Muskets and Mayhem... B&P AAR
My recently completed New Englanders and Canadians made it on the table for their debut outing on Saturday evening. We played a small 100-point encounter; my wife chose the French Canadians and defended in a Breakthrough scenario. I had to push my troops into the French deployment area while the trappers focused on keeping me away. We played on a 4x4 table with the prescribed 18 inches of no-man's land.
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| My militia in the foreground. In the distance are Abenakis and Coureur des Bois who will from this point forward be known as CDBs. |
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| Indian Fighters (left) and Iroquois (right) |
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| The IF and Iroquois move forward early in the proceedings. I've got to get a move on; my orders are on a timer. The native with the IF group is my commander - I didn't have a suitable honkey and ol' Standing Moose would do just fine. |
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| The militia creep around off to the left. |
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| The uncropped goodness of a busy game table! |
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| The militia push out towards the Abenakis. The Indians take some long-range shots and kill one of my men! The militia was ranked up in formation to take advantage of their "Drilled" special ability which would give them firepower bonuses with a rank & file type fusillade. |
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| I've decided that the French Militia on my right should be my focus. The CDB and Injuns get close. One brave warrior is sent to the happy hunting ground by a French musket ball. Just one casualty, fortunate me! |
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| And WHAM! In they go, yelping and swinging their war clubs! |
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| Three kills! The trappers fall back. |
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| The Rangers join their brethren, advancing on the weakest point. |
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| Goodman Samuel Wheeltoothe's militia band continues their advance against the unwashed heathens. |
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| The sneaky summanabatches CDBs decide that flanking my Indian Fighters is a clever idea. |
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| The heathen's musket fire is strong. Goodman Wheeltoothe's militia takes more casualties. What tricks of the Devil are these? |
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| The game's drawing toward a conclusion. I really need to get units into the French deployment area. |
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| Alack and alas! The CDBs charge into my Indian Fighters and deliver an Almighty whoopin'. Morale holds and my Iroquois allies join the fight but fortunes doesn't shine on them this moment. |
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| The Canuck militia who now have some rather hard feelings towards the English realize this might be their time to shine. Crappe on a sticke. |
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| The Abenakis have learned a thing or two from the disgusting French Canadian allies. Goodman Wheeltoothe's detachment, well, detaches. |
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| And after another round of pretty one-sided melee, my Indian Fighters are wiped out and the Iroquois decide it isn't worth it. |
Well that was a hoot. Blood and Plunder delivers another damn fine game. It's been a little while since I had it on the table last and I've excited for the next outing. My wife rather enjoyed it. It's a simple enough system with decisions to be made, not just a dice-fest. I need to get some English reinforcements and a proper leader for each side them so the next game can have 4 or maybe 5 units per side. I think I've got enough Canadians; there were a lot of CDB still in the box.
Cool looking game.
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled across your blog Ski, and I've been browsing some of your posts tonight. Excellent work & you have a fun attitude throughout! If you don't mind, I have some questions about your AAR: Danish Delight - Fistful of Of Tows, from April 03, 2022. How did you make that table??? It's Brilliant! I Really like the extra clear areas around the edges for rules & rulers, dice & all of the other gaming stuff that we need. What are the measurements? How is it supported? How do you secure the two sections together? (I can just make out some kind of a red connector at the bottom of your second photo, The Generals.) Where do you store it when not in use? Is there anything you would do differently?
ReplyDeleteOkay, I admit that I have a thing about all the stuff we need gravitating onto our gaming area. My well trained players put up with it ~ they have to, since, no matter who's putting on the game, I've been hosting our in person games for decades. My answer has been to put bed risers under my table's legs & everyone gets a TV tray table for their stuff that comfortably fits under the main table. (Doesn't work well for drinks of any kind ~ they end up on whatever other surface is within arms reach.) Yours is an elegant solution. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. (I'll probably keep using the bed risers because the height is comfortable, & the TV trays under the table work for things the other players shouldn't see until it's time.) Anyway, seriously, Thank You for the Inspiration.
~ Tom T
Thanks Tom. I'm glad that stumbling upon my blog turned out well! As for "the table," it's a function of living a small house and having no game room. The table is two 36" X 84" doors, laid side by side on top of my dining room table which is both 1) not high-end and consequently immune to most damage 2) big enough to support two three-foot-wide doors. Players don't have a wide area to move about, but it's sufficient and offers plenty of table space!
DeleteI've often considered writing a blog post on my game table replete with photos of everything that's involved. Now you've just validated that idea and I'll do that this week. Thanks!
Well, thank you so much Ski! I'm really looking forward to learning a lot more from you. I sincerely appreciate that you're willing to take the time & effort to share your experiences & methods. It is such a great idea! (I thought they were interior doors but didn't want to assume. Because, well, there's a very old aphorism there.) I really would appreciate as much information and detail as your kind patience is willing to share.
DeleteLike you, I'm very space constrained. My gaming table is a piece of plywood my Dad cut for me over fifty years ago. It's 42.5" X 78", with 1" X 3" edges & folding legs that I added decades ago. (Easy to stand up & store out of the way against a wall.) I can just tightly fit four players round it in the spare room; five if we hold our breath & I set it up diagonally.
Using your design I can easily see moving some furniture around in our living room for our biannual DudeCons (my Sweet Wife is Very understanding & Tolerant!) & having a comparatively roomy comfortable gaming area for the, now, six of us old reunited Gaming Friends.
2) How big is your supporting dining room table? Do you have any problems with heavy elbowed players leaning on the edges?
I'm sure that I can think of all kinds of other questions in my enthusiasm. Instead, I'll say, again, Thank You! And, is there anything you would do differently?
With Great Appreciation & Anticipation
~ Tom T