Our 3rd Dragon Rampant Outing Visits 'Hacky Valley'

    My 'Bonefish band' of orcs, goblins, trolls & wolves closes in on a force of Mountain Dwarves

Our Sunday evening gaming group got together for another round of Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition. This time, we took a visit to "Hacky Valley" -- one of the scenarios in the book. We had six players, so I set up three one-on-one tables on my 12' wide gaming table downstairs. I was faced off against Joel S, borrowing a Dwarven army this time. He's played a different army all three times, which I guess there's nothing wrong with. Some people prefer variety! On the winter valley table, Allen's Bretonnian Knights faced off against Jenny's Fantasy Vikings. And on the desert valley, Tom's reconfigured Beastman army tackled Keith's undefeated Mordor Orcs. Tom has used a vastly different list for his beastmen all three games. This one, he said, was modeled on the Wheel of Time series.

    3 tables of 'Hacky Valley' set up side by side on my 12' wide table -- each battlefield was 4'x4'

In Hacky Valley, the 4'x4' table features a central two-foot wide valley. It's flanked on either side by a one foot wide plateau, separated from the valley by impassable cliffs -- except for a ramp leading up to each escarpment in the center of the table. The goal is essentially to destroy the enemy's army and hold the valley. The scenario description adds some whimsical nonsense about pies, but I spared the group that part of the description. I also added three pieces of rough terrain to each setup, one one on each player's half of the board and one more towards the center. The battlefield was already somewhat cramped, I figured. We didn't need to make it even more constricted. I do wish the rules had added a real terrain placement system to the rules to resolve cases where an army that wants lots of terrain is facing one that wanted a more open board. Oh well, I guess we can always port in a systems like Saga's, if it really bothers us. So far, I've set up the boards each time we've played and no one has complained.

    Dwarf-Goblin Wars: my enemy's battle line with Hobbit scouts and Dwarf heavy foot on the right 

In my matchup, I was facing Joel's borrowed Mountain Dwarven army, lent by Keith (of course). Keith is really enjoying our foray into DR! and the chance to get armies that have sat on his shelves for too long into action. He's even been inspired to paint up more figures to flesh out armies where he didn't have enough to field one. Joel's army consisted of a 9-point (almost 1/3 of the army points) cannon. It was bought as Heavy Missiles with Slow, Longer range, Bodkins (6's equal two hits instead of one), and Champion (re-roll 1 missed die on each attack). Maybe there were more special abilities -- I'm going from memory here. There was another Heavy Missile crossbow unit to support it, and the army general and his Heavy Foot bodyguard was nearby, too. On both flanks up on the plateaus, Joel deployed his Hobbit Scouts. The one opposite my right was given another unit of heavy foot for support, as well. A unit of heavy foot pikes was just below, advancing towards the ramp leading to that cliffside. 

    Bonefish Band advances with my eager goblin archers leading the way all game long

I didn't want to give the cannons or crossbows much chance to do their damage. And since we alternated deploying a unit at a time for the setup, I placed my units in the central valley more on the right -- away from the cannon. We would use the woods as cover and line of sight blockers as much as possible. I deployed my goblin archers (Light Missiles, Cowardly, Weak) on the right, one up on the plateau, one just beneath it in the valley. Behind the goblins on the plateau, I deployed my large wolfpack (Lesser Warbeasts, Large - which gave 2 extra figures). My two units of armored orcs (Bellicose Foot, Armored, Cowardly) were in the center, along with the warchief and his Elite Foot and the Trolls (Greater Warbeasts). My idea was to advance on the crossbow and cannon masked by the forests, then charge through at them and destroy them in hand to hand. The goblins would concentrate on shooting the enemy on the right hand plateau, who began advancing towards us as rapidly as their dwarven and hobbit legs could carry them.

    My forces in the valley drifted to the right, as far away as possible from their very dangerous cannon

In fact, Joel advanced across the line fairly aggressively, holding back only with the cannon and crossbows. The goblin archers took the first shots and began whittling down his small unit of Hobbit scouts on the right-hand plateau. My rolling for targeting the little buggers wasn't so good, it took me three turns to get them below half strength and to fail their courage test. From that point on, we switched to the heavy foot marching resolutely behind them. I tried to keep the wolfpack, who were following the goblins, from getting within "Wild Charge" range of the dwarven foot, but Joel kept coming and eventually, the wolves would have to lope into contact.

    2 of our regulars weren't feeling well & couldn't make it, so we had only 6 armies fighting it out

Meanwhile, in the center, Joel's heavy foot dwarves were similarly pounding forward, looking to renew the bloody Dwarf-Goblin Wars. I was having trouble advancing my armored orcs, though. One of the two units actually failed to move four out of its first five attempts (only a 6+ roll on 2d6!). Still, I was able to sneak one of them up behind the central forest and within "Wild Charge" range when the dwarves got close enough to charge my goblins. This first attack of the game was successful for the orcs. They drove back the dwarves, killing a number of them. However, that put them in long range of the cannon and crossbows. Both fired a volley and drove my orcs back. The previous turn, the cannon had fired an extreme range blast at my orc warlord and his bodyguard in the forest on our side of the board. We figured we were safe under the cover of the trees (and with an armor of 4). However, Joel rolled 7 hits -- five of them sixes on 2d6. Not wanting to take 12 hits, I hurriedly consulted all of the special rules Keith had tacked onto the cannon. To my relief, I saw that Bodkins (two hits for each six rolled) does not happen at long range -- whew!). Needless to say, the warlord hurriedly abandoned the trees and scooted away to his right, to better be in range to inspire his troops with their courage rolls (definitely NOT running away from the cannon, oh no!).

    Dwarves are advancing aggressively towards us despite occasional casualties from the goblin archers

On my left, Joel's Dwarven king and his bodyguard were advancing forward stoutly, supported only be the shooting of the cannon, crossbows, and scouts up on the plateau. I figured Joel was using him as bait. Any unit that charged him would end up in line of sight and range of the dwarven and hobbit crossfire.  Still, it was his leader! So, I moved my trolls up (once again, using the central forest to obscure them from missile fire). My reluctant unit of orcs slowly ambled that direction, too. Joel seemed okay with the trolls impending charge and did nothing -- not even forming Wall of Spears for defense. On my next turn, I rolled for the wild charge of the trolls, needing only a 3+ on 2d6. SNAKE EYES?? You've got to be kidding! The trolls, who spent the entire last game pointing out the pretty birds in the trees, once again stared slack-jawed at the various birds flitting around in the branches. "Ooooh, dat one's purty!!" The orc warlord shouted at them and had his trumpeter blow several blasts on his horn to get their attention, hopping up and down and pointing at the dwarven king. Reluctantly, the trolls jogged forward on the next turn and slammed into the dwarven king's line of armored dwarves.

    'Barak Khâzad!' dwarves shout as they prepare to join battle with the Bonefish Band

My rolls were below average while Joel's were above, so he drove my six trolls back, killing one. On his turn, the cannon belched flame and the crossbows twanged and two more trolls fell. Even the plucky hobbit scouts tried to get in on the act, but their stones bounced off the trolls' armored hides. After reducing them to half strength, the dwarven king surprisingly charged the trolls. Angry at all the missiles stinging them, the trolls growled in rage and flailed away at the dwarves. This time we rolled much better, and drove the charging dwarven foot back. On my turn, the armored orcs charged in and cut down many of the dwarves. To this point, Joel's activation rolls had been superb, but his courage tests were tending to be subpar. He rolled badly enough on this roll that the king and his bodyguard fled the table. On the rest of the battlefield, my archers had been slowly riddling the ranks of his units that were falling back. Soon, a unit of hobbit scouts and another dwarven heavy foot were fleeing towards the rear, as well.

    As the dwarven foot near my goblins, armored orcs burst forth and charge into their ranks

The wolfpack and the dwarves on the plateau were locked in a death struggle. The pack would charge in, be driven back by the heavy foot in Wall of Spears, then reform and charge in again. On the third charge, both units fell below half strength and both of us rolled low enough on our courage tests that we broke. At this point, all that the dwarves had on the field were the cannon, crossbows, and scouts on his right flank. I reformed my armored orcs and they began to advance to cover behind the central forest. At this point, Joel decided the game had been decided, and said his dwarves would begin withdrawing from the field. Having suffered the brutal cannon blasts of the enemy, the orc warlord let them march off the field, unmolested. The Bonefish Band had the advantage in units, but it was not out of question that a couple wild swings on the rolls could change our fortunes. We would take the victory, and maintain possession of Hacky Valley and its apparently delicious pies!

    Pushed back by the Dwarven king's bodyguard & blasted by the cannon, my trolls stagger back

In wintry valley, Jenny and Allen's game was wrapping up at the same time. Allen had lost most of his elite knights again as a result of their sometimes unwise wild charges. Still, the Bretonnians had prevailed and driven the Vikings from the snow and iced choked version of Hacky Valley. The next day, Jenny said her courage tests were abysmal. It seemed though she was doing more casualties than Allen, but her troops were failing most of their courage tests. Discussing it, we think that perhaps Allen and Jenny were applying the modifiers wrong. Prior to this game, I had even redesigned the QRS I had created to make it more streamlined and easier to read. Still, if the way she recounted how they did it the next day was true, they were really off on the rules...haha!

    Armored orcs sprint past the trolls & crash into the dwarven king's bodyguard, breaking them

We all turned our attention to the death struggle going on between Keith's Mordor Orcs and Tom's beastmen. Tom's army had been completely retooled to try a new tactic. He had two units of Lesser Warbeasts as his strike force. He gave them the very expensive Cannibalistic trait, meaning each time they destroyed one or more enemy strength points in melee, they would regain one lost figure. The beastmen -- trollocs, I believe they're called in the novels -- would have their ranks replenished not only by the Cannibalistic ability, but also by spellcasters using Heal on them. So, he would hurl the trollocs forward. When they were driven back eventually, he would heal them up and send them charging forward into the orcs' ranks again.

    Keith's Mordor Orcs, left, square off against Tom's deadly 'Wheel of Time' army in a bitter struggle

Keith, on the other hand, had a defensive battleline of orc archers, supported by bellicose foot (like my armored orcs) and heavy foot. When Tom's warbeasts advanced within range, they would receive a snout full of arrows, then be charged by the orcs. When I started watching, both commander's tactics were working and creating a bloodbath. Each side was down to three units. Tom had one trolloc unit and two supporting spellcasters inside Light Foot. Keith had his bellicose foot, an archer unit, and a heavy foot unit. The trollocs eventually caught and destroyed the archers. When the bellicose orcs charged out for vengeance, they were finally driven below half strength. They fell back, and Keith saw the handwriting on the wall. He began to back off and withdraw from the valley. Pies weren't worth this carnage! After an exhausting struggle that saw both sides fall below half strength, Tom decided to let him go unmolested. Each had lost more than half their army, so Tom was willing to take the dearly-bought victory without following up. 

    Keith tries a gambit with a burrowing giant purple worm, but it was dispatched by Tom's beastmen

Afterwards, Tom was worried that he had "broken" the DR! system with his combination of cannibalistic and healing spells. I told him that he came a razor thin margin from losing that battle. I was watching when his Army Points fell to half or below. If he had failed his rolls on that particular set of courage tests, I think it would have broken the back of his army. His wizards would have to Rally instead of casting Heal. The battered beastmen would have lost another figure and fallen further back. I told him I thought he had come very close to defeat while I was watching. Keith apparently had designed his army to be a defensive wall. and Tom had nearly broken on it. The wall cracked first, though. They agreed it was a great game and that Tom's army, though tough, had proven it wasn't unbeatable. 

    Keith's Mordor Orcs were undefeated in their previous 2 battles coming in to face Tom's beastmen

Dragon Rampant is a fun system. We've enjoyed it all three times we've played. It's also fun to create new army lists with the wealth of fantasy abilities you can tack onto basic unit types. Although I am a long way away from having my elves painted up, I am having fun with how the Bonefish Band plays. It is an aggressive, charging army. It is enjoyable to run, and so far, I've been fortunate in my outcomes. If I can just convince my orcs to advance when I tell them to and my trolls to ignore the birds, I think they'll continue to do fine!

    Final moments of the game -- each side reduced to just 3 units and teetering towards breaking

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 34

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24  

    On Wintry 'Hacky Valley,' Jenny & Allen square off for control of the vital mountain pass

    It was human vs. human -- Knights vs. Vikings, in this matchup in the ice and snow

King of the Hill with Dragon Rampant (2nd Game)

    My 'Bonefish Band' advances to seize the central hill before Mike S's Undead army can do so

Everyone had enough fun last week in our initial game of Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition, that they were willing to play it again this Sunday. We changed venues to Keith's Man Cave (or Orcafinn's Basement). That chopped off a couple feet in table width, so we picked a "king of the hill" type scenario from the book to focus the action on each narrower 2.5' wide by 4.5' deep area. The armies were also reduced from 36AP to 30AP. Most players tinkered with their previous lists and brought the same army as last week. Andy changed to Undead, though, as did the opponent for my Bonefish Band -- Mike S. Joel was using his own orc figures rescued from storage, while his brother Allen did the same with his medieval knights. 

    Once again, we had 8 players fighting across the tabletop in four different matchups

A large hill was placed in the center of each pair of opposing armies, along with a few other pieces. In the scenario, you received 1 victory point for each turn that you had more units than your opponent touching the central hill. So, there was incentive to advance forward and seize it first and force your opponent to try to knock you off. I deployed my two units of goblin archers in front, as usual, with the armored orcs on either side of them. The second line was composed of my wolfpack on the left, commander and his elite bodyguard in the center, and trolls on the right. Four of my seven units are subject to "wild charge," which means if they are in range of an enemy unit at the start of the turn, they will most likely charge (usually 5+ on 2d6). I had pre-measured and knew that even my speedy wolfpack couldn't reach the hill on turn 1. 

    My necromancer opponent, Mike, suffered from poor rolls to activate his troops - especially at first

Mike's Undead army had a Level 4 wizard, which allowed him to choose from four "colors" of spells. That meant he had a possibility of getting a unit there on turn one, but his spellcaster failed his roll to cast Teleport. If he had hurled a unit forward magically, and then had the unit advance onto the hill, he could have stolen a march. However, Mike's activation rolls were absolutely abysmal early on, and continued to be subpar most of the game. Three of his four units failed to do anything on turn 1, and at least 2-3 did nothing on turn 2, as well. This allowed my faster-moving armored orcs to barely make it to the hill on turn 2, while he had none. His goblin warg riders (Why are they in an Undead army? Oh yeah...more bones to gnaw on...ha, ha!) barely nicked the edge of the hill, wisely staying behind its crest out of sight of my goblin archers. On turn 2, the Bonefish Band was up 1-0 in VPs.

    Armored orcs of the Bonefish Band have begun to seize the hill, while the rest of my army moves up

On turn 3, I had three of my four wild charging units in range of enemy. The trolls were just out of range, as I'd given them the fantasy ability "Slow" this game, reducing their move from 10" to 8". This seemed more troll-like, and took care of one of those six points I had to give up to field my army. My rolls took a brief hiatus, too, with both units of armored orcs staying put and failing to charge (rolled less than a "5" on 2d6...twice!). However, the wolfpack went howling in against one of his units of armored skeletons. Mike's combat rolls were not suffering from the same malaise his activation and spellcasting ones were, though. Each of us took two casualties, and my wolves were driven off by his band of skeletons. Under the rules, "Undead" troops round up on melee casualties but do not do so on missile hits. However, they do not suffer becoming "battered" from failing morale checks. Only if they fail checks badly enough (score of "0" or less), though, do they melt away and are removed from the board. 

    While some goblins linger in the rear, the army firmly controls the hill & faces down the enemy

Much to my surprise, Mike did not charge my orc "Bellicose Foot" who are actually much less effective when being charged as opposed to when initiating it. Instead, his heavy foot units formed "Wall of Spears" and awaited my charges next turn. That surrendered control of the hill to me for another turn. We were up 2-0, now. On the following turn, the armored orcs went pounding in against the skeleton bands opposite them. We won both fights, and pushed the skeletons further away from the hill. The wolves followed up against last turn's opponent. Once again, the skeleton heavy foot proved deadly in defense, and my pack was down to two models. They failed their courage test and loped to the rear. Frustratingly, the trolls -- my stars of the battle last game -- continued to sit there and not activate to move forward. We joked that they were checking out the "pretty birds" in the forest next to them ("Ooh, lookee, Bill! Ain't it pretty?"). The goblin archers and my commander's bodyguard took possession of the hill with the departure of the orcs.

    On the other battelfield, Joel's orcs struggle to find a winning combination against Jenny's Vikings 

Mike cleverly tried a gambit to get kill my army commander on his turn. He magically swapped positions of the bodyguard and the armored orcs who had charged off the hill last turn. I actually didn't mind. Elite foot is very tough on defense while Bellicose foot is more vulnerable. He charged in and surprisingly killed two of the six bodyguards. The commander and his hand-picked orcs savaged the enemy in return, though, and the magical force binding the skeletons together dissipated and their bones fell to the ground. Mike's warg riders (Light Riders) were unable to cause any casualties with their shooting as the armor of my elites and orcs were too high. Once again, the Bonefish Band retained possession of the hill and we were up 3-0, now.

    Chances of pushing the Bonefish Band off the hill diminish by the turn for Mike's Undead

In addition to rolling poorly to activate his troops, Mike was not doing much better on his Courage tests. His damaged units of skeletons began to score 0 or less and disappear from the board. Meanwhile, my wolfpack was the only unit in danger of being eliminated, though the number of casualties the orcs were suffering had begun to mount. The goblin archers were unable to really play an effective role in the battle. One unit did occupy the hill, though, while the other kept failing to activate and also struggled to find a shooting lane around the central hill. Although the orcs earned a victory point for turn 4, we also saw both of our units of armored orcs barreling for the rear. 

    Tom, at bottom, cleverly tweaked his Bog People army & aggressively attacked Andy's Undead 

Once your units have suffered enough casualties, it gets hard to pass Courage tests. Units suffer a -1 to their Courage test roll per figure they've lost. So, it is hard to get your badly damaged troops to stand in DR! I really like the game's morale mechanics. A unit may get lucky and pass one check after taking grievous casualties, but eventually it is going to fail. And once they're battered, each time they fail again after that, they take an additional casualty (which increase the chance they won't pass on subsequent turns). So many other rules sets see troops battling to the last man. Dragon Rampant definitely does not. Troops fail morale and run from battle, just like in the fantasy novels and movies!

    Tom's beastmen and wizards advance up the hill against Andy's 'Tomb Kings' army

Mike had one final magical gambit left to play and did seize control of the hill for one turn. However, his warg riders (who had been teleported forward by the necromancer) were surrounded by four or more of my units. One by one, they chased the traitorous goblins and their wolf mounts off the hill and towards the edge of his board. We eventually earned our fifth VP token and the game ended. The Bonefish Band was firmly in control of the hill and had 4-5 units remaining while the Undead were down to just two unts.

In the other games, my Lizard Wizard opponent from last game, Tom, was also facing Undead (controlled by Andy). Tom had reworked his army after our game and came up with a surprising tweak. He added four Level 1 spellcasters to his army. This proved amazingly useful as he could teleport units onto their central hill or otherwise used magic to put his troops in advantageous positions. Andy was unable to mount a concerted push towards the central hill. It appeared that Tom's Bog People had possession of it most of the game, much like my Bonefish Band did. Tom and Andy's game was the first to finish. It appeared that the Lizard Wizards gave the Undead a good drubbing. Andy admitted he didn't really pay attention to the scenario objectives, which put him behind the eight ball early. 

    Mike S's Undead finally get underway and advance towards the hill ready to contest it with my orcs

Keith was using a retooled version of his orcs and goblins in a rematch against Allen. I tried to get him to switch up and play a different opponent. He insisted that since he was using his new "old" army and it wouldn't be a replay of last week. Allen was fielding his old Warhammer Brettonian army rescued from storage. I'd helped him create a list which featured three units of Elite Riders (knights) as the bulk of his force. He also had a unit of spearmen, archers, and insisted on a wizard, as well. Allen sent his mounted troops forward to seize the hill first, but Keith cleverly used the knight's impetuousness to their disadvantage. He forced him into charging a solid block of pikemen and a unit of foot located in the woods. Any successes Allen did have were pounced upon by Keith's waiting giant lizards (Greater Warbeasts). 

When Allen had lost all three of his knight units, the handwriting was on the wall. Keith was able to mop up the rest of his army and seize control of the hill, forcing an end to the game. Perhaps when I built Allen's list for him, I should have given him more foot units. He insisted on the wizard, though, which I think hurt him. I still feel spellcasters in DR! are under-powered and potentially not worth the points. Allen could have used some more foot units to screen off his own knights off from the enemy. That way, he could spring his wild charges only when he was ready. We are learning the game, though. For a simple "big skirmish" game, there are a lot of tactical nuance in these rules.

    Although Mike is smiling, his dice rolls aren't giving him much to be happy about early on...!

It wasn't a good night to be a Sams brother, apparently. Allen's brother Joel was also playing an old rescued Warhammer army, this one of orcs and goblins. This one had far fewer painted miniatures, though. So, I struggled to build it up to 30AP list using the troops he had on hand. I did give him two units of orc "mixed weapons" -- spear and bow combined into one unit, though. I was curious how they would work out. Joel said he liked how they performed. His opponent, Jenny, leading her Vikings, admitted they savaged her units with bowfire once or twice. However, Jenny quickly took control of the hill with her two units of heavy riders and never really relinquished it. Joel's army had seven units, but four of them were missile troops. He probably lacked enough attack troops to charge in and drive the Vikings off the hill. 

The Vikings were able to triumph and suddenly we looked around and saw all four games were done -- only two hours or so after we'd started! Dragon Rampant plays very quickly. I had suggested the king of the hill scenario in the rulebook to Keith, but perhaps we should have just done a straight up like last week, instead? At least a couple of the players didn't really wrap their heads around the fact they had to advance quickly and contest the hill. And Mike's failed activations early on meant he couldn't get his admittedly slower troops moving to seize the objective in time. All of those games ended up being lopsided in score. I think I will recommend us to play a more straight up battle next time.

    Zooming in on Jenny & Joel's battle, as the Vikings advance toward the hill in strength

 I was happy with how my tweaked Bonefish Band performed. I needed to give up six army points to get down to 30AP. I started by giving both goblin archers the fantasy trait "Weak." That means they'd roll one less die in attacks or shooting than normal -- not a big disadvantage, I figured, for -1AP each. I also removed "Large" from the goblin  units, as well (two more points back).  I added "Cowardly" to both armored orc units (-1AP each), meaning they'd retreat a full move instead of a half move. Since Bellicose Foot is vulnerable to counter-attack, I reasoned this might actually be an advantage! The final tweak was adding the "Brutal" fantasy trait to my commander. Andy had done that for his orc commander last week and it made a lot of sense. I paid for that point by giving the trolls the "Slow" fantasy trait, as mentioned before. These minor changes allowed me to keep the same seven units that I felt performed so well in the last game. That's one of the things I like about the rules. There is a nice tool kit in them to create the fantasy army you want to represent.

Probably the coolest part was that everyone played their own army with their own miniatures this time. Getting us to that point with DR! certainly didn't take long! Apparently, I was the only player who had to paint their 28mm fantasy army from scratch for DR! Everyone else was using figures they already had, including Saga armies old Warhammer armies, or even figures from role-playing. Now that my orcs are nearly painted, I am seriously considering buying figures for a new army. Perhaps Elves? I could field them as Light Foot (who are very effective troops in DR!) and give them the Mixed Weapons rule which allows them to shoot. That seems very Lord of the Rings-like to me. So, who knows? Perhaps soon you will see pictures of new 28mm miniatures I bought...haha!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 15

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 4 

Orc Hosting: Day of Wrath & Ruin - 1st Dragon Rampant Game

    A great hosting occurred during our 1st game of Dragon Rampant -- 8 players & armies clashing

The day had arrived -- our first game of Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition. Four orc warbands were hosting, opposed by an alliance of Dwarves, Men, and strange creatures of the bogs. Eight players were gathered, of which six had brought their own armies. Keith and Mike S brought loaners, and the other two players were soon kitted out with an goblin or dwarven army to command. My downstairs table had been expanded from eight feet wide to twelve, allowing six armies to do battle. My old octagonal table was also levied into service for an additional, one-on-one match up.

    The trolls, goblins, and orcs of the Bonefish Band advance towards the enemy, ready for battle!

My Bonefish Band would be fighting their first battle on the octagonal table against Tom's bog creatures -- fishmen, lizard men, and various other beastmen, led by a Lizard Wizard. Over on the big table, Andy dusted off his Games Workshop orcs and goblins, opposed by Queen Freyja's Vikings. Jenny had cobbled together her Saga armies to create a Norse-themed DR! army. In the middle, a monumental hosting of goblins (list created by Keith, but captained by Joel) faced off against "Roman" Dwarves fielded by Mike S. When he had emailed to say that was what he was bringing, I wasn't sure what Roman Dwarves meant. The figures were exactly what he said -- dwarves painted in a very Roman legionary style. He was vastly outnumbered by Keith's micro-armor mentality of putting every goblin he owned onto the table. Joel's list had 123 models in 13 units, while the beleaguered dwarves had only half a dozen units. For himself, Keith fielded his "Mordor" army of orcs, goblins, and trolls against a more standard dwarven army controlled by Allen. Allen was supposed to dust off his Bretonian knight army from long ago (when we briefly played Warhammer), but inexplicably left it at home.

    Mike S brought 'Roman Dwarves' who faced off against Joel's uncountable horde of goblins

Enough players had said they wanted the big table to be a multiplayer game, so I set it up that way before everyone arrived. Terrain was kept to a minimum since it was our first game with the rules. We've played many other Rampant games, but this would be our intro to DR! Wisely, the players looked at all the 50 (not kidding -- I counted!) units on the tabletop, and quietly ran each matchup as a one-on-one game. No units strayed to the left or right to attack other enemies across the table. Also, this let them proceed at their own pace, which was probably a good thing considering everyone would have to wait for the ponderous 13 units of goblins to complete their moves before continuing on to the Dwarven Alliance's turn!

    Two orc/goblin war bosses with their hosts deployed for battle - Keith (front) brought 3 of 8 armies 

On my own table, the seven units of my Bonefish Band were finally making it to the tabletop. Well, okay...I'm lying. We used many of them when we played Sellswords & Spellslingers a few weeks back. This was their first time hosting together, though, as a warband. My towering Orc war boss deployed his warriors in two lines. In the front, two large masses of goblin archers (Light Missiles, Cowardly, Large Unit) flanked on either side of a unit of armored orcs (Bellicose Foot, Armored). In the second rank, my just clear-coated wolfpack (Lesser Warbeasts) held down the left flank. Next to them was my unit of massive trolls (Greater Warbeasts), squabbling with the wolves over the remains of the warband's breakfast. The warlord and his Elite Foot bodyguard were in the center, with another unit of armored orcs on the right.

    My opponent Tom surveys my approaching horde & ponders how best to respond to our advance

Opposite us were Tom's six units from his Lizard & Beastman army. The army general was near the center of his lines, a Spellcaster fielded as Light Foot. Two units of various types of beastmen -- fishmen, goatmen, and more guarded each flank (Light Foot, Offensive). Tom's own unit of Bellicost Foot, a mob of werewolves, were on his right, as well. In the center, and intended as his strike force, was a unit of Crested Lizards (Elite Foot), and Greater Serpents (Lesser Warbeasts, Venomous). There were small clumps of forest in the center and on each flank of the battlefield. The battle opened with my front line and the armored orcs from my second line moving out a full move towards the enemy. The rest of the second line stalled, as the army commander had to go over and sort out the disagreement between the wolves and trolls (i.e., all three units failed their movement rolls -- hopefully not a bad omen of the things to come!). 

    Andy & Jenny discuss a rules point during their clash between his GW-style orcs & her Norse

I was occasionally called over to the big table to answer rules questions. It was my mistake to not do a quick run-through on the rules. I figured that with six of the players owning or having read a copy of DR 2nd Edition, and everyone having played this series of rules multiple times, that they'd be good. However, as I noticed, there were some very basic rules that weren't being played correctly. I had given each of them a Quick Reference Sheet of my creation, but in our group's best tradition, it was likely not being used...ha, ha! I thought things were progressing smoothly, though, as I was called over less and less as the game went on, and I didn't overhear any back and forth questioning opponent's interpretations of the game mechanics.

    A look at Andy's boar riders and warg riders with green-skinned GW orcs & goblins mouted atop

Tom advanced somewhat tentatively. I would later learn that the werewolves and "Rainbow Coalition" -- as I called his inclusive collection of various beastmen -- were intended as a refused flank. That was good, because my wolfpack failed its roll of 6+ on 2d6 to move on three of the first four turns! However, both they and the trolls moved very fast. Eventually, they were underway to assault Tom's refused flank. In the center, Tom's unease with my large goblin archer units became apparent. Before his Crested Lizards and Greater Serpents moved into our range, his wizard cast "Dragon's Breath" on the nearest unit of archers, preventing them from firing on our next activation. As it turned out, that was one of the only two successful spells the Lizard Wizard cast the entire game. Tom's spell rolls were awful, failing at least three quarters of his rolls of 6+, 7+, or 8+ on 2d6. Afterwards, I told him the wizard was easily his army's "LVP" - Least Valuable Player!

    

    'SO MANY of them!' Mike's Roman Dwarves face off against a horde more than twice their size

Tom cleverly did a head fake on my center unit of armored orcs. They were lurking in the woods, waiting for the Elite Foot to come into my charge range (but outside of his). Tom suddenly shifted them to his left, exposing the much, much faster Greater Serpents. They charged in and caught my armored orcs flat-footed. Bellicose Foot hits on a 3+ on each roll of 12d6 when charging. However, when defending against an enemy charge, they hit only on a "6." What's more, Bellicose Foot can counter-charge only other foot -- not mounted, which is what warbeasts are. This should have been a nasty blow on my center unit, but the Dice Gods decreed otherwise. I rolled FOUR 6's, while Tom's rolls were under average, resulting in each unit suffering one casualty. The orcs passed their Courage test, as did the Serpents, so they had to back off. 

    My orcs on the right watch the approach of the enemy Beastmen through the trees

On the next turn, the emboldened orcs "wild charged" into the Serpents, catching them at a disadvantage. In DR!, certain units must test if within range of enemy, and if they pass, automatically charge home whether the player wants them to do so or not. Bellicose Foot (think "warbands" in ancient games) are one of those. The orcs killed a couple more serpents, knocking them down to half strength. Tom rolled well and passed their courage test, though, while my orcs failed theirs despite inflicting more damage. The orcs fled back to the woods to regroup. Throughout the game, Tom's courage tests tended to be above average, balanced out by his Lizard Wizard's abysmal rolling. My goblins plucked off a few shots, inflicting a few hits here and there, but his troops passed all of their resulting courage tests. On the left, my wolves and trolls were finally in motion, threatening his right. On the opposite flank, my other band of armored orcs had seized the woods, and were awaiting the approach of either his beastman Light Foot or elite Crested Lizards. 

    A lupine clash in the woods - my wolfpack of lesser warbeasts charges Tom's werewolf bellicose foot

With echoing howls, the wolfpack raced across the battlefield and into the woods where their werewolf cousins were sheltering from the arrows of the goblins. Since Tom's werewolves were Bellicose Foot and my wolves were considering mounted, I felt I had turned the tables on him, like he had with me in the center. However, I rolled abysmally for the wolves and he rolled well, sending the pack racing to the rear, missing half of its number. My orcs on the right also did their wild charge, slamming into the Crested Lizards. Once again, my chargers were defeated. The orcs retreated to the woods, where the Crested Lizards would pursue them next turn. My orc warboss was growing concerned. Fights we should be winning we were losing. Time for the trolls, he decided!

    Beating wolves is one thing, but facing down angry, mighty trolls was too tall an order for the Weres

The troll lumbered forward and crashed through the trees where the werewolves were panting after their victory over the wolfpack. Outsized and out-muscled by the huge beasts, the werewolves fell back out of the forest. Encouraged by that success, the orc warlord and his bodyguard began to relocate behind the goblins to the right, which was looking more fragile. The orcs had been pursued by the Crested Lizards, who drove them from the trees. Tom's nearby beastmen scented blood and closed in, smashing into the reeling orcs and causing them to retreat further towards the rear. The goblins continued to fire at the Crested Lizards and the Greater Serpents, whittling their numbers down, to the immense frustration of the Lizard Wizard who couldn't get off a spell to block their arrows.

    My battered unit of armored orcs on the right being worn down by fishmen, frogmen, & more

The battle hung in the balance at this point. My orcs on the right were a beaten force, slowly withdrawing. The center orcs had rallied, but had maybe one charge left in them. The wolves, down to half strength, had also rallied and were waiting for one more charge to redeem themselves. The trolls were unbeaten, though, and emerged from the trees bellowing into the cowering beastmen. The indomitable trolls slaughtered many and drove them back, suffering only one casualty themselves. Encouraged by their victory, the rallied orcs in the center charged into the Crested Lizards. Although the enemy were down to half strength, the orcs couldn't maintain the momentum, and fell back towards the goblins, who kept up their fire, and had finally eliminated the Greater Serpents. 

    While engrossed in my own clash, battles raged all across the room as hated enemies struggled

The enemy was reeling at this point, the orc war boss knew. A couple more successful charges and they'd break! With a roar, he led his bodyguard into the beastmen who were pursuing the orcs on the right. They shattered their ranks and drove them backwards. Goblin arrows continued to whittle down the Crested Lizards, to the point they were not an effective fighting force. On the far left, the trolls and even the wolfpack charged again. Both won their engagements, and the enemy began to slink from the field. It had been a mighty battle, with swings that went in favor of both sides. Victory went to the Bonefish Band, as the Lizard Wizard gathered his survivors behind a swamp mist, and the orcs, goblins, and trolls celebrated on the field.

    Charges and counter-charges rolled across the tabletop as the orcs wore down their foes

Tom and I both enjoyed the game, which was a close one. We agreed his wizard's repeated failures to cast spells handicapped his side. At 8 Army Points, he was equal in cost to his two beastman units. We both felt Light Foot (his beastmen) performed well for their cost. We also felt the same about our two units of Bellicose Foot (my armored orcs and his wolfmen). They are an effective striking force, but are very vulnerable to counter-attack, especially from mounted troops. He liked how my purchase of "Armored" made them just a bit more survivable, and said he may do the same next game. We also liked how our Lesser Warbeasts (wolves and serpents) performed. Their speed and ability to dart quickly through terrain make them a potent strike force. The trolls (Great Warbeasts) were true monsters on the tabletop. Although technically vulnerable to counter-attack, their armor of 4 and ability to fight in terrain (which can raise their armor to 5 if defending in there) gives them more staying power. All in all, we were both very pleased with our first game of Dragon Rampant!

    Forces of Mordor close in on stout-hearted dwarves who have sworn to hold back the orc tide

On the big table, the orcs had also won at least two of the three battles. The Mordor vs. Dwarves engagement seemed to have its outcome still in the air, but the "bad guys" were advancing and pressing on the dwarves. The huge goblin host had utterly destroyed the Roman Dwarves. Mike's units were fleeing the tabletop and Joel seemed to have a third of his army still unengaged. Mike blamed it on a crucial "snake eyes" on a Courage test after a melee, which saw one of his tougher units abruptly flee the field. I also think the odds were stacked against him. Thirteen units is too many for this size of a game. The goblins more than doubled Mike's numbers. In all of our games using the Rampant system, we play a variant where failing an activation does not result in your turn ending. Having so many units exploits that rule and makes them more powerful than they should be. There is likely no way a player could activate all 13 units without a turnover if we played the rules as written. I'm thinking in the future we need to put an upper limit on unit numbers. Several of the players had insisted we use 36-point armies, but I think maybe scale back to 30 points (as the rules recommend)? We'll talk it out online, but there were LOTS of units and figures on the tabletop!

    Dwarves wheel a cannon across the battlefield in hopes of putting large numbers of goblins to flight

The next biggest army, Andy's GW-style orcs and goblins, crushed Jenny's Norse. Jenny and Andy said his three units of missile troops were very effective, while Jenny's often failed to activate. Her impetuous berserkers and lesser warbeasts (vicious rabbits, Monty Python style) got overextended with their wild charges and cut down. So, it was an overwhelming victory for the orcs. Truly, it was an hour of wolves and shattered shields...a red day...a sword day! Everyone seemed enthusiastic about the DR! rules, though. After the battle, they were discussing which units they felt performed well, which special or fantasy upgrades seemed effective, and which seemed to cost too much for their effects. Expect to see us playing these rules again soon. Hopefully, NOT with an army of 123 figures on the table, though...ha, ha! 

    Would the alliance of dwarves, men, and bog-people hold off the orcs? Or would it come to ruin??

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 6

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 0 

    The free Norse of Queen Freyja advance in attempt to drive off the marauding hordes of orcs