What is DBM?

De Bellis Multitudinis (DBM) is a set of wargames rules developed by Wargames Research Group which enables the fighting of battles with model soldiers, using historical armies ranging from 3000 B.C. to 1500 A.D.

For those who have not encountered wargaming before think of it as Chess, but with a lot more detail, and an element of chance.

You can find out more about DBM from The Beginners Guide to DBM written by one of the authors.

Why do I play it?

As a hobby wargaming has many dimensions, different people enjoy different aspects more than others, here are just a few;

• It is a competitive strategy game that requires skill and thought,
• Painting the miniatures and putting together an army is quite a creative process,
• Studying the history of the armies and nations can be very interesting.

I've been wargaming off and on since I was 12, I enjoy the challenge of trying to defeat my opponents, I enjoy building an army and painting the miniatures, and I'm interested in history.

The difference between the DBM (which also includes DBA, DBR, and HOTT) system and other wargames rules is that other rules tend to be simulations, whereas DBM is more abstract in it's approach. Other rules tend to give more attention to detail and are built from the ground up. DBM gives tries to give the player more of a 'feel' of commanding a large army with less attention to detail. It is more light hearted and less taxing than a lot of rules I've tried, with the element of chance taking care of a lot of the detail. The rules are easy to learn, but the tactical subtleties are difficult to master.