Attack on Fort Stanley (Crisis 2008)

We ran this game during Crisis 2008 in Antwerp. The game was card-driven, with the cards (A5 size) prominently visible to all on-lookers. The idea was that the crowd could pick what card to play next.

The game is set in Darkest Africa. Various western powers are occuping a fort (“Fort Stanley”) deep in the African jungle. The attacking natives are played by the umpire (ourselves ;-)), while the Western powers are played by the bystanders. The whole atmosphere should be somewhat similar to the Siege of Peking, or Rorke's Drift: a minor force trying to hold out against a huge horde of attackers. Figures are not only moving and shooting, but should also tend the wounded, put out fires, make barricades, etc.

The players can pick 2 actions out of 6 displayed action cards. The cards list all relevant rules for that specific action. Once 2 card have been played, they are replaced by new cards. The cards are publicly shown, such that, if more than 1 player is present, there can be some lively discussion about what the next course of action should be. After there has been an action by the Western powers, the natives take their turn. This should be easy, since it is the umpire controlling them. The umpire rolls 2D6, and this is how many groups of natives can move. If an odd number (3,5,7,9,11) is rolled, there will be an additional random event rolled on the random event table. The frequency of random events is kept high to add ‘spice’ to the game.

There should be various nationalities in the fort. Figures act individually, but the nationalities are
important for identifying purposes, since action cards will refer to them.

• 8 Belgians (best troops of all!)
• 8 British
• 8 French
• 8 Civilians (green troops)
• 16 Askaris (green troops)
• 1 artillery piece (can be manned by any of the above)
• 1 gatling gun (can be manned by any of the above)
• Natives: Lots of them! They keep coming!

Rules, random events table, and card list can be downloaded here.

Some more pictures: