Tweaking Lion Rampant

Bold deployment by Clifford, a ragged approach by rookie di Pollo

More games of Lion Rampant. After last week's outing in the dungeon, this week it was a return to the more compact dining room table. Eagle eyed viewers will note the newly constructed pathways and village area on my wargaming blanket. Lord Clifford and his men, buoyed by their victory against the Normans, marched on to Italy to try their luck against the condottiere Stephano di Pollo. I'm not sure if that was his actual name, but that's what Clifford's men called him.

For these games we decided to add a simple house rule. Each general received the Commanding trait, allowing them one reroll per turn on a failed activation. Hopefully this would remove the sometimes wildly random failures that can frustrate, annoy or even ruin an evening's entertainment. The generals also gained one other trait. Clifford was strong (of course, though he forgot about it in the heat of battle). Stephano was insipid, his men would not receive +1 courage for his presence. After seeing his performance on the battlefield, it was easy to see why!

In long grass, even lowly bidowers are a match for men at arms

In the first scenario the two forces vied for control of a strategically important village, nominally fighting over the stone cross on the outskirts. After a promising early start in which Stephano's men boldly siezed the objective, they came under withering arrow fire and were forced to retire. From their advantageous central point, Clifford's archers were able to pour arrows into any advancing force. Stephano pleaded with his men to hold fast, but his insipid cries were lost in the din of battle, as his troops clanked past him to the rear. The extra 1 on the courage roll could have saved at least one of these units, and rolling a double 1 never helps either. Stephano and his remaining men retreated to the nearest trattoria.

For the second scenario we chose another simple game, bloodfeud, which is basically a kill the enemy general scenario. Stephano declined to hunt down his tormentor Clifford, so it was up to me to hunt down the enemy. This turned out to be easier than anticipated. The enemy general mounted on cavalry suffers from wild charge, so it was relatively straight forward to march my expert billmen towards him, shout insults, receive the charge and dispatch the dog (or should that be chicken).

Two games in two hours, a couple of beers, a few laughs (and for the loser, a cup of lukewarm tea). What more could you ask for on a Friday night?