Totally Useless Facts
About DBA 2.0 Armies

Note that this list aggregates numbers by generic element types (e.g., Bows instead of 3Bw, 4Bw, 3/4Bw, 3Cb, 4Cb, 3/4Cb, 3Lb, or 4Lb)

Army With the Fewest Figures

The DBA 2.0 army requiring the smallest number of figures for all options is Early Libyan (I/7c), which only requires 23 miniatures (1x LCh, 11x2Ps). If you pick and choose your options, you can also field the Numidians/Early Moors (II/40) with 23 figures (i.e. 1xEl, 5x2Lh, and 6x2Ps). By picking and choosing options, you can get an even smaller army of 22 miniatures out of the Early Susiana and Elam (I/5d) with (2x LCh and 10x 2Ps). Honorable mention goes to the all light horse armies -- Kimmerian, Skythian or Early Hu (I/43a), Alans (II/58), Hunnic (II/80d), and Emishi (III/6) at 24 figures. Credit: Cyril Walker.

Most Aggressive DBA 2.0 Army(s)

The most aggressive DBA 2.0 armies (i.e. those assigned an aggression factor of 4) are: Early Libyan (I/7a, b), Akkadian (I/11a), Middle Assyrian I/25a, b), Kimmerian, Skythian or Early Hu (I/43a, b), Neo Assyrian Empire (I/45), Neo Assyrian/Later Sargonid (I/51), Syracusan (II/9a), Alexandrian Macedonian (II/12) and Alexandrian Imperial (II/15), pyrrhic (II/27 a, b), Galatian (II/30 a, b), Polybian Roman (II/33b), Early German (II/47a,b), Hunnic (II/80a, d), Arab Conquest (III/25a, b), Norse Viking (III/40a, b), Nikephorian Byzantine (III/64), Fanatic Berber (III/74), Early Crusader (IV/7a), Teutonic Orders (IV/30), Mongol Conquest (IV/35), Ottoman (IV/55a, b), Free Company (IV/74), Timurid (IV/75) and Burgundian Ordonnance (IV/84). Invest in one or more of these armies, and you won't have much to worry about if you forgot to bring along your terrain.

Least Aggressive DBA 2.0 Army(s)

The least aggressive DBA 2.0 armies (i.e. those with an aggressive factor of 0) are: Early Libyan (I/7c, d), Melukhkhan and Pre-Vedic Indian I/10), Early Northern Barbarians (I/14c), Western Chou and Spring & Autumn Chinese (I/32a, b, c), Cypriot and Phoenician (I/35a, b, c, d), Early Macedonian (I/54), Kyrenean Greek (I/56a, b), Republican Indian (II/1), Classical Indian (II/3), Gallic (II/11b), Ariarathid Kappadokian (II/14), Arabo-Aramean (II/22a, b, c, d, e, f), Later Pre-Islamic Arab (II/23b, c), Bosporan (II/25), Tien and K'un-ming (II/29), Hellenistic Greek (II/31a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j), Ancient Spanish (II/39a, b, c), Tamil Indian and Sinhalese (II/42a, b, c, d), Sicilian and Italian Slave Revolts (II/45a, b, c), Ancient British (II/53), Jewish Revolt (II/59), Silla Korean (II/77a, b), Patrician Roman (II/83a), Italian Ostrogothic (III/3), Emishi (III/6a, b), Central-Asian City States (III/8), Maya (III/22a, b, c, d), Rshtuni Armenian (III/27) Thematic Byzantine (III/39a), Sung Chinese (III/61b), West Sudanese (III/68), Early Russian (III/78), Granadine (IV/38), Low Countries (IV/57a, b, c), Post-Mongol Samurai (IV/59a, b), Amazonian (IV/72) and Yi Dynasty Korean (IV/78).

It is worth noting here that "least aggressive" doesn't necessarily mean less warlike. Instead, it represents the likelihood that the army will fight on its own home turf, which means that with these armies, you had better not forget to bring along your terrain.

DBA 2.0 Army With the Most Figures

The absolute largest DBA 2.0 army in terms of figures required to field all options has to be the Medieval French 1346-1418 AD (IV/64b), which requires 29 elements (including six elements of dismounting knights, 5x 5Wb and 2x 7Hd) for a grand total of 116 figures. Credit: Cyril Walker

DBA 2.0 Army With the Most Elements

Colin Hagreen reports: "I have calculated which armies need the most elements to cover all possible options. I have used two methods, depending on whether you see 3/4Wb as one element (A) or two (B):

Average Number of Elements in DBA 2.0 Armies

Colin Hagreen reports, " depending on whether you see 3/4Wb as one element (A) or two (B):

• Method A -- Armies take an average of 14.0 elements (Book 1), 14.3 (Book 2), 15.1 (Book 3) or 14.8 (Book 4) for an average of 14.5 elements/army.
• Method B -- Armies take an average of 14.3 elements (Book 1), 14.5 (Book 2), 15.4 (Book 3) or 15.1 (Book 4) for an average of 14.8 elements/army.

DBA 2.0 Armies With Dismounting Elements

There are at least 20 DBA 2.0 army lists with elements that can take advantage of the new dismounting rule, including Later Mycenean & Trojan War (I/26), Dark Age and Geometric Greek (I/30a, b), Neo-Elamite (I/42), Kyrenean Greek (I/56a), Early Byzantine (III/4b), East Frankish (III/52), Anglo-Norman (IV/3), Medieval German (IV/13a), Feudal English (IV/23), 100 Years War English (IV/62), Medieval French (IV/64b, c), Medieval Spanish or Portugese (IV/68a, b), Free Company (IV/74), Early Burgundian (IV/76), French Ordonannce (IV/82a, b) and Burgundian Ordonnance (IV/84). As you might image, the most common dismounters are Knights/Blades, but there are also (light and heavy) chariots that dismount as blades, spear, bow or even warband and one element of French Ordonnance cavalry that dismounts as bow.

Number of DBA Armies By Aggression and Terrain Type

Bob Beattie pulled together this massive bit of number crunching, which assumes each main army list is broken down into more than one, if the aggression or topography changes. For example, see the Polybian Roman list (II/33), which does not change composition, but increases in aggression from 1 to 4 after 201 BC.

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Last Updated: July 20, 2001

Comments, suggested additions, and/or critiques welcome. Direct them to Chris Brantley at brant@erols.com.