Or How I Was Abandoned By the Dice Gods…
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| The laughing maw of the Dice Gods (or a barn door) |
I managed to get a day’s gaming in last week, and so it was
off to Giles’ for my VBCW fix. Giles’ gaming room (which apparently also
doubles up as a kitchen) is currently at the mercy of the builders, so we took
refuge in gaming room #2 (also known as the lounge). This meant playing on a
smaller, 4’x4’ table – the perfect size for some Brink of Battle skirmishing!
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| The battlefield |
The last game we played saw the remains of Giles’ BUF
trapped in a barn. We decided to swap roles and continue this narrative by
having these chaps now held prisoner and being guarded by a small force of
Anglican League militia. While they waited for some transport, a party of
Blackshorts was dispatched to rescue their Fascist chums.
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| 'Trouncer' Trudd and his gang. |
Having not had any time to knock up a new team with fresh
traits, I used the Blackshort force I had used in the last lot of Brink ofBattle games, while Giles tweaked a previous list for his Anglicans. Thus my
leader, ‘Trouncer’ Trudd, complete with cricket bat, led his troops, including
an SMG armed veteran with the ‘hunter’ trait and a sniper with a scope and the
‘marksman’ trait, against an unknown enemy.
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| My force composition |
As the Anglicans took up defensive positions in and around
the barn, my plan was to deal with those guarding the entrance with the sniper
and SMG, accompanied by a rifleman, while the rest of the squad took advantage
of the tall hedges, which blocked the Anglicans’ line of sight, to move around
to their flank and get in close.
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| Blackshort sniper, SMG and chum advance. |
The plan started off well, with the Blackshort sniper
drawing first blood, but alas this was probably the best result I had all day.
The Anglicans returned fire and, with me making some truly woeful dice rolls,
the SMG veteran and sniper were quickly silenced, leaving the flanking party to
advance unsupported.
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| Trudd's team get going |
The Anglicans poured out of the barn to face this threat
and, with the Dice Gods continually mocking me, began to drop my Blackshorts
when they came within sight.
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| Barn defenders |
Trudd and his flanking party pressed on, taking advantage of
the cover, but were unable to properly get to grips with the defending
Anglicans, who were proving to be the better shots. The ‘stubborn’ trait that I
had given the Blackshorts meant that they did not flee too far as their
comrades fell, but eventually my casualties were such that sooner or later I
would fail a rout test.
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| Blackshorts down! |
Soon Trudd himself caught a bullet as the emboldened
Anglicans edged forward to counter-attack. With him and his high command rating
gone, failing the rout test was a certainty. The Anglicans had seen off the
Fascists and were able to cart off their prisoners.
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| "Bagsy the chap with the cricket bat..." |
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| Trudd goes thud! |
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| Longstreet |
A while back I had knocked up some different Brink of Battle
force compositions, including a small elite force of Welsh Nationalist hill
fighters. Keen to use these I re-laid the table to represent a street going
through a small village (christened ‘Longstreet’ by Giles).
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| 'Elite' hill fighters |
This scenario saw the Welsh raiders making an incursion
across the border, only to be met at Longstreet by Giles’ BUF. My ‘elite’ force
(pah, ‘elite’ my foot!) all had the ‘ranger’ trait, allowing them to pass
through difficult terrain unhindered. The leader had the ‘sharpshooter’ trait,
which negated his target’s concealment, while the two veterans enjoyed the ‘marksman’
trait, giving their rifles some extra oomph.
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| A long shot drops a Fascist |
My small team advanced, trying to make use of cover, whilst one of the marksmen downed a BUF trooper who had strayed out in the open. His Fascist comrades took the hint and took cover behind a stone wall, while another pair made for the church, using the hedges and trees to block my line of sight.
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| Blackshirt down! |
I too split my force, perhaps rather unwisely considering I
was at a numerical disadvantage. One group moved up through scrubland, using it
to gain concealment. However one trooper strayed into the BUF’s line of sight
and paid for his foolishness. My dicing was again abysmal, and the Welsh
snipers failed to make their mark.
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| Failing to find cover |
Meanwhile after some vacillating the two remaining Welshmen
took off towards the church. Once again I left one of them exposed due to my
poor use of the action tokens, although despite the BUF peppering him with
shots, he somehow survived.
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| Exposing himself on the road |
A general firefight ensued, with the BUF using the stone
walls and church as cover while the Welsh skulked among the greenery. Again the
Dice Gods forsook me, as did the gods of tactical thinking, for while I was
happy with how I played the first game, this second bash saw me commit too many
tactical mistakes (splitting up my small force, not concentrating fire, making
poor use of cover etc.)
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| BUF firing line |
With men dropping like Welsh flies, I conceded defeat, leaving the village of Longstreet to the BUF. Giles' take on the action is here.
So we had two fun games (despite my increasingly loud sighs
of exasperation whenever a d10 was rolled) and it was great to try our hand at
Brink of Battle again - fast becoming our go-to ruleset for skirmish gaming. It
was interesting to try out new traits and force compositions and while we again
made mistakes with the rules, they flowed quite well and little time was wasted
in consulting the rulebook.
Being a multi-period set of rules with an interesting
initiative mechanism and infinite scope for designing your forces, Brink of
Battle is definitely worth a look!
