Burrows & Badgers - Painting & Gaming

Inspired by the new Oathsworn Journal I thought I’d have a tinker with a small game that could be played by Burrows & Badgers fans called Tavern Brawl.

I should note that yes, I am aware that a tavern brawl scenario exists in The Warren Percy Affair campaign by Oathsworn. Michael has clearly done a more in-depth job that works really well for the campaign but this is my simple pop at it, “designed” to be a very casual experience.

I also designed this a few years ago now and there could be special rules, skills and more that would work better in this. Please, let me know if there is something that would suit you.

This isn’t a fair set of rules and it will very much not go your way more often than not. If you’re an uber-competitive wargamer then I probably wouldn’t recommend this. I have still tried to make it balanced in some areas but it will most certainly break and I’m open to ideas from the community.

Burrows & Badgers – Tavern Brawl

Without further ado, here are the rules (I hasten to add there is a lot of work to be done probably) for Tavern Brawl.

• 2-4 Players
• Each player picks a gang of Three Beasts
• NO Massive Beasts
• Each gang member is considered to be an Unarmed Fighter
• Rules that apply to each Beast still remain (Strong, Tough, Delicate etc)
• You buy NO additional items/armour/weapons (your gear was taken at the door)
• In addition, there are a few rules which help make things a little fairer for all involved as this is a multiplayer free-for-all!
• No bonuses for Outnumbering if you have opposing gang members around your target
• Bonuses are only given for having your own gang around a target.
• This doesn’t mean you can’t work together to take someone down!
• The Core Rules of Burrows & Badgers run throughout so when in doubt, use those

This is going to get very chaotic very soon so make sure that you keep in mind that you want the game to tick over nicely.

• Played on a small board (enough to accommodate the number of players and beasts)
• Include plenty of difficult terrain which affects everyone
• Fight until there is ONE gang left standing
• Initiative is decided as per normal with a roll-off going from highest to lowest
• HOWEVER – The highest roller can decide where in the turn they want to activate
• After TURN FOUR the Badger Bouncer* wades through the tavern door!
• They attack anyone close to them and keep fighting until taken down or takes everyone out

It all sounds pretty simple, right? Well, I hope so and it would be fun to see how this works for everyone out there. Maybe you can already see some problems with the rules? I’m sure I intended for it to be that unfair.

Well, making it even more unfair is the Tavern Brawl Table! At the start of each turn, you’ll roll a d10 to see what unfortunate (or fortunate) event triggers as the brawl gets out of hand.

• Just Keep Fighting – Nothing Of Note
• My Drink Was Spiked – A random fighter from a gang becomes Stunned
• You’re My Best Mate – Randomly choose a brawl in progress – those fighters now consider themselves allies!
• Glass The Fool! – One member of each gang grabs beer steins and starts throwing (counts as throwing knives) for one turn
• I Spy Gold! – A random gang member’s purse splits open and is fair game. +2 to Strike Roll Offs against that beast!
• Hold On, I Need A Drink – One member of each gang can down a pint and heal d6 wounds
• I Didn’t Say Anything! – Add an innocent beast to the centre of the tavern who “insulted” a random gang member (you must attack him this turn if you can!)
• The Barkeep’s Boon** – A random gang member gains the luck of the tavern owner (he bonks someone on the head) and gains a re-roll this turn
• You Call That A Knife! – A chest appears on the random table with a double-handed weapon inside (anyone can pick it up)
• What Did You Feed Him! – A random fighter from a gang becomes Fearsome

When it comes to elements like the “I Didn’t Say Anything!” event, just pick a random miniature from your collection (preferably someone civilian looking without a weapon) and add them into the mix. Also, make sure to re-roll if an event happens twice in a row!

As I mentioned above, these rules will no doubt make things very interesting indeed and throw the game out of balance. So be it, it is a tavern brawl after all!

I have tried this game out once (so, this is very new) and it worked (sort of). It needs tweaking but if anyone has any ideas I’d love to read them in the comments down below. Remember to keep it simple!

*I would recommend the Slave Badger from the Burrows & Badgers range.

**Maybe use the Hare Barkeep in your games!

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