Robin Hood - Bit of a game report with photos on page 9

[FifteensAway]

Up at an unreasonable hour and able to get the photos sorted out. 

And, Rick, you are correct and I do have a large number of trees to still get table ready but for the purposes of the pending game, these should do well enough along with some additional trees also ready - but some of them, not all, might need texturing which goes quite fast.  However, there is also the matter of playability within the forest so it cannot be too dense, though I will greatly enhance that self-same density with as much lichen as the table can support and still maintain a playable board.

Here is a shot of the 65 figures for the Sheriff's forces, all now table ready:



The Sheriff himself, foot and mounted, and his sidekicks and stand of three, the 'standard' contingent.  He also gets three single based counselors/tax collectors to use in some scenarios, probably not the one upcoming.



Mortiana, the one character that does not get a mounted version in this grouping.  Again, for varied scenarios.



The rest can be found here: https://steeplechasingzebras.blogspot.com/p/robin-hood.html

At such an early hour, I need more sleep!

[FifteensAway]

Rick, you will be pleased to know that there are a total of 70 trees ready for the game - and maybe four added to meet your concern, or maybe to get to a round 70! 

[FifteensAway]

Photos later but here is the note I placed in the local club I/O site about the game today:

Well, seems there was enough interest to fill all four spots in the Robin Hood game.  My thanks to the players:
 
Dennis (Robin Hood, Robin's contingent, Lady Marian's contingent, and Little John's contingent)
Dave (Friar Tuck's contingent and Much the Miller's Son's contingent)
Glenn(Sheriff of Nottingham, Sheriff's contingent, Einar's contingent (who?), and Mortiana's contingent)
Aaron (Guy of Gisborne's contingent and Captain Ralph of Huntingdon's contingent)
 
Robin and the Sheriff could act on their own, the rest were 'contingents' that acted together (Bigger Battles after all) which usually was the "Principle" character (foot or mounted), his (or her) two sidekicks (or ladies-in-waiting), and a stand of three figures which counted as one figure (or die's worth)(to get more figures on the table but not overdo it).  There were some differences, especially with the female contingents and Friar Tuck got an extra stand of three clerics (who fought as normal).  What that means, at basic, is that generally no player needed more than four dice at any one time (Friar Tuck excepted initially).
 
Technically, Robin Hood's side won the game by not letting Marian get captured and taking a bunch of deer (not quite half of what was potentially possible) but as a practical matter the Sheriff ultimately ended in a better situation with a stronger force still on the table.  Robin's side was reduced to Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck, Lady Marian (one lady-in-waiting?), and Will "Billy" Stutley.  The Sheriff survived as did, I think, all - or most - of Einar's force (he is a character of my creation to represent the heritage of the Danelaw in England; easy to add lots of Robin related named characters, a bit more challenging on the Sheriff's side).
 
Alas, poor Sir Guy not only lost his entire contingent but he himself was taken out and the end-of-game dicing told us he was as dead as one of the Merry Men's deer.  Much the Miller's son also went down but the end-of-game dicing indicated he was but temporarily knocked senseless but will be good as new come the dawn.
 
There was, literally, much merriment (laughter) throughout the game.  And the piece-de-resistance was when Dennis, in dire straights, decided to send Marian and her tiny contingent of just two ladies-in-waiting into the fiercest of the fray's in the game and with the hilarious comment (in context) "When you want it done right, send a woman to do the job."  And they did a job on the Sheriff's forces they faced (Aaron's forces).  Part of what made that such a bold decision was that if the Sheriff's forces captured Marian they gained an instant victory (until a follow on scenario that just might have tried to rescue her).  What was that about Robin's Band of Merry Lasses or something to that effect?
 
I think in the next game of Adventures of Robin Hood I will endeavor to ensure that each player has both melee forces and bow armed forces, not necessarily in equal measure.
 
Any missteps or mistakes made during the course of the game lie at the foot of yours truly.  I did make a few minor tweaks to the rules but I think it worked out okay.  But it seems fun was had by all including me who indulged in a good deal of that laughter. 
 
The player's are again given my thanks and an invitation to provide their "own side of the story".  Whether their story shall bear on the truth or not is immaterial, what matters is how did their force provide them fun in the game!

Edit: I was not witness to a lot of what happened at the far end of the table but Mortiana and her contingent apparently got swept from the forest during the course of the day.

[FifteensAway]

Afraid got too distracted to take as many photos as I'd hoped for but here are some to get a visual impact of the game:



The table at set up, not quite all in place but almost everything, mostly a few GM adjustments to where the players put the terrain in assistance of setting up.  And, yes, I know weeping willows were not native to England, arrived much later, but I like the trees and they suggest a moist environment so I used them along the river.



A closer shot of the river.



The "Hanging Oak", a twisted wire tree I bought with a lot of 'snow' on it that I recolored.  Wasn't actually used as a landmark in this game, just the tallest tree in the forest.



Lots of deer on the table - and lots of deer taken by the Merry Men before battle was joined.  Probably need to make it a bit harder for the deer to be taken.



Ralph of Huntingdon and his contingent - players took a turn or two to get used to the foot versus mounted for the 'princple' characters, this shows Ralph both mounted and on foot but only one to be on the table at a time.  That is Einar's force behind the dead tree.



Just a view into the forest from atop a rocky outcropping.



Where a great deal of the action occurred, lots of melees - Robin was at this end of the action, the Sheriff at the farther end of the table.  As it turned out, Einar with his long bows was at the farther end and Robin with his bows here at this nearer end.  Something to change going forward is a better balance of melee and bow armed forces within each contingent.



A number of random events were possible and this was one of them, a couple of wild boars 'rampaging' across the table.  Several forces dodged out of their way!  The other event that got drawn for (Jokers) was a couple of dog handlers and four attack dogs - more dodging (Guy of Gisborne's dogs).  Alas, no photo of the dogs in the game.



Little John protecting Lady Marian and friends.



Little John 'cowering' behind the ladies.  Actually, just moved behind them to clear for a melee but the action resulted in lots of merry making comments at his expense.



Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck, and Maid Marian and her ladies-in-waiting survived the game.

Lots of fun.  Lots of laughter.  Lots of trees (70 in total).

[anevilgiraffe]

nice, I especially like the rock outcrops, are they homemade?

(now needs to check when Willows were introduced)

[FifteensAway]

Rock outcrops acquired at a swap meet at a local hobby shop last year (?), pretty sure a commercial product from way constructed and felt on bottom.  These are 'desert hills' but work just fine in this setting as far as I am concerned. 

[FifteensAway]

Did some post-game analysis and decided to add quite a few additional archers, mostly long bow but some crossbow.  So, now each Principle Character will, mostly, have a mounted and dismounted version and will, usually, be higher quality.  And then all will have two individually based sidekicks and two three man bases one of which will be archer or crossbow.  So all forces will have some long range capabilities.

Certain key figures will get a bit more, Robin Hood getting three additional individually based archers and King Richard and Prince John get some additional three figure bases plus a couple of 'bodyguard' individually based and half a dozen individual figure bases, the latter split evenly between longbow and crossbow.  The Sheriff gets a little extra and so does Longstride (see above earlier in thread).

And added four stands of archers to the Saracens - a spoiler force to toss into games when I want something different.  They may - or may not - be allied to Akeem.  Heck, they might be around specifically to get him!

Another significant change will be the ladies getting much lower ratings than in this first game.

Oh, and I added eleven more trees - big and tall including two Really Tall trees. 

Just awaiting a couple of already placed orders for other projects and I do believe I will have all that I need - unless something spectacular comes along to fill a need or interest.  But I can stay busy for a decade or two with what I already have on hand.

Much painting to do.  After progress on a hardscaping project!