[Argad AAR] Blood in Brittany, 1591

[Patrice]

After a few demo games on this theme, we played our first real scenario on Saturday 26th October at Ludouest games festival in Theix-Noyalo (Brittany). Ruleset: "Argad". Perhaps the start of a new campaign? (...but our gaming group already has too many campaigns on far too many themes...)

The events takes place in Brittany 1591 (during the Wars of Religion). Supporters of the new king Henri IV are fighting vs the "Sainte Ligue" (extreme Catholics). The "Ligueurs" are supported by Spain; the English are allied with Henri IV.

There were 5 players and a GM.

François de la Nouë, a protestant officier, supporter of King Henri IV.

Antonin Le Hir de Lostbras, a petty nobleman supporting the League (enters table from South-East).

Ned Poins, an English officer (coming from the East along the coast).

Fernando d'Ordongnes, a Spanish officier (coming from the West).

And an outlaw of petty nobility who will help the League if he can gain something.

A number of NPCs had also been invented by the GM.

At the beginning of the game none of the players knew which side the others supported or where they were. The outlaws are hidden in the round tower, not moving for some time. Other players move two decoys (miniatures of wild animals) each from their table edge, only one is their real troop. The Royalist are already in position in the village but it is not known, this player too moves two decoys from a table edge.

Somewhere in North-West Brittany...







The sea looks green these days! (because of the weather?)



The Royalists in the village have seen a troop approaching. They are ready to fight.



It's a Spanish troop. The Spanish officer is surprised to see Royalists already in the village. He sends one of his men to talk with the Royalist officer.

At the same moment, at the other side of the village, two fanatic monks arrive near the church and try to convince the local (and reluctant) priest to raise a revolt against the Royalists.



A Royalist soldier comes and asks what's going on? One of the monks fires an arquebus at him (and misses) then the other attacks him with his heavy cross. The soldier kills them both.



The Royalist officer and the Spanish officer have heard the shot but they continue to talk. After a short discussion the Spaniards decide to withdraw and to cross the stone bridge to bypass the village.



On the other side of the village, the English pass the fishermen's houses.



Not far from there, the group of Ligueurs is advancing. They meet a mysterious red-haired woman in male clothes and her servant, she seems to be on their side.



The English and the Ligueurs watch each other suspiciously, not knowing who the others are.

[Patrice]

The League officer decides to go to the village with his heavy soldiers (he wants to meet a spy at the village inn). He lets most of his foot soldiers in and old bastion to prevent the English from following him.







The Ligueur officer meets Royalists soldiers. He tries to talk friendly and asks permission to go to the inn. The Royalists officer answers friendly too, pretends to be Catholic (it's a lie but it could be the case for a Royalist) and accepts to let him and his few men enter the village...



...then he has them surrounded. They surrender. He disarms them and locks them in a house.



Antonin Le Hir de Lostbras, the Ligueur officier, is now prisoner with his best men and the mysterious red-clad lady (his foot soldiers are still in the old bastion).

But the Royalist officer hesitates. His prisoners try to convince him that he's making a mistake. The villagers seem very unhappy. And he knows that the Spaniards are moving south of the village. He decides to release his prisoners, who take the road leading to the manor.



The Royalists are watching the Spaniards who crossed the river again on a small wooden bridge.



A Ligueur officer (green scarf) has bypassed the village and crosses the same bridge to go to the manor. The lord of the manor, Jean Toullic de Plougalc'h, is a far cousin of the Ligueur leader.



After sending a spy near the village to understand what was going on, the outlaws have been contacted at their tower by different protagonists. They accept to take part in the fight to support the Catholic League.



The Spaniards avoid the well-defended village a second time, and march in the direction of the tower... and meet the English who have decided to advance at least.



The English have moved too late and find themselves between the Spaniards and the outlaws. Then the Ligueurs on foot come out of the bastion and fire at them from behind!



Innocent visitors and families can watch freely the horrible events of this terrible civil war...



Pistol shots near the stone bridge! Not sure about his former prisoners, the Royalist officer had sent a cavalryman to follow them. When they block his way to the manor he shoots one of them... and is killed by another one.

[Patrice]

The English foot are in difficult position near the outlaws' tower.



Their cavalry tries to counter-attack but it's not sufficient.



The English foot soldiers surrender to the outlaws (not to the Spanish cavalry!) They are escorted to the bastion (column left of picture).



Near the river, the Spaniards on foot slowly recoil...



...encouraging the Royalists to come foolishly out of the village. The Ligueurs and outlaws who had been fighting the English are now coming in this direction too. The Royalists soon find themselves with their back to the river.



Meanwhile, a Ligueur officer went to the manor to ask the local lord, Jean Toullic de Plougalc'h (a cousin of his leader) for help. The sire of Plougalc'h, a good Catholic whose wife is a former Protestant, hesitates to take any part in the events and says reproachfully to the officier not to bring war on his home. The officer insists and shouts for a while, so to get rid of him the sire of Plougalc'h gives him a small cannon he kept hidden in his barn. The officer hears the daughter of the lord protesting against this decision, and her father answering: "go to your room!"

The mysterious red-clad woman and her servant take the small cannon, harness a horse, and tow the cannon (left of picture) near the river to threaten the Royalists (right of picture).





Seeing this, the Royalists don't try to pass the wooden bridge. The cannon fires at them at far range without effect.

The outlaws, and some of the Ligueurs and Spaniards, enter the village. Three Royalist soldiers who were still there try to resist inside the ossuary building near the church. The mounted outlaws and Spaniards notice a man in white doublet and a drummer running away. They ride after them and shoot at them but they escape on a small rowing boat.



Some inhabitants and the innkeeper who have seen them closely say the man in white doublet is Anne de Kerfors, an old protestant nobleman, brother-in-law of the lord of the manor.

The defeated Royalists recoil to the village, but their enemies are already there! They accept to surrender for ransom to the Ligueurs.





Two other Royalists soldiers, separated from the others and in full panic, throw themselves into the river.



The English soldiers who were kept (hand tied) prisoners in the bastion were not seriously guarded; the outlaw player found more funny to tell that his men put a slow match to an old barrel that was there, and set it alight, then rolled a die each game turn till it exploded, then told his opponent to roll a die for the numbers of prisoners killed... then the referee took control and reminded that the barrel had always been empty except for a toad living in it. An outlaw guard ran away as two English surviving mounted soldiers approached the bastion, so these prisoners were able to get free. The English officer promises he will have the skin of the outlaw leader on a drum in a next game.