That appeared to be the proper way to get your attention.
In any event, since I've had a few days off now that the Easter weekend is over, my wife, Beth, and I decided to play another game of The Silver Bayonet, Osprey's "game of Napoleonic horror" (as if war wasn't horrible enough I suppose.) It adds a heavy dose of cinematic horror to the era of the Napoleonic Wars. We set our game in that little side event of what's known as "the War of 1812." I hear it's forgotten in Europe, ignored in most of the USA, and celebrated in Canada.
So we set up the game, using Beth's Lenni Lenape (Delaware nation) warband and my squad of US troops. It was a "cooperative game" where we were in competition rather than contention. We didn't use the cooperative rules from the game... 'cause we didn't. Our common mission was to free two sisters (whom Beth declared to be the Austin sisters, Jane and Cassandra) from captors of unknown numbers and powers. We entered the table on opposite sides and went from there.
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| The US team - Officer commanding, pioneer, rifleman, occultist, investigator, infantryman, & scout |
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| The Lenape warband - Sachem (in red cap), rifles, and medicine woman (gesturing) |
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| Note: Not EVERYTHING dangerous is SUPERNATURAL. |
My advance was slowed by a band of rough terrain and a small hill. Beth entered with then band moving up a hill and receiving a shower of rocks from the edge of the forest. They encountered both a clue (a note from one of the women saying there were four bandits and a nasty cult leader in the house ahead) and a band of "Little People" from Iroquois legend, the Rock Throwers. One or two of the group were hit by rocks before they returned fire with rifles and the shaman charged the Little People and fought hand-to-hand with one for two turns. |
The main Rock Thrower (Paymaster Miniatures) flings a few at the Lenape.
(Blue Moon, Trent, and Prince August miniatures) |
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The shaman attacks the Rock Throwers. His silvered weapon was of no use since the little guys
have an allergy to cold iron. Some of the smaller figs are old GW "snotlings." The bingo chip
denotes a wound. (We've developed a better system.) |
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Headed for the house with one bandit facing them.
(The white scrap of paper indicates he's fired his musket,
and yes, we're adopting a better system,)
Beth's figures are marked and named. |
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| This is how the Rock Throwers made their presence known. |
On my end of the table, I was moving slowly, impeded by some rough ground. I headed to the house and two more bandit exited and began to exchange fire with my team. My rifleman returned fire. Eventually the fourth bandit - who had gone out for water or beer or something - came up behind the rifleman and wounded him. The rest of my team rushed the house, and the Kentucky scout and the Pioneer confronted the bandits directly.
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The US force, with its newest member, occultist the Rev. Heldooser (in black)
begin their entry. |
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| The captain and an infantryman (Old Glory and Wargames Factory) |
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| From Beth's perspective... as the rough ground slows the advance. |
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| Because I won the initiative a number of time, I moved first and had to split the unit as per the rules. |
Lousy bandit!!
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A GW Warhammer fantasy figure - Empire militia
with two pistols |
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As the rifleman reloads, the sneaky bandit fires.
He actually ran off at the end of the game. |
The rifleman downed one of the bandits and the scout dashed past him to get to the door of the house. My Pioneer attacked the bandit with his axe and a melee ensued.
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| Bandit vs. Combat Engineer while the Kentucky scout opens the door. |
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Bandits in the murk! I might have put my finger over the flash. Yeah, that's the ticket!
(The one figure might be a deserter from the Glangarry Fencibles although I don't know the
manufacturer. The other is an Dixon FIW ranger I believe.) |
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| Infantry (Wargames Factory) and the Rev. Heldooser (RAFM) |
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| My supernatural investigator passes the dead bandit. |
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To the house!
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When my scout entered the house, he was faced with the leader of the bandit's cult, a Possessed, and as they began to struggle, the Possessed breathed Demonic Fire on the scout, burning him badly but not killing him. The Pioneer soon took out the other bandit and joined the fray in the house. Meanwhile the Medicine Woman attacked the bandit on Beth's side of the house. My officer soon came up to join the melee and the bandit was "dispatched" as it were. Two warriors broke down the door on their side and fired into the back of the Possessed and he soon died, although he burned my scout to within one point of his ending! |
| My officer fencing with the bandit. Don't mess with the Regulars! |
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| The bandit before he was attacked by everybody. |
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| The overhead view from Beth's private Zeppelin. The d6 was there to count the turns, |
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| More of the same, |
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| The melee at the house door with the Austin sisters revealed on the second floor of the house. |
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The sachem and one warrior added their weight to the melee in the house. The body on the ground
in that of the Possessed. One nasty character. |
Beth's shaman proved his worth by enchanting one warrior's rifle thereby negating the injury deduction on the Possessed stats. That did the trick and he was done in by the Lenape warriors. They saved the day and Beth gets the credit for rescuing the Austin sisters.
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With the Possessed laid out on the ground, the Lenape warband prepare to escort the sisters
to safety. The Kentucky scout was badly burned and would probably be taken home to his family, |
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| The Austin sisters (Bad Squido minis) look with disgust toward their place of captivity. |
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| The Lenni Lenape save the day! |
We're still learning the rules and we thoroughly enjoyed this cooperative game. With a little adjusting and finagling, a cooperative game can be played. I hope to battle my son again when he can make it down to our house.
The game is well thought out and can be adjusted for varying time periods, like the French-and-Indian wars or the American Civil War. I've seen versions for the Russo-Japanese War and the wars in Japan. I'm thinking of adapting the rules (without the supernatural stuff) for a skirmish game based on the sci-fi novel, Dune. Time will tell.
I hope you all can enjoy whatever gaming you usually enjoy!
