Royal Marines on Display!

Christmas was great, but it is time to get back after the miniature thing!  Being a former U.S. Marine (with ties to the British Royal Marines) I had to "officially" display these miniatures that I was commissioned to paint for the pirate scrimmage game "Cutlass!"

 

Here is Admiral Dylan Lloyd, with his Captain and four Marines on the 'high ground' ready for action!
(click any pic to enlarge)

 

...the Admiral points, "See that tavern down yonder? That be our objective boys!"

 

With the Royal Marines firmly in place in front of the Tavern, they are ready to protect their favorite watering hole from any scurvy pirates!

"Form Ranks... Fix Bayonets!!!"

 

"Ready... Aim... FIRE!!!"

 

Here are the four Royal Marines lined up in formation (after the Admiral and Captain enter in!) to defend the local Tavern... The H*** with the occifers *hic* gotta protect that Grog!!!

 

For a flair of the "old and the new" here is a brief clip at Fort Henry, with historic uniforms from the Royal Navy with a short clip of the U.S. Marine Silent Drill Team from Marine Barracks 8th & I... check it out! :D

 

A Drunken Brawl!

I can honestly say, that while being part of a gaming store/environment is loads of fun... it seriously hampers (at times) my ability to get done what needs to be done!  I think it was a few minutes after midnight last evening when I finally kicked out the last of our 'dwarven' role-players! *wink*

Luckily, in addition to getting several minis completed, I was able to finish up the 'Cutlass' terrain as well as the miniatures in preparation for a random encounter... as luck would have it, my studiously disciplined gang of Royal Marines were preparing for a rumble when the Admiral stumbled into a group of scurvey dogs, and ended up in a drunken brawl!  The rules specifically state "any model that draws their weapons automatically lose the encounter!  This is an all-out first fight!"

Here are my marines, with Admiral Dylan Lloyd preparing for battle...

 

A bird's eye view of battle preparation...

 

Unable to hold their grog (or use their weapons), my Navy Captain, and Marines start tripping and taking themselves out of the rumble... the dice mark "stunned" results!

(click any pic to enlarge)

 

The Admiral is being swarmed by Captain McBride's scurvy crew of pirates, with the ever-lovin' Captain sneaking up from behind... what a scoundrel!

 

Well, with all of my Marines down (or taken out), it was obvious that the Royal Navy are not as good at holding their grog as the Captain McBride's crew are... it was a notoriously disastrous wipe for my men, with McBride making off with weapons, loot and about $110 with of my purse!  Easy come, easy go!

 

Overall, it was a tremendous amount of fun learning the new gaming system.  I really like the stat-die rolls as opposed to stat characteristics, as it adds a bit more of randomness to the game... but more importantly, a critical success adds successive rolls allowing for a common sailor to do some rather heroic things! Good fun... check it out!

(For a quick tutorial on how to play "Cutlass" click here!)

Aaargh! Ye Scurvey Pirates Impeded Me Progress!

I am rapidly learning that if I do not get my posts up early enough on Saturday morning, it will not happen until there is a break in the crowd at the local game store where I provide my services for mini painting; today was no exception! 

The determining factor (however), came as a polite request from the store owner (who is noticeably NOT quite as game savvy as I am) to help demo "Cutlass" from Black Scoprion Minis--a pirate skirmisher game which I have been longing to delve into... so it did not take much of a nudge!

 

Here is the rulebook, written by Gav Thorpe and Adam Clarke...

 

The game-play is a miniaturized table-top skirmisher (48"x48") with two, or more pirate gangs, duking it out for loot, fame and fortune!  Here is an 'example' of what one hopes for, terrain wise...

(click any pic to enlarge! :D)

 

But this is what we actually had to work with... improvised terrain! (If you squint really hard, they almost look similar!)

My Naval forces captained by Admiral Dylan Lloyd!

My opponant's privateer forces captained by Privateer Captain James McBride!

My opponant's ginormous Chessex dice, which I had to beg him NOT to use!

 

While I was not able to work through an entire "encounter" (as the rulebook refers to a 'one-off' game), I did get a feel for the game and the strategy that must be used to play it; in a nut shell, your commander gives you a number of 'player actions' that allow your gang members to move, fire, etc... but once you 'fail' then your opponent starts to use their 'action points' to do the same and play continues this way until your goals are accomplished for fame, and fortune!

 

The thing that is intriguing is that your roster is a 'living' roster, ie; you lose a gang member to death or disease and he/she comes off of your roster!  You must watch your fame (or infamy) rating, and keep your treasure trove well stocked to avoid mutiny!  I am intrigued by the game play, and am excited to get some more time in on it!

 

I also went here to get a bit more info on how the game plays, and found these good ol' blokes to be helpful!: http://www.beastsofwar.com/cutlass/play-cutlass/

 

Here are some more on the minis, and rules at:

(click the pic to go to the link)

 

 At any rate (needless to say), painting was put on a bit of the back-burner today... and truthfully, it was a welcome break! Catch ya'll on Monday! :D