Last night at the club meeting I play tested my Tales of the Gold Monkey game for Cold Wars in two weeks. For this game I am using the G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. rules, but I gave all the extras a Save as well as the Main Characters. The game began with most of the board blank, covered with palm trees. As the different groups of explorers and adventurers pushed into the jungle, they discovered different sources of treasure, from a native village to idols with jeweled eyes. These were, of course, guarded by natives, animals, or monster. Each player had a “cut” card they could use for one free re-roll. In addition, each player had three dirty tricks cards they could use to slow down other players.
Jake Cutter and the Sergeants Three gangs move out.The table at the beginning of the game. The players begin near the trading post by the lagoon.A closer view of the trading post.Bing, Bob, Dorothy, and the Andrews Sisters of Mercy climb a ridge to find a lizard idol with jewels for eyes. Later in the game, Bing and Bob killed a couple of Italians with golf balls.A giant spider has other ideas for Bing and Bob.It’s a grim day for the Andrews Sisters of Mercy.And then to add insult to injury, another player played a dirty tricks card that had a herd of oryx stampede through them.Despite all their setbacks, and the death of Dorothy being gored by an oryx, Bob and Bing were able to retrieve one treasure.The Italians found the lost elephant idol — but it was guarded by pygmies.The Italians lost many men to pygmy attacks but were able to get a treasure at the elephant idol.A much-reduced Italian contingent is attacked by an angry elephant (another player’s dirty trick), but they managed to secure a second treasure at the raptor excavation.The French Foreign Legion ran into apes guarding an idol.There seemed to be a never-ending supply of apes!The foreign legion found a treasure after defeating a LOT of apes. They also found Amelia Earhart and a boat and were headed down the river to the lagoon when they were attacked by giant tentacles of some unseen monster. In a “Von Ryan’s Express” moment, the last Legionnaire tried to leap into the boat as it floated past. He rolled a 20, fell into the water, and was eaten by the crocodile you can see in the bottom right of this picture.Teddy Roosevelt, two “dangerous dames,” the lady photographer, and his band of fearless adventurers ran into natives guarding an idol. As Kurt was the first one to find a treasure, players played FOUR dirty tricks cards on him, stacking up natives. But Kurt has perennial kid luck and easily swept them aside.At this point, the Easter Island heads at the lagoon turned around and started to cut off Teddy’s path back to the lagoon. Teddy and his group tried to cross the river to avoid them but ran into some trouble.The Sergeants Three found a native village where they were preparing to sacrifice a white woman for some purpose.It took some time, but in the end the Sergeants One (as two died) freed the woman and advanced on another idol.The Sergeant One approaches the idol to get a second treasure, but Jake Cutter and Professor Challenger beat them to it.Jake Cutter and the American infantry ran into a giant scorpion defending the lost temple. Almost all the American infantry were killed, but Don was able to grab the treasure and also find Professor Challenger to add to his party.
The game was sufficiently chaotic and bloody, so I don’t plan to make any changes before Cold Wars. I think all the players had a really good time. This will make a good Saturday night game at the convention.
I am going to run a GASLIGHT game at Cold Wars that is very loosely based on the Tales of the Gold Monkey television show. Each player will have a group of explorers and will set out to find treasure. They will have cards that they can play on each other to slow down the other teams with wild animals, natives, natural disasters, and monsters. The table will be mostly empty except for some jungle. When the players move into terra incognita, I will place different terrain pieces on the table.
Team 1: Teddy Roosevelt and some odd explorers.Team 2: Jake Cuter and some Americans.Team 3: The sergeants from Gunga Din and some friends.Team 4: Bing, Bob, Dorothy, and the Andrews Sisters of Mercy.Some native fun that must be stopped.Team 5: Germans.Team 6: Brits.Team 7: Italians.Team 8: French Foreign Legion.Will the players rescue Amelia Earhart?Will the players pry the eyes out of this idol?Or will they ransack this temple?
One of the HAWKs is the faculty mentor for the Harford Community College gaming club. That club runs a gaming day every year, called HARCON. The HAWKs have supported HARCON for years with games. This is a small, multi-genre event, so we found years ago, that we are unlikely to get someone to devote four hours to a miniatures game, but they are willing to give it a try for an hour or two.
The game is afoot!
For the past three years, we have been running a really large game that allows passers by to participate for an hour or two. We have en0ugh of our own HAWKs around the table to act as opponents and keep the game moving.
This year’s theme at HARCON was Steam Punk, so we decided to run a large GASLIGHT game set on Mars with many different factions.
Venusians attacking PrussiansRooman crosswbowmen close assault a British timer cladBicycle lancers battling British infantry for control of the crashed aether flyer.Sanwar advancing on the female lancersFemale hussars with helicopter support advancing toward the SanwarMore fighting around the crashed airshipOstrich lancers and Roomans advance!British infantry, plant men, and Red MartiansRoomans with support from “the copper tank.”Another view of VenusiansAnother view of ostrich lancersGreen Martians fighting female hussars, including some mounted on “Death Jaws.”
Though attendance at HARCON seemed to be a little light, the game was fun and successful. We introduced six new people to miniatures gaming.
Don’t let the rain keep you away from Barrage 2018. Barrage runs today (at noon) until 2000 tomorrow, Saturday. Don’t miss the best two days of gaming you’ll experience for a long time.
You could lament the rain, or you could come to Barrage 2018. We have spacious, free, paved parking right next to the convention venue. You’ll barely get your feet wet. And it is easy to carry your loot from the deals and flea markets to your car and come back for more!
[Here are two long shots of the table to help provide context for Duncan’s narrative.]
“On Friday afternoon I ran ‘Welcome to Sunny Spain,’ a Peninsular War convoy ambush using Combat Patrol: Napoleonic Supplement.
“The game starts with the French convoy warily entering the town. Bill Mollineaux had the lead infantry, a new player (forgot his name:( ) had the cavalry, and Robert, who played Dave’s Zulu game and wanted more CP, played the infantry in the rear. There was a guerillo band, divided into three groups of six, controlled by Jeff Kimmel of the Rogues, a platoon of Cacadores (2 sections of 8) controlled by Terry (one of my groupies) blocking the road ahead, and a platoon of Portuguese light infantry (2 sections of 8), controlled by Mike waiting to close in behind the convoy after the trap was sprung.
“Things were quiet until the Guerillos card came up, then the French forward contingent moves out to clear the way.
“The new player, due to his inexperience, thought that this six man cavalry troop could clear eight elite cacadores out of the woods by charging them. It didn’t work very well.
“Bill brought up his infantry platoon to try and clear the way ahead by defeating Terry’s cacadores. He was repeatedly undone by morale checks that went very badly for him while Terry’s had minimal effect.
“Meanwhile, Robert’s French infantry was using superior numbers to get the better of Mike’s Portuguese at the rear of the column, while sending a section to clear some buildings of guerillos.
“In desperation, hoping to finally put a bad morale result on Terry, Bill sent the French commander charged the woods.
“Despite having impetus and a better M value Bill lost the fight.
“Though at the end the French had just about won the rear and center fights, the cacadores were holding strong and it was far from certain that the whole remaining French could have driven them off over time. So we called it an Allied victory. Everybody seemed to have a good time.”
“On Sunday morning I ran “Zorro and the Dastardly Plot.” I had seven players, so one played the tavern staff. I actually prefer that because the staff can do more interesting things under player control than I can do as the GM. Tom Veilott and his dad Jim Veil, a dad with a son and daughter, Joe Procopio and a friend of his were the players.
“This was a Blood and Swash scenario with the usual overlapping objectives, but most players wanted to get the treasure of kill Zorro. But first, Bernardo had to discover the villains’ plans and report to Zorro. [If you are a fan of the Disney show like Duncan and me, you know that Bernardo pretends to be deaf.]
“Bernardo innocently loiters near the room where the baddies meet.
“But having overheard their plans, he cannot get past them to use the stairs.
“So, in a scene that reminded me of Yoda doing cartwheels with his lightsaber, Bernardo jumped off the balcony onto the bar.
“While the villains put their plans in motion, and Don Alejandro and the tavern staff mix it up with El Comandante, Zorro emerges from the tavern cellar to put things right.
“He is immediately accosted by Sgt Garcia and lancer Perez who want the reward for his capture. Why don’t they ever get him from opposite directions?
“Zorro breaks away from Garcia and Perez – making both saves – and attempts to get through the baddies at the foot of the stairs. Garcia rejoins the fight – now he’s getting somewhere, coming in from behind!
“Zorro was played by Tom Veilott who has been playing Blood and Swash as long as any of us. He knows that staying in a fight to avoid the free hit when there are objectives to reach is a sucker bet. So, Zorro breaks away from three attackers, making two full and one half saves and runs up the banister, making another save. I can just picture Guy Williams doing this.
“On the balcony, Zorro finds more baddies, and those from the bottom of the stairs have followed him. This is getting ugly.
“Meanwhile, in the tavern, Teo the bartender has picked up a bench and is bludgeoning one of El Commandante’s lancers.
“After turning the tables on a minion who tried to push him off the balcony, Zorro has made it into the room with the villains’ ill gotten gains. However, the numbers are catching up to him – too many enemies, too few activations.
“In the end it was to much for Zorro to endure. Better luck at FALL IN!”
This looked like a good game with all the usual Blood and Swash hilarity. Perhaps Zorro will try to escape from the Quartel with Bernardo’s help at Fall In?
Rules: Star Wars Supplement for Combat Patrol™: WWII
Period: Science Fiction – Star Wars
Description: Clones are advancing toward the Republic base camp on the planet of Christophsis. Supplies are running low and the Trade Federation is refusing to let any through to the Clone troopers. Droid forces advance steadily. Lieutenant Boomer and his Clone platoon conduct a delaying action at Outpost Preibe to give time for supplies and reinforcements to arrive. Can Boomer hold long enough?
Greg and I ran our sixth game of Historicon Saturday evening. We used a modification of the France 1940 scenarios we had run in the morning and afternoon. We swapped out the terrain a bit and replaced the Germans with Droids and the British/French with clones.
Starting deployment for the Clone Wars game
I don’t have enough droid tanks to exactly replicate the earlier scenarios, so the droids had two tanks, and the clones had shoulder-fired AT rockets.
Droids advancingClones take up defensive positions atop buildings
This was probably our least successful game of the weekend. We are still struggling to get the balance right in these Clone Wars games. Sometimes the clones just shred the droids and people complain. Other times the droids don’t die fast enough, and the clone players complain. We had a critical clone player who didn’t quite understand the activation sequence, and as a result the anti-tank rockets never really played a role. The droid tanks shelled the clone positions with impunity.
Cones defend the roofs despite heavy casualties. You can see a rocket launcher in the center of this picture. You can also see Obi Wan Kenobi has jumped on a droid tank to destroy it.
The clones needed to draw in the droids. Instead they sat on the roofs of the buildings and just got shelled over and over. Lots of lessons experienced, but no lessons learned. Had the clones dropped down behind the buildings out of sight, the droids would have been forced to advance to where the shoulder-fired rockets could have taken out the tanks and where the high rate of fire and accuracy of the clone small arms fire would have been decisive.
Despite taking cover properly, the clones were torn up by HE fire from the droid tank.
Description: The Germans have swept through France and Belgium with dizzying speed. Lieutenant Fotheringay and his stalwart platoon form the BEF have been assigned the unenviable task to holding a small rural crossroads to delay the German juggernaut. Can they hold long enough for their battalion to take up defensive positions, or will they be overwhelmed?
Saturday Afternoon
Title: A Skirmish in France
Rules: Combat Patrol™: WWII
Period: WWII
Description: The Maginot Line has been outflanked and bypassed. The Germans are dashing through France to the coast. Lieutenant Carnot and his small platoon have been tasked to hold a small rural crossroads to buy time for his battalion to form a new defensive line to the West. Can the small band of Frenchmen hold back the German juggernaut long enough?
Notes: Rules will be taught. Younger gamers welcome with a participating adult.
On Saturday, Greg and I ran two games on the same terrain. The setting was a small French town in 1940. The German forces were tasked to seize the town and eliminate resistance in preparation for the battalion following them. The two scenarios were the same, but in the morning the defenders were British, and in the afternoon they were French.
German deployment for both scenarios
The German forces were the same for both scenarios. Two squads (dividing into two half squads) were forward ready to cross the stream. Behind them were four Czech 38(t) tanks and two more squads in trucks. It is subtle, but you can see that the table with the river bed is slightly shorter than the other tables to provide a look of flood plane.
The lead German squadThe British (and French) deployment
The British (and French) deployment had one squad in the village (but outside the buildings), a machine-gun team in a corner of woods to cover the avenue of approach for German infantry, two Matilda II tanks, and two more half squads just to the left of this picture. The Germans had twice as many tanks and twice as many infantrymen as the defenders.
A Matilda’s eye view of the battlefield
The Germans got three unanswered shots from their 38(t)s on one of the Matilda’s, failing to penetrate with every shot. Then the Matilda opened fire and quickly brewed up both of the 38(t)s it was facing.
The Germans begin to move forwardFirst dead 38(t)Third dead 38(t)British infantry caught in the bowling alley taking HE fire from the GermansThe Germans suppress the British machine-gun with HE fireThe Germans advance to storm the town (top) while their infantry establish a base of fire on their left
After losing a tank on the German left, they advanced to the cover of a ruined building and established a support-by-fire position. They traded fire with the British machine-gun and a half squad of infantry for several turns.
Last dead 38(t)
The Germans to to the town and began to close assault the defenders. The Brits had an ATR in the second story of a building, but it bounced off the 38(t). A Matilda finished off the last German tank. The German infantry seized two of the four village buildings. With the loss of their last tank, the Matilda’s could maneuver with impunity. They backed off and began shelling the towns. At this point, we determined that while the Germans held the town, with now support, they couldn’t hold it. We called the game a British victory.
In the second running, with the French defenders, the Germans won. The French lost one H-35, and the Germans lost two 38(t)s. The Germans were able to seize all four buildings through close assault.
Both games were a lot of fun for the players, and we enjoyed running them.
Bill Acheson ran a Helm’s Deep game using the under-development feudal version of Combat Patrol. This game uses 4″ tall figures. he scratch-built the defenses.
Duncan Adams ran a Portuguese ambush on a French convoy in the Peninsula game using the Napoleonic supplement to Combat Patrol.
