MINI WARGAMING: Happy Birthday, Otto Heinrich von Compton!

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Hi Everyone,

I want to first wish my old friend, Jon Compton, a happy brithday!

The "ol' gang" got together at Vynnie's place this past Thursday to celebrate Jon's birthday with pizza, beer and a rousing game of:

Sky Galleons of Mars!

Jon has always loved SGoM so it was perfect.

You can check out Vynnie's well known and loved site, Reconnaissance in Force, here:

http://tinyurl.com/op7bs

The following folks showed up:

MIGHTY GAMEMASTER & SUPREME HOST:
League of Nations Supremely Important Chancellor played by:
- Vynnie "The Man," Wielder of Mighty Dice & Tomes

GERMANs, MARTIANs & the BIRTHDAY BOY:
Grand Naval Commander Otto Heinrich von Compton played by:
Jon von Compton commanding the:
- LZ-5 zeppelin
- Red native corvette Swiftwood

Martian Lackey, Grand Vizier Schmendrick Smelchak played by:
Maksim-Smelchak commanding the:
- Liftwood tripod transport Moltke
- Red native cruiser Glory Sled

FRENCH NOGOODNIKs:
Grande Admirale Jan-Michel Vincent-Brandeisium played by:
"Dirty Mike" B. commanding the:
- Gloire gunboat

Admirale Sebastien De'l Ordures (French name for a Southern Gentleman) played by:
President Scott "Pride O' the Rebs" Davis commanding the:
- Ney boarding sloop

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The evening started out with a briefing to the French commanders:

To: Commander, Aerial Gunboat Gloire
From: French Admiralty, Thymiamata

TOP PRIORITY

You are ordered immediately to take the field in the interests of Liberte and La France. Reliable French intelligence has revealed certain negotiations on the part of the infamous "gentleman adventurer" Otto Heinrich von Compton by which he would supply unaligned red native tribes with rifles, machine-guns, terrestrial cannon, and even tripod assault walkers in return for their use of such equipment against the interests of the Republic.

Von Compton has long been a thorn in the side of civilized colonial interests. His warmongering ways must be stopped, and those of the red natives who stoop to deal with him must be punished.

You are to requisition as escorts any military vessels available immediately to hand, put up full steam to Von Compton's headquarters, and level the trading lodge he has constructed. You are also to punish by bombardment the red native settlement within which it sits. Gloire, being a modern and heavily armored steam ironclad, shall be indestructible by the light vessels that Von Compton has at his command.

Viva La France!

- The game started out with both French ships hot on the tail of the German / Martian forces, who were attempting a perimeter defence of the Von Compton trading lodge. Initial volleys were traded as Smelchak's command truned into the wind to engage the mighty Gloire while Von Compton's forces ran with the Ney in hot pursuit.

- Initial volleys were traded and the Glory Sled took a terrible blow to her tiller, which nearly put her out of commission while her crew labored to keep her from falling to the Martian soil. However, that sacrifice opened up the mighty Gloire to boarding actions by the crack German marines of the Moltke. Bloody fighting broke out on the deck of the Gloire, which was to last no less than three turns.

- Meanwhile, Scott's Ney aimed numerous volleys at the retreating Zeppelin and liftwood Martian corvette Swiftwood... with little to no effect. Ney with her superb boilers quickly cut off the Von Compton flotilla and encountered a GREAT SURPRISE!

- The Swiftwood was manned by "flying monkeys," a winged and fully flight-capable variant of the red native species, otherwise known as High Martians, who quickly took off on their mighty wings to flood across the skies to the deck of the Ney, where fierce and bloody boarding clashes ensued. The crew of the valiant Ney repulsed the inital "flying monkey" attack by killing the Martian leaders, which demoralized the Martian boarders. However, the "flying monkeys" returned to the Swiftwood, regouped and very shortly returned with a new resolve backed by new Martian officers to utterly wipe out the crew and officers of the Ney... and they did! Oh, unhappy French day!

- The crew of the Gloire was finally overcome after much fighting, only a skeleton crew was left to survive with the Moltke. The Gloire's deck was awash with the blood of fighting men and liftwood sailors. The Glory Sled finally recovered from her near mortal blow from the Gloire (...after three turns) and closed into boarding range and found the Gloire overcome by the crack German marines of the Moltke. The Glory Sled, pride of the Martian liftwood navies, had been utterly knocked out of the fight with a single broadside from the mighty Gloire.

- And the game ended up being decided by boarding parties. Both French ships were boarded by the German / Martian forces and boarded in bloody hand-to-hand clashes that ended up with both French ships being captured after inflicting sizable casualties on the German / Martian boarding forces. And it was no fault of the French commanders either, they chose to start in an uncomfortably close proximity to their enemies, which was exploited by the outgunned German / Martian forces in a mad dash to grapple and board... a good fight by all the gentlemen involved.

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I wish everyone a good Saturday!

And a happy belated Sukkoth to those who celebrate it!

Shabbat Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.