French Indian Wars skirmish to "Blood & Plunder".

 

I guess I would class myself as more of a historical big-battle, large skirmish kind of wargamer when it comes to a preference about the games I would always jump at playing with a distinct leaning towards the simulation quality of a set of rules, which I gauge on my own assessment spectrum of simulation at one end of the extreme and game at the other, and then my other assessment profile, fun to play - not fun to play, preferring that sweet-spot of the fun, simulation game.

As far as the first parameter with regards to Blood & Plunder (B&P) rules from Firelock games, seemingly more aimed at the smaller skirmish game, they would not have appealed in terms of other rule sets I would naturally turn to, and as regards the simulation aspect, I see them very much in the realms of a game, aimed at lovers of the Hollywood pirate cliché, in the guise of Captain Jack Sparrow rather than claims to be recreating the career of Edward Teach.

As to whether B&P are or were fun to play, the initial hurdles to my decision to play them would have not permitted me to have offered an opinion until now.

In addition to having a clear set of parameters when assessing games and rules I prefer over others, I also believe in the maxim that minds are like parachutes, working at their best when open, and the Devon Wargames Group is the kind of club where you can get the opportunity to play most sets of rules out there at any given time, with all sorts of themes as well.

So it was the chance of playing something new to me that prompted me to take up Mike C's offer to host a game of B&P using his marvellous collection of French Indian War figures and terrain which I have enjoyed games with in previous club meetings.

The rules themselves have features common to several others I have played in my time with various unit and character statistics that feature in the combat and morale calculations that require testing during play, the normal movement, loading and firing actions and an interesting activation sequence using a playing card sequencing  based on the suit of the card, its value, with aces low, and the quality of the troops using the card.

The quality of the troop type is important, because although the suit and value determines who gets to activate first in a given round of play, the quality determines how many things you get to do in that action, and sometimes the two requirements don't always match, leading to an interesting decision point for players as to who to activate and when depending on a given situation, never knowing what options the enemy might have as their priorities.

Mike presented the table as seen above, for the four of us playing the game, with two players per side, and with myself and Nathan commanding the British garrison holding the fort, and with potential for some reinforcements turning up later in the game, whilst Alex and Steve M took the French command, tasked with taking the fort and fending off any relief attempts.

As part of the setup Nathan and I, as British defenders, had the opportunity to rearrange parts of the terrain to our liking and so prepared a clear field of fire around our stockade, as the most likely preparation made by any garrison. 

Each team of players was presented with a very nice set of 17th century replica playing cards from which we drew a hand of cards equal to the number of units we had in play and then once we could see the hand, the decision on who to activate and what to do with the unit in question.

At first, with the various units at long range and seeking to manoeuvre into position, the activation sequence was not particularly critical, albeit the occasional irritating hit on a unit that was hoping to get the first advantageous shot from cover, which, as figures became casualties pushed units ever closer to their break point as the game progressed.

I must say that the anticipation of reviewing the hand of cards drawn each turn of play and bathing in the comfort of several face cards in hand whilst trying to assess the priorates coming up in play as regards getting in an important shot or charging in on a unit that was ripe for being sorted out with the bayonet was a very fun aspect of play in B&P and made for a very interactive game as the drama unfolded before us.

The French made good headway around all sides of the fort and their combined firing soon forced the British back from the front palisades around the main gate, as Nathan and I decided to surrender the position, looking to form an inner defence of the compound based around the tower position at the back of the fort garrisoned by our best bayonet wielders and firers, the ever reliable British Grenadiers.

As Indians and French Marines scaled the front palisade and dropped into the interior, a close hand to hand struggle developed in the compound, with nowhere to hide, as the British defenders poured in musketry backed by bayonet attacks, as the defenders attempted to turn the compound into a kill zone for the first enemy units that entered; and this was where the card play really came to the fore, with the need to get the drop on the enemy and make it count before they could respond in kind made for a very fun entertaining period of play.

Meanwhile the first British relief units started to appear on the perimeter in the form of several units of British rangers who very quickly asserted themselves by shooting up and dispersing several follow up French units closing on different sides of the fort.

In the end the interior compound fell to the French, but not without a heavy toll on the attackers and although the British rangers were making progress on the perimeter and the fort tower held firm it seemed fair to award the game to the French, although I like to think they would have had to offer terms to our stalwart grenadiers to surrender the place with full military honours.

I can't say I will be a regular player of B&P, but I enjoyed our game and can readily see why the system attracts its fans, with its player decision points generated by the card play mechanism an attractive way to enjoy skirmish games.

In my assessment B&P leans more towards being a game rather than a simulation of skirmish black powder warfare, but is no less than a very fun game as well being a strong competitor in this genre to similar offerings such as Musket and Tomahawks.

Thank you to Mike C for putting the game together and to Steve M, Alex and Nathan for the fun of playing it.

JJ

Clotted Lard 2025 in Support of Devon Air Ambulance.

 

I am proud to write that the Devon Wargames Group has regularly promoted our hobby of historical wargaming in support of several charities over the years and in more recent years that has been directed in support of our own county wide air ambulance service, Devon Air Ambulance, that provides vital emergency rescue around our very large rural county that is a summertime destination for many folks resulting in our population multiplying dramatically in the summer and our roads becoming heavily congested with visiting traffic.

Devon Air Ambulance Trust relies on a combination of public donations, income from its charity shops, and lottery funding to support its operations, and with donations from the public making up 23% of its funding that saw the trust raise £15.8 million in 2024 and needing to spend £14.8 million of which £9.2 million was used to provide its charitable service, saving lives across Devon, we in the club are very pleased to be able to support such an important service.

Another great day in 2025 for Clotted Lard VIII.
Thank you to everyone who took part and contributed to helping Devon Air Ambulance in the process.

We have enjoyed the company of Too Fat Lardies and all our friends in Lard for the last eight years with our annual Clotted Lard show, and last year saw the event raise just over £264 after expenses, with a further £20.40 raised on the day from participants and visitors happy to make a contribution.

To this, as in previous years, the club voted to round the sum up from £264 to £400 at our Club AGM  to which was added the contributions from the day.

As in all club activities nothing could be accomplished without teamwork and volunteers willing to make a contribution, and whilst we all get to enjoy playing the games we bring to the tabletop, it would be remiss not to mention Richard Clark and Nick Skinner of Too Fat Lardies who have been regular supporters of our show over the years and continue to be so. 

In addition I should thank the managing committee of the Lympstone Village Hall who make available their 'second to none' facilities that we all enjoy for our show, Colin Murray our Clotted Lard Club 'cat-hearder in chief', who has taken over the reins to organise our annual event, Jack and Sarah Frost who arranged our cream teas 'Devon style' with, of course, cream on first, and all the club members and Lardy friends who turned out to help get things set up and cleared away, as well as contributing to the games we hosted.

Thank you to one and all and here's looking forward to Clotted Lard IX in 2026.

JJ

Blood Red Skies - Battle of Britain Mini-Campaign

 

This month Si got his RAF & Luftwaffe models out on the table to entertain a few of the chaps with a Battle of Britain mini-campaign using the rules 'Blood Red Skies' from Warlord Games, and written by Andy Chambers, offering a fun action packed way of playing WWII air battles.

The campaign consisted of three scenarios played for about four-hours that resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Luftwaffe.

Scenario One was a 'Dogfight', a learning game pitting two Spitfires up against two Bf 109s.

Scenario Two, 'Fighter Sweep' that featured eight Bf 109s up against six Hurricanes and three Spitfires. This went to the Luftwaffe after the RAF ran out of fuel/ammunition or just lost morale.

Scenario Three was 'Escort', with four Bf 109s, 2 Bf 110s, and two He 111s against six Hurricanes and three Spitfires. 

After the loss of a Spitfire and a Hurricane, the RAF withdrew.

The aircraft are 1/144 scale model plastic kits, and the flight stands and clouds are home made.