Tuesday 31 December 2019

Skirmish1 - Let's Have Bacon for Breakfast!


The Prize!  Farmer John & his Pigs...

The battlefield, our trusty 3' x 3' board!
The Rebs come in from the right & the Yankees from the left.

Donald Featherstone's Skirmish Wargaming 


Happy New Year & all that malarkey...!!  ACW Skirmish action using the terrific 'Skirmish Wargaming' by Donald Featherstone.   Another GEM of a book, re-released  & worth every penny.

Each side has a number of figures, each figure can perform 'actions' in the games basic round, called a 'phase'.  A 'phase' covers 5 seconds of REAL Time.  Actions cover Running/Walking/Shooting etc.   One side goes first,  performs Movement, then Shooting, then Melee.  Then the other side goes.

The Skirmish rules use percentile dice for both Missile & Melee.   Each figure has a base total then adds/subtracts modifiers.  You then consult a chart to see if you have hit,  basically the LOWER the score, the better the HIT...  A '01' is the best result.   Depending on the score, a 'wound' is taken, from DEAD right down to minor injury & possibly rounds knocked out.

Do you want to know more.?  Then buy the book...lol

Early in the American Civil War, two forces eye each other up ready for the coming battle.  On the morning of the battle, two rival patrols set out looking for some breakfast & both see a small farm.....  
'MA', doing what farmers wives do....

Two Rebs head off on the left flank,
the bulk of the troops run down the lane.

The Reb 'Sarge' takes the 'Average' troops on the other flank.
Troops are rated 'Veteran', 'Average' & 'Novice'.

Some Yankees head off in the woods.

Nice view of the table

The Reb Officer races forward with his lads. 

The Yankees take up position behind a fence.

The Yankee Officer draws his pistol & takes cover.
While some of the lads run on.

The Rebs take cover on the other flank.

The Rebs Turn & a shot rings out, it's a straight kill.

The Yankees respond!
Two wounds for the Reb soldiers...

MA looks on while the Yank Officer waits for the Rebs to emerge.

"At 'em Boys!"

Farmer John yells curses at everyone..
It's a hive of activity in the centre.

One Reb is out of action for 4 turns, the other one is ready to go.

'Whoop.. Whoop!'

'CCCCHHHAAARRGGGEEEEE!!!'

Another shot rings out.
Poor Cletus as Zeb looks on....

Another Reb is shot!

One Reb soldier engages the Yank Officer.

The Two Reb soldiers turn & fire off their weapons...

'GOOD SHOOTING BOYS!'

The remaining Yankees charges the Reb Sarge...

The Yankee troops take a bead on the Reb Officer...

'PEEEEWWOOOWWWWW'

Looking good on this flank for the Rebs.

The Yankees have it on this side.

It's a fierce hand to hand battle on this side.
If both opponents 'HIT' each other then the round is tied.

The Reb charges the wounded Yankee Sarge.

Two against One!

The Yankee officer knacks the Reb.

Two more dead YANKEES!!!

The Yankee Officer takes a pot shot at the Reb but misses.

The Yankee troops load their weapons.

This Yankee FAILS to hit the wounded REB time & again!!!

In revenge, the Reb charges the Yankee officer...

The 2nd Reb attacks now...

Take AIM....

.....FIRE!!!
...a leg wound & the Reb is out for 2 rounds.

The Reb Sarge shoots the Yank back & kills him. 

Hollywood moment!
AAAAAArrggghh.... YOU GOT ME REB....

...... & again!

The remaining Yankees run for it!!!

Farmer John has some 'negotiating' to do.....
Wonderful game, took surprising longer than I thought, a few hours.   The only pain is having to write down the orders for each soldier (& numbering the model) phase by phase.  Though you could get away with a 'order marker' for each model..  I would say no more than 10-15 models each side will be 'manageable'.

We played this game a few times & the result was close every time.  We will play more games with these rules as they are generic & cover ALL time periods. 
I see Victorian Period games ahead.!!!!

Heretical Gamer Blog==
WW2 Skirmish games using the same rules by 'The DONALD'

https://hereticalgaming.blogspot.com/search/label/Donald%20Featherstone%20Skirmish%20Wargaming

2 comments:

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Love your game reports and the graphics.. Happy New Year... and you've given me the push to hoik out my copy of Skirmish Wargaming!

MrF said...

All the best bud!

Keep up the good work..

Cheers
MrF