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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Colonial Skirmish Gaming

A few weeks ago my club played a French Foreign Legion skirmish game.  I think we used an adapted version of the warhammer historical skirmish ruleset.  This was the second skirmish game I've done (see my post for the Sharpe's Rifles skirmish game) and it was a lot of fun.  The game features lots of unit types and various heros, some of who can take on full units and had a distinct movie or "Hollywood" feel to the gameplay.  It was a lot of fun.

I think one of the reasons I liked the game so much was it reminded me of one of my favorite movies as a kid - "The Wind and the Lion".  Sadly, there were no Germans to fight but we're having another go next week and it's rumored that the Americans and Germans may be intervening into the growing Moroccan conflict.  As usual with any game hosted by Ernie, the terrain and figures were fantastic.  We played across five of so battlefields and the used hidden movement rules to move our forces about.  The main battlefield is pictured below:

Sorry for the hazy photo, but my I-Phone was acting up.  The mountains and the pass between them featured prominently in the games climactic battle as the French reinforcing column held the pass until the arabs units climbed up the mountains and reigned rocks down upon the french.  A very exciting and "Hollywood - Suitable" ending.

I have taken to liking skirmish gaming so much that at this year's Cold Wars, I picked up 20 or so 28mm Spanish American War Rough Rider figures which I have been painting in anticipation of our next game.  I also snapped up a gatling gun and crew as who can say no to a gatling gun model?
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9 comments:

  1. DeanMMarch 21, 2010 at 11:59 AM

    Cool-looking game and love the terrain. The Wind & The Lion is one of my favorites too. Regards, Dean

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  2. jmezz382March 21, 2010 at 5:04 PM

    Looks great ! .... nice terrain

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  3. AnonymousMarch 21, 2010 at 5:24 PM

    I hope the glass of red was French! Fantastic looking layout.

    Matt

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  4. jmilesrMarch 21, 2010 at 7:16 PM

    Of course it was a French wine - I forget the name but do remember matching it to the game. I try to match the beverages to the historical situation.

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  5. Steve-the-WargamerMarch 22, 2010 at 11:25 AM

    What a fantastic looking game and what a brilliant contrast with what's going on outside the window! :o))

    Can you share your rules/ideas for the hidden movement you mention??

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  6. jmilesrMarch 22, 2010 at 12:23 PM

    Each team had a map that featured 10 or so waypoints and you can move 1 spot each turn. The tricky part is that the maps were different - the Arab map showed and handful of secret passages that the French player didn't know about. The Arab player had to roll for attrition if they used one of the hidden passages.

    Very simple to play, but it takes some advanced planning.

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  7. MontyMarch 22, 2010 at 3:31 PM

    Miles, please, please tell me that isn't your...gaming room as I will be tres jealous of you!!!!

    Seriously, mate, very impressive as always.

    Regards,

    Monty

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  8. jmilesrMarch 22, 2010 at 3:44 PM

    Monty:

    Sadly, the gaming room above is not mine, but a friends, who will likely forget more about gaming than I'll ever know.

    My room isn't as grand, but it suffices. Plus I can always tell my wife that my room isn't as bad as Ernies!

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  9. MontyMarch 23, 2010 at 7:06 PM

    A nice situation for you nonetheless Miles, I however,(boo hoo) have no dedicated room and have to double up on the dining table...oh well...

    All the best,

    Monty

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