I Played a Game!

After more than 6 weeks, I finally got around to recording a war game!

Last night I decided to give Mike Lambo's Battles of the English Civil War a try. I actually played a test game some weeks ago but didn't take photos and never got around to posting about it.

The Scenario

I played scenario # 1 from the book - Edgehill.

I played as Parliament, starting at the bottom with the Royalists at top.

The Battle

The initial set-up. One interesting feature is that the Royalist musketeers line up in a clump on the hill while the pikes are forward.

Indecisive cavalry clash on the left while artillery fire destroys a unit of Parliament's pikes.

Parliament wins the cavalry clash on the left while another begins on the right.

Parliamentarian musketry causes a unit to rout while cavalry on the wings are demoralized.

Both sides lose a unit.

Royalist pikes gang up and demoralize Parliamentarian cavalry on the left. On the right, Parliamentarian cavalry routs its counterpart but gets demoralized by musketry.

A rough turn for the Royalists as two more units rout.

Another Royalist unit routs while cavalry attacks the King's artillery.

But sundown saves the Royalist. At the end of the day, they still hold the hill so Parliament loses.

Game Notes

For the most part, the Royalist shot was useless. However, in one instance they forced the enemy cavalry to retreat. This may have delayed the cavalry enough to save the cannon.

I have some thoughts to share on BECW but will save them for another post.

Kill and Grill

On Saturday, I hosted a cookout for some local LARP friends. I forgot to take pictures. :(

The highlight was the "feast" that put together. I decided to replicate it with some leftovers.

The feast included:

• Appetizer - crackers and cheese (provided by a friend)
• Main course - Bratwurst with grilled potato wedges and an onion gravy
• Dessert - Sansa's lemon cakes
• Libations - Dragon "wine" (aka Gator Ade)

I made the onion gravy and lemon cakes and was quite pleased with the results. 

Both recipes came from the Official Game of Thrones cookbook, which I've mentioned before on this blog.

As I mentioned back in 2013, the cakes are more like cookies, but still delicious. I messed up the onion gravy at first, making some substitutions and getting proportions wrong. I was able to fix it, however, and liked it a lot. It tasted like French onion soup, albeit a little thicker as expected for a gravy.

After a very pleasing afternoon, I'm already thinking about another feast. Perhaps a Yuletide celebration!

A LARP Update

It's been quiet on this blog because I've been occupying my free time with LARP preparations.

Last time, I mentioned that I've been pondering changes to my group, which hopefully will stimulate more interest. Over the past couple of weeks I have been writing down my ideas for rules enhancements (e.g., spells) and setting notes.

I also worked on a flyer for the group. I'd like to get a photo that will show different character classes. Something like this, but live action.

Picture from https://nerdarchy.com/is-there-a-best-way-to-build-a-dd-party/

I invited some LARP players from the local area for a photo shoot and am bribing them to come with a cookout. My initial thought was to grill some hot dogs. I've been toying with something a bit more thematic, however, which leads to this.

I purchased Heroes' Feast on Kindle months ago, but never bothered with any of the recipes. They are clearly modern rather than historical medieval (some include potatoes) but should work for medieval-ish fantasy. Just ask J.R.R. Tolkien. Anyway, the dwarven bangers and smash may be a perfect substitute for hot dogs!

I also spent some time yesterday fixing some weapons - a couple of swords and a mace.

Anyway, this is a long-winded way to say that I haven't been playing any games.

LARP Thoughts

Much of my free time lately has been consumed by thoughts of LARPing.

We haven't had much luck drumming up recruits so I have been pondering changes to make the group more appealing. One thought is to change the setting from Byzantines to something more fantasy oriented.

I posted some of my thoughts on my LARP blog.

• Inspirations - I talk about a couple of LARPs with ideas I like
• The Chimera Legion's Empire - an idea for a new setting, a fantasy faux-Europe
• The "New" Chimera Legion - how the Legion fits into the new setting.

As a preview, here is a map I drew for our new setting.

Dragon of Icepire Peak Stinks

No, not the dragon itself. But the adventure is really bad.

I've been playing through this adventure solo and have found it extremely lackluster.

Now some of that has to do with soloing. For example, the Gnomengarde scenario involves a lot of diplomacy, which is not much fun for a solo game. Honestly, however, I would have been bored with it even if doing it with a group. I like combat, and there is very little.

But what set me off on this rant is the Logger's Camp quest. It seems logical enough. Deliver supplies to a logger's camp deep in a forest. But when I looked it over for just a few minutes, I realized...

IT'S JUST UTTERLY STUPID!

Let me count the ways.

1. The adventure assumes that the party travels directly to the camp, through dense forest, instead of taking an easier route by skirting the forest.
2. The party carries the supplies in an ox cart. Try getting that through a forest!
3. But maybe there is a road or path through the forest? No!
4. Why is the camp getting supplies from the little village of Phandalin when the city of Neverwinter is closer and is down river? Ship supplies by boat instead!

This just makes no sense!!!

Meeples of Might

I've been in a kind of doldrums lately so no battle reports. However, I made a recent gaming purchase.

Ever since I picked up Battles of Medieval Britain,  I've been pondering ideas for quick games I can set up and play during lunch. A bombing run game is one candidate. Another is a dungeon crawl game.

After my rather disappointing experience with D&D's Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure, I began investigating dungeon crawl ideas. That's when I stumbled on Meeples of Might and Meeples of Menace.

I figured they'd make excellent resources for a dungeon crawl game, so I picked them up. I haven't completed my preparations but so far I think they will work well.

One nice thing about the set is the box. It is about 4" x 5.5" x 1.5". Perfect for a quick grab-and-go game. From the meeples, I picked out some to form a dungeon party and others to act as monsters. I put them in one of the boxes, along with a small board painted like a dungeon floor. I just need to add some dice and rules and then I can do a trial game.

Gromengarde

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler alert - This is my (brief) account of the published D&D adventure, Dragon of Icespire Peak. Turn back if you wish to play this adventure for yourself.

Following their expedition to the dwarven ruins, Ser Killian and his compatriots take on a new quest. This time they seek allies among the reclusive enchanters of Gromendarge, a small settlement a couple of days from Phandalin.

Note: Once again I am changing things. This gnome village is now a human settlement.

Ambush!

As they ride along, the ground begins to shake. A huge, horrid insect-like creature erupts from the ground.

It grabs Squire Haiden's horse and pulls it below ground. The party escapes without further mishap.

And Another Ambush!

They make it to the settlement of Gromengarde, which is inside a series of caves. They meet some workers in one of the caves. The workers tell them that they can find the settlement's leaders in the workshop.

On the way to the workshop, a crossbow-wielding guard ambushes them. They escape and return to the workers.

Parlay

Angry that the workers directed the party into a trap, Killian returns and confronts them. They apologize and explain that one of the guards is a bit crazy. Skeptical, but not willing to draw blood, Killian takes one worker as a guide and locks up the others.

Again, the crazy guard shoots at them. Killian asks if there is a different path.

The Guard Room

Guided by their hostage, the party leaves the caves and returns via a different entrance. They encounter some more guards. These accuse the party of being shapeshifters. Killian scoffs at the notion. If they were shapeshifters they would have just disguised themselves as workers and caught the guards unawares.

The guards agree to take Killian to their leader. To defend against treachery, Killian leaves the rest of the party behind with the hostage.

The Director of Gromengarde

The guard leads Killian to one of the elders of the settlement. After some discussion, Killian and he come to an accord. The elder explains that recently there had been some unsolved murders in the settlement. Their leader, the Director of Gromengarde, accused everyone of being shapeshifters. He then locked himself and his wife in their room.

Killian goes to the Director's room and questions him. He just learns that a shapeshifter is loose and the Director will not come out until it is gone.

Search for the Shapeshifter

The party rounds up all the settlers, checks them, checks the workshop, and then locks them in that room. Next, they search the rest of the compound, poking everything in sight.

Finally, in one of the storerooms, Brother Winston pokes a chest. This supposedly inanimate object suddenly moves!

The mimic lashes a pseudopod at Winston, knocking him unconscious. The rest of the party then manages to kill the creature.

Aftermath

Winston is severely wounded. The settlers agree to take care of him while he recovers. In addition, the Director pledges to aid Phandalin. He offers one of their inventions, a heavy repeating crossbow.

Thoughts

For solo play, this was a REALLY BORING adventure. It features a lot of diplomacy, which is just really dull for solo play, and only one monster (aside from the wandering ankheg). I am losing interest. Perhaps this is why it's been 5 months since I last played. It may be another 5 months before Killian returns. :(