will's toy soldier blog: Fistfuls of fun (three different games)

Sunday, 17 November 2024

Fistfuls of fun (three different games)

Arthur and I have had a few games of Fistful of Lead, and are learning some key things from each venture.

We tried the WWII sample scenario from the core rulebook, which features a two five-man teams of soldiers who have been tasked to destroy a bridge while a five-man team of Germans try to stop them. The scenario as written assigns the task to 1944 US soldiers, but we substituted 1940 British Highlanders. The scenario rules allow for the gradual arrival of reinforcements, randomly rolled for so they could be either German or British.

Here is the table. Germans arrive from the top left, Brits from the lower right, and the target bridge is just to the right of the manor house.

Highlanders led by their tommygun-toting sergeant.

And the second team, bringing up the explosives.

Germans arriving on the opposite table edge.

Highlanders take up defensive posture around the manor.

Highland soldier goes down wounded.

Explosives get placed.

Soldier plays a Queen of Hearts to recover from his wound, and then shoots a German!

German sergeant and Highland soldier inflict shock (smoke puffs) on each other.

Whoops, ran out of photos. Quick summary: the Germans generally had the advantage in the fight, but the Highlanders succeeded in setting off the explosives on the bridge. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, about half of them were too close to the bridge and were wounded by the blast!

Key takeaways from this game: each of the soldiers had special traits. We mostly forgot about them! Be certain to have cards written up for each figure on the table, and it's ok for mooks to just be mooks, no need for everyone to have traits.

So we tried another game, this time one that Arthur made up based on Koschei the Deathless, a notorious villain from Russian folklore. Koschei is basically the prototype for the Lich from D&D, an immortal creature who used foul magic to hide his death away in a needle, inside an egg, which is hidden in a duck, which is in a rabbit, and so on. He's also a mighty warrior in his own right. He is supported by Marya Morevna, and a lesser servant. Leading the battle against Koschei was the priest of a small village, plus the local noble and a collection of warriors. Just in case this small force is inadequate to take on Koschei, we decided that once the second joker was played, the famous Three Bogatyrs (Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikivitch and Aloysha Popovich). As it turned out, waiting for the second joker took quite a long time! Next time we need an action to happen, we'll let it happen on the first joker.

The village is to the left, and Koschei lives in the ruined castle on the right.

Character sheets for the three groups.

The villagers set out to find Koschei.

Koschei and his minions emerge to counter the villagers.

Three warriors take on Marya.

But she drives them off.

But the priest steps in and finishes off Marya. Koschei is wounded but recovers at the end of the turn.

Koschei kills the priest but his minion is taken out.

Koschei faces the remaining villagers.

The second joker finally appears, so the Three Bogatyrs come onto the table.

But long before they reach the battle, the nobleman gets a lucky strike in and dispatches Koschei! However, this victory will only be temporary, as Koschei's death is hidden far away, so his corporeal body will regenerate and he will return to terrorise the town again!

And today we played a WWI game. Arthur's friend Oliver came over and this was a chance to teach a new player about Fistful of Lead! In this scenario, 6 Canadian soldiers took on 5 Germans in a bloody struggle for some ruins in the middle of no man's land.