As already mentioned, the rules we used for our game were "Triumph and Tragedy."
Which of course meant I had to print out and laminate some more unit cards.
The table set up. A sleepy corner of East Africa at dawn, at the back end of the 1880s.
At one end the Masai village is just stirring into life...
...While at the other, Charlie Peters is preparing to chastise those pesky tribesmen.
He is determined to bully them into letting whoever wants to tramp across their lands do so unmolested. He plans to kill or steal some cattle, burn down some huts, and shoot a few people. That'll learn 'em.
His force consists of a trusted core of hardened Somali askari, armed with the latest weapons, plus a larger group of cowardly porters who have had obsolete muzzle-loaders shoved into their unwilling hands. This, he feels, ought to be enough to handle any Masai foolish enough to cross him.
The explorer player Chronoglide (for it is he), decided to open his account by advancing into range in a carefree manner and opening up on the cattle at the water hole. The cad! However, none of his shots hit anything. Not a very good start. The cowherd wisely decided to evacuate the area, and started yelling for assistance.
Pretty soon that attracted the attention of some locals, who took up their bows to defend the cattle. Hopefully the moran, scattered about the plateau in their separate barracks, would answer the call soon too.
And so they did. Sickers, looking increasingly like part of the line-up of Hawkwind, circa 1970, began to deploy his men...
Don't know how long I've been awake...
Motorhead, remember me now, Motorhead. Alright!(I do apologise for this untoward intrusion of Space Rock into the proceedings. It won't happen again.)
Wakey's moran had by this time also arrived. Suddenly, Chrono's cocky nonchalance deserted him. I think his exact words may have been "Oh shit." Maybe he thought he was just going to have to fight some women, children and cows...
So, rethinking his tactics, he unleashed his secret weapon: A box of fireworks. This "White Man's Magic" totally overawed the archers. It was all too much and they refused to advance. In fact they all remembered they had pressing business elsewhere and that was that. Their contribution to the game was over before they had even done anything.
But the moran were not to be daunted by these flashy parlour tricks, and pressed on with their advance.
Most importantly for the Masai, Chrono's consternation at the arrival of the moran allowed the cattle to slip away to safety in the confusion.
Under cover of the pyrotechnics, Peters began a retreat to link up with some of his straggling troops and take up a defensive position. So ended his bold advance. From now on he would be strictly on the back foot.
But luckily for him, the moran were in no hurry to engage him. Unlike real Masai of the time, Sickers and Wakey seemed mortally afeared of Peters' guns and began an extended series of rushes from cover to cover, to avoid making targets of themselves. They wanted to have to cover the absolute minimum amount of ground when the time for the charge came.
With the plateau teeming with warriors, I had informed them that first wave could be recycled if need be, to try and encourage them to act like Masai who held guns in contempt (only being familiar with poor-quality muskets). But these gamers decided to make caution their watchword instead.
This uncharacteristically timid behaviour gave Chrono the time he needed to reorganise, and he was able to form a makeshift square of sorts.
Here we see Sickers in the midst of a crisis of confidence. He came up with a plan, dismissed it, and then changed his mind again all within about ten seconds. Why were these Masai such a bunch of scaredy cats? Would they ever pluck up the nerve to charge, or instead hide behind bushes all night?
To be continued...
28 November 2007, 11:47:34 PM