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!