Will you command an army of noble heroes or lead the forces of darkness?  

Daniel Mersey, the author of Dragon Rampant: Second Edition, explains why you should play his easy-to-learn but tactically rewarding fantasy wargame.  

*************************************** 

Dragon Rampant is a large-skirmish fantasy wargame that comes with no built-in game world and no tie-in miniatures range. I provide the rules and ideas; you provide your own choice of models and setting. 

You can build your Warband (Dragon Rampant-speak for an army) however you wish, using whatever make and size of model you wish (usually 28mm or 15mm models), inspired by any fantasy setting that captures your imagination or any range of miniatures you already own or would love an excuse to own.  

Men of the North Heavy Foot form a Shieldwall while on vacation. Let’s hope they don’t get too much sand under their armour. 18mm Wiglaf Miniatures painted by Steve Dean. (Daniel Mersey) 

Dragon Rampant battles are chaotic, fast-moving scraps between small rival Warbands rather than massive set-piece battles between epic armies. Your Warband is constructed of individual units built from the core troop types. These troop types are defined by their battlefield role in the game, and each has a different level of ability when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, shooting missiles, bravery, and movement. These abilities can be modified with fantastical upgrades.  

Each player will usually field 4 to 12 units in a 24- or 30-army point game (and 6 to 18 units in a 36-army point game). Units often consist of 6 to 12 models but this can vary. 

When you want to activate one of your units, you decide whether it is going to Move (without fighting), Attack (move into combat and fight immediately), or Shoot (if the unit is armed with missile weapons). Some units have additional options such as spellcasting or summoning.  

Kyle Gibson’s Barbarian Warband musters three Single Model Units (at the front), a Reduced Model Unit (back right), and a standard-sized unit (back left). The Single and Reduced Model Units need to track their Strength Point losses in some way. Models by Rackham. (Kyle Gibson) 

Each time you want a unit to carry out an action, you roll and add the total of two six-sided dice, then check against that unit’s ability to carry out that action. Some units are better at certain commands than others – some enjoy charging headlong into their enemies, hacking at anything in front of them; some prefer to stand back in a defensive formation, ready to repel their foes; others like to lurk at a distance and shower their enemies with missiles or spells. Troop types matter on the battlefield, as does what you order them to do. Order the right troop types to carry out the right battlefield tasks and they’ll stand a better chance of success. This is a test of your generalship. 

Scenarios are important in Dragon Rampant and they’re not always about hacking your enemies to pieces. The rulebook contains 12 scenarios plus a simple campaign system. There’s a wide variety of effectiveness between different units, so field a well-balanced Warband or risk your troops being poorly suited to the scenario’s task in hand. You won’t know the scenario being played until you’ve chosen your Warband, so this encourages players to choose units of different troop types rather than fielding as many Elite Riders or Greater Warbeasts as they can paint. 

“Why the long face?” Are the villagers (Ravenous Hordes) talking to the pig-snouted orc riders or their boar mounts (Heavy Riders)? Otherworld Miniatures photographed by Wayne Richards. (Otherworld Miniatures) 

Dragon Rampant can be played using whatever size of models you choose to collect. 28mm is the most popular, but I’ve seen games played with 15mm Warbands and smaller-sized models too. The rulebook includes Warband lists for the many and varied sizes of fantasy models available on the market, although in reality very little needs to be adapted no matter which size of model you choose to use. 

***************************************************

Watch this space for more design diaries coming soon.

Available 23 October 2025 UK & 21 October US. Pre-order now. 

Looking for sci-fi or medieval large skirmish wargaming action?
Check out Xenos Rampant and Lion Rampant: Second Edition. 

• Wargame
• Design Diary