Huzzah!
The digital version of Dux Britanniarum has arrived! This is the latest offering from Too Fat Lardies, and its appeal is such that it has caused me to start an entirely new wargaming period (Dark Age Britain, c.450-600AD) which was something I'd managed to avoid for, ooo, sometime now...
Anyway, what we have in digital form (hard copy, cards, limited edition Arthur figure and starter armies scheduled to arrive later in the week) is what looks like a rather nifty set of rules for Dark Age combat married to a cracking campaign system (it's the latter that started drawing me to these rules, although a number of other factors played a role in eroding my resistance to beginning a new period).
The publication itself is, well- words will fail me. Suffice to say, it is gorgeous- a clear layout, lovely photographs of miniatures in play and very evocative illustrations. I can't wait to get my hands on the dead-tree version. What follows are overviews of the various sections found in the rules, referred to as Books.
Book One's breakdown of forces is nice and clear, and highlights that you don't need to be painting up hordes of miniatures (although I imagine you could if you wanted to). Even with a campaign in full swing, it looks like you'll only need to add half a dozen or so figures at one sitting. Ideal for those of us who are challenged when it comes to painting the lead pile. This section also contains the procedure for generating the Big Men of your chosen force, and is reminiscent of other products available through TFL, Platoon Forward and Squadron Forward. By the end of the process, you're already going to be attached to your force's leaders, as illustrated in the post which follows this one; already my non-existent forces have developed personalities!
Book Two looks at campaign objectives, career paths and 'filthy lucre'. Both Saxons and Romano-British can be as ambitious as they want. The latter can- if successful enough- even get a chance to decide whether to become Comes or go for the top job of King (which requires the existing king to have an unfortunate accident...). This is done through a series of 'career paths', which include actions such as gaining religous support (as well as that of bards), constructing watch towers, dykes and hillforts, purchasing relics, strengthening city walls, recruiting armourers, getting promoted by the local Curia and even establishing ties with neighbouring kingdoms- and that's just the Romano-British options. All of this is funded by your military successes. It is clear how the book-keeping to this end is minimal as the rules state. As ever with wargamers, I imagine players could make it as elaborate as they wish. Indeed, although all you need is a sheet of paper, the rules point out you could go the whole hog and begin penning your own chronicles.
Book Three is the fight. To be honest, I've skimmed over the actual combat rules (about a fifth of the entire publication), on the grounds that reading rules and actual playing them through are two very different beasts. So, gameplay is being saved for a future post. However, I like the look of the pre-game options to boost your force's morale (Single combat between champions! Booze for those about to die! Praying to your chosen deity! A suitably inspiring speech!), ditto the Fate Deck (should be interesting to see how that affects combat) and the post-game sequence, which to my untutored eye seems to cover almost every aspect likely, including sieges, civil war and regicide! It also looks at the enhancements you can make to your kingdom in a campaign context, as well as expanding your personal retinue and annual events (for the most part, death and taxes).
Book Four: The Book Of Battles! Whether you're campaigning or not, this section allows you to generate five basic raiding scenarios, as well as gearing up for full-on battles when one or other side is getting mightily ambitious. Having been sad enough to go through and tot up what terrain one might need to run any one of the five raids, I was pleased to note (from my perspective) that you don't need huge amounts. With hills, woodland, river and so forth already sorted, my eventual outlay looks like being a watchtower, a church and three farmbuildings. Perhaps some kind of town gate, if I feeling grandiose at a much later stage.
The final Book is the Book of Kingdoms, giving details of the various locations one's campaign could take place in. Having no particular claim to knowledge of this period, this section did a bang up job in bringing me up to speed, so to speak. The very final page forms a reference sheet for the game itself.
Dux therefore looks like shaping up to be highly enjoyable (yes, I know I've not actually played it yet). Already there has been talk on the TFL Yahoo group about future expansions to cover raiders from the west, such as the Irish, as well as looking at cavalry in more detail. However, let's start by generating up some protagonists, shall we? Onto to Dux post #2...
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