The Blog Survey Results

To begin I'd like to thank every reader who took the time to complete the survey I ran to mark my 300th post. Without you this article would not have been possible.

When I checked, I was surprised to see that I've been running this blog for seven years. As far as the Internet is concerned this is a long time. It's more than enough time for disruptive changes in technology and resultant changes in reader habits. Most notably the time has seen the rise of Twitter and the rise and fall of RSS feeds as ways of staying in touch. So in addition to general feedback I asked a few questions about the techniques people use to follow the blog.

Befuddled to Mystified :: Slingshot Article

In October, the Editor of Slingshot approached me about combining all my "Befuddled to Mystified" posts into one print article.



With his help, the article was drafted and submitted in time to appear in the November 2010 issue (Slingshot 273) which has just been published.

After a decent period I will provide an online link to the full article so those who don't subscribe can catch up.

Download the article from the articles page.

DBMM For The Befuddled - Part 18

I bet you never expected to see this!

Despite ceasing to play DBMM in April, I still subscribe to a few lists just like I do to a few DBM lists. It's a vicarious pleasure not unlike car crash TV: you know you shouldn't look but do anyway. Recently two things caused me to revisit some work on spontaneous advance I'd done in February but never published.

The first was the usual DBMMlist flurry of "tis, tisn't" emails on how difficult it is to interpret the spontaneous advance rules in DBMM v2.0. The second was a post on the DBMM Forum by David Cantó from Barcelona who posted a flow chart for the spontaneous advance rules.

Befuddled to Mystified

2010 has seen me abandon DBMM for Field of Glory in a search of more fun in my wargaming.



Overall I'm pleased with both the game itself and my progress as a player. I'm still not as quick as I'd like to be but I'm certain that's only a matter of time.

Field of Glory & Hard Sums - Comments

The original article was “advertised” on a number of wargames fora including The Miniatures Page where it attracted a couple of very interesting comments so I thought I’d précis them here for everyone.

DBMM Version 2.0 :: Almost There

The impending release of DBMM version 2.0 draws ever nearer.  I’ve heard it has actually been sent to the printers.

Well It Had To Happen

On Sunday, I played my first ever game of Field of Glory (FOG).

After over two years being befuddled by DBMM I felt the time was right to try something different.  James Hamilton, also a member of MAWS and a well known FOG player, was a kind enough to talk us through a game and explain both the major mechanisms and options during a trial game.

DBMM For The Befuddled :: An Index

This post replaces the old side bar that listed all the Befuddled posts:

• Browse all posts
• Part 18 - Spontaneous Advance (v2.0)
• Part 17 - War Wagons
• Part 16 - Mounted Infantry
• Part 15 - Selecting Baggage
• Part 14 - Commentary Booklet (Final)
• Part 13 - Flee Moves
• Part 12 - Column Formation
• Part 11 - Broken Commands
• Part 10 - When To Line Up
• Part 9 - Threat Zone Slide
• Part 8 - Column Formation
• Part 7 - Combat & Grading
• Part 6a - Basic PIP Costs (Final)
• Part 6 - Basic PIP Costs (Initial)
• Part 5 - Commentary Booklet (Initial)
• Part 4a - Weather & Climate (Final)
• Part 4 - Weather & Climate (Initial)
• Part 3 - Starting A Game
• Part 2 - Deployment & Movement
• Part 1 - Grading Grids

I recommend caution if you plan using these guides with versions DBMM 1.1 or 2.0.  Some will be unaffected but some will be rendered useless.

DBMM For The Befuddled :: Impetuous Survey “Results”

At the end of last month I posted a short article publicising an online survey on this area of the rules.  All told, 37 people took the time to complete the survey.  I’d like to thank those who took the time to participate.

I ran the survey because I’d had a few problems in competitions with different interpretations of this part of the rules.  My plan was to run the survey, work behind the scenes whilst it was running and establish the “correct” answers and finally to write another Befuddled guide.  Needless to say things haven’t worked out that way.

DBMM For The Befuddled :: Impetuous Moves

This is a quick plug for a new survey that I set up a couple of weeks ago to explore the extent of befuddlement about one of the more basic areas of DBMM: the impetuous advance.

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 17

Amongst my late medieval armies I have both Polish and Lithuanian armies.  One of the more interesting options available to both armies is the inclusion of War Wagons (WWg in DBMM speak); irregular and regular variants respectively.

Learning to use these properly has been a voyage of discovery so I thought I’d share some notes to aid the Befuddled.  Before that here’s some 15 mm Hussite War Wagons from the brush of Jason Dawson:

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 16

The latest cause of Befuddlement is mounted infantry.  Not dismounted cavalry but mounted infantry.  They are an interesting tactical option especially if you can mount Bw(S) and get them round a flank to cause havoc.

The section defining mounted infantry is on page 10 but is mixed up with the rules on dismounting cavalry, knights and light horse.  This is where the chaos begins; there’s mounted infantry that automatically mount & dismount and “dismounted mounted” that have to use PIPs to remount.  Befuddled?  I was. 

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 15

I’ve been getting my army list ready for the next round of the Northern DBMM Double League on Sunday, April 19th at Walkden.  I needed to add an extra 50 points to my regular 400 point army and I began to consider how best to assign baggage to a four command army.  The choices are many with 0-2 elements per command and the options involving army and command baggage.

After I’d finished my list I realised that there are situations where command baggage is better than army baggage and visa versa but I couldn’t put my finger on just where.

DBMM For The Befuddled - Part 14

In July I posted a “how to” guide to converting the DBMM Commentary to an easy to use booklet via  the free services of www.bookletcreator.com.

This proved popular, not least because the condensed version of the commentary used only seven pieces of paper, but it was a bit tricky as you had to use your printer to shrink the A3 pdf to a more usable A4.  Since then the service has been improved and you can now resize whilst creating the booklet.  This makes it really simple.

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 13

Well I never thought I’d be writing so many articles in this series.  It’s helped that people have requested I cover things.  Sometimes it’s possible and sometimes it’s not.  The best articles have been the ones that contain a solid issue that, once tackled, really helps people play the game.

Today’s article deals with the issue of fleeing troops.  This is a core outcome move in DBMM and it frequently crops up as a combat outcome and as a response to flank marches.

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 12

On the way home from my day trip to Ladywood, my playing partner and I were mulling over what we had learnt about the rules and playing the game.  One thing that struck us as a potential source of Befuddlement was an aspect of column formation.

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 11

This one is a request from the people at the DBMMlist. They’ve been having a bit of a debate about the effect of broken commands and when the penalty is applied and removed.

So here’s a basic flow chart from the end of the combat phase to the end of the bound based on the consensus there:

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 10

Another issue for clarification.  The diagram contains what I think are two “illegal moves”. 

In #1 the group moves sideways to “line up” outside the Threat Zone (TZ) in the middle of a move.   In #2 the group moves sideways inside the TZ.  Both moves end in contact.

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 9

Here’s another issue that I’ve come across in a game that raises an issue with DBMM.  Which of the two options below is correct:



For me this requires clarification as my opponent claimed that the major TZ overlap over rode the closer enemy and used it to side step a closer enemy and gain advantage by attacking C where the combat factors greatly favoured X.

DBMM For The Befuddled – Part 8

When I wrote part 6 and 6a of this series I noted that there were a few things that need clarifying.  I tried using the “good offices” of the Yahoo! DBMM list and the DBMM forum but didn’t get a clear answer.  I want to use this post in another attempt to get this sorted.

The main issue involves forming a column from a line when the head of the column isn’t on either end of the line like so: