Looking for a review on Dux Britanniarum and thoughts on Saga please?

[ulverston]

Hi Guys,

I was looking for information on the Dux Britanniarum game which appears to be a really original set up and is played as a campaign... and that's all I know! I have seen a couple of Lardy vids on youtube but not a lot else. Its not cheap at over £30 and so would like your thoughts if anyone is actually playing it?

I am not a fan of cards in wargames nor of specialist dice which has stayed my hand on the Saga ruleset.. is Saga a decent/easy game to play?

The lockdown is giving me the opportunity to work on the shameful mountain of figures I have stashed away from the wife and I like to organise them into units for games systems but I don't have rules for this period (unless you count Lion Rampant, DBA and Dux Bellorum!).

Thanks for any thoughts/advice. I have Sub Roman Brits in 28mm and generic Dark Age spearmen to work on...

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Are you playing solo, being in isolation, or are you getting your wife to play against you?
I have played Dux Brit and find it is hard to play solo.  You have to build a hand of cards for each side.  I find it hard to not have each side build a hand that simply counters the other side.  If you can find a way to play with hidden cards it may work.  As an adversarial game it plays well and can be fun.  A lot depends on scenario design.

There is a Dark Age adaptation for Lion Rampant on the Dux Rampant forum. 

[fred]

I don’t have experience of Dux Brit, but it seems to get a lot of good press.

I have played lots of Saga, it is a good game, but it certainly can feel a bit more on the heroic (if not fantastical) side of history, with some of the battle board abilities. The new version of Saga cleans up the rules nicely, it is a good game to play, fairly straight forward around the basic rules, but gives a good interesting game. The real depth comes in the battle boards (which need the custom dice). There are options for DIY dice, but having done this, I’d just buy the ones you need. The battle boards can take a bit of learning for each faction - so that you know the different abilities and when is best to use them.

For solo play the battle boards probably make it difficult. Having to manage two boards wouldn’t be easy - especially if you are new to the game.

As you already have Dux Bellorum and Lion Rampant what doesn’t work with those rules for you? I’ve played both a tiny amount, and neither really floated my boat, but it might help others with suggestions.

[Ogrob]

I like SAGA and play both the Viking age and Fantasy version. The special dice would probably make it decent for solo gaming, because you have some randomness influencing your decisions.

It's a small unit-level skirmish game, units fight and move together. The rules are fairly simple and relatively abstract (the only real stats are how many dice a figure rolls in combat and their armour value that enemies roll against). It is very much a historically-inspired game as opposed to a simulation of real battles. You roll your SAGA dice and place them on your battleboar to ativate units and special abilities, and some of these are fairly supernatural (but not outright magic) in feel.

Quick and fun game, greatly enhanced by the scenario book, Book of Battles. We tend to play a randomly generated scenario from there.

[Belisarius]

You may also  want to consider Dux Bellorum by Dan Mersey from Osprey for under a tenner.

[julesav]

I'd just like to point out that you do not 'need' the 'special dice' to play Saga. You can use ordinary dice but it does slightly, but not I think significantly, slow speed of play.

[OB]

Have a look at Comitatus by Simon McDowell. 

It was designed for the period, gives a good game and has enough built in uncertainty to give an interesting solo game.  The designer has a website so you can see if it look like your sort of thing.

[Atheling]

There are a few vids on You Tube that you may find useful- some better then others:

[ulverston]

Thanks for the info chaps. I will certainly watch the vids as there is at least one that I have not seen. Saga may be a go as I was begrudging paying twelve quid for the special dice! I have the Dan Mersey set but feel its more suited to 15mm or that may just be me?
A Dark Age version of Lion Rampant would be very interesting and I will have a look for the information on that game also I will look at Comitatas as I have never come across that before.
Thanks for the help Chaps, there is certainly plenty to go at.

[Atheling]

A Dark Age version of Lion Rampant would be very interesting

There's a Dark Ages version of the game in one of the Wargames Illustrated articles written by Dan Merser the author from a few years ago. I forget which issue it was in. Hopefully someone in the LAF Medieval section might have a better memory then me

[Christian]

There's a Dark Ages version of the game in one of the Wargames Illustrated articles written by Dan Merser the author from a few years ago. I forget which issue it was in. Hopefully someone in the LAF Medieval section might have a better memory then me

Ooh, nice! It seems to have appeared in Wargames Illustrated #331 - "Landwasters and Raven Feeders".

Doing a quick Google search for it leads me straight to... your blog

[ulverston]

I found the Lion Rampant article on the excellent Oldsardes blog.... is that the one?

[Christian]

I found the Lion Rampant article on the excellent Oldsardes blog.... is that the one?

I just looked it up, I am sure I've seen it before but thanks for the reminder... for anyone interested, it's here: https://gary-oldsargeswargameandmodelblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/landwasters-and-raven-feeders-for-lion.html

[Hu Rhu]

My gaming pal and I have played a lot of Dux Brit and almost every time it has produced a great game.  The cards work really well and allow you to craft a tactic that will give you an edge in one particular engagement but do not overwhelm the game. 

The different factions play out well and allow you to develop a feel as to how each side is best set up to win.  The raids are quite varied but can sometimes produce an odd result, especially when trying to capture one of the nobles, depending on the random entry points.

The campaign system works really well, although we have adapted the rules slightly to allow the British to gather taxes when the Saxons cannot raid. This balances out the Saxon ability to raid unchallenged when the British are unable to field an army.

Overall I would thouroughly recommend them for two player games. If you wanted to play solo then it would need some adaption since the cards would provide no surprise at all. 

[Atheling]

Ooh, nice! It seems to have appeared in Wargames Illustrated #331 - "Landwasters and Raven Feeders".

Doing a quick Google search for it leads me straight to... your blog

  It does!!