Is that the sound of Duelling Banjo's?? Quar Gloamers

I really like This Quar's War - check out the previous posts. However I got my car stolen about a year ago, and in the boot was my Quar collection. The car was found wrecked, and the Quar were gone and my heart was somewhat broken.

This was quite traumatic to say the least, and I just couldn't find the energy and motivation to go back to TQW.

Until now. I've printed and painted my first squad of Gloam Hynn Ryflers. Gloamers are (I think) supposed to be something like backwoods bayou types, misunderstood as clannish and backwards country yokels. They're famous as trappers and backwoodsquar who use the local critters to help hunt and scout. 

Their uniforms are supposed to be purple, but as soon as I looked at them, I thought, "they look quite VC" (not the medal, Victor Charles, Viet Cong etc)

So I went for a dark purple, almost black, and plenty of undergrowth to hide in. To be honest theyre not as nice as the original crusaders, I spent a lot of time on them and these guys, not so much, but they're dome now so.....

Milwer (corporal) and his team

Yawdril (Sgt) and his team

Tracker and Scarf-cyn beasties

I also have a Tractor - the Gloamers use the ridiculously cute "Squeedle" light tractor, which is nimble and sturdy enough to be able to operate in the swamps of their homeland.  

The Sqeedle and Squad trapper

The Gloamers are a Royalists faction, so when I finally reconstitute my Crusaders I will have troops from both sides.   

I think I've laid that ghost. Still got some specialists to paint up - musician etc, but that's my Gloamer squad.

Mortal Gods - if cards are strangling a game what can you do?

Had two really good games last night, and we played with rosters. It worked sort of. 

In my earlier post I mentioned Footsore were no longer printing the cards for Mortal Gods. This is a very real pain in the arse if you want to introduce the game to new players. Footsore are obviously thinking about covering this while they transition to Version 2 which I suspect will be card less, so they have posted up rosters that you can copy your unit stats onto and play that way. 

Similarly they have produced a reasonably cheap pdfs of the various factions which includes the other elements that the cards cover: Wounds, Omens etc. It is possible to play without the cards - great!

Except the cards are cool and functional and the rosters as they stand are not very useful. Each roster sheet covers only three troop entries and that means a small Lochos (force) will need several A4 sized roster sheets. This is because the smallest Lochos will include two "Hero" types, and at least two Companion entries - a full strength and a single warrior version. Worse, the rosters can't be moved and must be on the table because this is where you put your damage die and activation stones. We tried to counter this by leaving activation stones and casualty dice with the models on table, and it was looking "rather cluttered".  After trying it, I'm going to say in the current format, its a big NOPE from me. 

How to fix it? Footsore need to think a bit more about the roster layout so they can get at least six units on a sheet just so there is only one on the table for each side because without it, practically and ergonomically the game isnt going to work on a 3ft playing area. Also rejig the currently available pdfs so they're all in one place, rules and card amendments.

There is another solution of course. The crazy thing is at the moment a single roster take up about the same space on table as a dozen cards. Let players print the cards themselves. Even better - print the recruitment cards two sided where there is a group and single model option. Similarly put the heavy Lochagos and Medium back to back on the same cards as you can't have both on table at the same time. I know this means work at Footsore that they have little or no capacity for because they are short on warm bodies and concentrating on new stuff, but at the moment the rosters are not really viable.

It's a bloody good game, but at the moment the practical barriers to entry are a problem that will put new casual players off.

Cheers

Thoughts in comments?  

also trying out the auto link button so if the links work can you let me know or are they too generic??

Mortal Gods - That was quick!

Err I painted my Mortal Gods force. In less than a week!

OK it is slightly less impressive when you realise there are only 17 figures, but still, fast for me.

And they're all quite easy paint jobs - undercoat, contrast paint, metal, done. All Victrix plastics via The Sprue Shop  - which is a damned good way to get your models if you don't want to have to buy full sets. 

So here we go  

Lochagos - 65
Promachus 50
Hoplites x3 40
Peripoloi x6 70
Peltasts x3 38
Akontistai x 3 30
Total 293 pts

So enough for our planned campaign that starts at 225 points and escalates to 300.

Here is the boss

Six Year Plan - Mortal Gods hits the table, and why cards will strangle a game.

So in 2019 I was playing Impetus in 28mm (great game) and Mortal Gods from Footsore Miniatures* was released. As I already had some Persians I thought Hoplites? "Why not?" So I split the starter set with my mate Paul and then ............... got distracted. The plastic hoplites got given away and the rules sat idle.

Then a few weeks ago Rob and Mark suggested we get into a small scale historical skirmish - they suggested Saga, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. I'm not a fan of Saga. 

While the Saga wheels were slowly turning I remembered Mortal Gods and mentioned it - and was surprised that both Rob and Mark had it but had never played. So we decided to give it a go.

AND - it's been fun. We've played twice now and will be introducing them to our games group next week.

The rules are a development of Test of Honour, but they certainly have quite a lot more hidden under the hood and don't have the problems I remember with power creep that ToH succumbed to (IMHO).

One positive now we are playing is just how small the forces are. The rules say the usual 12-20 figures a side, but as we are initially only playing 225 points it's looking very much on the 12 figures end of the scale. I can probably paint that in a week. The group bases were easy enough to manage now I have a 3d printer (yes everything is a 3d printer problem when you have one)

AND - there's the rub. The starter set is now out of print. The game relies on a number of cards. Stat cards, Omens, Wound Cards, and Gifts (special abilities). Back in 2019 when this was released cards were all the rage. EVERYTHING had cards, and some of them were even limited availability just to encourage the FOMO \ Gotta catch them all thing. Luckily Mortal Gods didn't, but it did rely heavily on cards to carry the info that in the past would maybe be handled by army lists and playsheets. This is a bugger if you want to introduce a game to a new player "It's great but you cant play without the cards so tough" etc

So now I'm speculating (based on conversations with folks in "The Industry") but cards are expensive. Compared to the other content, printed materials are a major cost factor. You can't do without rules, and playsheets are pretty much essential, but other printed "stuff" like cards or counters ain't cheap. Plastic figures - what usually draws the punters in, is ridiculously cheap to manufacture once the frame \ mould is created. I'd wager in many cases the cardboard box almost costs more than the figures inside. Here the Mortal Gods starter set was already in a happy place because the project was a collaboration with Victrix, who had already made the Hoplite and other figure sprues. The problem is the Mortal Gods starter had 163 cards in there. When Footsore planned the game they will have bought x sets of cards, which would be enough for their expected production run. No idea, but let's say a thousand just to work with. They got the printing done at a bulk discount, but what happens when you sell them all? Crap! You probably can't expect to sell another thousand sets any time soon as the peak demand will have passed, but printing cards in smaller batches is going to ramp up the costs. So cards strangle wargames. 

Footsore have obviously realised this and have converted the info on the cards into a more traditional roster system and tables. They have done the same with their Gangs of Rome game which in v1 released with lots of individual cards but now have shifted to playsheets and roster sheets for v2. 

So I've bought some Hoplites and will hopefully be playing some more games soon.

*It's a skirmish \ warband game set in Ancient Greece, a little bit like Warlord's SPQR except it works . I forgot to explain that !

Irish War of Independence - first game

In my previous post I explained the reasons why we were using a fantasy set of rules to refight the War of Independence, and the scenario we were trying out. So what actually happened?

The early morning peace was broken by the sound of a Crossley Tender approaching the farm gate. The IRA had five Volunteers awake, two sentries in the farm yard, and the Commandant and two Volunteers in the barn. The remainder were all sleeping. The Tender pulled up and the passengers, British Regulars guided by a local RIC Constable, quickly debussed and moved towards the farm gate and wall. They were here to check out a tip off, and it was a good one.

Table set up

Farmhouse and sentry

The Crown arrives

First shot came from an IRA Volunteer in the yard near the milk cart. He saw the khaki clad troops approaching, levelled his shotgun and fired. His aim (or dice roll) was good, and one of the soldiers dropped. This managed to alert the rest of the Column to the danger.

First shots

The Crown forces were now also aware there was opposition, and they lined the wall and returned fire. In the yard, the sentry was hit and fell. In the barn the Commandant started rousing his men, and put the other two who were already awake to provide some covering fire from the shelter of the barn door. 

The Army returns fire

Hold the doors!

A fire fight developed. Initially the two volunteers at the barn door were pinned down, but some very good shooting from them and the other sentry caused casualties to the Regulars. The RIC man tried to move up but was hit by a Mauser bullet and fell near the road. 

Meanwhile the Commandant had roused his men and they started to squeeze out of the barn through a narrow window and exit towards their pre arranged rally point. Just before he exited the table one Volunteer was hit from behind and was wounded.  

Making away

The Commandant covers the retreat

The Commandant joined the pair at the door and then stayed behind to cover their retreat. He could see the first sentry was down near the milk cart, but there was no way to reach the fallen man. Reluctantly he took a last shot and then ran to the back of the barn, then out through the window, expecting a bullet or bayonet to the back that never came. 

Volunteer down!

The reason the Crown forces made no attempt to pursue was obvious. They had several casualties and were much more concerned with getting their men back on the Tender and back to safety than chasing the fugitives. The would return with reinforcements later to find the farm empty. 

So how did it go? Actually the Quar Rhyfler's Pocket Book rules worked pretty much perfectly. The Republicans certainly had better dice, but we both thought we were on the right track and with a few tweaks will be our rules of choice for the War of Independence going forward.

Cheers

 

  

O'Malleys Farm - Irish Rebellion (with added Quar and "Grimsey") Part 1 - the scenario

Out for a pleasant drive. Rob's Crossley Tender and some of the passengers

I may have mentioned we have been playing Quar "Clash of Rhyflers" . Me and Rob H have also been looking for a set of rules to use for our Irish Rebellion project. The problem has been that our usual "go to" for 20th Century rules, Chain of Command, is set at a slightly higher tactical level than our games will be - ie CoC is a Platoon+ level where most of the engagements in the Rebellion are 10-20 guys a side.  As it turns out, a Grimsical set of fantasy rules about anteaters with guns is just the ticket. I've done a quick translation into our setting and we were keen to try them out, so on Thursday we went to Middlesbrough Games Club, and had a go.

Here is our first try at a scenario

O’Malley’s Farm June 1920 

It’s early morning on O’Malleys Farm. Part of the local IRA Flying Column is resting up in the barn. Unbeknownst to them, acting on a tip off from the local RIC, a squad of British Regulars is approaching the farm. 

Terrain The playing area is 2ftx2ft. The farm consists of a farmhouse and barn in the centre of the table surrounded by a stone wall with a road and hedges leading up to the farm gate. Both buildings are stone built and count as hard cover, as does the wall. Up to two figures or one LMG can fire from a window or door. There should be scattered trees and some wagons etc that will provide light cover scattered around the farm area. 

IRA - The “column” consists of 1 Commandant and nine volunteers.  One “card” worth of IRA are awake, with no more than 2 outside the barn on sentry duty. The remainder are asleep – count them as “Gobsmacked” and will take the usual expenditure of Actions to wake and grab their weapons. The IRA are armed with a mix of shotguns and rifles. One rifleman counts as a Marksman. The objective of the IRA is to exit the area with as many men as possible. No grenades are available.  

	Sk	Mt	Ma	Toughness	Equipment	Special
Commandant	13	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Leader 2\5
Volunteer	12	1d6+1	5	4	Rifle or Shotgun
Marksman	13	1d6+1	5	4	Rifle	Dead Eye

The British - The British consists of a squad of nine infantry, including one Sergeant and one Corporal. All carry Lee Enfield Rifles. They are accompanied by an officer of the RIC armed with a pistol. No grenades are available. The British start mounted in their Crossley Tender at the table edge on the road. Because we dont really have any rules for vehicles yet this is acting as a start \ jump off point.

	Sk	Mt	Ma	Toughness	Equipment	Special
Sergeant	13	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Leader 3/4
Corporal	13	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Leader 2/3
Private	12	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Support
RIC  Constable	11,	1d6+1	5	4	Pistol

Weapons

Weapon	Range band	Snap Shop	Notes
Rifle	8	-3
Shotgun	4	-1	Shotgun
Pistol	4	-1

Objectives 

IRA – Get Away! The IRA gains 5 Victory Points if more Volunteers leave the battlefield than are claimed as casualties. Otherwise the British gain 5 Victory Points. Alternatively, if the British suffer 5 casualties they will withdraw and the IRA will gain 5 Victory Points. 

Secondary Objectives.  

The IRA player may secretly designate one Volunteer as particularly important. If he leaves the battlefield the IRA gain 2 Victory Points, if he is killed the British gain 2 Victory Points, if he is captured the British gain 3 Victory Points.  

or  

The IRA player has a crate of weapons cashed at the farm.  He may choose to remove the crate by carrying it off the table, classing it as a heavy object, or hide it. If he successfully carries it off the table the IRA gain 2 VPs. If they hide it the British player makes a single skill check and finds it on a 6\- result or better. If the crate is found or recovered by the British they gain 2 VPs 

The British take the first turn. 

The Irish have local Knowledge – when the first card is drawn and discarded they may look at it. 

So that's the scenario, how did it go? Tune in next time :-)