Dux britanniarum in the 15th century

[max]

After much discussion, and waiting on my behalf, i have now tried the Dux britanniarum with my 15th century figures. I made some cards, gathered my forces using the ideas from the Dux varients topic and have played 3 games so far.
Tomorrow i shall post the cards i made on my blog and here too most likely, but in the mean time some pictures:







From and English raid game. The English found nothing in the merchant's house (church raid scenario) and forced to withdraw. Bows are less useful when you have to advance!

[max]

Here are the cards (copied from my blog):

Note: these are fan made, not intended for selling or any prohit on my behalf. Dux Britanniarum is a Toofatlardies game and all copyright belongs to them.
 
English suited cards (with a red cross on them)

Bounding move: As the Saxon card. 2 in the deck. Pursuit
Goad: As Saxon card. 2 in deck (migth swap for other, i included it to represent the English showing the French the two fingers)
Crouched lances!: Only included if shock cavalry in force. +1 to hit on charge. 2 in deck. Pursuit
Volley!: Archer group or fromation may fire again. 2 in deck. Retreat
 
French suited cards (with blue on them)
Crouched lances!: As above. 2 in deck. Pursuit
Hero of France: As Hero of the age British card.
Bravery: As Audacia British card.
No prisoners!: +D3 shock on charged enemy. Pursuit
 
Unsuited cards:
Fleet of foot: As in original game. 1 in deck.
Form up!: Imposes -1 to hit on enemy as your men stand close and present a wall of weapons. 2 in deck. Retreat
Evade: As original game. 1 in deck.
Disengage. As in original game. 1 in deck.
Step forth: As in original game. 2 in deck.
Desperare: As in original game. 4 in deck.
Fear: As in original game. 1 in deck.
Rally: As in original game. 1 in deck.
Armour bright: As in original game. 2 in deck.
 
English start with a Volley and Form up! card, the French with a Crouched lances! and Hero of France card.

Other notes on the blog, i think these rules have some potential in this period. If you test them, please give feedback.

Right, to war!

[commissarmoody]

Great idea with the cards.

[Lardy Rich]

Max

That looks great.  I would be VERY interested in publishing your amendments in one of the TooFatLardies Specials once you are done with playtesting.  Also if you fancy chatting through any ideas you have then don't hesitate to contact me, I am always happy to assist with spin-off projects like this. 

Living in St Albans I am naturally very interested in doing some Wars of the Roses stuff, so your ideas could be a great starting point.

By the way, when we are developing a set of new rules we tend to make up our own cards on old business cards.  They are a very cheap way to get things up and running, especially when you are making changes as you develop the rules.  One of our lads works for a company who sack staff regularly and he grabs their old cards when they have cleared their desks! 

Rich

[max]

The saga continues, with Jim Hale now working on a set of Dux Britanniarum for the Burgundian-French wars, and I've decided to concentrate on the 100 years wars.
Follow the arlequin's work here http://arlequinsworld.blogspot.co.uk/p/dux-burgundiae.html

For my part, i've done a draft career paths for English and French where (like in the 'grail quest' book series by Bernard Cornwell) a band of English have taken a lightly defended castle and are planning to dominate the area for England. The French, either the lord's unfavoured son or commander of the militia, has the to gather a band of merry men and oust them!

Here they are, for those who don't like going on links to blogs (on my blog they're in a nice table, hard to :

English career path:
Indentured
captain
Reside in your castle and dominate the immediate area
-

You may retain up to 2 elite Groups
-

You must pay your men with a share of the plunder or they will abandon you
A beggar’s bowl

If you reward you men and bribe the local political leaders you will be seen as the real power in the area
A knight’s purse
Knight
Reside in your castle, you now have some support. You must still pay your men
A beggar’s bowl

You may retain up to 2 elite Groups
-

You may conquer land from the French, taking their rents and paying you men with them.
-

You may persuade the locals to name you their Lord (marrying a local lady, offering them safety…). You may only do so after victory in a Battle
A squire’s tribute
Lord
Reside in your castle, you are now the lord of the surrounding area
-

You may retain up to 3 elite Groups
-

A priest will join you if you give a donation to his church
A beggar’s bowl

A herald will join you, giving you +1 to any speech
A beggar’s bowl

You may increase farm production at you castle and towns
A knight’s purse each

You may send a messenger with suitable gifts to your patron, who will reward you with promotion
A duke’s purse
Earl
Reside in your castle, you are now the lord of the surrounding estates
-

You may retain up to 3 elite Groups
-

You may strength you castle walls
An earl’s riches

You may strength the walls of 1 town in each estate
A squire’s tribute each

You may build fortified manors in each estate
A squire’s tribute each

You may establish a spy in the enemy camp
An earl’s riches


French career path:
Militia officer
Reside in your house, you are an officer in the local militia
-

You may retain up to 1 elite Group
-

A priest may join you if you provide him assistance
-

You may gain promotion if you donate money to your lord
A squire’s tribute
Militia captain
You are the local militia leader with some local power
-

You may retain up to 1 elite Group
-

You must build outposts on the borders of your lord’s estates
A beggar’s bowl each

You may gain promotion with a donation to you lord
A squire’s tribute
Local political leader
You are the captain of the militia and have some power in the estates
-

You may retain up to 2 elite Groups
-

A herald will join you, giving you +1 to any speech
A beggar’s bowl

You may increase food production at the castle and the towns
A knight’s purse each

You may build one fortified manor for you forces
A squire’s tribute

You may be promoted to you Lord’s Commander if you show you support
A prince’s chest

You may buy the support of the middle classes to claim you lord’s position should he suffer an accident. If you win your next battle, you lord dies and you become lord, rolling for regicide. If you lose, you lose support and nothing happens
An earl’s riches
Lord
Reside in your castle, you are the lord of the area
-

You may retain up to 3 elite Groups
-

You may build an abbey, and a bishop/monk will join you in 12 months
An earl’s riches

You may strengthen you castle walls
An earl’s riches

You may strength the walls of 1 town in each province
A squire’s tribute each

You may build fortified manors in each estate
A squire’s tribute each

You may call upon local lord’s to launch an offensive against the English
A knight’s purse

You may establish a spy in the enemy camp
An earl’s riches
Commander
Reside in your castle, you are the lord of the area
-

You may retain up to 4 elite Groups
-

You may strengthen you castle walls
An earl’s riches

You may strength the walls of 1 town in each province
A squire’s tribute each

You may build fortified manors in each estate
A squire’s tribute each

You may call upon local lord’s to launch an offensive against the English
A duke’s purse

You may establish a spy in the enemy camp
An earl’s riches

You may acquire you lord’s support to replace him should he die naturally.
A squire’s tribute

Actual post here: http://scyldandseax.blogspot.fr/2012/10/career-paths-routiers-and-militia.html

Contribute should you wish, play if you like this period!

[Arlequín]

Great...    Now I'm going to have to do something now that you've 'outed' me...   

Seriously though, as a thought, maybe you could create a 'picture' in MSPaint (or as a PDF if you're able) or something, of the tables, so that they can be saved and printed off by anyone interested? Wouldn't really be much extra work and far easier than C+P a blog post, or post on here and trying to format it on word or whatever. That's my plan anyway.

 

[max]

Good idea!
Don't feel pressured, slow and steady wins the race, i'm just doing lots because it's a miserable day here. 

[max]

Oops, forgot the currency names.
0: Empty purse
1: Beggar's bowl (?)
2: Thief's horde
3: Squire's tribute
4: Knight's purse
5: Earl's riches
6: Duke's purse
7: Prince's chest
8:King's ransom
9: Help! 
10: Riches of Burgundy (rubbish i know...)

[Arlequín]

Nice 

How about slotting in Soldier's pay and Captain's pay in there and bumping King's ransom to the top... what do you think of a Knight's fee?  sorry.   

[janner]

There's also the option for a Banneret between Knight and Earl 

[max]

Hmm, maybe:
1: Soldier's pay
2: Merchant/tradesman purse
3: Captain's pay
4: Knight's fee
5: Banneret's pay
6: Ba
7:
8:
9:
10

[max]

Oooops, clicked reply too early 
6: Baron's income
7: Earl's riches
8: Duke's coffers
9: Prince's purse
10: King's ransom
Jim, very inprested by you recent post, puts my jumbled of collection of posts in the shade. Very organised and thought over.
Just 1 question, can mounted Soldier missile troops charge? You say Foot soldier missile troops can't but when you talk about mounted soldiers you say 'either' or something like that. Maybe i read it wrong but a little clarification from the author would help 

[Arlequín]

Sorry... obviously I wasn't paying attention there. Yes mounted missile troops can charge, except those that are mounted 'Harassers'. Non-elites operate exactly the same as 'Light Cavalry' do under the rules, except that I gave the option of them using the crossbow mounted.

I want to stress that I see them as 'lighter' cavalry, rather than 'light cavalry', as we would understand it, which sets them apart from true light cavalry, like the Stradiots for example. The mounted Harassers on the other hand are the opposite extreme, just being more mobile versions of their foot counterparts and with the same desire not to get involved in any real combat.

This conversation will perhaps make more sense if I actually link to what Max is on about. I don't really like pimping my blog on LAF, other than in my signature and I also don't want to kidnap Max's 'baby' either... but by the same token, I don't see the point in starting a thread of my own on pretty much the same topic, or C+P what I have on there here.

I had sort of hoped he'd just steal the bits he liked...  

[max]

Ok, thought so as reading one of ou artices you said some missile troops would engage in hand to hand with the melee troops. English archers did it all the time.

[Arlequín]

Most missile troops got stuck in when it came to it, they were armed and dangerous and ready to supplement their erratic pay by robbing those they killed. There are few armies where even the semi-pro players didn't have the required kit to play. Although not the ideal example, it was largely English archers who both routed the French troops in the woods near Castillon and who eventually stormed the French camp.   

A look at the laws and ordinances across Europe, paint pretty much the same pictures - helmets, at least a jack, almost invariably a sword and of course the missile weapon itself. French (and I also believe Burgundian?) Ordonnance Archers were equipped with 'two handed swords' (if my French is correct at least "...les archiers les portent longues, tranchans comme rasouers et sont a deux mains..")

Contemporary illustrations show long swords, falchions and a variety of other weapons - stuff you wouldn't carry about for show, as they're quite heavy. Armour is shown reinforcing vulnerable joints (areas that aren't overly vulnerable to 'returned fire', but are targets in close combat). Obviously poor morale and other local factors might change their willingness to fight, but these weren't one trick ponies, especially the professionals.

Obviously the commander of such troops faces a choice though. They are good fighters, but not the best fighters (i.e. the men at arms and the 'lesser men at arms' - bill or voulge armed coutilliers, squires and other professionals, what have you, mixed in with them, or the bands of professional pikes or halberdiers etc), so he has to weigh up whether they will likely win a fight, or should he withdraw them.

I've changed the rules slightly to force them to stand* or evade against superior troops, but may charge against a flank or rear of such a group given the opportunity. They may however charge similar or inferior troops regardless. This stops a player doing a 'spoiling attack' on his opponent's men at arms and melee troops with his archers, before they engage his own men at arms etc. I would assume that they would normally evade when faced with superior troops, if not behind some fortification, or have the benefit of stakes etc.

*Professionals though can 'close ranks'.