Wednesday 3 December 2014

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!

31 comments:

  1. Lovely painted figures, very eye-catching colour schemes.

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    1. Thanks Matt, appreciate the visit and the kind comment!

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  2. Beautiful warhost! The colours you have chosen work really well together yet provide nice contrast. Also nice with a more diverse palette for the bidowers. It suits them well.
    Up in the saddle again and make sure the others pay dearly for beating such gallant knights at Mora stenar. :-)
    /Mattias

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    1. Thanks Mattias, and yes, I'll be back Arnold-style - but, will probably play my knight very differently the next time.

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  3. Stunning paintwork matey!

    It was a really nice game monday evening even as we got a real beating by Erik and Valdemars troops... But it didn't look like your hoast did their best during the battle, holding back a bit... Even retreating... Might you have got a purse of gold... ;)

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    1. Hehe, thanks buddy! Yeah, the knight unit was a real under-performer on both sides, but they will be back. However, I do remember them dying in the front line of the battle, while my allies from the elusive Swedish Allmoge was taking a Coffee-break in the nearest wheat-field.. ;0) Purse of gold... we'll we're Danish right? Add some beer and bacon and we've got a deal!

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  4. Lovely work and look forward to seeing how they progress in the campaign.

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    1. Thanks Steve, appreciate you dropping by for a read and a comment! More to come for sure, those Knights will aim for a spectacular comeback.

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  5. Excellent job, love the colors and your work on the heraldy!

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    1. You're very kind Phil, thanks a lot! Really fun to paint bardings, which was a first off for me. Perhaps a HYW project will follow with Jeanne D'Arc and some English archer. Would be cool to do!

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  6. Really striking colour combinations, especially on the knights.
    Nice to see the kitbashing from GB saxons and dark age warriors to, nothing gives a unit more charachter then mixing some other bits in.

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    1. Thanks Engel, I actually have Michael to thank for that kit-bashing business. He kindly supplied all the extra bits and bops needed to do the Bidowers. Happy you liked the result!

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  7. Your painting on the knights practically defies description. Fantastic brushwork!

    At least you may take some consolation that your force went down to defeat looking quite handsome!

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    1. Thanks for the consolation Jonathan, and I do agree. Being a Knight is all about style, and dying in style - and they certainly did that. However, they will be resurrected for the coming game on the 15th Dec for another shot at glory.

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  8. Beautiful paint job on those knights Soren, very colourful and striking. Those fire-forge plastics are really great too!

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    1. Thanks Chris, yeah I found the Fire-forge Kits really easy to work on. I shortened the lances about an inch, but otherwise they were easy to assemble and a joy to paint. In terms of value for money they are right up there.

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  9. Simply marvelous, Soren! The barding/heraldry are fantastic - and Fireforge are fine sculpts. That headless troll motif is highly unusual - and you've captured it with your flawless brushwork! Amazingly beautiful.

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    1. Thanks Dean, really appreciate it. It was impossible to find any kind of transfer remotely resembling the headless troll, so I had to free hand the lot. Luckily the Funcken books offered plenty of inspiration for the bardings. Really glad you like the final result :0)

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  10. Excellent work! Very nice bright smooth clean colours.

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Christopher, means a lot coming from a guy who paints as well as yourself!
      Cheers,
      Søren

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  11. That's some truly great paintjob! Smooth :)

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    1. Thanks John, it was great to get to do something complete different from the normal 17-18-19 Century stuff. Those Fire-Forge minis does make it easy to apply a smooth brushwork, so they come recommended!

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  12. Fantastic freehand work, you should be proud!

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    1. Thanks a lot Stephen, really appreciate the visit and your kind comment! The pride will kick in when they get their lances blooded in the coming battle, hopefully driving home the final charge!

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  13. Absolutely awesome! You always do such a magnificient painting on your figures so I instantly feel the urgent need to work an similar figures.

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    1. Hehe, sorry - welll hopefully we'll get a chance to throw some dice at a coming convention so our parallel collections can co-operate. I'll be at both Tactica and Salute next year!

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  14. A very striking (eh, get it?) host indeed! Lovely bright colours and fantastic freehand painting.

    Looking forward to seeing them on the tabletop one day. As Birger had close ties to the Danish royal house, being married to the daughter of the Danish king, and Trolle also being connected to Denmark, we should join forces and stand against Birger's pesky brothers!

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    1. Yeah, those Knights had a bad day - perhaps they were demotivated by union troubles in the Knights Guild? But they were surprisingly mobile on their 7+ activation, keen to ride into their death. You bet we'll have an alliance, I have this futuristic idea called a "Kalmar Union", think it might be the next big thing...
      Hope to see you at the gaming table soon buddy, next time will be on the 15th Dec.

      Cheers,
      Søren

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  15. Happy you liked it Gordon, thanks for dropping by for a read!

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  16. you think they'd work for more Dark Age?

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  17. Very artfully painted, congratulations on your fantastic work.

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