Thursday, November 16, 2023

Fog of War -A Hero is Born!

Fog Of War

The sixth game in our Ruckus campaign, Fog of War, had everything that you want from a wargame. It was a tense, close game, packed with action and a true Hero emerged from the fray!

Fog of War The Story so Far Two armies meet in a pitched battle early in the morning, in a thick, dense fog. In the confused melee, friend fights friend and cries of Treachery fill the air. One flank gives way, there is a pursuit over miles of heath and in the befuddled aftermath, small groups of soldiers, unsure of what has happened or who to trust, seek their enemies in the cold mist.

Set Up. The table represents a broad heath, with scattered clumps of shrubby vegetation, the occasional tree or broken wall. There should be three or four areas of Bad Going- small copse, bogs and marshy areas, thorn brakes or similar of about 4”x 4”

Special Rules-

Wrapped in Fog. Organise each Retinue into Spears before deploying on to the table. Take the Playdeck cards, one for each Hero and the two bonus cards and deal them on to the table, one to each corner, and one half way along each table edge. Deploy each spear within 6” of the appropriate card, add a “Skirmisher and Artillery” card as a Fog card and reset the deck.

Who Goes? The Fog has dense patches but is gradually thinning as the morning passes. Let there be three weather Conditions.

Clear Air -Normal missile ranges and visibility, Command Range is normal.

Light Mist- Visibility is reduced to 12” Archery at Short Range only

Dense Fog -Visibility/missile range is reduced to 6” Command Range is reduced to 3”

Add a Fog Card to the deck. Use a “Skirmisher and Artillery “card for this. Each time it is turned up roll a d6.

1 -The Fog gets thicker- Clear Air becomes Light Mist, Light Mist becomes Dense Fog

2-4 The Fog remains the same

5,6- The Fog is lifting- Dense Fog become Light Mist, Light Mist becomes clear air

The game starts with Dense Fog.

Friend or Foe? There is a risk of mistaken identity, the cries of treachery have unsettled the soldiers and everyone is being very cautious.

Special Event Cards- Include 4 sixes in the deck.

Confusion to the enemy! The six =Ambush! Roll a d6 1-3 = 1d3 archers 4,5=1d2 Bills 6=one Squire with Deadly Blade and Duellist skills. The “Ambushers”, confused, angry, displaced soldiers from either side of the battle are coming “out of the fog” Place them 6” from an opposing character. Shuffle an Ambusher card of the appropriate colour into the Playdeck.

Winning the Game- This is a straight forward fight! Players win by forcing their enemy to flee or, in the one of game only, by capturing or killing the enemy Lord.

We dealt the Playdeck cards as described which meant that Edward Fitz Henry, de Lynne squire deployed between Squire Thomas Payne and Captain John de Barre. De Barre’s other Squire, Robert Guiscard, deployed on the Western edge of the field uncomfortably close to Sir Thomas de Lynne and his nephew Ralph.

Grim as it was for Fitz Henry, things soon took a turn for the worse as in the first turn I pulled a Special Event Ambush card! Two confused angry bill men appear from behind a wall and advance menacingly on the hapless squire

I forgot to take pictures initially, this is in the first turn and Fitz Henry is in the middle of the bottom of the picture. To his right is Thomas Payne and in the bottom left corner is de Barre. From behind the wall two angry bill men appear.

Sensing an early victory, Thomas Payne advances with his spear

The French connection-Robert Guiscard moves to cut off the other de Lynne spears

the de Lynne faction advance through the swirling fog

the bigger picture. De Lynnes advance from the bottom of the picture

Fitz Henry bottom middle is surrounded!

Undaunted he charges the Thomas Payne who is universally hated by all the de Lynne family

The opposing archers exchange a flurry of arrows

Fitz Henry wounds Payne (Red counter) but Payne manages to break his armour (Pink Counter)

Fitz Henry repays the compliment!

And then finishes him off!

Paynes Retainers, in Blue and White, become feckless without their Hero to lead them. Fitz Henry’s men are also Feckless as he has moved beyond the three-inch Command Range, reduced from it’s normal six inches due to the thick fog!

The debarred Retainer make short work of the de Lynne archers

sensing a quick victory, Sir John charges the battered Squire only to have HIS armour broken and he takes a wound

Fitz Henry wounds de Barre again! Things look desperate for the battered Lord

The wily old knight has a trick up his sleeve though, he pulls a “Cunning Stunt” and dives back and rolls out of the way of FitzHenrys weapon

Faithful Retainer Edmund Stock is next to be attacked, showing some mean skills he blocks two attacks from the crazed Squire and with a flick of a Billhook wounds him!

fellow bill man Wilfred Mogg steps up to support him

Their luck runs out! Snake eyes v double six, the brave, loyal Stock bites the dirt

Mogg out of the way, Fitz Henry charges de Barre, who, enraged at the loss of his old servant “No one buffed armour like ol’ Stock!” dispatches the squire with a savage blow

“Take that! You absolute bounder!”

The confused bill men, finish off FitzHenry’s Bill man

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field….

Robert Guiscard is feeling a bit lonely..

Hooray! I draw another Special Event and it’s another Ambush! This time a befuddled Man at Arms staggers out of the fog!

Having lost both of his archers to shooting, Guiscard has joined his Captain. Sir John, has the Commanding Presence skill and is easily able to Command all the Retainers. The fog has lifted, visibility and bow range has increased to twelve inches.

“Come on then! Come and have a go” they bravely shout from behind their wall

Ralph de Lynne takes on the errant Man at Arms who is skilled as a Deadly Blade and Duellist …

… Ralph minds it not, he is quickly taken out of the game although he wounds Ralph in the fight

Sir Thomas shouts his war cry “Ooh I am sooooo angry, I could kick a dog!” And charges!

He takes down Wilfred Mogg. A confident debarred is not concerned. He has half a dozen Retainer with, he will have this rabid dog shot down in the next turn…

Perked by God! Sir Thomas charges a second time…

Twice wounded, armour half off the battered de Barre has no chance. Seeing their Lord fall his men quit the field leaving de Barre for dead!

This was an excellent game! The scenario worked well, there were a few surprises and a narrative around one Heroic character. Single handedly Edward Fitz Henry destroyed the de Barre Retinue, killing one Squire taking out, two retainers and wounding Sir John twice! He gains eight Valor Points!

Rolling for Fate after the game Wilfred Mogg and Edmund Stock were both killed. Sir John really was left for dead on the field which decides our next scenario …Back from the Dead!

Look out Fitz Henry…there is a price on your head!

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Mister 2 B-I-G Billhooks - A Great Day Out

Mister 2 B-I-G Billhooks

On a cool, crisp October morning sixteen people from across the country met to decide who was to be the Top General, ye King of ye Day, the Big Cheese, the Head Honcho, the Biggest Billhook. They came together at B-I-G, that is Bristol Independent Gaming, an excellent venue, run by a friendly professional team, providing the very best in gaming experiences. And they did not come alone! Marching across the green fleeces of fate were troops from all over Europe, happy Yorkists and dour Lancastrians, bearing their various Roses, their were Happy Few- the English army of Henry V, each eagerly stepping into the breach, there were brightly garbed Venetians and assorted other Italians waving their pretty banners, shiny armour clad Imperial Teutonic knights on tall horses still kicking the snow from their hooves, chivalrous French chevaliers and their unwashed peasanty hordes, the colourful Burgundian veterans of many a campaign each bearing a bright Burgundian banner and, issuing forth from their mountain fastnesses, the feared Swiss and their terrible pike blocks!

What a Lot of Billhooks!

Back row L-R Elliot Davey, Ben Mallet, Lloyd Lewis , Andy Callan, Troy Lennertz, Jan Ash, Steve Blease, Ian Callan Nathan McGowan

Front Row L-R Colin Bright,Noah Tovey, Jason Tovey, Me, Andy Milburn, Simon Wilde, Rob Squires, B-I-G Jim

Mister B-I-G Billhooks is the nearest thing to a competitive tournament for a non-competitive community playing a non-competitive game. Each General plays three games against various “randomly” picked opponents and scores points for winning the game and for each enemy leader they kill or rout off the field. They score three points for winning and one point for each “point of leader” disposed of. Players were asked to keep a tally of coins taken and this would decide any tiebreaks.

And what do they win? This magnificent trophy! …and of course, bragging rights. Andy Callan is the current Mister B-I-G Billhooks reigning champion having beaten his long-time friend Steve Wood in an exciting very close game in the original Mister B-I-G Billhooks tournament earlier this year.

We had eight tables and on a spare table laid out the terrain pieces, woods fields and hills. A terrain buffet!

The Terrain Rule. Each table had one, two or three terrain features, using a d6 to decide, 1=1 piece 6=3 pieces, any other result = 2 pieces. These were placed by dividing the table into 6 parts each two-foot square, and using a d6 to decide which square to place the terrain in. The terrain was placed the centre of the 2-foot square and then randomly moved by the players using dice to decide direction and distance. If a piece of terrain would be moved to a table edge, then it was moved it in the opposite direction Orientation of the terrain piece was decided by mutual agreement of the players.

Andy Callan v Nathan Round One “Irresistible force (Nathan McGowan’s Teutonic Knights - with snow on their boots) about to meet immovable object (my Swiss - who proved solid as an Alp… they must have had their muesli!). This was Nathan’s first game of Billhooks- a tough call indeed but played like a gentleman! Better luck next time!” Andy Callan Billhookers are a friendly supportive bunch and there is nothing incongruous about a first-time player playing against a reigning champion and author of the game! Seasoned players are asked if they will tutor first timers and ease them into the game. The game itself is so capricious that even a brand-new player can topple the most experienced veteran given a good run of luck!

Player comments on the pictures are taken from Face Book. Each player had a Results Slip to fill in after each battle stating the result, how many points of generals they had killed and how many coins they had taken.There was also a Comments box and comments made there I have also used .

Round One Jan v Jason

Rob v Jim behind

“This was the moment when I thought I’d had it! Jason’s light cavalry ignored my bow/bill block up on the hill, in preference of hitting my general’s already weakened block in the rear to try and clinch victory. Somehow my archers HELD, preventing an over-run into the Men at Arms which would surely have been the end. Their rear temporarily secure, the M@A were spurred on to beating back the enemy general in front of them (just). Then, Hastings 1066-style, the bows on the hill rained a volley down onto the now fallen-back enemy general, who took an arrow to the eye through his visor slit, ending the game" Jan

Noah Tovey v Ian Callan

Ben Mallet v Simon Wilde behind

Troy v Elliot

Colin v Andy M behind

Lloyd Lewis v Steve Blease Round one “All those knights and scouts! Better place our stakes and go full Agincourt! It certainly was a particularly close fought battle and great fun. Both Light Horse were the stars”-Lloyd

same game Lloyd –“Yonder Gonne took it’s toll on Robert Hungerford’s ward before his brother went on the rampage with the light horse. They daunted and then finished off two veteran units before being bounced from the flank of a disarrayed unit. Had they won the game would have been mine”

After the first Round, while we were eating our delicious B-I-G Chile, the Generals lined their armies out on the tables for inspection for the Best painted Army competition. This year’s worthy winner was Rob Squires with his English Hundred Years War army which Rob describes…

My force, led by the Earl of Oxford as he tries to plunder back the wealth lost by his predecessors! He's employed a free company to help him do so. On the far left we have Robert Hoon (Red and White) and on the right Barbus the Cuckold (Yellow and Black). Both those characters are based on mine and my brothers’ characters from an old game. Up front we have the coulourful and fancy Jinetes (AKA Spanish SAS), great for diverting attention away from the veteran longbows and men at arms!

Rob;s Rainbow Jinetes! They may look pretty but they are a veritable scourge on the field

There was some stiff competition though! This wagon supporting Ben Mallet’s Yorkist host caught my eye…

...with it's cheeky score board!

Ian Callan’s supply tent. If anyone wondered how Ian’s French knights managed to charge around the whole day long…

…this chest has the answer

Robin Hood Weetabix ad

After the First Round Andy Callan was in the lead on 7 points, Rob and Jan were both on six

The Second Round saw Elliot’s Yorkists playing Rob’s English Hundred Years War. By using the core rules as a default, we found it easy to use armies from different regions against each other.

In the background Martin v Simon-a real grinder! A hard fought, very close game that produced various howls and yowls and the occasional roar of triumph!

Rob “At this point my veteran archer line was very close to having to take a moral check…

…Luckily the brave men at arms jumped in front just in time and all Elliots arrows bounced off their armour!”

“The push up the hill won me the game. Barbus (yellow and black leader). Got rid of Elliot's cavalry and then turned in to his main force which had been congested by the terrain”. Rob

Simons Venetians v Andy’s Yorkists. A real meat grinder of a game, fought with grim determination and ridiculous dice throws on both sides. Andy won-just!