| hwarang | 24 Sep 2004 7:00 a.m. PST |
just got the DBV rules from freewargamesrules.co.uk and have to say, they look good. might ned some work but the concept looks ok. anyone using them? Felix |
| coopman | 24 Sep 2004 8:47 a.m. PST |
Sorry, what what period does DBV simulate? |
| hwarang | 24 Sep 2004 8:59 a.m. PST |
its ancient / medieval skirmish. its heavily based on DBA (or seems so to me). date is 1991. written by Barker himself (thou knowest him by his writing too) |
| Mike Monaco | 24 Sep 2004 11:36 a.m. PST |
Been meaning to try them -- I like the idea of playing a skirmish without rebasing figures I use for battles. |
| hwarang | 24 Sep 2004 12:01 p.m. PST |
basing is not compatible with DBA. rules are similar though. |
| Whattisitgoodfor | 24 Sep 2004 2:07 p.m. PST |
I have tried them with a few spare figures in a couple of solo trial games. I do like DBX, playing both DBA and DBM and with DBR on my 'want to do' list. I didn't like DBV much though. I just didn't find the pip system and 'zone of control' mechanisms were very good for skirmish games. That could be just me though. As the rules are free on the web and you can use any spare single-mounted figures (no need to worry too much about the exact base sizes for trial), you could give them a go and see for yourself. |
| hwarang | 25 Sep 2004 1:43 a.m. PST |
i tried them yesterday. well. i thought they looked rather hastily written at second glance and even given hard study of the rules there were a few things i could not really make sense of. still the basic concepts were ok. but more troop types would be neding (you cannot really suit these troop types to ashigaru or other medium to heavy infantry) PIP costs seem to high too. and you have to keep your general out of shooting range or it is soon over - which is hard sincxe shooting range is half the table. no settled opinion as yet. |
| 1967Hittite | 25 Sep 2004 2:35 a.m. PST |
Yes, I'm also a big fan of DBx, especially DBA; but I think translating the pip system to a skirmish game was not satisfactory. Moving most troops takes multiple pips, while the remainder stand there watching the world go by. I've found Skjaldborg to be much more satisfactory. Units behave like units, but with the odd soldier hanging back in fear and trepidation, and the armor and weapons carried by each figure have a great deal of impact on the game. I can accept 'classification by function' for a battle level game like DBA; but not for a skirmish game. check out: www.shieldwallgames.com |
 20thmaine  | 04 Jul 2019 4:54 a.m. PST |
Yes, but – the timescale for DBV is 5 seconds for a bound, so a 12 bound game represents just 1 minute. In that context someone "standing around" for 3 or 4 bounds isn't that unbelievable – the "action" is going on somewhere else, dithering for 15seconds before pitching in isn't that hard to believe. |
| 20thmaine | 04 Jul 2019 4:55 a.m. PST |
Although I had the same thoughts myself in my first few games. |
 Artorius | 12 Mar 2021 5:09 p.m. PST |
I downloaded DBV from the Sue Barker's website several years ago (2008?) and played several games with it. I rather like them. I have the printed (and updated) copy now also. The free download had some holes to fill and I just added what needed to be put in to make them work. |
steps into the arena with two gladiators from 
