De Bellis Simplicimus

Welcome to Fanaticus dpd.

Actually, without knowing it, you have inadvertently preempted a little project
I’m currently working on...although I’ve used a completely different approach.
(This is being playtested and should be ready for posting in about two weeks)

Here is a sample of the front cover:-

(The picture is an altered scene taken from the 2006 BBC six part series“Ancient Rome: The rise and fall of an empire”,
and it shows Caesar’s outnumbered veterans facing Pompey’s newly raised legionaries at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC)

Although your idea is not related in any way to mine, apart from the name,
I do think your suggestion is still well worth pursuing.
It has several similarities with HoTT 2.1, which also groups Sp & Pk together,
groups Cv & LH together, and as HoTT has no Ax type troops, I like to use
a modified version of Wb for these. See the first page of this for details:-
static.wikia.nocookie.net/fanaticus-dba/images/3/33/DETAILED_CRIB_SHEETS_for_HOTT_2.1.pdf/revision/latest?cb=20190123092614

“Great minds think alike” as they say...

Bahaha!

Oh, Rivers are mentioned in several different places...but in a surprisingly non-controversial way.
(you’ll have to wait a fortnight to find out how )

But getting back to dpd’s original proposal, here's a few other ways the troop classes could be reduced:-
SCh = make these the same as Knights (as their ‘quick kills’ are awfully similar).
Cm = apart from their ‘quick-kill’ against Kn, and their vulnerability against Bd, they’re the same as Cv.
LH = with rear support, these are also the same as Cv.
WWg = CF of 3 v foot and 4 v mounted...they’re the same as HoTT Shooters (except they don’t recoil).

However, just reducing the number of element classes is only a minor way of reducing complexity.
Here is a list of some of the other rules that seem...well...unnecessary:-
fanaticus.boards.net/post/8552/
...and here is another one:-
fanaticus.boards.net/thread/2789/why-pk-allowed-recoil-bd

On the other hand, the main cause of complexity in DBA concerns movement and conforming.
Could this be simplified?...yes, I think it can.
Getting rid of ‘waiting-to-turn-to-face’ would be a start...make ‘em turn instantly on contact.
Then there’s who can recoil through who...make it so that all can or nobody can (except Ps).
Lastly there is movement itself...a simple 1 BW grid with no wheeling would be far less complex,
and negates the need for any ‘free-sideways-frontal-sliding’, as 1 square aligns with an adjacent square.

So I think that dpd’s original idea has a lot of potential (although I’ve chosen to go down a different route).
The old WRG rules became far too unwieldy, so DBA came into existence and has proved to be quite popular.
Perhaps it’s time for DBA to also go on a diet and shed a little excess weight.

Here are some tables showing a potential simplification for DBA (with new unit names followed by their original DBA equivalents):

PHALANX 
( F ) MILITIA 3SP

( R ) SPEAR 4SP

( X ) PIKE 4PK 3PK



BLADE 
( F ) RAIDER 3BD

( R ) SWORD 4BD

( X ) POLEARM 6BD



HEAVY HORSE 
( F ) LANCE 3KN 4CH

( R ) KNIGHT 4KN

( X ) KONTOS 6KN 3CM


IRREGULARS 
( F ) TRIBAL 3AX CMF

( R ) AUXILIA 4AX

( X ) WARBAND 4WB 3WB 7HD 5HD



MISSILE 
( F ) SKIRMISHER 2PS 3BW

( R ) BOW 4BW

( X ) PAVISE 8BW



LIGHT HORSE 
( F ) HORSE ARCHER 2LH 2CH

( R ) CAVALRY 3CV

( X ) KATAFRACT 6CV 2CM


Each unit type can be classified as "superior", "ordinary", "inferior"  - and "gunpower" for light foot and horse (creating aquebusers, musketeers and pistoliers) for renaissance shot and pike battles. 

Making a total of 27 heavy and 36 unit types that can be represented by 6 sided dies.

Again, ignore artillery, elephants, wagons and scythed chariots.

The regular (R) would be the standard baseline for reach unit type.

Both Fast (F) and extreme (X) would have trade offs from the baseline.

Fast (F) units would have an increase  movement rate of 1 BW but a decrease in combat values by 1 (fast blades are too powerful IMHO being both fast and deadly, if they are going to be fast they will have to lack combat weight)

Extreme (X) units would have the reverse, 1 less movement point but an increase of 1 of the combat values (cavalry moves slower than light horse, pikes move slower than spears, plate armored medieval knights move slower than Alexanders companions, etc. A DBA rule book listed "fast pike" which is physically impossible - a group of men holding very long sticks moving rapidly over rough terrain becomes a tangles mess, so 3PK is just inferior quality pike)

All units can be superior (S), ordinary (O) or inferior (I).

Use six sided die to represent units (6- phalanx, 5 - blade, 4  - irregular, 3 - missile, 2 - heavy horse, 1 - light horse).

Put them on a checker board grid of appropriate dimensions with each square being 1 BW.

If you want to have step losses (3 for S, 2, for O and 1 for I) then stack poker chips under the die - solid color for standard bases line, striped for F or X.

Example, Battle of Hastings:

Saxons
2 each Sword-S (huscarls)
8 each Spear-I (fyrd)
2 each Skirmisher-I 

Normans
4 each Bow-O
4-each Spear-O
4 each Knight-S

Naturally some fine tuning is in order, camels and chariots are open to new designations.

Katafracts would be Byzantine heavy cavalry.

Kontos would be armor plated medieval/renaissance knights, Sassanian clibariani, etc.

3KN would be mounted lancers without shield, so yes Goths but also Alexanders companions.

Most of us gamers then!