learning-the-system the-silver-bayonet rpge mythic obsidian-md

Info
Ruleset The Silver Bayonet (hard copy only)
Battle Mat RPG Engine VTT
Note taking Obsidian.md
Oracle Mythic GME (cards and homemade plugin for Obsidian)
Random Tables Everyone Everywhere List for names

Setup

In this session I will be playing Solo Scenario 1 from the The Silver Bayonet rulebook. It comes with a back story and instructions for setting up the battle-map.

First I need to set up the battle-map in RPG Engine. It asks for a 2.5' by 2.5' table, which is 30 x 30 inches. Assuming we use 1 inch per square, i should have a 30 x 30" battle-map, but somehow I ended up with a map 34 squares x 34 squares. I'm sure I thought this was correct at the time.

I set out the map as instructed densely crowded trees, underbrush and some rocks.

Next I set down six clue markers and distribute as instructed.

I place the my Unit roughly in the centre of the map.

And finally, I drop eight dark wolves towards the edges of the board as instructed.

And with setup done, it's time to review the special rules. These rules tell me that the objective is to find the missing orders, then get off the table. There's a special move that takes place during the Monster Phase in the first turn. There are several random tables provided with instructions for when to roll on them, e.g. at the end of each turn.

Finally, there is a breakdown of rewards given for a successfully meeting the objective. I'll return to these at the end.

The Rules

I've skimmed through The Silver Bayonet, but never played it before. I'm very new to wargaming and am particularly interested in skirmish games. This is because of the computer games XCOM. The idea of soloing a unit of soldiers against a hidden enemy sounds amazing. I remember in XCOM becoming very attached to my soldiers and willing them to succeed. That is what I want to replicate here. As far as skirmish games goes, I have tried out 5 Parsecs from Home and that was great. The Silver Bayonet is described as "A Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror". As soon as I read this I was hooked - Napoleonic XCOM!

As for the rules, I scanned the book (it's about 160 pages) and made a list of pages with page numbers that I thought I'd need to access quickly. This would be updated with any missing references as we go. I've opted to ignore cavalry rules for now.

I also outlined specific processes that I need to internalise for quick reference:

The game can also be run with multiple units acting against each other for the same objective as well as monster. In the solo game it's just your unit versus the monsters.

I also have the notion of pairing this with a complimentary RPG, such as Fate Accelerated, to carry out non-combat adventures. That will sit on the back-burner for now, for this session is to try out the skirmish system and it's first solo scenario.

Setting up Obsidian

As I set up in Obsidian, I end up with the following pages:

RPGE & Obsidian Layout

I have a widescreen but not particularly hi-res monitor, so I split the screen to show RPGE as a main window and Obsidian as a companion to the side.

My Screen

Intro

Captain Jack Pyne recieves order from HQ. Mission: Find out what happened to a missing Specialist Unit. Secondary objective: Find the lost chapel the missing unit were sent to find. If missing unit is located, priority is to recover their orders.

Jack's team follow obvious tracks left by the missing unit. Three days tracking through an incredibly dark forest. Near dusk on third day a scene of carnage is found - the missing unit. But before any investigation can be carried out there is a series of bone chilling howls, and bright shining eyes can be seen staring from the shadows all around.

Round 1

Our unit has found the tattered bloody remains of the missing unit. Wolf howls can be heard through the black gaps between the trees.

Initiative

I'll always be the primary, so will move half my unit in the next stage, and then the rest after the monster stage. So, in solo, it looks like we can skip this bit. If a player rolls double 10s or 1s your get a special result.

I roll 2d10: [7, 8] = 15. No doubles.

Player Phase 1

In this phase I have to activate half (rounded down) of my unit which is 4 figures total.

Captain Pyne moves and investigates the nearest clue, with Cross, Woodhouse and Newman supporting.

They spot two black wolves leering at them. Pyne commands them to defend. None of them are at the clue quite yet.

First, I check to see if any of the wolves in range? Yes, two of them at least.

I decide on the following actions this phase:
1. Pyne has nothing in range, so sprints to the clue
2. Cross shoots with musket
3. Woodhouse Shoots with 2 pistols
4. Newman shoots with musket

Pyne sprints to the clue. If he fails his sprint roll he can run 2" which is all he needs. No roll is needed. I move him to the clue. He has used all of his activation and will need to wait until his next turn to investigate.

Cross has line-of-sight (LOS) on a wolf in the distance. He aims his musket and fires.
6 + 1 +1 accuracy = 8 vs 12 defence is a miss.
The shot cracks out but the shot hits the tree behind the wolf.

Woodhouse shoots with 2 pistols at the nearest wolf who is just in range.
2 + 4 + 1 = 7 Miss!
9 + 10 + 1 = 20 Hit!
9 damage from power dice.
Wolf has health of 8 so is removed from board.

An interesting mechanic in TSB is that the 2d10 you roll need to be of different colours. One is the Power Dice; the other Skill Dice. This is important for 2 reasons:
- Your weapon stats will tell you which dice is your damage dice. So you don't need to roll twice.
- You start the game with something called the Fate Pool. This is 2 Power Dice, 2 Skill Dice and 1 Monster Dice. You can use these to reroll, negate damage etc. But if you reroll the power dice you rolled, you need to have a power die in your Fate Pool to do so.

Two shots ring out almost simultaneously. One disappears one presumes in the dark and trees behind, the other strikes the wolf in the skull. It tumbles to the soft forest floor and collapses.

Newman can just see a wolf behind a tree but decides to not waste his shot as it will be more likely to miss. Instead he sprints to a nearby felled tree to take cover and aim.
He rolls a 2, 2 which is less than 11 so is a fail. But he can still move 2" to a cover, just not exactly where he wanted.

End of Primary Play 1 Phase

Monster Phase

There are 7 wolves left.

There is a specific instruction in the setup to choose a wolf at random. I roll a d12 for to find a direction according to the hours on a clock.
d12: [4] = 4 The wolf is at 4 o'clock. I replace the nearest wolf in that direction with ... a werewolf!

I make a note that there is also an instruction for the end of each Monster Phase.

Wolves can move 8. These types of wolves are more aggressive and will attack a human at any opportunity. They are often in service to other evil powers.

Werewolf moves 6. They are insane man-killing monsters and have a list of attributes that give them various advantages/disadvantages!

What do the monsters do? TSB provides simple behavioural instructions for monsters. There are 3 steps. Because these creatures do not have weapons I need only be concerned with the last one. If they can see an enemy they attack; if not go to nearest clue. The wolves here can all see an enemy! Using a 3d VTT is great for this as I can move the camera to each wolf and see what they can see.

Hardly any decision making for me to do. It's great!

None of the wolves are in range yet so no attacks.

Wolf Event

So at the end of the Monster round I get to roll a d10 and see what happens.
d10: [7] = 7 = Another wolf arrives. I have to place it in the center of a random table edge. I roll a d4 to decide which edge. d4: [1] = 1 Top most.

End of Monster Phase.

Player Phase 2

Now to catch up with the rest of the unit...

The men notice dark shapes pouncing through the shadows towards them. Willard, the junior officer, commands the men to defend themselves.

  1. Howison fires 2 pistols but misses both times. Shots ranging off in to the darkness.
  2. Drummond fires pistol hits for 9 killing the wolf, which crashes in to the forest floor and drags itself to a stop.
  3. Crawley fires pistol, just misses his target.
  4. Thackery fires musket, misses his target.

They pull back to the others, realising they will soon be surrounded.

End of round.

Round 2

Pyne's men have regrouped as the dark shapes spring towards them.

Player 1 Phase

Pyne shouts to his men to continue to battle on as he investigates what they've found.

  1. Pyne investigates, and shoots (he didn't shoot last time). He finds an ornate silver ramrod (+1 skill die to fate pool). As he does this he fires off his pistol. The wolf receives a wound in its leg. It ignores it and continues to attack.
  2. Cross reloads and shoots with musket. 6,3 + 1 is a miss. Spend fate on power to roll again. A 6 makes it a hit. 6 damage on Pyne's wolf and it falls!
  3. Woodhouse reloads, shoots 1 of his pistols. 6,1+1 Miss. Spend skill to re-roll. 10! Hit. 6 on the wolf.
  4. Newman reloads, shoots with musket. 4,4, +1 Miss.

Monster Phase

The wolves close in. Only two can attack.

  1. A Wolf pounces at Hewison. 17 hits! Teeth count as a hand weapon so Power dice is damage. 8! Howison is badly injured.
  2. Another attacks Thackery. 3,3,+1 Miss. It lunges at Thackery but Thackery beats the wolf off with his Musket.

Wolf Event = 2 dark wolves arrive. Placed at random corners.
d4: [4] = 4 d4: [4] = 4 both at top right corner (going clockwise)

Player 2 Phase

  1. Howison draws his hand weapon and attacks the wolf attacking him. 10, 9, +2 HIT! Damage = power dice = 9, it is wounded has 4hp. He runs it through and falls lifeless to the floor. He uses his move to reload.
  2. Drummond moves to next clue, investigates. "I've FOUND THE MISSING ORDERS!" he shouts. His unit understand they may now retreat.
  3. Crawley does not hesitate and moves to edge of map
  4. Thackery attacks the wolf nearest him with the musket bayonet. 10,3,+1. HIT. Spend power to re-roll Power. 5. He spears the wolf in its chest but it does not drop.

End of Round.

Round 3

Drummond shouts he's got the orders. Pyne tells his men to retreat!

Player 1 Phase

  1. Newman tries to sprint to the edge of map. Only makes a bit of extra so not clear yet.
  2. Howison sprints for his life, nearly there.
  3. Thackery doesn't manage to sprint quite as well. He sees his fellows making better choices through the trees and scrub.
  4. Drummond follow eagerly.

None have exited the map yet.

Monster Phase

The wolves, with a taste for blood, make their move.

  1. Wolf attacks Woodhouse 5,5,+1 vs 14 Miss!
  2. Wolf attacks Woodhouse 6,2,+1 vs 14 Miss!
  3. Werewolf attacks Woodhouse 10,1, +2 Miss!
  4. Wolf attacks Pyne 10,9,+1 HIT! 9 damage -> down to 4
  5. Wolf attacks Newman 9,1,+1 vs 13 Miss!

Woodhouse has always been a bit luckier when getting hit compared to the others (higher armour rating).

Wolf Event = 2 more wolves! d4: [2] = 2 d4: [2] = 2 Both bottom edge

Player 2 Phase

Last 4 men sprint to escape.

  1. Cross sprints for it 0,8 success. Can run 6 + 4.
  2. Woodhouse 6,5 Success
  3. Drummond Fail only 6 but it's enough
  4. Pyne 10,4 success. He could get off the map but he stays to make sure his men escape.

Again, no men are clear yet.

End of round.

Round 4

Player 1 Phase

They run!

  1. Newman escapes!
  2. Crawley escapes!
  3. Thackery escapes!
  4. Howison escapes!

Monster Phase

  1. Wolf attacks woodhouse 10,1,+1 Miss!
  2. Wolf attacks woodhouse 8,6,+1 Hit! 6 damage. Down to 6.

Wolf Event = 1 wolf arrives. d4: [3] = 3 Right hand edge centre

Player 2 Phase

They all flee. No rolls needed.

End session

Injury, Death, Madness

XP

- Each figure that survived gets 1xp

The bonus scenario rewards are...

Total = 6 bonus xp to hand out to figures...

All done. Sheets updated.

Summing up

That game was fun. But it was lucky that we found the orders on the second clue. Still need to get the rules down properly and I'm sure I made some mistakes. I liked the preset scenarios. It gives a goal, rewards, randomness and tells you exactly how to set up the table for combat. During the game I was genuinely worried for the safety of the unit. Made me think of playing XCOM back in the day where you would get attached to any soldiers who made it past a couple of skirmishes. I'm not sure about strategy and tactics in this game as I have no experience of wargaming. Some research is due.

I think I should have rolled initiative at the start of every round to see if I get double 1 or 20. Will need to remember to do that next time. I'll also review the combat rules to see if I missed

The RPGE is promising and very fun to use once I'd got used to it. I would like to find a way to label the figures so I can easily work out who-is-who. Also, a better way to track things like: fatigue, who needs to reload and HP loss. However, the experience of setting up the map, creating any missing bric-a-brac for the table and actually playing was fantastic. Line of site and working out obstacles made for very interesting combat.

I have the notion that the Unit might return here later on and try and wipe out the werewolves. They are after all an abomination (in this game) and a threat to anyone in the surrounding area.

For now, I think I'll move on to the next solo scenario "The Ruined Chapel". This follows on from the last as the lost unit was essentially searching for this chapel.

The war against the Harvestmen continue.

Character Stats

Captain Jack Pyne

Office, Tier 1, XP 2

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +2 +1 14 +3 13 (100)
Attributes Great Faith, Inspiring
Equipment Breastplate, Hand Weapon - Silver Weapon, Pistol, Holy Symbol

Doctor Benjamin Crawley

Doctor, Tier 1, XP 1

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +1 0 13 +1 10 10
Attributes Doctor
Equipment Hand Weapon, Pistol

Willard Howison

Junior Officer, Tier 1, XP 2

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +2 +1 13 +2 12 22
Attributes Master of Cover
Equipment Hand Weapon, 2 x Pistols

Roderick Woodhouse

Supernatural Investigator, Tier 1, XP 3

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +2 +1 14 +0 12 22
Attributes Supernatural Veteran, Monster Expert
Equipment Fencing Weapon, 2 x Pistols

Samuel Drummond

Artillerist, Tier 1, XP 3

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +1 +1 13 +0 10 10
Attributes Artillerist
Equipment Hand Weapon, Pistol

Humphrey Newman

Sapper, Tier 1, XP 1

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +1 +1 13 +0 10 12
Attributes Combat Engineer
Equipment Musket, Cartridge Box, Heavy Weapon

Grantley Cross

Marine, Tier 1, XP 1

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +1 +1 13 +0 10 12
Attributes Steady Legs
Equipment Musket, Cartridge Box

Herbert Thackery

Marine, Tier 1, XP 1

Speed Melee Accuracy Defence Courage Health Recruitment
6 +1 +1 13 +0 10 12
Attributes Steady Legs
Equipment Musket, Cartridge Box

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