DUX BELLORUM... TRYING OUT THE SYSTEM!

 What do you do when you need sixes to score a hit but your dice just wont cooperate?

With just a unit of Romano-British Mounted Companions to complete, I thought I'd better get a few troops on the table and have a go at the Dux Bellorum combat system. I have to confess that I hadn't expected what followed to turn out the way it did...

On the left is a Group of two Units of Romano-British Ordinary Shieldwall and on the right, a Group of three Units of Irish Raider Ordinary Warriors. My expectation was that the Irish would rapidly scythe through the Shieldwall and then I would try a couple of different troop types to see what would happen. What actually occurred was something far more involved and, thanks to the Irish dice rolls consistently failing to land sixes, proved that the shieldwall could stand up to the ferocity of the warrior onslaught!

The Irish Raiders advanced into Uncontrolled Charge range and then hurled themselves forward into contact with the shieldwall...

at first contact, the Warrior Group split, with two Units contacting one Shieldwall Unit and the third the other.

Dark Age warfare, up close and personal!

The Shieldwall choose to use their Leadership Points to reduce Cohesion hits, while the Raiders add to their number of Aggression dice.

In the top combat in the picture, with an Aggression rating of 5, a +1 for moving into contact and an LP, the Raiders roll 7 dice but still can't score a hit on the Shieldwall.

Fortunately for the Irish, the Shieldwall's roll is equally rubbish!

In the lower combat, the Irish have 5 Aggression dice, +1 for moving into contact, an LP and a supporting unit, giving them no less than 8 dice to roll. This time, they get two sixes only to have them wiped out by the two LPs the Shieldwall have used to cancel hits!

Against the odds, with just three dice to roll, the Shieldwall get a hit on their attackers and push them back, leaving them with a dent in their Cohesion level.

In the Shieldwall's move, they elect to continue the fight and, in spite of one of their Units loosing a Cohesion Point, they inflict hits on both the other Irish Units. Being so close to the Shieldwall, the Irish will have to charge in again unless they can 'fail' a Bravery test.

Things go from bad to worse for the right flank Irish Unit as they charge in for a second time, their Cohesion score is reduced to 2, leaving them perilously close to breaking point.

The Shieldwall get a temporary advantage, out numbering the centre Irish Unit, but the right flank Shieldwall Unit manages to get itself pushed back.

The combat has now completely broken up...

and the Shieldwall Units continue to chip away at the Irish Cohesion scores, pushing the two flank Units further back.

At the end of this turn, the two sides are totally broken up into separate Units and they have been forced apart, giving them a chance to take a quick breather before the onslaught is renewed in the next turn.

Leadership Points have been distributed and the Raiders gird their loins for last effort. Their Cohesion levels have dropped to a point where any further hits will see them break and run, leaving this part of the battlefield in the hands of the Romano-British.

Catastrophe strikes for the Irish, as their left flank Unit receives the two hits that reduce their Cohesion to zero. Their lack of protection has been their undoing, they can stand no more and they turn and flee the field of blood.

The struggle reaches its dramatic conclusion as the undamaged left flank Shieldwall Unit finds itself assailed by two desperate Units of Irishmen on the very brink of collapse. This was the last forlorn effort for the Irish and their right flank Unit was forced back, leaving their centre to stand alone against both remaining Units of Shieldwall.

Once again the Gods of the Dice favoured the Shieldwall and they rolled the two hits they needed to reduce the Warriors' Cohesion to zero...

With a second Unit routed and the remaining Warriors having a Cohesion level of "1", this small encounter has come to its conclusion. The fearless Irish Warriors gave their all but were defeated by a dauntless enemy who refused to yield an inch of the sacred ground they call home.

This little clash was intended just to give me a feel for what Dux Bellorum would play like; it certainly wasn't what I was expecting at all. I've not been able to find any video reports of Dux Bellorum on the internet, so I've had nothing to build my expectation other the reading of the rules. I think bigger battles are going to be a lot more intense than I had imagined they would be, with a lot more ebb and flow of battle and clashes between Shieldwall and Warrior breaking down into some real nitty gritty grinding matches. So, the next step is to choose a scenario and let slip the dogs of war...