The Peasants are STILL revolting

 

-The Peasants are still Revolting! -

After our successful solo outing with this scenario, I was keen to see how it played as a two-player game, so Leigh and I went back to BIG and set up an almost identical table and revisited the village of Dirt in the Hole.

It occurred to me, after we had played the game, that for the two-player version a slightly different narrative should be used, why would two Retinues be involved with this simple search and humiliate mission? Moreover, two Retinues that are enemies! Mayhap the answer will occur to me while writing this

Playing a scenario is essential for playtesting. There are unforeseen challenges that emerge, rules that work in a different setting do not always gel with the scenario you are playing, the terrain may prove too restrictive or too time consuming to cross or too open with too little cover, the game may prove to be an unfulfilling experience if the victory conditions are too hard to achieve or if they are too easy, new rules and new Characters can skew game balance and you have to allow for chance. If you playtested a game and it goes well and you had fun but rolled well throughout and your opponent has consistently rolled low, has it really been tested?

Does a tree falling in a forest that none can see make the noise of one hand clapping? Roll a d6 to find out!

Do not look here for metaphysical answers or the meaning of life or philosophical reasoning, we are here to play games!

The delightful village of Dirt in the Hole, its peaceful, enlightened residents gather in the busy central hub and are having an informed and animated debate on the best way to cook mud…just as they do on every other day

The villainous Baron Rackass and his Retinue, my guys, approach Dirt in the Hole from the South…

Lost in the complexities of the lively debate, the villagers are unaware of the approaching men

Perhaps they will notice the approach of Sir Marley Cockburns and his Retinue from the North…

…apparently not. “And then she said add the water to the dirt and I said put the dirt into the water and stir and then YOU said…”

The Baron a particularly loathsome, ambitious social climber, a man who would rob a small child of her pet frog if he were hungry, is determined to search the village before any of his many enemies and so gain the favour of the king…see…I did think of something!

Kurt Beverage, eyes the village greedily, where others see dirt, he sees gold. Some say he needs to get his eyes fixed…

   One of his Archers has failed to keep up

Cockburns strides purposefully up the road, he is determined to search every nook in this squalid den of dirt in his bid to impress the King

His Squires, Reeve Dump and Slade Appleby, sneak into the village with their Spears

I Forfeited Leigh’s Perk and it felt good… must be the Baron’s evil influence

Don’t attempt to Sprint if you are as Portly as the Baron or a Mishap may occur!

Reeve enters a house and stops in surprise and alarm…and no wonder...there is a portrait of the author on the wall. I had forgotten about this until I saw this pic!

Wait a minute, there is something else there, hidden in the dirt and the gloom…

…it’s Young Hal, the blacksmiths son, and his mates, and they do not look pleased to see Reeve and his friends

He’s a big strong boy is Hal and with his mates using their Peasanty skills to mob the Squire he soon sustains a wound…

and is bundled out of the door

Just as he had recovered from his sprinting Mishap the unfortunate Baron stumbles into a hole “Who left this hole here!” he bellows in his rage “Any idiot could stumble into it!”

Elsewhere in the village the Baron’s other Squire, Judson Duxbury, and his Spear have entered another house only to find a swarm of angry bees from the nearby hive. They Evade the bees in Random Directions.

Realising that Reeve is having difficulty in subduing Young Hal, Slade Appleby attempts a Dramatic Entry, pulls it off, leaps through the window feet first and lays out the unsuspecting villager on the other side

Hearing the commotion Young Hal turns towards the Squire “With me!” he roars…

But it is not to be, only one of his erstwhile companions joins in the charge, the others are too busy celebrating the earlier victory or maybe their ardour has cooled

With his trusty bill man, Bill Mann, Slade lays out Big Hal and his loyal pal

Captain Cockburns knocks on the door of a particularly foul smelling and dilapidated dwelling…

…and foul smelling and dilapidated creature emerges! Its Ferg the village drunk “’ave a lil drink…” he mumbles throwing a clay jug to the Bill man…

“Now look here my good man, I must search your house in the name of the king” says Cockburns in a voice laced with distaste

  “I’ll fight the lot of you!” roars Ferg and advances on the Captain

  Ferg’s weapons are Alky Breath and a Broken Bottle

Ferg’s skill “I’ll fight the lot of you” means that he rolls d6 for his number of attacks he rolls 3!

He does not have Cockburns martial skills though and is soon stretched out in the mud, a state he is no doubt familiar with usually being dead drunk, today, only part of that statement is true.

“Hic” Cockburn’s bill man, Arthur Dogg, has drained the clay jug and has become intoxicated. Leigh rolls d6 and 6=He is Fighting Drunk and must fight the nearest Character, friend or foe! he takes a swing at his Captain! Orange tokens normally denote Feckless; this time it is Drunk Feckless and the Character must follow the whims of the d6 each turn

He is no match for Sir Marley Cockburns and is quickly rendered unconscious. We decided that Drunken Comrades could be subdued by members of their Retinue by being beaten in melee. 

The Baron meets a very interesting Character, Hag Agnes! She has many unusual Skills that give her several special abilities, one of which is to appear as Alice Goodwife. Without she would be burnt as a witch, instead she is venerated!

Agnes and the Baron lock eyes. You have to wonder if they have history!

  Under her arm the Old Crone carries a cauldron of her famous Goodenough stew… “It ain’t magic but it’s Good Enough!” she cackles. She cackles a lot. She also gibbers, snickers and crows. She is a bit weird. She seems a bit witch-like. Is she a witch? You will have to wait for the article containing the rules for Hag Agnes and the other Peasant Heroes probably in Wi 444, Decembers issue, to find out!

One of the Baron’s Retainers, Will Archer, spies Reeve way over on the other side of the village, “It’s a long shot” he murmurs “but it might just work!”

 He draws his favourite arrow and shoots

Poor Reeve, he’s not having a good day! The arrow pierces his armour and he is down…

…and his Spear become Feckless

Slade is still subduing villagers. Leigh really needs this fight to be over so that Slade can get out and get to another house.

It’s not all going my way however, one of Judsons’s Retainers has found the local still and he is now Feckless Drunk! He is quickly taken down by the burly Squire

I forgot to take a picture of the last encounter as it happened and only caught the aftermath!  The gentlemen lying down is Arthur Six-pennies, the village Head Man who has been laid out by Kurt Beverage.

Head Men are powerful Peasant Heroes who can use their Agitator and Rabble Rouser Skills to enrage the villagers and make them more formidable in battle. It was fortunate for us that he was the last Encounter or it would have been a much harder fight for both of our Retinues!

  I am pleased with this figure, it’s the Oathmark Human Light Infantry King converted with an Arthurian Briton head from West Wind Miniatures

Having searched three houses all the Baron has to do is secure the centre of the village to win. Kurt Beverage does this and so ends the game.

This was another excellent and fun game! Leigh definitely had the worst of the Encounters, which delayed him and frustrated his plans but he won nearly every Cunning Plan and played his cards well, playing Forfeit twice in a row on Kurt, meant that he hardly got in the game before it was over! And of course, he tripped the Baron!

As usual we got some things wrong, as usual we made small changes to the rules, as usual we had a lot of fun!

I am not sure about the premise for this Scenario, I am going to give it some thought. Next week I shall be in Nottingham meeting with the team at Wi and we will no doubt edit this scenario and the Peasant rules and it would be strange indeed if we do not come up with a better story line …unless of course I think of one in the meantime!

I really like the figures I am using for the Baron and his Squires and their dark colour scheme, I am going to create some Retainers to match them and write a Movie Villain Retinue. I shall of course have to write a Movie True Hero style Retinue to face them. This could make for an interesting campaign!

The Peasants are Revolting, scenario and rules, and some tips on how best to use your Peasants will appear in an issue of Wi, probably December’s issue 444

Chaaaaaaarge!! Mounted Character Rules for Ruckus

 

Chaaaaarge!

-Mounted Character Rules Arrive for Ruckus-

Hi-ho Silver away! Sorry, different genre…

Wargames Illustrated issue 441 contains the Ruckus Mounted rules in an article entitled “My Kingdom for a Horse!” Mounted Characters bring a new aspect to Ruckus, they cover a lot of ground very quicky and they deliver a potentially devastating charge. Players can use their speed and manoeuvrability to overwhelm opponents very quickly.
They add a new page in the Ruckus book of tactics and will no doubt change the way you play your games. You can mount your whole Retinue at no extra cost which may initially seem to be Over Powered, however, there are inherent weaknesses that are not immediately apparent and as with all elements of Ruckus there are risks!

 While providing a swift approach in to melee AND a bonus extra attack AND a reroll AND a negative factor to your opponent’s saving throw (if armed with a Lance) charging on a steed also provides a way for you to lose your steed before the enemy has had a chance to raise a weapon! As in all aspects of this game, to succeed you just need not to roll a one! Ruckus will always offer you a chance to f**k things up! 

While bringing increased speed and more attacking options the close packed, terrain-strewn nature of the average Ruckusian table will limit the usefulness of horses, and will cause problems for them as well as offering protection to your vulnerable Shootists. Regular Jump tests will unseat Riders, particularly the Mounted Retainers who lack the Equestrian skill and a fall from a horse can have serious consequences for the rider

 If your opponent has Archers and is fortunate enough to draw his Hero cards first, it might be that you just don’t get to be where you want to be, as horses are vulnerable to missile fire and are very likely to run away in a random direction when shot. Against an opponent who has Shootists deployed behind an Obstacle, you may find it better to dismount, and seek cover yourself. 

Mounted Characters cannot enter buildings, and so there are scenarios in which Mounted Characters will not be able to reach the Objectives. One tactic might be to force your opponent to Dismount by placing Objectives in buildings

  You can frustrate your Mounted Opponent by occupying areas of Hard Going and defending Obstacles to deprive them of their Charge Bonuses, using Supports where possible to bring in an extra Attack

 Using Mounted Characters brings a lot of advantages but can represent an increased investment of money, time, and effort for the Ruckusteer! Mounting your Retinue don’t come cheap as you will need a dismounted figure for every Mounted Character you use.

 

Future supplements to Ruckus will include new Retinues, some of which will have restrictions to Mounted Characters, limiting then to certain types and there are some Retinues who by default will have all the Characters mounted, such as the Reivers. There will be new Characters who can shoot more effectively while mounted, the Jinetes and Horse Archers for example and some with very powerful charges, those Retinues that feature heavily armoured horses ridden by knights, the French, Burgundian, and German Retinues for example. More Horse Skills will also become available to certain Retainer Profiles and possibly as a fifth Skill Set for Heroes.

Ruckus has been through a lot of changes in its short life. Every game is a playtest, every play a school play, and brings forth new ideas and highlights strengths and weaknesses in the rules. This is equally true for the Mounted Character rules which have been through several transformations. Initially, the Steeds had only one Health but this seemed too weak and, in some games, they dropped like flies, especially when playing against Retinues with Archers. 

Playing HYW French against Rob Squires English was like being at Agincourt. And in one WotR game against Ben Mallet’s dreaded de Lynne faction my horses dropped like they had been machine gunned and was reminiscent of the cavalry charges of WW1! Three of my Characters were dismounted where they deployed and they did not even move!

  The Horses also bolted more easily in the early versions of the rules and further, up to 2D6”. One hilarious incident in a Robin Hood game had the Sherriff of Nottingham bolting three times in one Turn as successive archers shot at him. As he rolled double 6, a 6 and 5 and a 6 and 4 he bolted a total of 33”, in every different direction, was it amusing?

 We were sobbing…

Clearly this was unbalanced and so I came up with the rules that have been printed in Wi 441 in the “My Kingdom for a Horse” article. 

However…

 Playtesting since the article was accepted for publishing has shown that these rules have over compensated somewhat. Horses are less likely to be wounded now and are never killed outright by missiles, this in effect, gives the Rider another Health as the Horse can soak up quite a bit of damage that would otherwise land on the Character. 

 I do think that historically, a single missile was unlikely to kill a horse outright or even cause significant injury, after all, an armoured man and his heavy solid saddle sat over and protected the heart and lungs of the horse, however, for the purposes of game play its far more fun and presents more challenges to have less bullet proof mounts! 

SO…here are two new Horse Casualty Charts, please use these instead of those printed in the article and please do give feedback via the FB page or as comments in my blog or as messages through Lead Adventurers Forum

Mounted combat-Horse Casualties

Addition Characters mounted on Wounded Horses cannot use the Charge or Counter charge Movement Gambit

Use these two new Wounded Horse Tables

These tables I think cut a nice middle path between the original brutal rule and the newer, more forgiving table which will restore balance and add nuance to the game.These new rules will be available as a file to download on the Here's the Ruckus FB page