You know, you could add directional effects (like having the sun or dust being blown into the troops eyes if facing a certain direction). Just measure the distance from the closest front corner to the generating table edge, then measure the distance to the other front corner. If the difference between the two measurements is more than say a ¼ base width, then the element is not facing directly into the weather effect.
For example: the nearest corner is 300mm from the weather table edge, but the furthest corner is under 310mm. Therefore, the element is affected. Could mean that high winds are blowing dust in their eyes in the right conditions. Or that the sun on the bound after dawn (sunrise) or the bound before dusk (sunset) is shining right in their faces.
Of course, players will try to avoid these effects by advancing at an angle towards the weather edge… …but elements still have to line-up, giving the troops with the wind/sun behind them an advantage, if they time it right.
The original DBM rules have direction rules. There are risks of dazzle if facing due east near dawn or due west at dusk. You can also change the wind direction and shooting is penalised in strong winds unless within 45 degrees of the wind direction. Then there are also night fighting rules...
I chose to leave them out. Mainly because I think DBA players are looking for a 1 hour game and probably don't want to spend 30 minutes figuring out which way the wind is blowing. I tried to keep the rules that could add a few more tactical problems for the players to deal with but could be determined within 5-10 minutes of set up.
I've always felt DBA would be enhanced with some sort of strategic back story for the pick up games. That way "weaker" defending armies may have a legitimate, historical reason to sit in bad going and wait for the invader to come on.
Interestingly, DBMM has and extra climactic region (Cold,Cool, Warm, Dry, Tropical), which I picked up looking at the DBMM army lists (fantastic resource even if I never play the game) to get the regions for the DBA lists. I'd be interested in the time/weather rules Phil developed for DBMM as I think he had a clean canvas to work. I may have to get them just to read Phil's ideas.
Playtesting so far has almost always lead to mid-to-late morning battles in good weather. Go figure! Just need to keep playing games. Early Carthiginians and Gauls set up at the moment.
I've updated this file to incorporate DBMM climate groups and rules/thoughts. This would make the DBMM army lists and the DBA lists comparable. I've made some alterations to make them DBA friendly (e.g. eliminating night fights and wind direction). I've also put a QRF table at the end to help identify quickly which rules if any would need top be considered for a given climate/season/weather score. This allows those interested to quickly identify what they need to look at without digging through the DBx style rules.
Let me know if anyone uses them, particularly campaign players.
Cheers
Jim
PS Forum so full I couldn't upload 18kb file. Had to delete an old photo of my Thracian fort.
I've updated this file to incorporate DBMM climate groups and rules/thoughts. This would make the DBMM army lists and the DBA lists comparable. I've made some alterations to make them DBA friendly (e.g. eliminating night fights and wind direction). I've also put a QRF table at the end to help identify quickly which rules if any would need top be considered for a given climate/season/weather score. This allows those interested to quickly identify what they need to look at without digging through the DBx style rules.
Let me know if anyone uses them, particularly campaign players. Cheers Jim
PS Forum so full I couldn't upload 18kb file. Had to delete an old photo of my Thracian fort.
jim1973,
I was preparing to do the same thing but I noticed you made the effort.
I've updated this file to incorporate DBMM climate groups and rules/thoughts. This would make the DBMM army lists and the DBA lists comparable. I've made some alterations to make them DBA friendly (e.g. eliminating night fights and wind direction). I've also put a QRF table at the end to help identify quickly which rules if any would need top be considered for a given climate/season/weather score. This allows those interested to quickly identify what they need to look at without digging through the DBx style rules.
Let me know if anyone uses them, particularly campaign players. Cheers Jim
PS Forum so full I couldn't upload 18kb file. Had to delete an old photo of my Thracian fort.
jim1973,
I was preparing to do the same thing but I noticed you made the effort.
Good work, thank you.
I recently updated them, removing some things like dawn and dusk effects as it didn't seem worth it for the added complexity. I'm not sure if stevie has had a chance to upload them to the wiki. The basic aim was to occasionally have to fight to a time limit and occasionally find that the terrain you so carefully planned now helps your opponent. I'd love to see how you find them and what improvements you can see.
That's version 1.2. PM me and I'll send you ver 1.3. It's very similar but dawn and dusk are removed and the daylight hours rounded off. See which one you like better.