Dux Britanniarvm - Thoughts

[Vulture]

Just recently obtained the Dux Britanniarvm rules by the 'Too Fat Lardies'.  Anyone else played them ?   Are they worth getting into ?  Perhaps it's my age but they don't seem that accessible...  (part way through a first read)

Kind regards to all

Vulture  

[olyreed]

I think they are a great set of rules, try out some of the raid scenarios first to get used to the rules then maybe have a look at the campaign

[agent_pumpkin]

I completely agree with olyreed. Great set of rules, well worth reading all the way through. I played each scenario separately before I tried a campaign, and even then I made my own up. Oh and the Raiders supplement is good as well.

Good luck with it, and if your not sure about anything just ask. Iv'e seen the rules author on here and they have a excellent yahoogroup andforum

[Sunjester]

They are a fun set of rules, but I found they needed a couple of readings to fully grasp the mechanisms.

[WillieB]

Well, I'm biased as I feel they are the best set of rules to have come out in the last decade.
Yes, they need careful reading or rather don't read too much, too deep. It's a simple game really once you get the basics right.

Anyway if you have questions there's a whole community actually eager to help you out. Simply join the TFL forum ( preferably)  or the Yahoo group. Richard Clarke will answer all your questions on either.

My group of players is a finicky lot, believe me. Yet they are now playing their second multi-player campaign of Dux B for a total of 28 months. The second campaign is winding down now and will culminate in two large multi player battles, just as the previous one, and already 13 players have asked for a new , 3rd campaign to start early next year.
No single game or rule set has ever been more popular that this, and getting a players group together in my neck of the woods is often like herding feral cats.

Buy Raiders as well. Aside from the inclusion of the Irish, Scotti and Pict invaders it also adds some elements to the basic game.

[Charlie_]

Ok, I don't really known what DB is all about. Would anyone like to give me a run-down?

[Dilettante Gamer]

To the OP, it's a fantastic set of rules if you're in to that period.  Here are its merits:
> Proper scenarios for raids - which is most of the action
> The card mechanics that gives you meaningful battlefield choices
> If you're playing a campaign, those cards will also be used to evade or pursue at the end of the game to have carry-over consequences
> Built in "friction" - as with all Lardies rules, there's a degree of randomness that ensures it doesn't go all your way and you'll have to adjust on the fly
> Great color for pre-game activities (optional)
> Character advancement for your lord

Basically, I like them because they give good in-game choices and they're brimming with period color.

Ok, I don't really known what DB is all about. Would anyone like to give me a run-down?

Post-Roman Britain as the Saxons are starting to muscle in.  Roughly 48 models per side, with card-driven turns as well as Fate cards that can be used to bolster your troops/tactics or hinder your opponent. 

Mostly raid-level scenarios - ambushing a wagon train, raiding a farm or a village, etc.  These can be strung together in a map based campaign where the Saxons are trying to increase their control of British territories.  Between games you recruit new troops and deal with random events.  Record keeping his designed to be manageable.

It's a delight.

[AWu]

All of the TooFat Rules before Chain of Command are a little hard to grasp just by reading the rulebook (and all have peculiarities of some not intuitive rules placement).

Other what they have in common is that they are very good rules. Both innovative and playable.
I highly recommend them. In the campaign version. Very easy to follow and rewarding system.

[Nord]

Yes you should persevere, because yes they are deep down a good set of rules, just not particularly well laid out. You will come across all sorts of questions and queries and when you play, references to rules that you cannot find - an index would help. They are not the worst written rules I have tried, but they fall short of being well laid out. However, overcome that obstacle and they are a well designed set of rules. In essence they are very simple and after a few games you will be able to get by with the reference sheet on the back cover. The different scenarios are decent and keep things fresh for your first few games. The fate and activation cards make every game different, sometimes to a random degree that you may or may not enjoy.

There is a lot of campaign material, which is good to an extent - if you like story driven campaigns. I would recommend playing a handful of raids as practise before you kick off a full blown campaign.

On the downside, there are just two factions, so if you like to ring the changes with new armies, well, you can't! Not with the base set at any rate. The raiders supplement give extra factions (3 or 4 I think), but we never tried that. We ran out of steam on our campaign, after playing about 10 games one side was so far ahead of the other that we gave in. As with so many campaign systems, there is no inbuilt mechanism to give the underdog a chance to recover, so it's very easy for one faction to get far ahead in a short time space.

Do keep reading though and play a few games.

[AWu]

Well its campaign of being subjugated or defending from attack, so I guess this is more of a feature (as with any narrative campaign where storytelling is mode important than victory), but I agree that It might feel pointless sometimes - I guess its good time to culminate the campaign and chose a winner.

[WillieB]

On the downside, there are just two factions, so if you like to ring the changes with new armies, well, you can't! Not with the base set at any rate. The raiders supplement give extra factions (3 or 4 I think), but we never tried that. We ran out of steam on our campaign, after playing about 10 games one side was so far ahead of the other that we gave in. As with so many campaign systems, there is no inbuilt mechanism to give the underdog a chance to recover, so it's very easy for one faction to get far ahead in a short time space.

Do keep reading though and play a few games.

Actually in our multi player campaign we have 6 factions; Romano- British, Saxons, Irish, Scotti, Picts and 'renegade' Roman British.
To keep a campaign going we decided to implement Chris' suggestions about major and minor players ( See 'Meaty Dux' article in one of the specials. The latter gives new players an easy way to 'slide' in to the campaign.
And yes it is possible for one of the players to get ahead of others especially if he or she wins a battle. It is possible to knock out an opponent for several 'gaming' months. But since that will likely culminate in a protracted siege afterwards, the loser will in all probability have time to recuperate at least part of his army.

[Finnegan]

I think Dux is a great set of rules. I've played about 5 games now and all were great fun for all the players participating.
We plan to do a campaign next year.

I do agree however that the layout (as in most TFL rule sets could be better). Just don't give up. They're worth it.

[Too Bo Coo]

The TFL rules are really nice all around, and Dux is one of my favorites.  Also give Chain of Command a look, very nice.