ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Sunday, 12 February 2023

DBA… Another game and my Dacians.

Greetings…

On Friday we had another couple of games of DBA.

It was a chance to get two new armies on to the table… My Dacians and Israel’s Spanish…
Israel and Alessandro took the Spanish and Matt and I took the Dacians…

We went for two players a side again as we are still collectively getting our heads around the rules and this way kept us a bit more focused…

We had two games… The Spanish won the first and the Dacians the second.
An excellent result I think.

Here are some pictures from the first game…





My dice throwing was up to its usual high standard.

The second game…






It was interesting using our new armies as it gave us a chance to try out a good part of the rules… there was a fair amount of looking things up but it all proved profitable and it sparked of a number of interesting conversations.
I am sure that after a few more sessions we will get quite slick at things.

My Dacians…

The General (4Wb)…




Horsemen (Cv) and Sarmatians (3Kn)…




Falxmen (3Bd)…




Warriors (3Wb)…




Javelinmen (Ps)…




For the uninitiated this is all the options that the Army Lists allow… 12 stands equals an army.
The letters/numbers in brackets are the unit definitions in DBA.

The figures are from Forged in Battle…


The figures were painted in my usual way using a variety of muted colours for the clothing and slightly bolder colours for the shields… 

All the best. Aly


 

36 comments:

  1. Great to see some games on your table, Aly! One win apiece is a good outcome.

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    1. It wasn’t on my table Jonathan we played in Matt’s man cave (shed)… they joy of these armies is that they are easily transportable.
      The result was nicely balanced 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  2. Looks great Aly - tiny - but great :)

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    1. Thank you Rick…
      They are not tiny… they are just further away.

      All the best. Aly

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  3. Splendid wee fellows and the bonus of a win under the belt too.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Phil…
      An unusual situation for me these days.

      All the best. Aly

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  4. Lovely looking Dacian army and the Spanish look good too! Honours even with your dice throwing is very impressive!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain…
      Matt’s dice were as bad as mine… we were gob smacked when we got a victory 😂

      All the best. Aly

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  5. Lovely looking figures Aly:). I tried DBA a few times but I could never get my head around the rules due to the way they were written:(. Shame as they prmoised much...

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    1. They are certainly not the most intuitive rules Steve…
      We are lucky that one of our number is good at getting to the core of things…

      All the best. Aly

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  6. Good game - I've always liked games based on DBA. As for 1s - some games, that's pretty much my average roll. I have a son who seems to have inherited the ability.

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    1. Once you get your head around how they are written the rules are a lot of fun…
      Unfortunately my daughter has not inherited my ability to roll ones 😁…

      All the best. Aly

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  7. The figures look good and a win apiece keeps everyone happy. I have never played any of the DBA type rulesets and have not heard anything particularly good about them from people who have, but if you think they provide a good game, Aly, they can't be all bad!

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    1. Thank you Keith…
      I think DBA can be what you make of it… if you go in looking for a fun game with your chums you won’t go far wrong…
      I don’t think I would like to play at a competitive level…

      All the best. Aly

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  8. Great you’re enjoying the game, every Thursday there are five of us who meet at the local club, in a pub🤪 and play big battle DBA (36 elements) all good fun. The Dacians look nice and are a good army to use.

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    1. We are already talking about playing Big Battle DBA once we all get the hang of the rules.
      The Dacians certainly have a nice mix of troop types.

      All the best. Aly

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  9. Very nice, to sure if it's just me or is DBA in a bit of a revival? Very popular here for club nights, think its the appeal of getting a few games in and making sure everyone feels welcome and part of the action. Low cost entry point as well.

    Cheers
    Meic

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    1. I think your right Meic … it’s a good entry level game and as you say low cost.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  10. DBA? Brings back memories of club night games in the 80's. As you say, easily transportable, but that's about it as a rule set.

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    1. It’s so retro David 😁…
      The chaps are really enjoying it and are talking about doing other things…
      I don’t think the rules are that bad…but the way they are presented is ‘opaque’ 🤔 at times…

      All the best. Aly

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  11. Look fantastic Aly and the regular gaming is always the key to getting one’s head around the rules and then the tactics. I used yo play so much DBA in the early days when it was first published pre-DBM(MMM😉) and enjoyed them enormously. I know there were more than a few traditional Roman players, used to having their way with the big hairy tribesmen of Gaul, Germanic and Dacia, who were most perturbed by Blades being destroyed by warbands as soon as they lost a combat. Is that still the case? Beautiful looking figures and done nice memories for me.

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    1. Thank you Carlo…
      As I remember the earlier version was a bit easier to use…
      Yes blades still do not do well if they lose against a warband… I remember that rule putting a few people into a state of panic 😂

      All the best. Aly

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  12. And this children is how we paint wonderful freehand shield designs and actual plaid on tiny figures. Raising the bar for everyone…again.

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    1. Thank you JBM…
      I couldn’t help myself…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  13. Looking great Aly and very inspiring as I have loads of Dacians in 28mm to paint. One day!

    Best wishes,
    Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan…
      I do like the Dacians… they are a very interesting People / Army.

      All the best. Aly

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  14. Nicely done although not really rules I have used ?

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    1. Thank you Matt…
      They are not to everyone’s tastes… but I like them.

      All the best. Aly

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  15. A very nice collection of figures. I particularly like the shield designs which set off the figures.

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    1. Thank you Bob…
      I have tried to keep them relatively simple… and easy to reproduce…

      All the best. Aly

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  16. I've always enjoyed DBA tremendously. There is a rival variant in the US now called Triumph, that I think is a bit more interesting and is gaining momentum. Elements are assigned point values so you are not always confined to twelve on twelve, but it is essentially the same game with a few needed tweaks. Your hairy barbarians are firing my own butterfly, and eventually I am going to have to paint some pre-Roman Britons that have been sitting in a box for far to long! Thanks as always for the inspiration!

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    1. Thank you David…
      I might have a look at Triumph…
      Encourage that butterfly you know it makes sense.

      All the best. Aly

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    2. So nice to see one of my favorite miniature artists Who is playing my favorite games (DBX)

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    3. Thank you Dottor zero…

      All the best. Aly

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  17. Very nice little army and very interesting battle photos.
    We don't know much about the Dacians: what source did you use for the colours of the clothes and the patterns on the shields?
    ...Just a moment: Dacians versus Spanish?! 🤔 Have we missed a key event in the ancient history of Europe, or is it an alternative dimension, in which the Romans remained forever in Latium dealing only with fields and sheeps? 😉

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  18. Thank you…
    The shields and clothes were inspired by illustrations in the Osprey book on the Dacians and images of Trajans Column a splash of my own imagination…
    Yes the Dacians and the Spanish weren’t traditional enemies but as we hadn’t used them we went for a ‘what if’ game…
    In DBA there are lists of traditional enemies for each army …but you can also fight against forces in the same era which allows people to do competitive gaming…

    All the best. Aly

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