The Beginning

Earlier this year I had all but given up wargaming in favour of Subbuteo (see my other blog Snapped off at the ankles for more). However I had forgotten that I had a copy of Dan Mersey's "Lion Rampant" on Amazon pre-order. When the package dropped through the letterbox I was ready to put it straight up on eBay but I spent half an hour leafing through it and by the end of that brief read through I was convinced that I was going to give it a try.

For those that have yet to encounter Lion Rampant, it is a very fast play, cinematic set of rules. By cinematic I mean that they capture the dramatic flavour of medieval warfare as told in the romances of troubadours and the movies rather than the grim reality of peasants dying knee deep in dysentery. The rules work with most basing systems including my favourite GW-style (20mm square infantry and 25x50mm cavalry) and only use six-sided dice so my own preferences are pretty much catered for from the start. Units come in two sizes, 6 or 12 which makes finishing a unit achievable for even my ailing painting mojo. There are also fewer than half a dozen units in most standard sized armies which makes finishing an army far more likely for me than the 200+ figures needed for many rule sets. All told, I am excited by the possibilities of these rules for three main periods, The Norman Conquest, The Wars of the Roses (very topical since Dickie Three was found not too long ago) and Tolkienesque Fantasy, like GW used to do before they went spiky. The Norman Conquest and Fantasy will need some working out beforehand but it should be easily done.

I will probably not be updating this blog too regularly, just when I have something to say or to show but as my interest in wargaming returns I hope to add in a few other games and historical periods. For now I will leave you with some photographs of my first completed unit - a unit of Expert Foot Serjeants (Billmen) in the service of Lord Henry Grey of Codnor, the local big nob around here.

Billmen - Perry Miniatures plastic War of the Roses Infantry.

Same lot from the back showing the badge on the back of the few livery coats.

Well that is it for now, I'm off to paint some bowmen, or maybe some Vikings...