Transylvanian Nightmare 1459 - A Table Top Game in 28mm.

While Vlad Dracula is camped outside the walls of Brasov he sends out his captains to burn towns and villages and bring in more captives to add to his growing forest of impaled victims on Tapma Hill.

One such walled village proves a tough nut to crack, the Wallachians had been seen and shadowed by a troop of Transylvanian cavalry. Far too small to attack, the troop head to the village and prepare for a battle.

For the most part the villagers are peasants, but they have prepared and they mean business. To bolster their defence the village also boasts the local landowners retinue of knights, all good men and women, but will it be enough as the Wallachian host comes into view.

As arrows began to fly and several men drop the Wallachians immediately sound the attack, horses surge forward towards the defensive spikes and the infantry run into the fray, the sight of Vlad's men hurtling forward was terrifying, but the villagers held their nerve.

The villagers put up a stout resistance but the Wallachians break through, inside the village walls the Transylvanians have hatched a plan. When the Wallachians are bogged down in combat they will rush out of the gate and surprise them, hopefully driving them back enough to rout them completely.

With the villagers under severe strain outside the village walls it is now deemed to be the right time to spring the trap. The gates are opened and the Transylvanian cavalry pore out with the rest of the villagers behind them. The fighting is vicious, the Wallachians are forced back but they do not break. 

Whether it was the fear of Vlad Dracula or their captain, but the Wallachians didn't run, they withdrew in good order and made a fresh defensive position. With the shock of a fresh attack by the villagers now over it was time to counterattack, the Wallachian cavalry outflanked and drove the villagers into the waiting infantry.

Wallachian cavalry rode over the broken and bloody bodies hacking anyone down who got in their way, they were soon inside the village. The remnants of the village force was rounded up and taken as captives for Vlad's spectacle on Tampa Hill, some escaped.

As per orders the village was burned and those found within impaled as a warning, as the captain handed over his captives and reported the village destroyed another captain was being impaled on a higher stake, he had lost his battle with the population of Bod and was now paying the price for failing in his duty to the Impaler Prince.

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.