Don Featherstone R.I.P.

Just heard from a friend that DonaldFeatherstone passed away yesterday at 95 from complications following a fall at his flat in Southampton, UK. Featherstone was for mini wargamers one of the pioneering hobby giants and great popularizers along with (his close friend) Tony Bath, Charles Grant and (the other) Phil Barker.

Featherstone as a young tanker in WW2.
An oral account of his combat experience can be found here. 

Though he had a tendency to sometimes lapse into Colonel Blimpness in his historical writings on the small wars of the Victorian Age, he left behind a long legacy of incredibly useful and experimental books on wargaming.

Featherstone was particularly fond of the blackpowder period armies, however his books and other writing exhibited a wide ranging understanding and a creativity many times bordering on the wide-open imaginative play often associated with roleplaying games. His book Solo Wargaming, for instance, has a fascinating chapter on 19^th-century solo campaigns on the Northwest Frontier of South Asia including some interesting examples of fake newspaper/campaign journals (see my scan below) spinning stories out of the emergent play at the wargame table.

Click to enlarge. 

Fortunately thanks to John Curry's History of Wargames project you can buy new, affordable reprints of much of his work (why doesn't the rpg hobby have an equivalent). Find a list of those books here.

Don Featherstone, presente.

Opening Moves

It takes a few moments to shake off the weariness of the tough week-long ride up through the increasingly barren foothills and jagged peaks.

Twice the winding column passed through that invisible line of the Weird sending snorts through your sweating horses and long moans from the wagon oxen. Though it's early spring back in the cantons, this forlorn region seems to have forgotten that fact, especially at night when cold winds buffet the tents and drive soldiers back into their own thoughts.

Worn out and saddle sore you finally have spied the bustling camp of the company arrayed in a chaotic sprawl of pavillions, rough tents, and hearth fires around the tight, bleak walls of the watchfort.

Up here in the mountain pass you can see way off below you to the east the vast horizons of the steppes. A feeling of sudden apprehension wafts over you as you also note that out there in the Sea of Grass and dark, unfamiliar foothills lays a cruel, measureless enemy. Just down the road in the valley below lies the burned-out shell of the ill-fated border colony of Trnova as a grim reminder of that fact.

You, the motley, trans-dimensional crew of fresh column leaders and their deputies, are ushered into the largest of the tents, a tall-poled glittering mass of black and silver silk stripes to meet your Captain, Raugraf Androj Andimachus the Younger.

Centered around an elaborately illuminated map on a rough campaign table stands a young man, really almost a boy. The simplicity of his unadorned field plate stands in strict contrast to the elaborately flourished burgonets and breastplates of the ancient-looking and foppish staff officers around him. He greets each of you with a too-firm handshake and a cold, hard stare that belies his boyishness.

He's quick to get down to the brass tacks, stabbing at the campaign map with his dirk for emphasis: “Our mission is simple gentlemen...and...err...less gentle but useful others,” he states briskly. “Find and destroy the enemy without remorse or mercy.”

“Now here's we are at for the next fortnight. The froghemoth's share of the company will remain here at the fort until we can ascertain where the enemy's main body is. The following detachments will reconnoiter  in force the surrounding area.

Ba Chim's column will head along the ridge lines to the north. Evagoras's command will head northeast along the edge of the bowl. The Sea Blood's column will head east and investigate the trade road and kozak camps while the not-so delicate ladies of Barbarella will head south and east. Last but not least we send Angorax down south towards those ruins and caves.

Your standing orders are thus:

1. Scout all potential hiding places in your zone for the next fortnight before reporting back here. Every third day you should send a messenger back here reporting your current status.

2. If you engage the enemy in inferior numbers you are to give battle.

3. If you find them in equal or superior force, you are to disengage and either a. combine with any close columns to give battle, or b. delay the enemy while sending word back to the bulk of the company here.

All the rest is in your able hands. Any questions?”

OOC info for players.

All characters:

Personal Stance. On a weekly basis (minimally, feel free to drop me a note at any time), you will let me know what your character's basic attitude to risk and reward is: foolhardy, normal, or craven. Taking more risk will make you more likely to be harmed or lose property in a battle, but also much more likely to reap rewards. The converse holds true (your not likely to get much out of a battle at craven level for instance).

Personal Decisions. I may drop you a short email from time to time asking for a simple decision. Say if you are facing a particular opponent in a combat or you or your unit encounter something. Do not feel all hung up on

Graft. This being the Hill Cantons, chances to make a little “bonus” dosh abound in the chaos of the company. CHA, position in the company, being a mountebank or thief, and whatever precautions you take will help determine success. Drop me a line if you wanted to go the crooked route.

Column Leaders:

Column Stance. You will tell me your column objectives, line of march, and standing orders a couple times a week. Including hex numbers will be very helpful when talking about things on the map.

Column Decisions. I will be sending you short emails as above asking for choices of what to do based on what's happening with your column. If things get to overwhelming with the email part I may call for a special G+ session to sort through it all.

Supplies. Your column can carry up to a week's worth of trail rations, feed for horse, and other supplies without supply wagons. A half-week will not penalize movement, over that will you will get a small penalty to movement. If you want to hump supplies over a week's worth, you'll need to drag along some wagons which will slow movement especially in areas without roads (you are assumed to have access to enough wagons to do so).  

Into the Hills with the Reavers

The Hill Cantons have a strong martial borderlands tradition perhaps best summed up by their much-feared battle cry: “Live Weird or Die.”

Unlike the rest of the Overkingdom, most forces are directly drawn by the semi-autonomous cantonal councils (Radas) supplemented by the relatively small retinues of the nobility. Most able-bodied free adults have gone through at least rudimentary military training and possess some related arms and armor. While the cantons hold only 40,000 souls, they can field a combined force of almost 5,000 in a normal mobilization and another 4,000 in an emergency.

Military organization is loose and informal as it was in Earth's early renaissance. The Marlankh Reavers, the forces of Marlinko Canton, are called loosely a “company” but that has no numerical significance. The Reavers are subdivided into ad hoc groups called “battles” when the company is moving together in large numbers or “columns” when it needs to operate with smaller detachments (as it is now).

Ranks—themselves somewhat loose and informal--as such are more about a rough chain of vocal command than leading a set, formally-defined unit. Raugraf Androj Andimachus the Younger (NPC) is the current elected Captain and commanding officer of Marklankh's forces in the field. Each column leader is called alternately a “lieutenant” or “subaltern” depending on seniority and reports directly to the Captain. Non-commissioned officers are called “journeymen”.

Reaver Order of Battle at the opening of the Border War campaign

Total force

3 Hawkriders (courtesy of the Guild of Accipitaries and Drovers), giant hawk air cav, riders with studded leather, long bows and short swords.

10 Brothers of the Other Mother, martial clerics, half-plate, shields, maces.

160 Lancers, medium cavalry with scale mail, metal shields, lance, and longswords or maces.

420 Border Ruffians, light cavalry with studded leather, small wooden shields, javelins, and short swords or hand axes.

100 Amazon Outriders, light cavalry with ring mail, composite bows and hand axes.

300 Landsknecht Pikemen, medium infantry with slashed poofy doublets and hose (with half-plate), ostrovan pikes, short swords.

60 Landsknecht Swordsmen, medium infantry with slashed poofy doublets and hose (with half-plate), two-handed swords.

180 Hill Wardens, light infantry with leather jack, long bows, hand axes.

40 Skullcrushers, half-ogre medium infantry with ring mail, assorted pole arms.

60 Bushwhackers, black hobbit light infantry, short bows, sharp pointed sticks, barbed knives.

1200 Camp Followers, civilian “logistics workers”

By Column:

Main Battle, reserve stationed at the watchfort in the pass. Commanded by the Raugraf.

3 Hawkriders

10 Brothers

100 Lancers

300 Landsknecht Pike

40 Landsknecht Swords

20 Wardens

1200 Camp Followers

Column A*, led by Ba Chim

NCO's: Manzafrain

100 Ruffians

20 Lancers

40 Wardens

20 Landsknecht Swords

Column B*, led by Evagoras Sospiri

NCO's: Sir Eustace

100 Ruffians

20 Lancers

60 Wardens

Column C*, led by Ooluu the Sea Blood

NCO's: Donnal MacDonnal

120 Ruffians

60 Wardens

Sorcha's Stinging Whip Column, led by Barbarella

NCO's: Sir Eusyram

100 Amazon Outriders

20 Lancers

The Penal Brigade, led by Angrox

NCO's:

30 Skullcrushers

60 Bushwhackers

*Name TBA

(Note that some NCO players are still yet to be assigned to columns.)

Border War Campaign Map

Forgot to post this with the call to arms for the border war this morning. The image below is the mini-campaign map showing an area just off to the north and east of the Hill Cantons proper. Each hex runs five miles across.

The burned out border colony of Trnova is shown on the west side of the map due east from the pass and watchfort leading back into the Overkingdom. Most of the map area resides in the Sea of Grass, a vast steppe of coarse gray-green leafed, purple-veined prairie grass stretching off to greater and greater stretches of the Weird to the east.

Bands of kozaks, smelly horse-lovin' and warlike nomads, maintain two trade camps in the area along an old caravan track. One sits at the feet of an ice-cold, deep-watered lake at the old rounded cone of a massive and presumably extinct volcano.  

Click to Enlarge

The Border War Has Commenced

The Hill Cantons border war mentioned last month is now off the ground.

Round One will be a 2-3 week playtest of the abstract mass combat rules that I finished the draft of this week. I will be running it as a small-scale, same-side campaign with me as the referee before possibly moving on to a side vs. side showdown with Emperor Don of the Brazonians.

To keep it interesting I will be integrating it into the Hill Cantons roleplaying campaign proper—and to up the ante make it open to characters from across the FLAILSNAILS pocket universe. The events of the campaign can and will have an impact on the day-to-day micro-stage that adventurers tool around on.

I am envisioning it mostly running as a very modest play-by-email campaign (only involving a few choices per week) with perhaps a mini-session on Google Plus or two to help supplement it if absolutely necessary. The players will take on roles inside a dreaded (and occasionally dreadful) irregular cavalry company, the Marlankh Reavers, in a search-and-destroy operation against border marauders.

Think Fantasy F*cking Bleeding Kansas here.

Basically there are two roles players can take:

1. Sign up as a Column Leader. The player will need to take an active leadership role (ie make some command decisions as a leader via email). Only characters native to the HC will be eligible (sorry the Cantoners can be a xenophobic and ornery crew at times) and there are only 4 positions open. Any character taking this role will receive a 200 sun (gp) signing bonus plus an officer's share of all loot.

2. Sign up a Non-Com or REMF. The player takes on a passive role (you are basically along for the ride with only as much effort or input as you desire) in one of the player-led columns. Any character—open to any from the FLAILSNAILS world--taking this role will receive a 50 sun (gp) signing bonus plus an NCO's share of all loot.

Be forewarned that both roles will place your PC in harm's way up to an including loss of property and life. I will be playtesting a PC battle effects subsystem in the course of the campaign. On the flip side you have the chance to win exp or swag too. Players can opt to roll up a new character as per the rules of the Hill Cantons Compendium at their leisure. 

My mind is a bit groggy this morn, if you need some clarifications about what the differing roles entail or the like fire away.