One of my first ventures into ancient/medieval wargaming was De Bellis Antiquitatis (or DBA for short). I believe it was 2008/2009 when my friend Mark introduced me to a simple, quick play historical game. I was skeptical at first, not really needing another game to get into, but after a few rounds I was hooked. It had just what I was looking for with small armies (12 bases per army, not counting optional units) and it was also a lot of what I liked about the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism - another long-term hobby) in that you could either do strict historical scenarios or a free-for-all with history. Soon we had about a half-dozen players at the store, with everyone wanting to give it a try. The game was cheap enough to make this possible, no matter how strapped you were with your other games, putting a whole army together for less than $20 was easy enough.
Anyway, eventually this fell to the side for me, though I never got rid of my models. Even my unassembled armies (I had purchased several that I never got around to) are still in my model box. This past week I had the pleasure of meeting another local gamer who has a lot of experience with wargames, and eventually we got to talking about DBA. I knew it was moving into 3.0 with the rules edition, though I had not had an opportunity to play it yet. I was mostly waiting around to see if I would need to get new armies (if any of the lists changed). Turns out, they didnt. So my Romans and Huns (likely my Landsknechts, Byzantines, and Samurai as well) are still good. Since I have not been able to sell off my almost finished Field of Glory Imperial Roman army, I might as well put it to use in DBA.
I may have to post some photos of what I have, as well as any side projects I get into. One thing I really enjoyed about the game is that if I dont feel like setting aside a block of time to work on one of my current projects (I generally spend 3-4 hours per Flames of War platoon, give or take), I can do something for DBA in less than an hour. A piece of terrain, a camp, a few bases of figures, whatever. I can test out new methods, and if it doesnt work, who cares?
The game is played on a 2' x 2' board. When I got into it Mark had several which I think were a part of some sort of modular game board system. One was flat, another with a mountain on one corner, and another had some random hills. The only one I ended up with was the flat one, figuring I could adjust the terrain as needed rather than having a permanent hill or other features on it. Anyway, it is gone now, and I am left trying to find a new game board.
Some articles I have run across detail some creative ideas. This article details making them out of plywood squares so you can mix and match as needed with built in terrain. With that in mind, another article suggests the use of canvas squares (like, a painting canvas) with much of the same idea overall. I like the idea of modular boards so you can change things around as well as having some of the terrain built into the table (something that has been fairly difficult for me to figure out without a dedicated gaming space). Water, roads, fields and hills all look better when you can make it more permanent.
Camps are another easy terrain project. I have a box full of random odds and ends I have collected over the past 5-6 years with the intent of building camps or towns with them. Some pages that have excellent examples are here and on the fanaticus website here.
Anyway, I wanted to put some of my thoughts down and see how motivated I am to follow through on it. I already have a lot on the bench currently, but if I find myself working on it, and maybe talking some of my fellow gamers in the area into trying it, I may just see how far along I can get things.
01JAN2016 Update - Between my inability to secure a copy of the rules and the abundance of other projects, DBA has been shelved again. It seemed like a worthwhile idea, and if I had anyone interested in playing it locally, it would be worth looking into. Until then, back into the box.
Anyway, eventually this fell to the side for me, though I never got rid of my models. Even my unassembled armies (I had purchased several that I never got around to) are still in my model box. This past week I had the pleasure of meeting another local gamer who has a lot of experience with wargames, and eventually we got to talking about DBA. I knew it was moving into 3.0 with the rules edition, though I had not had an opportunity to play it yet. I was mostly waiting around to see if I would need to get new armies (if any of the lists changed). Turns out, they didnt. So my Romans and Huns (likely my Landsknechts, Byzantines, and Samurai as well) are still good. Since I have not been able to sell off my almost finished Field of Glory Imperial Roman army, I might as well put it to use in DBA.
I may have to post some photos of what I have, as well as any side projects I get into. One thing I really enjoyed about the game is that if I dont feel like setting aside a block of time to work on one of my current projects (I generally spend 3-4 hours per Flames of War platoon, give or take), I can do something for DBA in less than an hour. A piece of terrain, a camp, a few bases of figures, whatever. I can test out new methods, and if it doesnt work, who cares?
The game is played on a 2' x 2' board. When I got into it Mark had several which I think were a part of some sort of modular game board system. One was flat, another with a mountain on one corner, and another had some random hills. The only one I ended up with was the flat one, figuring I could adjust the terrain as needed rather than having a permanent hill or other features on it. Anyway, it is gone now, and I am left trying to find a new game board.
Some articles I have run across detail some creative ideas. This article details making them out of plywood squares so you can mix and match as needed with built in terrain. With that in mind, another article suggests the use of canvas squares (like, a painting canvas) with much of the same idea overall. I like the idea of modular boards so you can change things around as well as having some of the terrain built into the table (something that has been fairly difficult for me to figure out without a dedicated gaming space). Water, roads, fields and hills all look better when you can make it more permanent.
Camps are another easy terrain project. I have a box full of random odds and ends I have collected over the past 5-6 years with the intent of building camps or towns with them. Some pages that have excellent examples are here and on the fanaticus website here.
Anyway, I wanted to put some of my thoughts down and see how motivated I am to follow through on it. I already have a lot on the bench currently, but if I find myself working on it, and maybe talking some of my fellow gamers in the area into trying it, I may just see how far along I can get things.
01JAN2016 Update - Between my inability to secure a copy of the rules and the abundance of other projects, DBA has been shelved again. It seemed like a worthwhile idea, and if I had anyone interested in playing it locally, it would be worth looking into. Until then, back into the box.
