DBMM 100
At the club yesterday (11 July 2021), 6 of us had a go at DBMM 100. There were 3 experienced players and 3 inexperienced. We played on 4 x 4 tables, 120 ap , and played a mini tournament of 3 games using Swiss Chess system.
With 3 games going on, at a fast pace, I can't really tell you much about the individual battles except my own, so I'll concentrate on my thoughts of DBMM 100.
Going into it I had a few reservations. I felt that the small table size and the restricted flank areas (half that of full DBMM) would lead to a static grind up the centre. I took a Hun army with 80% of it LH(s) just to see how it would go.
Overall, I would say it is a great version of the game, and my reservations above were ill founded.
The positives:
It plays fast. The rules say one hour, but we found that 75 minutes was a better time limit to get a result.
Despite the small table size, there was plenty of room for breakthroughs to be exploited and action on the flanks.
It is fast paced, there is little downtime while you wait for your turn.
Terrain placement works well and gives a satisfactory battlefield to play over. The defender places 2 or 3 pieces of terrain from their list, and the invader chooses any of the 4 table sides to invade from. This largely prevents overly defensive play.
The tactical play is the same as the full game.
In case some of you are wondering, there is still scope to keep a small reserve.
The negatives:
The scoring system is not satisfactory. It does not feel right and gives many 10 - 0 results. For example, Craig was half an ME off shattering Rex when he broke. 9 - 1 to Rex. I lost 5 ME trying to cross a river against Jim. I wasn't even disheartened but I lost 10 - 0.
I recommend the full game scoring system is used. In the above two examples this would be a 16 - 9 to Rex and a 14 - 11 to Jim.
Other observations :
In the full game, once a command is disheartened, the battle is almost over for that command. In this version, as there is no 33% loss break point, the battle continues and can be turned around. I did this with disheartened light horse in my last game.
BIG DBMM 100?
I've not played it but I don't think it's worth it. The larger table is not needed. The terrain placement slows things down. With one command you can't flank march and limits stratagems that can be used.
OVERALL
I recommend this version of the game.
WHO WON?
Craig, Jim, and I were tied on 20 points. Craig was awarded the win as he killed 3 generals.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/824840264342234/posts/1845571945602389/
Vincent Cholewa Great to see different versions of the rules being used. T20!
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