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.

Tha Last Valley – Week 4

Apologies for the gap that has occured in this story. A bout of pneumonia took the wind out of my sails, and explains why there have not been enough battles yet…

So, what happened in week 4 of the campaign?

The weather turned colder, delivering sleet and a dusting of snow. The wind dropped as well, and the whole village underwent an invisible change. A different mood an attitude settled on them. The with the coming of snow the inevitability of winter and of the continued occupation of the troops everyone seemed to become more calm and resigned.

Following the loss of Eduare and his three men, the Captain was deeply concerned about the reduction in horse power. For the rest of the week, the men and any spare villagers were sent to recapture any horses that had survived the battle from both sides. Armour and saddles from the defeated invading cuirassier troop were retrieved and stored. Dides’ men used the parts to replace or repair their own kit, placing the rest into reserve.

Two horses were found and placed into the stables with the others. Three others were never found. The remaning three had been killed in the battle. They were quickly butchered and preserved, a welcome addition to the Winter stockpile.

And so all seemed well in the valley, until the fifth week arrived…

The Last Valley – week 3

Last time, you will recall, Dide confronted his mutinous men. Rather than play this out and write it blow by blow here, I made a few rolls against the Enquiry table and came to a conclusion. Dide put the men in their place.

On the following week, however, Eduare and his scouts were passing through Lansby Vale when they spotted a group of marauders. Word was hastily sent back for help, and he engaged them.

The marauders were clearly on a foraging mission and made straight for the fields to capture some pigs. Their leader with his group of Cuirassiers barrelled straight down the road at Eduare and quickly slaughtered them all (one character and group gone from the protagonist force). However, The following body of pikemen under Gari formed up and bloodily repelled the invaders.

By this time reinforcements had arrived. Ernat and his picked musketeers swept around the side of the hamlet and provided enfilading fire, smashing the cuirassiers and killing the leader. They then took the time to pour fire at a lone sneaky marksman. On the other side of the table some of the marauders had been successful in capturing some livestock and were retiring. Another group moved into the middle of a field while Dide and his cuirassiers bore down on them from the hills. In desperation, the marauders formed up to repeal the cavalry, only to be caught in withering fire by Jurisco and his men. Ranks broken, Dide’s cavalry swept into them. Few survived.

This called for several morale checks and individual groups dissolved, giving way to a general retreat.

The three men from Eduare’s group (Redmond Strohkirch, Kellen Esser, Dieter Seidel) and Eduare himself were killed. But apart from that the only other casualty was a single man from Albergio’s mixed group (Leopold Sauber).

In the opposing company the Captain was killed, along with all their cavalry. Two entire groups were destroyed, along with a marksman: approaching 50% casualties. This bunch are extremely unlikely to return, I think.

From a campaign point of view it was a great outcome for the protagonist company. They stamped out a rival force with great effectiveness. The loss of a cavalry group is a tough blow as the horses will be hard, if not impossible, to replace. However, overall the casualties were extremely light.

This game was played by myself and Andrew S, using the developing Flashing Steel – Forged in Blood rules. Andrew is primarily a Napoleonics player, so his insights into combined arms in this earlier period were valuable. Overall the rules seemed to hold up. There were several tweaks that were thrown up that need to be incorporated. Overall, the variable turn mechanism and the period specifics allowed Andrew to pull a classic manoeuvre on me: lure a group into forming up in the open under under threat from cavalry, then pouring shot in to the flanks to cause disruption, and then charging home the cavalry to sweep them away.

The Last Valley, week 2. Set up.

Last time, you will recall, Ernat and his company of soldiers had settled themselves into the valley.

A week later the weather had not improved and already there were rumblings of disagreement with the decision to stay and exploit rather than raze and move on. The sunsets had been blood red: a clear sign to the pious that God himself was in violent disagreement with the plan to lounge here in this den of Satan when a war was raging without.

The cavalrymen of Dide’s group were of the opinion that the decision to stay had been a poor one. Under the leadership of Lewis Wildgrube, they had met in an abandoned blacksmith’s workshop in Lansby Vale to discuss what to do about it. Their plan was two-fold. Firstly they would attempt to convince the musketeers under Jurisco’s command to join them. Then they would capture the captain and force him to issue new orders. If he disagreed they would kill him and elect a new leader – preferably Dide.

However, their plan was undone when Dide got wind of the plot and rode alone to confront them on that bitter windswept night.

The resulting fight between Dide and Lewis would change the shape of the company. This is the fight that will occur next, using Flashing Steel duelling rules.

And here are the raw dice rolls against the tables developed and uploaded earlier that informed this narrative:

Scenario for TLV Campaign. Week 2.

Internal or External event (odd – internal. Even – external): 2. An external event. But in the end the narrative made it pretty much and internal event, and I’m OK with that.

Weather: 3, no change. The weather continues cold with rain.

Where: 14. Lansby Vale.

Place events: 31. Nomadic Horseman’s tomb

People Events: 30. Mutiny in the ranks

Acts of God: 33. Red sunsets three days in a row

Textures: 3. Abandoned

Significant terrain: 5. Blacksmith

Eye Catchers: 32. Heretical symbols.

Mutiny? Is it led by one of the officers? Long Shot: No.

In whose group does this mutiny start? Dide – The Cuirassiers.

Dide is a persuasive talker. Is it possible that he has inadvertently given his men the idea that he disagrees with the Captain’s decisions? Do they think they are quietly doing what Dide wants? 50/50. Yes, but. They do, but Dide definitely does not want to split the company.

Does Dide get wind of the mutinous plot? Safe bet. Yes, and. He takes it as a personal matter. Without telling the captain he confronts his men on the hilltop in the abandoned blacksmith’s shop.

What was the nature of the plot? Imprison/Enemies. The plotters wanted to snatch the captain and hold him, convincing him to change plans and lead the company elsewhere. If he did not comply they would kill him and make Dide the leader.

What did they intend to do next? Cruelty/Art. Jurisco is considered the artist of the group. He is also the one most hard on the locals. The rebellious horsemen were planning to approach his group of musketeers and with them they would have the rump of the company on side.

Had they already made contact? Fair chance. No. So they are still in the planning phase and isolated.

The five horsemen are: Garin Hochberg (Choleric), Dustin Steuben (Phlegmatic), Waggoner Keil (Choleric), Lewis Wildgrube (Choleric), Ellery Linden (Melancholic). So the majority of these men are hot headed and aggressive, as suits their role as cavalrymen, and traditional types at that. Lewis (26 brave, 28 merciful, 33 change averse) seems to be the ringleader of this group.

Does Lewis challenge Dide? Long shot. Yes. Despite Lewis’ apparent loyalty to Dide and resistance to change, he challenges Dide for the leadership of the group of horsemen.

And so now we know the wargame scenario. It is a Flashing Steel skirmish between Dide and Lewis in and around the blacksmith’s shop. The other troopers will not interfere.

If Dide wins the remaining troopers rejoin the company and Dide will say nothing to the captain. As far as he is concerned the matter will be closed, whether or not Lewis is alive.

If Lewis wins he will lead the other troopers out of the valley, reducing the company by that group.

In both cases opportunities are left open for repercussions of this fight.

The Last Valley – historic scene

Sunday morning. School holidays so the kids are in bed and will languish there for half the day before they get up full of demands. Wife busy with her course material. Bereft of anything better to do, I decided to set up a wargaming diorama to show off my latest modelling efforts in buildings and to get the full protagonist company of The Last Valley war-game campaign on the table for a review.

And here it is. In the front is Ernat with his five picked musketeer bodyguards. Next is Dide with his 5 cuirassiers. Then comes Albergio with his mixed group of 4 pikemen and 6 musketeers. Then Gari with his 10 tough pikemen (I pick these guys for brawlers, actually). Jurisco is next with his body of 11 musketeers. And finally comes Eduare with his 3 scouting cavalrymen with mixed armour and equipment.

The military figures are a range of Renegade, Warlord and Old Glory. The many civilians around the joint, including the row of ‘ladies of negotiable virtue’, and the two kids taking their lives into their hands are from Megaminis. The roads are modular print of demand tiles from Lord Zsezse Works. The barrels are wooden beads.

The buildings are all paper model templates downloaded free from the Dungeons & Dragons site, printed colour then glued down on thick cardboard (I used the back boards of note pads that I had been collecting for a long time). The exception to this are the two large buildings. These were cheap wooden treasure chests that I bought from a two-dollor shop. The sort designed for little girls to keep their precious things in. Once the hinges and latch are off, I again printed out sheets from the D&D range, selectively carved them up and glued then directly on the wood, making easy equilateral triangles to form the peaks of the roof. Now the roofs can be removed to give a playable upper story interior, and the whole top layer can come off to give a ground story interior.

I’m pretty comfortable that I can now host an ‘urban’, village combat, with interior spaces for house to house action. To my eye, the main thing lacking from this rural scene is domestic animals.

The Last Valley – map

After finding the nine squares that make up the generalised area of the campaign by using the Battle Finder from The Perfect Captain I had a coarse understanding of the terrain. I then redrew these into a consolidated picture, with each of the nine squares being roughly translatable onto my 4′ by 4′ wargame table. Some leeway has to be allowed when a battle occurs when adding the terrain models as I don’t exactly have specific models to match the maps. But close enough will do. Also, though I have drawn them all togetehr, technically there could be significant gaps bewteen the specific nine ‘arenas’.

I also have renamed the randomised terrain zones to better reflect a middle German location.

So in the north west we have Köninggarten, a hilly and deeply forested area. The main road runs through a section tailor made for ambushing, and narrow paths cross the forbidding woods.

North is Mickel Tal, an area dominated by two peaks. Only a narrow track passes through the ravine to Lansby Tal in the north east. Lansby Tal is itself a broad valley that has been lightly settled and cultivated. A main road runs north through the region, in clear sight of the heights to the north east.

Directly west is Kapelle Heilig Wald (Holy Wood Chapel). Here in the valley proper the Betrunken Kuh Fluss (Drunk Cow River) cuts the region in half. The southern bank is clothed in deep forests. A narrow path rises to the north into the hills and nestled at the base is a chapel.

In the centre of our region is Heilige Sergius, the village named after Saint Sergius, a martyred (is there any other kind of saint?) Roman soldier who refused to renounce his Christianity. This region has all terrain types, from crop lands, riverine, hills, forests, the main roadway and light urbanisation. This is the heart of it all, where most of the population are permanently based, and from where our protagonist company will set out from to meet threats.

East is Chertney Mühle, an extension of the fertile Betrunken Kuh Fluss valley, dominated by the hills that seperate it from Lansby Tal. The road branches north over this rise. To the south of the river lie extensive marshlands.

Lambient Hügel is a wild area in the south west, dominated by hills and enclosed by forests. A track leads out of the forests toward the village, making it a difficult piece of terrain to patrol and one most susceptable to a surprise attack.

Straight south from the village is Mawlder Heide (heath) a high alpine plain carrying the main south road. An old watchtower overlooks the road. An rough path leads east to Furt von alt Roderick (Old Roderick’s Ford). Here the river doglegs back, creating a large swampy zone that gives way to forest in the south. The ford crosses the river just at the transition zone from heath to swamp so it is not suitable for wheeled vehicles of any kind. After periods of heavy rain the whole area becomes a quagmire, but after a freeze it resembles a sheet of glass.