Posts by McGran

    I was particularly impressed by how Pete managed to add an hour to the game duration by suddenly developing an incapability to activate his troops. Trust Pete to balance out his averages when nothing's at stake!

    Upon hearing of the failure of Capitán Manuel U'snavy U'farte and their "French" allies to take the bridge over the Klinkerhoffen River at Todendorf, senior Spanish officer, Capitán Jose Fernando de Sagras y San Miguel, was more concerned by the news of the arrival of Russian forces to the battlefield than the failure to secure the bridgehead.


    Never one to pass up an opportunity to get in "le merde," Sagras y San Miguel rapidly pulled together an understrength company to reconnoitre the Russian forces. Before crossing into enemy territory, however, they stumbled upon a Prussian company, led by Major (rtd) Luchs , returning from their own scouting mission. Could Sagras y San Miguel break up the Prussian forces before they could escape to their own lines?


    The terrain heavily favoured Sagras y San Miguel. The treeline close on either side of the road was making it difficult for Luchs to maintain reasonable progress, while a clearing towards the end of the road allowed the Spanish line infantry to move into position to cover the road ahead of the Prussians.


    Spotting the danger, Luchs sent one of his light cavalry units racing forward to draw the first fire of the Spanish. At first this appeared to work as the Spanish infantry struggled to hit the fast moving cavalry. The setback caused the Spanish commander to have a bit of a brown trousers moment (-1 Honour) as he feared the risk of being outflanked.


    Luchs, meanwhile was having problems of his own. His second unit of cavalry failed to carry out his order to advance, throwing his marching order into disarray while a unit of skirmishers became confused and fired upon Luch's own unit, killing two men.


    The luck continued to ebb and flow. Spanish reinforcements arrived, threatening the Prussian flank, but, despite being within firing range, would not move or fire. The Prussian lead cavalry finally succumbed under weight of fire, soon followed by the remaining cavalrymen, leading Luchs to change tack. Advancing along the road would allow the Spanish to pick them off, so Luchs moved his forces into the trees to force back the Spanish skirmishers until his shock infantry could get into range of the Spanish line infantry. If successful, one good charge could turn the battle.


    The engagement turned into a game of cat and mouse, the Prussians advancing inexorably while the Spanish skirmished away. Then, with no more forest to fall back to the Spanish turned and fought, with skirmishers on both sides being destroyed, a further two units of Spanish skirmishers broken and the last chased out of the woods by the advancing Luchs and his shock infantry.


    Sensing a chance to engage the Spanish "Hero" Luch's pressed his advantage, moving to the edge of the woods... and right in front of the Spanish infantry formed up in close order.


    Sagras y San Miguel gave the order to fire and a murderous volley was unleashed. In the smoke and confusion, to the shock of his loyal soldiers, Major (rtd) Luchs had turned, abandoned his men, and was shot in the back. It is rumoured that his last words were, "I told them I was unlucky!"


    It remains unclear whether the killing shot came from Spanish or Prussian fire but, for the Prussians, seeing their leader shot in the back and dying a coward broke their morale and they dispersed into the woods, each man trying to make his own way to safety.


    Sagras y San Miguel emerges from the battle with his reputation further enhanced (Honour +5) but, for the soldiers present, they have for the first time seen that even he can be shaken.


    Meanwhile the Prussians are, once again, leaderless. Will this prompt a rescue attempt for Lt Luchs or will another member of Luchs dynasty step to the fore?

    It was nice to see our biggest Friday night turnout for some time.


    Barry, Dan, Darren, Dave, Mike, Nigel, Paul, Rick and I powered through a bunch of oldies but goodies and a few newer gems including:


    Carcassonne

    51t4spQ1JdS._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg


    Tsuro

    51WdichlBnL._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg


    Blokus (Managed a real exciting action pic here!)

    51qrhCor5vL._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg


    Azul

    61oFYZWY+7S._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg

    Wingspan

    416CeW1TiYL._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg


    Azul, Stained Glass of Sintra

    61LQm5ypUVS._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg


    and I can't remember what this was called. Any help guys?

    Inis. Thanks Dave.

    51TL84hxdWL._AC_AC_SR98,95_.jpg


    Meanwhile Steve and Bryan did their best not to look too uncomfortable after finding themselves displaced from the regular painters spot.

    Hey guys,


    Craig and I are going to have a bit of a familiarisation game of Silver Bayonet on Sunday so, if you fancy it, come and join in.


    It's a chance to get used to the setup, sequence of play and rules to see if anything trips us up. I'll have a bunch of Roster and reference sheets so it's no problem if you don't have a copy of the rules.


    All in, it'll probably take no more than a couple of hours to get through.

    Responding to tales of mysterious and dark creatures attacking peasants fleeing the war, investigators from four of Europe's great powers are drawn to a remote farmhouse in Bavaria. Here the each seek to uncover the mystery and destroy any fell creatures they find and, perhaps also, to find some powerful relic or tomb that may give their patrons an advantage in the ongoing struggle across the continent.


    So it was that bands of investigators from France, Britain, Russia and Austria approached the farmhouse in the gloom of twilight,

    Almost immediately each of the nations became aware of their rivals and sprinted to cross the open ground as quickly as possible. The British were first to react as infantrymen shot at the French on their left.


    The French replied in kind and soon men from both nations were involved in a furious firefight. Meanwhile a British officer discovered strange claw marks outside the farmhouse and almost dropped his cup of tea, but Major Blunder was made of sterner stuff.

    The French found themselves pressed between the British on their right and a handful of Austrians coming hard at them from the left. The firefight on their right saw several soldiers on each side retire the field from gunshot wounds.


    Meanwhile, on the left, the Austrians fired pistols and crashed into the French in bloody melee. The French forces managed to hold off the assault but both sides took similar casualties. In the confusion and smoke, however, Capitaine L'Cul managed to conduct a search of the pig-sty only to find a severed and partially gnawed arm. Whether it was the horror of the discovery or the fact that he thought he recognised it from his chef's coq-au-vin the experience saw the Capitaine turn a very pale green and looked distinctly unwell for the remainder of the encounter.

    To make matters worse for the French a half-buried, rusted suit of armour rose from the ground directly behind them, shambling, albeit slowly towards them. Astonishment turned to dismay when they quickly found that their weapons were utterly useless against the construct and they had no option but to flee before it.

    The Austrians, meanwhile, having boxed in the French on their right, found their passage relatively unhindered, Lt. Clinkenhoffer discovering strange footprints in the ruins of another outbuilding. They were aware of the Russians on their left but they were some way off.

    The Russians pressed forward cautiously, favouring a move towards the British and creating distance from the Austrians and giving time for their were-bear to change into his bear form. They had barely crossed 10 metres when they came face to face with the Hobgoblin that had been terrorising the area. The bear lunged but was outmanoeuvred, suffering more damage than he could deal.


    He had, however, given his comrades time to prepare their shots and musket-balls tore through the flesh of the beast. As the smoke from their volley cleared they were astonished to see the beast still standing. Then, without a moments notice, the Hobgoblin's head exploded spraying the Russians with blood and brain matter.

    Their shock turned to surprise as they looked across the road to see the a half Vampire Austrian grinning broadly, musket still raised, smoke billowing from the barrel. "Bitte... you're welcome," he said as he shouldered his weapon once more.


    The Russians knew it. The glory had been snatched from their grasp, today it would belong to the Austrians.


    Amidst the furore the French Comte D’El Monte survived a hail of shot to find the rest of the mutilated body of the farmer, and with that their investigation was complete.


    Austria - 2 XP for killing the hobgoblin

    France - 2 XP for investigating 2 clues

    Russia - 1 XP for discovering the Hobgoblin

    Britain - 0 XP


    (Although if we'd played the final round to completion Austria, France and Britain would likely have each had 2 extra XP for causing 3 or more casualties)

    After centuries of having a boot on our throats it felt good to get the chance to dish out some justice. It was no surprise to see the Campbells resort to their cowardly type as they ran away rather than face the wrath of an angry Scots Sheriff. But, no doubt, they'll be back soon enough trying to curry favour with whoever is in power. Bastards!


    At that point the only thing to do is celebrate with a little tune on the bagpipes.