Sharp Practice at Winter Wonder Lard

My afternoon game at Winter Wonder Lard  earlier this month was a spectacular Indian Mutiny encounter entitled 'The Dojjibotti Run' using Sharp Practice. 

The forces consisted of a large Sepoy rabble tasked with storming the the British garrsupported by lots of cavalry which I was responsible for, verses a force of British regulars and a Native Princesses' with supporting Gurkhas and Loyal Sepoys. 

What is really interesting about this game is the range of different troop types available from cavalry, militia to regulars & conscripts all played a part, and were full of characterisation. This resulted in an action pack battle. 

I timed the arrival of my scouting cavalry, charging on from a moveable Jump-off Point on the flank of the British advance as they moved up to engage the massed ranks of the Sepoys who were attempting to besiege the British garrison.

I had to be patient waiting for the cavalry cards to come out, but when they did, I provided the opportunity for the cavalry to charge  the  British Light Horse in the rear, resulting from them scattering. Following what felt like a bit of a hiatus wait for the light cavalry to come out again, they charged again  this time  riding down Unloaded skirmishers in the rear. 

Being British light infantry they took a bit of dealing with, and despite this series of engagements my depleted numbers only held one point of shock. 

At the other end of the table the massed ranks of sepoys deployed in a perimeter   to  resist the advancing Native Princes(ses) Loyal Sepoys and supporting Gurkhas. 

The line held as they skirmished forward hold the Loyal Sepoy attack supported by a cavalry charge which came to nought. In the last turn my light changed one final time into the British Line, while out numbered this last heroic attack destroyed them but it successfully pushed an element of the line back. The game ended in stalemate, with force moral teetering on 2 for the British and 3 for the Rebels bringing the game right down to the wire.

Huge thanks to Steve for putting on what was a magnificent game and my fellow players, Ben , Tom and Colin all of whom made it an throughly enjoyable afternoon. 

Flashing Blades at Winter Wonder Lard

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending Winter Wonder Lard. This was my third visit to the popular Bristol Lardy day held at Britistol Independent Gaming, a games venue in South Bristol. 

The  established structure of the day is participants select a morning and afternoon game. In the morning game I had the opportunity to play Flashing Blades for the first time. Which I was excited about having never played it before. 

The scenario was a diplomatic escort mission, where my  gang of English swashbucklers were attempting to escort a Milanese diplomat to the safety of a the tavern in the centre of the table. 

With a dashing start the English rushed forward trying to get the diplomat safe by hiding in the shadows. The Spanish party appeared to intercept the diplomat, quickly the game descends into a series of duels where characters battled back and forth. 

Things reached a crescendo as a nar-do-well slips out of the shadows  as the battles in the continue around  he pounced and pushed the diplomat to the ground allowing another of his companions the lunge forward, battling through the escort  and unceremoniously run the prostrate diplomat through. At this point we decided the logical thing would be to be the was to withdraw. 

 

Despite the ‘loosing’ the scenario because of the way the leader conducted himself in the duels the was able to accrue honour which in long term will benefit him in a campaign setting. 

This is really a splendid game and well worth trying out if the opportunity arises. 

'Take What is Theirs' a Carnevale Scenerio

The Strigoi and the Guild met in a “Take What is Theirs “ encounter. The Guild made a very strong start with their Capodecina bounding across the canals and rooftops to capture his objective while his gang held back defending the Strigoi objective which were a barrel of fish and a barrel of bodies respectively.  From the outset the Strigoi managed to tie themselves in knots with some poor roles early on allowing the Guild Capodecina to swoop in and grab the objective and then race off. 

Just has he was about to achieve the objective the Noble Strigoi activated and leaped over a citizen on guard with a desperate attack, finishing the poor Capodecina off only moments before he achieved his objective. The noble vampire raced back with the recaptured objective with his Strigoi moving to guard his escape. Shortly after in the that the penultimate round, a Common Strigoi audaciously slipped through the screen of Guild enforcers to snatch their objective marker. She raced back in an attempt to get the prize back only to be pursued by a knife welding citizen doing all in her power to stop the vampire. 

These are some shots of the action.