Thursday, 27 October 2022

Fistful of Lead: Might and Melee

I had a great game of the fantasy version of Fistful of Lead with some of Bodvoc's gaming group. He and I have played some games of Galactic Heroes before, and the other chaps had a little experience with the original Western ruleset, but it was the first time any of us had tried the actual fantasy set.
I provided two human retinues using my Frostgrave collection and Bodvoc made up an Elven group for himself (of course) and a goblin group.  You can read his account here.

The scenario was the first one in the book, where the aim was simply to put as many of the opposition out of action as possible and gain Renown for doing so.

At the end of the first turn my Sons of Empire are skirting the wood held by the elves. A long range crossbow shot from Heinrich Shutz has Shaken one of the goblins who are making their way over the hill. The Norse carefully move round, keeping out of the action for now.

The Sons of Empire wade the stream and take on the goblins in the small wood,

while the Norse assess the situation,


and the elves advance through their wood

Goblins are falling like chaff before the mighty Empire. I even took out the goblin leader.
The elves turn nasty, with unprovoked archery against my men.

The Norse look on, trying to decide where to wet their steel.

Heinrich wounds an elf, purely in self defence. More elves attack my Empire chaps (you'd think they'd welcome my helping rid the woods of goblins), forcing me to decide which was the greater threat

After failing to hit the Norse archer, elf bowman Emyn Lockharn is Shaken in response.

My leader, Heinrich Issacs Balthazar Resinarius turns his back on the remaining goblin to face the elves

The Norse finally decide that the elves present a threat and march forwards

The wounded lady elf charges Heinrich and a long combat begins
Heinrich Issacs is attacked by elves in the front and a goblin to the rear and the Norse move in.

Shutz and the elf continue their fight, in the background the rest of his team slowly fall to the elves and goblins

With the death of Issacs, the elves are whittled down by the Norse

Who also pitch in against the lady elf


Night fell at the end of turn eight, by which time I had one soldier left, Heinrich Shultz.  i think only one or two elves were left standing.  Two goblin rabble and one spear armed goblin slunk off, the latter had taken down Issacs.  All the Norse survived, the benefit of their cautious behaviour early on in the game.

Fistful of lead provided another great fun game, with lots of tense moments and changes of fortune.  I played a '6' several times allowing Shultz to reload and fire in the same turn, and use the relevant queen cards to remove his shock, and one of Issac's  wounds as well.
I'm looking forward to another game, though most of our retinues are a bit weakened, with several troops having to miss the next game, and more than a few have developed unfortunate negative traits.
Having played Frostgrave I do find the post battle injuries a little more punishing, and the cost of replacing lost troops seems high.  Still, it's the same for all of us.  I'll have to think of ways to spend my 9 points of Renown.

6 comments:

  1. It was certainly a fun game and I agree with your assessment of the campaign system.

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    1. Yes, next game most of us will be down to three troops, and I'm certainly without my leader and sergeant

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  2. First off, glad you had fun. As to the brutality of the campaign, Roll better! (Just kidding). I'm of the belief that players do to many one offs where they fight to the death with no consequences. In reality, or fantasy in this case, most Leaders would've bailed earlier knowing that their next fight would leave them depleted. The scenario you picked is the only "fight to the death" one in the book and I reserve it for the last battle of a campaign. Being put Out of Action means you were almost killed (or actually killed). As a commander, you always have the option to save your guys and leave the fight or play a little less aggressive. My son has beaten me on several occasions without a loss by use of something he calls "tactics". Secondly, you always have the option of dumping the campaign rules and playing with your original crew, but to me this defeats the purpose of said campaign. Use those 9 points to hire some mercenaries I say.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to reply on my humble blog.
      We certainly do like the idea of campaigns, and have played many in the past. I guess as a first game, the fight to the death one was a poor choice if we wanted to continue (which we do; as I said, we had a blast).

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  3. haha this was fun to read!!
    props to those figs on them clear bases, every time i try to glue on clear bases i get the residue all over them.
    im getting more figs painted and organize into groups to start up some Melee and Might games soon hopefully.

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    1. I find a pin in one of the mini's feet helps, and it gives something to hold on to for painting. Perhaps I should do a blog showing how I do this?
      Hope you enjoy M&M, we think it's a great game.

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