The Great Game on Venus : A Non-canonical Battle

Sunday, Cloud Captain and I met up for a learning game of  Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles and a first outing for some of the terrain he is putting together.

As neither of us is ready to field any of the Venusian forces we are working on, another battle between my Russians and British forces seemed a good choice. Cloud Captain ran the Brits and I ran the Russians (into the ground. Oh, spoiler alert!)

Overview of table and Russian deployment

The thin Khaki line.
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

The Greens go marching off into the jungle . . .

Lancers charge! The Russian gunners are ready!
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

 

We both took variations of this same exact picture. Who doesn't love the 17th? It went as well as you'd expect. The Lancers did survive though and would eventually eliminate the gun crew. Only to be eliminated by Cossack cavalry.

The Greens head further into the jungle . . .

The Whites stake out a position and decide to hold it. The British lines span an impressive distance which calls into question the table dimensions.
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

Highlanders on the advance! I do love those figures.
(This is the last photo i took before my phone died. Note: make sure your phone is charged!).

Close combat is brutal for all concerned.
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

The Cossack cavalry joins the fray.  Or tries to. They are soundly beaten.
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

The British close in - a classic pincer! I guess? Maybe? Certainly a classic ruler shot.
(My knuckle tattoos spell "Book Nerd" in case I haven't mentioned that before)
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

But wait! What happened to the Greens? This. This happened.
Total devastation when caught by the Khakis in the open.
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

Having lost their gun, their cavalry, and 80% of the Greens, the Russians conceded.
Photo credit: Cloud Captain

*****

It was great fun and one of only a handful of times I've played a wargame against another person. 

We played the basic rules and still found several points we needed to clarify - not necessarily problems with the rules but perhaps our understanding of them or our ability to locate the relevant passage (there are definitely some bits that I felt should be either more obvious or placed somewhere else).  Although we did find something that seemed like an editing error with respect to the mention of Aimed Fire, but further close review will determine that.

We also thought about some changes we might make,because that's what wargamers do, is it not? 

Hopefully we'll meet to play soon and with some native Venusians on the table too. At the very least we need to try out unit traits, leaders, and commanders.

Toy Soldiers and a Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles

Thursday was Thanksgiving here in the US. And I was thankful I had a lot of opportunity to game, including a chance for a solo run of Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles.

I'll let the pictures tell the story - you will no doubt recognize the scenario:

The Russians received a sound thrashing at the hands of the British 

****** Thoughts on the Rules ****

I played the simplest version of the rules - no leaders, commanders, heroes, or attributes. 

The yellow markers on the table (tiny dice) represent Shock. I really like this concept and the decision making involved in managing it. I don't particularly like the markers. I could have used the pips to indicate how many Shock markers. Next time.

I love card activation systems. Unlike GASLIGHT where the card drawn indicates which unit activates, you get to choose which unit you'll activate on the card. Not knowing when your opponent might get to act with one of their units adds tension to the decision making of the good kind. 

I particularly like the special events built into the activation deck - +1 this, +1 that, get back eliminated members of a unit!  That last one reminds me of the hospital in In Good Company, without the fiddly bit of rolling each turn to see if they make it back You just need the Queen of Hearts or an Ace you can use as the Queen of Hearts. 

Like One Hour Skirmish Wargames, I can never remember the order of the suits!

Looking forward doing a few more games and adding in the more advanced bits.