Battle In The Woods

So last night was (a slightly delayed) hobby night, but rather than carry on with the painting I took the opportunity to have a run out with my new models, new woodland mat and new made-up rules.

Aside from a couple of village huts there was no terrain – deforestation in medieval times clearly much worse than historians thought – (giving a huge advantage to the bowmen) but as an impromptu game I just wanted to see how things panned out overall. No special rules or abilities were used, just the bare bones basics… move, shoot, melee.

On the Sherwood side we had the Outlaw Prince and 4 Outlaw Rangers, whilst Nottingham brought a Captain, 2 Crossbowmen and 2 Soldiers with sword & shield. The general objective (if there really was one) was to take and hold the village – 'king of the hill' in the middle of the board.

The game started cautiously as everyone raced towards the huts. On the left, the Prince and one of the Rangers managed a couple of cheeky wounds on a Crossbowman who had not taken adequate cover. Similarly, one of the Rangers on the right wounded and knocked down one of the soldiers with a great shot.

As the game progressed, the Nottingham crew were becoming pin-cushions as they got caught in crossfire. Eventually the Captain got into base contact with the Prince and an almighty battle ensued. Models were starting to pick up wounds across the board, when suddenly the Captain clobbered the Prince and he dropped. Missing their leader it was looking bad for Sherwood, but the Captain was badly hurt and was finished off with a couple more arrows. One of the soldiers managed to kill a Ranger outright and the numbers were dwindling. With two wounded Rangers on one side and a badly wounded soldier left on the other, it was pretty much over. Nottingham had clocked up more King of the Hill points (having been camped in there for two or three turns) but had all but been wiped out by the Rangers.

A lot to take on board after an opening roll of the dice. Some holes in the rules became apparent early on, other ideas emerging later. Exciting times.

The Woodland pvc mat worked well. It provided a great backdrop to the game and, with the addition of a few fences, trees and vegetable patches will be great to game on.

It does slide around on our polished dining table but it didn't move during the game which was good. I may put a table cloth or table protector underneath next time (slapped wrists!).