'The Action at Diabolos Bridge'

A Flintloque After Action Report by Tommy Boyd

A classic after action report from Rock Con way back in 1996 that sees Sharke's Rifles go up against two squads of Elven Voltigeurs...

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I, along with my trusty sidekick Marty Devine, went to the con planning on three rousing games of Flintloque. However, since we didn't pre-register the games, after arriving at 10:30A we found that the earliest available slot was 3PM. Undaunted, we reserved the table for the rest of the evening, and scheduled two games. In order to present the best possible looking games of Flintloque, we limited ourselves to only painted miniatures, which meant the 16 from the Flintloque Box. We decided to run the scenarios right out of the box. The first game began at 3PM:

Sharke's Rifles: The Action at Diabolos Bridge

Three players signed up for the first game. One had already bought the game, but hadn't played it. Two had only seen the box. The forces were divided as such:

1) Sharke's Rifles(6) Objective: Get 4 figures off the board
2) Elven Voltigeurs(5) Objective: Stop player 1 from reaching objective
3) Elven Voltigeurs(5) Objective: Stop player 1 from reaching objective

Orders given to the players:

Orcs

You have been harried for the last two miles by Elf Light Infantry and Cavalry. The rearguard action has left you caught behind enemy lines. To escape, you must reach the North side of the table whilst keeping casualties to an absolute minimum. The only escape route takes you through the small (and now deserted) Dark Elf village of Shardkirados, and then across the only remaining bridge over the torrential (and impassable) River Diabolos.

You enter the board on the Southwest road, and must exit anywhere along the North edge. The river is unfordable, and the only way across is at the bridge. As the game begins, it is snowing.

Elves

The Orc rearguard action has left many stragglers caught behind your lines. To escape, they must reach the North side of the table whilst keeping casualties to an absolute minimum. The only escape route takes them through the small (and now deserted) Dark Elf village of Shardkirados, and then across the only remaining bridge over the torrential (and impassable) River Diabolos. You are rounding up these cut off Orcs, and to win must prevent Sharke's Orcs from escaping.

You enter the board on the Southeast road, and must stop as many Orcs as possible from exiting along the North edge. The river is unfordable, and the only way across is at the bridge. As the game begins, it is snowing.

The Game

The table was terrained as per the map provided with the Flintloque Boxed Set. The town included numerous hedges, walls, wagons, and stacks of crates to provide cover and obstacles. The opposing sections entered the town from opposite sides, and were right on top of each other before they knew it.

Sharke's boys dove behind a stone wall near the bridge, and, forgetting their orders, held their position behind the wall for most of the battle. The Elves took up positions behind buildings and debris, and a firefight ensued.

The Elf commander, Lt. Merde, sent an Elf to the top of a two story building overlooking the Orc position, where he could fire down on the unsuspecting Orcs while his compatriots flanked them on both sides.

As the Elves charged the Orc position, Sharkes boys made a dash for the bridge, leaving the stragglers to be overrun by the enemy. A running battle took the Orcs toward their lines, as they slowly took casualties, and just before the remaining Orcs reached safety, they lost their third Orc.

The Winner!

As a reward for reaching his objective, the Elf player was awarded his choice of available Flintloque blisters, of which he chose a package of Elf Chasseurs.

During the game, a number of spectators gathered around the table, and both Marty & I answered their many questions. There seemed to be a lot of interest in the game, and many of the spectators commented that they had never heard of the game (and only one said, "oh, fantasy, I see. I'm only interested in real Napoleonics").

After a break for dinner, we started the second game at 6PM: Sharke's Rifles: The Action at Tacotadjada

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Webmaster's Notes

'The Action at Diabolos Bridge' was originally published on Tommy Boyd's long gone "Loque, Stoque & Barrelle" website and is reprinted here with permission from the author.

It was first published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 16th December 2024 as the sixteenth entry in that years Advent Calendar.