1460: War of the Roses Campaign Rules for DBA At this years Society of Ancients' Games Day at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, the Liverpool Wargames Association tried to do something different. Needless to say it didn't work out that way. Martin Stephenson describes what happened.

Our original plan for the day fell through at the last minute when one of the club members couldn't go to Leeds. After much discussion we resurrected an earlier project: a campaign system for DBA set during the War of the Roses.

These rules can be found on the Downloads page.

Mike Parsons and I had created a system to generate a series of DBA games for two players and link them into a campaign that can be played in two or three hours. Depending on the skills and intent of the players a campaign lasts between two to six games ideal for demonstration purposes. On the Games Day we played two campaigns, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with plenty of time for chatting to people and answering questions.

With only two players, one of the things we wanted was more variation between games rather than the standard twelve element format and of course an element of treachery. The system uses cards to create choice and to represent the noble and levy contingents so characteristics of the War of the Roses. After a choice of either a Yorkist or Lancastrian crown card three random cards provide your initial following. The attacker then selects a card to attack and risks one of his own. Both sides select three cards and field these contingents. The resultant game of DBA decides who wins both cards. We chose to carry casualties forward between consecutive games to prevent repeated use of over aggressive tactics. The campaign ends when a player holds eight cards or has captured the opposing Crown card.

We were surprised at the interest this simple system generated. At the end of the day we had a page full of the addresses of people requesting copies of the rules and one or two potential new members.

Towards the end of the day we were taken aback when we were awarded a prize by the organising committee. This was as pleasing as it was unexpected. The prizes were some great 25mm Navigator figures: an elephant, a chariot and two camels. Imagine the scene. Three members of the Liverpool Wargames Association in a pub somewhere off the M62. If you do the elephant then …

For more information on the Games Day check out the web site at www.soa.org.uk, or e-mail Martin at with your comments or suggestions.

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