Milton Hundred Wargames Club

De Bellis Antiquitatis, or DBA as it is more popularly known, is a set of rules for the ancient period. The rules are quite simple and straight forward and a novice could be introduced to the game and be playing within half an hour or so. The armies are made up of just twelve bases, most of which have no more than four figures on, so armies are small and very affordable. Quick to paint too. What ever the army you choose it will always have twelve bases, although those bases will a unique mix of troop types based upon their history.

Historical troop types have been collated into simplified troop catagories such as Blades (which are your Roman Legionaries or Saxon Houscarls, troops trained to fight offensively in close formation with swords, axes etc.), Spears (basic, solid infantry such as Hoplites or Dark Age shield walls armed with spear and shield) or Knights (mounted troops trained to crash into the enemy such as Norman knights or heavy chariots). There are some six types of mounted troops and just ten types of foot troops, which makes things an awful lot easier to deal with and remember! Each troop category has a combat factor for fighting foot or mounted troops and this is added to the number rolled on a normal six sided dice during combat. The result, depending upon the troop types involved, can either be a quick kill which removes that base from the game, or a simple push back. This is a very simplistic introduction to DBA, there is a little more to it than that; but not too much.

A game is won when you have removed four of the enemy bases, this can take as little as twenty minuets up to about an hour. This means that the game is perfect for tournaments, competitions and even club nights. Everyone gets to play several games at least. The game also only uses a board two feet square (600mm x 600mm) with a scattering of basic terrain pieces so the cost and space required really is kept to a minimum. You can easily play on the kitchen or coffee table at home without taking over the whole room!

Perhaps the most useful aspect of DBA is the ability to fight historically disparate armies. Because of the way that the rules categories units into basic troop types it is easy to pitch your Egyptian chariot army against an English army from the Hundred Years War, or any other combination you wish. This makes tournaments particularly spectacular as everyone brings along their favourite army, nowhere else will you see so many chariots, elephants or wild Celtic war-bands all in one place and battling against each other.

The rule book is cheap, as little as £6.00, and contains all you need to know to get playing. It also includes three hundred and ten separate army lists, making life very much easier, and a section on campaigns too. The current version is 2.2 published in January 2004. This really is a great way to get involved with a different period very cheaply, the only problem is, because the armies are so small and inexpensive, you end up buying plenty of them! C'est la guerre!!!

One word of warning. The rules are a little ambiguous in places, mainly due to the rather odd choice of wording in various sections. Take a little time to read them through, especially things like the victory conditions. If in doubt feel free to get in touch and we can at least give you our interpretation. Great rules for a very enjoyable game, especially for a club night. That said, caveat lusor; let the player beware.