Running an event game is hard work. You have to pick the rules, prep the terrain, assemble the minis, and then teach that game to a table of random fellow nerds. But for some people, that’s not enough of a challenge. Some people do all of that, but with a set of rules that are still dripping ink. Hobby hero Jon Lundberg’s Blood & Crowns game proved that he is definitely one of those people.
After a short drive to the Historicals venue, away from the hustle and bustle of the main convention center, I found a 6×4 table that was filled with terrain and crowded with beautifully painted 28mm medieval miniatures. I had only planned to grab some photos and do a writeup for the blog, but as luck would have it, Jon had an open seat at the table and the game was just about to start, so I gladly accepted his invite to get in on the action.
What followed was probably one of the smoothest-running multiplayer events I have ever been part of. Not only did Jon know Crowns, but it was clear that this wasn’t his first rodeo running games, either.
Minis & Terrain
Jon is an avid 3d printer. He’d already run off the special characters presented by Firelock, as well as several miniatures by Reconquer Designs. In addition, there were Perry plastics and metals from their Agincourt range. Notably, my English Archers were an older crop of metal figures from Foundry or Northstar – at the “classic” scale of 25mm, they were so tiny that we were all joking they must be either Hobbits, or child soldiers. All of these ranges were mentioned in our Crowns Minis writeup.
Jon picked up the bulk of the 4Ground terrain for a song at the fleamarket of a convention more local to him (more on that later). Sadly, 4Ground is defunct, but you can get similar offerings from Sarissa. It was a beautifully set-up table. When you’re running big, eye-catcher games like these, having an evocative battlefield is a large part of the draw. Jon’s and Fernando’s table were side-by-side, and both were of a very high quality.
The clever placement of hedges, walls, and buildings divided the table neatly into 3rds. This meant that everyone’s primary focus was the opposing force directly across from them. It was as if we were playing 3 demo games at once, and I suspect that setup contributed to the smoothness of this game. I also don’t think it was accidental – more credit to Jon on that point.
Then it’s Fratricide! – The Armies
People have asked what lists Jon used for this game. Understand that this was hardly a tournament or even really a narrative affair. This was very, very much a game designed to introduce players to the system.
I was handed the reins to a list that I estimate to have been around 250 points. I had a unit of English Archers, Welsh Archers, Footmen, and a Retinue. The other two players on my team had another English list, and a Spanish list representing the troops of Pedro de Castille (although Pedro himself was stood-in by a standard Noble Retinue). Across from us, a pair of French lists and I believe a Spanish list representing the loyalists of Enrique Trastamara. Like Pedro, Enrique was not actually fielded as the leader.
To Calaise! – The Scenario
The scenario was a variation on Pillage, from the Crowns rulebook. Each “pair” of opposed players had an objective marker between them. Our goal was to race forward, grab it, and carry it off our own board edge.
For activation, Jon gave each player a deck of their own. Normally, this is something that I would have knocked as a very bad idea, since it slows gameplay and results in 5/6 of the players waiting on 1 guy to finish his turn. In this case however, the divided table kept things speeding along. For the opening turns, Jon was able to give 1-on-1 help to every player, while the rest watched and learned. Once we got going though, the divided nature of the battlefield meant we could safely overlap our activations. Again, 3 games being run simultaneously.
In the game that I participated in, victory went to the Franco-Spanish alliance. They grabbed 2 of the 3 objectives. In my own column, we spent most of the battle trading volleys of arrows and quarrels. The French were able to grab the objective and run. Beside me, Enrique’s cavalry drove-in our center. I sent over some Men at Arms to stem the bleeding, but the dice had other ideas. At the opposite end of the table where Jon and his opponent duked it out, similarly-minded dice ensured that Jon’s French were battered almost to destruction. The final Renown count was something like 10-7, French.
Parting Thoughts
If I can summarize all of the laurels I’ve already heaped at Jon’s feet, he ran a very enjoyable game that seemed to pull in several players to the Firelock family. More than that, he ran this game 6 times, for a total of more than 30 players. That is serious impressive work. Over the course of the convention, I did several stints in the Firelock booth, and more than once I met players fresh from one of his game sessions. That’s a win in anybody’s book!
I would be remiss not to mention HMGS: MidWest. Jon described himself as an HMGS “evangelist,” hoping to not only bring players to Crowns, but also into HMGS. If I’m not mistaken, he should be running some games at their annual convention Little Wars as this article goes live. This is another branch of the same HMGS who run the events in my neck of the woods, so I can attest that if you’re in the region, you should check them out.
The blog will be continuing to post up some Adepticon coverage. Keep an eye out for some Valor write-ups and a bonus Blood & Plunder list, as well as Fernando’s writeup on his Texan game. You can find our coverage using the Adepticon tag, or nested at the bottom of the Adepticon Writeup.