DBMM 100 Early Imperial Roman list

Needing an opponent for my Brits, I drew up this list for DBMM100:

Troop Type	Cost Per Element in AP	ME Per Element	Number of Elements	Total Cost of Elements	ME
C-in-C - Reg Bd(O)	7	4	1	7	4
Equites cohortales - Reg Cv (O)	8	1	4	32	4
Auxillia - Reg Ax (S)	5	1	6	30	6
Legionaries- Reg Bd (O)	6	1	5	35	5
Totals:				104	19
Disheartened: 14          Defeated: 10

I did not take the required 1-6 points of palisade as I think at the 100 point level it's a bit pointless and a vexillation of this size was probably working away from the main camp where all their stakes were. I wanted to take bolt shooters just because I could but practically, 4 Cv is the more logical choice. For anti-warband work, I envisage a line of Ax backed by the Bd with the Cv on a flank. Another option is to have the Bd backed by the Ax with the Cv in the rear - but then I have been reading too much of the interpenetration section recently. If I were to swap 2 Cv for 2 Art, I would put one on each flank of the infantry block to keep the horses and chariots at bay.

DBMM is hard..... Part 1 - The language

The DBx series has a reputation for complex language and a plethora of dice modifiers - especially for combat. In this post, I would like to take a look at the first of these issues.

On the Yahoo HotT group,

petercard2001 describes the DBx language in these words:

"...Barkerese as a data compression algorithm
implemented on top of English as the transfer protocol."

Though not intended as a positive comment, this is a good description. So the question is why? I would suggest two reasons. Barkerese compresses a lot of information into as few words as possible to:

1. maximize the content in a given page count, and
2. eliminate any redundancy in the language.

The first point may be moot in the current environment of PDF rules downloads and a printer in every house. It is the second point that, for me at least, is the critical one. Perfect communication with no redundancy creates no new meaning. Only exactly what is meant is communicated - there is no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation. It can be tough to parse out because each word is important and you must pay attention to every word and the order it falls in. There is no filler.

The effect is a difficult read but it has a very important dividend - precision. And why is precision important in a game? Two words - and please excuse the profanity - "Rules Lawyers". Sadly there are and always will be people who would rather hunt for loopholes and play the rules rather than play their opponent.

Though not always perfect, once a DBx rule is clearly understood it remains so with no wiggle room and no opportunity for a-historical or cheesy behaviour on the games table.

Next up: All those modifiers...

Re-basing again - Dwarves

After looking over some of the spell and army lists, I have become involved with Polemos Mythic Armies (PMA). Based around the Baccus 6mm line of ancient and fantasy figures, it offers a more detailed magic system than HotT and an epic feel to the game. Given that my dwarves are of Baccus provenance, I have decided to re-base them for PMA.

Flat Romans

While mulling over the writing projects, I glued up about 400 points worth of Marian / Early Imperial Roman top down legionnaires to give my 15mm brits something to fight. Look out Claudius...

Cheap but effective

First project(s)

For my first contribution to the pimping promotion of DBMM, I am working on an article on austerity miniatures wargaming. When I was involved in 2mm model railways, I was amazed at the creativity of depression era and post war modellers. They created rolling masterpieces out of scrap tin and cereal boxes. We can do the same with miniatures. Since I intend to submit this for publication, I won't got into details here yet.

The second project I hope to feature here. When I first picked up DBMM, I had a general historical understanding of what troops performed what roles. In actual play though, I always wound up with pitting my troops against the exactly wrong sort of enemy. George's skill had something to do with that too though.

What I plan to do is to write a series of articles each focussed on one troop type and discuss who the predators and prey of each type are. I want to keep it high level to avoid the legal and moral implications of re-printing the rules in a blog.