Lion Rampant Resources

 On this content page, I share references and resources that I have produced in support Osprey's Lion Rampant II rules.  

Please note that these are only supporting materials: you will need a copy of the rules to use them (and I heartily encourage their purchase).

 

Although I own the rules, I only have a limited collection of figures for this era. My collection is focused on the 17th Century, and my personal concentration is on the later Pikeman's Lament rules (see my Pikeman's Lament Resource Page for more if interested). However, our group plays several of the Dan Mersey game systems, Lion Rampant II among them, and my PL 17th Century Tartars double as Mongols in when called for there.  And even when not pushing my Mongols, I still often play in LR games in our club.  Given that the materials I produced to support Pikeman's Lament have been well received,  I decided to produce a similar player reference sheet and unit matrix for Lion Rampant II to use in our club.  And (for better or worse), I thought I'd share them here:

NOTE: CORRECTED VERSIONS (V5) OF THE PLAYER UNIT MATRIX HAS BEEN POSTED ON 3 JULY 2024. THIS CORRECTS THE ATTACK VALUES FOR ELITE CAVALRY: DRILLED AND BOW ARMED.  IN ADDITION TO THE VERSION NUMBER, THE BACKGROUND HIGHLIGHT COLORS ARE BLACK.  (USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE V4 PLAYER REF, WHICH IS STILL VALID).  Thanks to Klikkat for catching this error and bringing it to my attention in the comments!

Player Reference V4 (click for pdf)

Front

Back

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 special abilities (again with page references).  These are not all inclusive, but are a selection of specials that are most common, 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 reflected on the unit matrix). 

Unit Matrix V5 (click for pdf)

Front

Back

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. 

Click to Enlarge

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, the unit profile page, 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" supplement for other information.  As a game host, I find the opposite: I use the player reference continuously and refer to the unit matrix when to facilitate unit-specific cases. Of course, your mileage may vary!

If you do grab one of these, drop a line to let me know you visited. And of course, if there are any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop a line as well.