Prizes for ATC 2026 Saga Tourney - 3 Knights, 3 Priests

    Here are the prizes that I painted up for this year's ATC Saga Tournaments - 3 Knights & 3 Priests

I have been painting up miniatures for prizes for the Advance the Colors Saga tournaments for a number of years, now. Even though I don't run or play in them anymore, I like to give back to the local Saga Ohio community because they're a great set of guys. Plus, I feel a wee bit guilty for helping building up the community, being "all in," then dropping the game a couple years ago. 

    Here are the 3 Priests (a type of mercenary hero in Saga) that they will be giving away as prizes

Anyway, one of the usual tourney directors, James T of Firelands Games, asked me if I would be willing to paint up some special figures instead of the usual pair of command stands. He wanted three priests and three mounted knights for use in the tourney and also to give away as prizes. I checked to make sure I had sufficient 28mm miniatures that could pass as these. I did, though my knights are earlier than the full plate armor era, being from the Gripping Beast Spanish Knights army box that I never painted up. The three priests are from a variety of sources. The one clutching the holy book to his chest has been in my unpainted lead for more than a decade. He's actually a Ral Partha figure. The priest reading from the book is a Reaper Bones miniature (Cultist with Circle). Finally, the one with the conical hat is a colonial or Pulp Egyptian. All of them looked like they'd pass the "close enough" test, so I told James I would do six individual miniatures this year instead of the usual two command stands.

    This priest is a Reaper Bones 'Cultist figure -- I tried to do an illuminated letter in his Bible

First, I made sure there were no special basing requirements. You know how those tournament games are picky about things like that! Anyway, I gave two of the knights swords (one from the box another from my unpainted lead collection). The third got a brass wire spear. Otherwise, none of these required any conversion other than with the paint brush. They sat on my desk brush primed with Liquitex White Gesso until recently when I had a "Holy crap -- the convention is next week!" moment...ha, ha! I was also painting a very large 3-D printed building for my friend Rich B of RRB Minis & More that also had to be done in time for the convention. Add that to getting my first batch of Mycenaeans done in time for this past Sunday, the deadline pressure was intensifying!

    This pose goes way back -- a Ral Partha figure I had in my unpainted drawer for years!

I painted the knights in a weird order for me. First, I did the chainmail (Iron Wind Steel with silver drybrush), then I switched to the mounts. I did their coloring and manes, reins, bridles, and straps before switching back to the riders. I was painting the fancy details (shield pattern and cloak) way earlier than I normally do. Usually, I save those things for last. For these three, who were being painted the same time as the priests, the boots or shoes were last! I had their eyes done before their footwear...ha, ha! I don't know if the deadline was making me panic or what, but the order that I painted their equipment was odd compared to the way I usually do.

    I figured I would paint one of the three so that he didn't necessarily have to be Christian priest

Part of the reason may have been that I wanted their cloaks to be done in their Heraldric colors. So, until I had a shield design -- or at least a color combination -- I couldn't get too far. Heraldry is fairly simple, as I taught my 7th graders many years in my History classes. You have two "metal" colors (Yellow and White), and five "colors (Red, Blue, Black, Purple, Green). The rule is you can't put a metal on a metal or a color on a color. So, a black hawk on a read shield would be "illegal" and wouldn't follow the rules of Heraldry. So, I chose my colors first, one would be yellow and black, another blue and white, and the final one purple and yellow. I ended up choosing a checkered pattern for the yellow/black one with a black cross inside the yellow fields. And as you can see, I chose not to go with madness and give him an entirely checkered cloak -- just the shield!

    Three 28mm Gripping Beast Spanish knights were my figure of choice for the Knight prizes

I "quartered" the blue and white one, with a white moon inside the blue field and a blue fish on the white field. Like the yellow/black knight, I went with a fancy border for the cloak rather than trying to do something decorative on the entire billowing cloak. The purple/yellow's shield turned out very nicely, probably my favorite. I divided it in half with a purple seahorse on the yellow field and two yellow crowns on the purple field. I gave in to the voice telling me to paint his cloak with horizontal purple and yellow stripes. All in all, he's probably my favorite of the three and I think he came out the best.

    I really like how the purple seahorse & 2 crowns came out on this knight's shield

Without horses, the priests went much faster. The Egyptian one was almost completely done before I got past the base coat of the Reaper cultist figure. He was probably the simplest to do, with nothing in his hands and no equipment. I made sure to give him a nicely decorated robe with intricate hem designs along the bottom and cuffs. I think his face is the best of all six. I jokingly called him Father Fistbump while I was painting them for his raised hand...ha, ha! Of course, once I said that I couldn't "unsee" him raising his fist in a hipster greeting!

    I really like how the banner sets the figure off and compliments how I painted his heraldry

The Reaper cultist looked like a relatively boring figure until I got done with the robe and hood. After the medium gray dry brush to make the folds stand out against the black robe, I noticed all of the other detail. He ended up becoming the most elaborate of the three. Yes, the circular badges with crosses inside obscure skulls and other occult symbols that the figure was designed with. I really liked how his book was turning out, so I decided to go one step further. I painted black scribbles for the lines of text and gave a large, boxed illuminated letter like you see in medieval bibles to start off one page. His face is a little odd, seeming to being caught in mid-snarl. Makes sense for a cultist, of course, but for a priest? Well, maybe he is calling down God's curses on his enemies!

    I tried to give a fancy cloak & shield design for each knight -- hope whoever wins them likes them!

The final figure is amazingly a very old Ral Partha one -- probably at least three decades or more old. I'm sure I picked him up in a flea market. I had in a bag labeled "Bizarre Religious Figures" or something like that. I never noticed his bible had a raised Christian Chi-Rho symbol on it -- a pre-cross symbol used by early Christian communities. So, he ended up being even more appropriate of a choice of figures than I initially thought! His size is a bit slighter than the more modern figures, but not ridiculously so. I own some Ral Partha 25mm figures that look like 20mm minis next to today's figs, but this one I think fits in well.  

In the rush to get everything done, including the building, I fell down on my attempt to paint my own two-story building step for step alongside Rich's larger one. The interior got finished, and about a third of the exterior, but finally I had to give up on it to focus on getting the "commissions" done. Just because I did these two things for others, though, doesn't mean I'm going to go back to my college days and paint commissions. Heck no! I have PLENTY of my own stuff to paint to keep me busy!! And thankfully, even though I am retired, I am not short on funds. So, I don't need to earn extra money to pay for my hobby.

So, what will be next, then? I think I will do some of the newer miniatures I bought for my Devilry Afoot campaign set in frontier America. Since these three knights and priests were all "old" miniatures, I need to do something "new" to maintain my system. I am also getting closer and closer to evening up my Miniatures Painted to equal or exceed my "Acquired." Stay tuned, though, and see what's next!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 217
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 211

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

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!

'Sing the Rage of Peleus' Son, Achilles' - Diomedes' Contingent for Ilium

 

    My first contingent of Achaeans for 'Ilium: A Game of Heroes' - 28mm Wargames Foundry

I had been following the game reports and post of Nic Wright of Irregular Wars about his new rules set, Ilium: Game of Heroes. So, when it was published, I downloaded the PDF on Wargame Vault. A couple weeks ago, four of us got together to play test it, enjoyed it, and I think my readers can guess what happened next. More miniatures - of course! I kept things under control, though, and picked up only seven 28mm Wargames Foundry miniatures (exactly what I needed for a contingent) from my friend Keith's unpainted pile.

    My hero in charge of the force, Diomedes, was painted up fancier -- especially his shield!

And here they are! I present the Achaean hero Diomedes and his Promachoi (companions). I am painting them up as Mycenaeans, which I think most historians believe is the period in Greece in which the siege of Troy could have happened. Much of Homer's descriptions of warfare (and the poet himself -- if he was one person) come from a slightly more recent period. However, archeology tells a different story and we all know how the ancients never really understood the concept of anachronism. Witness all the Bible illustrations from the Middle Ages with medieval soldiers depicting Biblical events. Either way, the figures come from Wargames Foundry's Mycenaean line, so that was the way I was painting them, by Zeus!

    One of Diomedes' companions wearing a boar tusk helmet & carrying a large shield

I did some preliminary looking at photos of other folks who painted 28mm Mycenaeans up for their Trojan War games. Most seemed to have white or pale-colored tunics, so that is what I went with for mine. To give a bit more variety, I also did some in pale blue, yellow, and tan. I then tried to give each some colorful decoration on their tunics. Yes, I could have painted them just in plain white tunics, but you know how I roll by now, right? I'm retired...I paint miniatures for fun and relaxation -- not as a factory to crank them out! So, decoration and color they would have!

    I like how this companion's tunic pattern came out - it looks like something from a Greek fresco

Actually, I did their flesh tone first, after priming them with Liquitex White Gesso. I went back and forth whether to use a slighter darker flesh tone, but in the end decided to go with my standard European one. Similarly, I used a mix of European hair colors, too. I could also have gone with all black hair to fall in line with a more Semitic or Levant look, but the word used in the Iliad to describe Achilles' hair can be translated to blond or at least a reddish gold. So, I decided to give them a variety of hair colors figuring that folks had been intermixing among the Mycenaeans just like they did through much of European history.

    I also like how the 'Figure 8' or Tower Shields came out -- they were tricky to glue to the figure

Their bronze armor was all painted first in Iron Wind Metals Steel, followed up by their Ancient Bronze. I did brush on highlights of Ancient Gold, too, where I figured the sun would gleam off of the armor the most. I've seen others depict bronze with an almost coppery sheen, which would be cool, but I'm not sure it is realistic. Homer goes on and on about how bright and shiny it was, so I prefer a more gold-toned bronze than a copper-toned variety. Many of the figures had decorations on their armor, either on the pectorals or the helmet. I painted a silver for those to make them stand out, figuring they would be gilded to shine even more on the battlefield.

    There is a LOT of pose & clothes variety in the Wargames Foundry 'Mycenaean' range 

In Ilium: Game of Heroes, Diomedes' companions are composed entirely of warriors carrying tower or figure eight shields. Most images of these show a cow spot pattern, representing leather stretched over a wicker frame. I've seen some with more reddish-brown spots and others with black, so I decided to do both. For inspiration on the dots, I Googled images online of Myceaean frescoes depicting shields. I am really happy with how they turned out, though these shields probably took more steps to complete than any I have done in recent memory! The inside was made to resemble wicker, the outside various tones I used for cowhide, the rim and boss I did in Steel and Bronze, the spots in either brown or black, and finally the inside rim was done in a wood brown. Oh, and they got a wash, too!

    For some reason, this fig reminded me of the look of Brad Pitt in the Hollywood 'Troy' movie

I made Diomedes's shield fancier, though, using inspiration from other images I've seen depicting them as painted than natural cowskin. I chose a red and blue quartered background color. Inside the blue, I did two circles of white, with a flower pattern snatched from a fresco for its design. For the red, I did two parallel, zig zag lines with my micron pen. The space between I painted in a dull yellow. I really like its fanciness, though I have to admit the black and yellow zig zag evoked the shirt worn by the comic strip character Charlie Brown! So, I went back with my micron pen and added dots inside the yellow to break that connection (and protect him from any potential Trojan "Lucys" on the battlefield...ha, ha!

    Another tunic pattern that I felt turned out rather well -- looking forward to painting more of these

All in all, I am very happy with how these seven Mycenaean figures turned out. I will likely pick up more one day so that I can field more than one contingent. Hopefully, Diomedes and his companions will get a chance to strut their stuff on the tabletop this weekend. We're talking about introducing Ilium to the rest of the Sunday Night gang. In the meantime, I am under serious deadline pressure on some things on my tabletop! I have a medieval 3-D printed building given to me by Rich Brown from RRB Minis & More to paint for him. It will be in repayment for a couple game mats his wife is making for me. The building is mostly done, but we know how "mostly dead" worked out in the Princess Bride! I need to be able to take it with me Thursday morning when I leave for Advance the Colors 2026 in Springfield, OH. Also scheduled to come along with me are three 28mm Knight figures and three Priests. I am painting them up for the ATC Saga tournament for the GMs to give away as prizes. So, lots to do in less than a week!!

    I think there were more steps to doing these shields than any others I've done before! I like 'em!

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

First 'Play-Through' Video of Surviving 'Nam Uploaded!

Bravo Team occupies a patch of jungle during 'Countdown to Contact' on my YouTube play-through

"Kids these days...!" Ha, ha! Seriously, though, many people nowadays are not content to read a battle report on a blog. They want to watch the game being played on YouTube. So, I have finally fulfilled that promise with my first upload of a game report on my Lead Legionaries on YouTube channel. Well...to be 100% honest, once I hit the one hour mark, I exported the video and will upload Part 2 once I'm finished.

 

Click here to watch Part 1 of the 'Search and Destroy' play-through using my Surviving 'Nam rules 

By the way, these take A LOT longer to do than a simple Surviving 'Nam battle report written up on my blog. Perhaps it is because I did the report through photos of the game in action. Honestly, I tried filming myself playing first, but it was awful. My hairy arms kept getting in the way of the camera and I was doing too much stumbling over my words. I do have an idea how to make another attempt at filming myself doing a game. However, Part 1 and 2 of my new Big Red One squad will be done in this photo/Ken Burns method.

I'd be curious to hear from folks who make it through the video what they think about it. So, if you have an hour and 15 minutes or so to devote to watching my game report, with sound effects (of course), by all means watch it and give me your thoughts! Otherwise, you now have an idea why I haven't had many updates, lately!

On the painting desk, my first batch of 7 figures for Ilium: A Game of Heroes are almost done. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to play another game this Sunday. Otherwise, I have a 4-story and 2-story building slowing me down (also almost done). In addition, I have promised three knight figures and three priest figures as prizes for the Advance the Colors Saga tournaments. So, expect a lot of updates over the next several days!

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

'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

A Visit and Revolutionary War Battle with the Hubbard Ohio Gamers Guild (H.O.G.G.)

 

    British troops advance through the crop fields to attack the American rebels at Harlem Heights, 1776

One of the things that I really wanted to start doing once I retired was visit the various clubs in our region and get in a game with them. Helping with my mom and her decline in health kept me from doing that for the last two years, though. Her recent passing, and a trip through northeast Ohio to upstate New York, gave me a chance to stop in and visit Rich Brown in his small city outside Youngstown. Although we weren't arriving on their scheduled night, Rich set up a Revolutionary War battle for us and hosted Jenny and I for the evening.

    Rich & Gwen (right) hosted Jenny & I on an off-night for their group, providing pizza & game!

The Hubbard Ohio Gamers Guild (H.O.G.G.) meet in the basement of his wife Gwen's yarn shop, which is also the physical location for RRB Minis & More. While gaming, you are surrounded by much of his stock displayed as if you were in a brick and mortar game store, which you pretty much are! Rich carries many of my rules sets and shows up at most of the regional game shows. He was using Flash in the Pan rules by David Bezio for the game, a very simple and easy-to-learn game. Rich had set up the Battle of Harlem Heights, 1776, which is the sixth in a series of games re-fighting the American Revolution on its anniversary.

    British command after its first turn of advance (another unit would march on to cover the right later)

Jenny and Gwen played the Rebels, while Rich and I took command of the British. Our job was to dislodge the stubborn Americans and chase them off the table. Our opponents simply needed to prevent that from happening. Rich explained to us that he isn't particular about his re-fights simulating the historical outcomes tactically, but did want the deployment to present the same challenge to the tabletop commanders. He must have been doing a good job, so far, as he mentioned that they were 5-for-5 on having the historical winner triumph in their games. What that meant for our game was that troops arrived on the tabletop somewhat piecemeal, as they did 250 years ago.

    American riflemen line the barricades in the gully, ready to take a toll on advancing troops

Each of us controlled two units. Mine were a battalion of Highlanders and a small battery of artillery. I shifted my highlanders from the center to my side of the table (the British left), while Rich sent his light infantry in open order up the center. His regulars would come in later on the right. The artillery hung back to see where the American flanking force would come in. Sure enough, Jenny's small unit of riflemen appeared on my left flank and rear. My artillery began firing at them as quickly as we could unlimber, and started to inflict hits upon them. Meanwhile, they blazed away instead at the rear of my column of highlanders, who they had obviously showed up to harass. Gwen's riflemen in the gully between the two heights used the barricades and cover to begin sniping at the advancing British light infantry.

    First British wave of highlanders on the left and light infantry in open order in the center

In the game, the regulars on both sides started the game with four stands of troops, the light infantry had three, and the American riflemen only two. Artillery counts as one stand. Each stand moves and fires individually, but they test morale as a unit. When shooting, players roll for each stand individually. A stand of skirmishers inflicts one hit, regulars two hits, and artillery three. Units in Flash in the Pan that take hits must check morale, of course. The more hits a unit takes, the worse chance of passing the check. If it suffered enough hits, the unit may not even be able to roll high enough on 1d6 to pass the test. For example, when my highlanders and Jenny's Continentals fired on each other, we each inflicted a total of 8 hits on the ther. We couldn't roll high enough on a 6-sided die to pass. So, what do you do? You can "voluntarily" remove a stand to give yourself a +3 on the roll. Why would you do that? Well, otherwise, you will flee backwards once, then test again. If you fail the second time, you flee again. So, the only way to rally your unit may be to suffer the loss of a stand (or even two). It is a very clever mechanic.

    More American riflemen appear on the British rear and left & engage the artillery in a duel

However, morale is not all an inexorable decline. At the end of each turn, you can test morale to rally off any hits, removing one on a 4 on 1d6, two on a 5, and three on a 6. Typically, as the range shrinks, the number of hits you take mounts, though. You find yourself unable to rally them off quick enough. The effect of these mechanics is that you will see units fleeing away from the enemy on the tabletop, then rallying and reforming. They will then march forward into battle again, as accounts of countless Revolutionary War battles describe. This happened in our game as both my and Rich's British marched up, fell back, and then marched back up again. Gwen was rolling well, and she kept driving off Rich's light infantry. Gamely, they rallied and returned to try again. Meanwhile, my artillery firing on the the flanking riflemen were eventually able to drive them off the field. Flash in the Pan is not a game of sudden routs and collapse of commands. You wear down your enemy and get them to the point where they simply can't inflict enough in response and are eventually forced to call of your attack.

    At top, the lights have been driven off by the fire of the riflemen in the gully (for the 1st time)

My highlanders were much superior to Jenny's Continentals, but she rolled well enough when we got within range that both of us were battered and driven back. She was forced to eventually remove two stands to be able to roll high enough to rally them. Unfortunately, my rolls were poor enough that I ended up having to do the same. We did get lucky and wounded General Washington, who was inspiring Jenny's troops to roll above their pay grade. I guess old Georgie didn't find the whistle of the bullets as "charming" this time as he did earlier in his career...! Ha, ha!

    Highlanders also suffering hits, this time from the American riflemen to their rear

Gwen's Harlem Militia were able to get to the gully and take cover before Rich's advancing regular infantry could double-team the riflemen alongside the Lights. The militia's volleys gave the regulars a pasting, and they were driven off. Meanwhile, Rich's lights had been shredded down to an ineffective force. Rich and I counted up our force and had only 8 stands between our four units. We agreed that the Americans had given us enough of a bloody nose that there was no way we could force them back uphill. Like gentlemen, we took our lumps and pronounced Jenny and Gwen the victors. 

    British artillery whittled the riflemen down & finally were able to drive them off

A key mechanic in the game is what's called the "Battleworth" roll. It is a number of d6's that a unit rolls when testing to move, shoot, or rally. Green troops or Militia have 1d6, Regulars 2d6, and Elites 3d6. Units may also have +1d6 for an inspiring leader (like the Continentals did with our first president). A player rolls the Battleworth number of six-sided dice, using the highest result on a single die. So, Militia may out-roll Elites on a turn, but over the course of the game, the Elites rolling their greater number of dice will likely out-roll and out-perform their lesser capable opponents.

    Highlanders and American continentals close in on each other, ready to deliver a volley

It was a fun, quick game. Now that I have a game of it under my belt, it would be easier to make tactical decisions and use the rules to maneuver to gain a tactical advantage. The rules are free to download, so they're worth taking a look at. Though on the face of it they appear very simplistic, their subtleties become apparent when playing. Rich will likely have printed copies of the rules available for sale, too, this Oct. 9-10 at Advance the Colors (if you're coming -- and you should be!). 

    After suffering from their fire many times, the Brit light infantry charges the riflemen in the gulley

Thanks, Rich, for adding a bonus night to the H.O.G.G. schedule to accommodate Jenny and I! And for the pizza and beer, of course! 

    Both sides are battered after hammering away at each other with musketry all game

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