Come along me Lads,
A Reiving we will go,
Let's make our way to Dingle Farm,
To tarry with the foe!
The Dingle men,
Brainless Will and Forkey Jack,
Did call to Goodwife, Nellie
To swiftly hurry back.
From the southwards
Came the Branston Clan,
And reiving all the Dingle goods
Was their dreadful plan.
Yet, to the northwards
Approached the lethal Trotters
With eyes upon the plunder
Things were about to get much hotter
"Nay Harns" Bobby,
Did stealthy sneak,
To catch the Dingles unawares
And to some havoc wreak.
Those Dingles,
Put aside their monstrous fear,
And rushed along, all bravely like
To defend their barrelled beer.
While Brainless Will,
Gave up and fled,
Forkey Jack met Hot Rod Trotter,
And horribly ended dead.
Heedless of the danger,
The courageous leaders met,
Exchanging savage sword blows
But not a wound could they beget.
Unable to break the deadlock,
Blackmail Bill forces the other back,
Then turns to flee the combat
Afore the Trotters resume their attack.
The deathly hiss of arrows,
Whistled through the air,
And one of Trotter's henchmen
Got a really nasty scare.
Retaliatory missiles,
A terrifying whistle,
Cloth yard shaft downs a Reiver
Smashes bone and gristle.
Berryck the Leader,
Hops deftly over the wall,
In the confusion of the conflict
Downs a Branston in the brawl.
The Branston clan,
Swallow a bitter pill,
The archer's deadly aim
Leads to massive overkill.
Things go from bad,
To far far worse,
William Chutney stunned
And captured in this dreadful verse.
And so the battle ends,
The Branstons retire to grieve,
Down at Dingle Farm
The beer has gone and even Daisy has been reived.
Just in case you are wondering what on earth is going on, this is the outcome of my first attempt at playing Border Wars, Under a Reiver Moon! The Branston and the Trotter clans encountered each other whilst both, coincidentally, arriving to carry out a bit of reiving at Dingle Farm. Border Wars is an excellent set of rules, giving a really absorbing game, with lots of character and some surprising outcomes; the perfect vehicle for those of us who love to use their gaming to tell a tale. So far, I only have the figures that I used in this game, but the plan is to gradually build up the Branstons and the Trotters and to add a March Warden and his merry band into the mix. Well done, Iain Kerr McDonald on producing a really gripping set of rules and, giving me the opportunity to create some "interesting" characters to go a reiving across my table top!