From my side of the table... La colline de la mort presque certaine.

 Greetings....

This is an account of a virtual game that Mharaid and I had before Xmas...

The objective of the game... apart from an excuse to use my Brunswickers... was to take control of a hill that dominated a number of roads through the woods.

As usual we used A Song of Drums and Shakos...

The game was played out over a few days and we used FaceTime and email for the game... Coloured counters and name tags also helped Mharaid to see what was happening... as well as being fun.

A black button means your gun is unloaded.

A red button means you are seriously wounded/dead.

A yellow button means running away.

The area around La colline de la mort presque certaine... showing the possible entry points for each side.

The two sides assemble... I have shamelessly used many of my friends names here... mostly because it was funny...

Mharaid (Von Rust) and I (Malchanceux) both went for similar plans...

Moving round either side of the hill in an effort to pin or eliminate the enemy and then make a move on the hill itself...

Von Rust’s men move off in and orderly and organised manner...

My men... not so much...

Von Rust’s men start to move round the base of the hill and even make a move onto the hill.

I also make a move on the hill... with unfortunate and possibly predictable results... sigh!

Fortunately Malchanceux was only knocked over...

The Brunswickers however don’t get it all their own way...

Had they been loaded... this would have been a perfect opportunity for a volley...

Just in case Malchanceux decides to move his command and control centre to a more suitable position.

As Von Rust orders his men to move on the hill Sergeant Baptiste and his men take advantage of some relatively easy targets... sadly Hugo takes one for the team.

This more or less gives an idea of where the game was at this point... the buttons and names start to make sense from this point of view... Mharaid had an overview of the table and could add her own notes etc.  between our sessions.

Here we see David and his friends moving steadily along the road (going for a very slow quiet stroll...possibly with breaks for bread, wine and a nice soft cheese)

The button letting continues as both sides try to gain a foothold on the hill... Malchanceux’s brave men may be getting the upper hand... I can’t imagine that lasting for long... It would be very out of character.

The crazed killer known as Oli reaches the top of the hill...

David... Friends... Stroll...Possibly a nap....sigh!

Another aerial view... The Brunswickers are definitely getting a bit buttoned...

Oli the crazed killer takes out Edgar and Dorian single handed... eeek!... the horror!

David eventually moves off the road to attack the enemy... but... doesn’t get very far... sigh!

Oli bowl’s over Antoine next... He can shoot as well as he can stab... 

Fortunately Louis steps forward and with a single shot solves the problem that was ‘Oli’.

Taking an example from Oli, Johannes charges forward to attack Malchanceux’s headquarters.

Only to be shot down by Xavier and then stabbed by ‘Brave Malchanceux’... Hurrah!.. He says.

Much to my surprise these acts bring the Brunswickers down to below their breaking point and they now have to take moral throws...

Shockingly the men vote to go... Leaving Von Rust and Feldwebel Herman on their own...

After careful consideration they too decide to head to that nice little bar with the pretty girls back in Brussels...

Well would you believe it... a victory...

Tactically speaking we did nothing special and it all came down to hard fighting (and good dice).

When Oli started his slaughter fest I honestly thought Mharaid was going to win the game so it came as a bit of a surprise when it all ended my way... for a change.

It of course still feels weird... I even had to check to see if I was somehow cheating.

It was Indeed a hard fought fight and a very enjoyable game...

All the best.  Aly...

To the best of my knowledge none of my actual friends were knocked over or covered in red buttons during the making of this game... And Oli is a very nice man.