René g'Adecrown Crosses the Amaxon – Renegade Crowns vs Lizardmen
Last night Michal and Staś got a really fun game in, and honestly this is exactly the kind of battle report we love writing up: new army on the table, a strong little narrative, some very swingy moments, and at least one unit earning a new nickname through sheer battlefield disappointment.
The setup was simple and flavorful. René g’Adecrown, conquistador of the Renegade Crowns, crossed the Amaxon, the border river of Lustria, with no intention of negotiating with the locals. For him, the reptilian inhabitants were just beasts standing between him and an artefact — one that could restore his standing back home and finally end his years of wandering the world in disgrace.
The armies
On René’s side, Michal brought:
- Outlaw Wizard, general, on warhorse with repeating pistol
- 6 Hireling Outriders with pistols on horseback
- 20 Sellswords with great weapons — the legendary “Chłopaki-Dwuraki”
- 10 Border Princess Brigands in skirmish formation with blunderbusses
Facing them, Staś fielded the Lizardmen:
- Scar-Veteran on Cold One
- 12 Skinks with javelins
- 10 Saurus Warriors
- 3 Kroxigors
Staś said afterwards that it felt really refreshing to try a very different army, and it definitely showed on the table. High Leadership, Cold Blooded (rolling 3 dice for Leadership tests and keeping the 2 lowest), and solid movement gave the Lizardmen a very distinctive feel. As he put it, the game was fun partly because so many units had high Movement and could take center stage in multiple moments.
Turn 1: the Brigands see red
The first big moment came immediately. The Brigands, apparently far too eager for glory, failed their Leadership test for Impetuous and had to charge the Skinks sitting on a hill.
At the same time, René’s Wizard failed to land two Fireballs, while the two-hander block moved up to pressure the center.
The Lizardmen answered aggressively. The Scar-Veteran sprinted through the middle toward the rear of the Hirelings, while the Kroxigors took the hill overlooking the great-weapon troops.
The most reluctant charge in Lustria
After winning combat resolution, the Skinks fell back and then ran into a forest. That should have been enough to discourage a unit armed with blunderbusses and basically no worthwhile melee kit.
It was not.
The Brigands once again lost to Impetuous and charged them anyway.
This was one of those wonderfully Warhammer moments where the rules and the story line up perfectly: a unit doing something absolutely unwise because their blood is up, and we can all immediately picture the scene.
Meanwhile, the Scar-Veteran took a nasty hit from summoning and lost half his wounds.
Chłopaki-Dwuraki go in
Then came the clash in the center, as the great-weapon sellswords went into the Kroxigors.
The fight seesawed back and forth for a bit. The sellswords brought down one Kroxigor, but then the Scar-Veteran hit them in the rear. On another part of the table, the Saurus charged the Hirelings, who responded with flee & shoot and killed more than 25% of the unit. Despite their good Leadership, the Saurus turned and ran.
That was a huge swing. It also nicely highlighted how mobile shooting could shape the game.
The center breaks open
The Scar-Veteran managed to kill one of the two-handers, but then got beaten down by the rest of the unit. The Kroxigors ended the same way. After that, the sellswords tried to reform, failed, and instead turned toward the fleeing Saurus.
Then came the punchline.
The boys charged the Saurus unit — described by Michal as the “two-attack dinosaurs” — and after a brief exchange, they fled.
At that point, they stopped being “Chłopaki-Dwuraki” (the boys with two-handers) and became “chłopaki z dwuraków” — roughly, the boys made of two-handers — because, well, things were supposed to go differently.
And yes, this is exactly the sort of naming convention that tends to stick forever in our group.
The long Skink-Brigand grind
While the center was dramatic, the side fight was pure stubbornness. The Skinks and Brigands kept pushing each other around, giving ground turn after turn, until finally in turn five the last two Brigands chased off the last two Skinks.
That sounds like an almost comically scrappy little duel, and we mean that in the best possible way.
Final result
In the end, René got what he came for: the artefact was secured, and the expedition could return home in triumph.
Final losses for the Renegade Crowns were:
- 2 Hirelings
- 8 Brigands
- 7 Sellswords
The Lizardmen lost:
- the mounted general
- 3 Kroxigors
- 12 Skinks
- 10 Saurus Warriors
So despite some very chaotic moments, this was a clear success for René g’Adecrown and his expedition.
Post-game thoughts
Michal summed it up best: it was just plain great to get a new army onto the table. Staś also mentioned how well the Lizardmen mechanics landed for him, and from the outside this really sounds like one of those games where both sides got to do cool things.
Fast units mattered. Magic mattered. Impetuous mattered maybe a little too much for the Brigands. And the whole thing had that lovely early-campaign feeling where every unit is one game away from gaining a legend, a grudge, or a terrible nickname.
And honestly, we really felt Michal’s last comment too: the dream is that in a few years we’ll have enough armies in good enough shape to play every possible matchup, in every possible format, and maybe even record and stream them like Mountain Miniatures.
That would be brilliant.
For now, though, we are more than happy with René crossing the Amaxon, grabbing his prize, and leaving a trail of confused, battered, and occasionally very brave lizards behind him.
Thanks again for the game, guys.