The Sword and the Flame

Last Sunday we played a colonial game. It had been a long time we set up a game with a colonial theme, but JP was so kind to host a game, using the well-known The Sword and The Flame rules.

Eddy and I were the players. The fun part was we all had a different copy of the rules, with apparantly slight differences for some rules. But since we're not the rules-lawyering type, it didn't matter that much.

Eddy took the British, who had to defend a compound, I assaulted with the Pathans. Near the end, as could be expected, al units had converged on the compound and it became a numbers game. The Pathans prevailed.

Here are some of the pictures (more pictures here):

 

I wore my lucky Napoleon socks.

JP and Eddy overlooking the table - still empty.

Briefing of the scenario.

The first casualties.

Pathans closing in.

More Pathans approaching from the other side.

The approach continues ...

Pathans attacking the compound.

The British defending the compound as best as they can.

Rules discussions going on :-)

Lots of casualties on both sides.

Near the end.

Overall, it was a fun game. However, we agreed the scenario could have been better. Having a single focal point (the compound) on which all units converge, means for a cramped game area-wise. It's amazing how we all know this, yet often make this same mistake when setting up scenarios.

Playtest of The Men Who Would Be Kings

Yesterday we gathered at JP's house and played a short Indian Mutiny game, using The Men Who Would Be Kings colonial rules. It was the first time we used these rules, and a few glitches came up. These have not so much to do with the rules themselves, but more with the scenario we used and the specific setup of terrain. After all, any ruleset implicitly assumes (often unwritten) some aspects about the scenarios: troop and terrain density, quality of opposing forces, etc. We felt that we still have to tune our scenario setups a bit to accommodate for these rules. Or to put it differently: troops that shoot the farthest prefer more open terrain, troops that rely on close combat prefer dense terrain ...

Phil (left) commanding the mutineers (Indians and Pathans) vs David (right) commanding the British regulars.

The battle in full swing. The ruined building in the middle left had to be held by the mutineers as long as possible.

More action! A bunch of Pathans suddenly popped out from behind the rocks at the bottom middle.

The mutineers held the village for 9 turns, but then got swiped away by the advancing British forces. Let's call it a draw! :-)

For a few tusks more ...

I recovered all the text and images from our old site (dating back to the mid-nineties), and placed it all on this page.

Another Colonial Game

After the exploits of the FFL in the Desert (see post below), we had another Colonial game this week, this time in the Congo. Report by Eddy, pictures here.

The setup : King Leopold II is on a personal inspection tour of his little piece of personal property in Africa, visiting a diamond mine. Taking a coffee break at the local fort a scout comes running in with news : Zanzibarians see his presence as an opportunity to enlarge their trading empire and have instigated a revolt amongst the natives who need not much motivation to kick some white butt anyway. A messenger is immediatly send to the main encampment demanding quick rescue but for the moment King Leo, his retinue, a company of Belgian troops and 2 companies of Askari will need to hold the fort until the rescue party arrives. The size of the native force is considerable - at least 12 companies worth of warriors. Can the fort hold ? Will the rescue party arrive in time ?

Bart & Eddy playing the brave natives. Phil, Koen (later replaced by Frank) playing the "Force Publique"

Pre-game native tactical talks decided that taking the fort should have precedence over trying to slow down the reinforcements so only a minimum of 3 companies are going to be used to try to buy time for the others to take the fortress. Such a suicide mission is tailor made for Eddy while Bart would use his tactical finesse (read : mini-maxing) to take the fort. The ambush was set. Let them come and don't throw those spears until you can see the white of their eyes.

Koen/Frank played the fort CO while Phil would lead the rescue party. Well, it's always said you need 3 things to win a card-driven game : a good plan, good cards and good dice. The plan was good : those 3 delaying action companies did their duty, holding until the last man, even managing to wipe-out one of the rescue companies so that in the end only 2 companies got through to the fort. Too little and too late because the combination of attacking the fort only from one side, hereby halving the return fire, good cards and good dice had steadily eroded the fortress defenders. One company of the valiant relief party was still able to make it onto the walls, but sheer numbers prevailed, resulting in a vacancy add in Vacature : Job : King, degrees : none required, previous experience : women preferably.

Le Roi est mort - Vive le Roi.

The Legion in the Desert

This month, our SnV revival game was set in the North-African desert. Using the newly acquired Desert terrain from Kallistra, along with the Wooden figures from Windcatcher Graphics, and the Afriboria rules, we had an excellent game.

Full reports will no doubt follow ...