Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Beyond the Mask Skirmish Game Part II

After stealing important documents from Will Reynolds (see http://redcoatsandruffles.blogspot.com/2018/09/beyond-mask-skirmish-game.html), Joshua Brand made his way to EIC headquarters to deliver the documents to his boss Charles Kemp.

Fearing that the other EIC operatives would double-cross him, Brand determined to exit the board with the documents himself (this was his victory condition).  The EIC had to take the documents from Mr. Brand to prevent any possibility of blackmail.  And unknown to both parties, Will Reynolds had survived his thrashing and was eager to recover these documents as well.  The first group to take the documents off the board would fulfil their victory conditions and win.  An unusual three-way fight was on!


The ruleset was (again) Eureka Miniatures' "And One for All"--but with a twist.  The three units were activated by drawing cards, adding an element of unpredictability.

Mr. Brand started in the forest, Will Reynolds sheltered in a cornfield, and the EIC marched down the road.

The game began with a run of EIC cards, allowing them to block the crossroads.  Mr. Brand crossed the road to the forest in the foreground of the picture, while Will made his way through the cornfield.

First contact was made by the EIC, who patrolled aggressively.  Their swordsman caught Mr. Brand in the forest and forced him into a duel.  Both sides cut and thrust at each other.  Mr. Brand retreated, only to run into Will Reynolds, who had exited the cornfield.  After a duel between the two, the EIC moved in to finish the job.  Mr. Brand was down. 

Their operative searched him for documents.  No luck (he muffed his roll; any number but a 1!).  Will searched and still could not find them.  The next turn saw the EIC locate the documents and begin to escape.

Recklessly, Will charged at the EIC soldier.  He hoped that he was weakened by his combats (as he was).  But it was not nearly enough.  The EIC prevailed against their other opponent without too much trouble.

Now that the EIC had recovered their documents, they marched triumphantly back to their boss to announce that they had successfully completed their mission.


Or had they?


(My notes: Despite the somewhat one-sided nature of the report, the game was actually fairly close.  The game could have gone any way, though Mr. Brand would have had an uphill battle.  Will was crippled by 1. his inability to find the documents and 2. his decision to charge the EIC soldier.  It was a worthwhile gamble, but did not pay off.)