer bird actual players. This kerfluffle seems like most others in the Wargames world. Armchair strategists arguing about games and game situations they do not actually play…

I used to confuse Battlefront WW2 with Battleground WW2.

Looking forward to getting both sets.

I have Glutter of Ravens and I have been looking forward to Dux Bellorum since I first heard about the playtesting in late 2010. I pre-ordered them in January and I plan to pre-order Dux Britannairum when it is available to do so, so I am really looking forward to late July and early August!

Cheers,

Barry

I heard a rumour that "Glutter of Ravens" is going to be reprinted with a new title "Glutter of Ducks". Any truth to that?

:o)

My wife calls them 'Lardy Dux' and 'Belly Dux'.

Cheers,

Barry

I'm another 'gonna get both sets'.

Already pre-ordered one, and as soon is Rich is ready to take my money will do the same with the other.

Jake

Dan

Well, give me a couple of days to get over standing and running a game for two days at Bovington this weeked. I may need to shed a few pounds in order to get into my white suit, but if disco is your game I will have to go with Staying Alive by the Bee Gees.

I will warn you, however, that I've got the wings of heaven on my shoes, I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose!

Cue the music…

Rich

I actually can't believe I just posted that…

…Nor can I. ;-)

Hi Rich, well I'd send a longer reply but…

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk.

:-)

I'm definitely waiting for the results of the dance-off before I spend any on my hard earned cash.

Dan

A short answer is fine. In fact…

You know it's all right, it's O.K.
I'll live to see another day.

Right. I'm now off to seek psychiatric help…

Rich

You and the rest of us now plagued with such a disturbed scene in our minds.

The question is, is this dance off to be performed sober or dead drunk? Drunk is probably better as then you can always claim that you dont remeber a thing, even when you can.

But I do want to see a video of it.

Owen

Actually, I don't think any of you would like to see a video of it. Trust me.

I heard a rumour that this guy would represent Osprey in the disco deathmatch contest:

Is it just me, but does he have a camelfoot?

I believe Midpoint has a point. I always get confused between Flames of War, Wings of War and Age of War (let alone Gears of War)… <G>

Let's all agree (like the big kids we are) to buy every set of rules we can, especially the ones with the nice glossy covers. As for the proposed dance off – have we lost all decorum? Let's just roll dice.
Now we just need to agree on D6's, D10's or D20's!

Is it just me, but does he have a camelfoot?

Cameltoe. Cameltoe.

But when it's that big and ugly, it's a called a "moose knuckle" up here in Canada.

Right. I'm now off to seek psychiatric help…

Rich

You called?
I will charge the very reasonable rate of one pdf copy of your fine ruleset! ;p

"Let's all agree (like the big kids we are) to buy every set of rules we can, especially the ones with the nice glossy covers. As for the proposed dance off – have we lost all decorum? Let's just roll dice.
Now we just need to agree on D6's, D10's or D20's!"

WriterMike – don't forget the option of using SAGA dice…but you may need to wait before they come back into stock!