Stuck in a Rut - Fistful of Lead: Horse & Musket AAR

With the recent announcement of a new edition of Muskets & Tomahawks, I decided to re-base my FIW miniatures from their old, boring square bases to round bases with a little more visual flair (stones, tufts, non-monotone flock). 

This coincided with some local wargamers wanting to meet up weekly for games at various locations. I offered to run a game set during the French & Indian War using the Horse & Musket version of Fistful of Lead. 

Sam and Keith showed up, so they would control the French and Indians, while I lead the British. 

The scenario was set in late 1755. Braddock's disastrous failed attack on Fort Duquesne has sent the British colonies reeling while encouraging the petite guerre fighters of the French colonies.

A wagon of vital supplies is being transported with a guard of British Regulars and Colonial Rangers. The British goal is to get the wagon off the opposite table edge, hopefully with minimal casualties.

Lurking in the woods to either wide of the road is a small warband of French-allied Indians and Coureur des Bois, the infamous French-Canadian woodsmen. Their goal is to capture the wagons and stop the supplies from reaching their destination.

The first casualty of the game was the British officer, who made himself a target by waving his sword around and yelling out orders. The rest of the British troops pressed on.

The attacking Canadians and Indians quickly revealed themselves as smoke drifted from the woods. Most of it missed, including the British return fire.

The second British casualty of the game occurred when the Ranger leading the horses lost his nerve and fled the oncoming slaughter. The Canadians and natives whooped and hollered as the remaining British regrouped behind the wagon.

The two sides then came to blows. While some of the British charged off into the woods, the French officer led an attack on the only Regular defending the wagon.

After a brief skirmish, the French secured the wagon with no losses. The British infantrymen on the road were both shoot and killed.

The two remaining British soldiers fought on as the Indians and Coureur des Bois moved in.

And soon the woods were quiet after the last echoes of gunshots faded away. The French had secured the wagon and slaughtered its guards while only losing two of the their own numbers. It was a absolute victory for the French!

Sam and Keith had a blast taking my British to pieces, and enjoyed the game. Fistful of Lead works well for fast playing skirmish games (the whole game took a little over an hour, and that was with Keith and Sam learning the rules). I think this would work well for a club game, and hopefully I can play out the full campaign from the "Red Hatchets & Black Powder" supplement.

Down in the Dirt - Fistful of Lead AAR

While there's been some interest in starting up a Dracula's America campaign, I took advantage of some terrain built for that game to play some Fistful of Lead. 

This was a pretty simple shoot 'em up between Bill and I - four gang members on either side, each armed with a pistol. 

Near the train stations, both sides advanced cautiously.

However, in the center of town, our gang members were running wild, their guns firing (and missing).

My one cowpoke attempted to stick his head out for a better shot. Not only did his gun jam, but his was pinned by Bill's return fire.

A Clint Eastwood look-alike used his sixshooter to gun down my moonshine-swilling pistolier.

Bill also attempted to shoot my pinned man, but his own gun jammed. A follow up into close combat then left Bill's gang member pinned!

Bill was having better luck across town, with both of my other gang members shot and killed.

Now it was just my one gang member left, his gun jammed and pinned by the bullets slamming into the dust.

Bill's man in black tried for another round in close combat, but a knife hidden in my cowboy's boot put the opposing gang member down for coffin measurements.

Bill was determined to kill my last gang member, but once again, the close combat went my way, and my dust covered gunslinger was victorious.

By then, Bill had determined that while my last man might have been decent in hand-to-hand, he was still pinned and out of ammo. His two remaining gang members simply stood back and emptied their guns, doing enough wounds to turn my last fighter into a grisly Swiss cheese.

Fistful of Lead continues to be a fun, quick game for fights in the Old West. I'm looking forward to the eventual release of the sci-fi version, which I hope to use for Necromunda.

2017 6x6 Challenge - Retrospective

Earlier this year I announced that I would be taking part in the 6x6 Challenge proposed by Alan over on The Stronghold Rebuilt.

I was a fan of the idea, and submitted a list of six games that I hoped to play at least six times over the course of the year.

Those games were:

1. Arena Rex - 1
2. Blood Bowl - Completed
3. Blucher - 0
4. Fistful of Lead - Completed
5. Saga - Completed
6. Strange Aeons - 5

So, how did I do?

Well, not too bad, but not great, either. I completed three of the six games, and came very close to completing a fourth entry on the list. Some of that was due to a move in early November for a new job, displacing me from my regular gaming group.

Let's take a look at each of the games.

Arena Rex

I had expected to see more Arena Rex this year, but my games played fell flat. I'm still looking forward to getting this out on the table in 2018, especially since I have the entirety of the Ludus Magnus faction painted and ready. 

Blood Bowl

The first of my completed games for the 6x6 challenge! I owe some thanks to Games Workshop, as their re-release of Blood Bowl generated enough interest for me to participate in not one, but two leagues. The Baltimork Reavers came close to taking the championship in the first league, and the Zharr-Angkor Immortals are performing fairly well at the moment.

Blucher

Ah, Blucher. Another game I had such high hopes for. Unfortunately, the rapid pace of changing games with my old group meant that I could never find the time to get this game on the table, especially since I would need to be the one explaining the rules and providing the terrain and units. 

I may attempt to play this in 2018, especially with the New Jersey Wargamers Association. 

Fistful of Lead

Another success! I owe it to Carl and his collection of Wild West terrain and miniatures, along with Gary, Russ, Kevyn, and everyone else who decided to play games of cowboys and banditos. Fistful of Lead is a fantastic ruleset, and I'd like to play more games of it during 2018.

Saga

The last successful entry in my 2017 6x6 Challenge was the entirety of the Age of the Wolf campaign played between Kevyn's Vikings and my Norse. Although the Vikings had a rough start, Kevyn rallied brilliantly and ultimately crushed the Norman warlord by the end of the campaign.

Strange Aeons

Ah, so close! Strange Aeons was another game that was being fueled by a campaign between Kevyn and me. Unfortunately, due to scheduling problems, we never managed to get our last game in, leaving this entry incomplete. 

So, that's 2017's challenge! It seems that Alan's not planning to run the challenge in 2018. That's a shame, but I appreciate the effort Alan put in to tally and link the games from various sources.

Granny and the Gang - Fistful of Lead AAR

Kevyn and I decided to dust off our cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats for a game of Fistful of Lead. 

The scenario saw both sides with four bags of loot. At the end of the game (6 turns), the player who controlled the most loot tokens would claim victory.

Additionally, every time a player used an Ace card, they would then roll a close combat attack against an unactivated enemy model. If successful, the enemy model would be pinned - representing an unseen danger, like a perturbed rattlesnake or falling chunk of building material from a rickety building.

Both sides had the same makeup - one model with a rifle, two with shotguns, and three with pistols.

For the first turn, both sides moved up towards the center. The riflemen on both sides opened fire, but couldn't hit their targets at long range.

Most of the gunslinging ocurred between the bank and the saloon, with one of my gunmen falling first.

A lucky shot on my managed downed Granny's granddaughter, but retribution from Kevyn's gang was swift.

The firefight started to look more like a execution detail as my posse was downed one by one.

Soon, only my rifleman was left, while Kevyn still had five of his six gang members.

Granny and her gunmen made off with a solid victory, scoring 6-2.

Snakehead Shootout - Fistful of Lead AAR

Gary, Carl and I gathered together for a game of Fistful of Lead. We decided on a variation of one of the scenarios in the book. Each of our gangs had a hidden leader. I needed to kill Gary's leader, Gary had to kill Carl's leader, and Carl had to kill my leader. So all three gangs would need to try and strike at their targets, while keeping the other gang of their back.

The scene was the old abandoned Snakehead mineshaft.

The three gangs arrived, having thought to sneak up on their target, only to be ambushed in turn!

Hot lead quickly filled the air. My gang was mostly armed with pistols compared to Gary's and Carl's rifle-equipped gangs, which meant I had more bodies but had to get closer to engage.

Carl and I savaged each other gangs while Gary's cowpunks moved to take cover by the mine's entrance.

When we realized that Gary's gang was unhurt and looking for a fight, Carl and I decided to call a truce to try and deal with the third gang.

By that point, however, it was too late. Gary's advantage in numbers and guns - along with some decent close combat rolls - saw the end of Carl's gang.

With Carl's gang out of the fight, my remaining gunslinger traded shots with Gary's last two gang members. Both sides had to retreat, however, with the coming arrival of local law enforcement.

That put victory squarely in Gary's hand, as he had managed to both kill his target while keeping his leader alive.

2:10 to Jaeger City - Fistful of Lead AAR

For our second game, Carl and I decided to use the "3:10 to Yucca" scenario from the  Fistful of Lead rulebook.

The roughs would need to get the captured bandidos leader to the coach to secure victory. Meanwhile, the sister of the bandidos leader had shown up, hoping to free her captured sibling and escape.

 With the rough's leader providing covering fire from the old fort's battlements, the roughs moved out.

The bandidos didn't waste any time, opening fire on the roughs who were stuck out in the open.

Fighters on both sides were taking hits and diving to the ground. As both sides continued to fire at each other, the sister fell in combat against the ex-Army officer

The roughs were bogged down, unable to recover from their wounds or being pinned down. One bandido rushed the downed hostage-holder, hoping to free the captured leader.

That combat didn't go in favor of the bandido, who was killed by a lucky shot from the prone rough's pistol. But that distracted the rough long enough for another bandido to sneak up behind and put a bullet in his back. Now free, the bandido leader took off running without a second glance. On reflection, she had never really like her older sister all that much.

This was a fun, action-packed game with plenty of back and forth on both sides. If Carl's shooting hadn't stopped the rough escorting the hostage, I might've had a chance to get her onboard the coach and secure victory. Instead, I suppose the roughs will need to watch their backs for some time.

Barn Storming - Fistful of Lead AAR

Carl and I got together these weekend with the intent to put on our spurs, don our ten gallon hats, and head out into the West with a couple games of Fistful of Lead. 

The first game was fairly simple - a head-on clash between our two gangs of roughs. While I had an advantage in numbers, Carl's bandidos were equipped with rifles, out-ranging my pistol-wielding men.

After all the cards had fell on the first turn, both gangs had advanced towards the center of town.

The air was soon filled with lead. Brazenly, my gang attempted to surround the bandidos, who were hoping to get into the cover of the barn after their leader had kicked the door open.

Both sides took casualties, as a pinned rough in my gang ran for the hills, while a bandido fell, blood staining the front of his shirt.

Led by an Army officer gone rogue, the roughs continued to poor lead into the barn, with the bandido leader falling to the ground.

Two of the roughs tried rushing the barn door, hoping to get at the remaining bandido. One caught a bullet in the stomach and was killed. The other took advantage of the situation to unload his pistol into the prone enemy.

The last remaining bandido was dispatched from a distance.

As it turned out, the rifles weren't much help when the fighting was so close against the weight of fire and advantage in numbers of the roughs,

It was only after the dirt and blood had settled, however, that the roughs realized that the bandido leader was still alive. They recognized her from a wanted poster in the nearby saloon, and after securing her with some rope, the gang retreated to the abandoned fort to decide on what to do next...