Xenos Rampant: Science Fiction Wargame Battles

Product Information

There are a plethora of unit types all built on the same basic statlines – activation scores, courage, fighting and shooting ability, movement and armour – and the simple variation in these values gives the game it’s basic unit archetypes. Profiles cover Scifi staples like Elite Infantry, Beserkers, Giant Xenomorph monsters, hordes of chittering lesser aliens, military and civilian vehicles and transports. 13 basic unit types cover every eventuality, and if the game stopped there, you’d be able to consider it a pretty flexible system able to fight just about any kind of battle. But it doesn’t, because when Xenos says miniature agnostic, it bloody means it. At the end of 2022, Osprey released its newest installment of their “Rampant Wargaming Series” with Xenos Rampant by Daniel Mersey and Richard Cowen. We are a Gaming Club based in St Helens in Merseyside England. We play a range of games including Wargames, RolePlaying Games and Boardgames that cover all periods and rule systems.

It was nice to have all the figures and scenics out again but it needs some serious consideration to make these rules unbroken. The flying stands were built on 50mm round plastic bases with some cork sheeting and texture applied. It took some time to adjust to some of the rules changes. For example, when testing morale (courage) we found ourselves often think in Lion Rampant terms, but we soon adapted.

I can understand when people might brush up against this rule set and go “it’s too period agnostic”, and it is sometimes a little generic. It’s mediaeval but the post-Mongol Russian 24-point warband looks very very similar to the early Roman, or to the late Roman kind of Hunnic raider warband because they are the same models with the same rules. So there’s been like a compromise between playability and insane historical grognard detail, but I think it works and it’s nice that the author actually mentions that.

It was a nice set up, but the guard couldn't withstand the withering fire power of the rebels. Seems like the villainous scum had found a cache of armour piercing ammunition and butchered the Ogryns and commander who led a valiant charge to get the last mole rat burger in the diner. Weird War settings are well serviced in Xenos Rampant, So these British Automatons might see the table! Credit: Warlord GamesAfter heavy shooting, and the Imperial Commonwealth having destroyed my Elite Infantry and my Commander, the fight was taken to close hand to hand combat. Star Alliance Elite Infantry under fire.

Units may move freely according to their movement range. There are no facings for most infantry and your models may move in any direction. You move your units as a very loose group. This allows player to maneuver more or less freely over the board. CombatBut for those unfamiliar with the Rampant-Games, we wish to briefly present the game mechanics. Basic principles of Xenos Rampant Xenos Rampant is (as advertised) a fast paced science-fiction skirmish game. Unlike many games, Xenos Rampant does not impose a specific setting or universe where the action takes place. Instead it provides players with an “open” game system and the freedom to adapt the setting, stories and so on to your needs and fancy. Like most wargamers of my age, it all started with Heroquest and, a Christmas or two later, Space Crusade. From there, the adventuring parties and Space Marine boarding squads expanded into armies that moved using tape measures rather than squares. Over the decades since, a series of games and settings have marched in and out of my hobby, and the armies grew and grew until each new project was doomed never to be finished. As a collector of rulebooks (yes, that is a hobby of mine), I have to talk briefly about the rulebook itself.