This year’s Field of Glory tournament started with a 3-a-side game on the first meeting of the year. From the scores it would seem to have been a very close game, with the triumvirate of Paul, Pete and Brett just edging out Colin, Jack and Chairman John 11-9. The FoG league page has now been moved to the blog from the club website – the page can be found here.
Tombstone 2018
The end of year Society wild west shoot out for 2018 has gone down in the Annals of the West. The town photographer captured the action!
This saw Sheriff “Frontier Steve” Walters defending the good citizens of Tombstone against raiding gangs led by Black “Texas Bob” Jang and Frank “Bexley Dutch Mike” Schmidt. The Sheriff was later reinforced by a mercenary crew led by No-Eyes “Chairman John” Luke. A motley range of citizens were controlled by the host and umpire, “Treasurer Mark” showing varying levels of commitment to help defend their town.
The gang led by Dutch Mike made a beeline for the bank, whilst the gang led by Texas Bob made a bee-line for the Drink n Drop Saloon. Patrolling deputy Ted ‘The Lawman’ spotted Dutch, raised the alarm and opened fire with his trusty Colt, while Sheriff Steve Walters moved round the general store to outflank Dutch’s gang, only to die in a hail of bullets from Quick-Draw Mc-Graw. Several citizens waded in to help – the general store owner shot down Dutch from the window of his store before rashly coming out and in turn being gunned down by Quick-Draw. Ted the Lawman fell to the shotgun of outlaw Heath Robinson. The hapless citizen Bashful Baz placed himself squarely in the line of fire and then spent the rest of the game rooted to the spot and twice trying to unjam his Colt in a hail of bullets, emerging unscathed with only a few bullet grazes. The only Deputy left standing, Camp Freddie, despatched outlaw Doc Savage through a window, having fled for cover in the bank.
At the other end of town Texas Bob went head to head with the newly arrived John ‘No-eyes’ and gunned him down in a hail of lead, then laying out his gang-side kick Jimmy Six-Shot with a ‘real-bad’ hit in the legs. His rampage was finally stopped with a hail of bullets from ‘No-Eyes’ number 2, Yankee Seb. Texas Bob’s side-kick, Stick-up Joe moved in to rob and recruit in the Drink n Drop. Joe won over his secret admirer, saloon girl Rosie Williams and saloon ‘resident’ Whiskey Will. All hell broke lose as the jilted and alcohol-fuelled Hallelujah Jones attacked Rosie. Stick-up laid him out cold and Rosie completed her journey to the dark side by finishing him with her trusty Deringer. However, as Stick-up Joe emerged from the Drink n Drop, he was gunned down by hired guns Yankee Seb and Ugly Trev.
Meanwhile outlaw Sam Sharpshot went after town resident ‘The Butcher’ who had been gunned down after emerging from his livery stable and wildly shooting his shotgun at Texas Bob’s gang. ‘The Butcher’ was heroically rescued by the town Doc, Sweeney Todd, but both were then pursued and ‘The Butcher’ was killed by the hard-bitten Sam assisted by Whiskey Will – Sweeney Todd was badly injured trying to save him. Meanwhile last member of Bob’s gang, the outlaw Maximillian met a sticky end at the hands of Yankee Seb, Deputy Camp Freddie and hotel owner ‘Hurricane’ Higgins, who suddenly found the ‘courage’ to shoot him in the back as he faced Yankee Seb.
Crazed with grief Rosie dashed across the street aiming to gun down lawman Camp Freddie, who calmly turned and shot her down.
With this, the surviving outlaws headed for the hills.
The winner on the day was the gang of Black “Texas Bob” Jang, who scored 7 points after robbing the Drink n Drop and the Livery Stable (1 point each), recruiting two citizens to the gang (2 points), killing Legend ‘No-Eyes’ (2 points) and two citizens (half a point each). The only survivors were Shootist Sam Sharpshot and the now infamous ex-citizen Whiskey Will.
In second place was “Chairman John”, who scored 4.5 points after killing Legend Black Jang, Doc Savage, Maximillian and half a point for citizen turned outlaw, Rosie. All of the hired gang except leader ‘No-Eyes’ survived, but Jimmy Six-Shot was ‘hurt real bad’.
A close third was “Bexley Dutch Mike”, who scored 4 points, his gang gunning down Legend Sheriff Walters, Deputy Ted the Lawman and citizens ‘Doc’ Walters and Ol’ George. Only two gang members survived, Quick-Draw Mc-Graw and gang side-kick, Heath Robinson, who was ‘hurt real bad’, but caused mayhem with his shotgun. McGraw becomes a legend after taking out the Sheriff and his marksman deputy without so much as a scratch before avenging his fallen leader.
“Frontier Steve” had an unlucky day with 3 of the 4 lawmen shot down stopping Dutch’s gang with the Sheriff and Chief Deputy killed and Deputy Billy the Bloke badly shot up as he emerged from the jail to help. Their sacrifice will always be remembered.
The citizens held a fine funeral for Doc Walters who fell defending his store and the town, killing outlaw legend ‘Dutch’ Schmidt. Bashful Baz can spin a fine tale showing his bullet grazes having survived a hail of bullets and shotgun shells (probably leaving out that his gun jammed twice and he never hit anything other than the side of the bank). The severely injured doctor, Sweeney Todd becomes a town hero after his selfless rescue of ‘The Butcher’ and attempt to save him from the brutal assault of Sam Sharpshot and the treacherous Whiskey Will.
The tragic tale of the doomed love of Stick-up Joe and Rosie Williams enters western folk-lore.
Camp Freddie plans to stand for Sheriff.
The game used “The Rules With No Name” and 20mm figures and buildings from the collection of our late Chairman, Trevor.
The rules use a card driven activation sequence and make for an excellent, fast, fun game.
A random roll was used to drive the action of citizens, with the potential to defect to an outlaw gang under pressure, avoid action, or alternatively suddenly gain the courage to defend the town, with limited, or excessive enthusiasm, as events unfolded in their direction.
Grendel Stalks the Night
To kick off 2019 at the first meeting in January there will be a game of Dragon Rampant based on the story of Beowulf and Grendel. Stephen sets the scene…
“In off the moors, down through the mist beams, god-cursed Grendel came greedily loping…”
The game will involve two sides – Grendel and his marsh demon minions against Beowulf and the assorted heroes of Heorot.
All models and materials will be provided. Just bring yourself and a desire to roll dice in good company. There’s no need to know the rules either. Dragon Rampant is an easy game to pick up and, though it’s open to anyone, I’d be particularly keen to have players who’ve never played the ‘Rampant’ family of games before or new players to the club.
So if you fancy a go then join us on the 12th Jan for a bit of mythological dark ages fun.
“For a brief while your strength is in bloom but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow illness or the sword to lay you low, or a sudden fire or a surge of water or jabbing blade or javelin from the air or repellent age.”
Doom Riders of the Wasteland
John Lambert fills us in with the goings-on at the Christmas Gaslands game
Five Gangers set off from the city in pursuit of the two escaping War Rigs and their escort. Stephen was keen to get stuck in but slide out of control and was stuck in 1st gear at the end of the first move. It was going to prove a frustrating day as He tried to get back into contention.
The War Rigs were in good shape but the escort had managed to position themselves so that they were unable to provide cover for the rigs. This close escort was proving frustrating for the second War Rig and despite strong words between the rig driver and escort the escort failed to take evasive action and was hit by the War rigs side rams – Ouch!. Sometimes tough love is the only way to learn. This was to prove costly for the War Rigs too as hazard accumulation caused by the collision and the wide bends caused the trailing War Rig to wipeout. This separated the rigs and left Chris’s war rig vulnerable to attack from all sides. The folly of taking fixed position machine guns instead of pivot mounts was plain to see as Chris suffered attack after attack, particularly from Bob’s car armed with two deadly miniguns.
Meanwhile the Escorting vehicles took a well earned lunch allowing Andy to score significant hits on the second rig. Chris was lined up to smash through a road block but He never made it and had to respawn. After two and a half hours, the War rigs had become bogged down but were able to carry out some repairs on the move. The trailing war rig decided to cut across the desert to avoid the attentions of the Ganger pack as a Pell Mell battle developed around Chris’ rig. It was at this point that Stephen dropped a glue slick which was to prove pivotal in the penultimate turn.
With Bob still in the lead, there were two dark horses. Carefully and quietly, Jack was amassing points and by pretending not to have any interest in the game, Mark’s tally was increasing un-noticed. Stephen also managed to register some hits.
This was the moment to bring on the Gyrocopter with snakes as a dropped weapon. The snakes were duly dropped causing confusion amongst the Gangers which pushed Andy out of contention, made worse by a direct hit from a Molotov cocktail and Bob was not able to get in strike range of the Rigs, stuck in the glue. With the final turn approaching, Bob was still in the lead but only just. A ramming and boarding attempt by Mark failed and whilst Jack was able to score some hits, a fumbled gear change prevented further attacks or a ramming attempt on the Rigs.
In the end, Bob just about held on to win by a narrow 2 point margin from both Mark and Jack. Bob’s pre game preparation had proved decisive and He is now the proud owner of a 3 car Gaslands team. Well done Bob!
Let’s Get Medieval
Stephen gives us an end-of-year Medieval treat…
I’ve a couple of bits on the go at the moment, one more or less complete and the other just starting.
First up is a 15mm Wars Of The Roses army to give that young upstart, Earl Jeremey ‘Hotspur’ a run for his money. These will be for Sword & Spear. I bought a few test packs of Essex archers (since I knew I’d need lots of archers) to get my juices flowing. I have it on good authority that I’ve been a good boy this year (well, good enough) and that Santa is going to be bringing me the rest of the army. We’re really enjoying Sword & Spear and I’m looking forward to re-fighting some battles from the WotR.
The other thing I’ve been popping away at over the last year is a medieval Irish army for Lion Rampant. These are suitable for the 13th and 14th century. I’ve now got 24 points worth with two units of Gallowglaichs (dismounted men at arms), two units of Bonnachts (light foot with javelins) and two units of Kerns (scouts with bows). I plan to add another unit of bonnachts and kerns during the year to give more flexibility and for some bigger games. These are destined for a game at 2019’s Open Day with an Irish round tower build in the offing as well.
Whither Shall I Wander
We had a game of Lord of The Rings Battle Game on Saturday and Tony had made some terrain pieces that just add that little bit extra to a games table.
So with that in mind, and a wet and miserable Sunday to fill, I decided to make one as well. Only I was a little bit more ambitious. Rather than just a sign post on its own I decided to make it a bit more comprehensive and to theme it to a medieval setting since road junctions in medieval times were important boundaries and points for outsiders.
I’m afraid I didn’t take any work-in-progress shots, but it was surprisingly quick to make. I thought it would draw out over several days. But no. Got it all done in a day!
The gibbet cage was made from styrene strip. It was a straightforward build, but fiddly whilst waiting for the glue to dry. The posts were made from balsa and the stones around the base made from milliput. Most of the time was spent waiting for the milliput to set – put it in the boiler cupboard where it’s warm and then off to Sainsburys to do the shopping whilst it cures. The water trough and parish boundary stone were also made from milliput.
Painting was simple as well. Both wood and stone were from the same colours – a mix of khaki and medium grey. But more medium grey in the stone and more khaki in the wood. I decided to keep the destinations on the signpost generic. Then add some ballast on the base, then add some static grass. And finish off with some clump foliage. The water in the trough is from epoxy resin (the Wickes’ home brand one is nice and cheap). The skull was from GW’s excellent (and splendidly OTT) ‘Box Of Skulls’.
And there we have it – a signpost with gibbet cage, boundary marker, and water trough for tired animals.
Gaslands Monster Truck Build
John Lambert shows us his latest Gaslands build
I’d always wanted to build a chrome Monster Truck after I’d seen ‘Fury Road’ so this is how I did it. The build also coincides with the Gaslands TX2 supplement which includes details of new weapons.
From this:
To the finished article at the top of the page.
Truck body
Firstly, I drilled out the rivets on the Pickup Truck to separate the components. The bonnet air inlet on the truck is a bit naff so this was removed and replaced with a resin part. I added mesh for the windows and windscreen and built a weapon mount from plastic tubing and plastic strapping. I put it all back together, sprayed with Humbrol chrome and dry brushed Burnt Sienna as rust. Job done.
Chassis
I drilled out rivets to separate the body and cut down the chassis to the top of the springs and checked the fit. I toned down the garish chrome on the original, sprayed the suspension parts chrome and black washed over to pick out the detail on the springs which is really good.
Harpoon Gun
I wanted this to be like an old whaling gun. I built it from plastic rod, tube and plastic card. I added a gunner and a 28mm wire spear cut down made an ideal. I painted the harpoon dark grey and dry brushed gunmetal.
Doomriders of the Wasteland
John Lambert sets up our Christmas Gaslands game
A Nation is crushed. Cut off from it’s neighbours, supplies of food and medicines rapidly run out. Power supplies are interrupted and anarchy rules the streets. In a desperate attempt to restore order, weapons destined for a foreign power are unleashed on the population, cities are shattered and a once green and pleasant land is turned into a desolate wasteland. The economy crashes and Petroleum becomes the new currency, supplies are jealously guarded. All is despair.
Yet there is hope! A small convoy with a precious load of fuel breaks out from the city in search of Nirvana in Arcadia but their every move has been followed by the evil “Guvnor” who unleashes a feral gang to recapture the fuel. For the Gang it’s an opportunity for personal glory at the expense of all others – winner takes all with the chance to topple the “Guvnor” from power.
GAME NOTES
The game will be played along a series of game boards featuring a road and other terrain features. The escorted convoy ‘ Riggers’ will fend of attacks from the ‘Gangers’ during the course of the game. There are no victory points for the ‘Riggers’, they will get enough satisfaction from destroying as many ‘Gangers’ as possible. The ‘Gangers’ only score victory points by knocking off War Rig hull points. The winner of the event (and there can only be one winner) is the player with the most victory points at the end of the game and points mean prizes!
Riggers – John, Tony. Dave, Chris
Gangers – Everyone else. So far 6, but if you want to join in the mayhem and haven’t yet let one of the ‘Riggers’ know.
A ‘Ganger’ vehicle must be maximum 25 cans on the Gaslands listing and you can equip your vehicle with as much weaponry as you like as long as it complies with Gaslands specifications, build slots etc. If you vehicle cost is less than 25 cans, we can look at upgrades and perks to top out your vehicle. All vehicles will be checked by scrutineering prior to commencement of the game. If you are in any doubt, please ask.
In addition to the vehicles you will require a dashboard to log the current status of your vehicle. We will provide blanks on the day or you could go for the classy laminated look to your dash for which we can supply templates.
All ‘Gangers’ can provide up to 2 vehicles for the game and vehicles will be offered to those without. The chances of winning the event may be increased if a ‘Ganger” enters with two vehicles. During the course of the game, Vehicles may lose all of their hull points in which case, they are not out of the game but ‘respawn’, re entering the game at the entry point of the game board they are currently on but in first gear and half hull points.
That’s enough information revealed for now, so if you haven’t started, get building!
The Gesta Owaini
Stephen regales us with another saga of the SAGA campaign
There is safety in numbers. Mind, there is also cowardice and dishonour.
It happened that Fritjolf Erlandsson had been raiding the coasts of Britannia and his raids took him north, around the rocky shores of Cape Wrath, and down through the Hibernian seas and the Isles of Manannan. He took landfall at Anglesey before heading down the Conway and harrying the good people who lived in the fertile valley.
This news soon passed to the bishop of Bangor who called upon his bondsman, Owain the Wolf Tamer, to fall upon the norsemen and bring slaughter to them. Owain was pleased to do the bishop’s bidding and he said his prayers unto the Lord that he may prevail in this endeavour.
It was in the woods of Tal-Y-Bont that Owain found Fritjolf and his men lurking, taking camp amid a collection of hoary stones engraved with the symbols of the ancients.
Fritjolf bellowed out to Owain, challenging him to a duel. But Owain was known for his wisdom and canniness, and he knew the deceit of the Vikings, and he was cunning in his actions for he made the leader of the Norse think he had been fooled, but he knew that Fritjolf had hidden his men in the woods and would lay upon him when he drew near. In his turn, Owain had arranged his own warriors and loyal bondsmen, so that Fritjolf would be trapped and Owain could take him back in chains to the bishop in Bangor.
Owain drew his javelins and let a flurry fly at Fritjolf and such was the accuracy of his aim that he pricked the Norse leader terribly. At this Fritjolf showed his true self and hastily fled from Owain and sought sanctuary amongst his men, too cowardly to take the fight to Owain as man against man,as he had entreated. Oh no! This Norse warrior, who had boasted and goaded the bold Owain, soon hid behind his men whilst Owain stood firm, alone, without need of hiding behind the men he was responsible for. So much for heroics when this cursed raider could do nothing more heroic than use his own men, men who had come to his banner, as a shield to protect his own dishonourable hide.
Owain had long since inspired devotion and loyalty in his followers who willingly moved forward to engage the Norse raiders to protect their lord and land.
Many times did Fritjolf and his raiders know the bitter taste of Welsh iron and fell sorry sore at the points of their javelins.
Owain danced around the raiders, his knowledge of the land of his fathers playing into his hands, and the vikings were at a loss at what to do.
And so it happened that Fritjolf and his raiders were sent packing. Lucky them that they were not sent in chains to the bishop, but with their tails between their legs they were beaten off and they made for their longships and took to the seas once more.
They would have no joy in the lands of Cymru!
Pax Germanica
At the last meeting we had a game of Sword & Spear – Romans against Germans.
Jeremey took control of the Romans and Stephen had the Germans (we were joined half way through by Andy (Romans) and Tony (Germans) once they finished their Saga game). We did the River Crossing scenario from the rulebook, with the Romans on the attack. Victory conditions meant that if the Romans had half or more of their units on the opposite side of the river during any End Phase of the game they were automatically declared winner.
The Germans deployed first with their warbands stretched out facing the river to oppose any Roman crossing. On the left flank they had the cavalry and skirmishers.
The Romans had their legions facing the river with auxiliaries on the Roman left and the Roman cavalry on the right, having to make their way through rocky ground before getting to the river.
Both armies moved up quickly (we realised after a few turns that we read the group move rules incorrectly, but at least it got us stuck in quicker!). The German (lack of) discipline made moving up in any kind of order difficult and it turned out enough tribal leaders hadn’t arrived, so they also had a few command and control issues since the warbands on the further edges were out of command range (you can see I’m getting in the excuses early).
It reached that point – the Romans lined up on one side of the river and the Germans on the other. There’d been some desultory bow fire but it was quite clear how this was going to be decided. The Romans were on the attack and the onus was on them to win. So Rome’s finest did what they had to do and started wading across the river…
The main fighting was in the middle between the legions and the warbands. It started going the Roman way. They created a bridge head and units were crossing the river. It looked like this was going to be over quicker than we thought. The Germans brought up their cavalry to plug some holes. Out on the right flank things were going a bit slower – the Germans struggling to bring enough troops up and the Romans refusing the flank with their archers pouring fire into the tribesmen. Meanwhile, on the left, the Roman cavalry also took time coming up through the rocky ground allowing the German archers to advance to the river with bows at the ready once the cavalry came into range and sight.
The centre wore away. In one clash the Germans managed to destroy one of the Roman units taking the Roman general with it! The tide of battle was starting to turn and it looked as though the Germans may have a chance of victory. This had come at a cost though – the German units were starting to get weak and fragile from the battle. Realising they would have to be bold and daring to secure victory the German right flank finally managed to get to the river and decided to charge across it at the Roman archers and auxiliaries in the woods on the opposite bank. A bold attack, indeed, and one that was repulsed.
And there things came to an end. In that brief glimmer of hope the Germans had taken enough of a pounding to force them to quit the field. It had been no easy victory for the Romans – they had taken the river crossing but they had also taken a serious drubbing to achieve their goal. A pyrrhic victory at best. But a victory nonetheless.
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