Recent GASLIGHT Nashcon Game Playtest: Jasper Flint Saves the Queen

At last Friday's HAWKs meeting, I had a chance to playtest  one of the GASLIGHT games that I plan to run at the upcoming Nashcon convention in Franklin, TN, and again later in the Summer at Historicon. The scenario is entitled, "Jasper Flint Saves the Queen". It involves an attempt by the combined forces of Marshal Jasper Flint and his Posse with Victoria Hawkes along for the ride, along with a unit of U.S. Marines, and British Guards, to rescue Queen Victoria from the clutches of evil Prussian agents and their hired Mercenary Gunslingers.  The Queen has been kidnapped during a goodwill visit to the United States, and the Prussians are now holed up in a deserted Texas town, awaiting a zeppelin to fly in from Mexico and take the Queen out of the county.  The allied forces must stop them before the zeppelin arrives in 12 turns.
  Unfortunately, my trusty digital camera, which I've had for over 10 years, chose this night to die.  So most of the pictures were grainy and over-exposed, and tinged red. I was however able to salvage some of these by using a sepia tone and exposure fixes on them. In they end I think they give a good vintage look.



An overview of the table. A sleepy Texas ghost town, soon to erupt in battle

  The set up for the game begins with the Prussians setting up anywhere they want in the town, and placing the captive Queen in a hidden position, while the Allied players are away from the table.  When they are done, the Allied players return to the table, and set up their forces, with the restriction that each force (US, British, and Law Enforcement) must enter from a different side of the table.

The Marines advance, with their Captain leading the way.

   The Prussian players were sneaky and chose to hide the Queen in one of the less conspicuous smaller outbuildings, in hopes that the allies would search for her first in the bigger buildings .  The Allies entered with the Marines and their Steam-walker on one of the narrow ends of the table, and the British and Law Officials opposite each other on the long sides.

The Prussian Kreighosen tries to get the drop on Jasper Flint, but is forced to withdraw and help his companion, the disabled Armored Penny-Farthing.

    Jasper Flint and his Posse, and Victoria Hawkes, along with their Gatling Steam-wagon, came under immediate fire from a Prussian squad holed up in the old sheriff's office.  This fire scored a number of hits on the posse, including the gunner on the Steam-wagon. The posse broke and ran for cover, but was quick to regain itself, and the driver of the Steam-wagon moved over to operate the Gatling gun.
Meanwhile the British Guards and their officer, Captain Harland-White, and an Impervious Suit, made their way into town.  Captain H-W, climbed through a back window of a near-by blacksmith's on to a workbench  directly behind a Gatling gun and it's crew. the Captain quickly engaged the crew in hand to hand combat, but managed to fall off the workbench.  He quickly got up again, and was able to dispatch the crew in good order.  Meanwhile his unit moved towards the back of the Assayer's office but found the building to be occupied by a unit of mercenary gunslingers.

A view of the battle as the Brits (lower right) try to force an entry into the Assayor's Office.  In the distance the shot-up Posse tries to hold it's ground. And on the left, the Marines move up.

   The Americans, slowly made their way up, and had some difficulty trying to maneuver their Steam-walker over a fence that lay in it's path.  The Marine unit however, was able to eventually maneuver into a position to fire  on the Mercenary Gunslingers in the Assayer's office. These Gunslingers broke and ended up routing out the back door where the British Guard unit was, and the Brits were able to quickly dispatch the fleeing survivors.

The Krieghosen peers around the corner of the Hotel, before moving to help the disabled Penny-Farthing.

   As these firefights were blazing away, the Prussian Armored Penny-Farthing  and Krieghosen armored suit patrolled the streets looking for targets of opportunity.  The Armored Penny-Farthing soon, broke down, and the British Impervious suit moved to fire upon it while it was disabled.  The Krieghosen armored suit, moved to offer aid to it's disabled comrade.  A long and ultimately inconclusive battle took place over several turns with the Impervious Suit (which lived up to its name!) and the Krieghosen engaged in a melee of metal.

Major Edelweiss moves to fight Jasper Flint.  After a short melee, Jasper eliminates the Prussian officer.

  As the turns passed, the Allies still had not found the Queen.  The battle see-sawed back and forth with neither side gaining an advantage, but the Allies were running out of time.  On turn 10, the Prussians, by the scenario rules, had to bring the Queen out into the open, to await the now nearby Zeppelin to come and lower a basket for her.  On turn twelve the Queen would be assumed to be out of reach of the Allies.

Some of the carnage outside the Assayor's office.  Just out of the lower frame the Impervious Suit advances to take on the disabled penny Farthing. (photo by Buck Surdu)

As the Prussians brought the Queen out, Jasper Flint, and the rest of his force, raced towards where she was.  Jasper got perfect activation cards, and was able to run up and engage the Prussian officer escorting the Queen. It proved to be a battle to the death for both of them;  the Prussian officer was able to fire his pistol hitting Jasper, just as the Marshal lunged at him with his hunting knife. Both fell dead. With the Queen now unescorted it was a race to see who could get to her first.  On the last turn, the British Guards made it to her and formed a defensive perimeter and the Marines moved up to support them, just beating out a nearby Prussian unit

The final moments.  With Jasper Flint, and the Prussian officer down, the Allies rush to protect the Queen; as a unit of Prussians, at the fence, are a few inchs too late. (photo by Buck Surdu) 

The game was called as an Allied victory.  It was a close run thing throughout, and all the players said they had a great time.  I'm really looking forward to running this now at Nashcon, and again at Historicon.

GASLIGHT at Origins 2012

This past weekend, Buck Surdu, Dave Wood, Greg Priebe, and I, traveled out to Columbus, Ohio for the Origins convention.  Out goal was to showcase our "G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T." and "Look,Sarge, No Charts" rules systems to a different set of gamers other than the regular folks we see at the local HMGS East conventions.
   Buck and I each ran two GASLIGHT games and two LSNC games, and Dave Wood ran three additional LSNC games.  The two GASLIGHT games I ran were a Fleet Battles by GASLIGHT scenario and a regular Basic GASLIGHT scenario.
  We arrived Thursday evening, and Friday morning I set up my first game which was my Fleet Battles by GASLIGHT scenario called "Hunt for the Valkyrie on Mars."  The back story for this scenario was that a large German aircraft carrier on Mars had been caught in a Martian storm and blown off course and badly damaged.  It was now lost in the middle of nowhere and crippled.  The German and British fleets were searching for her, the Brits wanting to destroy her, and the Germans wanting to save her.

The German Aircraft Carrier 'Valkyrie' launches two fighter groups in an attempt to fight off a pair of attacking British patrol ships.

A player moves his ships.

A view of the battle, as ships from both sides swarm around the Valkyrie.

Two players check the range for ship to ship firing

The fighter groups attack again.

In the end, the Valkyrie's engines failed her as she suffered a series of failed Sustain rolls, leaving her susceptible to torpedo attacks from the British.  She eventually took a critical hit, and broke apart and fell to the Martian surface.  All the players seemed to have  good time, and i really enjoyed GM-ing the game.

That evening I ran my "Lost Legion of Venus" GASLIGHT game.  This game has a French force consisting of Foreign Legion and regulars which is lost somewhere on Venus and has become surrounded by hordes of local Parrotmen and Lizardmen.  The French must survive the battle and beat off the attackers to win.

A view of the table near the start of the game.

The French form what the players dubbed the "French Question Mark" formation

The Lizardmen's pet dinosaur moves to attack a French Walker

A view of the French defensive perimeter.

The dinosaur attack on the walker damages it's gun barrel and the player controlling the walker coincidentally rolls to Shoot and jams the gun (a roll of 20). The dinosaur, however falls down (roll of 20 on a melee attack) and our heroine, Victoria Hawkes seizes the opportunity and rushes forward to attack the beast while he's down.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the French line, the second walker has succumb to a shot from one of the Parrotmen's big guns, and is destroyed. It's crew however survive and bail out of the wreck.

Another view of the table as a player measures their rifle range.

A brave Foreign Legion officer, his company destroyed, fights off two lizardmen and the Lizardman King.

The French defenders are slowly overwhelmed.

The game was declared a marginal Venusian victory at the end.  The French forces were shattered, and their walkers destroyed or disabled. Though surprisingly, Victoria Hawkes, usually a bullet magnet, survived!
  All the players seemed to have a good time, and really got into the spirit of the game.  For me, the great players and the way the battle unfolded, made it one of the best runnings of a GASLIGHT game I have had the pleasure to run.

The Lost Legion of Venus by GASLIGHT at Cold Wars

Friday night at Cold Wars in Lancaster, PA, I ran my GASLIGHT game called, "The Lost Legion of Venus:

F-265 - The Lost Legion of Venus by GASLIGHT
Fri. 7:00 PM, 4 hrs, 6 players
GM: Chris Palmer and HAWKS
Victorian Science Fiction 28mm, Rules: GASLIGHT
A French column on Venus in 1889 takes a wrong turn and finds
themselves hopelessly lost in the steamy Venusian jungle. Can
they find their way back to camp, or will they fall prey to the tribes
of wild Parrotmen who haunt the tangled shadows.
Children under 14 only with a playing adult.

As the game write-up indicates, this game started with a column of French Foreign Legion and regular line troops, supported by two steam-walkers and a machine gun, lost in the Venusian jungles, and surrounded by Parrotmen and Lizardmen.

The goal of the French was to survive and continue off the table. The objective of the Parrotmen/Lizardmen alliance was to eliminate these pink-skinned strangers. The Parrotmen and Lizardmen were supported by a dinosaur which surprisingly became an early casualty of the French firepower. You can see him lying dead on the right hand side of the photo above.

I limited the sight distance to 18 inches due to the thick jungle and gave the Parrotmen an extra +2 modifier when shot at to reflect their natural ability to move quickly and hide in the undergrowth. the Lizardmen all got Saves, even the rank and file (the 'Extras,' in game terms) to reflect their tough scaly skin.

The Venusians quickly moved, from three starting positions spread around the table's edge, to engage the strange trespassers .

The Parrotmen were also equipped with large caliber guns mounted on beasts. These guns were capable of doing damage to the iron-plated French steam-walkers.

The game was a close fought one, with the advantage see-sawing back and forth between the two sides.

The Parrotmen charged the French lines again and again. Victoria Hawkes and her friend DuLivre, were there to lend their superior marksmanship to the aid of the French

The game ended with a duel between the Lizardman King and Victoria. They traded blows for a few turns as the battle swirled around them.
Finally the Lizardman Kind got the upper hand, and Victoria fell motionless to the ground. The Lizardman King grabbed her limp body and dragged it away into the jungle. Was she dead ? Alive by unconscious? Do I sense a follow-up rescue scenario?

In the end both sides had taken a beating, but the French were declared the marginal victors since they still had both their steam-walkers functioning and capable for firing their weapons.

All the players had a great time, and the game was a blast for me to GM. I'm looking forward to the next installment!

My GASLIGHT Historicon Games

Here are pictures of the three GASLIGHT games I ran (or co-ran) at Historicon.

The first shots are from Victoria Hawkes and the Lost Roman Colony game I ran Friday night. This scenario pitted Germans and their native allies against a lost Roman colony and their giant gorilla guards assisted by Victoria Hawkes and her great uncle's African expedition.

The scene as the Germans approach the Roman fort.

German steamwalkers menace the fort's defenders




A swirling melee develops as the gorilla guards try to smash a German steamwalker

German Krieghosen armored suits cut through the fort's wall and a battle ensues in the breech.

Another shot of the fighting in the breech.



The next set of pictures are from the GASLIGHT Extravaganza which Buck and I ran Saturday morning. This game had two British columns trying to achieve two objectives; free Wee Willie Winkie, a prisoner in the Pasha's fort, and get a crew to the disabled Colossus leviathan. They were opposed by Pathans and their Russian advisers.

Shot down one arm of the "L" shaped table.

Sikh steam elephants and British steam spiders mix it up with Pathans and their timberclad vehicles.
The swirling fight around a small village.

Russian raptor mounted Cossacks charge forward.

British and their allies press forward.

As Pathans snipe from the rooftops.

The disabled Colossus with Pathan tribesmen guarding it.


My last game was Hunt for the Valkyrie on Mars which used the new Fleetbattles rules found in the Compendium. In this scenario, British forces are trying to destroy a new German aircraft carrier that has been badly damaged in a storm, while the Germans are trying to protect it and get it off the table.

Two patrol ships exchange fire as a German Cruiser moves into position.

Fighters from the Valkyrie strafe a British patrol ship, ignite a fire on board.

GASLIGHT 'Compendium' Photo Shoot

This past weekend Buck Surdu and I had a two day photo shoot for the GASLIGHT Compendium. The photos will be used for some of the illustrations in the Compendium, and to help promote the book.

Unfortunately, we had some of the coldest weather in recent weeks on Saturday when we were doing the outside portion of the shoot and while we were freezing, our model was glad to be wearing wool ACW outfits. Sunday we concentrated on indoor shots.

We had the opportunity to shoot on a farm close to Gettysburg, PA Saturday; and were aided by two friends who are re-enactors. Sunday, we shot in Buck's home. All in all it was a big success, and we took almost 500 great VSF and Pulp themed photos. Look forward to seeing more photos from the shoot in the weeks to come.

Buck shows our model correct firing techniques.

I had the opportunity to take many of the photos. The model was a joy to work with, and had a ball getting into character

"Look! Over there! The GASLIGHT Compendium is just a few months away!"

Everyone had a great time on the shoot.

Cold Wars Report Part One: Friday

     I had a great time at Cold Wars this year. It was good to see lots of friends that I only get to catch up with at conventions. I arrived Thursday night and played Mag Blast and House of Betrayal with some friends until late at night, then I was up early Friday morning. I tagged along with Buck Surdu who had a 9:00 AM "Look, Sarge, No Charts" France '40 game. I figured I could help GM, or fill the place of any missing players. It turned out that Buck had an overflow of players who wanted to give the rules a try, so I offered to set up a quick game on a nearby table with some of Buck's extra figures and terrain, so everyone who wanted to would get a chance to play. For a thrown together game, it was alot of fun and all the players seemed to have a good time with the rules.

Afterwards, I checked out the Flea Market, but it wasn't opened yet, so I headed over the dealer hall where I picked up some basic supplies of Testors Dullcoat, some steel bases, and a Dystopian Wars deck of cards.

     After the dealer hall I went back to my room to rest awhile, then headed down to the HAWKs room at 5:00 PM to start setting up my 7:00 PM game: Victoria Hawkes and the Lost Roman Colony by GASLIGHT.

     All the player spots filled, and the game was a blast. Everyone had so much fun I think I will run this again at Historicon so more people can get a chance to play.

     The scenario story was this: In 1890, intrepid adventuress Victoria Hawkes had joined her Great Uncle, the renowned British scientist, Lord Harland-White on an expedition into deepest Africa. There they discovered a lost Roman outpost full of real living Romans. The Romans were the descendants of a Legion that was sent into Africa in the final days of the Empire with a portion of the Roman Empire's treasure to hide it and keep it safe until such time s they would be recalled to help Rome rise again. Over the generations the sons had been trained by their fathers to continue this mission of protecting the treasure. The expedition decided to stay for a while to study the Romans. Victoria and the Roman general hit it off, and a relationship developed. This infuriated the Roman Priestess, who had eyes for the general, and she went off to a nearby German garrison to get help in removing Victoria and her friends. The German garrison commander, hearing of the Romans' treasure trove, decided that he would attack the outpost and steal the gold for himself.

The Romans were supported by six giant gorilla guards. These could take four wounds. On the first wound there was no effect, on the second all the gorilla's stats went up by two, on the third all the stats went down by two, and on the fourth the gorilla was dead.

Below are photos of the game. Remember, you can click on any photo to enjoy it larger.

The German Sea Battalion Commander directs one of his steam-walkers and a unit of troops forward.

Two of the Romans' giant gorilla guards move in to attack one of the German walkers.

Overview of the table near the beginning of the game.


A unit of Sea Battalion troops.


The Roman Priestess delivers the death blow to one of the Gorillas, as the other continues to pound on the steam-walker


Several German Kriegshosen armored suits move towards the Roman fort, supported by native allies.

The Expedition's troops move up to meet the approaching natives. Great Uncle Harland-White lies dead near the fort's wall.

The Krieghosen move into position to start attacking the fort's wall with their circular-saw attachments.

The Krieghosen breach the wall as some of the Romans move bravely up to defend the gap.

One of the giant gorillas takes down one of the German steam-walkers

Another gorilla races through the compound and leaps over the wall to confront two of the Krieghosen.

Natives move up to attack the gorilla.

A unit of Romans rush to defend the wall.

A lone Roman officer faces off with the Krieghosen.

Meanwhile, the Roman Priestess climbs aboard the expedition's steam-tractor and begins trying to bash open the door with her staff.

A giant gorilla moves up to help plug the hole in the fort's wall.

A fierce battle developed at the wall.

Roman troops rush forward to engage the native troops as they advance into the fort.

Me, calling the next player's card.

One of the gorillas dispatches one of the German Kreghosen.

     The game was a real nail-biter. In the end, many of the Main Characters on both sides, including Victoria, were dead. The Romans still held the fort, but all of their giant gorilla support had been killed, and the Germans still had some working war machines and nearly two full units of rifle armed Sea Battalion troops, so the eventual outcome seemed dire for the Romans. The game was called a marginal Roman victory.

Tomorrow I hope to post Saturday's report.