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 

More Armored Orcs for the Bonefish Band

    9 more armored orcs for the 'Bonefish Band' - my orc & goblin army for Dragon Rampant

Some of the miniatures that I bought for my Dragon Rampant orc & goblin army from my friend Jeff were primed or even partially painted. I held off painting them to make sure I had my own way of doing them down. When 2026 dawned, I decided to get them ready as my first batch of orcs for the year. I wasn't sure if I should start from scratch and repaint everything? Should I leave some of what Jeff painted "as is"? In the end, I decided not to re-prime them, but otherwise to mostly paint over them completely. About half had only primer on them, some had their armor done, while one or two were even further along. 

    These are from 28mm orcs from the 'Ragnarok' line by Gripping Beast -- I really love these figs!

Jeff had given spears to eight of the nine figures. The empty handed orc received a sword to even out the weapons some. For some reason, I decided to use white glue and temporarily affix them to cardboard squares, which is how I have traditionally held onto miniatures while painting them. For this army, though, I've been putting them on their round base and simply holding onto that. I honestly have no idea why I glued these to cardboard...haha! Anyway, the first step was to paint my base Walnut Brown flesh on the orcs. I followed that up with the two dry brushes of Raw Sienna and Khaki, and then went to work on their armor.

    Close up of one batch -- I like the orc with the 2-handed grip on his spear & snarl on his face!

It kind of pained me to paint over Jeff's chainmail he'd done on some of them, but I didn't want the armor of this batch of orcs to look different from the rest of the army. I have to admit, his armor looked nice, but I like mine with the Iron Wind Steel as a base coat better. I was also painting their helmets at the same time while doing the armor. I really do like the sheer variety of helmets that these Gripping Beast orcs from the Ragnarok line are sculpted with. I feel it really adds to their rag-tag appearance. This is probably helped by the variety of tunic, pants, and cloak colors that I use. No two figures in a batch tend to have the same tunic color (except for the warlord's bodyguard, who were painted semi-uniform). The same holds true for shields and even pouches at their waist. I usually use four different colors, mixing them up on each orc.

    Middle & orc on right had their shields 'brush painted,' while the rest were with my micron pens

While painting these nine figures, I actually got a chance to play my first DR! game with the Bonefish Band, as I call my horde. It dawned on my while painting that I really didn't need these figures to field the army. What's more, there are at least two more batches worth unpainted orcs and goblins in the drawer (if not three). So, why even paint them? Well, there's always the chance I may want to field two forces using my orcs and goblins for an evening of gaming. Not all of the Sunday Evening group have their own armies. If I have enough for two, I could lend one of them out, right? I like having nicely painted miniatures on the tabletop, and I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out! Especially in our skirmish games, all of the figures on the table are mine. So, why not paint all of these?

    Speaking of shields, here is the obligatory 'shield shot' of all nine lined up in a row

I did my usual "tribal-themed" designs on each shield for this batch, too. I was reading my National Geography History magazine recently and had to do a double take. There was an article about ancient scripts that have yet to be deciphered, such as Linear A, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and early Elamite. They reminded me quite a bit of the Google Image I had downloaded with supposedly tribal patterns and designs. I may have to pull up and save an image of each of these scripts to use for future projects. They were all pictograph based and struck me immediately as being possibilities for future shield designs on some project!

    Close up of the last three orcs ready to create some mayhem on the battlefields on Sunday evening!

So, what else is on my painting desk? Would you believe...more armored orcs? I guess it didn't dawn on my how high a proportion of the miniatures I bought from Jeff were armored as opposed to unarmored. I know that I just said that I already have more than enough troops for a DR! force, but I may actually end up buying more figures from the Ragnarok line. These would be unarmored goblin warriors (not archers), though. I have only about half a dozen of this variety, and I need quite a bit more for skirmish games using Sellswords and Spellslingers. Most scenarios differentiate between goblins, who are less powerful, than orcs. I need more ordinary goblin warriors -- I DO have plenty of archers.

    Final look at this batch of orcs posed on my brand new 'Blood Moon' stone Cigar Box battle mat

I should go downstairs and count how many I have remaining, but I don't want to be disappointed. As much as I'm enjoying this project, I am just about burn out on painting armored orcs. Side note -- some of these may actually be armored goblins, but the Ragnarok line didn't do a clear size difference between the orcs and goblins. So, I am considering anyone wearing armor an orc, while those without or goblins. It certainly makes it easy to tell them on sight! I'm also working on some terrain at the moment. My next Star Wars scenario will involve investigating a mysterious alien spacecraft that has crashed on Tatooine. So, I am making a half dozen or so bases of crashed spacecraft sections. So, look for those soon!

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

Pack of Wolves, Dire Wolves, & Warg

    My first painted minis of 2026! Six Reaper Bones wolves, dire wolves, and warg

The first miniatures "Acquired" in 2026 were the first to be finished! I received three packs from Reaper Miniatures so that I could field a unit of wolves with my orc and goblin army for Dragon Rampant. All were from the Reaper Bones line. One was a pack of three wolves, the other two dire wolves, and the final one, a huge, menacing Warg. As you can imagine, they are three different sizes. The warg does tower over the others, but I think they'll still look fine together as a unit. Or perhaps I can substitute the warg out and put in one of the metal wolves I painted up awhile back for my first Devilry Afoot game. Those are closer in size to the pair of dire wolves.

        The Warg is definitely the largest of the six, towering over the other ones significantly (I felt)

The Reaper figs are plastic, but somehow I feel the detail was a little more crisp than I've seen on some from that line. I based them up first (having to create my own for the "alpha" warg) then primed them with Liquitex White Gesso. Unfortunately, I discovered when I opened the package that one of the tails of the three wolves had snapped off. I tried gluing it with Testors plastic model glue, but that didn't work well. When I began to do its base coat, I noticed the tail separate again. This time, I used poster tack to hold it in place while I did the dry brushing. Once that was done, I tried white glue all around the tail. Hopefully, it will dry as a hard shell, and with the spray matte coat, finally hold in place.

    The Dire Wolves were the in between size and look good alongside either

I pulled up a page full of Google Images of wolves (of course!), and picked out photographs that I would try to match each wolf up with. I wanted variety, so that meant six different colors for base coating. I had enjoyed the way I painted up the five beavers, raccoons, and fox: base coating all of the figures, but then finishing each figure's various dry brushing and details before moving on to the other. I decided to replicate that process with these six wolves. Essentially, they were done as a group up until after the base coating stage, and then again in the flocking stage. Otherwise, I did each one individually before going on to the next. I really like how that allowed me to focus on one particular wolf and do my best job matching his (or her) fur coloring with the photograph I'd picked out.

 

    The pack of three wolves were the smallest -- nice variety of poses among the trio

Wolves tend to have lighter fur around and under their snout, as well as on their undersides and legs. The darker fur tends to be on the middle of the back, running from their head to their tail. There also seems to be a pattern of how it moving irregularly down from the spine to their flanks. Each wolf ended up with two to three dry brushed colors and I really like the effect this gives. For all of the biologists who study wolves out there, yes, yes, I realize I mixed a few different modern breeds of them together in my pack. There are ones that appear to be timber wolves alongside gray wolves. Remember, these are being painted up for a FANTASY miniatures game -- not a museum diorama...ha, ha!

Once the pattern on each wolf's coat was done, I would paint the mouth Blood Red. Then it came for the black details. I did the edges of the ears, the eyes, nose, and their black lips. I also picked out their claws/nails in black. By the time I'd finished all of that, I could use a dull yellow to fill in their eyeballs. I then used a very light tan to pick out their teeth. This was one of the reasons I felt these Reaper figures had above average crispness. I could see the teeth in most cases. Finally, I Googled "Wolf+Eyes" to see how to realistically depict a wolf's eyes. 

    This "above view" probably does a good job of showing the relative sizes of the three packs

I think this "research" really makes the wolves look accurate. Honestly, the extra dry brush stages in different colors to replicate the coloring doesn't add that much time to the painting. I know it the old days I would just do one color base coat and one color dry brush. I would let the miniature say "wolf" rather than actually taking the time accurately depict its real coloring. So, if you want your animals to look a little better on the tabletop, take an extra 10-15 minutes to pull up images and add a few extra steps. 

I did my usual flocking for these six wolves, and they were ready to go! In fact, there is a good chance they will be used with a whiff of matte spray coat wafting about them. We are playing our first game of Dragon Rampant on Sunday. So, there's a very good chance they'll be on the tabletop soon. Also, it looks like the group is excited about playing the game and we will likely have 8 players. Yikes! Worried about eight armies fitting on my 8'x5' table I went out and bought a couple smaller tables of the same height and width aross to add width to my table. So, instead of 8'x5', our gaming area can be 12' wide, now. We will see if that is wide enough, though for 8 players on Sunday!

    The detail on these Bones figures was crisp enough to make dry brushing their fur easy

What else is on my desk? I have my next batch of orcs about halfway done. I've also have four bases of elephant grass terrain for my 28mm Vietnam games that you will see shortly. All they need is a final matte spray coat. So, looks like my blog posts for 2026 are finally underway!!

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 

More 'Spirit Animals' & Diminutive Nasty Redcaps

    My last batch of minis in 2025 might be the smallest -- diminutive Redcaps, most converted Conquest

There is a good chance this may be my final batch of miniatures finished in 2025. Actually, it is two batches. I started the five 28mm scale animals way back when I was hurrying to get things together for a Halloween game of Devilry Afoot. I left these five with just their base coats completed, and there they say for weeks and weeks as other batches were started and finished. Last week, though, I sat down and planned out how to reach my goal of having my Painted Miniatures total exceed my Acquired for the year. I knew these five would not take long to finish and time was of the essence.

    Lurking on my painting desk for weeks, the final 5 'Spirit Animals' got finished up in one day

In the end, I finished the painting of all five in one session. Pulling up Google Images of Fox, Badger, and Raccoon on the laptop next to my painting desk, I began with the fox. I did a light dry brush of terra cotta over the red brown base coat. Next, I took a fine point brush and applied the white patches to where the photos said they belonged on a fox. Finally, I did the same with the black. Other than the flocking, the fox was done.

    'Which way did the fox go?' Well, he (or she) lurked on the corner of my desk with its base coat done

I followed up with the two badgers. Over the gray base coat, I did a black dry brush. Although I think the coat of a badger is more complex than that, and also contains lighter colored hairs, I couldn't figure out a way to do it effectively. Next, I took the white and did it on their faces. Next, it was the black patterns. Not all badgers have identical markings, but I took the ones that seemed to be most common.

    Thanks to a music video Andy S sent me, I will always say, 'Badger, badgers, badgers...!'

Finally, it was on to the raccoons. Same thing as with the badgers, a black dry brush, followed by the white patches and then the black ones. I also did the rings on the tail. I think the raccoons are my favorite as their coloring is so iconic they seemed the easiest to duplicate. Next, I did my standard flocking on all five bases. I went with just two tufts on their bases as I didn't want these low-to-the-ground figures to be overwhelmed by all the grass.

    The 2 raccoons were my favorite of this batch of 5 spirit animals with their distinctive markings

Part Two of the plan to finish in the green on Miniatures Painted involved Redcaps. What are redcaps? Well, they're malevolent little goblins of Celtic mythology. They wear hats that are dyed red by soaking them in the blood of the people they have murdered. Vicious little buggers! I would have to paint 10 of them to exceed my Miniatures Acquired by one, which was likely more than I will ever need for a game of Devilry Afoot or Sellswords & Spellslingers. 

    The redcaps with the sickle sword and halberd were the ones from Nolzur's Marvelous Minis

Two of the figures are actually sculpted as redcaps -- from the Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line. The rest come from a very cool company, Conquest Games, and their Myths of Albion Line. These inspired looking figures include a batch of little guys called Svartalfars. I had bought several packs of them earlier this year, thinking they would make good goblins when I started painting my 28mm Dragon Rampant army. When the figures arrived, I was shocked at how tiny they are. Jenny looked at them and said they were 15mm scale. They're technically not, but they are pretty much that size. They were too tiny for goblins, I felt

    I took 8 of my Conquest Games tiny little 'Svartalfar' and gave them caps made of green stuff

However, they could be modified as redcaps! It would involve me going outside my comfort zone and sculpting their caps with green stuff. I am not very well practiced or skilled at it, and I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to do that. I considered just painting them "as is" with their little bald heads. However, in the end, I decided to give it a go. After reviewing some "How To's", I sat down one afternoon and pulled out my ribbon of green stuff. I snipped off a small piece with an X-acto knife and began kneading the blue and yellow sections together. I liberally watered it down, dunking it in water every few minutes. I don't know if I purchased a bad batch of it a few years ago, but I regularly get hard shards that don't mix. I've learned to cut those out and throw them away until all that I'm left with is soft, pliable, and thoroughly green.

    These were probably 3 of my favorite sculpted green stuff caps of the batch

Next, I shaped a tiny little cone with it and pressed it down on the head of one of the Svartalfar. I would say that, for the first one, I had to retry it about a dozen times. As I finished each one and set the figure down so it's cap would dry, I went on to the next. By the eighth and final miniature, I had to retry and start over on the cone only a few times. In my opinion, some turned out much better than others. It was hard to blend the brim of the cap onto the head, which is the reason I had to redo each little hat so many times. In the end, I'm fairly happy with how they turned out. Not ecstatic, but for such tiny little figures, I think they look okay. They're certainly not as good as the purchased redcap hats. They'll do for minis I likely won't use all that often.

    Close up of 5 of the redcaps -- I think they have very expressive (and nasty looking) faces

Still, I was worried that the greenstuff wouldn't adhere to the heads. So, the next morning, I mixed up a batch of two-part, 5-Minute Epoxy. I took a tiny paint brush I didn't really need anymore and painted it onto the join between the cap and the head. I hoped this would seal it onto the figure and prevent the caps from being knocked off if the figure were dropped. Next, I primed them with brush on, Liquitex White Gesso. The next day I began painting.

    More murderous little buggers - you can clearly see the better detail in the center Nolzur's redcap

For the skin, I did a base coat of Raw Sienna. The next day, I dry brushed their skin a bright tan color called Maple Sugar. In addition to being very small, the miniatures don't really have a lot of equipment. Each figure has a tunic or loin cloth, which I painted in a variety of colors, dry brushing them a lighter highlight color the next morning. Most have shields and clubs, a few stone axes, and the Nolzur's figures have a sickle-shaped sword and a halberd. I made sure to do all metals in bronze, as a common theme in Celtic myth is a Faerie vulnerability to cold iron. 

I chose three shades of red for their caps -- red-brown, Blood Red, and Cardinal Red. Each got a highlight in a lighter tone, as well. The shields were done a dark brown on the inside and I tried to give them a wicker look on the outside, with Autumn Brown base coat and Khaki dry brush. I painted leather for all the straps, belts, sheaths, and such. Their faces I did similarly to my Orcs. I used a pale yellow for the eye "whites" with a dark brown pupil. The mouths I painted Blood Red, picking out tiny teeth with the same pale yellow. With a final brown wash over the skin, leather, and tans or yellows, and a black wash over the grays and caps, I was done with all 10 of these guys. 

    Looking down at a band of redcaps lurking in a rocky area, hoping to waylay and murder a traveler

I added some tiny rocks to their bases before flocking, as the legends refer to them inhabiting rocky or craggy areas. I also toned down the green grass, using less of it than I normally do on a figure base. The tufts were all ones with brownish grass, as well. Redcaps are supposed to haunt desolate places -- not fertile fields, if I am remembering the legends correctly! 

And with that, my likely final batch of miniatures for the year was complete! It had been a near thing, but I ended up painting more miniatures than I bought this year. Of course, purchasing figures for two new projects this year (orc and goblin army and Devilry Rampant) had made it more difficult. I did it, though. I think before I make any figure purchases in 2026, I'm going to thoroughly review what's in my unpainted lead pile. Surely there is something in there that I want to paint, right?

SUCCESS!!! All three categories ended up with more painted than acquired!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 307

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 80

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 213