My buddy Yaum just finished painting his beautiful (but also filthy and decadent) Patricians for Carnevale. To start their story on the table, we decided to play the Patricians campaign from the big rule book. The rules might not be the most recent, but it’s a treasure of lore and scenarios, with a small campaign for each faction. I’ll be facing them with the Guild at the start, since they are their natural opponents, and because I’m still missing a model or two for my Doctors to have a large enough force, but I might switch later on depending on the scenario setups.
The Story
Our story begins in Venice, the city of canals. La Serenissima. The night is young, and the various guests of Contessa Jezabella Cattivo are dancing, drinking and enjoying themselves in her palazzo. However, there is a palpable tension building, as they all know that this masquerata will soon spread to the streets. Suddenly, shouting is heard from outside. It seems the spark has been lit by unseen assailants, probably some jealous lowly commoners. The Contessa takes her hand to her blade and says: “Let’s party.”
Setup
The scenario is Party Interrupted. Since it was Yaum first game after his initial demo, we decided to keep things small and play at 75 Ducats instead of the full 100. To balance things out a bit, we only gave two Agendas to the Attackers (the Guild), since the model count was lower. Also, the scenario forces the Defenders to stay within eight inches from the centre point, but that could make for a boring shooting match, so we decided to keep that rule in place only for the first two turns of the game, and lift it afterwards. The Defenders goal is simply to survive. They make a point for each of their own that lives to tell the tales. The Attackers make a point for each Defender killed, and also have two open Agendas worth a point each.
The Defenders – Patricians
- Contessa Jezabella Cattivo, Venetian Noble
- Foreign Dignitary
- Syphilitic Noble
- 2 Barnabotti
- Item: Bottled Courage
- Item: Climbing Tools
The Attackers – The Guild
- Capo Antonio Morosini, Capodecina
- Recruiter
- Barber
- Gondolier
- 2 Citizens
Deployment
The Defenders set up in two groups around the palazzo, in cover behind some crates and barrels. The attackers decide to stay grouped and deploy around a canal, the Gondolier starting on a well-placed gondola.
Turn One
The Guild members advance slowly toward the palazzo, the Recruiter joining the Gondolier on the Gondola, while the Patricians on this side of the building fall back to the rest of their gang and better cover, but not without exchanging some long range fire. One of the Citizen is wounded, and the Contessa gets a scratch. Capo Morosini spends a Command point to inspire the Barber to Fight for the Guild and boost his Companion Ability for the rest of the game. The Gondolier moves forward twice, but with abysmal rolls, he gets to reroll six dices, completing the Attackers first Agenda.
Turn Two
The Venetian Noble takes a shot at the Recruiter then continue to retreat to safety. The Citizens moves forward on the bridge, hugging cover. The Gondolier brings the gondola to the side of the canal and gets on Guard. The Barnabotti regroup and start to head for the fight, taking shots when they can. The Recruiter gets off the gondola and shoots at the Syphilitic Noble, who then charges the guild man for the insult. The Barber tries to jump across the canal after being Ordered by the Capo, but falls short, and his barely able to reach the Noble after a short swim for a quick exchange of blows. The Capo climbs the palazzo to get in place for an attack from on high.
Turn Three
The Barber is able to cut down the Syphilitic Noble and then retreats to cover behind the Citizens. The Foreign Dignitary gets in the thick of it and takes down the already wounded Recruiter, stopping him from encouraging all the trade people around. A Citizen and the Gondolier groups on the Dignitary to avenge their comrade, but he’s able to withstand their attacks, while the Venetian Noble and a Barnabotti take shots at the Citizens, killing one. The Capo finally jumps down and put some hurt on one of the Barnabotti, but fails to finish the job (leaving him on 1 life point!), before being counter-charged by the second Barnabotti.
Turn Four
Note: From this point on, the action became intense, and I forgot to take pictures. I’ll do my best to keep the events clear, but without the references, I might be misremembering some of it.
Having to make a choice between saving the Dignitary or killing her foe, the Venetian Noble decides to unleash the Monster Behind the Mask and charge the Capo, taking both him and the last Citizen out with two swings of her sword and a pistol shot. The Barber comes back into the fray and cuts down the French Dignitary as retaliation. Some blows are traded between the Gondolier and the Patricians masquerata, but nothing else major happens, other than the heavily wounded Barnabotti retreating to safety far from the tradesmen.
Turn Five
Having no one left in the Guild with Command points, the Contessa seizes the initiative and unleashes her true self again. With murder in her eyes, she makes short work of the Gondolier and the Barber, the last two standing Guild members.
The Results
Attackers: 3 VP (2 killed Patricians, and 1 Agenda)
Defenders: 3 VP (3 surviving members)
It’s a tie in the end, but heavily favouring the Patricians, as they wiped out their assailants.
It was a really great game, and I’m glad Yaum can now join us to play!
As the sounds of blades and pistol shots quiet down, as well as her inner rage, the Contessa looks around her. Some of her guests got heavily wounded in the skirmish, but so did their assailants. They retreated before completing their unknown goal. Something must be done about this. She can’t let it be known that the great Cattivo family can be harassed without retribution. She turns to the groups assembling around her, men and women having taken part in the fight, but also more coming out from the palazzo to join them. With a predatory smile, she says: “Friends, honoured guests and visitors. How about we take this party to the streets and start a little chase?”
