Cow Idols and Clankers – Dragon Rampant & Legion | This Week in Hating Dice – Week 22
It was a busy week of dice and daemons — with two games of Dragon Rampant and one of Star Wars: Legion filling the hobby calendar.
I also finished setting up a new recording space in the house so I can finally start making content again. Since I’ve been pushing myself with my writing lately, I figured it was time to do the same with video. I’m in the middle of editing a “How To” video for converting Really Useful Boxes into magnetic storage for miniatures. I’d forgotten how much work goes into setup and preparation for that kind of content — and how much I enjoy the editing process. Not so much the on-camera part, but I’m sure that will start to feel natural again eventually...
Magnetic storage tower nearing operational status as I prep for the Tutorial video.
On top of all that, I’ve mostly been hitting my weekly goals. Shorts and Reels are now officially in rotation, I’ve written my first product review since relaunching DiceHate.com as a content hub, and I even got in some Minecraft time with Evie before we headed to my in-laws’ caravan for the weekend.
A Daemonic Weekend of Dragon Rampant
I managed to get in two more games of Dragon Rampant and feel like I’ve landed on a 24-point list that functions well enough, using my Maggotkin of Nurgle as the models:
Plague Daemons – 24 points
| Name | Type | Cost | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Unclean One | Heavy Foot | 6 pts | Leader, Fear, Single Model/Reduced Strength |
| Blightkings | Elite Foot | 6 pts | — |
| Plaguebearers | Heavy Foot | 2 pts | Fearful |
| Plague Drones | Heavy Riders | 4 pts | Fearful, Flying, Single Model/Reduced Strength |
| Beast of Nurgle | Greater Warbeasts | 4 pts | Fearful, Single Model/Reduced Strength |
| Nurglings | Lesser Warbeasts | 2 pts | Fearful, Single Model/Reduced Strength |
The Great Unclean One has been fun — painfully slow and ponderous, but I’ve been moving him up and then forming a “Wall of Spears,” which ups his Armour to 4 at the cost of mobility. I like to imagine him striking dramatic flex poses and declaring his sexiness in a thick Scottish accent as he tries to lure enemies into his belly...
It’s great when you need to hold an objective. Less so when you need to get anywhere quickly — but that’s just how it goes.
The rest of the list fits the theme nicely. I’m using Fearful to represent the ephemeral nature of daemons — their fading grip on the mortal realm as they take casualties. The only unit I’m not 100% sold on is the Nurglings as Lesser Warbeasts. Wild Charge makes them feel more aggressive than I imagine. In my head, they behave more like the Beast of Nurgle: enthusiastically affectionate, not overtly violent. Still not sure what profile fits that better, but this will do for now.
The full weight of Grandfather Nurgle’s affection, ready to ‘Wall of Spears’ their way to victory.
Game One: Idol Intentions
Both games were against Dave, who borrowed a Conquistador-themed list from Bryan instead of bringing his usual Undead. We played Hold on Tight a scenario from the Lion Rampant Second Edition rulebook — a scenario where we are both fighting over an important piece of terrain in the center of the field, in this case an idol to some long-forgotten god (possibly a headless cow statue). I imagined the daemons were trying to rededicate it to Grandfather Nurgle, while the Conquistadors were probably hoping to chop off more bits to sell.
The game opened unusually smoothly — we both passed all our activations on turn one. My Great Unclean One led the march up the center, with the Plaguebearers close behind. They’re not much for offense but are annoyingly tough to shift off an objective. My Elite Infantry pushed through a forest (Ranger helps in combat, not movement), while my Warbeasts flanked right to pressure Dave’s Elite Infantry. The Flying Cavalry baited out a Wild Charge from the infamous Chickens (Bryan’s Lesser Warbeasts, who are rapidly gaining a reputation).
That left the center — two Heavy Infantry units — facing off against Dave’s Heavy Infantry, a Wizardling, Heavy Cavalry, and two Scout units. If I could resolve the flanks quickly, I could collapse inward and relieve the center.
Dave’s Conquistadors face off against an extremely confident daemon champion.
Prioritizing my Heavy Infantry paid off — I reached the center first and got the Great Unclean One into “Wall of Spears” formation on the objective. That 12 Strength behind AV4 is no joke.
On the flanks, my Nurglings and Beast of Nurgle kept bouncing off Dave’s Elites with alternating failed Wild Charges. The real disappointment was the Blightkings — they failed to leave the woods for the rest of the game.
Dave’s Wizardling failed a couple of spell attempts early on, which let me build a Glory Point lead. It was first to five, with one point scored each turn you held the objective. That’s one of Dragon Rampant’s central mechanics — spellcasting is high risk, high reward. Had he landed Befuddle, it would’ve made my Heavy Infantry much easier to dislodge. But failing a spell ends your turn and hands momentum to your opponent.
In the end, the Great Unclean One sat in his wall-of-flesh formation while the Plaguebearers slowly advanced, still contesting. We traded units on the flanks, but Dave never felt confident enough to commit fully to the center. When he finally charged in, I was already at 4 Glory Points. He managed to push back the Greater Daemon, but the Plaguebearers were still standing and scored the final point.
Flexing on the center — the Great Unclean One is beaten back, but the Plagueberers hold fast to claim the victory.
Game Two: Cattle Heist
For our second game, we played a scenario where Dave was trying to flee the field with the stolen head of the sacred cow statue (technically “The Messenger” mission, but the cow narrative was more fun).
I had to deploy in two diagonally opposite corners, while Dave’s goal was to get one designated unit into the opposite corner from his starting position. He chose his Heavy Infantry as the messenger, hoping resilience would keep them alive. I put all my Warbeasts in one corner and the rest of my army set up to form a defensive line, hoping to stall his advance and threaten his backline if he overcommitted.
The daemonic flank closes in, clearing the way for the final glory point.
The plan sort of worked.
Dave’s Heavy Cavalry were stars in this one — beating the Nurglings early and then pinning them in combat with the Chickens for far too long. They also caused a failed Morale Test on my Beast of Nurgle, who promptly returned to the Warp. (Fearful doing its job... unfortunately.) My Heavy Cavalry met the same fate due to attrition and bad Morale.
I kept the Great Unclean One pushing forward — never found the perfect moment for Wall of Spears, but he still blocked the main route effectively. Meanwhile, my Elite Infantry chipped away from the edges.
The enemy fleeing before the Great Unclean One, as he settles in for a long war of attrition.
The game came down to casualties. Realistically, Dave needed me to fail some Morale Tests to force a total route, but it was not to be. Despite suffering casualties, the Nurglings eventually broke through and landed the final blows on the messenger unit — they died for their troubles, but took the enemy down with them. Victory for the daemonic cow cult.
Star Wars: Legion – Wookiees vs Dooku
For Legion this week, I stuck with my Wookiee list — this time I avoided a Republic matchup, facing off against Count Dooku and an Armoured Separatist force. It would be a meeting of master and former apprentice on a Republic Cruiser flight deck table, which added a nice bit of thematic flair.
Surface Scan underway — clankers holding strong under fire.
The list was a tough one: Crabs, Aquas, a Spider Droid, B2s, and of course Dooku himself. Lots of Armour 2 or 3 across the board, lots of Red Saves and High Wound count, and enough B1’s to keep a healthy number of activations. We played Recover the Research with Surface Scan as the secondary.
Wookiees advance across the deck with Master Yoda and the Mighty Chewbacca close behind.
I passed both Turn Zero bans — figured this setup would be an interesting stress test. In hindsight, I regret putting the Scanners on two Fluttercraft. I played them aggressively to target the Flamethrower Spider and a Crab, which meant I lost one of the Scanners and gave Conner an easy 2 points. That pushed him within reach of the 12-point threshold going into Turn 4, and we called it there — 9 to 7 in his favor.
Super Battledroids in the Separatist line — Red saves, two wounds each, and ready to unleash the pain.
Putting Scanners on the Battleshields probably would’ve been smarter. They’re more durable and less likely to fly off into danger. That’s part of the list learning curve — in a scenario like Close the Pocket, the Flutters can afford to play safer, while the Battleshields need to be up front. But in Recover the Supplies, splitting up hurts more than it helps. The list really thrives on mutual support, and this objective pool pulls it too far apart. Next time I’ll try Intercept Signals or Bunker Assault instead and see if they fit my Battle Plan deck better.
Wrapping Up the Week
Between getting back into video editing, refining my Dragon Rampant list, and facing off against some heavily armoured clankers in Legion, it’s been a busy but fulfilling week.
The Wookiees are still delivering the fun (and the fury), and my Nurgle Daemons are proving to be just the right kind of gross for Dragon Rampant. I'm especially happy that the army feels right when it hits the table — always a good sign that the theme and mechanics are syncing up.
Next week might be a bit lighter on games — some real-life scheduling conflicts are coming up — but I’m hoping to use that time to finish the storage video and maybe outline my next narrative piece.
As always, thanks for reading — and if you’ve got thoughts on unit profiles for Nurglings or offbeat ways to theme Dragon Rampant forces, hit me up on Discord or drop a comment!
