The Scarecrow

Smugglers in the mist

We tried the Gloire rules out last week at the club pitching a gang of smugglers led by the Scarecrow against the revenue men. Each of the four players controlled one grade three figure, one grade two and one grade one figure, with a number of ‘extras’ milling around.

The game started with a boat tied up along the river and a couple of smuggler types unloading the contraband into a waiting wagon alongside which was the fish wife who took the initiative and attacked an advancing revenue man with her boat hook.

Meanwhile elsewhere the revenue men, led by an army captain home on leave, attempted to get between the wagon and the village but were attacked by the Scarecrow and his minions. The Scarecrow, although wounded, put up a valiant fight alongside his comrades and managed to fight the revenue men off and began to back away towards the village as the wagon approached. Unfortunately the two men on the wagon lost their hold and fell off leaving the horse free to approach the local minister who got it under control and led it into the village where the goods could be stored away from prying eyes.

The revenue men were at a loss now and attempted to get close to the squire but the fishwife intervened with her boat hook and wounded the revenue leader whilst the squire backed away and a sneaky smuggler managed to untie the boat and take it to safety down stream.

The game was a lot of fun but in hindsight I think there were too many figures on the board and if we play this game again then fewer figures will be used. The game is very dice heavy with rolls to hit and to determine the location of the wound as well as the possibility of attempting to stave off any damage. With fewer figures I think that it could have been easier to keep track of individual figures but all in all a fun game with plenty of laughs along the way.