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Author Topic: Dragon Rampant Question  (Read 1667 times)

Offline beefcake

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 7413
Dragon Rampant Question
« on: January 15, 2016, 03:39:01 AM »
I've just finished painting up my barbarian band for Dragon Rampant and after reading the rules have been thinking. What is the point in having a group that are Were animals. You pay for both the units plus one extra. All you gain is a small element of surprise but either way you lose one of the units (man form if they change or lesser beast form if they die out before changing). The element of surprise is kind of lost as well if you have to roll to see if a change occurs in an early activation due to missile fire when the opponent sees you rolling to see if they change. I like the idea of having Weres but they seem to be a bit of a points sink (8 points if you combine them with light infantry, or 7 if you combine them with scouts, which would likely get destroyed before any change occurs) Am I missing something in the rules?  I've been thinking add both unit points and deduct one would be more fitting or do you retain the original unit and gain the Lesser Beasts as well?

Anyone used this rule in the game.


Offline HYPERPOWER!

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 52
    • I Bury The Gods
Re: Dragon Rampant Question
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2016, 07:04:49 AM »
Seems like a point sink. You sacrifice Strength Points (whatever SPs the first form had are lost) as well as the versatility of having an additional unit on the battlefield for the sake of fluff, I guess.

The only thing I can think of is that a non-were unit will be reduced to half strength faster than a were unit (because you get full SPs of the second form once you change forms).

Not to say I'll never use this special rule, but it certainly won't be in a purely competitive game. Maybe administer some free glory points for taking it in recognition of the handicap?
« Last Edit: January 15, 2016, 07:06:41 AM by HYPERPOWER! »
Check out I BURY THE GODS, a fun and intuitive ruleset for skirmish games in a demon-infested world. Visit www.iburythegods.com for more information.

Offline beefcake

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 7413
Re: Dragon Rampant Question
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2016, 08:18:59 AM »
Yeah. I'm not overly competitive when I game. Fun rather than winning. Glory points is a good idea though. Points if they successfully change. I would really like to see a small group of barbarian scouts change into giant bears. That would get a laugh.

Offline Vermis

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2433
    • Mini Sculpture
Re: Dragon Rampant Question
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2016, 10:41:35 AM »
I have the Malus Darkblade mini to eventually lead my dark elves. Thought it might be fun to use this rule and have him turn into T'zarkan (the daemon he was periodically possessed by) but I think I'd rather just keep him as an elite rider. It'll be difficult enough to cram in some of my other ideas, without this.

Offline Momotaro

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1320
Re: Dragon Rampant Question
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2016, 10:57:47 AM »
I posted a mini-review over on Dakka before Christmas and this was one of my queries as well.

Not used Were Creatures yet, but I will say that Warbeasts are not a great choice for slogging across the board - they're too fragile to take many attacks, even with their good armour, and they fail a Move action on a 5- (or about 28% of the time).  

So this system lets you take a full-Strength unit, only failing its move action 17% of the time (for many foot units).  It can take hits as it moves.  When it transforms, you get a unit of melee monsters (literally!), Strength refreshed, hopefully somewhere near where you want them.

It forces your opponent to consider that a 12" move unit hitting on 4+ with Wild Charge could descend on them next turn - your job is to give them an embarrassment of targets...

Roll every time a unit takes a hit, hide the results but be honest?

The activation economy in DR is pretty brutal - Were Creatures lets you play to unit strengths and give you a fresh unit after crossing the board.  It does still seem overpriced, but I'd need to play it to see how it works in practice.

Offline Furstenburg

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 37
Re: Dragon Rampant Question
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2016, 11:15:06 AM »
What you could do is once you have told your oppoent you have a were unit you roll a dice every time ANY unit is damaged. Obviously your opponent is crossing off the ones that roll 5-6 but dont transform but that doesnt matter really as the moment your were unit rolls 5-6 it has to be revealed

 

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