A while ago I posted a short newspost on the release of the new ruleset Donnybrook by The League of Augsburg but thought it deserved a bit more attention on my blog so here's a longer blogpost with some more information from the designers website about the rulebook and gameplay along with some pictures I took from my own terrain collection depicting a Spanish colony somewhere in South America during the Spanish War of Succession. Note that these pictures aren't related to the book.
The basic game of Donnybrook requires a force of four units of 3-12 models each, depending on their quality, and one character who represents the the player. Games are played on a 4x4' table. You can add additional units and additional characters as you like, as long as both sides use the same conventions, though you'll need a larger table as you increase the numbers! The game uses a card driven turn system, with a deck containing one card for each character and each unit on the table, one reload card (black powder weapons were notoriously slow to reload once fired), and one turn over card (reshuffle the deck... Yes, this means that not every model gets to act every turn!). When a character or unit card is drawn, they take a full turn - rally (if necessary), move, shoot, and melee. When their turn is finished, another card is drawn from the deck. There are several variations to the card system to allow you to tailor the action to the style of game you prefer.
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| Spanish Colony in South America - Terrain by Wargame News and Terrain |
Actions are resolved by throwing a die and comparing it to a target number to determine success or failure - shooting, for instance, requires a 6 or better to hit. Donnybrook uses those funny dice more commonly found in role playing games and the type of die you throw is determined by the quality of the model... d6 for recruits, d8 for trained soldiers and warriors, and d10 for elite troops. There are a short list of modifiers as well, but such things have been kept to an absolute minimum to speed play.
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| Spanish Colony in South America - Terrain by Wargame News and Terrain |
The rules are simple enough, but the heart of the game are the factions. These are 'army' lists designed to guide your force selection and add loads of period flavor. I worked out a rough format for the Army faction (the regular government troops of the age) and made few brief notes for other faction and character ideas and dropped the mess into Barry's lap to utilize his 20+ years of experience in the period. The results are fantastic. Besides marching government troops into battle, you can choose mobs of armed peasants, murderous brigands, religious fanatics, sinister cultists, ferocious highlanders, or tribal natives. Each faction is painted with a broad brush to allow the player to come up with his own narrative. For instance, an Outlaw force might be dashing highwaymen, desperate deserters, common brigands, wily smugglers, or swashbuckling pirates!
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| Spanish Colony in South America - Terrain by Wargame News and Terrain |
While you can play the game perfectly well with a handful of units, Donnybrook is ultimately designed to be a character driven game. Once you have the basics of the rules in hand you will want to start adding these optional models. Each faction has a number of unique character models that allow you to enhance the performance of your units, hinder your foes, or grant a number of other special abilities to you force. Giving these characters names or even designing a backstory will add to the narrative element of your games... more information about the gameplay and rules can be found on the Donnybrook Forum.
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| Content list of Donnybrook. |
The book is 110 pages of rich colour with 186 beautiful photographs, maps, original artwork, seven scenarios, example game in comic strip format, period primer for numerous conflicts, faction guides/force builder, points system and comes with a satin finish full colour A4 QRS. In is soft cover and perfect bound. The book also contains a force roster sheet template. This book is now available through The League of Augsburg.
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