'Well I'll Be Blowed'
A Flintloque Rules Article by Sebastian Rogers
Sebastian Rogers gives us a clear and consise set of rules for blowing up bridges in your games of Flintloque...
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"It'll take more than that small keg to shift this bugger, Major. This is solid stone. It must be hundreds of years old. It took three kegs to deal with that poxy bridge over the Tagus and even the bugger didn't fall down, we had to hold the bloody Elves off for hours whilst your boys put more powder down."
"Rekhardt, Rekhardt, my dear boy," beamed Major Wogan, "that was one of my lads, this is me. The thing is not the amount used but rather where it’s placed. Now I admit that this is well built but what Elves can build, even if they 've been dead for over two thousand years, Orcs can destroy. "
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Some of the most important geographical constraints on the war in AI-Garvey are the huge rivers that run down to the coast. These rivers channel movement and can only be crossed at a few places either using existing bridges or building new ones. The effort involved in building new bridges and the methods used deserve an article on their own. This article looks at denying the enemy access by blowing them up.
A bridge, or rather the lack of a bridge, could mean the difference between an orderly retreat and a rout. Even worse it could mean a divided army that can be defeated in detail. Crossing a river is a dangerous moment and one that can provide an exciting scenario.
Types of Bridge
There are four main types of bridge that are encountered.
Wooden bridges may have existed at a point for some time but need continual maintenance and repair so that they are rarely more than a hundred years old. Typically wide enough for an ox-cart they can carry troops but artillery, especially heavy artillery, may cause damage. To assess this is an improbable action with an engineer having a 50% bonus. If the bridge is not suitable then all artillery crossing it must make an improbable action, on a failure they become stuck on the bridge completely blocking it.
Modem stone bridges are those built by non-Ferach races. They are generally bulky and wide enough for four or five to walk abreast. Artillery can always pass. This type forms the great majority of bridges.
Ancient stone bridges were built by the Ferach during their wars of conquest over two thousand years ago. Elegant and graceful they seem immune to the effects of time or heavy loads such as artillery and are very difficult to destroy. Many Elves regard the Orcs delight in destroying these as evidence of their uncivilised behaviour.
Pontoon bridges are constructed by using floating barges or boats. These can be specially constructed ones or just any floating thing that can be found. Over these are laid planks to form a bridge. Pontoon bridges can use one or two pontoons or for larger rivers, several dozen chained together. They rarely have sides and thus carts and artillery must cross them very slowly. If moving at more than half walk, then it is an improbable action to stay on the bridge, carters, cantiniers and horse handlers add 50 % to their chance. To destroy a pontoon bridge you need only destroy a single pontoon.
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Blowing the Bridge
These simple rules allow the process of blowing the bridge to become an integral and uncertain part of the game.
A bridge can only be blown using barrels of gunpowder strategically placed. The referee should allocate a number of structural points to the bridge based on the following charts.
Pontoon 100 for each pontoon
Wooden 150
Modern Stone 300
Ancient Stone 800
In order to emplace the gunpowder an Engineer is very useful but not essential. Each turn that the bridge is worked on roll an improbable action for the creature directing the work. On a success, roll a d10 this is the number of emplacement points generated. An engineer can add 50% to his chances. Each additional worker, who can be soldiers, labourers or camp followers, adds more points to the total if the creature directing the work succeeds. If the work crew are fired at all during the turn, then halve the total.
Experience / Engineer / Other
Raw / 60% / 10%
Regular / 70% / 20%
Experienced / 80% / 30%
Veteran / 90% / 40%
Emplacement points on success d10
Each additional worker +d6, maximum 4 workers
Fired at during turn / 2
For example Major Wogan is directing four of the South Morder in attempting to blow up a modern stone bridge before the Frere Gross, who outnumber them, can reach them. Each turn if Major Wogan succeeds at an improbable action, a 90 % chance as he is an engineer, then the emplacement total is increased by d10 + 4d6 points. If Voltigeurs are firing on them during the turn this total is halved.
During the emplacement a fuse must be laid. This is the best represented by a length of string. It must be laid on level or gently sloping ground. A fuse may be fast or slow burning.
Major Wogan decides that he wants to be safely behind a stone wall, a good fifteen centimetres from the bridge, so he lays a quick fuse from the bridge to the wall.
Once more emplacement points have been generated than the bridge has structure points, it is feasible to attempt to blow the bridge. The directing creature must light the fuse during the fire phase. Each fire phase the fuse will burn d6 centimetres for a slow fuse or d12 centimetres for a quick fuse. When the fuse is all burnt up on explosion occurs during the next fire phase. Subtract the structure points from the emplacement points and roll less than the minimum of this and the chance of an improbable action for the directing creature, add 50% to an engineer's chances as above. If this roll succeeds, then the bridge is demolished, if it fails then the bridge loses a number of structure points equal to the roll and all gunpowder and emplacement points are lost. Anyone on the bridge will take damage equal to one tenth of the emplacement points. This total is halved, rounded down, for each 5cm away from the bridge and is negated by any solid object like a wall.
Major Wogan lights the fuse as Sharke and his Orcs run across the bridge whilst the South Morder volley fire to discourage the Ferach cavalry. During each fire phase the fuse burns d12 centimetres. On turn 1 it burns 6 centimetres leaving 9 centimetres. On turn 2 it burns 1 centimetre leaving 8 centimetres. On turn 3 it burns 12 centimetres leaving 0 centimetres to go. On turn 4 it explodes.
Major Wogan and his helpers have generated 375 emplacement points, the bridge has 300 structure points. If Wogan roles less than 75% then the bridge will explode. If he rolls more, for example 98%, then an explosion occurs reducing the bridge's structure to 202 points, but it continues to stand. In either case, any one on the bridge takes 37 damage, those within 5 centimetres will take 18 points, those within 10 centimetres will take 9, within 15 centimetres 4, within 20 centimetres 2 and within 25 centimetres 1.
Had Wogan generated 450 emplacement points, the bridge would have exploded on a 90% or less, as this is his chance of an improbable action plus 50% for being an engineer, however at 45 points of damage to anything on the bridge, it's goodnight Irene for the Frere Gross with 15 centimetres and a wound for those within 20 centimetres.
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Webmaster's Notes
'Well I'll Be Blowed' was first published in Miniature Wargames 199.
It was first published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 13th December 2024 as the thirteenth entry in that years Advent Calendar.