Jason and the Argonauts

Introduction

Once again, I've let my imagination run away with me.  A few months ago, Warlord Games had a sale on individual plastic sprues.  I bought some ECW cavalry to bolster my Witch Hunters, but I couldn't resist also buying some Ancient Greeks.  Since then, I've extended this set with a few metal models from Black Tree Design as well.  I can now present to you my latest project: Jason and the Argonauts!

The Good Guys

4 Heroes: Front view

4 Heroes: rear view

First up are 4 Greeks with swords.  3 of the 4 are in heavy, decorated armour; these are the main heroes Jason, Meleager and Augeas.  On the other hand, Iphitos is just dressed in a linen tunic.  I imagine him as the servant or camp cook who has grabbed a weapon when all seems lost (i.e. he turns out to be of noble birth after all!).

The next 4 models are minor heroes (or grunts, if you prefer!).  Amphion, Laokoon and Pheidippides are equipped in classic hoplite style, with large shield, long spear and sword.  Philoctetes is something of a rarity: an ancient Greek archer.  As far as I know, the Greeks looked down upon archery to some extent, yet had some renowned archers amongst their heroes (Odysseus, for example).  I've never really managed to figure this out...

All of these models are plastics from Warlord Games, apart from the archer (he's from Black Tree Design).  I'm a bit annoyed about the silvering of the decals on the shields, since I spent a lot of effort preparing the surfaces in the hope of avoiding that.  Still, these's not much I can do about it now...

The Bad Guys

The leader for the enemies of the Argonauts is King Aeëtes of Colchis.  I've used another model from Black Tree Design here: Aeëtes is a Greek civilian to whom I have added a simple crown made out of green stuff.  Obviously, he's something of an ascetic monarch.

Aeëtes himself doesn't look very threatening, does he?  Well, in the legends he was the one who sowed the dragon's teeth, each of which grew into an armed warrior to oppose the Argonauts.  In the 1963 film Clash of the Titans, these were depicted as skeletons in one of the classic Hollywood fight scenes: here.  My "dragon's teeth" are faithful to that vision!

These figures are old Games Workshop skeleton warriors.  Those that had spears have been used unmodified, but I've cut down the oversized swords and scimitars to something more suitable for the ancient world.  I've added shields; I thought that these came from Magister Militum, but they've reworked their website recently and I cannot find the shields on the new site.

Another part of any ancient legend is at least one huge monster.  So far I've just got the one: a cyclops.  This is another Black Tree Design model; he looks exactly like the Harry Harryhausen version from the film mentioned above.

I've photographed the cyclops besides Jason to give him a sense of scale.  This critter is big!

I couldn't really find an angle from which the cyclops' eye could be seen clearly.  I suppose that's because he's used to fighting creatures which are much smaller than he is, so he's always stooping and peering downwards.

What's Next

Now that I've got some basic forces, I need some terrain.  I have some broken fluted columns that I bought many years ago, so a classic ruined Greek temple seems like a good idea.  The good guys probably need a few lighter troops - maybe some slingers and/or javelinmen.  For the monsters I would very much like some harpies, maybe a brass bull and a hydra (Foundry, I'm watching you!).  Then some cliffs, olive groves, a labyrinth or 2, a few forbidden islands...

HOTT: The Crossing of the River Berenya

Introduction

The Knights of Lyonesse had been outmanoeuvred and surprised.  They were in sight of the River Berenya which they had to cross to reach their homes.  Between them and the river was a huge army of goblins, trolls and wolves, easily outnumbering the forces of chivalry.  But, being heroic knights, they weren't daunted at all.  As long as someone lived to tell the tale, the deeds done on this day would be sung far and wide across the land!

Scenario

This is a big-battle game of Hordes of the Things, but it's not an even match-up.  The knights have fewer troops than the goblins, but they have more leaders.  The victory conditions are also asymmetric and no strongholds are used.

Terrain

Woods and hills are as normal in the rulebook.  The river counts as clear terrain at the bridge, the fords and the shallow parts near the little island.  At other points the river is difficult terrain and affects movement and combat outcomes accordingly.

Forces

• Knights: 3 commands of 16AP each (i.e. a total of 48AP)
• Goblins: 2 commands of 36AP each (i.e. a total of 72AP)

Victory Conditions

The knights must exit as many elements as possible off the far side of the board.  The goblins must stop them.  Note that I've been deliberately vague about exactly how many elements are enough!

Our Game

In our game, the southern knights advanced rapidly.  Wolves were sent to face them, but the knights just rode straight over these beasts without slowing down.  It took the archers on the nearby hill a little longer, but they were also victorious and all the wolves were wiped out for no loss.

"Ah.  Hordes die if they recoil into a behemoth"

In the north, knights also advanced rapidly.  Initially they didn't have as much luck against deep goblin formations though Saint Florence of Artenay, the paladin, did destroy a horde.

To everyone's surprise (and to the horror of the knight players), the counter attack of the goblin riders unhorsed Saint Florence; she stomped off in a bad mood and wouldn't fight any more.  [Paladins are temperamental creatures in HOTT: they have high combat scores but tend to leave in a huff rather than just recoil if something beats them even once.  Saint Florence was 6 to 3 up against the goblin riders, but she still managed to lose!  Since she was worth 4 of this command's 16 points value, it was a significant blow].

Rather than cause dismay, the loss of the paladin seems to have spurred the northern knights on.  The gap in their ranks was quickly filled from their reserve and they started to push back the other goblin riders.  More significantly, 2 elements of archers fired volleys at the goblin general and managed to kill him outright.  This was a very hard loss for the goblins, as their already unwieldy northern army would now be even more difficult to command.

The knights advanced relentlessly.  They continued to push back the goblin riders, though the evil player hoped that a nearby troll would be an anchor of solidity to help stem the flow.  Sadly for him, the troll was skewered and crushed by the knights.  They barely even worked up a sweat over that fight, though normally this wouldn't be a particularly good match up for the knights!

 Shortly after that, the knight general pushed the goblin riders backwards into the river, where they drowned.

To the south, all of knights continued to advance.  The goblin commander hastily arranged a line of hordes to oppose them, though this looked like quite a forlorn hope.

The central command of knights were slowed down by a couple of trolls.  These were unsupported (the goblin hordes watched from afar), but still the 2 behemoths held up their foes just long enough for the goblin warband general to counterattack successfully and kill some of the horsemen.

Both the trolls were quickly despatched - at which point the goblin general suddenly realised how precarious his position was.  The black-robed chieftain and his bodyguard were slaughtered as 2 heroes (the Red Knight and Sir Roger the Castellan) circled round them and then attacked simultaneously from both sides.  This left the entire goblin force without any effective leadership.

Back near the bridge, the penultimate troll counterattacked the knight general.  The monster may have been dim-witted, but it was still strong enough to pulp its opponent and thus leave the northern knights leaderless.

The loss of their commander merely served to infuriate the other knights, though.  In a fit of righteous fury, they drove the troll backwards into the river, where it sank like a stone (though some say that it survived the battle by hiding under the nearby bridge and that in later years it terrorised passers by until it was eventually slain by a billy goat).

Another group of wolf riders is pushed back into the river and drowned

...and another one.

Towards the end of the battle, the remaining forces on both sides were scattered widely.  The knights had taken quite a few losses (mainly through recklessness), but that was nothing compared to the devastation visited on the much larger goblin force.  A few goblins attempted to escape through the gaps in the ranks of their enemies, but most just huddled together and prayed for nightfall so that they could slip away undetected.

The last troll stood alone, puzzled and confused, as the 2 heroes and central knight general all charged him at once.  The poor creature didn't stand a chance...

In a final show of bravado, some of the bolder knights waded across the river without waiting for any backup.  They crashed through the huddled goblins who opposed them and managed to exit the table, just as we had to call time on the game!

Conclusion

I had wondered if handicapping the knights' numbers and the goblins' leadership would cancel each other out.  However, right from the start the knights just crushed everything that was put in front of them.  Only in the centre were they slowed down (by 2 trolls and several greater goblin warbands).

It's not as if the knights' strategy was particularly cunning or anything; they just didn't want to stop.  Admittedly the goblin generals made some slightly questionable tactical decisions and some terrible dice rolls, but even so I'm completely surprised at the magnitude of the victory.

One element of knights had left the table when we packed up, but there was no real doubt that the rest of the army could follow them whenever it chose to do so (i.e. when they got tired of picking off goblin stragglers).  This was a total victory for the forces of Lyonesse, though not without some loss...

Comb Binding: How to assemble your own rulebooks

Introduction

The internet is awash these days with excellent rules for wargames.  In many cases these are sold by companies that are geographically remote from the purchaser.  Buying physical copies is awkward on 2 points.  Firstly, a parcel might take quite a while to arrive, especially if the publisher is a part-time effort by a one man band or if a package has to cross international boundaries.  Secondly, postage costs are increasingly expensive.  Again, this is especially so where international deliveries are concerned.

Fortunately, there is often an alternative.  Many publishers offer downloadable PDF versions of their works; these can be bought (and delivered) almost instantly at any time of day or night; distance isn't a factor either.  But what do you do with a PDF copy?  Well, some buyers are happy to view the documents on a tablet computer or similar device.  That's simple enough, but I prefer hard copy for myself.

Once upon a time, I would have printed out the document and stapled the top corner, or punched holes and put the paper in a ring binder.  While either of these methods will work, they are limited.  It's hard to staple more than a few sheets of paper (unless you have access to a seriously big office stapler!) and even if you manage, a stapled copy is awkward when turning pages and the paper quickly becomes tattered.  Ring binders are often much bigger than needed for the document, so unless you have a huge amount of storage space then they probably aren't the answer.

Comb Binding

For this example, I'm going to show you how I bind a copy of "Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters".  This is from Ganesha Games in Italy.  It's a supplement to the "Fear and Faith" ruleset, which in turn is based on the very popular "Song of Blades and Heroes".  That's not really important, though...

Here is everything that I'll need.  I've printed out the PDF rules (double-sided, because it uses less paper and will take less shelf space to store).  The front and back covers will be protected by acetate sheets.  These are optional, but add considerably to the durability of the rules, so I'd strongly recommend using them.  I buy my acetate sheets from a local office supplies company, where they only cost something like 10 pence each.

As well as the paper, I need a comb-binding machine and a plastic comb.  My machine is an old DocuBind model; I bought it through eBay some time ago.  It was sold with several large boxes of combs in various sizes and colours, so I have more combs than I could possibly use in a lifetime.  Total cost was a few 10s of pounds, though I cannot remember precisely how much.

So, here's how we do it.  For this (relatively thin) document, I've chosen a small diameter comb.  Note that the small combs are a lot harder to use than the larger ones, in my experience!

Firstly, the "rack" is extended and the comb is fitted on to it.  On my machine this needs to be done by hand, one hook at a time.  That's a little bit tedious, but not too bad.

Next, I start punching the pages.  The acetates are quite thick, so I'll punch them individually.

As each sheet or group of sheets is punched, it is slid directly onto the hooks of the comb.

With paper, this machine can punch 10 or 15 sheets at the same time.  That makes it very quick to assemble even quite a large document.

 Once the final page is in place, the back cover acetate is added and the rack can be retracted.

Final step: lift the document away from the binding machine.

And there we have it: the finished document.

Afterthoughts

Total time spent from downloading the PDF to finishing this article: 2h 20m.  Most of that was spent having coffee, talking to my family and other such mundane things.  Even slowing down to photograph each stage, I probably managed the binding itself in under 10 minutes, including time to get the machine out of storage and put it away again.

If this all sounds like too much work then you could probably find a local print shop or similar business who will do the job for you.  That'll cost, of course.

One last thing: if you're planning to print and bind a lot of booklets then you'll find that all the combs look identical when the documents are on a bookshelf.  Consider early how to label them so that you can find the one you want from a sea of identical bindings.  Believe me, it can be a problem!

Now I'm off to read "Kooky Teenage monster Hunters"...

TRWNN: The Shooting Contest

Introduction

In today's game of The Rules with No Name, there's going to be a shooting competition.  Mr Henry Smythe (the proprietor of the town's biggest gun shop) has offered a brand new rifle of the latest model as a prize.  This exceptional weapon has quite a reputation and this has drawn in hopeful contestants from far and wide.  The sheriff and his deputies are keeping a close watch on things during the contest, but who knows what will happen when the victor leaves the town boundaries?

The Scenario

This game will be in 2 parts.  As a prologue there will be the competition itself, followed by the main opart of the game (in which the winner attempts to escape with his prize).

Forces

Each player is randomly allocated a main character who will take part in the competition.  These are all either shootist or legend classes, with a variety of skills.  Additionally, each player will have a sidekick of either gunman or citizen class.  These sidekicks won't play any part in the competition (apart from spectating) but will be used in the main game.

We had 5 players.  The groups were as follows (and yes, there were quite a lot of Mexican cowboys involved this time):

• Santos and Jebediah
• Emilio and Santiago
• Jesse and Esteban
• Black Bart and Kid Shelleen
• Tuco and Old Pete

The Shooting Competition

For this part of the scenario, each contestant would take 4 shots at a target.  It is assumed that they were firing with rifles, lent to them for the duration of the competition and that the firing is deliberate (i.e. not aimed).  Each shot would be evaluated by throwing the number of dice for the range band plus appropriate modifiers for class and any personal attributes.

• If the best dice is a '6' then the shooter has hit the bullseye (gold) and scores 4 points.
• If it's a '5' then they hit the red (3 points)
• If a '4' or a '3' then the blue or white is hit (2 or 1 points respectively).
• If the best dice is a '1' or a '2' then they've missed the target altogether and much jeering will probably follow!

The first round of shooting will be at short range (i.e. 3 dice for range + personal bonuses).  After the initial round, if anyone is ahead by 3 or more points then they are the outright winner.  Otherwise the contestants who are more that 3 points away from the winner drop out, the targets are moved back to medium range (i.e. 2 dice for range + personal bonuses) and the remaining contestants take another 4 shots.  If necessary, this is repeated at long range as well, until there is a clear winner.

Leaving Town

Once the contest is over, the winner is given the prize rifle (this is such a good weapon that it gets +1 dice when fired) and retires to the saloon for a short celebration.  While he's doing this, the jealous other parties all plot their revenge!

Each of the other players is given 3 tokens.  2 are blank and 1 has a suitable mark on the back.  In turn, they place all of these tokens face-down behind cover between the town boundary and the stables (where the hero's horse is tied up).  A token is revealed when the hero or his sidekick can see it without any intervening cover, or when the owning player chooses to do so at the start of a turn.  If it's a blank then the token is simply removed.  Otherwise, the group associated with that token is placed on the board.

Victory

To win is very simple: you have to take the prize rifle into the barn at the end of the table.  It is then assumed that you find a horse and make your escape.  Note that all players share this victory condition: the only advantage (?!) that the winner of the shooting contest has is that he starts this segment with the prize.  Let's see how long he can keep it...

Our Game

1st round: Close range

In the first round of shooting, it was quickly obvious that Emilio and Tuco were a long way ahead of the rest.  The 2 of them progressed to a second round, whilst the rest retired, grumbling.

2nd round: Medium range

Emilio seemed to have some difficulty at the slightly longer range, or maybe the pressure was getting to him.  His shooting wasn't as consistent as it might have been, whereas Tuco's shots were still very well grouped.  With such a commanding performance, Tuco was declared the winner and was given the prize rifle.  Now all he had to do was retrieve his horse and gallop off into the sunset!

As the afternoon turned into evening, Tuco and his faithful friend Old Pete came out of the saloon where they had been celebrating their win.  The street was deserted; everyone else had left already.  "I have a bad feeling about this" mumbled Pete, as the pair set off for the barn where they had left their horses that morning.

Carefully, the pair made their way through the town's back alleys, trying to think how to cross the open ground on the outskirts.

They avoided the main road (well, dirt track) and had travelled perhaps 2/3 of the way towards the barn before seeing anyone else, when...

2 players decided that this had gone far enough and declared their positions.  Oddly enough, both Emilio & Santiago and Jesse & Esteban had decided to hide near a rocky outcrop on the far side of the road out of town.

Tuco wasted no time in using his new rifle.  He was lucky enough to be dealt a whole bunch of action cards and used these to aim and fire at both Emilio and Jesse.  Despite the range and the slightly-obscured targets, both men were sent scurrying for cover - Emilio clutching at a badly-bleeding shoulder.

Showing a considerable amount of bravery (or maybe foolishness!), Santiago ran back to his injured friend Emilio.  He picked up his boss's (ordinary) rifle and fired at Tuco.  Santiago wasn't a very good shot, but he put enough lead in the air to cause Tuco to duck down behind a small cactus.  Meanwhile, Jesse used the distraction to start on a wide flanking manoeuvre.

At this point, a Bystander card was drawn.  Lola Vasquez, a "certain kind of lady", came out of one of the buildings, looking for mischief.  She would be controlled by whichever player drew the first character card of each turn, so the target of her fluttering eyelids could change from turn to turn.

At about the same time, another team declared their position.  Black Bart and Kid Shelleen appeared from inside the barn, where they had been hoping to stage an ambush.  They were tired of waiting and moved outside to see what was the result of all the recent gunfire.

Sadly for the newcomers, Tuco was once again gifted with a handful of action cards.  Again, he used the prize rifle to aim and fire at Black Bart and Santiago.  Both men were luck that the bullets hit the cover behind which they were sheltering, but the splinters and dust caused both of them to hit the dirt nevertheless.

Meanwhile, the wounded Emilio had drawn his pistol with his off hand and was approaching Tuco from the front (but sheltered from view by a small patch of scrub).  Similarly, Jesse was coming in from the side, hidden by a rock outcropping.

Jesse thought he had the drop on the distracted Tuco, so he stepped out from behind his rock and prepared to shoot.  However, Tuco was unbelievably fast; he spun round and fired before the big man - but missed.  Jesse's hasty return shot also went wide.

Not fancying his chances at gun play, Jesse decided to charge Tuco and wrestle with him.  This obviously caught the legend off guard; he didn't react as the tall stranger closed the distance.  Old Pete, Tuco's loyal sidekick, ran in to help his boss - though against the brawling specialist this looked like a forlorn hope.  (Jesse was typically rolling between 6 and 8 dice in melee, depending on his chosen attack or defence.  Old Pete usually rolled 2 dice...)

It looked as if the gambit had paid off for Jesse as he punched Tuco's lights out.  Now all he had to do was overcome the little old man and he'd be able to pick up the prize rifle from Tuco's unconscious body.

At this point, the final group entered play.  Santos and Jebediah came out of the tent on the far side of the road, close to where Santiago was dithering about what to do next.

In a strange decision, Emilio decided to give up trying to cross the fence (perhaps his injured arm made this just too difficult?) and run to the aid of his sidekick (Santiago) instead.  He charged full pelt straight towards the new arrivals but Jebediah, despite being only a lowly citizen, thumped Emilio so hard that he went down for good.

Santos now marched towards the fence, intending (I think) to cross and have it out with Tuco.  On the way, he was beset on all sides.  Both Kid Shelleen and Esteban blazed away at him, but although both of them emptied their pistols, neither came close to hitting.  Lola also tried to entice him away from his plan, but the man in black wasn't at all interested in her charms.

Even as Santos was rejoined by his sidekick (Jebediah), he tired of the 2 pests who had been firing at him.  Santos walked casually between them and shot down both his attackers.

Meanwhile, Old Pete was doing a very impressive job of fighting with Jesse.  Unbelievably, the big man just couldn't get past the old timer.  Tuco recovered consciousness, grabbed his prize rifle and ran hell for leather  towards the barn.  He slipped past the waiting Black Bart at the end of the fence line before the latter could react, but was hotly pursued by Santos.  And at this point we had to end the game and pack up.  Tuco was within 1 move of safety!

Conclusion

Well, that was anarchy!  Who won?  I have no idea!  Let's see:

• Santos and Jebediah were both unhurt and had acquired considerable kudos from capturing and killing enemies.  Not the right ones, however.
• Emilio was wounded, knocked out and tied up.  His sidekick Santiago started well, but then hung about uselessly in the background.
• Jesse had a good plan, but was foiled by an old codger that he should have been able to push over.  Esteban didn't do much.
• Black Bart was pretty useless as a "main" character: he stood around looking fierce but did nothing more.  Kid Shelleen tried hard, but was too junior to make much impression on his own.
• Tuco won the competition and still held the prize rifle at the end of the game, though he hadn't yet escaped.  Old Pete was quite a hero, though not in a way I would have predicted at the start.

Who do you think was man (or woman!) of the match?