Outskirts of Constantinople - 1453

Activity Update

More like lack-of-activity update. Last time I mentioned I completed my Turks and had started the Austrians. Well, the Austrians are in the same state as they were two weeks ago.

I decided to do a quick battle this weekend so I could get my Turks in action. Because the Austrians aren't finished, I choose a different setting. I'll pit my Turks vs. Byzantines.

The Situation

The year is 1453. A Turkish army approaches Constantinople from the North. Its vanguard has seized a river crossing. Byzantine forces hurry to recapture the bridge.

The Battle

Byzantine kavallarioi rush Turkish light troops holding the bridgehead. The lights' archery empties some Imperial saddles.

More archery wipes out a bandon of Imperial cavalry, Turks cross the bridge while some of their cavalry ford the river.

Byzantine skuatoi assault the village while the Turks overrun the remaining kavallarioi.

Then the Turkish light cavalry catches the Imperial infantry in the flank, routing it.

The remaining Byzantine infantry flees from the field.

Return to LARP and other happenings

Return to LARP

You'll notice that my game posts have started to drop off. That's not unusual. My gaming tends to be active in January - February then tapers off. But there is another reason this year.

As Omicron abates, I am able to return to the LARP battlefield. Last weekend was my first time out since before Christmas. I also may be working on some LARP projects, which will curtail my gaming time.

Some Painting Progress

I managed to complete some Turks before my momentum wore off.

I have some Imperialists on the painting table. We'll see how long it takes to finish them.

Me, Myself, and Die!

I normally don't watch streams of RPG sessions. I tried watching Critical Role before, but I can never get more than 5 minutes in it.

However, I make an exception for...

What's neat about this show is that host Trevor Devall, a professional voice actor, plays solo!

His RPG sessions are great fun. 

• Naturally, he does different voices for the various characters
• He uses well-painted miniatures and terrain, which provide good visuals
• Episodes are short (approximately 30 minutes) and well edited
• He manages to create very exciting and engrossing stories

MM&D is in the middle of its third season, which means you can binge watch two completed seasons! Check it out. You may also get addicted.

You can access the Me, Myself, and Die! channel on YouTube.

A Captive Audience

The 1666 Campaign with Hans Neimand

I know; I'm supposed to flip back to an RPG report. But honestly, I haven't been feeling it lately. Instead, I decided to play another 1666 skirmish.

The Situation

After defeating the troll, Niemand leads his forces across the river and through the woods.

Emerging from the woods, he spies a hamlet. A small detachment of Turkish soldiers stands guard.

A view of the hamlet as dawn's shadows (literally) play upon it

Neimand decides on a quick strike in order to take some captives for interrogation.

The Skirmish

Neimand leads his cavalry in a charge on the guards. The Turks fire and empty some saddles.

More Turks pour from the house and come thundering across the bridge.

Meanwhile, The guards retire into the hamlet, firing as they go. Their shot scatters the cavalry.

Neimand manages to escape, and form a defensive line as his infantry marches up.

But Turkish firepower scatters the dragoons on the right.

And as the cavalry comes up, Neimand's men can see the unnatural, ashen pallor on the horsemen's faces. They flee back into the woods.

Aftermath

Fortunately, Neimand's troops are able to shake the pursuit in the woods.

But now, Neimand's way forward is blocked. What should he do now? Return home with what little information he has, or find another way?

Game Notes

I rolled to determine a Pikeman's Lament scenario and came up with Morning Assault. I tweaked the situation a tad so that it makes sense within the ongoing narrative.

A 1666 Horror Crawl

I developed the Bridge of Death scenario because I wanted to roll dice one weekend but did not want to pull out my miniatures or run one of my RPG campaigns. Essentially, I wanted a light RPG-like experience without all the fuss. 

Given my latest craze for the 17th century, I decided to place the game in my 1666 setting

What Rules?

What rules should I use for my RPG-like game?

I looked into Silver Bayonet, but it is a straight up miniatures game. Nevertheless, it gave me the idea of a horror-based campaign.

I also thought of using my homebrew, D12 RPG rules, but those don't seem well suited for horror. In those rules, the PCs are a bit too heroic.

Age of Heroes, a free set on Lead Adventure Forum, seemed like a possibility but I wasn't sure how to make them horrifying.

Ultimately, I began to think of brewing up my own rules.

What's a Good Horror Game?

I don't really have a lot of experience with horror games, so I began to ponder what I needed in a homebrew set. I then started thinking about games that provided a feeling of horror.

That's when I thought of . . .

Yeah, I know. Weird to think of B-17 as a horror game. But I think it has some elements that make a good horror game. For example,

• A feeling of helplessness - there is very little that the player can do to prevent or mitigate German attacks. Basically, you just have to sit there and take it.
• Death is ever present - Crewmen die regularly, and most planes will end up as twisted heaps at some point. Every time you play, there is this sense of impending doom.
• Increasing tension - despite their bleak prospects, you get attached to your plane and crew. Combined with the previous two points, this makes missions very tense affairs. The tension increases as you get closer to the target and the opposition stiffens. It gets worse when you drop your bombs and try to nurse your damaged plane back home.
• Catharsis - if your plane and crew do manage to survive, you get this strong sense of relief.

The Horror Crawl Takes Shape

With the above points in mind, I began shaping the rules.

• Like B-17, the characters will proceed through zones as they approach their objective.
• To increase the tension, however, I won't know how many zones to get to the objective. Instead, after each zone I'll roll to see if it's the last.
• The party will include a couple of major characters, whom I will give upgrades a la Age of Heroes. I expect to get attached to them and their careers. Of course, Hans Neimand will be the primary character,
• The party will include some minions, who will be very fragile. I expect many to die.
• Like B-17, enemies will tend to pop out, seemingly from nowhere, attack, and then melt back into the darkness.

To adjudicate events, I am using the base MicroBattle system, applying advantages or more likely disadvantages as warranted. I am still tweaking things.

Irony

As I mentioned, I wanted a game without miniatures, but I ended up using miniatures (meeples actually) to track positions and casualties. 

It actually worked fairly well so I ordered some miniatures to use as markers.