Post by shrimplyamazing on Mar 1, 2023 3:48:56 GMT
Hey everyone,
I love the nuanced simplicity of the DBA ruleset, but one thing I find very unsatisfying is that sources like Polybius describe romans fighting in 4 main battle lines (3 if you don't count Velites) and there is no incentive to do this in DBA. I understand with the 12 element game it is really impossible, but when you get to Double DBA or BBDBA you really have enough elements to deploy in at least two lines maybe even 3 in BBDBA. The issue is there is still no incentive.
I have two solutions that I think would be appropriate for the punic wars period that might force players to adopt this deeper strategy.
Firstly, smaller board size. When people play DoubleDBA or BBDBA they seem to increase the board width by the same factor they're increasing the number of elements. As you can essentially almost fit your army in single line in DBA as it is doing this means you can still fit your whole army in a single line in BBDBA. If you played BBDBA on a smaller board width, slightly larger than the regular DBA width, there may be more incentive to deploy deeper as you physically dont have enough room to stretch out.
Another alternative is to create the restriction through the impact of generals, if every command has a general with 12BW command distance, you can position three generals to allow you to move a long single line without any punishment. If you halve this, or reduce the number of generals, commands cannot be stretched out or they are penalised on pips. So a command would have to be deployed deeper to stay within their general's command range.
Ive made suggestions about universal rear support that I've brought up before which was trying to solve this same problem. I'd appreciate all of your thoughts on how to make multiple line deployment more of a thing in Double/BBDBA when playing republican roman era.
I love the nuanced simplicity of the DBA ruleset, but one thing I find very unsatisfying is that sources like Polybius describe romans fighting in 4 main battle lines (3 if you don't count Velites) and there is no incentive to do this in DBA. I understand with the 12 element game it is really impossible, but when you get to Double DBA or BBDBA you really have enough elements to deploy in at least two lines maybe even 3 in BBDBA. The issue is there is still no incentive.
I have two solutions that I think would be appropriate for the punic wars period that might force players to adopt this deeper strategy.
Firstly, smaller board size. When people play DoubleDBA or BBDBA they seem to increase the board width by the same factor they're increasing the number of elements. As you can essentially almost fit your army in single line in DBA as it is doing this means you can still fit your whole army in a single line in BBDBA. If you played BBDBA on a smaller board width, slightly larger than the regular DBA width, there may be more incentive to deploy deeper as you physically dont have enough room to stretch out.
Another alternative is to create the restriction through the impact of generals, if every command has a general with 12BW command distance, you can position three generals to allow you to move a long single line without any punishment. If you halve this, or reduce the number of generals, commands cannot be stretched out or they are penalised on pips. So a command would have to be deployed deeper to stay within their general's command range.
Ive made suggestions about universal rear support that I've brought up before which was trying to solve this same problem. I'd appreciate all of your thoughts on how to make multiple line deployment more of a thing in Double/BBDBA when playing republican roman era.
