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

Moss Mats -- A Replacement for My Strene Area Terrain Pieces?

    My new area terrain pieces using 'Moss Mat' found at Michaels -- looks like jungle undergrowth!

While scouring the aisles of Michaels craft store, I came upon something interesting to me. It is called a "Moss Mat" and comes in a number of different sizes. The one I bought was 16"x18" and had an adhesive backing. For all the world, it looks like shredded pieces of lichen or moss that has been tamped down into a relatively flat surface. I thought it might make an interesting material for  pieces of area terrain, especially for jungle or woods. I have been using my same flocked pieces of styrene for decades, now, placing model trees or scatter atop them. Would this look better and more 3-Dimensional?

    The package caught my eye while wandering the store's aisles -- I like the sticky back, too!

I thought so -- at least for my Vietnam games. I bought one pack, though I briefly considered purchasing the 18"x48" roll instead. The roll gives you three times the surface area at only double the price (but without the adhesive backing). Since this was an experiment, I went with the spending less money! The moss mat was folded into quarters inside its plastic bag. I unfolded it and tried to flatten the creases with heavy books. The creases seemed to stay, though. So, I decided to cut it into four pieces, leaving the creases out. This wasted only about a 2" strip of material horizontally and vertically. The next step was to cut four rounded rectangles of MDF material, roughly about 7"x8" (slightly smaller than my four quarters). Honestly, cutting the MDF was the hardest part! I either need to use thinner MDF or find a better way to cut it than my carpet/utility knife.

    Underside of the moss mat -- you can see the material is dense & thick -- there are no holes or gaps

Once the shapes were cut, I flipped over each square of moss mat and peeled off its back. I centered the piece of MDF on it and pressed it down. After doing this for all four pieces, I used a good pair of scissors to trim the material so that only about a 1/2" was overlapping the MDF. I figured that way I wouldn't have to paint the side edges of the MDF material. You wouldn't see them on the tabletop. The flexible moss mat fabric would likely hang down a bit to cover up those edges, which honestly, were brown anyway.

    I affixed the mat to four MDF pieces that are roughly a rounded 7"x9" in size

As I was working with it, I encountered the number one problem I figured that I might run into with this material. It sheds. Significantly. So, I would need to find a way to fix the material into place so that I don't leave a Hansel and Gretel trail of tiny pieces of moss/lichen behind me after every game I run. I also don't want the material to fray and fall apart, though it does seem that the adhesive backing is fixed to the mat very well and gives it strength. There's definitely no "daylight" showing through! So, there's enough of the moss adhering together and to the backing that it should never become patchy and ragged...at least I hope!

    Close up of the surface of one of the pieces -- I think it really looks like tangled, jungle undergrowth

Step One to fixing the moss material together so that it doesn't shed was to give it a heavy spray of the acrylic matte can that I normally use on my miniatures. After drying, I was curious if this in itself would be enough to keep the moss from shedding. I decided that it probably wouldn't, so dug out a spray bottle filled with a mixture of acrylic matte medium and water. This is what I use when I create battle mats using ordinary felt and Woodland Scenics flocking. It typically does a pretty good job sealing flock in, so I figured that I would give it a try, too. From this point on, it will be testing out the pieces in games to see how much they shed. If they require more spraying, so be it.

    Some of my 28mm Viet Cong prowling through my jungle scatter placed atop my new area pieces

I do like the way they look on the tabletop. It definitely gives it more of a thick undergrowth look compared to my venerable styrene with its irregular patches of earth brown and green grass flocking. Look for me to buy more ("Shocker!", I know...) and use them to be used in a game soon!

    Definitely need to create some more of these pieces -- 4 areas of terrain isn't enough for a jungle!

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  

    One final close up of figures and jungle scatter on the surface of the moss mat pieces

Critter Control! 'Good Old Boy' Alien Hunters for Majestic 13

    Alien hunting in rural, Southern Ohio with 'Critter Control' -- my team for Majestic 13

A week or so ago, I needed another batch of figures to paint. I was finished with the orcs and goblins of the Bonefish Band for Dragon Rampant, and was still waiting on the Warhost elves to arrive from Badger Games. So, I pulled out my "bonus pack" from the Crucible Crush order I made last year for my 28mm Vietnam miniatures. It is called Children of Hastur #2, and consists of five modern figures armed with various types of guns. Well, it was supposed to be five, but a mistake in packaging gave me two of the same pose and shorted me one of the five varieties. I didn't notice it till I pulled them out to paint. I sent a message to Bob Murch of Pulp Figures, but haven't heard back from him, yet.

    Investigating some suspicious burnt circles of undergrowth are my Children of Hastur figures

The plan is to use these as my "team" of alien hunters for solo/coop games of Majestic 13 from Snarling Badger Studios. Since I was short one, I had to sort through my various unpainted minis to find a replacement for the missing figure. I picked out one that looked like he belonged. In the game, there are 13 different factions working to defend Earth from alien invasion. The one I picked is called the Agricultural League. You know about crop circles and all that? The aliens have apparently been messing with the farmers of the world for decades! My team of five has nicknamed themselves "Critter Control," and hail from southern Ohio (why not?). I like basing my games in my area, if possible.

    Group leader & local farmer Boone MacDonald has gathered a team of alien hunters for Ohio

As I began painting them, I picked out the cleanest cut one as the leader of the group, naming him Boone MacDonald. His family has owned their farm in the Chillicothe, OH, area for generations. He has seen unexplainable lights in the skies above his farm himself, and had to deal with odd, unexplained damage to crops in isolated, roadless areas for decades. He was tempted to blame government agencies testing fancy new aircraft over less populous areas, but the more of his fellow farmers he talked to, the more he began to believe it was something even more sinister. It was Mabel Washington, the quiet, unassuming small farm owner who suggested that he reach out to the Agricultural League. She even gave him a contact name and number. How she had heard about them he has no idea -- the Majestic 13 pride themselves on remaining secret. The contact bore fruit, though, and MacDonald joined them. Later, he volunteered to form an Ohio team for the league. I painted the figure in jeans and decided to try a classic red and black flannel shirt. I did the base coat red brown and then dry brushed it with Howard Hues Middle East Flesh. The black stripes were done with a micron pen. I am pretty happy with how Boone turned out.

    Very cool Crucible Crush figure -- Waylon, in shorts, shirtless, but with a military style backpack

One of Boone's first recruits was Waylon Jenkins, or "Wildman Waylon" as some called him locally. A moonshine distiller, as well as a garden farmer who sells produce at roadside stands, Wildman is known for his very wild stories. His most famous, of course, is being abducted by aliens, which he swears by to this day. Most locals consider him whacked out, his mind too burnt out by consuming his own moonshine. However, Boone thought that if there was a chance some of Waylon's stories were true, his experience might prove invaluable. I love the Wildman miniature -- in shorts and shirtless with an army style backpack. The Children of Hastur figures from Crucible Crush figures are meant for their Weird War Vietnam "Black Sun" rules. If I remember right, in the game they are drugged out cultists worshiping a Cthulhu like alien being. I updated Wildman's backpack to a modern U.S. desert pattern, assuming he served his minimum time in the Army only to separate at the earliest possible moment. Conforming to what people expect of him is not in Wildman's nature!

    Taciturn army vet Buck is not as flamboyant as 'Wildman Waylon', but has "seen things" in his days

Another Army veteran, Buck Smithers, is one of the local area's resident gun enthusiasts. Of course, in rural southern Ohio, there are quite a few of those! Smithers is much more stoic and level headed than Wildman. However, when approached by Boone, who thought Buck's military experience would prove helpful, Smithers quietly stared at Boone for several minutes. Boone held his tongue, and the two taciturn men silently took each other's measure. Finally, Smithers lowered his gaze. "I've seen some shit you can't explain, Boone." He chuckled, looking up and catching the older man's eyes. "There's bad critters out there. I know it -- I've hunted them." He reached across the table where the two were sitting and shook Boone's hand. "I'll help with your critter control..." Of course, that was where Boone got his idea for the team's name. I gave Buck an olive drab, army "PT" t-shirt and jeans. The word "Army" was also written in with micron pen.

    Not sure where this fig comes from, but Silas Horton looked like he fit right in with Critter Control

I honestly don't know where the miniature for Silas Horton comes from. It was simply in my unpainted drawer of modern minis, so if anyone knows, please add it in the Comments. However, it seemed his hat and cigarette dangling from his lips made him fit right in. Another of the gun enthusiasts of rural southern Ohio, Silas is the oldest of the crew. Like Waylon, he is known for bending folks' ears with stories of aliens and strange creatures he's encountered while hunting in the woods. He even keeps a collection of skulls of bizarre creatures he claims to have shot while hunting. Some who have examined his collection claim they can tell they are cleverly created fakes. Silas doesn't take offense, though. He knew from the moment he came home one night to find his home broken into and some of his skulls missing, that he was on the right track. When Boone sat him down to pitch Critter Control to him, he just smiled. "Well, I was wondering what took you so long to find me and ask me to join your team,  Boone...!" After finishing their drinks, he took Boone to his skull collection and the pair had a long talk about aliens, hunting tactics, and what they might encounter as one of the Agricultural League's teams in the field. I painted Silas with Carhartt brown pants and an urban camo shirt. I love the cigarette dangling from his lips as he stalks forward!

    Buck may have seen things, but Mabel knows things -- more than a small time farmer should!

One evening, Boone was in his study racking his brain on who he should choose to be his fifth team member. The doorbell rang. He answered to find Mabel Washington on his porch staring at him with a sardonic look. "Y'all going to ask me to join your club, Mr. Boone? Or is that for white folks only...?" Boone gestured to the porch with several rockers and the two sat down. When asked how she first heard about the Agricultural League, the older black woman shook her head. "Now, y'all don't worry about that. My daddy gave us kids more of an education than the inside of any classroom." Boone knew Mabel's father had owned their tiny farm off Rt. 772 for decades -- probably almost as long as his family owned theirs. She promised to fill Boone in on what she knew about "critters" once he officially asked her to join his team. Here, she stopped and chuckled. Boone looked her over. She didn't look like much, physically. If she did farm work, though, she couldn't be too much of a burden. Her knowledge could add a whole new dimension. After all, she was the one who told him about the league in the first place! I painted Mabel in bright colors, probably more typical of what people might consider an "urban" black woman rather than rural one. However, the figure certainly has that look. I love the sunglasses and Afro hair style -- very iconic. However, her story works better with her being from a small family farm, so apparently Mabel just likes to get all gussied up when she goes off the farm! 

    Eye in the sky view of Critter Control investigating in the field...but whose eyes...and how many??

Speaking of miniatures, probably the most difficult thing about running solo games of Majestic 13 for me (or coop with Jenny?), will be figures for the aliens. I have a few alien-looking robot or droid types in my Sci-Fi collection. However, I have a shortage of big ugly alien monsters for Critter Control to fight. Luckily, one of my team's advantages of having a "Remote Intelligence Base" is that they get to roll twice to see what type of alien monster they encounter on missions, and then select which one to fight. So, that will let me skip ones that I have no miniatures for...ha, ha! Anyway, now that Boone has assembled his team, I am looking forward to playing my first game of Majestic 13 soon...! Stay tuned.

What else is on my painting desk? My very first batch of Warhost Elves has its flesh tone on them. Also crowding the desktop are two medieval town buildings that I purchased from Sword & Scabbard Games. I am thinking that I am going to alternate batches of elves with things for other projects rather than barreling through the Warhost figures like I did for the orcs. I'd like to start reducing the "Lead Mountain" in size a bit this year. So, I'm hoping early 2026 will see more variety of miniatures painted than I did last year. Stay tuned and see if I achieve that goal!

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: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Patriots Drive British from Redoubts in Revolutionary War Battle

    Patriot center crosse the causeway and whittles down the British forces defending the center redoubt

We have been playing Rebels and Patriots from Daniel Mersey's "Rampant" series of games off and on for a year or so, now. It is fast-moving and the mechanics are easy to pick up. Like all games in the series, though, there are tweaks for each rules set. That's actually the hardest part to remember when switching from Dragon Rampant to Rebels and Patriots to Xenos Rampant, for example.  

    Left side of the battlefield, with Mike S's French force pushing aggressively towards Joel's troops

A good example of the minor differences would be testing morale after being shot at. In Rebels and Patriots, if your unit removes any figures due to shooting or melee, you test morale. You modify your 2d6 roll by -1 per casualty received on that particular shot. In Dragon Rampant (and Lion Rampant), you do the same, but modify it by -1 per casualty received throughout the entire game. They're cumulative -- not just from that shot. And in Xenos Rampant, any hits on a unit -- even if they're not enough to overcome the armor level (three hits are needed to cause a casualty against an Armor 3 unit, for example) -- cause a morale test. It is a more modern concept of reacting to being under fire even if you don't take any significant casualties. 

    Allen on left keeps an eye on the Patriots in the center, while Jason watches Tom's encircling move

So, this time I created a document for us that organized the main differences between Rebels and Patriots and Dragon Rampant (the other Mersey set we had played most recently). It was a two-sided sheet of paper and I think it did a nice job of making the game go easier. So, on to the game! Keith had set up a scenario which was inspired by the Patriot siege and assault on Savannah, Georgia. He had set up three redoubts on hills, manned by British or Loyalist troops. Our job, as the Patriots, was to push them out of the fortifications and have a clear path to the enemy board edge.  We had significantly more troops, but not to the 2-to-1 level recommended by the scenario that inspired him.

    Tom's Georgia militia begin their looping way through the swamp, hoping to strike the redoubt's rear

I commanded the Patriot center with decent quality Continental troops, with Mike S as the French on my left and Tom as the Georgia militia on my right.  Keith had given Allen, my opponent in the center, two units of mortars on his baseline. They could fire over his own lines out to 36". However, he also gave them a minimum range, which I believe was 18", coinciding with a raised causeway running from one side edge to the other across the center of the table. So, there would be a beaten zone my center would have to advance through. I hesitated whether to put my line infantry in Close Order, which improves their activation chances and also morale tests, but would allow Allen to hit my guys with his artillery on a 4-6 on each d6 rolled instead of 5-6. I hedged my bets, and kept the unit directly in front of the mortars in normal formation while the two line units to its left formed Close Order.

    Jason's redoubt on the left - bristling with artillery and two units of Loyalist infantry

In the Rampant games, the player rolls to activate each unit. If it fails, it does nothing. Unlike the other games in the series, one failure does not end your turn in Rebels and Patriots. My activation dice were abysmal. All units require a 6+ on 2d6 to activate. They gain +1 if in Close Order and another +1 if their commander is within 12". So, assuming I kept my commander nearby, I would activate on a 4+ with my line infantry in Close Order, and 5+ with the unit marching towards the guns. The number of failures I rolled for those units was mind boggling. I enjoy the rules, but my least favorite part of this set is its "blunder table." If you roll a "double one" or "double six" on your activation roll, you have to roll on the table. Most of the results are random, fluke happenings, such as a unit rolling double 6's charging towards the enemy a full move. That happened twice in the center -- to units of artillery! Are the gunners actually going to leave their guns and go storming across the table attempting to close with the enemy? Really?? The other problem I have with it is probability. If the game were simply a two players, each with a single 24-point Company, perhaps the double 1's and double 6's wouldn't happen as much. However, I had six units. Rolling a double one or double six on 2d6 is a 1 in 18 chance. That meant every three turns, statistically, these should happen. Now multiply that by three players per side. In our game, just between my right wing commander Tom and I, we rolled them five times over the course of the game. WAY too often, I feel! 

    Allen's two units of British infantry in the redoubt, one in the gap with cavalry, & mortars in the rear

I am trying to convince Keith and the other players to leave out this rule in future games, but so far have been unsuccessful. Otherwise, it provides a fast-paced and fun game. My command's halting advance across the center seemed logical, with them being under constant bombardment. The artillery fire caused a slow attrition, usually just one figure per shot. Keith had given me very large units in anticipation of the casualties from bombardment. The defending British had much smaller units -- all only six figures strong. So, as my medium and light battery began to pick off the enemy, his two British units manning the redoubt were slowly withering away. I also like the shooting system in Rebels and Patriots. You typically roll 12 dice, needing a certain score (often 5-6) to hit on each 1d6. The number of casualties that are removed per hit scored depends on cover or distance. On one one glorious roll, I hit nine times. However, my target were more than 12" away (which increases casualties from one per two hits rolled to 1:3), and they were in hard cover, which increased that from 1:3 to 1:5. So, even though I had a bizarre roll, I stilled did only one casualty as excess are removed. I like that! It keeps a system with lot of dice rolling from being overly affected by outlier die rolls.

British redoubt on our left -- more lightly defended because Joel lacked the troops Allen had

In the center and our left, the greater Patriot numbers (and clever tactics, of course) began to tell. Mike S quickly routed Joel from his redoubt and drove his command from the field. Unfortunately for Joel, he had the smallest command of the three British ones and Mike had our best-rated troops. It took a lot of hammering away at Allen's troops to make headway. However, late in the game, we had whittled their numbers down to below half strength, where it appeared they would be unable to hold back our advance anymore. The struggle on our right seemed much more evenly matched, though. I didn't watch it closely, but heard something about Tom's troops getting lost in the swamps. I did see they ended up executing an encircling movement all the way behind Jason's redoubt, firing on their rear. Still, it was looking like a close-run struggle.

    Patriot center is approaching the causeway with their light artillery opening fire on the redoubt

I thought the Rebels and Patriots system did a nice job of replicating the grinding assault on a redoubt. In my attempts to whittle down Allen's troops behind his fortifications, I needed a good roll on 12d6 to inflict a casualty. A completely average roll missed that by one hit. I also liked how Keith's rule for indirect mortar bombardment gave us another defensive modifier. It meant Allen similarly needed a good roll to cause casualties against my advancing troops. My poor activation dice rolling (and below average morale checks) meant things swung in his balance for a bit. If I had normal 12-figure sized units, the British could likely have driven us off. It was a good game, all around!

    The join between the South Carolina rifles on the left followed by my third large unit of Continentals

As we were discussing the game afterward, we all agreed that units survive casualties better than expected. Not so fast, though! We actually forgot a very important rule. When a unit falls to half strength, it is supposed to immediately receive what is called a permanent disorder marker. If that is in addition to testing for the hits it just received, then potentially that could make a big difference. I'll have to ask on the Facebook group for the rules to see what the timing of that disorder marker should be. All in all, Rebels and Patriots continues to provide for fun and fast games that feel like the period. 

    Vive le France! The French infantry have swept the British from the redoubt on the left & occupy it

    Tom's Georgia militia firing on the rear and sides of Jason's redoubt -- the encirclement worked!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 29

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

    Dam appears broken and French & Patriot troops flood their way through the depleted British lines

Grisly End - 'Battered' Casualty Markers for the Bonefish Band

    My 6 orc casualty markers that I created with some of my 28mm 'Ragnarok' miniatures 

One of my quirks (that I freely admit) is that I prefer to have any markers that a miniatures game may require be "scenic." I want them to add -- not detract -- from the look of the battlefield. So, I hate markers like printed MDF tags that say, "Broken" or "Rally" or other such abominations on the tabletop. One of the few things you need to mark in a game of Dragon Rampant! is "Battered" status. This indicates units that have failed a Courage test and must attempt to rally at the start of their next turn to remove the status. 

    Close up of 3 of my admittedly rather grisly orc 'Battered' markers for Dragon Rampant

The obvious (if not the easiest) solution is to paint up casualty markers and plop them down in front a Battered unit. That's what I set out to do for the final batch of miniatures that I would paint for the Bonefish Band, my orc and goblin horde. The problem was that I didn't own any orc casualty figures. I would have to convert them from the extra figures I already owned. The second problem is the Ragnarok line of miniatures that make up the bulk of my army are 28mm metal, which is notoriously harder to convert than plastic. So, that would be step one.

    The hardest part of making the casualty markers is altering metal figs with wire cutters & such

I used wire cutters to snip a half dozen orcs off their metal bases and trim up any excess. Unfortunately, this resulted in a few feet becoming collateral damage. Oh well, now we know what wound made them into a casualty! I tried to re-pose the arms or legs so that they would lay relatively flat on their stomach or back, which was also a challenge. Next, I created rectangular bases for them and flocked them with my usual method. I set each figure down on its base and noted what leg, arm, or head was sitting up off the base more than it should. I built up the corresponding area of the base with tiny rocks and flocking so that it appeared the dying orc had rested his head or legs on a tiny mound of earth. 

    I posed the orcs with the raven fatigue markers I created with for my Saga Mongol army

I also wanted to model the enemy's killing blow, as best I could. Thus, two of the six orc casualties appear to have been speared in the gut or back. Three of them had one or more arrows sticking out of their chest or back. For these, I used my pin vice to drill a hole in the appropriate places on the miniatures. Then I took wire spears and trimmed them to proper arrow or spear length. I attached these to the model itself with superglue. Next, I used two part epoxy to attach the casualty to its flocked base. I added a tiny blob of epoxy to the end of each arrow shaft which I would paint as the feathers or fletching. 

    Most of the orc figs did not lay flat, so I raised the ground flocking to meet the figure in some cases

From that point on, it was all painting, much as I had done with the army proper. I used the same color combinations that I did on the Bonefish Band. I also wanted to make their wounds nice and gory. I painted the wound Iron Wind Metals Blood Red color, liberally splashing it around the wound, running onto its clothes or equipment, and the ground. Once the color dried, I added splotches of bright red to the parts of the wound where the blood would be the freshest. Perhaps I went overboard on the blood? Ha, ha -- you be the judge! After spraying the six casualty markers with Krylon matte clear coat, I had one final step to do. I brushed on clear gloss to the bloodiest part of the wounds to make them appear wet to the eye. Gory enough, yet?

    Another look at all six of the Battered markers - I will likely keep making these for each DR! army

Anyway, I made six of them for my army, which typically fields seven units. I think that should be plenty. If all seven units in my army are Battered at the same time, it might be the time to call the game...ha, ha! I am happy with the markers, and will likely do something similar for future Dragon Rampant armies. 

So, what else is on my painting desk, at the moment? I have five modern figures that I plan on being my "team" for solo games of Majestic 13. This game from Snarling Badger Studios features secret organizations that are quietly fighting a war against alien invaders, largely outside of the public eye. I think I will call my team "Critter Control"...ha, ha! They're supposed to be part of one of the rural, farm-centered organization. So, that seems appropriate humor for them to call themselves pest exterminators! They're coming along nicely and will hopefully be finished in a few days. I have also spray primed two medieval town buildings that I bought at ATC 2025. Hopefully, I will do their 50/50 black acrylic paint and water mix on their surface this evening. So, stay tuned -- lots happening here in February!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 29

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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