And so the "Aiding The Civil Power"
exercise goes on...
As we left it the Romans had arrived and the various Agitator cadres were ready for the off.....
For the first six or moves so the
Romans do nothing - leaving the various Agitator cadres to get
busy....
The squad from the Home Rule For Galilee (HRG) drum
up support fairly quickly, reaching their "Magic Twenty"
and (after some hesitation) deciding to head for the main square of
the town...
Meanwhile the other groups have also been trying to
pull in the punters - not as successfully, but make low
progress.
(Technical note: once a civilian has been "tested"
to see if they will join a Agitator group, and neither gone home nor
joined the group, they are at once placed next to a barricade, in a
"huddle". These "huddles" class as "units"
if further approached by hostile forces/decisions are needed.)
All
goes well, with - apart from a little heckling between groups at
street corners until the Popular Front also decide to also head into
the main square to garner support from the folk at the barricades.
There is a stand off between the PFOJ and the HRG - and the stone
throwing begins..
(Civilians and Agitators may throw stones,
pots, brickbats, anything that comes to hand: target within 6"
and clear line of sight needed. I throw one dice per thrower per move
(represents multiple throws). To hit throw 5 or 6, then test for
effect; 6 = casualty, 3-5 shock. If target casualty has
armour/shield the test with a saving throw). No ammunition rules;
after all "they've got them up there, lying around on the
ground").
In the north west of the town the PPF and Rose
of Sharon Resistance separate; the PPF leaving the town and heading
for the outlying buildings to the north east. Neither party are
having much luck raising support.....
Meanwhile: in the
square the PFOJ are getting the worst of it. They withdraw to their
headquarters and carry on throwing stuff from the roof; but the HRG
having the numbers and some javelin bods, slings and archers, gain
the upper hand.
After taking casualties, the PFOJ pull back -
heading for the as yet unexploited area of the town by the dye-works.
Rejoicing in their victory, the HRG set fire to the PFOJ
headquarters....
Whether the sight of smoke from the burning
building has prompted it or not, the Romans now move. Their CO has
decided to go for the middle of the table. While the Agitator groups
continue rustling up support (or, in the case of the HRG deciding to
also torch the HQ of the Rose of Sharon Resistance) the Romans
advance closer.
They spot the PPF near the buildings outside
the town and their archer unit moves to cover any approaches from
this quarter. The infantry are sent forward to clear the barricades
so as to allow access for the cavalry.
In the centre of town
the HRG appear stricken with indecision. As the largest group they
are best placed to inspire an attack on the Romans, but instead they
pull back to their HQ..... What are they playing at....?
The
Roman infantry unit splits; one detachment heading into town and
pushing apart a barricade, the other forming up to defending their
line of retreat, as the Rose of Sharonites move towards the graveyard
and start throwing stones and shooting at the cavalry. Some
troopers/their horses go down, but the Tribune in command orders them
to hold.
While all this is going on the PPF decide to engage
the Roman archers - chucking stones, loosing arrows and slinging
shot. The Romans start taking casualties, and the unit commander
gives the order to return fire.
For the next few moves this shooting
match will continue, then the PFOJ will also leave the town and rush
round to flank the Roman archers and also start shooting. There are
casualties on both sides; but the archer commander is determined to
hold his ground, despite fighting on two fronts, while neither
Agitator group has the bottle to close to hand to hand.
Meanwhile, in the town the leading infantry unit enters the
square, soon to be followed by the C.O. and the cavalry; but things
start to unravel.. While the Agitators still in the town (the HRG)
remain on the roof of their headquarters, content to snipe at the
fort, the civilians at the main barricade in the square stand their
ground and the Roman infantry have to go in with their cudgels.
The
civilians are pushed back - but when the (over-enthusiastic?)
auxiliaries reform there is a civilian body on the ground...
Now
the town really erupts - those still in the square and on the
rooftops overlooking the Roman advance start bombarding the Roman
troops with rocks, pots and bits and bobs. Infantry and cavalry
troopers start going down (unlucky dice - or are the townsfolk,
remembering Abimelech, chucking millstones now).
But the C.O. is
determined to finish his mission; The cavalry form up in the square
while the infantry push a gap in the main barricade. With the relief
column in the square the fort occupants "test" and come
out. There is still some desultory rock-chucking from the crowd, but
this has little effect.
Outside the town the archers are
still involved in their indecisive fire-fight with the PPF and PFOJ,
but the ROSR now take the bull by the horns and charge out from the
graveyard to assault the small infantry unit guarding the line of
retreat from the town.
There is a sharp tussle. Some of the
auxiliaries fall, but the Agitators suffer worse, and are pushed
back. This seems to break the spirit of the Rose of Sharon
Resistance, as they pull right away, and make no more sorties
(missile or hand-to-hand) against the Romans for the rest of the
game. Meanwhile, the PPF pull away from their battle with the
archers to lick their wounds. They, likewise, seem to have had
enough.
The cavalry, the rescued folk from the fort and the
leading infantry unit exit the town and form up. The wounded are put
onto makeshift litters and the whole force moves off towards the
board edge from whence they originally came. The archers also reform,
as the PFOJ pull back slightly, and move to act as flank guards to
the main body. The PFOJ will shadow the column as it withdraws, but
does not engage as the Romans, their charges and wounded, leave the
field....
Game over.... Well, almost....
Back in the
town the Home Rule for Galilee cadre wake up again, now consisting of
twenty nine fighters they decide to torch the HQ of the PPF then take
over the fort......
If it weren't for the dice decisions it
would be easy to think that THAT (gather support, avoid the Romans,
humiliate the other cadres by burning their HQs and taking over the
fort; leaving themselves as the most powerful group in the town) was
their plan all along.....
Well, that was cracking fun... I ended
up taking more of a back seat - judging likely probabilities and
throwing dice - rather than "playing" but thoroughly
enjoyed it. The mechanics were simple, but worked, and the seemingly
random actions of the rival cadres could, in retrospect, be looked at
as being part of a narrative (certainly no more random that some of
the historically testified actions one reads about). The civilians
turning on the Romans, once one of their own was killed, again -
though dice-driven - felt logical.
For the Romans Mission only
partly accomplished - and with a bloody nose.....
The Romans
being what they are, it looks like property prices in Beer-Bevakasha
could be taking a tumble shortly.....
