17 April 2014

Random Event Card Vignettes - "Where the bloody hell did they get that from!"




Still looking a bit shiny from my varnish however the boys are very
keen to welcome some visitors to the plains!
  Looking through some of my Sudan books which I often use as references and inspiration for scenarios etc. I remembered the cover art for a wonderful book by Brian Robson (The author not the soccer manager!) titled "Fuzzy Wuzzy - The Campaigns in the Eastern Sudan 1884-85".  Firstly let me say that the book was superb and very enjoyable.  Most importantly I found Mr Robsons style easy to read and the narrative informative and entertaining.  Certainly not a difficult read at all.

Excellent book from Spellmount.
The cover art had a wonderful depiction of a Fuzzy Wuzzy attack on a British square and what really caught my eye was the native armed Nordenfeld.

Great artwork with the machine gun in action
Now this has some very interesting implications for the random event cards we can draw in the game and I thought this may be useful addition.

"Where the bloody hell did they get that from!" - Fuzzies with machine guns appear.

When this card is drawn a captured Nordenfeld appears with three crew and placed within 24 inches of a random Imperial unit.  The rules for Machine gun fire still apply however the Fuzzies crewing the gun are not exactly trained gunners and will always enthusiastically attempt to maximise fire in any turn to 15 rounds.  If they then roll 15 or below on a d20 the gun jams.  It can only be cleared on a 1 - only one attempt is allowed.   Roll to hit and fire effect as per normal shooting and Machine Gun fire rules".

Very nice Foundry gun - I do particularly like the crouching figure as well.
In this way the actual model can be either quite effective or if luck holds true reasonably innocuous with one burst of fire and then silence.  However if their luck does hold out the Imperial player is going to have to swiftly and decisively deal with that weapon.  Perhaps send skirmishers out to engage etc.  The possibilities are quite enticing.



View from the rear - the Essex figures are open handed and work well.
  
The figures used in this vignette were a combination of figures that I had in the spares box.  The two actual gunners are Essex Fuzzies, the crouching chap with his bucket to cool the barrels is a modified Fuzzy from I think Bicorne with a Minifigs British artillerists bucket.  The gun itself is from Foundry and though not the exact replica of that on the dust cover of the book, at least it looks the part for our particular games..

Now to get the Dulcote out and give them a spray - but only a whiff I think.!

6 comments:

  1. That could be a nasty surprise for the Imperial player! You could make it a unit that appears on the Ambush table.

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    1. Not a bad idea AJ - perhaps it arrives in an area suitable for ambush rather than altering the original Gilder Ambush table. Need to Dulcote them today though and post some less "shiny" pictures. I love shiny though!

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  2. Looks good - great being able to mix in figures, they go well together.

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    1. Hi Mark - yes the spares box certainly came in handy for this little project!

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  3. A nice addition for the Mahdi forces Carlo, I would rater not be on the receiving end when they finally got it to work.

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  4. Thanks Nathan. If the dice work well for the Fuzzy gunners these can cause quite a problem for the British units in its arc!!

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