Friday, November 25, 2011

Colonial Barracks Report -- Part 4

Here is the final report of my participation in the First Annual Colonial Barracks All-The Sword and the Flame Convention, held back on Nov. 4-7 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  This final group of pictures covers the game I ran on Saturday morning -- The Lion and the Gazelle -- using The Sword in Africa variant of TSATF rules.

And now, without further ado, let us join the trek into Darkest Africa where British led askaris battle rogue bull elephants; white hunters are out for just about any kind of trophy; and Zanzabari slavers try to raid a peaceful village that is protected by the Great Mamubaba, a "witchy" woman.

There is an old African proverb, so I'm told:  "When the lion wakes up in the morning, he knows that he must be the fastest runner in order to chase down his prey to eat and survive. When the gazelle wakes up in the morning, he knows that he must be faster than the lion in order to survive. So no matter which you are, lion or gazelle, when the sun comes up you had better be running - fast!"

The peaceful village of Umbangomango slumbers under the tropical sun.  The chief, Lolomango, meets with a wandering warrior, Larabebe, and his seven fellow warriors about helping protect the village from the depredations of British tax collectors and Zanzabari slavers.

Meanwhile, a part of Allan Haggard's safari encounters an angry hippopotamus as they try to cross the stream.  Can the hunters successfully dispatch the "river horse?"

About the same time, Captain Smedley Bryce-Hopkins, the leader of the askari column protecting the district tax collector, very coolly dispatches a rampaging rogue bull elephant before it can trample some of his askari and himself as well!

Alan Haggard, background, and the second half of his safari party also try to cross the same stream, only to encounter a crocodile.  The mighty hunters quickly dispatch him as well.  The hippo shot by the first half of the safari floats slowly downstream beyond the party of hunters.

A second rogue bull elephant attacks the British column, this time squashing a couple of askari before thundering off into the bush.

As veteran TSATF gamer (and an original play-tester) Jay Stribling (a native force commander) watches, Eric Teuber positions his Ruga-Ruga mercenaries in support of the Zanzabari slaver raid.  In the left foreground, the white hunters advance among the villagers fleeing the slave raid.

Advancing toward the village after learning of the approaching slave raid, Alan Haggard's safari encounters and quickly dispatches two hyenas.

Outside the village, the Zanzabari  slave raiders, assisted by their Ruga-Ruga mercenaries, face off against the warriors of the Great Mamubaba. the "witchy woman."

The game quickly drew to a close, with the native warriors repulsing the Zanzabari slave raiders, the British tax collector entering a virtually abandoned village, and the great white hunters scoring some impressive kills and winning the game.

Before the game began, Lori Brom informed me that my game was one of the ones chosen to award a "BC" (Brom Colonial) medal to the player who exemplified the true Victorian gentleman.  All of the players enjoyed themselves during the game and all were courteous and very gentlemanly in both adversity and plenty.  In true wargamer fashion, we decided that a roll of the die would award the medal.  Jay Stribling, a previous winner, graciously withdrew from consideration.  I rolled a D6 and the recipient was:

Eric Teuber, shown here with Lori Brom, herself.  Eric is an old-time Jackson Gamer and a long time player of The Sword and the Flame.

EDIT:  For additional pictures, please see this posting on the Nomadic Old School Gamer's blog. (edit posted on 12/18/2011)

And that was how I viewed Colonial Barracks.  I hope that you kind readers have enjoyed the brief peeks at the games and will seriously consider joining us next year on the first weekend of November as the Second Annual Colonial Barracks takes place.

5 comments:

A J said...

An excellent report, sir. Much fun had by all, which is the name of the game.

Hmm... the comment word verification has thrown up an interesting one - Buguvula. Sounds like a native village =)

Fitz-Badger said...

Sounds like it was all great fun. I particularly enjoyed this last game report showing a lot of variety with a small number of figures.

Archduke Piccolo said...

That looked like a lot of fun. But the wildlife! Awww. So sad! I even felt sorry for the hyenas 9plastic though they were). It reminds me of the picture in Osprey on the Byzantine Army, with its casket depicting in bas-relief a lion hunt. The wear on the surface gave the poor lion - two arrows already sticking into him - such an sorrowful expression of 'what did I ever do to you?' that I don't know - One feels that it just wasn't sporting, somehow. Yeah, I know: I'm a boring old ... spoilsport... :(

Now, getting in amongst the slavers: way to go!! :D
Cheers,
Ion

ColCampbell50 said...

Thanks for the interest in the reports. The convention was a blast and I am looking forward to next year's.

Buguvula does sound like an African village or region name.

Actually the animals are a mix of plastic and metal. The croc, hippo, and elephants are plastic, but the hyenas (and others I have) are metal. I now have a good variety of African wildlife but still lack a good gorilla and some "in scale" large snakes.

Jim

Fitz-Badger said...

Foundry does various wildlife, including a fairly realistic silverback gorilla. Reaper also does a few gorillas, including a rather large "carnivorous" one, a gorilla-man, and an extra large gorilla. And Bob Murch's Pulp Figures has some "killer apes", which look like the kind of "gorillas" you might see in old B movies.
I'm on the lookout for a good African elephant or two (25-28mm scale). I tend to prefer metal if I can get it, but I should learn to go with plastic, too, if need be.