Thursday, December 27, 2012

Lost in a Halfling wilderness of pain, All the Conies are insane...

From left to right; Froggner, Giggers, Col. Kilpaw, 1st of the Ninth standard.
As part of this year's Orcs in the Webbe Advent Calendar, and with great apologies to Joseph Conrad, John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola, I created a scenario for Flintloque based on a scene from "Apocalypse Now". The Battle of B'Water finds our hero Giggers en route to the heart of darkness to cashier the renegade Colonel Blyng,


 The first obstacle in the way is the subject of this scenario. Access to the Bomoo river is blocked by a force of hafling slavers.
 Giggers must enlist the aid of the Hare Cav, the mobile strike force of the Burrovian Konga's Force Lipan, in order to get past this hurdle.
Into the cannon's mouth.
 Rather than play this out as a Flintloque scenario, I've decided to have a go at a Slaughterloo version instead.
 Here three units of Burrovian cavalry will face off against two units of halflings and one battery of slave Othari guns.
 Set up the table today and took some photos.


The battery.

The halfling line.

Halfling deployment. The white building with the courtyard is the Green Dragon Inn.

The Burrovians must force their way into the Inn in order to claim victory,



Sunday, December 23, 2012

Liebster Nomination and Nominations!





Always nice to be recognized and to know that one is not just posting out into the void!  To that end comments on posts are always welcome. Now I am well pleased to have received two nominations for a Liebster award. 
So just what is a Liebster award? Well I didn't know either, but a bit of research revealed the following:


First off thanks to pahoota of Solopsist Gaming and

The Lion of Katzenstein of   Kingdom of Katzenstein

For the nominations. Very glad you enjoy the blog! 



Now to follow the directions:

"- Copy and paste the award on your blog linking it to the blogger who has given it to you.- Pass the award to your top 5 favourite blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of their posts to notify them that they have won the award and listing them on your own blog.- Sit back and bask in that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing that you have just made someone's day!- There is no obligation to pass this on to anyone else but it is nice if you do."


And so, in no particular order, here are my nominees:


Chronicques du fort Bastiani by Kobayachimaru
Quite literally chronicles Kobayachimaru's gaming experience. Wonderful figures and terrain with some great gaming ideas make this a fine blog to visit.

WARGAMES et FIGURINES by Nicolas 
A French language blog that features some absolutely beautiful games covering a wide array of periods.

Tabletop Wargaming with Gavin Syme
Gavin is the Creative Manager of both Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk. This is his hobby web page and provides scenarios, battle reports, painting posts and all that sort of thing.

Warhammer for Adults by gaj
Fantastic site for old school Warhammer (3rd edition) with witty prose to suit. BTW if you have an original Lichemaster figures for sale or trade, drop gaj a line!

BattReps by Aleksandar Saranac 
To be honest, I do know know how many followers this blog has. However I very much enjoy Aleksandar's battle reports, and gaming ideas.

So there you have it. Brew a cuppa, sit in a cozy chair, and give these blogs a read, You are sure to find something of interest.

Merry Christmas all!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

The 98: Wexforc Aflame!

We left off with rocks having been thrown at Giggers and Trumpeter Thersonorc Behineyoo. 

At this point I rolled a dice for each side, high score would get the first turn. The rebels won the toss and as all three groups of bog orcs advanced around the henge, Moyfee the Druid cast Hail of Stones at dear Giggers. Fortunately the spell fizzled and Giggers was untouched.


At this, Giggers called upon the section of dragoons behind him to charge the bog orcs on the left. This they did! 


Meanwhile Giggers had Behineyoo sound the alarm to call up the two reserve sections of dragoons and putting spurs to his mount charged the druid. The druid declined single combat and Giggers and his coverorc slew two of Moyfee's guards.


The dragoons charge was particularly bloody with 5 bog orcs and 3 dragoons falling.


The bog orcs passed their rout test and were pushed back. Moyfee and crew failed theirs and fled through the henge pursued closely by Giggers. 


Startled by the flight of their religious leader, the center company of bog orcs paused in disarray losing a turn.


Giggers and Behineyoo reigned in their mounts in the center of the henge, while the first section of dragoons remained locked in combat with the left hand bog orcs.


The right hand bog orcs began to close in on the henge. Unfortunately in avoiding single combat, Moyfee had reduced his leadership to 1 and was therefore unable to rally. The holyorc and his two remaining guards and off into the wood.


Could Giggers hold out until relief arrived?


The first section of dragoons and the bog orcs continued to trade blows, 2 bog orcs and one dragoon fell. I should have voluntarily routed the remaining two dragoons. However I was hoping they could hold out until the reserves arrived.


In the next round another dragoon and bog orc fell. This was the first round the dragoons didn't win, and the loss of the "follow up" bonus, not to mention the four to one odds, would prove a problem.


Help finally arrived in the clearing!


Giggers joined the second section and the sole survivor of first section voluntarily routed. The bog orcs could not hope to keep up and the brave dragoon got away.


This is how the table looked as there was a slight lull in the fighting.


Now I made a second mistake. Second section charged the right hand bog orcs, but I should have waited until I could get Giggers integrated into the front line. The combat was drawn.


Third section covered the withdrawal of first section and took up position facing the bog orc left flank.


Then the unthinkable happened. Second section lost a combat and routed taking Giggers with it!


Fortunately the bog orcs were unable to pursue and in such disarray they could not fall on the now exposed flank of 3rd section.


Third section made haste to withdraw and protect the flight of 2nd section.


Giggers was unable to rally 2nd section before they carried him off the table.


The final result was a rebel victory with the loss of 14 bog orcs down, and two more with Moyfee having fled.

In exchange six dragoons fell, and six more including Giggers and Thersonorc Behineyoo routed off the table.

In the end the result was not unlike that of the encounter upon which this game was based.

And so Wexforc is aflame and strange sails have been seen off Banter Bay in county Korc...

Some notes on figures and terrain:
The dragoons are all from Alternative Armies, painted by their fabulous in house painters. Minor conversions to Giggers are my fault.

The bog orcs are all Games Workshop orcs from a long time ago painted by yours truly.

The henge is from ESLO terrain. The village and road from Miniature World Works. The stone ridges are from Battlefront. The mat is from The Terrain Guy, as are some of the trees. Other trees and the sky backdrop are from Lemax. Finally any of the trees from neither of the previous two sources are model railroad trees from the 70's at least : )

Thanks for stopping by and have a very Merry Christmas all!

Friday, December 21, 2012

The 98: Battle of The Harrowed (Giglamp's first fight!)




Triplets from the Guinalean epic poem “Is That the Salmon of Wisdom or Are You Just Happy to See Me?”

“98 were the tears that were shed,
98 were the mouths with no bread,
’98!’ was the cry that was said.”

“98 was the year we got bored,
98 was the year of the sword,
98! Crushing heads like a gourd!”
It is well known that the Bog Orcs and Wee Folk of Guinalea are not always willing members of the United Kingdom of Great Britorcn. This was never more so the case than in the years following the Ferach Elf Emperor Mordred’s Annulment of the Law of Wylde Magicke, for Guinelalea was more steeped in and dependent upon Wylde Magicke than many another land.
It was Wylde Magicke that made the Land so green that even the Bog Orcs dwelling there were imbued with that colour. It was Wylde Magicke that allowed the Wee Folk to flourish there. Most important of all it was Wylde Magicke that allowed the Land the bounty that sustained the population.
With Wylde Magicke gone, the Bog Orcs faced starvation.

Never one to let an opportunity for mischief at the expense of others to pass, the tyrant, Emperor Mordred sent emissaries to Guinalea, to spread rumor and foment revolt. The rumor was that it was Goode Kyng Gorge who annulled Wylde Magicke in Guinalea and caused the land to whither. In truth it did not take much convincing for this rumor to take root, and unlike the spuds of Guinalea, prosper. The Bog Orcs were a warlike bunch and for many, rebellion was sport.


Ferach agents provocateur made it clear that the Wee Folk and oppressed Bog Orcs of Guinalea were welcome in Amorica, where a Legion was being raised to liberate the Auld Sod from the rapacious hands of Kyng Gorge.
So it was that in the year 98 BO[1], the green flag of rebellion was raised.


Coincidentally, the year 98 BO was also the year that a newly minted Cornet of the 17th Heavy Dragoons, the “Sewon and Soforths” began what would be a very active career indeed.


Unbeknownst to him at the time, Giglamps had purchased a commission into an unhappy regimental family in the 17th. The 17th’s Lt. Colonel, Lord Sniggerson, was far more interested in currying favor at court than with running a combat ready command, and the assignment of the 17th to “assist the civil authorities” in a backwater like Guinalea, seemed to his Lordship a “right demned slap in the face”!
While his Lordship spent all his time pretending that he was an orc of some importance, morale and training in the 17th reached a nadir, and poor Giglamps was to bear the brunt of this neglect on a spring morning near the village of The Harrowed.
On that day Cornet Giglamps was tasked with tracking down a Ferach Agent believed to be spreading dissent in the area. In truth, poor Giggers was much too er green, as it were, for such a task, but frankly, no more senior officer could be bothered to take the field and so, as the most junior officer, Cornet Giglamps was given command. Mind you, Giggers himself was delighted at the prospect of independent command!

As Giggers and his patrol approached The Harrowed, it was clear that the village had been deserted. Taking his coverorc, Trumpeter Thersonorc Behineyoo, and a section of six dragoons, Cornet Giglamps turned down the lane towards the local sacred circle.


There he met Druid John Moyfee and about 40 bog orcs of the village, seemingly gird for war. Entering into conversation the Druid assured Giggers that the bog orcs were simply assembled and equipped for smurf cutting[2] as was the custom in these parts.

A more experienced officer than young Giggers would have realized that with the annulment of Wylde Magicke there could be no smurfs nearby, and the gathering of bog orcs could only have mischief at heart. As it was, Cornet Giggers accepted the Druid at his word, and made ready to depart.
When from out of the crowd of bog orcs a rock was thrown…


The preceding is the scenario description for a game I’ve had in mind for some time, Giggers first fight!
In keeping with the theme of “early days”, this game will be played using Warhammer Fantasy Battle 2nd edition rules.
Both sides will be represented by the standard orc templates. While it is true that in Alternative Armies world of Valon, bog orcs are “harder” than proper orcs, the bunch gathered here represent an ill trained rabble. Rather than improving some aspects of their profile and then reducing others I decided to keep it simple.
There are three mobs of 12 to 16 bog orcs each led by a unit champion.
There are three sections of 6 dragoons each led by a unit champion.
Giggers will of course be some level of hero, no doubt a minor hero as befits his youth and inexperience. Trumpeter Thersonorc Behineyoo will also be a hero, as suits an orc picked to be his young officer’s minder.
Druid John Moyfee is an elementalist. Although he is well steeped in the spells and rituals of his religion, the annulment of Wylde Magicke will limit his options and possibly add a random element to his casting.
In the photos you may well notice that demnable Ferach agent Daniel D’Kless. Present mostly for colour, D’Kless is a high elf major hero. However he should take no part in the game, being, as usual, more concerned with saving his skin than with engaging in derring-do!
That’s it for now on this bleak solstice morning.
Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by!

To read how the game played out, click here .


[1] By Bog Orc Reckoning.
[2] Smuf cutting was a local tradition that kept the druids well supplied with blue pigment for their rituals. Each able bodied bog orc of the village would turn out with a melee weapon, shield, and possibly armour. The smurfs, well known for their propensity for mayhem and violence, made such precautions necessary.

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Floorer....the floorer

Well today the new bed room floor is going in and tomorrow the furniture should arrive then...I can begin the task of getting all that, admittedly wonderful, but never-the-less very much in the way stuff out of the game room.

Giggers has been chomping at the bit to take on a few enemies new and old.

D'Erlelf has given his division marching orders.

Yet I cannot even reach the battlefield! Hurrumpf.

In the meantime the Orcs in the Webbe Advent calendar is in full swing. And therein, with humble apologies to Joseph Conrad, Francis Ford Coppola, and John Milius, you may read this tale of Giglamps mission to the Darkest Konga...with scenario featuring a Hare Cavalry raid on a Halfling Slaver enclave.

The gaming downtime has also been spent working on a few...unorthodox  titles for Two Hour Wargames 3 for 2 range of scenarios for Chain Reaction Final Version and Swordplay Final Version.  

Simply cannot wait to get my room back : )

Thanks for checking in on me!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Old School 40K game to be held at Foundry

First off, I have no association either with Foundry or the team that brought us the original Rogue Trader (40K First Edition), other than as a happy customer.

That out of the way I think this is absolutely splendid and would attend were I not so geographically challenged.

Re-posting the announcement (with Foundry's permission) in order that more folks will have the opportunity to enjoy old school 40K.  Please spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested!

The notification is reproduced below:


Rogue Trader Participation Game
On Saturday the 15th of December we’re hosting a Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader participation game here at Foundry. The game is being run by Andy and Gareth, a pair of veteran gamers who are providing all the models and scenery for the game.

Their blog is talesfromthemaelstrom.blogspot.co.uk

We’ll be open from 10am and games will be running between 11am and 4pm. Anyone is welcome to drop in and take control of a squad from one of the factions battling it out on a destabilized Imperial world.

My Dad, Bryan Ansell, will be there at some point in the day. I’m sure he hasn’t seen a game of 1st edition Warhammer 40,000 in decades. We’ve found a very old master mould for a pair of fishmen with science fiction guns he converted from fantasy models to playtest Laserburn and later on Rogue Trader. Ronnie is going to make a new production mould so that we can have them as giveaway models for anyone there on the day.

We’ll also have tea, coffee, biscuits and possibly even cake for anyone who turns up.

Cheers
Marcus

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always thanks for stopping by and if you should go, do please send me some photos of the event!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Giggers, Luddites, and Plot

Been planning this one for a long time. This is the first game of "Giglamps: The Early Years" where we explore the early career of our hero.

In this episode the Sew On and Soforths have been called in to assist the civil authorities in Badgers Drift. Luddites have destroyed the borough's first machine loom and have threatened more outrages, even GBH, until all machine looms have been destroyed.

Working closely with the Corston Street Irregulars, Lt. Giglamps set up a series of posts and patrols that greatly curbed Luddite activities. Now with the aid of Detector Chief Constable Barnaby's informant, one Jasper "Grass" Grazlow, Government forces are converging on a Luddite meeting in the dead of night. 

"Norcs" Norris, Giggers, and Plumborc in the lane.
DCC Barnaby can be seen lurking behind the stone wall in the background.
Stopping only to collect rising hand bill reporter "Norcs" Norris, Lt. Giglamps, Sgt, Tosh, Gigger's coverorc, Pvt. Plumborc, and Pvt. Curruthbog, headed for the rendezvous with the Irregulars.


Government forces lie in wait.

DCC Barnaby, his Detector Sergeant, Troy, and five other constables had already taken position in the field and wood adjoining the barn in which the furtive meeting was being held.

After a quick consultation it was decided that the Iregulars would place DCC Barnaby and three constables north of the barn and DS Troy to the west. Sgt. Tosh, and Curruthbog would take the south side of the barn while Giggers, Plumborc, and "Norcs" would await events in the lane to the east.

With a rousing shout of "Git yer trews on, yer Nicked!", Barnaby started the ball. Like rats from a sinking ship, the Luddites emerged from the barn and scattered to the south west and south.

General Ludd and his body guard make a run for it.

The ring leader, known to authorities only as "General Ludd", made a dash for the fields to the south accompanied by his armed body guards and an adoring lad simply called "the Runt". Hoofer tripped on the door of the barn and stumbled but "the Footman" followed Ludd, blunderbuss held ready.

The bulk of the Luddites fled south east, easily outpaced by a lean, long legged, figure in a tall hat...one of Emperor Mordrid's corps of Agents Provocateur!

Daniel D'Kless leads the breakout to the south east.
Who's that masked orc in the background?

Well the appearance of the foreign agent changed things considerably as Giggers saw things. He charged, Plumborc duly following. 

The Elf in blue makes Giggers see RED!

Meanwhile Sgt. Tosh made for General Ludd, Curruthbog in tow. To Tosh's embarrassment, his trooper shied at the fence and wouldn't jump. Curruthbog charged alone. 

Tosh's trooper refuses the jump.

The Corston Street Irregulars burst from cover as well.

DCC Barnaby leads the charge

With DS Troy and his orcs charging from the west, and Curruthbog charging from the east, Ludd and his bodyguard had little time to fire and a brawl ensues.

Hoofer's shot at Curruthbog misses as battle is joined.
Giggers finds the Elf no easy target. D'Kless is a skilled swordself. The hooded figure turns out to be none other than that notorious naer'do'well Plunkorc! The ruffian has been charged by Ludd with making sure that the Elf doesn't come to any harm...nor is lost to the movement by his own means.

Sword and sabre clash.
Meanwhile, just to the north, Barnaby and his men clash with more Luddites.

The fight has developed into several separate brawls.

While Giggers and D'Kless fight, Plunkorc and the orc "ladies" maneuver for advantage.

Mamma's don't let your sprogs grow up to be Luddites...

With a deft cut, D'Kless' sword is sent flying from his grip. Just then Plunkorc fires at Gigger's back!

Plunkorc is a back shooting son of a Troll.
Fortunately the shot missed. However Gigger's could see that Plumborc had suffered grievously and was losing his fight against another Luddite. Giggers ignored the now defenseless D'Kless and spurred to Plumborc's aid.

To the west, DS Troy and one his orcs has laid "the Footman" low, and move on to engage General Ludd. "The Runt" makes a fool of Constable Theresanelfbehindyou, and pushes his back but the doughty Irregular returns to the fray with a vengeance.

Troy and General Ludd have a bit of a dust up.

Slowly the Government forces began to get the upper hand.  First one than another Luddite collapsed unconscious or worse.

Casualties mount
Still the fighting is not all one sided. Pvt. Plumborc is severely wounded, and Giggers has suffered numerous cuts, bruises and even a pistol ball to the shoulder.

Troy finally beats General Ludd to the ground. The Luddites lose heat and flee.

Giggers fires a parting shot,
D'Kless made a break for it. Giglamps fired a carbine at his retiring form.

Luddites flee the field, leaving behind eight of their number.
In the end the Luddites lost eight fighters against the sole loss of Pvt. Plumborc. Surprisingly only one of the she orcs was lost, and the one holding the baby beat up a constable and escaped!

With the capture, and not doubt eventual execution of General Ludd, peace has been restored to Badger's Rest. With the escape of Daniel D'Kless, future trouble in the region is a certainty.


This game was actually played with two sets of rules with which I have no connection other than as a happy customer. I started the game with Strange Grogge, a set of skirmish rules for piratical, or should that be "pyratical", mayhem in "The Land". I finished the game with another set from Wessex Games, Gangland, a set that covers urban mayhem from about 1800 to 1900 but can stretch quite easily to an earlier period and less so into towards the present.

Both games use a variation of the GUTS system, whereby each figure has a single stat and over the course of the game this stat, "salt" in SG, and "spunk" in Gangland, is reduced by combat and possibly other circumstances until the character is no longer capable of continuing the fight.  

Both implementations have their merit with Strange Grogge much more focused on small combats with some narrative detail, while Gangland  lends itself more easily to larger crowds of figures by simplifying  and streamlining things just a bit. 

One aspect of Strange Grogge is that as figures become more battered their ability to hurt one another in melee is greatly diminished, which sounds quite logical actually. In practice as you get to the end game you have a bunch of fellows on each side who cannot really do much to hurt their opponents unless one of them rolls really well and the other really poorly. Fair do as this should be when the forces break off anyway and the players should figure out the need to call it quits.

However I felt that didn't really fit in this situation where the Luddites would just as soon run and avoid capture as stand and fight. That is to say they would fight until it was clear they were losing and then slip away into the night. Here Gangland was of considerable use as in that system, figures in melee test in a different manner and whichever scores higher wins, limiting shouting matches to tied scores. Gangland also has some nice rules for finding the will to enter into melee in the first place and I prefer that game's turn sequence.

Balanced against that is the simple fun of Strange Grogge. That's where the "disarmed" results stemmed from with other comedic consequences like tripping and falling and horse that decide they would rather not jump.

Bottom line is these rules are inexpensive and if you have any interest in them you should go ahead and buy both!

I hope to play this same scenario using some other rules such as Flintloque and Sacre Bleu and see what happens. Mind you those rules are oriented more towards "proper" combat and less towards police work so we shall see how it all works out.

Hope you enjoyed the tale and thanks for stopping by!