Simple knock-out DBA campaign (Skodbac)

We wanted a really quick DBA multi-army campaign, so came up with these rules. This is more of a random game generator than a campaign but, with some tweaks (see Variations, below) the players get to play a bigger part in the campaign.

Determine the armies you are going to use. We used five:
  • “French”: IV/64 Medieval French (Aggression: 1, Terrain: Arable)
  • “HRE”: IV/13b Medieval German, Holy Roman Empire (Aggression: 1, Terrain: Arable)
  • “Swiss”: IV/79b Later Swiss (Aggression: 3, Terrain: Hilly)
  • “Bulgar”: IV/25 Later Bulgar (Aggression: 2, Terrain: Arable)
  • “Venice”: IV/61 Condotta (Aggression: 1, Terrain: Arable)

The map

  • Draw an area map, with one area for each army.
  • Each area has the terrain of the relevant army.
  • Link the areas as you feel appropriate.
  • In our case each area linked to three others, except for Switzerland, which linked to four.

Turn sequence

Each turn is a year.
Each turn do the following:
  • Roll 1D6 for each army, adding aggression.
  • The highest roll (re-roll ties) will be the attacker for this year.
  • Look at all the enemy areas linked to the attacker’s empire. For these areas, whichever owning enemy army rolled lowest will be attacked. If there are ties, the attacker chooses which area to attack.
  • The battle will take place using the terrain of the defender’s area.
  • If the attacker wins, the lower is knocked out of the game and their area becomes part of the attackers empire.
  • If the defender wins, the attacker is repulsed and their aggression is reduced by one in the next year’s dice rolling.

This is best illustrated with an example.
Stacks Image 123
The five areas (circles) with their armies (rounded rectangles). The black lines are links between areas.

Example game

Year 1

France rolls highest, so will be attacking HRE, Switzerland or Venetian empire. HRE rolled lowest of these three, so is attacked.
The battle is fought using the terrain of the HRE (arable).
France wins, so conquers HRE. HRE is out of the game.
Stacks Image 5240
France attacks the HRE.
Stacks Image 5242
France now controls France and the HRE.

Year 2

Bulgars roll highest. Out of Venice, Swiss, France, Venice rolls lowest.
So Bulgars attack Venice, with the battle on littoral terrain.
Venice wins, so the Bulgars retreat and will be -1 aggression next turn.
Stacks Image 5251
Bulgars attack the Venetian Empire.
Stacks Image 5248
The Bulgars are pushed back by the Venetians.

Year 3

Venice rolls highest. Out of France, Switzerland, Bulgarian Empire, the Bulgarian Empire rolls lowest.
Therefore Venice attacks the Bulgars and wins, conquering the Bulgarian empire.
Stacks Image 5283
The Venetians attack the Bulgars.
Stacks Image 5278
The Venetians win, so their empire expanse to include that of the Bulgars.

Year 4

The Swiss roll highest. France rolls lower than Venice, so the Swiss attack them.
The Swiss commander chooses to attack them in France (it doesn't really make any difference in this case as both French controlled areas are arable).
The Swiss win, and now also control France and the HRE.
Stacks Image 5272
The Swiss attack France and win.
Stacks Image 5267
The Swiss empire expands.

Year 5

The Swiss roll highest, so attack the Venetian empire.
They prefer to fight in arable terrain, so choose to attack the Bulgarian Empire region.
The Swiss win, so now are overall winners of the campaign.
Stacks Image 5298
The Swiss attack the Venetians in Bulgaria.
Stacks Image 5293
The Swiss empire conquers all.

Variations

Please note that I haven't tried out these variations, and some may have unintended consequences.

Less chance

Only roll to determine the attacker. Then let the attacker choose which adjacent area to attack.

Battle outcome


After a battle the winner returns to full strength and can choose their army composition (as long as it is a valid variation of that army).
The loser (if they still exist) also returns to full strength, but the attacker chooses their army composition ( (as long as it is a valid variation of that army).

Permanent aggression changes

If you lose a battle your aggression is permanently decreased by one.
If you win a battle your aggression is permanently increased by one.