Over the last few years I've tried my best to run an Easter-themed game with the girls. I've run fairly large battles recreating classic moments of the Zulu Wars (and a classic 40k scenario) using sugary confections as adversaries. This year was not an exception, although we downsized the number of figures a bit.
As our Savage Showdown storyline ended with everyone rescued and looking for new treasures, it was time to borrow someone else's idea and swap out some figures for candy.
Somewhere on Easter Isle sat the ruins of the ancient temple of Kajagoogoo. Rumors of a giant treasure somewhere near it made archaeologists drool for decades, until just recently, when the location of the temple was finally verified. Our heroes (and a cordial adversary) were to play a friendly game of "find the treasure." Unfortunately, the isle's inhabitants didn't get the memo.
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| The temple and its surroundings. Treasure and Encounter tokens are set-up. |
Our Heroes:
Maja Millie: famed archaeologist, with four local mercenaries. Armed only with a knife. Played by Millie (age 5)
Nils Lingonberry: Swedish Adventurer, with four local mercenaries. Armed with a pistol. Played by Maja (age 6)
Our Friendly Villans:
Lt Colonel Thaddeus Ovaltine: former army officer, soldier-of-fortune, and tactless hunter of antiquities. Armed with a rifle He brought five of his "Rough-n-Ready Riders" to scope out the treasure. Played by yours truly (age 41)
Two types of counters were strewn across the board. The twelve clear/white counters were treasure sites. If a player had figures within one inch of the counter, they could make one draw from the treasure cup. The cup had 1 "treasure" and 11 "no treasure" draws. Searching the site removed the counter from the table.
The blue counters were encounter locations. The player with the first figure to get within 6" of the counter would draw from the encounter cup. The cup had five encounter and 7 "nothing" draws. Again, that counter would be removed from the table after the encounter draw.
Turn One:
Maja Millie seizes the initiative and dashes through the jungle.
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| Seriously, the kid got a good draw. |
Maja Millie reached the treasure token and encountered... a giant man-eating Peep!
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| Despite the packaging, this creature was too large to be "Just Born" |
Not to be outdone, Lt Col Ovaltine and his men ran haphazardly through the jungle. One of his men must have snapped a twig a bit too loud, because he awoke a sleeping behemoth from underneath the palm trees...
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| Who needs dinosaurs when we have giant chocolate bunnies? |
Ovaltine saw the beast and did what any smart leader would: He ran away from his men and towards a treasure site.
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| "I go through so many men this way...." |
Our slowpoke Swede didn't want to lose out on all the fun and race to a nearby treasure, only to awaken a colony of vampire bats!
Turn Two:
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| Yumpin' Yimminy! |
While her men futilely tried to figure out how to combat the giant Peep, Maja Millie knew exactly how to take down the monster. She jumped on it's back and bit into its stout neck. Corn syrup spewed everywhere as she hit a vein and the beast fell to the ground.
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| To the victor, the spoils. |
For Ovatline's men, a poor initiative put them in the way of a rampaging chocolate bunny. The Lt Col looks for tough guys that are a good shot, so physical agility is largely ignored. All four in the path of the creature stood there flat footed before they were crushed to death. Only one Rider was left and he couldn't see his fearless leader.
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| Oh, the milk-chocolate flavored humanity! |
Hiding behind some rocks, Ovaltine's search for treasure was fruitless, as was his encounter draw.
For Nils Lingonberry, the bats went straight for his men and gave them no mercy. To add insult to injury, no treasure was found either.
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Turn Three:
Lt Col Ovaltine emerged from the rocks to visit another site, this allowed his lone surviving follower to catch up to him, but a large group of cannibals popped up from out of the tall grass!
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| On an island with candy monsters, human flesh was a healthier option. |
The giant Chocolate Bunny rumbled off the board without any additional harm to anyone.
The bats continued their decimation of the Lingonberry's men, killing one in combat and slaying another who tried to flee. The Swede and his hired Askari merc dashed away to another treasure, only to unleash a pair of giant spiders!
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| Yikes! |
Maja Millie found no treasure at two locations.
Turn Four:
With sounds of gunshots ringing in the air, Maja Millie's team worked their way into the temple, which had two treasure counters and only one potential encounter.
The cannibals chucked many spears at Ovaltine. Between spending Bennies to remove wounds and one to re-roll a failed shooting roll (which still failed!), the Lt Col was running out of luck and started running towards the temple entrance.
The spiders surrounded the Swede's associate but could not harm him. Unfortunately, the askari faired not better. Nils also decided to run into the temple, the vampire bats tailing him.
Turn Five:
While Maja Millie got to the treasure location on one side of the temple, the other side was accumulating terrified treasure seekers.
Ovaltine and his lackey's shooting, with the help of a charging Nils finally stalled some of the cannibals. The vampire bats stopped right at the entrance to the temple.
Turn Six:
Ovaltine drew a Joker which earned him +2 on his rolls PLUS three more Bennies. Abandoning his hireling, he emerged out of the temple entrance, fired his rifle at the cannibals (no effect) and dove over the outer wall towards a treasure token. Two cannibals followed him, but the rest charged into the temple proper, slaying the last Rough-n-Ready Rider.
With no treasure found in the temple, Maja Millie made a desperate dash outside to other locations... before it was too late!
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| Cannibals storm the temple |
Turn Seven:
The spiders finally chase off the Swede's lackey, but he left the board otherwise unscathed.
For Nils, he managed to make a firing line with Maja Millie's mercs and managed to mow down some of the cannibals.
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| Steady, boys! |
Turn Eight and Nine:
Maja Millie's search yielded the treasure AND a giant scorpion! With the help for her merc and Nils, we assumed post-game that they escaped from or killed the scorpion.
The kids had a blast and between the Peeps that didn't make the board and the slaughtering of the giant bunny once it got off-board, they were properly sugared up to go to a hockey game later that night. The best part of the game was Maja's critique. "Daddy, I think we should play with all candy monsters for next year's game, I'll make a list of them for you."
For a look at how a diabetic-friendly version of this scenario played out check out Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog.
Of course, we can't leave without learning the fate of Lt Colonel Thaddeus Ovaltine. Despite a long two-on-one fight with the cannibals, he managed to dispatch both of them, only to uncover no treasure and finding himself alone on the isle, not even his "friendly" competition around. Feeling betrayed, he will get his revenge.
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| I shall get my satisfaction! |
Beer of the Day: I don't usually drink when playing games with the kids, but I did score a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola. Between that and the A-Treat I picked up in the Lehigh Valley over the weekend, I remember what soda should taste like.
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