Our 3rd Dragon Rampant Outing Visits 'Hacky Valley'

    My 'Bonefish band' of orcs, goblins, trolls & wolves closes in on a force of Mountain Dwarves

Our Sunday evening gaming group got together for another round of Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition. This time, we took a visit to "Hacky Valley" -- one of the scenarios in the book. We had six players, so I set up three one-on-one tables on my 12' wide gaming table downstairs. I was faced off against Joel S, borrowing a Dwarven army this time. He's played a different army all three times, which I guess there's nothing wrong with. Some people prefer variety! On the winter valley table, Allen's Bretonnian Knights faced off against Jenny's Fantasy Vikings. And on the desert valley, Tom's reconfigured Beastman army tackled Keith's undefeated Mordor Orcs. Tom has used a vastly different list for his beastmen all three games. This one, he said, was modeled on the Wheel of Time series.

    3 tables of 'Hacky Valley' set up side by side on my 12' wide table -- each battlefield was 4'x4'

In Hacky Valley, the 4'x4' table features a central two-foot wide valley. It's flanked on either side by a one foot wide plateau, separated from the valley by impassable cliffs -- except for a ramp leading up to each escarpment in the center of the table. The goal is essentially to destroy the enemy's army and hold the valley. The scenario description adds some whimsical nonsense about pies, but I spared the group that part of the description. I also added three pieces of rough terrain to each setup, one one on each player's half of the board and one more towards the center. The battlefield was already somewhat cramped, I figured. We didn't need to make it even more constricted. I do wish the rules had added a real terrain placement system to the rules to resolve cases where an army that wants lots of terrain is facing one that wanted a more open board. Oh well, I guess we can always port in a systems like Saga's, if it really bothers us. So far, I've set up the boards each time we've played and no one has complained.

    Dwarf-Goblin Wars: my enemy's battle line with Hobbit scouts and Dwarf heavy foot on the right 

In my matchup, I was facing Joel's borrowed Mountain Dwarven army, lent by Keith (of course). Keith is really enjoying our foray into DR! and the chance to get armies that have sat on his shelves for too long into action. He's even been inspired to paint up more figures to flesh out armies where he didn't have enough to field one. Joel's army consisted of a 9-point (almost 1/3 of the army points) cannon. It was bought as Heavy Missiles with Slow, Longer range, Bodkins (6's equal two hits instead of one), and Champion (re-roll 1 missed die on each attack). Maybe there were more special abilities -- I'm going from memory here. There was another Heavy Missile crossbow unit to support it, and the army general and his Heavy Foot bodyguard was nearby, too. On both flanks up on the plateaus, Joel deployed his Hobbit Scouts. The one opposite my right was given another unit of heavy foot for support, as well. A unit of heavy foot pikes was just below, advancing towards the ramp leading to that cliffside. 

    Bonefish Band advances with my eager goblin archers leading the way all game long

I didn't want to give the cannons or crossbows much chance to do their damage. And since we alternated deploying a unit at a time for the setup, I placed my units in the central valley more on the right -- away from the cannon. We would use the woods as cover and line of sight blockers as much as possible. I deployed my goblin archers (Light Missiles, Cowardly, Weak) on the right, one up on the plateau, one just beneath it in the valley. Behind the goblins on the plateau, I deployed my large wolfpack (Lesser Warbeasts, Large - which gave 2 extra figures). My two units of armored orcs (Bellicose Foot, Armored, Cowardly) were in the center, along with the warchief and his Elite Foot and the Trolls (Greater Warbeasts). My idea was to advance on the crossbow and cannon masked by the forests, then charge through at them and destroy them in hand to hand. The goblins would concentrate on shooting the enemy on the right hand plateau, who began advancing towards us as rapidly as their dwarven and hobbit legs could carry them.

    My forces in the valley drifted to the right, as far away as possible from their very dangerous cannon

In fact, Joel advanced across the line fairly aggressively, holding back only with the cannon and crossbows. The goblin archers took the first shots and began whittling down his small unit of Hobbit scouts on the right-hand plateau. My rolling for targeting the little buggers wasn't so good, it took me three turns to get them below half strength and to fail their courage test. From that point on, we switched to the heavy foot marching resolutely behind them. I tried to keep the wolfpack, who were following the goblins, from getting within "Wild Charge" range of the dwarven foot, but Joel kept coming and eventually, the wolves would have to lope into contact.

    2 of our regulars weren't feeling well & couldn't make it, so we had only 6 armies fighting it out

Meanwhile, in the center, Joel's heavy foot dwarves were similarly pounding forward, looking to renew the bloody Dwarf-Goblin Wars. I was having trouble advancing my armored orcs, though. One of the two units actually failed to move four out of its first five attempts (only a 6+ roll on 2d6!). Still, I was able to sneak one of them up behind the central forest and within "Wild Charge" range when the dwarves got close enough to charge my goblins. This first attack of the game was successful for the orcs. They drove back the dwarves, killing a number of them. However, that put them in long range of the cannon and crossbows. Both fired a volley and drove my orcs back. The previous turn, the cannon had fired an extreme range blast at my orc warlord and his bodyguard in the forest on our side of the board. We figured we were safe under the cover of the trees (and with an armor of 4). However, Joel rolled 7 hits -- five of them sixes on 2d6. Not wanting to take 12 hits, I hurriedly consulted all of the special rules Keith had tacked onto the cannon. To my relief, I saw that Bodkins (two hits for each six rolled) does not happen at long range -- whew!). Needless to say, the warlord hurriedly abandoned the trees and scooted away to his right, to better be in range to inspire his troops with their courage rolls (definitely NOT running away from the cannon, oh no!).

    Dwarves are advancing aggressively towards us despite occasional casualties from the goblin archers

On my left, Joel's Dwarven king and his bodyguard were advancing forward stoutly, supported only be the shooting of the cannon, crossbows, and scouts up on the plateau. I figured Joel was using him as bait. Any unit that charged him would end up in line of sight and range of the dwarven and hobbit crossfire.  Still, it was his leader! So, I moved my trolls up (once again, using the central forest to obscure them from missile fire). My reluctant unit of orcs slowly ambled that direction, too. Joel seemed okay with the trolls impending charge and did nothing -- not even forming Wall of Spears for defense. On my next turn, I rolled for the wild charge of the trolls, needing only a 3+ on 2d6. SNAKE EYES?? You've got to be kidding! The trolls, who spent the entire last game pointing out the pretty birds in the trees, once again stared slack-jawed at the various birds flitting around in the branches. "Ooooh, dat one's purty!!" The orc warlord shouted at them and had his trumpeter blow several blasts on his horn to get their attention, hopping up and down and pointing at the dwarven king. Reluctantly, the trolls jogged forward on the next turn and slammed into the dwarven king's line of armored dwarves.

    'Barak Khâzad!' dwarves shout as they prepare to join battle with the Bonefish Band

My rolls were below average while Joel's were above, so he drove my six trolls back, killing one. On his turn, the cannon belched flame and the crossbows twanged and two more trolls fell. Even the plucky hobbit scouts tried to get in on the act, but their stones bounced off the trolls' armored hides. After reducing them to half strength, the dwarven king surprisingly charged the trolls. Angry at all the missiles stinging them, the trolls growled in rage and flailed away at the dwarves. This time we rolled much better, and drove the charging dwarven foot back. On my turn, the armored orcs charged in and cut down many of the dwarves. To this point, Joel's activation rolls had been superb, but his courage tests were tending to be subpar. He rolled badly enough on this roll that the king and his bodyguard fled the table. On the rest of the battlefield, my archers had been slowly riddling the ranks of his units that were falling back. Soon, a unit of hobbit scouts and another dwarven heavy foot were fleeing towards the rear, as well.

    As the dwarven foot near my goblins, armored orcs burst forth and charge into their ranks

The wolfpack and the dwarves on the plateau were locked in a death struggle. The pack would charge in, be driven back by the heavy foot in Wall of Spears, then reform and charge in again. On the third charge, both units fell below half strength and both of us rolled low enough on our courage tests that we broke. At this point, all that the dwarves had on the field were the cannon, crossbows, and scouts on his right flank. I reformed my armored orcs and they began to advance to cover behind the central forest. At this point, Joel decided the game had been decided, and said his dwarves would begin withdrawing from the field. Having suffered the brutal cannon blasts of the enemy, the orc warlord let them march off the field, unmolested. The Bonefish Band had the advantage in units, but it was not out of question that a couple wild swings on the rolls could change our fortunes. We would take the victory, and maintain possession of Hacky Valley and its apparently delicious pies!

    Pushed back by the Dwarven king's bodyguard & blasted by the cannon, my trolls stagger back

In wintry valley, Jenny and Allen's game was wrapping up at the same time. Allen had lost most of his elite knights again as a result of their sometimes unwise wild charges. Still, the Bretonnians had prevailed and driven the Vikings from the snow and iced choked version of Hacky Valley. The next day, Jenny said her courage tests were abysmal. It seemed though she was doing more casualties than Allen, but her troops were failing most of their courage tests. Discussing it, we think that perhaps Allen and Jenny were applying the modifiers wrong. Prior to this game, I had even redesigned the QRS I had created to make it more streamlined and easier to read. Still, if the way she recounted how they did it the next day was true, they were really off on the rules...haha!

    Armored orcs sprint past the trolls & crash into the dwarven king's bodyguard, breaking them

We all turned our attention to the death struggle going on between Keith's Mordor Orcs and Tom's beastmen. Tom's army had been completely retooled to try a new tactic. He had two units of Lesser Warbeasts as his strike force. He gave them the very expensive Cannibalistic trait, meaning each time they destroyed one or more enemy strength points in melee, they would regain one lost figure. The beastmen -- trollocs, I believe they're called in the novels -- would have their ranks replenished not only by the Cannibalistic ability, but also by spellcasters using Heal on them. So, he would hurl the trollocs forward. When they were driven back eventually, he would heal them up and send them charging forward into the orcs' ranks again.

    Keith's Mordor Orcs, left, square off against Tom's deadly 'Wheel of Time' army in a bitter struggle

Keith, on the other hand, had a defensive battleline of orc archers, supported by bellicose foot (like my armored orcs) and heavy foot. When Tom's warbeasts advanced within range, they would receive a snout full of arrows, then be charged by the orcs. When I started watching, both commander's tactics were working and creating a bloodbath. Each side was down to three units. Tom had one trolloc unit and two supporting spellcasters inside Light Foot. Keith had his bellicose foot, an archer unit, and a heavy foot unit. The trollocs eventually caught and destroyed the archers. When the bellicose orcs charged out for vengeance, they were finally driven below half strength. They fell back, and Keith saw the handwriting on the wall. He began to back off and withdraw from the valley. Pies weren't worth this carnage! After an exhausting struggle that saw both sides fall below half strength, Tom decided to let him go unmolested. Each had lost more than half their army, so Tom was willing to take the dearly-bought victory without following up. 

    Keith tries a gambit with a burrowing giant purple worm, but it was dispatched by Tom's beastmen

Afterwards, Tom was worried that he had "broken" the DR! system with his combination of cannibalistic and healing spells. I told him that he came a razor thin margin from losing that battle. I was watching when his Army Points fell to half or below. If he had failed his rolls on that particular set of courage tests, I think it would have broken the back of his army. His wizards would have to Rally instead of casting Heal. The battered beastmen would have lost another figure and fallen further back. I told him I thought he had come very close to defeat while I was watching. Keith apparently had designed his army to be a defensive wall. and Tom had nearly broken on it. The wall cracked first, though. They agreed it was a great game and that Tom's army, though tough, had proven it wasn't unbeatable. 

    Keith's Mordor Orcs were undefeated in their previous 2 battles coming in to face Tom's beastmen

Dragon Rampant is a fun system. We've enjoyed it all three times we've played. It's also fun to create new army lists with the wealth of fantasy abilities you can tack onto basic unit types. Although I am a long way away from having my elves painted up, I am having fun with how the Bonefish Band plays. It is an aggressive, charging army. It is enjoyable to run, and so far, I've been fortunate in my outcomes. If I can just convince my orcs to advance when I tell them to and my trolls to ignore the birds, I think they'll continue to do fine!

    Final moments of the game -- each side reduced to just 3 units and teetering towards breaking

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 34

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

    On Wintry 'Hacky Valley,' Jenny & Allen square off for control of the vital mountain pass

    It was human vs. human -- Knights vs. Vikings, in this matchup in the ice and snow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Armored Troll & the Last of the Orc & Goblin Horde

    My final batch of armored orcs (plus an armored troll) for the Bonefish Band are done!

I am winding down the painting of my orc and goblin horde for Dragon Rampant. Here's the final batch (with one exception which I will talk about below). I've also included one of the Gripping Beast armored trolls in with these because I previously had only five trolls painted up. I wanted a sixth because a unit of Greater Warbeasts under the DR! rules is 6 Strength Points. This way, I can remove one figure for each SP loss. The other eight figures in this batch are armored orcs.

    One of 28mm armored trolls from Gripping Beast's Ragnarok line -- a heavy hunk of metal goodness

The troll (named Ogah on their site) was great fun to paint up. It thought that his chainmail, with its small plates of armor over the top on his chest, was a nice touch. I painted both those plates and his helmet bronze to give more contrast with the chainmail. I love the intensity of Ogah's snarling expression, teeth bared. His feet wrapped in strips of cloth are a nice touch, as well. I used the same skin tone recipe for him as the other trolls -- charcoal gray base coat, rain gray dry brush, and faint timberline green highlights. I also love the plates of armor bolted onto his huge shield, as well. Looking at the shield, I thought it just called out for a checkerboard pattern. That turned out pretty well, too. All in all, it is a great figure that will definitely be deployed in the ranks of the Bonefish Band!

    Closeup of 4 of the last batch of GB armored orcs -- these were a lot of fun to paint!

The armored orcs were simply more of the same that I've subjecting you to on this blog...haha! I certainly feel like I've painted up a lot of these boys over the last few months. In fact, I had very few unarmored orcs at all in this army -- mostly just the goblin archers. I will likely pick up a couple packs of unarmored goblins from Firelands Games so that I have some to use in games of Sellswords & Spellslingers. It's kind of funny, and so typical of us wargamers, right? I have way more orc and goblin figures than I need to fill out the ranks of my Bonefish Band, but I need to buy more figs...! To be clear, they aren't for Dragon Rampant -- they're for another game. But it still seems strange, doesn't it?

    Obligatory 'Shield Shot' with all of them lined up in a row -- I thought this batch came out nicely

I really like how the shields came out on this final batch of troops, too. I decided to add a second (or third) color on some of them. I'm still using the simple, tribal-style illustrations with my micron pens on the lighter-colored shield faces. On the darker shields, I brush paint the design -- the gaping skeletal jaws on one and the yellow moon on the other. I have genuinely enjoyed painting the orc, goblin, and troll figures in this army. I would have liked more variety in equipment. However, that's not Gripping Beast's fault. That's simply what my friend sold to me. Oh well -- the army is nearly done! 

    Are you sick of seeing orcs here on my blog? Well, other than some casualties, you made it through!

After this batch, I counted out my remaining orcs and goblins. I had only 15 left from the horde that I purchased from my friend Jeff. The final step is to take a half dozen of those remaining and create casualties out of them. One disadvantage of metal figures vs. plastic is chopping them off their bases is NOT easy! I have done that to six, though, and am in the process of creating the flocked base each will rest upon. They will be used to mark units that are "Battered" status in DR! This reminds me a bit of making Fatigue markers in Saga. Same idea -- something scenic on the tabletop instead of a random colored bead or other marker to track a unit's status. The remaining nine orc and goblin figures I likely won't paint anytime soon. I'll save them in case I need them for something special. As I said, I have PLENTY for my DR! army!

    Okay, I liked -- here is one of final look at Ogah and his orc minders lined up for battle

With this batch, I also finished more bases of elephant grass (Version 3, if you're curious). I have now used up all of the 22mm tufts I bought at Michigan Toy Soldier, with which I was able to create 14 total 1.5" bases of elephant grass. Hopefully, that's enough! So, what else is on the painting desk? I continue to work on those crashed spaceship sections. The base coat of dark metallic is done for all of them, and I am more than halfway through the dark red metallic accent color on them. After that, only the flocking will be left to do. They're scheduled to be used this Sunday in a Star Wars skirmish game using Space Weirdos. So, stay tuned -- more stuff is on the way!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 16 

King of the Hill with Dragon Rampant (2nd Game)

    My 'Bonefish Band' advances to seize the central hill before Mike S's Undead army can do so

Everyone had enough fun last week in our initial game of Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition, that they were willing to play it again this Sunday. We changed venues to Keith's Man Cave (or Orcafinn's Basement). That chopped off a couple feet in table width, so we picked a "king of the hill" type scenario from the book to focus the action on each narrower 2.5' wide by 4.5' deep area. The armies were also reduced from 36AP to 30AP. Most players tinkered with their previous lists and brought the same army as last week. Andy changed to Undead, though, as did the opponent for my Bonefish Band -- Mike S. Joel was using his own orc figures rescued from storage, while his brother Allen did the same with his medieval knights. 

    Once again, we had 8 players fighting across the tabletop in four different matchups

A large hill was placed in the center of each pair of opposing armies, along with a few other pieces. In the scenario, you received 1 victory point for each turn that you had more units than your opponent touching the central hill. So, there was incentive to advance forward and seize it first and force your opponent to try to knock you off. I deployed my two units of goblin archers in front, as usual, with the armored orcs on either side of them. The second line was composed of my wolfpack on the left, commander and his elite bodyguard in the center, and trolls on the right. Four of my seven units are subject to "wild charge," which means if they are in range of an enemy unit at the start of the turn, they will most likely charge (usually 5+ on 2d6). I had pre-measured and knew that even my speedy wolfpack couldn't reach the hill on turn 1. 

    My necromancer opponent, Mike, suffered from poor rolls to activate his troops - especially at first

Mike's Undead army had a Level 4 wizard, which allowed him to choose from four "colors" of spells. That meant he had a possibility of getting a unit there on turn one, but his spellcaster failed his roll to cast Teleport. If he had hurled a unit forward magically, and then had the unit advance onto the hill, he could have stolen a march. However, Mike's activation rolls were absolutely abysmal early on, and continued to be subpar most of the game. Three of his four units failed to do anything on turn 1, and at least 2-3 did nothing on turn 2, as well. This allowed my faster-moving armored orcs to barely make it to the hill on turn 2, while he had none. His goblin warg riders (Why are they in an Undead army? Oh yeah...more bones to gnaw on...ha, ha!) barely nicked the edge of the hill, wisely staying behind its crest out of sight of my goblin archers. On turn 2, the Bonefish Band was up 1-0 in VPs.

    Armored orcs of the Bonefish Band have begun to seize the hill, while the rest of my army moves up

On turn 3, I had three of my four wild charging units in range of enemy. The trolls were just out of range, as I'd given them the fantasy ability "Slow" this game, reducing their move from 10" to 8". This seemed more troll-like, and took care of one of those six points I had to give up to field my army. My rolls took a brief hiatus, too, with both units of armored orcs staying put and failing to charge (rolled less than a "5" on 2d6...twice!). However, the wolfpack went howling in against one of his units of armored skeletons. Mike's combat rolls were not suffering from the same malaise his activation and spellcasting ones were, though. Each of us took two casualties, and my wolves were driven off by his band of skeletons. Under the rules, "Undead" troops round up on melee casualties but do not do so on missile hits. However, they do not suffer becoming "battered" from failing morale checks. Only if they fail checks badly enough (score of "0" or less), though, do they melt away and are removed from the board. 

    While some goblins linger in the rear, the army firmly controls the hill & faces down the enemy

Much to my surprise, Mike did not charge my orc "Bellicose Foot" who are actually much less effective when being charged as opposed to when initiating it. Instead, his heavy foot units formed "Wall of Spears" and awaited my charges next turn. That surrendered control of the hill to me for another turn. We were up 2-0, now. On the following turn, the armored orcs went pounding in against the skeleton bands opposite them. We won both fights, and pushed the skeletons further away from the hill. The wolves followed up against last turn's opponent. Once again, the skeleton heavy foot proved deadly in defense, and my pack was down to two models. They failed their courage test and loped to the rear. Frustratingly, the trolls -- my stars of the battle last game -- continued to sit there and not activate to move forward. We joked that they were checking out the "pretty birds" in the forest next to them ("Ooh, lookee, Bill! Ain't it pretty?"). The goblin archers and my commander's bodyguard took possession of the hill with the departure of the orcs.

    On the other battelfield, Joel's orcs struggle to find a winning combination against Jenny's Vikings 

Mike cleverly tried a gambit to get kill my army commander on his turn. He magically swapped positions of the bodyguard and the armored orcs who had charged off the hill last turn. I actually didn't mind. Elite foot is very tough on defense while Bellicose foot is more vulnerable. He charged in and surprisingly killed two of the six bodyguards. The commander and his hand-picked orcs savaged the enemy in return, though, and the magical force binding the skeletons together dissipated and their bones fell to the ground. Mike's warg riders (Light Riders) were unable to cause any casualties with their shooting as the armor of my elites and orcs were too high. Once again, the Bonefish Band retained possession of the hill and we were up 3-0, now.

    Chances of pushing the Bonefish Band off the hill diminish by the turn for Mike's Undead

In addition to rolling poorly to activate his troops, Mike was not doing much better on his Courage tests. His damaged units of skeletons began to score 0 or less and disappear from the board. Meanwhile, my wolfpack was the only unit in danger of being eliminated, though the number of casualties the orcs were suffering had begun to mount. The goblin archers were unable to really play an effective role in the battle. One unit did occupy the hill, though, while the other kept failing to activate and also struggled to find a shooting lane around the central hill. Although the orcs earned a victory point for turn 4, we also saw both of our units of armored orcs barreling for the rear. 

    Tom, at bottom, cleverly tweaked his Bog People army & aggressively attacked Andy's Undead 

Once your units have suffered enough casualties, it gets hard to pass Courage tests. Units suffer a -1 to their Courage test roll per figure they've lost. So, it is hard to get your badly damaged troops to stand in DR! I really like the game's morale mechanics. A unit may get lucky and pass one check after taking grievous casualties, but eventually it is going to fail. And once they're battered, each time they fail again after that, they take an additional casualty (which increase the chance they won't pass on subsequent turns). So many other rules sets see troops battling to the last man. Dragon Rampant definitely does not. Troops fail morale and run from battle, just like in the fantasy novels and movies!

    Tom's beastmen and wizards advance up the hill against Andy's 'Tomb Kings' army

Mike had one final magical gambit left to play and did seize control of the hill for one turn. However, his warg riders (who had been teleported forward by the necromancer) were surrounded by four or more of my units. One by one, they chased the traitorous goblins and their wolf mounts off the hill and towards the edge of his board. We eventually earned our fifth VP token and the game ended. The Bonefish Band was firmly in control of the hill and had 4-5 units remaining while the Undead were down to just two unts.

In the other games, my Lizard Wizard opponent from last game, Tom, was also facing Undead (controlled by Andy). Tom had reworked his army after our game and came up with a surprising tweak. He added four Level 1 spellcasters to his army. This proved amazingly useful as he could teleport units onto their central hill or otherwise used magic to put his troops in advantageous positions. Andy was unable to mount a concerted push towards the central hill. It appeared that Tom's Bog People had possession of it most of the game, much like my Bonefish Band did. Tom and Andy's game was the first to finish. It appeared that the Lizard Wizards gave the Undead a good drubbing. Andy admitted he didn't really pay attention to the scenario objectives, which put him behind the eight ball early. 

    Mike S's Undead finally get underway and advance towards the hill ready to contest it with my orcs

Keith was using a retooled version of his orcs and goblins in a rematch against Allen. I tried to get him to switch up and play a different opponent. He insisted that since he was using his new "old" army and it wouldn't be a replay of last week. Allen was fielding his old Warhammer Brettonian army rescued from storage. I'd helped him create a list which featured three units of Elite Riders (knights) as the bulk of his force. He also had a unit of spearmen, archers, and insisted on a wizard, as well. Allen sent his mounted troops forward to seize the hill first, but Keith cleverly used the knight's impetuousness to their disadvantage. He forced him into charging a solid block of pikemen and a unit of foot located in the woods. Any successes Allen did have were pounced upon by Keith's waiting giant lizards (Greater Warbeasts). 

When Allen had lost all three of his knight units, the handwriting was on the wall. Keith was able to mop up the rest of his army and seize control of the hill, forcing an end to the game. Perhaps when I built Allen's list for him, I should have given him more foot units. He insisted on the wizard, though, which I think hurt him. I still feel spellcasters in DR! are under-powered and potentially not worth the points. Allen could have used some more foot units to screen off his own knights off from the enemy. That way, he could spring his wild charges only when he was ready. We are learning the game, though. For a simple "big skirmish" game, there are a lot of tactical nuance in these rules.

    Although Mike is smiling, his dice rolls aren't giving him much to be happy about early on...!

It wasn't a good night to be a Sams brother, apparently. Allen's brother Joel was also playing an old rescued Warhammer army, this one of orcs and goblins. This one had far fewer painted miniatures, though. So, I struggled to build it up to 30AP list using the troops he had on hand. I did give him two units of orc "mixed weapons" -- spear and bow combined into one unit, though. I was curious how they would work out. Joel said he liked how they performed. His opponent, Jenny, leading her Vikings, admitted they savaged her units with bowfire once or twice. However, Jenny quickly took control of the hill with her two units of heavy riders and never really relinquished it. Joel's army had seven units, but four of them were missile troops. He probably lacked enough attack troops to charge in and drive the Vikings off the hill. 

The Vikings were able to triumph and suddenly we looked around and saw all four games were done -- only two hours or so after we'd started! Dragon Rampant plays very quickly. I had suggested the king of the hill scenario in the rulebook to Keith, but perhaps we should have just done a straight up like last week, instead? At least a couple of the players didn't really wrap their heads around the fact they had to advance quickly and contest the hill. And Mike's failed activations early on meant he couldn't get his admittedly slower troops moving to seize the objective in time. All of those games ended up being lopsided in score. I think I will recommend us to play a more straight up battle next time.

    Zooming in on Jenny & Joel's battle, as the Vikings advance toward the hill in strength

 I was happy with how my tweaked Bonefish Band performed. I needed to give up six army points to get down to 30AP. I started by giving both goblin archers the fantasy trait "Weak." That means they'd roll one less die in attacks or shooting than normal -- not a big disadvantage, I figured, for -1AP each. I also removed "Large" from the goblin  units, as well (two more points back).  I added "Cowardly" to both armored orc units (-1AP each), meaning they'd retreat a full move instead of a half move. Since Bellicose Foot is vulnerable to counter-attack, I reasoned this might actually be an advantage! The final tweak was adding the "Brutal" fantasy trait to my commander. Andy had done that for his orc commander last week and it made a lot of sense. I paid for that point by giving the trolls the "Slow" fantasy trait, as mentioned before. These minor changes allowed me to keep the same seven units that I felt performed so well in the last game. That's one of the things I like about the rules. There is a nice tool kit in them to create the fantasy army you want to represent.

Probably the coolest part was that everyone played their own army with their own miniatures this time. Getting us to that point with DR! certainly didn't take long! Apparently, I was the only player who had to paint their 28mm fantasy army from scratch for DR! Everyone else was using figures they already had, including Saga armies old Warhammer armies, or even figures from role-playing. Now that my orcs are nearly painted, I am seriously considering buying figures for a new army. Perhaps Elves? I could field them as Light Foot (who are very effective troops in DR!) and give them the Mixed Weapons rule which allows them to shoot. That seems very Lord of the Rings-like to me. So, who knows? Perhaps soon you will see pictures of new 28mm miniatures I bought...haha!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 15

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 4 

More Armored Orcs for the Bonefish Band

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 15

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 4