A Fantasy Donnybrook Comic Report

[airbornegrove26]

I just tried out Donnybrook and thought it worked out great for fantasy.  As always more on my blog.  Enjoy

[Jeff965]

Love it, Donnybrook are my rules of the moment right now. I've used them for a wide range of black powder periods but never thought to use them for pure fantasy.
The author is busy putting together a Dark Age supplement on his blog which he says he will publish as a PDF in the near future if anyone's interested 

[dijit]

Always been a bit curious about Donnybrook, but the price has stopped me from trying it. Plus its I dont seem to have found any decent reviews of it yet. Whats your thoughts on it?

[Jeff965]

Well in a nut shell they are a set of rules that provide a basic framework that you can add to. So to someone like me with the IQ of a tree they are great, as I don't leave the room at the end of a gaming session with a massive headache from working my brain to hard.
They are card driven which I like, the mechanics for morale, movement, shooting and melee are very easy to learn, and the book is full of add ons such as extra rules for characters and artillery that allow you to personalise each game.
You also don't need vast armies to start playing, an elite force in a 4point game would muster about 20 figures and at the other end of the morale scale a raw force, about 50 figures.
There is a very VERY simple points system, but you don't have to stick to it. For example next week I hope to put on a Sikh War game with an attacking force of Brits which amount to 14 points and a defending force of Sikhs that amount to 9 points, its entirely up to you.
I've heard people call these rules Sharpe Practice lite, personally I would take that as a compliment 
I think the price for the rules is expensive, but it is a very nice book and considering the amount of use I've had from the rules they are well worth the money IMHO.

[airbornegrove26]

Thanks Jeff ya I'm really looking forward to the Dark Age Supplement. 

dijit:  I have a small review of it on the blog post for this report.  All my thoughts back up Jeff's review though.  I can't recommend it enough.  It is the rule-set that I have been looking for, and will be using it for most of my future projects.  It is especially suited for solo gaming, which I seem to be doing a lot of here lately.

This game was fought with 5 points of forces over 7 turns which took me about 2 hours with stops for photos and such.   

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[DeafNala]

HURRAH! A GLORIOUS VICTORY! Actually it was a GLORIOUS view of some GORGEOUS miniatures. VERY WELL DONE on all counts!

[fastolfrus]

Always been a bit curious about Donnybrook, but the price has stopped me from trying it. Plus its I dont seem to have found any decent reviews of it yet. Whats your thoughts on it?

Played it a few times. Easy rules that take minutes to learn (although much longer to read).
Different troop types use different dice, D6, D8, D10, even D12, but all aiming for the same score, so some are better than others.
Elite types come in small groups - 3 or 4 - but rabble types are in large groups eg 12.
Basically 1 point per group, so take your choice of eg 4 veteran grenadiers or 12 new recruits.

Games can be really quick too - once played a game from deployment to finish in under 30 minutes (thanks to a couple of very fluky dice rolls), but then replayed it taking 1½ hours.

I can see a similarity to SP2, but use Donnybrook for 1670-1730 and use SP2 for SYW - AWI.
Partially because Donnybrook has lists included for a variety of 1670-1730 possibilities, but also the mechanics are just that bit different so it seems to suit the era better than SP2 (to my viewpoint)

[airbornegrove26]

Thanks DeafNala