Fantastic Scuffle playtesting in Italy.
The next ruleset from Irregular Wars Wargaming will be a skirmish game for encounters between small parties, Fantastic Scuffles. currently being playtested by players around the world, the following report has sent into me by Giulio in Italy. Giulio graciously permitted me to repost it here.
1. The lists
I created two lists, one for me and one for my wife. For the first playthrough, we decided to try to play together to learn the basics.
For the first list, I wanted to create a hunter warband of the Order of Azyr from Warhammer. This is something that I've always tried to create in Warcry, but there was not much customization.
The list has two mages, Domitan with Push and Fireball, and Leona, with Fly, Blink, and Curse. They both have Medium Armor and Holy Orders.
Tavian is a tank with Shieldwall and Heavy Armor. Haskel and Brydget are two (relatively) cheap Hunters with black powder pistols and Resolve.
For the second list, I had some cool set of werewolf miniatures that I absolutely loved painting, but unfortunately, I never got the chance to actually use them in a game. I could never quite find a system where I could use them as I wanted to, which was a bit of a shame. But thanks to Fantastic Scuffles, I finally had the chance to use them and it was incredibly satisfying!
I play 4 Werewolves from Mierce/Darklands, accompanied by some minion wolves from Warlord Games.
I gave them all Large, Nocturnal (of course) and Agile. I gave the leader Maleodorous - not because I imagined him as smelly, but more to convey an overwhelming, fear-inducing presence. It was the closest trait that matched the kind of menace I had in mind.
I gave another wolf, "the howler", the skill Distracting, which I used to represent his fearsome howl that would shake the enemy’s nerves rather than just divert their attention.
The other two wolves are just large brawlers, one with Claws and Frenzy, and another with a Sword.
They are accompanied by a pack of 5 wolves (regular minions with Agile).
2. The mission
We rolled the mission, and we got:
3 for the Order - the messenger (we choose Brydget)
5 for the Wolves - the Ambush
*****
I created two lists, one for me and one for my wife. For the first playthrough, we decided to try to play together to learn the basics.
The list has two mages, Domitan with Push and Fireball, and Leona, with Fly, Blink, and Curse. They both have Medium Armor and Holy Orders.
Tavian is a tank with Shieldwall and Heavy Armor. Haskel and Brydget are two (relatively) cheap Hunters with black powder pistols and Resolve.
I play 4 Werewolves from Mierce/Darklands, accompanied by some minion wolves from Warlord Games.
I gave them all Large, Nocturnal (of course) and Agile. I gave the leader Maleodorous - not because I imagined him as smelly, but more to convey an overwhelming, fear-inducing presence. It was the closest trait that matched the kind of menace I had in mind.
I gave another wolf, "the howler", the skill Distracting, which I used to represent his fearsome howl that would shake the enemy’s nerves rather than just divert their attention.
The other two wolves are just large brawlers, one with Claws and Frenzy, and another with a Sword.
They are accompanied by a pack of 5 wolves (regular minions with Agile).
2. The mission
We rolled the mission, and we got:
3 for the Order - the messenger (we choose Brydget)
5 for the Wolves - the Ambush
This combination of objectives felt so thematic and added a lot of narrative depth to the game! One warband had to deliver a message, while the other was tasked with ambushing them!
Unfortunately for the Order, when we rolled for the weather, we rolled 6, which became 5 with the -1 of the Nocturnal trait of the wolves, so we got heavy rain and the hunters could say goodbye to their pistols.
This was the deployment. We used a 22x30 board (at the moment, I don't have a 2x2 mat), but it worked very well.
3. Battle report
In short, the wolves tried to create a sort of barrier to prevent the messenger from reaching the other side. The idea with the Order, instead, was to try to use Blink to teleport the messenger behind the enemy's barrier while the rest of the warband tried to distract the wolves as much as possible.
Finding the best moment to teleport the messenger (Brydget) behind the enemy lines was the key, and both the Order and the Wolves knew it. The wolf leader tried to kill Leona to prevent her from using Blink. At the same time, Brydget charged the wolf leader from behind to help Leona and get close so she could use Blink on her - a risky move, indeed.
In the meantime, the rest of the warband tried to distract the wolves to give Leona and Brydget the time to make their move.
The Blink was successful and Brydget reached the other side, so she started a desperate run to deliver the message while as the wolves chased her.
In the end, the messenger was killed by the pack of minion wolves, but it was a lot of fun.
The rest of the game turned into a big, bloody brawl, since the Order had little chance of reaching the messenger and delivering the letter.
At the end, only Tavian and two wolves remained alive (one of which was severely wounded), so it was a win for the Werewolves.
4. Considerations
In the end, the system felt really solid, and every turn was filled with a ton of strategic choices to make. The uncertainty of who would activate next really added a lot of depth to the game.
At one point, I was worried that the werewolves were too strong and that the Order didn’t stand a chance, but in the end, the light and heavy armors made all the difference. The way the game ended showed that the werewolves weren’t quite as impossible to defeat. Considering that the rain severely hindered the Order, knocking out their guns, I thought the game was very well-balanced overall.
I also loved the minion mechanic. It is so strategic to move them, and it worked well even when some of the minions started to flee.
Now that I am more familiar with the basics, I'll try some other missions and warbands. I am looking forward to trying an undead list.
Unfortunately for the Order, when we rolled for the weather, we rolled 6, which became 5 with the -1 of the Nocturnal trait of the wolves, so we got heavy rain and the hunters could say goodbye to their pistols.
3. Battle report
In short, the wolves tried to create a sort of barrier to prevent the messenger from reaching the other side. The idea with the Order, instead, was to try to use Blink to teleport the messenger behind the enemy's barrier while the rest of the warband tried to distract the wolves as much as possible.
The Blink was successful and Brydget reached the other side, so she started a desperate run to deliver the message while as the wolves chased her.
At the end, only Tavian and two wolves remained alive (one of which was severely wounded), so it was a win for the Werewolves.
4. Considerations
In the end, the system felt really solid, and every turn was filled with a ton of strategic choices to make. The uncertainty of who would activate next really added a lot of depth to the game.
At one point, I was worried that the werewolves were too strong and that the Order didn’t stand a chance, but in the end, the light and heavy armors made all the difference. The way the game ended showed that the werewolves weren’t quite as impossible to defeat. Considering that the rain severely hindered the Order, knocking out their guns, I thought the game was very well-balanced overall.
I also loved the minion mechanic. It is so strategic to move them, and it worked well even when some of the minions started to flee.
Now that I am more familiar with the basics, I'll try some other missions and warbands. I am looking forward to trying an undead list.