Dragon Rampant; may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts...

[Vulture]

I'm a big fan of DR.  They encouraged me to break out of the loft and paint up an Orc army I've had for years

My gaming group came up with some house rules: http://vultureswargamingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/dragon-rampant-harrogate-wargames-club.html

and also some campaign rules:  http://vultureswargamingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/dragon-rampant-campaign.html

Kind regards to all

Vulture

[Sinewgrab]

I am playing this with friends, and it is fast becoming a go to.  One of my friends busted out his Ral Partha elves last night that were based for WRG, and I grabbed my Grenadier/Chronopia Barbarian army to combat it with.  Was good to push around the old painted stuff.

We are also considering modding it to give each side one reroll a turn, because it did seem a bit extreme.

[Vulture]

I am playing this with friends, and it is fast becoming a go to.  One of my friends busted out his Ral Partha elves last night that were based for WRG, and I grabbed my Grenadier/Chronopia Barbarian army to combat it with.  Was good to push around the old painted stuff.

We are also considering modding it to give each side one reroll a turn, because it did seem a bit extreme.

My group has a number of house rules, one of them being that the commander always has the 'Commanding Presence' trait.  This helps out

[Kamandi]

We first mistakenly played DR in "failure switches initiative but but doesn't reset turn" mode (meaning you still had to try and activate all your units before ending turn). When we discovered this was wrong and could test the same unit each time it became your initiative, it became a much better game.
If you really need your forward heavy infantry to lead the charge, why would it be better/more fun to have to cycle through the rest of your units?

That said the rules could be better organized. A flow chart for the whole courage check/retreat timing would help. When things are unclear I often go back to LR. I'm not sure why certain rules are clearer in LR than in DR.

I also like some of the improvements in TMWWBK. I'd like to do a Sword & Planet game with TMWWBK using the idea of reduced figure units for heroes and monsters.


 

[LCpl McDoom]

Agreed Kamandi, it's a subtlety I missed initially as well, when playing for the first game with a friend of mine, and it was only later as I ran thru a few aspects solo, did I actually read it properly and realise we'd played wrong.

Just got to get my crew around the table to show them how good it is 

And TMWWBK is a great set of rules also, been busy with that too.

[Steam Flunky]

Personally, I am not a fan of the Rampant rules - I wanted to like them, but my gaming buddies and I just had too many negative experiences where the dice (lots of failed activations) made the game a one-sided affair; not funny for the guy on the receiving end, and no challenge for the opponent.

I know it is not necessarily a problem if you get to play a lot of games, but when you get together maybe only once or twice a month for a single game, it becomes a nuisance, which is why we moved on. I have had a couple of good games, but I think the game needs to get rid of the 'activate, or lose the rest of your turn' rule (and be more like TMWWBK), to be honest. Well, maybe in a later edition... 

I really enjoy playing DR but i understand what you mean. Playing is fun but if you roll badly for activation in DR (or Hail Caesar, Black Powder etc.) and nothing moves then you are not really "playing", you are just "watching" as your opponent moves his troops around the table.
We use extra leader figures to overcome this. In small games you get one leader who gives +1 or +2 to activation rolls to units within 4" and in larger games extra leaders depending on the amount of units on the table.
This works well as although the leader cannot be everywhere to support activation, you move him to where you need him most, which how it should be with command and control.
The leader moves first in your turn and obviously does not need to role to activate himself. We consider these leaders to be older expierienced warriors or shamans who stay out of the fighting (you have your hero types for that). If enemy units move close to him he automatically retreats one move (free move).

[Hobby Services]

And I love the idea of separating magic abilities costs from the troops cost. Field a 24 point army (troop costs and upgrades only), then add an agreed number of magic upgrades each. Brilliant idea!!

I'm inclined to agree, but I'm unsure what ratio of "troop points" to "fantastic ability" points would be best.  Would 24 troop point army (essentially a Lion Rampant army at that point) work well with 12 points of fantasy abilities added on?  More?  Less?  Obviously you can vary it to suit your tastes for low/high fantasy, but I'm not sure where to start.  Conan would probably have very few FPs, Eternal Champion armies would have many.

Anyone who's playtested this (very good) idea got any suggestions on where to start? 

[LCpl McDoom]

Playing DR this weekend, so just wanted to return to Kamandi's post above to remind myself to remind the other players 

But, I also like the suggestion of a flowchart, and I may dabble with this later.

Quick question to other players: do you use cards for the DR Spells, and perhaps for the DR Quests? If so, does it make the game work/run better?