DBMM Player's Handbook

 

Miscellaneous

Page history last edited by Rob Brennan 2 days ago

 

For the the stuff that doesn't fit in elsewhere!

 


Rob's Quick Guide to the DBMM v1.0 Baggage Rules

Bge are usually 0-2 per general.

If command Bge:

Bge are 2ME, they behave like any other element and must be in their command

(obviously!)

If army Bge:

They are 0.5ME for their own command and also for any other command which

contributes Bge to the army bge. When lost they deduct their 0.5ME from their

own command (obviously!) and any command which received ME from them.

They can be deployed in a separate train command (the usual) or

they can be grouped in one of the other commands (generally bad because it means

that when that command breaks every other command

loses ME since the Bge count as lost).

When a separate army bge (train) command breaks, the army loses all that

commands ME and all commands also lose all the ME they gained from army bge.

<interp alert> When a command that has received ME from army bge breaks, the

"bonus" ME from army bge is not counted as lost. </interp>

In general it is best to use army Bge grouped in a separate train command as you

will end up with more ME and when your commands

break then you don't lose the bonus ME due to army bge.

Probability of Battle Start Times in DBMM v1.0 by L Greaves

time,   probability %

1,      0

2,      0

3,      5.71

4,      5.79

5,      11.57

6,      11.73

7,      17.59

8,      12.11

9,      12.35

10,     6.79

11,     6.94

12,     1.31

13,     1.39

14,     1.39

15,     1.39

16,     1.31

17,     1.23

18,     1.08

19,     0.93

20,     0.69

21,     0.46

22,     0.31

23,     0.15

24,     0.08

Phil Barker on How Many Guns in Art Elements

> And we might need some more definite decision on how many pieces are

> represented by different grades of Art element.

The larger number should apply, unless there was a significant effect by a

smaller total . For example, at Bedriacum 2 big stone throwers had a

dominating effect.

Similarly, the elephant scale is 16, but a single element can represent only

4.

Jim W's Painting 15mm for crappy painters.

Stick figures to base

White undercoat

block in tunic colours

block in flesh colours

paint shield, spears, weapons etc

wash over with ink (windsor and newton 'peat' is my choice)

Paint base with mixture of pva glue and green colouring, add flock

 

Tom A's Recomends a Discussion on Chinese History/Sources

http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?showtopic=29519

 

This both gives some background info on Chinese generals and, far more

interestingly, brings out the difficulties of using ancient sources.

Even in a well known ancient text there are enormous problems in

understanding the meaning.

Lorenzo's Easy to Remember Gradings Guide

I don't know if this can help you, but this is the way I memorized the

 

S in melee:

Cavalry S

Vs Infantry: Winning and losing in own bound

Vs mounted: winning in own bound, losing in enemy

 

Infantry S

Vs Infantry: winning in own bound

Vs mounted: losing in enemy bound

 

S Shooting

S shooting: winning in any bound

S target: losing in any bound

 

S target has 2 exceptions: it's not applied if firer is artillery,

and apply the +1 just if losing, not on even scores.

 

Notes:

Winning means apply -1 to enemy roll, losing means apply +1 to its own roll.

All results apply to even score as well.

 

I find it much easier than the rules text.

 

AP per ME for DBMM Troop Types by Toby Partridge

I am sure other people have worked this out, but I haven't seen a table of AP per ME,

which is important IMHO in determining how effective a troop could be as a filler...

 

0.5 - I Bge(I)

1.0 - I Bge(O),I Bge(F), R Bge(I)

1.5 - I Bge(S), R Bge(O), R Bge(F)

2.0 - Ps(I), Hd(O), Hd(F)

2.5 -

3.0 - R Bge(S), R Pk(I), LH(I)

3.5 - R Sp(S), I Bd(S)

4.0 - R Bw(I), I Ax(S), I Ax(I), R Pk(O), R Pk(X), I Sp(O), R Sp(I), I LH(F), I LH(O), Ps(O), I Kn(I), I

Bd(I), I Bw(O)

4.5 - R Bd(S), I Cv(S), I Kn(F)

5.0 - R Ax(S), R Pk(S), R Sp(O), R Cv(S), R LH(O), R LH(F), I Cv(I), I Kn(O), R Kn(I), I Bd(F), I

Bd(O), R Bd(I), Wb(S), R Bw(O), I Bw(S), I Bw(X)

5.5 - I Kn(X), R Kn(F)

6.0 - I Sp(I), I Ax(O), I LH(S), R Cv(I), R Bd(F), Ps(S), I Kn(S), R Kn(O), I Bd(X), Wb(O), Wb(F), R

Bw(S), I Bw(I)

6.5 - R Kn(X)

7.0 - I Cv(O), R Bd(O), R Bw(X)

7.5 - R Kn(S)

8.0 - R Cv(O), R Ax(O), R Bd(X), I Bw(X/O) DBE

8.5 -

9.0 - R Kn(I) DBE

9.5 -

10.0 - R Bw(X/O) DBE

10.5 -

11.0 -

11.5 - R Kn(X/I) DBE

 

So far the DBE Kn(X/I) is the worst value element I have found AP for ME.

 

The interesting thing is how bad Reg Ax(O) are for generating ME for your army - 8 AP for

every ME.

DBMM Regular Generals PIP Allocations by Lawrence Greaves

> More importantly though, the "Low PIP liability" is a myth in another

> way; the "low PIP" command doesn't actually have low PIPs! One of our

> resident statisticians provided this, which I've retained.

>

>> 2 dice 4.47, 2.53

>> 3 dice 4.96, 3.5, 2.04

>> 4 dice 5.24, 4.10, 2.90, 1.76

>

> To this can usually be added a regular sub general's bonus PIP, so the

> low PIP command in a 3 command army gets an average of 3.04 PIPs,

> compared to 3.5 for an irregular command. Even a 4th command will end up

> with 2.76 PIPs, still a difference of less than one PIP - for the worst

> command in the army.

>

> Add in magic tents and it looks even better!

>

> Extra PIPs for magic tents hand over the following extra PIPs.

>

>> 0.28 to the highest

>> 0.6 to the middle

>> 0.86 to the lowest.

>

> So now, the low PIP "fighting" command averages *more* than an irregular

> command, 3.9 for a third command or 3.62 for a fourth.

 

Phil Barker's Potted History of DBx

 

The first DB rules were DBC, written at Sue's instance for a nephew she had

given Romans and Brits. His response was to take up Warhammer. DBC was

demonstrated once at COW with 2mm figures in a 4 player game. No vast swell

of enthusiasm.

 

DBSA was produced as a 10 minute game for an SOA conference, with Sue and I

providing 8 3-dimensional 24" square terrain boards and 8 pair of armies. It

was a huge success with everyone but the then SOA committee, who did not

think it worth supporting or publishing.

 

The reason for its success was that with a 10 minute game being aimed at,

only absolute essentials could be included and I had to boil things down as

much as possible, telescoping what had been several stages of play into

action and result. Real competition wargamers were hostile to this, but got

shouted down by the intelligent mob.

 

Public pressure meant that WRG had to publish a revised version as DBA.

Because Paul Bailey was reluctant to sell something that small and cheap, it

was bundled with a campaign system by Richard and army lists mostly by Sue.

 

More public pressure  led to DBM, so you could have big games with a full

army on a normal table. I invented the mechanisms, Richard did most of the

testing, and we both did the wording. I was the one who argued for

simplicity...

 

PHIL'S WARGAMING TESTAMENT

 

My idea of a good set of wargames rules is that:

 

1) The player should have the information available to and the restrictions

imposed on a historical general, and should gain the same advantages from

making a plan as a historical general. As far as humanly possible, he should

be that general.

 

2) The game should be set in something closely resembling the real world,

with all the inconveniences a general had to cope with, including local

geography, the sun rising and setting, occasional bad weather, terrain being

of an inconvenient type or in an inconvenient place (not manipulated by the

player), the possibility of movement by water, treachery, incompetence,

unusual cunning or initiatives by opponents, bad luck and what Clausewitz

calls "friction". A good general (and by extension a good player) is one

that can rise above or even exploit these things.

 

3) The player should as far as possible only have to do those things a real

general had to do - basically move troops with the ultimate intention of

contacting enemy and observe and exploit the result. A real general did not

have to make calculations, follow testing procedures, place markers or

cross-reference tables, so neither should a player. Mechanisms should be

minimised. Rules should exist to fight a battle with the minimum of fuss,

not to show-off how clever and subtle the rule-writer can be.

 

4) A real battle had to have a result, or else a lot of people had died for

nothing. A wargame should accordingly favour results. Rules must not

mitigate a local result, but instead try to provide ways to exploit a local

result. Mitigation rules favour the unenterprizing, incompetent or unlucky.

The real world has no favourites.

 

5) The game should look like a real battle and be seen by participants and

onlookers to progress like a real battle. It should be interesting and

exciting.

 

6) The best test of historical accuracy lies in numerous historical

refights, the results of which should fall within the bounds of historical

possibility. This enables you to confidently extrapolate to games between

unhistorical opponents.

 

7) The game should be played between wargames armies with a close

resemblance to their historical prototypes. This requires the production of

unambiguous and as far as possible historically accurate army lists for the

great majority of the armies of the period and area.

 

A set of rules that does not conform to these is in my considered opinion

not a set of wargames rules, but just a game played with toy soldiers.

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