Another Dragon Rampant game, but a rather large one this time - the Battle of West Ford. It is the next battle in my Petaudia campaign, the civil war in Strymonia which has now turned into a war between the Strymonians and elves against the Queen of Lestrigon, a powerful sorceress who had back one of the factions in the civil war. The sorceress' army is approaching the capital of Strymonia and the allied force of elves and humans is trying to block their advance. Nothing subtle about the victory conditions - defenders have to beat off the attackers, the latter have to crush the former!

For my large Dragon Rampant games, I have leaders on separate bases as Single Model or Reduced Model Units, who command a group of units, rather than being permanently in one unit. If a unit in that group fails an Activation, only that group ends its Activation Phase, and the next group takes their turn, rather than it passing to the other side. This avoids the slightly bizarre effect of a large army - like those in this battle - stopping completely because one unit wont attack, move, shoot, etc.

The Queen of Lestrigon's army won, although it was a tough fight, with heavy losses on both sides, especially amongst the goblins and humans. Magic did not play a big part as the sorceress was busy summoning skeleton units and then having to keep them under control (another "house rule") and the allies only had one minor wizard who did not really get much chance to use his few spells. Anyway, here are some pictures of the battle. Figures are from various manufacturers: old Grenadier and Vendel, Essex, Gripping Beast, Fireforge, Otherworld, Warhammer, to name few.

The battlefield, the sorceress' host on the left -

the first wave as she had a second wave in reserve -

and the Strymonians and elves on the right.

Essex ogres and Vendel hill trolls in front of the ruined priory.

These are Kedarians, humans loyal to the sorceress - hard plastic figures from Fireforge, a cheap way to create fantasy figures!

Numancian mercenaries hired by the sorceress - without much armour they are a bit vulnerable both to shooting and close combat, in spite of their big weapons!

The Kedarian horse archers (rear unit) have just evaded the charging men-at-arms, which Dragon Rampant allows for Light Riders, who can shoot as they retreat.

The allied cavalry and the elves have taken the offensive in the distance, the human infantry stand ready for an attack by goblins, hobgoblin giant boar riders, goblin wolf riders, half-orcs, trolls and ogres.

The goblins attack Church of Ferrex longbowmen.

The Strymonians are followers of that faith, the Church maintaining its own troops.

Kedarians chasing off mercenary light cavalry, the latter hired by the

Strymonian commander, the Viscount of Tantalus.

Strymonian levy longbowmen rather surprisingly beating off goblin wolf riders - good dice rolling!

These goblin wolf riders did no better against the Church of Ferrex longbowmen.

The elves and allied cavalry on the right wing. The standing stones were made from small rocks picked up on a holiday in the Welsh Borders.

Elf longbows and their commander - a Reduced Model Unit.

The hobgoblin giant boar riders are Greater Warbeasts under Dragon Rampant rules, 

ut I have them as a Reduced Model Unit.

The elf right wing, drawn up ready to meet an attack.

Essex skeleton figures - proportions are a bit off, but they look okay.

The sorceress summons these for battle as required.

Annoyed by the repulse of his troops, one of the sorceress' officers - Aillil, an evil elf - attacked the Strymonian billmen, but was beaten off without much trouble.

Leucadian mercenary longbowmen fight off three successive goblin warbands!

Leucadian mercenary units in my Petaudia campaign wear black and white colours.

The giant spiders have a "Fear" effect under Dragon Rampant rules on their opponents' Courage rolls. Unfortunately, in this case it did not help and the spiders were beaten off by the mercenary knights.

I use blue and red counters for opposing sides to show when a unit is "Battered" - under Dragon Rampant rules this means it has failed a Courage test, has to retreat half a move and then must be Rallied before it can Activate again.

An elf-troll Single Model Unit commander fights off a band of goblin wolf riders.

The hobgoblin giant boar riders broke the Leucadian longbowmen.

The allied infantry line is breached and there are still plenty of goblins

ready to follow up the ogres and hill trolls.

The figures at the front are 20mm mediaevals sent to me decades ago by a friend who had emigrated to the USA. I do not know who the manufacturer was, but I eventually painted them up as goblin crossbowmen and billmen, given the faces on them and the fact you can't see any ears! They count as a Mixed Weapon unit under Dragon Rampant rules. Behind them are Essex hobgoblins.

Some other 20mm mediaevals of unknown origin, unearthed by one of my brothers-in-law when tidying up his attic - he had them as a teenager, but never kept up the hobby. They fight for the sorceress in my campaign, representing river boatmen and raiders.

The sorceress' Black Elf bodyguard, with a mixture of weapons.

The levy longbowmen did not do so well against the hill trolls and were destroyed!

The sorceress herself - Carmilhan, Queen of Lestrigon - with her goblin wolf riders bodyguard.

Elves vs. elves - in this case, the sorceress' bodyguard were beaten off by the longbow-armed elves.

The closing phase of the battle - the elves are withdrawing in the distance, while the Strymonian infantry have almost all fled the field.