[Argad AAR] Pondi cherries

[Patrice]

This silly title came as a play on words (with different meaning in French) made by a player. Pondi is the Breton name of the town of Pontivy. ...But the characters would probably not have heard about the town of Pondicherry in the 16th century... or from a Portuguese sailor perhaps...

Another late 16th century AAR, we don't write AARs for all our games but we like to keep track of what happens in campaigns. This game was played on July 5th in Pontivy castle, ruleset Argad.

In the 1590s Pontivy belongs to viscount Henri II de Rohan, a Protestant supporter of the new French king Henri IV; but the castle, town, and countryside are occupied by La Très Sainte Ligue (Holy League, ultra-Catholic, allied with Spain) enemy of Henri IV (and of England). There are a few Protestants in the area, a minority, but many moderate Catholics now also accept the new king.

Three small troops of cavalry enter the table by different edges:

- Ned Poins, English officer. His orders, from the English commander Sir John Norreys, are to have a look at enemy defenses near Pontivy in cooperation with local supporters of king Henri IV; he must avoid too many casualties if the French do not take risks.
He has also been told that an Englishman (NPC) he met in previous adventures, master gunner Robert Davidson, is in the area. This man now seems more interested in cloth trade than in the war. He sent a message saying that local Protestants trading with him could also give informations about the defences of the town.

- An officer of the League, petty nobleman, who has been ordered to patrol around Pontivy, to show military presence and to fight any Royalists.
He heard that, two days ago, peasants have seen two unknown merchants buying hemp cloth, one of them was dumb.

- A Royalist officier with usual orders: fight the League and the Spaniards, encourage the English, discourage any trade with Spain; and discover enemy defences around Pontivy to prepare future attacks.

A small village in the countryside not far from Pontivy...



The English officer, and his Ligueur opponent, notice at the same time a murder of crows flying above a tree.



The Ligueurs come closer and see dead bodies near the tree. One dismounts to have a closer look.





The English watch from a distance.



The  soldier who searches the bodies sees that they have been murdered, and finds a bible: they were Protestants. There are tracks of a cart in the grass, apparently going in direction of Pontivy but far from the road.

Another group of mounted soldiers arrive by another road. One of them advances to talk to the English, who recognise French royalist emblems.



A man from Pontivy, who rides with the Ligueurs to guide them through the area, shows them earthwork concealed on top of a rock. It's a small post with two local Ligueur soldiers and a "robinet" cannon. The mounted Ligueurs gather around it. Their guide also says there is a larger bastion farther (not yet placed on the table because still unseen). They send a rider there.



Ligueurs dismount in the bushes, ready for defence.

[Patrice]

Some of the English pass at a fair distance. Near a sunken path they see a tree loaded with ripe fruits, not a rare sight in these times. One of them mentions "Pondi cherries"...



Other English riders, alongside with the French, advance slowly towards the Ligueurs, but a shot from the robinet kills one of them.



Other Ligueurs take position behind a nearby ridge.
In the background, a monk prays for their success, a fisherman stares with curiosity and temerity.



Some infantry reinforcements arrive to both sides. The Ligueurs discreetly bring their second cannon from the other bastion (still not seen on the table).
This looks like a stalemate.



The English ride back around the longhouse...



...and unexpectedly face newly arrived Spanish infantry!



The Spaniards are mostly pikemen and have not many firearms; after a few casualties they are totally deprived of firepower. They retreat in good order, but the mounted English use caracole cavalry tactic again and again, till they catch them and rout them with the support of French and English infantry.



Everyone thinks the day is over, all troops are preparing to withdraw... Then two events happen:

- A shot from a small wood behind the Ligueurs misses their officer, who has time to see he was personally the target. The Ligueurs surround the wood and catch a man before he can mount his horse. After being ...gently... asked, the man says he had been promised a reward from a renowned brigand chief (NPC) who holds a grudge against this officer (since previous adventures). He also confesses that he was part of a group who killed the merchants to rob their cart; the others went to Pontivy. The Ligueurs spare him if he joins their troop.

- Two men who had been hiding all the time behind some bushes discreetly walk towards the English troop and identify themselves: master gunner Davidson, and a local Breton protestant. In the previous days they had bought hemp cloth in nearby villages, then have been attacked by Catholic brigands. They ran but the others have been killed and their cart stolen. He also says that he has noticed a large bastion and an enemy cannon.

A funny, very unexpected thing: after the game the player on the English side was not sure about the name of his opponent; two different PCs names were mentioned - one of them belonging to a player who was not even there - so there now is a confusion about who actually took part in this fight... confusion encouraged as it adds one more element in the campaign.

[marianas_gamer]

A treat as always. I always enjoy that actions from earlier games carry on to the next.

[Vagabond]

Another entertaining tale from Brittany
Cheers

[Patrice]

Thanks.

...And another game a few weeks later, it follows the previous one in the same campaign, there are not many pictures so better post it in the same thread. It was played at Enfer et Contre Tout club in Rennes (Britanny) and intended as a short demo game for two players and a GM on a rather small table (1,20 x 3 m) but, as often happens, things went interesting.

Somewhere on the southern coast of Brittany, west of the Spanish fort Fuerte del Aguila (now Port-Louis) at low tide (the bottom of the narrow estuary can be seen in some places).



At the other end of the table, some Spaniards have set up camp.



An inn, near an ancient ford that can be crossed at low tide.



A troop of Royalists is inside the inn and in the nearby hidden paths, they cannot be seen.



Two of their mounted soldiers patrol near the dyke. They cannot yet see a troop of Ligueurs who just joined the Spaniards. The Ligue officer of the previous adventure has received a letter of Katell Ruz (mysterious agent of the Ligue) asking him to come there. However when he arrives she seems surprised to see him, the letter was for someone else... But he will do. She says he must go to the inn to fetch a Spanish officer who will arrive from the fort Del Aguila and escort him to Pontivy.



The two Royalist cavalrymen ride back when they see this unidentified troop coming towards them.



League cavalry and infantry advance in the direction of the inn, followed by an unit of Spanish pikemen.







A (NPC) old apple seller, who appears near her hut in almost all our games, asks them "Un aval ho po ?" ("An apple you will have?" in Breton language).





Terrible slaughter near the inn ...as sometimes happens with this ruleset when no one can achieve superiority but everyone wants to continue fighting. Cavalry and pikemen cannot deploy because of terrain obstacles, so it's man to man (that means, dice to dice) fights in the bushes and on the sand, soldiers die in a pen full of manure...



The Royalists want to stay near the inn to try to capture the Spanish envoy when he will arrive, they had heard of him from one of their spies, that's why they are there.



The Ligueurs have many casualties but the Royalists have more, and just when the shallop carrying the Spaniard arrives with high tide the Royalists must accept to stop fighting. The League officer lets them go with their weapons, he just wants them to go away fast, and he welcomes the Spanish envoy. He now understands that the Spaniard carries a chest with money for the Pontivy garrison. This League officer has a reputation of ...borrowing... any treasure he can (that's why Katell Ruz was not very happy to order him to do this job, but she had no choice) but he will not take such a risk now (...or perhaps the trip to Pontivy could inspire a next scenario...?)