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

Monday 5 February 2018

The Return to Jim's Landing

     The expedition, Henry checking the rear
Following on from the loss of supplies on day one, the loss of the Expedition leader and two others on day 2 the expedition now consists of Henry Warton (Scout), Frederick Carrington (Hunter), and seven bearers with 21 days' of food.







From the Diary of Henry Warton:

Day three
Day 3
"We buried our three fellow explorers last evening and decided that we try to carry on exploring as long as we were able, given that we had rations enough for the two of us for ten days and it's probably what Sir Charles would have wanted."
"No sooner had we ventured South-westward into yet another swamp that one of our bearers fell victim to yet another native trap. He fell headlong into a pit, full of venomous snakes, no doubt due to his full pack of rations, sadly he did a horrible death. We moved swiftly on.
I was obviously distracted  by the loss of the bearer, for as we advanced further into the swamp we were ambushed by yet another band of hostile natives, there appeared to be no more than six of them, split into two groups of three, either side of us.
We were in the unfortunate position of being out in the open and I determined that we would make a fighting retreat into cover"

Beating a hasty retreat

Bearers getting to safety
Natives in position to shoot
 "Even whilst we made our measures to defend the bearers, the natives showered us with arrows. There general demeanour, shouting and whooping had obviously disturbed the local wildlife as two lions emerged. We decided that discretion was the better part of valour  in this instance and retreated from view." 
Poor shooting from the natives on the left...

....and from those on the right...
...resulted in two lions appearing.
Explorers out of sight and bearers in cover

 "The lions turned out to be our friends as they turned on the natives to our right whilst we also turned our attentions on them"
One lion swiftly dispatched three of the natives and then both eventually wandered off. The natives to our left had made their escape as their third comrade fell"

yummy
One lion swiftly dispatched three natives
Route for day 4
"Despite having lost a bearer, we were in good spirits but decided nevertheless to return to Jim's Landing the very on the morrow."

Day 4
"Once more,  I easily  found an exit to the swamp and guided our party North rejoining the trail that lead straight back to Jimland. We observed a strange deer-like creature that we couldn't identify, but noted its nature.  Luckily, as we weren't in the mood for any more native encounters, none were encountered."




The "victorious" survivors
 
 Day 5

 "A leisurely start to the day and as we prepared to take the trail back to Jim's Landing, Frederick's keen eye spotted a species of primate, unknown to ourselves, 
The remainder of the journey was without incident.


Terrain board patched with a hill.
This was a very exciting solo game, where I played both sides as best I could and it turned out that the vagaries of the dice determined a lot of it, with the animals generated determining a lot of the action.
As there are only two explorers left I have the decision whether to continue with these two (they gained $131 from the expedition) or to start a fresh one!

In other news, I managed to paint somewhere in the region of 200 scabbard and 50 'waistcoats' on my Sudanese as well as putting a patch on my broken terrain.
Its a piece of polystyrene (like a ceiling tile), fixed in place with matchsticks and PVA, then coated with filler. I left the PVA for two days to dry before applying the filler in two layers again allowing it to dry between layers (24hours each).
Another layer of filler will be applied before sanding and painting, along with another terrain piece. It's only about 15mm tall despite what it looks like in the photo.


That's it then for this week, thanks for taking the time to visit and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

20 comments:

  1. Damn dangerous place is Jimland! Another good episode.

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    1. Thanks Irqan, Jimland is certainly not for the faint-hearted

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  2. Life and death in Jimland. Courageous of them to try to carry on but eventually they were forced to return to "Civilization". Another most tremendous expedition and one where things were not go their way.

    As always already looking forward to the next adventure. Don't keep me waiting too long . And if possible continue with these 2 explorers (even if you start again have them hired on to the new expedition) as it makes the story more or less continue.

    Excellent stuff though and I for oe am eager for more.

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    1. Thanks Clint, I did feel at that after day 2 (the massacre) they should go straight back to Jimland, but they wouldn't have earned enough points (cash/$)to fund another expedition, but the extra day really made it possible.
      I'm of a mind to keep these two in their own expedition and allow them 3d20 cash to help fund the new party. It is mentioned in the sample game and again hinted at in the section "Outfitting an Expedition" in the main body of the rules.
      I'll also me incorporation into the rules for new expeditions.

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  3. Now there's hospitality for you. Serves them right, getting eaten by the lions!

    Is it possible to hire a few armed porters to accompany the two gents, and offer additional firepower at a cheaper cost? If nowt else, they could possibly help bag a few animals for the skins and help boost funds for future use.

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    1. Haha, the lions thought the Natives GRRRREAT !
      Unfortunately bearers aren't allowed guns probably due to cost effectiveness and their short life span.
      I have decided though to push on with another expedition with these two.

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  4. Return in high level! Very, very interesting sir!

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    1. Thanks Michal, indeed a high level and with food to spare.

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  5. Another corking episode of "Jimland", Joe, one of my fave campaigns to follow. Great to see mother nature giving your party a break for a change, and eating some natives :-)

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    1. Thanks Blaxx. I'm sure Henry and Fred could have taken on the Natives, but the wildlife is another matter.
      There will be more on the cards (so to speak) in the very near future.

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  6. Brilliant - I loved it.

    There are a couple of issues though:-
    We made a fighting retreat into cover - I think you mean we made a strategic withdrawal.
    Discretion was the better part of valour - I think you mean, we were aided by our allies the lions in our hour of need.
    Yummy - I think you mean YUMMY
    Despite having lost a bearer we were in good spirits - with your cavalier attitude to bearers I'm supprised you wern't hopping and skipping all the way back to Jims landing.
    How could you think for even a minute of abandoning your hero's for a new crew. That's unthinkable.
    Don't forget the old maxim - rules are for losers.
    Bye the way did i say I enjoyed your post - well yes I did.
    Forget about painting those damned Sudanese and glueing that bit of Poly. Get back to Jimland
    A very enjoyable post.

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    1. Thanks Vagabond, I think it's safe to say you've made my day. I'm sure your interpretation of events are more accurate than my own (or at least those of Henry), but history as they say is written by the winners.
      I;m pretty sure now that Henry will be leading the next venture into the wilds of Jimland.

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  7. Phew! That was either a very brave decision to carry on, or Henry and Fred were delirious with some kind of swamp fever :-)
    The lions arriving and turning on the natives was a stroke of luck, it could have meant the end of the expedition party if they'd gone the other way!

    Great post Joe, and I'm glad you're keeping these characters and we can follow their continuing exploits in Jimland.
    Nice to hear you're making progress with the terrain board repair and that "little batch" of Sudanese :-)

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    1. Thanks WA, the decision to carry-on wasn't made lightly, but it could well have ended at any time on the return 'home' too.
      Yes, the drudgery of the Sudanese carries on unbounded, bases, shields and sword hilts next - yawn.

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  8. lol friendly Lions eh! The natives obviously seemed tastier smelling perhaps?

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    1. Haha, they were probably just closer and sated their appetites before turning their attention upon the party.

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  9. I'm a couple of days behind getting here Zabadak as I was stuck in another swamp some place else : ) but I've joined the merry band of followers so should be able to keep up from here on in.

    Another smashing tale & if your hero by chance comes across as a bit callus as to the lost of a bearer or two, well that's as it should be as you'll not get far in these dark unexplored lands if you have to Nanny those guys : )

    They have returned to Jim's Landing but this should only be to restock in both supplies & men before setting off again, never let the rules get in the way of a good story is my motto & yours sir is a grand story indeed : )

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    1. Thank you Frank so very much and welcome to my blog.
      I do think that a lot of Europeans treated the natives like dirt with some notable exceptions, but's it's really the nature of the rules and I've givem the 'attitude' to reflect this.
      There will be a quick, re-stock and recruitment as far as the cash goes, ready for another expedition.

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  10. Jeez it's bad enough dealing with the natives, now the wildlife is eating your men too.

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    1. Haha, too right, in the first adventure not an animal was to be seen, but in this one there was a plethora of them.

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