Riots in Lowenheim (6)

In our last post, we rolled for a new event: The people living in the slums are starving. They form a mob and will go looking for food. Why now? Where will they look for food? Who is the leader of the mob? (==> skirmish wargame)

Finally, some action!

So we need to flesh out some details before we can start the skirmish wargame.

Who is the leader of the mob, and why do they revolt now? It's obvious this has all to do with the sighting of the planetary conjunction. The people in the slums were already not doing too well, and now they fear that the harvests (fields outside the city wall) will fail as well. A well known populist, Hans De Jonghe, smells an opportunity and stirs up the mob. In case you're wondering, I like using Flemish/Dutch names for my campaign, since I feel wargaming is already too full with English names with puns (some funny, some not so funny) to sound foreign. No Colonel Bratwurst of Monsieur Fruits-de-la-Mer in my games!

When looking at my map of Lowenheim, there are two inns were it is known food is stored.

The inn on the left is the farthest from the slums, and the route there would take the mob alongside the rich quarters and possibly the guard barracks. The other inn is much closer and looks like a juicier target. So I decided to roll a D10: 1,2,3 ==> raid the furthest inn; 4-10 ==> raid the closest inn. The roll is a 6, so the closest inn it is. We still need a name, let's settle on a classic, and call the building De Groene Draak (The Green Dragon).

Next for a battle plan. A straight attack across the ford (green lines, 1-5), or a pincer attack across the ford and bridge (yellow lines, 6-10)? The D10 says 7, so a pincer attack it is.

Two possible attack plans from the slums towards De Groene Draak.

 

The inn  will be defended. The innkpeer, a hobbit (of course!) listening to the name of Grombo Suykerbuyck (Grombo Sugarbelly. You might think I made this up, but Suykerbuyck is an existing surname in Flanders) is prepared with his staff (1-5), or unprepared (6-10). The D10 gives a 2, so they are prepared.

For Both Hans De Jonghe, and Gromvo SuykerBuyck, I rolled for a profile using Tony Bath's system.

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After the sighting of the planetary conjunction, Hans De Jonghe, a well known trouble-maker in the slums, smells an opportunity for creating some more mayhem and chaos in the city. The people are already starving, and it doesn't take too much effort to call for action. He calls for action, by suggesting the mob will raid De Groene Draak, looking for food!

Hans De Jonghe is stirring up the mob
(all figures are old Citadel figures)

 

"Let's split in 2 groups! One group with bows and crossbows will go over the bridge, and attack De Groene Draak from the crossroads. When they are in position, I will lead the attack across the ford, straight towards their front door!"

However, the innkeeper of De Groene Draak, Grombo Suykerbuyck, has some friends in the slums, and it comes to his ears that a raid will be undertaken later that day. So he sets up a barricade across the entrance way, and gathers all his staff to man the walls and the barricade. He also unfurls his banner, a family heirloom from his grandfather who fought in the Great War!

 

The defence of De Groene Draak. The barricade on the right is ready, and the crates full of food in the yard are closely guarded. (The image on the banner is Holle Bolle Gijs, an iconic figure known to most Dutch and Belgian kids from De Efteling amusement park. He eats everything, so a proper icon for a hobbit! Figures are Citadel and Grenadier.)

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So, now I have to (solo) play the game. I will use the One Hour Skirmish rules, written by John Lambshead. Since it's a solo campaign, I can afford to experiment, so let's see how quick these rules really are.

I also started a new page on this blog to collect all relevant Lowenheim information.

To be continued ...