TABLETOP NEWS! WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO RECENTLY...

 As usual, just when you think you're going to have a nice quiet time, enjoying the fruits of your labours, playing a few games with the figures you've worked so hard to paint, you accidentally stumble across a YouTube video of somebody playing a game that you didn't know existed and you are instantly hooked and just have to buy the rules, some buildings and a whole load of new figures! Northumberland has long been my go to favourite holiday destination and the history of the Border Reivers one of those subjects that has always been there, at the back of my mind, waiting for a set of rules to ignite an eruption of gaming activity... so here it is! Border Wars, Under a Reiver Moon by Iain Kerr McDonald.

It is probably 30 years ago that I first started thinking about doing Border Reivers as a table top game, when Vendel Miniatures brought out a range of figures that got the old gaming blood pumping but, at that point, I just wasn't in the right place to start collecting figures for a brand new project... I had too many other things going on in my life! Now, happily retired and loads of spare time on my hands, delving into the chaotic and violent, yet somehow enchanting world of the Reiver families has got me creating my own little corner of the Anglo-Scottish border, where two rival Reiving Names are about to burst into a brutal and bloody feud.

My Reivers come from three sources... the handsome fellow to the left is one of the superb range from Flags of War, where the rules also come from, 'The Assault Group' have provided some mounted riders to back up the March Warden and, after watching some 'unboxing' videos, I bought a box of Wargames Atlantic's Conquistadores, which double up very nicely as our troublesome borderers. The Conquistadores are beautiful figures, sadly spoiled by a lack of instructions and an utterly bonkers sprue layout, which requires you to blindly guess which bit sticks onto which! For my first attempt at a billman, I ended up cutting all the possible left arms off the sprue and trying each one in turn before I eventually found the only one which would fit. If they weren't such lovely figures once you have figured out what goes where, I would probably have put them away somewhere and forgotten all about them! I'm hoping to post loads more about Border Wars games in the coming months, as I get more figures painted and build up the back story which, at the moment, is taking shape nicely as a deathly feud between the Branstons of Shoreston Hall and the Trotters of Spindlestone.

Robert Branston, Blackmail Bobby and the Brother-in-Law, William Chutney, Billy Outlander.

Last week, Dan came round for another game with the latest MESBG rules. Yet again, he came up with a wonderful little scenario that had us both biting our finger nails until the very last roll of the dice.

The game involved these four cheeky Hobbits making a night time raid on a deserted farm to acquire provisions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and possibly 4th breakfast, before continuing on their way to the Prancing Pony in Bree. Unfortunately for Frodo and his travelling companions, the "deserted" farm was actually occupied by a bunch of nasty Wildmen who, provided their lookouts could stay focussed on their task, would make the Hobbit's breakfast a bit more challenging than they had anticipated.

The Wildmen were mostly relaxing in various farm buildings, apart from the 'Headtaker' and his chief chef, who were busy preparing their own, somewhat unsavoury, breakfast inside the ruined farm house. Three other Wildmen were supposed to be standing guard at various parts of the farm, but they were subject to a random die roll which could, and indeed did, send them off wandering around the farm, thus making it considerably easier for the Hobbits to grab some scran and make off back to their camp.

With breakfast at stake, Pippin would take any risk to get his little Hobbit hands on supplies.

Initially, the wanderings of the Wildmen enabled the Hobbits free access to supplies, but their luck was soon to desert them and they found themselves suddenly under very close scrutiny and, potentially, on the menu for breakfast!

The four Hobbits fought with tenacious bravery, but they were relentlessly pushed away from the source of the supplies and, worse, some of the Wildmen were soon re-claiming the stores already pilfered by the halflings.

Catastrophe finally overtook the Hobbits as Merry found himself surrounded by angry and hungry Wildmen. After his gallant defence, the gods of the dice turned their back on the little one and the Hobbit bit the dust...

As the remaining Hobbits fought desperately to avenge their fallen comrade, delivery arrived in the form of Strider, who immediately set about the Wildmen, scattering them to the four corners of Middle Earth. 

Victory, of a sort, went to the Hobbits, although, at the end of the game, they had no supplies with which to make their breakfast. As Dan said, the death of Merry certainly put a bit of a damper on things and would require JRR Tolkien to go and do some re-writing of the story.

Next up... we're going to have a go at the Amon Hen scenario, so I'd better get cracking and paint up a few more Uruk Hai. That probably means my last few Border Reivers are going to spend a bit longer on the painting shelf than original planned! 

CLASH OF SPEARS... DOMESTOS AND THE TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN FLEAS.

Following the unfortunate events at the Temple of Persephone, where the great hero, Testakles, had allowed himself to be diverted from the strategic aim of the action, thus enabling the High Priestess, Amonia, to be spirited away by the Zealots, something of a rift had begun to form between the General and his subordinate, Domestos. While Testakles organised a thorough search of the area around the temple, Domestos, accompanied by a band of his faithful peltasts, ventured off in pursuit of the High Priestess and her Zealots. The trail led him deep into the forbidden heart of the forgotten province of Amnesea, towards a prize of untold wealth and unspeakable danger!

The Temple of the Golden Fleas... The Tree of the Festering Sheep stands in the centre of the Temple; its roots are said to have grown down to the very depths of Hades. At some point, lost in the mists of time, the dead sheep was unceremoniously dumped by a passing shepherd and the heat rising from the abyss attracted a swarm of Golden Fleas who have occupied the carcass ever since.

After her miraculous escape from the Temple of Persephone, Amonia, the High Priestess vowed to protect the Golden Fleas from any who dared to remove them from their home on the Festering Sheep... in this sacred task, she was assisted by her loyal servants, the Zealots.

And so it came to pass, on that fateful day, that Domestos and his Peltast warband arrived and, for the first time, gazed upon the magnificent splendour that was the Tree of the Golden Fleas! Unable to resist the temptation, they hurriedly advanced towards the Tree, believing it to be defended only by a scantily clad woman...

Little did they know that this scantily clad woman possessed deadly magical powers and an Arcane Bolt dispatched two of their number to the eternal torment of the underworld.

The hue and cry of battle stirred some great and monstrous evil from deep within the swamp that lay beyond the temple walls and numerous demonic eyes awoke to scrutinize the source of the disturbing clamour.

The Peltasts froze, gazing in awe and wonderment at the mighty beast which appeared before them from the inhospitable deepness of the swamp... it was at this moment that they realised that, driven by their greed and covetousness, they had strayed beyond the command range of their noble leader, Domestos, who was thus powerless to command them...

With a speed beyond belief, the Hydra was upon the Peltasts, who could do nothing but attempt to defend themselves against the brutal assault of the seven headed beast...

The savage razor-edged teeth ripped un-mercilessly into the terrified warriors and two of their number were instantly torn to shreds and cast asunder like useless scraps of meat... 

Unable to escape the terrible and violent assault, yet more of the Peltasts became victims of those rapacious fangs... 

Until the survivors turned and fled for their very lives, desperate to escape the monstrous beast from the swamp, all thoughts of the treasure of the Golden Fleas driven from their heads by the carnage and bloodshed they had experienced. From that moment forward, their night-time dreams and their day time thoughts would be haunted by the nightmares they had just, so providentially, left behind.

To compound the disaster faced by Domestos, the High Priestess Amonia's Zealots continued their assault upon the Peltasts facing them and wantonly slaughtered them, leaving not one man left alive... Domestos had no choice but to turn and flee, knowing that he would have to face the wrath of his commander, Testakles, for the sorry loss of so many of the gallant men of Hallitosos.

This was a very quick game of Clash of Spears, intended to test a set of rules I had put together for the Hydra and a much larger game, where the beast will face much stiffer opposition, will follow. There will be hoplites in the next encounter with the Hydra, but they will still need to test against their Grit value when in combat with the beast and failure will result in them having to choose Defend as their combat option. Many thanks to Alvaro Erize for tweaking my Hydra rules and bringing them back into the Clash game sequence... my love of the Hydra got the better of me and I perhaps gave it too much of an advantage over the mere mortals it would come up against in combat. To be fair, the Peltasts had little chance against the Hydra, despite some fairly average dice rolling, having strayed beyond the Command Range of Domestos, who had already used two of his three Command Points earlier in the turn. It will be interesting to see how the Hydra copes with an opponent who has access to archery and the more powerful melee combat presence of the hoplites...

MESBG... STIRRING ACTION ON THE RIVER ANDUIN

 It is the 15th March and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is raging. The forces of Gondor and Rohan desperately struggle to hold back the monstrous tide of Mordor. At the port of Harlond on the River Anduin, a nameless Captain of Gondor and his apprehensive warband have been tasked with holding the dock against whatever forces are sent against them and prevent reinforcements arriving to turn the tide of battle inexorably in favour Dark Lord Saruman...

The wily warlord, Gothmog, understands the importance of Harlond and dispatches a mixed force of Morannon Orcs and Easterling warriors to drive the Gondorians into the river and secure the dock for Corsairs who rapidly approach to join the battle.

The Forces of Evil sweep towards the waiting Gondor Warriors...

and the first of the Morannons is brought down by an archer of Gondor, but the advance is inexorable and the Morannons are soon clambering onto the dock.

With the arrival of the Easterlings, the men of Gondor find themselves forlornly fighting to hold on to the narrow strip of the dock, in a series of frantic struggles to the death.

With the ships of the Corsairs approaching the dock, the relentless Guritz engages the Gondorian Captain in a wild flurry of blows and prepares to lead his allies in a glorious march to the battle on the Pelannor. However...

through the thinning ranks of Gondor, there suddenly appeared a horde of ghastly apparitions, sweeping Morannons and Easterlings from the dock and back away from the banks of the Anduin.

The Easterlings found themselves facing the deathly throng, fighting for their very lives... 

In the wake of this Army of the Dead, their dread King and his Herald sweep across the dock and into the thick of the fray. In desperation, Mordor's corps found themselves searching for salvation... can anything save them from the slaughter of the Dead?

Once again this battle turns upon it's head as the Mumakil rampages towards the hopeless struggle at the dock...

In a desperate act of selfless sacrifice the King of the Dead swoops across the battlefield to engage the Haradrim but the forces of Mordor find courage from the arrival of the mighty war beast and even the presence of Legolas and Gimli can stop their renewed advance...

And even the death of the Mumakil can not turn the tide of battle one last time... the Morannons and the Easterlings have inflicted too much damage on the warband of Gondor, but the bigger battle will be fought out without the intervention of the Corsairs.

CLASH OF SPEARS... A SPINE-CHILLING ENCOUNTER IN THE FORGOTTEN LANDS OF AMNESEA.

Following their humiliating defeat at the Battle of Epicondulus, the respected elders of Hallitosos have despatched the heroic and much beloved Strategos, Testakles, to command their forces engaged in the harrowing campaign against Heinos the Necromancer and his unspeakable hordes, drawn from the infernal depths of Hades.

Testakles and his hardy band of warriors have inadvertently stumbled across the ruined Temple of Persephone, one of the seven mystical gateways to the subterranean halls of the dead... home to The Defeated, the fallen hoplites of Amnesea. Unbeknownst to the Hallitosians, the High Priestess of the temple, Amonia, lies in hiding beneath the great wooden doorway at the centre of the eviknaeum and could be discovered at any moment, to be taken in chains and paraded in humiliation before the elders and populace of Hallitosos. As the Hallitosians prepare to plunder the temple, they suddenly become aware that their presence in this most macabre of shrines has not gone unnoticed and shadowy spectral figures can be seen inexorably approaching their position.

To win this battle, the mighty Testakles merely needs to prevent the skeletal hordes of Heinos from entering the heart of the temple ruins and rescuing the concealed High Priestess, Amonia, from her un-noticed captivity.

The Hallitosian commanders... on the left, the mighty Testakles and, on the right, the slightly sinister Domestos. Domestos had already encountered the hordes of Hades and is determined to avenge his earlier defeat.

The dreaded forces of Hades are commended by Heinos the Necromancer and his trusted lieutenant, Verdigris. Heinos has sworn to free the High Priestess from the temple and prevent her from falling into the hands of the mighty Testakles. Verdigris, on the other hand, is very much aware that the High Priestess is perfectly capable of taking care of herself and needs no rescuing from anyone!

Amonia, High Priestess of the Temple of Persephone, innocent and virtuous guardian of the secret ways of Hades, the King of the Underworld...

Approaching the Temple from the east, Verdigris unleashes his skeletal horde against Testakles and his force of Citizen Hoplites and javelin armed Psiloi. Despite his best efforts, the warriors of "The Defeated" seem a little reluctant to advance and engage the deadly spears of the Hoplites. 

His archers, however, eagerly advance to the edge of the Sacred Lemon Grove and discharge a hail of arrows towards the Hallitosian Psiloi defending the eastern approach to the temple...

and the first casualty of the battle falls with an agonising scream, greeted by a chorus of clattering skeletal limbs from the scented trees of the Lemon Grove. 

Testakles is unable to resist the challenge laid down by Verdigris and sends his Hoplites forward to meet the advancing skeleton warband, leaving the Temple to be defended by Domestos and his lightly armoured skirmishers. Will his impetuosity bring ruin to the Hallitosian cause and condemn his compatriots to another ignominious defeat?

On the western side of the Temple, Heinos sends his warriors and blood thirsty Zealots through the boulders towards Domestos, whose Peltasts manoeuvre to get into a position to hurl a shower of javelins towards the advancing throng.

Sensing a blood letting ahead of them, the undead surge forward...

The Peltasts, however, determine to take the battle to the enemy and move forward to hurl yet more javelins, causing little damage and exhausting themselves as they scurry back to the cover of the Temple.

The ill considered advance from the Peltasts leaves them exposed when the Zealots launch a devastating attack...

In a vicious encounter, half of the Peltast unit is wiped out by the fearsome Zealots, although the fanatical warriors suffer equally from the javelins of the Hallitosians. The Peltasts are pushed back into the testing confines of the Temple, giving them little space to fight effectively.

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Testakles continues to drive his Hoplites forward and away from the Temple. He forms up the spearmen into close order and then joins their serried ranks as they prepare to engage the enemy.

The living and the dead launch themselves heedlessly into the combat and casualties are suffered on both sides...

and the colossal clash sees the Hallitosian Hoplites driven back. Both Testakles and Verdigris take stock of the situation and the two warrior groups stand fast weighing up their opposition.

As the stalemate continues to the east, the finale of the battle begins to take shape to the west.

Heinos launches every available warrior towards Domestos and his remaining Peltasts in the Temple in a final desperate bid to rescue the High Priestess from her confinement.

As the skeleton warriors fall in huge numbers under the javelins of the Peltasts, it appears that the day is lost to "The Defeated", however, the remaining Zealots summon up one last effort and drive their way into the Temple, forcing their opponents headlong before them.

As Domestos stands and watches in disbelief, the Peltasts crumble before the fanatical Zealots and are slaughtered to a man, leaving the Zealots to snatch the High Priestess from her place of hiding...

Before the remaining Peltasts can react, the Zealots whisk the High Priestess away from the Temple and a very unlikely victory has been snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Even though the field of battle is littered with the bones of the Horde of Hades, the rescue of Amonia gives an unexpected last minute victory to Heinos the Necromancer. Both sides will need to retire to lick their wounds and Testakles will, no doubt, receive some criticism for allowing his Hoplites to be enticed away from the Temple, where they would certainly have turned the battle decidedly in the favour of the Hallitosians.