The Flying Men of Mars

Not really Barsoom, but could be.  After my last game of Songs of Blades and Heroes I gave some more thought to how to classify the Flying Men of Mars.  I left the basic characteristics as Q3 C2 L Flying, but modified the combat results so that while they were flying they couldn't be overlapped (although they could still overlap enemy figures) and that it required a double to knock them down (as in bring them to the ground).  I should add that doing more to them in combat would be a push back.

The Red Martians are Q2 C3 M and when mounted have a plus 1 against a knocked down Flying Martian as well as all the usual advantages of overlap etc.

The continued diminishing of the planet's resources has caused the Red Martians to travel further afield in search of materials.  This has brought them into contact with the Flying Men of Mars, who have not taken too kindly to their arrival.  The Red Martians set up in one corner, the Flying Men appear randomly round the table edge.

The Red Martians have to cross the table scoring a point for each member who makes it.  

The Flying Men score a point for each Red Martian they kill.

The Red Martians have knocked one of the Flying Men down, but their lead riders are being mobbed or swarmed.

A gruesome kill on the downed Flying Man saw his mates flee in terror, with one exiting the board.

"We're back!"

The Flying Men of Mars swoop down on the Red Martians as they resume their trek.

The tables have turned and a gruesome kill on a Red Martian sends the others fleeing for their lives!

The Flying Men take out another Red Martian.

Knowing they must get past, the remaining Red Martians attempt to fight it out.

They prevail, killing another Flying Man in gruesome fashion and causing the last one to flee.

Tally; Four dead Red Martians and three dead Flying Men of Mars

Very happy how this game turned out, nice and quick and simple but with plenty of action.  I just need to improve the narrative (really build a campaign) and perfect the combat against flying creatures by suitably documenting it rather than making it us as I go along :-).  Thanks Stephen for being in the red corner.

Songs of Blades and Heroes on Mars

Been a good while since I last played Songs of Blades and Heroes.  Simon had reminded me about some figures mounted on blue parrots (his description) that I had.  I knew they had been languishing and after seeing a post about Ganesha Games relocating because of the strife (don't mention the war) in Ukraine, I thought now was the time.  I also became a patron of Ganesha Games, see here: https://www.patreon.com/ganeshagames/posts

One of the things I really love about Songs of Blades and Heroes is how adaptable they are.

The Red Martians I modelled on elves, Q2 C3

The Flying Men of Mars (could be the title of an Edgar Rice Burroughs book) based on hyenas, Q3 C2

There is a significant points difference and so I made the Flying Martians move Long, with auto disengage and pass thru and a knock down combat result caused them to lose their flying ability until they took off.  

I made all this up on the spur of the moment, or a I should say "I winged it"  In retrospect I should have made a flying creature only able to be attacked by one enemy until they were knocked down.

The big mistake however was forgetting that activation rolls needed to be higher than the Q number, not greater than or equal to.

Made for a quick game, but no beer or pretzels were in consumed during its play, although one Red Martian commander was seen having some wine, red wine of course.

As to the photos, normally I do more trimming round the edges, but as play commenced in each corner this was proving impractical.

The aim was to secure the crashed alien space craft which had crashed around 1889

and had been kindly provided by Simon.

Simon and Curtis each had a team of three Red Martians on foot and three mounted.

I commanded the two teams of Flying Martians, my favourites.

Each team was represented by a playing card the draw of which determined their move sequence.

I used purple dice that were prone to throw ones, Simon had little white dice which preferred to roll six.

The better quality Red Martians made a dash for the craft.

The blood of the Flying Martians started to blot the landscape

A gruesome kill saw the Flying Martians flee back to their corner.

At least one Flying Martian made it to the alien space craft to see what all the fuss was about.

The Flying Martians are being slaughtered :-(

The final fight for the prize

A win for the Red Martians.

And then there were none

The perils of belonging to a wargames club is that occasionally someone brings along something for sale that is just too good to pass up on.  So that is how I came to be the proud owner of a flock of dinosaurs.  I have seventeen in total, but I only needed five to take on some barbarian adventurers.

I used the standard profile for Human Barbarians (Q3+ C3) and they also had a leader.  Stephen took control of them.

The dinosaurs I based on Lizardmen (Q3+ C4) with tail slap and fast (long) move,  The latter was a replacement for the Lizardmen's amphibious trait.  The big mother dinosaur was a champion and rated as tough.  It would take four kills to bring her down.

We just diced for a random set up.

 Viking property developers stumble upon a hidden valley in Greenland.

 Existing tenants don't take too kindly to interlopers.

 The barbarians will have to use force if they want to gain possession.

 Two barbarians bite the dust, but mother has been knocked down.

I'm using the tags to denote a fallen model.  The drops of blood represent kills (just for show), or wounds on the big dinosaur.

 The barbarians dispatch one dinosaur and wound Mother,

but the cost is high with four barbarians now dead.

 Desperate fighting continues.

 But Mother bites off the barbarians' leader's head and their morale starts to falter 

(they were fearless, but perhaps less so now).

 Then there were two...

 One...

None!

The surviving dinosaurs enjoy a mighty feast.

Looks like Greenland is not for sale.

A Walk in the Dead Woods - Third Time Luckyish

The goblins set out to scout the Dead Woods for the third time, but now they have hired Berkley a Q3 C4 Leader (the C4 value because she is armed with a chainsaw).

Mark B took the Goblins, Stephen the Skellies, while I umpired and attempted to control the dog.

The goblins have hired Berkley to lead them in the Dead Woods.  

She seems to be doing a good job at keeping them in line, 

I suppose it is easy when you have a chainsaw to back you up.  

Even the dog is well behaved.

Whoops, perhaps the dog was not so well behaved.  

It soiled the environment angering the local Dryad.

Berkley pushes the Goblins on, quickly scouting the second patch of trees.

The Dryad is out of range at this stage.

Berkley keeps the Goblins moving,

the dog doesn't seem so keen.

The Goblins don't seem so keen either...
However, the third patch of trees is scouted.

Berkley sends them on to the fourth patch of trees...

The dog goes there too, and guess what?  

He digs up some old bones that turn into a Skellie!

The Goblins gang up on the skellie and reduce it to dust,

but the dog has dug up another one.

The goblins battle the new skellie.

Oh no!

More skellies appear and attack Berkley.

The dog is a blur rushing about digging up old bones.

Sadly Berkley is down.

Berkley is dead :-(

Worse, her chainsaw has angered the dryad.

A goblin is transfixed by the dryad and then slaughtered.

But at least the fifth patch of trees has been scouted.

The remaining goblins have defeated the immediate skellies,

but they are deep in the woods...

And that dog keeps digging up bones, 

and dem bones, dem dry bones keeping attacking!

The four Goblins left think it is probably time to go home.

Especially as the Goblin with the red cape is about to meet a gruesome death.

And then there were three.

Flee!

However the sensible Goblin with the club took time out to check the last patch of trees.

The Skellies give chase.

That dog is still digging up bones...

The Goblin fights!

And fights some more...

But dies.

However two Goblins escaped to tell the tale.

I think the days of walking the dog in the Dead Woods are over.

It took awhile for the Skellies to appear and I feared the game was going to be a bit of a fizzer, but at the halfway mark things really started to happen.  Rather than put the minis on their sides, I used markers to show they were knocked down.

What follows are my notes for the scenario.  The table set up was six patches of trees, numbered one to six clockwise.

Dead Woods

The aim is to keep it simple, but provide context.  As such the Goblins are all Q4 C3 and the Skellies Q3 C2.  My justification for the difference in ratings is that the Goblins were carefully scouting the area, but better armed against the more ravenous Skellies and their improvised rusty weapons.

The Goblins, under the ruse of walking their dog, are attempting to scout the wood.  It has six locations and they need to visit each one and then return to complete the mission.

The dog was on random control.  First throw a dice, halve and round up.  That gives the number of dice to throw for activations for the dog.  The dog is Q3, well motivated to sniff out bones...

After throwing the number of generated activation dice and seeing how many pass the Q test, the dog is then moved that many times (which will be between zero and three) in the direction of one patch of trees, based on a dice roll (each location is numbered 1 to 6).  It moves Long.

If the dog comes into contact with a location it will have a sniff to see if it finds any bones.  One dice is thrown and the resultant value used to throw further dice.  For each of these subsequent dice that are equal to or more than the Q value of a Skellie, a Skellie pops up (so zero to six Skellies may appear each time the dog visits a location).

If on its activation roll the dog throws straight 1s, it is considered to have soiled the environment, angering the local Dryad.  A dice is then thrown and the Dryad placed (or moved if already on the table) to the associated location.   The Dryad is a static creature otherwise and is Q3.  She will attempt to Transfix any Goblins within Long to her.  Throw three dice per Goblin in range.  For each success that Goblin has to pass a Q test to avoid being transfixed. Any attack against a transfixed Goblin receives a plus 2 combat modifier and any successful attack is lethal.  A Goblin needs two successes to break free.

Leader (p32).  

The leader hired by the Goblins is Berkley, Q3 C4.  She increases all Quality rolls by one for Goblins within one Long.  For the cost of one action she can perform a Group move (p40) for Goblins that are adjacent to each other or a regroup to move all Goblins within one Long back together. If Berkley rolls only one successful action, she cannot use it to perform a group move.

Whenever Berkley is used in Combat she will anger the Dryad (who doesn’t care for chainsaws).  Berkley is immune to the Dryad.

A Walk in the Dead Woods

I've been wanting to do some more Songs of Blades and Heroes for a while.  I also wanted to move towards a campaign if possible.  My chance game when my planned game of Impetus was delayed.  Songs quickly stepped up to fill the void.

My aim was to keep it simple, but provide context.  As such the Goblins were all Q4 C3 and the Skellies Q3 C2.  My justification for the difference in ratings were that the Goblins were carefully scouting the area, but better armed against the more ravenous Skellies and their improvised rusty weapons. 

The Goblins, under the ruse of walking their dog, were attempting to scout the wood.  It had six locations and they needed to visit each one and then return to complete the mission.

The dog was on random control.  First throw a dice, halve and round up.  That gives the number of dice to throw for activations for the dog.  It was Q3 and well motivated to sniff out bones...

After throwing the number of generated activation dice and seeing how many passed the Q test, that then propelled the dog in the direction of the various locations, based on a dice roll (each location was numbered 1 to 6 making this very easy).  It would move Long in the direction and multiple actions could see it running all over the place.

If it succeeded in coming into contact with a location it would have a sniff and see if it found any bones.  One dice was thrown and the resultant value used to throw further dice.  For each of these subsequent dice that were equal to or more than the Q value of a Skellie, a Skellie popped up (so 0 to 6 Skellies could appear each time the dog visited a location).

If on its activation roll the dog threw straight 1s, it is considered to have soiled the environment, angering the local Dryad.  A dice was then thrown and the Dryad placed (or moved if already on the table) to the associated location.   The Dryad is a static creature otherwise and is a Q5 C4.  On the turn of her placement she will attempt to lure any Goblins within Long to her and fight them.  The Dryad (and the dog) can not be killed.  If defeated the Dryad is removed to reappear later if the dog does it business again.  To test the allure of the Dryad, a competitive die roll is made between the target Goblin and the Dryad, each adding their Q value.  If the Dryad wins the Goblin is moved to the Dryad which them attacks the ensnared Goblin.  (I think this process can be improved on using the basic Songs mechanics.)

 This was the set up with the party of Goblins and their dog, Precious, entering on the left.
The locations were numbered 1 to 6 going clockwise starting at the top left hand corner.

Mark B controlled the Goblins, 

Stephen N the Skellies 

and I umpired, rolled for the dog and the Dryad.

 Immediately the dog dashed to location six
and dug up two skellies who then moved to the centre.
The Goblins scouted location one.

The goblins then scouted location six while the dog shot off, 

hopefully not to do any more digging or to disgrace itself.

 The Skellies attack a Goblin!

 After dispatching that Goblin they then went after another.

This was the start of a hopeless set of low die rolls by Mark, 

matched by high rolls from Stephen.

 The dog digs up two more skellies.

 The Goblins seem paralysed by fear.

 But they fight back.

 Meanwhile the dog is having a grand old time digging up lots of old stinky bones.

 The Dryad was angered by the dog fouling everywhere, 

but luckily for the Goblins she was too far away to try out her charms.

 Bones on the march,
much to the dog's supposed amazement it is assumed.

 All Goblins dead :-(