The Silver Bayonet - Wolf Pack

Thursday afternoon, Finnegan and I tried out The Silver Bayonet - a new skirmish wargame of gothic horror set during the Napoleonic Wars, by Joseph McCullough. I pre-ordered the book AGES ago and had almost forgotten about it until I'd gotten a notice it had shipped and then arrived on my doorstep last week some time!? 

I left it for a day or two as I was busy with other stuff but over the weekend had a look and got very excited and started trying to find stuff I could make use of. It ended up with me needing to rebase a pile of Wolves - that were originally based on large, mulit-figure, square bases for Hordes of the Things... and... since I was rebasing those and brining them up to current basing standards I pretty much HAD to rebase a few of the others I found that I figured might be useful... 

Despite my initial plan of just trying to find some miniatures I already had painted to use... I ended up painting most of the two special units I put together!? 

The game includes rules for Solo and Co-op Play and four solo scenarios. This is what we decided to try out - the first solo scenario played with the co-op rules. I took members of Dulles' Rifles (Lt. Dicky Dulles, Sergeant Grabbe, and Private Coyle) and Finnegan took part of Mister Collins' Crew (Mister Collins, and the two highlanders; Private Ripley and Private Graham). 

Background

Another Special Unit was sent off into a deep dark wood to find recover some special artifact from a ruined chapel. They have not been heard of for some time and a new team has been assembled to locate them, and, if necessary, complete their mission. 

It took some days of tracking to locate the party, but locate them they did. The group had apparently gotten lost in the woods for a spell and then had clearly been attacked. The scene they encountered was one of total carnage! A chill ran down Lieutenant Dulles' spine as the scene of slaughter was all too reminiscent of what had happened to his old company! 

As they entered the campsite in the middle of a small clearing a series of wolf cries emanated from the woods all around them! 

Scenario

There are 6 clue markers spread around the battlefield that should be investigated. Ideally they should try to find the previous unit's orders, so they can carry them out - or any other things they might have that are handy. 

There really isn't "victory points" per se... but there were certain things the group would gain experience points for - which are distributed afterwards. It really is designed for Campaign Play! 

The Game

You will have to excuse the rather sad and sparse looking woods... I have a lot more, better looking trees... SOMEWHERE, but they were shoved in a box before all the renovations began... like two years ago... and i have yet to locate them... 

The brown areas on the board were treated as woods and Difficult Ground and anyone withing them was considered to have cover. If we'd thought about it a bit more, I might have further suggested that anyone with more than 6" or 8" distance through woods could not even be seen.  

All set up and ready to go! 

Our intrepid Heroes arrive at the capsite. 

Slaughter and carnage is all around. Wolves cry out! 

ROUND ONE

Finnegan got the initiative, so his group got to go first, followed by the monsters, followed by all of mine! 

Mister Collins started things off by running (Move+Sprint action) to get to one of the fallen. 

Private Ripley and Private Graham both moved up in support and fired off their Muskets at the flanking wolves in the woods... but both missed! 

Then it was the monsters turn! 

One Wolf charged Private Ripley! 

So... interesting feature of this game... Attacking it not an action, but merely a thing that happens after moving into contact with an enemy. One thing that WASN'T 100% clear was if you could do a SPRINT action into combat... there wasn't anything that specifically said you could NOT... But it also says that combat takes place after a Move to Attack action (a Move action that brings you into contact with an enemy model)... and Sprinting specifically mentions is is a "special" action that takes place AFTER a Move action...? We decided though it is a "special" move, it is still a Move and so a Sprint could be a Move to Attack... 

The wolves furiously snapping jaws could not find purchase on the highlander! (If the target of a melee attack survives, they have the option of Striking Back or Backing Off... well... Obviously PRivate Ripley wasn't about to just run off!) 

Private Ripley stabbed the wolf with his bayonet and deal four damage! The Wolf was then obliged to back off 2"...

Another Wolf attacked Mister Collins and bit him quite nastily! (Dealing 9 Damage! YIKES!) 

Mister Collins was not one to back down from a fight, however, and struck the wolf back, dealing 6 damage! 

The Wolves (and Werewolf) spread around the table also sprinted towards the Riflemen in the middle of the clearing... 

Lieutenant Dulles fired one of his pistols at the Werewolf, missing, and then ran off in the opposite direction, charging one of the wolves.  

The other two Riflemen discharged their muskets and ran to aid the others. Rifleman Coyle killed one of the wolves bearing down on Private Ripely - much to Ripley's relief! 

Somebody seriously injured one of the wolves... I can't remember if that was Dulles Charge or the Sergeant's shooting...? 

At the end of the turn we rolled on the Wolf Pack Event Table - so see if more arrived. Luckily, no other wolves (or WEREWOLVES!) arrived! 

ROUND TWO

this time I won the initiative, so Dulles' Rifles went first. 

 The Sergeant Reloaded his musket with his action and then Moved to Attack the injured wolf. It's true that injured animals are very dangerous! The sergeant failed to finish off the wolf and the wolf bit back dealing 5 damage! Ouch! 

Lieutenant Dulles moved into contact with one of the Clue Markers and Investigated the Clue! He found a silver blade which made all of his melee attacks for the rest of the game "silver"... which didn't help much as he already had a silver inlaid fencing sword... 

Riflemen Coyle also reloaded his musket and then charged... he missed, but the wolf did not! 

It seems an odd thing to do... reload a musket, only to charge.... ehhhh... I tried to think of it all as a blended action from the previous turn - they fired their muskets at wolves coming from one direction and then ran off 

The injured wolf that had been attacking Private Ripley rounded and charged again (remember what I said about injured animals being dangerous?) This time it savaged  Private Ripley, dealing TEN DAMAGE - Luckily, Highlanders are made of sterner stuff and have 11 Health, and so Private Ripley kept on fighting... Though he failed to deal the wolf any further damage when he struck back.  

Another Wolf charged Rifleman Coyle and scored a critical hit (10 on both d10 dice) and that that took him out of the fight - blood gushing from an open wound, he was obliged to crawl off into the woods and staunch the wound as best he could... 

Another wolf attacked Lt. Dulles and dealt him ten damage! 

The Wolf that the Sergeant had fought earlier in the round attacked back and this time the SErgeant finished him off. 

Unfortunately another followed on his heals and finished him off.. 

Poor Private Ripley was just not having a great day... the WErewolf charged him... and that was the end of Private Ripley... 

This turn... Not going well for our heroes! 

Finally, what was left of Collins' Crew could activate. Mister Collins spent his action investigating the Clue... Drawing a card it turned out to be... 

ANOTHER WEREWOLF! 

Now the card reulsts state, "Replace the clue marker with a Werewolf"... so we weren't entirely sure what to do then... Melee attacks are clearly stated to take place after a Move to Attack... There is nothing that states that this counts as a Move to Attack - it just suddenly appears, in contact, with whoever was in contact with the clue token... We decided it DOES "count as" a Move to Attack, and that the Active Character (Mister Collins) was the attacker and went first. He injured it severely - dealing ten damage! Teh werewolf missed and Mr Collins Backed off. 

Private Graham reloaded his musket and... charged the closest wolf - killing it! 

For a second turn in a row, NO MORE WOLVES SHOWED UP! 

ROUND THREE

Collins' Crew went first, starting with Mr. Collins - who charged the Weerewolf, neither did any damage and Mr. Collins was obliged to retire. 

Private Graham went next and also charged the Werewolf! despite not having any silver weapons, he managed to finish the big beastie off! 

Then the monsters went...

A Wolf charged Mister Collins and dragged him down to the grown, mauling him with tooth and claw. 

Another wolf charged Private Graham and failed to land a bite. Graham was so busy parrying the ferocious attack, he was not able to land any blows either. 

The White Wolf charged Dulles, who deftly turned it away. 

A second wolf charged Dulles. This one Dulles killed, taking it's entire head off with his sword. 

The Werewolf charged Graham dealing 9 damage! 

Dulles was the last to activate and his pulled his second pistol and shot down the still reeling White Wolf! 

Dulles ran for it - sprinting around some woods, hoping to get to one more clue marker and possibly finding the orders and making it off the table before any more wolves fell upon him! 

Finally two more wolves showed up. Fortunately, they arrived in the opposite corner to where Lt. Dulles was! 

ROUND FOUR

Dulles went first and sprinted again to try and get to one of the fallen members of the slaughtered team. 

Wolves surrounded Private Graham... one wolf charged, and he stuck it through with his bayonet, killing the beast.  

Then a second wolf charged in, which he was able to turn away... but this relentless assault was tiring him quickly. When the werewolf finally attacked, Private Graham was done... 

Another Wolf arrived, from the same corner... 

ROUND FIVE

Dulles moved into the Clue Marker and investigated... but only found a bag of silver shot... again... something he already had! 

The Wolves all moved and got a little too close for comfort! 

ANOTHER wolf arrived on the table. Once again from the same corner! 

ROUND SIX

Dulles decided to call it a day, he ran off the table, making as much noise as he could to try and draw the wolves away and hopefully giving his wounded comrades a chance to crawl away to safety... 

Post Game

After killing a few more of the wolves chasing him, the rest broke off their assault and Dulles made his way back to the clearing. Mister Collins, Sergeant Grabbe, and Rifleman Coyles wounds, it turned out, were relatively minor and they would be able to fight on... Private Grahams wounds were a bit more severe (he will start next game with -3 Health) and Private Ripley died of his wounds... They removed his head - to prevent him from returning as a werewolf or revenant or some such, and buried him in a shallow grave in the clearing, along with the rest of the fallen soldiers. 

All of the survivors received one Experience Point, just for showing up and not dying.. Three more experience points were gained - one for investigating at least three Clue Tokens, one for killing at least five Dark Wolves, and one more for killing a Werewolf! These were distributed to Lt. Dulles, Mr Collins, and Private Graham. 

Initial Thoughts

I DO LIKE IT! 

I could totally see running a campaign. Either a co-op campaign with Finnegan. I could possibly even drag Amanda into it... If I could find some appropriate female figures (she does like her ass-kicking women-folk in any game!). 

I've even had ideas for on-going campaigns or a weekend campaign with multiple warbands... It could start off competitive - historical belligerents bumping into each other while on the same mission, assuming the enemy is up to no good and in league with the supernatural evil... but over time maybe realize they're after the same thing and start co-operating - if begrudgingly... 

Or I could see running it as a convention game... Either as a multi-player co-op with four players each playing and Officer/Character with one or two soldiers... or possibly semi co-op/teams maybe... British and French Teams - two players each - each player gets an officer and 40 Requisition Points... They are competing for points... but there are a PILE of monsters to deal with... 

Yeah, this seems like there is a lot of potential for a lot of fun. 

There are a few bits in the rules that could have been a touch tighter - mostly stuff I mentioned in the report - Can a Move to Attack be a Sprint action? Can you really Reload as an action, then Move to Attack? Do Monsters sprint? Maybe these things ARE obvious to everyone else and I'm just a blockhead...? Nothing seems utterly broken, though. 

Rereading the A.I. flowchart/conditions that control monsters... I'm not sure if they CAN even sprint... it says "It will move it's full speed stat..." doesn't say anything about sprinting...? Maybe that's why things went quite so poorly for us... We were having them sprint. 

Also, I SUPER appreciate the rules for solo/co-op play... I just wish that had been considered when devising attributes. One I can think of that I came across was the Monster Expert attribute that the Supernatural Investigator has - it adds an additional Monster die to the Fate Pool... except that Monster dice aren't used at all in solo/co-op play, so this attribute kind of useless, and the soldier that gets it (which otherwise seems like a really cool character) a little overpriced...

I do hope that, like Frostgrave and Stargrave and Dracula's America, Osprey follows this up with expansions - adding new monsters and scenarios and artifacts and soldiers with new attributes and weapons... I think the game has a lot of potential! 

Looking forward to playing again! There are four Solo Scenarios that form a bit of a narrative arc. I do hope we can find time to play it again next week!