Friday Mr Black Cavalier and I were finally able to arrange a game of Dragon Rampant with one another. We opted for 24 point forces with an additional 6 points to be used only for Fantastical options.
We laid out some terrain and rolled the Death Chase scenario, the object being for one force to make its way down the length of the table while being attacked from the flanks. I lost the toss and BC elected to receive.
The rules are a treat. They play quickly and give good representation of the various forces you can have in play without getting too complex.
Force compositions
Elves:
Elite Foot Command unit
Wizard/Summoner classed as Light Foot
Heavy Foot
Light Foot with mixed weapons
Lesser Warbeasts held back for Summoning.
Dwarves:
Elite Foot Command Unit
Heavy Foot
Bellicose Foot
Heavy Cavalry
Some kind of Exploding Construct
Hobbit Scouts
Hobbit Swarm
Dwarves to the left of us, Dwarves to the right of us. The lay of the land: We're using one of the Cigar Box battle mats that conforms well to hills placed underneath. They photograph nicely from above but lose some of their illusory quality when shot at a low angle. Still very nice.
On the Elven right flank were the Dwarf Commander, the Heavy Foot, Scouts and in the rear a horde of hobbits.
The left flank had the Constructs, which advanced quickly, Berserkers (Bellicose foot) and the Heavy cavalry.
The Elves advanced up the center of the valley. Heavy infantry in the center, lights on the right. The Wizard and Elite foot went left up a hill to scout out a possible flanking run for the entire force.
The Elite Foot on the hill were first to make contact. The Exploders got close enough to charge. The Wizard battered them with a spell and the Elites followed up, making good use of the Ranger talent and wiping out the constructs.
The Wizard the summoned the Spirit Stags (Lesser Warbeasts) which came on the board with several choice targets to choose from when it came time to check for Wild Charge. The first charge into the Bellicose foot went well enough and then after that it evolved into a bit of a skirmish with the Stags trading off between attacking the Berserks and the Dwarf Cavalry. Both sides were hesitant about passing their Wild Charges, but when they did it was always exciting. In the end, the Stags took out the Dwarf Cavalry and were then defeated by the Dwarf Berserks.
The Dwarf Leader and his Heavy foot executed a nice one-two punch on the Elven Heavies, driving them back up the hill in a battered state they never overcame. The disappeared from the board after a couple of turns. Things looked grim for the Elves.
The Elven Lights sought cover in the woods and then attempted a flanking feint against the Dwarf Heavies. A bolt from the Wizard took the Dwarven leader down. This put the Dwarves at half their original force size which made their Rally rolls just a bit tougher.
The Dwarven Berserks were badly mauled in their fight with the Elven warbeasts. After several failed spell casting attempts they were finally dispatched by the Wizard. The Elite foot moved up to start making a run down the left flank in an attempt to get off the field.
After destroying the Elven Lights the Dwarf Heavy Foot was able to work its way around the woods and take the high ground against the Elven Elites. The Elves managed to cut them down and were making eyes on the remaining Hobbit units when we called the game.
The Dwarves held the advantage for the better part of the game and I spent most of the night on the defensive and did not expect the sudden turn in my favor at the end. I credit the good balance of the rules with helping create this kind of tension in a game.
I'm hoping we can get enough of our group interested in DR to run a small campaign
Thanks for looking.