Simple knock-out Arthurian DBA campaign (518-537 AD)

IanH’s Simple knock-out DBA campaign (Skodbac) offers a really simple way to run a DBA campaign that will reach a conclusion really, really quickly.

So I have written yet another DBA Arthurian Campaign, but this time using the Skodbac concept. Like The Bear Exalted, this campaign is set in 518-537 AD, the most likely time period for a historical Arthur.

Being 518 AD, the Roman legions are long gone and the barbarians – Angles, Saxons, and Scots-Irish – are established on the soil of Britannia. The Picts remain troublesome neighbours, and the Gewissei are the enemy within. But the Romano-British kingdoms (Dumnonia, Powys, Hen Ogledd) and their Celtic people (Kymry), continue to fight back.

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Nationalities

Each player choses a nation. There are eight nations to choose from. If there are less than eight players, then some some nations will start as neutral.

Nation	Army List	Aggression	Area	Area Terrain
Angles (Ængle)	II/73 Early Anglo-Saxon 428-617AD	2	Anglia	Littoral
Dumnonia Britons	II/81c Sub-Roman British 471-580AD	1	Dumnonia	Arable
Gewissei	Either II/81c Sub-Roman British 471-580AD Or II/73 Early Anglo-Saxon 428-617AD Or II/54b Scots-Irish 433-846AD	1 2 1	Wessex	Littoral
Northern Britons	II/81c Sub-Roman British 471-580AD	1	Hen Ogledd	Arable
Picts (Cruthni)	II/68b Pictish 500-846AD	1	Pictavia	Arable
Powys Britons	II/81c Sub-Roman British 471-580AD	1	Powys	Hilly
Saxons (Sahson)	II/73 Early Anglo-Saxon 428-617AD	2	Sussex	Littoral
Scots-Irish (Scoti)	II/54b Scots-Irish 433-846AD	1	Scotia	Littoral

In fact these all represent conglomerations of kingdoms/tribes under a overall battle commander (Pendragon) or high king. But for simplicity lets call them nations.

Before the campaign starts the Gewissei player has to decide which army list to use: Sub-Roman British, Saxon (actually Jute), or Scots-Irish.

You might wonder why I’ve got eight nations when my own wargaming crew has only four players. Well, unlike the Legions Have Gone and The Bear Exalted, I allow the players to be barbarians in this campaign. I’m definitely going to be Welsh of one type or another. Chris will be Picts. So I thought I’d give Jamie and Adam a reasonable choice.

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The map

The map has eight areas. Each area is initially controlled by one nation. Each area has a terrain (Arable, Hilly, Littoral) which is fixed for the entire campaign.

The areas are connected by travel routes. Powys, being central, is linked to all other areas. All other areas are linked to Powys plus two others. Invasions are only allowed along travel routes.

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Consolidation phase

The consolidation phase starts in 518 AD. If there are less than eight players, there will be some neutral nations and hence neutral areas. In the consolidation phase, all of the neutral areas are swallowed up by the players.

The sequence of play for each consolidation year is:

1. Aggression: All players make an aggression roll i.e. 1d6 plus army’s aggression.
2. Attacker: The player with the highest aggression roll (re-roll ties) is the attacker for the year.
3. Conquest: The attacker chooses one neutral area with a travel route to the attacker’s empire (if there are no neutral areas with a travel route to their empire, the attacker may chose any neutral area); the neutral area becomes part of the attacker’s empire
4. Neutrals: If all areas are controlled by a player (any player), then move into the campaign phase, otherwise play another consolidation year

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Campaign phase

The campaign proper starts after the end of the consolidation phase. The campaign continues until one player is declared “King of the Britons” (Latin: Rex Britannorum, Welsh: Brenin y Brythoniaid) or to the end of 537 AD.

The sequence of play for each campaign year is:

1. Aggression: All players make an aggression roll i.e. 1d6 plus army’s aggression.
2. Attacker: The player with the highest aggression roll (re-roll ties) is the attacker for the year.
3. Invasion: The attacker will attack one enemy area with a travel route to the attacker’s empire. The target area is whichever owning enemy player rolled lowest aggression. If there are ties, the attacker chooses which area to attack.
4. Battle: Fight the battle using DBA. The battle will take place using the terrain of the target area.
5. Victory: If the attacker …
   • Wins: The defender is defeated, the defending player is knocked out of the campaign; the defender’s entire empire becomes part of the attacker’s empire; the attacker’s aggression gets a +1 modifier in the next year.
   • Loses: The attacker is repulsed and the attacker’s aggression get a -1 modifier in the next year.
6. Recover: Surviving armies return to full strength i.e. loses are not carried over from battle to battle.
7. King of the Britons: If a single player controls all areas, declare them King of the Britons, otherwise play another campaign year

A player declared King of the Britains wins the campaign. Otherwise the player controlling the most regions is the winner.

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References

Simple knock-out DBA campaign (Skodbac)