I theoretically have a lot of ideas in the hopper. Really should be writing more. My son and I will be playing Xenos Rampant, which got me thinking about the importance of how you present your systems to players.

I’d like to finally review Lion Rampant and follow that with a comparison piece between the two systems, asking if the translation really works.

But all of that takes work, so here’s my thoughts on Ravenfeast instead.

Ravenfeast is a free game released by Little Wars TV, a YouTube channel dedicated to promoting historical wargaming. They’re great—if you haven’t watched any of their videos, I recommend picking up any of their battle reports for a quick watch.

Ravenfeast is a simple small skirmish viking game, with phased IGOUGO mechanics and simultaneous combat results. I move, then you move, then I declare shooting, then you do, etc. Damage is done at the same time, so we play out all the fights and then assign dead. The system is fast, easy to learn, and reasonably fun, so it made for a great way to introduce my son to some historical gaming.

Our games went smoothly with some coaching from dad. There’s a mechanic to form a shield wall and even support it with spears, which can allow a player to really lock down part of the map. In fact, in each game we ended up pushing two shield walls into each other which my son loved. I didn’t, but that’s because when everything refuses to die the game drags on for quite a while.

That’s the core issue. With the size of the game, the ability to form 3 man shield walls and thus only die on 6s starts to get annoying. I blame myself—I should have created scenarios and boards that avoided this issue. Or I should have flanked him rather than pulling my punches by meeting him as he expected.

Still, the games were fun and I used miniatures I already owned. No money was spent and my kid now digs Vikings. He even explained shield walls to his grandmother, which was hilarious and filled me with pride.

As for the game results: he won the first two and tied the last one. This involved some coaching from me but he really did earn it. It’s nice that the systems are simple enough for him to grasp them so well and I’m glad he learned a little more from the game—I’m confident he’ll do well with Xenos Rampant while also gaining a lot more to chew on.

So what’s my verdict on Ravenfeast? Don’t go buying miniatures for it but absolutely learn it, make a small warband or two, and play out a few games with a buddy or a kid in your life. It was a good time that works well as an intro to wargaming. Mission 100% accomplished. Thank you to the Little Wars guys for putting out such a fine free product for new players!

Now, pardon me while I continue pushing my kid toward game systems where he won’t stomp me by just rolling better.

 

…Chess it is.