"O Brother , where art thou" : a Ruckus scenario and Vapnartak

 For our game last week, Steve set up this scenario from the Ruckus rule book.  Ambrose of Longfield has returned from the continent with news of a plot to depose the king.  The red force is keen to talk to Ambrose so that they can forestall the coup, whereas the blue force is equally keen to find Ambrose to find out what they can do to further their cause to reinstate "the deposed one".  Ambrose is known to have taken refuge in a monastery, but neither side knows what he looks like, except that when fighting abroad he has been injured, losing a finger.

Both camps have sent a force to the monastery tasked with finding Ambrose.  When the forces enter the table they find the monastery grounds and 5 monks placed at random along the centre line.  Bob and I each had 3 leaders and allocated 9 retainers between them.   I commanded the 'red' force led by Sir Arthur, Baron Leyland, with two sub leaders Sir John Lonsdale and Martin Furness,  Bob had the 'blue' force led by Sir William, Baron Ryedale, with Sir Henry Buckrose and Harry Ewecross.

The view from behind the red forces right flank

I had allocated 4 of my 9 retainers to Sir Arthur, as he had the widest command radius, Sir John had 3 and Martin Furness 2, Bob had divided his retainers equally between his three commanders.  At the start of the game, Sir Arthur set off up the road as three of the five monks were within a reasonable distance it.  Furness was on the left and Sir John the centre.  Within a couple of moves Sir Arthur was in long range of the opposing archers, he was of course well protected, but his retainers, who were close to him, were not.  A combination of high dice from Bob and low ones from me quickly reduced Sir Arthur's contingent to a single billman.  Nevertheless, Sir John had contacted one of the monks and discovered it was not Ambrose.  To attempt to sow a bit of confusion he began to bring the monk back to the baseline, hoping to convince the white force that he had Ambrose.

Meanwhile, against the odds, Sir Arthur had actually found Ambrose and was bringing him back to the baseline.  Unfortunately,    Sir William was nearby and moving more quickly attacked Sir John, forcing him back and capturing Ambrose.  By this time Sir Arthur had lost his remaining billman and was wounded; faced by odds of 3 to 1 he had to retire and cede the day to his opponent.

Sir Arthur advances down the road

We ran the game a second time after lunch and once again the white forces prevailed.  This time they discovered Ambrose fairly quickly.  Sir John was close by, but his attempt to 'rescue' Ambrose came to an abrupt end when he was felled in combat with Sir Henry,  This left his retainers 'feckless' and gave Sir John ample time to escort Ambrose back to the white baseline.

Sir John escorting Ambrose to 'safety'

This coming Sunday Steve and I will be at the Vapnartak show at York with a Lion Rampant participation game.  If you are attending, please feel free to stop by and perhaps roll a few dice.