Training Exercises

The whole Ballyfoole army as it stands at this time.

To try out the GASLIGHT rules I conducted some training exercises. This pitted the Ballyfoole Musketeers and the Malarkey Dragoons against an unknown number of the boys dressed up as Pathans. I realized I don't have many scenarios for this type of game in any of the scenarios books I own, so I decided to try a sort of scouting party into enemy territory. I rolled 1d6 to figure out how many possible enemy forces to place and rolled for which section of the table to place them in. I diced for the attributes for the Ballyfoole commanders (one for each unit), but for the Pathans I just played them as if the leaders were the same as the "extras".
The Ballyfoole force entered the battlefield and spotted possible Pathan forces as indicated by the lone figures.

The Ballyfoole force moved forward to scout out the middle section, which did indeed hold some Pathans. (I rolled 1d6, odd for yes, even for no; then rolled ad8 for the number of figures). There ensued a brief firefight resulting in most of the Pathans wiped out and the rest running for the hills. Unfortunately a couple of the Ballyfoole Musketeers also bought it.

The Ballyfoole forces then proceded to the west to scout out another possible Pathan force. This also proved to be a small group of the enemy. Another firefight resulted in the Pathans being wiped out, while one of the dragoons bought it this time.

Next, the Ballyfoole force headed towards the hills to the east to clear it of any enemy forces. Once again they found a small force of Pathans taking potshots from behind the rocks. And once again a brief firefight saw to the Pathans, while the Ballyfoole forces suffered no losses this time.

Finally the Ballyfoole forces headed for the hills to the northeast, where a more sizable force of Pathans was encounter (this time I rolled 1d12, with the idea that this was the main body of Pathans. The result was 10 of the enemy, joined by the 2 who had fled earlier). After a firefight the Pathans charged down out of the hills. A melee ensued and in the end barely a man was standing on either side.

This played out in less than an hour, including taking pictures and a few notes and consulting the rules. I sometimes found it a bit difficult to find the exact information in the rules that I needed at any given point was not always easy. Also there seem to be lenty of things that aren't covered. Of course, the rules aren't really intended for the type of game I played here, I think. They do have their good points and maybe if I play more games and make some modifications it'll work out in the end. I do like the heroic leader types vs. the "extras". And it does seem like a good set for smaller actions, as well as for adding all sorts of unusual experimental weapons and contraptions, as well as various animals.

I have more miniatures on the way (some prepped and ready for painting, some on order) for further colonial adventures. Once I get things really going (beyond "training") I'll probably start a new blog for that aspect of my gaming. But not to worry, I also have more 18th century tricorned and sundry figures to paint and play with.