Dragon Rampant: Rescue (or Capture) the Civilians!

 

    How would my Wood Elves fight as small, 6-man units of Scouts instead of 'mixed weapons' units?

We had four games of Dragon Rampant! going side by side this past Sunday for our regular game night. Most of the armies taking the field would be in their first battle (or at least the first for one of our DR! evenings). It would be the first appearance on a Sunday evening  for my Wood Elf army, who would be matched against Keith's Chaos army, also taking the field for the first time. Next to us, Mike S had created a new Greek Mythological list, which would battle Mike W's High Elves that he'd borrowed from Keith. Andy was also fielding a new army for him, a Woodland one featuring Hobbits and Ents. He would square off against Allen's Orcs. On the octagon table, Joel's Desert Goblins would face the army of the Evil Jungle Princess Salunga, yet a new iteration of Tom's beastmen.

    Sunday night's festivities with 4 games of Dragon Rampant! side by side (photo by Andy S)

I created the scenario we were playing, calling it "Rescue (or Capture) the Civilians!" It was inspired by a Lion Rampant scenario and each board featured four civilian figures. The players would want to move towards and take control of them before their opponents. Each was worth 1, 2, or 3 Glory points (DR! terminology for victory points). The civilians started roughly in the middle of the board and would move at the start of each player's turn a random direction and distance. Players would also get points for destroying or routing enemy units, of course. The civilians were meant to give them some tactical problems to consider besides the enemy army.

    Keith's Chaos Heavy Riders backed up by a Greater Warbeast Demon with spellcasting & Cunning

    Other half of Keith's center, another unit of Heavy Riders & his Chaos Lord with Elite Infantry

In our game, Keith's Chaos warriors and my Wood Elves couldn't be more different. He had only five units (none of which could shoot), while mine had nine. Here were our army's compositions:

• Chaos Warriors 
• Warlord with Elite Infantry @6AP
• Demon Lord - Greater Warbeast with Cunning and Level 2 Spellcaster @10AP  
• Chaos Knights - Elite Riders @ 6AP
• 2 units of Chaos Heavy Riders @8AP 

    Right wing of the Wood Elves with 2 units of Scouts & the Birds of the Forest, alongside the center

    Left wing of the Elves - Heavy Riders, 2 Scout units (one in trees already), & Heavy Elven Foot

• Wood Elves
• 4 units of Scouts @ 8AP
• 3 units of Heavy Foot (1 with Warlord, 2 with Level 1 Spellcasters) @14AP
• Elven Cavalry - Heavy Riders @4AP 
• Birds of the Forest - Lesser Warbeasts with Flying, Weak, and Cowardly @4AP 

    Wood Elven Cavalry trots out to face off against the much heavier Chaos elite knights in the distance

So, it was the classic Quantity vs. Quality matchup. After my first game, I had been unhappy with my infantry fielded as Light Foot with mixed weapons. Since they are wood elves, I felt they should fight more effectively in terrain, not less (Light Foot are penalized in melee when in rough terrain). So, I was trying something new with my archers field as small, 6-figure units of Scouts. I had never used Scouts before, but knew they should try to stick close to the terrain, where they were more survivable. One of my spellcasters chose Crimson magic (to be able to blast away at enemy at range), and  the other chose Magenta, chiefly to be able to enhance my Scouts shooting or my heavy foot's melee ability.

    Once the Chaos lord stopped his advance short of their range, the Scouts emerge from the trees

Keith was the attacker, so deployed first. His center was composed of his two Heavy Rider units on either side of his Elite Infantry. Behind the battle line was the big scary Demon (Greater Warbeast). He deployed his Elite Knights to the right to outflank me. The battlefield had four medium sized patches of woods, two on each half of the table. I lined two Scouts units each to occupy the woods on my left and right, while the heavy foot stretched across my center between them. The foot with the spellcasters were up front line while the warlord's foot bodyguard supported them from behind. Further to their rear were my Cavalry. The birds of the forest were on the right, positioned to support the Scouts.

    The Chaos Demon charges impetuously into a company of Heavy Elven Foot, who push him back

Keith's warband initially marched forward, but after their second move halted. They saw my Scouts infiltrating into the woods, and didn't want to move into the forest to face them OR get within their 12" of their shooting range. My army was not succeeding in its movement rolls like Keith's was, so my advance was in fits and starts. Our group plays a relatively common modified version of the activation system that the author introduced in his Rebels and Patriots rules. Rather than forfeiting your turn immediately when one unit fails to activate, you are given an opportunity to activate each unit every turn. You can still fail and do nothing (which my army did often enough in this game), but your turn doesn't immediately end with the other units not getting a chance. We feel that there is enough randomness in DR! with the shooting, combat, and magic system. You don't need to have the game thrown because one player fails his first activation for several turns in a row!

    Elven archers, cavalry, and heavy foot close in on the demon, who the Elf Warlord says must DIE!

That said, our modified system DOES make less expensive units like Scouts, Light Foot, and archers more effective than they might be otherwise. It also helps armies composed of lots of low-cost units perform better than they would be under the standard activation system. However, we figure that as long as everyone is aware of that, we are on a level playing field. In our game, Keith was having second thoughts about my four units of archers. With three of his five units counting as mounted, he felt they tilted the battle against him. So, the Chaos Lord refused to advance any further. He had snatched up three of the four civilians already and was ahead on points. In essence, he was saying, "Your move, Mr. Pointy Ears!" Knowing that I could shoot 12" but his Riders or Knights could charge no more than 10", my Scouts began to advance out of the woods and use the Skirmish ability to move and fire on the enemy. 

    2 units of Elven heavy foot march forward, ready to do battle with the hesitant forces of Chaos

My wizard tried to enchant the arrows of the Scouts to make their fire even more effective. Scouts normally hit on 5+ on each d6, or "6" if Skirmishing. The spell "Sharp Darts" would enable me to re-roll all of my misses. The Elven enchantress was doing her part. Over the course of the game, she successfully cast the spell five times. However, every time she did that, the enhanced unit of Scouts would immediately fail its Shooting action. Not once or twice, but five times in a row! Not once in the entire game did I get a chance to re-roll any of my shots. Doing some quick math, it appears that there is about a 1% chance of that occurring! I also kept track of the times my attacks scored hits but were one short of the armor level of my target (thus, no casualties). Over the course of the game, I did that 12 times. Augghh! Shades of the last outing with my Elves! 

    Demon lord slain, the Elves scent victory and advance all along the battlefield

Keith then sprang the trap that the Demon Lord had cooked up in his crafty, evil mind. He cast Transpose (which requires an 8+ on 2d6, incidentally), switching his demon's position with of one of my Scout units in the woods on the right. For some reason, I forgot the Demon Lord was his spellcaster, and we allowed it to follow up the spell with an immediate charge into the other Scout unit in that woods he'd appeared alonside (with a puff of brimstone, of course!). Of course, the Scouts failed their 7+ on 2d6 Evade roll, and the Demon Lord crashed into them. Perhaps realizing he shouldn't have been able to cast a spell AND charge, Keith rolled abominably, not wiping out the Scouts as he could have. He did win the combat, though, and scooped up the fourth and final civilian from the Scouts. Meanwhile, the Chaos Heavy Riders charged the magically misplaced Scouts out in the open. They were j-u-s-t over 2" away from the Wood Elves. These Scouts were a bit more inspired and did Evade, staying just out of reach of the cavalry. The Elven warlord saw the danger the Demon Lord presented in the midst of his battleline and immediately threw every unit he could against it. The birds of the forest charged in and caused two hits on the demon, driving him roaring out of the woods. The enchantress targeted him with magic, archers shot arrows at him. However, this was my time of the game where I was missing doing damage by one on most of my attacks. The next turn, the Demon Lord -- subject to "Wild Charge" -- crashed into one of the units of Elven heavy foot. Halberds twirled, two-handed swords sliced, and spears impaled the demon, driving him back, again. 

    Early stages of the Woodland Folk vs. Allen's Orcs & Goblins (photo by Andy)

More archery and spells failed to finish him off, though. Eventually, the Elven cavalry moved up to be in charge range. I knew I couldn't let the demon escape. Keith was up +8 points with the civilians, and was beginning to pull his battle line back towards his board edge. We needed to kill this 10-point Greater Warbeast to claim victory! The demon noticed the approaching cavalry and wild charged into them. Luckily, the cavalry counter-charged and did enough damage to finish the demon off. With the Chaos Lord disconcerted by the potential effects of Elven archery, the rest of his army continued to fall back.

    After their drubbing, Allen's Orcs may call Andy's stalwart spear, 'Nasty hobbitses!' (photo by Andy)

On the left, my two units of Scouts had damaged one of his Heavy Riders units, taking it down to one remaining strength point. It finally shook itself out of its stupor and galloped back out of their range. Keith made it clear his army was withdrawing and not coming any further forward. The elves were willing to chase them down with archery and spells, but there was nothing to prevent his forces from simply marching off the table. So, we agreed to call the game. The elves had avenged their defeat at the hands of the Bonefish Band a few weeks earlier. 

    Ents close in on Orc halberdiers, while the hobbits draw nearer in the distance (photo by Andy)

Meanwhile, the Greeks and High Elves on the battlefield next to us skirmished almost to a stalemate. They'd split the civilians between them, and only one unit was lost by the Greeks. This gave the edge to the High Elves, who eked out a victory. I believe Keith's "Shooty Elves" (as he calls them) are now 3-0 under various commanders. Keith constructed the list so that every unit shoots. The foot are mixed weapon light foot (like my Elves were in the first battle) and the heavy riders are equipped with bows, too. On the next battlefield further down, the clash between Andy's Woodland Folk and Allen's Orcs & Goblins was a slaughter. Andy said his forces destroyed or routed every unit in Allen's army!

    One of Salunga's units with control of a civilian - 'Lady Greensleeves,' I was told her name was!

There was one game still going on, though, so I drifted over to kibbitz and watch the match between Joel's borrowed Desert Goblins and Salunga, the Evil Jungle Princess. It was a bitter struggle. Tom's beastmen had six units, all of which had a spellcaster. He was having my dice rolling luck, though, and failing to cast fireballs amidst the goblins' ranks time and time again. Joel has played Keith's Desert Goblins a number of times and has gotten quite canny with them. In fact, after this weekend, he's tied for the second-most victories in our games of Dragon Rampant, having a 3-2 record. He used his savvy and pulled out a victory here, too.  

    Frustrated at the ineffectiveness of their magic spells, Tom's beastmen charge into Joel's goblins

I continue to enjoy DR! rules, and it seems they've really caught on in our group. More new armies are making it to the tabletop. Players seem intrigued by what they can create with this very open toolbox list building system. I look forward to fielding my Elves again, soon. It was great to see the army deployed on the tabletop after months of painting them up!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 71

Elven 'Guardians' - Creepy-masked Halberdiers

    Six 28mm, masked Elven Halberdiers from Warhost stand guard in the forest

I've always enjoyed the iconic flashback scene in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings where Elrond and the Elves are receiving the charge of hordes of Orcs. As the enemy closes, the Elves whip up their halberds and then spin them downward cutting down the first two ranks of chargers. So, when I saw this pack of Elven Guardians on the Warhost website, I wanted to get some for my Dragon Rampant army. I wasn't 100% sure about the creepy faceplate mask, but figured I could decorate it up on the style of Late Roman or Early Saxon ones rather than an evil clown mask. As it stands, this will be the final batch of Elves for the army, though after my first game I am exploring different troop type options for fielding Wood Elves. So, you never know...!

    Probably the most heavily armored of the infantry, these actually painted up very quickly

Anyway, these actually went faster than either of the previous batch of spear or cavalry. They appear to be more heavily armored, so doing the base coat of Gunmetal Gray, then Bright Gold, and finally metallic yellow accent was the most time consuming part. Once that was done, the tunic and cloak seemed to be a breeze to finish. I stayed with the lighter green shade under tunic and darker cloak on top that I've been using in this army, so far. I did my usual pattern of dots on the colored borders for the cloak. This time, I added in a border on the bottom of the tunic, too.

    With this final batch of six, my Dragon Rampant Wood Elves army is now officially complete!

I gave them the usual shades of blond hair (where you could see it), and more brown tones on the equipment and shoes and such. I certainly have Elves down to a routine, by now -- almost 70 figures later! I'm definitely going to be taking a break from painting up DR! armies for a little while and give a little more attention to my other projects. That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed watching my vision of Wood Elves come to life. They were always my favorite fantasy race, and I like how Warhost evokes the Tolkien mythos. Of course, my friend Keith -- who thinks the Orcs of my Bonefish Band look like Saxons (I know, but you just can't talk to him sometimes) -- will probably say they look like Huns or Celts or whatever! Honestly, I'm pretty sure he does it to "poke" people to get a reaction. Yeah, Keith, all those commenters on this blog and the Lead Adventure Forum are wrong -- they don't look Tolkien-like, they look like Uhtred Uhtredson...ha, ha! Maybe we can all join in together and say, "No, Keith, you're wrong...!"

    I decorated the armored face masks with my smallest nib black micron pen - how do they look?

The trickiest part of these figures was doing the face masks, of course. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them, yet. I would honestly love to hear your comments whether the tiny Micron pen patterns make them look less creepy and more "Ancient race decorative," or what. Given a choice, I would have preferred that Warhost didn't sculpt the Guardians with their masks, but hey! I bought them anyway, right? I used my smallest nib black pen to do swirls, dots, and even a leaf petal design. After the decoration was done, I painted the eye slits in the masks. Then I did the eye itself -- so there was a lot of work done on those masked faces!! Hoping they look decent, but as I said, I'd love to hear your opinions pro or con.

 

    Another look at the detachment of the Warhost Elven 'Guardians' in the woods

The bonfires that the Elves are gathered around in these photos are more amazing 3-D printed scenery from my friends at Bad Goblin Games. I bought one each of their Large Bonfire and Campfire at Historicon 2026 a few weeks ago. They are printed in an orange translucent material. Typically, for their flames, I do a orange-red wash on it so that it softens the bright, plastic look. After that was done and dry, it was a snap to paint the logs with my usual wood tone recipe, and then the rocks, and finally apply the ground and flocking. I painted both the pieces identically, and once done, slid the supplied watch battery into the LED light holder. I pressed the LEDs into place from underneath the fires and voila! A very cool, flickering bit of scatter for the gaming tabletop. 

A few second video of the Large Bonfire flickering away, with an Elven Halberdier standing watch

So, now that the Wood Elves are officially done, what's going to be the next project to cross my painting desk? Actually, there will likely be three that I'm juggling simultaneously. Regular readers will remember my decision to alternate a batch of older figures (bought prior to this year) and newer ones (2026 purchases). Well, luckily the three projects fit neatly into that scheme! The older figures (and next batch waiting in line) are Pulp Science-Fiction figures from Hydra Miniatures. Originally, I purchased them to be a faction in games of Xenos Rampant. Since then, I've had an idea for a convention game using them that I think will be really cool. Building the board for it (a city in the clouds, ala "Cloud City" from The Empire Strikes Back) will likely be a late year or 2027 project. In the meantime, I want to get a half dozen factions for the game done using Hydra Miniatures amazing Retro Raygun line. Previous purchases of them give me enough for three factions, so that will be one of the things I'm working on.

Small, 3-D printed LED campfire from Bad Goblin Games

 The other faction is to finally paint up some reinforcements for my Viet Cong in games of Surviving 'Nam. These will be figs bought earlier this year from Gringo40s (but not 40mm scale...ha, ha). I will also continue to work on batches of figures for my Devilry Afoot games set in Franklinton on the American frontier. Yes, yes, I know it has been a long time since my first game...! I've been busy!! So, look for batches from those three projects soon, along with more buildings and scatter terrain!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

Elves Battle the Bonefish Band in 1st Game

    Midpoint of the game & the battle of Elves vs. Orcs hangs in the balance, the Elves up 2-0

With the arrival in town of Mick (screen name "Aethelflaeda was Framed") from the Lead Adventure Forum, I offered to host him at a local store for a game. He agreed, and we met at Roundtable Games in Dublin, OH, on a sunny afternoon. I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to christen my Wood Elven army for Dragon Rampant! with its first battle. Keith and Jenny came along and squared off against each other, alongside us with Vikings vs. Fire Giants. I gave Mick the choice of using the Bonefish Band or my newly-painted Elves, and he chose the "orcses filth...". 

    Left wing of the Elves deployed for battle, with intermixed archer and spear units & cavalry

The battlefield was dotted with medium-sized patches of woods, but otherwise had plenty of open areas. Interestingly, the DR! troop types I use for the Bonefish Band (Bellicose Foot, Elite Infantry, and Greater & Lesser Warbeasts) are all more proficient at fighting in the woods than the ones I chose for my Elves! I was fielding four units of "Light Foot: Mixed Weapons," which gives them the ability to shoot out to 12", decent at defending in melee, but slower in woods. They also fought at a slight disadvantage if in woods, too. Instead of hitting on a 4+ on each d6, they hit only on 5+. However, their armor inside the cover of woods would go up from 2 to 3. Hmmm...do I need to rethink how I field these guys? 

    Large wolfpack infests the forest opposite the Elven right wing, howling & eager for battle

My plan was to advance most of my units in the open, with only one making their way through the central woods. Two of the foot units also had Level 1 spellcasters within their ranks, and one had the army general. The other units in my army were one of flying Lesser Warbeasts -- Birds of the Forest (which I gave Weak and Cowardly). It made since that normal sized birds of prey wouldn't hit as hard as wolves or bears or such creatures. The Cowardly ability let them Retreat a full move instead of half, which might keep them alive a little longer. The final unit was Elven cavalry fielded as standard Heavy Riders.

Elven left wing begins to cross open ground towards the woods where 2 units of goblin archers await

Surprisingly, Mick decided to not move after his deployment, and instead await the advance of my Elves. Both his units of goblin archers garrisoned a large woods near his center baseline. The Wolfpack guarded another woods on his left, while the orcs (armored Bellicose Foot) deployed in the gap between the trees. His trolls were initially deployed on his right, but they reversed direction and marched around behind the large woods to where the army general and his bodyguard of Elite infantry were stationed. My Elven host accepted the Bonefish Band's invitation to advance and began to surge forward with my four units of mixed weapon foot -- or tried to do so. My right flank unit refused to advance for three turns (failing to roll a 5+ on 2d6). The other three units struggled to move forward in a coordinated line, too. Not a good start!

    Armored Uruks, hooting and eager, also impatiently await the advance of the Elves in the center

Eventually, I would have to come within his goblin archers' greater 18" range to close within my own 12" one. Plus, I would receive archery fire in the open vs. his goblins in cover of the trees. As I advanced, I shifted to concentrated two units against his right hand goblin archers, ensuring the other unit was at long range while mine were within short of their target unit. Although the Elves took a few losses advancing and during the archery duel, their concentrated fire drove off their target unit of goblins when Mick rolled a very poor Courage test. One unit down! 

    Elven foot on the right are reluctant to advance, despite the support of the Birds of the Forest

Meanwhile, the wolfpack began to edge forward on his left, finally loping out of the woods after seeing my wizard-led foot unit on my right fail to advance multiple times. The central Elven foot unit eventually made its way to the edge of the woods. Measuring the range, I decided to advance some of the lead figures beyond the trees. Most would remain inside the woods, though, so we would be in cover. However, we would fight with the negative modifier in melee. I hoped that the armor increase would be enough to make up for it.

    When they reached the edge of the central woods, the Elves prompted the wild charge of the wolfpack

The wolves caught sight of the Elves, who were within their "wild charge" range, let loose a howl and raced into contact. Each unit inflicted two casualties on the other, which meant the wolves had to withdraw. They backed up only half a move, though, which left them within short range of my right hand foot unit (who had finally advanced). They let loose a volley which caused a casualty or two, and Mick promptly flubbed another Courage test. Two units of the enemy had fled the field -- the Elves were feeling triumphant! In case you think I was being a poor host to Mick with his dice rolls, his failing of morale tests was about done for the game. The momentum was poised to shift, unfortunately.

    Meanwhile, on the left, armored Uruks slam into the Elven general's unit inflicting many casualties

One of the Uruk units wild charged into my general's foot unit. Mick made up for crappy dice rolls and rolled 11 hits (3+) on 12 dice, which took the Elven bodyguard unit down to half strength (they had lost one earlier to goblin missile fire. This was dangerous, as all units in a warband that loses its general take an immediate Courage test. I backed the general into the woods so that the goblins couldn't "dink" them with archery. I probably should have pulled him back even further, as events will show. However, things were still looking up when the Elven cavalry galloped in and drove off the armored Uruks who'd savaged their general's unit. This was probably the high water mark of my army. We had destroyed two enemy units and lost none.

    Down to half strength, the general's unit falls back -- but not far enough, as we shall see...!

The Wolfpack was soon replaced by the Trolls, though, who had been steadily advancing towards the center. In this game, the Trolls did not do their usual "bird watching" trick of failing to advance, and instead continually moved forward and were soon within charge range of my Elves in the forest. I feel that the Trolls were Mick's key unit in this game. Greater Warbeasts fight well in terrain, and they promptly charged the Elven foot unit in the woods and drove them back. This took them within the wild charge range of my Birds of the Forest, who were waiting in the rear for such an opportunity. They would end up charging the Trolls twice, both times failing to do much damage (Trolls are Armor 4, so four hits need to be rolled to cause a single casualty).

    Elven cavalry charge in and drive off the Uruks as the general's band ducks into the woods

Meanwhile, the cavalry had counter-charged another unit of Uruks and driven them back, as well. Both his Uruks were down five figures (which means -5 to Courage tests, but Mick's troops were rallying quickly and avoiding the catastrophic Courage failures that plagued him earlier). Things got worse for me when Mick cleverly charged the Trolls into my general's depleted unit. Mick had yet another amazing roll and shattered the already depleted unit. It promptly failed its Courage test. The most effective unit I had in position on the board at that time -- the cavalry -- were the only ones to fail their Courage test. That meant they had to sit in position and rally, ending up being charged by the Trolls, who were definitely on a roll.

    Elven high water mark - no losses, but 2 enemy units destroyed & 3 down near half strength

My remaining units on the right and center combined on the trolls, driving them down to half strength.  Mick was having no more catastrophic morale rolls, though. Anytime he failed with a unit and it went to Battered status, it promptly rallied on the next turn. When the Orc warlord and his bodyguard advanced into the center and charged the Elven foot unit sheltering there, the game was up. The Bonefish Band is a deadly attacking force, with four units that hit on 3+ on each 1d6 when they charge. The remaining Elven foot were slowly being hammered and their ranks withered by charges of Trolls, Uruks, and the Bodyguard. 

    'You like birds, Trolls? How about these!' Forest birds of prey twice charge into the trolls but do little

The Elves were eventually overwhelmed. While the morale of the orcs, goblins, and trolls held firm, mine slowly faltered, and units peeled off and ran for the board edge. Mick never lost another unit after he was down 2-0. Although Elven archery and cavalry charges caused casualties,  the orc warlord kept an iron grip on his troops and they simply outlasted the Elves. Meanwhile, the Elves -- with their own general gone -- succumbed to morale failures and fled the field in defeat. Despite initial successes, we were unable to maintain the momentum, and our ranks were devastated by deadly charge after charge.

    Cleverly, the orc warlord sends the trolls to kill off the Elven general, causing Elven morale to falter

The failure of the Elves to be able to defend terrain as I have them fielded is a concern for future games. I thumbed through the Dragon Rampant rule book looking for perhaps better troop types to field them as, but found no immediate solution. I will have to ponder it more and see if I can come up with anything. It could simply be they are simply not a good match for the potent Bonefish Band. Keith has lent out an Elven army with mixed weapon light infantry and they are 2-0 under. We shall have to see. If any readers of my blog are Dragon Rampant players, I'd love any suggestions!

    Heroes of the game, the enemy Trolls then follow up and slam into the battered Elven cavalry

Otherwise, it was great getting in a game with Mick. We tentatively made plans to meet again when he comes up next summer. Dragon Rampant is always fun -- I have actually played two games relatively recently that I did not get a chance to write up here on Lead Legionaries. Prior to Historicon, Jenny, Allen, and I did a three warband on three warband game to introduce new players Alex and Eric to the rules. At Historicon itself, I taught my buddy Jason how to play, pitting the Bonefish Band against his Dark Elves in a slaughterfest. DR! is always fun, win or lose!

    Knowing victory is at hand, the warlord of the Bonefish Band wades into the seal the Elven defeat

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 152

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

So, I Lied -- NOT the Last Elves!

    Last of the spear-armed 28mm metal Elves from Warhost -- one more batch & the army is done!

This batch of six Elven spear from the Warhost line was supposed to be the final figures in my Dragon Rampant army. However, when I saw a pack of "Elven Guardians" for sale at Badger Games booth at Historicon, I sighed and picked them up. So, this is the next-to-last group, instead! Despite the week or so layoff from painting for Historicon, they painted up fast enough. These are probably the most heavily-armored of the Warhost Elves that I've painted so far, many having armor covering their forearms in addition to a greaves, hauberk of some sort, helmet, and shoulder armor. Since the armor is a two-step (three really) process, that means these figures take a bit longer. Throw in the shields, too, and the spearmen are easily the most time-consuming infantry in the army.

    Closeup of two of my Elven spear -- these take more time because of the armor & shields

I did these identically to my other Elves -- priming then with Liquitex White Gesso, doing their flesh, then armor, then clothes. The armor gets a base coat of Gunmetal Gray craft paint, then a gold over it (but leaving edge lines of gunmetal). The third step is to take some metallic yellow and hit the highlights of the armor pieces to help produce a gleaming effect. Once the armor was done (or re-done, in the inevitable cases where I missed an armor part), I was on to the tunics and vests. I picked out six lighter greens for the tunics and six darker greens for the long vests. Each gets a dry brush highlight over their base color.

    I really like the variety of shades of green in my Elven army's color scheme -- very woodland!

Thankfully, there isn't as much equipment festooned on these figures -- just a knife blade in a sheath and a pouch. So, this part went relatively quickly compared to the archers who add in a quiver to the items strapped to their bodies. You may have noticed I did not use the 3-D printed, fancy spearpoints that Warhost includes in their packs. I finally decided that it was futile to do so. Too many will break off during games, and that will just saddle me with more repair work on the army which I'd rather not have to do. When spear point breaks on figs with the 3-D tip, I will simply scrape off the remnant of the point and repaint the brass wire as the spear. Yay -- something NOT to look forward to doing...ha, ha!

    I like the subtle varieties of armor style and poses, crouching, thrusting overhand, etc., 

I really like how this batch of shields came out, though. For most of these leaf designs, I added in a second accent color on the leaf's surface, this time. I also varied the colors of the veins in the leaves. The designs themselves were still done with my .005 black micron pen, though. Once the outline is done, I just "color it in" with paint. I also like the colors I picked out for the shield surfaces, too. All in all, this may be my favorite batch of shields for the army. And likely, now that I think of it, probably the last ones I will have to paint! The Elven Guardians carry two-handed halberd-like weapons, so no more shields there!

    Small band of Elven spear defend a bluff inside their woodland realm from invaders

The eyes came out fairly well on some and fairly borderline on a couple others. I honestly feel that the way I do my eyes on my 28mm figures looks nice when I execute it properly. When my depth perception is off a little, though, or the detail isn't as crisp, they are less inspiring. I try to avoid the overly-large "Googly Eyes" that unfortunately appears on many of my older figures. Hey! As I get older, that's one aspect of miniature painting that I think I have consistently improved on! I may not paint stripes, tartans, or checks as well as I used to do, but I think eyes and shields are getting better.

    Another look at the different leaf patterns I did on the shields of this batch (maybe my favorites?)

So, what else is on my painting desk? I have a HUGE batch of medieval stuff on there, combining miniatures, scatter, and another building. They are all coming along very nicely, though, and hopefully I will be following up this post with that one soon. The medieval figs are mostly Reaper Bones civilians, with a couple (I think) Old Glory metal ones, too. They're all "old" figures, so count for my alternating New and Old from the Leadpile. After that, I will doubtless paint the Guardians and REALLY be finished with my Elven DR! army. Stay tuned, more on the way!

    Final look at the one of the last batches to be painted up this army made mostly of Warhost figures

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 152

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

Elven Cavalry From Warhost (er, mostly...!)

    28mm metal Warhost Elven Cavalry gallop out of the woods, swelling the ranks of the wood elf army

With this batch of Elven cavalry done, I am one final batch of six foot figures away from having my Dragon Rampant army completed! There is always a chance I may add in another pack or two from the Warhost 28mm Elven line. They've added some nice sculpts to the line since I bought my initial batch from Badger Games in the U.S. I have really enjoyed painting the figures for this army, with one exception, though: these Elven mounted!

    I liked the variety of weapons the figures came with, though I had to supply the shields

To be 100% honest, this pack was a major disappointment. First, my box contained only five metal riders instead of the six that were supposed to be in there. I feel it's been too many months since I received it to go back and complain to Badger Games. I should have counted everything when I the order arrived. Perhaps I missed the shortage when I opened the box because of the real reason I'm unhappy with these --the horses are plastic! I know other companies do metal riders on plastic horses, but the whole reason I went with the Warhost Elven line is because they are metal. If I wanted plastic cavalry, I could have bought these much more cheaply from Oathmark, or somewhere else. I searched through my 28mm Dark Ages unpainted figures and found an Ancient German cavalryman who was clean-shaven and wouldn't look ridiculously out of place, in my opinion. His fur cloak would be unique in the army, but hopefully painting him in the same color scheme as the army might make him blend in more. I'm assuming you can pick him out -- what do you think?

    Like with most of this line, there is also a nice variety of armor & helmets, too

The horse sprues include left half of the body, right half, tail, plastic head, and some bizarre horse equipment piece that -- for the life of me -- I could not figure out where it went. Weirdly, it also includes resin horse heads that look like they belong to a more armored horse miniature. The resin heads are noticeably smaller than the plastic ones (which I ended up using). Even then, I felt the plastic ones didn't fit that neatly and the seam between the neck and body was quite visible on a few of the poses. The box also included wire spears for the two riders supposed to be holding spears, and the impractical, fragile plastic tips. This time -- unlike with my foot Elven spear -- I eschewed using the resin tips. Too easy to break!

    I also had to supply a 6th rider - for some reason my box contained only five riders but 6 horses

I also substituted some of my own "pill-shaped" bases instead of the huge round ones included. I decided to glue the riders onto the horses before I began painting. I go back and forth with 28mm figures which way I do this. Yes, it is easier to paint the rider separately. However, I find that gluing them on first makes the whole figure more solid. The paint adds an extra layer to the epoxy bonding the rider to the horse. So, typically, I glue them on first. However, this does make reaching certain areas with a paint brush more of a challenge.

    A shot of the four shielded riders, showing off their leaf pattern shields

The horses painted up okay, other than the seam between the neck and body being a little too visible. The poses are dynamic enough, but nothing spectacular. The riders were also problematic in their own way. There was a flat area on their backsides, facing the horse's tail, with three indentations. It looked almost like an outlet to plug an electric cord into the figures...ha, ha! Perhaps it had something to do with the piece of horse equipment that I couldn't figure out? I tried, but could not come up with a way that the piece (which I didn't use) would have covered this noticeably deformed area on riders. I failed, though. I had to resort to mixing up some green stuff and smoothing that area out. 

I'm sure there is something I missed, and probably should have done some Google or YouTube research before fully assembling everything. Still -- there is a tendency among plastic kit manufacturers to leave out any instructions, and expect everyone to experts at putting together puzzles of the pieces they include. A small piece of paper with black and white diagrams for assembly would not add anything significant to their costs, but few do so. Another reason I prefer metal miniatures -- you usually don't have to puzzle out how to "assemble" your figure...except in the case of this box! The riders also did not include shields, even though their arms are bent in a standard "glue a shield here" position. Luckily, I have a decent sized collection of unused metal shields and picked out ones to use on the poses where it would have looked weird without a shield. 

 Wasn't crazy about the mix of plastic horses & metal riders - plus some parts I couldn't quite figure out

Once horse, rider, weapons, shields, and green stuff were all applied, I did my usual Liquitex White Gesso priming. I went back to my painted 28mm Mongol army for Saga, and picked out six cavalry whose horse colorings I particularly liked and brought them to my painting desk. I used those as models for the horses, which I painted up first. Next, I did the flesh, robes and tunics, and armor. I wasn't crazy about the poses of the metal riders, either. Maybe I am suffering from burnout painting these elves? Either way, I wasn't particularly enthused about this batch as I was working on it. Painting mounted figures is always more of a chore for me, so maybe that was contributing, too?

Either way, it felt like work getting through these six mounted miniatures. I was happy to be done with them and close to completing the army. After this experience with mixed plastic and metal figures, I will be more careful in purchasing mounted minis. In the future, I will attempt to avoid these hybrids, though I understand fans of Games Workshop have been happily painting up this type of combination for years. Yet another reason to avoid all things GW (besides their prices)...ha, ha! I also don't enjoy their very cartoonish look, with leering expressions or exaggerated features. The Warhost line has been the opposite and many have commented on the line's "Tolkien-like" appearance. 

More stuff is on the way soon, so stay tuned! I have been very busy with the release of Surviving 'Nam -- and apparently it has paid off! Check out the snapshot of the Bestseller list from Wargame Vault! I don't think any of my rules before this made it to #2 on the leaderboard. Thanks to everyone who bought copies! By the way, print on demand copies are now available on Lulu, besides the PDF downloads on Ganesha Games and Wargame Vault.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 141

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 28

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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