BIG Ruckus-The First Ruckus Tournament

 BIG Ruckus!

Bristol Independent Gaming (BIG) the birthplace of Ruckus, was home to the World’s First Ruckus Tournament on a cold Saturday in January. Players came from various places in the Western Hemisphere, from as far away as Poole in the South and Devizes in the East. They came bearing their Retinues and hefting their lucky dice, with Hope in their hearts and the bright fire of battle in their eyes. They left without either of these things but full of Jim’s BIG Burgers, sturdy breakfast baps and chilli! 

I knew that there were very mixed levels of experience in our Players and so the Tournament was structured to allow for this, with experienced Players playing Novices in the First Round. I don’t view Ruckus as a competitive game and I like the Billhooks philosophy of we are here to help each other and have fun. 

We actually booked one more Player than we had space for and so each round we randomly drew three Players to go in a Free for All, ensuring that these were different Players each time and that everyone who had paid for a ticket got to play. 

The Players-

Standing-Leigh Parslow, Guy Taylor, Chris Foster, George Stone, Thomas Trutch, Richard Fox

Crouching- Nick Self, Steve Graham, Rob Squires

Kneeling or just very short- Ben Mallett, Simon Wilde, Mark Taylor, Scott Lewis, William Lockwood

Everyone played the same scenario in the morning, the Ruckus staple “Get Orf Moi Land!” A fairly open table where the Retinues fight for the right to levy rent from the locals each claiming this bit of land to be in their Manor. All six tables were laid out in similar manner and the steady murmur of happy Gamers filled the air with the occasional shout of victory or despair and the ever-present laughter of people having fun.

Retinues on Parade!

Then we had lunch which was the usual excellent BIG fair followed by the painting contest. The Players judged this and it was tied between Mark Taylors wonderful Landsknechts (above) and Ben Mallets de Clisson land pirates (below). 

If there is a TARDIS on the table, and Wi's Charlie isn't in the room, then you are probably playing Ben Mallet…

The worthy runner up was Leigh Parslow’s Ruckus Retinue with dogs! 

Fog, Rivers, and Houses

For the afternoon session of two games, we cleared the tables and set them up for the three scenarios we had planned- Fog of War, a River Runs Through it and Urban Brawl.

Urban Brawl hides an encounter in every building…

An ambush of Outlaws in “River” and then something I have never seen before…

…an Ambush of an Ambush! 

This was such a clever use of the Peasants Ambush Card.

“Anything but a one!” 

I heard the same question many times that day and it was always the same answer “What do I need to roll here?” 

“Anything but a one!”

"Damn!"

I was too busy answering queries and helping fight melees to be able to follow much of the action, but I was present when Mark Taylor showed his old skills, and snatched Defeat from the Jaws of Victory. Christophe de Berg, Marks Landsknecht Captain, is cut down by one of George Stones Gallowglasses!

A happy George, the youngest player, who has only played once previously, won all three of his games with his Irish Retinue

What do points make? Heroes!

The Tourney was being judged on Points accrued by the Heroes. They could gain 1 point for each wound they inflicted and an additional point for each Hero that they took out of play. Additionally, they could score 1 point for each High-Risk Gambit, such as a Dramatic Entry into a building or crossing a river not at a crossing point, that they successfully pulled off They could win 2 points for each Very High-Risk Gambit, this we decided, had to be agreed between the Players at the time the Gambit was performed. The Player with the Hero with the most Points would win the Tournament!

Scott Lewis pulled off the Dramtic Moment of the Day, a Very High-Risk Gambit, with his “Leap-Across-a-River-Charge- into-Melee!” Gambit.  Scott rolled 3 d6 any ones would have resulted in Catastrophe! However, his purple clad Captain not only pulled it off but went on to slaughter her opposition. Her supporting Billman was not so lucky and was swept away to soggy fate by the strong current 

So much fun was had that the time flew by and before I could say “Zweihander Dopplesolder Landsknecht” it was time to present the prizes. It was at this point I realised that I had given two prizes in the best painted and had only one prize left to give. I made a quick decision to total all the Points for Kills and Thrills and the winner with a massive 37points was Richard Fox. All the prizes were Giants in Miniature Figures. 

My favourite overheard quote of the day was "If life is a b*tch but you are having fun you are probably playing Ruckus!

The day was such a success that BIG Jim immediately proposed a second Tourney to be held in March, details can be found on the Ruckus FB group