Mud, Blood, and the Golden Ticket to Mars-Some thoughts on Gaslands

 Mud, Blood, and the Golden Ticket to Mars

Some thoughts on Gaslands

It won’t have escaped the regular reader of this blog, if such a thing exists, that I’ve really got into Gaslands. I’m not sure how long this obsession will last; I can already hear the roar of an engine from Dark Future calling to me, but Gaslands has quickly become the most-played tabletop game for me in a long time. I’ve managed to get in fifteen games since February, all against other people, which is a bit of a record for me, as I spend most of my time playing solo.

Why has Gaslands taken such a hold on my gaming? I think there are a few reasons why I’m really enjoying it at the moment. The first has to be the social side of it: I’ve managed to get my gaming group into the game, and there’s nothing quite like a group of mates hanging out and getting excited about the roll of a die or the choice of a template.

The second reason is the game mechanics. It’s quick and intuitive, so I can get straight into the story unfolding on the table. Some of this may be because it shares mechanics with games like Wings of Glory and X-Wing. More than one game has hinged on a single bad choice of movement template—sending cars careering into walls or barriers. The look of horror on the face of the person who picked the wrong one is priceless.

The final reason has to be the building of the cars for the game.  Each car that I have made has drawn me into the game more and more.  It is hard to express the joy that I have found from taking toy cars apart and making them my own but there it is.  Gaslands got me using a power tool for the first time in decades.  Did I feel more like a real man for taking an electric drill to a Hot Wheels car?  Probably not, but it was fun.

 A bit of a distraction

July has been a month where I have once again been distracted by another project.   How did this state of affairs come about?  I thought I would give you a brief outline of how I went from playing Hordes of the Things to painting Blood Bowl figures.

Recently, I played a couple games of Fantasy Flight`s excellent cardgame Blood Bowl Team manager.  If you like a good cardgame it has a lot going for it and if you are a Blood Bowl fan then you really should play it.  The only real issue with the game is getting your hands on a copy of the game and the expansions.  The expansion add a lot more teams to the base game, which helps to keep things fresh.

The cardgame reawakened in me an urge to reread the Blood Bowl novels by Matt Forbeck. Are they high literature? Of course not, but they are a good fun distraction from the troubles of the world. I am the proud owner of the hardback, slipcase edition,a wonderful gift from my wife a few birthdays back.

Reading the books led me to go through my lead mountain and pull out my old 2nd edition Blood Bowl miniatures. I spent a joyous few hours taking stock of the figures that I have and I realised that I could make 7 different complete teams. The choice of where to start was fairly easily. A lot of my Blood Bowl figures were painted with enamel paints, when they were all the rage, and they would need to be stripped of the paint, but my Skaven figures had sat unpainted since I bought them in Canterbury in the late 80s. So, I decided that I would finally give these Jes Goodwin sculpts a lick of paint.

I started painting the Skaven in the first week of July and gave myself the month to get them all finished. If I can keep up that pace I should have all of my figures painted by next February! I doubt that I will be able to stay focused for that long, especially as I don`t have a copy of Blood Bowl, but we shall see.

The figures themselves were really good fun to paint. They needed very little clean up and they have a lot of details that were easy to pick out.

So, here is the complete team, The Kingsbury Critters. I have given them a, Bob Olley, minotaur as a big guy, in the modern game he will be used as a rat ogre but in 2nd ed the Kingsbury Critters will be supported by Jim `Bully` Bowen the minotaur blitzer.

Moving from single battles to a campaign

 Moving from single battles to a campaign

The few battles that I have fought using Hordes of the Things have been a lot of fun but, like most wargamers I have a yearning for something a little deeper.  Something where battles matter, where countries rise and fall, in short a campaign.  Am I ready for full logistics, hidden movement and all of the other interesting aspects of campaigns?  Definitely, not!  The modern world has too much of a hold on my freetime to allow the luxury of these things.  It might be something I build up to in the future, but who knows.  For now, I am looking for a system that will allow me a bit more randomisation of who is fighting whom, and some form of territory loss and again.  I could use the system that is included in Hordes of the Things, but I was inspired by Martin Smith`s Hott Hyborian Skodbac (Simple Knock Out DBA campaign) games.  His games used the system devised by Ian Hayward.  If you would like to learn more about the system please use the following link to Ian Hayward`s website.

https://www.iandrea.co.uk/wargames/DBA/simplecampaign/index.html

The system itself can easily be used with other games with a few tweaks.  One small change that I made was in working out the aggression rating of each army.  Hordes of the Things doesn`t come with an aggression rating for its armies, so I simply rolled a d3 to determine the starting aggression for each of the armies.  

Rather than hand drawing a map I decided to put my limited computer skills to the test and cobbled together a map that showed how each country was connected.  The last thing to do was to roll some dice and determine who would be the attacker in the first year of the campaign.  Right, that is probably enough of a preamble, on with the show.

Campaign year one

After rolling the dice Corinthia was determined as the attacker and Zamora would be tasked with fending off the invasion.

The defence of Zamora

The Forces

Corinthia
King Agis of Corinthia (Spears general)
7x Hoplite Lokhoi (Spears)
1x Helots (Warband)
1x Hippesis (Riders)
1x Minotaur (Behemoth

Zamora
Strategos Zafar (Spears general)
4x Hoplite Lokhoi (Spears)
2x Psiloi (Shooters)
1x Helots (Warband)
2x Hippesis (Riders)
1x Stone golem (Behemoth

Deployment

King Agis believed that nothing could stand in the way of the dreaded Corinthian Hoplites, so he split them into two groups.  One group would attack the right flank, while he would lead the  second group in the centre supported by the Minotaur.  His light troops would try and distract any threat that came from their flank.

After looking at the distribution of the Corinthian forces the Zamorian Strategos Zafar decided to focus most of his troops in the centre.  From this position they could quickly reposition where necessary.  Having the advantage in light troops Zafar unleased them on his right flank.  He planned to overpower the Corinthian light troops and then swing his remaining light forces into the rear of the Corinthian main line.

Battle Narrative

The battle start slowly for both commanders, their troops being relucant to close with the enemy.  King Agis was able to get his Hoplite Lokhoi marching towards the Zamorian forces their silent advance unsettling the defenders.  

The loud braying of the minotaur snapped the Zamorian troops out of their stupor.  The strategos ordered two of his hopltite lokhoi in the centre to support the helots on the left flank, then he moved the rest of the hoplites and the stone golem forwards to attack the centre, and sent his light troops on the right, forward to attack the Corinthians.

The Zamorian advantage soon paid off.  The Psiloi rushed forward approaching the  Corinthian helots on the flank.  The deadly shower of javelins soon sent the helots running.

The ground shook as the two behemoths clashed in the centre.  The sound of their blows rang out across the battlefield, but neither of them could find an opening.

The Corinthian hippesis knew that they couldn`t beat the overwhelming number of light troops facing them, so they broke off and dashed through the middle of the battlefield. They were determined to reach the Zamorian town and sack it.  The fates were not on their side, though.  As they were galloping behind the stone golem it reeled back from a goring by the minotaur.  Its massive frame crushing the horsemen to a pulp.

The centre of the battlefield fell into a stalemate as neither side could get any advantage.  On the Corinthian right flank the hoplites moved forward and attacked the Zamorian defenders.  Their goal to force their way to the Zamorian town.

 The stalemate in the centre didn`t last long as the freed up Zamorian hippesis charged into the Corinthian line.  The horsemen were hoping to smash through and disrupt the disciplined hoplites.  The veteran warriors of Corinthia were not so easily defeated, though.  One lokhoi turned about face and fended off both the light horsemen and a group of psiloi.

The Corinthian hoplites pushed towards their objective with single minded determination.  Their grit and tenacity forcing back the Zamorian hoplites.  But the hoplites` success allowed the Zamorian helots to isolate one of the lokhoi.  The fierce helots charged into discplined ranks of hoplites before they could form up and cut the spearmen down.

The tide of the battle swung further against King Agis and his invading troops with the death of the minotaur.  The two gigantic beasts had spent the battle trading blows with one another.  It hadn`t looked as if either would best the other until a lucky blow from the stone golem`s axe crushed the skull of the minotaur.

Unfazed by the death of the minotaur the remaining Corinthian hoplites tried to continue their drive towards the town.  Seeing the danger the strategos Zafar redirected some of his forces to block their advance.

Jeers and insults assaulted the ears of the Corinthian rearguard.  These usually disciplined troops could not restrain themselves anymore and charged the approaching  Zamorian helots.  In a desperate close combat their fighting prowess couldn`t match the fury of the helots.

King Agis realised that his forces were too depleted to take Zamora from its stauch defenders and sounded the retreat.  Zamora had seen off the Corinthian invasion.

  

A Clash near Argos-A Homage to Tony Bath and Robert E Howard

A Clash near Argos

A Homage To Tony Bath and Robert E Howard

In my quest to play some of the rules that are sitting on my bookshelf I came across a wonderful small publication that I bought in the 90s as a teenager.  

Hordes of the Things is the fantasy version of the popular rules DBA by Phil Barker.  The rules have a bit of a reputation of being incomprehensible due to the Barkerese that they are written in, but I have never really had a issue with Phil Barker`s writing style.  This may be partly due to my academic training in modern philosophy.  Wargaming rulebooks don`t come close to the impenetrability of these learned texts. That doesn`t mean that I am necessarily playing the rules`right`, but they are working for me and as I am mostly a solo gamer that doesn`t really matter. I have the first edition but there is a version 2.1 available  that I have heard is easier to understand and most people play these days that I may purchase at some point.

I first played Hordes of the Things at the Sandgate wargaming club near Folkestone in Kent when the rules were published around 1991/92, I think.  My memory is a bit fuzzy on the exact date.  At that time I didn`t have any armies for the game as I was still in full Warhammer mode, but now I think it is time that I changed the situation.  

Looking over the rules I was taken by the army lists for Hyperborea in the book and it sent me thinking about Tony Bath`s legendary campaign.  I have no illusion that I could play or run a game of that sort of magnitude, but a kernal of an idea was lodged in my brain.  I have four armies for DBA 2.2, an Athen army, a Spartan army, a Theban army, and a Persian army.  These I thought could be the start of the project.  Each army representing the forces of Argos, Corinthia, Zamora, and Iranistan in Hyperborea but I didn`t want to stop at these alone and so far I have added a force of Picts.  I am not slavishly following the lists, or Robert E Howard`s world, as they are written but adapting them as I see fit.  This is definitely one of the strengths of the rules, the flexibility of designing the army that you want rather than being told what your army should be like.  Another reason to like Hordes of the Things is the small size of each army.  This will allow me to collect many different armies to fight out battles in Hyperborea.  I do fear another long project might be rearing its head, but sometimes you have to just go with your heart rather than your head.

Before embarking on a new project I thought that I should at least play Hordes of the Things to see if I enjoyed them.

Battle one - Argosians vs Picts

In the battle the Argosians commanded by the Strategos Demitris were defending against a Raiding force of Picts led by Ki-eth.

The Forces

I selected the Argosian forces before asking a gaming friend to choose the Pict forces.  This small amount fo fog of war always helps to make a solo game more interesting.  If I didn`t have someone to ask to take on this role I could have randomly determined both sides.

Argos

Strategos Demitris (Spears General)

6x Hoplite Lokhoi (Spears)

2x Psiloi (Shooters)

1x Hippeis (Riders)

The Cyclops (Behemoth)

Picts

Warchief-Ki-eth (Warband General)

5x Braves (Warbands)

4x Hunters (Shooters)

1x Shamans (Magician)

Deployment

The Argosians put their Lokhoi and the Cyclops in the centre of the field in front of the town, while securing their flanks with the Psiloi and Hippeis.  Facing the Lokhoi were the Pictish Braves.  The Shamans and the Hunters were thrown out to protect the flanks from the lighter troops.

Battle narrative

Both Demitris and Ki-eth were able to spur their troops forward at the beginning of the battle.  The two battle lines quickly closing on each other.

As the two sides approached one another the main body of troops became more reluctant to engage with the opposition.  But, on the Argosian left flank the Hippeis charged into the Shamans and after a short struggle the horsemen were able to send the spellcasters fleeing before they could unleash their arcane powers.

The Warchied Ki-eth goaded his men forward with remonstrations of their manhood.  The savage Picts hurled themselves towards the disciplined line of Hoplites.

While on the right flank the Psiloi engaged the Hunters, both sides launching missiles at one another.  The hunters reeled from the weighted javelins hitting them.

The Strategos knew that against the ferocity of Picts his hoplites might break, so he sent forth the Cyclops.  The great beast waded into the ranks of Picts breaking bone, and crushing muscles.  The Lokhoi  surged forward joining the Cyclops in the slaughter.  All too soon the Warchief knew the fight had gone out of his men and ordered the retreat.

Battle two - Argosians vs Picts

In the second battle the Picts commanded by Ki-eths were defending against a raiding force of Argosians led by the Strategos Demitri.  Could the Argosians put an end to the Pictish menance?

The Forces

I decided to use the same forces as the first battle to see how they would perform when the roles were reversed.

Picts

Warchief-Ki-eth (Warband General)

5x Braves (Warbands)

4x Hunters (Shooters)

1x Shamans (Magician)

Argos

Strategos Demitris (Spears General)

6x Hoplite Lokhoi (Spears)

2x Psiloi (Shooters)

1x Hippeis (Riders)

The Cyclops (Behemoth)

Deployment

The battlefield was a more restricted one in terms of terrain, so the Argosians decided to focus their attack on their right flank.  They sent the Cyclops and the Hippeis down the right flank hoping to quickly smash it and reach the Pictish village.  The centre was to be held my a large force of Hoplites with a second group in reserve, while the left flank was to be contested by the Psiloi.

The Picts chose to contest the strong Argosian attack with their Shamans and two groups of their Hunters, delay the Psiloi with another two groups of Hunters and hold the centre with their Braves.

 The Shamans and the Hunters moved forward and quickly elimanted the Hippeis and the Cyclops.  The great beast falling prey to the poisoned arrows of the hunters.

Having secured the flank the Shamans unleashed arcane fury on the reserve Lokhoi.  The stalwart warriors fleeing from forces that they couldn`t understand or combat.

The Stategos Demitris realised that the battle was slipping from his grasp and his only hope for victory was to smash the centre of the Pictish forces. 

As the main body of Hoplites moved towards the centre the reserve force turned their attention towards the Shamans on the flank.

Ki-eth sensed that now was the time to unleash his braves upon these `civilised` soldiers.  The Pictish tide swept away the shield wall burying their stone weapons into the backs of the Hoplites as they broke and fled.

Demitris realised that the battle was lost and signalled the retreat.  The day had not gone his way but the Argosians would return one day and deal with the Pictish threat.

Thoughts

I had forgotten quite how quickly these rules played.  I managed to finish both battles in under an hour as once the break happened the side collapsed.  I think that the rules hit the sweet spot for me.  They give me enough of a tactical challenge coupled with the friction of the command pips to keep me gaming for quite a while.  Do I think that Hordes of the Things is for everyone?  No, I don`t.  If you are looking for a game where each force has its own special abilities then you will be disappointed with Hordes of the Things.  But, if you are looking for a quick game that scratches that fantasy itch then I would say give them a go.  You might find that you enjoy them.  

I am planning on doing a short campaign in the not too distant future once I have a couple more armies and strongholds completed.

March update - bring all my gaming to one place.

March update

March like many other months has been a time of distraction. I probably burnt myself out with all of the 15mm painting that I have done and turned to other periods and games. This change led me to realise that I should concentrate all of my gaming efforts in one place rather than having more than one blog. What that means is the Cantwara sector will not only focus on my Sci-Fi games, but on all of my games. This should allow be less distracted.  I will also be importing my posts from my imaginations blog.

The first non Sci-Fi post.

A game of Forager

I backed Forager back in 2017 and this was my first game. They are a cracking set of skirmish rules.



Private Burrage sprinted for the forage. A succulent looking pig.



French fire forced Private Swain to take cover.

Burrage was cut down by the aggressive swordsmanship of Sous Lieutenant Eustache de Saint Pierre.

Lieutenant Montague James took careful aim at the Frenchman as he charged at him. The shot caught Saint Pierre by surprise and he couldn't react to James sabre cut.

Wissant's hands shook as he took aim at the approaching officer. His shot was good but it deflect off of James' St David medallion.

Soldat Jean de Fiennes long range shot hit Swain squarely in the forehead taking the veteran soldier out of the action. The loss of Swain was too much for Lieutenant James and he sounded the retreat. The French were victorious.