The Mother of Dragons - Dragon Rampant Scenario

As part of our Fowlwarren fantasy Campaign, I hunted down some Warhammer Skirmish scenarios and adapted them for Dragon Rampant - they have been quite a hit.  This one is a Dragon egg hunt.  I also modified it by tying the appearance of the Mother Dragon to the first nest getting robbed, so it added a real tension of "who would be first" and thus bring doom down upon them all - lots of fun!

In his later memoirs, Dwarf Commander Alanus Dux would consider that being first to
grab the eggs was one of the more foolhardy decisions of his military career...

Posted here for others to enjoy and I would love to hear any feedback you may have.
Here is the player handout:

Down and dirty at Scratchley Bottom

The region known as Scratchley Bottom is a renowned nesting area for…Dragons! 

Your General greatly desires adding a few flying lizards to his Army (who wouldn’t?), and has ordered you to collect as many of the fertilised eggs as possible.  Obviously the enemy will be trying to do the same.  Its is unlikely that the Mummy Dragon will be very generous with her offspring…

There are 6 nests on the table. Each nest contains a secret number of eggs: 3, 2, or 1 (written under the token)

To collect the eggs, a unit must finish a movement action on the nest. Secretly look at the number but do not reveal it to your opponent.  The eggs stay with that unit until they withdraw from the field.  If the carrying unit is routed or destroyed, the eggs are dropped in their last location.  Eggs can be transferred between units which are adjacent at the end of the carrying unit’s move.

The Dragon

.  Mother is currently out hunting but will be along soon. She is a Smaug level badass

 
Mother remains off table until the first nest is violated. At that time roll after each players’ turn – on a 6+ she will fly into the centre of the table.  

Mother will take a turn after each player finishes (I told you she was a Smaug level badass!)
As long as there are eggs left in the nests, she will stay within 18” of the centre of the board to defend them.  In doing so, she:
- will attack the closest unit in range.  ie Charge and attack if able to reach in one turn, or Flame breath attack on units within 12inches
- If two units are equidistant, she will be focus on units carrying eggs, if any.
- If there are no units within attack range, she will use her turn to move towards nests still containing eggs vice empty ones

Hint for Players – the Dragon is a big, scary beast (appropriately). Consider when it might be time to cut your losses and scarper with what you’ve got!

Battles in the Land of Fowlwarren: our Fantasy Campaign

I've been too busy painting and playing to blog lately. Awesome :-)  Mostly we have been getting our Dragon Rampant on, and I wrote a number of new scenarios which I will share here.  But first let me introduce our fantasy campaign setting: the Land of Fowlwarren.  Note that our group lies firmly on the 'light hearted with whimsical tendencies' side of the wargaming spectrum, not uber competitive.  But we do love a narrative setting and linkage between games where possible.

Our campaign setting is based entirely on this cartoon which I came across last year:

..which I then used to develop the multiplayer Battle at Duffers' Drift, between the Scions of the White Rabbit and the Defenders of the One True Duck God.  Ultimately inconclusive in its results (other than the associated fun, laughs and adult beverage consumption), it formed the basis of this year's Spring Campaign...

In the aftermath of last year’s battle royale at Duffer’s Drift, 

the opposing armies retired to lick their wounds and plot their revenge. 

Now the snows have melted, the crops are planted and there 

is plenty of fighting time before the harvest. 

‘Tis time to put down the plow and take up the sword – have at you!

To the East The Scions of the White Rabbit, under the command of Duke Fare d’enough, are the pride of the Empire of Hopsland.   Opposing them in the West are the Empire of Mallardia and their quasi-religious Army of the One True Duck, commanded by Prince Arr l’Orange.  They (mostly) battle in the disputed territories between them, split by the River Piddle (a raging torrent at this stage of the evening).

While skirmishes can and do develop throughout the region, principal clashes  erupt in the forested basin of Scratchley Bottom, the strategically pivotal Ticklecock Bridge and the commanding terrain of Knutter's Knoll in the south.

Thanks to Aled at the club for developing this excellent campaign map!

Its not exactly Tolkien, but it is a bit of fun and we will build on it as we go. 
More to follow...

Extra Large Rocky Hill

Last week I bought the GF9 Extra Large Rocky hill.  Like all the Battlefield in a Box series pieces, you can use it right out of the box, or you can put a little bit of extra work in and get some great results.  This is how I did mine:

First a light grey dry brush

 followed by a very light white highlight

A few touchups on the stones and the surrounding dirt and then the addition of flock, but not too much (its is a rocky hill after all!)

Then to add more colour I then went with some autumn coloured clump foliage.  At first I wasn't convinced but when going with something different I think its a case of being bold.  In the end, with some light and dark green added in to break it up, it came out rather well.

And it was in use only a few days after purchase for some "King of the Hill" type scenarios in Dragon Rampant.

A nice focal point for action in the centre of the battlefield

Rivers and a Bridge

Water obstacles - they can have a huge impact on any game but I rarely use them.  Firstly, because they are bulky to take to the club nights at the pub; and secondly because I didn't have a good one anyway.  20 years ago I knocked up a quick river system with some plaster and foam on cardboard.  Looked pretty good for the game the following weekend but it was always going to warp and fall apart quickly.  Naturally, 20 years later its still giving loyal service and way overdue for replacement...

Squadron Leader Topper Redfern is captured by a Kriegsmarne squad in a recent game of 5 Men at Kursk 

Earlier this year at CanCon I finally put down money on the GF9 Battlefield in a Box - one of each of the four boxes in the set (see here).  A couple of months ago I bought the Warlord's stone bridge set during their sprue sale.  This week I thought it was time to get them together.

The Bridge was undercoated with Uniform Grey spray and dry brushed with 3 different layers of light greys, a little bit of brown, a touch of green in places for moss and then I added some streaking to indicate wear and use.

Pretty happy overall. Time to get some GF9 ponds to complement them.