A Ruckus at Redemore - the Glenbrook Games participation game at Salute 2015

The Ruckus Table at Salute 2015

A Ruckus at Redemore was set after the death of Richard III (yes the car park one!) at the battle of Bosworth. Redemore is an alternative name for the area now known as Bosworth.

It is a four player fictional scenario using the increasingly popular Lion Rampant rules by Dan Mersey. 

Four of the victorious army leaders (Jasper Tudor, Thomas Stanley, Gilbert Talbot and John de Vere) have dispatched men to find the crown. Rumour has it that it is in the middle of a marshy area. The four rivals each want the honour of presenting the crown to the new king, Henry Tudor. A new ex-Yorkist estate wouldn't go amiss either!

Jasper's men prepare to cross the marsh.

Terrain

The game was played on 4ft square board, the central 3ft square was covered in marsh templates. One marsh template (ideally the largest) was in the middle of the table. The others were arranged to ensure there were no straight paths to the middle marsh. Marsh areas were rough terrain. As usual a unit counts as being in rough terrain if it has half its models in it.

The forces

4 retinues, each comprising 12 foot serjeants and 6 foot men at arms. The foot men at arms units contained a leader.

Deployment

Each faction (see pictures) started approx 8 inches in from the corners just before they get into the marshy area.

Winning the game

The winner was the first player to have a unit in the central marsh with no opponent present. On a successful activation roll of 5+, the crown is found at the game ends.

Special rules

Order of Play

At the start of a turn, all four players roll off to see who goes first re-rolling ties. Once the first player has activated all their units, the remaining three roll off to see who goes second. The last two players then roll off to see who goes third and fourth. This added real suspense throughout the whole turn as it was so unpredictable.

Random Events

As this was going to be kept as a short game and to counter the extremely unlucky player who might get an excessive number of turnovers, we came up with a set of random event cards. Many of these included things which would give re-rolls in certain circumstances. Each player was dealt one card at the start of the first round and of subsequent turns until there were no longer enough cards to deal to all four players. If a player rolled an activation turnover, they were also dealt a card which if appropriate could be used to get out of the turnover. Players were only allowed to hold 3 cards at any time so if they ended up with 4, they had to use one or discard one. A couple of the cards were to be played immediately and affected all players.

If you would like a copy of the random event cards contact me through the Glenbrook Games website.

Stanley's men

Battered Marker - Me and ralph looked a bit like this at the end of the day.

The random event guest stars. Minstrel, Crone, Peasant and Monk.

We ran the game three times, each of which came down to a scrap over the central marsh. We had four confirmed purchases of Lion Rampant by people who played or watched the game so we are after a commision Mr Mersey!

Credits

Terrain boards - The talented Matt Haas whose hand I bit off when he offered to sell them to me!

Marshes - My partner in crime at Salute this year, Ralph Plowman

Flags - Rick O'Brien of flagdude.com

Miniatures - Mainly Front Rank with a few Perrys, Black Tree and others thrown in. Painted by Me of Glenbrook Games Painting Service www.glenbrookgames.co.uk