Yesterday the Society staged its Open Day, putting on half a dozen games.
Here are a few photos in, roughly, historical order
Barons War (13th Century)
Andy’s sergeants charge Stephen’s LowlandersThe remnants of Andy’s Knights charge Stephen’s Burghers, while the crossbows and spearmen guard the livestockStephen’s knights charge through the village, Andy’s Crossbows in front of them and archers behind.Andy’s spearmen close on Stephen’s BurghersStephen has fallen! Only one of his knights left.Andy’s Sergeants vs Stephen’s Light Cavalry
Commando raid, WW2, 1940’s (0200 Hours Rules)
Somewhere on the coast of France…… canoeists approach the U-boat.A commando lays his chargesFido has smelt something.Turn out the Guard!
Vietnam (1960’s – 70’s) Charlie don’t Surf rules
Out in the ‘NamACAVs advance down the road.Dustoff on standbyThe firebase
Technicals, somewhere in Africa, 1970’s – 80’s, home grown rules
Technicals parked up ready for their next game.
Apologies to David, I only got one photo of his game, if any are shared by other members I’ll update the post.
We now depart history for some more whimsical,and fantastical, games.
A Clash of Rhyfles, battles with the Quar.
Crusader Quar advance against…… their opponents, the Principality Of GwyntCrusaders pass a fallen comradeA Crusader Cook / Medic on the latest mechanical contraption rushes to the casualty’s aid.The Principality Of Gwynt pluck counter
And finally, some Dragon Rampant.
A three way stand off? Ogre vs Dragon vs warriorsA selection of Chaotic troopsA fight over the village
That’s all for now. Our next open day will be in June next year, but if you fancy coming along to the club we meet between 10:00 and 17:00 on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month (only the first of these in December) at Linton Village Hall, Linton Hill (A229), Maidstone. The first two meetings attended are free for prospective members, and subs are prorated.
Andy reports on the first day of a Barons’ War mini campaign (with comments from Stephen)
Stephen and I arranged to play the Barons War “A Most Ignoble Feud” mini campaign. This comprises of three linked battles of 500 points, 750 points and 1000 points.
The campaign gives army lists for both commanders in each battle, it was written for edition 1 of the rules and we have moved on to edition 2 so we decided to create our own lists, to the original points values. In the original campaign one side has a number of militant monks in their force, so we kept that requirement, together with the requirement to have 10% of a retinue made up of Green troops.
Stephen’s force was led by Baron Stephen le Tookere, ably assisted by one of his retainers Willard of Wickham. Andy’s force was led by Sir Andrew Fitzroi, supported by his Sergeant at Arms and half-brother Geoffrey Fitzroi, which had the contingent of monks.
The reason for the enmity between Baron Stephen and Sir Andrew was an incident during a hunting party where the Baron accused Sir Andrew of trespassing on his lands, an accusation Sir Andrew firmly rejected.
Battle 1 The Ambush.
Objectives and Victory Conditions
Sir Andrew must fight off the ambushers and escape the battlefield via the board edge opposite their deployment zone, and scores VP based on the points values of all his Warriors that escape the battlefield, doubling the amount of any commanders.
Baron Stephen must try and kill all the opposition, and scores points values of the enemy Warriors his Retinue slays during the battle, doubling the value of any Commanders.
The scenario specifies that the game lasts 5 turns, with a sixth turn available if any unit has a chance of exiting the table. We considered that somewhat challenging considering the distance the defenders would have to move, 7 turns of normal movement for the slowest foot assuming no combat, so we amended that to 9 to 10 turns.
(Stephen: seems strange this wasn’t picked up in play testing. With just 5 turns to get off table they would have to Run for every activation and couldn’t stop to fight or shoot arrows. That’s extremely unlikely and wouldn’t make for a fun game. Hence we increased turns, which would still make it difficult for that ne’er-do-well poacher, Sir Andrew).
Baron Stephen’s Retinue
Baron Stephen (R) & 4 knights (R)
Willard of Wickham (R)(C) & 7 spears (G)
5 Archers (R)
4 Archers (R)
Sir Andrew’s Retinue
Sir Andrew (V) & 2 Knights (R)(Mounted) (C)
Geoffry & 3 Spearmen (R)(C)
3 Mounted Sergeants
4 Marksmen Sergeants (R), Crossbows
3 Archers (R)
5 Militant Monks (G)
(V) Veteran, (R) Regular, (G) Green and (C) Commander.
This scenario uses Deployment map D, forces deployed along opposite short edges of the table.
While escorting a group of monks from Yorkshire to Derbyshire Sir Andrew found the road blocked near the hamlet of Brookhill by a couple of abandoned carts, above the carts he could see the tips of spears, to the left of the road were two groups of archers, while on a hill to the far right he could see a group of knights flying Sir Stephen’s pennant.
(Stephen: I still don’t know why I put them there. It was pretty much the only open bit of terrain where I could use the might of a knightly charge).
Sir Andrew sent his mounted sergeants through the village to find a route around the ambush. The spearmen and crossbows advanced either side of the road, coming under fire from both of Baron Stephen’s groups of archers. Sir Andrew following so he could issue orders as needed. Sir Andrew’s monks and archers were deployed to the right, the archers advancing to the crest of a hill and the monks running as if for their lives towards a patch of woodland.
The Marksmen loosed quarrels as fast as they could, to paltry effect, one knight fell from his horse and an archer was brought down.
As the spearmen under Geoffrey advanced past the village they came under relentless archery, Geoffrey and two of his men fell leaving a single man, however his nerve held and he charged into one of the enemy archer groups despatching two of them and forcing them back.
Seeing the monks heading into the woods, Baron Stephen ordered his spearmen to leave the barricade and try to head them off
(Stephen: like anyone, I was determined those damned monks were not going to get off the table, even though I knew they probably weren’t worth many points and there were bigger fish to catch).
Baron Stephen and his bodyguard eventually came down from the hill, advancing towards the barricade.
Sir Andrew’s Mounted Sergeants moved swiftly through the woods, but lost one of their number to archery before they left the battlefield.
The monks ran from the wood and headed up the next hill, with the enemy spearmen chasing them. They almost made it but were caught and lost a brother to the vicious spearmen, fortunately on their next turn they were able to escape the field of battle.
(Stephen: Sir Andrew won initiative meaning he got them within one move of being off table, otherwise I’d have caught up with them sooner)
In the centre Sir Andrew and his bodyguard advanced and charged a group of Baron Stephen’s archers, wiping them out for the loss of one of Sir Andrew’s knights.
Baron Stephen then committed himself and his three remaining knights, charging Sir Andrew and his pennant bearer. Sir Andrew won the first clash, but Baron Stephen charged again and, in the melee, both Baron Stephen and Sir Andrew fell.
As Sir Andrew had no commanders left to try to take over command the battle ended; the loyal retainers carrying their respective lords from the field of battle.
(Stephen: Willard of Wickham had loyally passed his Morale test and took control of the brave Baron’s forces, meaning they would fight on).
Determining the winner
Sir Andrew had managed to get two Mounted Sergeants (50 pts) and 4 Monks (44 pts) off the table for a total of 94 points.
Baron Stephen had injured Sir Andrew (116 pts) and killed Geoffrey (82 pts), a knight (34 pts), a mounted sergeant (25 pts), two spearmen (40 pts) and a Monk (11 pts) for a total of 308 points.
A major victory to Baron Stephen, but still only one campaign point!
The post-game injury rolls resulted in Baron Stephen suffering a Mangled Arm, meaning he can no longer carry a shield. Sir Andrew suffered a mangled leg, as written this would slow him down whether on foot or mounted, but we thought that as the horse would be doing all the hard work we changed that to slowing him down only if dismounted and reducing his points value by 1.
The astute among you will have noticed a distinct lack of photos from the first game. We were so engrossed in the game we forgot to take any!
Game 2 Burying the Hatchet. 750 points
Following the ambush on the remote Derbyshire road, the conflict between Sir Andrew and Baron Stephen escalated. Small clashes bled both sides, in a senseless waste of blood and treasure. Determined to settle things once and for all, the two lords agreed to meet on a stretch of open ground nestled in a meander of the river Don between Sheffield and Doncaster.
There would be no subtlety here, this was to be a straight up fight between the two aggrieved nobles’ retinues, with a duration of 8 turns.
(Stephen: Again, we extended game duration. Although on this occasion it was simply because we had the time and wanted to make full use of it).
Baron Stephen’s Retinue
Baron Stephen (R) & 5 knights (R)
Willard of Wickham (R)(C) & 6 spears (G)
Fulkes de Boutin (V)(C) & 3 Mounted sergeants
4 Mounted sergeants
5 Archers (R)
5 Archers (R)
Sir Andrew’s Retinue
Sir Andrew (V) & 4 Knights (R)(Mounted) (C)
Geoffry & 4 Spearmen (R)(C)
3 Mounted Sergeants
6 Marksmen Sergeants (R), Crossbows
8 Archers (R)
(V) Veteran, (R) Regular, (G) Green and (C) Commander.
This scenario uses Deployment map C, forces deployed along opposite long edges of the table.
Burying The Hatchet Battlefield
Baron Stephen arrayed his retinue with a group of Archers in a cornfield on his right flank, with the Baron himself nearby in a field of cabbages. To the Baron’s left was Fulkes de Boutin and his mounted sergeants.
Baron Stephen’s Archers, The Baron and his escort and Fulkes de Boutin’s Sergeants trampling the cabbages
In a small hamlet Willard of Wickham deployed with his spearmen, the second group of mounted sergeants and second group of Archers, the latter taking cover behind a wall.
The left flank
Sir Andrew’ Monks were on his left flank in another cornfield, opposite Baron Stephen’s archers, next to them were the mounted sergeants, and then the Marksmen Sergeants with crossbows.
Sir Andrew’s Marksmen, Mounted Sergeants and Militant Monks
Next came Sir Andrew and his bodyguard, and the archers, with Geoffrey and his 4 Spearmen on the right flank.
Sir Andrew’s loyal servant Geoffrey with Archers and Sir Andrew himself.
All were sheltered by a hedge lining the road that ran through the battlefield.
The battle started with a volley of quarrels from Sir Andrew’s crossbowmen aimed at Fulkes de Boutin’s mounted sergeants, the quarrels flew true and two sergeants were felled.
The Marksmen release their bolts
(Stephen: stern words were had with all the mounted sergeants once we got back to the castle. Suffice to say, they did not earn their keep that day).
This shattered Fulkes’ resolve and he and the remaining sergeant were broken, falling back towards the hamlet behind them.
Sir Andrew’s monks and mounted sergeants advanced towards the Baron’s archers in the cornfield, with one of the monks going to his heavenly reward courtesy of one of the Baron’s archers.
On the other flank the Baron’s second unit of archers loosed arrows at Sir Andrew’s knights, one falling to a lucky shaft.
Baron Stephen’s archers engage Sir Andrew’s spearmen
Andrew’s archers returned the compliment taking out one of the Baron’s Archers. The Baron’s mounted sergeants advanced to protect the archers.
Baron Stephen’s Sergeants advance…
Sir Andrew advanced his bodyguard to counter the Baron’s mounted sergeants.
In hindsight maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to advance
(Stephen: In fairness to these sergeants, I’m not entirely sure what made me advance them. I could see it was a dicey situation to put them in, but I think I just wanted to stir things up and see what Sir Andrew would do in response).
Fulkes de Boutin tried to rally his mounted sergeants, but failed miserably and they routed from the field of battle.
Sir Andrew and his knights charged the Baron’s other group of Mounted Sergeants.
… only to be charged by Sir Andrew
In the ensuing melee Sir Andrew killed two of the Baron’s sergeants and breaking the remainder who fell back
Sergeants fall back after receiving a thrashing
Geoffrey and his spearmen crossed the road and entered the woods, coming under ineffectual fire from the Baron’s archers.
The Baron’s Knights advanced, only to be charged by Sir Andrew’s Mounted Sergeants, taking advantage of a split in the group due to the terrain.
Sergeants get ready to charge
Despite their numerical advantage Sir Andrew’s sergeants failed to cause any casualties.
(Stephen: my mind may be a bit fuzzy here, but I seem to recall killing off a couple of Sir Andrew’s sergeants and, what’s more, I have photographic evidence to prove it).
The monks advanced again, being shot at by the archers without loss.
Willard of Wickham’s spearmen advanced to counter Sir Andrew’s Knights
Willard of Wickham wonders whether he can do better than the Sergeants
My Marksmen shot at the Baron’s Knights, to no effect, who then charged my Mounted Sergeants, killing two and breaking the sole survivor.
The result of the sergeants charge
(Stephen: Oh, maybe that was it then…).
Sir Andrew charged Willard of Wickham’s spearmen, killing two and forcing them back.
Geoffrey’s spearmen charged out of the woods, reaching the Baron’s archers hiding behind the wall, killing one and forcing them back.
The monks moved again towards the Baron’s other archers suffering one casualty.
The Baron charged his Knights at Sir Andrew’s crossbowmen, but just failed to make contact.
A nice juicy target for the crossbows, who failed to hit anyone!
The Baron issued a second order, and charged my crossbowmen, inflicting a casualty and forcing them back from the hedge.
The bloody battle for the trackway
(Stephen: I had to charge. My knights were in crossbow range and I knew that I could expect one or two flurries of bolts every turn unless I killed them. It wasn’t an enviable situation – the crossbows were behind a hedge and Sir Andrew and his knights were just a short way down the lane, but I had no choice).
Sir Andrew prepares to charge Baron Stephen as his Marksmen hold the hedgeline
Sir Andrew charged the Baron, with no effect. His archer’s shot at my Spearmen, to no avail.
Still have one order left
The monks finally were close enough to charge the Baron’s other archers in the cornfield, killing one of them and forcing them back.
My crossbowmen returned to the wall and shot at the Baron’s group, but inflicted no casualties. The Baron then charged again killing a crossbowman and forcing them back only to receive another flank charge from Sir Andrew’s knights, with two of the Baron’s men falling this time with no losses to Sir Andrew.
On the right flank Sir Andrew’s archers shot at Willard of Wickham’s spearmen, who were then charged by Geoffrey’s Spearmen, but no casualties were inflicted.
(Stephen: Good ol’ Willard. He’ll be receiving a promotion and some land for his sterling service).
The Baron turned his attention from the crossbowmen and charged Sir Andrew, but came off worse, losing a Knight and falling back, only for my Crossbows to shoot at them as they passed, sadly with no effect.
Baron Stephen and his shrinking bodyguard face up to Sir Andrew
On the right the Baron’s archers shot at Geoffrey’s Spearmen, killing one, the spearmen failed their morale test and broke.
Sir Andrew’s archers shot at Willard of Wickham and his men, killing one but their morale held and they charged Geoffrey’s broken Spearmen, killing one and routing them from the field, Geoffrey running with them.
(Stephen: Again, good ol’ Willard).
Geoffrey’s last stand.
We reached the last turn of the game.
The Monks charged the Baron’s archers again, killing another one and forcing them back. Sir Andrew’s archers shot at the Baron’s archers but missed.
Sir Andrew’s last Mounted Sergeant launched a last-minute charge at the Baron and his sole remaining companion, killing the latter and forcing the Baron back. The Baron then charged back in, but failed to cause a casualty, so fell back himself.
How dare he think he would be a match!
In a last desperate gamble, the remaining Marksmen Sergeants moved to their left, into a position where three of them could draw a line of sight to the Baron; Sir Andrew gave them a second order to shoot at the Baron; the shots fell true and the Baron fell from his horse clutching his eye.
(Stephen: you’ll notice how the cowardly Sir Andrew never had the courage to charge himself).
(Andy: I think Sir Andrew proved his mettle in several combats earlier in the game; and the Marksmen Sergeants needed to earn their pay!)
The victory conditions for this game were simple, based on the points value of the figures lost with commanders counted at double their cost.
Sir Andrew lost one Knight (34 pts) 2 Mounted Sergeants (50 pts), 4 Monks (48 pts), 2 Marksmen Sergeants (40 pts) and 4 Spearmen (80 pts), for a total of 252 points
Baron Stephen lost a total of 525 points.
(Stephen: I can’t remember exact loses. My mounted sergeants all fought poorly and I lost all of them – either killed or routed off table. In addition, the kind and friendly Baron le Tookere and his knights were also taken out. Plus dribs and drabs of archers and spearmen. What did for me was losing expensive troop types plus command groups, which is what made up the bulk of my loses).
This was a decisive win for Sir Andrew, gaining him one campaign point to bring the series to a tie at one point each. The campaign would be decided by the final battle “The Bad Neighbour” of 1000 points a side, to be fought another day.
Following the first two battles both nobles have been injured.
Sir Andrew
Mangled Leg: The noble isn’t as fast on their feet as they used to be. Reduce their Move stat on foot by 1, and their total points value by -1 (Modified from original).
Baron Stephen
Mangled Arm: The Baron has lost the use of his left arm until it properly heals. He can no longer equip shields
Missing Eye: Clipped by a crossbow bolt in the dying moments of the battle, bound up behind an eyepatch, the Baron takes on a distinctly piratical air. He will always act second if counterattacked.
Andy presents a taster of the games at the last meeting. Five, count them, five, games in progress!
Let’s have a look at them in historical order:
First up we have a mixed scale (6mm & 15mm) Field of Glory Game. Apologies to the players, I only took one photo of this.
Battle lines are drawn
Next up Stephen & Andy concluded their three game Barons War mini campaign. Totally unbiased reports of these games to follow.
Baron Stephen le Tookere’s troops prepare to defend the Trebuchet.Sir Andrew’s troops close in on Baron Stephen le Tookere’s Trebuchet.The Trebuchet burns! Sir Andrew’s mission accomplished.
Moving to more recent history, Chairman Mark ran a 28mm Chain of Command game, Operation Bluecoat, Normandy 1944.
The outskirts of a village in Normandy 1944.The curse of a freshly painted model making its debut, KO’ed early in the game!Churchills support the British advance
Next we had a game of AK47 Reloaded, more 15mm mayhem in 1970s San Guano. A rare outing for this ruleset at the Society.
Infantry take cover as an APC burns.Militia defend the factoryHeavy Armour (for AK47)
And last, but by no means least, Tony & Jeremey tried out Grimdark Future Mass Battle rules with their collection of 15mm armies.
Jeremey’s forces deployTony’s Jenpalo seize the junctionOne of Jeremey’s tanks is about to get a surprise!A clash in the Technoliths
That’s all for this time, next meeting is on the 9th of May, you can see Society diary here.
Stephen takes us through a recent free set of medieval rules that appeared in the Wargames Illustrated magazine.
‘Assassins & Templars’ (A&T) was a free set of rules that came with issue 455 of Wargames Illustrated. If you missed it then you can purchase a copy from WI, along with all the paraphernalia required. Or you can download it all free from the WI website (not the rules though – if you missed the free copy you now have to buy it).
Having downloaded the card decks from WI and printed and cut them out, I thought I would have a test game because it was absolutely chucking it down with rain outside.
It has a lot in common with its predecessor: Here’s The Ruckus. Ruckus is focussed on the War of the Roses. Both use the exact same mechanics and if you know one then you know the other. Warbands comprise 12 models. They are led by three ‘Hero’ figures – a single commander (a knight) and two sub commanders (squires, or lesser knights). The remaining 9 models are made up of spearmen, crossbowmen, archers, etc. In A&T they have introduced horse archers. The Hero models each control 1 or more of the retinue troops so on a simple level a warband will comprise three 4-man ‘Spears’.
Hero figures also have specific traits or special skills. The list of traits in A&T is much smaller than Ruckus but I see no reason at all why the expanded trait list can’t be imported into A&T.
Turns are completed by turning cards in the Hero deck. This will tell you which Hero (and Spear) to activate, or it could be a Cunning Plan card. The Cunning Plan deck contains cards that allow extra bonuses – things like a re-roll, etc. But there’s also a Divers Alarums card – these are better thought of as special events.
Both Ruckus and A&T are aimed at ‘narrative games’ where the game is more about the story and the cinematic elements of the game than a simple win or lose. To that end there are rules in there for things such as climbing, falling, swimming, balancing, etc. An important part of this, and an important part throughout the rules, is the concept of the ‘Mishap’.
If you roll a 1 when shooting, for example, you have a Mishap (e.g. bow string snaps) or if you have a Mishap whilst climbing you may fall. This whole section on Mishaps felt ‘tacked-on’ to me. I love the concept, and it’s what gives narrative games their…well, narrative. But there was quite a bit of this in A&T – sub-rules just tacked on (‘If X or Y happens then check table C for the effect). Arguably no big deal, but at the same time it didn’t feel like some things were baked in to the rules. You get the feeling that during the play test something happened and someone suggested, ‘well, if that happens just get them to roll on a Mishap table’. And they just shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘yeah, alright’. And there’s a different Mishap table for each different action.
It’s a free set of rules, so no big deal. Good concept, average execution.
Right then, Heroes have a command radius. If a member of their ‘Spear’ is outside they are considered ‘Feckless’ and, you guessed it, they have to roll on a table to see what they do.
Things are kept nice and simple though. You need a 6+ to hit at long range, and a 5+ at short range (different ranges for different weapons). Melee is a bit more involved, as you would expect with a low-model count. What will happen is that when two (or more) models move into contact they will fight up to three consecutive melee phases. In the first phase, all combatants fight at their full potential. If both are still standing you conduct a second phase of melee immediately, where chances to hit are reduced. If they are both still standing after that then a third, and final, phase of melee is fought immediately – still with a reduced chance to hit and now unable to bring to bear any special skills. All this is to reflect fatigue during combat. This means that there’s a chance to pull something back in melee, but also means that combat is likely to produce a resolution that round rather than drag over multiple rounds. If both are still standing at the end of the third melee phase then both participants back off so they are 1” apart.
Heroes have three wounds with other models having just the one. All models also get a Save roll, in both missile and melee. In missile fire an extra roll (again!) is made for any intervening obstacles for the shot (why that couldn’t be added into the shooting mechanism I have no idea – probably because the game uses D6s and just one modifier can have a big effect. Which begs the question, why not design the game with D10s?)
So how did it play in the end?
Actually, it gave a very enjoyable game.
I used the scenario that came in the rules – there’s a central watering hole and the winner is the first who has sole control of the watering hole or kills the opposing leader. To have control you have to be the only one with models within 1” of the watering hole. Realistically, that’s only going to happen if you completely wipe out the opposition so in actuality killing the opposing leader is going to be the way to win the scenario.
It’s a short game (about an hour), so would be great for a one-day campaign. In the scenario I played there was no need for climbing and jumping etc, so that aspect was missing. I did forget about the shooting Mishaps though. On a couple of occasions 1s were rolled but I forgot to apply the Mishap rules. Just put that down to first-time play where rules do get missed. To be honest, it doesn’t take long to master the game so next time around I am sure I will remember to use the Mishaps. That’s no reflection of the rules.
In the game the assassins moved up. The templars (I didn’t use templar models and just used my Normans as early crusaders, there was nothing really that exclusive to why they couldn’t just be Frankish crusaders), moved up with one of the Spears taking up position by a wall and letting rip with a crossbow. The Assassins and the Templars reached the waterhole at about the same time. Two of the Assassins ganged up on the Templar leader, who took two wounds but was still standing at the end of the melee so all participants were separated. But the Assassins went in again with wounds being taken by both sides – the Templar leader was killed but he also killed his assailants. The Templars had lost their leader, though, so the game went to the Assassins.
Yeah, it’s a good game.
Will we be playing it at the club? I don’t know. Keep in mind that we have a whole Saturday, and I’m not sure the game has legs for a whole day. If you meet in the evening for a couple of hours, then it’d make a great game because you can fit in two or three linked games, which is precisely what A&T is all about.
It’s great as a freebie but, having played it, I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it, although at £5.99 it probably is worth taking a punt on. I think Osprey’s ‘Outremer’ does the job better though, so if I was looking at a medieval game with a dozen figures a side I would probably play that instead.
Our 2024 Open Day is just over a month away and there has been lots of progress on this years games. The Open Day is on the 22th June this year. We’re open to the public from 11am – 4pm on the day.
This is a great day to come and see the society in action and maybe throw some dice at one of the various games we will have on the day.
This year we have a good selection of games, which might just be the incentive you need to either get back into the hobby or to find a new home for your own armies and games.
We will have a game of Barons War complete with scratchbuilt castle.
There will be a game of Project Z for some post-apocalypse fun!
The Elephants will be on the rampage in a battle between Romans and Carthaginians
The Soviet/Afghan war will also be covered this year
Along with a big World War 2 battle somewhere in Europe
And last but not least the magical treefolk will be fighting their ancient enemy the rock warriors in an entirely scratchbuilt fantasy game.
Details of where the club meets and location of the Open Day can be found on our About the Society page.
Andy reports on the first part of a short campaign.
Stephen and I started the year with the Five Battles Campaign from Lion Rampant Version 2. We decided to set the campaign as part of the Crusades, and allow the use of the additional rules and forces from Lion Rampant: The Crusader States.
Stephen would take the Muslim forces and I would take the Christian forces.
The campaign comprises of five battles, the participants prepare 5 Warbands and they allocate each of these Warbands to one of the battles. In the book these are of 20, 24, 24, 24 and 30 points, we decided that we would go large, and would use Warbands of 24, 24, 30, 30 and 48 points.
We gave leaders the free skill to allow a single reroll for a failed Move Shoot or Attack order, and allowed an extra point to each of the warbands (2 to the 48-point warband) to be used solely on additional leader skills (up to 2 skills per leader), so the warbands would effectively be 25, 25, 31, 31 and 50 points. Any points spent on leader skills in excess of the one or two extra points would be taken from the point value of the Warband.
The 48+2-point warband would be used in the last game, and would be split into 2 contingents, players choice if this warband contains contingents of equal or unequal points values.
Throughout the campaign Stephen would be the Red player, and I would be the Blue player.
For each battle the roll of a D6 would determine which scenario would be used, with the basic Bloodbath scenario being a 1 in 6 chance for each battle.
The five battles in the campaign, and the possible scenarios and attackers are:
Battle
Die Roll 1-3
Die Roll 4-5
Die Roll 6
Scenario
Attacker
Scenario
Attacker
Scenario
The River Valley
6: A Gentle Stroll (p146)
Blue (Andy)
16: Bloodfeud (p166)
Red (Stephen)
1: Bloodbath (p137)
Roll D6. Highest is Attacker
The Hills
3: Defending the Indefensible (p140)
Red (Stephen)
7: Hold on Tight (p148)
Blue (Andy)
The Road
13: The Convoy (p160)
Blue (Andy)
14: Meeting the Neighbours (p163)
Red (Stephen)
The Meadows
11: The Messenger (p154)
Red (Stephen)
4: The Fugitive (p142)
Blue (Andy)
The Village
8: Sausages with Mustard (p149)
Red (Stephen)
12: The Taxman Cometh (p156)
Blue (Andy)
To determine the first battle of the campaign we rolled a d10, subsequently the winner of a battle would choose which battle came next.
Battle 1.
The d10 result was 2, leading us to fight the battle in the River Valley, for this battle one long edge, the south edge, is a deep, impassable river, and we placed a stream, counting as bad going, just over halfway across the table, just to the east of the middle of the table.
The subsequent d6 roll resulted in scenario 6, A Gentle Stroll (p146). This made me the attacker and Stephen the defender. I had chosen a 31-point warband for this scenario, Stephen had a 25-point warband.
Andy (Frankish Settlers (Pullani)) Total 31 points
1 x Knights (Elite Cavalry, Drilled), Leader Braveheart (In challenges only hit on a 6) @ 8 points
2 x Sergeants (Heavy Cavalry) @ 4 points each
1 x Foot Sergeants (Heavy Infantry) @ 4 points
1 x Foot Yeomen (Light Infantry) @ 3 points
1 x Crossbowmen @ 4 points
2 x Skirmishers @ 2 points each
I should have had a unit of Light Cavalry, instead of one of the Heavy Cavalry units, but these are still on the painting table.
Stephen (Ayyubid Egyptian) Total 24 points
2 x Mounted Mamluk (Heavy Cavalry with Bows) @ 5 points each
3 x Mounted Turcomen (Light Cavalry) @ 4 points each
1 x Ahdath (Skirmishers) @ 2 points
Yes, Stephen should have had a 25-point warband, but he forgot to add a Leader skill!
Stephen deployed his forces in the North West Corner, with the objective of getting his warband off the South East corner. He had to leave one of his units of Turcomen off table initially, as they wouldn’t all fit into the deployment area.
I had to deploy in the North East and South West corners, with at least one unit in each area. My objective was to prevent Stephen from exiting the board. My plan was to deploy most of my force in the North East corner, including my Skirmishers and Crossbows, with the intention of moving them as quickly as possible to the South East corner to block Stephen’s exit.
Positions after turn 1. Sorry it’s a bit blurred.
I had to deploy at least one unit in the South West corner, I decided to use one of the Heavy Cavalry units and the Light Infantry, I wanted units that could move fairly quickly, but that would also be a threat to Stephen’s flank.
Andy’s “Forlorn Hope”
Stephen sent one of his units of Mamluks and his unit of Ahdath to counter my force in the South West, while the rest of his mounted units headed for the South East corner and safety.
Stephen’s Ayyubid Egyptians spread out
I Sent my Skirmishers forward, headed for the rocky ground to the east of the stream, hoping to be able to shoot at any of Stephen’s troops trying to cross the stream while taking advantage of the rocky ground as cover. I sent my second unit of Heavy Cavalry toward the Northern part of the stream to guard against a unit of Turcomen getting behind me, while I tried to keep my Leader’s unit of Elite Cavalry centrally positioned to enable him to use his failed activation re-roll should my heavier foot fail in a move activation.
Andy’s main force making all speed
On the West of the table my Yeomen made it to the hill only to receive an arrow storm from the Mamluks and Ahdath, sending them battered back off the hill.
Some of Stephen’s main force reached the stream, and came within range of my Skirmishers, fortunately I came out on top of the duel, and a couple of his Turcomen were forced back from the stream with heavy losses. He did get one unit of Turcomen across the stream and headed for the exit point, but by this time my Crossbows were in range and their quarrels took their toll.
Stephen’s Emir crosses the stream
In the West my Yeomen spectacularly failed their Rally attempt and fled the field, leaving the Mounted Sergeants a bit isolated. I decided to move these into the lee of the hill to take them out of sight of the Ayyubids, Stephen moved his Mamluks in parallel, and they eventually came to blows, both units being reduced to below half strength, with my Mounted Sergeants eventually routing.
Meanwhile Stephen’s Emir bravely pressed on crossing the stream, but by this time I had brought my second unit of Mounted Sergeants and my Knights further to the south.
The Mounted Sergeants were able to charge the Emir’s unit, reducing the unit to Emir himself. He must have been blessed with luck as he survived all the Leader casualty rolls he had to take, but did fail a Courage test, forcing him back across the stream.
I failed in an attempt to shoot him down with my Skirmishers, and we then came to a critical point. The Emir had to take a Rally test, if he failed, he would rout as he was the only figure left in the unit, and if that happened then all of Stephen’s remaining units would also have to take courage tests. Of course he passed, and I was unable to inflict a further casualty with archery before Stephen moved him out of range of my Skirmishers.
Stephen’s only full-strength unit now was his Ahdath, who were still well to the west of the stream, he had one unit of Turcomen just over half strength, but the remainder of his units were below half strength.
Stephen’s remnants
On the other hand, I had lost my Heavy Cavalry and the Light Infantry west of the stream, but all my other units were at over half strength and my Crossbows and Heavy Infantry were now blocking the Ayyubid’s exit point, with the latter in Wall of Spears.
At this point Stephen conceded that he could not win the battle, he did not think he could get enough of his troops off the exit point to win the scenario, so he conceded.
At the start of the game, I had made three boasts, ‘I shall slay their leader’ (3), ‘I will destroy more units than I lose’ (2) and ‘They will tremble before me’ (2). I failed to achieve the first two, but I did succeed with the last one, so I netted out at 0 Glory for the boasts (failed boasts cost you 1 Glory, irrespective of their value if you win), but took 5 Glory for the win.
Stephen made three boasts as well, ‘My arrows are deadlier than my spears’ (2), ‘Their arrows shall be lost like tears in the rain’ (1) and ‘They will tremble before me’ (2). He succeeded with the first two boasts, but failed the last for a total of 2 Glory for the boasts.
So, after the first battle it was 1-0 to me, I had 5 Glory and Stephen had 2 Glory.
Battle 2
For this battle I had selected a 25-point warband and Stephen had selected a 30-point warband (he forgot the additional point for a leader skill again).
Having won the first battle, I chose “The Meadows” as the second battle, and the d6 rolls resulted in the Bloodbath scenario with me as the attacker.
Andy (Frankish Settlers (Pullani)) Total 25 points
1 x Knights (Elite Cavalry, Drilled), Leader Braveheart (In challenges only hit on a 6) @ 8 points
1 x Sergeants (Heavy Cavalry) @ 4 points
1 x Foot Sergeants (Heavy Infantry) @ 4 points
1 x Foot Yeomen (Light Infantry) @ 3 points
1 x Crossbowmen @ 4 points
1 x Skirmishers @ 2 points
Stephen (Ayyubid Egyptian) Total 30 points
2 x Mounted Mamluk (Heavy Cavalry with Bows) @ 5 points each
3 x Mounted Turcomen (Light Cavalry) @ 4 points each
2 x Ahdath (Skirmishers) @ 2 points each
1 x Foot Ghilman (Light Infantry, with Javelins) @ 4 points
In this scenario each side deploys in three phases, first any 1- and 2-point units, then 3- and 4-point units, then units worth 5 or more points. The defender deploys first in each phase.
I knew I was going to be outnumbered and I also knew that due to the deployment rules Stephen would have to deploy most of his Warband before I deployed anything heavier than my Skirmishers. So, I decided on a ruse, I planned to concentrate my force in the South West corner and rely on an interior lines defence, trying to prevent Stephen being able to bring all his troops to bear at the same time, but I would try to make it look like I was going for a central deployment.
Stephen started by deploying his Ahdath on his left flank, near some rocky ground. I deployed my Skirmishers about a third of the way across the table, near to a building, I was hoping Stephen would think that these would be guarding the left of my line, when I actually intended them to be the right of my line.
Stephen then deployed his Ghilman and Turcomen, one of the latter to the east of his Ahdath and the other two in the North West corner with the Ghilman unit.
Stephen’s left flank
Now it was time to deploy my main force, I put my Yeomen on the extreme left of my deployment zone, then the Crossbows, then the Heavy Foot. I put the Mounted Sergeants on the right, immediately behind the Skirmishers. These would act as flank guard.
Stephen then deployed his remaining units, two groups of Mamluks, including his leader.
Stephen’s Turcomen, Ghilman and Mamluks
I deployed my Leader behind my Infantry line, intending to position him so that he could influence courage rolls on the main infantry line.
Turn 2 Andy’s Pullani brace themselves for the attack.
On my first couple of moves I advanced my skirmishers to occupy one of the buildings to form a bastion on my right, and advanced the rest of the infantry to form a diagonal line, getting the Yeomen and Sergeants into Wall of Spears.
Andy’s defensive line
Stephen advanced his forces, but he let his Ghilman get too far ahead of his other troops so they came in range of both my skirmishers and crossbows, taking casualties from both and being forced to retreat battered.
Stephen’s Turcomen units on the West flank advanced and shot at my Yeomen, temporarily battering them, and forcing them back. Fortunately for me they rallied at the first attempt and resumed their place in the line before Stephen could exploit the gap. Stephen also got his Ahdath close enough to my Skirmishers to start shooting, but having the advantage of cover my Skirmishers won that shooting contest. Stephen’s Turcomen unit on the East flank came up, so I advanced my Mounted Sergeants to chase them off, if memory serves, I charged them, they tried to evade but failed and had to fight with Armour of 1, all but being wiped out in the first round of combat.
On my left (the West) Stephen tried attacking my line of foot but his units were rebuffed. My crossbows and skirmishers must have been practicing because they inflicted many casualties breaking a couple of Stephen’s units.
With over half of Stephen’s units wiped out or routed, and with the hope of getting a third battle in, Stephen conceded.
This time I only made two boasts, ‘Half of the Enemy shall fall to my Sword’ (2) and ‘They will tremble before me’ (2). I succeeded with both boasts, so I gained 4 Glory for the boasts, and took 5 Glory for winning the battle.
Stephen made three boasts again, ‘I will destroy more units than I lose’ (2), ‘Half the enemy shall fall to my sword'(2) and ‘My arrows are deadlier than my spears’ (2) this time Stephen failed to achieve the first two boasts, but did succeed with the third, which cancelled each other out, so no change in his Glory total.
So, after the second battle I had 2 victories and 14 Glory, Stephen had two defeats and 2 Glory.
Battle 3
For the third battle I chose “The Hills” and the die roll resulted in Scenario 3 “Defending the Indefensible” with Stephen as the Attacker and I as the Defender. The table was set up with 5 hills, one in the centre of each quadrant, and one more in the central area of the table, with a shrine on the central hill. I had to deploy up to 10 points in the central zone, defending the shrine, with the remainder of my force in the Western deployment zone. Stephen’s force would deploy on the Eastern zone with the objective of getting one of his units into contact with the shrine.
Andy (Frankish Settlers (Pullani)) Total 25 points
1 x Knights (Elite Cavalry, Drilled), Leader Braveheart (In challenges only hit on a 6) @ 8 points
1 x Sergeants (Heavy Cavalry) @ 4 points
1 x Foot Sergeants (Heavy Infantry) @ 4 points
1 x Foot Yeomen (Light Infantry) @ 3 points
1 x Crossbowmen @ 4 points
1 x Skirmishers @ 2 points
Stephen (Ayyubid Egyptian) Total 29 points
1 x Foot Mamluk (Heavy Foot, Expert) @ 6 points
2 x Foot Ghilman (Light Infantry, with Javelins) @ 4 points each
1 x Hashishin (Warrior Infantry, Assassination) @ 5 points
1 x Mounted Turcomen (Light Cavalry) @ 4 points
3 x Ahdath (Skirmishers) @ 2 points each
The astute among you will notice the inclusion of a unit of Hashishin in Stephen’s warband, with the Assassination upgrade. These troops and the upgrade are from Lion Rampant: The Crusader States. The Assassination upgrade normally costs 2 points but the Hashishin get a discount so it only costs them 1 point. This allows a pre-game assassination attempt against the enemy leader, requiring a 5 or 6 on a d6 to succeed. Needless to say, Stephen rolled a 6, and my leader left this mortal coil clutching his throat. This meant that I would not get any Leader benefits in the next game.
I decided I would need to keep my fastest units as my “reserve” to give them the best chance of getting into the fray (this may have been a mistake), so I deployed my Foot Sergeants occupying the shrine on the hill, with the Crossbows facing Stephen’s deployment area, and the Skirmishers to one flank. In the Western deployment zone I put my two mounted units and my Yeomen.
Stephen deployed his Hashishin and Ghilman in the northern half of his deployment zone, with his Mamluks and Ahdath in the centre and his Turcomen on his southern flank.
As Attacker Stephen took the first move and advanced most of his troops towards the shrine, I advanced my crossbows and moved the skirmishers behind them to the northern flank. I then started to move my reserves up, thankfully all the units succeeded in their move activations in the first turn.
In the next couple of turns our missile troops exchanged fire, generally to my advantage, Stephen advanced his Hashishin and Ghilman closer to the shrine, and I managed to bring up my Mounted Sergeants on my southern flank and my Foot Yeomen on the Northern flank. My unit of Knights, bereft of their Leader, resolutely refused to advance any further (needing a 7+ to move, and having lost the ability to reroll a failed activation with the assassination of my leader).
On the southern flank our cavalry units came to blows, with my Sergeants coming out on top.
Stephen’s Ghilman advanced towards my Crossbows, taking casualties on their way in, but his Hashishin eventually got close enough to charge my Skirmishers, who managed to evade the charge.
By this time, I had brought up my Yeomen to hold off one of the Ghilman units, and Stephen’s Hashishin diverted their attention to my Crossbowmen who miraculously survived the Hashishin’s charge, driving them back.
Andy’s Pullani defend the shrine
And my Knights, you ask? Still sat stubbornly on the edge of my deployment zone refusing to move.
Stephen closes in on the Shrine, my Knights have hardly moved.Andy’s Knights “resolutely guarding the rocky ground”.
Stephen continued to throw his Ghilman at my Yeomen, and although the latter were reduced to half strength, they held on long enough that the Gilman unit eventually failed its Courage and Rally tests and melted away.
One of the conditions for ending this scenario is when the Attacker has lost 50% of their starting points, and eventually Stephen’s mounting casualties brought him to this point ending the battle.
For this battle I again only made two boasts: I shall destroy more than I lose (2) and Tremble before me (2). I succeeded with both boasts, so I gained 4 Glory for the boasts, and took 5 Glory for winning the battle.
Stephen made three boasts again: ‘My arrows are deadlier than my spears’ (2), ‘I shall strike the first blow’ (1), and ‘I shall run rings around them’ (1). Unfortunately for Stephen he failed to achieve any of these boasts so lost 3 Glory.
My recalcitrant knights did do one good thing, as they refused to move away from my deployment zone it made it all but impossible for Stephen to achieve his ‘’I shall run rings around them’ boast.
So, after the third battle I had 3 victories and 23 Glory, Stephen had 3 defeats and -1 Glory.
In our next session we will fight the fourth battle, where I expect to have a larger force than Stephen, and the final 50-point battle, which we will open up to a second commander on each side.
Boasts
For those not familiar with Lion Rampant, Boasts are additional objectives you can set for yourself in addition to the scenario objectives. The Boasts Stephen and I used in these battles, and their success criteria and Glory value are as follows (failing to achieve a boasts costs 1 Glory, irrespective of its positive Glory value).
Boast
Criteria
Glory
I shall slay your Leader
Your Leader must kill the enemy Leader in a Challenge or Attack. Routing the enemy Leader does not count as a success. If the enemy Leader refuses your challenge and survives the game, you succeed but score only 1 Glory
3
I will destroy more units than I lose
Your Warband must rout/kill more enemy units than you lose (the actual number of models destroyed is not relevant).
2
Half of the enemy shall fall to my sword
Your Warband must rout/kill at least half of your enemy’s total number of units (the actual number of models destroyed is not relevant).
2
My arrows are deadlier than my spears
Your Warband must rout/kill more individual models with Shooting than Attacks (put casualties in two separate piles!)
2
They will tremble before me!
At least two enemy units on the table must be Battered at any one time.
2
I shall strike the first blow
One of your units must declare the game’s first Attack
1
I shall Run rings around them
At the end of one turn of the game, have one of your own units closer to the enemy’s base line than any of their units.
1
Their arrows shall be lost like tears in the rain
None of your units may be ultimately routed or destroyed by missile fire (they may take missile casualties, but this cannot be the cause of their removal from play).
Club member Stephen reviews the games he has played at Maidstone Wargames Society this year. This is part 2 of the article covering July to December. If you missed part 1 it can be found here.
The first meeting after the Open Day can be an important one because it would be the first ‘true’ impression of a club day for anyone returning after the Open Day. We do try to have a few games going and it’s important that games are open to any new member to help them feel included and part of the club. I had a game of Dragon Rampant with Andy.
July – Dragon Rampant
We got in two games. Andy was using his goblins, and I used two new armies – elves in the first game and dwarves in the second. And Andy won both games. Not just won, but won quite convincingly. That’s the thing with new armies – it takes time. You have to get to know each other, trust each other, respect each other. Just like any relationship.
At the end of July came more sci-fi. Another game of Stargrave – Jurassic Moon! I’m sure you can work out the inspiration for that one. Films, TV, and books all provide an endless resource for Stargrave games. Yet again, another sci fi game in my decision to do more sci fi during the year.
In this game Tony’s captain would get killed by a pack of velociraptors, meaning Tony lost his crew and will have to start all over again. Meanwhile, Eric kept throwing grenades at everything. We also used the Side Hustle cards, which provided a great new element to the game.
July – Stargrave – Jurassic Moon
We are now two-thirds of the way through this gaming year, and another sci fi game for me – Battlestar Galactica by Ares Games. This uses the same game engine as other games such as X-Wing. The game was run by Alan, so fulfilled two briefs for the year’s gaming – play more sci fi, and play more games run by other people. Best of all, though, was the chance to game with club members I seldom game with. Alan umpired with Dave and myself taking the Cylons and Pete S and Chris taking the humans. I don’t wish to gloat, but suffice to say that Dave and myself had a very rewarding day!
August – Battle Star Galactica
And then on to a bit of fantasy – Elf King Red. This is a free download set of rules by Rick Priestly. In brief, the game is based around an elf civil war, with each player taking control of a different ‘Circle’ of elves. It’s one of those games with just a few miniatures per player – a leader (or Thane in the rules) accompanied by six companions. Just seven figures per side!
We had a four player game – Andy, Tony F, Phil, and myself. We played two different scenarios (we agreed that each player must devise a scenario, but obviously never played them all). Andy’s scenario involved hunting down a rampant werewolf whilst mine was all about taking control of a temple in the wilderness.
August – Elf King Red
It proved to be a nice fun game. These sort of things always work best with some kind of scenario driven game. There’s a few holes in the rules, which is OK (they’re free, after all), especially if you’re a group of friends and playing the game in the spirit of fun. We certainly coped with any hiccups and any uncertainties were easily resolved. EKR will make a great one-day session of linked scenarios.
It had been a little while, but the first meeting in September was back to our Wars of the Roses campaign – Battle of Hedgeley Moor. This was an encounter I was unfamiliar with, with newly crowned King Edward sending an embassy to the Scots only to be ambushed by the Lancastrians.
September – Sword and Spear – Battle of Hedgeley Moor
A closer game this time, so I suppose some things are improving.
The second meeting in September was supposed to be Rebels & Patriots but Andy had to pull out at the last minute, so I grabbed some spaceships and we had a game of Starmada instead. Like Full Thrust this is a space fleet game, but it’s quicker and dirtier than Full Thrust and can handle large fleet battles better. We played three games. The first was a simple meeting encounter so we could all remind ourselves of the rules. The grey fleet won this so we decided the next battle would be an attempt to take control of a mining facility. The green fleet repelled them this time and so we moved on to the last game – a chance for the greens to consolidate their position. But the greys won again. We decided this represented a minor victory for the greys. They hadn’t managed to take control of the mining facilities but had done enough to press the greens for trading benefits.
September – Starmada
The first meeting in October was on the 14th, which meant only one thing: HASTINGS! A few years ago we’d re-fought the battle so what we did was have a special Saga day based on the Norman Invasion. Norman and Anglo-Dane armies only.
October – SAGA – Battle of Hastings
The four of us decided to play multi-player games. Each player would keep track of victory points throughout the day and the player with the highest total would be declared winner. The day went to Tim with his Anglo-Danes with Jeremey, also using Anglo-Danes, in a very close second. It seems English resistance to the Normans is alive and well.
Since we meet in such a large hall I often wonder why we don’t do more one-on-one games. There’s enough room. So at the second meeting in October Tony G and myself had a few games of Barons War. This was Tony’s first time, so we kept it small. As such, we got in three games. Barons War provides a really good section on scenarios, which always benefits skirmish games. I won the first, then Tony won the second, which left a third deciding game. It went to Tony! The more I play Barons War the more I enjoy it. Like many rules it’s not always as clear as it could be – though not as bad as some rules out there. But as you play it the more sense it makes. A very enjoyable session.
October – Baron’s War
Right then. So, November. And another ding-dong in our Wars of the Rose campaign.
This was the Battle of Hexham and marked a turning point in the war. Not only was it a turning point in the actual war but it was also a turning point (hopefully) in our campaign. Rather than give details here you can instead read about the remarkable events here.
November – Sword and Spear – Battle of Hexham
The penultimate game of the year was a bit of a 90s throwback – Battletech! This game ticked two boxes for my year’s gaming: more sci fi AND play other’s games as well. Back in the day I used to play a lot of Battletech (and Silent Death). This was Eric’s game and we played a version of Battletech called Alpha Strike which, to be honest with you, bears no resemblance to the original game at all. Which is not a bad thing. Battletech was a very 90s set of rules and I’m not sure I have the stomach for it any more. But Eric had done the right thing by introducing us to Alpha Strike because it is a much more streamlined, playable, and therefore enjoyable game. Splendid fun. And check out Eric’s fantastically painted mechs. When I used to play I would go for lurid colours (I remember doing one in purple and yellow). I much prefer Eric’s muted colours.
November – Battletech Alpha Strike
And so on to my final game of the year. And yet more sci fi. Another game of Stargrave, but this time with a festive feel – I called the game ‘There Ain’t No Sanity Clause’ (full credit goes to The Damned for that). Santa Claus has been kidnapped by hordes of psycho-penguins and the players must spread festive goodwill to release him.
December – Stargrave – There Ain’t No Sanity Clause
Five players took part. They had two goals – as well as collecting loot tokens they also had to collect clues that tell them what they have to do to release Santa. The culmination of the game was a group rendition of We Wish You A Happy Christmas. In addition, if the players give back captured loot tokens to Santa (the loot were presents for all the good boys and girls) then they would receive double experience for those tokens.
A suitably festive ending to the year!
So those were the games I played at the club during 2023. I did well on my pledge to play more sci fi, but not so well when it came to playing other’s games (though I did do that more than usual – so not too bad). You know what, I don’t think I played a duff game all year. I thoroughly enjoyed every game. This is the advantage with being a club member – the variety of games and the quality. I’m going to continue with my determination to join in other games during 2024.
Club member Stephen reviews the games he has played at Maidstone Wargames Society this year. This is part 1 of the article covering January to June.
This article is a review of all the different games I’ve played over 2023 just to see, and remind myself, of the variety of games I’ve done. At the beginning of the year I made two decisions – play more sci fi, and play more games that other people put on (my general attitude is ‘I paid for these models and took the time to paint them so I want to use them!’ which means I generally put on a game at most meetings). So this year I wanted to mix things up.
The first game of the year was at the club meeting on January 28th. This was a game of Sword & Spear and part of a campaign (which started in 2022) to re-fight the Wars of the Roses with Jeremey.
January – Sword and Spear – Mortimer’s Cross
I love playing Sword & Spear. I do. But I don’t seem to be any good at it. In all the games I’ve ever played of S&S I think I’ve only ever won twice. Surely it can’t be my superior tactics, that seems to be beyond reproach, right? This game was a re-fight of Mortimer’s Cross (you can find the full, and gloating, write-up here: Wars of the Roses – Battle of Mortimers Cross – Battle Report – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)). As is traditional with S&S, I lost. But you know what, I couldn’t care less because the games are always a lot of fun with plenty of pre-game trash talk and goading, and each game has a story. Playing in good company always helps as well. I’d willingly keep on losing so long as I keep on enjoying it.
February brought another couple of games at the club.
First up was a new game to me – Charlie Don’t Surf by Two Fat Lardies. I find TFL games a bit marmite. I’ve played Chain of Command – loved it. I’ve played What A Tanker – didn’t like it. And this was the first time for CDS. And I loved that as well. The game and models are all Pete S’s, and he’s done a blinding job on them. They are 10mm Pendraken models (I think) and it has just the right look for Vietnam.
February – Charlie Don’t Surf
We’re used to seeing 20mm and 28mm Vietnam games which focus on platoon actions. But Vietnam was bigger than that – often brigade sized actions with the company as the manoeuvre unit. And 10mm captures that perfectly. I had command of the armoured platoon. We put Mark J (newly appointed club chairman) to prove his mettle in command so he took company HQ. The game was a victory for the US side!
The second game in February was planned to be a Barons’ War game with Andy. But in the week leading up I suggested to Andy we could do a ‘compare and contrast’ and have a game of both Lion Rampant and Barons’ War to see how the two handle the same period. You can read a summary of our findings here (Lion Rampant and Baron’s War – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)).
February – Baron’s War and Lion Rampant
First club meeting in March was a Stargrave game. I said I wanted to play more sci fi in 2023 and this was the first sci fi of the year. I found the original scenario online and tweaked it to be what I wanted it to be. Stargrave is a great toolbox of a game – you can make it what you want it to be. This game had both an overland and underground part, which was new for us.
March – Stargrave – The Warp Sextant
I prefer running Stargrave as an umpire, like a RPG. You get a different kind of pleasure as umpire because it’s about providing challenges and running the NPCs/monsters and hopefully providing an enjoyable scenario. Well, for me anyway. In this game Eric’s crew had fought hard to get to the bunker where the Warp Sextant was hidden. But coming out he found Tony F’s crew waiting outside, guns pointed at the entrance. A brief exchange of fire and it was Tony who made off with the treasure. Poor Eric.
End of March it was another chance to lose at Sword & Spear – Second Battle of St Albans. In this campaign I have the Lancastrians which means the onus is on me to win in battles where the Lancastrians came out on top. Such as Second St Albans.
March – Sword and Spear – Second Battle of St Albans
Again, rather than go into details here, anyone wanting to know more about this game can read the battle report (Wars of the Roses – 2nd Battle of St Albans – Battle Report – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)). Suffice to say, it was business as usual! Tony joined me again on the Lancastrian side. I was feeling good about this one, felt I was due a win. And the early part of the game was looking good – the local militia archers engaged the Yorkist artillery and eliminated them for no loss! Yup, first blood to Lancaster. And then it steadily went downhill. Never mind.
More sci fi in April! This time it was Pete M’s Space 1889 game. A different kind of sci fi – Victorian rather than futuristic. The stand out thing were Pete’s scratchbuilt aeronefs, and we spent a bit of time playing ‘guess what bits have been used for the models’. Truly outstanding.
We played two games. I was on the human side for both games, and both games were very close. And Jeremey got a leathering in both games with his colleagues leaving him to do all the work. Excellent game.
April – Space:1889 – Mars
The end of April was Salute and this coincided with a club meeting day. Naturally, it was going to be a quiet meeting with a fair few members at Salute. I ran an American Civil War game (battle of Cedar Mountain) using brigade Fire & Fury.
April – Fire & Fury – The Battle of Cedar Mountain
The Union army is in a difficult position for this battle – making an attack against a much larger Confederate army. John R took control of the Union troops and did a good job – but his artillery ran out of ammo early in the game and he never had the time or opportunity to replenish them. This left him conducting a fighting retreat, and he made a good job of it, slowing down the Confederates.
First game in May was another in our Wars of the Roses campaign – the battle of Towton. Like all the others…I lost. Now, I’m not just saying this, but the dice rolling on our side was pretty poor, compared to the other side rolling really well. No, no! Stop that! It’s true on this occasion. To read more about this game you can check out the blog post (Wars of the Roses – Battle of Towton – Battle Report – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk))
May – Sword & Spear – Towton
Next was another sci fi game – Full Thrust. Jeremey and Tony were running the game which meant only one thing: vector movement. My fluffy little head struggles with that and prefers the cinematic movement option.
May – Full Thrust
A mixed bag of results. The first game was two opposed fleets with an asteroid field cutting the table in two – Tony F and myself using some of Brigade’s German ships, and Jeremey and Tony G using some of Jeremey’s scratch built (out of false nails) ships. Tony and myself came out on top in that one. We then played a couple of one ship per player games (first was cruisers, second was destroyers) and the alien nail ships won those games.
Along came flaming June and I decided not to attend Broadside since I was trying to restrict spending and if you go to a show you have to buy something, eh? John Lambert and myself had a game of Crossfire. We played this quite a bit a few years ago but then it fell by the wayside. The models for this game were from my collection – WW2 eastern front.
June – Crossfire – WW2 Eastern Front
The scenario was a late war one – Russian advance through Poland with the Germans on the retreat. Naturally, we were re-learning the rules, but it steadily came back to us. MUST ensure we play more of this one.
June 24th was the club Open Day. My game was a Saga: Crusades games. We played two scenarios, I had Saracens and Andy had Milites Christi. Saracens carried the day and won both games. I love Saga. It’s just the right game for me.
We kept it small, with 500 point retinues, which meant we got three games in.
What’s nice about Barons’ War is the scenario content – there’s 15 different scenarios with 12 different deployment options. Which makes 180 different combinations. That’s not bad, eh?
Stand firm
We chose scenarios and deployments randomly.
Game 1
First up was #10 ‘Hidden Treasures’ with Deployment Map 3 (both opposite each other in the traditional way).
Deployment 3
In this scenario each player places 3 objectives. When a player controls an objective you roll a D6 and on a 6 you’ve found the treasure (all other objectives are then removed) and the winner is the one who has possession at the end of Turn 5.
Tony was using a mixed force of knights, sergeants, spearmen, and crossbowmen. He won initiative and, since he started in control of one of the objectives, rolled a dice and…nope, no treasure. This was the first time Tony had played Barons’ War, and it had been a while since I played, so it was very much a ‘get to know the rules’ game. He advanced his sergeants and his spearmen (being led by a sergeant commander).
Outlaws in the cabbage patch
My retinue was made up predominantly of outlaws. My archers also started in control of one of the objectives (in a cabbage patch) so I rolled a D6 and…I got a 6! The treasure was mine, now all I had to do was hold on to it for the rest of the game.
Both my archers and Tony’s crossbows were behind fences and hedges, and at long range to each other, so we stayed put and exchanged a bit of missile fire – the odd casualty but essentially harassment fire. I also engaged Tony’s knights with my archers as he moved into the centre. The rest of our units got stuck in with the melees and by the end of turn 5 the treasure was still in the hands of my outlaws, so game 1 went to me.
Typical high street behaviour
Game 2
Second game was #6 ‘Tear It Down’ with Deployment Map 11 (in a kind of wedge shape).
Deployment 11
In this scenario the two players again placed 3 objectives each but the idea was that you had to burn your opponent’s objective by being in control of them. The first player to burn all their opponent’s objectives is the winner.
I was unlucky enough to get the red deployment zone, Tony got the blue zone.
This one went a bit catastrophic for me. In fact, the game lasted no more than 30 minutes (and could have been over sooner than that if I’d conceded sooner!).
Around the back of the barn
Again, Tony won initiative and his opening action was to shoot with his crossbowmen at a unit of my outlaws. It was long range and they caused a couple of casualties, meaning I had to make a Morale roll. Which I seriously fluffed and the outlaws went Broken and had to make a move away. Problem was, I’d deployed them quite close to the table edge, and so they routed off table having done exactly chuff all! Realising that my whole right flank, and probably centre, was now compromised (and I had two of my objectives there) I had to hurriedly plug the gap. So I moved my knights around to delay Tony. He then charged my knights with his sergeants, which is fair enough (if he hadn’t charged me I was going to charge him). However, in Barons’ War if you roll a 10 it’s counted as a critical hit which can only be defended with a 10. My four knights got hit by four 10s! And I didn’t roll a single 10 for defence, which meant…off go the knights!
Truth is, that was pretty much the end of the game (my outlaw commander took control, so I could technically fight on but knew it was no hope). However, I just couldn’t let him win 3-0, so we played another turn and the other unit of outlaws then set fire to one of his objectives. At that point I conceded – at least I got one of his!
Someone is going to get hurt
Game 3
The third, and final deciding, game was #1 ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ with Deployment Map 4 (lined up opposite each other on short edges).
Deployment 4
In this scenario players place 1 objective each and the winner is the one who controls both objectives.
We both began by moving units up by Running, to make up the ground. Things slowed down once we got near each other as we tried to out manoeuvre each other. Both Tony’s crossbows and my archers were on the same flank. I decided to move my archers into the yard of an inn so they could use the fences for cover. These archers were led by an outlaw commander (a veteran, dispossessed, young nobleman – you know what I was thinking!) who used his multiple actions to order the archers to keep firing. They peppered Tony’s crossbowmen who promptly routed off the field. Good – I needed to get rid of them. This opened up the way to Tony’s objective and if I could get my archers there I would win.
Come out the house if you dare
Meanwhile, in the middle, Tony’s sergeant, led by his sergeant commander, engaged more of my outlaws and Broke them. And on the other flank I left my knights in control of my objective, with some spearmen hiding in the woods. Similarly, Tony was advancing on them with his knights and spearmen.
Next turn my archers double-timed to get to Tony’s objective. Realising how exposed the objective was he’d moved some sergeants up to take control of the objective, meaning I would have to fight for it after all. Well, I say ‘fight’ but what I intended to do was shoot more arrows at him.
Flashing blades
‘Intended’ is the important word there, because Tony won initiative next turn and, quite rightly, charged my archers with his sergeants. Fair enough, I expected that. But it went bad. A couple of casualties and, like the knights in the previous game, I rolled really badly for their morale, meaning they had to fall back. But, again, like the outlaws in the previous game, they were too close to the table edge and the flee move had them off the field!
I can hear them but I can’t see them
The game was decided in the fight for my objective. My knights were finally surrounded by Tony’s knights and spearmen. I counter-charged his knights and killed two of them! That took the smile off his face. But I was surrounded and every time I had to fall back I had nowhere to go, which meant I took an extra casualty. That quickly mounted up.
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