It's been some while between posts - unfortunately, there hasn't been much opportunity for VSF gaming this year. (Hat tip to Alpini Jeff for the nice piccies.)
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| Downtown Alexandria |
So it was fortuitous to be invited to a playtest of Bob Giglio's most recent Colonial Epic - the Invasion of Alexandria - or as he entitled it "With Fury Unabated". This was a cleverly concocted game with lots of buildings, which made for a lot of fun.
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| Mob Storming the Customs House |
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| Running off a bad lot |
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| An Honest Merchant - or a latent radical? |
In a nutshell, the players take the parts of the British Marines and Bluejackets as they land in 1882 Alexandria in an attempt to rescue European civilians and protect European property from the riotous followers of Colonel Achmed U'rabi.
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| Royal Navy Landing Party |
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Civilians waiting to be evacuated
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| Storming the British Legation |
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| "You are NICKED, my gyp darlings..." |
The ruleset was Bob's Modified "Soldier's Companion II" which addresses some of the perceived shortfalls of the original Soldier's Companion by Frank Chadwick.
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| Yanks having the odd pot shot. |
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| "Right, we'll go round the back..." |
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| "The Flag was still there..." |
The game was, in turn, inspired by the "55 Minutes at Peking" games we ran in the early '90's, which came from an article by the Staines Wargame Club in Miniature Wargames magazine. And there ends our pedigree.
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| The British and Bashi Bazouks defend the Armoury |
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| "There they go, lads! After 'em!" |
(Pictures to be uploaded as soon as we determine whatever blogger's problem is. Three computers, same result. Edit: It was Microsoft's Internet Explorer causing the problem. Typical.)
Post Game Thoughts:
If I were
forced to give a criticism, it would only be in comparison to the pace of the inspirational "55 Minutes at Peking". The Staines wargamers created a hectic, breathless game where the players barter, shout and plead with each other for help, and the referees really ARE out to get you. Bob's game was less frenetic, which might actually reflect the age and temperment of the players, and no harm done.
Bob also added some clever random events, and some events triggered by certain conditions being met. The Khedive arrives if the British can capture the main gate to the palace. Random armed crews from merchant steamers may arrive; bolstering the British or patronising the local wine shop. My own lads at the armoury were assisted by the fortuitous arrival of a band of bashi-bazouks, who assisted in the defense and actually ran off a mob of wrong sorts.
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| Rally to the Khedive! |
In conclusion, this was an excellent game, played to conclusion in about 4 hours, covering an often-overlooked action of a little-gamed conflict. Full marks for originality and research. Well done!
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