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Sunday, December 31, 2023
THE YEAR THAT WAS: 2023 IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
LION RAMPANT II RESOURCES CORRECTION POSTED
Appropriate for December 26th here in the US, where the day after Christmas ("Boxing Day" in the Commonwealth) is associated with making way to the retailer and returning gifts for refunds and/or new ones for broken, I am posting a new set of Lion Rampant II Resources to replace the broken ones I "gifted" to the world on 19 December (mea culpa!). These new refs have also been posted on the Lion Rampant II Resource Page. Version 4 is the current (correct) update of both the Player Reference and Unit Matrix. You'll find the version numbers in the headers-- and I changed the header colors as well for quick reference: the corrected Version 4 has gold headers, and the earlier Version 3 has dark blue. So just remember to "go for gold" in order to know which to use. As far as the difference, it is minor but significant: The Counter Charge activation number was wrong in Version 3. It should be 7+ (this is fixed in version 4 and is the only substantial change). Below are thumbnails of the corrected versions with links to downloads. Of course, if you already have version 3, a simple pen and ink change to the countercharge numbers would also serve.
Player Reference V4 (Click for Pdf)
Saturday, December 23, 2023
SEASONS GREETINGS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS
✨SEASONS GREETINGS✨
and
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
LION RAMPANT RESOURCES PAGE ADDED
Greetings, all. I recently played in another excellent Lion Rampant II (LR) game in our group (game report will probably be coming after Christmas). This is not the first foray into these rules; our group has played LR I before and has now embraced LR II (along with other games in the Dan Mersey Osprey Rules family). This last foray inspired me to produce a set of resources similar to those I had done to support playing Pikeman's Lament (see my Pikeman's Lament Resource Page for more if interested). And I've added a new Lion Rampant resource page to this blog where they are posted: see tab at top or follow the link: Lion Rampant Resources Page. The resource page is mostly redundant with this post because as time goes on that will be the landing page as opposed to this post (which, like others, will disappear down the que). Meanwhile, most everything you can find there you can find on this introductory post.
The player reference is a one-page, two sided resource that should provide most of what is needed to play (at least that's what we have found). On the front, the information is broken down into color-coded sections: admin/game system (black); movement (green); combat (red); and courage/morale (purple). Each section contains page references to the rules (should you want to look things up). On the reverse is a listing of the special abilities (again with page references). These are not all inclusive, but are a selection of specials that are most common, that may apply to more than one unit type, and/or are not reflected in an adjustment to the values and scores on the unit profile (things like Veteran, for instance, which has different adjustments for different units: those are instead reflected on the stat line on the unit matrix).
The unit matrix is intended to be used in conjunction with the player reference. As the name suggests, it provides unit-specific information needed to play. As with the player reference, it also has the special abilities listed on the back, along with page references. Given that upgrades can be "stacked," the unit matrix does not list all possible variations for the unit, but a representative range of likely unit configurations, with each line showing one upgrade.
The information is broken down by the major unit on the first line (all in caps and highlighted in gray), with its variants listed below (upper and lower case, no highlight). The above shows the first unit on the matrix (Elite Cav) with its variants below: Motivated, Drilled and Mounted Bow. The stat-line for each reflects the characteristics of that variant. Reading left to right, you can see the point value, the number of figures, the type (H=Horse/Mounted; F=Foot/Infantry), the unit, page where you can find the unit profile, and the rest is self explanatory. The activation number for specials (when applicable) is in brackets. Finally, in parenthesis you see abbreviations for the Fearsome and Bloodthirsty upgrades for this unit and its variants (which are other options available). In practice, I use the unit matrix as a central reference when designing scenarios and orders of battle.
I have found when running games of PL that there are players who basically play off of the unit matrix (as opposed to unit cards), using the player reference on an "as needed" basis for other information. As a game host, I find the opposite: I use the player reference continuously and refer to the unit matrix to facilitate unit-specific cases. Of course, your mileage may vary!