Pushing figures around

The sun beat down on the small settlement, casting long shadows across the dusty road that wound its way through the dense woods. Lieutenant Dupont, commander of the French Scouts, crouched behind a towering oak, his eyes fixed intently on the makeshift fences surrounding the settlement. Beside him, the Native Indian warriors, allies of the French, nodded silently, their faces painted with battle markings.

“This will be a decisive victory,” Dupont whispered, his voice carried away by the gentle breeze. “We will show the British that we will not be deterred. Not a single man will falter.”

Meanwhile, within the settlement, British Commander Captain Thompson rallied his militia. “We have a duty to protect these settlers and gather intelligence on the French,” he said, his voice firm but urgent. “We’ll engage the enemy, learn what we can, and escort our people to safety.”

As the French Scouts and Native Indian warriors prepared to strike, the British militia took up positions behind the fences, muskets at the ready. The fate of the settlement hung in the balance, and the outcome would depend on the bravery and cunning of the combatants. The sound of a snapped twig echoed through the forest, and the battle began.

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a bloody orange glow over the ravaged settlement. The French Scouts and Native Indian warriors moved methodically, ensuring that every defender had fallen. Lieutenant Dupont surveyed the carnage, his eyes lingering on the bodies of the British militia, cut down in the fierce battle.

One group of Native Indian allies, fiercely loyal to the British, had fought valiantly, their bodies strewn about the makeshift fortifications. Another group, however, had fled in terror, only to be cut down by the French Scouts as they attempted to escape into the woods.

As the French began to round up the survivors, Dupont’s gaze fell upon a small cottage, its door barricaded with furniture. A faint cry of defiance echoed from within, followed by the crack of a musket. The French Scouts approached cautiously, and with a final crash, the door gave way.

Inside, the civilians, men, women, and children, lay sprawled across the floor, their bodies shielding the hearth and home they had sworn to defend. Dupont’s expression was a mixture of admiration and sorrow as he gazed upon the scene. “Ils ont combattu jusqu’à la fin,” he murmured, “They fought until the end.”

The settlement was silent now, the only sound the distant call of a bird and the soft rustling of leaves in the evening breeze. The French Scouts and their Native Indian allies had secured the road crossing, but at what cost? The memory of the brave defenders would linger, a testament to the ferocity of the battle.

Conclusion

Thanks to Craig Andrews for not only supplying all the terrain and models, but also for walking me through my first game of Muskets and Tomahawks.

I had an absolute blast.

Just before the game started, my friend Lev messaged me to let me know that as long as I don’t have to rescue anyone in this game, it should go well (referring to my failed rescue mission in last week’s Congo game)

I then promptly rolled up an evacuation mission.  I had to safely escort the civilians off the board, whilst at the same time, my leader had to assault the enemy, spending at least 4 turns in proximity to them to gather vital information.  It was at this point that I knew the civilians were doomed.

The French, on the other hand, needed to secure the buildings, which I had to evacuate and not have any of their unit’s rout in the process.

It’s a great little game that I will definitely play again.

Aftermath

King Ukwatutu led his warriors on a perilous mission to rescue his people, including his beloved daughter, Ikwane, from the clutches of the ruthless Zanzibar traders. The king’s heart burned with determination as he guided his men through the dense underbrush, their footsteps silent as they approached the Zanzibaris column.

As they prepared to launch their attack, King Ukwatutu gave the signal, and his warriors sprang into action, surrounding the slavers and catching them off guard. The battle was fierce, with spears clashing and rifle shot’s flying through the air. The king fought valiantly, his assegai spearing through the enemy lines as he searched for Ikwane.

In the chaos of the fight, King Ukwatutu finally spotted his daughter, but his joy was short-lived. A stray spear had pierced her chest, and she fell to the ground, her eyes locked on her father’s face. The king’s world shattered as he rushed to her side, cradling her in his arms.

“Ikwane, my child, no,” King Ukwatutu whispered, tears streaming down his face as he held her close. But it was too late; she was gone.

The king’s grief and rage boiled over as he looked up to see his war chief, Mungapung, arriving with their reinforcements, too late to prevent the carnage. The Zanzibar Trader, Ibn Kamound, however, had escaped into the dense undergrowth, vanishing into the shadows.

King Ukwatutu’s eyes blazed with fury as he turned to Mungapung. “You were late,” he growled, his voice low and menacing. “My daughter, my people, they are all gone. The Zanzibar escapes, and you arrive when the battle is done.”

Mungapung bowed his head in shame, but the king’s words cut deep, and the war chief knew that his loyalty and honour had been questioned. The fate of their friendship and Mungapung’s position hung in the balance.

Thoughts 

Thanks to Lev Vykopal for a fun game.  Although the Zanzibar traders failed to escape the ambush, I also failed to rescue a single captive, accidentally hitting them in combat every single time.

I don’t think that either of us can claim a victory for that.   I don’t fancy Ibn Kamound’s chances in the jungle with so few men to protect him; however, the Doruma tribe was pretty much decimated in the end.

The fate of Mungapung is precarious to say the least.

Carrots in a Stew.

Once again, we returned to the mean streets of Sector 4, home of Perry Pipkin, Grand Master of The Order of the Carrot.

In a city of 400 million, there are more than enough bored citizens just looking for excitement.  The chance to do something with their worthless and pitiful lives.  Just waiting for the chance to be a part of something and feel important.

For those in Sector 4, there is recruitment into The Order of the Carrot.

It was a good quick fun game.  For this we decided that any vehicle that rolled were considered to be out of action.  The rules do allow for you to re-right rolled cars and in future hopefully will also include rules for crews to run around on foot.

I am already considering having a house rule for smoke dispensers as an alternative type of passive weapon.  If nothing else, it will add an extra element of ‘Scenery’ to the table to have smoke clouds around.

Thanks for reading and roll on the next race.

Emerging from the heat shimmer they come in a roar of sound and fury, the nomad brigands and road pilots. Chrome, dust, and rust in your rear-view mirror are the first harbingers of impending doom. Then the incessant chatter of twin Vickers fills your ears, and your automobile begins to disintegrate around you.

It’s the Dirty Thirties and racing just got a whole lot more dangerous.

For this race we decided to have it based in Outback Australia.  Cars were built to a value of $800 and we decided that we would not use any passive style weapons (oils, caltrops etc)

We decided upon scenario 2 Death Race.   In this scenario the cars have to race around four checkpoints in a specific order.  Each checkpoint is positioned near one corner of the table and can be negotiated in either direction, as long as each is done in order.

The winner would either be the first car to exit the table by the short edge opposite the starting line after having passed each checkpoint, or the last car standing in the case of vehicles being immobilised.

Fiona Fuelstop 

in her pink love bug #5.

Equipped with Twin Machine Guns in a fixed forward position.

Fiona has expert Driver Skill, this combined with her car being the fasted in the race should enable her to take an early lead.  The question is, with weaker armour than the rest will she be able to go the distance.

Baron Munchausen

in the Mean Machine #2.  This beast of a car comes with Additional Armour to both sides, an Armoured Engine and Armoured Crew Compartment.  With its Twin Linked Machine Guns in a fixed forward arc this could be a good bet to take the trophy, providing the Barons basic driving and gunnery skills can keep up with the others.

Rosie and Jim

in the Blue Marloo #9.  This car just bristles with firepower.  Twin Linked Machine Guns in a rear facing Swing Mount should deter any would-be tail gaiters whilst a fixed forward firing Machine Gun can help clear a path to victory.

Peter Perfect

in his Turbo Terrific #57.  Peter a long-time fan favourite has improved Driving and Gunnery Skills, all the better for getting that fixed forward firing Light Cannon to make its mark.  An Armoured Engine should help as Peter just loves to go ‘Fanging it’.

Civilians – Vigilantes

The citizens are shown to be a mixed bag. 98% are unemployed (due to advances in robotics) and range from lazy and sloth-like to highly rebellious violent criminals, bent on destroying and killing as much as they can for whatever reason they can think of at that time, if any. Most of the Judges seem to view them like a well-loved dim cat, stupid, greedy but with an unseen value that’s worth protecting with everything they have. Although at times they’ve shown a huge lack of empathy towards them, such as when Chief Judge Francisco asked them if a large number that were on welfare could commit suicide in his Christmas message to help balance the budget for the following year.  Some Judges openly view them as a nuisance to be removed, or like Judge Manners, as a sub-human race to be used and abused as the Judges see fit.

The citizens occupy their time with many strange and outright bizarre hobbies, such as simping (recreational stupidity), bat gliding, sky surfing and peeping (spying on people at home and in public), which is illegal when done for sexual purposes, but legal when done under the authority of a Judge. If any of these ever get out of hand, and there is no legal justification for banning, the Judges simply impose a heavy tax on them, restricting them to only the few very wealthy citizens.

Most are poorly educated, and many can barely read or write, some sectors are said to be entirely illiterate, but Judges aren’t that concerned, as it makes it easier for them to control and they can weed out the more intelligent simply when major crimes occur.  Those that can read though are not much better, for example, when a book that detailed how to commit suicide was released, thousands of previously non suicidal citizens (including the book’s author) killed themselves since they had read how to do it in the book.  At one point in some of the more dangerous blocks, the Judges took to putting sedative drugs into the air systems to help keep the citizens more docile and easier to control.

Some though do show huge promise, intelligence, and have extremely useful skills, many top scientists and engineers are not Judges. Most of the city’s biggest advancements in areas such as food, new materials, non-weapon or military technology, medicine and architecture and construction design (including the Halls of Justice) came from ordinary citizens. All the major businesses and entertainment (apart from Justice Department propaganda channels) figures are citizens as are a lot of the city’s diplomats, but they always report to a Judge before making any decisions. But not all valued skills are the same as the real-world ones, examples of this are human taxidermy and professional gluttony. Most of the highly intelligent citizens end up in crime such as PJ Maybe, and Nero Narcos, as they are very limited in the wealth or power they can attain (the amount of real power a citizen can gain though is very limited) legally.