Another one ticked off the "bucket list" (whatever that is, but I am a bit of a bucket after all) - "Deep Fried Lard" in Musselburgh. An homage to all games Lardy. I can't usually make this owing to work but joy of joys the stars aligned and I was able to join the throng. It didn't disappoint. I was surprised how many people attended and the distances travelled. There were loads of excellent games from the Lard stables on show. I signed up for a bit of SP2 again for the morning and afternoon sessions - although I do play other stuff despite appearing obsessed in this blog!
If you can spare the day, look up this event. It's fantastic - good venue, loads of great people and fantastic games to play. And the opportunity to chuckle away with Big Rich and the usual Edinburgh-based regulars to boot.
Game 1 - Northwest Frontier - Up the Jacksi Pass
This was a magnificent game, with a heck of a lot of preparation work behind the scenes. The backstory was in the best Lardy traditions. We were the dastardly locals, led by Randi Ghitt and Raz Mataz, who had managed to capture Lady Myarse and imprison her in a fort to the edge of the board. She was wife of the highly acclaimed Sir Roger Myarse who led the British forces in an effort to rescue the Lady. We were tasked with trying to keep the slippery Lady from hopping over the fort's walls and escaping, whilst also seeing off the British advances.
This has been written up elsewhere already - check out this great blog written up by one of our honourable and valiant opponents (playing the British):
http://stiumac.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-newbie-at-deep-fried-lard-2018.html
I must admit that the dice gods really did shine favourably on us all game - the two Stuart's dice rolls for movement, firing and pretty much everything else was abysmally low. Except when they needed to roll low and then, predictably, they tended to roll high.
Here's a shot of the table - and literally hundreds of immaculately painted troops for either side. It was an absolute pleasure to play through this scenario. The camera was on the blink, so this is the blurry handiwork of the kindle!
The Fort (where we deployed our only regulars - probably an error), our initial deployment and the mass of the British forces looming in the distance ...
After a lengthy conflab, we decided not to deploy the majority of our forces. The British had repeater rifles which would outgun us in no time. It always feels odd to decline to deploy and the first few turns therefore flew by with us firing little more than a small mountain gun (centre of the shot above). The west coast club had played this through beforehand with the Afghans deploying early, so our decision was quite a surprise. But it paid off overall I think. The British had to move up into the range of our matchlocks and we prepared our clansmen with the Big Choppers for a late deployment and charge. You can see this below ...
And a quick shot from the British point of view. We felt the pressure as the Brits advanced, but from their perspective I can see why they were worried!! So many of the Khazi's troops - where do the British start?
Lady Myarse actually escaped (knotting her steely underwear together and leaping off the back of the fort). The garrison commander rakishly attempted to woo her before she jumped, but to no avail. This was one Myarse that was not for wooing.
No matter, it all came down to whether the clan with the Big Choppers (a mean bunch, make no mistake) would manage to charge into the advanced British line (top right of the picture) where the shock and casualties were piling up. Well we were ready. And would that blinking card come out? No. Somehow, in the confusion, we faced annihilation until enough flags were drawn to allow us to activate the mob (without their Big Men - which reduced their impact and fighting ability). It was a lengthy and risky charge, but they just about made it into the British line. The rest was rather unpleasant. It turns out that Big Choppers are really rather good in fisticuffs and they made mincemeat of the British unit. It turned and fled, which pretty much snapped the British morale (which had been reduced thanks to some unlucky casualty rolls here and there - the officers were dropping like flies!)
The two Stuarts took this very gracefully, because without the card interruption and dastardly dice-rolls I rather suspect the outcome would have been different.
But in the end, the scenario and flavour of the battle was the winner. It was played in a great spirit. The mission itself was tough for both sides and the rules allowed the battle to ebb and flow really nicely.
Anything to learn? Oooo lots as always. Don't deploy your best infantry where they can't do anything. And one day I'll work out how to play cavalry. I suspect they'd be better off deploying late in the game to smash into skirmishers and wavering units. Ours simply deployed and stood still, fearing getting shot up. Repeating rifles are very, very scary (no reloading!) and very different to the Napoleonic era that I'm used to. Last but not least, don't forget the scenario (I totally forgot about the dashing lady in the fort).
Game 2: Peninsular War
This was a belter of a short and sweet scenario. Each commander had a sub-plot as well as trying to defeat the enemy. A bit like Muskets and Tomahawks; something you'll have seen we like to throw into the mix for our SP games.
A small French force of Fusiliers and Voltigeurs was approaching a Spanish village. Facing them were four groups of guerrillas (yours truly in command) and a big block of dubious quality militia.
Above, the deployment and initial moves for the militia (top) and guerrillas (bottom). The guerrillas became instantly useless because their commander managed to tread in dog-doo-doo and left him at status 0. Nice. I must have played a dozen or so full games of SP2 and that random event happens to me more frequently than chance dictates. Meanwhile, the militia pushed on in an uncharacteristic show of bravardo. We had a run of good cards, including a couple of extra bonus leader activations (4 flags). The main French force was commanded by a thoroughly decent chap who had not played the game before. We were honestly trying to play fair. Cue an unusual situation ...
A furious firefight broke out between the Fusiliers and the Spanish Militia and again the cards just kept on coming up for us. After what must have been the third or maybe fourth series of "4 flags" for a bonus activation, the French suffered badly and were driven back, with the leader eventually running off the board. Yup, a chapter ended at just that moment when he could have rallied the troops for another go.
Meanwhile, some of my guerrillas had used yet more flags to activate and hop over walls and into their objective, the house. Bart, the canny Voltigeur leader, had a mission to avoid harm (his leader hating the main French character). But with the Fusiliers in tatters, he elected to see what would happen if his groups of Voltigeurs charged my depleted Guerrillas inside a building. It turns out that is not a good thing to do ... please excuse the blurry photo which fails to do justice to the scene!
That was how we had to end it as time was drawing on. Whilst I'd have liked the cards to come out in favour of the French for the sake of a new player, this was actually a great introductory game because all the key mechanisms came into play. I also very much doubt anyone has ever used militia and guerrillas quite so brazenly!
Roll on Deep Fried Lard 2019. You know what, it's probably time I actually ran and umpired a game for a change ...
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