Dux Bellorum: Arthurian Wargaming Rules AD367-793

by Daniel Mersey, José Daniel Cabrera Peña (Illustrator)

Overview

The Dark Age of Britain, from the middle of the 4th century to the end of the 8th, was a time of violence and warfare, when charismatic warlords such as the fabled King Arthur could gather together armies and carve out their own kingdoms. With this new set of wargames rules, players can take on the role of these warlords and command their own armies on the tabletop. Written by the author of the popular Glutter of Ravens rules set, Dux Bellorum is an element-based system, where each base of figures represents 50 fighting men. Each player has a specific number of points with which to construct his force and can choose a Late Roman, Romano-British, Welsh, Saxon, Pictish, Irish, or Sea Raider army, amongst others. The game is then played out following a set of simple, fast-paced rules. A completely self-contained gaming system, Dux Bellorum is perfect for gamers who are looking for a way into fighting Dark Age battles without investing a lot of time or money in larger rulesets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780968797
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	08/20/2012
Series:	Osprey Wargames , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Daniel Mersey's previously published miniatures games include Glutter of Ravens (Outpost Wargame Services, 1998) and Song of Arthur&Merlin (Ganesha Games, 2008). He has contributed articles to Battlegames, Miniature Wargames, Saga, Slingshot, and Wargames Illustrated since the mid 1990s, and has authored two history books: Legendary Warriors (Anova, 2002) and Arthur King of the Britons (Summersdale, 2005). One day, one day, he'll win a game (or at least get a draw).
Daniel Mersey has spent more than three decades leading miniature armies to spectacular defeat on tabletop battlefields. He has won no medals and his armies will never salute him. Daniel has been writing books, gaming articles, and rulesets since the 1990s. His rulebooks for Osprey Publishing include two Origins Award-nominated titles, Lion Rampant and Dragon Rampant, and the UK Games Expo Judges' Award-winning Rebels and Patriots (with Michael Leck). In 2021, Daniel was appointed as the University of Edinburgh's first ever Games Designer in Residence.

Table of Contents

Welcome to Dux Bellorum 4

The golden rule of gaming 5

Why 'Dux Bellorum'? 5

Understanding the Basics 6

Things you'll need in addition to this book 6

Unit types 6

Unit stats 7

Leaders 9

Sample armies 10

Basing 13

Measuring and Base Widths (BW) 14

Playing the Game 15

Getting ready to play 15

Setting out the battlefield 16

Deployment and determining Aggressors and Repellers 18

Groups and Units 18

Turn sequence 18

Allocating LPs 20

Missile fire 22

Movement and Bravery tests 24

Close combat 30

Ending the turn 39

Ending the game: winning and losing 39

Army Lists 42

Strategies and Tactics 50

Scenarios 56

Annals Battle 56

Dawn Attack 56

End of Reign 57

River Battle 58

Village Raid 58

Scenario idea: Sieges 58

Scenario idea: The Bard's Tale 60

Artwork References 61

Dux Bellorum Quick Reference Sheet 62

Dux Bellorum Army Roster 64

Editorial Reviews

"This fascinating new rules set enables the gamer to become a warlord in the Dark Ages from the middle of the 4th century to the end of the 8th century, a time fraught with legendary heroes such as King Arthur and Sir Galahad. Players may be Roman officers, or any of a number of charismatic leaders of warring tribes such as the Picts, Saxons, Irish, British, etc. Again, the artwork is compelling and interesting to the Dark Ages gamer." - Scott L. Mingus, CHARGE! Civil War Wargaming

"...interesting read for enthusiasts and an excellent way to get a nice set of rules for the time period." - Scott Van Aken, Modeling Madness

"The value of [Osprey Wargame] books is unbelievably good. Generally, $20 can get you an interesting ruleset with great artwork." - Jacob Stauttener, Must Contain Minis

From the Publisher