Bitter Defeat for the Bonefish Band

    The Yellow Watcher (my Wendigo fig) observes the advance of our foes -- Allen's army of orcs

There's a saying, "Quantity has a Quality all its own." That certainly seems to be true in Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition, fantasy rules. This past Sunday, we had eight players gather to fight out four 1-on-1 games using the Yellow Watcher scenario from the book. The armies used included dwarves, elves, orcs, goblins, humans, and fire giants. Several of the armies chose fewer higher-point value units, while others went with more troops, but lower value ones. All of the "mighty few" went down to defeat, though, to forces that had more standard, less "tricked out" units. 

    Early stages of my game as the Bonefish Band rushes towards Allen and his slower moving orcs

DR! lets you add special or fantasy abilities to your troops, and this time, a few of the players went wild doing that. I created unit reference cards for most of the armies used that night, so it gave me insight into how they were purchased. Some of the abilities I had never even seen before on the tabletop in our four previous evenings of DR! For example, the Dwarven player gave three of his units "Spell Resistant." However, he was matched up against Joel S's goblins army which did not take any magic users. Another army had a leader with something called "Divine Leadership." That let all of his units within 12" receive the ability Spell Resistant. Once again, if the opponent doesn't have Spellcasters those are wasted points. 

    On the icy board, Joel's Goblins would prove the maxim that Quantity has a Quality all of its own!

Instead, I prefer special abilities or fantastical ones that improve a unit's statistics or how they perform certain basic actions -- not ones countering specific foes. In fact, I tend to take more negative fantasy abilities that reduce the cost of the units for my Bonefish Band. For example, I use "Cowardly" for all of my orc and goblin units. That means if they are called upon to retreat, they fall back a full move instead of a half move. For my archers, that's probably a good thing -- get away from that enemy that just beat you in melee! I also use "Armored" for my orc units of Bellicose Foot. That means it takes three hits to remove a figure instead of two. I find that makes them a bit more survivable, because they are almost always in the thick of the fighting.

    Joel's opponent, Andy, went with the Quality strategy & just five high-point-value units of dwarves

I also make my Goblin Archers "Weak", in addition to Cowardly, meaning they roll one less die in shooting or melee. Another positive ability that I like for smaller, mounted units is "Large," which adds +2 Strength Points. I give it to my Wolfpack, which normally is only 6 SPs. With this, they are a more survivable (I hope) 8 SPs. All of the negative modifiers allow me to field seven units in the Bonefish Band -- one unit of trolls (Greater Warbeasts), one wolfpack (Lesser Warbeasts), two armored orcs (Bellicose Foot), two goblin archer (Light Missiles), and the leader's bodyguard of Elite Foot. The warband can pack quite a punch and has a lot of Quantity, in addition to its Quality.

    Jenny's Viking berserkers charge towards the Yellow Watcher on her table -- a manticore

In the scenario we were playing, there was a temple in the center of each board occupied by a monster called the Yellow Watcher. He was immune to ranged attacks and spells. His unblinking, malevolent gaze would force any unit that moved into contact with him to retreat after fighting its melee. Inscrutably, he would do no damage back to those that contacted the temple and attacked him, but would simply force the unsettled warriors back. Players received 1 victory point for each SP loss inflicted on the Yellow Watcher. The Watcher is Armor 3, so three hits in melee = 1 SP lost. The person who inflicts the 12th and final hit to kill the Watcher receives 2 bonus points. In addition, players received victory points equal to each enemy unit they destroyed or forced to flee off the table. 

    Mike S likes to play a new army every time -- here he faces Jenny's Vikings with 'Barbarians'

My version of Yellow Watcher scenario is slightly modified from the one in the rule book, which does NOT award points for destroying enemy units. To tell the truth, I am not that impressed with the 12 scenarios in the rule book. I love the rules themselves, but feel that too many of the scenarios give an uneven chance for victory. In the rules' version of the Yellow Watcher scenario, you are not rewarded for defeating your enemy. Allen ended up crushing me in the battle. However, I inflicted 11 of the 12 SPs the Watcher lost. I would have won handily even though Allen did not lose a unit and mine were fleeing from the battlefield. I also dislike scenarios which can be won by simply moving faster than the enemy to a certain place, or occupying a spot on the board. If the scenario rules grant your opponent victory despite the fact you destroyed nearly every unit in their enemy, and suffered few losses yourself, there's something wrong with it. The Yellow Watcher (as written in the rules) is one of those, in my opinion.  

    Another borrowed army, Mike W's High Elves -- 6 units, all of them armed with bows & 12" range

After explaining the my version of the Yellow Watcher to the other players, we deployed our troops and began our individual games. Like several other scenarios, this one rewards you for moving quickly and getting to the temple first to inflict maximum damage on the Watcher. The temple counts as rough terrain, so rewards those that have the "Ranger" special ability and fight well in it. That was three units for me -- my two units of armored orcs and my trolls. When they fought the Watcher, they'd roll 12 dice and inflict hits on 3+ on each die (averaging 3 hits per unit attacking). The scenario rules were rewarding my Bonefish Band not for me being a clever tactician, but because I just happened to have the best troop types to best kill the Watcher. Andy had given all five of his Dwarven units "Slow," so he was penalized by the scenario. Plus, it is important to note that in DR! you are supposed to create your army list before selecting a scenario. Without my modifications to the scenario, the games would have been won or lost in the first few turns. Victory would have gone to the army that just happened to show up with the best (or fastest) troops.  

    Remember that maxim about Quantity vs. Quality? Here Elves overwhelm outnumbered fire giants

Similarly, a few games back we have played a "king of the hill" style scenario (The Grand Old Duke of Orc). We used the rules "as written" for victory points . The side that moved slowest or failed a bunch of move actions early lost on every table. The one that seized the hill quickly, with faster-moving troops or used magic to teleported them onto the hill, won every game. In my opinion, another rules set that has the same problem with gimmicky scenarios is Saga Dark Age skirmish rules. You can win games even if you suffer hugely lopsided losses, or are eliminated entirely. To me, that's just wrong. In the end, we are playing battle games. Two armies meet on the tabletop, they fight, and one wins and forces the other to retreat off the table. They are the winner. Now, I don't mind clever battlefield conditions or circumstances in a scenario. Two thumbs up for presenting interesting tactical challenges. Two thumbs down to gimmicky scenarios which can be won or loss simply by moving troops around on the tabletop or exploiting a unit's special ability -- or worse -- by simply recruiting an army list composed of troops who do the special action the scenario requires. In Saga, there are some tournaments that refuse to release their scenarios ahead of time so players can't do that. There are howls from some players who clamor for the scenarios to be released ahead of time so they can tailor their armies to best fulfill the victory conditions.  

    Goblins riding giant lizards wasn't on the Dwarves' dance card -- slipping & falling on ice was!

Enough ranting already? Ha, ha -- okay, I think so too! So, the match ups for the evening were:

• Andy S's Dwarves vs. Joel S's Goblins on the icy board.
• The Bonefish Band vs. Allen S's Orcs on the grasslands board.
• Keith's Fire Giants vs. Mike W's High Elves on the arid plains board. 
• Jenny's Vikings vs. Mike S's Barbarians on the octagon-shaped board.

    Allen's core of his battle line - 4 units of orc heavy foot, seeing the tabletop for the first time in years!

In my game, I deployed my two armored orc units front and center of my battle line. They would move quickly to the temple and charge repeatedly until the Watcher was dead. Each was flanked by a unit of goblin archers, who would fire on Allen's units moving up, hopefully inflicting some losses and slowing them down. On the left, opposite a small forest, my trolls were lined up. The plan was to use the forest as cover to advance towards Allen's orcs and then come crashing out of the trees, scattering them with their overwhelming charge. On the right, the wolfpack circled wide to the edge of the battlefield, avoiding the archery range of his orcs. They would hopefully pass through a woods and fall upon the archers and eat them for lunch. The general and his bodyguard of elite infantry stayed behind the orcs in the center, trying to be within leadership range to positively affect my units' morale when they had to take Courage tests. That was the plan, and the warlord of the Bonefish Band felt it was a good one!

    Our opening gambit was simple - armored orcs would charge & charge the Watcher till he was dead!

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Allen deployed his orc archers on either flank. In the middle, was a mass of four units of heavy infantry -- two of spear counting as Pikes, and thus more deadly to my trolls and wolves. Behind that slow-moving block of infantry was his general and body guard of orcs riding on war-boars. I gave Allen the chance to move them to the front, as  they were his fastest moving unit and could get to the temple quickest. He deferred. I warned him the Watcher may be dead already by the time his heavy foot arrived. He seemed unconcerned -- perhaps he knew something about his troops that I didn't? After all, this was the first time they'd see light of battle on the tabletop in years and years. I created the list he was using, though, as Allen doesn't own the DR! rules, yet. So, secret knowledge was unlikely.

    The wolfpack opens the hostilities with the rival orc tribe with a savage charge into some archers

On my first turn, I moved up all of my units except the trolls, who are avid bird watchers. They often lose turns during games to point out pretty birds to each other (i.e., fail their role to activate to Move). Allen had a couple units not move, as well. On turn 2, I charged both of my armored orcs into the Watcher, inflicting 5 SPs damage (slightly under average, as they hit on 3+ on each d6). Allen's battle line marched closer, but still could not charge the temple. On turn 3, my armored orcs surged forward again, inflicting 6 more SPs. We left only a crumb of 1 SP for Allen's orcs (plus the bonus 2 points for killing it, admittedly). Crucially, though, at the beginning of the turn, the wolves began within movement range of the both a unit of orc archers and orc spear. We rolled and had to Wild Charge into one of them. I chose the archers, and the Wolfpack savaged them, inflicting 4 hits. Surprisingly, they caused two casualties back (an average roll would have been one). The archers passed their Courage test, though. In a sign of things to come, the Wolfpack failed their morale and became Battered. I did not realize it then, but I'm pretty sure this was my high water mark for the game!

    Allen finishes off the Watcher's 1 SP left - did the evil being spit out a curse upon my dice on dying?

After Allen's orcs finished off the Watcher, the real battle began in earnest. One of my armored orcs charged his heavy foot. At this point, I realized that in creating Allen's list with four units of heavy foot, I had given my band a very tough bone to gnaw on. Heavy foot LOVE other units charging them. They inflict hits on 4+ on 1d6 when defending, but only 5+ when attacking. And what do my orcs, wolves, and trolls love to do? Charge the enemy, of course! Still, the orcs and trolls hit one better than Allen's heavy foot. So, we should win these encounters, right? Unfortunately for me, Allen's dice were hot that night! He consistently inflicted above average casualties. What's worse, he almost always passed his resulting Courage tests after receiving losses. My troops, on the other hand, failed nearly every Courage test they rolled. In addition, my goblin archers decided that once the Watcher was dead, the battle was over. The two units proceeded to fail nearly every activation roll to shoot from turn 3 on. In case you're curious, they needed to roll a 6+ on 2d6 to shoot. That's more than an 83% chance of success! My honest estimation is that over the next five turns, I failed to shoot with both units at least four times each. Do I want to do that math? Nahhh...I won't be able to get to sleep tonight if I know how unlikely this occurrence was!!

    Bird watching completed for the moment, the trolls are in position to pounce on an orc unit

Things began to unravel quickly after that for my -- to this point -- undefeated Bonefish Band. The trolls charged into a unit that had been softened up by one of the armored orc charges. Allen rolled crazy high and killed two of the six trolls. He passed his Courage test, but my bird-watching bullies failed their test and ran back into the woods to resume their safer, bird-watching activity. The wolfpack had already routed off board in the early stages of the battle after being charged by an orc spear unit. The trolls soon followed, as did one of my armored orc units. I have never seen two dice roll so many totals of four or less! I even switched dice at one point, but that provided no reprieve. This was simply Allen and his orc's night. They could do no wrong. They hit back harder than they should when charged, passed their morale rolls like grizzled veterans, and activated time after time. Meanwhile, the Bonefish Band bumbled their way through the game, not activating, and failing Courage tests repeatedly. Their was only one possible outcome -- bitter defeat!

    High Elves garrison the burnt out forest against the advance of Keith's outnumbered fire giants

As lopsided as my game seemed to feel, some of the other games were just as bad or worse. Keith's five units of fire giants were mowed down by an Elven army of six units -- all of whom could shoot out to 12". Keith had chosen the high point value unit route when creating his army list. Plus, two of his five units were chariots, which could not enter rough terrain. Sportingly, Keith pointed this out to Mike W, who needed no further encouragement, and occupied as much terrain with his archers as he could turning them into impenetrable fire bases. In a mirror of my game, Keith had created the army list that Mike W was using to destroy him -- like Allen did to me!

    In a battle of 'cute-ness,' Andy's impossibly pink warpigs charge brightly-colored lizards

On the icy plains, Andy's Dwarves had a miserable outing. They failed to activate time and again. On one turn, none of his five units activated. I should stop to explain an important point here. Under the Dragon Rampant rules as written, if one of your units fails to activate, your turn is over. The remaining units do not get a chance to act and play flips back to your opponent. You are allowed ONE re-roll of a failure, though, if the failing unit was within 12" of your leader's model (and he's not Battered). Instead, we play a popular variant were every unit gets a chance to activate. One failure does not end your turn. This is the same as author Daniel Mersey's Rebels and Patriots rules (which he also wrote after Dragon Rampant came out). 

    Keith also enjoys fielding new armies - the fire giants being his 3rd so far in our games of DR!

As Andy and I proved that evening, you can still roll badly and have a significant number of your troops do nothing. I feel the system we use also works better for multiplayer games. Imagine one player who fails his first roll and his turn is over. He has to sit around and wait for 15-20 minutes while the rest of his side move and the opponents also take their turn. And then, it is his side's turn again. He fails his first activation roll and his turn is over, again. We feel that type of mechanic is simply too frustrating. Plus, too many scenarios in DR! hinge on you getting to an objective or occupying something first. Losing a game because you rolled one or two first-unit failures/turnovers and did nothing for those turns does not produce a satisfying contest. I stress again -- at least that's the way we feel! Many others play the DR! rules as written and also enjoy the game.

    Early stages of the Elf-Giant clash - the High Elf cavalry galloping to beat the giants to the temple

Anyway, Andy's Dwarves, who had only five units vs. Joel's seven of goblins, was crushed on the icy plains. A handful of Andy's points were tied up in special abilities that worked only against specific units that Joel did not field. He also fielded a "Greater Warbeast Slayer" unit -- guess what else Joel's army did not have? A Greater Warbeast! Meanwhile, on the octagon table, Mike S managed to lose the Barbarians vs. Vikings (is that redundant?) match up by failing his Courage tests regularly, like I did. Or at least that's what I heard. They were two tables away from me and I was too busy trying to salvage the game tactically from my treacherous dice to watch their game much. Interestingly, none of the four games were close matches. All were absolute smack downs! 

    The Watcher and his one remaining SP for Allen to snatch up (with the bonus +2 for slaying him)

I also found it fascinating that it was an evening of upsets, of sorts, if you went by previous records in games of DR! The losers (Keith, Andy, Mike S, and myself) had a combined 8-4 record going into the evening. That night's winners (Mike W, Joel, Jenny, and Allen) had a combined 4-8 record. Honestly, I am happy to see that happen. I quit playing Saga, for the most part, because it is a "grognard game," in my opinion. It has such a high learning curve that frequent players have a huge advantage over intermittent or occasional ones. I'm glad DR! is not like that. The tactics are simple enough to grasp. There is no slate of  army-unique abilities to master. Use your troops reasonably, don't roll awfully, don't make obvious mistakes, and you should do well in DR!

 

    Another look at Keith's High Elves that he kindly lent to Mike W to crush him with...!

Still, the Bonefish Band is not happy about their first defeat. There would be a lot of finger-pointing on the bitter march home from Yellow Watcher's temple. Tactically, the only thing I feel I need to take from this defeat is that I need to use my fragile, "glass hammer" Wolfpack better. I thought by spending two points and making them Large would be give them a good enough chance of survival. It was not. So far, I've been unwisely sending them unsupported on wide flank runs. Maybe they should be a second line, instead? To unleash on the enemy once they have been "Battered" by the orcs or trolls? We shall see -- hopefully soon! I'm really enjoying our games of DR! and look forward to playing again. You see, I have the taste of this defeat to wash from my mouth...! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 105

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59 

Battle of the Gems - 6-player Good vs. Evil Dragon Rampant Game

    Tom's fast-moving giant lizards (Lesser Warbeasts) with 3 gems in tow charge Keith's Frogmen

I decided to create a two-sided, mutiplayer scenario for Dragon Rampant using the classic Good vs. Evil fantasy trope. However, I didn't want this to be a standard game, with one side along one table edge and their enemies on the opposite. I felt that would mostly end up being three, separate 1-on-1 matchups. How to do something different that would force each contingent on a side to make difficult choices? I came up with an idea that would intersperse each side's armies in deployment areas along the perimeter of the table. So, a Good army would be flanked by an Evil army on each side, and so on. 

    Interspersed along the table edge, 3 Evil players wage war over magical gems against 3 Evil players

Here was the storyline I created for the battle: "Long ago, the wealthy trading town of Sigilmesa was buried suddenly by the sands -- much like a desert Atlantis. All of its wealth and magic disappeared beneath the sand, along with its people. However, when the great sandstorms tear through the desert, the city's ruins are often exposed. On the surface, some of its great treasures are scattered across the sand until they are eventually buried by the shifting sands, again. The greatest of these treasures are its incredibly beautiful and magical gems. So, when news of the desert sandstorms spreads, entire armies race to be the first to arrive..."

    My map of the battle, showing deployment areas, difficult terrain, sandstorms & gem locations

I placed 14 gems in between the players' deployment areas. A unit could pick one up as part of a movement or skirmish action. They dropped them if routing off-table, retreating from melee, or if destroyed by magic or spells. A unit defeating another in melee could also pick up any gems dropped by their opponent as part of their victory.  Gems were worth 5 VPs each, and each side also scored VPs in equal to the Army Points of enemy units destroyed or routed off-table. There were also three standstorms on the table that armies would have to contend with. At the start of each side's turn, all three would move 2d6 inches, each in a random direction. If they made contact with a unit, the unfortunate troops suffered a 12d6 attack, hitting on 5+ on each dice. 

    'Good' Allen deploys his army of Human knights ready to march out & dispute possession of gems

We had six players on an 8'x4' table, so it would be close quarters and armies mixing it up almost immediately. No deployment area was within 12" of another, but whichever side went second might easily be within charge range of enemies. The armies were Orcs, Goblins, "Wheel of Time" Beastmen, Frogmen with their dinosaur allies, Human knights, and Human Steppe Tribes. Tom declared his Beastmen were more evil than Evil, so he teamed up with the orcs and goblins. So far, Tom has given his Beastmen army a complete makeover after every game as he tries out various troop types, spells, and fantastic abilities in his (to date) unsuccessful attempts to "break the system." His foray this game into hacking the system was his unit of Bellicose Foot which costs 10 army points (1/3 of his force). Tom stacked "Berserk" (re-roll 6's in melee for more chances of hits) and "Enchanted Blades" (plus 3 dice in melee) onto the already potent troop type to see how it fared.

    Evil Tom, left, and his Beastmen know they will probably wage war with Good Keith's Frogs, right

The game started off with the Steppe Tribesmen (Mike S's Avar army) suffering from terrible activation rolls. His Froggy ally, Keith, had no such trouble, though. Keith's troops raced towards the center of the board and to each side in an attempt to snatch up as many gems as possible. Allen's knights moved a bit more cautiously, eyeing the orcs on their right and goblins on their left. On the Evil half of the turn, Tom's beastmen stormed across the battlefield, too, his Lesser warbeasts snagging gems with their enhanced speed. Joel's goblins also suffered from poor movement activation rolls, but were able to announce their presence to Allen's knights with the fire of his rocket battery (heavy missiles). Mike W's orcs advanced from their side edge deployment area cautiously, as well.

    Mike S's historical Avar army simply added a couple spellcasters to become a Dragon Rampant force

It wasn't long before the sandstorms began to claim some victims. One raced through the goblin's greater warbeasts, who were then subsequently charged by a unit of knights. This saw the game's first destroyed unit. The goblin's cousins, Mike W's orc army, also was struck by more than its share of whirling sandstorms. As Keith's Frogmen closed in on the orcs, they took casualties from the scouring sands, too. The orcs closed to within missile range and began loosing arrows at any human or frogman that came close to them. The Frogs continued to spread out all over the table, grabbing magical gems. They would be aided in that goal by an oversight that Tom admitted to late in the game. By giving his lesser warbeasts "Fast," increasing their move to 14", he was able to grab quite a few gems. However, that left him with their increased Wild Charge range of many enemies. So, he would pick up gems only to hand them over to his opponents in lost melees. In one case, Tom lost 3 gems to Keith's Frogmen heavy foot in melee! 

    'That doesn't look good!' A sandstorm boils up out of the desert and heads towards Joel's goblins

At one point, I commented to Tom that his beastmen seemed to be having a frustrating evening, so far. When he wanted to close in for the kill on some of Mike's horsemen, their sorceresses would either create a magical wall between them or freeze the beastmen motionless into place. His 10-point unit? It spent the first four turns just trying to get into contact with enemy, who simply withdrew and refused to let them charge into home. I think he told me that, over the course of the battle, he charged with the 10-point unit only once. And wouldn't you know? In that battle, he rolled poorly --  getting only one "6" on 15 dice! The enemy also chose to shoot at him instead of melee, so the most expensive unit on the table ended up causing very few casualties. That seemed to be the case for a lot of the high point units, though. Joel's greater warbeasts (8 points) were the first to die, while the orc's burrowing worm didn't show up till later in the game and did not accomplish much, either.

    After the goblin's giant lizards were buffeted by a sandstorm, Allen's knights charged in for the kill

I had asked the players to send me their lists ahead of time so that I could make up unit cards. As a unit was destroyed or routed off-table, I would collect the cards. It soon became obvious to me that the "Good" side was out to an early lead. Despite the bad activation rolls of the Steppe Horsemen, their units were holding firm on their flank of the battlefield. Keith's troops were all over the board, but didn't seem to be taking many casualties, either. As usual, Allen's lost a couple of his 6-figure units of knights, as they advanced beyond the support range of their infantry archers, hand gunners, and spearmen. 

    Facing two armies, the Steppe tribesmen frequently used magical barriers to keep the enemy at bay

The players all seemed to be having a good time, though. I had cautioned them against creating armies of huge numbers of small point value units, worrying this would slow the game down. They had listened, and most armies seemed to be composed of 6 or 7 units. Most of the gems were grabbed in the first few turns. After that, they changed hands only as a result of lost combats. I hadn't been tabulating which side had the most, but my guess was that Good was ahead in that category, too. As losses began to mount, or an army's horde of gems grew, all across the table, the forces began to back away from each other. They prepared to withdraw from the battlefield. When it seemed all six armies were done engaging enemy, I asked the players if they wanted to call the game. They agreed, and so I counted up the points. 

    Frustrated beastmen prepare to finally charge into a tribal unit of light riders

First, each Evil army was in possession of only one gem each -- 15 total points. The Good armies had 11 -- for 55 points! When tabulating losses, the trend continued. In the end, the Good armies combined for a win with a 3:1 advantage in points -- a decisive victory for Good over Evil. I thanked the players for bringing their armies -- Keith, in particular, had fielded three of the armies that were on the battlefield. I believe everyone continues to enjoy the rules, so I look forward to more evenings of Dragon Rampant! Maybe next time I will get to play, too...ha, ha!

    The orc's giant sand worm tunnels up to the surface & charges into Keith's unit of bullywogs

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 73

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

    Keith's unit of Frogmen heavy foot, also armed with short range missiles, sight in on an enemy

    Seeing they are carrying a magical gem, goblin halberdiers charge into a unit of human light riders

 

    Keith's army of frogs, dinosaurs, and such were all over the center of the table snatching gems

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