One of the thrills of ancient wargaming is learning to command the variety of troop types. Legionaries. barbarian warbands, mailed cataphract lancers, light horse, and skirmishing foot -- they all have their place on the battlefield. All troop types are effective. It is the challenge of unfamiliar troop types that gives its richness. As general, you must deploy them in the right place on the battlefield against the right enemy.

De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) simulates this "Scissors-Paper-Rock" aspect of ancient warfare better, in my opinion, than its big battle brother, De Bellis Multitudinis (DBM). Ancient generals rarely had the ability to customrecruit their army as you can in DBM. Usually, they had a good idea of what the opposing general was marching against them. No guessing if he would "buy" elephants this time or not. In DBA, you know the enemy. It is your job to secure victory by exploiting terrain, enemy weaknesses, and your strengths.

However, most miniature wargamers enjoy a table covered with well painted troops. That is where DBA falls short of DBM. Twelve elements per side is not nearly as panoramic as thirty or more. The purpose of this article is to give suggestions on how to use DBA for larger battles.

First, the battlefield will have to be larger. Expand the width, but leave the depth the same (2 feet); since, DBA does not have a "march movement". If you start the armies farther apart, they will take too much time to close. A safe rule of thumb is for each extra twelve elements per side, increase the width one foot (36 elements per side would be played on a 4' by 2' table).

If you are not pre-setting the terrain, adjust the rules. Divide the battlefield into equal 12 inch by 12 inch sectors. At least half of the sectors must contain a river or bad going, and three quarters must have something. I add that a piece must be a minimum of 3 inches by 3 inches to qualify, and can count as only being "in" one sector even if it straddles two or more.

The defender sets up the terrain, and the attacker labels the long edges 1-4 and 5-6. He dices to see which is his base edge. I also change the deployment procedure.; which, I felt was grossly unfair in DBA to:

1) Defender places camp. Attacker places camp.
2) Defender deploys half of his elements. Attacker deploys half of his elements.
3) Defender deploys the remainder of his elements. Attacker deploys the remainder of his elements.
4) Attacker takes first bound.

The most important thing to decide when setting up a DBA battle is how many players you will have per side. I have two systems that I use. One method is for multi-player battles and the other is for one-on one games.

Multi-Player Battles

This type is especially useful for convention or club games. Each player will have his own command. If you have an odd number of players, one must control two commands; so that, each side has the same number. Commands should average 12 elements as in DBA, but feel free to fiddle with this a slightly. I suggest increasing /decreasing in increments of three elements. This makes figuring command demoralization and victory easier.

Don't simply give each player identical commands from the army lists. Shift some of the elements. Allow most of the army's heavy foot to be collected in the center and the cavalry on the wings. Allies of different nations should remain in separate commands.

The battle progresses per normal DBA rules, each player rolling his own command die for pips(which may not be transferred). If a command's general is killed, there is no penalty other than the normal movement restrictions. One side wins when it destroys one third of the enemy's elements.

Individual commands can become demoralized. After losing one third of its elements, moves cost one extra pip. After two thirds, elements fight at a -1 combat factor. Any recoil results become "flee" instead. Elements that would normally flee become destroyed (routing off of the battlefield). 

One-On-One Battles

These types are best used for pick-up games with a friend or resolving battles from ancient campaigns. Most campaign players like to control their own troops since the results are doubly important.

Since there is only one general, elements do not have to be divided into commands. Demoralization is not used. Victory comes when one third of the enemy is destroyed.

To aid control, double the general's command range (2400 paces in sight, or 1200 paces out of sight). Also for each extra twelve elements, add +1 to his pip die roll; thus, a general commanding 36 elements rolls 1d6 +2.

Finally after all elements have been moved by pips, the general may utilize "Base Depth Movement". Each element that has not moved and is not in combat, may retreat or advance up to one base depth. This must be in an attempt to align its front base edge with that of another friendly element. The sole exception is warbands and scythed chariots can only advance to do this, not retreat.

This allows commands that become fractured by contact with the enemy to remain semi-cohesive. The battleline can continue to press the attack or withdraw to keep a defensive front. Thus, pips can be used for envelopments, flanking moves, etc. This tends to reduce the DBA/DBM "freeze frame effect", which happens when a less important wing ceases moving; while, the rest of the battle swirls, using up pips.

Another pleasant effect of Base Depth Movement surfaces in campaign battlefield terrain. We played one campaign without the rule in which the defenders invariably sat behind a river. Since crossing rivers is done by columns in DBA, 10 legionaries deployed side-by-side would need 10 pips to attack warbands lining the opposite bank (impossible on a D6). This forced piecemeal crossings, making rivers a massive obstacle.

Occasional contested river crossings are historic, but every single battle as such proves tiresome. With Base Depth Movement, You can pay one pip to advance one of the legionaries one base depth, and the other nine advance to line up for "free". Although this slows your attack (as is historically accurate), river crossings become a tactical and combat advantage for the defender, not an insurmountable one.

The above rules suggestions are the result of several years of playing large battles with DBA. Some people may still ask, why not just play DBM? My two main reasons are; DBA is simpler to explain to new players, making it superior for a convention or game club. And, DBA is better at, resolving campaign battles. It is more flexible in representing both large and small encounters. Its pre-set army lists are less prone to distortion or clever recruiting, guaranteeing that a player fields a historical army.

As such. I heartily recommend players to try DBA when staging their next ancients battle. They will find the thrill comes from the commanding of troops, not the complexity of the rules.