Yaqunito FFL in miniature

[Tom Reed]

Yaquintos French Foreign Legion is one of my all time favorite games. 20 years (or so) ago I bought the Stone Mountain Miniatures set that recreates it and had great fun with it. Of course I stupidly sold it off for much needed funds. Now I am planning on redoing the game using Blue Moons French Foreign Legion and Arab figures.

I have figured out what I need, figure-wise, and am planning an order for early next week.

[matakishi]

Can you give some background on the Yaquinto game for those of us who remember the publisher but not the actual game?

[Tom Reed]

I sure can.

Yaquintos French Foreign Legion was one of their "album" games. It came in an album type box that opened out to reveal the map, which in this case was the inside of a FFL fort and surrounding desert The rules and counters fit into the album covers.

There were 3 squads of 10 legionnaires, a Captain, lieutenant, and Sgt Major, vs 60 Arabs (5 tribes of 12 figures). You could put some tribes on horseback, the Legion also had a mg and 75mm gun for specific scenarios, of which there were several that you could play.

The game itself was skirmish level. Each figure had a melee number, a shoot number, and a move number (which was the number of squares it could move). All combat was using D6s. Stone Mountain Miniatures used to sell a set of figures and a fold up fort for the game.

[Legionaire22]

Tom,

   That is one of my favorite games ever. What are the chances I could get you to run it at FOG Con I in Pekin at the end of May?

        Jim

 

[Tom Reed]

Hey Jim,

I guess everything depends on how fast I could get everything done.

[Legionaire22]

 If I can help you out in any way just let me know. I have a copy of the game and I converted it to 28mm about six years ago. Like I said, it is one of my favorites.

           Jim

[Tom Reed]

Jim, how (and what) did you make the fort out of? Did you scale it up or what? I am ok with figure painting. My big letdown is terrain building.

I am thinking about mounting the figures on 1" stands to have room for their melee & shoot numbers, and character names. When I did this years ago I renamed several of the characters after my close gaming friends.

If I mount the figures on 1" stands I will probably need at least 1 to 1 1/2" sized movement squares.

[Legionaire22]

Tom,
 
   When I made my fort I made it out of pink insulation foam covered with light weight wall spackling (Red Devil makes the best). That and several coats of paint was all it took. I did not put squares on the fort itself. I counted every square as 1" and just converted movement and ranges from squares to inches. Much easier to make the terrain and I have never had a problem with the game. As far as the bases go, I used 1" square ones. All you really need is enough room on the back edge for their name. Then you make a cheat card for each squad/tribe that has each name and their melee and fire numbers along with a space to note any other info you might want to include like who has a rope or dynamite. Also if you just put a number on the back of the base, then you could have any name you wanted on the corresponding sheet number.
    I also have a version of the rules that are a little bit more in depth and use a d10 for everything, have wounds, and other things I have come up with to add to the basic game. I ran it at the CITW meeting in Peoria last year and several of the guys from Bloomington played it.

                              Jim

[Legionaire22]

Tom,

   How goes the fort? Hopefully I didn't put you off too much by my last rant.

            Jim

[Tom Reed]

Hey Jim,

It's not going at the moment. Real life intruded a bit and I was laid up for almost a week with a nasty sinus/ear infection and didn't feel like doing much of anything. I did finally send in an order to Old Glory for all of the 15/18mm figures that I will need to recreate the project.

Tom

[joroas]

There is a copy here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/French-Foreign-Legion-Yaquinto-High-Grade-Condition-Fast-Paced-Fun-Bonus-/261407761610?pt=Games_US&hash=item3cdd1de4ca

[Tom Reed]

It's a great game! I have French Foreign Legion, Swashbuckler, and Adventurer, which is the SciFi version of Swashbuckler.