Outremer Faith and Blood Game 2- Camp Assault

D'aud was pleased with his warband.  They had met the enemy and faced them without flinching. They had even caused several injuries on the Christian warriors, even though, in the end, they had to quit the field of battle. Aban, the Sub-Arif was castigated, however, for fleeing from the Crusader Knight.  Jawar has a lingering injury that sometimes keeps him from his duties.  Also, Galib had carelessly lost his horse in the battle, and it was too costly to replace.  The warband had very few Livres left over after paying upkeep for all of their expenses.  D'aud had a solution, however, one that would also allow them to face their enemy yet again.  He marshaled his men into position, sending them to surround the Crusader camp site.  He reminded them that their objective was to raid the enemies' supplies, but encouraged them to take any opportunities to take out the Crusaders as well.

Sir Charles was uneasy.  His men had done well against the Saracen, particularly Marc with his deadly crossbow.  Several of his men sported injuries, however, including himself, and he again reprimanded himself for over extending.  If he had not chased the fleeing Saracen, he might have seen the Mamluk charging in from the flank.  Still, his men all survived and his warband had many Livres left over after paying their expenses.  The camp was filled with supplies that could further fund his warband and their crusade against the enemy.  Still, something troubled Sir Charles, perhaps intuition, or perhaps he saw some movement from the corner of his eye, or maybe it was even divine inspiration.  He called to his men and ordered them into a defensive position, then he waited to see if his inkling was right.

The Battlefield.

Sir Charles orders his men to take up a defensive position around the camp.

Aban and Mundir await the signal to attack, then they rush over the hill and run towards the Crusader camp.

As the enemy close in, Sir Charles and Squire Henri move out to defend the supplies.

Marc, the crossbowman takes an arrow to the back and goes down.  Enzo rushes out to find the archer while Father Baptiste tries to take cover.

D'aud emerges at the edge of a palm grove, hunting bow at the ready.  Sir Charles boldly charges the Saracen leader, but comes up short.

Aban charges Martin the Crusader archer and fights him over the ruined wall.

He cuts the archer down.

Muzna rushes past a Crusader with an ax, and ignores the well armed Squire.  Instead, he starts grabbing up supplies from the pile, hoping to dash away before the enemy can respond.

Squire Henri charges the Saracen, but neither warrior can get the upper hand and they remain locked in melee.

Enzo rushes to Henri's aid and swings his two-handed ax.

He takes Muzna down with a single blow.

Sir Charles ignores the arrow in his arm, shot by the Saracen Arif, and he boldly charges in to attack.  He wounds D'aud, who then turns to flee.

Sir Charles runs sure footed through the palm grove, pursing the Saracen leader.  They fight, sword against sword, but even panicked and wounded, the Saracen Swordsman gets the better of Sir Charles and takes him down.

Mundir, heavy armor rattling as he runs into camp, joins Aban in grabbing supplies from the Crusader's cache.  Father Baptiste bravely interposes himself to protect a pile of supplies.  Henri and Enzo rush in to face the Saracen threat.

Squire Henri rushes in to fight Aban, but the two are equally matched.  Mundir rushes in, knife drawn.

Mundir the knife fighter slips his slim blade past the armor and helm and shield protecting the squire, and ruthlessly takes him down.

Father Baptist, enraged at seeing his fallen brethren, draws a dagger and rushes the Saracen.

Mundir draws his sword and cuts the priest down. "Now for that cache of supplies," thinks the Saracen.  He rushes over and begins to collect the loot.

But Enzo rushes in with his two-handed ax, and Mundir has to abandon the supplies to defend himself.

Enzo takes Mundir down and guards the cache.  He is the last Crusader left standing.  The Saracens, having successfully raided the supplies they were after, flee the battlefield with their hard won spoils of war.

After the battle each side treats their wounded.  Sir Charles suffered a wound to the arm that will impede his prowess with the sword.  Martin the archer suffers from conditions that require a steady dose of herbs as treatment.  Marc the crossbowman suffers an arm wound that prohibits him from using his weapon.  Sir Charles decides that Marc should be dismissed to go home to France and spread the word of the work the Crusaders are undertaking.  Finally, Father Baptiste suffered a wound to his eye, but he can still read the scriptures, so all is well.

In the Saracen camp, Mundir merely suffers from a flesh wound, he bandages it up himself.  Muzna, unhurt from the savage ax attack, reflects upon the battle and how he can become a better warrior like his leader.

Fistful of Lead- Victorian sci fi battle.

Dateline 1889.  British Colonial Mining operations on Venus.


An account of the action at Riverbend summarized from excerpts taken from Lieutenant Morris's official report.

Lieutenant Morris was part of Captain Cather's expedition sent into the swamp lands near British mining interests with orders to investigate a series of attacks on local miners.  A recent attack had taken place at Garvin's Hole, and Cather's column attempted to traverse the main road to the mine.  It was, however, bogged down by mud and recent flooding.  The good Captain sent Lieutenant Morris on ahead with a small detachment in order to begin the investigation and protect the miners.  About halfway to the mine, Morris and his men detected Lizard warbands trailing them through the swamp.  As the Lizardmen got bolder and approached closer, the Lieutenant decided to set up a defensive position at a small bend in the river.  Sergeant Shank set up his massive, multi-barrel gatling gun on a rocky mound, whilst other soldiers took positions behind the roots of the giant foliage native to Venus.  Once Morris had his men in position the Lizard charged, as if on cue, rushing at the detachment from all sides.  The fighting was fierce, with the soldiers using their superior fire to do as much damage from range as possible.  Still, the Lizard bowmen managed to wound Sergeant Shank and sent others to take cover.  The gatling gun shot bursts at the charging Lizards, yet it's mechanism might have been fouled by the mud and humid conditions as it's fire was largely ineffectual.  Sergeant Shank and his assistant gunner quickly fell when the Lizards were among the defenses.  Private Tom was also slain by the Lizardmen, indeed all of the Lieutenant's detachment would surely have been slain if not for the timely arrival of Captain Cather's column, which drove the remaining Lizards off.  It is estimated that Morris and his men killed at least 8 of the Lizardmen, including the leader of one warband.

Lieutenant Morris directs his men to take a defensive position in a small bend with the river behind his back.

Skreelan, or Lizardmen warbands approach through the trees.

The younger Lizards take cover at the woods edge and prepare bows to fire on the British.

On the other flank British gunfire has already taken down 2 of the bowmen, but the older Lizards seem undeterred.

Sergeant Shank, wounded by a Lizard arrow, fires his gatling at the approaching Lizards.

He puts some down, but others keep rushing in.

Across the river the Lizardmen rush straight into the water in a fury to get to the British.

Lizardman arrows drive Lieutenant Morris back into the cover of the swam grass.

Private Tom is brutally slain by a charging Lizardman, as Lieutenant Morris looks on in horror.

Sergeant Shank and his gunner are killed by a charging Lizard.  Private Dick soon exacts vengeance upon the beast.

A Lizardman war leader charges Lieutenant Morris.

 The brave officer draws his sword and sets to it,  deftly cutting the warlord down.

Private Harry hears a Lizardman climbing over the rocks behind him.   He turns to face the approaching beast just before it is upon him.

He takes careful aim as the Lizard raises it's ax and prepares to strike.  A single shot takes the Lizardman down.

In the nick of time Captain Cather arrives with the relief column.  The remaining Lizardmen hiss their displeasure and then slink back into the swamp, leaving their dead and wounded behind.

End Report.


Notes-  First off, this scenario, The Natives are Restless, comes from a free collection of scenarios for the Galactic Heroes version of Fistful of Lead.  I inserted British Colonials for Marines and Lizardmen for Natives without making any other changes, and I thought the game went very well played as Victorian sci fi.   I had heard a lot of good things about the Fistful of Lead rules, mainly the Western version.  I finally got a chance to play a few games this summer and really liked the simplicity of the rules and the ease with which they capture the Western flavor.  When the friend who introduced me to the rules told me about rules for other genres, I rushed out and picked up these versions of the rules as well.  It seems to me that the rules have enough flavor to avoid being generic feeling and still maintain a great sense of the genre being portrayed.  This game was my first foray into testing the rules out in a different genre.  For my next game we want to see how the rules work for a WWII skirmish.

Rangers of Shadow Deep- First Mission.

Hezekiel Headtaker answered the summons bringing with him his trusty Archer Larkin, and Hod, the worthless Recruit saddled on him by the Commander.  They were to locate a missing Ranger in a remote village.  Two other Rangers brought a pair of Swordsmen and a Conjurer to accompany them.  The group set out in silence and kept it that way for most of the long trek.  Eventually, they found themselves in the center of the nameless village, and quickly realized that something was very, very wrong.

Scenario 1

In the center of the village, by the statue of some long forgotten knight, Hezekiel and his companions sense that something is very off in this village.

They gather around the statue, facing out in all directions.  Soon they discern low, guttural moans and a high pitched skree sounds coming from the outskirts of the village. 

A Swordsman rushes out to face the shambling zombie.

The other Swordsman does likewise.

 She dispatches the zombie and then rushes to investigate a strange sound in the hay stack.  The zombie surprises her as it emerges from the hay, and takes her down.

Larkin the Archer fears being overwhelmed by zombie and giant rat.  He retreats, then turns to fire.

Meanwhile, one of the Rangers kicks open the door to a house.  The Conjurer remains near for support.  Inside they rescue a survivor, who is too traumatized to recount the horrible events that killed most of his neighbors.

Larkin the Archer and Hod the Recruit struggle to fight off the Giant Rat.  The remaining Swordsman rushes in to aid them.

 The sound of fighting draws more zombies to the village.  They approach from all sides.

Hezekiel and Hod take on a zombie while Larkin shoots at another approaching from the rear.  The party fights it's way out of the village and regroups for their next task.....



Scenario 2

Clues have led the Rangers to a grove overrun by Giant Spiders.  Cocoons of previous victims litter the clearing near the nesting trees.

Some spiders remain near by, as if guarding their lunch.

The Rangers will have to remain vigilant when facing such a cunning foe.

The Rangers decide to stick to one flank and sweep in towards the nesting trees.  Hezekiel cuts open a cocoon and discovers a young boy and girl.  Meanwhile, Hod gets himself caught in a web and struggles to break free. 

Leaving Larkin with the children, Hezekiel forges ahead.  He finds himself locked in a prolonged battle with a spider that refused to die.  Other Rangers came to his aid least he find himself overwhelmed by the creatures.

 Elsewhere a Ranger searches a cocoon while the Swordsman faces off with a spider.

Yet another Ranger fires his bow as the spider approaches, but the creature is too fast and is soon upon him.  His Swordsman comes to his aid and they quickly kill it.   They then continue to burn the nesting trees the spiders emerged from.

Elsewhere a Swordsman falls to the spider's bite.

One cocoon contains a human transformed into a zombie.

It shambles after Larkin, who yells to the nearby Ranger for help.

As the nesting trees burn and the last of the spiders and zombies are killed, Hezekiel rescues another survivor from a cocoon.  The Rangers lead the survivors to safety and then return to base to report their discoveries to the Commander.  No doubt other missions await them in the near future.