Campaign for the Kingdom: Battle of Sudley's Tavern

The sun arose to a cold, damp morning. Fog from the river coated the lowlands and lent a chill to the air. The denizens of Sudley's Tavern awoke to find armed and armored men on all sides. There would be battle this day.

The civil wars had finally come to this sheltered part of the kingdom. Horace, Duke of Dunharrow and claimant to the throne, was here to crush any opposition from Lionel, Baron of Stonekeep. After the last battle in the long Campaign for the Kingdom, Lionel had felt slighted after being publicly chastised by Horace for his losses in battle. Lionel had held his outnumbered flank bravely and at great cost to his personal retainers. He contacted the young, exiled son of his former enemy Ulric and marshalled his forces against Horace.

Horace was joined by Oswald and Roderick, sons of former claimants. Horace had their father's heads taken down from the capital's walls and returned in exchange fro aid in crushing Lionel.
The two sides faced each other that morning, with the town of Sudley's Tavern in the middle.
Lionel advanced slow and steady, Ulric only moving when it was clear Lionel's men were up for the fight.
Across the field Horace's men and commanders started and stopped. Charging and resting it fits of activity. The young commanders seemed to have little control over their men.
Lionel used the river to hold his left flank and engaged advance troops of Oswald the Younger. His arrows sent the enemy bowmen running, but couldn't budge Oswald's men at arms. Lionel's middle was held by mercenary pikes from Grunwald. A long distance peppering from Horace's archers sent them running. Now, there was gaping hole in the middle.
By now Ulric had won the race to Sudley's Tavern. What seemed like a small victory turned sour. Ulric's men were slowed down in the muddy streets of Sudley. They drove away Roderick's men only to be met by a shower of arrows.

Lionel tried desperately realigned his seperated forces but while he tried to rally his line was double teamed by Horace and Oswald. In a few minutes his troops were decimated.
 Lionel rode back and tried to rally the pikes, dumping the contents of his purse on the ground, hoping the mercenaries would respond. It was for not. Ulric's men, seeing Lionel ride off paniced. They too, were killed in the rout.

Horace would remain claimant to the throne.
This was another game where archery played a major role and it was a little one side. I've played this game maybe 50 times over the years and this has happened 1 or 2 times max. As Lionel, I lost. But it was still fun. New standings:

Where do you game?

This weekend's weather was really nice. Time to open up the windows and get the house cleaned for upcoming Oktoberfest activites. While cleaning the game area I realized how lucky I am to have the space and the guys I game with. I took some shots of the game room with all the natural light streaming in. I built the 6x8 table. I had original thought of building it with storage underneath to keep terrain. But, I have a large storage room right next door so I thought I'd keep the table light.

My space is not locked away in the basement or attic but open to the downstairs living room and bar. Nice places to hang out pre-game and have the game on. On the wall are pictures of some inspiring battles and favorite generals, along a replica of the flag Great-great grandaddy fought under.

When we bought the house, before I could say anything, my wife said, "well here's where your game room can be". Truly a lucky man.
Now, where do YOU game?

A quiet Wednesday boardgaming

After RECRUITS and with a constant crazy schedule I thought it best to take it easy with some boardgames.
First we played Yggdrasil. It's a cooperative game where you become one of the Norse gods trying to stop Ragnarok. Players try to keep the forces of evil from crossing the board. Each time a card is drawn, the baddies like Surt and Loki advance. The game ends when too many cross and you lose (most often) or the cards run out.
Each god has a special power. As Thor, my job was to pummel the bad guys and giants. We almost won. It literally came down to the last card. Great game. Highly recommended.
Then, for a quickie we played a purely dice game called Las Vegas. A lot of fun. Could see it at parties.

RECRUITS AAR

I was only able to attend half a day of the weekend long local Convention RECRUITs. RECRUITS bills itself as a convention to bring in new gamers to the fold. It does a great job. Both my games had old timers and youngsters alike and at the low-low price of $5 for the whole weekend!
I only had a chance to take pics of my games. Watch the RECRUITS website as I'm sure they'll have tons of pics up in the next couple of days.

Saturday morning I ran the Great Race, a VSF look at the overland race. The Great Powers had their finest technology on display. The game was full of heroic twists and turns along with dastardly deeds.

Each vehicle had a Perk, giving it an advantage in some area, while their Flaw gave them a disadvantage. For example, the Turks had great visibility with their raised driving compartment. This let them avoid collisions easily, but also made them top heavy and greatly hindered their turning.

Germany took an early lead but taking the lead usually makes you a target. All sorts of trickery and shooting brought him to a halt. He was quickly passed by the Dutch who remained in the lead for most of the game, thanks to the propwash caused by their wind turbine engine.Any vehicle ending its turn too close to the back of the Dutchman, quickly was pushed back by the wind.

Italy became the spoiler when it looked like he had no chance of winning. His Kamikaze frontal assault on the pack did little, however, to change the outcome.
In the final turn it looked like the Dutch had it. They had one point of armor remaining and had just squeaked past a mine field when the Turk came barreling in and intensionally hit the mines. Collateral damage took out the Dutch and opened the way for a Turkish victory. Although Germany claims he had a chance when time ran out.

My next game, was a FIW affair using using my Horse and Musket version of Fistful of Lead, and using the beautiful minis and terrain of CluckAmok.

The French and Indians had to burn the settlements and drive out the settlers, while the British had to get the packhorses full of supplies off the table. The mechanics are easy to pick up, and real fun comes with the narrative that unfolds organically.

The Indians came on full assault. First blood went to the British as farmer's wife Molly MacGregor dropped an Indian crossing the stream. She laid down a hail of fire from the loop hole in her farmhouse until the Indians set it on fire. She then tried to get one of horses out whole the rest of the Virginia Militia was slowly dying. The French shot at her horse causing it to spook and trample her. Despite this, she got up, calmSadly, she would die the following year giving birth to her 12th child. Tough ass broads like are why the French lost my friends.

We also had a Virginia Militiaman who earned the nickname "Whack-a-Mole" because every time he stuck his head over the wall, he got pinned again. Up, down, up down. Just like the kid's game.
When time ran out, the Brits had saved 3 horses of supplies, while the French had both settlements burning. A tie really, but the French and Indians had killed more British, and thus a small victory.
Tons of other great game going on around me that I wish I could have played, but had a soccer game to attend, and wife to thank for letting me go on our 18th anniversary.

10mm Troops

Hey, actually got some painting done. These boys are for Maurice/Might & Reason. They represent the Grand Duchy of Volborg's 2nd Regiment (Zweck's Own) and will hopefully see battle in our long stalled Second War of Unkerlant Succession campaign.
Since Wednesday night has proven to be lighter in the participant section, we played a game of Maurice. It's really a 1 v 1 game, but we used teams of two.
It started as a smashing success on one flank. We should have just sat tight and burned cards. But, our blood was up to drive the attack home and we paid for it. Barely squeaked out a victory.

RECRUITs in 2 weeks

Just wanted to let everyone know I will be running 2 games at our local convention RECRUITS, in on September 14th. If you've never been been to RECRUITS, it is still one of the best conventions around, and I mention that anytime I can. And, from now on, it's only once a year.
The first game is my Victorian SciFi Great Race game 9am session, and at 1pm I'll run a Fistful of Lead: Horse and Musket game using some Cluck Amok's beautiful 54mm minis and terrain.
Only one day this time around. As usual, RECRUITS fall on the same weekend as a soccer tournament, and more importantly my wedding anniversary. The Baroness, as always is very understanding.