The Barons' War Tournament at Britcon 2023.
The Tournament.
In the beginning, the tournament was meant to be organised by myself, Ian, and Lewis Jones (all of us from Fraternity Historical Gaming). Ian, who has much more experience in running events than me suggested using the Secondary and Tertiary Objectives system he used in his Bolt Action tournaments. It was an interesting alternative. For various reasons, Ian and Lewis decided to pass on running the event, and at some point, I asked Ian if I could try it at the tournament. He agreed. Inspired by his system I came up with tertiary objectives. I wanted the secondary objective to become an action/special rule that would have to be successfully performed. As I started to choose the scenarios for the tournament I realised that adding more complexity to scenarios that are already sophisticated and involve using special rules is a bad idea. This is why I stuck to Ian’s original idea to keep the secondary objective on the table and ask players to claim it if they want to get two points.
Here is an excerpt from the event pack:
SCORING POINTS:
6 points for winning a game.
3 points for a draw.
1 point for a loss.
0 points for surrender.
2 points for the secondary objective – a narrative driven additional rule to be revealed on the day. A different objective per each of our three games.
1 point per tertiary objective. Only two tertiary objectives can be scored per game and each tertiary objective can be scored just once during the tournament. For example, you can’t claim Knight Fall in your first game and then try to claim it in the last game of the tournament. In case you scored more than two tertiary objectives, it’s up to you which one you will claim for the game. Choose wisely!
TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:
Chivalry – win a knight-on-knight group melee.
Charge – win a melee you have initiated.
Shield Wall – win a melee in which you were charged.
Rain of Arrows – kill 50% of an opposing unit starting numbers with range weapons in one round.
Knight Fall – destroy an entire unit of knights.
Martyrs – destroy an entire unit of monks.
Regular Drop – destroy an entire unit of sergeants.
Purple rain – destroy an entire unit of bowmen/crossbowmen.
Peasants – destroy an entire unit of levy.
Morale booster – kill a banner man.
Slaughter – destroy 75% of your opponent’s retinue.
Preservation – loose only 25% of your retinue.
Hunger strikes – Kill a knight on a warhorse with a levy group.
Rally – successfully rally a shaken/broken unit.
Friday
I arrived in Nottingham on Friday around 4 pm, after a busy morning and a 4 hours drive. I came to see Tim Porter from BHGS and was shown the tables where our tournament will take place. I was already tired, but excited, about what comes tomorrow.
After a short wander around the venue, I went to sort out my accommodation. Later I met with Andy Hobday and Mark Farr from Footsore Miniatures and Games for dinner. They were both very welcoming and we had a good conversation and made plans for Saturday morning. Unfortunately, Andy, who already selected the winner of the Storyteller Award, would not be able to join us at the tournament, but Mark will deliver the prizes and pick the Best Painted and the Event miniature painting competition winner.
Saturday
On Saturday, I set my alarm for 4 am but wouldn’t get up until 5. In my head not everything was set up yet, so I needed to be up early. Before the competition, I went to pick up Pete Barfield and his wife from Leicester. Pete was a great help in organising the tournament, providing all of his gorgeous Warhost terrain and hyping up the tournament on social media with his amazing flyers.
At 7 am we loaded my car with medieval goodness and we were chatting wargaming all the way to the venue at Nottingham Trent University. As we arrived a few players who offered help in setting up the tables were already waiting for us. Setting up was therefore quite easy, and there was time for a little catch-up before the skirmish kicked off ;)
The tournament started at 9:30. We started with playing:
The Prize (Barons’ War, p. 110)
Deployment map 4
Game duration: The game lasts five turns.
No matter how much blood is shed how many lives are lost and what hardships must be endured, nothing else matters but to seize the prize.
Place an objective at the centre of the tabletop. A warrior ending its movement in base-to-base contact with the objective may pick it up. The objective moves with the warrior’s Group from that point onward. The Warrior can drop the objective at any time. The objective is dropped if the Warrior carrying it is dispatched or removed from a group. If dropped the opponent places the objective within 1” of the fallen Warrior. The player whose Warrior is carrying the objective at the end of the fifth round wins the encounter.
The secondary objective was placed in the middle of the table, next to the prize (a monk miniature from my collection). It would force a group to take the prize and run with it away from the centre of the board and at the same time, force another group (if the player cared for two extra points) to stay in the middle to claim the SO.
I was pretty chuffed to see that at least two of four games ended with the winning players scoring 8 points and the ‘loser’ getting 5. ‘Winners’ and ‘losers’ were close enough for the next game to shift the tournament table!
At the time when the players started to warm up in their first game, we had a late player arrival. David Bethell didn’t feel very well and almost didn’t turn up. I must admit, I am happy he did! We’ve set up the fifth table and had two games of Barons’ War. While it wasn’t the first time I faced the Welsh in the game it was the first time I played against a retinue using Welsh rules. We had two very fun games (David beat me twice), while I was chatting to people stopping by and manning the tournament.
In game 2, two players with 10 points faced each other, so were the two players with 8 points, and so on. The second scenario was slightly more complicated and involved a special rule from the book that I have updated for the tournament.
The Challenge (Outremer, p. 116)
Deployment Map 6
Objectives: Both sides are attempting to capture prisoners.
Game duration: The game lasts five turns.
Special rules
Prisoners: If a group is destroyed in close combat, the attacking player can choose to take the group prisoner. They must detach a model from the victorious group to guard their new captives. This model must remain within 1” of the prisoners until the end of the scenario, or until the prisoners are freed. They use the captive group to determine coherency.
During the housekeeping phase, each player makes a Morale check for any groups being held captive. If there is an enemy group within 6” they roll 2d10 and pick the worst result. If they succeed, the group breaks free and may act as normal next turn. If they fail, the capturing player may move the group its movement allowance in any direction.
If the group held captive breaks free through a Morale check, the player controlling the ‘Warden’ Warrior rolls for Morale. If he succeeds and his group is within 6” from where he stands on the board, he can join them immediately. If the group is further than 6” he can join them in the next round. In case the ‘Warden’ Warrior fails the morale check he is slayed by the group that broke free and becomes a casualty.
Victory conditions
Both players calculate all the points values of the enemy Warriors their Retinue slays during the battle doubling the total of any Warriors that remain prisoners at the end of the game.
This scenario caused some trouble. In one of the games, players didn’t realise they have to slay an entire group before they can take them hostage. I was stressing at that time, thinking why the hell is it not working? Other tables seemed to get on with it, not being able to take prisoners, as they couldn’t slay entire groups. I have learned a lot from this and as much I will still use more engaging scenarios I will have a larger input in communicating them on the day (I’ve sent them to players two days before). We live and learn :)
What made me happy is to see how people scan their lists of tertiary objectives. ‘I have done that, I’ve done that’, even if you were losing games, you were feeling like you’ve achieved something.
Game 3 was all about burning buildings :)
The Final Battle (Death and Taxes, p. 38)
Deployment Map 1
Each player rolls a d10. The winner can choose whether they want to play as the attacker or the defender.
Objectives
The attackers are trying to burn down the village, while outlaws are trying to defend it.
Game duration: The game lasts five turns.
Special rules
Burning Buildings: Constructed from timber, straw, and wattle, the buildings make a tempting target. Armed with pitch-soaked torches and fire arrows, the attackers intend to raze the village and massacre the inhabitants. Any of the attacker groups may attempt to set fire to a building within 3” by taking special action.
The group must succeed at an Attack Roll. If their roll succeeds, the building begins to burn. Place a marker next to the building. If they fail they may attempt to fire the building again on a subsequent turn.
Buildings that have been fired and extinguished may be fired again, reducing the result required to fire them by 1 for each turn it burned previously.
Putting out Fires: A defender group can attempt to extinguish a burning building within 3” by taking special action. They must succeed at an attack roll, increasing the required result by 1 for each turn the building has been burning. If they succeed, remove the marker adjacent to the building if they fail, they may attempt to extinguish the building again on a subsequent turn.
Victory conditions
The attacker calculates all the points values of the enemy Warriors their Retinue slays during the battle and gains 100 additional victory points for each building set on fire at the end of the battle. The defender calculates all the points values of the enemy Warriors their Retinue slays during the battle, doubling the amount of any enemy Warriors that are Commanders.
As players were busy with their final game, Mark Farr from Footsore Miniatures arrived to judge the entries for the Best Painted Event Miniature competition, select the best Painted Army, and chat with players.
People seem to engage in burning the village scenario :) As it was the last game of the tournament everyone seemed more relaxed and enjoyed each other company.
Nick and Aaron were the only players who won their first two games and with the most points they faced each other in the last game. From what I have been told Aaron’s luck vapoured entirely and his dice refused to work for him.
The final results were pleasing. While the winner scored the maximum 30 points available to a single player the second and the third place were separated just by one point (23 to 22), fourth and fifth equalised for 19, which shows how important the secondary and tertiary objectives were for final success!
After game 3 it was time to clear the tables and start the award ceremony. I was very pleased to have Tim Porter participating in it and saying a few words. He was most kind with his comments on the tournament. I must admit that the award ceremony is my favourite part of running events like this. Thanks to the great support from Footsore Miniatures and Games who provided six 500 point forces as prizes, and additional trophies prepared by BHGS I was able to expand my plan and give prizes for the second and the third place!
Below are a few pictures from the ceremony taken by David Mather.
Benedict’s amazing short story ‘The Hospitallers’ Welcome’ can be read here.
Final Thoughts.
What can I say, I am pleased I decided to run this tournament. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I think the best will be to finish this off by saying that I will return to run the Britcon event next year and to quote my original Facebook post written during a break on my way home from Nottingham, shortly after the tournament concluded when emotions were still high:
I am on my way to South Wales after a terrific tournament at Britcon.
I will do a proper write-up, as all the emotions sink in.
I would like to say thank you to Mark Farr and Andy Hobday from Footsore Miniatures & Games to make me feel welcome and supporting the tournament beyond my expectations.
I’d like to say thanks to Tim Porter and the BHGS for organising a smooth running event, where accommodation, parking, and the venue were so close to each other that going from one place to another felt effortless.
Big thank you goes to Pete Barfield, and Sarissa for supplying their terrain!
Lastly, I’d like to say thank you to all players, as without you there would be no tournament! This is an amazing community and I am happy to be part of it!
So thanks to Pete again, Aaron James, Laurence Watson, Sam Bliss, David Bethell, Benedict Coffin, Nick Dunning, Kieran Kirkham, and David Howarth!
I already can’t wait for another one!
I want to expand my thanks to Crow Industries for designing and printing the trophies! And Ian Jones for inspiring me and letting me use his fantastic scoring system.