AAR - IHMN 28-Jun

Well, it's taken me long enough, but finally, here is an after-action-report on my first game of In Her Majesty's Name, that happened on the 28-Jun at Farnborough Wargames Society against Andy and his Blue Tortoise Tong.

So here goes ... first of all we have group pics of the opposing Companies:

The Blue Tortoise Tong

Her Majesty's Martian Constabulary

As you can see, I included a Steam Carriage in my Company, complete with Machine Gun! Anyway, for the game, I provided the terrain and a sketch of a scenario.

The terrain was foamboard tiles from the WWG Mars Station set, with assorted resin pieces that I've picked up over the years scattered over the tiles. In the corner was the one part of the Maritan fort that I posted about here:  a-mars-day-keeps-you-busy. and here's a pic of it all laid out:

Field of battle ...

The tiles are 7 inch square, giving us a total battlespace of 35" x 35".

The scenario that I came up with was that the fort wall represented the edge of a newly discovered Martian ruin that was believed to hold unspecified ancient technology. The tong and HMMC were the first 2 companies to arrive at the site and whichever held possession of the fort wall at the end of the game was the winner.

Terrain accepted and scenario agreed, we got on with deployment. We agreed that the centre tile of the 2 sides without the wall would be our deployment areas, and, taking it in turns to put out figures, this is how it ended up:

Deployment completed

The dastardly Tong

The Constabulary ready to go!

As you can see in the above pic, Andy had created useful counters that were needed to remember various abilities and movement. I didn't take notes on what happened, so the report that follows is from memory (uh-oh!) prompted by the pictures ...

Turn 1 saw both companies spreading out; mindful of the scenario, I sent my senior company members on a 'left hook' heading for the fort while attempting to evade the tong. Andy picked up on this and did the same thing on the right, while his fanatic swordsmen headed straight towards the constables ...

Turn 2 saw the tong's fanatics closing with the constables ...

although by the end, one of the fanatics was in a precarious position!

Here is the whole board at the end of turn 2; as you can see, my fastest people had reached the fort's walls ...

However, after a couple of turns' worth of combat, things were looking bleak for HMMC. The good doctor was down and the out-numbered fanatic proved more than a match for the constables 

I managed to get more people onto the wall, but unfortunately, so did Andy! I was really trying to get his leader to use a mystical power on Sheldon Cooper-Holmes, just so I could reveal his impervious ability (i.e. immune to mystical powers). Alas, despite manoeuvring to keep him in the firing line, it was not to be :(

Meanwhile, outside the fort, things had gone from bad to worse for HMMC. Only Inspector Corbitt, Sergeant Barker and the carriage driver were still active ... the grenade thrown by one of the tong's masked minions had - thankfully! - failed to hurt the carriage.

Even worse, with the Sergeant now gone as well, Andy managed a 1-in-100 roll for the combat!

(The two masked minions were helping the fanatics, so only 2 dice were rolled)

Now desperate measures were required ... the steam carriage traversed its turret and began firing into the combat, hoping that the heroic inspector did not fall victim ...

(We decided that the MG should roll to hit all the combatants, including the Inspector!)

Meanwhile, on the fort's wall, it seemed that neither side could gain the upper hand ...

The intervention of the steam carriage had the desired effect and soon brought the Inspector's desperate fight to a more level situation ...

But then the Inspector's (or was it the Gunner's?) luck finally ran out, and the Inspector was also brought low by the hail of bullets ...

By the wall, it seemed that the survivors of HMMC had gained a (small!) tactical advantage, but here was where we ended the game.

Due to the steam carriage still being active, and more of the HMMC people in the fort, Andy was generous enough to concede the game to me.

However, I think that Andy played much more in the spirit of the game, than I did, so I think he deserved it more!

deatils of my company - Her Majesty's Martian Constabulary are here

This is not the blog post you are looking for ...

Nothing to post about really at the moment ... not done much hobby-wise recently other than to carry on experimenting with colour schemes for my Land Ironclads ...

I've added a page to the blog that will ist the IHMN companies I create (link is on the right side at the top) and has some ideas for future companies

I also wanted to say "Get well soon!" to Vampifan, author of the superb and highly inspirational Vampifan's World Of The Undead who is currently in hospital.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to Broadside yesterday, the show organised by Clint over at Anything But A One yesterday ... couldn't afford the money for the new toys plus petrol cost  :(  next sunday (16th June) is my local club's (Farnborough Wargames Society) show Valhalla 2013, so I will be there.

Hopefully I'll have something a bit more substantive next time.

In other news:

• Finally started on decorating my daughter's bedroom
• My main LOTRO character has got all the way through Moria and is now in the Dimrill Dale! 

IHMN - Her Majesty's Martian Constabulary

As promised, photo's of my first company for In Her Majesty's Name - Her Majesty's Martian Constabulary (HMMC). (I did think of calling it the Royal Martian Constabulary, but decided to use the rules' name as a theme.) The company is based upon the Scotland Yard list (from the rulebook) with a few twists, mainly supposing that the best and brightest candidates are at the heart of the Empire - i.e. Scotland Yard - and those who wash up in the British Martian Colony are (for varied reasons) not as ... competent or disadvantaged in some other way ...

In the descriptions below, IHMN figure types from the Scotland Yard list are in bold, as are extra equipment that the figure may have and game values not on the list. All the figures except for Frannie are from Ironclad Miniatures.

So, first up is the company's leader their Consulting Detective, the Countess Adler, more commonly called Lady Eileen, who is pictured to the right. As you can see, she is holding a bouquet of her favourite Martian Orchids. These sweet smelling flowers have an uncanny knack of clearing noxious vapours very rapidly and are as effective as a breath preserver. Her female intuition (intuitive) has been of great benefit to her and HMMC more than once.
Points: 50 = 43 [Consulting Detective] + 2 [breath preserver] + 5 [intuitive]

To the left is Lady Eileen's plucky young maid - Frannie, an orphan from the mean streets of New York (tough). She is very plucky (4+), a superb shot with her pistol (SV +3), but not terribly good in a fight (FV +0), much preferring to use her natural speed (Speed +2) to run away, although the protected clothing (brigandine) supplied by her mistress has saved her from harm more than once.
Points: 20 = 4 [Pluck 4+] + 4 [SV +3] + 5 [tough] + 2 [speed +2] + 3 [pistol] + 2 [brigandine]

Next is Lady Eileen's ... assistant perhaps is the best word ... Mr Sheldon Cooper-Holmes. A veritable encyclopaedia of knowledge, he is lacking in social skills, and although on Mars he aspires to be a consulting detective, in London he would almost certainly be a Chief Inspector. Although he lacks leadership ability, the strange way that his mind works does make him impervious to the mystical powers his company has occasionally faced. Although Mr Cooper-Holmes believes that he has a most erudite wit, he doesn't ... not at all ... in no shape or form ...
Points: 30 = 31 [Chief Inspector] -6 [remove Leadership +2] + 5 [impervious]

The Good Doctor - Dr Leonard Hofstadter-Watson is Mr Cooper-Holmes' great friend and colleague and is hopelessly enamoured with Lady Eileen. No more of a leader than his friend Dr Hofstadter-Watson is constantly mistaken for a medical doctor when he is, in fact, a doctor of engineering - Frannie has suggested that, perhaps, he shouldn't carry his tools in a doctor's bag, but he has yet to listen to this sage advice ...
Points: 24 = 27 [Good Doctor] -3 [remove Leadership +1] -5 [remove medic] + 5 [engineer]

Inspector Corbitt was a Sergeant during the years that he spent at the Metropolitan Police with his good friend Barker and although an 'inspector' in HMMC, he remains a Sergeant at heart, readily deferring to those he sees as his betters (mainly Lady Eileen, occasionally 'Dr HW' and (rarely) Mr 'CH').

Points: 18 = 18 [sergeant] 

Sergeant Barker served in the 'Met' with Corbitt as a constable, and, like Corbitt, although of higher rank in HMMC he remains a Constable at heart. His many years on the beat have given him a wide knowledge of first aid techniques though (medic)
Points: 16 = 11 [constable] + 5 [medic]

The Constables of HMMC are equipped as their Scotland Yard brethren are, although they do regularly carry carbines. Also, due to the relative paucity of street lighting in Martian cities, they are issued Carbide Lamps for night shifts
Points: 11 = 11 [constable]. Equipment options as Scotland Yard, plus can carry carbide lamp at +3 points

So there it is! opinions requested!