Monday, September 19, 2022

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!

18 comments:

  1. Thanks Ed, really enjoyed seeing your table and figures.

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    1. Thanks, Norm. Our recent dive into Pikeman's Lament has provided the opportunity for us to rediscover our 17th Cent collections--ECW/TYW and Eastern Ren.--and reappreciate how colorful they are.

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  2. An excellent looking game there and with a great set of rules too. Glad to hear that club attendance is slowly picking up again.

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    1. Indeed, we even have a few new prospects who look like they'll be expanding our ranks as well.

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  3. Modest update? Ed, you have much going on! While I have not played PL, Rebels and Patriots is from a similar stable. We find it works very well for light action especially remotely.

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    1. Recently played in a Rebels and Patriots game at a friend's house (more of that "more than I think is going on is going on...")--no report, though. PL is a bit more streamlined, but otherwise the same feel--this family of rules has been picked up by our group and will provide good fun on future game nights in a variety of periods.

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  4. Nice night out at the club Ed. Looks like you put on a good game, that’s great of you. And it looks cool and a good scenario as well. The rampant engine is not particularly complicated so I’m not surprised your players picked it up under your guidance. 😀

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    1. I agree that I'm pretty great (thanks!). This scenario is turning out to be something of a chess problem that bears repeat attempts to solve. A good thing because when we need a game on short notice this scenario is always ready (and it's not too hard to run given the low figure count of PL).

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  5. It sounds like a splendid evening’s gaming Ed…
    I am very fond of the ‘Rampant’ stable of games and your Easter Renaissance slant on things is very pretty and very tempting…

    I also liked the look of the shiny Sikh game…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. It wasn't until I lined up the shot that I saw that Don's figs were shiny, and (believe it or not) I thought, "I bet Aly will appreciate this!"

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  6. Its good to see life slowly returning to the club wargames. These games both look good but when looking at the close ups of your convoy pics, I couldn't stop the main theme music from Jerzy Hoffman's film version of With Fire and Sword playing in my head!

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    1. It is good to see the turnout on game nights shwoing that there's still life left in these old dawgs. And now that you mentione it, I'll have to pull out my DVD's of F&S and rewatch the Winged Hussar charges!

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  7. Lovely looking pair of games but I am of course a sucker for Polish Hussars! Sounds like great fun too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Can't go wrong when there are winged hussars on the table, I agree! I need to get them out more often.

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  8. Great stuff Ed...I think I may have played Pikemans Lament but we play such a variety of rules at Julian's on a Friday night that I lose track! Maybe I am thinking of Lion Rampant. Either way, looks like your game was a great success.

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    1. I think gaming on a Friday night is a universal good, regardless of rules (our game nights are on Fridays as well). Pikeman's Lament is a close cousin to Lion Rampant in that rules family: the mechanics are the same, just with different terminology (and a slightly different unit list).

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  9. Marvellous to see you give this excellent, colourful scenario another and more 'public' run. A most enjoyable and interesting post, as ever.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks, James. I keep my scenarios on file so that they can be easily re-run on short notice. In this case, the club was short one game for the Sep game night and I was able to fill in. Happily, I think this scenario also bears repeat playing, so it had that going for it too.

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