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A Most Ignoble Feud – Part 1

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.

Battlezone’s first outing

This year’s society game Battlezone had its first outing at Cavalier last month.

Table Top Miniatures have posted an interview about the game with Society Chairman Mark which was recorded at the show. You can see this here:

Battlezone – Cavalier 2025

And if you would like to read a blog post on the game creation, you can read that here:

BATTLEZONE: MWS 2025 Show Game – Maidstone Wargames Society

The game’s next scheduled outing is at Salute on April 12th at ExCeL

Work in Progress Wednesday

A little bit of progress was made by members this week, we can offer up some 15mm German WW2 infantry from Stephen.

While Phil has continued with some bigger miniatures in the form of a beast and balrog for Lord of the Rings.

And last but not least this week Mark J has started painting up some WW2 Stuka’s.

See you next Wednesday.

 

Wars of the Roses – Battle of Towton – Battle Report

Battle number seven in our campaign was the bloody field of Towton. The size of the armies who fought this battle is often questioned but it’s clear it was a big battle. To represent this we went for a 1000 points per side and also ended up with each command split across three players. The Lancastrians were commanded by Stephen as Somerset supported by Andy as the Earl of Northumberland and Tong G as the Earl of Wiltshire. I commanded the Yorkists as the rightful King Edward IV with Tony F as Warwick and newcommer to the campaign (and rules) Pete M as Lord Falconberg.

Battle of Towton
Apart from the increase in army size the only historical event we decided to include was the weather. Neither side was allowed artillery and we rolled at the start of the battle to see which direction the strong winds were blowing. Unlike history the wind ended up blowing towards the east and as such played little or no part in the battle.

I was expecting this battle to be a straight up archery duel followed by a clash of infantry. This was reflected in my army choice and how the deployment phase went. I placed Lord Falconberg’s force of cavalry, infantry and militia archers under Pete M on the Yorkist left flank, with a similar force for Warwick under Tony F on the right. I took the main bulk of the infantry to create a strong centre.

To my surprise the Lancastrians deployed with Northumberland’s forces under Andy in the centre with an even mix of infantry and archers, while Wiltshires similar forces under Tony G on the Lancastrian left. Tony G also had some Irish Kerns. The Lancastrian right was formed by Somerset’s own command under Stephen made up entirely of cavalry, four units of Mounted Men at Arms, two Currours and two Northern Boarder Horse. The Lancastrians had also brought stakes for their archers which led me to believe they would fight a stationary battle behind their defences.

Having won the initiative I kept to the battle plan and started to advance my archers. I gave each of my other commanders orders to just hold the flanks. Not to go charging off but to use their cavalry as a threat, and keep my flanks covered as I advanced.

Following the plan Tony F pushed up the cavalry and archers, the militia billmen got left behind given their poor discipline rating.

Pete M did the same on the left flank, creating two lines, with the archers out front, but Stephen immediately began moving the Mounted Men at Arms forward. I panicked a bit at this knowing Pete’s forces where not that strong and so I moved some billmen units towards the left flank in case they were needed.

Over on the Lancastrian left Tony G was having trouble getting units to advance off the hill. This was the first stage in what would see the front of the battle twist with the Lancastrians advancing on the right but barely moving on the left.

The Lancastrians got to within striking distance and then paused, this may have been to wait for the rest of the cavalry to catch up. Pete moved some archers within range and tried taking a hasty shot, this was rewarded with a hit and Stephen giving the Mounted Men at Arms activation dice in preperation to charge.

Seeing the danger from the archers Stephen in a bold move charged in a unit of boarder horse destroying the archers completely. Pete’s respond was to send in some billmen who made short work of the light horse with their charge spent.

In the centre the Andy’s Lancastrian archers had advanced off the hill and into range of my archers beginning the archery duel. The Yorkists managed to score a few hits but were outnumbered four longbow units to four enemy longbows and two crossbows.

The Yorkists had won initiative and after much debate Pete decided the best option was to charge in first. Despite being out numbered Pete’s cavalry managed to hold in the initial fight and the follow up, causing some damage to the Lancastrians. This set the tone for the conflict of the Lancastrians failing to get any clear advantage in combat.

Out on the Lancastrian left Tony G started to advance the Kerns but then realised facing off against the Yorkist cavalry wouldn’t be in their favour. As per my instructions Tony F had not advance the cavalry too far, keeping out of range of the Lancastrian archers.

Back to the Yorkist left flank and Pete M had managed to get another cavalry unit to support the Mounted Men at Arms. Giving the men at arms a bonus dice for good measure Pete M took the fight to the Lancastrians.

In the centre my Yorkist archers had got the better of the Lancastrians. This was down to a number of factors, I sacrificed the good activation dice I rolled to ensure my archers got some good shots in (this did leave my infantry lagging behind), I’d also been able to cause some hits as the Lancastrians were getting into range. With the loss of the archers Andy started to bring up some infantry. I matched this with some Men at Arms in support.

After a hard fight Pete’s Men at Arms managed to dispatch some of Stephens cavalry. With more Men at Arms in support I still felt Pete was in danger of the flank collasping, so continued to move infantry off in support.

Up until this point the Lancastrians had made no use of their stakes. But having failed to get off the hill Tony G decided to deploy them to ensure the cavalry couldn’t threaten them. But this clearly meant Tony G was not going to advance and as such not pose a threat either.

Because the Yorkists had won the archery duel in the centre, were holding out on the left flank against the concentrated Lancastrian cavalry and with them nailing their left flank to the hill, I decided to let Tony F get into the fight, their cavalry moved to engage the Kerns.

With the casualties piling up Stephen decided to move up more cavalry to dislodge Pete’s cavalry that had been holding out for most of the battle. This was enough to finally destroy Pete’s Mounted Men at Arms. To help plug the gap Pete moved up some billmen almost destroying the Lancastrain cavalry.

The infantry I’d moved in support of the Yorkist left flank were finally in position and seeing the threat Stephen moved the Currours to get their charges in. However they would be facing two Dismounted Men at Arms and some billmen. The resulting battle saw the destruction of the Lancastrian Currours.

Some favourable dice rolling saw two of Stephens Mounted Men at Arms destroyed with the Yorkist gaps filled by more Currours and billmen.

Following a successful charge seeing both Irish Kern units destroyed by the cavalry, Tony F moved up their archers to engage with the Lancastrians, but lost a unit in the exchange.

With an abundance of threes for my activation dice I decided to just go for it and get my Men at Arms into melee with Andy’s archers and crossbows. Unfortunately for the Lancatrians, Andy’s counter attack failed utterly. Throwing three ones was probably the best indicator as to how the battle was going for the Lancastrians.

On the Yorkist right flank Tony F had continued the attack by moving onto the enemy bill men after dispatching the Kerns. The cavalry didn’t do as well as expected, infact it did aswell as the Lancastrians cavalry had been up to that point.

It was at this point that Stephens cavalry finally broke through the Yorkist left flank, but it was a real case of too little too late. The Lancastrians had reached their breaking point and all that was let was to play out the remainder of the turn.

The final blow coming from the exhausted Yorkist archers facing off against Andy’s poor Men at Arms advancing under fire.

As so ended the battle of Towton with a decisive win for the Yorkist forces.

This battle did not go as planned for either side. I’d created an army with a strong core of infantry and expected to get bogged down in a big fight in the centre. This was the first time I’d deployed a large mercenary pike unit for just that type of battle. But my archers won the archery duel in the centre and because both flanks had held out there was no threat to the centre. As to the flanks Pete getting a charge in first was a pivotal moment and kept the Lancastrians from overwhelming that flank. As to the Yorkist right flank, with no threat coming from the Lancastrians this allowed some breathing space, the Yorkists were able to see how the centre and left flank faired before committing any additional forces to those battles.

I don’t know what the Lancastrian battle plan was but by putting all the cavalry on one flank that meant it became a make or break. There were no archers or infantry as back up should the cavalry fail to make a break through, which is exactly what happened. The Lancastrian centre and left flank were also unclear, having declared they had stakes seemed to announce they would stay put and expect the Yorkists to advance. But the Centre moved off the hill and engaged in the archery duel giving the advantage to the Yorkists and never deployed their stakes. While the left flank struggled to get moving and then achored themselves to the hill giving the Yorkist the choice of ignoring them and even redistribute any uncommitted units.

The Yorkists are now 5-1 up in the campaign after 7 battles (one was a draw), with 6 battles remaining. The Lancastrians must win at our next battle of Hedgeley Moor. Not a great place to be given historically most of the Lancastrian forces fled from the field before the main fighting started.

Yorkist Loses
2 Units of Militia Longbows (6 points)
1 Unit of Longbows (3 points)
1 Unit of Mounted Men at Arms (4 points)
2 Units of Currours (8 points)
Total loses 21 points (Army break point 58)

Lancastrian Loses
2 Units of Currours (8 points)
3 Units of Mounted Men at Arms (12 points)
1 Unit of Billmen (4 points)
5 Units of Longbows (15 points)
2 Units of Border Horse (6 points)
2 Units of Kerns (6 points)
2 Units of Crossbows (6 points)
Total loses 57 points (Army break point 51)

Yorkist Victory

Work in Progress Wednesday

After what seems like a very long break I’m back with the Work in Progress Wednesday post.

This week we start with Tony F who has been working on a crew for Stargrave. Above he has started on a Security detail, all from the Stargrave troops set.

Next up a Medic and hacker from the plastic Stargrave crew set .

Any finally First mate, captain, faithful robo-hound and robot navigator. The captain and dog are metal Diehard Miniatures, the other two are 3D prints.

Now we have some 6mm French from Mark H. It’s been a while for Mark to get some paint onto miniatures but we are pleased to see some progress.

Although given the size of his 6mm Napoleonic armies to date, I do wonder why Mark needs yet more!

And to prove a point this was a show game Mark put on way back in 2009!

That’s it for this week. See you at the next one.

What a Tanker – Saturday 09/07/2022

One of our newer members, Eric, reports on a What a (Grav) Tanker game run by Marcus at a recent meeting.

Today I was fortunate enough to play a modified game of “What A Tanker“. Rather than use the original rules published by “Two Fat Lardies”, my opponent and host, Marcus, had adapted them for a sci-fi setting. I was advised from the off that it was a “beer and pretzels” game aimed at having fun and rolling dice rather than anything with any complex hardcore mechanics and depth. Marcus explained that what we were playing was still very much a work in progress and had only ever played in solo mode. There were kinks to iron out and rules to be tweaked, but what he has done with it so far worked well. I get the impression that it’s not meant to have the scope of some small-scale future skirmish games (e.g., Hammers Slammers) – troops and heavy weapons weren’t present in our game. Maybe that is something that will appear later as Marcus works on the rules.

The original Lardies concept is a one-to-one ratio with multiple players fielding one tank each, and in an ideal situation you would have more than two players. However, Marcus’ adaption allows for two players with an increased unit count and the ability to scale up/down players/tanks if desired. As this was essentially a play test, we had several tanks each to command and the rules would be fluid and subject to change as we went.

We used 15mm tanks – the main battle tanks (MTB’s) were a combination of Old Crow miniatures tank chassis with Brigade Models Rapier MBT turrets.

The wheeled, light tanks were Ground Zero Games Paladin II models.

To add to the atmosphere (and create interruption for lines of site), there was some truly brilliant scratch-built scenery supported by alien flora, which looked suspiciously like plastic home aquarium plants (something that was used in Marcus’ sub aqua game). You can have a house point if you can figure out what the basis is for the 15mm buildings.

The rules were quite simple and easy to pick up. Each tank generates a dice pool which in turn is used to generate power that is allocated to different functions – movement, firing, shields, repair and so forth. This provided a level of complexity which meant that it wasn’t just rolling dice and saying “BANG! Your tank’s been destroyed”. Management of the power available to you is an important factor in making effective use of your tank and how it operates. The dice rolled at the beginning of each activation also determine what actions you can perform, with a wildcard number being available (should you generate one) which could be used to facilitate any one of the other functions. For example, you might generate the numbers needed to acquire a target, aim, fire and reload, but not necessarily move. Clearly this is a hindrance if your enemy has snuck behind that abandoned generator shed with the annoying graffiti, and you can’t get a clear shot. This is where the wildcard can be used to perform any of the prescribed game actions. At this point, you would logically trade it for the opportunity to move your tank to get a better shot. The same can be said for any of the other actions that you might need to perform. The wildcard number can also be used to repair non-critical damage.

Unlike other games that rely on a move -> shoot -> melee formula that you don’t normally deviate from, you can issue the commands for your tank in any order you choose. Instead of moving, aiming and firing, if you’ve already acquired your target and have line of sight, you could fire, then move away and reload. This of course, all depends on the previously mentioned power that you have generated via the dice pool and how you have pre-assigned it to different functions.

Let battle commence!, Game 1.

For our game, I was given command of three Paladin II wheeled units whereas Marcus had two heavy/MBT’s. Whilst the heavier tanks looked like they had the edge, we were in fact quite well balanced by me having three units to his two.

We deployed either end of the table with the intention of getting close enough to acquire each other as a target and then aim and fire. All the time, lines of sight were hampered by the local vegetation and buildings, making it tricky to get a bead on one other without exposing ourselves to a barrage of shells/lasers/railgun rounds.

After a while of getting used to the rules (for my benefit) we managed to engage in combat with one of my Paladins taking a couple of hits from Marcus’ MBT. Damage comes in two forms: critical and non-critical. Both types strip you of dice from your pool. If you were to have five dice in your pool and you took two hits; on your next activation, the dice pool would be reduced from five to three. Critical hits can’t be recovered from; these represent non repairable damage, but non-critical ones can. In your next activation round if you generate a wildcard result, it can be traded to remove one non-critical hit, thus restoring a die to your pool. Without those dice it’s a lot tougher to generate the actions you want and provide the power for them each turn.

After several turns of skulking through the undergrowth I finally managed to get into position and land a good couple of solid hits on one of Marcus’s MBT’s. He fired on me but with power management points applied to the shields, I successfully negated any damage he would have caused. The subsequent turn, I trundled into a kill position and finished off the already crippled MBT. This awarded me a special card which could be used in that game or saved and carried over to a future skirmish.

As it looked like our game would turn into one of cat and mouse between Marcus’s remaining tank and my Paladins, we decided to end it there.

The red Paladin takes down Marcus’ MBT, drawing the first game to a close

As there was still time on the clock, we decided to play a second game.

Game Two

This time Steve and James joined me, so we had a Paladin each, while Tony joined Marcus controlling one of the two MBT’s. The scenery set up remained the same and the deployment as was as the last time, with both teams starting at opposite ends.

James took the left flank, Steve, the right and I went down the middle. Tony had managed to work his MBT into a spot where he could snipe on me and stripped away a couple of dice worth of power which made my next activation extremely difficult. It wasn’t long into the game though before we had our first casualty, me! Trying to shield myself next to a building did no good and a second round of firing from Tony reduced my tank to a burning wreck without me even getting a shot off.

Smoke billows from the blue Paladin after receiving catastrophic damage from Tony’s MBT

Meanwhile Steve moved up the right-hand side of the table exchanging fire with Marcus whilst James tried to outmanoeuvre Tony. Steve took some hits which would have meant he was seriously compromised but managed to recover all the damage he had suffered (including any critical hits) with the help of a special play card. Unfortunately, he subsequently succumbed to fire from Marcus, meaning the MBT’s were in a superior position and dominating the battle, leaving just James to try and slug it out with the two MBT’s on his own.

Steve attempts to take the right flank – Marcus’ MBT is just out of shot

James, still on the flank, his Paladin now damaged and functioning at 80% capacity, managed to get into position which gave him a clear shot at Tony. A hail of fire destroyed Tony’s tank, while Marcus looked for a firing solution against James. Marcus fired, but the shells glanced harmlessly off the Paladin thanks to some wise use of power management to his shield. With only Marcus left and in a clear line of site, James reciprocated Marcus’ salvo after winning initiative. The hits were enough to cause some non-critical damage but with the help of a special play card earned from taking out Tony, James’ shells found a chink in Marcus’s armour and truly ended the battle with a bang and winning the game.

James’ Paladin makes its way up the left flank

I’ve deliberately neglected to include some of the rules that were used – for brevity’s sake and because it’s Marcus’ project it’s undoubtedly subject to change.

I can say in all honesty, I look forward to Marcus getting the rules fully realised and written up as this makes for a great pick-up game, with more subtle complexities than would first appear. With the planned revisions that he has this has all the markings of being a great little game. It’s certainly made me want to buy some 15 mm sci-fi tanks now!

Work in Progress Wednesday

I think the warmer weather is starting to compete with the various projects members are working on. This week Marcus has come to the rescue with a glimpse of some things he’s been working on (should probably call this Work in Progress Marcus!)

Above we have some Copplestone Casting Future Warriors in winter camo.

Next up Marcus has dug out some old Tin Soldier 15mm fantasy miniatures to encourage his children into painting up some miniatures.

And finally from Marcus this week are some Starschlock miniatures, a mix of Astroguard and Dronetrooper figures. Will be interesting to see what colour scheme these have.

That’s it from, well, Marcus. We will have to see if the pending heatwave here in the UK puts pay to the next WIP Wednesday.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Just a few offerings for this week. I’m blaming the heat. It certainly saps creativity and painting.

Above we have some space fighters from Stephen (really need to find out who makes these). And below Stephen has been creating more Loot tokens for Stargrave.

Physical and Data Loot ready to be salvaged

I’ve also been creating Loot tokens for Stargrave only I went with some blank indented dice and some free sci-fi textures to turn them into Loots tokens.

The dice were undercoated first before the textures added, then some dry brushing to get them blended in.

After about 10 years of sitting in a box I also managed to stick some previously purchased plastic aquarium plants into the start of a jungle.

Multiple plastic plants stuck together with the hot glue gun

And finally this week Andy has made a bit more progress on his medieval Sergeants.

The heat is definitely slowing down painting

See you next week for the next glimpse of our club activity.