"Lion Rampant - Osprey Medival rules - any info" Topic

Does anyone have any info on these forthcoming skirmish rules?

In what way are they going to be innovative or fun to play? The authors short entry on his blog says they are going to be Very Simple – so what will attract people to play them?

Many thanks

Nick

Whilst I probably know about as much as you do, i have been following Dalaupprors blog with interest, there are lots of AAR's and write ups for the rules.

Have a look here – link

Steve

Apparently he is keeping under wraps right now. The cover does look really nice!

link

If it is like any of his other games, it should be a pretty fun set.

Excellent news. This product is of great interest to me and mine.

I shall look forward to purchasing a copy.

I prefer very simple rules, so that's great news from my point of view. Mersey's Arthurian supplement for Songs is superb, which bodes well for this set.

SoAaM as well as Dux Bellorum. Lets hope for a hat trick!

Personally the words very simple attract me…

I can see a supplement in the making already: sieges.

In the meantime I have the WAB Siege and Conquest book. It should provide plenty of ideas.

I picked this up yesterday from our city's only historical miniature stockist.

I've only done a partial read-through, but points that struck me were:

1. As per the blurb, simple and unfussy.

2. Conveyed in a loose, flexible style that encourages player improvisation.

3. Troop types represented by generic 'templates', with special rules used to distinguish historical variations from the standard types.

4. An interesting system of 'boasting' that allows players to set their own victory conditions.

5. Twelve scemarios!

6. A lot of typos/omissions, suggesting that it was inadequately proof-read and/or rushed to publication.

5. Low word count: lots of white-space and recycled Osprey illustrations, and the unnecessary repetition of the full text of special rules in each unit-type description to which they apply, instead of just printing them once in their own section of the rules.

No doubt it will make for a fun game, and its simplicity means that increasing army points totals beyond the recommended standard of 24 points should be easily managable.

It should also be relatively easy to graft on your own siege rules, or adapt them from other sources e.g. Tactica Medieval or WAB Siege and Conquest.

Corrrection: 'Twelve scenarios!'

I did a count, and eight and a third pages are taken up with illustrations. Additionally there's a good number of photos of figures.

I'd also add that the game is definitely pitched at the 'grand skirmish' level, and is something of a hybrid; it's very much about the unit and not the figure. There are elements you'd expect to find in both skirmish and battle rules. Many aspects are abstracted, so for instance, melees are fought between units and not individual figures, and casualties are drawn from the unit as a whole – including figures not in base contact with the enemy. And as in most battle level rules, unit types are strongly defined and clearly distinguished from each other. In fact, I'd say this concept is at the core of the game.

So, if you're looking for a game in which the individual is emphasised over the collective you'll have to look elsewhere.

Could you use multi based troops with these then?

The author does grant permission, but considering that it's a skirmish game in which each 'piece' represents one man, why would you? There are numerous mass battle rulesets out there that would be far more appropriate for such figures.

Lots of info on the author's site: link

I just pre-ordered it from Amazon. They say I'll have in my hands on release day. :) "Guaranteed delivery by: Tuesday, September 23, 2014 by 8:00pm"

I'll hopefully have the figures painted by then. I'm painting them to use for Sword & Spear, but they will work just fine for LR as well.

Henry. Did you manage to grab a review copy? I've looked around and it's release date is for later in September. Hence I ended up pre-ordering it from Amazon.

I've liked the Osprey Skirmish rules they've produced so far (especially Ronin), so I'm willing to give this a go.

I was equally intrigued by Saga Crescent and Cross, but due to a limited budget I've hesitated over the £30.00 GBP price tag (and the £12.00 GBP per set 'specialist' dice!!). Amazon in the UK are currently doing Lion Rampant at £8.39 GBP plus P and P.

Having just returned from a SAGA tournament ("regular", not Crescent and Cross) I can tell you it is a great game, well worth the money.

2 losses and a tie for me today, but I won best painted!

When I visited the shop I was very surprised to be told that Lion Rampant had arrived, especially as I also have 'On the Seven Seas' on order, and despite the latter ruleset having been released earlier this month, there was still no sign of it.

I can only presume that, like some latter day publishing deity, Osprey moves in mysterious ways.