Billhooks Two.

Well last weekend I took a drive south to Derby for the second Never Mind the Billhooks tournament. I had planned my small army, practiced a bit to understand how to best exploit the rules, sorry I meant learn them. [Yes that is me in shorts! It didnt help and sadly didnt put off the occupants I faced.] 

The whole point of the tournament is fun, winning isnt that important which is just as well as I piled defeat upon defeat. For something different I decided to have a lot of levy archers and bills with only a couple of decent units to use in a melee.How did it go? Well it was pretty disastrous to be honest.

Levy troops die very quickly. Their saving throw is a six which as readers should know is something I rarely see and throw. To kill they also need sixes, and in a morale throw if they throw a six they have to throw again. If one gets the balance right, levy troops can be handy but it is foolish to rely on them to win a battle for you. So yes I am a fool. But I have always liked the underdog and therefore it seemed logical to pick an underdog force.

Here is an image of one of my classic tactical moves. March my best troops around a swamp to fall upon the flank of the enemy, who meanwhile march forward and mince my remaining forces. Not one of my better ideas, especially as I knew it was daft even before I set off on the march.

Billhook weekends are more than a series of games however. On the Friday night it was great just to sit in a pub drinking a few pints and talking about toy soldiers.  James Morris turned up and it was interesting to hear him talk about his new rules for the Dark Ages. They are due for release very soon.

The Saturday was great for the banter, seeing how other wargamers play the rules and just playing with my toy soldiers.

I know readers think I exaggerate my inability to throw decent dice when in a battle, but actually its worse than that because in Billhooks there are opportunities in a dice roll off to win event cards. These cards can give you a small advantage and sometimes allow you to draw an even more important card from a separate pack. 

There are two opportunities per move. By the end of the day, I had managed two cards! This is a record for me. Three games of maybe 15/20 moves. You do the maths as its just too depressing to think of it.Basically I couldnt win an argument.

This is a classic example of my bad luck. These are my best units. One is a powerful unit of men at arms, the other, carrying the red standard are veteran bills. You will see they are in melee with each other. How did this happen you ask. The answer is a rarely drawn card called TREACHERY. So I had the unedifying sight of my two best units slugging it out. I lost that game easily.

Finally a block of levy, looking for a target as they march off the table after failing a morale for seeing other levy rout. Did I enjoy the weekend? Damn right I did. Was it frustrating throwing pants dice and watching your opponent mince your troops, well yes and no. It was a fun weekend and enjoyable as a social event, although I would just love to throw a handful of sixes, just once..... 

Would I do it again? Certainly. There is another tournament arranged for September, I would recommend trying it out, you might face me.