Fimo Dragon Rampant

A picture from our last game of Dragon Rampant.

The miniatures on the table are two Pokémon monsters made out of Fimo and a couple of Space Marines and Orks from my friend’s collection.

The Fimo monsters won.

Have a great weekend!

Another Game of Dragon Rampant

During the last school holidays I went to Krüger’s house with my two sons to play Dragon Rampant. This is my main gaming group at the moment.

Krüger used to play a lot of GW games. I think you could call him a GW fan boy. He has several armies for Warhammer and 40K, all presented in a glass cupboard in his living room.

What we usually do when we go to his house is this: we bring some things, like toy trees and Fimo monsters, and are allowed to choose units from his collection. I like this kind of improvised, relaxed gaming.

Krüger recently bought a Deep Cut Studio gaming mat, a swamp, which looks a bit gloomy and goes well with his grey hill and his undead army.

This inspired my sons to play a necromancer, two units of skeletons, a giant shark like creature on legs and a group of little sharks. They played the army with this list:

1 greater warbeast (leader), 1 lesser warbeasts, 1 light missiles (summoner, no feelings), 1 heavy foot (no feelings), 1 light foot (no feelings)

Krüger and I played as a team. He played orcs & goblins, his most used tabletop army.

I played a giant Fimo newt, a warband and a group of human scouts. We used this army list:

1 bellicose foot (leader), 1 bellicose foot, 1 greater warbeast, 1 heavy riders, 1 light riders, 1 scouts

We played for objectives, using a scenario we had adapted from the classical D3+2 objectives 40K scenario a couple of years ago.

The necromancer was able to summon both skeleton units at the beginning of the game which made Hendrik happy and there was a long fight between the two greater warbeasts, which went on forever, a bit like the recent chess tournament between Magnus Carlsen and Jan Nepomnjaschtschi.

The game was undecided till the end and ended in a tie. It’s how I like to play Dragon Rampant.

Conquistadores vs Jungle Cannibals / HotT Battle Report

This is a picture of my friend Krüger. It was taken on the 22nd of May when we played Hordes of the Things. He looks a bit like a doctor from a nineties hospital series.

We played conquistadores vs jungle cannibals with these lists:

Blade General, 5 Blades, 6 Shooters

(conquistadores)

Warband General, Magician, 6 Warbands, 3 Shooters

(jungle cannibals)

The game was over after a couple of minutes because Krüger lost his general immediately.

Since Covid-19 started in Germany, I have only played three tabletop games with Krüger and a couple of games with my kids. That’s it.

I had a relaxed summer in Berlin after a long lockdown and now Corona cases are rising again in Europe, in many countries rapidly.

I wonder if safe gaming will be possible in late summer / autumn.

I hope that I will look at this picture some day and that it will look strange, maybe even funny, reminding me of a time long gone …

Playing Hordes of the Things in times of the Corona Virus

The last time I played HotT was four years ago, the last time I played a tabletop game eight months ago.

So I invited my friend Krüger over to play Hordes of the Things.

This happened between the second and third wave of Covid 19 in Germany. Krüger and I were wearing masks of course and windows and doors were open. As far as I know this reduces the risk of catching Corona to less than 1%.

I enjoyed re-reading the rules before we played, although it felt a bit like reading a math book.

I played Spanish conquistadors with this list:

Blade General, 5 Blades, 6 Shooters

Krüger played jungle cannibals. He has been painting this army for some years now and it was the first time I saw it in action:

Warband General, Magician, 6 Warbands, 3 Shooters

Krüger was the defender.

We had to improvise a bit with the terrain. First of all we played on a table which used to be my mother’s kitchen table. Its area is 17% smaller than that of a regular HotT table and it’s oval, not square. 

We borrowed a paper mache hut from my youngest son to present Krüger’s stronghold. And we used a cloth with grass printed on it and pieces of yellow felt and toy trees to depict woods.

I was a bit nervous because of Corona and I forgot that it isn’t useful placing one blade element behind the other when deploying my army.

Krüger, on the other hand, forgot that Warbands don’t get a +1 rear support bonus in woods for a second Warband behind them.

So we both didn’t deploy well.

I managed to destroy two warbands on my right flank at the beginning of the game and then played quite badly.

I lost two blades and four shooters, thus loosing the game.

It felt really good to play HotT after so many years. It was a good break from the isolation I’m currently in.

After the game we had a chat on the balcony. Krüger said something which sums up some of the stress I’m currently under. He said that everybody is imprisoned in his own particular situation during the Corona pandemic.

A single person is always alone. A couple without kids can only see each other. A couple with kids is always surrounded by kids and children can hardly escape their parents these days.

We made plans to play HotT again, but unfortunately the week after our game Covid 19 cases rose rapidly where we live.

Fimo Monster Rampant

The moment I finished painting Joaquín’s Fimo monster, I was eager to use it in a tabletop game. So last time I was in Dortmund before the second lockdown, I went to Krüger’s house with Joaquín and Hendrik to play Dragon Rampant.

My sons played an elven army.

Heavy Riders (Leader) / 2 Heavy Foot / Heavy Foot (Wizardling) / Heavy Missiles / Scouts

Krüger played Orcs & Goblins. I played the Fimo monster as a greater warbeast.

Bellicose Foot (Leader + Terrifically Shiny Armour) / Bellicose Foot / Light Riders / Light Missiles / Greater Warbeast

The map shows the initial deployment of the two armies. We used toy ladybugs as objectives.

The Fimo monster moved forward quickly and attacked the elven scouts, destroyed them and then destroyed a unit of spears with the help of some goblin wolf riders.

This made the elven warlock angry. He cast a fire ball and "neutralised" the greater warbeast, as my son expressed himself. (I don’t know where he picked up this verb.)

Well. I was so much focussed on playing the Fimo monster that I can’t say much else about the game.

Fortunately Hendrik also wrote a battle report:

Wir haben Elfen gegen Orks gespielt. Der Magier hat überlebt. Der Magier hat den Molch besiegt und die Wölfe vertrieben. Die Speerträger wurden zwei Mal in die Schildkrötenformation gestellt. Die Pferdereiter haben die Pfeilundbogenorks eliminiert. Zum Schluss wurde es Gleichstand.

The game ended in a tie.

This map shows how the battlefield looked at the end.

Playing Dragon Rampant with the Kids

In Berlin children get a week off from school in February, to go skiing, I suppose.

I had to take my children to Dortmund during their winter vacation, because my mother passed away some months ago and we have to find out what to do with all of her things now. That's a gloomy activity for children, of course.

We wanted to have some fun nevertheless, so I went to Krüger's house with Joaquín and Hendrik to play Dragon Rampant. (My daughter preferred to stay at home and practice K-Pop choreographies.)

We played elves vs. orcs, using our scenario D3+2 objectives.

Joaquín and Hendrik played the elves:

Light Foot (Leader + Spellcaster) / Elite Riders / Heavy Riders / Heavy Missiles / Light Missiles / Scouts

Krüger and I played the orcs:

Bellicose Foot (Leader), Heavy Riders (Chariot), Greater Warbeast, Lesser Warbeasts, 2 Scouts

We used toy frogs as objectives. On the elven side one frog was placed in a forest and one on top of a large hill.

Two frogs were placed in forests on the orc side and the fifth frog was put in the centre of the table.

On our left flank Krüger moved a large ogre (greater warbeast) forward to take the objective hidden in the forest in front of it. This scared Joaquín so much that he moved his heavy riders all the way from his right flank to his left flank. He even made the horses ride backwards.

There the elven elite riders, a splendid looking unit, had been lurked into the woods by a unit of orc scouts. The elves lost the fight and were routed by six wolves (lesser warbeasts) waiting for them outside the forest.

The same thing happened to Joaquín's heavy riders, when they arrived at the forest.

Hendrik loves to play wizards in Dragon Rampant and his favourite spell is Power Bolt!

With some assistance of a bolt thrower, scouts and light missiles Hendrik used his power bolt magic to destroy the ogre and our general (a unit of bellicose foot).

We are always surprised how lucky Hendrik is rolling to see if spells work.

After we lost our general I was able to destroy the elven light missiles with a chariot and then place it next to the objective in the centre of the gaming table.

When the game ended, both armies held the two objectives on their side and in addition to that the orcs held the objective in the centre.

This map shows how the gaming table looked like at the end of the last turn.

It was a close, balanced game, but a victory for the orcs.

The game was so much fun that we are planning a little Dragon Rampant campaign during the summer. Orcs vs. elves fighting for magical ingredients in an enchanted forest or something like that …

Joaquín's Killa Kan

During our Christmas break, which was otherwise quite stressful, we played Warhammer 40K with Hendrik and Joaquín at Krüger’s house. It was their second tabletop game. They played Space Marines. Krüger and I played Orks.

The scenario was Seize Ground which means we played for objectives. Three, I think. Hendrik and Joaquín were not very lucky and some of their troops arrived late in the game: a terminator squad and a tactical squad in a drop pod. This was an advantage for the Orks. Nevertheless the game was undecided until the end. Then the Orks won.

What I like about playing in this group is that the focus is more on playing the game and not so much on winning or loosing. That's very relaxing. Also there is some basic trust that nobody is cheating. Unfortunately when I play with adults that's not always the case.

Last weekend Joaquín made a figure out of Fimo. He says it's an Ork in a robot. A Killa Kan, I imagine.

Wipeout / Dragon Rampant Battle Report

About once a year my cousin comes to Berlin to play a turn in our Waltrop campaign. On the 26th of May, last year, around noon, one day after my 49th birthday, he moved his Greek army into hexagon 70 on our campaign map to expand the territory of the Aquarians. My cousin divided his Dragon Rampant army into two groups.

group 1: Greater Warbeast (Leader) / 2 Light Foot

group 2: Greater Warbeast / Bellicose Foot / Scouts

Krüger and I played an alliance of wild tribes. Krüger played orcs.

Bellicose Foot (Leader) / Heavy Riders (Chariots) / Scouts

I played Tupí Indians.

Bellicose Foot / Light Missiles / 2 Scouts

Each turn the order of activation was supposed to be: Aquarians (group 1), Orcs, Aquarians (group 2), Tupí, but at some point we got confused, probably because we had consumed too much Tsipouro the night before.

(Next time we play a 2 vs 1 Dragon Rampant game we want to do it differently and try these rules: The player who controls an army by himself does not have to devide his army into groups. He can activate all units, but each unit only once during a game turn. To avoid confusion markers should be used.)

The battlefield was a sandy beach with some palm trees, bushes and rocks.

In the first turn the Greek scouts moved into a piece of rough terrain on their left flank. From there they threw stones at the Tupí indians, destroying all of my units apart from the light missiles. These were destroyed by the mighty minotaur lord instead who was the Greek general.

Krüger, who played the Orcs on our left flank, was a bit more lucky at first. There was a moment when his Orc warband (Bellicose Foot) destroyed a group of harpies (Bellicose Foot) in a piece of palm tree forest. This coincided with our confusion about the turn sequence and my cousin complained utterly.

But shortly afterwards Krüger lost his general (the Orc warband) and his chariot. The remaining orc scouts couldn’t possibly win the game.

So now the Aquarians occupy hexagon 70 on the campaign map.

The Village / Dragon Rampant Battle Report

The topics I mostly write about on my blog are "Krüger", "Beyond the Pillars of Heracles" and "battle reports".

Krüger is one of my best friends who lived in Berlin for a long time, studying philosophy. We have played many tabletop games and we also played Badminton regularly, talking incessantly about strategy games during the breaks.

Unfortunately, Krüger moved to Dortmund at the end of March. A few weeks before he left we wrote a scenario for Dragon Rampant, D3+2 Objectives, which we also tested several times.

This blog post is about the last game we played when Krüger still lived in Berlin. It was the 16th game of our campaign "Beyond the Pillars of Heracles", taking place on the imaginary island Waltrop. As objective markers we used some mud huts, I recently finished.

The Greeks, who had landed on the northwestern coast of Waltrop some time ago, had put the orc tribes, living there, under a lot of pressure and now made a move to attack one of their villages (hexagon 20 on the campaign map). Heracleides the Great commanded the Greek army himself.

Krüger played the orcs defending the village with this army list:

Elite Foot (Leader) / 2 Bellicose Foot / Light Foot / Heavy Riders / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles)

I played the Greek attackers:

Elite Foot (Leader + Enchanted Weapon) / 2 Heavy Foot / Light Missiles / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles) / Scouts

Both generals got the trait Boneshaker as the result of a roll on the leader traits table.

This map shows the initial deployment of both armies. Krüger wrote the following battle report which I translated from German to English. (Orcs speak German, of course.) I took the pictures and drew the maps.

Deployment

My goblins (light foot) were supposed to protect my right flank and the objective on my right side, a mud hut. I placed a unit of boar riders (heavy riders) on the other side of the mud hut and close to the second mud hut on my side of the table. This way they could secure one of these objectives later or just go forward to attack.

It was my intention to attack mainly from the centre and from my left flank, so I placed two large orc warbands (bellicose foot) and the orc boss (elite foot) in the centre. On my left, a unit of goblin wolf riders (light riders) was ready to threaten the objective on my opponent’s side.

The Greek used their light riders in a similar way, to threaten the objective on my right side. Both objectives on their side of the table were protected by units of hoplites (heavy foot).

Their centre was rather weak. It had scouts and light missiles. Heracleides, the general, (elite foot) stood in the back to protect it.

The First Turns

During the first turns not much happened. The orc boss and the boar riders moved forward. The goblin spears formed a shieldwall in front of the mud hut, while the Greek light riders moved towards them. On my left flank the two orc warbands moved forward very slowly, so the goblin wolf riders rode towards the Hoplites alone.

During their first turns, the Greek Hoplites formed shieldwalls next to the mud huts on their side. Their scouts and light shooters sent arrows in the direction of the advancing orcs which made me loose two boar riders.

The orc boss got close enough to attack the scouts and destroyed them in two turns.

The boar riders moved to the right to defend the goblin spears against the Greek light riders and to protect the objective on my right flank.

On my left flank the goblin wolf riders broke under the arrows of the Greek bows.

Now most units were close enough to move into close combat and the eventful middle phase of our game began.

The middle Phase of our Game

Turn 6

The Greeks prepared themselves for the onslaught of the orcs and fired a last volley of arrows at them, but in vain.

On my right flank the boar riders attacked the Greek light riders. Although the orcs slew two Greeks and only suffered one loss themselves, they broke and fled towards the woods. Then the goblin spears attacked the Greek riders. Both units suffered one loss. To my great disappointment the cowardly goblins broke.

Meanwhile the orc boss attacked the Greek light shooters, three archers lost their life, but my general also suffered a wound. The retreating archers were attacked by one of my orc warbands and broke.

Turn 7

Heracleides seized his chance and attacked the orc boss. The orc was wounded twice and Heracleides lost a man. This loss broke Heracleides’ moral and made him flee in the direction of the attacker’s table edge.

All the orc units rallied. The orc warband on my left angrily assaulted the Greek Hoplites who received them in a "Wall of Spears" formation. One Hoplite and two orcs died, but the orcs broke again.

Meanwhile the goblin wolf riders rode back to protect the mud hut in the centre on my side and the boar riders rode towards my general in order to help him.

Turn 8

Heracleides and his men rallied. The Greek light horse rode towards the objective in my centre, to attack the goblin riders I had just moved there.

My second orc warband also had to make a wild charge towards the hoplites on my left side. Their fate was even worse. They suffered three losses and were destroyed immediately.

Now the orc boss attacked Heracleides, but wasn’t lucky. He lost another strength point.

The End

Heracleides seized his chance, attacked the orc boss and killed him. What followed was a streak of bad luck. Each of my units had to test courage because I had lost my general. The result was that all my mounted units - the wolf riders and the boar riders - were removed from the table.

Until this happened the orcs had a real chance to win the game, but now their losses were too big. The Greeks won the game and now occupy the village in hexagon 20 on the campaign map.

Conclusion

Until turn 6 it looked very well for my orcs. I couldn’t wrap things up though, as I failed so many courage tests. Even then I had a chance to win. I had troops, able to occupy the objectives on my side and troops going for the objectives on the opponent’s side, while the Greek light cavalry was no real threat, being too far away from my objectives. The end came a bit sudden. The last two turns I lost too many troops.

The game was exciting and full of action until the end. It was lots of fun. I think our scenario works well and lets you play games that are undecided and exciting until the end.

A Three-Player Dragon Rampant Game

At the end of May, my cousin came to Berlin for a weekend (because it was my birthday) and we played a 3-player Dragon Rampant game.

We tried a variation of SCENARIO G: INTO THE VALLEY OF CERTAIN DEATH. The players would gain glory points by moving their units from one point of the table to the opposite side. Starting and ending positions were defined by drawing 3 lines of the same length that crossed in the centre of the table.

I placed a lot of area terrain on the board, representing forests and a swamp. When a unit entered a piece of area terrain, we tested if the terrain was dangerous. Although there was a 50% chance for terrain to be dangerous, this time no dangerous terrain was encountered.

The game was turn 15 of our Waltrop campaign. The idea was that the Orcs, the Greeks from Kalimera and the mysterious Aquarians led expeditions into the jungle where they accidentally met and fought. The winner was supposed to get a hexagon in the middle of the jungle.

Krüger played the orcs from Waltrop:

Elite Foot (Leader) / 2 Bellicose Foot / Light Foot / Heavy Riders / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles)

I played the Greeks from Kalimera:

Elite Foot (Leader + Enchanted Weapon) / 2 Heavy Foot / Light Missiles / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles) / Scouts

And my cousin played the Aquarians: 

Elite Foot (Leader) / Greater Warbeast / Bellicose Foot / 2 Light Foot / Scouts

(The Aquarians are ancient Greeks with access to magical creatures, like harpies and minotaurs. They live on the Saganakia islands. One day the Greeks from Kalimera will figure out how magic works, I hope.)

All three of us moved their faster units forward early on in the game to reach the other side of the table. All these units were destroyed.

After that, everybody was more careful. Actually not much happened anymore and nobody won. We stopped after three and a half hours to go to a restaurant.

I like this scenario for 3 players, but we have to change the victory conditions and how terrain works a bit, so we can have a more interesting game next time ...

The Battle for Hexagon 21 / Dragon Rampant Battle Report

Last year in May, while Borussia Dortmund played against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Krüger and I were standing at a table in my small flat in Kreuzberg and fought for hexagon 21 on our campaign map. We used the ruleset Dragon Rampant to play out the battle between the Greeks under the command of Foibos and Gurkbatz’ Orcs. It was the 27th of May.

We started a bit late, around 9 PM, and had two visitors, Hendrik and Joaquín, who watched us set up the terrain. It consisted of five pieces of jungle, two swamps, a couple of rocks and a large red mushroom. Hendrik and Joaquín had a lot of questions, like "Are the rocks real?" and "Can the little stones under the model trees be coconuts?"

We played the same army lists like last time. I had to deploy first and did so in the following order, as seen from my side of the table:

Light Riders (Short Range Missiles) / Heavy Foot / Elite Foot (Leader + Enchanted Weapon) / Scouts / Light Missiles / Heavy Foot

Krüger then deployed his orcs like this, seen from my perspective, and moved first:

Bellicose Foot / Light Foot / Elite Foot (Leader) / Bellicose Foot / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles) / Heavy Riders

When I started to write this battle report, I looked at my notes and got lost. Dragon Rampant looks simple, but I still need time to master it, I guess.

So I asked Krüger: Do you remember what happened? I can’t see the wood for the trees.

Krüger sent me a very detailed battle report. Please skip it, if you don’t speak German.

Die Griechen machten sich bereit für den Angriff der Orks. Ihre rechte Flanke wurde von einer Einheit Hopliten beschützt, direkt neben diesen machten sich die Schleuderer bereit. Das Zentrum hielt der General mit seiner Einheit, unterstützt von den Scouts und einer weiteren Einheit Hopliten. Die leichte Kavalerie sicherte die linke Flanke.

Die Orks konzentrierten ihre schnellen Einheiten auf ihrer linken Flanke, mit den Wildschweinreitern und den Wolfsreitern. Das Zentrum besetzte eine Einheit Ork Krieger, der Orkboss und die Nachtgoblins. Die rechte Flanke wurde von einer weiteren Einheit Orks abgesichert.

Beide Armeen rückten zunächst vor, die Orks etwas schneller und begieriger auf den Kampf und sich mehr auf die linke Flanke konzentrierend.

Dann begannen die Orks den Angriff mit den Wildschweinreitern. Diese stürzten sich auf die Hopliten, welche sich aber schon mit einem Schildwall geschützt hatten. Im darauf folgenden Gefecht schlugen die Hopliten die Wildschweinreiter mit Leichtigkeit zurück, welche daraufhin erst einmal ihre Wunden leckten.

Während die Wolfsreiter sich in Position brachten, wurde der Vormarsch der Orks im Zentrum erst einmal von den Schleuderern gestoppt, welche die Orks mit ihrem Beschuss kurzzeitig zur Flucht zwangen.

Doch auch die Schleuderer waren nicht vor Furcht gefeit und flohen vor dem Beschuss der Wolfsreiter, sammelten sich wieder und wurden doch letztlich vom Schlachtfeld vertrieben!

In der Zwischenzeit rückten endlich auch die Orks auf der rechten Flanke vor und griffen die leichte Kavallerie der Griechen an. Diese erlitt schwere Verluste und zog sich erst einmal von der Flanke zurück.

Um die Orks nun von der Flanke abzuhalten, brachten sich die Hopliten aus dem Zentrum in Position und nahmen die Schildwall Formation an.

Die Orkkrieger prallten zunächst vom Schildwall ab, schafften es aber mit viel Glück im zweiten Anlauf die Hopliten zu vernichten.

Inzwischen war allerdings die Ork Einheit in der Mitte durch den Beschuss der Scouts vom Schlachtfeld vertrieben worden. Foibos und seine Einheit griffen die Goblins an, welche sich durch einen Schildwall schützten und nur geringe Verluste erlitten, aber zurück gedrängt wurden.

Auf der linken Flanke sah es nun so aus, als ob die Orks sie komplett vernichten würden. Die Wolfsreiter brachen die Hopliten, und die Wildschweinreiter mussten nur noch angreifen und sie vernichten! Doch ausgerechnet in diesem Moment stritten diese untereinander und verpassten ihre Gelegenheit! Durch dieses Vorkommen konnten sich auch die Goblins nicht mehr zu einem Schildwall umformieren und wurden daraufhin von Foibos und seinen Mannen vernichtet.

Die Hopliten versuchten nun die Wolfsreiter anzugreifen, aber diese nutzten ihre überlegene Geschwindigkeit, um diesen zu entkommen. Nun griffen die Wildschweinreiter doch an, aber viel zu spät. In der Folge brachen sie und flohen vom Schlachtfeld. Die Wolfsreiter schafften es aber nun, die schwer angeschlagenen Hopliten zu vertreiben.

Währenddessen marschierten die beiden Generäle in der Mitte aufeinander zu, und auf der linken Flanke stieß die griechische leichte Kavallerie dazu.

Die Entscheidung stand nun kurz bevor! Auf der linken Flanke beschossen sich die Wolfsreiter, Scouts und leichte Kavallerie, während die Generäle in der Mitte kämpften.

Durch den Kampf abgelenkt, schaffte der Orkboss es nicht, die verbleibende große Einheit Orks in das Zentrum zu befehlen. Während die Wolfsreiter die leichte Kavallerie der Griechen vernichtete, schlugen die Generäle weiter aufeinander ein, und beider Leben hing nur noch an einem seidenen Faden.

Zuletzt jedoch fiel der Orkboss unter Foibos Speer, und die Schlacht war vorbei! Die Griechen hatten es mit letzter Kraft geschafft, die Orks zurückzuschlagen!

So what happened?

My basic strategy was to put the two units of hoplites into a shieldwall formation and position the slingers and scouts where they could shoot at the attacking orcs. 

Shooting worked. My slingers and scouts were able to destroy an orc warband (bellicose foot) in the center early in the game.

Thing is I didn’t know what to do with my light riders.

I ended up using them to bring the orc warband on my left flank close enough to the hoplites, so they had to attack them (wild charge).

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad plan, but unfortunately the orc warband destroyed the hoplites. Then I moved the light riders half-heartedly to my right flank where they were destroyed in the end.

Krüger, on the other hand, used his light riders much better. He combined them with another cavalry unit on my right flank, a unit of boar riders, and attacked early on.

At first Krüger’s boar riders (heavy riders) were stopped by the hoplites in shieldwall formation, but his wolf riders (light riders) managed to destroy my slingers. Then the wolf riders shot at the hoplites. The hoplites suffered some casualties and had to flee, thus loosing their shieldwall formation. They were attacked by the boar riders a second time and both units were battered and destroyed later.

In the center Foibos and his companions (elite foot) attacked a unit of night goblins (light foot) and destroyed them.

Then Gurkbatz (elite foot) attacked Foibos. This fight felt a bit like a penalty shoot-out. It went on for several rounds. First Gurkbatz lost a strength point, then Foibos, then Gurkbatz …

At the end Gurkbatz was slain.

There were only four units left on the battlefield: Foibos (elite foot) and a unit of Thracian scouts on my side. A battered orc warband (bellicose foot) and the goblin wolf riders on Krüger’s side.

The game ended. Now the Greeks from Kalimera occupy hexagon 21 on the campaign map.

By the way, Borussia Dortmund won 2:1, thus winning the DFB Pokal, but a week later Thomas Tuchel, their trainer lost his job.

Maybe this will happen to young Foibos one day … He doesn’t get along too well with his boss, strategos Heracleides.

Orcs versus Green + Yellow Creatures / HotT Battle Report

Here is another short battle report from our campaign, you know, the Waltrop campaign.

After a horrible defeat against the Greeks, GURKBATZ let his orc warband into a piece of jungle (hexagon 47 on the campaign map) and encountered a group of strange green and yellow creatures.

We simulated the battle, using the excellent ruleset Hordes of the Things.

I played the creatures with this army list:

Warband General (yellow), 11 Warbands (green)

The army is made up of 24 copies of a miniature I had sculpted for the 2006 FU-UK sculpting contest. I had wanted to play this army for a long time.

Krüger says monotonous armies are no fun.

He played GURKBATZ and the Waltropical orcs (sounds like some kind of high school rock band) with this list:

Warband General, 7 Warbands, Hero, 2 Riders, 2 Beasts

I was the defender and placed three pieces of woods, a swamp and three rocks on the board.

I deployed most of my warbands in a battle line in front of a very large forest.

I didn’t know what to do with four remaining warbands, so they ended up on my left flank.

Krüger deployed his hero and his riders opposite to these and his beasts on the other flank.

He placed all of his warbands, including general GURKBATZ, in front of the large forest in the center, but forgot that warbands don’t get +1 rear support in bad going. Thus his warbands were deployed too clustered.

The large forest in the center put the focus of the game on the fight between his and my warbands. The forces on the sides weren’t activated much.

The mistake he had made in deploying his troops and bad luck let to Krüger’s defeat. He lost four warbands and his general.

"That was fun", I said.

"Not for me", Krüger said. "I lost."

"Yes. But you had a good chance of winning. You had a hero, beasts, riders … I only played warbands."

"I’m not very lucky playing Hordes of the Things", Krüger said.

"Sorry about that", I said.

Ancient Greeks vs Orcs / Dragon Rampant Battle Report

On Friday I played Dragon Rampant with Krüger. It was our third game using Daniel Mersey’s popular ruleset and we enjoyed it a lot. It has elements of other games I like. Movement feels as free as in 40K, troop types remind me of HotT and the battles look a bit like Warhammer. On top of all that the rules are streamlined, simple and encourage creativity.

The game was part of our ongoing campaign which takes place on the tropical island Waltrop. The Greeks from Kalimera under the command of Foibos moved into a piece of jungle controlled by the orcs.

I put a lot of tropical forests and some swamps on the board and other pieces of terrain to represent the jungle.

We choose scenario A (Gory Bloodbath on the Plains of Doom), forgot to dice for leader traits and decided not to use quests in order to learn the basic rules first. Foibos’ enchanted weapon didn’t work.

We played with 24 army points. Krüger played the orcs. He was the defender and deployed his troops in this order, as seen from my perspective:

Bellicose Foot / Heavy Riders / Light Foot / Elite Foot (Leader) / Bellicose Foot / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles)

I deployed my troops like this:

Scouts / Light Riders (Short Range Missiles) / Heavy Foot / Elite Foot (Leader + Enchanted Weapon) / Heavy Foot / Light Missiles

I took two pages of notes during the game but unfortunately I can’t decipher them any more. What happened was basically this:

On my left flank I moved the Thracian scouts into a piece of swamp. I sent a unit of Thracian light riders to support them. I also had a unit of hoplites (heavy foot) in that area.

Krüger sent a unit of boar riders (heavy riders) and some night goblins (light infantry) to attack the Thracians. He also wanted to attack with a warband of orcs (bellicose foot) but couldn’t activate them during the first rounds.

The boar riders were able to destroy my light cavalry, but then I attacked them with my hoplites. The boar riders were battered and retreated into the swamp where they were attacked by the Thracian scouts. They had to retreat once more and were destroyed as the result of a failed rally test.

The orc warband arrived too late and made a wild charge into the swamp. They lost the battle against the scouts and were also destroyed.

I don’t remember how I lost my scouts. Maybe the night goblins (light foot) killed them.

I had placed a large piece of forest in the centre. Krüger’s orc boss (elite foot) and an orc warband (bellicose foot) were moving towards my general (elite foot) and a unit of hoplites (heavy foot), while some goblin riders (light riders) and a unit of psiloi (light missiles) were shooting javelins and throwing stones at each other. I didn’t want to enter the woods with my hoplites, so I formed a spearwall and waited for the orcs.

The orcs attacked. Both units were destroyed.

Then the armies’ generals and their guards (elite foot) attacked each other. After a couple of rounds only Foibos and the orc boss survived, they had lost all their companions.

I asked: What is the name of your general?

Krüger said: Gurkbatz.

I thought: Finally the orc tribes, that live on the northeastern coast of Waltrop, have a boss with a name.

In a desperate move Gurkbatz attacked my slingers (light missiles) and was slain.

(Let’s just say Gurkbatz crawled away and left the battlefield, all beaten up and in pain. Otherwise the name „Gurkbatz“ will be lost and Krüger might take two years or so to come up with a new name for another general.)

When Krüger’s night goblins were also destroyed, only four units were left on the table: a unit of goblin riders (light riders) on Krüger’s side and Foibos (elite foot), a unit of hoplites (heavy foot) and a unit of psiloi (light missiles) on my side.

We rolled a die to see if the game ended. It did. I won. The Greeks from Kalimera now control hexagon 11 on our campaign map.

Tupi + Giant Insects vs Orcs / HotT Battle Report

After a three-month summer break, in which I spent most of the time cleaning up my parents' house and taking my children to swimming lessons, Krüger and I had a game of Hordes of the Things on Friday (The Waltrop Campaign / Day 11).

He played the orcs who live on the northeastern coast of Waltrop.

Warband General, 5 Warbands, 1 Hero, 3 Riders, 1 Shooter

Krüger was the defender and placed a hill in the centre of the table and two tropical forests right next to it on each side. This is something he had wanted to do for a long time and it looked kind of silly.

He deployed his hero and an element of riders on his right flank, two elements of riders on his left flank, all of his orc warbands and a shooter in front of the hill.

I played the inhabitants of the jungle.

Behemoth General (a very big insect), 5 Shooters (Tupi Indians), 4 Beasts (Fiendish Giant Praying Mantis), 2 Water Lurkers

As seen from my side of the table, my army was deployed like this:

Beasts / Beasts / Shooters / Shooters / Behemoth (General) / Shooters / Shooters / Shooters / Beasts / Beasts

So this is what happened:

Krüger’s hero destroyed one of my beasts.

My behemoth general made it to the top of the hill and destroyed two orc warbands.

Two Orc riders destroyed one of my beasts.

My behemoth was pushed back into the forest and destroyed another element of beasts in its path.

(We had some doubt if the rules actually work this way.)

My last surviving beast destroyed Krüger’s shooters.

Three Tupi shooters combined their forces and shot down two orc warbands.

Krüger’s warband general chased my general through the woods and finally destroyed it with the help of some side and rear support.

Krüger’s hero destroyed one of my shooters.

The orcs won and now occupy hexagon 11 on our campaign map.

Six-year-old Hendrik watched us prepare the game and drew his version of the campaign map. He thinks it looks much better than our map. I think he might be right.

The Waltrop Campaign / Day 10 / HotT Battle Report

Day 10 of our Waltrop campaign was fun. Normally our HotT games are decided quickly, but this time the armies were broken up and there was lots of interesting movement on the battlefield.

The Greeks under the command of Fibos invaded hexagon 39 on the campaign map. Krüger played the orcs with this list:

Warband General, 5 Warbands, 1 Hero, 2 Beasts, 2 Shooters

He was the defender and placed the terrain. Since the battle took place in the jungle where the orcs live, he filled the tabletop with tropical forests. I think he used all the area terrain and model palm trees we have.

I played the Greeks:

Spears General (officer Fibos), 5 Spears, 2 Riders, 4 Shooters

Krüger deployed one part of his army, the hero and the beasts, on his right flank and all his other troops on his left flank, in front of a very large forest.

I deployed all of my army on my left flank. I placed my block of spears opposite to Krüger’s hero and his beasts and I placed 3 shooters opposite to Krüger’s block of warbands.

Krüger moved his warbands into the large forest. It took him several rounds to get near my shooters. Also, he had an element of shooters all the way on his left side. This element wasn’t able to do much during our game.

Early in the game my spears destroyed both of Krüger’s beasts and one of his shooters.

I went with my general for Krüger’s hero, which was kind of risky, and with my riders for his base camp. Krüger avoided fighting my general, though, and my riders weren’t able to destroy the camp.

My daughter had been watching the game and started to play „I put … into my suitcase“ with Krüger. A toothbrush, a doll, a car key, a barbie DVD, a Greek figure, Greek dice, a robot with mustard, a camera.

When the orc warbands got into close combat with my slingers, they destroyed two of them. I had my revenge, killing two warbands with an element of shooters, with the help of two elements of spears as side support. Krüger’s orc warbands killed a third element of shooters, but then my last remaining element of shooters destroyed another one of Krüger’s warbands, with the help of some spears giving side support.

Having destroyed two elements of beasts, one element of shooters and three warbands, I won the game after two hours. Well done, officer Fibos. Now the Greeks occupy hexagon 39.

By the way, I keep getting asked if we use 28 mm, 15 mm or 6 mm miniatures. I assure you these are 28 mm miniatures. The terrain we are using isn’t your usual wargaming terrain though, I guess. It’s more abstract. Let’s call it old school, if you need to put it in some category. Maybe it looks odd to you. The reason why it looks the way it does is that I like glueing coloured paper on objects. I seriously don’t know why. Might be some mental disorder. But as you can see, it’s pretty harmless.