Last Updated August 14, 2002
PIP POINTS
+1 Group up to 6 elements wide or halt a group from spontaneous advance.
-1 If C & C is present in group
+1 If general is fighting
+1 Any irregs except Lh / Ps / Ax make a turn or sidestep, or form unform column.
+1 Any cavalry and infantry moving together except Ps or Generals
+1 To stop irregs from spontaneous advance
+1 any irregs except Ps & Lh marching for 3rd turn
+1 Group move in rough terrain unless Ax or Ps
COMBAT FACTORS
Unit
Cav
Shoot
Foot
2nd Rank
Spear
4
4
4
+1 (+1 V Mounted)
3 man chariots
4
4
3
.
Bow
3
3/2
2
(+1 V mounted)
Blades
3
4
5
(+1 V mounted)
2 man chariots
3
3
3
.
Warband / Aux
2
3
3
+1 (+1 V Mounted
Lh / Ps / Hd
2
2
2
.
Spear / Blade / Bow & Aux get +1 for 2nd rank of Bow against mounted, (S) or (O)
CLOSE COMBAT RESULTS TABLE
Greater than but not double. Everything not killed RECOILS
Troop Killed Attrition & Recoil
Heavy Chariots Fighting in rough Everything else
Light Chariots Fighting in rough All mounted / Ps / Bow / Any Shooting
Lh Nothing Light Chariots / Lh / Bow / Ps
Spear / Blade Heavy Chariots / Warband Everything else
Warband Heavy Chariots in good going Everything else
Auxillia Heavy Chariots Everything else
Bowmen Any mounted in contact Everything else
Psiloi Any mounted in hand to hand combat in good going Warband / Aux / Ps / Bow / Any Shooting
 
Double. Everything not killed FLEES, also suffer attrition unless marked otherwise
Light Chariots Everything else inc Blade (F) Blade (O) / Spear
Lh Mounted in contact / Bow in contact Everything else except Bld or Spear which only flee
Psiloi Mounted / Bow / Aux / Ps Everything else except Bld or Spear which only flee
All Others EVERYTHING !  

MOVEMENT

  • Kn(L) move as cav fight as Kn(O), Warbands move at 3. Otherwise standard DBM.
  • All movement is in squares of 40mm
  • Groups may move sideways at a cost of +1 movement points plus additional PIP's if irregs. (Groups may not sidestep once within 4 squares of the enemy).
  • Groups may turn 90 degrees. The movement cost in squares is equal to the width of the line
  • Ps and Lh can make as many 180 degree turns free of charge as they wish
  • March moves are the same as DBM except must stop at 4 squares from enemy
CLOSE COMBAT TACTICAL FACTORS
+1 Generals element
-1 for each flank attack or 2nd shooter
-2 if part of a demoralised command
-2 rough terrain for all but Ps / Ax / Bw
-1 if Attrition in previous combats
+1 Behind cover or uphill or defending river
MOVEMENT SPEEDS
Unit type
Open
Rough
Light Horse
4
3
Light Chariot
4
0
Heavy Chariot
3
0
Aux / Bow / Ps / Wb
3
3
Spear / Blade / Hordes
2
2

CLOSE COMBAT REAR SUPPORT

  • Spear, Warband Auxillia and Bow get 2nd rank support if in good going and of same type
  • Psiloi never get 2nd rank support
  • Aux, Spear and Blade don't get rear support from Psiloi now.
TROOP TYPES
Knights (H/Ch)
S
 4 horse chariots
O
 3 man 2 horse chariots
Cavalry (L/Ch)
S
 2 man elite Bow chariots Shoot at factor 3 but don't count (S) (Also cost +1 point)
O
 2 man non bow chariots
L/H
O
 Poor Light horse
Bowmen
Reg O
 Elite bowmen / Asharittu
Irr O
 All other Bow inc levy and hupshu
Psiloi
O
 All Psiloi skirmishers
Hordes
O
 All hordes
Spear
O I
 Same as DBM
Blades
O I F
 Same as DBM
Warband
O
Move at speed 3
Auxilia O Supporting ranks
Asharittu are Reg Bd(O) with 2nd rank of Reg Bw(O) that can fire. Hupshu are Ir Ax(O) with 2nd rank of Ir Bw(O) that can fire.
TROOPS TYPES - Similar to DBM, except (F) has been done away with and some (I)'s have gone.
INTERPENETRATION TABLE
.
Hch
Lch
Lh
Sp

Bd / Ax /
Bw / Wb
Ps
Hd
Hch
.
.
OK
.
.
OK
.
Lch
.
.
OK
.
.
OK
.
Lh
OK
OK
OK
.
OK
OK
.
Sp
.
.
.
.
.
OK
.
Bd / Ax /
Bw / Wb
.
.
OK
.
OK
OK
.
Ps
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
Hd
.
.
.
.
.
OK
.

RECOILING

Go back 1 square no matter what the base depth. Recoil through anything allowed so long as it is facing the same direction, Lh and Ps any direction. OTHERWISE push back anything so long as they are facing the same direction, (Lh and Ps can be pushed from any direction). OTHERWISE both elements are destroyed.

DESTROYED ELEMENTS

All elements in the square or the one behind are destroyed along with destroyed unit. Including enemy units if side or rear on. Only exceptions are if the front unit was Psiloi or Light Horse

FLEEING

Rout back normal move +1. If flee on opponents turn then miss your next movement, may only turn in any direction for no PIP's

EVADING

1
Normal Move -2
2
Normal Move -1
3,4
Normal Move
5,6
Normal Move +1

If Charged and Lh, Cav, or Ps, you may try to evade, roll 1D6 on the table above. The charger may move their full normal move, even if they fail to contact the evader and move beyond the initial start point of the evader.

I am undecided about evading but largely believe (in theory) that if you evaded, then you can't have a movement turn (other than a free 180 degree turn) on your next turn.

 

PURSUING

Knights (not chariots), Pikes, Irreg Spear, Irreg Blade, Warband must follow up one square. All other units have the option to do so if it was hand to hand combat.

 

EXPLANATIONS OF RULES

PIP's - These are allocated and used as per DBM, except that the actual Table of PIP costs is replaced with mine above. This is a simplified table, similar to DBM but with a few subtle differences.

COMBAT FACTORS - Again similar to DBM except that the only elements that get +1 for a 2nd rank of similar troops are indicated +1. Those indicated (+1 V Mounted) are for a second rank of BOW troops not Psiloi. This more appropriately represents chariot armies, especially Assyrian etc.

Shoot figure is if shot at, not if shooting. i.e. about the same as DBM. Bow are basically factor 3 V mounted and 2 V foot whether hand to hand or shooting. I reduced bow from 4 to 3 V mounted because of the attrition factor. Bow would otherwise be too strong.

CLOSE COMBAT - similar to DBM, though only one shooter can aid, check the rough terrain, PLUS attrition. This is a big factor and will be explained later.

MOVEMENT - Very similar to DBM but remember the distances are squares of 40mm for 15mm figures (60mm for 25mm figures). Bit that might confuse people is group wheels. Because of the limitation of squares, only wheels in multiples of 90 degrees are allowed. (To compensate for this groups are allowed to "Sidestep" whilst moving forwards, which is not allowed in DBM). The number of squares a unit can move is the maximum width of group that may be wheeled 90 degrees. e.g. A group of light horse 5 elements wide could be wheeled 90 degrees, whilst a group of only 3 auxillia could be wheeled. If a larger group than this needs to be wheeled, it needs to be done as separate wheels, this will produce breaks in the line, but in reality the ancients could not wheel 20,000 in a single line!

COMBAT RESULTS - Very simply in DBM most troops recoiled if opponent scored higher and were killed if opponent scored double. My house rules tend to be roughly the same, except most troops who recoil or flee also suffer ATTRITION.

ATTRITION - This represents accumulating dead and wounded, increased fatigue, and the morale effects of losing the fight. Any unit that suffers attrition fights for the remainder of the game with a factor of -1. (This recovers if playing a campaign game). No unit can ever suffer more than one attrition. Basically this means that tactics like multi line Republican Romans against Macedonians actually works. In DBM the Romans tend to get massacred, then the Phalangites pile into the 2nd line and do the same again, even robots would have to stop for an oil break! My modification tends to take the sting out of some units, but more importantly it urges the general to keep reserves. (NB I happen to be a big fan of the Macedonians and have a huge Macedonian army, I just don't think DBM reflects reality adequately enough)

INTERPENETRATION - One of my pet hates is the DBM interpenetration rules, they are totally inconsistent and unreasonable (They appear to have been based around the battle of Agincourt only!) You will notice that in my table considerably more interpenetration can be carried out, enabling multiple line fighting.

SHOOTING - The big difference here is that Psiloi and Light Chariots (S) can actually shoot. Bow can fire 4 squares, whilst Psiloi and Light chariots may fire 2 squares.

Chariots can only fire 1 rank, Bow and Psiloi can fire 2 ranks deep.

Bowmen fire with the same factors as DBM, Psiloi fire with a factor of 2. Light chariots (S)fire with a factor of 3 which makes them very dangerous, but in compensation they do not count as (S) anymore, just Cv(O).

ALTERNATIVE RULE - An alternative is to reduce their firepower to only 2 or not allow them to fire at all, in either case they retain the (S) factor.

WINNING THE GAME - A subtle change to standard DBM. Instead of commands collapsing at 1/3rd element losses, it's 1/3rd points losses. Which means you have to be more careful about the valuable elements, but you can be fairly reckless with those rubbish levy. Don't count points for Scythed Chariots.

TROOP CLASSIFICATION - I had removed (F) in total, but with the new rules in DBM V3 for S,I,F troops, F are not as tragic as they were, and S aren't super troops. In brief the rule in in DBM V3 says that instead of Rolling up or down 1 if S, I, F your OPPONENT gets the 1 modifier, this has the effect of halving the effectiveness of the modifier.

Due to changes in the army lists my Egyptian Spearmen are now classed as Blade (F). On the whole I think this is reasonable. My pathetic Hittite auxilia have been upgraded to Aux (X) super troops. I feel this is unreasonable (Despite them being my best painted figures). I intend to leave them as Aux (O) but use my rule that allows all Aux to fight double ranked, more subtle than the official changes, but I think more reasonable

 

IN SUMMARY

Let me know what you think, I'm interested to here of anyone who tries these ideas out, and comes up with improvements or problems with them. In case any Assyrian commanders want a little motivation, try this Assyrian Battle Poem excavated last century in Assyria.

 

Return to DBM Page

 

ASSYRIAN BATTLE POEM.

With battle and slaughter I assaulted and took the city, 3,000 warriors I slew in battle. Their possessions I carried away. Many captives I burnt with fire, many of their soldiers I took alive, of some I cut off hands and limbs, of others the noses, ears and arms; of many soldiers I put out the eyes, I reared a column, a column of the living, and a column of heads. I hung up their heads on trees; their boys and girls I burnt: I destroyed the city, burnt it.