Reign in Iron

What is Reign in Iron

Reign in Iron is a “fast, brutal, demonic vs. robot mini-agnostic solo/co-op skirmish game” from Snarling Badger Studios, written by Adam Loper and Vince Venturella. It came out in May 2025.

One side plays the demons who have escaped from Hell to conquer Earth. The other plays the artificially intelligent robots trying to defend it.

The studio calls it the stand-alone sequel to Reign in Hell, and says you don’t need that game to play this one. It’s completely self-contained.

It’s miniatures-agnostic. Use any fantasy or sci-fi models you like for your demons and robots, whether that’s minis you already own or something you kitbashed together.

How it plays

Build a cabal or a host. Demons play as a cabal: a leader, a devout demon, and minions, with a philosophy that gives the group a special ability. Robots play as a host: a command model, auxiliaries, and servitors, driven by a purpose. You pick your leader type and give them unique abilities.
Melee against ranged. The demons fight up close and the robots shoot. Robots have slightly lower Combat and Structure than demons, about a point on average, but they save on a 5+ in combat where demons need a 6+. Robots get abilities that push models around, and demons get ones that pull.
Both sides get stronger during a game. Demons build up Charge, to a maximum of 2, by landing critical hits and killing enemies. Charge makes them better in combat and harder to finish off. Robots have a Learn stat that adds to their Combat, and Machine Learning, which triggers when they score a critical hit or take one, makes them more dangerous over time. Robot guns are weak at long range, more likely to soften a target than destroy it.
Five rounds. Designer Vince Venturella wrote that in playtesting, games tended to come down to the last few models on each side.
Scenarios with a twist. There are 10 standard scenarios and three narrative ones. Each game can change with the terrain, enemies, objectives, and a roll on the Complication table.
Campaigns for territory. After each game you roll on the Reward and Destroyed Model tables. Your group picks up treasure, experience, and new abilities, and takes territories like Foundries, Religious Sites, Nexus Points, and Information Nodes. Lose the right scenario and one of your territories gets damaged.

How to start

Grab the free sheets. The Reign in Iron page has free demon cabal sheets, robot host sheets, a scenario and map pack, and the FAQ and errata. You need the map pack to play, since the starting map and scenarios aren’t in the rulebook itself.
Get the rulebook. It’s 76 pages. The PDF is $11, or $17 plus shipping for a softcover black and white book with the PDF included, through WargameVault.
Find your demons and robots. The studio’s guide to finding models points at Reaper Bones, One Page Rules, and MyMiniFactory for demons, and at Infinity, Fallout, Star Wars, and BattleTech models for robots. Anything that looks right works.