Christmas Rampant 2024

Just got back from another great Christmas (Dragon) Rampant game day at Bruce (Company B) Meyer's place in Gig Harbor. Used a smallish warband with reduced-model units as there was supposed to be a lot of folks. In actuality, we only had about 17 show up, out of the 20-plus folks who had initially signed up. My Elite Santa did well early on by destroying an enemy unit, but later got destroyed after failing a Morale test. My unit of Bellicose Elves never got into action enough, failing consequetive activations - and eventually getting destroyed by numerous Power Bolt hits. Here are a few photos from the game.

Nice little break from working on another unit of Polish infantry. These will be for the 4th Regiment with yellow lapels. Awaiting the arrival of a command sprue to complete the unit. 

Thanks for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best this holiday season!

Elite Santa With Missiles And His Bellicose Elves

Perry French still were put on hold after getting a few resin figs in the mail recently. Needed to update my Christmas Dragon Rampant warband. Here's Santa as an Elite Foot with missiles and his Bellicose band of elves.

All of the figures were picked up off of ebay.

My first attempt at Tiger Stripe camo on the elves came out looking a bit more like lizard camo, but good enough for a game day.

These will be used at our annual Christmas Rampant day at Bruce Meyer's (of Company B Miniatures) place next month. I was shamed into building a new warband after seen some of the efforts of others attending the game day.

Christmas Dragon Rampant

Just got back from another Christmas Dragon Rampant game held at Bruce Meyer's place in Gig Harbor. Bruce is the owner/proprietor of Company B. The game was put together and GM'd once again by another Bruce - Bruce Smith. There were about 16 or so players, with 12 point warbands. As usual, the game devolved into two separate games on the long edges of the table. This due to folks losing track of which side's turn it was. It really didn't matter as long as the warbands stayed on that side of the battlefield. Only one player had his warband troops on both sides - he had to pay more attention to the turns. Lol!

This is the side of the table my warband was on - that's them on the far left - Samurai/Ashigaru bowmen as Light Missiles upgraded to Sharpshoter, along with an Oni as a Lesser Warbeast with Spore Attack. They actually did well once they got targets in range. The Oni was killed off after multiple attacks from several enemy units. The Light Missile bowmen lasted until the very end, and this only after making suicidal attacks against a Lesser Warbeast with not only Invisibility but also Sharper Blades! spell. The first allowed him not to be targeted by ranged weapons, and the second allowed re-rolling of ALL failed Attack and Defense dice! I figured just get the game over with,  and kept moving my Light Missiles towards their inevitable fate.

My warband at the start of the game. Most of the bowmen are TAG, with some Curteys, and the Oni is a Reaper Bones figure.

The picture above is the other side of the table. Not really sure how it went, but they were going at too.

Action in the center - a unit of Lesser Warbeast in combat with a Greater Warbeast.

More action in the center of the table.

The warband next to mine - hey did well in destroying an enemy warband - at the cost of only having one shattered unit left. They also blocked my warband from seeing targets for most of the early part of the game. 

Winged Hussars versus a Wendigo.

My warband on top of an ice mountain. They tried to target the enemy below, but the houses blocked LOS a lot. They actually came back down and move around the sides of the mountain and did well shooting at several enemy units.

All of these figures were killed off and the two opposing warbands destroyed.

A nice gathering during the holidays with all involved having a good time. 

As an added bonus I was given a few more Old Glory Meiji Japanese figures as a Christmas gift. Along with the order soon arriving from Nobel Knight should make the Japanese army quite sizeable for skirmish games. Until next time, wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Rampant 2022.

A good number of us were able to gather at Bruce's place in Gig Harbor for our annual (except for 2020) Christmas Rampant game. Bruce is, as some may know, the owner and proprietor of Company B, and always graciously opens up his huge gaming room for us. There we about 20 of us running 12 point warbands. I ran my Mamelukes as heavy riders with mounted missiles and Janissaries as light missiles with sharp shooter upgrade. The two units did well, and not only survived the game but managed to take out two enemy missile units. A great way to end the year with good buddies and good food as well. Roast beef and shredded chicken sandwiches were provided by Hugh and Michele of Stonehouse Miniatures. They brought pulled pork last year. No complaints in any case!

No new projects on the paint table; although I just picked up the new Xenos Rampant book and it has me thinking of some Weird War or similar. Plan to start the new year with a few trial games using these rules - already have some 40K figures for it. Also, you can pretty much use any figures for them too. Until next time wishing you all a great holiday season - Christmas and New Year!

Christmas Rampant! - Last Game of 2021 (for me anyway)

A fair number of us (12 or 13 players) showed up at our buddy Bruce's place (he's the owner/proprietor of Company B) for a multi-player Dragon Rampant game. The last time we did this was in 2019, just a couple of months before the "Big Change." It was great seeing everyone again; most of whom had played in the 2019 game. Although I've been gaming routinely since Enfilade back in September, this was the largest gathering of players for me since then. Luckily Bruce's gaming room is quite big, and although we were somewhat crammed around the gaming table, it still felt roomy. We also were well-nourished with BBQ pork sandwiches which one of the players kindly provided.

The table layout at the start of the game. I used some of my Sisters of Battle figures for my warband. The Junith Eruita canoness in her pulpit being an Elite Rider with mounted missiles and a squad of Battle Sisters as Scouts. I hid behind a tall wall for most of the game taking shots as the enemy (Snowmen and Nutcracker) would expose themselves. My dice rolling was surprisingly good for most of the game. I always managed to activate my units and caused enough hits to help destroy an entire enemy warband and also a dragon (Greater War Beast/leader) from another warband. They survived until the very end of the game - I did a suicide attack with my Battle Sisters (already at half-strength) against unit of heavy foot with predictable results to finish the game and get more refreshments.

Some images of the game - I think we played for about 8 or so turns. With such a long table, with 6 warbands per side, it was surprising each side correctly stayed together for each turn.

My "Sisters" warband taking out enemy with missile weapons from behind cover.

The opposite side of the table where I was playing. That's Bruce's warband made up of Russian (or Finnish?) ski troops.

Missile tossing hooligans.

Evil penguins.

War rabbits mounted on rams.

Might've been due to slipping on their banana peels, but this enemy warband failed to activate for most of the game.

Elves with bows, along with my Sisters providing firing cover on our right flank.

A working Christmas train.

All in all, a nice way to end the 2021 gaming year, although I plan to do one more blog post for 2021 as a wrap up for the year. Until next time have a safe and great holiday season.

20-Player Dragon Rampant Holiday Bash

A bunch of us gathered at Bruce Meyer's place this evening for a large Dragon Rampant game. For the record, Bruce is the owner/proprietor of Company B Models and Miniatures. Due to the large number of players and table space, we were all limited to 12 points, so mostly 2 unit warbands, but still a lot of action.

My warband consisting of a unit of Elite Riders with Enchanted Weapons and a unit of Heavy Riders with missiles. They're actually WHFB Empire figures which have found a new lease in gaming life with Dragon Rampant.

My first few turns ended with failed die rolls to move. This actually saved my units to partake in the latter part of the game in which they destroyed two units - at the cost of losing both of my units near the end of the game. The game mechanic of having both units which take casualties after combat can and did result the destruction of the winners of the combat.

A lovely warband of Toy Soldiers run by Gary W. I wasn't near his action, but they seemed to do well as they survived until the end of the game.

The Dino-beast took a lot of hits from the Snow-ballers. I added a hit or two on it also, but it managed to survive too.

 A Mammoth-beast giving our left flank needed support.

And Rudolph laying waste to all comers.

Some gratuitous shots of Bruce's game room and some of his extensive collection of figures and models.

The models on the table are some of Company B's offerings in 1/56th scale.

A nice way to round out the work week (although I'm already off on Fridays). Best wishes and Happy Holidays to you all!