Border Wars Game - Foray with the Elliots and Armstrongs

 

Elliot attackers and Armstrong defenders assemble

Elliots deploy 

Well fed Chillingham cattle, the objective of the foray!

Elliots advance 

Armstrongs respond

Casualties and wounds from shooting and combat 

Last Sunday I met Rick and Gary down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for a game of Border Wars. It was the monthly Sunday meeting of the Canberra Regional Wargame Group. We used to play here all the time but this was only my second game there since 2020. The scenario was Foray (p.65 of the rules) which involved a raid on an Armstrong bastle with the objective their cattle and sheep. Gary commanded the Elliot family attackers and Rick was the Armstrong defenders. The two sides had 11 figures a side, with a leader, two heroes and eight soldiers, four mounted, seven foot, about 115 points. The Armstrongs only had half of their force with reinforcements hopefully arriving in turn three.

This was Gary and Rick's first game of Border Wars, I was umpire and had only played one game previously but it provided plenty of laughs. Gary often has atrocious luck with his dice and true to form managed to consistently roll ones and twos even with D10s! The game uses dice for activation, combat and shooting, D10s, D8s and D6s as well as markers and cards - Special Actions, Heroic Actions and Special Events. The Armstrongs were comfortably leading through out the game having killed an Elliot hero early on and retrieving most of their stock. In the final turn the Elliots managed to win the game by killing the Armstrong leader and heroes.

 

Cheviot sheep are wrangled away
from the thieving Elliots

Armstrong reinforcements advance

The families fight over the remaining cow

Armstrongs escape with the prize

Elliots win the game in the final turn,
killing the Armstrong leader and heroes