Steel Lard took place on Saturday 18th
November at Patriot Games in Sheffield. Games are played in an old machine shop
customised for its new function as a gaming space. All the facilities you would expect are
provided including a nice little coffee bar and bistro. The cost for the day was £10 including a
£6.50 lunch voucher for use on the premises.
How could I say no?
The event followed the usual format whereby
attendees are offered a choice of two games from the list that are being played
that day. This year the list included favourites such as Chain of Command and Sharp Practice but also
featured What a Cowboy, Kiss me Hardy, Through the Mud and the Blood and Pickett’s Charge.
Nine games
were on offer
A Rock and a Hard Place
Chain of Command, presented by Graeme Atkinson
20th May 1941. Operation Merkur, the German invasion of
Crete is about to begin with von Braun’s glider assault on Tavronitis Bridge.
Death in the Donga
What a Cowboy, presented by Simon Walker
You are escorting the French Prince Imperial on a patrol in
Zululand. What’s the First Rule? Don’t get him killed!
Harpers Ferry: A Tragedy in Two Acts
What A Cowboy, presented by Richard Crawley.
An exploration of John Brown’s insurrection at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
in 1859. Players take on the roles of abolitionists, civilians, and US Marines
in one of the pivotal events of pre-Civil War US history. All of the playable
characters are named individuals whose actual fates we know. Can you change
history?
Mayhem in the Med
Kiss Me, Hardy! (Version 2 development
game), presented
by Charley Walker
A gale has blown most of the British Squadron off station. Only
their Inshore Squadron remains to confront the Franco-Spanish invasion of
the Isla San Nicolas and its crucial port facilities. Outnumbered and
outgunned, can they hold off the Spanish and French ships long enough for
their supporting ships to return and thwart the troop landings?
Morning Glory on the Combahee
Sharp Practice, presented by Ken Welsh
Based on a historical Union raid up the Combahee River during the
American Civil War to destroy plantations and rescue slaves. The raid was
accompanied by the famous abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Will the Union troops
achieve their objectives before the Confederates can put up a coordinated
response? Can the Confederate mounted troops put up a spirited defence, hold
the river crossing and protect the plantation family members before the delayed
arrival of their infantry? And just what do Southern Belles keep hidden in
their underpinnings?
Oh Sugar!
Chain of Command / CoCing Up the Mud and the
Blood, presented
by Alex Sotheran
As part of the British Fourth Army, the Canadian Division was tasked with
capturing the small village of Courcelette, including the surrounding German
defence lines on the north west of the operation. 21st Battalion of the 4th
Canadian Division faced the Sugar Beet Factory on the outskirts of Courcelette
which was held by Germans of the 211th regiment of the 45th Reserve Division.
Using the lessons learned, the Canadians stormed the German defences and
cleared the Sugar Factory before going on to clear the village itself. Will
history be repeated, or can the Germans hold the line? Using an early iteration
of Chain of Command Great War.
Rome or Death – The Battle of Mentana,1867
Pickett’s Charge, presented by Ken Reilly
It’s 1867 and whilst most of Italy has joined the new Italian State. The
Armies of the Pope supported by the French are maintaining a separate Papal
State. Our old friend and redshirt,
Garibaldi has decided it’s time to take Rome for the nation and to the rallying
call of “Rome or Death” he rallied his men to the cause.
Bring your best red disco shirt or your Sunday vestments and let’s get
the party started.
The Spy Who Larded Me
Sharp Practice, presented by Matt Slade
During the American Civil War the small town of St Orbens stands in
the hotly disputed Lard County. Through skilful diplomacy, Mayor Rickard Clarke
III has kept his town intact and out of the line of fire despite attempts
by the north and south to turn him one way or the other.
Today Mayor Clarke is to wed the beauty that is Miss Niccola Skinner. What he
does not know is that Miss Skinner is in fact Sir Sidney Roundwood,
the disgraced English gentleman and ace confederate spy. A master of
disguise, Roundwood has infiltrated the mayoral office and plans to murder
Mayor Clarke on their wedding night. The “grieving widow” would then lay
the blame at the door of the northern forces surely drawing Lard County into
the war on the side of the south.
Union have sent in a detachment to persuade the Mayor that the love of his life
is not quite who he thinks.
Rebs have got wind of this and are trying to stop the union capturing the
nefarious Roundwood (think Terry Thomas) who will spill the beans with very
little resistance.
Walk This Hue!
Chain of Command, presented by John Savage
31st January 1968. The North has launched a huge
nationwide offensive, soon to be known as the Tet Offensive. While targets and
cities across South Vietnam are attacked, nowhere does the offensive fall
heavier than on the City of Hue. Here, US forces in the MACV (Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam) Compound south of the city, are surrounded and in
danger of being over-run by strong NVA forces.
Captain Batcheller’s Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine
Regiment have been ordered from their base at Phu Bai north along Highway One
with orders to break through and relieve the US forces in Hue. Supported
by M48 tanks from the 3rd Marine Tank Battalion, the US column
crosses the An Cuu Bridge as Highway One stretches ahead on a tree-lined berm
to the outskirts of downtown Hue.
But elements of the 810th NVA Regiment have already
taken up defensive positions to block the road. Can you lead Alpha 1/1’s first
platoon to break through and secure the route into Hue and the MACV Compound?
Or will you take command of the NVA and shut the door on the advancing Marines
and cut-off the MACV Compound?
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