Lion Rampant: Hundred Years War Battle Report

[Maniacus]

Lion Rampant Multi-Player Battle Report - Casual Con IV

This past summer our gaming group had the opportunity to try out a large multi-player battle of Lion Rampant using Aaron's beautifully painted Hundred Years War figures.    A handful of fantasy figures did manage to sneak onto the table top to fill out the last few units within a couple of the retinues.

This Hundred Years War battle pits an English force against the French and their Scottish allies.

It was a 3-vs-3 game, with each player controlling and activating their own retinue when it was their side's turn.  The English side was commanded by Aaron, Josh, Matt while the French and Scottish forces were controlled by Dan and Mark.  Since this would be a large game and we had a number of players new to Lion Rampant, we decided to play the straightforward "Bloodbath" scenario.

Prior to the game we rolled on the leadership characteristics chart to determine what trait each of our leaders had.  If the random traits were any indication (see below), right out of the gate it looked like the game was shaping up as heroic English leaders vs. their somewhat questionable French opponents.  How this would ultimately play out was still to be determined.

English Commander Traits: Strong, Leader, Lion Hearted
French Commander Traits: Sly, Vulnerable, Vulnerable

(Hmm, the sizing of the photos might mean you have to scroll horizontally on some monitors to see the entire photo...)



The two sides deploy for battle.  The English form up in the woods on the right and the French with their Scottish allies gather near the farmstead on the left.






The French lines arrayed for battle.


One of the French commanders looks out over his troops and contemplates the struggle about to commence.




The commander exhorts his men to move out towards the enemy.


Crossbowmen and spearmen in the center of the line.



Across the field the English formations ready themselves.




English men at arms strike an intimidating pose.


Bidowers skulk forward through the woods and look for a weak spot in the English lines that they can harass.


The Englishmen move out toward the center of the battlefield

[Maniacus]

Part 2

While the French also begin to surge forward.


Two units of men-at-arms from the English retinue on the left flank move forward while the accompanying longbowmen work their way through the woods towards a good firing position.


"Forward, men! Follow me!" shouts the commander of the English center while the remainder of his retinue stubbornly refuses to pass their activation rolls.


Meanwhile, the French lines make a much more coordinated and successful advance onto the battlefield.




French foot sergeants push forward up their right flank.




The well coordinated French advance.

[Maniacus]

Part 3

A short break in the action allows one of the French commanders to quaff a fine ale.




"Quit lollygagging around back there!"  The commander of the English center again looks back at his retinue in astonishment as they yet again fail their activations to move forward.


The French left flank successfully stays in formation and moves forward in unison.


Crossbowmen take up position.




Crossing the hedges, the advance toward the enemy continues.


The French left flank commander looks on approvingly.




French bowmen settle into a well defended position on the edge of a field.


A clash of cavalry on the English right flank.

[Maniacus]

Part 4



English yeomen charge into the French sergeants.  The battle is fierce but the English are slowly whittled away.


With bidowers and the now victorious sergeants in support, French cavalry makes a charge into the foot men at arms on the English right flank.


The well coordinated French lines face off against the more piecemeal English lines.








The center of the lines close upon each other and ready themselves for the impending melee.




A loud cheer goes up from the hardy English bowmen after they defy the odds and repulse a French cavalry charge.


Meanwhile, the commander of the French left flank leads his men-at-arms to the well for a quick refreshing drink.

[Maniacus]

Part 5

The commander of the English center and his men at arms find themselves surrounded by the scrum at the center of the battlefield.




Meanwhile on the right flank another of the English commanders and his remaining men at arms charge up the road towards a unit of spearmen.


However, before they can reach their target a volley from the French crossbowmen scores a lucky hit on the English commander!


"Everything was going so well until I took an arrow to the knee!"




"Bien joué!"




Bowmen support from afar.

[Maniacus]

Part 6

The deadly swirling melee at the center of the battlefield.


Sensing he may soon be surrounded and with a fresh men-at-arms unit closing in from behind, the English commander issues a challenge to the French leader whose unit lies just before him.


The two commanders lock into a deadly duel, flailing wildly at each other while trying to keep their visors up to see what the heck they're doing.  
"If only we weren't wearing these daft helmets..."


Swinging his axe about recklessly, the English commander scores a lucky blow into his French opponent's opened visor...


...sending his opponent to the ground and out of action.


The battle in the center is fierce with both sides sustaining heavy losses.  However, with English casualties mounting at an increasing pace the French are ultimately able to claim victory on the field this day.




The commanders line up for a post-battle group shot before heading off to the local pub.


When the time came to begin rolling to see if the game would go for another turn, the casualties had already been mounting for both sides but it was clear that the French were on the better end of the equation.  So we decided to call it there as a French victory.

This was definitely a fun game and it was great opportunity to introduce Lion Rampant to three more players in the group.  They all caught on to the rules very quickly and had a good time.  We're looking forward to more games of Lion Rampant in the future, as well as the soon to be released Dragon Rampant for when we're in a fantasy mood.

[Slayer]

very nice looking game.

Did you not bother with the 3" rule? as Ive found this to be a big part of LR (thinking ahead re movement)

[Maniacus]

very nice looking game.

Did you not bother with the 3" rule? as Ive found this to be a big part of LR (thinking ahead re movement)

We ignore the 3" rule for friendly models from the same retinue, but do apply it to friendly models from another retinue as well as to enemy models.

[Atheling]

Ace bat. rep. and ace looking mini's 

Darrell.

[Dr. Zombie]

Brilliant scenery and models.

I especially like the half thatched half shingled house. Is that scratch build or store bought? If so where it is from?

[Devoted of Slaanesh]

Nicely done! Great report, models and table!!!

[m4jumbo]

Brilliant scenery and models.

I especially like the half thatched half shingled house. Is that scratch build or store bought? If so where it is from?

Both buildings on the table are produced by Hudson & Allen.  They are made out of hard foam similar to what the Ziterdes products are made out of.

[Dr. Zombie]

Thanks.

[Engel]

Really nice spread! 

[Captain_Hook]

Great looking game and figs.

I've been looking at doing a multi-player game at a convention, but I'm not sure if the activation rolls would cause some frustration. I've debated using a variation on the activation tests. Rather than a player's turn ending on a failed activation, that unit would not be able to activate. The player could continue to attempt to activate the other units in his/her command. What are your thoughts?