Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 4: Attack the fort!

 The final installment, see Part 1 (details rules), Part 2, and Part 3

I am running behind in posting, finally catching up.  Here is the final installment from the solo campaign I did before I went on vacation last month.

We ended last episode with Lt. Barnaby receiving assistance from the eminent missionary Dr. Bravestone, leading the expedition to the gates of the slaver's fort.

Lt. Baraby's plan of attack is to split his force into 2 groups, one under himself and one under Sgt. Singh.  Using improvised ladders, the askaris will mount the walls and deal with the slavers.

Sgt Singh leads his men from the front, attacking from the river side.  His men manage to get to the wall and prop up the ladder in the dead zone between the firing slits (this is NOT a Vauban style fortress!)  But, two of the Askari are out of the fight in the process plus the redoubtable Sgt. Singh.

Lt. Barnaby's troops also manage to get their ladder set up and start firing directly into the firing slits at the Arabs.

Lt Barnaby and a coupel of Askari make it over the wall.

And they manage to clear out most of the slavers.  But... once again Lt Barnaby is knocked down by a bullet and is out of the fight!

The slaver leader is has been dispatched and both Lt. Barnaby and Sgt Singh are both hor de combat.  The redoubtable askari keep up the attack and in an exciting finale, both sides fail morale on the same draw of the card.  I have them redraw and the remaining slavers scamper off while the Askari hold firm.

The expedition was a success!

Lt. Barnaby is mentioned in dispatches for his sterling work and so is Sgt Singh for his bravery during the attack on the camp.  Lt Barnaby returns to his home in Midsomer county to recuperate from his many, many wounds and is ultimately invalided out of the army on half pay.  At loose ends, he and Sgt Singh partner to form a detective agency specializing in discretely handling cases for wealthy clients as well as HM government.  This leads to a tradition of detecting in the Barnaby family that last until this day (or at least the end of season 22)

Reflection

A very satisfying little solo campaign.  The Snakes and Ladders approach has proven to be a very nice mechanism that provides narrative with very low overhead.

One Hour Skirmish Wargames also worked very well.  I urge you to get a copy, it is very extendable and feels "Open Source" like One Hour Wargames.  The card mechanism adds a lot of tension.  It is very fast play but gives as good a result as more complicated systems and has some subtle mechanisms.  I plan eventually (once I paint the models) to fiddle with a version for the Dark Ages.  More Stabby than Shooty.  

Ok, off to work, I hope you enjoyed this.  Next up, my game with Tom and some newly painted figures.

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 3:Defend the Camp!

Back from our cruise and started new job on Monday.  Cruise was ok, service not as good as the ship we were on in July, had a weird vibe, but it happens some time.  Lots of sun, beach, and steam room so I have no room to complain.

See also Part 1 and Part 2

Meanwhile, here is the next battle in the campaign.  Return with me to Darkest Africa and DEFEND THE CAMP!

Here we see the camp, the attackers are Rugga Rugga mercenaries allied with the slavers

The attack on tone end of the camp was quickly driven off (Upper right corner in the picture above.  There was some sterling bayonet work by one Askari in particular.

The other side of camp saw a brisk firefight...

Lt. Barnaby was once again rendered hors de combat, but Sgt. Singh ran through a hail of fire to take out the Rugga Rugga leader.

Under another hail of musket fire, he scurries back to organize the few Aksaris still in the fight.

The Rugga Rugga morale breaks and the survivors flee in to the jungle.  Lt Barnaby is bandaged up yet again and the column gets a boost from winning the battle. 

In a clearing, Lt Barnaby meets Dr. Bravestone who provides a shortcut through the jungle.

And some hard marching finally brings the column to the slaver's stronghold.

The fort is a small trading station with solid mid walls.  Will Lt. Barnaby complete his mission?

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 2: Anzique Ambush! Twice!

 See previous post for Part 1...

Lt. Barnaby's column was now entering the territory of the fierce Anzique cannibals, allies of the slavers. They would love a chance to plunder (and maybe munch on) the column's bearers.

Left to right, the Anzique Chief, an elite White Shield warrior, and a normal tribesman.

The column moves along the trail, unaware that they are about to be ambushed.

This initial Anzique attack falters, as a warrior rushes the rear of the column, but his mates are not as eager. Game mechanic-wise, what happened is the Anzique's pulled a card for their activation points, and when engaging in melee drew a Joker, which immediately stops the turn. I think this makes for a great narrative, as the the unfortunate warrior will be mobbed and bayonetted while his mates hide in the undergrowth.

Later in the game, Lt. Barnaby and an Askari are charged by the chief and the white shields.

Another example of the game play, the chief gets 2 cards for being the charger and an additional one for being a Brute, yet Lt. Barnaby draws well and wins the melee.  Unloaded his revolver at close range?

Eventually, though, the column was cut up by the warriors who gleefully looted the supplies after the porters fled.  A wounded Lt. Barnaby orders the column to fall back.

More porters are recruited and the column treks on...

...until a flooded river crossing forces them to take another oute, still in Anzique territory.

The column is yet again attacked by the Anzique and yet again are forced to abandon supplies, barely getting away.

The column once again regroups and continues its journey. 

A new river crossing is found and the party makes it across.  Camp is pitched, but the undergrowth is alive with noise.  Suddenly it gets quiet... too quiet.

Ok, no more updates for a week plus as we cruise and I start my new job.  I have the rest of the mini-campaign in the can, so stay tuned!

Darkest Africa mini-campaign Part 1

So first for the good news... I got a new job!  More money and 100% remote.  Plus I picked up a side gig teaching programming at a local community college.  Then end result is I am taking a "gap week" between jobs this week, going on cruise with wife next week and start new job following week.  At my good lady-wife's insistence I have been getting some gaming in.  

I am running a Darkest Africa snakes and ladders campaign, see rules here.

This time I am using One Hour Skirmish, a set I am becoming very fond of. I will write up a review in tbe next few weeks, but I am keen on the card system.

The only tweaks I have made are muzzleloaders take 2AP to fire and allow groups of touching models to move for 3AP but may not fire, under some circumstances. I would normally post my QRS, but that would be most of the rules. Go buy them now and throw some ducats John Lambshead's way.

Here is the start of the expedition

And here is the collumn of Askari, led by Lt Barnaby of the Midsomer Light Infantry aka the "Millies."

The first battle was protecting a village from the slavers. Here are the villans...

Here is the village, slavers on left, expedition on right.

It was a a very fun, tense game. ended with a shootout on one flank and in the center of village before the slavers morale broke and they fled.

The expedition continued on, guided by a grateful villager. 

Until they encountered an Ambush!

Next time... the Anzique wardrums are beating!

Punitive Expedition: Attack on the Camp!

 I played the next battle in the Punitive Expedition Campaign twice, once with modified Squad Hammer and once with some homegrown rules I have just started fiddling with.  Here are the results and the progress our little column is making...

It was quiet... too quiet as Captain Barnaby of the Midsomer Yeomanry checked his askaris manning the perimeter.  The Zamunda Field Force was halfway to its objective of destroying the Slaver compound deep in the jungle.  Suddenly, the air was rent with the savage cries of Anzique cannibals!

The first time through I modified Squad Hammer.  It was very fast, and one of the Askari units broke and the cannibals made it into the camp before being shot down by the hunters held in reserve.  Of course, there are not a lot of tactical options in this scenario. 

The camp and the initial attack

The finale, with the elite warriors of the Anzique breaking into the camp

One of the QRS's I used

In the second battle, I started experimenting, at the behest of my wife, with a set of rules that only used cards, and all of the rules were printed on the cards.  It is in its very early stages and may lead nowhere, but I did a smaller game for round 2.

You can see a few of the cards I printed up

And here is the final charge.  The camp was successfully defended again.

I am not sure if I will pursue this project.  I think it has merit, but I will table it for now and pick it back up again later. I am going to try the next game I think with Sharp Practice 2.  I suspect I may be reinventing much of what it already covers.

Meanwhile, I slide down the chute after winning the battle...

And roll yet another 6 to make it to the next battle.

I swear I am not doctoring the rolls!

Until next time, good gaming!

Punitive Expedition, Campaign Turns 1 - 4

 See the previous post for slight correction to my Snakes and Ladders map...

Over the last week or so I have managed to slowly make progress on my Punitive Expedition solo snakes and ladders campaign.  here are the first few campaign turns and the first battle.  So far I love this mechanism, it is fast and easy and I like the excitement of the die roll.

Special thanks to Bob Cordery for a mention. Now on to the show.

Campaign turn 1 saw a roll of a six and excellent progress made.  I was fortunate enough to have some good weather and the column made good progress

Campaign Turn 2 saw ANOTHEr 6 rolled which led me directly to an ambush...

By terrible Anzique cannibals allied with the slavers.

I fought the battle using The Men Who Would Be Kings, with the smaller Skirmish Kings option.  It was my first outing with the rules.  It gave a quick game, close order volleys are devastating as they should be.  I managed to get a few pins on the tribal warriors and then cut them down.  The tribal musketeers were useless, as expected. Still getting used to the rules, I look forward to the next outing.  Here is a summary:

As I won, I slide forward (this is the arrow I left out of my original version but fixed)

Campaign roll 3 was uneventful

And campaign roll 4 sees my camp attacked!  we'll save that for next time.  Until then, good gaming!