Rescue the Duke!

Well, finally had the first game of the year at the club this week, which was actually one of the games from last year that was postponed due to the inclement weather, namely the scenario I had thought up loosely based on the old 'Baggage Train' scenario.


Dave K, my regular Renaissance adversary took the mantle of the English, rescuing their captured Duke who is being escorted through rough country to the local seat of power to be 'interrogated' by the indigenous Spanish forces.


Simple terrain a winding road end to end of the table with a reasonable assortment of difficult terrain and soft cover where the rescuers had picked as being to ripe spot for a rumble. The forces were roughly equal in both numbers and points (using the old Sword & Pistol Rules), the Spanish having the edge in training, the English in missile power.


The Spanish need to get the prisoner to the opposite end, the English to either long edge intact, if the prisoner is killed then it's a draw. Fairly simple.


In the end the missile fire early on disrupted the Spanish sufficiently and caused a ripple of wounds which tipped the edge in the inevitable melee. Both sides having a few fleeing the field and some slumped bodies lying by a lonely road side but in the end the English managed a daring rescue and I'm sure were suitably rewarded by their magnanimous lord who no doubt allowed them to continue their service in a foreign field until they died of scurvy.


Next time for a replay, the Spanish will have a bolstered number to allow for the ambush that's coming and to give them a bit more of a chance. Also, the rules are a bit flat so we intend to use a slightly adapted version of the Retinue Medieval Skirmish rules which definately give the game a bit more flair. Still, good to get the year off to a bloody and thoroughly violent start.

Spanish Arquibusier (Mid 16th Century)