Staffsburg - The Final Word

A final few pics from that most memorable game staged at Stafford Games last Saturday, with Steve Morgan from Warlord Games hosting an encounter with his "Pike & Shotte" rules.

I bought a set and I have the apparently similar "Black Powder", but have not played them, and this was my first outing with this new set. I must have enjoyed it, as I have another bash set for 24th May, though no doubt a lot smaller in scope.

I am not really one for rules reviews, as I find a lot of what people write in such things to be highly subjective, but I may throw one in at some point based on my experiences with P&S. I am as happy buying a good £30 rulebook as I am playing a set typed on a couple of pages of A4 - if I like it, I like it. I object to jargon, I like rules to feel right, I like good English, I can cope without a detailed index, but it is useful to have one, and I don't like silly little things introduced just to be different, such as centimetres instead of inches in an otherwise very similar set of rules........and I detest power gamers, so any set that allows skirmishing crossbowmen to overpower a game is WRONG! (There is a very recent story to that comment, but maybe some other time!)

Anyway, without further ado, here are the "final few pics" referred to above.

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The hedged lane, forming the centre of the Imperialist position, lined with commanded shot and backed by a sizeable reserve who had the good grace to exit stage left and allow the centre to be breached far more easily than we had thought it could be when the game started!

The bridge, more commanded shot and my culverin in the dubious care of the Imperialists.......it was the first thing to die!

John's command (horse and commanded shot, to the left of the lane) alongside Yorkshire Steve's, to the right of the lane up to the stream.

My command to the right of the stream, our tiny reserve and Andy's horse to the right of the farm. The low-flying hot air balloon in the foreground is Andy's head.

John's cavalry clash against Trevor was a close fought thing, but the Protties (to the right of the picture) edged it.

The manor house, mine for the taking - if I ever managed to get any troops to move!

The bridge again, the Imperialists faling back under severe pressure and the bridge's nemesis at the foot of the picture in the form of a big barrel of powder.