Getting Totally Billhooksed!

 

I had two reasons to be in Derbyshire last weekend. The first was to meet James Griffiths at Wargames Illustrated in Nottingham to demonstrate my skirmish version of Never Mind the Billhooks and the second was to play in the Fourth Billhooks BASH at Boards and swords in Derby.More about the BASH in my next post.

My good friend Mark Taylor and I met up with Pete Harris, the BASH event organiser, and a couple of his pals on the Thursday evening at Boards and Swords Hobbies Derby, an excellent venue, and played the new version of Kingmaker. It took a while to get into it and we never saw its full potential but had fun once we got going. It is actually a fairly simple game to play but takes time to set out and learn. I would definitely recommend a practice game before playing a proper one.

We stayed as usual at the Travelodge at the Cricket Ground and I got a room overlooking the pitch which meant I should have quiet night as the other side of the hotel is adjacent to a major road.

  However, my neighbour, who came in after I had settled down for the night, slammed the door and then played the TV very loudly.

I tried to sleep but it got louder until the mirror in my room was actually vibrating with the noise. Exasperated, I banged on their door but had no response. I then realised I had left my key-card in the room; I was locked out and had to wander around the hotel to find the night staff.

They tried knocking, no effect, they tried using a remote to turn the TV down, no effect. Eventually one of them opened the electrician’s cupboard and isolated the power to the room. With the TV off we could all hear through the door the Herculian roar of his snoring! They gave me a spare key. It was now twenty past two!

Ah well, we had to be at WI at eleven, so I could have a lie in…except…the Snoreceror next door, had the loudest alarm which went off at five thirty and he slept through it for over an hour! Banging on the door had no more effect than it had the night before! AAAAAAAARRGH!

And so… to Wargames Illustrated…

Mark at WI Tower. Six months ago, I had the idea that NMTBH would make a good skirmish game. My mate Mark Taylor and I have been playing it ever since and it has evolved from a few notes on a piece of A4 to a full book of over forty pages.

 I sent a copy of it to Andy Callan who played it and gave me some excellent feedback and then I mentioned it to WI who said they would be interested in it. And here we are…

They have so much terrain at WI! It’s a treasure trove of nice set pieces and scatter.

 We decided to demonstrate “Nine Fingered Ambrose” which is set in a monastery garden.

  The table was exquisite.

Mark is considering whether it will fit in the car!

James Griffiths Project manager lines up a shot.

  James is a really nice guy who is very enthusiastic about the hobby and loves a skirmish game. When it comes to setting the table, he is an artist using little piles of flock and sand to hide bases and blend terrain pieces into the table.

and so we played! Nine fingered Ambrose is a scenario from Never Mind the Ruckus (working title) in which a spy bearing information about the King has taken refuge in a monastery disguised as a monk. Sir John Barre and arch enemy Gaston Villa have both arrived in hot pursuit and have to find the spy Ambrose and extract the information from him.

Ambrose has donned cowl and cassock and is disguised as one of the brethren who will not give him away as they are sympathetic to his cause. Ambrose is known by a distinguishing feature however; he has no little finger on his left hand.

There are five monks on the table one of whom is Ambrose. There is a deck of five cards, four tens and a nine. When a character is standing adjacent to one of the monks the Player draws a card. If it is the nine, he has found his man and just has to escort him from the garden to win. Ambrose will not go quietly however and has to be dragged at half speed.

Only a few figures are needed to play Ruckus, each Retinue has twelve, A captain, two squires, three Retainers with Bills and six archers.

   The Retinue changes with different theatres, this is a basic one for playing the in the Billhooks world of Albion

Mark, holding up the sky

de Barres men spread out looking for monks. When drawing skills for this Retinue I drew an extra squire, Bill Squires who takes four archers in a wide flanking movement towards the monk who is feeding the ducks

Mark adopts a similar approach

de Barre heads for the centre of the table

     I use a Perk card to speed Bill up and he reaches   the duck feeding monk “Show me your hands!”

 

     No good, he has all ten fingers

In the centre of the table Gaston Villa approaches two monks.

  When a Bonus card is diced for , the winner has the option to take a card or move a monk

Roger of Hanham and Edmund Strongfellow are not far away

Gotcha! Blizzard barks loudly but the men pay no notice

Soon four of the ten-fingered monks have been found which means that the last one must be Ambrose!

“There he is!” points Manuel Emmanuelle

the spy is unmasked!

  Manuel has him but deBarre is in the wheat field too and is closing in

Bill Squires and his archers never really got into the scrap. Characters are activated on cards as in Billhooks and his card just did not come up

Edmund Strongfellow arrives on the scene

de Barre charges, Manuel points to his bill man “Get him!” he cries 

but de Barre is having none of it and takes Manuel down. In the campaign version, he would be rolled for after the game to see how badly injured he is and what happens to him

 At the end of the field, things are not going well for de Barres squires, both are injured as indicated by the red tokens

  Villa vaults the wall and heads towards de Barre

Left behind and out of command this de Barre archer is marked with an orange counter to show that he is Feckless. A d6 is rolled to see what he does this turn and a one means that he runs away. He is removed from play.

Gaston Villa charges into de Barre soon both are wounded. They each hit each other again twice more.

  They need to roll 3+ on d6 to save from being wounded further…

they both fail to save and fatally wounded fall to the ground. 

We had a great time! The game was well received and will be printed as free give away game IN Wargames Illustrated sometime next year with, hopefully, a nice book to follow.

  An article about this game will appear in June or July’s edition of WI 

Don't Ever Heed The Ruckus-another Skirmish game AAR

One thing I love about this hobby is that I am constantly making new friends. Is there something about gamers that set’s them (us?) apart from “normal” people? Other than a common interest I mean. No one thing defines us. Our hobby caters for the young and the old and there seems to be no generation gap. No rivalry. Gamers come from all walks of life, all professions and trades are represented, gamers are not judgemental about how people dress or what music they like or how they identify. Gamers are definitely opinionated and can be vocal about things that they really don’t like, yes, we are talking about you Finecast!

Gamers on the whole, are pacifists, ironic when so many games are about War or feature violence. Gamers are generally gentle creatives, usually socially awkward, often shy unless enthusing about a new game or range of figures or talking about an event in a recent game or the odds of rolling 5 sixes with six dice. Gamers tend to be modest about their achievements, displaying their beautifully painted models on social media and not knowing quite how to respond to the ensuing praise.

Gamers are supportive of their fellow hobbyists offering constructive feedback when it’s asked for, proffering advice to those new to the hobby, explaining rules and providing tips and tactics. Look at any thread on any army build and you will see what I mean. Gamers have learnt how to agree to disagree by avoiding confrontation and offering a different point of view.

There are a high proportion of Gamers who would be considered neurodiverse, maybe this is a common factor. The hobby requires intelligence and creativity both aspects of ADHD and Autism, maybe we are all on a spectrum of some kind, a gamer spectrum!

The happy buzz of a busy weekend at the local game store or club, reminiscent of a hive of bees, the quiet efficient industry, the energy that exists within this gathering of individuals is a shared experience that passes unnoticed and yet touches everyone. No one leaves that environment who is not charged with a positive life force that they carry through their normal day. It can see you through a whole humdrum week of responsibility and toil until the next occasion.

    Anyway, I digress…

One of my new friends Jordan and I played two scenarios from my Billhooks based Skirmish game this week, Get Orf Moi Land and Fog of War. Both games went well and we had fun.

In the first game Jordan drew Has Friends Overseas as a skill for his Lord Sir Henry Blake which gave him the Mercenary Captain Gustav and his Profane Device, an experimental hand gonne with extended range and an increased chance of exploding!

the village of Much Apning where nothing ever happens

Disturbing the peaceful morning, Sir Edmund Bowels approaches with his Retinue. Much Apning sits within the disputed manor of Stoneham Common and Sir Edmund means to claim it as his own! 

Unbeknownst to Sir Edmund, Sir Henry Graves has the same idea and is approaching with his retinue and his hired gun from the other side of the village.

Sir Henry Graves and motley crew…and pony

Both parties approach the centre of the village. There are three objective markers in the village, pack mules and pony, ownership of them will decide who wins the scenario.

Sir Justin de Squid, a somewhat reluctant squire, his card did not come up for three turns. 

Sir Edmund’s other squire Quentin Forelock, had better luck and was soon eyeing up the mule in the centre of town

  If at any one time a Retinue as all three objectives they win the game. If this has not happened by turn 6 we add on d 6 turns and whoever has the most markers at end of that time wins the game

Ambush! The Special Event card falls to Sir Edmund and 4 angry villagers run out from one of the houses and lay about Sir Henrys men, killing an archer

One archer and one villager down! The villagers have the Reluctant Warrior skill and have to test their Will to Fight to charge, but they all passed easily.

On the hill stands the Mercenary Captain Gustav.   Due to appalling bad luck, missed turns, failed rolls, we never saw this character at his best, although the gun made short work of the angry villagers 

Much Apnin is living up to its name! Sir Henry’s archers take out that sluggard Sir Justin Squid. The villagers are killed by Gustav and his crossbows.

Behind the small cottage, Sir Henry and Sir Edmund meet. Each wounds the other and they charge in for another bout

They each wound each other again!

 

Quentin Forelock, an ambitious young man, charges into Sir Henry, they each wound each other and fall dying to the ground locked in a final embrace of death.

In Ruckus (working title) killing a Captain wins the game ...victory to Sir Edmund!

Unfortunately I didn’t get so many pics of our second game “Fog of War”

 “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.”

In this scenario our Retinues have got split up and have lost their way in the thick fog. They enter the table from various random points along the table edges. The Fog is Dense and visibility is only 6”. The Fog fluctuates sometimes thinning and sometimes growing thicker. This is diced for each turn.

Through the thick mist the opponents take pot shots at each other. Sir Henry’s Retinue has arrived all on the same table edge and Sir Edmund’s force is separated, coming on three different table edges. 

Sensing an easy victory son Martyn Graves and his men advance!

Another Special Event! Ambush Again! This time it’s a battered Squire reeling from the battle and not knowing who to trust he piles into Sir Justin Squid!

  Fortunately, he is soon dispatched.

Martin Graves charges into Sir Edmund. The pink counter indicates broken armour, Sir Edmund has the Break Point skill!

  Gustav is stuck somewhere in the fog! Is he really lost or just making an easy buck?

Sir Edmund realising that Sir Henry has picked up two injuries and is vulnerable leaps the wall using his Nimble skill and roaring his Warcry ”Forsooth varlet!” sets about his enemy

…and it all goes wrong!  Sir Edmund rolled 6 dice and couldn’t roll higher than 2! He lost the melee and failed his saving throws. Despite initially having the advantage, Sir Henry had two wounds to Sir Edmund’s one, Sir Henry emerges triumphant!

We had fun! I learnt quite a bit more about how the game works and every game brings a few minor adjustments. Jordan enjoyed it and said on his FB page of it "It was easy to learn and the mechanics made the combat feel realistic and palpable. The scenarios and the random events that can pop up really add a narrative to the game. I look forward to playing more." 

The playtesting group are reporting positive findings too!

Next we shall have a go at the character development rules and look at campaign mechanics