Boduria in the Realm of the Forest Folk

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Myself and Matt got a game of Dragon Rampant in a few weeks ago, and it was the first outing for my Bodurian Pseudo-Napoleonic force.

The Forested battlefield

Matt, for his part, used his developing forest folk army.  On this occasion incorporating 'Bellicose foot' in the form of bat-like stirges, Mushroom Men light foot, and a Greater Warbeast giant wolf.

Wildings

 I fielded my available 24 points, including Heavy Riders, Elite Riders, Heavy Shooters, Skirmishers, and Elite Foot with a Wizardling.

Order

 So battle was joined, as the Bodurians advanced into the forested glades.

  

Initially the engagement went well for Boduria, with the Stirges rashly approaching on their tiny wings and soon being shot away.  Our leaders showed little sign of taking too active a part in the battle at this stage however, whilst our cavalry was driven back by the advance of Matts' giant wolf.

  

Fortunately the 360 degree view of troops allowed my ranked up musketeers to keep the wolf at bay.  At about this stage I discovered that one of my Wizardlings' spells was actually far more use than I thought. I started using Dragons' Breath to screen enemy units, so that they couldn't target my advance.  This made the missile armed Mushroom Men largely impotent and allowed me to advance safely on the centre and left.

Smoke and mirrors 

Gradually the Forest folk were whittled down.  In combat terms luck was not going Matt's way, with several turns ending with either only one unit activating, or none at all.  Also in combat even with the odds in his favour the forest folk rarely achieved more than one wound.  And the less said of my fortunate rallying rolls the better!

Cavalry redeploy and encircle the enemy 

However, Matt had at least selected the right Boasts for his force, and was managing to ride his fortune in that area.  Nevertheless the game ended with only a couple of the forest folks' Wizardling unit left on the field.  All others having been slain or having fled.

Endgame

For my part it was a thrashing on the table for my opponent, but as ever, I had failed to get anywhere with my own boasts, and in the end I technically lost the game by a couple of points.  The story of the battle would suffer terrible spin at the hands of the Elven propagandists, as my last ditch efforts to capture them came to naught.

 But for an army making its on table debut, this was still a pretty impressive result; no 'curse of the new models' here.

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