DBF at Dad's War Room

 I ran my first game of DBF at Dad's War Room, club in Hull on Wednesday evening. I brought six 100pt armies to try out. We had three players, plus myself. None of us had played DBF before. I had played Hordes of the Things, and the others were more familiar with Warhammer, and Mike had played WRG 5th Ancients a long time ago.

Connor had bagsied the Dwarves, Mike took the Lizardmen. Aaron observed and assisted, while I acted as Umpire and dispenser of rules. I didn't feel up to playing and adjudicating. The armies were my venerable Hordes units relisted for the new game.

Traditional Dwarves

• The Low King, Hero General on foot.
• Blades x8
• Spears x2
• Crossbows x3
• Artillery x1

The Dwarves are all Peter Pig miniatures. I bought them ready painted and based about thirty years ago. So far they remain undefeated in Hordes of the Things!

Lizardmen

• The Lizard King, Hero General mounted on a dinosaur.
• Lizard Champion mounted on a dinosaur as a Great Beast.
• Lizardmen Warriors, Warband x6
• Lizardmen Mobs, Hordes x6
• Lizard bows x4
• Lizard Cavalry x4

The Lizardmen were mostly bought painted, and rebased by me. I don't know who made them. The Lizard King and Lizardman Champion may be 25mm figures by Grenadier made for Rune Quest. I painted these.

The Lizardman army had been based for Fantasy Rules! so all elements apart from bows are on 40mm squares. Warband 6 figures, Hordes 8 figures. They look very impressive enmasse.

The Dwarves got to defend and picked terrain as two hills, an are of woods and an area of bad going. The hills were placed either side of the centre line to form a valley of death, with the woods and bad going on either flank. Strongholds for both armies were placed centre of their baseline.

Connor deployed his Dwarves in a scatter of one or two elements across the open ground behind the hills. He placed his General and artillery near the stronghold.

Mike formed his Lizardmen in a huge block six warband wide with the Hordes forming a second rank immediately behind them. He placed his bows a move in front of the block and divided his cavalry to either flank. His general sat at the back, but his champion joined the cavalry on his left flank.

The Pip dice was the first revelation for the players. They were used to Everyone moves, everyone shoots, everyone fights. Having to choose which elements to move or prioritise came as a novelty. There was some discussion how tis might work in Warhammer, and comparison with Bolt Action's Dice drawing. As it was, Connor's Dwarves usually rolled well for pips, whilst Mike rolled a 3 more often than not. As his Hordes are unwieldy, his Lizard phalanx did not move much after the first turn.

Conner sent a few of his blades forward piecemeal to attack the Lizard bows. He lost one element to shooting before he could cut through them. The bows were caught between the attacking Dwarves and their own warriors. They recoiled when they could, or were cut down. This may have emboldened one Blade who charged into the mass of lizardmen, pushed back and pursued the first warband. Then he found himself surrounded on three sides by angry lizardmen. The vice closed.

The second lesson was all about flank support, overlaps, and not charging in on your own.

Mike's limited pips meant he spent most bounds reordering his warbands to counter the latest Dwarf charge. Or making a gap to move his general forward. When he had pips spare he launched cavalry raids around the flanks. These were met by small groups of Dwarves closing the gaps between hills and bad going. For some reason, both players mostly avoided putting elements on the hills and tended to move round them.

Connor often had enough pips to move the elements he wanted, but rarely organised group moves until the end game. If he had any pips spare, he would advance his artillery to try and get a shot. He did manage a couple of shots with little effect, but they did stop a cavalry unit in contact.

Both sides had lost 4 or 5 elements. Neither was near breaking point and the Lizards could afford to lose a few more. It was getting near going home time. Both Hero Generals had made it to the front of their armies, so they charged!

The Lizard King won by one point.

A bit of a pickle - The Low King along with two elements of Dwarf Spears tackle a detached group of Lizardmen Warriors. Because of their facing, the Lizards are unable to support each other. While the Spears have advantage of uphill and Shieldwall. 

Dragon Flight v3.4 - Play Test

 On Wednesday 22nd April I ran a game of Dragon Flight at Dad's War Room in Sutton on Hull.

Three players, Lee, Aaron and Dave each took a pre-generated 30GP dragon. I refereed the Gold Rush scenario. We played on a 6x4 table with a game mat supplied by Joe. Dragons, chocolate coin treasures, flying stands, and a lair were all provided by me.  The lair, a stone tower was placed in the centre of the table and the coins scattered round it. The players were tasked with stealing treasures, before Skegness the Great Red Dragon returned to her lair. The treasures were at ground level, so a dragon had to either land next to a coin, and take off again next turn. Or make a Swoop and grab, dipping to ground level and rolling 4 or better on their Wings dice.

They could also attempt to steal treasure from each other in flight by making a successful Strike and stealing a coin instead of inflicting damage. 

As the treasure was at ground level, most of the action took place at Height Band 2 or less. Also, we determined that the Tower Lair was 2 high, so they had to avoid flying into it. 

Lee took the Big Green: Vent Vert

Name: Vent Vert (Large Green)

Attribute Dice Prowess GP: 30

Body:     D10     +1     11

Wings:     D8     +1      9

Strike:     D8     +1      9

Breath:     -     -     -

Defence: -         +1      1

Aaron had the Spotted Copper

Name: Spotted Copper (Small Green)

Attribute Dice Prowess GP: 30 

Body:     D6     +2        9 

Wings:     D10   +1     11 

Strike:     D6     +1     7 

Breath:     -     -     - 

Defence:     +2         3

And Dave had the Night Fox, the only one with a breath weapon.

Name: Night Fox

Attribute Dice Prowess GP: 30

Body:     D6     +1     7

Wings:     D8     +1     9

Strike:     D6     +1     7

Breath:     D6     -     6

Defence:     -     +1     1

Once the basic rules, manoeuvres and turn sequence were explained, the game went pretty well. Lee with the Large Green got a head start swooping and taking a couple of treasures, only to be robbed by Aaron's Spotted Copper. Dave with Night Fox avoided the initial skirmish to take a few treasures of his own. Most of the coins were picked up early in the game, then it went into a general scramble as they tried stealing from each other. 

Dave lined up a flame blast and managed to hit both, but they saved against the damage and escaped with a bit of soot and a light charring. Aaron went on the attack, harrying the Big Green and causing a couple of wounds. Unfortunately, Aaron lost his treasure to a sneak steal from Dave. Lee made it back to his Lair, losing height and trailing smoke. But he did keep his treasure. We finished the game after this. Lee and Dave had the most treasure, but Aaron got Victory Points for defeating Lee's Dragon.

All players had a good time, the game worked pretty much as intended, and I got a few pointers for improvements and clarifications.

Take Aways from this Play Test.

1. Dragon Kite Templates- We should have used the double size Kite templates to match the size of the model Dragon's. Or I need to make some smaller dragons. 
2. Bases - We used disposable wine glasses. These are about 6cm diameter. We found it easier to plot movement, by leap frogging bases. So long as all fliers are using the same bases this does not break the game, but it does change it. Leapfrogging does give an advantage to smaller dragons as they add their base size to each Manoeuvre. For a d6 body, it effectively doubles their movement. It also doubles their turn radius. Choose between convenience or precision. 
3. Breath Weapons - As the only dragon with a Breath Weapon, Dave felt they were rather ineffective. Having said that, he was rolling a D6 for Breath. It is an Area Effect weapon, so he managed to catch both rival dragons in one blast, and Breath Weapons let a dragon make a ranged attack without risking a counter strike. Using a flamethrower as an anti aircraft gun is always likely to be problematic, but it is good for ground attack. Still it needs further looking into.
4. Manoeuvre Diagrams - I still need to prepare these...
5. Prowess - Prowess is undervalued. It should be at least 2GP for +1. As is, it gives too much advantage for its GP cost. Probably Defence too. I will also need to repoint the example dragons to suit. 
6. The Swoop and Grab rules need writing into the game. We modified the Swoop manoeuvre (2 moves) to allow grabbing an item off the ground by rolling 4+ on Wings to succeed. 
7. The Stealing rules need writing into the game. A successful Strike attack scoring more than the opponents Counter or Evasion allows the attacker to steal an item (or crew) instead of inflicting damage. 
8. Crashing into the ground needs further thought. The rules are over complex and ineffective at the low Height Bands they were flying. 
9. Stoop or Plummet rules need adding to Manoeuvres. If a Dragon descends three or more Height Bands in a single move, then they need to make a Wings Roll scoring more than the number of Height Bands lost. Failure means the flier must descend one more Height Band before recovering control.

Dragon Fight v 3.2 rewriting.

 

I have been offered opportunity to run Dragon Fight game at my local games club. I need to finish writing the rules, or get them up to a presentable state, print them (I don't have a printer), acquire some suitable terrain for dragon lairs, and make up a few more bits and bobs. All of which is distracting me from rewriting my WW2 game (Slammer SMLE).

The core rules worked last time I tested them. I am expanding on the Advanced / optional rules, and it needs more diagrams. Maybe more dragons too...

In the latest amendment, I have taken out the Speed Kills Advanced Rules. These were a hold over from Fokker Fodder where they worked pretty well for biplanes with a set speed. In Dragon Fight they just added complexity without significant benefit. Having taken them out, I now need to adjust some of the Movement Point (MP) values for Climb and Dive manoeuvres. Climbing should cost more MP's and Losing height should cost less MP's. Previously these were compensated by gains or loss of Speed.

I also need to adjust the initial Wings rolls for Precedence and Movement Points. Previously these were adjusted by adding or subtracting Speed points. 

Now, If your Dragon has gained one or more Height Bands due to climbing, then reduce their Wings dice down one step.

If your Dragon lost one or more Height Bands due to swooping, diving or other manoeuvres but not due to a combat result. then increase their Wings dice up one step.

Generally one dice step changes the average score by +/- 1 point. A Dragon that climbs gains on precedence due to the greater Height Band, but loses on Movement Points due to the effort spent in climbing and loss of momentum. A Dragon that has lost Height in a dive reduces their Precedence due to the lower Height Bands, but gains MP due to 'going downhill'. I look forward to seeing how it plays out in practice.

Lastly, I am considering changing the name of the Game. Apparently Dragon Fight is a popular Martial Arts/Street Fighter type computer/console game. Dragon Flight would be a better choice as the game is more about flying than fighting. I may need to change the spelling to avoid conflict with Anne McCaffrey's estate! How about Dragonne Flyght ? 

SMLE Cover and Concealment

 I am having another go at updating my SMLE WW2 Skirmish game. I had opportunity to play Bolt Action a few weeks ago. The game was set up as Ardenes, USA regular platoon plus 1 field gun defending an ammo depot at a river crossing. vs German veteran platoon plus Stug(H), Field gun, and Pak 40 on table. Additional tanks for both sides came on during the game.

I was playing the Americans. Units were on the table when I started. Most of my units were placed in woods. Others dashed to cover. All units were visible on the table. This buggered my Ambush orders as the Stug sniped my one Bazooka team before moving into range. They also took out my artillery spotter when the ref helpfully pointed out his hiding place. Twenty dice vs one chap! After that it was pretty much fire everything you've got, and buckets of dice.

Casualty rates are horrendous, gratuitous overkill, ineffective cover, short ranges for the figure scale. The Jerries won. 

I can see why it's popular. It plays very quickly, the game mechanisms appear simple, the toys are pretty, and it is very well supported, but it didn't suit me. However, it did get me thinking about SMLE again. I have revised my rules for Cover and Concealment and added a Task roll for spotting Concealed elements. Further modifications are in process...

Cover and Concealment

Concealment or Soft Cover makes the target harder to see (and shoot at) but provides little protection from incoming fire. Elements in Soft cover gain a -2 modifier to hit.

For example: woodland, fence or hedge lines, foliage, bushes, long grass, curtains or internal partitions. 

Hard Cover provides physical protection to the target and may stop incoming fire. Elements in Hard cover gain a -3 modifier to hit. They may also get some protection from hard cover for effects of hits, but I have not looked into that yet.

For example: Foxholes, entrenchments, prepared positions, concrete, brick or stone walls and buildings, ditches, hedge or river banks, raised roads, sandbags, barricades or vehicle armour.

Cover and Concealment can be linear such as a hedge, wall or ditch, or a defined area such as woodland, buildings, broken ground, etc. The extant and area of effect should be clearly defined on the table. Figures get benefit of cover or concealment if they are within an area of cover, or behind and within two inches of linear cover.

If a target element is moving into or out of cover, they are more difficult to hit. If a target figure could claim advantage for two or more different cover modifiers. e.g. Moving out of soft cover, into and out of sight into hard cover. Then just apply the modifier for the best cover. i.e. Hard Cover -3.

An element in cover or concealment can observe (and shoot) out of an area of cover or through linear cover if they are within 2 inches of the edge or line. If they are deeper within an area of cover, they cannot see out or be seen by an element outside the cover. This may be adjusted by scenario or terrain types and lighting conditions.

A team or figure that starts the game in Cover or Concealment should remain hidden until:

• They open fire;
• They move out of concealment in sight of an enemy unit;
• An enemy moves within Close Range (4 inches);
• They are located by a successful spotting attempt.
• They reveal themselves, either on purpose or by mischance.

You can use a discrete marker e.g. a dice or counter to indicate the general location of a concealed team. Once revealed, the team or figure should be placed on the table. Depending on scenario it may be appropriate to include some dummy markers.

Fire may be directed at a suspected enemy in concealment. Activation modifiers for being under fire are applied to the concealed unit. But no hits are counted against them until revealed.

Spotting Concealed Figures

An element within line of sight may attempt to spot a concealed enemy by making a Task roll against the suspected enemy position. One attempt per team is allowed each round. Appropriate modifiers should be applied to the roll. Special equipment such as binoculars or telescopic sights give a +2 modifier..

• If the roll is successful, and there are enemy at that location then one enemy figure is placed on table. If there are no enemy at that location this should be confirmed too.
• If the roll is successful and scores a double i.e. two sixes or two fives then all the figures in the enemy element are revealed and placed on table.
• If the roll is unsuccessful, then no enemy are revealed. The spotting team can attempt to spot again in the following round.
• If the roll is unsuccessful and scores a double i.e. two ones or two threes then no figures are revealed and no further attempts to spot may be made by that team against that position.

A Concealed element may reveal their location by mischance if they fail a task roll when moving along  linear cover, moving within an area of cover, or observing from cover. This only applies if there is an enemy element within line of sight that could spot the concealed element.

• If the roll is successful, then the element remains concealed.
• If the roll is unsuccessful, then one figure is placed on the table.
• If the roll is unsuccessful and scores a double i.e. two ones or two threes then all the figures in that element are placed on table.

These rules benefit from having a referee or umpire supervise the game. In the absence of a referee, then common sense should always be engaged.

28mm figure painting

Last week I entered the painting competition at Dads War Room in Sutton on Hull. They provided the figures ready assembled and primed white. We got to pick one figure each, from a set of Warlord WW2 US infantry. We were given space, reference materials and encouragement to paint the figure over the evening. Paints were available if needed, but I had brought my own, a mix of Valejo and artists acrylic tube paints.

Three of us old skool painters sat together, sharing paints, palettes and reminiscing whilst the young un's did their thing at another table. One couple had travelled up from Portland for the night as they are setting up their own War Room in Havant.

This was the first 28mm figure I have painted in nearly thirty years! At the end of the night club members voted on their favourite figure and the winners got prizes. Mine didn't place, but I am pleased with him and want to do some more.

I painted his hands and face first with a jar of tanned flesh lightened to suit. After giving it time to dry, he got a spot of eyeliner and lippy to lift his features. I didn't have an authentic USA uniform colour so mixed up Valejo Russian Green and British khaki for his tunic and trousers. Then used a lighter khaki for his pack, webbing and gaiters. Burnt umber picked out his boots and dagger, Paynes grey did his pistol in a nice gun blue. A couple of thin washes of Valejo smoke picked up the sculpted lines, seams and details. Then a very quick application of grass green on the base. 

With a bit more time he might have got a light dry brush to flatten the shine on his uniform and give it some highlights. But my yellow ochre had dried up and the dark earth appeared too green. 

Only issue is, I now have a starter for a new army in a new scale. I will need at least a squad, more probably a platoon, then maybe some vehicles...

I tried Bolt Action rules last visit to the War Room. For various reasons I'm not struck on them so I will need to find something else. I have been looking at Nordic Weasel Games five core rules, and I really ought to have another go with updating my own WW2 rules S.M.L.E.

Updates to Starship Miniatures page

Since the last post, I have been looking at Battle Fleet Gothic. This was Games Workshop's entry to Space ships games but has been out of production for about ten years. Fortunately it still has a strong fan following. There are a couple of very active discord groups and living editions of the rules, plus fleet lists, house rules, campaign games and much more. There are also quite a few miniatures producers making ships suitable for 'Gothic Space' games. Many of these are 3d printed resin. This allows for a lot of customisation, but means models are printed to order rather than held in stock. 

There are a lot more races, factions or styles of fleet offering a pretty good range of designs within the Gothic Space aesthetic. Many of these would be suitable for Encounter One or other games. Some of the huge Chaos ships might make suitable Auregans!

Check out the Starships Miniatures page and click through the links to see what's on offer.

• 8th March 2026 - Added Hydra Miniatures.
• 26th February 2026 - Added Bits Blitz, Bunker Miniatures, and Soulforge Spaceships.
• 6th February 2026 - Added Battlefleet Colosus, and Printed Starships. 
• Amended links. 
• Updated Irregular Miniatures to new site.
• 2nd February 2026 - Added Battlefleet Galaxy.
• 19th January 2026 - Added Zero Hour Starship Designs.

 

Game File downloads

 I have started moving some of my downloadable game files from my Google Drive to Wargame Vault. Earlier last year in cooperation with Ivan Sorensen of Nordic Weasel games, I moved my Slammer rules to Ivan's site on Wargame Vault. This has been a success from my point of view. A lot more people have downloaded the game, and some of them paid us a little money for the privilege.  

There have been issues lately were people have been unable to access my game files from the blog. If they contact me, I can email the files out directly. However it seems a better idea to post my files on a public server. This has several advantages for me. 

• The files are directly available without accessing my personal drive. 
• If there are any issues with access, then Wargame Vault should be better able to fix them. 
• It puts my games in a vastly bigger shop window with a lot more exposure. 
• I get stats on how many times my games are downloaded. 
• And, while I offer all my games as Pay What You Want, so customers can still download them for free, I am happy to accept payment if you feel like contributing to my hobby fund! :o)

Currently, Slammer, Fokker Fodder, and Encounter One - 2021 are available for download on Wargame Vault. Other games and resources may be added as I get around to them.

Chris Nicole Games - Wargame Vault 

I do still have a few printed copies of Encounter One available. 

If you would like a set, I am asking £5.00 plus postage. Email me Chris Nicole with a request and your address. I can then create an invoice for the full amount via PayPal. 

Cheers