Rogue Stars The Baron vs the Womens. Institute. Tendancy. Contact. Hostile.

I SAID it was going to get tough.  I never intended this to turn into a mini campaign,  well, 

more of variations on a theme flogged until the conveyance animal has deceased through 

bad treatment. But such is the flow.

Now the Baron is facing his most fearsome opponents.  W.I.T.C.H.  Which is our first 

virtually all flying encounter.

This a bit of a mix up betwix missions Rescue and Make it the ship alive.  

The Baron has to get his hostage (and himself) safely to the train (a hired special) 

The Monkeys can each carry Mrs Quotts or the Goblin, but it takes 2 for the Baron.  

Makes sense for the Baron to start.

The Baron is, as before, a merchant. There is no stats/costs for natural flight.

Baron 24, 1 Goblin 28, 4 Monkeys 152 = 205

At The Double.  10 giving +1 to any walk, run, sprint character.

Baron Greenback   24 Kevlar.  Chest3.

Move Crawl 1”, Sneak/walk 2” Run 4” Sprint 6”

Big.  +1 shot at.  +1 Combat.

Leader2.  

Claws.  +2

Reptiloid. Ignore 1st pin. Armour1 

Move Crawl 1”, Sneak/walk 2” Run 4” Sprint 6”

Halberdier  28 

Fast  Crawl 1"  Sneak/Hidden/Walk 2"  Run 5"  Sprint 7"  

Reptiloid  Ignore 1st pin.

Tough +1 to endure roll.

Light Combat Dress  Legs & Arms 2  Torso & Head 3  7

Vibrospear  3 Long hits 1" + free hack at attacker.  3 

Flying Monkeys from the land of Oz 38 each.  Fongo, Jongo, Pongo, Unko

Agile2. Big. Extra "leg". Fast3.  Martial Arts3 Tough2.

"Flight pack" 8, 8” per move, hover 2” (above combat) Free disengage. 

Land on rough TN5

Big. 

Extra "leg" (Wings) Fast3.  I imagine that these do a semi powered hop rather than walk.

Move Crawl 1”, Sneak/walk 2” Run/Sprint 8”  (this should be sprint 9" but that would be 

faster than flying.

Martial Arts3 

Tough2. +2 endure roll.

Can carry any other person.

Witches Psionics Total 201

Flight Pack 8” per move, hover 2” (above combat) Free disengage. Land on rough TN5

Brown Witch Difficult Target3, Leadership2, Martial arts, Psi, Psi master, Stealth 2 39 

Total 57

Flight Pack 8

Detect weakness within 12” +1 next attack that target. 2

Bolster no range, +1 morale one target. 4

Electokinesis Damage 2 ranged attack 4

Clean Witch Difficult Target3, Martial arts, Psi, Psi master, Stealth 2 27 Total 54

Flight Pack 8

Electokinesis Damage 2 ranged attack 1

Mind control TN16 10”, LOS. P58 18

Green Witch Difficult Target3, Martial arts, Psi, Psi master, Stealth 2 27 Total Total 56

Flight Pack 8

Electokinesis Damage 2 ranged attack 1

Tele Disarm Tn13 8” LOS Weapon goes up to 5” inc into casters hand 4

Tele Push 8” LOS Dam 3 ranged attack. Push target up to 4” any direction. TN13 roll or fall

prone. 6

Tel. Strangle 8” LOS -4. Dam 2 ranged attack to head 10

Hippy Witch Difficult Target3 Martial arts ,Psi, Psi master, Stealth 2 27 Total 34

Flight Pack 8

Encourage +1 Activation any distance 1 target. 1

Guidance +1 Reaction any distance 1 target. 4

Healing Removes 1 wound, temporary cripple or staggered within 4” -1 each inch over 4”

The Game.  OK, I added a few more bits, fences.  I thought there ought to be a tower.

Here's the witches starting position.

The sacred God Coffee to which we play regularly.  Coffee is your Mother.  Coffee is your Father.  Coffee is your family.  Trust in your Coffee.

The goblin if flown in quietly as an advanced guard.  Air mobile.

Take the high guard.  A scrap of cotton wool just works as a perch for Fongo!

Baron arrives next.

Telekenetic Push!  Well, pull, off the roof.  Monkey lands like a cat.

Get closer- then Electokinesis zap to the head.  Note!  We're using a D6 to represent 1" hover height.

 

Shhhhhh!

The witches, as is their wont, gather in their masses.  

(Wont is a fledging, juveniles are Nonde, of the adult Plume, which are carried in hats)

Wider view at this critical junction.

Sneaking as only a flying monkey can do Pongo, um, sneaks.  In deference to a different evolutionary path he pays no heed to the eccles cakes being dunked in the sacred coffee.

More stealth, led by 'is nibs.

 Unko, thinking that if he's going to be paid peanuts he'd might as well have some meaningless violence and revenge for Fongo, leaps on an unsuspecting Mrs Green. Grievously staggered in mid air she crashes to the ground, mashes her leg on landing (ouch!) - out of action.

Morale - everyone OK except for Mrs Hippy, who suddenly remembers that she left the kettle on and had to delouse 'er Tims gym kit for the morning a bit sharpish.

With one bound, Unko presently plummets and pummels poor Mrs Clean. who is smitten from her broom and grazes her leg on landing.

Unko gains the tower with his last activation, beating chest ensues.  So much for stealth.

Pongo (not to be undone in the peanut bonus department) pounces from his perch upon Mrs Brown.  A brief struggle and she is staggered!

Morale again and the second critical fail!  Mrs Clean shows how her heals gained her that name-.  I think she needs a plaster on the leg.

Letting the dice write the story.  Only once before have we had one side collapse and run.

Side story.  Poor pummeled Fongo had the witches use mind control on him.  He just managed to get upright when the flight of Mrs Clean released him to say "Owwww!"

Victorious Pongo also gains the tower and much screaming, chest beating and diverse alarums ensue!

The Baron can now tie his poor captive to the tracks, then drive the train (a special, no point being a Baron if you cannot) over her recumbent form.

Pre Play Picture Porn.  If the roofs, etc. look a bit wonky, they're on lose ready for easy removal.  Roads from Terrains for Games.

Forged In Battle. 1st trial & Trouble 't Mill Pirate follow-on.

'tis the time of year when piratey things come to the foremast.  But this year a lot is mizzen.  I had to go back to August 2016 (which seems like another world, another century during lockdown) for the makings of this one.

Somewhere in the wide world there's a box of stuff I used for Trumpton airfields.  Somewhere there's a WHOLE boxfile of bases.  Aaarse, never mind.  Deep breath.  This is a small game, understrength units, some representing dismounted cavalry. All in Open order due to nature of terrain and enemy.  Learning the rules as we go boldly forth with ginger beer and strong coffee.  Oh- bag of cotton wool tufts has been eaten by that damn black hole that feeds on my coffee!  They're all against me!

The local redcoat militia, greencoat dragoons and bluecoat customs having become aware of the perfidious pirates and swoop on the local port of Netling. There, the 30-odd pirate crew have taken the little town into their perfidious clutches, their evil will to have. In the before time we would have used Flying Lead, which is in the same stable as these rules.  

There are 3 sides, the raiders, militia and angry locals. 

The Good Guys.

You've seen these before.  I managed a partial paint top-up.  OK, I've never finished them in 10 years- most of the figures here are that old and mostly painted with hobby, not model paints & protected with hairspray.

Mounted Command, Major and 2 Lieutenants.

Q4 C1

Dogged.  Morale - Any failure is a Checked.  Takes one action to remove a checked.

Redcoat Militia. County Militia infantry. Counties usually kept a quick reaction force (at the county town) on hand, there will still Barbary pirates, smugglers and revolting natives requiring a firm hand. 

2 units of Militia Infantry.  Normally formed units of 10, 8 musket with 1 leader per rank. 

These are understrength.

1 unit 8 with single figure of Major Husting De Vience 

1 unit of 7 plus Sergeant Sargent.

Q5 C1

Musket.  Long.

Dogged.  Morale - Any failure is a Checked.  Takes one action to remove a checked.

Bluecoat Mounted Dragoons.  A crack unit of upper class twits-come-fox hunters, mounted infantry.  

Q4 C1

Arquebus (carbine)  Medium range.

Impetuous.  Pursuit, will charge nearest enemy & free hit.  If no enemy within 1 Long, pursues off the board and is lost.

Greencoat Revinue.  Professional no-nonsense upholders of the legal Law.

Pirate Hunters are professional killers, also mounted infantry.  They are Skirmishers and gain +1  when shooting.

Unit 6 under command of Inspector Gaddget.

Unit 6 under Sergeant Strong.

Q3 C2

Musket Long.

Professional. Morale: 1 fail - Checked.  2 fail - retire away or into cover.  3 fail - surrender or become dogged.  Morale - Any failure is a Checked.  Takes one action to remove a checked.

Locals.  Let's assume most civilians have fled the pirate tyranny, joined them or act as mobile scenery/human shields.  They never played any part in the game except as mobile scenery.  I used the simple method of numbering areas 1-6 then dicing their startup positions:

Starting positions - locals lurk and pirates invest.

Q6 C0.  

Leaders Q5 C1

Flighty Morale 1 failure retires 1 move.  2 failure flee 2 moves 3 failures charges nearest enemy (long) and fights if contact.

The locals. People come, go, move and act as they will. Lets invent the local nobs, the De Vience family, who came over with William for the days sport and decided to stay for a bit. Naturally they have an heir Squire Eustace De Vience, Leader of the Dragoons.  one to the army, Major Husting De Vience and one to the church, the Reverent Ignatious De Vience . Among the captives will be a niece or, more likely a ward Miss Angelica Short Cummings.

Now here is the Forged In Battle moan.  I must say - when the rules were portrayed as larger-scale Flashing Steel, I was expecting at least some pirate content.  But never mind, easily done!

Bad guys.  Boo!

Pirates.  Default organisation is 8 rank plus 2 leaders.  Pirates use Mass Order, being an open formation containing 10 reprobates.  Unlike most rules, these can be of mixed type.  These units can split into 2 of 4 followers & 1 leader and remnants can be combined or become singles.  

3 units of 10, 8 pirates with 2 leaders

Q5 C2

Impetuous.  Pursuit, will charge nearest enemy & free hit.  If no enemy within 1 Long, pursues off the board and is lost.

A command unit of 4 represents the 3 pirate captains and quartermaster

Q3 C3

Cannon.  This is in a fixed position.  It starts the game in position and loaded with either ball or cannister, (probably a mix of musket ball & broken glass)  Cannon starts with a crew of 4, but extra can be added from other units.

Q4 C2

Reload 18, change orientation, 12.

Shot P 49

Cannister P50.

The game.  Having deployed my pirates and placed the population of we go!
Just to recap.  My cannon is sneaked next to a building focusing down the road with my command stood next to them.  Easier to do without roofs.

Greencoats lead the way.  They get so far- turnover.  Hah!  My cannon!  Roll - 3 fails including a 1.  Nice difference in these rules, no reactions except rolling a 1 gives your opponent a free action.

The greencoats rush in, get close to the cannon and let loose!

One left!  He runs away on morale, prompting a mass chain reaction of morale that everyone fails.  Yep, everyone goes running out the back doors, jumping through windows.  What larks!

One group runs into a clump of civilians.  The rules state that you have to declare a charge, so this was more of a "gittout the way!" opposed by "gerrof my land!"  No civilian massacre.

This takes both skill and Percy Verrance.

The rest move up.

At last something goes my way!  Pirates pour out at pummel.  I'd forgotten an old method- an A5 clipboard is an excellent tool to expand this type of combat. 

I win!  The greencoats fall back, pursued and another round, which they win.

 

The greencoats stand, you can just see the redcoats on their flank--

Blam!  And they kill 2- time for cold steel!

Not sure when we should test morale, the greencoats retreat to regroup.

The second unit of redcoats spot my command group and let pop.  No casualties, but they flee into cover.

Meanstwhile the other flank advances.

Now the redcoats attention is taken by my other pirate party animals.

Combat!  My pirates charge.  8 vs 10, so 2 with overlap, no need to match up.  Building removed for ease.

Civilian command to the left, pirate command to right still in building.

Pirates win!  Redcoats go back, impetuous pirates pursue.

Washing over the remnant my pirates plow into the other redcoats, who stand steady and let them run onto their bayonets.

My command retire (sensibly, again) on morale.  Out in the open the greencoats open fire and wipe them out!

The finishing positions.  I lost about 2/3 of my force, which is consistent with pirates. Tony lost 1, had another mauled. 

Couple of bits we have to get used to, but the feel of the game was consistent and good.

No points system but the how-many-units in this scenario section takes care of that.

In a couple of weeks we're going to try an all-Martian game as their warfare is pretty much the late renaissance model.