Greetings Fellow Grognards!
Once again, welcome and thanks for checking back! It has been quite some time since getting some posts, so I'm catching up a bit. Today I'm loading for your review some details around a Dragon Rampant battle my daughter and I had a month back.
The forces involved consisted of the "newly" painted Frost Giant Warband (30 pts.) and my Western Men Warband (29 pts.) consisting of my GW Empire soldiers. Game was played on a 4'x4' section of my gaming table.
Back Story:
Having caught wind of the great treasures to the north, in the mountain kingdom of the Frost Giants, Captain Fritzinger marshalled his troops and headed out on the road to riches!
Ever watchful, the Frost Giants were alerted by their woodland creatures to the approaching Men of the West. Frost King Jarren called his bodyguards and his beautiful yet sorceress wife, Queen Elmir to his side. They would be ready to defend the sacred tombs of the Frost Giant Kings of Old. With a blow of his great horn, the Winter Wolves were called to join them.
For those not familiar, Dragon Rampant is generally fought with units of loosely grouped troops. Some special rules do require troops to rank up. For this battle, the Frost Giant King of Old's Tomb was placed in the center. The Frost Giant Cave is on the north side and general trees, rocks and hills were placed around to simulate the mountainous area. Turn limit was not set, so this was going to be knock down drag out event to get some game turns under our belt. In Dragon Rampant, not every unit will move ever turn. Unit activation is required, so sometimes large portions of the forces would sit still, but the odds are in your favor for this not to happen, unless you just roll as poorly as I did most of the game!
I'll let the pics speak mostly for themselves and give you some flavor for the flow of the game.
Queen Elmir heads for the high ground to oversee the field of battle and ready her spells. The Winter Wolves and King Jarren head for the Tomb, while his trusty bodyguard takes care of business behind the cave.
The brave Pistoliers rush forward to flank the Frost Giant Army...
...while the Spearmen and Crossbowmen advance and anchor their positions on a rocky outcropping. Needless to say, the Knights weren't ready to advance and held up Captain Fritzinger and the Greatswords over some discussion of who was getting the larger cut of the treasure.
The King, Queen, Bodyguard, and Winter Wolves move now towards the Pistoliers...
...hungry like a wolf...or pack of wolves...
The stage is set for the first clash...
CHARGE!!!
RUN!!!!
Having killed a wolf, but taken wounds themselves, the Pistoliers trotted off...
Not full yet, the Winter Wolves decided to take on the Spearmen, who had gone to Shield Wall.
The pups were set fleeing!!! and the Spearmen advanced. The Pistoliers had continued their exit and went to the sidelines...The right flank of the Western Men finally began to advance behind the Knights who apparently won their earlier 'discussion'.
The wolves scampered off while Frost Giant King Jarren and his Bodyguard advanced to do battle with the Western Knights!
Handgunners take up position on the hill...
The Queen's sorcery sees off the Spearmen as she cast frost bolts upon them...
Having dealt the King a blow and rallying from combat, the Knights again prepare to charge, when the King's Bodyguard steps forward to defend his King!
The Spearmen rally...but their joy is short lived...
The Queen watches the coming fight...
The King and the Bodyguard are hard pressed by the remaining Knights and Fritzinger and the Greatswords, taking wounds...the Bodyguard buys time for his King!
Queen Elmir works her healing magic and energizes the Bodyguard and her King over successive turns, healing some of their wounds, but would it be enough?
The Bodyguard, protecting his King, while the Queen worked her healing magic, saw off the remaining Knights, leaving their broken bodies about. The Captain Fritzinger's blood was up and the Greatswords continued to press home the fight!
...while the Handgunners came off their perch and advanced, seeing an opportunity to fire on the King!
The Crossbowmen advanced and let loose upon the Bodyguard...
...having taken some crossbow bolts, the Bodyguard pressed his attack...
...while the Queen, who had been wounded herself, watches the battle for her opportunity...
The Crossbowmen, having lost the fight, turn and flee to be run down and cut down to a man...
the Bodyguard, having been healed by the Queen numerous time, was victorious!
...Captain Fritzinger and the Greatswords, passing over the broken bodies of the Knights were caught between the Bodyguards...
...as the King watches the slaughter of his enemies commence!
...the Handgunners, with thoughts of riches, stepped forward to even the score with the Frost Queen...
...but King Jarren would not let this happen...
King Jarren charges into the Handgunners and the carnage begins...
...as the final Western invaders as cut down as the Queen watches...
Well there you have it...the first Dragon Rampant AAR. It was a glorious battle and my daughter's first on the table top! Without saying, the Young Guard crushed the Old Guard! This game would have been over with my loss a long time ago, but we wanted to play. Don't discount the Queen. She healed up here warriors and trashed some troops herself. Although the model count on both sides greatly differed, the toughness of the troops balanced it out. As you will note dice by the giants...these represented the number of wounds they had remaining. The King, and each of his Bodyguards had 6 wounds a piece. The Queen had 12 wounds, but a significantly lower armor value. The flow of the game is quick and can turn at a moment. Being model neutral is awesome as I used both Reaper and GW models for this battle. Can't wait to square off against the Young Guard again!
So, as we say, until next time...GAME ON!!!
UP NEXT: 54mm Continental Light Dragoons (if they are in the box I think they are in...)
