Long Rifle: The Defense of Blye's Farm

Two Hour Wargames has just introduced two new rule sets aimed at the French & Indian war, one of my favorite periods.  The rules for larger games is called "Muskets and Mohawks", and the rules for smaller games is called "Long Rifle".  They can be found here:
http://store.twohourwargames.com/

 I chose to use "Long Rifle", since I am in the process of painting up more FIW figures.  "Long Rifles" uses some mechanics from "5150: New Beginnings", but is quite different.

The first thing I did was set up the scenario.  Somewhere in the wilds of America:  Corporal McTeague has realized that he is near his maried sister's farm, gets permission to go on a scout, and takes private Smith with him.  His sister, Ruth McTeague Blye, is married to settler Prosper Blye.  They have 3 children, 15-year old Samuel, 8-year old David, and 7-year old Hanna.  They were rolled up from the settlers table in the rules.

It's a nice little farm with a log cabin, pig stye, and cow pen.  Prosper has fenced off the farm from the open woods to keep out wildlife, and keep his cattle (not painted yet, so they don't appear) from wandering too far.

As always, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.  The log cabin is from Acheson Creations, and the fence and pig stye were obtained from a craftsman at Colonial Barracks whose name I failed to get.

Here are the residents of the farm and the Rangers.  The picture is a little shaky because I forgot the tripod. Sigh.  Note that their Reps are on the picture, and the figures are WYSIWYG for the rules.



Turn 1:  Settlers 1, PEF's 6.  Oh, the Level of Investment was 4, so there are 4 PEF's of Rep 4, until revealed.

Turn 2:  Settlers 4, PEF's 2
McTeague has everyone spread along the fence, and Prosper sends the children to hide near the pig stye.

Turn 3: Settlers 1, PEF's 3

PEF's 1 and 4 move closer together, as do PEf's 6 and 8.

Turn 4:  Settlers 1, PEF's 3

Pef 6 moves to the fenceline and is exposed as 6 Indans (roll on tables reveals 1 less than company, and you count everyone, even the children.) Another PEF moves forward, and the rest stay put.

In the rules, everything caused by the PEF being revealed is acted upon and concluded before anymore PEF's are revealed.

The Indians are Reps 5, 4, 3,3,3,3, probably a group of hotheads out to prove their manhoods, led by a warrior looking to better his standing. This activates an In Sight! 

Now this gets complicated, with so many figures per side.  The following picture has little boxes to show the success that each figure has.  This is based on the Rep of each figure and any modifiers to determine the number of D6 rolled per figure.  Of course, more successes allow you to react before the others.  Successes of the same number act simultaneously.  O succesess and you stand there like a bump on a log.

McTeague fires at the Indian nearest him and misses.  Ranger Smith fires at the Indian nearest him and strikes him in the chest, putting him out of the fight!  His simultaneous fire misses. 

The Indian in front of Ruth fires and misses.  Ruth fires and hits him in the chest putting him out of the fight.  

 Prosper sees nothing as an arrow whizzes past him with no effect. 

 Samuel, the teen-ager fires and hits the Indian opposite him in the arm knocking him down and stunning him.

Reactions are not done until after the In Sight is finished.  Private Smith would fire, but he is unloaded.  Private McTeague, with his musket empty, charges the Indian in front of him, who has a warclub for defense.  Both roll 6D6.  McTeague passes 6, and the Indian passes 2, is knocked down and bayoneted in the chest, obviously dead.

Ruth, who is unloaded, Ducks Back behind the cabin.

 Prosper, who had an arrow go past him, finally see the Indian, and fires, missing.  The Indian fires another arrow at him, and Prosper, now unloaded, Ducks Back behind the scrub in front of the pig stye. 

 Samuel realizes that he is unloaded and also ducks behind the scrub.

The remaining Indians Carry On.  The score: Rangers and settlers all hale and healthy.  The Indians, 2 out of the fight, 1 dead, and 1 stunned, leaving only 2 upright; a Rep 4 and a  Rep 3, and no leader.

Turn 5:  Settlers 2, Indians 4.  Only the Rep 4 Indian may act, and he reloads.  All of the settlers and rangers reload.

Turn 6: Settlers 3, Indians 5.  The settlers and Rangers move back into view of the Indians.  McTeague, who has already jumped the fence, moves out of the brush.  Everyone takes an In Sight.

McTeague, with 3 successes, acts before the Rep 4 Indian and shoots him in the gut, rendering him out of the fight. 

 The Indian with the bow fires at Prosper again, and misses.  All three of the settlers fire at him, and miss! (Actually, Samuel hit him in the leg, but as he is in cove, this is a miss.  Location, location, location!) He fails his Received Fire and is forced to take a Cohesion Test, and runs away!

Turn 7:  Settlers 2, Indians 5.  McTeague, unloaded, runs to the stunned Indian, who has never been able to recover because he is a Rep 3, and kills him with his bayonet.  Meanwhile, everyone else reloads.

Turn 8:  Settlers 5, PEF's 4.  Another PEF moves to the fence, and is neutral settlers.  "Looks like you've got the situation well in hand!  We can spare a little powder, if need be, and if you can spare a little lead, for we are short on shot." 

Turn 9:  Settlers 2, PEF's 4.  The two remaining PEF's stay in the woods.  McTeague, "I recon I'd better reload!"

Turn 10:  Settlers 6, PEF's 3.  The settlers learily eye movement in the trees, that proves to be an errant breeze. (A PEF moves to the fence and is revealed as nothing!)

Turn 11:  Settlers 2, PEF 6.  The settlers and rangers move to the fence to keep an eye on the forest.

Turn 12:  Settlers 5, PEF 4.  The last PEF moves to the fence and is revealed as friendly settlers.  "We heared the shots, and come to help, but I see the Lord has helped you first.  Got a leetle usquebea, if'n you're of a mind to share a sip, and Ruth'll make some o' her good biscuits to cut the edge a little."

Total success for the settlers and Rangers.  4 muskets were retrieved, with shot and powder, and a bow.  McTeague appropiates the warclub from the Indian he killed in single combat for bragging rights.

For successful episodes, one gains fame points.  McTeague chose to help the settlers defend their farm.  He gains 5 Fame Points for all of the enemy that were killed, 3 Fame Points for preventing the cabin from being looted and/or burned, and since none of his party were lost or killed, he loses none.

I will make McTeague my star, "until I find someone better, or he's killed." (Starship Troopers, as if you didn't know.)

Though it's not in the rules, the Blye family has gained the reputation of being good people in a fight, and Ruth in particular, as an Indian-slayer.

Though this was very successful for the settlers and rangers, a single change of a die roll, or PEF resolution could have turned the tables distasterously.  I don't imagine they would have fared so well against French soldiers, but luck was on their side.

To run this at a convention, I would suggest that each player be given no more than 3 figures each, and that markers be supplied to indicate who is active, because it's easy to get lost on the In Sight, and some results depend upon whether the figur is active or not.

I love it!

















What am I doing?

Well, I got a Kindle, and am having a lot of fun reading with that.  Just figured out how to get it hooked up to my Face book account this morning.

I got and painted up Acheson Creation's excellent log cabin with stone chimney.  Wonderful little piece with an interior.  They even did the interior of the roof, crazy people.  There was nothing to hold the roof section in place on the building, so I got the bright idea of making a post on each end to keep it from sliding around.  I drilled the holes off center, and then remembered that I had a bunch of strong magnet that I had bought from Bobbe's Hobbies at some recent convention, and enlarged the holes so I could center the magnets.  They are so strong that I can lift the building by the roof, or even turn it upside down without the roof falling off.  Ah, modern marvels (yeah, right)

I've been proof-reading a couple of new rule-sets Two Hour Wargames is about to release, and this has prompted me to finally replace the French & Indian War figures I lost in Katrina.
Here's what I have painted so far.
London War Room Spanish who will now be French (32 figures)

RSM Gage's Light Infantry (16 figures)

Old Glory Settlers or Militia (21 figures)

A mix of RSM and Old Glory Indians (16 figures)

Old Glory Rangers (2 figures)
Old Glory Courier du Bois (8 figures)

Women, a mix of Old Glory, Rafm (4 figures)

Still in the bag:
Old Glory Rangers
RSM Rangers (probably won't get painted - too much the same for skirmish)
Old Glory Franches de la Marine
Old Glory Indians with bows, the rest of the bag.
RSM Indians with muskets, the rest of the bag.
A few more women, all RAFM.

On the painting table
Old Glory Highlanders, gah!

In Transit:
Old Glory Couriers de Bois (from Jim Pitts)

Apes

As usual, I can't post a comment on my own blog.  Sigh.  Thanks for the comments on the apes, guys. 5150NB made me buy apes.  It's all Ed's fault!

Eureka Boilersuit Apes & Chronoscape Alice

I just got a bunch of the Eureka Boilersuit Apes, and the ones in space suits.  Really nice figures.  Since both my wife and I are oil field brats, I decided on bright coveralls.  The Eureka guns are so nice that I tried something different on them.  I painted them Ceramcoat Charcoal and washed them with undiluted P3 armor wash.  All figures were primed grey, block painted in base colors, and then given a brown wash followed by a thin black wash.  The faces were painted Reaper Pro Paint Ruddy Flesh, and washed with old GW Flesh Wash.  I suspect that P3 Flesh Wash would do as good a job.  The eyes were painted a very pale yellow, and given black pupils.  As always, click on the picture for a larger one.

Since I just finished reading "The Seige of Leningrad", they were all given Russian names.

I especially like the boss figure, so he's Leonid!

I looked at both US and Soviet spacesuits, and decided 5 figures with white suites would just be too boring to paint, so I harkened back to the old science fiction movie, "Destination: Moon", and used it for inspiration.

And, of course, I refound my Reaper figure of Alice.  I painted her as one of the stills on Google.  I am dreaming of replacing Carol Lee in the Two-Hour Wargames Risks & Rewards with Alice.  Let's see, Rep 6, Ambidextrous, Sidewalk Demon, has the Razor bullet-avoiding move, 2 BA pistols, and 2 khukri, which the axe stats can be used for.







Colonial Barracks

Well, Colonial Barracks is done and gone, and it was great.  Friday I was on call, and so just chatted with everyone.  Got to meet Chick Lewis, Ross Maker, and Tim Cheatem face-to-face after chatting with them for years on ColonialWars@Yahoo.com, or whatever the actual url is.

There were some beautiful games going on, Nick's ansar battle, and the fabulous terrain for Maiwand.

On Saturday, I got into Jim Pitt's Darkest Africa game, controlling a group of archers for the natives.  I managed to pretty well wipe out a group of Zanzibari slavers, get the peaceful villagers out of the village for the loss of only 2 villagers and a goat, but left a lot of goods in the village for the taxman!  My warriors who were in the village took out a couple of the taxman's askari, but elephants did a lot more damage.  The warrior leader tried a heroic charge against one of the taxman, but was shot down.  Jay Stribling and I gave the natives their only win on points, according to Jim.

Here are three pics of my brave archers in action!

Next, I ran my game using Larry Brom's "With Old Gimlet Eye", US Marines vs Sandinistas in Nicaragua, 1926.  Due to some fine shooting by Donna, and growing casualties, the Marines were forced to withdraw with their wounded, leaving behind their dead, whom the Sandanistas looted of maybe 10 Springfields, a Lewis gun, and a Browing machine gun.

They were not without losses, however.  They lost one Lewis gun operator for sure, and Jim's single Marine unit ran off 2 Sandinista units in hand-to-hand.  Marine bayonets are deadly!

I wasn't as up on the rules as I should have been, and so some points got overlooked.  Sigh.

That pooped me out, and though Nick's "Wind and the Lion" game was very tempting, I went home and to bed, since I was on call again.

Sunday, I played in Mark Steven's Maxmillian Adventure game, in reserve.  Didn't get to fire a single shot from my French Foreign Legion because the Juaristas spent too much time and units on the Mexicans and Belgians on the hill, and never got to the village.  Of course that meant that I got to fondle and ogle Mark's beautifully painted French Foreign Legion.  Wonderful job!

Oh, I forgot the raffle on Saturday evening.  I got Larry's Marines and Japanese, and a copy of "M-1's and Arisakis".  Of course, I got the best prize, and I'm sure all of the winners felt that they got the best prize!

It was a great little con at a really nice venue (one Bayou Wars should consider, hint, hint, BOD), and with a great groups of ladies and gentlemen.

Metal Maniac On The Loose!

Just got the new Two Hour Wargames 5150 New Beginnings that Ed released a day or so ago, so of course I decided to run a solo game or two.

This game has a ton going for it, and is the most immersive game since Legends of Araby, no longer available because it's too behind the current THW mechanics.
Because the game is very detail oriented, combat involves hit locations and cover, similar to Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory.  If you've played that game, you have a LITTLE leg up on this one.

I had intended to run a single game, but the first went so quickly that I reran it.
I did not assign any of the figures attributes, since this was really a learning game for me, and I wanted to keep it somewhat simple.

Here is the basic set-up.  It's mid-afternoon in a less fashionable area of New Beginnings.  There has been automatic weapons fire in front of a large apartment building, and initial reports are that a Metalhead has gone on the rampage!

A patrol car with 2 officers shows up, but the patrolmen quickly realize that they are seriously out-gunned and call for back-up.  It arrives in the form of a SWAT team.  The Law Level is 3.  This has to do with how many Possible Enemy Forces may show up.  I elected to have none on the table to start, but they can be generated by doubles on the activation dice.

Here are the 2 patrolmen on the scene.
Name                            Rep     Fitness    People   Savvy    Science
Sgt. Carter                     4             4              3           2              0
PC Doris Swan              4             4              3           2              0
Both are armed with BA Pistols, and have access to a single shotgun in their prowler.  They are both wearing bullet-proof vests

Swat Team
Sgt Mims                       5             5              4            3              0
Aaron                             4             4              3           2               0
Hughes                           5             5              3           2               0
Lowenstein                    4             4               3          2                0
All are armed with assault rifles, BA pistols.  All are wearing tactical armor.
All of the police force were rolled up on the Police chart.

Olga the Metalhead       5              5              0          4                3
She is armed with an assault rifle.  She has CyberLegs, giving her a normal move of 12", the ability to leap to the top of a one-story building, and 4d6 on the Fast Move roll.
She has a Cyber right arm, giving her a +2d6 in melee.  Because of this arm, she is left-handed.
And she has an Imaging eye, giving her the ability to see through concealment, but not cover.
She uses the Merc QRS.

Here is the setup for the first game:

Turn 1:  Police 1, Olga 4
Olga is happy where she is, having cleared the street of all passers-by.
The Swat team splits in two, the first group led by Sgt Mims heading for the near corner of McDoom's.  The second group, led by Hughes, fast moves towards the left rear corner.  The patrolmen move near the cab of the truck to give whatever help they can.

Turn 2:  Police 3  Olga 6

Sgt Mims and Aaron step out from the corner (Meanwhile Lowenstein and Hughes don't get far enough to get her in sight.)

The new In Sight test now comes into play.  Basically, each figure in sight roll dice based on their Rep and the situation, looking for successes on rolls of 1,2, or 3 on each d6.  I didn't record the actual rolls, just the number of successes.  Olga has 4 successes, Sgt Mims, 3, and Aaron, 2, so Olga goes first, putting 2d6 on Mims and 1 on Aaron.  Not only does she miss, she runs out of ammo.

Since Mims and Aaron both have their firearms ready, they fire, getting 2 hits each.

Olga is hit in the chest, which OD's her.  She was also hit in the gut, the left leg, and a lesser hit in the chest.  Had she survived, there might have been damage to her Cyber leg.

Over in 2 turns.

Needless to say, this wasn't enough action for me (though I'm sure it was for Olga), so I played another game.  The setup was the same, except this time Olga was to theright, behing the taxi.  Her location is determined by the PEF location roll.

Game 2:

Turn 1: Police 6, Olga 6

Since this was over the Law Level of 3, it generated a PEF in front of the the apartment buildings front door, and in sight of Aaron. It was resolved a 5 Law Abiding Citizens. This intitiated a Challenge Test, which Aaron with a ready weapon won 4 successes to 1. The group took one look, and hurried back into the building.

Turn 2:  Police 5, Olga 5

Turn 3: Police 5, Olga 2

The Swat team moves forward 8".  Only Aaron and Sgt Mims break cover and see Olga behind the taxi.  This, of course, brings on an In Sight test!

Olga has 4 successes to 2 for each Swat team member.  She fires 2d6 at Mims and 1 at Aaron.

She hits Mims in his off arm which is a Knock Down, and the gut, and he is a bleeder, at -1 to all his stats.  She misses Aaron. 

 Both take Received Fire tests and both receive the Carry On result.  Since both are still in sight of each other, they take another In Sight test, and have the same number of successes, firing simultaneously. 

Olga his Aaron in the gut, bleeder, and gun arm, Knocked Down. 

 Aaron hits Olga in the chest, bleeder, and the off arm, which is cyber.  This knocks her down, Stunned, and any future action with that arm will be at a -1 to her Rep.

The other 2 Swat team members take the Man Down Test.  Hughes passes 2d6 and Carries On.  Lowenstein passes 1d6, and Carries On, only because he is with 4" of Hughes, who is Carrying On.

Both of them Fast Move toward Olga, since she is stunned, hoping to get there before she recovers.

Turn 3: Police 5, Olga 6

Hughes makes it to Olga, and captures her.

After the action is all done, and the perp is captured, it's time to do first aid.  Sgt Carter moves to Sgt Mims, and attempts first aid.  Obviously, he slept through that class, because he's no help at all.  Sgt Mims bandages himself, and regains  1 point to all his stats. He only had a single bleeder, reducing him by only 1 point to his stats.

Doris' hands are a lot better, and she has 2 successes on Aaron, so he recovers fully.

Hughes can't figure where to apply pressure, but Olga knows and saves herself.

I'm very pleased for a first game. 

Both times, Olga went down, but in the second game she gets to go to trial.  And her charges are: Brandishing a weapon Level 3, Endangerment, 2 counts of Mayhem Level 2, and Resisting Arrest.  The fact that she is a Metalhead will make her defense all the more difficult.  It looks like Hard Labor and deportation after her term(s) are served is the best she can hope for.

Obviously, there is much more here than any game Ed has released so far.  There are human and alien races, professions, jobs, and a million ways to get in trouble.  For instance, if they had not been police, all the figures would have been subject to various criminal charges.  You can have a pistol; you'd just better not draw it in front of witnesses you leave alive!  And people do call the cops at the sound of gun fire.  A great addition to the stable, that will keep you busy for many a rainy day.  Wow!

Thanks!

For some &^%$* reason, I can't comment on my own blog, or any others either, so thanks for the comments.  The comic book stuff is a fun way to relive the game without writing every move down!