Dux Britanniarum conversion to larger battles ...... well my attempt anyway

So an I mentioned a few posts back I have been thinking about how I would like to change some of the elements of Dux and working in the elements of Chain of Command I really like to make a game that is allot more interesting than Warhammer Historical but also has allot of tactical challenges.

I admit from the beginning there is not real originality here - I am just taking elements from two games I like to make a game I would like to play -  I like Hail Ceaser still but this is also about having a game that does not require allot of space - Ive been playing this on the dining table so far but that also has a little more texture to the game.


So the plan was that I liked the Chain of Command activation system - and I wanted to make sure that the Fate cards stayed in the game.

So the 1st thing you will need a set of Dux Britanniarum

Command Table
This is the 1st important table to consider.

D6 Role	Action
1	Activate Levy/ Skirmishers
2	Activate Warriors/Levy
3	Activate Jarls/ Thengs /Nobles/Champions
4	Activate  Lord
5	Draw a fate card and add it to your hand -  to a maximum of 5 cards
6	1 6= opponent gets next phase. 2 6’s current player gets next turn – 3 6's turn ends. 4+ 6’s Current Player gets next phase and Turn ends and roll on random weather event table.

Just like in Chain of Command the active player roles a number of dice in this case 5 dice (im not adding or deducting dice for status of units /armies etc)

From that staying with the initiative levels from Dux players can command units and move and shoot as before.

One key thing is that in this version you generate Fate cards for your hand from rolling 5's but can't go beyond 5 cards in the hand at any one time.

Ending the turn

I've also adding in two end turn cards to the fate Deck that players can use to end the current turn (as in chain of command) that enacts the end of turn phase (more on that later).  Add to that with the mechanism of the rolling of 6's that can see a turn end - this should model the turn end mechanism just like in chain of command.

Turn End events :

When the event does happen from either dice roles or from a turn end card. 

 Unit with Excess shock fall back again as per excess shock rule - if they exit the table count and roll for as routed/lost for nobles and units

Any cards in play (yes I'm thinking of decks with cards that have remain in play effects) are removed.

Random events that are in play end now if they are weather related events. 

Effects of the Morale loss: 

So as in Chain of Command as Morale drops the ability to command also falls the the cohesion of the army starts to fall apart.

So the following table applies as well

Morale Level	Effect
5+	Act as desired
4	Command Dice is reduced by one from the starting level
3	Command Dice is reduced by 2 from starting point and player can only have 4 fate cards in their hand
2	Command Dice is reduced by 2 from starting point and player can only have 3 fate cards in their hand
1	Command Dice is reduced by 3 dice from starting total
0	Army Routs and End of game

Unit sizes

As a starting point I've increased the unit sizes to 12 for warriors/levy and 6 for skirmishers and missile troops - I think there is scope for coming up with army lists - but I'm not there yet and may even just have starting army compositions with options for additional units.

Random Weather  Events Table:

Dice Roll	Event
1	Fog -  Fog rolls in and obscures line of sight- Missile units cannot shoot beyond 12 inches and units cannot charge models beyond 16 inches – Stays in effect till end of turn
2	Hailstorm -  No missile shooting allowed and movement is reduced by 1d6 in effect for two phases
3	No event – the sun shines the wind is gentle
4	Rain Shower -  Reduce all movement by 1d6 – In effect till the end of the turn
5	High Winds - -1 to hit for all missile and skirmish troops – Last till end of turn
6	Wrath of Thor – Thunder and Lightning -  add one shock to each levy and skirmish unit.

So that is where I am with it all and the Wife agreed to play-test it this afternoon with me for the second time and here are the shots from the battle (she won again .....)

The lines are drawn

Wife wins the pre game events and then leaps forward into the attack

A bold attack sees some early carnage

and she moves units into support

A massive brawl ensures on the flank

and then the flank charge happens

Right there it is- if you play Dux and your interested in the amendments here please have a go and let me know your thoughts - also I would love continue to expand this and plan to over the coming months - Namely develop a deck for the vikings and saxons for the period im interested in - and I want to variations of vikings, ideally Norwegians and Danish to begin with.

Add to that I think I've missed some things in the original rules and will need to play a heap of games of Dux and this then iron those out as I go along but if anyone sees any glaring missis then please let me know ! 

And the for the Lardies - if you visit my small blog and see this - I'm totally hooked on your games and I'm not trying to muscle in on your market :) I just wanted to use your great ideas to make something a little more awesome in my view :)