Lion Rampant - Example of a 12 Points Army

6 points worth of Knights.

The hard-hitting but expensive elite of my Lion Rampant Army.

Figures are from Fire-Forge.

Leading up to the launch of our Club Tournament in Lion Rampant I had prepared a 12 point army using the very simple and easy to follow troop descriptions in the rulebook.

I decided, or rather took the expert advise of Medieval Connoisseur Michael "Dalauppror",

 to break down my 12 points into three units. Michael was part of the play-testing group during the development of the rules, so I thought it prudent to listen to his suggestions.

6 Points: 

A unit of 6 Knights. 

Lovely on the attack, but expensive and rather hard to get mobile with an activation of 7+ on a 2d6. However they will add hits to the enemy on 3+ if they get into contact.

4 Points: 

Is be allocated to a 12 man Foot Serjeant unit.

These would be my all-round unit, especially strong when defending.

They are quite mobile as they move on a 5+ on 2d6, so they can be used both to support offensive actions and to quickly fill a hole in the battle line defensively.

2 Points:

 A unit of 6 Bidowers.

These are irregular missile troops, but come with loads of extra stuff like evasive moves and full movement in though terrain. Fragile but mobile and can soften up/irritate the enemy with their long range shooting.

A side view of the bardings.

Additional to the great rules, getting to paint bardings was the real attraction.

As I couldn't find any suitable transfers resembling the Trolle Heraldry,

I decided to approach the barding in free hand.

Inspiration! A few months back I picked up the excellent 3-volume series

on medieval uniforms/weapons illustrated by my favorite illustrator couple, 

Fred & Lilian Funcken!

4 points worth of Foot Serjeants.

The Trolle family historically had estates in both Sweden and Denmark,

so I let loose on the red-white "Dannebrog" color scheme for the shields.

Another plate from the amazing Funcken books!

2 Points were invested in Bidowers.

Irregular skirmishers with a selection of missile weapons.

The Heraldry of the Trolle family - a headless troll.

SO, HOW DID THEY PLAY IN THIER FIRST GAME?

I threw my newly painted 12 point army into action straight away and, well... 

Let's say the overall conclusion is that Knights should not be the spearhead of your initial attack. In the clear light of hindsight they would seem better applied at a later stage, when the enemy has been softened up. But, my nobles gallantly lead the way forward galloping to their death, but first they had to widnes their leader getting slain in a knight-to-knight duel with an opposing commander, who used the "Challange" rule.

As the Knights vaporized quite early in the game, my Foot Serjeants quickly became my core unit. The really neat thing about this rather large but inexpensive unit, is that it can form a shield wall, or "Schiltron", as the rules call it. This means they dramatically increase their defensive value, and can act - as they did for me - as a defensive gathering point when/if you get into trouble.

I used the Bidowers to try and draw the enemy in, which worked all to well unfortunately,

as they ended up taking the brunt of the enemy's missile fire.  However I still think they point for point are a really good and inexpensive way to add diversity and to get something mobile that can really annoy your enemy.

Even though I fought the battle with two other factions as my allies, we all got a sound beating and the Trolle army had to leave the field to the enemy and tend to their wounded leader.

Conclusion: 

Lion Rampant is fast becoming a personal favorite, even for bigger medieval games, because you attack, move and roll using units, but apply casualties and test morale by single figures. Its a really well oiled engine Osprey have released, and it seems very much the perfect set of rule for the Medieval period.

I've already got a HYW project in mind for 2015 with Lion Rampant as the rules of choice.

Thank you very much for reading!