Published in 1997, by Christopher Parker. $12 in the US, $14 abroad. Print run was 1,000 copies. 750 have been sold to date. Copies have been sold in America, South America, Spain, England, Germany and Australia. Day of Battle is written for both 25mm and 15mm figures. These are based as per WRG DBM rules. Why reinvent the train track I always say. Figure ratio is 1 to 25, ground scale is 1: equals 10 yards for 25mm figures. The Pieces DoB has two distinct types of playing pieces. The soldier, and the leader. The soldier represents the foot soldier, knights and other fighting men of the era. The leader represents the player. A leader has three attributes and four skills. All play an important part in his survival and growth. The attributes, social rank, esteem and motivation reflect his stake and drive within the world he lives. The skills, combat bonus, morale bonus, initiative and personal combat skill reflect his ability to operate and survive personally on the battlefield. Finally a leader is rewarded when he performs actions with himself and his troops that reflect his motivation. Such actions net him honor points. These in turn are cashed in to increase his skills and social rank. Game Flow The game flow in DoB in uniquely different. A deck of cards is used to help randomize the game. This deck is not used however in the traditional way. It is used to represent command control, not movement. Numbered cards equal 1 command point. Face cards equal 2 and an ace equals 3. A leader has a command card rating equal to his social rank. A duke for example has a social rank of 4. He therefore may draw four cards for command each turn. The type of card determines how detailed the command it is used for may be. Some commands are very simple. Fire, charge for example cost a single command. However certain local events may cause simple actions to increase in cost. Disorder for example adds one to the cost of an order. Commanding a unit to do any action other than fire or charge when it is to close to the enemy costs an extra point. These additional modifiers are accumulative, So a simiale command could wind up costing 3-4 command points. When a unit is issued an order it must play it out to fruition. He may not play any other orders until this one is completed. This makes it hard to coordinate units acting together outside of the battle line. The battle line represents a body of closely packed units operating as a like mind. Commands can be given to an entire battle line to coordinate movement etc. Movement DoB uses a system originally designed for Knighthood and The Middle Ages (1979). This system divides the distance between two units into three distance bands. Close, normal and distant proximity. The band the unit begins its turn in determines how fast the unit may move that turn. This represents the hurry up and wait of the battlefield. Showing that units move faster the further away from an enemy they are. Combat Combat (missile fire and melee) is quite simple. A melee starts and ends in a single turn. There are no continuations from turn to turn. Reactions and results are logical if not predictable. Knights will usually beat any but ordered spears etc. Men at arms will beat other foot. Melee uses the weapon of choice theory. This states that only one weapon will rule in a melee. If both units use the same it is a wash. The superior weapon is the weapon of choice. A unit facing the weapon of choice is handicapped and will usually lose the melee. Morale Morale is usually automatic and almost never includes chance. Automatic checks are only required under three circumstances. The leader falls; the unit reaches half strength or a friend retreats nearby. For all other morale checks DoB uses harassing morale. This mechanism reflects that your opponent when it is time for your unit to check it's morale. Players have a list of events that will trigger a morale check. As these events happen they may request a harassing morale check on the unit by the owner. If the unit fails the test the calling player is rewarded and allowed to keep the call. If the unit passes the calling player loses the call for the game. Each leader has a limited number of calls they may make per game. These calls may be played on their own units as well, forcing it to do actions out of turn or without being commanded to do so. This has been a snap shot of DoB. The most unique medieval rule set ever written IHO! Written by Christopher E. Parker. www. dayof.battle.com. Back to MWAN #103 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com