The Turkey Fights Back

Well, I never got around to printing the counters for my silly Thanksgiving project. I decided to play the game anyway using generic counters and a little imagination.

Background

The native Wampanoag peoples warn the Pilgrims that there are dark things in the forest. Inhuman things. Dangerous things.

The Pilgrims (bottom) send out an expedition. It consists of 2 cavalry, skirmishers, and line infantry.

Suddenly, out of the forest, a frightening army emerges. It consists of potato people infantry, corn shooters, dire turkeys (represented by a cavalry counter), and pumpkin chuckers (green counter).

The chuckers lob their pumpkins at the right flank cavalry, spooking it (downgraded to unreliable status).

The dire turkeys (center) charge. The skirmishers unleash a ragged volley then flee. The left flank cavalry charges the corn shooters, who shoot them down.

The potato infantry attacks the Pilgrim's spooked cavalry. The cavalry flees. Meanwhile, the Pilgrim reserve infantry advances. In the center, the Pilgrims slay the dire turkeys. But they take grievous casualties and can no longer fight.

This leaves one unit of Pilgrim infantry. They wisely retreat from the battlefield.

NOTES

• I probably should have used the Pike & Shot rules, but I used my generic horse & musket rules instead. Still a fun game.

Happy Thanksgiving

On this day, we pause to give thanks to the Lord for his blessings.

I am especially thankful for the miracle he performed for our cat Fuzz. Earlier this year, she was desperately ill in Intensive Care. The vet did not think she would make it.

Driving home, this song came on the radio - Desperate by Jamie Macdonald. 

The lyrics perfectly expressed what I was feeling. “Oh God, I'm desperate. Down on my knees, Send help from heaven, 'Cause that's what I need.” I sang along, desperately praying to the Lord to save Fuzz.

The next song was Don’t Stop Praying by Matthew West.

One line really struck me. “Don't stop believing, 'Cause mountains move with just a little faith.”

A few days later, Fuzz was home and on the road to recovery.

By the way, this is a little meme we created starring Fuzz.

(In reality, the pictures were taken when we first adopted this hungry street cat and then several months later).

Nocan Season 6

Season 5 ended in a disappointing fashion - a first round loss in the regional tournament.

Let's see how season 6 goes.

Preliminaries

• Preliminary 1
• vs. a novice knight. Tied 2-2 after the first round but then Nocan pulls away to win 5-2.
• vs. a novice hyenid. Again tied after the first round (1-1) but Nocan pulls away for a 7-3 victory.
• vs. a novice goblin archer. Tied 2-2 after 1 (I sense a pattern here) but Nocan wins 6-3.
• vs. an experienced orc. Nocan fails to score and loses 5-0.
• Preliminary 2
• vs. a novice goblin. Nocan knocks the goblin down in the first round then cruises to a 7-1 victory.
• vs. an experienced spearman. Nocan gets 2 knockdowns and wins 6-1.
• vs. an experienced elf archer. The archer's aim is off - no hits. Nocan scores in two rounds and wins 3-0.
• vs. a novice dwarf axeman. I previously gave a preview of this bout. After two rounds, Nocan leads 4-3.

In the final round, Nocan wins the initiative and charges. But the dwarf uses his long axe to his advantage. Swinging it from the end, the dwarf clocks Nocan in the head. Stunned, Nocan misses (and fails his reroll)

The dwarf wins 5-4.

• Preliminary 3 - Nocan loses to a veteran hyenid 5-3.
• Preliminary 4
• vs. a novice goblin. Nocan cruises to a 6-1 victory.
• vs. an experienced dwarf. Tied 2-2 after two rounds. The dwarf gets a head shot but Nocan plows through the pain and gets a knockdown. Nocan wins 5-4
• vs. an experienced spearman. Nocan is off his game (still smarting from the head shot in the last round?). He loses 5-0.

Nocan advanced to one semi-final and two finals, but no tournament victories. Successful but a little disappointing.

The Regional Championship

Nocan earns an invitation to the regional championship due to his final appearances.

1. vs. an experienced orc. Nocan gets a knockdown in the final round to win 4-1.
2. vs. an experienced Kafiran.
1. Nocan gets a head shot and uses his experience (reroll) to avoid a headshot. he leads 2-1.
2. The Kafiran gets a head shot. Nocan misses. The Kafiran leads 3-2,
3. The Kafiran misses and Nocan hits. Tied 3-3. Go to sudden death.
4. The Kafiran misses again. Nocan gets a head shot! Nocan wins 5-3
3. vs. a novice dwarf axeman. This is a grudge match. The dwarf beat him for the championship of the second preliminary. This time, it is a rout. Nocan scores two knockdowns and a head shot for an 8-1 victory.
4. The Final vs. an experienced knight!

Round 1 - Nocan scores a head hit. He leads 2-0.

But the knight retaliates. Score tied 2-2.

Nocan charges. The knight misses but Nocan scores a hit. Nocan wins 3-2.

NOCAN IS THE REGIONAL CHAMPION!

Here is Nocan with his defeated foes.

Championship

On to the grand championship.

1. vs. an experienced elf archer. Tied 1-1 after two rounds. The elf then gets a hit but Nocan knocks him down. Nocan wins 4-1.
2. vs. a veteran orc archer. They trade knockdowns in the first two rounds. The orc misses and Nocan hits for a 4-3 victory.
3. The Semi-final vs a novice goblin archer. A novice? This should be a cake walk.
1. The goblin gets a head hit but Nocan knocks him down. Nocan leads 3-2.
2. Where did he go? Nocan misses and the goblin hits. Tied 3-3.
3. Nocan gets a hit, but the goblin raps him on the head. NOCAN LOSES 5-4!

Well, that was disappointing. At least Nocan comes away with a regional championship. This should elevate him to the senior circuit.

Silly Thanksgiving Project

In the US, the Thanksgiving holiday is about a week away. 

I have some time off from work so I should be able to fit in some games. The question is "what should I play?"

The answer came in a roundabout way.

• I'd like to play some Dominion of.
• I should get Pilgrims involved.
• Pilgrims vs. Indians? Too obvious. Besides, the holiday celebrates an instance of cooperation between the two cultures. Shouldn't they work together?
• WAIT. What if ...? No, that's too crazy.

So I'm going to do it anyway.

Many years ago, my LARP group did a silly Thanksgiving themed scenario - we fought fire-breathing dire turkeys! Let's do the same.

I decided to make some one-off special counters, incorporating a variety of Thanksgiving foods. I grabbed some icons off the web and got creating.

Here's what I have so far - dire turkeys, pumpkin chuckers, and potato heads.

The potato heads are melee infantry, pumpkin chuckers are artillery, and I will likely use the tank stats from Dominion of the Trenches for the dire turkeys. I want some skirmish infantry - thinking cranberry or corn shooters.

Creating the Counters

I'm not sure if I'll keep the counters after the game, so I plan to take a simple approach to making them. Instead of using Litko plastic bases, I will likely just use cardboard. I have a load of Amazon and Chewy boxes lying around to scavenging won't be an issue.

The Opposition

I will use my generic counters, specifically the black faction, for the Pilgrims. I may give them some Indian allies using brown.

The Scenario

Who knows? I'll whip something up.

Nocan Season 6 Underway

Gaming proceeds slowly.

After the Dominion fantasy battle, I've been focusing on Nocan and his arena adventures. I have begun season 6. It's taking me a while to finish because Nocan is doing well. Shocking!

I'm going to save the detailed results for a later time so I can have all the matches in one post. But I'll leave you with a preview.

Nocan (right) finds himself pitted against a novice dwarf axeman. As a veteran, Nocan has a sizable advantage (no pun intended).

The first pass. Nocan charges. The dwarf's axe hits Nocan and forces him to stumble. But Nocan relies on his experience-honed reflexes to get in a head hit.

Score 2-1 Nocan.

Nocan uses a reroll to increase his damage.

Second pass. Again Nocan grabs the initiative. This time, both get in head strikes.

Score 4-3 Nocan.

Nocan chooses not to use his last reroll, saving it for the last round.

What happens in the final pass? I'll save that for the full season results.

Thank You Veterans

God bless our veterans!

Hold the Line!

The Hyenid War - Part 3

Returning to my LARP's fantasy world.

Background

After the disaster in the desert, the Empire scrambles to defend the heartland of Palmyra. It scrapes together some auxiliary cohorts supplemented by one legionary cohort.

The hyenids pursue into Palmyra.

Battle of the Little River

The Imperials set up defenses at a small tributary of the mighty Kemi River.

The Empire (red, bottom) sets some archers and the auxiliaries behind the river. The legionaries guard the right flank.

The hyenids include some archers (left), and beasts of war (right) along with regular warriors.

The archers (left) take each other out. On the other flank, the legionaries halt the beasts but are too decimated to continue the fight.

The hyenid warriors rush across the river and slaughter the auxiliaries.

The Empire is defeated!

What Next?

Technically, the hyenids win the campaign. However, I'm thinking they should try to sack the capital of southern Palmyra. Stay tuned!