Ottoman Cavalry Ambushed! - A Table Top Game in 28mm.

Northern Bulgaria can be a dangerous place, even under the protection of the Ottoman Sultan, or the watchful gaze of a Christian Prince, it is an uneasy place to live.

A band of Ottoman cavalry have been raiding near the Danube, I would say pillaging, but there's nothing really to pillage, the peasants are angry. A Boyar from a nearby province has come up with a do or die solution, an ambush in the hamlet, it's a bit suicidal but it might work with his small retinue involved.

As the horsemen approach the ever hopeful Brother Jacob approaches them to try and avoid bloodshed, the locals hide, notching arrows.

 

With a cry Brother Jacob falls, a spear found his chest. The cavalry see some sport, peasants are going to fight for a change, this should be easy! The horsemen thunder into the hamet.

At first lady luck smiles on the peasants, in fact one woman manages to unhorse two Ottomans with a flail and finish them off with her knife, before she is dispatched by an incoming spear. Two more horsemen are taken down with bow and handgunners, but they forge on killing as they go, the peasant losses are piling up.

As the raiders skirt around a building the ambush is sprung, already surprised at the tenacity of the peasant defenders, they did not expect this. Riding into a hail of arrows, they also has professional men at arms waiting for them, it really wasn't their day.

Thundering off into the distance with arrows whizzing past them, the raiders knew when it was time to go, the losses had been fairly equal in the end, each side losing around half their force, the villagers won, their morale was high. I'm sure the Ottomans will be back and the hamlet turned to ashes.

Watch The Wall My Darling - A Smuggling Game In 28mm

Watch the wall my darling was a game we played almost 20 years ago. I think these are the earliest photos of a game that I possess, film was expensive, and it took ages to come back from the chemists!

From memory the game was basically a race against time, the smugglers had to clear the town in a certain amount of moves with various mishaps controlled by a roll of the dice, and the customs men were hampered by a series of "spot hidden" die rolls that were quite frustrating.

With most of the contraband safely distributed the game ended with a short shoot out when the customs men finally caught up with the smugglers. One of these days I might dig up those old rules, blow the dust off those figures and give it another go.

Ottoman Attack North of The Danube -- A Table Top Game in 28mm.

 

Ottoman forces have crossed the Danube and are raiding at will, only a few fortified towns are able to resist, but the Ottomans have brought help in the shape of bombards. These cumbersome monsters are slow and heavy, especially along the muddy tracks of Wallachia, but when brought to bear they are deadly.

Those within the walls were fairly confident they could withstand a siege, help would surely arrive eventually, they were more afraid of one of Vlad's stakes that a Turkish axe. Outside the walls the peasants were told to defend themselves as best they could, the men and women armed themselves with weapons more suited to battling Mother Earth that Turks.

The bombard roared into life, it was more when than if the walls would be breached, the fear was palpable. Suddenly the Ottoman cavalry charged, the first attack would be on the village. 

The sound of thundering hooves grew nearer, the poor people braced themselves, then suddenly cavalry swarmed around the buildings and weapons clashed. The peasants fought valiantly but they were no match for the experienced Sipahi.

Finally, with a huge crash the wall was breached, the bombard was only two shots from running out of ammunition, very bad luck for the townspeople. A cry went up and the Ottoman forces rushed for the gaps, inside the Wallachians prepared for the upcoming battle.

In the village the peasants were slaughtered, and their homes put to the torch. A couple of Sipahi stayed to block anyone escaping from the town, the rest galloped around to the open walls to join the fight.

The fighting in the town was vicious, but alas rather one sided. The townsfolk were eventually overrun, with their backs against the wall they knew what they had to do.

Throwing themselves on to the tender mercies of the Ottomans, the remaining knights were spared for the possible ransom they could get out of the Boyars, the rest were killed. Before moving on the Turks raised their standard and looted the town.

A Vampire In London - A Hunt For The Undead in 28mm.

Strange and bizzare attacks have been reported in the local press, the police are baffled, and locals are scared. Is it the Ripper come back to haunt them? Our intrepid group of paranormal investigators take up the case, they will ask the questions the police won't, and go places the police daren't.

Meeting up in the graveyard seemed the obvious place, here the team discussed their strategy, "let's split up into two groups, that way we'll save time, we only have until sundown," that's always a good plan, so off they went to investigate.

Mrs Harker's group headed down Wells Street, not the best move, but a brave one! Here, after asking some questions that would normally sound barmy, the local roughs decided they had had enough of it and attacked them. After a swift melee our investigators came out of it remarkably well, so they went to the pub.

The day was disappearing fast and our investigators had only managed to annoy people so far, Dr Seward's team eventually got some decent leads which led them to an old coachworks in the railway arches. A couple of well made searches netted a coffin, definitely something you wouldn't find in a coachworks they thought, so they set fire to it, one down, probably several to go.

A much needed break in the case came just as the teams were leaving the pubs they had found, both teams got a tip off about strange happenings in the old factory and warehouse on Drovers Lane. Both teams hurried to the location as they were now running out of daylight.

"We found a coffin and burnt it," said Van Helsing, "hopefully we'll find another one in here." After a few goes the door gave way and they were in, "it's bloody dark in here," said Arthur, with a flash the whole room was illuminated! There, before them was the vampire, they had hit the jackpot! 

Rushing forward with only minutes to go before sundown, our heroes battled the undead. Hissing and clawing its way around the room it managed to give Mr Morris a vicious wound that will most likely kill him. The other investigators rounded the undead up with crucifixes and pinned it into a corner where Van Helsing dealt it a killing blow with a stake.

As Morris's life trickled away Dr Seward said "what the hell are we going to do now, how are we going to explain this to the police?"

"I don't think we can," replied Van Helsing, "there's only one thing for it, RUN!"

This was a great game of pure chance that the description and photos do not do justice to, a very enjoyable time was had. GS.