WRG with another version of ancients rules. The difference here is that the armies are small, very small. Many rule set scenarios require thousands of figures so it is nice to have one that mandates smaller armies yet maintains some historical flavor, part of a backlash against a then burgeoning complexity that made wargaming less and less accessible. Additionally, the rules are trimmed back substantially making for a quicker, less demanding game. De Bellis Multitudinous adapts the rules for larger size armies and offers four booklets of army lists while Antiquitatis incorporates a single list in the rules.

DBA is likely one of the most popular rules sets.  The book is short and contains all the necessary army lists so unlike other sets, DBA is self contained.   Each army is composed of 12 units of 2 – 4 figures ensuring a player needs less than 50 figures for an army.  With the small number of figures it becomes possible to collect more than one army.

The rules are reasonably simple.  Players alternate movement.  At the end of a movement phase, both players allocate fire attacks.  Units in contact than resolve melee combat.

Movement is governed by a die.  The number shown is the number of units that may move.  Units that are in contact and parallel or following may be treated as a single unit.  One side loses when it loses its general or 4 units (a base camp on the edge of the board counts as 2 units) and has more losses than the opposing army.  Since games are bounded by a limited playing surface, battles tend to be brief affairs.

DBM follows the simplicity of DBA but expands on the dicing for movement rules with each army broken into individual commands and diced for separately.  The army lists offered are far more varied and elaborate and fill 4 separate booklets.  Troop breakdowns seem fairly obscure.  For example, Teutonic Orders from 1201 -1522 AD contain Knechte(regular cavalry), Turkopolen(Irregular cavalry), and Livonian horse archers(irregular light horse) among others while the DBA listing specifies only knights and cavalry for mounted troops.  DBM does offer an avenue for expanding an existing DBA army into one a bit more epic.

A helpful resource for DBA is The Unofficial Guide to DBA which clarifies some of the more cryptic elements in the tersely written DBA.  DBA, DBM, and the army list books are currently available in PDF form on the Internet and provide an easy way to begin playing with a nominal expenditure.