The Earl of Preston is triumphant

It's a cold day in December and Earl Dave of Preston, with his ally the Lord Quincy of Bacup, are forced to defend the county against rampaging Yorkists.

Bloody Barons is an old favourite at Durham Wargames Group, but this was the first time in years for the Earl of Preston to game these rules

Well I thought my guys were in column on the left here but it turns out that I should have been in a one element wide formation.

Please ignore the ploughed fields made from correlated card. Words were spoken!

The Earl advances on the left, against a Levy blocking force.

Whilst the Earls Levy occupy a wood O  their own baseline, and remain there during the whole game.

Lord Bacup's forces on the left bypass Lower Browne-Shite, a typical Lancastrian village.

Bacup himself in the centre, astride his magnificent stallion...

Earl Preston gangs up on the Levy

The Yorkists advance their centre.

Bacup charges his Men at Arms.  The end is near one way or another..

The German Pikemen fall short of their reputation

Both sides try to keep control of the centre.

Desperate to capture a second hill the Earl of Preston destroys the Levy.   Quite frankly however he has been distracted.  Still it is a resounding Lancastrian victory, and Lord Bacup may look forward to the title "Earl of Ormskirk."

Good game this one...

Minutes of the Committee Meeting 17th December 2018

Minutes of the Marshal Petain Gentleman's club Committee meeting 17th December 2018

The meeting was opened by the Secretary in the absence of the President, as the Treasurer bought the first round, cunningly knowing that the President was late to the meeting and thereby saving Society funds.

The President then arrived and was forced to purchase his own eggnog.

The Secretary  apologised that the Records of the last meeting had been lost.  These records were stated to be "Last Christmas, the big band remix" and Russ Abbots seminal "I love a party with a little atmosphere."  The Committee unanimously agreed that these were better off lost.

The Treasurer's report was given and it was explained in fiscal terms that all monies would be deemed to be "resting" in his personal account.

The Club President made some brief remarks concerning the strong and stable state of the society.

Business of the day

Bronze Age
Unanimously voted as "back burner" due to the resolute failure of the Treasuer to paint his damn Egyptians.  2020 was given as a target date and the project was, for the moment "long grassed."  A vote of censure was avoided by the purchase of more eggnog.

Longships

This 1983 project has recently been reconsidered in light of the treasurer painting up a boat crew.  Only metal pre 1983 25mm (not 28) can be used, as agreed when the project was suggested by the Secretary in 1982.
Each player pledged to contribute an army, and seven bespoke terrain pieces.

The President pointed out that Longships means Longships, and that models of the boats would be required.  Leading from the chin the Treasurer volunteered to open the Waldridge shipyards.
The grid would be ten by six, 7" squares.
The President became over excited when he realised that basing need not be identical.  Another round of eggnog was ordered.
Forces will be Five boat crews or units, with two allied units being fielded as per the campaign rules, to give a primary and an allied player on each side.
The campaign map was viewed, and agreed with some minor tweaking.  The game is, at most four player due to its nature and all players must contribute to the lead pile.
The Treasurer apologises for his minor tweaking, it's part of his condition and his eggnog alergy.

Algy

With the Treasurer set to vanish off back to Cyprus (it is widely believed that he thinks of himself as some sort of European) the members of the committee agreed to assist in a WW1 Algy campaign.  This will involve a resource management game assigning patrols and missions to an RFC Squadron and a German Jasta.
The Treasurer may bring this collection back in the summer for some Algy pick up games. (Although I would point out for its sheer fun Algy is my go to game of the moment.)
The game objective is to be the first ace to get to ten wins.

Gallipoli

There followed a discussion of a bucket list wargame, Gallipoli.  The possibility of a 20mm two night/weeks on table campaign game was discussed.
This was tentatively agreed, but may need to go to 15 or 10mm.

Players would represent the two Turkish battalions, a bombardments Officer, and one for each of the Commonwealth battalions attacking.

It does spark the question of what the society's other bucket list games would be.

Bloody Barons

A pre game Bloody Barons was discussed.  This utilises a simple map.  Players occupy boxes representing either Exiled, Gathering support or offering battle.  Gathering support meant drawing Kingmaker style cards (or just actual Kingmaker cards)  A 4 player game.  This is a simple pre game mechanism for generating a game.  The aim is clearly regime change, but there is a way of extending this beyond a single game.  Each side, York and Lancaster, have four heirs to the English throne.  Lose a battle and one of the heirs is lost.  Lose four games and the other side will have won the throne by eliminating the rival house.

The Welsh Wars of Henry IV

Finally the Idea of a Lion Rampant game set around the war for Wales in the 4th Century.

Lion Rampant is a small scale game, and a campaign can be simply built up by randomly dicing for a scenario, as per the rules.  This builds a narrative that makes the campaign an interesting proposition.

Setting it during the Welsh Wars would allow players to represent the English, Marchers,  Irish, Anglo Irish, Welsh, Scots and Isles.

Players would have a garrison, The Earl of Chester for example would have his castle at Chester and be able to attack into Wales or go Scot bothering up in the Borders.   Campaign losses could be made good from the Garrison.

The winner would be the first player  to get to 5 Glory points.
Easy right?

The meeting was adjourned with the Secretary stating that he would search for the previous records, and the Committee requesting that under the circumstances he not do so.  The Society President has after all  a history with the comedy of Russ Abbot that we would not wish to rekindle.

Dubious Figulus gets his beast on...

After a few successful games of Sons of Mars I have added more beasts to my arena menagerie. 
No ostriches yet!

B&M Bargains Zoo animals.  £4.99

The sad giraffe

The Mighty Rhino

The Gorilla, proper size, and no more floured chimps!

Going Viking Campaign Ideas

25mm Fight Club. PAPS. Petains against Plastic Soldiery.  "You have to be in it to win it, but only with pre 1980 style metal 25s"  The slogan needs work.

Some ideas to mull with your festive wine...

We use 4 players each of whom represents a Viking leader and follows the Longships during the campaign season, from the Viking homelands to raid, and if successful to then battle and attempt to conquer.  It is very much centred on the Vikings, and their attacks. They get their own little ship counter!

The original campaign map

I will add two more Viking tracks to the campaign map to facilitate this.  The top track will be the Isles, allowing the Celtic Fringe to come into play, then the Norse, two Danes and the Frisians.  

Each player also represents one of the 4 remaining Saxon Kingdoms in the "Inland" positions.

Northumbria

Mercia

East Anglia

Wessex

Each player also has an interest in one of the outlying nations if or when these are raided.

Irish,

Welsh,

Scots

Carolingians

OK so I will fess up that I have a plan to recruit the Carolingian army...  I will do some suitable looking cavalry and front rankers, and we pool any cavalry, fyrd or bondi units to make up the rest of the army. Cavalry need far fewer figures and they offer another dimension.  

The bottom track will have an option to attack Pepin the Fat and his Carolingian Franks. They are more dangerous than the Saxons, but are richer!  They can pay three Danegeld. Normandy is however the prize.

The Irish are bog poor, and have no ability to pay Danegeld, but will rise in rebellion year on year. Pretty place but...

The Scots are similar to the Irish, but the country is big, with mountains, and it's relatively empty so it takes ages to get anywhere.

The Welsh live up on hillsides and are impossible to conquer.  They won't pay any Danegeld, but do have good church Loot for raids.

Vikings who win their raid may opt to take their Loot home, or may stay around to offer battle. "End" on the map represents that battle option.  Winning captures the Kingdom, unless the Vikings are paid off.  

A Saxon King can pay Danegeld after losing a battle to allow his country respite, sending the winning Vikings home.  (Wessex, the richest, can pay twice) This makes those Saxons a bigger target for a second attack, where the Vikings may conquer the country. Even then the Saxons may not be out of the game, since a Royal Prince may have escaped, or may just appear 12 months later, to lead a rebellion to drive the Vikings out. (Or other Vikings attack you)

Viking Players successfully navigate stages from Outwards, The Sea, England, Inland (or the name of a Kingdom) Raid,  End.  Players get 5 turns before the natives are forewarned and it all starts to get a bit difficult.  Stages are passed by opposed dice rolls, from a dice pool of 10D6.  Players must roll 4, 5 or 6 to pass 1 point on a stage (and one stage has 6 points!) But may rest the oars to recoup D6 dice.   Even if the stage is passed the risks must then be rolled.  (any passage with an R incurs a risk roll)

1.  Rough Seas, lose a base overboard.  2-3 Fighting at sea.  Risk a base head to head. Save as per shooting hits.  4-5 Blow Wind Blow, no effect.  6  Odin’s favour add 2 more d6 to your ready pile.

I prefer 13th Warrior Quotes… ‘No boy, this is no night to be close to land!’

When a Longship reaches a Raid square a raid game is played against that enemy.  Reaching the End square gives the battle game.

The A3 map

Won't look so cluttered when I've done with it.  Still a work in progress.

I'm going to do a Michael Benteen Potty time board, for tracking a Campaign season.  If you remember my textured painting canvas you will get the idea.  Counters will be Longship models mounted on pins to allow it to be used vertically.

A3 canvas

Layer of cork for sea

2nd layer of cork as land

White cliffs, chalk white horse

Cut out the river channels

3rd layer hills

Paint layer

Flock?

Clump foliage woods

Mini piles of gold for Danegeld on pins

The locations and arrows from the rules.

1/3000 longships

1/6000 Model villages, palisades, churches.

15mm named Saxons or other Royal leaders.

A multiplayer day by day track that allows each players movement to be tracked, with a monk counter writing the Anglo Saxon Chronicle moving along the track.  This uses stages  (the S dice) as weeks.  This allows some players to get ahead of others.

It took me a while to get my head around the fact that it's the other Vikings you are competing against rather than the Saxons.

Top track...

Isles Start, 3S+R, Onwards, 1S, the Sea, 3S, splits Scotland/Ireland, 3S, splits Wales/Raid, Ireland Wales Raid, Scotland End, Ireland/Wales End.

Bottom track splits from Onwards to have an option to attack the Carolingian Franks.

Ideas for the Multiplayer game.

In many battles of the period two leaders would confront a pair of leaders on the other side.  Ashdown, Brunanburh, Clontarf, Nissa, Fulford Gate, Stamford Bridge (many others are available) It could be the King and a Prince, or a pair of veteran Ealdormen.

Two options.

1.  The army is divided between the controlling player, 3 main units, and a non interested party, 2 main units.

2.  Seven main units are used, divided 4/3 and the table is extended two hexes at each side.  An allied general is used.

3.  Double armies are used.  This may need some fudging of figures and widening of the table.

4.  2 tables 2 games?

My suggestion is that we do an initial campaign year to see if it works.  If I get my 15mm going perhaps as an email game.  I'll finish the map pretty quickly...

Multiplayer game: A Night in the Queen's Head.

I inflicted my En Gardé "Bishop's War" on Durham Wargames group...  Something a little different...

The Bishops's Guard cleaned up, with Captain Lee doing his usual amount of killing.  It's really odd, but it seems that whenever I put that figure on the tabletop he goes on to kill as many enemy figures as he can.  In this game he ran up a score of half a dozen...

Quilp and his Smuggler's/Pirates were almost wiped out, Whitemoore and his men ravaged the Inn, before joining in with the customers drinking.

Rathbone and his men finally realised that the Priest had hidden in the barn, and rescued him, but only after having kicked a pig, and the potboy away from the Inn door.

We all admired Rathbone's moral rectitude in spurning the advances of a pair of shady ladies...

Meanwhile Sir Toby Belch sampled Doll Tearsheet's charms and then proceeded to stagger around the table, before looting a jeweled crucifix and making for the Inn to get drunk.

Not a typical wargame, but pretty much an ordinary evening out in Durham.

The Fat Knight confronts the Bishop's
Witchfinder over an upturned table...

Jim the keg boy at the Inn door

A brawl in the street outside.  Captain Lee
Kills around half a dozen men.

The Inn Patrons hold on, getting progressively more drunk, as Mistress Quickly's pig escapes up the alley

The bemused "is that a pig inside the Inn" question betrayed the fact that some members of the group have never been on a night out in a Durham pub.

25mm Dark Ages

The first rule of 25mm fight club.  Don't talk about...

OK,  so the Marshal Petain Gentleman's club have a nostalgic and historic link to 25mm figures.
Some would say unhealthy.

The 2016 Dux Bellorum game, using Minifigs, Irregular and sundry other archaic ranges bears this out.  Some of those figures were older than one of the players!

...And I strictly mean 25mm by the way, none of your giant 32mm giant guys purporting to be the true scale!

We were discussing rules when the club secretary made a fateful suggestion... again.  He does this sort of thing to us.  25mm Dark Ages.  He  has Saxons, the President has Danes, and I have an ace up my sleeve!

To qualify for entry to the project I dug out some venerable 25mm types.  I'm quite pleased with them.

Bases are 40mm plastic squares, the origins of which are shrouded in a mystery wrapped in a puzzle, dipped in an Americano.

It's high time Ubba Half-Arsed, a Frisian, got onto a base and left his windswept island.  I reckon he has about 6 months to get set for it.  If the project goes ahead, and that's a big if for one of our plans, I will paint up Ubba's five crews, and maybe get some Welsh or Irish into play.

The Jarl Ubba  and his House Guard

Bondi

I need 24 figures for my boat crew, almost enough for twice that here.

More Huscarles

40mm square basing.  They would probably fit on 30mm! 

With some archers.  Better get the shipyard going too!