The Sons of Heracles

The Bronze Age has maintained a hold on my imagination since childhood. Early influences included a really good quality hard cover children’s Iliad and Odyssey book and countless Italian made sword and sandal movies, like the Sons of Hercules series. The book was written back when adults respected the intelligence of children. Its like is not to be found among the books offered for sale to children today. I have no excuse for the movies, except I enjoyed the action and the costumes. I also found the obligatory dancing girl scene that was included in each movie strangely interesting. Later on, Mary Renault’s ‘Theseus’ novels and the grown up version of the Iliad reinforced my interest.  It was inevitable that Homeric warriors would show up in my wargaming.

So it was that last week war came to the dusty plains of Mycenaean Greece. Betty, the slightly less attractive younger sister of Helen, has dumped her husband in favor of Favio Polybiceps, son of Mysoxargon, the Achaean king of Baklava. Her husband, Cucoldius, Heraclid king of Monopylae, ignores the restraining order she has against him and marches on Baklava. Heroes supported by bands of lesser men will fight it out under the watchful eye of (occasionally meddlesome) gods. Plus Polythemus the cyclops has joined Mysoxargon with the understanding that he gets to eat any prisoners.   

The gods look down from Olympus on the field of battle

Mysoxargon marshals his forces on the level ground before his town. His chariot and two others are on his left while his other four chariots and the 10 foot tall Cyclops anchor his right. His spearmen and skirmishing warriors form up behind the chariots. The Heraclid forces line up with 2 chariots on their right supported by skirmishers. The center is held by their spearmen. The left is led by King Cucoldius himself with 5 chariots.

                                       The hero Mysoxargon prepares for battle

As the armies close on each other the Kings and their chariot borne Heroes beseech the support of the gods. Zeus opposes any divine intervention in this human feud but the rest of the gods are sharply divided into factions supporting the contending armies.

        The Heraclid chariots roll forward while the goddess Aphrodite looks on

As the armies advance toward each other Aphrodite manages to slip out of Olympus undetected and joins Cucoldius forces. She prevents the advance of Mysoxargon and his supporting Heroes, who were poised to ride down a mass of Heraclid skirmishers. Seeing his opportunity, Cucoldius strikes home with his main chariot force against a lesser number of Achaean chariots supported by the Cyclops. Hero faces off against Hero in a life or death struggle for victory and everlasting fame. Two of the Achaean Heroes fall, but the Cyclops wades into the Heraclid chariots smashing them to kindling and sending their bronze clad Heroes to the underworld.

                         Polythemus the Cyclops wreaks havoc among the Heraclid warriors

Just as the mayhem reaches its peak the godess Hera slips out of Olympus to support her favorite, Mysoxargon. Zeus notices his wife and Aphrodite are missing and forces them to cease their meddling and return to Olympus. Mysoxargon, no longer held in check by Aphrodite, charges into the Heraclid skirmishers smiting them like there is no tomorrow. Seeing the Linear A writing on the wall, Cucoldius and what remains of his army flee the field. The battle is over. Betty, the face that launched 7 ships, marries Favio Polybiceps. In the course of time she puts on a lot of weight and he loses his hair. They are both soon forgotten.  

Postscript: The rules used for the game were DBA, with additional rules for the intervention of the gods. If anyone would like a copy of the divine intervention rules, let me know at garylcomardo@aol.com and I'll send them along via email. Several of the Sons of Hercules movies complete with the cheesey theme song are on Youtube.  

A new chapter has been written in the long standing theological debate between the Elector and the Bishop of Holstein regarding the existance of Santa Claus. The Elector has long held that, not only does the man exist, but he has an interest in sustaining the military capacity of Ardoberg-Holstein. The Bishop maintains that Santa Claus is a fiction promoted by greedy children to separate their parents from money better spent titheing the church. As proof of his position, the Elector calls the Bishops attention to three new batteries of artillery drilling on the Marchfeld. It seems the Elector has been very good this year, and has been rewarded by a visit from the jolly old elf.

The guns and crew are plastic Wargames Factory War of the Spanish Succession. I like the guns a lot and the set includes some nice stacks of cannon balls, water buckets and barrels. On the down side the crews had early WSS hats, which I had to trade out for some tricorne heads I had in my collection of bits. Also, each gun had an officer mounted on an oddly posed horse (not shown). I suppose I will find some use for those.

 The Elector clings to a dollar with grim determination, and for that reason the army was assembled over time from whatever figures came to hand. Historians of the Imaginations military scene will recall that the Ardoberg-Holstein cavalry, Spencer-Smiths that were (sadly) out of scale with my 28mm infantry, were replaced last year with new plastics from Perry and Wargames Factory. This year it was the turn of the artillery. The guns were Prince August home cast models. Nice enough except my poor casting skills denied them the detail a more skilful hand would have delivered. The gun crews were an assorted lot of Hinchliffe gunners, ham handed conversions and infantry officers drafted in to fill up numbers.

The older guns will have their wheels removed and a garrison carriage added to provide firepower for a fortress project I have in mind.

The Highlanders are revolting!
This was a game Mike and I played to work the bugs out of our homemade Jacobite Rebellion rules titled It's A Kilt!If It Was A Skirt I'd Be Wearing Underpants! The year is 17 something something and Red Dougie MacArdo has raised the standard of one of the lesser known Stuarts, cousin Larry Stuart. Really just an excuse to descend on the Sassanach and steal their cattle. In support of this effort MacArdo has been joined by four clan regiments; Corrie, Appin, MacLeod and Atholl. The King of France has sent a battalion of the Irish Regiment of McLaughlin as a way of getting them out of France before they do any more damage.

The McLaughlin Regiment, chastened by their deployment, advances alongside the Jacobites
 The Government troops sent to face them are a half battalion from each of the four regiments in the garrison and the converged grenadier companies from those regiments. The Government force also has a battery of 3 lb guns.

                 Red Dougie scouts the advancing column of Government troops
As the Government column passed through the crossroads hard by Glen Herring the Highlanders sprang their ambush. Coolly surveying the situation the commander of the redcoats, Sir Gary Comardo (of the Bogglehole Comardos) ordered his units to deploy into line facing the onrushing plaid tide.

Claymore! Claymore!

Two of the raw redcoat battalions broke and ran at the unaccustomed sight of the charging highlanders, but the others stood firm and poured heavy fire into the close packed ranks of their foes. The Jacobites recoiled from the Government line without coming to grips and the broken battalions rallied brnging the battle to a swift conclusion.

Stop firing at us and fight us like men!

This was the second battle we have fought using these rules. The first one was a near run thing but this one was very lopsided. Clearly we have more work to do on the rules. What we are going for is a situation where the Government forces have an advantage in firepower and the Jacobites in speed and melee. The Government troops also have to test their nerve when being charged. Most of the redcoats are second class units, the good stuff being away fighting the French on the Continent. We'll keep tinkering with the rules and know we have it right when both commanders play to their strong suit and are kept in suspense until the last die roll of the last turn.

   

Confrontation

From The Memoirs of The Reverend Kurt von Schilling, Bishop of Holstein

We come now to the end of that strangest of all the adventures my companions and I experienced in our youth. I, who was called Nestor, my friends Hector, Agamemnon and Phoenix, and doctor Plummer were gathered in the monster’s lair awaiting his return. Earlier in the day we had stormed the house and killed his human slave and two of his gypsy retainers, but two gypsies had escaped. We knew not where the vampire lurked or if they had gone to warn him. The time passed very slowly and our nerves were stretched to the limit.

 There were but two hours until dawn when, at last, we heard the front door open slowly. We had dragged the bodies out of sight but the smell of death and gunpowder hung in the air, alerting the monster to the danger. He saw us moving toward the entrance to the foyer and what we saw next defies description. It was Lang, but his face was a mask of horror and his very presence radiated menace. Phoenix and Agamemnon, who had proven themselves fearless on many occasions, were momentarily stunned into inaction by the sight. The doctor, Hector and I fired our pistols at the same instant at point blank range. For a moment, time stood still. The smoke stung my eyes and my head was ringing from the discharge of three pistols in that confined space. My eyes focused on a bit of smoldering wadding that was embedded in Lang’s waistcoat and then the desperate engagement began in earnest.

All three pistol balls had struck the monster and had done fearful damage to his body, and yet he fell on us as if he had felt nothing. He seemed more beast than man as he snarled and snapped at us with his teeth and slashed with his claw-like hands. I was struck down and bloodied by his claws. As I tried to fight back the dizziness and nausea and regain my feet I saw Phoenix and Agamemnon, who must have left the sitting room by the back hallway, come around behind the monster slashing and stabbing furiously with their swords. The wounds I saw them inflict would have killed a normal man instantly, and indeed the monster seemed to be flagging from the accumulated damage to his physical form.

                            The monster was trapped and the battle raged

Taking advantage of the brief respite thus gained, the doctor and Hector drew the wooden crosses from their coats and thrust them forward toward Lang. With a savage backhand stroke the monster knocked both men to the floor, sending their crosses skidding away. He advanced on them hoping to finish them and break through our circle. I pulled myself up on one knee and imposed my own cross between Lang and his intended victims. He stopped, uncertain at first, and then recoiled in fear and confusion. At this Phoenix and Agamemnon renewed their assault. I can’t explain what happened next, except to say that we all saw it. The monster, trapped and assailed on all sides, changed before our eyes into a column of grey mist and slipped through a broken window like water down a drain.

Our party was in no condition to pursue and we wouldn’t have known how to do so in any case. We stayed in the house until dawn binding our wounds and keeping watch in case Lang came back. Thanks to the doctor’s vigilance we were sure we had accounted for all of the monster’s sanctuaries in our town and rendered them useless to him. We did not know if he had established similar places of refuge in Ardoberg or elsewhere, but as the weeks passed and no more attacks occurred we came to understand that we had at least driven him out of this region. The doctor, who was becoming something of an expert on such matters through the knowledge gained from Artorius’ book, believes the vampire made it’s way back to the remote regions of Holstein much weakened and unable to sustain a physical form for years to come.

The doctor returned to the practice of medicine in his little country town. He decided not to make his story public. After all, who would believe it. The town magistrate had disappeared during the troubles, and no one knows to this day what happened to him. Another magistrate was appointed by the authorities in Ardoberg, and he was directed to attribute the battle at Artorius house to a robbery attempt by the gypsies.

My friends and I had many adventures in the years to come, but nothing so bizarre as this affair. Agamemnon eventually returned home to manage the great estate he had inherited. He is a generous, if indiscriminate, patron of the Arts, funding the musical style galant and other innovations that have no future. I think he does it just to irritate me. Phoenix rose through the ranks of the Ardoberg-Holstein army and is now Inhaber of the Ardozollern Kuriasser regiment. Hector could never settle down. Last year an English Colonel told me he had met him while fighting red Indians in a place called Ohio. I eventually joined the priesthood. It had been my faith that had given power to the cross I held to drive the vampire back on that terrible night. My friends, brave hearts all, had never been men of faith, and the cross in their hands was useless against the monster.

As for the vampire, I wish I could say he was never heard from again but it was not to be. It took him years to regain his power but in time his shadow grew in the Holstein border country. But that is a tale for another day.

Note: This was an actual wargame ‘mini campaign’ that Mike and I played using the Chaos in Carpathia rules supplemented by simple campaign rules that we made up between us. The Chaos rules are good at depicting combat between assorted monsters and humans, but we felt something was missing. We wanted the game to ‘feel’ like a Gothic horror movie. The campaign rules simply laid out a set of objectives for the monster and a ‘bar of disbelief’ that had to be crossed before the humans could gather their forces and fight back. The monster’s greatest weapon is the fact that nobody believes in monsters. His goal was to achieve as many objectives as possible while “staying below the radar”. His objectives included establishing alternate sanctuaries, collecting ‘brides’ and routine non lethal feeding. He was also required to rest periodically. Support for the idea that a vampire was afoot waxed and waned according to how aggressively the monster pursued his goals. There were two phases per day, daylight and darkness, and multiple locations where elements of the two factions might be deployed in a given phase. If opposing elements found themselves in the same location we went to the tabletop to fight the encounter with miniatures. The final battle occurred when the vampire returned to his lair from an unsuccessful attempt to collect a second bride. There are opportunities to refine the campaign system but overall it did give us the monster movie feel we were after.  

Battle is joined

The Diary of Dr. Plummer, October 13^th, 1748

I write these few lines now against the chance that I may not see the sun rise tomorrow. My young comrades and I now have no choice but to wait here in the monster’s lair until he returns sometime this night. Our campaign began well enough this morning. Following the plan agreed on last night we approached the first of the two cottages recently purchased by Krebs on behalf of his master. We entered openly as if we belonged there and, as Hector predicted, no one questioned our entry. Indeed, there were no townspeople on the streets at all. Over the last few days a sense of foreboding seems to have slowly come over our town. People seem to have caught the fear gripping nearby Ardoberg, but there is something else, too. I believe that they feel, without knowing why, that something evil, something unnatural, is afoot in our town.

Once inside the cottage we started looking for the coffin and for anything that might work to our advantage in the coming battle. Artorius’ tome suggested these satellite locations were simply bolt holes the vampire might avail himself of if something went wrong, but we didn’t know if the place might be occupied by his gypsy retainers or even poor Hannah who was now one of the undead. As it happened, we found a coffin in the basement, but nothing else. We set about rendering the coffin unusable by the vampire, according to the prescription in the book, by planting a portion of the sacred bread in the soil inside. We then went on to the second cottage and repeated the process without incident.

So far the campaign was proceeding according to plan, but now the atmosphere that had so oppressed the town seemed to take hold of Hector. His demeanor had grown more withdrawn as the day progressed. Our plan had called for us to return to my apartment and wait. By now the monster was aware that I knew what he was. He could not know of my young friends. My hope was he would come himself to dispose of me and we would be ready and waiting. We had rejected the plan of storming his house while it was defended by the gypsies but as we approached the intersection that led to my apartment and away from the monster’s lair Hector strode off the wrong way. We caught him up but he looked at me with barely suppressed rage and snarled “It dies today!”. I appealed to his friends but Agamemnon smiled, shrugged and said “Apparently, It dies today” and then they rushed off to join him.  I had no choice but to follow.

Hector, followed closely by the rest of the party, strode directly up to the front door of Lang’s house, drew his pistol and pounded on the door. Whatever Krebs was, he was no soldier. Without looking to see who was on the other side, he simply opened the door and Hector, without hesitation, shot him in the forehead.  The unprepared gypsies came tumbling out of a side room and were met with the ready blades of Hectors friends as they pressed into the foyer behind him. In less than a minute two of the gypsies lay dead on the floor and the other two ran out the back door. Whatever madness had seized Hector was offset by the arrogance or sloth of Krebs, who failed to keep a proper watch.

                      In a moment the defenders were overwhelmed

When I had recovered my composure I prepared my friends for the work before us. As it was now late afternoon there was an excellent chance that the vampire was resting in the house. His coffin, and perhaps another for Hannah, was most likely in the basement. At this time of day he was at his most vulnerable. Taking a pair of lanterns from the kitchen we quickly made our way into the basement. There we found two coffins, one a grand affair and the other a rough built box such as a common man might be buried in. We surrounded the fine coffin, myself with stake and mallet at the ready and the others with weapons drawn. Nestor opened the lid and I made to strike but the coffin was empty! We quickly searched the dark corners of the basement but found nothing. We then denied the monster sanctuary in the great coffin by placing a goodly portion of the sacred bread into the soil therein.

There remained the second coffin. This must be the resting place of the unfortunate Hannah. We surrounded it as we had the other and carefully opened the lid. I was sure she would be in the coffin, and I thought I was prepared. She opened her eyes and I froze. She was a beautiful young lady, unnaturally so now that I reflect on it, and she spoke with a voice like tinkling glass. “Oh, Hector, don’t let them hurt me!” Poor Hector was shaken to his core and turned to appeal to his friends. Agamemnon grasped him by his shoulders and looked into his eyes while Nestor shouted at me “Now, Doctor! Strike!”. In a moment the deed was done. While Agamemnon and Phoenix walked Hector toward the stairs Phoenix stayed behind and helped me to take off the head and place the sacred bread in the coffin.

Agamemnon found brandy for Hector and stayed with him to steady his nerves while the rest of us searched every corner of the house. The monster was certainly away working evil somewhere. The sun is going down and we are resolved to remain here and await his return.  

What have we gotten ourselves into?

Journal of Phoenix, October 12^th 1748

Well, that’s it then. We are in league with a madman. Agamemnon agrees with me but Nestor, the would be Papist priest, accepts the doctor’s wild story and poor Hector, shaken by Hannah’s death, continues to insist her murderer transformed himself into a large wolf before his eyes when he pursued him on the road that night.

After dinner the doctor (an excellent cook, by the way) gathered us in the sitting room and placed a musty old book on the table. He told us that the man Lang is, without a doubt, a vampire! Nestor is a brave man and my sworn comrade but he is from Holstein, and a Catholic to boot so, of course, he had no trouble accepting the doctor’s fairytale. When Agamemnon suggested that vampires were created by mothers to frighten naughty children Nestor was offended and assured him that such creatures had been known to plague certain districts in Holstein within living memory. The doctor, referring to the book, then proceeded to educate us on the ways of a vampire, his strengths and weaknesses, and how we might go about destroying him.

According to our host the vampire possesses great physical strength. It can transform itself into many forms; a large wolf, or bat, or even a cloud of mist. The monster has these powers only between the hours of dusk and dawn. In the light of day the vampire is much like any other man, and so can be killed more easily. For that reason a vampire will often rest during daylight hours and hunt at night. If it rests in it’s native soil the monster’s powers are renewed that much more efficiently. Apparently,  to destroy the thing, one must drive a wooden stake through it’s heart and cut off it’s head. The vampire, quoth our good doctor, feeds on human blood. If he takes blood from a victim without killing then the victim will recover. Sometimes a vampire will take a mate by draining so much blood that the victim dies. That victim will then rise as a vampire bound to the one who inflicted the fatal wound.

The doctor believes that poor Hannah has become a vampire, and the bride of Lang. At this, Hector was furious and swore a terrible vengeance on the monster. As Agamemnon, Nestor, Hector and I took an oath when first we met to share everything, we now stood and swore together to kill Lang, be he monster or man.  Hector was for storming Lang’s house this very night but the doctor persuaded us that only a careful plan would ensure success against such an evil power.

The four young men swear an oath to destroy the monster
Furnishings by Mike

The doctor proceeded to lay out his plan. The man Krebs is, the doctor believes, not a vampire but rather his human slave. According to the book it is common for a vampire to keep a human in thrall to guard him during daylight hours and carry out any necessary interactions with humans. The doctor says the vampires greatest guarantee of security is that civilized people in the modern world don’t believe vampires exist. Then there is the matter of the gypsies. They live outside the pale of law and society and have been known, according to Nestor, to serve creatures like Lang for gold. Krebs has four of them living in Lang’s house.

Rather than strike directly at the vampire’s lair, Doctor Plummer proposes to first raid two other houses in the town. One was purchased by Krebs several days ago and a second this very day. In both cases the gypsies were seen moving a coffin into the house. The doctor believes these are alternate resting places for the monster and he believes we need to deprive it of those sanctuaries. We discussed waiting until dark to break into those properties by stealth but Hector suggested the safest way to break into an empty house is to enter by the front door in broad daylight as if one belonged there. He assures us he can disable a door lock as quickly as if he had a key. I wonder how he knows such things?

                                              Krebs and the gypsies hide another coffin

Finally, the doctor opened a chest and laid out the arsenal he had been amassing for the coming battle. Of course, we all had our own swords. In addition to these he issued each of us a pistol, a blossom of garlic, two wooden stakes and a wooden cross. He also showed us a small silver box that contained a quantity of the sacred bread used by Catholics in their services. This last was provided by Captain Boehm, who obtained it from the pastor of the only Catholic church in Ardoberg.  

So! Tonight we sleep and take it in turns to watch and tomorrow let this strange business begin.   

The plot thickens

Ardoberg Enquirer broadsheet

October 11^th, 1748

Hannah Ruedel, A young woman of good family was murdered in her father’s home last night. A gentleman who had been courting the young lady came to Herr Ruedel’s home to call on her, and was being given the right about by her father due to the lateness of the hour when they heard a faint cry coming from her bedroom. They rushed to her aid only to find her lying on the floor. The window was open and they saw a black cloaked figure moving rapidly away down the road to Heckel. The young man went off in pursuit of the assailant leaving the father to care for his stricken daughter. Alas, the young woman was dead. The cause of death appears to be blood loss, but there was no blood to be found anywhere near the body. The assassin escaped capture in the darkness.

From : Captain Boehm, Commander of the Ardoberg City Watch       October 12^th , 1748

To: Herr Von Strutz, Burgermeister of Ardoberg

Regarding: The recent murder

The initial investigation report and the Certificate of Death you have already seen. I am writing now to make you aware of information perhaps best left out of the official report.

 First, the family of the murdered girl laid her out in their home in the customary way in preparation for the funeral. Sometime during the night her body was taken from the home. We don’t know who did it or why. The family has asked that this new outrage not be made public.

That same day an old friend of mine, Doctor Plummer from the town of Heckel, visited me and asked for my help and advice on a death that he claims was a murder in his town. Plummer has always been a sensible man, but he was beside himself claiming that his friend was murdered by a relative, and that there is something uncanny about the killer.

If not for the recent events in Ardoberg I might think the good doctor was losing his mind. As things stand, I think the situation in Heckel bears looking into. The magistrate of that town would never tolerate me sending any of my people to investigate. You know of the ill will he bears me. I do, however, have another option. There are four young men sitting in my jail right now for disturbing the peace. This is not their first taste of my hospitality. They are typical of the young pups that come to our fair city seeking fame and fortune, but I must say I have grown fond of this particular group. They remind me of you and I and our circle of ruffians when we were their age. One of them was courting the young lady who was murdered and, in fact, pursued the assassin that evening. Last night they were going from tavern to tavern trying to turn up information on the killer when a brawl broke out. Not much different from last weekend when they were in the taverns for no particular reason and a brawl broke out.

I shall release these young men on the condition that they place themselves at the disposal of Doctor Plummer. They can assist him in his investigation and protect him, for I fear he is in great danger. If nothing else, it will at least get them out of Ardoberg for a week or two, which will afford us a little peace.

The recently deceased Hannan Ruedel leaves her home to join her master
 - Really cool house by Mike Covell

Diary of Dr. Plummer, October 12^th, 1748

This morning four young men presented themselves to me with a letter of introduction from my friend, Captain Boehm. It seems they are to assist me in the matter of Herr Lang, but to do so without revealing any connection with the authorities in Ardoberg. Boehm has charged them with keeping me safe so they will be staying here in my apartment. Close quarters indeed, and they have already eaten every speck of food in the place, but I confess their presence makes me feel hopeful for the first time since this tragic affair began. This afternoon we will lay in supplies for a long campaign and this evening I will acquaint my young comrades with the terrible secrets revealed to me by Artorius’ book. If they are still here in the morning, we will begin our work.