Dba 2.2 Simple Ancient and Medieval Wargaming Rules Including Dbsa and Dba 1.0 Paperback – March 22, 2013

DBA was one of the more significant innovations in tabletop wargaming and remains one of the best rule sets out there. The first edition rules were not terribly well-written, with some aspects of movement absent from the section on "Tactical Moves", but mentioned almost in passing in "Close Combat." I picked up a copy of version 2.2 after being away from the game for awhile, intending to take it up again. I had hopes that some of these ambiguities would be fixed in 2.2 but, alas, such was not the case. In fact, it might even be worse.Buy the rules, but be prepared to spend some time trying to make sense out of some truly incomprehensible instructions. Embrace the ambiguity; as a last resort, make something up. Once everyone agrees on what the rules are, DBA is a blast.

I have been playing DBA in its variations since the last millennium; I even purchased it in French (in Paris, of course; great way to practice your skills!) Although in places cryptically written they are invaluable and can easily be used to teach someone to play. After three half-our games they'll be at least as good as you. They are a must for any Grognard's collection, with an amazing number of army lists...

I love the whole DB(X) family of games. DBA is the perfect place to start and with good pictures and diagrams and a whole lot of great army lists this is the best version of the rules I have seen. I've enjoyed table top miniatures games for over thirty years, and if you are interested in historical battles of this sort, this is my favorite resource and game. Have Fun!

A good old standby. Very chess-like & perfect for those who like to quibble over minutiae while pretending they like a fast easy game. It is possible for it to be fun if you find the right kind of gamers who are more beer-&-pretzels than those who measure every fraction of a millimeter.

Excellent rules set

Good book!

Great Book! Great Rules! I would recommend this to any wargamer!

These rules are now out of date, get the new ones. 20 years ago these were the best ancient rules ever written. Now, however they have been superseded by the third edition. DBA 3.0. Do not buy these old rules because the new ones are just so much better, better explanation, better diagrams, better army lists. I played these rules for 15 years and loved every game. I would not go back to them for any reason. Hope you get the new ones. It’s funny that I give this book 5Stars but then I don’t recommend you buy it. That’s because the old one was such a great set In its day, I really can’t detract from it:) You might like to get this for historical purpose, to see they were like in the old days.

Having used DBR for my English Civil War, I have delved into the Wars of the Roses. Having purchased the Poleaxed orbits for the classic battles of the WotR, there is a handy conversion in the second Poleaxed volume to DBA. DBA at first appears way to simple. The writers suggest that you can learn the rules halfway through your first game and I won't argue with that. DBA, like DBR, is about generalship and tries to ignore the need for paperwork (I do keep a count of elements (stands) lost) or the over-the-top information like is a unit steady or within a point of breaking which no general would have time to notice. Elements are lost when they are lost - it's a table-top game system with possible surprises, where if something can fail in your master plan, it happens when you least expect it instead of predicting failures or success. This makes for a very fluid, subtle and often devastatingly quick defeat or victory so, if you have no reserve of knights, Men-At-Arms or bows, it's pretty much over. The use of Psiloi as skirmishers at first appears to be useless unless you read the DBA rules carefully. Psiloi can occupy flank areas or support your billmen. They can end up being the royal pain in the you-know-what when you expect, as the royal general, to wrap up the flank and demolish the enemy.Okay, enough of the rules. The book is only as good as you allow, or want it to be. At first reading it seems repetitive until you look closer and see that the rules are split into competition rules, big battle rules and campaigns. There are suggested Army lists which are as useful as you want them to be. You can feel tied to the reason that opposing armies would not face each other unless they were equal in points but, researching real battles, we know this was hardly ever the case and so the rules really do push you towards competitive equality where the Army lists are essential.Being me, I prefer hitting the history books (and aye, the Poleaxed Army lists) to refight the famous bloodbaths at St. Albans, Barnet or (when I get enough figures) Towton and DBA is superb. Don't expect handy photographs to break up the text (there is an example battle between Romans and Hannibal's Carthaginians again played as a competition game) and, to be honest, photos of figures in battle always makes a good rule book (if you have Fire & Fury you'll get my drift) but DBA covers such a long period I can understand why they did not include photographs. I could see me as a medieval player rolling my eyes at photos of ancients in my rule set so we can't really complain.So it's five stars from me for a long-standing rule set which continues to be the main rule set still used (allegedly) by gamers and competition organisers and it's hard to argue with the claim. If you look online, there is a cracking DBA computerised site which sets out army lists for competition games based around the famous battles including those mentioned by me.Finally, I would say, read the rules and seek the advice of gamers. I was at a loss as to what to do with Psiloi elements and thought they were a total waste of time and paint until I found a superb online introduction on the usefulness of Psiloi and, when I used them as suggested, I found myself nodding when they went into action and finally got it. So the rules really have subtle elements which means you end up learning something new with each game. Enjoy it.

It was good to be able to buy an updated version of one of my favourite Wargaming Rules sets. Sold at a good price and quickly delivered. I am very pleased with this.

Good copy of this version of the most influential wargames rules ever published!

Great rules but irritatingly written

This is evidently very widely used and popular at conventions and clubs throughout the world. It certainly is a very simple set and no doubt fulfils the brief of producing a quick game - or series of competition games. I enjoyed reading some of Phil Barker's comments on the history of the rules and about war gaming in general - lots of wisdom there and he comes across very impressively. The discussion in which he generalises about the broad types of medieval and ancient period troops, is interesting and stimulating, as are the short notes on tactics.A set of rules that produces an enjoyable wargame that satisfies both the quest for a recognisably 'realistic' battle and at the same time does it quickly without the tedium of table-consulting, modifier- application etc etc is the holy grail of the hobby. Clearly lots of enthusiasts have adopted the concept eagerly - to the apparent surprise of it's author Phil Barker. It's all a matter of balance and compromise of course - personally, it's not quite for me - much too simplistic and too great an emphasis on dice throws.For nearly £15 there's really not very much here - two versions of the rules - and lots of '12 element ' army' lists - by far the biggest chunk of the pamphlet.