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