Death to the rabble rouser!

In a play test of Flashing Steel – Forged in Blood we explored house to house fighting and the complications thereof.

Using my Last Valley scenario generation tool I came up with the following story: a local priest (Q5, C0) was stirring up the population, instigating witch hunts and provoking discontent. He was speaking at a rally in the guesthouse, surrounded by a picked squad (Q3, C2) of bodyguards, while outside the militia (Q5, C2, pikes) were forced to cool their heels. Bolstering them were a troop of cuirassiers (Q4, C2) who were rightfully ill at ease in the confined streets of the village. Covering the North road to the village a group of musketeers (Q4, C4) lurked in the rough ground.

Since he was a trouble maker, a rival village had recruited a bunch of mercenaries to silence him. This consisted of a crack squad of musketeers (Q3, C2, heavy muskets) who approached the North side through the woods. Assisting them were two mixed groups (Q4, C2, some armed with pike, and others with muskets), and a group of amateurs (Q5, C2, muskets). Their ace player, though, was a sharpshooter (Q4, C2, heavy musket) who they hoped would manage to put a bullet in the priest before he roused the population to any more religious intolerance.

Very quickly the game became one of house to house fighting. This gave us a chance to look at the rules so far, and they were found wanting. More work is to be done here. The goal was to adequately simulate a 1:1 man to model ratio fight, where the result is one group or the other being ejected from the house. Some good ideas came out, and will be tested next time.

The game itself resolved when one of the attacking groups slipped down an alley in to the guesthouse, chased the priest for a while, and then shot him in the back point blank as he finally managed to make it outside. The sharpshooter didn’t even get near. The defenders suffered no casualties (apart from the priest – so they lost anyway) while the attackers left four dead. Escape from the village by the attackers would have been a game in itself as the guesthouse was well surrounded by the end. Still, the crack musketeers still raked the main road so they conceivably might have covered a flight to safety.

The basics of turn sequencing worked well as they always do. Weapon lethality could be increased somewhat.

Return to the garden

The second expedition of General Urko and his band of marauding apes was played out by Andrew and I.

This time the encounter was just as bloody, but resulted in a clear victory for the cassowaries.

It started slowly with the defenders rolling only single or pairs of dice to bring up a squad of birds in to the compound. There they zapped away with their sonic cannon, but to little effect. Urged on by the general, the apes closed on the wall on the right and crossed. Soon a lively firefight was under way. Penetrating deeper, private Parts, armed with his electro-lance, engaged the agricultural robot. Unfortunately he was right by the strangle bob fern and spent most of the rest of the game evading its clutches.

Meanwhile on the left general Urko urged the other squad forward. They ignored him. A lot. Until finally they surged into action, reaching the breach made on the right and crossed. However, by this stage casualties amongst the apes were reaching a critical stage and individuals were starting to fall back after failed morale checks.

The straw that broke the camel’s back occurred when the general himself was engaged and beaten by his opposite number. The surviving apes fled for their lives.

Planet of the Apes scenario development

Hundreds of years after the devastating Atomic Wars of the 1950′s, the mutated survivors battle for survival.

This is the development of a war-game scenario using Ganesha Games’ Mutants and Death Ray Guns.

A group of Apes under General Urko (Q3 C3, Leader, Mounted, Pistol C+1) has learned that a flock of giant intelligent flightless birds (cassowarys) have a walled compound in which they cultivate nourishing fruits and nuts.

The apes consist of two squads of five men each. All but one ape (Q4 C3, assault rifle C+2) are the same. The single specialist ape (Q4 C3) is armed with an electric lance (short range reach, C+1, lethal to robots).

The cassowarys have similar statistics but are armed with sonic cannon (C+0, transfix) that double as pole arms in close combat (C+2). In their orchard they have two rusting but still functioning horticultural CD-food-8 robots (Q4 C4) that move only short, but are armed with saws (C+0). In addition, a mutated plant called a Stranglebob (Q5 C3, entangle short range) has taken root. The cassowary defender adds a red marker to the base of one of the trees and may reveal it whenever an ape comes within one short distance.

That’s the set up. This scenario has already had one run through with Richard, where his inventive destructiveness nearly wiped out my righteous apes with self destructive robots. It was a bloody encounter: General Urko himself had to fight for his life, kicking a bird in the face to survive. He then squandered the next turn by rising in his saddle and shouting, ‘Oo oo oo.’

Only time prevented us from finding a clear winner. As it was, both parties were battling it out within the orchard, using available cover to best advantage. It could have gone either way. A failed morale test on either side would have finished it.

Flashing Steel is out now

After a long journey, the Flashing Steel rules are out and available for sale. These are the rules for skirmish level war-games for the Late Renaissance: the 30 Years War, 80 Years War, English Civil War, French Wars of Religion, Swedish-Polish Wars, Holy Roman Empire – Turkish Wars, and the Gold Age of Pirates. It is man-on-man skirmish with an emphasis on dramatic actions. The result is a set of rules that are less about historical accuracy (though they are) than in capturing period flavour.

Thanks to everyone who I ever bored by talking at them about this topic. Special mention to Simon and Paul, who were always peripheral to the main event, but who provided some valuable insights.

Finding the protagonist company

The company invading and attempting the hold the last valley is commanded by Ernat Marulanda Gasco. With him are five lieutenants. Each of these men have a group they command. The following is a reprise of earlier information (2 years old), updated with new understandings and details of the groups they command.

Who are these people? They are Catholic soldiers, sometime during the Thirty Years War in Eastern Europe campaigning against the Protestant rebels. They are currently detatched in winter quarters and are only interested in feeding themselves and recuperating before the weather improves and the campaigning season starts.

Who is the leader? (one in four chance for the main characters) Ernat.

Who is Ernat Marulanda Gasco?

(Une characteristics) Established Tradesman [what trade? Don't know yet].

(Une motivations) Colaborate Vigilance [Ernat is a tactical genius, organising the other members of the party for their mutual defence. This is one of the reasons he is the leader]; Advocate Harmony [he is the peacemaker between the members of his foraging party. He can smooth over their differences. This is the other reason he is the leader]; Suppress the World [he is cynical about politics and morals. His actions are based on his own perceived need, or that of his party, rather than some abstract external force such as justice, national security, or religious conformity].

His command group is 5 shot: his bodyguard are all musketeers.

Who is Jurisco Suarez Cornejo?

(Une characteristics) Dependable Scrapper [Jurisco likes a fight and is not afraid of getting in one].

(Une motivations) Compose Pleasure [he writes music and/or composes poetry]; Defile Allies [he levies kontributions from friends and enemies alike. He cannot tell the difference between enemy combatants and civilians]; Seek Hate [he sees the war he is in as a just war of good against evil. He hates the Calvinists as devils on Earth].

Juarisco’s group are also all musketeers. There are 11 of them.

Who is Dide Rucina Covalan?

(Une characteristics) Defiant Politician [Dide likes the sound of his own voice. He also likes to take a contrary view].

(Une motivations) Communicate Gluttony [he is greedy, valuing foodstuffs above other goods. He torments the other party members by describing sumptuous dishes and recipes, especially when they are hungry]; Interact Industry [he is industrious for the party good. He does not shrink from helping out in any task for the party welfare. Despite his faults he is no slacker]; Refine Intelligence [he's a smart man, it cannot be denied. He knows a lot of stuff about a lot of things. If anyone wants to know something, Dide is who they will ask].

Dide’s group are Cuirassiers. There are 5 heavy armoured horsemen in his group.

Who is Albergio Restrepo Mendiluce?

(Une characteristics) Careful Shopkeeper [Albergio is the party quartermaster. He keeps a careful watch on their provisions].

(Une motivations) Assist Criminals [Albergio goes along with the party. Let's face it: the party are foraging soldiers during some of the worst wars in history. They are bad, and Albergio just joins in]; Promote Advice [he is a supporter. If someone in the party suggests something that he likes he goes to the trouble to agree with them. He is prepared to pick a side]; Agonise Dreams [What dreams? Don't know yet - this is a good open thread ].

Albergio commands a group of mixed infantry: 4 pikemen and 6 musketeers.

Who is Eduare Amor Magallanes?

(Une characteristics) Nefarious Clairvoyant [Eduare claims to have holy visions but he is a liar. He makes up stuff to get what he wants].

(Une motivations) Associate Discrimination [he sticks to the 'birds of a feather flock together' principle. He is in a Calvinist land. Therefore all the people there are Calvinists (heretics)]; Encourage Stories [he likes a good story, either told by himself or someone else]; Promote Atrocities [this speaks for itself].

Eduare commands a group of 3 miscellaneous horsemen.

Who is Gari Cuervo Iguaren?

(Une characteristics) Dependable Labourer [Gari will do what he is told. He is not afraid of hard work].

(Une motivations) Agonize Nature [he is troubled by the religious war raging around him. While not smart enough to understand the arguments, he does understand the principles and what is at stake: the immortal soul of man]; Inform Opulence [he always has his eye out for lootable things and he tells the rest of the party about them] ; Advise Narcissism [he is a toady, reminding the others how clever, handsome, rich or witty they are].

Gari commands a group of pikemen, or general close brawlers, I reckon. There are 10 of them in his group.

There’s the party. As random as I could make it, justified into a logical framework. I don’t think I like any of them as humans, but they do seem real. They fit the genre. They should generate interesting stories. To generate the types of troop I drew cards against the chart listed in the earlier posting. To find the number of men in each group I rolled 2d4 for cavalry and 3d6 for infantry.

Song of Powder and Pike test

This evening I played through a ridiculously simple scenario to test a few of the basic concepts of SPP. I view this through the 30 Years War lens, rather then the later English Civil War, but at this scale it should make no difference.

On the Catholic Imperial side we had a group of 8 pikemen, and two groups of 5 musketeers each. Each had a Leutnant leader, and a Hauptmann commanding the entire force, in a group with a flag bearer (Fähndrich) and drummer (Trommler). Opposing them over boggy ground behind a hedge in an orchard were the Protestant rebels of a group of 6 musketeers and a second of 5 musketeers.

Without relating a blow by blow account the following photos show the progression of action. The Imperials stumbled with poor Activation rolls and were slowed by the swamp (Close terrain). The Protestants kept up a harassing fire but were unable to really cause damage due to the slow reload rate until the Imperials were within killing range.

Once close, the lethal fire caused the first setback for the Imperials, causing their left to retire and thus gaining their first terror marker.

In the centre and right however the going was better and the Imperials closed to the hedge.

Close range fire and then melee gave the Imperials a slight edge as flanking men leapt over. However, close range fire from the rebels downed the pikemen’s Leutnant. The Feldwebel promptly took over, but the moral check was failed.

Two out of the three units were now pushed back and had terror markers in place, so a general morale check was called. Alas, the Hauptman could not hold his force, and they fled.

Overall, the battle played out as it should. the mechanisms seemed to hold up. The detail of morale chance and general morale check need to be settled. So too do the specific details of fighting man-to-man over obstacles. Lord of the Rings has some fine examples that can be referenced here.

This game had the correct feel for the period, I felt. On more than one occasion I cursed the slow reload of matchlocks. Similarly the scale felt correct: I was vitally concerned with the health of my Leutnants, and when they fell I suddenly became deeply interested in what characteristics my Feldwebels might have. The Hauptmann (that’s Captain to you) correctly felt like an ‘ace in the hole’. More work needs to be done here. I want him and his retinue to be a mobile reserve: a metaphorical guards regiment that once committed turns the battle but once committed is out of control.

Song of Powder and Pike test

Song of Powder and Pike (SPP) is the working title of the new rules I am writing for Ganesha Games as a follow on Flashing Steel. The original Flashing Steel was designed for single figure skirmish, providing swashbuckling action. Very cinematic, with lots of character and detail to breathe life into the individual models. SPP is being designed to take the action up to the next level, that of the squad acting as part of a company or task force. Just like Warhammer, you could choose to imagine that a group of 12 models is a regiment of 600 if you want. Personally, however, I am invisioning individual men engaged in small raiding actions.

These photos show some of the tests that Greg and I ran the other night.

A group is the functional unit of an army. A group is composed of a Leader and anything up to 15 other models. The group is a loose arrangement: it is identified by proximity to the Leader, and they can be broken and reformed easily. A single figure by himself is also a ‘group’ for these purposes.

Basic features of Flashing Steel (and Song of Blades and Heroes) are retained such as turn sequencing (really the core catch of any system – change this and you have an entirely new beast), and the simple DBA-style single d6 task resolution system.

For fans of 17th century warfare, there are a few things that really need to be reflected in the rules to carry that correct flavour. They are, in no particular order: forming up to give protection with pikes, pike fencing in general, the lethality of muskets at close range but rapid drop off in effectiveness, the incredibly slow reloading times of matchlock muskets, the fact that infantry caught in the open by cavalry are mincemeat, and then the differences between cavalry performing the caracole, trotting and firing at close range but prior to contact and the bare-arsed all-or-nothing charge of the earlier Gendarmes, Polish Winged Hussars and Pancerni, later Swedes and the Royalist English.

The figures used here are Renegade Miniatures for the infantry and Eureka Miniatures for the cavalry. I added musket stands to the Renegade musketeers as I prefer the earlier 30YW look to the later ECW firelock look.

More posts to come as work progresses.

More lizards

Here are the skinks completed, along with a metal acid spitting lizard that the boys picked up years ago and then forgot about. Now I have a nice little group of models suitable for throwing at adventurers in a skirmish game.

Lizards!

These fellows have been in my painting box for at least ten years, probably more.

I distinctly remember lodging a request with my mate, Pete, when he went to work in the UK to bring me back a box of GW Skinks. As a non-gamer, I’m sure he found the experience confronting. Still, if the most confronting thing you ever have to do is walk into a hobby shop and ask for toys then you have lived a very sheltered life, my friend. Pete has since redeemed himself by living such a harrowing life that I feel positively confronted reading his dispatches from the front.

Anyway, so I bought these skinks because I have a soft spot for the lizardmen (and rats). But how to paint them? The default seemed to be green? Why? Hard to say, really. Any skink I have seen is brown, and when you look at other lizards in the wild they have an amazing and beautiful range. This was in part why it took me so long to get around to painting them. I could never decide on a scheme, and I felt inadequate to the task.

Recently I have decided to paint things because they are no good unpainted when I am dead. Better to be painted shithouse than not at all.

A little research came up with the poison frog of South America. This test paint is an attempt to capture that scheme. White undercoat, black eyes, space marine blue hands and feet, blood red dorsal surfaces (that’s back, to you), yellow ventral surfaces (front), orange crest gills, brown for the bow and quiver, silver for jewellery. Wattyl Stain & Varnish. Tamiya Matt Clear varnish.

I’m pretty happy with this guy and now I just have to discipline myself to do the rest.

Beowulf – for Hellfrost

As we get ready to start a new fantasy story telling campaign using Hellfrost by Triple Ace, I am starting to think about the opportunities for skirmish wargaming using 28mm and either Songs of Blades and Heroes (if we play <5 a side) or Savage Worlds Showdown (if we play squad, up to 20 a side).

These fellows from Eureka Miniatures are absolutely beautiful and fit the bill nicely. Sourcing monsters will be the next trick, and I hope to write an entry for each monster in the beastiary and nominate a suitable figure.

As the weeks go by I will talk more about Hellfrost. Greg has been a Hârn player since the beginning and knows that Dark Age, low magic stye of play well. Despite both Simon and I begging that he run a campaign for us he would not. This is probably because he knew the entire map inside out after having run another gaming group in it for decades. The Hârn system itself is a work of wonder: for my money the best conventional fully featured role-playing game system ever devised. For a streamlined and minimalist conventional role-playing system, I can’t go past Risus  (check out the good work being done with this system here: Risus Monkey.) But systems alone do not make a fun game, we have decided. It’s more about player investment.

My fascination with ice-covered fantasy terrain started when I bought The (1st edition) Iron Wind by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE). It was further reinforced when I watched Quintet. There is something simultaneously calming and yet disturbing about a snow-covered world. It is almost a benign form of sterility. Possibly it also goes back to my young days when I used to climb and bushwalk in the mountains – the utter solitude of it all…

Both of us have a taste for Call of Cthulhu. So the Hellfrost is sure to take on supernatural tones well beyond simple monsters.

As a result of these things, I am looking forward to a few stories in this setting using the specific region guides, and also a good dose of miniatures gaming as well.