Monday 21 August 2017

Sprinklings of fear....Getting the kids in on the act!

In my last post i mentioned i was going to float the idea of a campaign to the sprinklings (well sprinkling 2: Son of Sprinks and sprinkling 3: the Revenge anyway, although Sprinkling 1: the Spawning did do some of the wonderful photography included in this post). They not only failed to glaze over and dribble while i was explaining what that meant to them but to my surprise jumped at the idea!. We set about coming up with some ideas for games and i let them ransack my mini collection to pick their forces ( my nerves will never be the same again!). Having settled on forces of their choosing ( Undead for Sprinkling 2 and an Egyptian(ish) force for Sprinkling 3 because they had an 'AWESOME GIANT SNAKE!!!!!',  more of which later) we sat down to come up with an idea for a background and drew a campaign map. This one as it goes:
I had fun doing this i have to admit!.
The basic premise was that an old necromancer was banished to the Castle of Death by the old King of the City of peace. The King has now passed away and his son crowned. This has prompted the Necromancer to summon his forces and have a go at the old 'overthrow the King and take the throne for your own evil ends' game!. Each place on the map represents an area a game could take place in, working from the first meeting of the two forces in the wonderfully named Plane of Mid-Death (because its in the middle according to the Sprinklings). Winning a game allows you to 'push back' the enemy one area towards their capital (for example if the Undead win at the plane of mid death the next game will be at the Oasis of palm etc. Each area will be contested by using a scenario written by me (i.e. rubbish!) and can only be played once to avoid the 'yo yo' effect between two areas. The campaign is over when a player looses a game for his capital ( The City of Peace and the Castle of Death) or if all other areas have been fought over by winning in the final area.....or when one of the Sprinklings has a paddy and refuses to take part any more!.
So far lots of fun has been had (and the rules i strung together are holding up to the stress of battle at the mo which is a minor miracle!). We have played the first two games......

THE PLANE OF MID DEATH!
 We began with a basic line 'em up and kick them in type game to get us all into it, i wont go into too much detail but it went sort of like this:

The forces of the City of Peace out looking for undead to (re)murder!. They have a leader (called Pher-o i think), 2 units of Warriors, some archers and the AWESOME GIANT SNAKE!!!.
The minis are a mix of Ceaser and Zvesda, i think the cobra may be papo but im hazy on that one. The forces of the City of Peace are all based on yellow bases with a black trim.

The deadly Necromancer himself inspects his forces!. He has a leader called Dee Ceased, A unit of undead Knights, some warriors and a unit of Marsh Zombies.
They are all Dark Alliance minis and are based on black bases with white trim.....and of course a sinister and chilling mist that is not cotton wool, its mist....... honest!.

The picturesque Mid Death, just before lunch. On a Friday.
I would do a big write up but this picture shows off the generalship, cunning stratagems and tactical wonder pulled off by both leaders:
PILE IN!!!!!!!

Im just kidding they had loads of fun despite giving Dad brain ache while he tried to de-tangle the multiple combats across the table!. In the end Dee Ceased fell attempting to fend of the Snake and his mates leaving the Plane safe in the hands of the forces of peace!.
'Dead again, what am i like?!'

That meant the next game was at the Swamp of Doom as the forces of Peace pressed on towards the Castle of Death!. For that game i set up the table with patches of marsh that was impassable to all troops except Marsh Zombies. The forces of Peace had to get one unit out of the Swamp by moving off the Undead table edge, the Undead had 5 turns to stop them doing so....however, all the undeads Marsh Zombies were left off table and Sprinkling 2 wad given some 'Marsh Markers' that were tokens to be split up between the marsh sections on the table. These were used to set up zombie units in the marshes, hidden from the other side. Three of the markers represented zombie units and the rest were decoys to represent the fact that the enemy would have been weary of the marshes but not know if anything was in them or not. In his move phase the undead player could flip over any of these markers and reveal them to the opposition. He could then deploy any Zombies revealed in the area of marsh ready to be used that turn!. This did allow a small amount of suspense but sprinkling 3 was not too bothered by the hidden Zombies, he just wanted to kill anything that moved regardless!.

Sprinkling 3 shows his attitude towards Marsh Zombies!.
Anyway, the game went rather well, here are the potted highlights:
A swamp, Doom sold seperately!. (the square cards in the dark green 'marshes' are the Marsh markers for the undead).

The Peace loving goodies stormed forward, which looked like a great idea until it became clear that Sprinkling 3 had no intention to move forces off the table but to try to beat up any undead they could get their spears into!.
FORWARD!!!!!

Zombie Ogres emerge from the Marsh to smash the Knights of Peace!
The leaders tussle as more Zombies come forth!
The forces of peace make a breakthrough on the flank.....Only to charge back in next turn!.
The action ends with the last of the forces of Peace running for less smelly pastures and the Swamp in the cold dead hands of the Undead!

Both of the Sprinklings have been having fun with this and have been nagging like mad to play the next game, which will be ready for the next rainy day (which here in the U.K. will be any day you like!). So its onwards to the Oasis of Palm and an Undead ambush on the forces of peace! (cue scary organ music and demented cackling!). 
 Anyway......till next time.......







7 comments:

  1. Great stuff Mr Sprinks and some nice Undead figures (haven't seen those before). Your kids clearly engage with war games; mine did for about a week then lost interest!

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    1. Thanks Jack, They seem to be enjoying it but im trying not to be a 'pushy dad' and just letting them have fun. If it sticks for them then great but if not its no biggie. I had a bash at your 'Mr Featherstone, i presume?' rules last night, they were alot of fun, i will do a write up soon.

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    2. Looking forward to seeing the report.
      Tactically I have to agree with the Duc, kill, kill, trample, trample - it's the only way.

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  2. 'Knights smashed by Zombie Horde shock!'
    Excellent report - and the use of the cotton wool as 'Necromantic Mist' (which is probably an obscure metal song) is absolutely inspired.

    Sprinkling 3 had the right idea for wargaming. 'Kill everything that moves' has been the cornerstone of my tabletop tactical prowess (or lack thereof) since 1982. The kids clearly enjoy the battle :)

    He also has a bright career in horror film acting ahead of him. I do envision a return of Hammer Horror studios when the public realise how crappy modern films are, and cry out for real effects in future.

    'Apprentice required: must be able to create 'bulging eye zombie' look at will.'

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  3. Thanks mate. Im sure i saw necromantic mist open for Slayer back in the day!. Sprinkling 3 is from the 'scrappy Do' school of tactical thinking!, reguardless of numbers he just wants to charge!. As far as monstets he has zombie down, mutant ape covered and if you see his bedroom he can do thing from the swamp pretty well too!

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  4. Nice! A great story, Mr. Sprinks. The Sprinklings are fortunate to have such an entertainer in their midst. And you are doubtless also fortunate to have such fine players in your troupe. :) Your write-ups are always a spot of joy.

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    1. Thank you sir!, they came up with such great ideas and had so much enthusiasm for the whole thing its hard not to get swept along!. The credit belongs to the sprinklings for this one i am but a humble referee!.

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