It was a weekend to hang out with daughter #1, Maja. Most of the time was an evening at the Wilkes-Barre Hight School production of Grease that her friend had a part in and a meal at Maja's favorite Thai restaurant, but there was enough time to get some gnomes moving on the table in the apartment.
Alternative Armies recently released a new scenario for their Flintloque rules and figures. While I never got into Napoleonic Fantasy, I'm always intrigued by how they would work for Gnome Wars.
This is that story:
After the early engagements of the Wishing Well War (WWW), the first "modern" war of the gnomes, but before the forests were razed and replaced with trenches, it was every unit for themselves. Many of the Sikh units jumped sides when supplies, ammunition, and money disappeared. Many went rogue, or "Independent" and scavenged what they could until a side decided to hire them, or they could find a way home.
It was also during this time that the German industrial war machine's mechanical prowess was so dominant, that it actually poisoned the forest. Some of the oil and chemicals leeched into the soil, killing many trees. Much ran off into streams and rivers, making the water undrinkable, but enough worked further below the surface, poisoning aquifers and ruining wells that had been essential for the survival of the troops. The search for clean water was a focus during this part of the war.
The 17th Independent Sikhs found a pure well in a farmstead deep in the forest. Historians are unsure what happened to the seven gnome farmers living there, but rumors still persist that one gnome, a mute, managed to escape and were more than Happy to tell the Swiss what had occurred.
Portions of the 1st Swiss Reserve and the 9th Swiss Rangers were dispatched to disrupt the Sikh occupation quite violently and secure the clean water supply.
Goals:
17th Independent Sikhs: So long as one figure is alive within 10" of the well pump, the Sikhs win.
1st Swiss Reserve: Seize control of the well pump with more than 50% of troops. If standing (non-wounded/killed) troops levels drop to 50% or below, the unit routs.
9th Swiss Rangers: Seize control of the well pump with more than 75% of troops. If standing (non-wounded/killed) troops levels drop to 75% or below, the unit routs.
The Swiss do include one Swiss Bernard Medic in each unit, and the Sikhs don't use medics, so adjusted the original objective to include fallen comrades before the medic phase.
Extra Rule #1: the Swiss can traverse the harvested field (no cover) or use the full field of wheat (no line of sight to fire). However, any figure activated in the wheat field will roll a die. On odds, they may proceed as normal, but on evens, they stop and enjoy a hidden respite for one turn. This effect only happens once per figure, and when/if it occurs, the figure no longer rolls if they remain in the field.
Extra Rule #2: Maximum move on the hill is 6". Figures may move 6" and still fire.
The Sikhs were still searching the grounds, using the well pump, when the rangers surprised them at the same time the Swiss emerged from behind haystacks. They scrambled to secure cover and form a line to defend against both attacks.
The 9th Rangers had snuck in through the woods, but were quite disorganized, trying coordinate the attack.
The Swiss Reserves split up, the Captain taking a group across the barren field, while the Sergeant led his group under the cover of the wheat field.
The Sikhs inflicted the first casualties on the Rangers, wounding a few that were too close to the edge of the tree line. But as they reloaded, the dreaded Limburger Greandier threw their stinky cheese with precision, knocking the one Sikh out of line, and sending him scrambling away.
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| Not one, but TWO cheese attacks sends the Sikh running. |
The Sikhs holding the line against the Reserves were crack shots from a distance against the ones charging across the open field. The volley fire, and the lead scouts in the wheat field freezing up at the sounds of gunfire,put the rest of the unit in peril.
For the Sikhs against the Rangers, they finally got a clear shot and volley fired.
The +1 for volley fire was negated by the woods, so they still only needed a 3+ each to hit. This was catastrophic
The Rangers threw a larger volley of cheese at the Sikhs, disentigrating the line, finally firing at the scattering Sikhs and moving in.
The Swiss St Bernard for the Reserves managed to recover two the wounded in the field. The Sikhs continued their focus on the Reserves as they took shelter behind a nearby mushroom house on fire.
All the Reserves traversing the wheat field eventaully felt the urge to simply hide for a moment, while their comrades were barely surviving a hail of bullets. One shot even got the good Captain, and he could not be saved.
As the wheat field Reserves finally emerged, they quickly killed two Sikhs, disrupting their line and volley fire, forcing the at least two to find a new defensive position behind a cart. The two Sikhs behind the hay bales did manage to kill two Reservists, which forced the surviving Sergeant to consider retreat (six of eight possible casulties).
On the next critical turn, the remaining Sikhs came in last in initiative. The Rangers mopped up their scattering Sikhs while the charging Reservists dispatched their enemies at the hay bales.
The last two survivors retreated to their last stand, the well pump, an mixed group of Swiss engaged them in viscous hand-to-hand.
Outnumbered 5-to-2, one of the Sikhs quickly stabbed two Swiss, but he Sergeant attacking from the rear doomed them.
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| I shall name this well after my first daughter, Aquafina! |
With a slightly smaller hill, and a set-up using the stuff I could grab first, the scenario works. I would move the woods back a bit and remove the Swiss medics for a manic game. I may also return to the scenario to see how Swiss tunneling would affect it.
As I peruse the Gnome Wars rules, there are no special rules for the Sikh Officer figure that was available. Treat the Sikh Officer as a regular Sikh. They do not have to roll for morale, so his presence in the unit appears to be merely perfunctory.
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