Feudal Patrol(TM) Play Test and Other Stuff

The weekend started with a play test of Dave Wood’s scenario that will be part of his Roman supplement for Feudal Patrol(TM). The scenario involved groups of Romans attempting to escape after their defeat in the Tutebourg Forest. Other groups had previously escaped, but those in this scenario were straggles. The Germans were defending some fortifications made of logs and foliage.

A picture from an Osprey book of the German defenses.

Most of the players were in Maryland, and none of them were in the same room. Zeb, Chris, Dave, and Greg were Romans and auxiliaries. Duncan and I were the Germans.

A long shot of the table as set up in my gaming room. You can see that previous groups of Romans had left behind some ladders that the Roman straggles would try to use.

As with previous virtual meetings, we facilitated this game using Zoom. I typically provided two camera views. One is from my laptop, and the other is from my phone. This time, I placed the phone on a tripod on a table to get a good overhead view.

The overhead view camera from Chris’ laptop via Zoom. Some of the player were having trouble seeing over the high hedges, so I replaced them with less accurate stone walls to facilitate play.

At the end of turn two, I told Duncan I thought he and I were going to be overwhelmed. A few turns later, after a spirited defense of the gate and the inability of the Romans to get over the hedges in force, the Germans were declared the victors. It was a hard-won victory, and I think everyone enjoyed the game.

After the game, my wife decided that I wanted to take her and my daughter to have dinner at Disney Springs. We had a good sea food meal, but between the drizzle and the requirement to wear a mask everywhere, even outdoors, it was a less than normally enjoyable experience.

Sunday after church I had a chance to do a little more painting and finish up some figures I had started earlier in the week.

Decapod from Antediluvian Miniatures and female adventurer from Star Hat Miniatures.
Crows from Star Hat Miniatures, the avowed enemies of my duck forces.
An obnoxious but lovable alien.
The feared Were Rooster of Romney Marsh. (Star Hat)
The fungus among us: feared mushroom men (Star Hat).

I got a start on a bunch of WWII women from Bad Squiddo. Most are in khaki uniforms, so I am assembly line painting them. I plan to finish them little-by-little this week and next weekend.