The Navio de Adviso - game three

 Although the buccaneers were successful at Portobello, the plunder was small - about 100 pieces-of-eight per man. Nevertheless, casualties were light, amounting to five or six wounded. (This accords well with my 5 casualties in the last game!).

After the sack, the buccaneers retired to a small cay, 3 leagues distant, and awaited their ships to take them off. Before their vessels arrived, a force of Spanish from Panama and Portobello arrived and fired on them from the shore; necessitating a shift to a different cay until rescued by their ships.

It strikes me that their is a potential amphibious game in there but unfortunately my ships are not yet painted, so I moved onto the next game in the 'Organised Play'. I  can always revisit this when I have some ships.

Coxon next instigated a short blockade of Portobello, during which they encountered the Santa Rosa, a small packet or advice ship (navio de adviso) bearing dispatches. Captain Alleston, in a sloop, arrived first and engaged the Rosa with small arms fire until Coxon arrived and boarded her without the loss of any men.

The published scenario calls for a fluyt (Santa Rosa), frigate (Coxon) and sloop (Alleston). Unfortunately, there is no way I can muster the necessary ships at the Blood and Plunder level (although I may be able to do something at a later date once I've painted my ships). Hence, I decided to try the action using Oak and Iron. Although, I've played a couple of games on Tabletop Simulator, this would be my first go with the physical game. The ships are, as yet, unpainted but, as I was keen to press on with the campaign, I thought 'what the hell' and used them straight from the box.

The game notes suggest that Alleston's sloop did not carry any guns, which is not a problem as musketry plays such a large part. With Oak and Iron, I'm not so sure; I restricted the sloop to partial fire but gave them an Inspiring Commander (Lucky Jack Quilp!), a carpenter and the buccaneer trait to compensate.

For the table set up, I just used the standard game set up. The only other scenario rule I used was that Coxon's frigate would not arrive until the end of Turn Two (O&I games typically being 10 turns).

Set Up Choices

After the set up phase, the buccaneers had chosen Coastline, Weather Gauge and Event, whilst the Spanish had Open Sea, Corners and Superior Position.

The hardest choice was the signals deck but in the end I just loaded both sides up with as many national cards as possible.

Buccaneer Cards

Spanish Cards

Starting Positions

This was going to be difficult for Quilp, in his Sloop, as he was restricted to a fire factor of one. Unfortunately, it would take two hits to do any damage on the Fluyt (Fortitude 2 and High Freeboard). Hmmm, I didn't think this through - the best he could hope for was a lucky hit using the buccaneer trait. Hence I planned to keep the sloop outside of the Fluyt's broadside arc and just exchange musketry until Coxon could come up. How hard could that be? Almost impossible as it turns out - especially when you draw an event on turn two! The confused captain event saw Quilp turn his sloop directly into the broadside arc of the Fluyt.

Confused

As expected this was going to hurt. Especially as the Spanish shooting was hot and they hardly missed a single die roll all game!

Not Quilp's Finest Moment

Luckily Quilp had brought a Carpenter along which  took away a point of damage but unfortunately this is a single use card!

Chippy McGraw to the Rescue

This was to set the pattern for the rest of the game, with Quilp using all his available crew actions to repair damage, whilst attempting to manoeuvre out of the Fluyt's broadside arc. But, as I say, the Spanish shooting was hot and the sloop was soon crippled. Luckily Quilp could use the Inspiring Commander trait to keep fatigue down, so technically was still in the game!

Crippled

All this time, Coxon had been sailing towards the action under Full Sail. Even though he used every possible seamanship action to trim the sails to get a bit more speed, he only came up with the Santa Rosa on Turn Nine.

Coxon Pursues Under Full Sail

On Turn Ten Coxon was at last in range to put in a Partial Shot against the Fluyt, causing the Spaniard's only damage.

So a convincing win for the Spanish.

Endgame

I might have to revisit this one with painted ships and a more balanced scenario! A great game nevertheless.

In the real action, Coxon was accused of trying to keep captured gold, hidden in a wine jar. As there was no plunder in this game, instead I decided to accuse Quilp of being drunk. Confused Captain indeed!

Portobello Part Two

 As my first Pirate Campaign game was such a success, I was keen to crack on with part two. I also had a new game mat to play with; a more arid look to this one.

This time it would be a scenario straight from the book; 'take and Hold' to be exact. The cross in the centre of the plaza would be the objective, hence I moved the whole town so that it was more central on the table. This created more area to the east of the plaza but thankfully, as there was a river here, I didn't need anymore buildings.

The forces would be the same as last time except I swapped out 4 Marineros and replaced them with a light gun crewed by 4 Milicianos Artilleros. 

The terrain stayed the same but I moved some of the 'scatter' terrain into the square to represent te previous day's looting. This was mainly aesthetic but it did provide more cover in the centre of the table.

Once again, I would run the buccaneers but the Spanish would be controlled by the Blood and Plunder solo rules (available from the Firelock website).

The Ransacked Town

Starting Positions

My plan for the buccaneers was to use the Forlorn and the Flibustiers as assault troops. I would hold them back, as close to the objective as possible, ready to make a bid for the objective near the end of the game. The Freebooters would take up fire positions to cover the square.

The Spanish plan was to cover the dockside approach with their cannon (which shockingly, in my eagerness, I had forgotten to paint) and get the Milicianos into fire positions. The Lanceros would use their 'Lay in Wait' ability to get into the custom house, ready to assault the objective when necessary.

Before Turn One, the Forlorn used their Vanguard rule to make a move action towards the custom house. However, the card draw resulted in the Lanceros getting the jump on them seizing the custom house in a preemptive move. Not to be deterred, the Forlorn charged into the square and lobbed a couple of hastily prepared grenadoes into the open arches of the custom house. A risky manoeuvre as their is a chance of a premature explosion. Luckily, the Forlorn knew their job and the grenadoes exploded amongst the unfortunate Lanceros.

Bombs away!

On the next card I activated Lucky Jacky who used a command point to order the Forlorn to charge. This they did, slaughtering the reeling Lanceros. Turn one and the Spanish were a unit down already.

With their best unit out of action there was little the Spanish could do but to try and get into the houses around the square.

Milicianos move up

Whilst the Milicianos were taking position, the AI engine determined that the Marineros would make a move for the objective. Lucky Jack responded by moving into the square covered by Freebooters shooting from the tavern.

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

It was inevitable that a fight would break out and sure enough after some desultory musketry the Marineros charged forward.

Boarding axes at the ready

Lucky Jack lived up to his name and the Freebooters held them off, although a single obstinate Spanish sailor held on until the very end denying the buccaneers the objective.

Meanwhile, the AI had begun a flanking move around the church by a unit of Milicianos. However, a volley from the Flibustiers followed by a charge saw the Spanish another unit down.

French je ne sais quoi

In desperation the Spanish wheeled forward their unpainted cannon to cover the objective,

Unpainted Ordinance

Unfortunately, there new position was just a bit too close to the Forlorn who were still lurking in the customs house. A quick charge around the corner and the artillery crew were promptly eliminated.

The Spanish were now down to 2 units of Miliciano but had remarkably passed three strike tests, albeit using up their remaining Fortune Points. There was little Don Lardo could do now but threaten the objective with fire from the corner of the square. However, another charge of the Forlorn and Don Lardo bit the dust.

Go the Forlorn

So a resounding win for the buccaneers who only took 5 casualties all game. That's against the Spanish  total of a massive 41 casualties!

An excellent game and a challenge for both sides. Although the Spanish have a great numerical superiority, they are much lower quality troops and its difficult to bring their numbers to bear in this terrain. 

Portobello Lockdown

For some time now I have been planning various solo campaigns; the sort of stuff that I can't easily explore at the club. Well, social distancing has changed the way everyone games and its an opportune time to finally put some of my plans into operation.

First off is pirates. A bit of a surprise this one as it was unplanned for and came out of the blue with a surprise birthday present of a box of Firelock Games' Pirates and Privateers. I really, really like these models and I expanded the collection pretty much straight away. So over the last 6 months I have painted up about 100 pirate figures with the intention of playing a solo campaign.

For the campaign I am going to follow (loosely) the format of Firelock's recent 'Organised Play' event. This is something they set up last year as a series of linked scenarios based on an historical campaign. I don't know how it went, as I'm not on Facebook, but the background material and scenarios are free to download on the Firelock website.

The setting is apparently one of the best documented pirate voyages, with several first hand accounts available. It begins in January 1680 when a pirate called John Coxon led a small buccaneer flotilla to Portobello, on the Isthmus of Darien.  This was an illegal enterprise, as England and Spain were not at war, but Coxon had purchased a 3 month commission , which he then, by forgery, turned into a 3 year commission to make reprisals.

At the time, Portobello was an important Spanish town that had been previously sacked, in 1668, by Henry Morgan and was the third largest and strongest town on the Spanish Main.

Portobello circa 1740

The Historical Action

As Morgan had done a decade earlier, the buccaneers decided to attack from the land and put ashore 60 miles up the coast. After a three-day trek, they reached the town unopposed and a party led by Captain Robert Allison entered the town. The local population had fled to the Gloria fort and watched helplessly as the buccaneers sacked the town.

On the following day Spanish regulars and militia sortied from the fort but were repulsed by the buccaneers.

The Scenario

The first scenario in the 'Organised Play' event is actually no more than the 'Plunder' scenario from the 'No Peace Beyond the Line' supplement. Whilst this gives a good game, in itself, I personally felt it didn't really have the right feel. It essentially consists of two buildings on the table centre line, one of which contains plunder. Now a mere two buildings, to me,  don't conjure up images of an important town such as Portobello.

Hence, I decided to create my own scenario or in actual fact two scenarios. Scenario one would be the flight to the Gloria fort and scenario two the Spanish sortie. The action would be centred around the western sector of the town and the approach to the Gloria fort.

This did mean, of course, I would need some appropriate terrain and after a couple of weeks of furious scratchbuilding, I had enough buildings, including a church and customs house, to represent the western plaza.

Portobello

For the opposing forces I used the Firelock lists but modified to suit my figure collection.

Attacker

English Buccaneers

201 points

27 models (Strike point at 6/12/18)

Lucky Jack Quilp                                         25pts

6 Veteran Freebooters                                48pts

8 Forlorn Hope                                             56pts

6 Freebooters                                               36pts

6 Flibustiers                                                  36pts

Lucky Jack Quilp is a Seasoned Buccaneer Commander

Defender

Spanish Militia

199 points

53 models (Strike point at 13/26/39)

Don Lardo                                         15pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Lanceros                                        40pts

12 Marineros                                     48pts

Don Lardo is an Experienced Militia Commander

The scenario would call for a  dozen civilians and the Spanish objective would be to escort them off table to the safety of the Gloria. I had hoped to purchase a pack of the Firelock civilians but, when I came to order, my preferred supplier was out of stock. Fortunately, I was able to find enough civilians in my Sharp Practice collection that didn't look too out of place.

The Spanish plan was for the Marineros and Lanceros to escort the civilians whilst Don Lardo would command the Milicianos in a rearguard action.

Turn one saw the Lanceros make a dash through the plaza whilst the Marineros fled along the dockside and the Milicianos followed on through the market area.

Turn one - the Spanish flight

For their part the buccaneers planned to move quickly around the back of the church and cut off the Spanish retreat. This flanking move would be made by the Forlorn Hope supported by the Veteran Freebooters led by LuckyJack Quilp himself. The remaining Freebooters and Flibustiers would contest the plaza as a diversion.

The buccaneers attack

I had given the Spanish a headstart and for the first few moves it looked like I had overdone this but just as they cleared the town and entered the trees the Forlorn raced around the church and opened fire with their buccaneer guns. This was enough to force the Lanceros back into cover behind the houses.

The Forlorn open fire

I had ruled that there was a limit to how many civilians could attach to a group and with the Lanceros suffering casualties the fair Consuela panicked and made a dash for the church. 

Consuela runs for safety

Luckily she  ran into the arms of Don Lardo himself

Don Lardo to the rescue

Although he had rescued the maiden, Don Lardo was in trouble as the Milicino were being fired upon by Flibustiers and Freebooters.

Sitting Ducks

Whilst the Lanceros and Miliciano were struggling, the Marineros made a dash for the trees. However, they then came under heavy fire from both the Forlorn and Lucky Jack's Veteran Freebooters and were forced prone.

Escorts under fire

Whereupon, the Forlorn charged into combat against the unfortunate Marineros.

Charge!

The result was inevitable really with the Marineros massacred and the civilians taken prisoner.

To the victor the spoils

It was now turn six and I gave the victory to the buccaneers. Not only had they cut off Don Lardos retreat to the fort but were now in possession of more civilians.

All in all a great game that I had a most enjoyable time playing, even as a solo game.

The Great Table E Crusade - the story of an army list

 If all had gone as planned, we would now have been in the middle of our summer Crusades campaign. As this has had to be postponed I thought I'd take the opportunity to record my painting progress for this project. This was actually finished months ago but I've only just got around to  posting anything.

The concept, cooked up at the end of last year, was a lighthearted, multiplayer, crusades based campaign using our 'Rampant Fistful' rules (a version of Lion Rampant fused with the Fistful of Lead activation system). Each player committed  to providing a Lion Rampant sized force based on a crusades theme; the umpires providing the Turkish / Arabic forces.

At that point I had exactly 8 figures, for the project, mounted and foot versions of 4 knights that I had painted up for last years 'Steel and Steed' Christmas game. So with the addition of two more knights from Irregular Miniatures, handily sold as single figures, these became my first 2 units.

After these first two units the 'army' grew on a whim with no real planning, largely based on what Fireforge sets I could lay my hands on. As it happens I already had a box of  unassembled Fireforge Sergeants that I had previously purchased for another Lion Rampant project. This gave me two units of spearmen and two of crossbow, which I painted up in the colours of two of my 'Steel and Steed' knights; Sir Erasmus Pea and Sir Oberon de Finchale (aka the Finchale Faerie).

Sir Erasmus' Crossbow

Sir Erasmus' Spear

Sir Oberon's Crossbow

Sir Oberon's Spear

I was quite pleased with these, so when I came cross a box of mounted sergeants in the local model shop I jumped at the chance to add these to my force. I made up half as mounted spearmen and half as crossbowmen. The spear I painted up in Sir Erasmus' colours but the I based the crossbowmen on Templar sergeants.

Templar Sergeants

Sir Erasmus' Sergeants

As this was the crusades, it didn't seem right not to have some Templars in their iconic white robes, so I next added a box of Fireforge Templar knights. I only used half of these as Templars and painted up the other half as troops from the Kingdom of Jerusalem. For the latter I used a mix of parts from the Templar box with leftovers from the mounted sergeants; to hopefully create a unit that could stand in as knights or sergeants as required.

Templars

Kingdom of Jerusalem

At that point I thought I was finished - until a fellow crusader suggested that we split a box of Gripping Beast Arab light cavalry. These fellows were destined to represent a unit of Turcopoles. Admittedly, there does not seem to be a consensus on either what Turcopoles looked like or with what they were armed but mounted archers, in the Turkish style, sounds quite fun.

Turcopoles

The final addition to the army was a selection of game markers. I would need battered markers and something to denote 'schiltron' would be handy. For battered, I went with discarded shields, and a couple of standards for schiltron.

I think that will do, for now. I should be able to create a variety of forces from these boys but as we are still awaiting the publication of the Lion Rampant Crusader States supplement, who knows what extra figures I might 'need' in the future.