Last Man Standing- a Spontaneous Ruckusing!

Last Man Standing

Three of us turned up for the weekly B-I-G Billhooks Night and as we were the only ones attending, decided to play a game of Ruckus. We played a ”last man standing” scenario with each of us out to get the others. The table was set up with a meeting of roads and two buildings, a farm, and a chapel. We decided that if at anytime one plyer controlled both buildings, that player would immediately win the game. Failing that, the last Retinue to fail it’s WTF test due to casualties would be the winner.

Ben Mallet had his de Lynne Retinue of nominal Lancastrians, led by Thomas de Lynne and two squires, Ralph and Edward.

 Simon Wilde had a Venetian Retinue under the wily Ser Niccolo Nelli, a distant relative of Macchievelli and his two squires Marco Polo and Massimo Stiletto, whereas I had Nominal Yorkist, Sir John de Barre and his squires Cedric and Stan.

We set up 9” in to the table, a four-foot square table is almost a bit too large for Ruckus and it would play just as well on a three-foot board.

Sir John et al

Sir Thomas

Ser Niccolo- Simon’s Retinue feature a new fangled device called a “Gonne” He had five of these devilish contraptions. 

The locals were not impressed 

Sir John and his men sneak up behind the chapel …

Sir Thomas sneaks up on the farm house…

Ser Niccolo sneaks nowhere! Banner proudly displayed the flamboyant Italian strides boldly up the road

Sir John is hampered by his squire’s card not getting drawn for the first three turns or maybe they stopped to admire the bull! 

although he eventually takes up position behind the wall and the chapel

Of all the days! The Bishop is visiting his Parish Priest! Ben rolled random movement for this hapless pair who somehow managed to stumble around in the midst of the fighting. Injuring one of them would bring the risk of excommunication upon the unfortunate sinner and a stiff WTF penalty as a result! 

The Venetian Harquebusiers line up behind the wattle fence to oppose Sir Thomas archers but  realising that they were outranged, wisely hurried up the road to join their comrades.

 the de Lynne Retinue at the other end of the paddock.  The sombre red of the de Lynne livery contrasts strongly with bright scarlet of the flamboyant Venetians 

These guys are only missing a marching band! 

Sir Johns Retinue establish themselves behind the chapel. I made a critical mistake her by being too cautious, I should have taken a risk and used sprinting to advancd and take up position behind the far wall to deny Simon the chance of using it as cover.

  As it turned out I was very good at rolling 1’s in this game so it was probably just as well that I didn’t!

"Avanti ! Con Mi!” 

Drones were deployed! Sir Thomas has advanced into the farm house, Sir John is behind the Chapel and Ser Niccolo is happily marching up the road.

SirJohn command his archers to loose and they do and three of them roll a one! Mishaps all round!

The one that didn’t cock up though, HE hit Ser Niccolo! 3+ to save .he rolls a 2! First blood, the Venetian captain is wounded!

 The lack of shooting from the de Barre faction results in the Venetians getting up to the wall unharmed. 

Ignoring his wound Ser Niccolo charges across the road and piles into Cedric..

…and kills him but not before Cedric wounds Niccolo for a second time 

The de Lynnes look on in amazement…

  “Yere….don’t shoot them Italian bastards….it just makes ‘em angry!”

having changed his bow string, Cedric’s second cousin twice removed, Ned, looks for vengeance, takes careful aim and let’s fly.

  He scores two consecutive hits. One on a Bill man who fails to save, and one on Ser Niccolo! Who falls dead upon the sward!

 Fortunately, the Bishop and his legate are on hand to administer the last rites

The Venetians are stunned…

...and then, they take action! Their boss has been killed, they are not standing for this! They quickly run away!

  In a campaign the Retinue would take a WTF test and if they pass it appoint a squire as the new captain, but in a one off game , a dead captain is game over!

and then there were two!

Sir John is taking refuge behind the chapel. He has lost nearly half of his retinue to arrows from the pesky de Lynnes and these new-fangled bullet things.

    Sir Thomas de Lynne charges Sir John.

They fight! It’s a proper old scrap too! Parry and thrust and the various other skills they each possess prevent any fatalities and when they part they each have a wound 

There is a huge disparity in numbers by now, the unfortunate de Barre faction being heavily outnumbered and one thing they really didn’t need was to be ambushed by a band of skirmishers. This  nasty little surprise came from a Special Event Card, Ambush,  drawn by Ben and just like that 5 of the beggars appeared in the farmers front garden and started shooting!

 However, Sir John also had a Special Event Card, “I Have Gold” , with which he was able to bribe one of the Ambushers who immediately shot one of his comrades. The next turn this same backstabbing double-dealing backstabber managed to kill one of his other fellows in melee! An unexpected hero who was soon taken out by another of his band!

The defiant Sir John! Wounded he glares at his enemies daring them to take him on, in this picture he is outnumbered 13:1!

Meanwhile…on the South side of the Chapel…

  De Lynne squire Sir Edward Fitzhenry comes a cropper at the hands of Stan. This was another very close fight.

At this point, out of sight , on the North side of the chapel, Sir John finally lost a melee, and his life to Sir Thomas, I didn’t get a pic! Sir John fought valiantly and well but rolled four or five ones on the trot for his hits and then his saving throws and no one can survive the Will of the Gods!

A very enjoyable game for all involved, a hard-fought action indeed.

What did we learn?

The same thing I always learn when I play my game…roll better dice!

Aggressive play pays off in Ruckus, Simon's seemingly insane sprinting got his men into key positions early in the game

I think the firearms may need a bit of a buff. Their short range seems appropriate and not being able to move and shoot feels right but the combination makes them quite weak compared to Bows.

Possible solutions.

1 Soft cover, bushes, hedges, fences etc does not cause a blocked shot roll?

2 longer range? 15”

It is something to think about…