Vikings Invade Pictland at World at War Convention

    Pictish Cavalry gallops towards a line of armored Viking raiders ready to hurl their javelins

We hadn't gotten a chance to play Lion Rampant lately, so I figured I would get my fix in by running two games of it at a regional convention. World at War is a two-day con, so I ran it in the afternoon on Friday and the morning on Saturday. Each game took slightly more than two hours, with six players each commanding a 17-point force (instead of the rules-recommended 24AP). The reason for this was I would have only a 6'x4' gaming surface because of the table sizes. This translated to each Viking command being composed of four units and each Pict one five units.

    I had a full table of players for both Friday & Saturday - here, Jenny assists new players with rules

As the convention neared, a moment of panic set in. How would I ever get all of those individually based 28mm figures out of my box and organized into commands on the tabletop in a reasonable amount of time? Personally, I have always disliked movement trays. However, I wanted the commands to be able to trade units before the game started. That way, they could weigh one flank heavier with missile troops, or mass their cavalry on one wing, giving the players more control over the battle. I hate convention games where the GM deploys all of the troops starting close to each other and all the players really do is march forward and roll dice. So, movement trays would make swapping units more logistically possible (and minimize wear and tear on the figures, weapons, etc.).

    Pictish army arrived in time to prevent the Vikings from looting the Celtic monastery!

 My friend had recently purchased a Bamboo Mini 3-D printer, so I showed him some examples of what I wanted. He did some searching and found an STL he could modify with the dimensions I gave him. I asked him to print it in brown filament to match my basing. In addition, I ordered a pack of paper steel and lined the bottom of each tray with that. I found some scrapbooking paper that looked like muddy ground and cut and glued a rectangle of it atop the paper steel and hide the bright white gaps between figures and edges. The new trays worked great, and I even added magnetic material to the bottom so the figures could stay inside the trays -- and the trays themselves would not slide around -- in my tin-lined boxes.

    Arrows & javelins fly as the two warbands approach, ready to settle the issue hand-to-hand

I had six players for each game, and others standing by who wanted to play. So, it obviously was popular. One gamer said he drove two hours mainly to participate in my game! That made me feel good, of course, as did all the praise on my paint jobs on the 28mm figs (especially the checks and tartans on the Picts). I added some eye candy to the tabletop with a scratch-built Pictish tower broch in flames on the Viking side of the table, and a Celtic monastery with beehive huts on the Pictish side. Otherwise, it was a fairly basic table set up with a fleece mat, trees, rocky areas, hills, and such. 

    Band of Pictish spearmen stand to receive the fierce charge of Viking housecarles (Elite Infantry)

In both games the Picts did some "horse trading" with units while the Vikings held firm with their one unit each of Elite Foot, Heavy Foot, Light Foot, and Archers. I think swapping around units helped the Picts, who won both games. In the first game, the Picts were aggressive and marched out to meet the Vikings. The Pictish Light Cavalry was particularly aggressive, even charging the Viking Light Foot and Archers. In the second game, the Picts held back, for the most part. They massed one wing of all missile troops. The poor Viking command opposite them did their best to minimize the shooting, cutting through a big woods to reduce casualties. However, their Courage Tests were poor, and time and again, they failed and would have to rally in place, giving the Picts another turn of shooting at them.

    Ground level view of the battle on Saturday as a huge Viking Jarl challenges his Pictish adversary

The fact that both games went the Picts' way, makes me wonder if something I did was wrong. The typical Pictish force had three units of five that could shoot, though two of those were shorter range javelins. Maybe 60% missile armed troops vs. 25% unbalanced the game? Or perhaps the one extra unit per command made things unbalanced? One thing that my friends and I do in all of our games in the Rampant series is use the rule from Rebels and Patriots that one activation failure does NOT end a player's turn. All units are given a chance to roll to activate every turn. If they fail, they stay in place, but the player can go on to the next unit until he has attempted to activate all of his troops. 

    'Bigger they are, harder they fall...!' proven by a tattooed Pictish leader about to deal the final blow

I realize that this perhaps over-values cheaper units, and certainly gives an edge to forces with more units. They will get a chance to activate all of their units every turn, unlike in a game with the standard rules which would end their turn on their first failure. That said, though, it could easily be the unit with fewer units that "craps out" on its first roll. I simply don't like a game hinging on this mechanic, and certainly not a multiplayer game at a convention. Imagine the poor player who fails on his first unit's roll and has to sit and watch while the other players on his side finish their turn. Then he sits while the opponents activate and move all of their troops. Imagine if when it is finally his turn to do something, he craps out on his first roll, again. "This game sucks!" is going to be going through their mind, and in my opinion, rightly so -- at least for a convention game!

    Even MORE full table on Saturday, with a look at the full gaming area & other events in progress

So, seeing as how I intend to stick with the no turnover modification of Lion Rampant at conventions, and also at home games because our group prefers it that way, should I change anything? I think that in the future I will ensure each side has a balanced number of missile troops in this system. And I also will give them the same numbers of units per command. There is a definite chance that the Pictish players had better tactics or even simply better dice rolls. The Rampant system is a very dicey one! It is very easy to pick up, though, and I think works fine for teaching it quickly to new players at a convention. I think I will also make sure I have a larger table. I think the forces were a little cramped on the battlefield. Turns out that the convention also had eight foot wide tables -- d'oh! All of my years attending cons at Fort Meigs and I just realized this past weekend there are both six and eight foot wide tables...ha, ha!

    Friday's leader of the Pictish Light Cavalry was very aggressive, charging Viking Heavy Foot here

It was good to see the spectacle of all those Picts and Vikings on the table. The movement trays were a definite success. I think I will store most of my Dark Ages troops in those trays, too. Note that the trays are only for 12-figure units, not the 6-figure ones. It is easy enough to move those around on the tabletop, as well as handing them out to players. I'm contemplating whether I want to have my friend print up more so that I can put my Orcs and Goblins inside of them, as well as my Elven spearmen. I do have leftover paper steel (the most expensive part of the process). Maybe I'll count out how much I have and get him to print up enough trays to fully utilize my six sheets of the material.

    Pictish javelin men (Light Foot) form up to face a charge of armored Viking raiders (Heavy Foot)

Running Lion Rampant was a nice change of pace at a convention. Normally, I run skirmish games on smaller, but highly scenic tabletops. This was so easy to run it almost seemed like I was "slumming it" -- ha, ha! I really would like to grow the number of folks playing Lion Rampant (and Dragon Rampant), locally. To do that, I'll likely need to provide the troops, at least initially. So, this six-player game was a good test for taking the rules to local game stores. Will anything come of these plans? Not sure. I have a few feelers out there trying to get some other Central Ohio gamers to set up a recurring game day or night at one of the stores in town. Stay tuned to see if anything comes of it!

    Another shot of the battle lines about to clash, with both Picts & Vikings fighting fiercely

So, what's on my painting desk, you may ask? I have five Gringo40s Viet Cong that are almost completed. I also am working on another batch of mangrove trees for this weekend's Surviving 'Nam game at Hold the Line convention in Camp Perry, OH. So, those are my focus for this week, though today I did pull out some packs of "old figures" to be the next ones in line that I paint. Stay tuned to see what they are!

    Another shot of the Picts, on left, about to clash with the invading Viking warhost

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 234
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 237

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 22
• Terrain painted in 2026: 48

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 50
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

    My players ponder their next move in Friday's game of Lion Rampant at World at War