1:25 PM
A Crowd Favorite Returns
I ran a scenario I called "Hell Comes to Frogtown" (name borrowed from the excellent Rowdy Roddy Piper cheese flick from the 80s) last year at camp. It was an amusing swirl of Sharpshooters, the Undead, Prussians, Killer Robots, Cattle Stampedes and what have you. At this year's camp, I had planned on running a Tavern Brawl game (54mm, using the All for One cinematic swashbuckling rules) instead, but there were many requests to run this game again from the lads who were at camp last year. I had no problem recreating the scenario as many of the figures were still secure in their boxes from last year.
The Dramatis Personae had not changed from last time, and aside from some terrain pieces being added to avoid easy long distance shots, the layout was similar to last year's game, if somewhat more spread out.
The Rules are THE RULES WITH NO NAME, a simple (free) skirmish rule set set in the Wild West, and one that I have had some association with since 1997. This scenario would be scaled just a little bit up from man to man skirmishing, and likely would have been better run in GASLIGHT, but the lads like the "Big Bucket of Six Siders" approach to Game Design, and I have so much stuff for TRWNN it was easy to run and warmly received.
Since Hell Comes to Frogtown, Texas was really a small unit skirmish game, I created factions and had the leader be a shootist and the rest of the faction were "schnooks" or gunmen. Movement of the squad keyed off the leader and it went very smoothly. For more details on how to adapt TRWNN to squad level, see the AAR Post I put up last year, which explains group movment and a few VSF concepts, like programming HERMAN THE GERMAN ROBOT.
The scenario is essentially a hodgepodge of straight TRWNN, with a dash of SCARY MONSTERS OF THE GOLDEN WEST thrown in, and a dash of GASLIGHT. Like the long ago HELL COMES TO COW TOWN, the scenario pits factions with different victory goals against each other and assigns the winner to the faction that achieves their goals best.
SETTING: The town of Frogtown, Texas.. a major transhipment point for Coal Gas.
SCENARIO PLAYERS:
Prussian Squads A, B, and C: 1 Shootist and 6-7 Gunmen. Shootists=Leaders. A Detachment of Prussian Soldiers sent to secure the town from the Texans and capture the transhipment point for Coal Gas.
Doktor D'eth and Herman the German Robot: Mad Inventor and Clockwork Programmable robot.
Ah Pook the Destroyer (three gangs of zombies-- western style). Zombies are essentially brainless gunmen who blaze away until they unload, then close in for melee and munching.
Texas Rangers: Here to defend the bank (1 Shootist, 6 Gunmen)
U.S. Cavalry Scout Squadron: (1 Shootist, 6 Gunmen)..here to "observe" a gang of Mexican bandits they have been chasing. Note in this world, Texas is a Republic, the US is still fighting the Civil War, and the U.S. Cavalry has no jurisdiction in this town. Not that it matters.
United States Sharpshooters (all shootist, 1 leader). An elite gang of spies/saboteurs/agents of the United States Government. Crack shots that can snipe from afar. They are here to observe and foil the efforts of the Prussian Detachments sent to secure the town, whether the government of Texas objects or not.
Cappy's Mercenary Rocketboys (1 Shootist, the rest gunmen). A group of rocket assisted infantry who had been serving as mercenaries for the Texas Government until the great collapse. They haven't been paid. They are upset, and looking for work.
Local Cowboys Out For Trouble (1 Shootist, rest gunmen).
Thomas (my energetic TA) loves this game and since he is now an old hand at TRWNN, I kind of eased back on the tiller once the game got started and let him run things. He kept a rather detailed list of what transpired, which is given below. I so rarely have an AAR of such clarity, I thought it would be fun to post this.
Hell comes to Frog Town. Courtesy of Thomas (and thank you).
Turn 1-
Zombies shamble towards bandits, use gunmans’ action to engage Banditos and kill one.
Banditos promptly flee in terror towards the barn where the Cowboys are hiding.
The Flyboys blast off towards Dr. D’eth and hash out an a deal of mutual protection..
The Texas Rangers shoot at the Flyboys but do nothing.
The US cavalry scout mission sits in its’ barn.
Same for Cowboys.
Prussian squads A & C advance, C towards the mansion where the USSSS is skulking, A to cover the center of town.. Squad B aims, and the combined fire of the squads kills one of the two USSSS members perched on the roof of the governors’ mansion and knocks two others down.
Herman the German Robot Tramples his way around a large square, and ends precariously close to a table edge.
Turn 2
As the Bandits cower in terror, the Cowboys wander towards the USS mansion.
The Cavalry Aim at the encroaching Prussian squad C.
The USSS wounded stand up, move inside, and a member of Prussian Squad A is knocked out and seriously wounded.
Herman Tromps along the board edge as Dr. D’eth runs after, waiting with new instructions for turn 3.
PSC moves towards the USS, determined to drive them off the building.
PSA fires to no effect at the USS.
The Rocket Boys, with their gunman action, blast onto the roof of the Mansion from some 36 inches away. However, they are unable to do anything.
The Cowboys run towards the Mansion to aid the USS. They are followed by the Banditos.
The Zombies shuffle forward along the outskirts of town.
The Rangers, having emptied all their rifles, stand and reload.
Turn 3
PSC continues to march towards the building containing the USS.
PSB once again fired at the USS, knocking one down.
PSA stood and Aimed at the Cavalry.
The Cavalry kill one of PSC.
The Cowboys rush into the lower floor of the Mansion.
The Banditos stand inside the Tavern to blaze away at the flyboys, but nothing happens.
The Zombies continue to shuffle.
The Flyboys jumped down and engaged the cowboys to a stand-still.
The USS kill another of PSC, as well as one of the Flyboys.
Herman marches towards the bank, but breaks down.
Turn 4
Herman the German...Robot spends a turn still as Dr. D’eth repairs him.
The Rangers leap down from the bank and prepare to fire on Dr. Death.
The flyboys jump back to the roof to avoid the zombies.
PSC hides along the building to avoid more fire from the Cavalry. They shoot the USSSS and knock a man down.
The USS kill a member of PSB.
The Zombies use a gunman action to move in for the kill.
The Banditos hold in place.
The Cowboys hold in place.
The Cavalry run out towards PSA.
Turn 5
Unluckily, the Rangers kill Dr. D’eth after he repairs Herman. Herman marches forwards and kills 4 of the 6 rangers and crushes a small hut.
The Rangers flee in terror.
The Flyboys blast ineffectually at the Banditos.
The Zombies charge PSC and devour two of them.
The Cavalry run across the street towards PSA.
PSB reloads, owing to Byrons’ roll of 11 ones out of 36 dice. (The Blazing Away UNLOAD rule happens when you roll more 1s than 6s on your to hit dice).
The USS shoots at a member of PSA and kills him.
The Cowboys hold in place.
Turn 6
The Zombies continue to fight with PSC.
The Cavalry shoot at PSA and kill one.
PSA charges the Cavalry and kill three!
The Flyboys attempt to shoot a cow and start a stampede. Sadly, they kill it before it can tear down a fence.
The USS shoots at the zombies but does nothing.
The Banditos run towards the bank to complete their mission.
Herman tears through the Bank and rips both roofs off.
The Rangers walk towards the melee in the Mansion.
Turn 7
The Zombies finish off PSC and charge the fight between the Cavalry and PSA.
PSA sacrifices their Shootist Action Card in order to flee.
The Cavalry lose a man to the Zombies but also flee.
The Zombies play a gunman action and catch and kill the PSA.
PSB shoots at one of the Zombie Controllers and knocks him out, but he awakens with a roll of a six.
The USS kill a Controller of the Zombies.
The Flyboys shoot at another cow, but kill that one too.
The Cowboys and Flyboys declare a truce and the Cowboys run to the roof of the Mansion.
Herman Tears down the Stables, then marches into a fence and is destroyed by a stampede of horses.
The Banditos shoot and kill a ranger.
The Last Ranger charges the Banditos but fails to kill them.
Turn 8
The Cavalry fight the Zombies. When the smoke clears, a zombie is dead, but only the “.22" McGee survives the carnage.
The Zombies are unable to beat “.22" McGee.
The USS kill the Shootist level character (leader) of Prussian Squad B.
The Flyboys fly down to the fence. They open the gate, and instantly lose four men as bulls trample them.
PSB does nothing.
The Cowboys shoot and wound the sole remaining Zombie Controller.
The Banditos lose one man to the Ranger, but then kill him.
Turn 9
The Zombies kill “.22.” McGee, then blast a Cowboy off the roof with their pistols.
The USS kills the remaining controller, and the Zombies turn on Iggy the Hunchback. Iggy actually kills one in hand-to-hand.
The Bandits run towards the bank.
The Flyboys fight the bulls, fail to wound any, and lose a man to the raging bulls. Only their Shootist level Leader remains.
PSB kills a zombie with rifle fire.
The Cowboys shoot at the Zombies to no effect.
The stampede takes a freak turn, crushes the Zombies and poor Iggy, then kills 4 of the 5 Banditos.
Turn 10
The last Flyboy escapes the Cows.
The last Bandit, Antonio Smyth, runs into the bank ahead of the cows.
PSB, down to three members, retreats away from the Mansion.
The USS congratulate themselves on a job well done!
Victory for the Bandits, as they were the only ones to complete an objective.
Total Body Count- 47 of 63 dead.
Once Again, A Slideshow, this time in context:
 | Cool Slideshows! |
8:40 PM
Warping young minds, that's where...
Once again, I spent the week running a game camp at Saint Stevens and Saint Agnes School in Alexandria, VA. I was flattered to have many of the lads from last year return, and we had a great time running tabletop games. I tried to introduce the fellows to the concept that there is a hobby world outside of Games Workshop, and I think I succeeded. Here's the lineup this week:Monday: Saurian Safari (Dinosaurs and Darkest Africa figures)
Tuesday: Really Big Gladiators (54mm scale-- using Munera rules)
Wednesday: Le Grand Cirque Dinosaur Island! (VSF racing game, my design)
Thursday: Hell Comes to Frogtown (by request) a VSF small unit skirmish game done using Rules with No Name (see slideshow)
Friday: Return to Lilliput (my design) Lilliputians versus Pirates (see followup post)
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Andy Turlington and Rich Low for lending me Saurian Safari stuff. We loved it.
Thanks, as well, to Tim and Thomas, my trusty Teaching Assistants. It was their dogged work that helped get the Lilliput game from a pie-in-the-sky notion to a real game that worked by Friday.
Here are some shots from the Hell Comes to Frogtown game. The game was a reprise of last year's scenario of the same name, which left a big impression on the lads. They demanded it again, and whom am I to refuse?
Once again, the, er.. historical scenario of Prussians, Cowboys, Zombies, Sharpshooters, and Cavalrymen played itself out. I'm not sure exactly what happened, as I let the TAs play and run the thing, but they assured me it was a game of portent and MANY weird events. Just as it should be. Thomas will be sending me a writeup which I will append here.
| Cool Slideshows! |
I am very grateful to Saint Stevens and Saint Agnes for giving me this opportunity each year, and I very much look forward to next year.
11:50 PM
TRWNN modified for some VSF squad level action
As part of the Fantasy Gaming camp I ran last week, I decided to introduce the kids to a little Victorian Science Fiction action using The Rules With No Name. Normally, I would have used G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. rules for this, as it is more tailor made for the subject, but I think TRWNN is a lot easier to teach youngsters than GASLIGHT. This game is set in the fictional Texas-Prussian War Campaign developed by myself, Bruce and David Markley.
This is another "faction" scenario, the kind of game where many little factions have their own agendas. I love this kind of game!
Setting and Background:
The Invasion of SouthEast Texas is on in force. A large Prussian force, perhpas brigade sized, has landed at Corpus Christi and swept North to capture the Coal Gas fields. The railhead at Turnip Gap was succesfully seized by two companies under the leadership of Hauptmann Eric Schmidt. In order to guard the NorthEastern approaches to Turnip Gap, Schmidt has taken personal control of "Kampfgruppe Schmidt", a reinforced platoon, and has moved to take control of the small hamlet of FrogTown, a transhipment point on the Coal Gas pipeline. Resistance should be nothing to speak of.
Backing up Schmidt's platoon is the hulking Steam Robot HERMANN 1, the creation of Doktor Deth, evil Prussian genius. He is entering town from the South near the cow pens. HERMANN 1 is hard to program (it uses levers and punch cards) so the Prussian troops have requested that the HERMANN 1 enter the town far away from them. The good Doktor is used to this request.
Meanwhile the Heck Razors, a group of somewhat incompetent bandits, have heard that the Great Texas Coal Gas company has shipped its weekly payroll to the end of the rail spur, and it is temporarily housed in the Bank at FrogTown.
Captain Ferguson of the Southwest SteamRocket Free Mercenary corps, has gotten word that there might soon be an honest to gosh shooting war South of the border, one more time. The big question is who will pay more, the Juaristas or the French? In the meantime, he will put in to FrogTown to power up their steam packs.
Lieutenant Ringo of the Texas Rangers has been contacted by Great Texas CG company to provide extra aecurity at the bank so his men are scattered about the bank protecting the vault.
Captain Briarson of the United States Sharpshooters, one of the most elite infiltration units in the United States Army, has been dispatched to Turnip Gap to investigate wild reports of invading "Frenchmen from Mexico". His squad has arrived about two days too late. He is now in the process of trying to find a telegraph, ANY telegraph, to the outside world. The Turnip Gap Coal Gas fields are filled with Prussians (not French) and the government needs to be notified. Texas may be a republic again, but they will soon be asking for help from the United States and Briarson is determined that the word gets out. In the meantime his squad is holed up in the town hall of FrogTown, a two story adobe structure in the center of town.
Oblivious to all of this, the terrible trio of Doctor Pretorious, Mobutu the Witch Doctor and Ah Pook the Destroyer (evil Cultist) are hard at work reanimating the dead in Boot Hill...
Rules Changes
1) To give this a "squad feel" like GASLIGHT, I basically made each faction a leader, with 4-5 "schnooks". The Leader is a Shootist, the Schnooks usually but not always Gunmen. In the case of the USS, Rangers, and Rocketmen, there were a couple more Shootists sprinkled in here and there to demonstrate the elite nature of the groups.
A Leader is much like a "Bossman" in TRWNN terms. He moves on his activation. The Schnooks get moved after the leader and are placed within 3" of the Leaders' final location. A Leader measures the firing distance and shoots normally. A Schnook uses the same measurement but doesn't get a Shootist bonus and rolls individually to keep track of blazing away effects and broken guns and such.
If a Leader is killed, a Gunman is promoted to Shootist and bcomes the new leader.
Specials
2) Some of the factions have a special ability or a special restriction.
-- Rocketboys can move 30" in a turn, 3 times a game. They are regular infantry after that, their rocketpacks are expended.
-- USS can fire a "snapshot" this is a quickly aimed shot that is less than a fully aimed shot but can be executed in one turn. Add 4D6 to the dice.
-- The USS can also be in stealth mood which take 2 HD off of the firing rolls for people firing on a Sharpshooter.
-- Hermann I is a rudimentary giant robot that is programmed with punch cards and levers. Make a deck of index cards that say -- "Left 9' " "Right 4' " "KILL KILL KILL" etc. The players pull three programming cards and execute them in the order they are pulled. Herman I is a large item with heavy mass, and can knock over most wooden buildings and some smaller adobes.
-- Ah Pook the Destroyer, Doctor Pretorius, and Mobutu each are rated to control 3-5 zombies each. Many zombies are armed and can be ordered to fire via blazing away at a -2HD penalty for their crappy zombie eyesight. They have a bite attack that incapacitates within a certain amount of turns (See: Scary Monsters of the Golden West). Every THREE TURNS, a zombie controller must roll 3D6 to see if he is still telling the zombies what to do. if he gets more 1s than 6s, he has lost control and the zombies will attempt to eat the first source of protein they come across (usually the controller).
-- when an Evil type is controlling zombies, he can only move 6". Once the zombies are dead the restriction is lifted. Biff the Hunchback Henchman isn't controlling anything and can move freely.
-- Blaster O'Dell, the leader of the Heck Razors, is an unusual bandit. He is armed with a broadsword taken from an old Spanish conquistador, and several sticks of dynamite (See: Rules addendum to TRWNN for explosions).
Dramatis Personae
Heck Razor Bandits:
(holed up in any building north of boot hill)
Blaster O'Dell, Shootist (3 dyamite sticks, one broadsword)
5 Gunmen Bandits
Kampfgruppe Schmidt:
Approaching from the North edge of the map.
Hauptmann Schmidt, Shootist, Green Squad
Green Squad: 5 Schnooks (one a shootist corporal, the rest private gunmen)
Lieutenant Bergmann: Shootist, Blue Squad
Blue Squad: 5 Schnooks (one a shootist corporal, the rest private gunmen)
Lieutenant Goethe: Shootist, White Squad
White Squad: 5 Schnooks (one a shootist corporal, the rest private gunmen)
(all Prussian Infantry use a Mauser rifle with bayonet)
Backing up Kampfgruppe Schmidt is:
Doktor Deth, Prussian Inventor, Shootist
HERMANN I, programmable Prussian kill-droid
Approaching from the South edge of the map
The Texas Rangers (in bank)
LT. Ringo, Leader, Shootist, two pistols
5 Schnooks, Gunmen all, mixed rifles and pistols.
The United States Sharpshooters unit
(in large double storied adobe)
Captain Briarson, Leader and Shootist, armed with pistol
5 Schnooks, two of them Shootists, the rest Gunmen, armed with scoped Sharps rifles.
USS is in stealth mode.
The Steam Rocketmen
enter on turn one on the North edge of town near the Livery. They have 3 bounces left for the rest of the game.
Captain Ferguson, Leader, Shootist, armed with pistol
5 Schnooks, 2 of the Shootists, 3 Gunmen, armed with pistols.
The Trilogy of Terror
(South of Boot Hill)
Doctor Pretorious, Leader, Shootist, pistol
(controlling four zombies-- movement restrictions while controlling)
Mobutu the Mad Witch Doctor, Leader Shootist, armed with club
(controlling three zombies-- movement restrictions while controlling)
Ah Pook the Destroyer, mad cultist-- LeaderShootists, armed with pistol and dagger
(controlling three zombies-- movement restrictions while controlling)
Biff the Hunchback, Shootist, Leader. Armed with pistol.
For balance, you may want to throw in a small dismounted US or Texas Cavalry force, starting in the general store, 1 Leader/Shootist, 5 schnooks/Gunmen. Armed with pistol and saber (leader) and rifles (schnooks).
Figures I used for this game
Sadly, no pictures of the game in progress, like I am wont to do. I left my camera at home. Curses.
The Castaway Arts Prussians and the toy that made HERMANN I are shown in the inset pictures, though. I sprinkled a few of the Old Glory World War I reservists (pickelhaube helmets) painted as blue uniformed Prussians in with the Castaway Arts stuff, just to give it some flair.
The USS were Conniesseur/Bicorne Figures of Civil War era Berdans sharpshooters , with a hemp netting on them made to look like "Gilly suits".
AC59 Berden's Sharpshooter crouched cocking rifle
AC60 Berden's Sharpshooter kneeling firing
AC61 Berden's Sharpshooter lying reloading from cartridge pouch
Doktor Deth was a conversion. A Ral Partha Vampire (very Nosferatu looking) with a Games Workshop Buzz Saw arm and holding a Winchester repeater.
The Southwest SteamRocket Free Mercenary Corps were another conversion: Foundry's World War One Downed Pilot range (plus one "Aviator" figure from Ral Partha's old 20s and 30s adventurer range), with Chaos Rocket packs (painted bronze) from Games Workshop's 40K line attached to their backs.
The Texas Rangers were an eclectic mix of Dixon and Foundry Wild West (older ranges). MOSTLY Dixon. They have a group of outlaws in dusters that I bought every one of, and I supplemented this with a couple of notable Foundry Wild West figures, such as the ZZ Top outlaw with the shotgun. All had light tan dusters, except for a couple of trackers and an Indian scout.
The Zombies were Foundry's old Zombie Cowboy range, with a few Ral Partha non-cowboy zombies thrown in for flavor. Ah Pook the Destroyer was an old Reaper "Cultist" figure that looks disturbingly like a Ku Klux Klansmen, so I painted him black. Doctor Pretorious was an Old Grenadier "mad scientist" figure. Mobutu was a "Witch Doctor" from the Foundry's older Darkest Africa range.
Cavalry (optional reinforcement) was a mix of Dixon and Foundry. The Leader, Captain "Whiskers" was the old Captain Clark figure from Dixon's Little Big Horn range. Foundry's "Cavalry Sergeant" and "Greenhorns" made the rest of the squad.
The Texas HellRazors were of notable figures from the Fondry's oldest Wild West Line-- Many of whom can be seen here in this collection. "Ugly Bertrand" was converted into "Blaster O'Dell" after I discovered his shotgun was miscast-- so I turned the stump into a dynamite stick and swapped out a broadsword for his bowie knife to give him some visual flair.
Results
The kids got a great kick out of playing this one and the modifications to make it more "squad like" worked really well. One boy took command of the prussian infantry force and did a fairly good job of staying on course. He moved across the Texas Rangers which valiantly tried to hold the bank but they eventually broke in the face of hideous casualties. The USS tried to lay down a withering long range fire but were foiled by the Prussians using the cover of the buildings.
The Banditos got mixed up with the zombies, which was a mistake for the fate of Texas. There was general death and dismemberment, and a lot of the bandits got turned into zombieburgers.
Nearby the steam robot tried to move into town but the gunfire was so severe that Doktor Deth had to abandon the robot and dive for cover. The robot rules state that the robot will do THE LAST THING IT WAS PROGRAMMED TO DO, which was turn left and go 9". It moved around in a big square, turning left and going 9", squashing through the cattle fence, starting a nifty stampede and making a mixed zombie/hamburger goo. It was fun to watch but generally ineffectual.
The rocketboys were very effective, jumping behind the Prussians and firing at them in the flank, then jumping again to get ahead of them on the roof of the bank, then again to get to the head of the large government building. They kept taking acaualties, however, and gradually got whittled down to nothing.
The Prussians, however, had the advantage of coordination and numbers. They moved on the government building and took the house by storm, going hand to hand with the bayonet against the USS on the top floor, making a valiant last stand of it. Captain Briarson leapt out of the upper story and got away, presumably to spread the word on the invasion.
Otherwise I'd call it a Prussian MAJOR victory, and an Evil minor victory. The kids loved it.
