The latest in our test games for "Cutlass" was a faster flowing affair than our previous scuffles. Bradford John (6 feet plus of long-haired, bearded Yorkshireman), Sporty Becky (5 feet plus, long-haired, unbearded, almost twelve years old, second child of G) and yours truly entered from various points of the table, intent on getting to the central house to loot it. In our way stood Nephew Nick's (6 feet plus of short-haired, bearded South Staffordshireman) crew, dotted around the table on sentry duty (not that you would know it as they could not see a thing......)
I mosied up to sentry number one and shot him, he ran, so I ran him through! Sentry number two followed soon after, but the musketeer in the ruined shack was of sterner stuff and put up a longer fight against two of Monkey Pete's (i.e. my) crewmen. But the alarm had been raised by sentry one before he died, so the game was on!
Becky (Monsieur de Fense de Fumay) ignored everyone and marched straight up to the house, past all the sentries and my sluggish landlubbers, opened the back door and went in to search for loot. If she had remembered to light a candle, she might have found some too, but six turns later, the gold came to light at last, not before John had wiped out all bar one of the remaining sentries and had reached the house himself and I had moved round the back, shooting at de Fense de Fumay's crew on the way, and set fire to the place!!!
Out ran de Fense de Fumay and a henchman and Monkey Pete chased off after him, but not before an encounter with Captain John, who had sneaked up and tried to harm poor, innocent Pete. Pete did the only thing he could and stepped over Captain John's body.........
With both John and Nick out of the game, Monkey Pete caught up with de Fense de Fumay and took him down, but the Frenchman's crew had caught up too and a bloody buckling of swashes swung back and forth. Tired and in need of a shot or two of "victuals", the Frenchies and Monkey Pete's finest agreed to split the loot and call it a day.
Huzzah for fair play and honesty!!!!! And who said "crime doesn't pay???? With John bemoaning the "family gang up", we packed up and left for the night. Don't mess with Don G! Or Monkey Pete!!!
Familiarity and better clarity of the rules following rereads and play testing meant this game flowed more quickly than before, even with Becky being a new player and not at all used to wargames. They will get more outings in the near future as we try more of the printed scenarios from the book and, no doubt, a few of our own.
The major plus point for me??? Monkey Pete can hit a bull's botty with a banjo, unlike his (late)predecessor.
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