Friday Rucht Hour: Bearing the Torch - Crossbows and Catapults

Crossbows and Catapults is an old game. BoardGame Geek dates it back to 1983. I remember his game fondly from elementary school of all things. Back in 2nd grade, we were allowed to bring board games to school to play after our lunch break. For about a month or so, Crossbows and Catapults is the game that dominated board game time.

Apparently, it was popular, because vintage editions of this game go for $200 to $300 dollars on eBay.

Since its inception, this game has seen numerous iterations. The latest edition is known as Battleground: Crossbows and Catapults. I believe this game is out of print (someone correct me if this is not the case), because it retails on Amazon for over two-hundred dollars. I guess people have a serious hard-on for this game!

The original, in all of its glory. 

The newer version - they added castles with battle damage and cannons. 

Anyhow, I got this game for my kids a while back and for a long time, they played it just like we did in 2nd grade. And that is to say - we all simply used it as a playset for toy soldier wars. My kids, just like me, didn't use rules. They just shot at each other's castles and got into fights. However, my dim memory of those ancient years remember the 2nd grade owner of the original edition of Crossbows and Catapults. Jeremy always complained that no one wanted to play by the rules...

So, I looked at the directions in the box and was surprised to see a robust little minis game hiding in this product. The rules are simple. You set up your castle. Then, you set up your toy soldiers (knights or orcs). Obviously, you want to set up your soldiers behind cover. Each model can stand alone or stand on a power disc. If they stand alone and that mini is hit with a projectile, they are out of the game. If they stand on a power disc, they can be hit once with a projectile and lose their disc. Thereafter, they must stand alone.

Each side has a king mini. If a king is hit, the side possessing the king loses a turn. The king can be finally killed if the king is the last minis to go down. We added a house rule that hitting a king twice in a row was disallowed, so you couldn't lose two turns in a row.

Each mini can move (with their power discs) at a rate of 6 inches. The king can move 12 inches. If a mini is within 2" of a weapon, they can activate it and get it to shoot a projectile.

Each turn, a player gets two actions. With an action you can:

• Move a mini 6 inches.
• Move a siege weapon 6 inches.
• Fire a siege weapon.
• Move the king 12 inches.

You cannot fire the same weapon twice in the same round. If the king is hit before all of his army is gone, that army loses a turn. We house ruled that you cannot lose two turns in a row.

There is also a flag mechanic. Knock down all four of the opponent's flags and you can bring back a deceased warrior from the field. Knock down three flags in the same action, and you can bring back a warrior AND the opposing side loses a turn.

What made this game a minis game for us was the simple stipulation of having to move 6 or 12 inches. Because there was that difference, we get out the tape measure each time we play the game. It makes the kids feel like they are playing one of "daddy's games". Totally awesome.

Playing on the carpet! But totally viable on the table top as well. 

The new minis and weapons received an update from the original version. 

Friday Rucht Hour: Bearing the Torch - Catacombs

So, I've got a three post segment here where I'm going to talk about getting kids into wargaming.

First of all, I want to say for the record that I knew my kids would be into wargames. I just didn't know when it would happen. How did I know? Well, every so often, dad goes off and plays games with the guys. When I do this, the kids are simply not invited. "Can I come dad?" "Not yet son...maybe when you're older."

This gave all of my wargaming an immediate mystique. In my circle of friends, it is viewed by my two sons as one of the gateways into manhood. And what little boy is not attracted to that?

Also...I play games that have really, really cool toys. In my games, giant robots fight. Undead hordes swarm against knights with electrical swords. The few times I've played something historical, I'm sitting there in front of tanks and troops - things that have immediate appeal to young boys. Plus, it helps that they are all hand-painted and look nice.

The first thing I started them off with was Catacombs. I've posted about Catacombs before. It's a great dungeon-crawling board game that relies on dexterity. Players take on different roles like the Barbarian, Thief, Wizard, or Thief. Their character is represented by a wooden pog. Players move or attack with their character by flicking their pog into the opposing monster pogs. Most monsters are killed by a single hit, but some monsters are tougher. When you hit tougher monsters, you flip that pog over to represent it being damaged. Mik has a more complete review and discussion, here.

So, as you can see, mechanics of the game make it extremely easy for kids to pick up. Hit a monster, and you kill it. Or, maybe you flip it over. That's it. No numbers to read. Nothing to add. Player characters do have multiple wounds, but these are easily kept track of on large cards with helpful markers.

Most characters have only one special ability, meaning there is very little to memorize or think about. What gives these abilities depth is that activating them is usually a expendable resource. The strategy comes in when to to use or not use a special ability.

My kids loved, loved, loved this game. They liked the excitement of seeing what was in the next room, the thrill of collecting money for vanquishing foes, and buying magical items.

Here's how much they loved the game. When they finished off the dragon at the end, they wanted to keep going. "Dad, what's next?" "Um, there is no next. That's the end of the game." "No! What is the next room?" "There is no next room, guys..."

In the end, I had to make it up. I told them a great story about defeating the dragon and let them buy more magical items. It was hilarious. And by the way? We had some friends come in from out of town. Their little girl played with us and had the same reaction. "No! This can't be the end. What's next?"

All right, that's all for now. Next time, I'll talk about their first proper wargame - Crossbows and Catapults.