Fistful of Lead: Might and Melee

 Today 4 of us got together to try out the Fistful of Lead Fantasy game, Might and Melee. We decided to stick with the basic skirmish rules and not add in magic. So the following Retinues took part...

Chris: Humans, Ian: Goblins, Phil: Norse, Myself: Wood Elves

We tried out the first scenario which is a straightforward clash of Retinues looking to gain Renown. In the photo below you can see some of Phil's Norse retinue advancing towards the river. 

Ian's Goblin Retinue go hunting humans. 

Ian (Goblins) and Chris (Humans) were the first to get into action. The Humans proved too tough for the goblins but were weakened by the melee. 

Red (wound) and yellow (shock) counters start to appear in the wood - we removed the trees to make movement easier.  

My Wood Elves decided to go join the fray, attacking the humans. They did very well at first. 

Phil then attacked my elves so we were now all involved in the fight. 

After 8 turns of frantic gaming three of the retinues were badly harmed but Phil's Norse had played a canny game waiting until everyone else was fighting before joining in. However, when we came to add up how much Renown we had each earned Chris was a clear winner. 

We all enjoyed the rules agreeing that it was a fast, fun skirmish system. It is the type of game that creates many cinematic and exciting moments for the players. The simple campaign system adds extra interest allowing you to develop your retinues from game to game. 

First game of Lion Rampant v2.

 Today we decided to dig out our 28mm Wars of the Roses figures for a game of the second edition of Lion Rampant, settling on the first scenario of 'Bloodbath' as a good game for us to learn the rules. We chose 4x 24 point forces without too many upgrades to try and keep the rules straightforward. It was decided that I (Lancastrian) would run two forces along one table edge as I had best knowledge of the rules whilst Ian and Phil (Yorkist) took 24 pts of troops each on the other side. 

Sir Harry of Austwick (me) sets off to find the enemy. 

Lord Ruddemell (Phil) took up a defensive position. 

Sir John Lawkland (me) opposes Lord Ruddemell

Godwin the Brown (Ian's troops at the top) out manoeuvred my troops on the left so I had to pull back and re-position my units. 

Ian's Kerns got into the woods to challenge my handgonners but the handgonners won. 

Godwin the Brown (Ian) set up a strong defensive line. 

Some of Sir Harry of Austwick's troops re-positioned and feeling a bit happier.

Clash of Knights, fought over a few turns and won by Sir Harry who then advanced on the rest of the enemy troops. 

Sir Harry's troops start to get the better of Godwin the Browns and unexpectedly slowly wipe them out, but with hardly anyone left themselves.  

On the other flank Sir John Lawkland's men were wiped out by Lord Ruddemell's troops leaving Sir John to fight to the last man. 

Overall, a slight win for the Yorkists (Ian and Phil). 

We all really enjoyed the game and found the rules worked well and we all look forward to playing again soon. 

 

Club Day at Scruton

 Really enjoyed myself today with a first trip back up to see the lads at the Scruton Club. John very kindly hosted a 15mm Black Powder game for me using slightly amended rules to better suit the period. John has clearly put a lot of time into his Franco Prussian project recently and has also created some wonderful terrain to go with it. John (Prussians) proceeded to give me (French) a right drubbing but I still really enjoyed the game. It looked great and was played in good spirit. 

From behind the Prussian lines.

The French view.

One of the main clashes as the Prussians managed to occupy the chateau and the French could not dislodge them. 

The two divisions of cavalry about to clash-this did not go well for the French either.

The victorious Prussian cavalry then enjoyed rampaging across my left flank. 

Not much later with half of my army in flight a Prussian victory was declared. 

There were a few other games going on too. This one is 10mm ACW.

10mm Pony Wars, looked like all sorts of western chaos was going on. 

10mm Seven Years War 

Overall, a most enjoyable day, catching up with old friends and having a good game. 

10mm ACW using Black Powder: Capture the Railway Station

 Having decided to play 10mm ACW this week (using Black Powder rules) and Ian having scratch-built a model rail station devising a scenario was easy. We plonked the station in the exact table centre and both sides were told to capture it. If they could not capture the station then they had to try and destroy a section of track to prevent the enemy from using it. The game would last 12 turns. 

The dice decided that the Union (Ian and Nigel) would enter on the town/built up part of the board whilst the Confederates (Phil and me) would come onto the board on the more rural/farmed side of the board.  As well as a few fields there was also a good mix of heavy and light woods. 

The Rebels won the initiative and were able to rapidly send forward their cavalry brigade who dismounted and grabbed the station. 

The train (very nice but pure decoration in this scenario). 

A very large Union Infantry brigade (led by General Ian) marched forward through the town towards the station. 

Overview of the station. At this point of the game both sides started to suffer a dreadful run of failed Command Throws resulting in not much happening on either flank. 

The Confederate Brigade on the right flank failing their Command Throw for the 5th turn out of six so far. It was at this point we remembered that some units such as limbered artillery could still have 1 move even if the Command roll was failed. 

Union horse (led by General Nigel) finally move across the railway. 

The Union infantry finally charge the station bravely held by the Confederate cavalry...

... and the Union infantry get sent packing.

 We discovered that it is very hard to dislodge units from buildings. 

On the Confederate right the Union cavalry tried to turn our flank but some excellent shooting from General Phil soon put a holt to that. On the left, both sides finally advanced into the action. The Confederate Infantry were able to repel the Union attack. Union General Ian had one last try at attacking the station but was repelled once again. Getting desperate the Union General Nigel tried to destroy the rail line with artillery fire but failed by just one point. 

Game over, and with the Confederate cavalry still holding the station they claimed the victory. 

Good fun game, lots of action and plenty of banter too.