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So, I've been investigating into the ruleset known as De Bellis Antiquitatis.

At the moment, I'm thinking of a Wars of the Roses selection, with 2 Wars of the Roses English sets from Essex miniatures - to represent the houses of Lancaster and York - and a third army, thanks to their 2-for-3 deal, that will either be French Ordonnance or Scots Common.

Can anyone steer me either towards or away from this system? It look intriguing - a chess-like game with a fairly large amount of abstraction, with armies that are only 12 bases apiece, and that plays in ~1 hour.

IMO, and I do stress that, DBA attracts the very worst sort of Competition Wargamers. It is also the Wargames World Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Avoid it like the plague it is.

DBA - No thanks.

Would rather stick pins in my eyes. Frightful game.

But note, I play Hail Ceaser its almost diametric opposite!

Never saw a game of DBA that didn't end in an argument.

Bit like 40k then...

Far, Far worse

It's a great game. Very tactical and all measurements are pre-measured and that takes a lot of arguements off the table. I can see it being frustrating if you are unfamiliar with the rules as they are very specific and the manuevering of stands can force a superior force to succumb to a weaker force. I've been in a bunch of tourneys and it's quick and fun. It's sister game is Hordes of the Things which is great also.

I enjoy DBA, it is quick and uses rather small armies.

The rulebook is a bit dense and it can result in arguments (especially, it seems, with people who also play DBM) but it can give quick fun games

I am not very familiar with DBA but I know of it and have played in games using its rules.

It was the popular set for the Cowpens Gaming Convention that used to be held in the Clemson, SC area.

I enjoyed the rule sets, but again, have only played one or two games of it and that was several several years ago so take that for what its worth.

I used to play the online version although I don't think they utilize the current rules.

http://www.dbaol.com/

The forums are helpful if you have any questions or want to find players

http://www.fanaticus.org/discussion/index.php

DBA is a 'ok' rule system. Had a play with the rule set with my step dad. We never augured once as most people are saying. It's a good set of rules if you want to play quick 45min-1 hour games

Try and look at the rules of "Hordes of the things" thats a fantastic rule set, you can make armies from 40k, fantasy, Ancients, (you can even make a gnome army!), you name it.

Have you had a look at the DBMM and DBR series? That's what all the ancient players at my club play. It looks like it's be come the main rules for ancients

DBA is super for quick-playing, fun games in a smaller space that you need for a full scale army. You can also scale it up by grouping three armies together into a large one.

I dare say WAAC players are capable of having terrible arguments about it, but what game wouldn't produce that result?

It wouldn't still be one of the most popular historical rulesets 20 years after launch if it was a gakky system.

Be aware that v3 is being prepared at the moment and will probably be published this autumn. In the meantime, the v2.2 (?) rulebook only costs £5 so you won't lose a lot by starting to play with that.

See the Fanaticus website for much DBA help and information.

http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/index.html

Not sure where the negative comments are coming from. DBA is probably one of the most well known historicals out there and has simple, fast playing rules. It doesn't require a ton of minis, is adaptable to different scales (including figure scales), and the basing is supported by other rule sets, making your elements useful for other games.

The manual isn't the most user friendly, but once you get the hand of the basics, it makes alot more sense. It's also *much* easier if you have someone familiar with the rules explain it.

We like to double all distances, though, as otherwise ranges seem really short to figure scale.

I would also highly recommend Hordes of the Things for the Fantasy element. But I also like giant spiders and dragons fighting skeletal hordes :-).

Don't really care for DBMM, DBRR as they seem to add unnecessary complication to an inherently simple system. But it does allow greater distinguishing of element types.