Happy New Year and an En Garde AAR!

A pictorial and AAR of an En Garde game I played with a pal during the Christmas holidays. Patrick thanks for all the pictures and writing the AAR here:

http://thedesertscorpions.com/x-mas-games/

Happy New Year and a Little Scenario

I wish all you faithful and incidental readers of my blog a happy and fruitful 2017. May you all become annoyingly happy and filthy rich!

And for your perusal a little scenario for En Garde!

Forces:

D’Artagnan has challenged all three Musketeers (in succession) to a duel and has met with them on a square with this intention. En Garde stats are as in the rulebook. All are armed with swords. The four are grouped together near the well.

Some Cardinal’s Guards enter the square to interrupt this and a fight quickly ensues.

Option 1: En Garde stats are Rocheford (General), one Q4 Officer and six Q3 guards. All are armed with swords.

Option 2: En Garde stats are one Q4 officer and five Q3 Guards. Are all armed with swords and pistols

Terrain

The fight takes place on a square. In the middle stands a well. Two laundry lines holding up large sheets cross the square. Several tables-and-stools, barrels and crates are littering the square. One or two carts might provide some additional cover or terrain. Perhaps the odd tree?

Victory Conditions

The Musketeers must kill, dispatch or drive off all the Guards to win.

The Guards must kill, dispatch or drive off all the Musketeers to win.  Musketeers will cease being Fearless as soon as they suffer 50% Critical casualties or at least three Musketeers are Grievously Wounded. .

Brawling

A figure may kick-and-roll a barrel or throw a stool or another piece of small furniture when it is in base contact with the object at the start of the Action.

Throwing stools and other small furniture barrels counts as a Ranged Throwing Attack at -1 to Hit and +1 to Wound.

A figure may kick a barrel towards an enemy. This is also a Ranged attack (pistol Range, -1 To Hit, +1 to Wound). A barrel hit will knock down a figure as well, even if no Stun/Wound is suffered.

Missing barrel attacks are performed with an Artillery and scatter die. The scatter die result is “mirrored” in that the barrel will always roll away from the attacker within his frontal 180 degrees. Any (unintentional) hit will knock down its victim as well.

Laundry

Laundry may be used as interactive terrain with some form of cover. Laundry will of course offer no protective cover, but may obstruct line of sight. Close Combat may take place through a piece of laundry.

Making a Ranged Attack on a figure obscured by laundry suffers a -1 To Hit.

Any Parry performed behind a piece of laundry gains a +1 chance on success.

Any Close Combat Attack through a piece of laundry that fails to hit and yields double scores gets the attacking weapon tangled in the laundry. The Attacker must sacrifice an Attack or Defense chit to disentangle it or –when no chits are left available- use an Action to do so.  If the figure Moves before he can disentangle his weapon, the weapon is lost on that spot.

The winner will, of course, be bedecked with Eternal Glory!

As it turned out we used Option 3: Rocheford, an officer and 4 Guards all armed with swords and pistols, resulting in a narrow win for the Musketeers with Rocheford slipping away at the last moment and all Musketeers wounded but victorious!

Three En Garde scenarios for Barsoom

Squashing the Ladybug

The British Empire stretches her greedy fingers to the Martian kingdoms and their riches. Only recently arrived on Mars, they establish a bridgehe d and decide on a reconnaissance-in-force on Helium territory. The British gunboat HMS Ladybug will sneak into Helium and gather intelligence.

She enters helium at low altitude, maneuvering through –and shielded from curious eyes by- the hills guided by a trio of Green Tharks on Thoats.

The table is a narrow valley, flanked by rocky hills. HMS Ladybug glides along just below the hills’ crest. She is heavily armed for her size with a heavy 2lb gun, two medium Hotchkiss quick-firing guns and two Nordenfeld machineguns. A captain and three crewmen (helmsman, stoker and bosun) serve as crew, a lieutenant and 6 soldiers man the guns and serve as Marines. The three Tharks ride in front of the ship, having refused to board such a hellish contraption. Tharks Do No Fly!

The Heliumites lie in ambush in the hills left and/or right from the Ladybug’s path. They have three light skiffs. Each one may carry three troopers and a bomb. They start in the sky and from the table edge and are assumed to be able to clear the hills with one action, leaving two for movement in their first turn. The Heliumites number 18, including a Jeddak, a Jed and 4 veteran troopers. All are armed with rifles, pistols and swords.

How it played for us: 

The helmsman of HMS Ladybug taken out, she was momentarily out of control ans the skiffs sprung their trap, all from one side. The Hotchkiss guns proved deadly, taking out all the skiffs despite the fact the Ladybug herself became grounded during the battle. Boarding Red warriors were dispatched by the Marines and the Tharks did some slaughtering of their own in the hills. So after a tense hour, Ladybug's crew watched the Reds withdrawing. 

Saving the Princess, Martian style

A Barsoomian Red Princess’ yacht has been shot down by wild Green Tharks, her companions slaughtered and she herself captured. The Tharks have secured her in a hidden temple and are demanding huge ransom. Secretly, she has activated her locator enabling her compatriots to find her.

A small party of 12, armed with rifles, swords and pistols and including a Jeddak and a Jed have located the temple and will attempt to free her.

The temple is situated in the middle of the table. Two Thark guards patrol on the outside. Four Tharks including a Jeddak skulk inside. After the Tharks are deployed, the Reds start hidden in ambush in the terrain all around the temple and may be positioned at will. 

The Thark guard start outside each others line of sight and move randomly on a scatter die+D6” each turn. They will spot any Red within line-of-sight in their forward 180 degree arc. The Reds have Initiative in every turn until they are discovered and may choose to move before or after a Thark guard moves.  As soon as shots are fired or a Thark guard spots a Red warrior, the alarm is sounded and the Tharks inside are alerted.

Misson objective:

Reds: save the princess and escort her from the table alive.

Tharks: prevent this by any means necessary.

How it played for us: 

On both attempts the Jeddak managed to enter the temple and reach the princess. The first time is companion fell and alerted the Tharks. The Thark leader stormed into the cell and killed both the Red Jeddak and the princess. The second time was even more tragic. The princess escaped through the roof, only to fall to her death outside when failing both here climb rolls......

The spy that came in from the dawn

A Zodangan spy has obtained some valuable information from Helium and has arranged a rendez-vous with a Zodangan warship to transfer this info to her masters.

Heliumite security has caught the warship entering Heliumite territory and follows her in the hope of catching the spy. Having spotted the ship near an abandoned watch tower they decide to lie in ambush and wait for the spy to emerge.

Zodanga: The ship is hovering at low altitude and awaits the spy. It is a lightly armed ship with a crew of 12. 

Half the crew is below decks. The rest mans the deck and bridge. The ship will need a manned bridge and a full turn to come into action and plot moves.

The spy arrives riding a Thoat and suddenly emerges from the dark of dawn, two Moves away from the tower. She moves toward the tower, dismounts and climbs toward the ship to hand over her secrets. That is, if nobody intervenes.

Zodangan troops: 1 Jed, 2 veterans and 9 ordinary troopers, armed with swords, rifles and pistols. The spy is a Jeddak and armed with sword, rifle and pistol. The ship, the Last Shadow is armed with four medium pulse cannons. These are loaded from the start of the game.

Helium: the Heliumite troops have three light skiffs. Each one may carry three troopers and a bomb. They start in the sky and from the table edge and are assumed to be able to clear the hills with one action, leaving two for movement in their first turn. The Heliumites have a medium cannon hidden in the hills, ready to fire. There are 18 Heliumites: 1 Jed, 5 veterans and 12 ordinary troopers, armed with rifle, sword and pistol.

Mission

Zodanga:             Obtain the secrets and escape: 1 point

                              Evacuate or save the spy: 1 point

Helium:                Prevent the exchange: 1 point

                              Eliminate the spy: 1 point

How it played for us: 

The spy was shot down from ambush and the skiffs attacked the Zodangan ship. However, its guns proved deadly for them and all were shot down. The Red ground troops failed to reach the spy before Last Shadow activated and moved for perfect shooting positions, negating their cover. The Reds withdrew...

Save the Princess; Barsoomian style & En Garde adaptations for Barsoom

Last night we played a great little game of Barsoomian En Garde! The scenario started as a simple raid on an ancient temple of Issus full of Green Martian Tharks with a hostage princess. 

The temple was truly ancient, since I must have made it sometime before 2000 when I still used cardboard and plaster. The thing has languished in my shed for at least 15 years and even smelled suitably mouldy for an old temple! 

This turned out very dull, as the Tharks were simply shot down when they exited the temple and the final Thark inside killed the hostage. Duh.  

So we turned it into a  tense sneak-and-stab scenario. Two sentries were placed outside and moved every turn on a scatter die + 1d6" movement. 

The Red Martian troops laid in ambush and a select few tried to sneak into the temple through a hole in the roof to extract the princess or protect her during the raid. The Red Martians had Initiative as long as they were unnoticed. The Green Tharks inside the temple did nothing as long as the sentries did not raise the alarm. 

The second game used this adapted approach. One of the two Red leaders (a Jeddak) and a trooper evaded the sentries and tried to climb into the temple. The Jeddak succeeded but the trooper fell and alerted the sentries. 

While the Reds stormed the temple, the Thark leader ran upstairs to the hostage and was valiantly met by the Red Jeddak. Who was subsequently cut inhalf in the following duel. Duh....

The third game showed some improved tactics. Red Martians ambushed all around the temple en the two Red leaders snuck and climbed into the temple. 

Succesfull this time, thanks to their higher Initiative. Once inside, they decided to extract the Princess instead of defending her during the attack and they succesfully made it out of the temple and unto the roof again. As it turned out, a fateful decision....

Unfortunately for the Martian Red royalty, the princess failed to make her climb rolls during the descent (twice!) and plummeted to her death. Damn!




Again, the En Garde rules proved perfect for playing Barsoom with only minor adaptaions shown below: 



























En Garde rules adaptations for Barsoom: 

En Garde! Barsoom Rules

These rules are intended to take the player to the wastes of Barsoom as written about by the great
late Edgar Rice Burroughs. In these stories, Mars is a dry and dying planet populated with exotic and
warlike human and alien races, ancient civilizations and bizarre wildlife. In recent decades these
stories have spawned a lively VSF background which unfortunately is not very compatible with the
original JC stories for various reasons. Therefore there will be some suggestions to stick to one of two specific canons.

Victorian Science Fiction Canon:
This is the most versatile of the Martian universes. Here, like in the Space 1889 backgrounds, Mars is
essentially an unexplored territory where European peoples boldly go where no one has gone before.
They fly to Mars in Aetherships and explore the surface of the Red Planet in caravans and liftwood
skyships, encountering the native civilizations much as European explorers did in the 16th to 19th
century in Asia, Africa and Meso- and South America.

Humans in this universe have no special powers on Mars, beside the fact that they might be
technologically more advanced than most of the Martian natives. These natives are mostly humanoid
beings, some bipedal, some winged, living in city states or tribal structures. Their level of civilization
and technology is comparable to Late Medieval/Early Renaissance Earth. Wargaming on VSF Mars is
essentially a fantasy kind of colonial gaming on another planet.

John Carter or Barsoom Canon
True to the ERB stories, here Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabitants, is much like in the VSF canon.
The Martian races are mostly humanoid, divided into red, white, black and yellow humanoids. Next
to these live the giant six-limbed Green martians, originally constructs of the ancient White Martians,
the current Therns. There are however some essential differences compared to the VSF canon.
First, Mars cannot be reached by space, but only by very rare and inaccessible portals which
transport one’s energy form to Barsoom and transform this into a human body. Few humans manage
to make this crossing, the most famous of whom is American Civil War hero John Carter. Earthlings
on Mars are therefore rare. If not unique.

Second, due to Mars’ light gravity Earth-born humans’ muscles gain greatly enhanced strength that
essentially turn an Earthling into a minor superhero, capable of making huge jumps and other feats
of strength. This effectively prohibits playing with lots of Earthlings, since what fun would playing an army of superheroes be?

Thirdly, the human civilizations of Barsoom are technologically more advanced than contemporary
Earth civilizations. They are centuries old, aided by the much longer lifespans of Martians who can
easily reach over 500 Earth years of age. They employ enormous flying ships, energy sources of
unparalleled power and even have found a way to provide the dying planet with an artificial
atmosphere on which all life on Mars is dependend.

All Martian races are very warlike and adhere to warrior’s codes of honour that proscribe chivalrous
behavior in combat.

Red Martians
The technologically advanced red-skinned inhabitants of the moderate regions of Barsoom populate
a number of city states, among which Helium and Zodanga are the most powerful (and rivalrous).
Red Martians have mastered flight and energy-powered firearms.
Red firearms are semi-automatics and count as rifles and pistols in En Garde! They need never be
reloaded, as they employ tiny, highly energized radium bullets that explode on impact and do a
disproportionate amount of damage to their size.

Red Martians basically follow human stats as used in En Garde!. Red Martians may never choose armour. May be mounted on a Thoat (+10). May use skyships.

The Red Martian stats can be used for the white, black and yellow humanoid races as well. 

Green Martians
The 10 feet tall green-skinned and four-armed barbarians of the Barsoomian wastes and deserts are
feared all over the planet. Massively strong and tough and ferocious in combat they are literally bred
for war, as the ancient white Martians constructed them as artificial warriors and laborers. They
roam the deserts as nomadic tribes on their big Thoats and inhabit the ruins of old abandoned cities
that litter the surface of the dying planet. They war with everyone, including each other, with
barbaric customs like torturing and eating their defeated opponents. They should be viewed as
fearsome adversaries in combat.

Having an inbred knack for military technology and combat medicine, they employ surprisingly
advanced weapons for their barbaric demeanor.

Green firearms are more primitive than their Red counterparts. Rifles are powerful single-shot breech
loaders that need to be reloaded. Due to their size, they are even able to damage flying ships with a -2 modifier. Pistols are simple revolver designs that do not need to reload and are comparable to a red pistol.

Green Martians use human En Garde stats with the following changes: 

Combat Pool +1
Movement Fast
Initiative +1
Shoot +1
Traits: Powerful, Extremely Tough. 

Green Martians may never choose armour. May be mounted on a Thoat (+10). All Green Martians are Extremely Tough. Green Martians never board or use skyships.

Extremely Tough:
· Green Martians gain a -1 on the roll to discard Stun counters.
· They ignore the effects of Light Wounds. Two Light Wounds still make a Grievous Wound.
· Grievous Wounds only cause an effect normally seen with Light Wounds. Any Wound on top
of a Grievous Wound still causes a Critical Wound.

· Critical Wounds have the normal affect.

Battles on Barsoom!!!! Pictures!!!!!!!!

Some action pictures of an En Garde! game taking place on Barsoom: