Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 23 April 2018

Cartington up the Swanee

Double pronged attack
Why "up the Swannee"? Well, "up the Mto Mweusi", doesn't have the same ring to it imo and nor does it reflect what follows.
What follows then is a continuation of Cartington leading the expedition to follow the river previously discovered, having already lost three out of the six Askari accompanying the expedition.
Once more then:


From the Journal of Frederick Cartington, in Jimland:
Snake attack!
 "After our scout Henry's inability to find a way to follow a river and after the now usual sighting of some unknown primate, he once more failed to spot some very unfriendly natives lying in wait for us in the long grasses bordering the river."  
I ordered the bearers forward into safety whilst we made for cover as the cowardly spear-armed malcontents attacked our rear,  whilst their rifles enfiladed our advance to cover.
Their shooting proved only effective enough to disturb a viper that had also been minding its own business in the grass"
Get in cover, get the bearers to safety and shoot!


Native and viper kill each other - seems fair.
The shooting attracts an Ant - but what a size!
The expedition's shooting proves very effective
,,,bur their melee ability less so and Bertie bites the dust.
"The two remaining spear-armed Natives closed with our chaps in the forest meaning our Askari had to concentrate their fire on their riflemen, with great effect, dropping to of them."
I could tell the natives were about to flee, but even as we were about to claim victory a spear thrust dropped poor Bertie where he stood, putting a bit of an air of despondency on the whole affair."  
"Later we came across a deserted village from which we assumed they had come."
"We followed the river for the next several days, encountering some ambivalent Natives , whom we assumed were the source of the nocturnal drumming that once more caused panic in one of our Askari, who fled into the night.  Evidence was found of some interesting geological feature and some fossilised bones."
The Tribals get the drop on the Expedition.
"Four days after the last ambush, still following the river South we were once more surprised by yet more hostile Natives which Henry failed to spot"
They closed on us from the front and rear, and with little chance of getting our bearers to safety we formed a firing line and awaited their assault."




Forming the line, awaiting the assault, bearers trying to get out of the way
Five fighters against nine natives - not good odds.
Henry, (centre of the line) first to drop and the Hippo joins in!

"Henry our Scout,  in the centre of the line,  I think was the first to drop, though he did manage to take down one of the savages with him whilst at about the same time I could hear the sound of a hippo the Natives must have disturbed with their rush through the jungle."
Just what the expedition probably didn't need, but Cartington has dropped a native
"I turned to see a crocodile was also in attendance, attracted by the smell of blood no doubt after the vicious hand to hand fighting  was now reaching its climax. " 
A bearer becomes croc food, but is wounded
"Having dealt with the blaggard to my front I had yet another to deal with"
"With the ferocious attacking natives and the wildlife  to deal with the fighting was very intense"

Aloysious and an Askari drop, whilst the Hippo munches on a native
The last Askari dies, another bearer becomes a croc-snack, whilst the natives suffer too
Natives trying to flee, whilst the expeditons breaks off
Natives fighting to escape the wildlife, killing the croc in the process.
Last of the Natives able to flee in peace whilst Cartington looks on
"When it seemed like the natives had had enough, I had the chance to call  a reform and re-appraise our situation"









" We may have bested the enemy but we were now a pretty much spent force as an expedition, having lost all of our explorers, all three of the remaining Askari and three or four of our bearers".
"By my reckoning I could last months out here on just the remaining rations let alone considering my own Hunting skills.but I guess it's more "Realistically though I'm about a week's travel from Jim's Landing and should I not make it back, I trust whomsoever finds this journal entrust it to future expeditions."
The expedition after the fight.

The tribal ambush at the end of the episode was a brutal affair and without the intervention of the Hippo, I doubt any of the expedition would have survived,.
As the Native player, I tend to let their set-up be determined by dice, but their objectives are fairly obvious, - "Kill the Explorers first !" When there are multiple choices then it's either the closest or a die roll decides.

So will Frederick get back to Jimland or was all this in vain?  I will, of course be posting the finale of this expedition's outing into the wilds of Jimland next week.

In the meantime thank you for taking the time to visit and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.










22 comments:

  1. Wow what back luck the guys had this time out Joe, I've to admit to been happy when Henry fell but with the numbers so low I think it would be foolhardy not to make back for Jimslanding asap much & all as I'd like to see them push on.

    Great report Joe & I can't wait for the next one, well I know I have to wait by you get my point oops didn't mean to sat point as I'm sure that must be a sore point at this point after what happened :)

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    1. Thanks Frank, the whole of the last fight was exciting to play through, not knowing if anyone was going to survive or if the wildlife would have supper!
      I estimated Fred has enough food for 200+ days too!
      The next one is being written up almost as I type (but not having two pairs of hands, well you get the picture).

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    2. Well then don't be wasting time talking to me & get it done Joe :)

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    3. Haha
      I would never think it a waste of time talking about gaming, as I rarely get any other chance to do so other than on this blog.

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  2. Good plan NOT to put a map on display! Afterall if Fredrick does not make it back who will know what is where. Another thrilling episode one much still in the balance. Will he survive and will he retain his wits and will the bearers help him at all. Who knows, not I but I will be sure to follow with interest.

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    1. Yep, if no-one get's back to Ji's landing, the map is not 'published' and anything the expedition found is pure heresay!
      I must admit though that I thought he *frederick) cold simply survive by running away from any encounter on the way back to Jimland (but then again there are those ambushes!). The bearers have been amazing meat walls in several encounters, so Fred has nothing bad to say about them to date.
      Stay tuned!

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  3. Replies
    1. Thanks you Michal, hoping to improve the terrain look though in the near future.

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  4. My word what a terrifying episode, the livestock were relentless! Although the croc sounds like it is now going to make someone a nice belt.

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    1. Thanks Michael, it was indeed very nearly a re-boot for the entire expedition, but the Croc was taken down by the sacrifice of a bearer.
      I don't reckon anyone would be hanging around to make belts - just in case the croc wasn't an orphan!

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  5. Yikes! Frederick was almost up the paddle without a creek (or summat like that) in this installment.
    I blame the scout, and at least his demise saves the trouble of sacking him ;-)
    Here's hoping Fred can make it back to Jims Landing to rest and recuperate.

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    1. Thanks WA, you almost used my alternate title for this post , which also summed up the expedition's predicament by the end of week 2!
      Whether Fred makes it back or not will be revealed next time...so no spoilers from me!

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  6. Well I don't suppose you'll be missing Henry, he's been a bit of a dead weight throughout, I'm rooting for Fredrick to make it back alive because if not what is the alternative to our fix of Jimland?

    Another cracking episode of tales of daring do in the jungle. Great stuff.

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    1. Henry was a little unfortunate with both his dice rolls and the number of "Lost" event cards I turned over, but hewas blamedfor it all, so he won't be missed I guess.
      There'salways an alterntive - rescue party, Brand spanking new expedition and there must be other ideas out there too.
      Originally it was hte Biddlesworth expedition, so prescedence jhas been set.
      Conculsion to this story next week.

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  7. I don't care for snakes. And since you have now shown me how large the serpents can grow in Jimland. I definitely decline your kind offer, Zab, to go on safari with you.

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    1. Strange that as by coincidence I don't like snakes either. I wassurprised that my model was also almost toscale for certain types of African vipers, so definetly won't be in a hurry to go safari-ing either unless in some form of full armoured (and armed) vehicle - how about joining me then ?

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    2. C'mon, you know you wanna...

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    3. OK. But only if I can take two naps a day.

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    4. Just two ? I'm normally so tired after waking from a nap I have to have another to recover

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  8. Very nice battlereport and it looks to me that it was great fun to play.

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    1. Thanks Ptr, I'm trying to improve my terrain all the time and yes, the game was fun but would have been more so with an opponent as trying to be 'fair' is tricky.

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