SEPTEMBER GAME NIGHT AND PIKEMAN'S LAMENT BATREP

 

The usual suspects gather ahead of our club's September Game Night.

This will be a modest update on hobby activity in these parts; specifically, reporting on our club's recent Game Night.  Coming out of Covid, regular attendance has not yet fully recovered.  Pre-covid, we would schedule 3 games of 6 players each, and often have a game with 8 mixed in.  We have shifted that down, planning either 4 player games or some other combination.  For this Game Night, we had a large game of 8 players and a small game (mine) of 4 players.  And it worked out perfectly. There was some concern about floating both games, but in the end 15 worthies gathered to play (2 game masters, 12 players, and 1 observer)--lower than our pre-Covid norm, but trending up and boding well for game nights going forward in the coming post-summer "gaming season." But enough of that.  As I mentioned, we had 2 games.  First, there was Don M's game, the big one, with 8 players...

...it was a Sikh Wars game using a variant of Age of Eagles...

...using Don's fabulous collection of Old School, shiny 25mm figures (mainly Minifigs, I believe) organized in big units, and lots of them!  Click pix for Big Pix...

...I was running my game at the other end of the room, so can't say much about the progress of Don's game other than to say that there were 8 fully engaged and enthusiastic gamers. Based on the noises floating across the room, a good time was had by all. 

For my part, I ran my 4-player Eastern Renaissance Pikeman's Lament Convoy Escort game.  The details of this scenario are available in my July 24 post, so I won't repeat them here.  The major addition since that playtest is that I have given the scenario a "real" name (Von Casimir's Express) and put everything together into a pdf scenario packet [Click] for anyone who would like to give it go. 

The field of Mars--with its handsome advert--ready to go...

By way of quick refresher, the scenario has the Poles (right side of picture) vs the Cossacks and Tartars (left side of picture).  The Poles have a convoy entering the table that must make its way to the bridge at the other corner. The Cossack/Tartars want to intercept it, and the Poles want to get it there. There are four Pikeman's Lament companies in the game, one for each player.  

Chris would take the Convoy...

Rob Z (aka, "Oilcan") would take the Polish Cav (one unit, the Croat Light Cav, started on table)...

AJ would take the Tartar Company...

Bob O would take the Cossack Company...

...and the game is afoot: (left) the convoy emerges into open territory with the veteran Polish Dragoons out ahead and the lead shot (Polish Haiduks) peeling off to the left. Meanwhile, the Cossack and Tartar companies surge ahead, with AJ turning two units of his Tartar company towards the convoy. There's trouble ahead, literally, for Chris...

...Rob (foreground) trying to coax the Polish Cavalry company forward. Early on, he would be plagued by failed activations that would delay the ability of the Polish Cavalry to influence events. Ralph (with chapeau at end of table) played in the playtest (as the Tartar Company) but was a spectator for this game.  Chris (left of Rob) looks on expectantly from his soon-to-be beleaguered convoy for the cavalry to arrive (not unlike a Western movie)...

...The Cossack axemen would clash with the Convoy's Polish Dragoon escort, wiping them out but taking lumps in the bargain. (Left): the reduced Axemen are poised to hit the convoy--but are are momentarily halted by a failed morale check.  These would hang around for another turn or two but then go "poof" when they failed morale and routed away (Right): Chris trying to bring up his second Polish Shot (Haiduk) unit to help fend off the oncoming Cossacks...

...a long shot of the action as Rob finally manages to get the Polish Cavalry forward in numbers...

...which would draw the attention of AJ's Elite Tartar Ulans and Dragoons...

...who would be obliged to turn away from the convoy and back towards the oncoming wall of Polish horse...

...leading to a series exchanges of fire and maneuver between the Tartar and Polish Cavalry wings, with the Winged hussars eventually swinging across to try and break through to the convoy. This would bring up a showdown between the Winged Hussars and the elite Tartar Ulans, who were the only thing that blocked them from riding down the Cossacks. An epic strength-on-strength fight swayed back and forth, with each taking and dishing out lumps but neither vanquishing the other...

...while the Hussars and Ulans tangled, Bob O was able to bring forward his surviving unit of Cossack Axemen and close with the convoy: decision to the Cossacks/Tartars!

 

It was a usual Pikeman's Lament affair, with swings and shifts brought on not only through player action but also failed activations--but in this case, both sides suffered from these pretty much equally, so it wasn't one of those games where the outcome seemed to be decided more by the dice than the players.  Most importantly, the players were good sports and rolled with these punches.  Only one of the players (AJ) had played Pikeman's Lament before, and he had only played it once. So this was in many ways an introductory game.  Despite this, the players picked it up quickly and things ran smoothly, confirming our impression of Pikeman's Lament as a particularly worthy system for club and convention participation games.  

All in all, another good way to end a week: visiting with friends and playing with toy soldiers!

Excelsior!