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.

The Order of the Stick versus the Linear Guild- a Dragon Rampant battle.

On some far off desert plain the Order of the Stick, led by fighter Roy Greenhilt, musters a rag tag army of Elvin Rangers, escaped Thieves and Gladiators, and a Mechanical Bull construct.  Across the plain another army assembles, one led by Nale, leader of the Linear Guild.  He commands Lizardfolk Infantry and Archers, Lizardfolk cavalry, and impetuous Lizard Ogres.  Only one side will emerge victorious.

The Order of the Stick army:  The OotS (elite foot with wizardling), Evin Rangers (elite foot with missiles), Mechanical Bull Construct (lesser warbeast) and Thieves and Gladiators (light foot with short range missiles)

The Linear Guild's right flank:  Lizardfolk Ogres (bellicose foot), and Lizardfolk Infantry (heavy infantry).

The Linear Guild center and left flank:  The Linear Guild (elite foot with wizardling), Lizardfolk Cavalry (heavy cavalry), and Lizardfolk Archers (light missiles).

The Order of the Stick marches their army forward.

The Lizard Ogres charge the Mechanical Bull, both sides take damage and they draw apart battered.

The Linear Guild moves forward to meet the Order.  The Cavalry line up a charge on The Order of the Stick.

Elan whistles a tune.

The Thieves and Gladiators look determined.   However, once the arrows and magic and giant lizards hurl at them, they decide they forgot the oven on and rush home to check.

The Lizardfolk Cavalry charges the Order of the Stick.  The heroes drive them back, but get scratched up in the fray.  The Mechanical Bull then charges the Cavalry and finishes them off.

The Lizard Ogres charge the Bull again.  This time they defeat it, but are themselves driven off by the Order of the Stick and their Elvin Archers.

Both armies have taken significant losses.  They each regroup for the final confrontation.

The Lizardfolk Archers exchange bow fire with the Elves.  At first they hold their own, but begin to loose their confidence as they take casualties.  After a few Lizardfolk go down, the unit decided that their Crock pot needs to be turned down, and they rush home to check.

The Linear Guild, minus their Kobald and that Dark Elf that cannot be named, find themselves alone versus the Linear Guild and the Elvin Rangers.  Nale calls the retreat, and leaves the field, already plotting his next attack on the Order of the Stick.

Outremer Faith and Blood- First Game.

I finally got the chance to play Outremer Faith and Blood, a campaign based skirmish game set during the Crusades.  Our game was a meeting engagement where each side simply attempted to cause the most casualties on their opponent.  On one side we had a band of Crusaders lead by a Knight and a Squire, versus Saracens led by and Arif and a Sub-Arif.  It was a bloody battle with both sides having several figures taken out.  The Crusaders lost both their Knight and Squire, and by the end of the game only had their Crossbowman, a Melee Militiaman and a Monk cowering together behind a fragment of wall.  The Saracens lost all but their Arif, who, after taking out the Crusader's Squire, elected to slip away rather than face the deadly crossbow.  Using the post battle campaign rules, neither side permanently lost a man, though some had injuries that will follow them to the next battle.  The Crusaders gained much more money and XP because of holding the field and winning the battle.  The Saracens lost a horse and currently cannot afford to replace it.  Here are some pictures of the battle.

The battlefield.  A ruins somewhere in the Holy Land. 

The Saracen Arif directs his men to enter the ruins and kill the Crusaders.

The Crusaders also advance into the ruins.

Both warbands begin to move closer towards engagement while archers and crossbowmen exchange fire.

A Saracen warrior kills a Crusader, but then finds himself facing multiple foes, including a well armored Squire.

The Crusader Knight leads his men into the ruins.  The Crossbowman sets up a firing position that will give him a great field of fire.  The Monk lags behind.

The Crusader Knight takes cover behind a low wall as he moves closer to his foe.

 The Saracen warrior learns the hard way not to charge a foe with a spear.  The Arif simply shoots his hunting bow and drives the Militiaman back.

The Crusader Spire closes in on a Saracen Askari archer.  The horse had already been killed by a well placed crossbow shot.

The Saracen Sub-Arif loses a melee to the Crusader Knight and attempts to flee.

While the Knight is distracted, another Saracen warrior charges in and defeats the already wounded Knight.  The Saracen yells in victory, just before taking a crossbow bolt that penetrated his armor and took him out too.