Why are 20 Blokes Fighting?

[Jagannath]

Hi all,

On the back of my other topic, I started thinking about the reasons behind protagonists fighting in skirmish games. I find that in fantastical situations (fantasy war bands, space patrols, post Apoc Raiders, pulp tribals) it's fairly easy to come up with reasons for games involving 10 - 30 miniatures, less so in more historical backgrounds.

So, I though a nice resource might be brief outlines of situations (be they vague overviews of a conflict or more specific scenarios) that might be the jumping off point for small skirmish projects. Skirmish Gaming-centric history. I for one would like to do something black powder based (for example), but can't find a good basis for collecting 2 small sides. Surely I'm not the only one who gets stuck in this way?

If people are enthused then please contribute an idea below, and I'll add it to this opening post. I thought it might be nice if we themed them around the LAF boards, so to start us off I've added the first one below. As mentioned, I've left off Fantasy, Sci Fi Post Apoc etc. as I think that's already well served on this front. I think we can probably leave out Pulp, VSF and Gothic Horror for the same reason too? We should definitely include ImagiNations and What If's though, where relevant.

Where possible I have linked to the original post too, incase the poster gave more detail.

Age of Myths, Gods and Empires

- Bridge Holding courtesy of Globin http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060367#msg1060367

Medieval Adventures

 - Skraelings raid a Viking encampment having been startled by their escaped cattle.

 - Defeated Raiders, Bandit Hunters, Tax Collectors and Farmers courtesy of v_lazy_dragon http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060236#msg1060236

Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts

 - Pirates at the Inn courtesy of Patrice http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060327#msg1060327

- Briliana Harley and the Brampton Bryan Castle courtesy of Momotaro http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060853#msg1060853

- Border Reivers courtesy of Momotaro http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060869#msg1060869

Age of Big Battalions

Adventures in the Far East

Colonial Adventures

 - Zulu wagon raids courtesy of Cubs: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060153#msg1060153

 - Zulu: Death of the Imperial Prince courtesy of Globin http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060367#msg1060367

Old West

 - The Lawless Old West courtesy of Elbows http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060227#msg1060227

- The Buffalo Wallow fight courtesy of Globin http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060367#msg1060367

The Great War

- Trench Raids courtesy of Globin http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060367#msg1060367

Back of Beyond

Interwar

Second World War

- Resistance attacks courtesy of Globin http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86159.msg1060367#msg1060367

The Conflicts that Came in from the Cold

[Cubs]

Colonial Adventures

This is one I've thought about a lot, being very interested in Zulu War stuff. The problem is, if you're being anything like historically accurate, if you have regular British infantry vs Zulu warriors, the game will probably just look like firing lines vs hordes of natives. If the firing line holds, or the British form square, there's no way for the Zulus to win unless they outnumber 10:1. Not particularly fun for either side.

So, an idea I've had lumbering around is a variation on actions that might have been. You have a lumbering supply wagon column with a small mounted infantry guard. One wagon (the front) loses a wheel and holds up the rest, just as a raiding party of Zulu decide to descend. Fortunately for the British, a mounted irregulars patrol (Natal Mounted Police or Frontier Light Horse, or whoever) turns up to help. The British and Zulu players then have a sliding scale of victory points based on how many wagons the British can get safely off the board (using only the road, because mule/oz wagons won't do cross-country) and how many the Zulus still control by the end. Don't award points for enemy casualties caused and/or remove points for your own casualties (neither side can afford to lose too many men).

This would hopefully prevent it being just a meat-grinder affair and force the British to move about a bit and the Zulus to do more than just try to close and kill.

[Jagannath]

Thanks Cubs - I'll stick it in the list.

I should have added in the opener that whilst I don't think we need fantastical elements because they're well served, 'what-if's' and ImagiNation stuff should definitely count.

[Elbows]

The Old West is easy.  While it wasn't quite as violent as we like to portray in film, justice was often meted out by a few official law officers and posses of do-gooders.  Criminals ranged from genuine murderers and thieves to less awful dirtbags.  It's one of the lawless areas where justice is completely up to the victor (as is history).  Add the fleeing of criminals in the East to the "untamed" West and you have a huge wealth of opportunities for small bands engaging each other and lawmen posses.

A lot of war criminals from the Civil War fled to the West also.  Wayward soldiers plucked out of war into a devastated South often turned to crime as a necessity to eat/survive.  Add private detectives and security agencies tasked with protecting banks/railway lines/hunting fugitives and the possibilities become endless.

Perhaps a Ranch and all of its hands take up arms to fight off a roving group of cattle thieves...or take into the wilderness to find a lost loved one (perhaps taken by indians?).  Industrial sabotage between railroad companies.  Thieves chasing down goods/money shipped by train or wagon/stagecoach, and those paid to protect them.

Add indians (small raiding parties attacking just about anything) and small military cavalry units tasked with countering them and the Old West is possibly the perfect historical "skirmish" game setting.

Oddly this lawlessness is still a thing today in the deserts of the Western United States.  Having worked in law enforcement in Arizona for a good four years, the attraction of remote/hard to reach areas tends to exacerbate criminal activity.  There is very much a "middle of nowhere, do what I want" feel that the desert seems to promote.  The four years I spent there was very much the wild West as I'd grown to understand it historically.  It's a bit mad.

[Jagannath]

Thanks Elbows - another one goes in.

I was tempted to take the Old West out, as it seemed 'easier' than the others to slot some skirmishes in to.

Having said that, I'm glad I didn't, because there's some great ideas there.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Dark ages:
- Following a major defeat, a tattered band of Raiders (Picts, early saxons,  vikings, whoever) try to take over a farmstead to shelter in for the night.

-A noble and his retainers/hearth troops hunt a group of bandits

- The local Reeve is collecting taxes, and someone decides to liberate the money box

-Neighbouring farmers with a blood feud decide to finally settle things one way or the other

[FramFramson]

In all ages there's always an option for scout parties clashing before a big battle or escaping losers fending off pursuers/local enemies (the latter is an additional option if the losers were an invading force) in the aftermath of a large chaotic battle.  

Raids for theiving and such are also something else that can be used across many ages.

For WWII or any other modern war where platoons are the primary infantry movement unit, it's very easy to just have units cut off from a larger battle.

[Patrice]

For a pirate context (and it could certainly be extended to other contexts as well) there are some suggestions on page 7 here (in French, not yet translated)
http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/pdfs/regle-fr-pirates-13-pages.pdf

Very quick (and bad) translation in English:

The Game master/umpire writes some missions on pieces of paper, and gives them (as he wants, or at random) to the players (two or three per player, so each player does what he can). They have to meet and deal with NPCs (miniatures who are already displayed on the game table, in houses etc).

Smuggling:
Bring and sell / or buy and carry out of table: to/from: the innkeeper / the officer of the garrison / the Governor / the priest / etc: bags of tobacco from Virginia / barrels of rhum / barrels of good wine from Europe / a heap of furs from Florida / muskets / a small cannon / etc.

Spying:
Spend a game turn talking (peacefully) with: the innkeeper / the officer of the garrison / the Governor / the priest / the doctor / the prostitute; to exchange information / ask where is the treasure map, etc.

Look for something:
Spend some time digging: near the tallest palm tree on the beach / near the tallest tree in the forest / in the grave of John Whoever in the cemetary / near the wooden cross at the crossroad / in the church, etc; to find something.

Love:
Ravish and carry out of table: the daughter of the innkeeper / mademoiselle Clotirisse the (famous) niece of the Governor / the wife of the doctor / the servant of the officer / the young priest / the prostitute, etc.

Revenge:
Find and kill: the innkeeper / the officer of the garrison / the Governor / the priest / the doctor, etc.

[Rhoderic]

This won't suit the OP's template, but back when I was into Rattrap Productions' "Gloire", I really liked the way that game encouraged "historical intrigues" type storylines/premises for skirmishes, and I think the same philosophy can be applied to pretty much all historical or pseudo-historical skirmish gaming from ancients through to the 19th century. For instance, one Gloire scenario that the game's author devised (set in the 17th century, IIRC) was about a secret, behind-the-scenes dynastic struggle wherein agents for various factions were trying to retrieve an old document that, if made public, might have profoundly altered the European political landscape. It was complete fiction, of course, but highly suitable for a game that sought to emulate The Three Musketeers and similar adventure stories. That kind of premise could easily have worked in (for instance) a medieval skirmish game as well.

I suppose that what I'm getting at is this: Don't just look at pure "military" storylines/premises for why skirmishes happen - it doesn't always have to be about raiding parties, scouting missions, supply-gathering runs for the big army assumed to be camped some distance off-table, or other things of that sort (not that they don't have value, of course). It can also be about agents and operatives for different factions of plotters and schemers, with their respective armed retinues, travelling around on important missions and coming to blows as a consequence of sundry machinations to do with politics, diplomacy, court intrigues and the like. Of course, you can still also throw in some random bandits, raiders, riled-up local peasants/landholders, or whatever.

At one point I was planning to do a medieval skirmish project with this basic approach, centered on the Teutonic Knights in and around northeastern Europe. One of the "warbands"/leagues would be agents of the Teutonic Order (knights and retainers, and maybe a few priestly/scholastic types) pursuing the more delicate interests of the order, and the other warbands/leagues would represent similar groupings from the various other political, "national", cultural or ethnic factions with whom the order had dealings, both Germanic and Eastern European.

I might just revive that project, now I think about it

[Globlin]

Some skirmish ideas from history:

Ancient: Horatius Cocles and his two mates hold the Pons Sublicius bridge against the Eutruscans

Old West: The Buffalo Wallow fight - half a dozen US cavalry and civilian scouts pined down in a buffalo wallow by a band of Comanche and Kiowa

Zulu War: The death of the Prince Imperial

The Great War: Trench Raid scenario? Either to destroy a certain objective (machine gun emplacement trench mortar etc) or capture an enemy officer for interrogation

Second World War: Resistance and SOE attack on a small German unit

[traveller]

I'll go with Globlin 

Isn't the challenge to find a historical setting that fit your needs

Usually history beats imagination 

[Rhoderic]

Isn't the challenge to find a historical setting that fit your needs

To each their own, I s'pose. It isn't what I view as an enjoyable challenge, personally. When I'm drawn to a historical setting, it's because I'm suddenly inspired by it for whatever reason. Only then do I begin figuring out how I want to game it, by the basic principle that where there's a will, there's a way.

[Jagannath]

Thanks for all the above gents.

To each their own, I s'pose. It isn't what I view as an enjoyable challenge, personally. When I'm drawn to a historical setting, it's because I'm suddenly inspired by it for whatever reason. Only then do I begin figuring out how I want to game it, by the basic principle that where there's a will, there's a way.

For me, it's the looser context I find hard as historical conflicts are often incredibly complex and large military affairs. This can make army based gaming quite easy (such and such met such and such in a field and shot each other) but skirmishing difficult. I'm also guilty of liking models and mechanics over the historical source sometimes - I like the Smooth and Rifled ruleset and want to paint Maori, then I find the context later... that's tricky without going very indepth in to a subject (perhaps too much so for 10 models and an afternoons game).

[Patrice]

historical conflicts are often incredibly complex and large military affairs. This can make army based gaming quite easy (such and such met such and such in a field and shot each other) but skirmishing difficult.

In any historical context you can always imagine that a small group of soldiers have been separated from their army and are wandering in the wild. It happened anywhere and even in very big conflicts. So, they have to find a way to survive and/or to get out of the table by some direction...

[traveller]

I agree with Patrice,

If you read a detailed account of a battle you will find a lot of smaller engagements, involving a platoon or even a squad. It would actually be an interesting challenge if you would list actual wars/conflicts instead of periods and ask for references of skirmishes within those conflicts. I am sure I could contribute with a fair number