Dux Bellorum Review

Dux Bellorum Review

Osprey's latest , Dux Bellorum: Arthurian Wargaming Rules 367-793, skillfully blends traditional wargaming mechanics with elegant resource management and simple-flowing army design.  Although it covers a slightly different period than Saga, I think it will appeal to the same player audience looking for a quick-playing Dark Age game.

The Basics

Dux Bellorum is a scale independent game -- the photos and illustrations show everything from 10mm to 28mm.  Likewise, you can play in either inches or centimeters, since all measurement is in multiples of the standard Base Width you have chosen.  That said, Dux Bellorum seems strongly to prefer rectangular-based stands containing multiple figures, with the number of figures depending on unit type.  Most ancient games already follow such standards, but those of us playing with 28mm figures on round bases would probably have to make some movement trays for our figures.

As befits the age, Dux Bellorum recognizes only a few types of troops: based largely on their movement and preferred style of combat: shieldwall (defensive foot), warriors (offensive foot), mounted, skirmishers, and bows. There are also levels of quality -- ordinary, noble and a single special "companion" unit of your best fighters.  Each unit type throws a number of offensive dice in combat, and has a protection rating indicating how hard it is to hurt.  It also has a cohesion rating -- essentially its hit points before breaking.

The turn sequence alternates between attacker and defender, by the mobility level of troops.  Skirmishers go before mounted units who go before foot units.   But this sequence can be interrupted by leadership abilities.  Each unit must pass a bravery test in order to move (or if it's the frenzied sort, not to move), and again, you may use leadership points to influence them.

Thus, Leadership Points provide a welcome additional level of complexity and thought to the game.  Your general generates a number of Leadership Points -- which can be more or less depending on how much you're willing to pay.  You then allocate the points to units or groups at the beginning of the turn, and spend them during play to achieve different effects.  You can spend them to cancel hits on your units, to interrupt the sequence of play, or to modify your dice rolls for bravery.  So, rather as in Saga, you must manage resources and set priorities in order to win.

So is it Dux vs. Saga, then?

Another ruleset to learn?

Dux Bellorum and Saga will likely appeal to a similar audience: those who like the Dark Ages, those who like smallish games, and casual rather than obsessively competitive players. So you might be wondering: How do they compare?  Are they direct competitors? and (maybe most importantly for the budget-conscious)  Can you play both with the same model collection?

Dux Bellorum and Saga are both well-designed, tight game systems. Both involve some resource management.  But Dux is a more traditional, staid offering than Saga.  Its system of Leadership Points will not generate the same level of crazy carnage as the Saga Battle Board. That's good or bad depending on your perspective, and how much just plain random you like in your games.  Saga also seems better for tournaments. Dux claims not to be a tournament game, but I think it could easily be made one, so long as the organizers specified a standard size and basing.  Here Saga has a slight advantage simply because it is associated with one scale and an "official" figure range. I suspect Dux Bellorum will appeal more to dedicated historical players, and Saga will go over better with the beer and pretzels crowd. There's plenty of room in the world for both approaches.

Moreover, Dux Bellorum covers a different historical period than Saga: both are Dark Age games, but Dux Bellorum runs from the Romano-British era through the Saxon invasions, into the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.  It ends pretty much where Saga kicks off -- with the Vikings.  You can just about stretch Dux to include early Vikings, but if you are particular about your little round-shielded warriors, they just ain't from the same time.

This, along with basing issues, complicates the inter-compatibility of your model collection.  If you have your Saga figures on square bases, you can fit up a movement tray easily enough. (Or use the rather unsatisfying work-around rules in Dux itself.)  Round bases will make this more of a chore.  Your figures will not be strictly accurate for the period, but you can probably make do with every army except the Normans, who just need to stay at home.

Anyway, I quite like Dux Bellorum, which seems a solid, well-designed game with plenty of interest on its own, and as a way to play with an existing collection of Saga models.  I look forward to some games.