Lion Rampant ~ Bloodbath

And so battle is joined between the forces of the French Pretender Prince Louis, and King John's Loyalists. 

The Franco-Scottish Knight Sir Jeckyl A' Pliance and the English Knight Sir Kit Breaker have been at odds all year. With Autumn coming on, they decide to meet and settle matters once and for all. The showdown is at the ford crossing a stream in the unremarkable village of Little Snogging. For the game, Sir Kit is 'insipid,' and Sir Jeckyl is 'blessed.'

The French approach from the west

The English approach from the east

The field of battle

A hesitant French advance. Mounted serjeants swing north towards the open ground

A more robust English advance

Mounted English men at arms head for the gap 'twixt hill and river

The French converge on the village

English foot serjeants hesitate whilst Sir Kit heads confidently right for the ford

To the north French mounted serjeants clash with English men at arms...

...and are thrown back, battered

Sir Kit squares off against Sir Jeckyl. French crossbowmen skirt the village heading for the river

Crossbowmen and archers exchange fire to the left. French men at arms recoil in centre. French serjeants and men at arms clash again on the right

Crossbowmen close up to the river, men at arms clash again in the village, but the foot men at arms have cut off Sir Kit's escape. On the right the English men at arms take a beating

A devastating volley of quarrels almost annihilates the longbowmen. The foot serjeants are repulsed from the ford. The English men at arms are taking a beating, too...

The End. A last ditch attempt to break through the ford is repulsed once again with loss. In the village, alone and surrounded, Sir Kit goes down fighting.

So endeth the first game. 

What do I think of the Lion Rampant rules? On the whole, they're pretty good. They're easy to grasp and give a quick game. One rule I did change almost immediately was the Activation roll. Under the rules if one unit fails to activate, all subsequent units (if any) on that side automatically fail and the initiative passes to the other side. After FIVE failed activation rolls where nobody moved, I decided it was too much 'friction of war.' I'm here to game, not look at a static display...

Straight away I decided to limit the fail to the unit rolling. All subsequent units got their chance to move. This sped things up nicely, and I'll keep this house rule in future.