Midshire Game 3: A Game of Hang the Friar...

The Anarchy in Midshire: Game 3

Scenario 8: Heroic last stand 
Location 10: Cold Keep 
Random Encounter 13:  Friar Feck    

Factions:
5 Robbing the Hood  vs 
6 The Sheriff of Midshire and Much Rutting 

Rewards
6AP  +  Addition to retinue Personal Priest (10)

5.   Robbing Hood, a woodland outlaw leader of the Mincing Woods, and his lieutenant Scarlet Willy. 12 Points

6.   Squire FitzQuilp - the twisted Crookback, Sheriff Of Much Rutting, obsessive tile collector. 6 Points (plus 3 additional points for this scenario)

d20	Missions cards	Location	Random Encounters
1	A taxing afternoon	Feltup	Enemy Character+ Retinue
2	Street Fight	Much Rutting	Enemy Character+Retinue
3	Peasant revolt	Lower Tosser	Enemy Character+Retinue
4	Robbery with Violence	Long Winkle Hill	Mercenary Band
5	The trap	Potter's Knob	Mercenary Band
6	The Border raid	The Midden Bridge	Wolf's head Outlaw Gang
7	Bloodfeud	Nether Quarters	Ancient Quilp, Hermit
8	Heroic last stand	Great Juggs	Master Grasping, Merchant
9	Find the Lady	Pratt's Bottom	Mayor of Much Rutting
10	The Convoy	Cold Keep	Edward de Farthingdale
11	Coup de main	Fircombe	Abbess Audrey, Great Juggs
12	Assaulting the breach	Lower Cocker	Witch of Long Winkle hill
13	Burning the Camp	Grope	Friar Feck
14	The strategem	Spanker	Grumpy old John the Archer
15	Royal Justice	Slippery Bent	Old Mother Paxman,
16	In Extremis	Dribbly Rump	The homely Abbess Griselda
17	Vanguard Clash	Upper Midden	Minstrel Eric O'Clapton
18	Royal Writ	Ball's Cross	The King's Marshal
19	Royal Writ	Mincing Woods	The Bishop of Winchester,
20	Royal Writ	The Town of Midden	The Earl of Pembroke

Royal Writ (Missions issued by the King or the Empress)

1  Protect the Messenger

2  Capture the Fugitive

3  Send monies to the Royals

4  Provide troops outside the County

5  Lay siege to or Capture...

6  Break the siege at...

Rewards

Additional Retinue - Awarded for winning skirmishes
1	Minstrel	7	Loyal Old Sergeant
2	Artillerist	8	Master bowman
3	Scribe	9	Master Huntsman
4	Fool	10	Personal Priest
5	Mercenary Captain	11	Reeve
6	Herald	12	A lady heiress

Running totals		Retinue
The Earl	24	Herald, Heiress.
The Bishop	24	Fool, Artillerist
Lord Rollo	18	Reeve
Mercenary Band	12	Reeve
Scallywag Outlaw	12	Minstrel
The Sheriff	6	Herald.

Terrain generator

This game is tied to the campaign map but some surprise terrain will add to my fog of war.  I'm using just one of these on the battlefield.

1.       Rough - Marshy bog,
2.       Rough - Deep snow , or muddy field
3.       Obstacles - ditches, 
4.       Obstacles/Roungh - More Trees, 
5.       Obstacles - Walls
6.       Obstacles - Stream

5. Walls.  Turns out that Lower End has had a palisade erected around it to join it to Cold Keep.  The Sheriff intends to use Cold Keep as a bastion to keep the woods clear of Outlaws.

The Game

The Hood's Gang
Robbing Hood's crew. Bidowers @4
Willy Scarlet's crew. Bidowers @4
Big Little Joan's crew. Bidowers @4
(To prevent Bidowers dominating in my games I generally reduce them to six dice.  The Hood's men however shoot and fight at full strength so I charge him double)

The Sheriff's Knights
Sir Gui of Seaburn - Heroic Knight @1 
Sir Gui's Conroi 6 Foot Knights @6
Crossbowmen (a half unit of 6) @2

Game Narrative

Friar Feck has been drinking in a Tavern in Lower End.   He was arrested whilst sozzled and the Sheriff intends to hang him as an outlaw.  Its only a matter of time before either the Bishop or the Outlaws turn up to free the boozy sweary Friar.

(and yes, I am fully aware that in 1139 none of the mendicant orders had been founded and therefore he cannot actually be a friar, but he is a Priest and in the Midshire accent the Norman French "frere" is pronounced friar... probably)   

The Game 

The Sheriff has arrived at Cold Keep and met with his right hand man Sir Gui of Seaburn.  They intend to hang the friar at noon in the castle bailey.  
The outlaws have come from point B on the map and begin on the long table edge opposite the Motte and Bailey.  They have a difficult job ahead of them.

Early morning at Cold Keep Manor.

With the full Motte and Bailey 50% complete I'm improvising.

The Sheriff packs his diminished unit of crossbowmen into the keep.  His Men at Arms surround the Friar

And the Bidowers of the Hood's outlaw gang scamper through the trees towards the bailey.

The Hood and Big Little Joan lead their men through the woods, unseen from the castle.

The outlaws have appeared beyond the road. Too far for the range of the Crossbowmen in the keep

Turn 3.  The gallows goes up.

Little Joan's group shoot.  Pretty poor at foot Knights behind a palisade!

The Hood's men are also pretty poor at shooting.  They need 5 hits for a single casualty behind that palisade wall.

Scarlet Willy and his boys come closer and the crossbows from the keep hit them hard.

Willy retreats to the woods.  It's all down to the Hood and Little Joan now.

The Sheriff redeploys his crossbowmen to the wall of the palisade.

The Hood kills one of the Sheriff's Knights.  This will be a close thing!

The Crossbowmen kill off some of Big Little Joan's men

A lucky bolt gets Joan.  Well he was a big target.

The Hood's men struggle to do any better.

Those crossbowmen perform well.  A good investment.

The last turn.  Up he goes.  A sad end for an awful man...

Running totals		Retinue
The Earl	24	Herald, Heiress.
The Bishop	24	Fool, Artillerist
Lord Rollo	18	Reeve
Mercenary Band	12	Reeve
The Sheriff	12	Herald, Priest
Scallywag Outlaw	6	Minstrel

1039 Midshire: The Bishop at Slippery Bent

The Anarchy in Midshire: Game 2

The Factions

1.   Hugh Biggot Earl of Midshire. Controls the the great coastal fortress of Bumburgh. 24 points

2.   Bishop Phallus de Farthingdale, of Midshire Minster. 18 points

3.   Lord Rollo de Nestlé , of Castle Grope. 18 points

4.   Odo Tanville, Mercenary Captain. 12 Points

5.   Robbing Hood, a woodland outlaw leader of the Mincing Woods, and his lieutenant Scarlet Willy. 12 Points

6.   Squire FitzQuilp - the twisted Crookback, Sheriff Of Much Rutting, obsessive tile collector. 12 Points

d20	Missions cards	Location	Random Encounters
1	A taxing afternoon	Feltup	Enemy Character+ Retinue
2	Street Fight	Much Rutting	Enemy Character+Retinue
3	Peasant revolt	Lower Tosser	Enemy Character+Retinue
4	Robbery with Violence	Long Winkle Hill	Mercenary Band
5	The trap	Potter's Knob	Mercenary Band
6	The Border raid	The Midden Bridge	Wolf's head Outlaw Gang
7	Bloodfeud	Nether Quarters	Ancient Quilp, Hermit
8	Heroic last stand	Great Juggs	Master Grasping, Merchant
9	Find the Lady	Pratt's Bottom	Mayor of Much Rutting
10	The Convoy	Cold Keep	Edward de Farthingdale
11	Coup de main	Fircombe	Abbess Audrey, Great Juggs
2	Assaulting the breach	Lower Cocker	Witch of Long Winkle hill
13	Burning the Camp	Grope	Friar Feck
14	The strategem	Spanker	Grumpy old John the Archer
15	Royal Justice	Slippery Bent	Old Mother Paxman,
16	In Extremis	Dribbly Rump	The homely Abbess Griselda
17	Vanguard Clash	Upper Midden	Minstrel Eric O'Clapton
18	Royal Writ	Ball's Cross	The King's Marshal
19	Royal Writ	Mincing Woods	The Bishop of Winchester,
20	Royal Writ	The Town of Midden	The Earl of Pembroke

Royal Writ (Missions issued by the King or the Empress)

1  Protect the Messenger

2  Capture the Fugitive

3  Send monies to the Royals

4  Provide troops outside the County

5  Lay siege to or Capture...

6  Break the siege at...

Rewards

Additional Retinue - Awarded for winning skirmishes
1	Academic	7	Loyal Old Sergeant
2	Artillerist	8	Master bowman
3	Scribe	9	Master Huntsman
4	Fool	10	Personal Priest
5	Mercenary Captain	11	Reeve
6	Herald	12	A lady heiress

The Game So far		Retinue
The Earl	24	Herald, Heiress.
The Bishop	24	Fool, Artillerist
Lord Rollo	18	Reeve
Mercenary Band	12	Reeve
Scallywag Outlaw	12	Academic
The Sheriff	6	Herald.

Game 2.  The dice:

2.    The Bishop  
6.    The Sheriff   
9.    Find the Lady 
15.  Slippery Bent  
11.  Abbess Audrey of Great Juggs


Terrain generator

This game is tied to the campaign map but some surprise terrain will add to my fog of war.  Using one of these on a battlefield.

1.       Rough - Marshy bog,
2.       Rough - Deep snow , or muddy field
3.       Obstacles - ditches, 
4.       Obstacles/Roungh - More Trees, 
5.       Obstacles - Walls
6.       Obstacles - Stream

The Game

The Bishop's Retinue
The Bishop's Conroi - x 6 Mtd Knights @6
Feudal Knights - x 6 Mtd Knights @6

Foot Yeomen Spearmen - x 12 @3

Crossbowmen - x 12 @3

The Sheriff's Knights
Sir Gui of Seaburn - Heroic Knight @1 
Sir Gui's Conroi 6 Mtd Knights @6
Foot Sergeants - x 12 @ 2 (Inferior)
Bowmen - x 12 @3 (Inferior)

Game Narrative

Abbess Audrey of Great Juggs has been abducted from her Nunnery by the twisted, vile, hunchbacked and leprous Fitz-Quilp, Sheriff of Midshire and Much Rutting.  (The Sheriff has taken to wearing a golden mask to hide his ugly face)

The Bishop has vowed to put a stop to Fitz-Quilp despoiling Nuns.  That's his job!  He is more concerned about rumours that the Sheriff is building a Motte and Bailey castle at Slippery Bent.  In the Name of the Empress the Bishop must put a stop to this and rescue the Abbess of Great Juggs. 

The Game 

The Skirmish at Slippery Bent

Sheriff Fitz-Quilp, the vile, leprous, twisted, hunchback in his golden mask!  Turn One.  Refuses to move!  Double 1 means I have a roll for a character to appear on table.  Instead I choose Abbess Audrey since she is indicated in the setup.

With his bowmen in the bailey and a strong group of Foot Sergeants to his left the Sheriff must feel secure.

Abbess Audrey dressed as a gnome.  She was once a strapping Lancashire games slinger so it may be an improvement.  A little too much milliput in the chest area, but she is the Abbess of Great Juggs.

And he refuses a second time!

The Bishop's retinue moves up to the hedge line, crossbowmen to the right, the Conroi to the left.  

But the Sheriff refuses again, on a double 2

The Foot Sergeants move to protect the Sheriff 

And its a firm course today at Slippery Bent as the Bishop and his retinue are up... and over the first fence.  

And yet again with the same double 1.  Three doubles none of them any use.  No doubting the quality of the Sheriff.

The Bishop gets stuck in.  To no great effect.

The Bishop's crossbowmen use the hedge to fire at the bowmen behind the palisade.  Very successful!

Finally the Sheriff moves and cowers behind his Foot Sergeants.

The Bishop;s remaining retinue crosses the hedge line

Took a risk here, the Crossbowmen advance on the palisade.

The Bishop's Knights get stuck into the Sergeants again.  

A devastating charge that sweeps away the Sergeants...

The Sheriff bugs out.  "Flee, flee, the Bishop is upon me!"

The Abbess is abandoned by the Sheriff, and must return to her day job... of being a Gnome lookalike

The Bishop is rewarded with 6 extra AP, bringing him to 24.  He also has an Artillerist added to his retinue (a roll of 2)

The Sheriff is reduced to a total of 6 AP and is in some straits.  He must wait to rebuild his forces and hope that he is not picked on again.

Running totals		Retinue
The Earl	24	Herald, Heiress.
The Bishop	24	Fool, Artillerist
Lord Rollo	18	Reeve
Mercenary Band	12	Reeve
Scallywag Outlaw	12	Academic
The Sheriff	6	Herald.