Steve's Random Musings on Wargaming and other stuff...

Saturday, January 3

2025.. a review...

By way of assuring my reader that I really haven't shuffled off this mortal coil ... as we say every year... "here we go again"...😁

I'm still (still) not really a 'blowing the trumpet', 'review your triumphs', etc etc type of person (I leave that to the business corporate types I used to work with), but like my 'end of the year' review on the sailing blog it is kind of nice to cast my eyes over the year gone, and remind myself of the (mostly) ups and (some) downs.... and besides, every other bugger in the blogosphere is doing the same thing so why shouldn't I?? 😁

So by way of a joining up of the threads, and a bringing to a close of the last year, let's push on...

First, how did I do against my expectations [clicky]?? (Note: I never, ever, make 'resolutions', just 'set expectations', and thus when I inevitably fail to meet them yet again, it is not too demoralising or depressing an event.. 😏)

1/. Play more games..

A good'ish year (blimey, a trend kind of continues) but nonetheless a fail... there were ten table top games in 2025 compared with 11.5 last year.

Without a doubt the new skirmish format is continuing to work, but there were some bigger games as well.

I play solo, so the background, the mental story, the narrative, are absolutely key to my joy and involvement in the game, to which end I'm very much enjoying the Cedar Gulch (western skirmish) environment to play in, and the 'Ruthless' rules are a joy to tinker and play with.

I have an urge to scratch the WW2 itch at the moment though, so I think that will be the next game..

C/w these in previous years..

2024	11.5 (half?! yeah..😏)
2023	3
2022	5
2021	2
2020	3
2019	4
2018	6
2017	8

Battle of Grande Battaglia [clicky] - an opportunity to get the Marlburian troops on the table
"Jailbreak!" [clicky] - the first visit to Cedar Gulch of the year
"Put a Tiger in your Tank.. (or errr.. Hanomag)" [clicky] - first try of the Lambshead Skirmish Wargme rules..
One Hour Wargames - Scenario 27 - "Disordered Defence" [clicky] this years John Corrigan Memorial Game
"Shootout at the Sierra Corral" [clicky] - the second visit to Cedar Gulch this year
Incursion at Spencer's Farm [clicky] - some ACW naval action
"Rebel gold" [clicky] - our third visit to Cedar Gulch - albeit the outskirts - and we get to meet that legend in his own still, Zebediah.. 😏
"Pancho sees stars" [clicky] - a herd of cattle heading for the stock pens at the nearest rail head have encountered a block to their progress in the form of a 'gang' aiming to make a profit from their passage in the form of a per head "passage fee". No game picture but it is a good excuse to put in a picture of the glorious Jane Russell, who did, kind of, prompt the scenario.. 😁
One Hour Wargames - Scenario 28 - "Botched Relief" [clicky] - ACW big battle..
“The Noon ~~Stagecoach~~ Wagon Job” [clicky] - our final visit of the year to the Cedar Gulch setting - this time we get to meet the worlds slipperiest strong box! 😁

2/. Blog more

Success'ish (kind of 😏)!!

While it is very noticeable that the hey day of Blogger has now long gone - other platforms, new year diary syndrome, ennui, "can't be bothered", call it what you will, I think the sheer quantity of blogs we saw in the old days are now much less than then.

Blogging takes a fair amount of effort, but I'm happy with the platform, I like to write, and it suits my ordered mind, but you need creative inputs to trigger posts/content, and this is primarily a wargaming blog so I need triggers in that rough area..

The format of weekly posts based on a variety of inputs, reflecting my various interests (books/beer/local history/occasional game reports/painted output, etc etc) works well for me.. (if you don't know where the title comes from, by the way, "Firing into the Brown" was a regular section in Wargamers Newsletter, where Don got to put random snippets that had caught his eye in the publication period.. always something interesting there..)

Anyhoo, there were 42 posts (😳) not including this one in 2025, which compares as follows

2024	47
2023	11
2022	25
2021	21
2020	32
2019	49
2018	35
2017	45
2016	58
2015	69
2014	68
2013	84
2012	85

... which is is very pleasing; although the downward trend is still noticeable this year has gone a further way to reversing, or halting, it anyway, and I suspect that around the low to mid-40's per year is my new mean. When I look back, some of those posts in the early years were pretty short, and these days I like to make sure I have a decent level of content before I post, so numbers may be down compared with 2012/13, but I'd like to think entertainment levels are still satisfactorily mind numbing... 😁

By the by this year marked the 19th Anniversary of the first ever blog post here on the "Random Musings" and I'm still here 1120 posts later.... where the hell did those years go???! 😱

The "botspike" still makes me chuckle.. what on earth did they expect to find here??! 😂

3/. Try to keep up my painting efforts..

I would say I did "rubbish" with this one - my painting months tend to be the beginning and end of the sailing season, but it turns out that this year I didn't even paint in those!

I did 20 points (😮) worth this year which compares with the following.. the worse year since 2016

2024	157
2023	46
2022	100
2021	200
2020	253 (ECW project still kicking)
2019	294 (ECW project kicked off)
2018	82
2017	78
2016	8

... a definite fall off in painting efforts, in fact, the only points this year were for rebasing one of the Marlburian regiments [clicky]

4/. Continue reading more non-fiction...

If I did nothing else in 2025, and I was looking reasonably productive according to the above, I also read.. regrettably though, and that is the point of this ~~resolution~~ expectation, fewer of them were non-fiction this year than last (when I read 10)..

Never mind, for this coming year I have Holland's book on Monte Cassino all ready on the go - this is a kind of part 2 to his book "The Savage Storm" - but of all of them this 'expectation' will get the primary focus this year..

Book	Comments	Score (out of 10)
	See Blog review [clicky].. this was my first 10+ of the year	10+
	The story of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War, the purpose which was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers. Particularly it is about the extraordinary bunch of people who founded, and made it the success it was - immensely readable..	10

5/. I'd like to walk the circumference of the Chichester city walls

Abject failure!

Let's just say that this is a wish waiting to happen... 😀

6/. Edgehill walk...

..still not done, but as I am (supposedly) retired and have a shed load of time available (apparently), this one must be nearer the front burner's, surely!? On balance this one is closer to completion this year than any previous one's.. but I said the same last year (and the year before)! 😏

7/. Portsmouth City gates - visit any and all that still exist..

Done!

This was without a doubt a huge amount of fun for me - not the least because it gave me numerous excuses to hop on Gertrude and discover yet another part of the defences of my home city, but also because, like the mini project on the Hilsea lines, it also generated numerous rabbit holes to go disappear down (bastions, ravelins and Cambers anyone?! 😏)

You can read all of them here [clicky] - you'll need to start at the bottom of the posts and read up to get them in chronological order..

Not sure what my next local history project will be - perhaps to visit the locations of all the old gates to the fortified dockyard?? Or perhaps the sites of the old barracks (of which there were a plethora), or maybe even the Gosport Lines as hinted at in a recent post..

8/. I've had the Household Cavalry Museum

This one's been on my bucket list for too long.. I am hoping that I may crack this in February as I have a visit to the smoke planned..

9/. Continue losing some weight - fed up being a fat bastard...

A partial success..😏 Weight loss has kind of been maintained - not gained any but not lost anything significant either - but overall I feel better for it, I've given up caffeine, I am fitter, and I'm still walking more - I'll continue next year..

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...there you go... you may beg to differ, but as it is my blog I can once again report that all (achievable) targets and goals were achieved ...! Hurrah!! 👏👏

In summary?? I've got to say that on the personal front 2025 was a good year, was it better than previous one's though?? Hung jury, but the weather in the summer was on the whole bloody lovely.. lot of time spent either on my boat, or other peoples boats, but it was a fairly windy and hot summer.. the upside was lots of sailing, but my wargaming hobby kind of took a back burner in the summer months... books and reading were my bedrock - either sitting in my hammock chair under a tree, or in the garage in a comfortable chair with a beer! 😁

On the (wargaming) hobby front I'll say it was an OK year... no Salute/Colours/Warfare again (just not interested enough in the shows any more), but a few fragile signs of growth - games continued to be played, and posts written, but paint brushes were idle as most of my projects are at, or past, critical mass and I just didn't need any more units...

There were a lot of good books books though.. and apropos of absolutely nothing (I only have the number as I like to put reviews on the blog), 92 books in total were read in 2025, compared with ..

2024	100
2023	69
2022	40
2021	51
2020	63
2019	55
2018	43
2017	52
2016	54
2015	46

... I had a massively enjoyable reading year.. and interesting to see the retirement effect in the continued 'up tick' this year 😁

Favourite fiction book this year? Well these were my 'perfect 10's' of the year

Book	Comments	Score (out of 10)
	Third book in the Jack Pembroke series.. needed a break from the spies.. this is a very underrated, but excellent, series. The book tells the story of the South African Navy's participation in WW2 through the eyes of an ex-part British Royal Navy officer albeit in a fictionalised way. The South African Navy's war was one of small ships.. coastal convoy escort and mine sweeping being two of their vital roles.. it's not well known that the South African's also played a significant part in the North Africa campaign, on the sea as mentioned, but also on land and in the air.. very good..	10
	The body of the head of a wealthy family is found dead in his study.. murdered... and Maigret cannot find a single person who might have a cause to kill him. The family are clearly covering something up, but he can't uncover it, and why would anyone want to kill the man anyway - both he and his family are very well liked and respectable.. then he discovers a chink in their armour of respectability.. very good!	10
	A completely deserved 10+/10 after a couple of comparatively low key (I thought) but still excellent books from the master story teller Harris (Second Sleep and V2). This is easily as good as his novelisation of the Dreyfuss affair, but in this case is the fictionalised account of the actual love affair between the prime minister, Asquith and the 35 year younger Venetia Stanley on and around the start of the First World War... Asquith was clearly besotted, but made some cataclysmic errors of judgement in terms of security by sharing huge amounts of first hand detail on the run up to the war and after - happily the information never got to the enemy, but he was writing to her up to four times a day at times over the 5 year period of their affair! Very much recommended..	10+
	The last in the series of a quite exceptional books and I'm not afraid to admit I was fairly discombobulated for a couple of days afterwards.. surely a sign of the very best books, either fiction or nonfiction. For this one we have the occasional situation of the fictional Montalbano trying to match himself against his TV alter ego, whilst also having a conversation with the author, trying to assuage his long term girlfriend Livia's desire to go go to Johannesburg for Christmas, oh, and solve the murder of one of a quartet of long term friends... a fitting end to an absolutely monumental series of fiction..	10
	Maigret is blackmailed with some clever but false accusations and finds himself within an inch of being forced to take early retirement - Maigret being Maigret however he is unwilling to go quietly, and calls up all his reserves of investigative skill to disprove the accusation and identify the perpetrator, and indeed why the accusations were made.. excellent!	10
	Had to be done really.. with the recent sad death of Forsyth it was only proper to have a re-read of what I consider to be his finest book - a genre defining work if there was ever one. Despite having read this ten's of times, you're still on the edge of your seat as the denouement arrives.. stunning book... one of my top 10 of all time...	10+
	Another one of my top 10 books of all time (I must get round to compiling that list at some point 😏)... an alternative history "what if the Germans had won and occupied Britain" book that I really really (given it's top 10 position) rate.. the authors grasp of the characters and lives of the non-fictional and fictional characters in the book is second to none.. set in the early 50's, Britain is a Nazi protectorate (akin to Vichy France), Beaverbook is prime minister, and the Gestapo are hunting a man who may very well have the secret to the atom bomb they are (still) struggling to develop.. superb.. a whole alternative world reality imagined but based on what could have happened if Britain had surrendered after Dunkirk..	10+
	..and another of my top 10's.. set in Spain shortly after the end of the Civil War the book is about life in Madid, not only for the ordinary Madrilenos, but also for those who were ex-Republican, either directly involved in the fighting or just a supporter. The main characters are respectively the friend, and lover, of a missing British International Brigade'r - presumed dead in the battles at the end of the war, but now, possibly alive, in a POW camp run by the Junta. Set also against a background of the overtures between Franco and Hitler, and the huge concern to Britain that Franco might come into the war (and possibly lose them Gibraltar), this is a book about how, depending on your position, primitive, venal, claustrophobic, impoverished, and truly awful it must have been living in Spain at the time.. stunning..	10++
	Oh my.. I blame the top 10 discussions on the blog for my having (re) read a whole load of the books on my embryo list - if only to decide in my head which one's are better than others, as if it really matters.. this one however deserves an extra plus, but then it starts getting silly.. set on Cephalonia during WW2, this is a story about life for the islanders during the war, how they were invaded by the Italians, how the Italians turned out to be a good thing when the Germans then came, about the (true) massacres of Italian soldiers by the Germans when Italy surrendered, and about a love story between one of the islanders and one of the Italians.. it is also to a slightly lesser extent about the Greek Civil War (utterly awful), and the massive earthquake that hit the island in the 50's... it's also about a whole lot more.. stunning doesn't even begin to describe it..	10++
	Friend of mine has been going on at me for ages to read this as it is far better than the Netflix film which I saw last year.. he was right.. simply excellent - told over a period that encompasses the start and end of the second world war (plus a few post war bits at the end), this is (mostly) the story of a young blind girl originally living in Paris with her father, who moves to St Malo with him to live with her great Uncle and his housekeeper when the Germans invade.. it's also the story of a similarly aged German army recruit skilled in radio's and RDF. .. superb..	10
	Oh my - this is a classic and one I haven't read in a considerable time - remember the BBC drama series with the theme tune by Clannad? Gritty, dirty, and about as far away from James Bond as it is possible to get, Harry is put under cover in order to identify and discover the whereabouts of an IRA "big man" responsible for shooting a cabinet minister on his door step in London. There's wrinkles of course.. inter departmental rivalry, political versus professional military opinion is at odds, and the end is truly shocking...	10
	Cruz Smith likes nothing more than dropping in complete bomb shells, and this book is no different - after the happy end of the previous book this bombshell though is a shocker indeed and explains Renko's psychological state when he arrives in the 'workers paradise' of Cuba to investigate the death (or rather not investigate as his orders are just to identify the body) of his old adversary, turned friend from Gorky Park, Pribluda.. Pribluda is ex-KGB, and was in Cuba investigating something - and the more Renko is told not to investigate the death (everyone wants it be a quiet, death by misadventure event, that will go away) the more he becomes certain he must.. very good - best one since Gorky Park and they've all been very good. NB. This one was fascinating as a lot of back story is about Russia's relationship with Cuba, and how it quickly soured in the Gorbachev era Russia - I wasn't aware up until this novel about how much money Russia pumped into Cuba (Russia only got round to writing of $35Bn dollars of debt 10 years ago) - did Cuba really bankrupt Soviet Russia though? No.. though it's estimated Russia gave economic aid estimated by some sources to be over $120 billion in total between 1959 and 1991 - that's a lot of sugar 😁	10

..so an absolutely outstanding year for good stories and so difficult to choose a favourite, as this was the year I had a little run in the blog posts on "my top 5 books of all time", so I re-read a lot of the candidates to make sure they still counted as top 5! 😁

So I won't choose a favourite.. but what I will say is that, one, the two 10++ books are very validly scored - I recommend them unreservedly, and that second, the Justin Fox book was a big surprise - I had no idea it was going to be as good as it turned out to be. This year also saw me come to the end of the Montalbano series (so, so, good, and I will revisit* them in time) but which allowed me time to continue my dive into Maigret's Paris (sublime) and start a dive into Renko's Moscow, and pre-post Soviet, Russia (gritty.. but hugely readable)..

*Remember, reader, books are like your best mates, you want to keep seeing them, and err, taking them down the pub.. 😁

The ~~worst~~ lowest scoring book was still better than anything I could write, so I refuse to comment here on it.. authors work long hours, and they don't need someone like me who has never created a book in his life to 'diss' their efforts..

This year?? Well I intend to keep pretty much the same expectations (with some exceptions/additions)! Fingers crossed...

play as many or more games (note wordage change 😏)
forty or more blog posts a year, but ensure the mind numbing content is maintained..
try to relight painting efforts..
read more non-fiction... it is the heart and core of my hobby.. more focus needed this year!
I'd like to walk the circumference of the Chichester city walls
Edgehill walk - if we don't aim, we don't even shoot... (just call me Confucius the Wargamer....)
Gosport Lines and Barracks - visit any and all that still exist, or the sites thereof..
I've had the Household Cavalry Museum [clicky] on my bucket list for too long..
Continue losing some weight - fed up being a fat bastard... 😏

So finally, Happy New Year to all my reader - may the dice roll as required, your brushes always keep a sharp tip, the beer be hoppy and bright, and the books all page turners... oh, and your water pot never dry out.. 😃

Monday, December 29

"Firing into the Brown" #97 - Flags, barracks and stuff

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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The excellent David Morfitt (he of Not by Appointment fame) mentioned in a comment that the standard carried by the Foot Guards in my recent regiments of renown spot [clicky] was a little "meh" as the young people say (David was more polite than that, merely indicating it was a little 'vanilla' 😁)..

More importantly though, he also mentioned that he had done a version of it himself some time before, albeit the version he had was for the earlier William'ite period, but having seen it I planned to use it anyway because it was gorgeous, but bugger me if he didn't then go and produce the 1703 Queen Anne version...

No time to hang around - a presenting of the Colours needed to be arranged, and I'm pleased to report, this is now done...

So from this - the old one..

To this:

,,,and the regiment is hugely proud of their new standard...

Cheers David! 👍😊

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..not surprisingly, there was a huge barracks complex down in Portsmouth to house the men required to man those walls, bastions, ravelins and redoubts.. Victoria Barracks was demolished in the 1960's but the other end of the parade ground you see in the picture, ie. behind the photographer, was another barracks that still exists, and now houses the City Museum... this bears further investigation, might be time for a visit?

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

Thursday, December 25

Merry Christmas and stuff.. 😁🎅

Merry Christmas to all my reader - trust Santa has been profligate, and you have a pleasant and restful day with a decent hoppy, but not over cold, IPA at hand..

Stuart V Recce (the armoured reconnaissance version of the M3A3 chassis) of the Polish 2nd Warsaw Armoured Brigade, pictured in Bibbiena, Tuscany, Italy, Christmas* 1944

*Disclaimer.. it wasn't actually Christmas though... 😁

Apparently the photo was taken on the feast of Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas Day) which is celebrated in Italy on 6 December. From what I've read that the tank was nicknamed “Lucypher” and was part of the 6th 'Dzieci Lwowskich' [Children of Lwów] Armoured Regiment, of the 2nd Armoured Brigade, in General Anders’ II Corps (and they provide a rabbit hole of their own for some later time as the formation sounds hugely interesting).

The Polish soldiers had decided to cheer up the war-weary locals, especially the children, by arranging an appropriate meeting with St. Nicholas. “With military precision, the Brigade HQ and quartermasters asked for a list of every child in the area. Trucks were sent as far as Rome and Naples to search for clothes, toys and shoes. NAAFI's supplied sweets.” (from the regimental diary)

The man dressed up as St. Nicholas was an officer cadet named Edward Wojtczak [well worth a clicky].

The Stuart V recce had the turret and main gun removed for weight and speed, but it had a 50 calibre machine gun for protection - you can see the mount between the girl and St Nicholas

Saturday, December 20

"Firing into the Brown" #96 - RAF Appledram, Dickens and stuff

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Been saving this one for a while .. while I was out cycling this summer I came across this site quite out of the blue.. I had no idea it was there (though I was aware of other airfields in the area) ..

Not surprising given where I live (on the extreme south coast) there were a lot of RAF stations - the most famous one local to me is probably Tangmere, but I'm also aware of stations at Funtington, Thorney Island and Westhampnett.

RAF Appledram (alternative spelling Apuldram), was one of 23 Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG's) which were built in the South and South-East of England in 1943–1944 to provide the temporary extra capacity that was expected to be required for Overlord and the preparations before (in fact Funtington was as well)..

The ALG's used a surface material called Sommerfield Tracking for the runways - link will give you the detail but in summary, think a heavy duty chain link fence with iron rods threaded through.. at Appledram they used to graze sheep on the runway to keep the grass down, which would grow through the tracking if let alone

As a result of not using concrete though, there's not a lot to see now - a few gateposts - some iron railings deep in the brambles, and to be fair the airfield was only in commission for a year and a half (from May 1943 to November 1944), and wasn't even actually active for a lot of that time:

175, 181 and 182 Squadrons moved in on 2nd June 1943 flying Typhoons on ground attack missions against airfields, communications centres and radar stations - they moved to Kent early in July 1943.
310, 312 and 313 Squadrons moved in on 3rd April 1944 these were Czechoslovakian squadrons flying Spitfire Mk IX's (which had the extra tanks to increase range hugely) on a mixture of fighter sweeps, bomber escort (the Mk. IX with drop tanks allowed it to reach Germany), and attacks against V-weapon launch sites. On D-Day they provided fighter cover over the beaches. They moved to RAF Tangmere on 22nd June.
302, 308 and 317 Squadrons moved in on 28th June these were Polish squadrons also flying the Mk. IX Spitfire on ground attack operations in support of allied ground troops. They left for RAF Ford on 16 July before transferring to airfields in France.

..so a little more than 3 months (or 14 weeks) of action, but it fulfilled a vital need, and once the Polish boys left it was returned to farm use and was decommissioned completely that November.

Given the accommodation was largely tented (though I understand some of the local cottages and farm buildings were eventually re-purposed), you can see why it wouldn't have been used for that period between July '43 and the following April - even April would have been pretty desperate for a life under canvas. Speaking of canvas - I found this picture of some of the accommodation...

..from the excellent website link below on the Czech Squadrons..

Fantastic... that history.. it's all around us, eh?

Further Reading:

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The Christmas Dickens for 2025 has been completed, and what an absolute, complete, and unexpected pleasure... 🙂

Not as well known as some of the more 'headline' novels (eg. Twist/Copperfield/Nickleby) but that's a shame because I think the story (or rather stories plural) is as good as any of them, and holds up well..

In this book then, we meet the totally scurrilous, Pecksniff, a complete Iago character if ever there was one. Then his two misnamed daughters Mercy and Charity (though one of them comes good), but most of all (clearly) it is about the Chuzzlewit's.

Think it's fair to say the Chuzzlewit family is rich, but all of them are also a bit damaged in the emotional/psychological department. Clearly the book is mostly about Martin, who is the elder of two surviving brothers, but it's also about his grandson who's also called Martin. Along the way we also meet Martin seniors nephew, Jonas Chuzzlewit, a nasty piece of work, and the "Bill Sykes" of the book...

Along the way we also meet a huge cast of other characters; John Westlock and Tom and Ruth Pinch are the good guys; a favourite of mine, Mrs Gamp (glorious), and the innkeeper Mark Tapley (also a good guy). There's financial chicanery orchestrated by the fantastically bewhiskered Montague Tigg, and an American interlude (and Dickens didn't paint the country in a particularly good light!) when young Martin and Mark go to seek their fortune..

Very much recommended.. 9/10

Barnard's realisation of the scene prior to Jonas Chuzzlewit's visit, when a confidential report on Jonas, identifying him as a poisoner, is delivered to his employer, Montague Tigg. "Mr. Nadgett produces the result of his private inquiries" (1872).

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...

Saturday, December 13

"Firing into the Brown" #95 - “The Noon Stagecoach Wagon Job” game, fort speak, and stuff

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update.. and the game has been played, and what a load of fun for reasons that will become clear.. 😏

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For me, as a solo player, the narrative is always key, but I accept some find the mechanics interesting as well, so each move has both - you can read one or the other (or both), as required..😁

For the dramatis personae I refer you to the previous post [clicky].. the scene opens with the three good guys exiting the cantina after a quick meal...

Move 1:

Characters/order of activation: Jebb (7♤), Clay (4♡), the Deputy (3♤), Weaver (3♧), Shotgun (2♤) and then the Marshall (2♡)

Shots start to fly as the three men exit the cantina - from across the way one of the bad guys, clearly up to no good, runs across the open ground in front of the cantina. Stopping behind the wagon, he fires at the Deputy as he comes in to sight. The Deputy raises his gun to shoot back, but misses..

"I know him", shouts the Marshall, "that's Jebb Carden! Where he is, Clay Hardin ain't far behind"

Sure enough he spots Clay just behind, who skids to a halt behind Jebb to also fire at his trusty deputy, hitting him in the leg and causing Luke to grunt out in pain, but not stopping him getting off a couple of shots at Jebb. He only graze him, but Jebb looks decidedly shaken.

More shots ring out, and the Marshall also spots 'Long Tom' Weaver in the brush behind them - his Winchester smoking. Luke's definitely the focus of attention - he nods at him to let him know he ain't alone in this.

Then out of nowhere he see's Shotgun run past for the steps of the cantina roof - "damn - he's running!" thought the Marshall but had cause to eat his words when Shotgun reached the roof, leant over the parapet, and fires off a barrel from his shotgun at Jebb - "well done old timer!", he shouts..

Time he took part in this little lead party himself. He fires quickly at Jebb, missing him, but spooking the horses on the wagon who snatch jerkily forward, and causing the strongbox to fall off the back of the wagon!

"What the..!"

..but he has time to react to see Clay now exposed by the movement of the wagon, and fires off a shot at him - he's looking as shocked as Jebb.. pretty clear no one was expecting it to go like this!

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Jebb (7♤) gets 3 actions as a result of the 7.. moves, aims, and fires at the Deputy who attempts to 'get the draw on him' but fails (NB. Jebb gets +1 for trigger finger) but Jebb then throws snake eyes and misses - Horse spook test no effect
Clay (4♡) moves to join Jebb and also fires at who fails to 'get the draw on him' too and for his pains the Deputy is hit in the leg - Horse spook no effect. The deputy passes his lily liver test (what in 'Ruthless' is the morale check😁) he also has a +1 bonus for the Marshall's 'commanding presence' trait.
the Deputy (3♤) - fires twice at Jebb hitting once and only grazing him - horse spooks no effect - Jebb fails his test and becomes lily livered
Weaver (3♧) fires twice at the Deputy - hitting once but only grazing him - horse spooks no effect - the deputy again passes his lily liver test
Shotgun (2♤) runs up the stairs on the outside of the cantina - leans over and gives one barrel at Jebb - hits him but only grazes him - horse spooks no effect- Jebb is already lily livered so no need to test again
the Marshall (2♡) is last to react but fires twice - first at Jebb - the shot misses but spooks the horses, causing the wagon to jerk forward 2", and the cash box to slide off the back onto the ground (two 1's in succession on D6s!) - which reveals Clay as a target, so his second shot is at him grazing Clay, and causing the horses to spook again (another 2"). Clay fails his lily liver test

Move 2:

Characters/ order of activation: Deputy (K♧), the Marshall (7♢), Weaver (5♢), Jebb (4♢) lily livered/yellow pin, Clay (3♡)lily livered/yellow pin, and finally Shotgun (2♧) - the clear pin marks the strongbox on the ground

Conditions are getting downright warm and lead rich out in the open so the Deputy dashes back into the cantina taking up position at the slit window where he fires at Jebb - and is rewarded by the sight of a blossom of red on his leg and a cry of pain.

The Marshall see's the deputy move into the cantina, weighs up the odds and agrees that's also the best move for him... he needs some cover! Firing rapidly at Clay he also moves into the cantina to the other slit window.

He sees Weaver across the way in the brush looking for targets, and firing at a target above him.. but then the sound of a shotgun above him on the roof - "well Shotgun's certainly ok" he mutters to the Deputy. He then see's both Jebb and Clay move into cover.. and out of sight.. "now where are those two off to.."

Mechanics behind the narrative:

the Deputy (K♧) moves into the cantina and fires at Jebb from the side window hitting him in the leg - he is already lily livered so no need to test again, and the horse spook test has no effect
the Marshall (7♢) has 3 actions as a result of the 7 and fires two times at Clay before following the Deputy into the cantina - he hits Clay twice but only grazes him - he is already lily livered so no need to test again, and the horse spook test has no effect
Weaver (5♢) fires twice at Shotgun on the roof of the cantina - Shotgun counts partial cover - he hits once but only grazes him.. Shotgun passes his lily liver test - no horse spook test required as they are too far away
Jebb (4♢) - fails to recover from being lily livered and as a result must move immediately to cover - once there he snaps off a shot at long range and further negative modifiers at Shotgun and not surprisingly misses - no horse spook test required as too far away
Clay (3♡) - passes his lily liver test and recovers but is alone in the open so moves to cover with Jebb, he fires at long range at Shotgun and misses - no horse spook test required as too far away
Shotgun (2♧) - fires off his last barrel at Weaver - only grazes him - and drops down behind the parapet wall to reload - the horse spook test has no effect - Weaver fails his lily liver test

Move 3:

Characters/order of activation: the Marshall (A ♤), the Deputy (A♢), Clay (A♧),Weaver (10♧), Shotgun (9♤) and finally Jebb (8♧) - yellow pins for lily livered, and the clear pin for the strongbox

With no other targets the Marshall fires twice at Weaver across the way in the scrub and is rewarded with a shout of pain and Weaver dropping in to cover.. the hammer clicks on an empty chamber - he's out of bullets! By his side the deputy also fires twice, and hears another grunt of pain..

Meanwhile, Jebb and Clay move to the lead horses on the wagon - keeping them between them and the cantina for cover..

On the roof Shotgun reloads.

Weaver is strangely quiet..

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Ace heavy turn.. and yes I did shuffle them.. 😁
the Marshall (A♤) - at the right of the two windows - fires twice at Weaver in partial/soft cover - hitting him twice in leg and chest - Weaver already lily livered - the Marshall is out of bullets for his revolver - no horse spook test required as too far away
the Deputy (A♢) - at the left of the two windows also fires twice at Weaver in partial/soft cover - also hitting him twice - in the arm, and for a second time in the chest, killing him outright - no horse spook test required as too far away
Clay (A♧) swaps cards with Jebb as the Ace is also a 'recover from lily livered' card
Jebb (now A♧) gets an automatic recover from lily livered and moves twice to the front horse of the wagon
Weaver (10♧) - dead - though the Deputy and the Marshall don't know it yet
Shotgun (9♤) - loads both barrels (action) and raises his head over the parapet to see what's going on (action)
Clay (now 8♧) - joins Jebb at the front of the wagon

Move 4:

Characters/order of activation: Jebb (Q♢), the Marshall (K♢), Shotgun (8♡), the Deputy (5♤) - Weaver (red pin) is dead

At the head of the wagon Jebb and Clay have a quick conversation to agree the plan and Jebb grabs the lead horses collar, and encourages it to step backwards so as to encourage the rest of the team to push the wagon back towards the strong box..

In the cantina the Marshall and his Deputy reload, but are surprised to see Shotgun hurtle down the ladder from a rooftop door and then sprint out the back door.. he just has time to let them know what Jebb and Clay are up to, and "by the way - you plugged the guy in the scrub out back, he's dead"..

At the wagon, Clay moves with it and positions himself by the rear to keep an eye on the cantina door

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Jebb (Q♢) - uses both actions to walk the horses backwards towards the cantina (and the strong box!) - had to play the movement distance by ear as it's not stated, but I assume that with two moves, and the fact that the wagon had only spooked forwards 4" that would be good
the Marshall (K♢) - spends his two actions reloading
Shotgun (8♡) - exits the cantina by the terrace door, and the door at the back and run across the open ground up the stairs to the terrace of the second house
the Deputy (5♤) - also spends his two actions reloading
Clay (2♢) moves to the back of the wagon - in cover to keep an eye on the front door of the cantina - he takes the action to reload

Move 5:

Characters/order of activation: Marshall (A♡), Clay (K♡), Shotgun (Q♡), Jebb (J♡), the Deputy (J♧) - Weaver (red pin) is dead

Now fully loaded, the Marshall follows Shotgun out of the back door - he can see him on the roof of the house opposite and runs across to the far corner of it to see if he can get a clear line of sight on either Jebb or Clay.

At the wagon, Clay moves, picks up the strong box, and slides it back into the wagon, just as the sound of a shotgun bellows out from the roof of the house opposite the cantina.

..."the sound of a shotgun bellows out from the roof of the house opposite the cantina"...

Clay shouts "I'm ok... it's done!", and Jebb starts to lead the horses forward, ducking down behind them to get as much cover as possible..

The Deputy meanwhile moves to the front door of the cantina and can see Clay in the open - a clear target! He fires and hits him in the arm...

"The Deputy meanwhile moves to the front door of the cantina"....

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Marshall (A♡) - runs out of the back door used by Shotgun, and across to the far corner of the house opposite to see if he can get a clear line of sight
Clay (K♡) - uses both actions to pick up the strong box and place it back in the wagon
Shotgun (Q♡) - moves to the back corner of the terrace and fires at Clay (partial cover/short range), but only grazes him - horse spook test has no effect - Clay just passes his lily liver test
Jebb (J♡) walks the horses forward 6"
the Deputy (J♧) - moves to the door and fires at Clay in the open, hits him in the arm - Clay passes his lily liver test - no horse spook test required too far away

Move 6:

Characters/order of activation: Jebb (Q♤), the Deputy (J♢), Clay (10♢), Shotgun (8♢), Marshall (4♤) - Weaver (red pin) is dead

Jebb continues to walk the horses forward he even begins to think they may get away with it!

The Deputy fires twice more at Clay, who turns and raises his gun, fires off a quick shot.. and the Deputy drops to the ground as the world goes black on him...

Clay snatches a quick look to make sure he's down for good, and runs to the nearest cover.. some scrub just behind him..

"Unless we do something that strongbox is lost!" the Marshall shouts to Shotgun.. Shotgun runs down the stairs and across the open ground and finally gets a bead on Jebb - it's long range though - not ideal for a shotgun and he misses. The Marshall does the same, also fires and also misses..

"Damn!!"

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Jebb (Q♤) walks the horses forward 6" - they are at the table edge
the Deputy (J♢) - fires twice more at Clay in the open, who tries to get the draw on him - neither get +1 for shooting skills as the shooting is not aimed or long range so straight dice roll - Clay wins hits him and inflicts a serious wound knocking the deputy unconscious - no horse spook test required too far away
Clay (10♢) - uses his remaining action from 'getting the draw' to move to the nearest cover
Shotgun (8♢) - runs down the stairs and across the open ground and fires at Jebb - long range (-1) and misses - no horse spook test required too far away
Marshall (4♤) - runs across the open ground to get clear line of sight and fires at Jebb - and also misses!

Move 7:

Characters/order of activation: Marshall (J♤), the Deputy (Q♧), Clay (10♡), Jebb (7♡), Shotgun (8♢) - Weaver (red pin) is dead

The Marshall fires twice more at Jebb, this time hitting him in the leg but it also spooks the horses who jerk forward violently causing the strong box to again fall from the back of the wagon!

By the cantina the Deputy, recovers consciousness and climbs groggily to his feet, checking himself over for wounds..

Clay ducks down and moves quickly behind the scrub to the back of the wagon - "it ain't over yet!" he mutters, as he also sees Jebb move to the strongbox..

With no line of sight to the bad guys because the Marshall is in the way, Shotgun reloads and moves closer to the wagon making sure to get some cover as he does it..

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Marshall (J♤) - fires twice at Jebb - grazes him and also hits him in the leg - the horses spook but also so abruptly they cause the strong box to fall off the back of the wagon again! (I kid you not - 1 on a D6 twice in succession, for the second time in the game!)
the Deputy (Q♧) - recovers consciousness (successful die roll)
Clay (10♡) - moves twice to the back of the wagon
Jebb (7♡) - recovers from being lily livered and then moves to the strongbox
Shotgun (8♢) - reloads and moves to the side as the Marshall is blocking line of sight

Move 8 (Last Move):

At the wagon the lead again begins to fill the air, as Clay fires desperately at the Marshall, but misses with both shots..

"DAMNITT!!"

Shotgun meanwhile gives Jebb both barrels but can see he's only grazed him, though Jebb is looking far from happy..

He's only going to get unhappier though as the Marshall also sends a couple of shots in his direction, one of which wounds him badly and knocks him out cold. As he slumps to the floor, the wagon jumps forward, the horses spooked again.

Clay can see the game is up, and what's more he can hear the sound of approaching horses and doesn't fancy waiting to see if they are friend or foe.. he runs to the nearest cover, and shortly after the Marshall hears the sound of a fast moving horse..

Mechanics behind the narrative:

Whatever happened on this move unless the bad guys got the strongbox off the table by the end of it, they would lose..
Clay (K♤) - fires twice at the Marshall, but misses both times - the horse spook tests have no effect
Shotgun (10♤) - fires off both barrels at Jebb - hitting him twice but only grazes.. Jebb fails his lily liver test
Marshall (9♢) - also fires twice at Jebb - hitting him twice - one of which is a sever would that knocks him unconscious - the horses spook - and move forward enough to exit the table
the Deputy (6♤) - moves to the centre of the yard to clear his sights and fires once at long range at Clay but misses
Jebb (4♧) - fails to recover consciousness..

Afterword:

As the Marshall stands up from tying up the now conscious Jebb, a fast moving column of cavalry come into view, under the command of a young Lieutenant..

His horse sliding to a halt amidst the dust of the column, the Lieutenant, gun drawn, looks down at the Marshall .. "mind telling me what your up to, Mister"

The Marshall explains that he's on government business, and is able to prove his and his Deputy's identity, and having done so the Lieutenant visibly relaxes, as does the rest of the column.

Over a glass of rough wine in the Cantina the Marshall describes the attempted robbery, and the the Lieutenant explains that they were just out on one of their regular patrols and happened to hear the shooting so came to investigate.

"I can give you an escort as far as Cedar Gulch if that's any use to you?"

The Marshall gladly agrees, and he the Deputy and Shotgun return to the wagon to get her ready to depart..

"Hang on a moment Lootenent, just one small job to do first" says Shotgun.

As the Marshall and the Deputy look at each other quizzically, Shotgun climbs down, goes to the back of the wagon and then ties down the strongbox firmly..

"You can't be too careful" he says, as he climbs back on to the wagon and flicks the reins to get the horses moving..

Post Match Analysis:

Clay and the boys were SO close! I thought it was all over for them by turn 3 and then Jebb pulled it out of the hat and gave us the close result we got..

Yes I know the good guys could have shot the horses - but that wasn't going to happen - this is Hollywood for goodness sakes, and they were the good guys! 😁

A first for me - this entire scenario was generated from ChatGPT - all I asked for was "a simple Western skirmish scenario with two to three characters a side for the Ruthless ruleset" and it came up with this.. I don't think 'Ruthless' is well enough known for the AI to come up with the specific characterisations but it did have a go (from what I can tell I think AI was using 'Red, Dead, Redemption' instead) and the characterisations were mostly generic enough I could retrofit them to 'Ruthless'. Those that weren't generic enough I tweaked - in fact one of them, 'Commanding Presence', was so good that I may add it to 'Ruthless' permanently.

Butchers bill:

NB. This is missing the 'severe wound' Jebb picked up on the last move/turn.. oh, and he's a prisoner so in reality the Outlaws lost two...

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On my way to the pub the other day I had reason to pass one of the multitude of open green spaces in Portsmouth and happened to notice it was called "Ravelin Park" - aha, thought I - that'll be something to do with the Old Portsmouth fortifications that I bored you with last winter...

Time for some maps... we love a map...

Note the Park and the associated House and their proximity to Landport Terrace.. which allows us to locate the specific Ravelin the park is named for on the 1860 map as Landport Street and Terrace are indicated...

..so it was named after the "East Ravelin". The ravelin is long gone, but the clues remain - fascinating, eh, and another word added to the English/fortspeak dictionary..