'Creamy' Beatrix

Lady Mingella Beatrice Quimm (known to her friends as 'Creamy' Beatrix).

The Sherwood Huckall and lkeston Team played several games of Congo when it came out.
As part of the games we used this model as an objective and for obscure reasons we christened her 'Creamy' Beatrix (those obscure reasons mainly being that we are all about twelve years old emotionally).
General B was so amused by the whole thing that he generously provided Steve and I with our own models of the lady in question.
And I've finally got round to painting her.
I think she may be from Black Cat Bases - judging by her face and size she's from their "Went Ten Rounds With Evander Holyfield" range. She's certainly, erm, "sturdy". Indeed at one point I wondered if she was supposed to represent someone in drag (as an escape ruse) but her "embonpoint" suggests otherwise.

Anyway, a fun model to paint. We used her for games of Congo but I think her dress suggests a late Georgian or earlier Victorian period (not that I'm an expert), so I've based her to match my Napoleonics rather than Darkest African collection.

Congo - Under the Moon of Love in the Shoddy Wadi

Once more to The Ilko Gaming Hut for another venture into the Dark Heart of the Congo!
General Ballroom again played host and has a rather nice new desert mat to show off

The scenario was an adaptation of one which was supposed to feature a crocodile in a river. General B is crocodile-less and so converted things to have a wadi inhabited by a lion.
As the wadi was actually improvised from a road it was a bit of a ShoddyWadi. hence this post's title.

The object of the exercise was to grab some bags of diamonds and escape with them and avoid becoming lion food.

My tribesmen deploy

Accompanied by Diplomat (Siamese cat on shoulder not shown)

Elite Arab riflemen

Steve raced off to an early start and his tribesmen plunged into the Shoddy Wadi. I think it was Three Steps down. Or possibly back up.

Meanwhile my own tribal chappies raced forward to counter them.

Naturally some of the commotion alerted a lion

Roar!

But he proved more pussycat than jungle king and was soon converted into a handy rug or throw.

I seem to have stopped taking pictures around this point.

Truth to tell it was all over quite quickly I grabbed two treasures, Steve only one and as I got them both off the table before he could react it was a win (finally) for my proud and noble Slave Traders over the foul forces of Colonial Imperialism.

Congo - Gorillalalalalala

Once more the Sherwood, Hucknall & Ilkeston Team returned to the steamy jungles of deepest darkest Africa for some more Congo gaming.
Our columns remained rigidly as in previous games  - General Ballroom is painting some stuff but his mind wanders, butterfly like, from project to project - but what's not to enjoy about a rigid column, I say.
This time the noble, upstanding slavers were in a race against the perfidious, double-dealing European desperados to unearth the ancient treasures of somewhere or other (Steve and I were too busy poking fun at General B and drinking beer to hear much of what was said). The nub of the gist was that there was a clearing in the middle with an objective in it.

And so the game began

 The disco dancing defenders of the treasure

 Warriors with Diplomat (who carries on his shoulder a Siamese cat)

One of my warrior groups pushed into the jungle and disturbed whatever the collective term for Gorillas (a nest? a clump? some?) is. Fortunately by breaking wind loudly they drove them off and could enter unscathed.

 Ain't no Gorillas in here no more.

The craven and cowardly explorers decided to pepper the disco dancing guardians with shot. Which seemed harsh.

 One down...

 Rather deadly employees of the craven and cowardly Europeans

My second group of explorers stumbled into a second patch of jungle and disturbed a singular, but altogether angrier gorilla of their own.

 Where's Attenborough when you need him?

Having weakened the disco dancing defenders the Explorers, cowardly and craven and ignoble as they are, sent in some warriors to attack. Who discovered the guardians were better being shot at than fought.

So the Sikhs started shooting again

By this time my column had moved into position to cover the clearing, which rather turned it into a killing zone...

Sporadic fighting broke out

Followed up by lots and lots of shooting

The Europeans continued to hurl their warrior allies at the proud, noble slavers, but they were beaten off.

The noble and brave Arab slavers decided discretion was the better part of not being mown down and so declined to enter the sacred killing ground clearing.

The Sikhs continued to pour fire at anything that moved

Whilst the Diplomat ensured his warriors dealt with the rival troops.

With that the game drew to a close.
The vile ignoble Europeans had won by the simple means of slaughtering the disco dancing guardians of the treasure.
I should have made more effort to kill the gorilla, which would have made the game a bit closer
As it was, it rapidly turned into an African stand-off  with neither of us keen to brave the D6 saves of the clearing under the powerful guns of our opponents.

Good fun and the board and soldiers look splendid

A return to Congo!

Back to the Ilko Gaming Hut where General Ballroom once more hosted Steve and I for a game of Congo.

In this scenario Creamy Beatrix from our previous adventure was relaxing in a tent, where she was helping the Sikhs uncoil their turbans whilst the rest of the party went exploring and foraging.
Little did they suspect that the Evil Emir and his Diplomat (who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat) were sneaking through the undergrowth intent on re-capturing the fair Beatrix.

The European column had left some Askari in the camp

The Sikhs left Beatrix in the tent for some fresh air.

Bwhahahaha, Behold the head of my column!

The Zanzibaris sneaked toward the camp and took aim...

..at the Askari. Who shot back.

Attracting the explorer's attention and hastening their return

The Sikhs, refreshed after all that turban winding took aim and blew away some natives!

The firefight continued across the camp.

The explorers prepared to give fire

Meanwhile on the far side of camp my diplomat found himself assaulted by natives.

The fighting was grim

But the diplomat made it away.

The noise had stirred up the local fauna and a lion fancied snacking on a Sikh.

The explorers and the Emir exchanged fire in the jungle.

The Emir's Zanzibaris began to take fire from the Sikhs (who were now lion free, though in possession of a very nice rug)

However the Zanzibari's had snatched Creamy Beatrix and hustled her away  to "safety"

This was a good fun evening.
It's odd, Steve loves the game mechanics but doesn't like the setting. I like the setting, but am not so keen on the game.
However we're happy enough to play and Geenral B.'s models and table are lovely to play on

Congo! a third trip to the jungle

Steve succumbed to a poorly child this week, so General Ballroom and I took to the jungles of Africa for another game of Congo. Despite having painted and assembled all the models and scenery the good General had not actually played the game yet, so this was to be a first.

We were to be playing a scenario of the General's own devising that required troops to climb up a winding tower to retrieve a magic mask.

There now follows some pictures.

 The mystic Tower of Tromney

 Zanzibaris

 The Emir organises his men

 The Zanzibaris are first to fire

 The stout Sikhs fix bayonets

 The slaver column marches toward the tower

 Sikhs face off against the trained troops in the slaver's pay

 More musketry holds forth

 Meanwhile the diplomat (who caries on his shoulder a Siamese cat) urges the young warriors up the tower

 Slightly fewer Sikhs now remain

 The explorers deliver pinning fire on the tower

 The young warriors make good their escape

But walk into a hail of fire from the Askari

In the end my party was almost entirely wiped out and the Explorers held the field.

The scenario we both agreed needed a little more work, but was good fun.
I found the game worked a bit better for me this time - I'm more familiar with the cards, so it flowed a little better. I have to say that the Slavers force I'm using seems a little under-powered against the Explorers - rifles able to fire without reloading are considerably better than Muskets that need to reload, so I end up out-shot. Some of this is clearly just because I'm not very good at the game to be fair.