"Wind and the Lion Scenario: THE SWORD AND THE FLAME Photos " Topic

We have playing the Sword and the Flame for years here in Tennessee. Folks love the game. We have been using the Wind and the Lion as the basis for a mega-game with 6 to 10 players. Darn hard to run that many folks but everyone just has a blast.

One fellow actually played a Sword and the Flame game with Larry Brom. The fellow is an authority. Anyway, here are photos from three games played over five years. One kid is young in one set and is turning into a teenager. This is just the most fantastic set of rules on the planet.

The game played this weekend had a few house rules. At the end of the turn any wounded become MIA. Next turn, if you make your rally roll, that many MIA return to the unit. If not , the MIA, count as wounded and can be killed on a diamond card. It functionally eliminates the "carry the wounded" rule and allows for a modicum of reinforcements during the game. Doesn't alter the balance and allows a bad player to fall out of the fight and "regrow" part of his unit. The dead stay dead, so there is no resurrection.

And the unit cards? lent to me by a friend who allowed me to tinker with them for my game. And o course in my games, we wear hats so folks do not take themselves too seriously.

In our game this weekend US Marines and British troops attacked the palace in closed order and were shot to pieces. They regrouped and used superior numbers to engage in a firefight reducing the palace guard to under 50 percent who then routed. American mounted troops swooped in to transport Mrs. Pedecaris to the waiting ship but didn't make it before I called the game. Raisuli's troops are unable to stop the Germans and French from retaking the palace but he makes his escape. Lots of cursing and yelling and chants; everyone got into the game. You cannot ask for more.

Here is the
link to all the photos

How very cool. Thanks for sharing pictures of your awesome group. It looks like you are having a great time.

David, the game looks and sounds great! Any chance of you posting an AAR?
Cheers,
JB

This game pitted the Germans and French --- with palace guard i.e Egyptians -- against the Americans and British and two bands of North African fighters. See this link for your own Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni mounted on horse: link
As noted above the palace guard fought well against uncoordinated attacks until it went under 50 percent. It should have fallen sooner preventing the Americans from having a real shot at making it to the coast. The Arabs were too few to stop the Germans and French with their artillery. Camels are fast but don't do much when they get there. Still there was a lot of rough terrain and blocking rocks that messed up line of sight. Only 2 guys had played before but the unit cards were outstanding and got everybody into the game. The MIA rules worked great in lieu of the carrying the wounded. if i had to make an observation about the rules, I'd say that the traditional hand to hand fight is great and should not be changed, ditto for the card draws. In my view there might not need to be so many different types of morale: pinned , disordered,major, routed, critical, shaken, etc. etc Certainly,you can have morale vary by national differences and the same for the rally attempt – a modifier or two would serve the same purpose. That said, we played morale rules in our game as written and it worked fine albeit we had to verify the type of morale applicable to the event; again the charts helped. The firing rules are perfect. Just a blast. If you have never played these rules see this:
link
to get you into the mood. And yes, a game-master is a must to sort out the little nits that come up.

Do you have a template for your unit cards that you would be willing to share?

Let me be a good steward of that what was lent to me and check with the fellow who sent me his please. Thanks

Thanks for sharing your photos. It looks like everyone had a good time.

My compliments to you and your group for including youngsters in your games. Well done

We love to have youngsters on our team. As everyone knows, they roll better dice.

I love the movie and always wanted to do it as a wargame. What figures do you use for the various nationalities?

Some Foundry, many Old Glory, a real mix of mostly already painted figures I picked up along the way. The joy of collecting !

Nice looking game, seems like all involved had fun. Those "cheat sheets" seem very well done and must have been a great aid to a smooth running game.

Nashville, would it be possible to give specific examples? For instance, which figures work best as the Americans (as portrayed in the movie), which work best as Prussians, etc.

I'd really like to know which figures you used as the palace guard!

Does anyone make WWI French Hussars without the pelisse?

Thanks.

My Americans were Spanish American War figures. The palace guard were Turks . Close enough albeit you could use Old Glory Boxer Rebellion Americans if you are a purist . Germans could be WWI spiked helmet in khaki. Here is more about the film:

link

and here are some palace ( Sultan's) guards:
link

and these would work also : link
link

link

Robert Burke!

Unless, of course, 15mm figures are not your thing, you don't have to look for "suitable" figures for "Wind And The Lion" scenarios! The EXACT figures (including mounted and dismounted French Cavalry without pelisse and Palace Guard, also mounted and dismounted) are available at this link

How did you miss the news!?

TVAG

The basic "The Sword And The Flame" Unit Record Sheets (here so beautifully made specific for the game in question) are available FREE for the asking from their designer.

Simply contact me at TVAG@att.net and say, "Sergeant Brom sent me!," and you'll receive the entire set of eight forms.

TVAG

Oh man… it's hard to control myself, even though I know it's been done before on other "The Wind And The Lion" related threads on this site, so probably no need for it to happen again… but still, this thread seems to be calling out for it at HIGH VOLUME, directly to my cinematic and historical souls, and since the OP has already become "derailed" -- albeit in purely positive and still thoroughy appropriate ways -- here goes:

FAVORITE WIND AND THE LION DIALOGUE QUOTE:

USMC Officer, after leading his men to seize the palace and capturing the Bashaw at sword-point:

CAPTAIN JEROME
(introducing himself)
"Captain Jerome, United States Marine Corps, and you sir, are my prisoner."

BASHAW
(raising an eyebrow in contempt as he removes the hand of one of a freshly-killed servant from where it fell in his lap)
"You are a very dangerous man, Captain. And your President Roosevelt is mad."

CAPTAIN JEROME
(sheathing his sword with a grin)
"Yes sir!"

Other suggestions………?

well, indeed, and you can watch said favorite scene right here:
YouTube link

The Raisuli feeling sorry for himself.

"It's been a bad year. Next year will probably be worse."

Poetry from my all time favorite Highland "Berber."

TVAG

Oh my, but that game looks fun. I've had the temptation to do a similar project for years. Vade retro me, Satanus! Must…be…strong…

Very cool! Though in reality it was MR. Pedicaris, a Greek hired to represent the U.S. Candice Bergen is definitely better looking.

Thanks for posting all these pics. Looks like everyone had a great time. I hope to get to Nashville to partake in one of your games in the future.

Hi Folks, I'm the one who gave David the unit game cards. The original design was by my friend Patrick Wilson of TVAG who made them for Larry Brom for TSATF rules set. Several years ago my buddy Bill Hogan digitized them and the results are the awesome customizable game cards you see above! I've made a blog posting concerning the game cards and how to use them for anyone interested.

David, excellent looking game. I'd love to join your crew one day when you run this game!

link

Cheers,
JB

I got to play in Jeff's game of this scenario and it was flat out amazing. Being the consummate GM he allowed a few of us to depart from the standard narrative :)

It looks like either version of this game is a must do!