Game: Science vs Pluck

Thread: Re: Science Versus Pluck at Historicon

HMS_Resolution — 2007-08-02T14:49:20+00:00

Barry Kendall wrote:
Was this the game near the ballroom entrance with about twenty feet of table and great terrain with villages, heights, and an Afghan hill fortress half in ruins?

If so, it looked fantastic.

This was off in a room of its own around 8:00 PM. It did have all of the things you mentioned, but I'm not sure if it's the same game. I took the liberty of uploading some pictures for it, though.

Thread: Re: Science Versus Pluck at Historicon

jurdj — 2007-08-01T14:12:34+00:00

Good to see that SvP has been reprinted. These rules really have the 'feel' of British colonial experience. Very free form and role play, which is for the better.

I'd say: Carry on the Khyber!

Thread: Re: Science Versus Pluck at Historicon

Barry Kendall — 2007-08-01T14:00:30+00:00

Was this the game near the ballroom entrance with about twenty feet of table and great terrain with villages, heights, and an Afghan hill fortress half in ruins?

If so, it looked fantastic.

Thread: Science Versus Pluck at Historicon

HMS_Resolution — 2007-08-01T12:07:49+00:00

I had an absolutely marvellous time playing SvP at Historicon on Friday; originally it was supposed to be a 6mm game on the retreat of part of the Gordon Relief expedition, but hijinkery meant that instead it was a 28mm game set on the Afghan frontier.

The British had, as near as I can recall, a battalion of hardy Sikhs (commanded by TMP poster John the OFM), another battalion of Highlanders, a battalion of regular infantry, a unit of guides lead by a hero, some Bengal Lancers, a few irregular troops, a newspaper reporter, and General Harry Flashman, VC, OBE etc. etc. in a purely observational capacity.

I played as the political officer, and actually had very little to do with what ensued; the game pretty accurately simulated a late-19th century British battle, where the officer commanding issued orders that nobody followed and we won anyway.

The main body of our force advanced in column through the rocky passes and encountered some snipers, which the heroic Highlanders (whose CO adopted an impenetrable Scottish accent that was really utterly amazing) ejected after a bit of shilly-shallying.

In the rear (where I was, trying to get the motley assortment of irregulars to get moving) another group of Pathans popped up and actually sent the worthless, worthless irregulars screaming for cover; we might have been in some sort of danger if not for that fact that our very jumbled deployment had left the Sikhs in the rear as well, and they moved into line to bolster the irregulars. A few quick volleys decimated the enemy, and we headed onwards, trailing behind the main body a decent ways and subject to much ribbing for it, too.

One of our pet natives tried to turn coat on us (unfortunately it was hard to keep an eye on him with me in rear, seeing as nobody else spoke his heathen language) twice, but both times he was thwarted by the manly feelings of the warlike Pathans, who preferred to use him as a sort of mobile punching bag.

In the end, the Pathan fortress was cleared in a single minute of ferocious gunfire (game designer and event GM Howard Whitehouse estimated we had killed about 70% of the village's manpower by the end of things) and peace was cheaply bought at the price of the least likeable of our pet natives.

All in all, an amazing game. I can't help but think a modern-era version of SvP would be a lot of fun.

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HMS_Resolution — 2007-08-01T11:57:00+00:00

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HMS_Resolution — 2007-08-01T11:55:37+00:00

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HMS_Resolution — 2007-08-01T11:53:54+00:00

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HMS_Resolution — 2007-08-01T11:52:02+00:00

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HMS_Resolution — 2007-07-17T01:30:22+00:00

Referee's manual and player's handbook.

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HMS_Resolution — 2007-07-17T01:28:56+00:00

The referee's manual, player's handbook, and charts.