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| Patriot center crosse the causeway and whittles down the British forces defending the center redoubt |
We have been playing
Rebels and Patriots from Daniel Mersey's "Rampant" series of games off and on for a year or so, now. It is fast-moving and the mechanics are easy to pick up. Like all games in the series, though, there are tweaks for each rules set. That's actually the hardest part to remember when switching from
Dragon Rampant to
Rebels and Patriots to
Xenos Rampant, for example.
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| Left side of the battlefield, with Mike S's French force pushing aggressively towards Joel's troops |
A good example of the minor differences would be testing morale after being shot at. In Rebels and Patriots, if your unit removes any figures due to shooting or melee, you test morale. You modify your 2d6 roll by -1 per casualty received on that particular shot. In Dragon Rampant (and Lion Rampant), you do the same, but modify it by -1 per casualty received throughout the entire game. They're cumulative -- not just from that shot. And in Xenos Rampant, any hits on a unit -- even if they're not enough to overcome the armor level (three hits are needed to cause a casualty against an Armor 3 unit, for example) -- cause a morale test. It is a more modern concept of reacting to being under fire even if you don't take any significant casualties.
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| Allen on left keeps an eye on the Patriots in the center, while Jason watches Tom's encircling move |
So, this time I created a document for us that organized the main differences between Rebels and Patriots and Dragon Rampant (the other Mersey set we had played most recently). It was a two-sided sheet of paper and I think it did a nice job of making the game go easier. So, on to the game! Keith had set up a scenario which was inspired by the Patriot siege and assault on Savannah, Georgia. He had set up three redoubts on hills, manned by British or Loyalist troops. Our job, as the Patriots, was to push them out of the fortifications and have a clear path to the enemy board edge. We had significantly more troops, but not to the 2-to-1 level recommended by the scenario that inspired him.
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| Tom's Georgia militia begin their looping way through the swamp, hoping to strike the redoubt's rear |
I commanded the Patriot center with decent quality Continental troops, with Mike S as the French on my left and Tom as the Georgia militia on my right. Keith had given Allen, my opponent in the center, two units of mortars on his baseline. They could fire over his own lines out to 36". However, he also gave them a minimum range, which I believe was 18", coinciding with a raised causeway running from one side edge to the other across the center of the table. So, there would be a beaten zone my center would have to advance through. I hesitated whether to put my line infantry in Close Order, which improves their activation chances and also morale tests, but would allow Allen to hit my guys with his artillery on a 4-6 on each d6 rolled instead of 5-6. I hedged my bets, and kept the unit directly in front of the mortars in normal formation while the two line units to its left formed Close Order.
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| Jason's redoubt on the left - bristling with artillery and two units of Loyalist infantry |
In the Rampant games, the player rolls to activate each unit. If it fails, it does nothing. Unlike the other games in the series, one failure does not end your turn in Rebels and Patriots. My activation dice were abysmal. All units require a 6+ on 2d6 to activate. They gain +1 if in Close Order and another +1 if their commander is within 12". So, assuming I kept my commander nearby, I would activate on a 4+ with my line infantry in Close Order, and 5+ with the unit marching towards the guns. The number of failures I rolled for those units was mind boggling. I enjoy the rules, but my least favorite part of this set is its "blunder table." If you roll a "double one" or "double six" on your activation roll, you have to roll on the table. Most of the results are random, fluke happenings, such as a unit rolling double 6's charging towards the enemy a full move. That happened twice in the center -- to units of artillery! Are the gunners actually going to leave their guns and go storming across the table attempting to close with the enemy? Really?? The other problem I have with it is probability. If the game were simply a two players, each with a single 24-point Company, perhaps the double 1's and double 6's wouldn't happen as much. However, I had six units. Rolling a double one or double six on 2d6 is a 1 in 18 chance. That meant every three turns, statistically, these should happen. Now multiply that by three players per side. In our game, just between my right wing commander Tom and I, we rolled them five times over the course of the game. WAY too often, I feel!
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| Allen's two units of British infantry in the redoubt, one in the gap with cavalry, & mortars in the rear |
I am trying to convince Keith and the other players to leave out this rule in future games, but so far have been unsuccessful. Otherwise, it provides a fast-paced and fun game. My command's halting advance across the center seemed logical, with them being under constant bombardment. The artillery fire caused a slow attrition, usually just one figure per shot. Keith had given me very large units in anticipation of the casualties from bombardment. The defending British had much smaller units -- all only six figures strong. So, as my medium and light battery began to pick off the enemy, his two British units manning the redoubt were slowly withering away. I also like the shooting system in Rebels and Patriots. You typically roll 12 dice, needing a certain score (often 5-6) to hit on each 1d6. The number of casualties that are removed per hit scored depends on cover or distance. On one one glorious roll, I hit nine times. However, my target were more than 12" away (which increases casualties from one per two hits rolled to 1:3), and they were in hard cover, which increased that from 1:3 to 1:5. So, even though I had a bizarre roll, I stilled did only one casualty as excess are removed. I like that! It keeps a system with lot of dice rolling from being overly affected by outlier die rolls.
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| British redoubt on our left -- more lightly defended because Joel lacked the troops Allen had |
In the center and our left, the greater Patriot numbers (and clever tactics, of course) began to tell. Mike S quickly routed Joel from his redoubt and drove his command from the field. Unfortunately for Joel, he had the smallest command of the three British ones and Mike had our best-rated troops. It took a lot of hammering away at Allen's troops to make headway. However, late in the game, we had whittled their numbers down to below half strength, where it appeared they would be unable to hold back our advance anymore. The struggle on our right seemed much more evenly matched, though. I didn't watch it closely, but heard something about Tom's troops getting lost in the swamps. I did see they ended up executing an encircling movement all the way behind Jason's redoubt, firing on their rear. Still, it was looking like a close-run struggle.
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| Patriot center is approaching the causeway with their light artillery opening fire on the redoubt |
I thought the Rebels and Patriots system did a nice job of replicating the grinding assault on a redoubt. In my attempts to whittle down Allen's troops behind his fortifications, I needed a good roll on 12d6 to inflict a casualty. A completely average roll missed that by one hit. I also liked how Keith's rule for indirect mortar bombardment gave us another defensive modifier. It meant Allen similarly needed a good roll to cause casualties against my advancing troops. My poor activation dice rolling (and below average morale checks) meant things swung in his balance for a bit. If I had normal 12-figure sized units, the British could likely have driven us off. It was a good game, all around!
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| The join between the South Carolina rifles on the left followed by my third large unit of Continentals |
As we were discussing the game afterward, we all agreed that units survive casualties better than expected. Not so fast, though! We actually forgot a very important rule. When a unit falls to half strength, it is supposed to immediately receive what is called a permanent disorder marker. If that is in addition to testing for the hits it just received, then potentially that could make a big difference. I'll have to ask on the
Facebook group for the rules to see what the timing of that disorder marker should be. All in all, Rebels and Patriots continues to provide for fun and fast games that feel like the period.
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| Vive le France! The French infantry have swept the British from the redoubt on the left & occupy it |
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| Tom's Georgia militia firing on the rear and sides of Jason's redoubt -- the encirclement worked! |
MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
- Miniatures painted in 2026: 29
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
- Terrain painted in 2026: 17
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
- Scatter painted in 2026: 24
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| Dam appears broken and French & Patriot troops flood their way through the depleted British lines |
