Dragon Rampant

What is Dragon Rampant

Dragon Rampant is a fantasy wargame by Daniel Mersey, published by Osprey Games. It grew out of Mersey’s medieval game Lion Rampant, and Osprey describes it as “large-scale skirmish”: a warband of a handful of units, each a block of individually based figures, fighting out the kind of battle you read about in fantasy fiction. Orc warbands, undead armies, barbarian tribes, monsters and sorcery.

There’s no built-in setting and no official miniatures range. You build units from whatever fantasy figures you have, in 28mm or 15mm, and give them a troop type. Mersey has said he wanted it to feel like a modern throwback to 1970s and 1980s fantasy wargaming.

The first edition came out in December 2015 as a 64-page book in the Osprey Wargames series. Osprey lists Dragon Rampant as an Origins Award nominee. The Second Edition came out in October 2025 as a 232-page hardback, illustrated by Alan Lathwell and David Needham. Mersey says it keeps the original rules rather than rewriting them. The core plays much as it did, lined up with Lion Rampant: Second Edition, with more of everything around them.

How it plays

Test to activate. On your turn you pick a unit and an order (Move, Attack or Shoot) and roll two dice, needing that unit’s number or better. Fail and your turn is over, so it’s swingy and fast.
Order of play. First you try to Rally any Battered units, then any units with Wild Charge have to charge, then you give your other orders.
Leaders help nearby. Once per turn you can reroll one failed Move, Attack or Shoot test for a unit within 12” of your Leader, and units within 12” get +1 on Courage tests. A Battered Leader loses both.
Strength Points, not models. A unit rolls 12 dice when it attacks or shoots while above half strength and 6 once it’s down to half. Losses are Strength Points, so the number of figures on the base doesn’t change the stats.
Courage. A unit that takes losses tests Courage, minus one for every Strength Point lost so far. Fail and it retreats and becomes Battered, and Battered units only hit on 6s. Score 0 or less and it flees the table.
Magic by colour. Spellcasters buy access to up to four colours of magic, drawing on a 20-spell spellbook with names like You Shall Not Pass! and Sod-Off Spell!

Standard games are now 30 army points, up from 24 in the first edition, with 24 and 36 as options. That works out to 4 to 12 units at 24 or 30 points and 6 to 18 at 36. It’s all six-sided dice, plus one twelve-sided die if you use the optional unit traits.

What changed in the Second Edition

Mersey wrote up the changes for Osprey’s blog:

Leaders no longer roll a random trait. They get the Commanding trait automatically and can buy upgrades.
The unit upgrades went from 16 to over 48, some renamed or recosted and many new.
The spellcasting got what he calls a major overhaul, with a 20-spell spellbook.
There’s an expanded campaign system, more scenarios, a terrain chapter, and more sample warbands.

How to start

Get the Second Edition. $24.50 for the PDF or $35 for the hardback, from Osprey.
Grab the free downloads. Osprey’s resources page has the Second Edition quick reference sheet and a warband roster, with a fillable version too.
Use the minis you already have. Any fantasy range works, in 28mm or 15mm. The book’s sample warbands are there to help you build one around your collection.