Well, it only took an apocalyptic event to bring me back to this blog......
So, been doing more than working and drinking wine during the lockdown, believe that or not. piccies of the 14th Army boys later.
I was missing the old Sharp Practice rules. Sorry, true believers, but the second edition of SP just didn't cut it for me. It missed the whimsical spirit of high adventure I like in skirmish rules. Must be the old RPG Grognard in me.
So, I decided to download A Fistful of Lead - and the Napoleonic and Horror supplements. I was encouraged on a read through - a good balance between a good generic skirmish system - you can literally use the rules for any period with a few tweaks.
The game is card driven (hello TTS players), each side has a Team of about 5 figures, a Leader, a Specialist and three Regulars (or more figures if Grunts are used, 3 Grunts = 1 Regular). Everyone but Grunts can have Traits, which make each figure an individual.
The system is very scenario driven, which suits me fine.
It was time for a playtest, so I made up two Teams. The first - The Purple Hawks, led by Rubio Falcone, the Scourge of Pavia. His team consisted of Luciano Di Grissi, a deadly archer, Roberto D'Ebon,a hulking brute (in Dundee he would be called Black Bob), Frederico "the Flea" and Nicoletti Brutti, a greasy assassin with a crossbow. Scumbags all. The Traits were combat specific, and Falcone was heavily armoured on an armoured horse.
Then, the Dukes men. Now I went for more leadership Traits for the Duke, so his Team got another Regular or three grunts. So that Team consisted of Ricardo Scarletti, the Red Duke, his two hired longbowmen, Owain and Alf, Simon the Cathar, and two sets of Grunts, Guido, Alfonso Guiseppe, and Mascarpone, Linguini and Ravioli (ok, ok, I was tired and ran out of imagination).
So, I then set up a town - Chianti - and had the Red Duke lead his men and a wagon train up the main road. I didn't really have much of a scenario in mind, I just wanted to see how the rule worked. I set the Purple Hawks up in ambush in the Town, all hidden, which meant unless they moved or fired, the other Team would need to be within 6" to spot them.
The Red Duke
So, the action started pretty quickly with the cards being drawn. Each teams gets the same number of cards as they have team members (1 for 3 grunts), and each card is called from Kings first, spades, hearts, diamonds clubs. Some cards have special attributes, like the Queen of Hearts cures wounds and so on. You decide which figure gets to act when the card is called.
The Pasta brothers were sent into a smithy to check it out. It happened Di Grissi was skulking in there. He let off a shot, missing Ravioli, and ran into the lane.
The Red Duke spotted Black Bob and decided to have a go.
Well, it turns out that combat is deadly and unpredictable - thats what happens when you roll D10s - and the Duke was wounded and down....In close combat, players roll off with adjustments for traits and weapons, and the highest score wins. The differential gives a plus to wound, and the loser can be pushed back, or forced to swap places with the winner (bad news if you are on a roof ledge), and is either shocked or wounded. Wounds and shock stack up and eventually put you out of action.
So, been doing more than working and drinking wine during the lockdown, believe that or not. piccies of the 14th Army boys later.
I was missing the old Sharp Practice rules. Sorry, true believers, but the second edition of SP just didn't cut it for me. It missed the whimsical spirit of high adventure I like in skirmish rules. Must be the old RPG Grognard in me.
So, I decided to download A Fistful of Lead - and the Napoleonic and Horror supplements. I was encouraged on a read through - a good balance between a good generic skirmish system - you can literally use the rules for any period with a few tweaks.
The game is card driven (hello TTS players), each side has a Team of about 5 figures, a Leader, a Specialist and three Regulars (or more figures if Grunts are used, 3 Grunts = 1 Regular). Everyone but Grunts can have Traits, which make each figure an individual.
The system is very scenario driven, which suits me fine.
It was time for a playtest, so I made up two Teams. The first - The Purple Hawks, led by Rubio Falcone, the Scourge of Pavia. His team consisted of Luciano Di Grissi, a deadly archer, Roberto D'Ebon,a hulking brute (in Dundee he would be called Black Bob), Frederico "the Flea" and Nicoletti Brutti, a greasy assassin with a crossbow. Scumbags all. The Traits were combat specific, and Falcone was heavily armoured on an armoured horse.
Then, the Dukes men. Now I went for more leadership Traits for the Duke, so his Team got another Regular or three grunts. So that Team consisted of Ricardo Scarletti, the Red Duke, his two hired longbowmen, Owain and Alf, Simon the Cathar, and two sets of Grunts, Guido, Alfonso Guiseppe, and Mascarpone, Linguini and Ravioli (ok, ok, I was tired and ran out of imagination).
So, I then set up a town - Chianti - and had the Red Duke lead his men and a wagon train up the main road. I didn't really have much of a scenario in mind, I just wanted to see how the rule worked. I set the Purple Hawks up in ambush in the Town, all hidden, which meant unless they moved or fired, the other Team would need to be within 6" to spot them.
The Red Duke
So, the action started pretty quickly with the cards being drawn. Each teams gets the same number of cards as they have team members (1 for 3 grunts), and each card is called from Kings first, spades, hearts, diamonds clubs. Some cards have special attributes, like the Queen of Hearts cures wounds and so on. You decide which figure gets to act when the card is called.
The Pasta brothers were sent into a smithy to check it out. It happened Di Grissi was skulking in there. He let off a shot, missing Ravioli, and ran into the lane.
The Red Duke spotted Black Bob and decided to have a go.
Well, it turns out that combat is deadly and unpredictable - thats what happens when you roll D10s - and the Duke was wounded and down....In close combat, players roll off with adjustments for traits and weapons, and the highest score wins. The differential gives a plus to wound, and the loser can be pushed back, or forced to swap places with the winner (bad news if you are on a roof ledge), and is either shocked or wounded. Wounds and shock stack up and eventually put you out of action.
Owain went off to a hill overlooking the village and quietly strung his bow. Frederico (above behind Black Bob) decided to try and deliver the coup de grace on the duke, and ran forward, but couldn't quite get there (you aren't allowed to pre measure). And that left him open to attack by Simon the Cathar.
And BOOM, down went Frederico...
Alf took a bead on Di Grissi, but missed. Guido, Alfonso and Guiseppe closed on to Frederico, and the the Hawk himself came thundering over the village bridge.
You can see Nicoletti skulking by the hedge, looking for a target. He eventually caught one of the pasta brothers.
Things unfolded fast after that. The Flea couldnt get up - you have to recover from wounds or shock - and crawled across a wall. Black Bob ran forward to finish the Duke but was pegged in the head by Owain.
The pasta brothers were finished off by Di Grissi and the Hawk, but the Duke, refreshed by a Queen of Hearts, dragged the Hawk from his horse and then finished him off in epic close combat.
Guido and his brothers ganged up on a wounded Flea and squished him good. They then did the same on Nicoletti, who unwisely ended up on the wrong side of the hedge. Being surrounded is not good in this system!
Di Grissi saw the writing on the wall, and offered to enter the Duke's service. Game Over.
Fistful of Lead is a great wee system, and I have already made up Napoleonic, WW2 and fantasy teams. I think a Sharpe game at the weekend, and then I will look at some Matthew Hopkins shenanigans with my ECW guys.....
Excelsior!
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