Bitter Defeat for the Bonefish Band

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

2nd Batch of Elven Spearmen Finally Finished

    Another batch of 28mm Warhost Elven spear are finished bringing me to 38 in the warband, so far

It seems like forever since I painted my last batch of 28mm metal Warhost Elves. Checking my blog, I see I uploaded my post of my Elven Swordsmen on April 22, which means it has indeed been a month. Why? Well, I was hurrying to get some more medieval buildings done for my game at Drums, which went well. Plus, my alternating batches from my current project (Elves) with something older from the unpainted lead pile means the projects get slowed down a bit, as well. Throw in a couple convention weekends and things are bound to progress less rapidly...right?

    Since I had only a dozen spear left to do, I decided to split them into two batches of six figs each

Anyway, the final 12 Elven spearmen I had are being painted in two batches of six -- this one, and probably the final batch in the army. Now that these are finally complete, I have only five batches left to do until I have a Dragon Rampant army of Elves ready to go. I still have to do 8 archers, 6 mounted, 6 birds of prey (as Lesser Warbeasts), several wizards, and that final batch of 6 spear. Hopefully, that means this army should be completed by midsummer, if not before. I'm itching to get them onto the tabletop and see how they do. Their rivals, the Bonefish Band of orcs and goblins, have racked up a pretty good record on the table, so far. Pressure will be on the Elves, my favorite race from Tolkein, to measure up!

    Closeups of another pair of Elven spear -- I like the variety of green tones, but with a consistent style

I painted these like the previous batches of Warhost Elves, starting with my least favorite part -- assembly. Not only did I have to attach their weapon and shield, I also had to attach the long and elaborate 3-D printed point onto the wire spear. During the painting process on this batch, I dropped two of them, snapping off their points even before the first game! That doesn't bode well!! Still, I was able to superglue them back into place, but I am worried how well these points will hold up in games. We'll see...soon, hopefully! After assembly, I primed them with White Liquitex Gesso, did a pale skin color and its darker wash, and then progressed to the under tunics. They were done in a lighter greens like the rest of the army. Next was their golden armor, which was Iron Wind Steel base with a bright gold atop it. I realized again that originally I had decided to do a lighter base called Gunmetal instead of Steel. Oops -- too late!

    I also like the variety in armor style, helmets & poses in the Warhost line give an irregular look

Once the armor was complete with its yellow gold highlight, I went on to the long, darker green vests. Each color that goes on a 28mm figure I paint tends to get a base coat and dry brush. Their blond hair -- done in four shades from a strawberry blond to a very pale yellow, was next (with dry brush highlight, naturally!). I went to work on all their equipment next, shoes, inside of the shield, outside of the shields, and spears. I have to admit it seemed like the process was dragging -- almost like I had been working on these guys for a month...ha, ha! 

    Close up of the shield patterns with various types & colors of leaves on them -- they're Wood Elves!

Finally, I was on to the decoration stage -- the colorful borders on their vests, the shield designs ("We don't need no stinking decals...!"), and their eyes. For their shields, I pulled up some images of leaves that I had saved when I was painting the first batch of spear. I picked out six varieties that I hadn't used, matched them to the base colors I'd painted the shields. I drew the outlines on the shield with my smallest black mircon pen. Then I filled in the color, and added more black "veins" on the leaves. I finished the figures off with a brown wash on their flesh and other selected lighter areas, and a black wash on some other parts. Next came the flocking, and my Elven warband grew by another half of a unit! 

    The entire host of Wood Elves (so far) gathered to defend the kingdom for an orc or goblin incursion

I'm especially excited about the Elves because the Sunday Evening group is going to play Dragon Rampant again this weekend. Hopefully, this time I will actually get to play. Last time, we had an odd number so I just GM'd. Also, it was a special multiplayer scenario I had created (The Battle of the Gems), so it was probably for the best. This time, it will be one-on-one matchups like the other three times for a 6-8 player fantasy battle royale! I've picked out a scenario (which I will keep secret from the players so folks don't tailor their armies for it). My Bonefish Band will use its same list it did last couple times, so no tailoring on my end either. So, look for a post on that evening of gaming coming soon!

    One final look at the six new Elven spear that were added to my forces...finally! Ha, ha!!

Meanwhile, things are getting pretty crowded on my painting desk. Now that the Elven Spear have cleared out, five monsters for my horror skirmish games using Devilry Afoot take center stage. I have a werewolf, Bison Man skinwalker, two animated scarecrows, and a Kanontsistóntie partially finished. What's a Kanon...Kanontsis-thingie, you ask? It is from Iroquois mythology and is a giant, disembodied head which I will be using as a Spectre in the game. If I remember right, they are the spirits of evil shamans -- or at least that's what they'll be in my games which are set in frontier America. In addition to these five miniatures are more than a dozen Viking rune stones and the next medieval building I will be painting up. So, more to come...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Blood on the Streets in 'Troubled Council' Game at Drums at the Rapids

    Town Council ruffians battle monks & citizens loyal to the church in the medieval town of Vespugia 

Would the outspoken Father Leowulf be "priest"-napped by the forces of the Town Council? Or would the controversial priest remain free to criticize the aristocrats of the town for their treatment of the rencnt refugees in Medieval Vesupugia? Each faction in the fight had its own particular way to earn victory points, in addition to capturing Leowulf or helping him remain free. Most would be using the unrest in town to settle old scores or improve their position. Over the course of two games at Drums at the Rapids 2026, the vocal Father remained free in one game and was dragged off to face trial in the other. 

    A band of ruffians with ill intent are led by House Catrine through the muddy streets of Vespugia 

I have been tweaking the rules I used for the game, which are based off of my Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities. I was inspired to do so by one of my internet friends, Cat, who uses them to run an incredibly scenic and popular series of games based off of the same inspiration for my rules -- the 1979 cult movie classic, The Warriors. We are both members of the Lead Adventure Forum, and she responded to my post asking for suggestions for a fast-playing miniatures skirmish game for up to six players. Cat cited Mean Streets as the perfect set, with quick and easy command and control, a simple combat system, and a tiered array of fighters from the toughest to the wimpiest.

    Friday afternoon's players with the Town Council on the left & the church defenders on the right

Inspired by her suggestion, and by the desire to run a cooperative Fantasy skirmish game for my Sunday Evening group, I began tinkering with Mean Streets. After several days down the Fantasy "rabbit hole," I emailed Cat and a couple other friends my ideas. They responded with suggestions and I've been steadily tweaking them after each game. One of the first ideas I discarded was a separate Combat Ratings for figures vs. melee and ranged attacks. Keeping it at one CR made it more streamlined and reduced the "one-shot kills" that were happening in our first play test. From player input, I changed the rules for disengaging from melee and how to calculate range modifiers. I have to say that after three games (which include the two at Drums), I'm fairly happy with the results.

    House Stronghelm's men make a stealthy advance through cover of the market towards the cathedral

It is a bloody game, with characters usually being taken out  after several turns of combat. Occasional "one swing" or "one shot" kills still occur, but that is not the norm. Of the three tiers of characters, the toughest (Heroes) take four wounds, Companions take three, and Followers two. However, if a character's score is doubled or tripled, they take more than one wound (two and three, respectively). I also have steadily increased the number of figures each player controls up to eight per faction in my Drums games. Of course, this game was a two-sided battle rather than a free-for-all, with up to three players per side. On Friday night, I had a full table of six players, while on Saturday morning there were only four of us. It plays very quickly, which I like for a convention game. As I get older, the idea of a six hour game at a con is too much for me. I much prefer games being over in three hours, which includes the rules and scenario explanation. It was even faster on Sunday with only four players. We were easily done in two hours.

    Attackers intent upon "priest-napping" dart past a stable towards the center of town & the church

Friday's game probably took about two and a half hours. An intense scrum broke out at the church wall, with four of the factions involved in it. This was precipitated by the aggressive and immediate charge of the Town Council forces towards the cathedral, attempting to get over its stone walls and onto the church grounds. The Franciscans, loyal to Father Leowulf, and House Duncan, a staunch supporter of the church, tenaciously defended the walls. The Duncans did not even break off when their nearby home was torched and set afire by their bitter rivals, House Catrine. In the end, the defenders held the church walls, though that holy ground was stained by the blood of numerous combatants. 

    Friday's massive scrum as the attackers tried to fight past defenders & get over the church walls

Much as it happened in our Sunday Evening playtest, the Dominicans proved to be the wiliest of the church's forces. They convinced their brother Franciscans to turn over Father Leowulf into their "safekeeping." The black-robed monks immediately dragged the vociferously protesting priest to their corner and off the table. It appears Father Leowulf will now be delivering his sermons from a Dominican church instead of a Franciscan one! Though the Town Council's forces wrong-footed Leowulf's defenders with their quick assault, their dice deserted them early on and remained AWOL nearly all game long. Time after time, their players rolled ones and twos on their 1d8 combat rolls. 

    I was happy with how the table looked with the medieval buildings I've been painting up recently

Eventually, after repeated losses, two of the Town Council's forces had dropped below half strength and had to take morale checks. Since this occurred on the same turn that the Dominicans absconded with Father Leowulf, the demoralized forces of the nobles decided to call off their attack. They realized they had no chance of success at one of their objectives with the priest off the table. Jenny, as the Dominicans, was the highest scoring player on the winning side. I felt bad for the attackers as their rolls just never seemed to improve. But hey! That's miniature wargaming for you!

    House Stronghelm dashes up to the walls intent on grabbing Father Leowulf, seen here at the doors

In the morning, the game took a decidedly different turn. Ted and I, as the Town Council forces, made a steady but stealthy advance. The Dominicans marched forward quickly, singing hymns and swinging their clubs, crosses, and cudgels. The Franciscans were a bit more slow, though. So slow, in fact, that my forces -- when presented with a turn of great command & control activation rolls -- darted forward, leapt the walls or opened the church gate. House Stronghelm's ruffians grabbed Father Leowulf, and dragged him around the opposite side of the church from where the Franciscans were advancing. Meanwhile, a companion and Follower from my force formed a wall and blocked the rescue force from chasing after the "priest-napper", holding double their number for several rounds of combat. 

    Once the priest was grabbed, 2 ruffians blocked the Franciscans from quickly chasing after him

Rather than wade into combat, my Hero stayed near the middle of my forces, controlling the action. In Malevolent Streets -- as I'm calling this variant -- you combine the command dice you roll for each figure that is within 6" of the leader. That way, you can select the higher rolling dice and assign them to those who need more actions, while giving the lower ones to figures for less important actions. This allowed me to assign the maximum 3 action "6's" to the Companion who had Father Leowulf in his grasp and he steadily moved further and further away from the Franciscans. Meanwhile, the rest of my forces were blocking them from mounting a rescue attempt. 

    Meanwhile, House Faroli exacts revenge upon the turncoat soldier leading the Dominican forces

Meanwhile, Ted, as House Faroli, was exacting a bitter revenge on the captain of the Dominican force. This veteran soldier was formerly an employee of House Faroli. However, the noble house claims the soldier absconded with some of their funds and defected. Their secret objective was to cut down the turncoat. Ted's opponent, Steve, was the unfortunate "balancing" effect for the Town Council's poor dice rolls the previous evening. His ones and twos were making up for all those rolled by the opposite side in the previous game -- or at least that's the way it seemed! Soon, the Dominican force was in disarray, their leader cut down, and the monks and soldiers hired by them were fleeing from the table. The forces of the Town Council scored their first victory in three games! Ted, with both his secret and open victory conditions satisfied (the captain cut down and Father Leowulf in our hands), AND lots of kills (+1 Victory Point per enemy figure killed), was the clear winner of our game. 

    Father Leowulf howls mightily as he is 'priest-napped', urging the Franciscans to come rescue him

Even though they lost, both Heidi (Franciscans) and Steve (Dominicans) praised the game. They liked the simple rules and felt the game flowed very quickly. I received lots of praise from my players on both days about how my medieval town looked, as well as from passers by. So, I chalked up my first two medieval town skirmishes up as a double success -- the players had fun and the Mean Streets tweaks provided for an enjoyable and fast-moving game. I'm not sure when I will run the rules next, though. The next convention I am scheduled to run games at is Origins Game Fair, June 17-21. I'll be running my Surviving 'Nam game there six times at the Columbus Convention Center. In the meantime, I will keep working on the fantasy aspects of the rules in anticipation of using them again soon!

        Poor Father Leowulf - have the nobles found someone to 'rid' them of 'this meddlesome priest'?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 99

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

My purchases at Drums at the Rapids 2026

    Two of the five buildings that I received from RRB Minis -- one a very nice gift from him to me!

Prior to heading up to Drums at the Rapids this past weekend, I cleaned off several shelves of my closet where I stage my unpainted terrain and scatter. I knew that I'd be picking up some more medieval buildings from RRB Minis & More, and I needed the room! Plus, there is a free flea market at the show, and I usually take things and set them on the table next to my game that I'm running. I also unloaded a good sized plastic tub of all the rule sets that I had taken but never sold to previous shows. I marked everything down with a sticker, ranging from $1 to $5. This stuff had to go...this time!

    House on the left is from the Ferisia line, and the one on the right is the Stormhill City Farmhouse

Thankfully, nearly all of it did. So, I had room for the five, 3-D printed medieval buildings that I bought from Rich at RRB. Two of them are simple, one-story homes. I have so many large buildings that I've purchased recently, I needed to get some ordinary houses for the streets of my town. These are from a couple different lines that Rich produces. I like the way they look and I will probably do them next. It should be a contrast from the epics I've been painting, and I'll probably be shocked to see how quickly they go! One of them is from the Ferisia line -- "Small Farmhouse." The other was actually a gift from Rich to me for all the nice mentions he gets on Lead Legionaries. It is called Stormhill City Farmer House.

    The sprawling Dwarven Bath House, which I bought because it was such a cool looking builidng

 

    Interior of the Bath House -- which looks very much like a bathing spot or spa, unlike the outside

The largest of the ones I bought is from the Ferisia line, once again. It is called Dwarven Bath House. The pictures I'd seen were only of the exterior, and I liked its unusual look. The almost domed roof, octagonal shape and the two and one story sections looked appealing. I was quite surprised at how big it turned out to be (horizontal space for this one, not vertical). And the interior is definitely a bath complex. I may paint it up with the bathhouse style components not attached, so I can use it as an ordinary building in games, too.

    I like the little balconies in the Ferisia line -- like the one on the Brunbir Blazeforge House

Another from the Ferisia line that Rich printed at my request was Brunbir Blazeforge House. This building is much more compact than the Duncan or Catrine House, with the third story being entirely the rooftop. My favorite part is the little, angled stone balcony over the doorway. It is mostly stone, like many of the other Ferisia buildings I bought from Rich. I like how many of them have overhangs, this one included. This one is stone, though, and has a definite angled look that fits with many of the others in this line.  

    The Ferisia Bakery is a nice corner style building like you often see in Europe

The last of the five buildings is the Ferisia Bakery Store. It has the same look as many corner buildings that are part of row houses. This one is stand alone, but would be a nice one to put in a medieval intersection. It also came with a bunch of benches or tables and an outdoor oven. At two stories tall, it is nice in between sized building that will help with the look of my burgeoning medieval town.

    I need a 28mm Huey for one of my Surviving 'Nam scenarios, so my friend Ted printed 4 for me!

As I am finishing up my work on my upcoming rules publication, Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year In-Country, I wrote my final few scenarios. I plan on including a dozen with the rules (one for each month of a soldier's tour of Vietnam). One of the last ones I wrote is a helicopter deployment in a "hot LZ" -- and I wanted to be able to run it at conventions with actual model Huey helicopters. My friend Ted had a STL for one and kindly printed off four 28mm scale Hueys for me. Why four? Well, I typically have four players in my convention games and I wanted one for each player. Honestly, I could have used just one model as each fire team arrives on a different turn, but the spectacle of four 28mm Huey will likely be a draw in a convention hall. Eye candy is important in miniature games!

    Ted came through in providing me some pilots in need of rescuing for my 'Downed Airmen' scenario

Speaking of figures for my Vietnam games, Ted also printed up three American pilots for me. I had ordered two metal ones from Gringo 40s, but they sent me only one of them. My "Downed Aircrew" scenario requires two pilot figures. Once again, Ted stepped up and provided 3-D prints for me to use. They look like quality prints and I hope to get to them sometime soon. I still have nearly my entire Gringo 40s purchase order to paint up, yet. I'll start working on them after my 28mm Elves for Dragon Rampant are complete.  

    I picked these rules up from Firelands Games just in case they catch on locally

My final purchase was the Pillage: Ransack the Middle Ages skirmish rules set produced by Victrix. I had almost picked it up twice before from Firelands Games, but each time I went back to get it at a convention, they had just sold it. I snatched it up immediately when I saw it, so lightning wouldn't strike thrice. I don't know if I will actually play it anytime soon, but I always like to support the vendors. James and Rusty from Firelands Games are such nice guys, and support all of the local conventions loyally. Apparently, one of the local stores in Columbus carries the rules and has sold dozens of copies of it. Maybe, once I try it out, I can run it at the store and see if I can recruit some more local, historical gamers for our HMGS chapter. We'll see..!

    Forgot to mention more gifts from Rich: 28mm Outhouse and 4 stick-like 8" measuring sticks

Otherwise, what's on my tabletop? I have the six Elven spearmen at least halfway completed. There are five horror/monster figures for my Devilry Afoot games that I picked up last year. They are primed and have their first base coat done on them. Terrain-wise, I decided I wanted to finally paint up the two bags of Viking rune stones that I bought from Sword & Scabbard a couple years ago. They should go very quickly -- another reason I chose to start one them! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 99

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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