dmg
Munifex
Posts: 24
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Post by dmg on Jan 9, 2019 10:20:41 GMT
Hi everyone,
I was a member of the previous forum until it moved, and my life became too busy to fit in gaming. Me and my son (now 10) have played DBA for a few years off-and-on. I've been chatting to one of the teachers at his school, who has also enjoyed wargaming in the past, and we're going to try a club as an after-school activity. DBA is ideal, as games can be completed in less than an hour.
The plan is this: * We're going to have a few games ourselves, so he can get familiar with DBA. * Over the next month, maybe let any other keen kids join in, so we gradually increase the number of players who understand the game. * After half-term, include it on the list of activities that the school offers, and see who else is interested. We will likely choose armies which they have learned about in history, such as Romans/Britons, or the Norman Conquest to help with their imagination. * If the kids enjoy it, we may end the term with some sort of tournament.
To keep the costs and storage space for armies sensible, I'm thinking of ordering some of the DBA laser-cut MDF bases, and slapping stickers on them with the troop type.
Not sure what the most cost-effective way is to create the boards and terrain... I just use felt at home (My fuzzy-felt battlefield may not be the most attractive, but it is very portable and easy to store!) , but buying umpteen 3' square pieces of felt isn't exactly cheap. We may just end up drawing terrain on the school tables with a dry-wipe marker pen.
Does anyone have any experience setting up such a club? Or and advice on the best way to introduce the rules to new members other than just playing a game with someone more experienced?
I've downloaded the SoA crib sheet for DBA3 and will have plenty copies to hand, and am about to look for the troop hint sheets that I have seen on here.
Cheers,
Derek
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Post by nangwaya on Jan 9, 2019 12:36:35 GMT
You might like taking a look at the Junior General page, as they have tons of user submitted art of armies (some are even top downs), terrain, etc..
Might be a cheap way of fielding armies.
Junior General
Hope your club is a success!
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Post by jim1973 on Jan 9, 2019 12:40:31 GMT
Welcome back Derek! I have no experience with setting up a DBA club with kids but I am in the middle of a terrain creation period. I would imagine that the visual experience is what kids will gravitate to but you have the best resource available, your son, to find out what clicks. I think felt is excellent to get things started as it's not fiddly, lies flat, doesn't slide and can clearly differentiate different terrains for rules purposes, particularly if it's colour coded. I still use a corduroy brown felt for plough! Once you get some interest you can have some fun with terrain days. If each member creates one piece then your club terrain box will fill up in no time. I use cork tiles from our large hardware chain, together with their cheap acrylic paints as the basis for each piece. Easy to cut and even carve, quick coat of earthy paint, then PVA glue and flock. Add some sticks and stones from mother nature then spray watered-down PVA to harden and protect. If you drop the school line you may get some donations of textured paint, etc to help. Also, eBay search model trees from China can get large numbers dirt cheap. As for the rules, you can try these hint cards to see if they help. Hint cards linkGood luck! Jim
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Post by lkmjbc on Jan 9, 2019 19:44:02 GMT
You might like taking a look at the Junior General page, as they have tons of user submitted art of armies (some are even top downs), terrain, etc..
Might be a cheap way of fielding armies.
Junior General
Hope your club is a success! A hearty second on the Junior General Page!
If only that had existed when I was a kid!
Joe Collins
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Post by jim1973 on Jan 9, 2019 21:35:02 GMT
Junior General is a great resource. I've cut and pasted various armies to being them up to DBA 3. I may still have the Word files if you'd like thsm. Cheers Jim
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dmg
Munifex
Posts: 24
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Post by dmg on Jan 9, 2019 23:00:42 GMT
Thanks for the replies guys. I hadn't come across Junior General before, so will be having a root around there to see what it has. One of the first things I realised is that the kids would be most attracted to the eye-candy, which is what we'll be very lacking to start with, what with having zero budget... I'll have to find other ways to make it exciting for them. Maybe let them wear Roman helmets and wave around other props... Getting the kids to make their own terrain pieces is a great idea though - if everyone makes one piece, we'd soon build up a range of pieces. I like Jim's brown corduroy for ploughed fields. Will be nicking that idea. Oh and Jim, thanks for the link to your hint cards. Those were the ones I'd seen previously, and was about to go hunting for again. Thanks for saving me the effort. I have no idea how long the club will run for. It might just be a half-term thing, or it might last for a lot longer. I'll see how it goes, and keep you updated. Cheers, Derek
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Post by paddy649 on Jan 10, 2019 8:57:13 GMT
Derek,
I did similar decades ago. Even with zero budget you can achieve a lot if you have access to a school’s Art / DT department. Greed card boards, terrain and card armies etc. It really helps if you can make a set of terrain and 2 armies before you start.
I brought in my normal boards, terrain and 15mm figures (or at least the simpler armies with unloved figures that I didn’t mind getting trashed) to play a few display games with half the kids fighting the other half to wet appetites. Choose really simple armies that they’ll recognise - no options. Try Romans vs Britons. Then you get out the card set and play 2 games. Next session you split the kids into pairs and get them to make their own terrain and card figures. Then introduce more and varied armies using your 15mm figures and then allow the kids to make similar card armies while introducing more options and troop types.
One day a kid will ask where you get your 15mms from rather than card armies. Arrange to do a combined order for 3-4 kids, hold a painting tutorial class and before you know it there will be an explosion of interest.
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dmg
Munifex
Posts: 24
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Post by dmg on Jan 21, 2019 9:30:49 GMT
Hi guys,
Just a belated update, quite brief as I'm busy with work.
We had our first game, and the teacher loved it. He really liked how each element operated consistent with how actual units of that type would have, and once we got going, the game really sped up. He said that the simple counters I used with the troop name and the DBA definition helped to know exactly what each units was, and added flavour to each army.
Brief battle report: Teacher was Early Imperial Romans, son was Britons. Romans invaded, battle was held near a large hamlet, with difficult hills, woods, and a river. (Son knows the importance of suitable terrain...) Main Roman army struggled to find anywhere to properly deploy, and languished in a column most of the time. They did however get their archers and bolt throwers set up in the hamlet, and shot at the warband as it came across the river. The warband general was at the front of the column and was killed. (In a moment of kindness, and because it was a 'test' game', teacher suggested that the other warband element should be killed instead, instead of the general. A decision he later came to regret...) After some initial success, the Roman archers and bolt throwers were overwhelmed by the warband. When the Roman cavalry clashed with the Briton's light horse, and came off worse, the tide seemed to have turned. Then the Roman general was mobbed by the warband and killed. Battle was over, Brave Sir Robin ran away.
We'll be having another game next week, then the plan is to let one or two other join in, so they pick up the game, and slowly increase numbers. Instead of having two separate games running, we may jump straight to big Battle DBA, and have a 2v2 battle on a larger board, so we're all playing together until they've got a good grasp of the game and can fight their own battles with minimal hand-holding.
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Post by jim1973 on Jan 21, 2019 12:21:31 GMT
That's excellent Derek. Let me know if you want some other armies to print out.
Cheers
Jim
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