Wiley Wargame Weekeend

 Last weekend was was our annual Wiley Wargame Weekend. We had a about a dozen people and played several games over the course of the day even with a mid afternnon taco/burrito break.

First off was a group favorite: Flower of Chivalry. Although over the last couple of decades I've modified it enough it's kinda it's own game now. Everyone just calls it Battlelust now even though that name is already taken.

This was a 4v4 affair. As usual, it looked pretty one sided until it wasn't. It ended up being a tie.

Moving along chronologically through our games, NotJay ran a game of What a Tanker. Again it started one sided and quickly swung over into an Allied victory. My Stug was the only survivor and quickly beat it.

Our final game was Battelsuit Alpha but with a twist. It was mech vs Bioengineered titans using the old VOR miniatures. Fun game, but I was busy cleaning up and didn't get proper pictures. Joel promised to run it aggain so I can get pics.

Sunday my son came over to video an Airships! battle from our latest rule book Glorious Adventures in the Age of Steam. I'll be posting that next.

Oldie but a Goodie

 Last night we sat down to play one of our favorites. We've been enjoying Flower of Chivalry now for almost 30 years. It never gets old.

As usual, a fairly close fight until the end. And as always, a cat on the table.

You can see a video of the whole battle report HERE.

Fistful of Lead- Medieval: Tax Collecting

Sir Arnulf (Arnulf Ax-in-the-Back) was not gifted by the Duke with the best lands. Both the land and the peasants were unproductive and sad. What's a knight to do raise some revenue?
A little "tax collecting" from the neighboring fief of Sir Douglas.
No sooner were doors getting kicked in, and chickens and grain being collected, when Sir Douglas shows up. I quick blow on the war horn alerted Sir Arnulf's reinforcements they were needed.
Unfortunately, Sir Douglas brought back up, too.

 Sir Arnulf, doing what he does.

 Arnulf's reinforcements, Sir Bertold

 The goody-goody Sir Douglas

And his back up, Sir Gregory

At first, Arnulf went about the business of looting and pillaging. But then a quick footed, enthusiastic foot soldier of Douglas came screaming down the path. Arnulf's archer, being quite the sniper, put aa arrow through his eye. The fight was on.

"Come at me, Bro!"

After using his trademark move, "ax in the back while your opponent isn't looking", Arnulf went for the coup de grace. Even with the help of his trusted sergeant, Arnulf was unable to finish Sir Douglas off. In fact, he went down with a sword in the gut from the prostrate Douglas.

 "Stay down, Dougie"

The last stand on the hill

With their master gone, all of Arnulf's forces took an immediate gut check. "Why are we here when are lord is gone?" This required rolling as a Recovery check. Everyone passed! Loyal to the end.
And it was the end. The invaders were quickly finished off or sent packing.

A great little game which we played after doing a quick play test of some larger scale rules for Fistful of Lead. This is different from Big Battles as it uses bases of troops versus large squads of soldiers. Sorry, no pics, they were paper soldiers...

Some extra rules we used for our Medieval skirmish:
- Armor saves are reduced by wounds and shock just like anything else. The thinking behind this was a soldier was less effective at using their defenses by being wounded or dazed with shock, allowing an opponent a chance to get in shot in a vulnerable spot.
- Miniatures with more shock than remaining wounds must leave the field.
- Gain negative Renown for Knights for attacking a lesser foe when another knight was closer.

Campaign for the Kingdom: The Center Can't Hold

Last night we played one of our group's favorite games, our Campaign for the Kingdom. WE've been playing the rules for about 20 years, with lead just as old. This is a mapless campaign. The player with the most points, accrued by victories, is the Claimant. The player with the next highest, is the Pretender. First player to agreed upon total wins. In this case 12 points.
In the this battle, the Earl Rutiger was defending his claim to the throne from Ulric, Duke of the Black Isles. I played Rutiger, in absence of the real player.

The first few turns saw a cautious advance on both sides, players trying to hold their lines together. But, of course, there were a few commanders who got jumpy and the lines surged forward.
This game is a delicate dance of controlling your force's Battlelust. For the most part they will follow your orders, but different factors and terrible dice may send them charging forward, or cooling their heels. Too much aggression, they get tired. Too little they start thinking about those crops at home that need harvesting.
Then theirs the almighty Order Deck. The deck consists of Aces (or 1s), twos and threes cards, and a reshuffle card. The better the commander, the more 3s in the deck. The poorer the commander, the more 1s. After commanders have given orders to their troops and rolled to see if they obey them, then the Order card is revealed. This is how many actions your troops can make. The right card at the right time can be a game winner.
When our troops met, it started as a slap fight. No real casualties inflicted for a turn. Then, all hell broke loose.
For two straight turns in the middle, Rutiger and Ulric's troops slaughtered each other. No retreats, just a brutal bloodbath. Of my 6 units on the table, only one remained. That meant a loss of 4 more units would break us.

The flanks held. They managed to give as good as they got, and by the final turn it came down to each side only needing to inflict one more casualty.
A barrage of arrows ended it for us. Ulric claimed victory. Rutiger was beheaded (lost 2 points) and the victorious side received each gained a point along with a bonus point that can awarded to anyone, regardless of side. Ulric claimed it for himself. There was some grumbling among his troops for this move.

The dreaded Battlelust wheel

I'm really thinking of finally publishing these rules. They grew out of an older set of rules that we've long since added to and made or own. This would be a departure from the "Fistful" family, but a much needed diversion, and great set of rules for the right group.

Newest standings

Campaign for the Kingdom

I'm not posting any pics this time around. There wasn't enough time. The Claimant to the throne, Duke Archibald, took such a sudden and overwhelming loss, we didn't even have time for pics. It was a brutally one sided affair which doesn't happen very often in these rules.
But here's the results:

Now Rutiger lays claim to the throne of the Kingdom. But for how long?

Campaign for Kingdom Battle #2: The Beatdown

Duke Archibald, fresh from his last victory, took the field along with three allies against Horace, the Pretender, and his three traitorous friends.

The opening moves saw the various lords trying to keep their battle lines in formation, but as usual, a few broke ranks in spontaneous charges.
When the forces met, real pounding began on the flanks. In one turn, Sir Roderick lost four of 6 units to Ulric.

For whatever reason, poor pay, tribal loyalties, the pikemen on both sides never got in a lick. They all left after a few hits or arrows. The flanks quickly caved. By the time Horace got his troops in the center to fight, it was over. Half his army was gone,
After the usual executions and promotions, Archibald was feeling pretty good about his chances. Little did he know Sir Rutiger, his trusted lieutenant on the left flank, was already plotting his demise....

New Year, new Campaign for the Kingdom!

The King is dead. No doubt poisoned by his craven brother, Edwin. The kingdom is an uproar. Half of the nobles swear loyalty to Edwin, while the other half claim the deceased king's nephew Archibald is the rightful heir.
They meet at dawn on field of battle.

The rules of choice, as always, is a modified version of Flower of Chivalry. And as always, it was fun nail biter oil the end.
The battle started with a wild charge by Edwin's army. The mounted knights broke ranks and flew ahead of the rest of the army. They were cut down by arrows and mercenary handguns. 3 units down, 9 to go.
The center of Edwin's line crumbled early on, while Archibald's right cracked.
My corner of the battlefield, commanding the Pretender's left flank, was a mess. My men failed to follow a single order until the very end. Meanwhile, my opponent rumbled forth in a single block, looking very trained and professional until the very end.

My rival, Roderick, Baron of Westgate, was one move away. He risked a charge order, hoping Edwin would draw at least a "2" from the Action deck. This would give him one action to move to contact, and one to fight. It wasn't really that risky. Edwin is a Brilliant commander and had mostly 3s and 2s in the deck.
The Reshuffle card came up. This acts as a 2 action card before the deck is reshuffled. I was doomed. My men stoically awaited their fate, almost as if they were made of metal...
But, Roderick was out of Edwin's command range, this meant that he had to make a command roll, or risk getting one less action than the rest of the army. Roderick, being brilliant, needed an 8 or less on a d10.
9!
This meant his troops only got 1 action. Since he had ordered a charge, his men crashed into mine but had no actions left to fight. Right into my spears and pikes.
Our turn. Archibald draws a much needed 3 Action card. That means since I'm already in contact, I roll 3 dice for each unit. Four, count 'em, four of Rod's units destroyed. Victory for Archibald.
Victory points were awarded to our side. An extra was given to Ulric, the noble holding the enemies center. Turns out he had a deal with Archie before the battle to not fight that hard...
Edwin was captured, and met the fate of all traitors.

But, the war was fall from over. Rumor has it, one of Archibald's nobles had married one of the former king's daughters in secret, and now awaits to claim the throne!