Pirates of the South China Seas - Not a Naval Game ;)

Everyone has heard of the famous Jack Sparrow and the fictional Pirates of the Caribbean, but how many have heard of Calico Jack Rackham and the real Pirates of the South China Seas. In their day Jack and his crew were renowned for infamous acts of daring, utter disregard for danger and complete contempt for authority and any form of law and order.

Their exploits in the South China Sea made the Caribbean sound like a stroll through Regents Park, of course in the mid 1750’s that was a stroll in daylight and with a bodyguard but even so!

They came to my attention when I was researching Ching Shih who was born Shih Yang 石陽 in 1775 in Guangdong province. She was originally a Cantonese prostitute nicknamed Shih Heang Koo (石香姑) who worked in a floating brothel in Guangzhou and then moved up in the world becoming the most successful pirate of all time. She terrorized the China Seas during the Jiaquing period of the Quing dynasty in the early 19th century and commanded over 300 junks manned by 20,000 to 40,000 pirates. She fought with many of the major nations, such as the British and Portuguese as well as the Quing dynasty itself.

All of this is historical record, as is the fact that she married Cheng I who was from a family of notorious pirates and their roots could be traced back to the mid-17th century. What is not so well known is that she was the daughter of Calico Jack Rackham and another Chinese Prostitute Ah Toy.

John (Jack) Rackham was born in December 1682 and reputedly hung November 1720, commonly known as Calico Jack, he was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the Calico clothing that he habitually wore back then, calico is a mainly unbleached cotton and has as pale green, grey, buff colour. You may have heard his name because he is most remembered for having two female crew members: Mary Reed and his lover, Anne Bonny. The story goes that Rackham was captured by a Royal Navy pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet in 1720, put on trial by Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, and was hanged in November of that year in Port Royal, Jamaica. Of course that is pure fantasy Lawes and Rackham were in business together and they shared the proceeds of Jacks nefarious doings, Lawes would have hanged Jack without a second thought but he didn’t know where Jacks treasure was hidden, and Jack was smart enough not to tell him.

Now if you have been looking at my time line closely enough you would be thinking “Jack, born 1682, Ching Shih born 1775”, that makes Jack 94 years old when he conceived her.

Well you didn’t think I would be researching any ordinary man did you?

Jack went west, well south around Cape Horn and then west, after his “hanging”, it seemed like the smart move, after all the Royal Navy was clamping down on Piracy in the Caribbean and a Pirate needed plenty of shelter for his ship as well as unlimited targets to prey upon, he had heard of the Philippines and the islands of Indonesia but they were poor areas compared to the fabled wealth of China, and in the South China Sea were islands, harbours and anchorages in abundance. Enough to hide a fleet let alone Jacks small sloop the Kingston, and so that’s where he sailed.

I have a small hand drawn map, of a section of what appears to be modern day Cambodia, this is quite a long way from the sea but there is a notation on the map that indicates it is dated 1750. There is a diary of Johan Fernandez that has a section dated 12th June 1750 to 29th July 1750, this seems to tell the story of an expedition of some English adventurers led by Rackham. I have also read the financial accounts of a Spanish Merchant that relate to financing an expedition into the interior of Cambodia and the thousand fold return on his investment. Many years later there is a book written by someone called Arthur Conan-Doyle entitled the Lost World, it is set in South America but in reality much of his inspiration for fauna and flora was derived from this long forgotten tale in South East Asia. The specifics of that will become apparent as my tale unfolds.

My story begins in mid 1750, Calico Jack has discarded his famous calico clothing and has disguised himself in a rich red coat with a large hood to hide his features. Why he would want to do this, thousands of miles from the place where he is a well known freebooter no one knows. The information I have is sparse and only relates to the current story. I am hoping to track down more information in the near future but it may be dangerous. For some reason a person out there is trying to hide the trail to Jack Rackhams story and I don’t know why.

Yet.

Jack had left his sloop Kingston anchored in a remote bay and travelled inland with 5 other companions. There was the black witch Annie Duck, of course she was no witch but a hardened criminal from London, her speciality was beating up and robbing men, they rarely called in the authorities, well you wouldn’t would you. Please Sir I have been beaten up and robbed, she was a girl, maybe 19 or 20, that’s not going to do your credibility much good the next time you are having a snifter in the Dog and Sprocket Tavern on a Saturday night. She purported to have a magic dust that she would blow into her adversary’s faces and this would confuse and disorientate them. Powdered hashish will do that. Her blue spotted red bandana had been her trademark head gear for 20 of her 24 years so far and she was armed with a brace of pistols and a small but very sharp knife.

When they arrived at a small and derelict bridge Jack wanted Fishbait to go first. Not on your life was his response as he failed his guts test, he didn’t like the look of the crocodile eyeing him up and down. We should let the lightest go first to test the bridge will take our weight and before the words were fully out of his mouth all three women stepped forwards having passed their guts tests.

Leading the group over the bridge on the way to the treasure, did I mention the treasure, I can’t remember now but there is a lass with purple hair and she is called Thropett. There is no record if this is her first, or last name. She is just known as Thropett and she seems to distain hand to hand combat because she is also armed with a brace of pistols and a knife.

Following closely behind, is a wild and brash woman, McLeish, she must be of Scottish or maybe Irish decent. She is fearless, the sort of person you don’t want to meet in a dark alley, or indeed anywhere, unless you have the Grenadier Guards at your back, and I don’t mean a platoon of them I mean the whole battalion. In full battle order, bayonet’s fixed, and with a full complement of bullets and cartridges as well, but you probably know women like that so I don’t need to explain.

The other 2 members of the party are the afore mentioned Fishbait, again no first or last name, not even a proper name, he is in the blue coat with the wooden leg and at the rear of the party is Brigstock Jenkins, a well known bully boy around his home town of Bristol, the taverns around the docks still resound to stories about him. None usually showing him in a good light but that is probably a bit unfair and maybe detrimental to the teller’s health if any of the Jenkins family hear of the stories. The docks are deep at high tide and even at low tide a person is likely to drown with a heavy weight tied around one leg.

Thropett crosses the bridge and sees movement, if the account is to be believed it is a small group of half human, half apes. They howl and start to dance, a terrible ferocious stamping of their feet, they shake their weapons, clubs, sticks and large bones. BONES!!! They do not advance to attack the pirates but stand their ground shrieking and chanting. Imagine a football crowd on a Saturday afternoon and you just about have it.

As the rest of the pirates cross the bridge the monkey people stand their ground but don’t move forward to intercept them.

Thropett has passed her guts test on seeing the danger but also passed her Brains test and decided to carry on quietly rather than shoot at and antagonise them.

The pirates continue to advance towards the statues in the distance, they keep a sharp eye on the Monkey Men or maybe that should be Monkey people because the females seem as aggressive as the males.

The only Pirate not concentrating on the Monkey People is Fishbait, he is watching the Crocodile and trying to remember if Crocodiles are fish or not. If not he is safe, but it’s not something he wants to chance his other leg on.

The Monkey Men failed their Guts test 3 times and so didn’t attack, well not yet anyway.

The pirates enter an open space, it has a cobblestone floor and is surrounded by jungle, there is a small and large statue at either end of the space. Off to one side is a small overgrown and ruined tower, Jack recorded that he recognises Nipponese, Chinese and local Cambodian influences in the architecture and ornamentation. Where this place is I’m not sure but there are a number of clues in Jacks account to be able to track and trace the location, I shall endeavour to do so as soon as I can find the time.

I don’t think I mentioned Jack’s account before and maybe I shouldn’t now, so forget I mentioned it in case it comes to the wrong ears, the ones that want to keep Jacks history quiet.

At this point the party appeared to split into two. Jack and Thropett were moving to an arch they had discerned in the thickest part of the jungle but the rest of the crew followed the intrepid McLeish who headed directly to the small temple and the first place that she thought might hold any valuables.

Once the party was out of sight of the Monkey Men they returned to their random wandering the same as all the other encounter markers on the table. Strangely and providentially for the game this was in a roughly parallel course to the one Jack was taking.

Why Jack didn’t go to the temple first is unclear, maybe his instincts directed him away from the obvious and towards something more lucrative we will never know. These instincts, precision honed by years of staying alive in difficult situations were indeed true on this occasion as in the past, for as soon as McLeish moved to enter the temple two of the most fearsome creatures emerged out of the darkness. If I can believe the journal, the creatures were 6 to 7 foot high, hairless, with large green eyes but worst of all they had ivory tusks, short, curved and very sharp, they moved with alarming speed and attacked McLeish’s group without hesitation.

These creatures are Horrific and the group responds in their own individual way. McLeish had her knife in one hand and a pistol in the other but it was on her before she could fire. You don’t grow up in the backstreets of Glasgow by running away and as the creature closed she grew more determined than ever not to run. She stabbed it with her knife but sharp as it was she did no damage but as the creature slashed out at her she felt blood start to flow, her blood and the next minute it closed it’s jaws on her arm inflicting a terrible wound.

The other one made the mistake of attacking young Annie Duck, she is as cools as a cucumber and with a slow sardonic smile shoots it dead. There is a hole the size of a bullet in it’s forehead but a hole the size of a dinner plate in the back of its head.

Out of the corner of her eye she can see Fishbait visibly shaking from the horror but Brigstock is on his knees praying for deliverance. She didn’t know he prayed!

He didn't know either.

Things are not looking good for our band of cutthroats, McLeish is badly hurt, she is still battling and will do so to the last but the two men are in shock and will not lend a hand in the fight, Brigstock is going to continue to pray for a little while longer and Fishbait has lost his nerve altogether.

Jack and Thropett see the danger and run to help, Jack is slowed by his bad leg, an old wound that causes him to be slow to run in to a fight, but is not such an impediment when he has to run from one.

Incapacity from these old wounds comes and goes he maintains stoutly whenever he is asked about it.

Thropett was younger and more nimble and had outdistanced Jack, but once she could see the creatures and how awful they were she looses all her courage and legs it as fast as her little legs will go. She aims to get as far away as possible and is almost at the jungles edge and will continue running until she recovers her nerve.

Annie is not scared at all, she’s seen much worse in the East End of London on a Saturday night and she charges in to help McLeish. She is too late and with a groan McLeish falls to the floor but Annie’s intervention prevents the creature finishing the job and it turns on Annie.

Weakened a little from its fight with McLeish the creature’s attacks are ineffective and Annie is able to stick it with her knife, this weakens it further.

Jack might be a little slow into a fight but once there he doesn’t back down and with a bull like roar he charges in, bad leg or not. Claws and fangs are no match for Sheffield steel and Jack’s cutlass causes severe wounds to his enemy but it is still on it’s feet and fighting.

Attracted by the noise the Monkey Men emerge from the Jungle and start their incessant howling and brandishing again but fortunately don’t attack.

Brigstock finally realises that the power of prayer will not help him and so he must help himself and his comrades, he rises to his feet just as Jack slices the creature almost in half and it collapses in a pool of blood. This enrages the Monkey Men and they charge forward to be met with a hail of lead. That’s if two bullets can be called a hail, maybe a drop of lead, anyway it is enough to stop them in their tracks even though both shots missed. I imagine the loud noise and ensuing smoke discharge was enough to cause them to fall back. Annie has now discharged both of her pistols and there are still six Monkey Men to deal with.

In the distance Thropett can be heard floundering through the jungle still in a blind panic.

With the Horrific Creatures gone Fishbait recovers his nerve sufficiently and he and Brigstock move forward to join Jack and Annie who are facing down the Monkey Men, well Annie is loading her pistols as fast as she can but even though she is especially dextrous this is going to take a little while, so it’s Jack who is actually facing them down. Strangely in his past wanderings he came upon a Peruvian bear who taught him how to do a “Hard Stare” and that seems to be doing the trick at the moment.

Well in reality the Monkey Men failed to activate but I prefer the Hard Stare explanation.

Then Jack instructs Brigstock and Fishbait to fire at the Monkey Men and Fishbait hits his target but Brigstock doesn’t, the wounded Monkey Man falls to the floor howling, well like a Monkey Man I guess. This doesn’t cause the rest of them to back away but again they don’t attack.

Annie finished loading one of her pistols and starts on the 2nd one.

A small troop of 3 Baboons break from the jungle and seeing the tableau in front of them charge straight at the Monkey Men who break and run from these slavering beasts.

1,2,3 attack Monkey Men, 4,5,6 attack pirates.

The Baboons were chasing the Monkey Men but now an inexplicable thing happened. The Monkey Men whose morale had been suspect all through the story suddenly grew bold and stopped running, turning to their attackers and started their howling and foot stamping. This totally disconcerted the Baboons, usually ferocious and knowing no fear they stopped in their tracks and it looked like there was going to be a fight or at least a standoff between them. By now Jacks crew had all loaded their discharged pistols and were quietly confident that once the fight between the animals was concluded they would have no problem dealing with the survivors.

Well that is the game almost over or should I say the story told. Each turn as the randomly moving encounter tokens emerged into sight of the Pirates I checked to see what, if anything it would be and there was only 1 token unaccounted for and only a 1 in 4 chance that it would be something at all.

And then it was a 1 in 52 turn up, the Ace of Spades.

With a crashing and bashing through the Jungle came a Dinosaur. The biggest scariest animal any of the crew had ever seen, but fortunately not Horrific.

I know this will sound incredible, but re-reading Jacks Journal I am convinced he at least believed in the creature, it is possible he had been at Annie’s stash but I don’t think so and neither did Conan Doyle many years later when he used Jacks account for his own book The Lost Worlds.

They turn to face the beast, McLeish lying on the cobbles can see it as well, she urges Jack to help her to safety before the Dino decides who to eat first. Looking at their faces she realises this is going to be a forlorn request, only Brigstock looks in the slightest bit compassionate.

Panning back, these are the options for Jack, try and crowd into the small temple, but it looks pretty small and they might not all get inside, it is closest though. There is a ruined stone tower directly away from the Dino and they might make it there before it chases them down, or there is another option, at the far side of the cobbled area is the much larger temple, they should all be able to get inside, if they make it there. Of course with the final option one of the pirates has a wooden leg and McLeish can’t walk and will have to be carried.

In Jacks journal he recounts his conflicting thoughts but quick as a snake he issues his commands, that’s why they follow him, when the chips are down he knows whether to put salt or tomato ketchup on them first.

He recounts that he knew Brigstock carried a torch for McLeish and so with a quick command to Brigstock to get her inside the nearest temple, and a quick “follow me” to Annie and Fishbait he set off for the larger temple.

Strangely his old leg wound didn’t slow him down at all and he made it to the Temple entrance first, that’s also why they follow him, Annie Duck though was close on his heels.

Fishbait, knew enough about animals to know that if they had 2 long legs and walked on land they were not fish. It was a long way for a one legged man to run but he did his best, he didn’t want to end his days being known as Dinobait. He knew he would be slowest (Jack might have known that too) so he edged a little away from the straight route to the temple and made it to the temporary but illusory shelter of a lion statue.

Brigstock bent down to lift McLeish onto his shoulder, she is only a slip of a woman but she must have had something heavy in her pockets because he couldn’t raise her off the floor. Oh Bugger!

It had been going so well, the Pirates activated first, the Monkey Men and Baboons didn’t activate at all so just shrieked at each other, and the Dino was a little confused by what he saw on entering the clearing and activated last.

FOOD was about all it thought, but which food to take first, sometimes life is so full of choices, his choice was 1,2 3 the nearest 4,5 the fastest, 6 the slowest.

He rolled a 1 and went straight for Brigstock who rolled a pair of 6’s for his guts test, high is bad, low is good, he set off like a scalded cat directly away from the Dino.

The Dino would have caught him but his route, directly away from the Dino went straight between the two groups of animals that were shrieking and growling at each other. 

When the Dino arrived at the Baboons and Monkey Men they tested for their Guts, both groups passed, and then tested for their Brains and both groups failed, brave and stupid is usually a bad combination.

They attacked it, 5 Monkey Men and 3 Baboons against 1 Dinosaur, but it had a huge mouth, full of teeth and one by one it killed the small creatures.

Eventually the survivors ran away.

Leaving it to feast to its heart’s content.

Sorry I just couldn’t resist this picture.

Jack, Annie and Fishbait, watch and wait as the Dino eats its fill, McLeish lays quietly, calculating how big a stomach the Dino has and how much food there is available to it before it reaches her, will the beast be filled first.

Let’s hope so, for her sake.

Well - Jack Racham’s Journal is yielding more unbelievable stories with every section I read, hopefully anyone following my account of this first episode will be agog to hear what happens next, or then again, maybe not.

As the credits roll I should like to thank Frank from Nickel and Dime Studios for sending me some lovely pieces of jungle terrain as well as plenty of plant life for me to create more. Thanks Frank and just send the advertising money to the usual offshore account.

Cheers

Additional thanks are due to my two internet wargaming buddies who helped me out with the decisions made by Jack when the Dino appeared. As is usually with many of my games I create a cast of potential extras who may or may not make it into the final film or book or story. I do this by the simple expedient of going through the boxes of figures and pulling out likely ones for the general idea and feel of the game I’m trying to create. In this case the Dino came to mind as I don’t think he’s ever been on the table. When the Ace of Spades came up I realized I hadn’t created a character card for it and it seemed to me that knowing it’s potential would influence Jacks/my decisions and so I asked them for a plan, which worked perfectly, (unlike most of their plans)

Cheers

I’m afraid my word and picture count is going back up again, I must keep it under control so if anyone made it this far, well done you deserve a reward, not sure where you will get it from though.

Take care.

Memories of an Old French Seadog - The 50 gun Leopard Strikes to Hermione

Ahh Baptiste it’s good to see you again and you have brought your grand daughter Hermione with you, she’s a fine looking woman. Sixteen you say, she should be married at that age, a few more years and she’ll be an old maid, but as handsome as she is, she’s not as fine as my Hermione, she was a true beauty.

What do you mean you’ve not heard of my gorgeous Hermione, were you not here last week when I told the whole bar about my first and only true love. You were, well maybe it wasn’t a week ago maybe a little longer, my old memory plays tricks on me now and then.

Why don’t you order a drink and I’ll tell you about her, yes I’ll have a brandy, the 98, Martine knows which one, just tell her it’s for Jean and she will pour it from the right bottle. Just make sure it’s the green bottle, sometimes she forgets and pours from the blue one and charges the price of the 98. A mistake I’m sure but it seems to happen late at night when maybe my old eyes aren’t as sharp as they used to be.

I’ll keep your Hermione entertained while you are gone, don’t be silly Baptiste, she will be perfectly safe with me, she’s only 16 and I am, well I am much older, there was a time but that was then and this is now. Mind you these long winter nights a young companion to help warm the bed would not go amiss, but don’t you worry Baptiste just make sure you get the 98 brandy and all will be well.

Hermione, if you would be so good, please throw another log on the fire then come and sit close by me, my voice is not as strong as it used to be when I could roar into the teeth of a hurricane and they could hear me in the tops, yes nice and close, you don’t want to miss my words now do you. That’s right, sit on my right if you will, and block the draughts from the door, these old bones don’t like the cold anymore, but that wasn’t always the case, no, when I was younger no weather worried me, rain, snow or violent winds, nothing.

Well Baptiste, you were not long, Hermione and I were getting along famously, pull up a chair and I’ll tell you of the time my Hermione and I sailed together on the Mer Méditerranée we caused such mayhem to the old enemy Johnny Rosbif, they feared us then, and ran when they saw us coming that’s the truth.

My Hermione had long sleek lines and sailed like a witch in the night sky, she was a Concorde Class Frigate built in Rochforte in 78. The Class was a small one, only 3 ships, designed by Henri Chevillard and all built in Rochforte between 77 and 78, Hermione was the last and the finest. She carried 26 long 12’s, they were a fearsome weapon with the right crew and we had the right crew. In addition there were 6 long 6lb guns and that made her a 32 gun Frigate of 550 tonnes and 44 metres of pure delight.

The Class was not a lucky one, the original ship Concorde was taken by the British in 83 and Courageuse in 99 but Hermione’s fate was to be wrecked on rocks in 93 off Crosic on the south coast of Brittany. The pilot must have been drunk, if I’d been there I would have gouged the incompetent fools eyes out, but I believe he drowned, a fitting end for him.

I digress though, something that seems to happen more often than it used to but these things are sent to try us, so the daft old priest in St Benedict tells me each time I attend his decrepit church. No matter.

We were sailing in company, two of the finest ships in the French navy Courageuse and Hermione. Together we presented a fearful sight to the British ship HMS Leopard who had been anchored in the shelter of the cliffs of Belle Ile, indeed not far from were Hermione met her end but that morning we had no dark thoughts of the future, we saw an enemy ship and we would attack, of that I was sure.

Capitaine Mamoute commanding the Courageuse was the senior Capitaine, but he was a bold and brave seafarer, a man of a similar ilk to myself although not as handsome, not as handsome at all. I believe I digress yet again Hermione but I’m sure you understand when I think back and remember myself in my prime, and it wasn’t so long ago. You know that a man such as I, has a much longer prime than so many lesser men, but enough of that.

We had the wind on our starboard side, yes Hermione that is on the right hand side as you look forward. Baptiste you didn’t tell me you had such an intelligent grand daughter, beauty and intelligence, a rare and undeniably attractive combination in a young woman. Our enemy had the wind on his larboard side and slightly more favourable to him than to us, but we had undeniably the better ships and so we didn’t worry one jot for that.

I recognised the Leopard as a 50 gun 4th rate ship of the line, she was bigger and more powerful than we were but we had 72 guns to her 50 even though our 12 6 pound guns would barely scratch her paintwork.

Her Captain sailed an erratic course from the anchorage but Capitaine Mamoute was not to be fooled, at least that’s what he told me later but indeed I don’t believe he knew where the Leopard was going, if only I had been the senior Capitaine we would have taken her with far less casualties.

She had the wind in a favourable quarter and as she closed she made a lazy turn to starboard and fired her larboard bow battery from close range. He was a cunning fox the Captain of the Leopard because he had loaded double shot in his port guns, yes Hermione 2 balls are better than 1 at close range, I’m surprised you know that. Baptiste your Grand Daughter is a wondrously clever girl, you have educated her amazingly well for an old Bonapartiste.

I don’t understand, - you say that you have just repeated my stories of the sea and she soaked it up like a sponge, well my dear maybe I should give you a more personal education of naval combat, the cut and thrust of action, n’est pas.

Baptiste has the log fire flared up a little, it seems damnably hot in here. Not as hot as that day with the Leopard out sailing us, but hot enough.

Luck was on our side and as you know, the great Napoleon preferred a lucky general, I think that was because his Generals were poor tacticians, no where near as good as his Frigate Capitaine’s so luck was important for them, but skill was enough for us. Ahh if we had commanded at Waterloo instead of that bumpkin Ney then history would have taken a different turn. I do believe I’ve digressed again, my apologies Mademoiselle, but I know you understand these things better than most.

The first shots fired from the Leopard caused much damage to the Courageuse including a hole below the water line, if that was not plugged the ship would sink.

The Leopard came round so she could fire her starboard bow batteries, I told you he was a cunning one, but he made a fatal mistake and Courageuse was able to cross his bow and rake the ship with double shot in return, even so the casualties amongst our brave French seamen were horrendous. I ordered our starboard bow battery to fire but they were to avoid hitting Courageuse and so our fire was largely ineffective or the battle would probably have ended then.

The Leopard had been reloading her larboard guns as fast as they could and as soon as they had completed the task their Captain put his wheel hard over and brought his guns to bear on Hermionie. He knew we were his most dangerous adversary that day.

With a little naval tactics and some low cunning that I need not go into now, I was able to reduce the damage caused, but a lesser Capitaine would have suffered severely from that broadside. We gave him a heavy fire in return and shot away his Main mast and that was the end for him.

Courageuse helped us with another double shotted broad side that possibly put another hole through Johnny Rosbif’s hull but it was the dismasting that caused him to strike his colours. You understand the term  Mademoiselle, but of course you do.

There was a slight misunderstanding when the Captain of the Leopard offered his sword to Capitaine Mamoute when it should have been me he surrendered to, but I suppose Mamoute had the seniority on that day. Did I mention he was 25 years my senior and that I was the youngest Frigate Capitaine in the French Navy, well apart from a couple of other fellows who are of no or very little account. When seamen sit around the fire, late at night discussing the great frigate Capitaine’s you will hear the name of Jean Vagabond mentioned with awe by more that one or two of them.

Well Baptiste I must be going, but maybe another glass of the 98 before I step out into this damn cold winter weather, I can keep your Hermione company while you fetch it for me.

HMS Leopard’s ships card at the end of the battle, you can see that she might have been sinking from the holes inflicted by Courageuse but it was when the Main mast fell that the ships crew lost heart.

Hermione’s ship card shows how a well handled ship should look after a severe battle, we were hardly touched by the devastating broadsides thrown our way.

Unfortunately this is how a poorly handled ship looks after a slight confrontation, this probably explains why Mamoute was lingering on the Frigate Capitaine’s list for so long. I tried to explain what the poor chap was doing wrong but he wouldn’t listen.

Well another famous victory for the old French Seadog (and fantasist) Jean Vagabond - Master of the Seven Seas not a long game, 3 periods of manoeuvring followed by 2 of intense action and Johnny Rosbif hauled down his jack, quick sticks as they say - somewhere.

Ayah’s Chase

The title really should be Chasing Ayah, but I worried that I might get some weird hit’s with that title, so went with the less click baiting one. The story starts after the 6th picture so you can skip all the background rubbish and go straight there if you wish, I’ve even put a heading so you can find it easily :).

The Background

In my previous game, I tried out some stealth rules and was generally happy with the outcome and in this game I wanted to try out some chase rules. Essentially after pinching the meat offering that the Simians had left, Ayah has to try and escape across my brand spanking new, refurbished, old terrain tiles, going from the lower left corner to the upper right corner.

I had decided that the Simians would not wade through the small rivers but on the banks of the left hand river there were 2 dead trees that over hung the river and they could climb and swing across with no loss of speed. Ayah would move directly towards the far corner but if she was in close proximity to a Simian then she would move directly away from it.

That meant that she might cross the river on the right side and if so would be safe. I knew that but didn’t impart that information to her.

The rules I use have an activation system to determine if a figure or group of figures will move each turn and in what sequence. Being designed for solo play they also have a series of Reaction Tests to determine if the figure or group will do as you desire, the standard morale checks most rules have, but in addition there are tests specific to certain situations. One of these tests is to see how far a figure moves if it wants to make a fast move.

For a human my normal move is 6”, they can try and move faster and roll up to 2D6, passing 1 die means they can move 9” and passing 2 die they move 12” to pass a dice means to roll 1-3 pass, 4-6 fail. Obviously this can be very unpredictable at times and is what makes a solo game interesting, for me at least and means that a chase game can work well just using the normal rules.

I’ve been reading a bit about why humans are mainly hairless and the suggestion I like best is that it enables us to sweat easily and so dissipate heat faster. That means we don’t overheat in a long chase, hairy animals do overheat. Of course if it was such a competitive advantage the question is “why are we the only hairless land animal apart from large things like Elephants, Rhino’s etc”.

Other factors come into play, fast four legged running animals like cheetah’s can only breathe in when they are out stretched. When their back legs come forward, their stomach pushes against their lungs and they expel air. One breath = 1 stride, they go fast but not for very long because they can’t get enough oxygen. We on the other hand being upright creatures can breathe as many times per stride as necessary so can maintain our oxygen levels over a long period.

Age is not a big impediment to us, the qualifying time for the Boston marathon for men is, age 18 to 34 = 3h 0min, age 45 to 49 = 3h 20min so roughly 10% difference, women have a qualifying time 30min longer than a man but a very similar difference due to age. Basically we can run all our lives at a similar speed and therefore the theory of the Savannah hunter, chasing down its prey over quite a long distance appeals to me. I know that there are a lot of anomalies in the theory but that’s what I incorporated into my chase game.

Ayha can try for more fast moves than the Simians, once both are out of fast move options they will have to resort to normal moves until they can recover their breaths. I assumed simians were just a little slower for normal and fast moves but that they could make 2 extra fast moves in a burst of high speed energy, a gallop on all four limbs. I tested fast moves for each individual rather than the group in the anticipation that this would string them out a bit.

Ayah was a slightly better fighter than the Simians but not as strong so she was more likely to hit them but they were more resilient to the damage.

The table is more open than before and I decided that it would not impede movement intentionally, you know the sort of thing “moves in difficult terrain are at half speed”

Using the Reaction Test would give me the variable, allowing Ayah and the Simians to jump a fallen log or run through a thicket of denser brush, something that might slow one or other of them but give me something to incorporate into the story.

I’ve built a line of low cliffs across part of the board, when and if Ayah reaches them she will have to decide to go left or right, a straight dice roll, left is a dead end though.

This is the diagonal route she will be headed, unless events dictate otherwise. Finally I decided the Simians would be 1 to 3 moves behind her and threw a 1 so not a big start at all. Whoops, this could be quite a short game as there were 5 Simians in the chase group, 1D6 again and I rolled a 5.

The Story

Ayah knew she was being followed, she hadn’t seen or heard anything but her instincts told her that it was so. She crested a small rise in the land and looked back, seeing nothing but like every good hunter she knew you see nothing when you are on the skyline but a minute or two later she looked back and saw the Simians cresting the same skyline. They had emerged from the thick brush and were close behind her, she immediately broke into a run.

There were four of them, the old male leading the troop also broke into a run when he saw her but it was more of a lumbering jog and he and the three who were with him gained no ground.

Then she realized that there were 5 of them, one, a young male had dropped to all fours and was running like the wind, he sped ahead of the rest and was gaining fast, if he could keep up this pace he would catch her very quickly.

He continued to gain ground and Ayah was forced to turn and fight or be attacked from behind. The young Simian was fast, bold, daring and ultimately stupid, seeing his enemy stop and turn, he ran on, not realizing he wasn’t the only killer here. Raising his club he started to strike but this hairless ape was fast, too fast for him and he felt a stabbing pain in his side as she pushed the razor sharp flint knife deep into his body.

He fell to the ground as the old male watched from the hill, satisfaction growing within him as he saw his rival fall. With a huge roar he encouraged the rest of the troop to follow him after the lone hairless female ape. They would eat well today and his arrogant male rival would fall into line behind his pack leader, if he lived that is.

Ayah turns and jogs away after the fight with the male Simian, she sees the rest of the chasing troop are slow to follow and she needs to conserve her energy for the long chase ahead.

The ape men started to chase again as Ayah waded into the fast flowing river.

This is when I realized the activation system was going to give too big a variable in the chase scenario, the Simians had not moved last turn and so I continued the game just using the fast move test to differentiate speed and that worked fine.

She was half way across and it was slowing her down, she turned to see where the ape men were.

And saw that the river was not going to slow them down at all, as they ran full tilt straight up a tree that was overhanging the river. Their agility in climbing was of great benefit to them and they were now visibly gaining on her.

Whilst this had already been built into the scenario it effectively made up for their loss of a move and put the game back on the tracks.

Ayah has waded through the river and made it to the far back just as the Apes swing across. She is starting to tire but hopes that the Simians are feeling the pace at least as much as she is.

She is fairly sure that given enough time she can out distance the ape men but they are still gaining ground at the moment. Ahead she sees a line of low cliffs and as the Simians can climb faster that she can, her decision is either left or right and then run as fast as possible, a die roll determines it should be right.

Which if you read the background and remembered it, this is the right decision.

The apes continue to chase down their prey, the old male is in the lead. That’s mainly because the rest of the troop know that it doesn’t do to be swifter than him.

The chase continues but the old male is beginning to tire and Ayah’s lead increases.

At this point I was thinking great, she’s going to make it, the apes had a couple more turns when they could run at full speed but after that they were blown and Ayha would get away.

The apes had rested a little this move and knew the rule writer had only given them 6 run moves before they have to walk, also if Ayah makes it to the far river bank then they can’t follow because they don’t like water. (The rule writer again) Ayah doesn’t know this because the rule writer didn’t tell her and she is being directed away from the Simians and so is moving along the bank rather than crossing to safety.

Ayah is close to escape but she has her second bad roll of the dice and stumbles, she slows to a walk, the apes are gaining rapidly and are right behind her. Has the wily old male timed his race to perfection, he has one last remaining fast move in him and then it’s over. Ayah can still keep up this pace for a couple more moves and so she can still escape.

Turn 10 and she makes her 3rd bad roll and the apes activate first and catch up with her, she turns at bay, damming the rule writer for a fool.

Initially she faces 2 of the apes, the leader has a large wooden stick, or club as they came to be called, the other one has a huge bone. “I hope he found it”, she thinks, “I’m in trouble if he killed the beast that was using it before” The smaller apes roar and shriek as they attack, Ayah remains silent, she might be as dumb as a bean but she is a pretty useful fighter and puts her energy into holding them off. By a dint of good dice rolling she manages to succeed but causes no damage to her opponents.

This gives the other two the time to move around behind her and now she is facing 4 demented Simians, all screaming for her blood.

Plus the softer bits like her heart and liver but you probably don’t want to consider that outcome too closely.

The fight rages on, I am currently conducting fights against more than 1 opponent differently to the rules I use. They specify that Ayah who has 5 attacking dice split them against all opponents and each opponent counts their full number of attacking dice, in this case they each have 4 dice. So 5D6 v 16D6.

For my combats I tend to favour the martial arts movies where Bruce Lee is outnumbered 30 to 1 but his opponents attack 1 at a time, so he looks to be out numbered but actually fights 1 opponent, then the next. I think this is more sporting of them.

In my case the fight is between 2 opponents but the others support by adding half their attack dice to the main fighter. So in this case Ayah has 5 dice and the old male has his 4 plus 3 supporters at 2 each so 5 to 10.

Yep she’s monkey meat either way.

However sometimes things don’t go the way you expect and she stabs the old male and he is out of the fight. This wouldn’t have been the end of it except that the other 3 took a reaction test for losing their leader and rolled more rubbish dice and pulled back from the fight.

If you remember Ayah has to move away from the nearest Simian and so she wades into the river.

The disconcerted Simians howl in impotent rage as their food disappears beyond their reach and each one of them is thinking, do I feel lucky, can I become the leader of the pack? 

There’s an upside to every down side.

Ayah now on the far side on the river reflects on the dice gods and the fact that the rule writer gave her a bit more of a chance against the monkey men with his amendments, maybe he’s not such a fool after all. Who knows.

As the sun starts to set she waves a clenched fist at her defeated enemies before turning away to look for a safe place to sleep for the night. During the chase she dropped the remains of the carcase she had stolen from the Simians, it was going to be a long hungry night tonight, but tomorrow's another day.