First multi-player game as a Christmas special (an AAR of sorts) - take II

[timt]

Each year I put on a game after Christmas for a few friends and often I make them more of an entertainment than our usual games. With this in mind I decided to put on an IHMN game this year. I had five players, of whom four had not played before, and then myself as umpire / gamesmaster. My previous (probably about a dozen) games had all been one-on-one affairs so I was anxious to see how a multi-player game would unfold. We had the Brick Lane Commune, a freshly painted Black Dragon Tong, US Cavalry (selected from a larger force bought for other purposes) and my Lord Curr's Company and Servants of Ra. The layout was a 4' x 4' board with a couple of terraces (one including a shop - you must know it, Chas. Jones, Purveyor of the Finest Comestibles), a church and graveyard and the Northumberland Arms (bonus points to whomsoever explains why my tavern is so named). There was a good sprinkling of citizens walking the streets, various parked vehicles (must get on and paint the horses) and a number of vehicles in motion, including the first outing for the penny-farthing.

I decided on a small game to warm us up and learn the rules. Each player took the top two characters from his list and two from the bottom in cost terms. We then proceeded to go for the top secret documents, so carelessly left lying in three locations in the centre of town.

[Craig]

Don't leave us on tenterhooks man! What happened? 

[timt]

After losing my first document I have now posted the second draft too early! I put it down to that last port after dinner ... certainly nothing to do with the three bottles that preceded it!

To continue:

The warm up game took a couple of hours and was excellent for teaching the rules and having fun. In the event Lord Curr in person secured the genuine documents and, despite being intercepted by an alarming number of enemies, made his way off the board. We retired for luncheon at this point and then returned for the main gaming repast.

The main game involved the same town set-up but this time our brave players were told that all the buildings contained secret documents but that they were guarded. The guardians, scattered about town, turned out to be Lord Etterington's Company (made up of his servants and some shooting pals) and The Company of Wolves (a slight personalisation of the David Wilson company of that name; thanks David - see ancient posts). Somewhat shockingly, Queen Victoria was out for a drive in her Landau and it had broken down (had someone sabotaged the suspension?). She needed 'rescuing' for a multitude of victory points. If anyone should kill her, inadvertently or otherwise, they would automatically lose the game due to the reprisals that would be coming their way as a result.

I thought the first turn would be uneventful with everyone running towards the buildings. However, it is clear that Lord Curr had been paying attention to his briefing as he was able to manoeuvre Mohan Singh to an advantageous position to open up on the US Cavalry with his machine gun. He was able to 'walk' his fire over five possible victims. Only one was killed but that one just happened to be the captain! In the next move return fire from a single trooper took out Mohan Singh for a small slice of justice pie.

Rather than recount the whole affair I will attempt to divert my readers with some of the more entertaining incidents of the day.

Lord Curr entered number 5 The Terrace and was confronted by Polly the Maid and her twelve-bore. He spent the next half dozen moves attempting to murder the poor girl, alternately shooting her with his pistol and attacking her with his bullwhip. Twice he was joined in this enterprise by an Incorrigible and twice Polly despatched said Incorrigibles with her vegetable knife (cook would not let her take a carving knife). Polly survived the entire fracas even though Lord Curr did get her on her back once (steady there, chaps). Lord Curr also survived the encounter but his reputation may have been shattered forever; he has not been seen at his club this past fortnight. I am unsure if my delicate readers will wish to know but an Incorrigible found that number 3 was a house of ill repute inhabited by two 'ladies'. The Incorrigible could resist everything but temptation and he and one of the ladies were out of play for the duration (so to speak). Sergeant Ruff was concerned that he might fall to the same temptation and so he cold-bloodedly shot the other lady through the window and was then able to search the house without diversion. Such villainy was condemned by the gentlemen present but the bold sergeant excused himself on the grounds that he "weren't no gentleman". We could but agree this sentiment.

The shop turned out to contain no less than three werewolves, including the Alpha Male. The human intruder did not last long and for the rest of the game Lord Curr's men were shooting through the back windows and the US Cavalry through the front. There was a single werewolf in number 7 next door who despatched a cavalryman but was shot through the window. By close of play the cavalrymen had despatched three werewolves (excellent pelts) but no one had managed to get the Alpha Male and so the shop was not searched.

Meanwhile, the Servants of Ra were making a move on the public house. Sairah was in first and found four of Lord Etherington's outdoor staff having a convivial beverage. Unsettled by her interruption, three of them quickly had her up against the wall (oooh eer, missis). They struck first but their clumsy blows failed to register on this slippery customer. Sairah struck back and generously spread her attacks amongst all three. In one phase she felled two of them (first time I had seen this, the Egyptians had been looking at the rule book - typical foreign trickery this, reading the rules!). As the Egyptians continued to come in the back door the US Cavalry came in the front and a terrific scrap ensued. The highlight, as ever when it comes off, was the mesmerism of the Indian Scout who promptly stabbed the corporal to death. We did chuckle, bloodthirsty souls that we are. This left the cavalry leaderless.

The bright shiny Black Dragon Tong insisted on separating and allowing the Anarchists to mob them one at a time with foreseeable results. The main Chinese characters headed for her imperial majesty but were beaten there by the Servants of Ra. The Yeti came forward and a cultist raised his pistol ("shouldn't bother old boy, you need a ten to hit him and then a one or two to kill. A three will simply enrage him!"). Suffice to say the Yeti dropped dead so we never got to see a Berserker in action. From this high point things went downhill for the Tong as their main men and women were felled successively. They ended the game with just the Tong Lieutenant who had Queen Victoria in his care but about to be mobbed by the Anarchists. Did I mention that Her Majesty could only move 4" and certainly not run in her frail condition?

Otherwise the Anarchists killed poor old Florence the Cook (lickspittle of the aristocracy) despite her fearsome reputation with the rolling pin. They found she had been guarding genuine top secret documents. After that they seemed to play a much more positional kind of game and ended up mob-handed to 'rescue' our glorious queen. Suggestions that Her Majesty gave them permanent protection against the police force are a grave slander as will be seen when the official papers are released in a hundred years or so. No, I am quite certain that these upright citizens restored Her Majesty simply out of a sense of duty and reverence.

So we had a definite victor to the proceedings but as most of my readers will know the game's the thing rather than the result. Why, I have not even had time to mention the two cultists who walked out in front of the penny-farthing but were saved by their pluck from a treacherous tumble. Nor yet the several bottle grenades that fell in the gutters and were extinguished as opposed to the flare up in the church. And certainly nary a word concerning Belcher the butler, the real leader of Etherington's mob, who positioned himself in the centre of Number 2 with naught but soft furnishings for cover. Despite this he shot down various Incorrigibles who were taking hard cover behind doorways and windows and was still standing, imperturbable as ever, when the smoke cleared. "Time for a sherry, sir. I must apologise for the bullet hole in the glass".

What, if any lessons were learnt? The games did take longer than I had anticipated but not excessively so for so many new boys at the school of IHMN. The new boys also confirmed what we second years already knew, which is that there is a fearsome amount of fun to be had. The owner of the US Cavalry is looking to use the rules for a skirmish with his Indians (once he paints them). "Water bullets" looks to be a very historical ability (Stephen Ambrose mentions this kind of thing in his book on Crazy horse and Custer) and the scenarios are endless - rescue the settlers, escort the wagon/gattling gun, night time raid on the fort etc etc. But I am wandering off the track.

As gamemaster I had lots of fun and still had a number of rooms unsearched and protectors undeployed at the end of the game. There were 18 documents to be picked at random of which 12 were dummies. By close of play probably a dozen had been uncovered but only one was the real thing. The upstairs rooms of the pub had not even been explored once (extraordinary place to find a pack of wolves or even Lord Etherington himself - I say old chap, are you wearing a monocle or is it one of those new-fangled monocular targeting arrays? Marvelous how small those Germanic chappies can make 'em, what?).

Regards and a Happy New Year to All
Tim

[wulfgar22]

Splendid, old chap. Damned good show!

[timt]

I'm afraid that is not all. After technical assistance from a daughter we even have some poor quality pics.
1. After the first turn - the pub already has its top off and first floor out. In the top centre Mohan Singh can just be made out and top right we see the resulting dead cavalry officer.
2. Servants of Ra and Black Dragon Tong converge on her majesty's stricken landau. Careful with that revolver Mr Cultist, you could take a yeti down with something like that. The penny-farthing cyclist is oblivious to everything other than keeping on.
3, The picture is blurry but this is positive proof of Lord Curr at close quarters with Polly the Maid. Strange that he has his back to her.
4. A gent hails a passing hansom cab but it has a passenger already and does not stop with all the flying lead.
5. The passengers on the charabanc patiently await the horses, seemingly oblivious to the Incendiary beside them
6. Queen Victoria led away by a cultist while the mummy holds off pursuit. Watch out! There's more Tong coming through the graveyard.
7. Towards end of play and it is clearly carnage out there.

[wulfgar22]

  Great set-up!

[Chairface]

Wonderful table!

[timt]

Thanks for the kind words. A bit of encouragement after one's first AAR (even one "of sorts") is appreciated and may even lead to more being inflicted on the hapless forum membership.