Return to Franklinton & More 'Devilry Afoot' on the Frontier

    Halloween horror - residents of frontier Franklinton, Ohio, battle supernatural creatures

It had actually been since last Halloween that I ran my first game of Devilry Afoot for the Sunday Night gamers. I had been meaning to get back to it at some point in the intervening 12 months, but other projects kept claiming my attention. The arrival of Halloween forced my hand, and I set up a scenario based on one from the rulebook, and let the players know we'd be returning to the early settlement of Franklinton, late 1700s, in the Ohio Territory.

    Six brave Hunters of the supernatural enjoy treats on Halloween as well Devilry Afoot's tricks

Fortunately, it uses many of the same mechanics as Ilium: A Game of Heroes, which we'd played a few times recently. One major difference is characters must roll to activate rather than being automatically given two activations like in the Trojan War game. Also, Devilry Afoot is a cooperative game. The players take on the role of monster hunters, tracking down and trying to dispatch supernatural (or human) foes. Each of my players would control a Character and a Follower, so there would be 12 hunters on the table -- unless you count Marib Domigan's faithful bulldog, Henry, in which case there are 13! 

    Sarah Starling & John Huffman arrive on the board edge while Old Sarge & Jeremiah forge ahead

The scenario is called Lost in the Woods. It features a group of children (called "Innocents" in the rules) in the center of the table who the players must rescue and escort off their table edge back to their homes in Franklinton. Stalking the children (and Hunters) would be two animated scarecrows (Bogeymen) and four Skinwalkers (Indian shamans who have become trapped in the form of their spirit animal).  In our first game, the ratio of monsters I used for the players seemed insufficient, and the players had a relatively easy time of it. So, I raised the ante a bit, and increased the ratio slightly. Devilry Afoot does not have a point system to enable you to balance the scenarios, so you have to use your best judgement.

    In the board's far corner, a Jogah (Pact Devil) & Skinwalker lurk, hoping to entice the kids forward

Returning to the story of the new settlement on the Ohio frontier, the supernatural society formed by brother and sister pair Marib and Enoch Domigan had enjoyed several quiet months after the wild night of the storms. However, lately, parents in the town have been shaking their heads and talking about strange tales their children have been telling them. The boys and girls claim that a tiny old man has been tapping on their windows late at night, and asking them to come out and play. Marib and Enoch enlisted the aide of the tracker and hunter, Jeremiah Armstrong. Listening to their story, he shook his head and said one word, "Jogah." At the siblings' prompting, he elaborated. Jeremiah explained that the Iroquois tell stories of a tiny forest people -- about the size of children -- who play pranks on the tribesmen, but are dangerous to disrespect or annoy. He investigated the homes of the parents who'd complained about the tapping, and did see footprints of small moccasins or shoes, but could not tell if they belonged to children of the town or something else.

    Animated by an Indian shaman's sorcery, a scarecrow (Bogeyman) shambles towards lantern lilght

Marib and Enoch spread the word to all the families to warn their children not to go outside at night or respond to the tapping or whistling that some mentioned. Many of the parents laughed at such nonsense as a "little people" prowling the town at night. The siblings held a meeting of their society, though, and summoned the Monsignor down from French territory to attend, as well. The society agreed to set up nightly patrols roaming Franklinton's streets. One week after the patrols began, the night's calm was broken by screaming coming from several homes. Three children were missing from their beds! Jeremiah, musket in hand, followed the tracks of children and said they were headed towards the forest. Quickly, a search party of the supernatural hunters was formed and they set out in pursuit.

    One of the four Skinwalkers stalks through the darkness towards the unaware lost boys & girl

The Jogah would be what Devilry Afoot calls a Pact Devil. In this "Lost in the Woods" scenario, if any child comes in contact with the Jogah, they will be kidnapped and drawn away into the spirit world forever. In game terms, Innocents can be either "Unaware" of the dangers or "Aware." They begin Unaware and will move 4"  each turn towards the Jogah. They become Aware only when a Character or Follower comes in contact with them, or they are within 6" of a monster (Scarecrows or Skinwalkers in this game). After that, when the Innocents chip is drawn from the turn sequence bag, they will flee 6" directly away from the monster. In Devilry Afoot, you place one chip in the bag for each player, and three each for the Scarecrows and Skinwalkers. When a monster's chip is drawn, all of that type activate by rolling on a chart to see what they will do. There is only one chip for the Innocents.

    A Skinwalker howls, prowling through the enchanted mushroom grove - 'hungry grass' in the game

The players arrived on the board edge while the monsters began within 6" of one of the other three board edges. Slowly, the Skinwalkers and the animated Scarecrows began stalking towards either the children in the center or the Hunters, whichever was closer. In fact, as each monster chip was drawn (and the Innocents' was not), we began to wonder if the Monsters would get within attacking range before the kids even moved! As luck would have it, when one Skinwalker was within Attacking range, it instead rolled to "Intimidate" for its action. The Coyote Skinwalker threw back its head and howled with a bloodcurdling scream. The children promptly bolted 6" away and out of the monster's reach.

    Aware of their danger at last, the innocent town children begin to flee towards the players

Two of the four Skinwalkers kept stalking the kids, but the Innocents' chip would be drawn just as they were getting close enough again to attack. The children continued to shriek and sprint away. Meanwhile, one of the scarecrows was stalking through the woods towards Marib Domigan and her Follower MacAfee. Henry's deep growls alerted the two to the magically animated creature's approach. They still gasped when they saw the fiend emerge from the dark shadows of the trees. On the other board edge, the Monsignor boldly pressed forward beyond the circle of illumination cast by Domigan servant Hanby's lantern, which he held aloft in a trembling hand. Yellow eyes tracked the Monsignor's movement, and one of the Skinwalkers soon charged forward and slashed with its claws at the Catholic priest. If anyone was nearby to see the Monsignor duck the deadly swipe, they would wonder how the older man could move so quickly. He bravely stood his ground, though, and quoted Bible scriptures at the creature. The Skinwalker held its clawed hands to its ears, howled ,and fled into the darkness. It soon returned, though, only to be driven off once again by the Monsignor quoting God's words, again.

    Circles of light illuminate small patches of forest as the monster close in on Hunters & children

Meanwhile, Jeremiah Armstrong waved the children towards him, calling to them with reassuring words. When they reached him, Jeremiah urged them to continue towards the lantern light, where village doctor Sarah Starling and her neighbor John Huffman waited to escort them to safety. Jeremiah turned as he heard the howls of a Skinwalker drawing near. In the Wyandot tongue, he admonished the creature, "I hear your pain, uncle, but your anger must not be taken out on these innocent babes." He raised his musket, sighted along the barrel at the yellow eyes reflecting in the lantern light, and fired. To Jeremiah's left, the voice of occultist Jacob Shade boomed into the night, "Yee Naaldooshi, we do not fear you. In our town, you will find only your death!"
 

    Jeremiah calls to the children & instructs them to flee towards the safety of Sarah & John

Two Skinwalkers roared at Shade's challenge and loped towards the top-hatted Shade and his servant, Old Grubb. Despite the fearsome look of the approaching creatures, Old Grubb's hand holding the lantern did not shake. He pulled his large knife from its sheath. Next to him, Shade sighted down the barrel of his long pistol, took in a breath, let half of it out, and squeezed the trigger. A howl of pain from one of the vicious looking creatures told him that his ball had struck true. The pair of creatures continued to charge towards the two Franklinton men, though. Behind them, a devilish shriek carried through the dark forest as the animated scarecrow charged Marib, MacAfee, and Henry. The dog's furious barking, along with the shouts of Marib and MacAfee rang out,adding to the chaos of the night.

    Denied their easy prey, Skinwalkers howl in frustration & continue towards the Hunters

Meanwhile, Sarah Starling and John Huffman embraced the terrified children. She looked them in their eyes and asked, "Can you be brave?" Three frightened, tear-streaked faces nodded. "Then run to Enoch. He will escort you to safety." Sarah shouted to Enoch Domigan, who began calling to the children to run to the sound of his voice. "Go, children -- we need to help Mr. Shade. He looks like he's in trouble!" The children darted off, yelling for Enoch who returned their calls and waved his arms in the darkness. "Let's go, John, Mr. Shade appears to be fighting two of those beasts at one time. I fear something awful may have happened to Old Grubb!"
 

    MacAfee fires off a shot from his blunderbuss at the hideous shape emerging from the gloom

As the pair darted towards the wildly swinging circle of Grubb's lantern, they heard the voice of the Monsignor raised even higher as he rebuked the Skinwalker, raising his right hand and making the sign of the cross with it. Hanby raced to his side and slashed at the Skinwalker with his dagger. The Monsignor also pulled forth a gleaming dagger and plunged it towards the snarling form of the Skinwalker. Once again, the creature darted off, howling. They could hear it begin to circle them in the darkness. "Have faith, young man," the Monsignor soothed. "God in his infinite mercy will protect us from this demon of the New World!" 

    Fearing no evil, the Monsignor & Hanby battle with a persistent Skinwalker within the circle of light

Upon arriving, Sarah and John found both Mr. Shade and one of the Skinwalkers lying bleeding on the ground. Old Grubb had returned to his master's side and was slashing at the Skinwalker's eyes, hoping to drive it off. Huffman raced up to the Skinwalker, who did not hear his approach, and swung his musket with all his might. It cracked against the creature's head, which howled, staggering backwards. Huffman reversed the weapon, pulled back the hammer from half-cocked position, and fired. A blast of flame and the gunpowder's roar rang out. The Skinwalker tumbled to the grass, the black powder smoke drifting over its twitching form.

    Monsters & supernatural hunters draw blood in the woods as howls add to the chaos of night

Another musket shot rang out, as the reloaded Jermiah fired at the Skinwalker, again. After the shot, Old Sarge stepped in front of Jeremiah with his Revolutionary War spontoon raised to eye level, protecting the younger man from the creature's charge while he reloaded. Behind them, they heard Marib's clear voice raised in triumph as she skewered the scarecrow with her sword and watched it slump to the ground. Henry pounced in and tore off one of its straw-stuffed legs and shook it madly, his deep growls adding to the ruckus. 
 

    Occult researcher Jacob Shade & a Skinwalker have both fallen as the others battle desperately

Sarah Starling's voice also rang out beneath the trees. "Mr. Shade is sorely wounded! And Grubb is beset! Help is needed here." Marib heard her friend Sarah's call, and responded that she and MacAfee were on their way. As John stepped to aid Grubb in his struggle with the wolf-like creature, Sarah bent to tend to look at Shade's wounds. She pulled a poultice from her pouch and wrapped around the worst of the bleeding slashes. She heard the man grunt in pain, and was thankful he was still alive. She'd feared the worst when she saw him motionless on the ground. As Marib and her companions raced up, the Skinwalker fled into the shadows again. As it disappeared, Grubb raced to Shade's side and assisted Sarah in tending him.

 

    Though MacAfee is bleeding, the trio including stout Henry have defeated the animated scarecrow

The society's Hunters called to each other through the woods and agreed to withdraw. The children had been saved, and it was their job to ensure the safety of the town -- not eradicate every demon of the forest. On one side, the Monsignor and Hanby slowly backed away, the priest calling out more admonitions from God upon the beast prowling in the darkness. They were joined by the lawyer Orris Parrish, pistol raised and pointing into the darkness. Not far from them, Sarge and Jeremiah, withdrew with spontoon and musket raised, each covering the other's movements. Arthur O'Hara raced up to join them, his musket raised to deter the creature's charge, as well. Meanwhile, Grubb and Sarah raised Shade to his feet, who grimaced, and allowed them to help him limp towards safety. They headed towards the village, guarded by John Huffman to their rear.

    Old Sarge brandishes his Revolutionary War spontoon at a Skinwalker while Jeremaih reloads

Once again, the players defeated their supernatural opponents, though it was a near thing with the Innocents. Twice, a Skinwalker had the children with Attack distance and twice it did not roll to "Attack." They continued to prowl after them, but it only took another move before they reached Jeremiah Armstrong, who would be able to protect them. Jacob Shade was taken out of action, but with Sarah Starling there to heal one wound back with her poultice, I ruled that he was alive and would be able to recover. Several other hunters took wounds. Two of the Skinwalkers were slain, as was one of the animated Scarecrows. All in all, a bit closer of a fight.

I reached out to my players to ensure they are enjoying the games. So far, none have given me an indication that they are not enjoying Devilry Afoot. I felt a little...unfulfilled (?), though, by how the game progressed. To me, it didn't seem like the players had a lot of choice in what they should do each time their turn came up. Maybe it was the scenario? Also, the pace seemed a little slow -- bu that could be the fault of 12 Hunters and 8 monsters all on the tabletop. Maybe I was expecting a more wide open skirmish? Either way, I didn't come away ecstatic about how the game unfolded. I'll quiz my players more to make sure they don't feel the same and are just being nice. If they want to keep playing, I will keep running it. The most important thing is THEY are having fun, and that I enjoy putting the games on. Stay tuned to see if more Devilry is Afoot!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 234
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 237

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 22
• Terrain painted in 2026: 48

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 50
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

A Raid on Asia Minor's Coast with 'Ilium: A Game of Heroes'

    First off the ships to raid the village was Diomedes & his Argive warriors with their tower shields

A squadron of black galleys containing the contingents of the Achaean heroes Achilles, Diomedes, and Idomeneus prowled along the meandering coastline of Asia Minor, seeking a target for their fury. Spotting a settlement, they rowed rapidly and leapt ashore. Wailing and shouts of alarm rang out from the settlement as Trojan warriors equipped themselves and readied for battle. Waiting amidst the buildings already was the contingent led by the Trojan cousins Sarpedon and Glaukos. Achilles and his men raced towards them, but his companion Diomedes was already in amidst the mud brick buildings. They seized a wealthy noble while two shield bearers advanced, ready to block any rescue.

    Trojan heroes, from left, Joel (Sarpedon), Allen (Asteropaios) & Keith (Memnon) face down Mike S

It was good that Diomedes' men were ready, as Asteropaios, Chieftain of the Paionians, was racing forward. Asteropaios outstripped his men and crashed into one of the shield bearers, knocking him to the ground and stabbing him with his spear. He then turned and slew the other one, shouting a war cry. His feeble shout was drowned out, though, by the mighty battle paean of Diomedes, which boomed throughout the village, inspiring the Achaean warriors. Diomedes hurled his spear at the Paionian chief, gravely wounded him. He then drew his bronze sword and sprang to engage Asteropaios, slashing him and drawing blood.

    On the left, Achilles, Patrokles, & their companions race into the village, searching for plunder

The battle raged around the heroes, and soon the crackle of flames and smell of smoke filled the air, as well. One of Diomedes men, carrying a torch, had set the neighboring building afire. Enraged, Asteropaios' companions sprang forward, and another of Diomedes Shield Bearers fell. The noble who had been seized was able to slip his captor's grasp and scuttled towards the Trojan warriors. Meanwhile, on Diomedes right, Idomeneus and his Cretan warriors were hurrying forward, too. Soon, the closest building to them went up in flames, as well. The Cretan archers rounded the corner of the building and began to shoot arrows towards Trojan targets.

    Diomedes' men set fire to a home & grab a town noble (center right), while the Paionians charge up

It was good that the Cretan king arrived, as Diomedes' men were sorely pressed. Memnon and his Aethiopians has surged forward to help the Paionians. However, none attempted to intervene as Diomedes and Asteropaios were locked in combat, even though neither had challenged or jibed at the other. Soon, the King of Argos struck down Asteropaios, and once again the battlefield resounded with his mighty battle cry. Diomedes and one of his companions dragged the Paionian chief away from the reach of his men and stripped off his armor. Diomedes handed the trophy to his shield bearer and told him to dash back to the ships and stow it safely aboard. Two Aethiopian arrows whipped by the Argive warrior, but he had cleverly strapped his tower shield to his back, and their darts bounced off the stiffened cowhide. Meanwhile, Diomedes advanced back into the fray, shouting in anguish as another of his Argive warriors fell.

    Infuriated, Asteropaios slays two of Diomedes companions while his men rush to keep up 

Meanwhile, the forces of Sarpedon and Achilles were engaged. Wisely, Sarpedon avoided the famous Greek hero, and instead he and his cousin Glaukos encouraged their men. At one point, Glaukos stood alone against Achilles, Patrokles, and one of their companions. The Trojan warrior bravely blocked each mighty thrust, slowly backing away from their attack. Sarpedon saw one of Diomedes' men with a torch approaching another building, but he collected several men and interposed themselves. The lone Argive warrior saw the error of his ways, and fled back towards Diomedes.

    Shouting his war cry, Diomedes hurls his mighty spear, gravely wounding the Paionian chief

Memnon and his men rallied the remaining Paionians and hemmed in Diomedes on all sides. Arrows bounced off of his shield, but none dared charge the mighty hero. Memnon roared in anger at his men's timidity and hurled his spear at Diomedes, wounding him. He then raced into contact. Diomedes evaded his swordthrust and wounded Memnon in return. The Aethiopian archers feared to shoot at the battling pair for fear of hitting their king, Memnon. Idomeneus' men were under no such worry. The Cretan king raced to Diomedes' side, also striking and wounding Memnon. Then another Cretan warrior crept up from behind and thrust his spear into Memnon's back. The Trojan hero fell, and with his loss, the Trojan defenders lost heart and began to flee.

    Diomedes follows up his success and slays Asteropaios, while his. men try to hold off the Paionians

It was another Achaean victory in our third game of Ilium: A Game of Heroes. We had three players per side, each commanding one contingent. We were playing a double-sized version of The Settlement Raid, with four buildings, two wells (that the Greeks wanted to poison by tossing in a dead Trojan warrior), and two notables we wanted to kidnap. We also accelerated the time frame of the game, with Sarpedon's Trojan contingent deployed in the center of the board, and Asteropaios' within 8" of their left edge. The Greeks similarly had two contingents start on board, Achilles on their left and Diomedes on the right. The third contingents for each came on board on Turn 2. We did this because we didn't want any players sitting around for two turns and not doing anything.

    Promachoi vs. Promachoi! The very cool baskets of goods were a gift from my friend Pete in the UK

This game was also an answer to our desire to have other ways to earn Kleos (Honor), which act as the victory points in Ilium. The Greeks can earn them by setting fire to the buildings (+1 each), kidnapping the nobles and getting them off-board (+1 each), and poisoning the two wells on board (+1 each). The Trojans earn +1 Kleos for each unburnt building and each unpoisoned well. As it was, the the Greeks set fire to three of the four buildings, but were unable to poison either well or kidnap notables. So, the game would have had a 3-3 score, except for the slain heroes. Diomedes killed Asteropaios (+1) and stripped his armor and got it off-table (+1). Idomeneus' men killed Memnon (+1). So, when we called the game on Turn 5, the Achaeans were ahead 6-3. The Cretans could easily have tossed the body of a Trojan promachoi in the well, too, during the remaining two turns. 

    Diomedes & a companion drag Asteropaios away from his men & strip off his armor as a trophy

The game played fast, and I think our changes didn't unbalance it. It is difficult for the Trojans to prevent the buildings being set on fire, but equally difficult to poison the wells. It takes two Promachoi to carry a Trojan body towards the well, which they might not get a chance to do in the middle of a melee. We were able to get our hands on one of the nobles, but (once again) my companions were falling too quickly to get him off the table. That, in particular, is really an odd thing. A Shield Bearer Promachoi should be very survivable, but mine seem to die like dogs. We were joking that my tower shields must be made of cardboard and our armor of paper! "Join Diomedes' Promachoi and Die!" we laughed. I lost four of six in this game and five of six in the previous one.

    Sarpedon's companions chase off a lone Argive with a torch, preventing him from burning a home

Although Diomedes' companions were falling all around him, the King of Argos continued to be personally victorious. He killed his second hero (Asteropaios) in single combat in as many games, and aided in the death of a third (Memnon). Achilles was not having a lot of luck in this game, though. Joel, playing Sarpedon, wisely used one of his actions to give his companions +2 Defense most of the game, which made them much harder to kill. Of course, Mike S rolling nothing higher than a "3" on a d10 when attacking didn't help matters much either! But hey, Mike improved on last game in not having Achilles' cousin and dear friend (and more?) Patrokles die...ha, ha!

    Achilles & Patrokles & their men wage battle against Sarpedon & Glaukos' Trojan force

We continue to enjoy playing Ilium. During the week, the Sunday Night gang chose playing it over Dragon Rampant, much to my surprise. So, I guess that means I'm safe in painting up more figures for it? Of course, that means I would have to get more. I have been holding off until I even up my Painted vs. Acquired for the year. The whole point of tracking these totals is to ensure I'm a little more disciplined in my purchases, so it'd be foolish to ignore the numbers, right?  

    Diomedes is beset! Most his men fallen, he is surrounded by Aethiopians & fighting Memnon

And speaking of the numbers...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 234
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 224

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 22
• Terrain painted in 2026: 39

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 50
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

  

    Cretan hero Idomeneus arrives to succor Diomedes & together they slay Memnon & rout his men

  

    Post-battle 'jibe' - Mike W teases Keith about twice slaying his hero in Ilium with his companions

Second Game of 'Ilium' - 8 Heroes Clash on the Plains of Troy

    Heroes gather around the dusty plains of Troy for another game of Ilium: A Game of Heroes

After our first try of the Trojan War game, Ilium: A Game of Heroes, we had decided we enjoyed it enough to introduce to the rest of the Sunday Night gaming crew. Written by Nic Wright of Irregular Wars, the game has players commanding contingents of up to seven figures -- one Greek or Trojan hero and his band of companions. Since our group usually features 6-7 folks each week, we wanted a game that played quickly and could have all of us gathered around the same tabletop. Though written as a two player game, Ilium works well as a multiplayer one, too. This past Sunday was our first real test of that -- all seven regulars showed up.

    Diomedes & his Promachoi (28mm Wargames Foundry) advance towards the Trojans in the distance

I had volunteered to step back and game master, but Mike S and Keith insisted that we all play, and simply give one of us experienced players two commands. I wanted to be on the Achaean side so that I could use my newly-painted Diomedes and his contingent of six Promachoi with tower shields. Mike volunteered to control both Achilles and Menelaos, while Mike W would control the Cretan king Idomeneus. Yes, as often happens, we were Mike Force -- all three Mikes as Achaeans on the same side! Opposite Mike W's Cretan contingent was Keith, who had brought all seven of the other contingents and was busy doling them out as I explained the rules. Keith took on the role of Memnon, King of the Aethiopians. He was using Bronze Age Egyptian figures to represent them. Next to him, Allen took charge of Hektor -- Troy's greatest hero. As long as Hektor was alive, all Trojans would receive a +2 to their morale (Resolve) tests. Next to Allen was his brother Joel, who was controlling Helenos, prince of Troy (and Hektor's brother, coincidentally!). The brothers faced off against Mike S's two contingents, Hektor staring down Menelaos and Helenos nervously facing Achilles. Finally, ranged against me was birthday boy Tom, ably leading Sarpedon and his cousin Glaukos against Diomedes.

    Memnon's Aethiopian archers climb atop a ruined building only to be shot down by Cretan archers 

I moved quickly forward -- well, as quickly as the relatively slow Shield Bearers could march, eager to get to grips with the Trojans. I had a plan in mind for Diomedes and his band and was looking forward to trying it out. The first to come to grips, though, were the Aethiopians and the Cretans. Despite his archers taking the high ground and cover of a ruined building, Mike W was rolling hot that night! All three Aethiopian archers were shot down by their Cretan counterparts. Meanwhile, Idomeneus and his shield bearers marched steadily forward to plug the gap between the rocky ground and the ruined building. Allen and Joel's Trojan princes moved forward steadily as Achilles and Menelaos' bands closed the distance, too. As Diomedes' men neared the enemy, they formed into a wedge formation, protecting their leader, who was just behind the Shield Bearer at the tip of the wedge.

    Trojan prince Helenos the Archer leads his companions around a building to face the Achaeans

Tom and the Trojans showed no fear of Diomedes' reputation as one of Greece's greatest warriors (or my wedge), though. Sarpedon darted forward and engaged the left hand side of the wedge, slaying the first Shield Bearer he contacted. He followed up before the Achaeans could react and threw his spear at Diomedes, causing two wounds. Diomedes shouted his war cry, inspiring his troops, and returned the spear throw, causing three wounds to Sarpedon. The Trojan hero's companions dashed into the fray, eager to help their leader who was attacking a mighty force alone. In the game, there are three types of Promachoi (companions). The hardest to wound are the Shield Bearers, which made up my entire contingent. Next are the Warriors, who may throw javelins or fight in hand-to-hand, with stats only slightly lower than the Shield Bearers. Finally, there are the archers.

    The forces at the end of the first turn of movement, quickly closing with one another

The gods were truly honoring Tom on his birth day, and Sarpedon's Promachoi began cutting threw Diomedes veteran men. It seemed that every turn one or more of my shield bearers fell. Where was their much vaunted Defense? The only saving grace was that Diomedes was slowly getting the better of Sarpedon on their exchanges. After their spear casts, Sarpedon had challenged my hero to a duel, which Diomedes gladly accepted. This meant that no other figure could intervene -- just like in Homer's tales. More of my companions began to fall, which even though it wins the enemy no Kleos -- or honor -- was still disconcerting. The winner of the game is the side that accumulates the most Kleos (chiefly from slaying enemy heroes). 

    From left, Joel (Helenos), Allen (Hektor), & Keith (Memnon) confer in the early part of the battle

On the opposite flank, Memnon rushed forward and hurled his mighty spear at Idomeneus. In return, the Cretan king waved his companions forward to overwhelm the lone Trojan hero. Three charged in, each landing a blow. The third dashed Memnon to the dust, whereupon his divine mother Eos appeared with a howl of rage. She gathered up her mortal son in her arms and flew back up to Olympos, vowing revenge upon Idomeneus and his Cretans. When a hero on a side falls, all other heroes have to take a Resolve check, but none failed with Hektor's +2 bonus. Neither did the Aethiopians lose heart, and they rushed to take revenge upon the Cretan soldiers. Still, the Achaeans were up 1-0 in Kleos!

    Menelaos' contingent rounds the corner of the building and prepares to charge into Hektor's group

Soon, the centers joined, as well. Menelaos and his force charged into Hektor and his companions, who shook their spears and met them man to man. Soon, Menelaos and Hektor were locked in a duel, and bronze rang on bronze. It could be heard on the other side of a Trojan building, where Achilles and Patroklos charged at the front, lead their Myrmidons into Helenos' men. Achilles challenged the Trojan prince to a duel, and the archer felt honor bound to meet the semi-immortal hero. In Ilium, you earn +2 Kleos if you knock an enemy hero out of action in a Duel, but only +1 if you kill him by other means (such as the Cretan companions ganging up on Memnon). You lose one Kleos if you refuse a duel. Of the four pairs of opposed heroes, three were locked in duels. Whoever won these would likely win the battle. There are ways to win more Kleos once you have felled your opponent. You can strip him of his armor (+1), or take his body off-table (+2). This can be done either by the hero's friends (to perhaps heal him up for another game) or by enemies trying to deny him an honorable burial. Think of Achilles dragging Hektor's body around the walls of Troy after slaying him -- THAT kind of +2 Kleos!!

    Trojan hero Sarpedon charges Diomedes' shield wall and slays one of his companions

 Although Tom was clearly rolling better than me in the clash between Diomedes and Sarpedon's contingents, he was killing only my Promachoi. When he scored a hit against Diomedes, he would often muff the Roll to Wound. In a melee or shooting attack in Ilium, the attacker must roll higher than the opponent's Defense to score a hit. If he succeeds, he rolls another 10-sided die. The results range from no damage to four wounds. Most heroes can take 7-8 wounds. Tom was rolling great to hit Diomedes, but poorly to wound him. On the other hand, my hero was steadily inflicting more wounds on Sarpedon until he finally struck the blow that tumbled the bastard son of Zeus to the ground. Diomedes immediately stripped the armor from him, and the Achaeans went up 4-0 (+2 for defeating Sarpedon in a duel and +1 for stripping him of his armor). Now, if either Achilles or Menelaos won their duel, the gods would grant us victory -- despite way more Achaean Promachoi dying on the battlefield than Trojan ones!

    A view of the left, with Diomedes' & Achilles' forces paired off against Sarpedon's & Helenos'

The next hero to fall was Menelaos -- one of the instigators of the Trojan War, when he demanded Achaean help after his wife was kidnapped and taken to Troy by Paris, one of its princes. Hektor, the brother of Paris, slew Menelaos in their duel. Weirdly, the only Achaean hero to fail his Resolve was my Diomedes, who ran back towards his base edge. I liked to think that he was withdrawing from the field to secure Sarpedon's armor as a trophy...ha, ha! The score was no 4-2. If Helenos could defeat the deadly Achilles, the Gods would rule this day a draw. However, Achilles is very tough in Ilium, as he should be. Even after Patroklos was struck down and Achilles reacted in blind rage, Helenos could not hold off the sea nymph Thetis' son. He fell, and victory was awarded to the Achaeans.

    Sarpedon and Diomedes trade blows in a duel as their companions battle all around them

Everyone said they had fun, so it looks like we will be playing Ilium again. So far, three of us are painting up contingents (Keith has painted up way more, more than 40 than he initially had). Even Tom asked for the info on the contingents so he could perhaps work one up. I was happy with Diomedes' performance, but less so with the Shield Bearers. Hopefully, they will perform better in the next clash on the dusty plains of Troy!

    Hektor & Menelaos duel, with Hektor close to winning against Helen's bereaved husband

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 217
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 205

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

    Trojans trigger the rage of Achilles when Patroklos is struck down in battle by an enemy warrior

 

    Doomed Menelaos falls to Hektor, the greatest Trojan hero of them all!

'Ruthless' Western Rules Get Cold Reception

 

Western gunfight game set up and ran by Keith using the 'Ruthless' rules from Marks Game Room

One thing about our Sunday Night Gaming group -- we are NOT afraid to try out new rules sets. We'll try something different even if we have a perfectly acceptable rules for that period that we enjoy. For example, my friend Keith wanted to try out the Ruthless set of Western rules from Marks Game Room. They were written by Mark Fastoso and Brian DeWitt, and are a fast-moving, easy-to-play set of miniatures rules. Once we sat down to play, though, we found that we had different versions of the rules in hand -- and no character cards!

    My gang of four gunfighters - the Bone Thieves - led by the old boss at right

We made things work out, though, with Keith making an adjustment to the rules on the fly with our input. He'd created gangs for the six players while he would GM. Each gang consisted of four characters, with Tom's Cattle Ranchers having six, because he thought we would all gang up on them. As it turned out, he did a better job of balancing things than he'd feared. The biggest problem was that three of the gangs just wanted to get off the table. Allen's gold miners wanted to exit off with their mule loads of gold ore intact. Mike S had a group of claim jumpers who wanted to relieve them of their season's worth of hard work. Mike W controlled a group of Bone Collectors, early paleontologists, wanting to escort their wagon to safety. My gang of Bone Thieves wanted to similarly relieve them of their discoveries. Joel's sheep herders also just wanted to get off the table. Even Tom's ranchers, once they roped their missing prize stud bull in the center of the table, were willing to make an exit.

    Our target for the scenario, the Bone Collectors and their wagon load of dinosaur bones

Keith had carefully arranged us around the table with those wanting to exit having to do it through the ranchers, Bone Thieves, and Claim Jumpers. However, the table was large enough that both Joel and Mike W were able to take a wide, loop path along the long edge and essentially escape unmolested. The Sheep Herders never fired a shot, and the Bone Collectors did only when taking a snap shot at someone targeting them. That said, the Claim Jumpers and Bone Thieves did our best to initiate the action, and we engaged in a lively gun battle with the ranchers and gold miners. So, there was shooting going on, and blood was blood spilled on the barren plains of the Old West. 

    The most fired-upon gang that evening was Allen's gold miners, trying to get to market with their ore

So, how did the system work? Each player had a hand of five cards from which they chose one for their Initiative Order. Players took their turns from highest to lowest. All of a player's characters acted on the card he chose secretly, with ties decided by suit. Some cards had special abilities, such as a "7" allowing one character to take 3 actions instead of 2. An Ace was required for waking up from being unconscious, and a 3 allowed you to discard additional cards form your hand if you didn't like what you'd been dealt. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it should. I felt Ruthless was a bit too close for comfort to the Wiley Games rules Fistful of Lead. It also uses cards for Initiative Order with certain cards granting special abilities. It also uses a d10 roll to hit, and the numbers needed are very similar (both need an 8 to hit at Long range, for example).

    Largest gang of gunfighters in the scenario were the Cattle Ranchers, looking for their stud bull

To be clear, I'm not accusing Mark's Game Room of plagiarism. I know Mark in passing from Historicon and Cold Wars. I've played in his games and he seems like a nice, low key guy. Ruthless is free to download -- he and his friends are not selling them to make money. However, the rules seemed too derivative to me. It seems obvious where their inspiration came from. Perhaps Mark and his buddies played FFOL, but they didn't like certain things about the rules? So, they made their over variant -- that's fine. Everyone is free to take someone else's rules and change them for their own games. They can even take them to conventions and say they're using a modified version of the rules. You see that all the time! However, to create a set of rules that are similar and covering the same period, then give them a new name and publish them (even as a free download), seems to be on shakier ground to me. 

    The Sheep Herders (using my goats as stand ins) just wanted to get off the table safely

There IS a chance they never played FFOL. Maybe they just heard or read about the card initiative mechanic and special values for certain cards and independently came up with their own rules. I've heard that you can't copyright rules mechanics. I'm willing to give Mark the benefit of the doubt because he seems like a great guy. However, playing Ruthless felt like trying someone's slightly tweaked version of FFOL. Probably the most interesting change to the Wiley Games system was you could take a snap shot at someone firing at you if you could play a card from your hand higher than the one they used for Initiative Order. That led to hard decisions -- do you save the high value ones so you can snapshot anyone trying to gun you down? Or do you play them, going first and hoping the others don't have a higher card to snapshot you?

    The shooting starts with the Claim Jumpers blazing away at the Gold Miners & Cattle Ranchers

I liked that aspect of the rules. I also felt that all of a player's figures acting on the Initiative Order card  rather than each character getting their own card (like in FFOL) made a game with six players move faster. Still, given a choice, I would play Wiley Games rules in the future rather than Ruthless. Keith felt the same way, and said he was shelving Ruthless. I like the greater customization of characters that the Wiley Games system offers compared to Ruthless. It feels tighter and more internally consistent. The wounding system makes a lot more sense to me. In our game, every single time a character was shot and knocked unconscious the player was able to bring them back immediately the next turn with an Ace or 4. I like the way FFOL handles wounding better.

    'The Kid' (bottom right) made the bad decision to take on a handful of Cattle Rancers & paid for it

Still, we hadn't played a Western game in awhile and it was good to try out the rules. The scenario did end with a whimper, though, as the various factions exited the table. It seemed that of the six of us, only the Claim Jumpers and Bone Thieves really wanted to fight. And there was no way our two gangs could prevent the other four escaping off-table. So, the other players "won" the scenario easily. Even though my four gunfighters shot down three of Allen's miners (repeatedly wounding them till they were truly out of action) for the loss of only one of ours, we "lost." Same with Mike's Claim Jumpers. They inflicted more damage than they suffered, but he and I were the only "losers" of the four on the table.

    'Shoot - they're getting away!' Yeah, like 4 of the 6 gangs just wanted to get away...ha, ha!

Thanks to Keith for setting up the game and to all the players who read the rules I'd forwarded them ahead of time. It always makes a new set of rules go smoother when more than the GM has read them. There's bound to be something the GM or any one player forgets that the others may remember. So, if you like the core idea of the Wiley Games system and want to try a game that tweaks its ideas, maybe read through Ruthless? Note that the well-designed Quick Reference Sheet does NOT contain all the rules, despite what they may imply. You need the character cards to understand the wound system and see the stats for the gunfighters. I discovered those in the free scenario downloads.

Anyway, I've been slow writing up this game report because I've been working on the first play-through video for my Surviving 'Nam rules. It is taking a LOT more time than I thought it would. This is the first time I've ever tried to film myself playing a game. I just spent three hours tonight doing my first try at it and I'm not satisfied with the result. I'll give it another go tomorrow, though. Hopefully, I'll get it right soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 217
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 198

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75