The Dunelm Tilts
So, once again it seems that Uriah of Gelderland is off to a flying start; that's what being a man of leisure combined with digital downloads does for you! That said my hard copy rules have arrived so I was keen to crack on and give them a go. I don't have a tiltyard yet but armed with a green cloth, a few sticks and half a dozen knights I was good to go.
For this first outing I just used the NPC's straight from the book. I wanted to test the main aspects of the rules so went for a half size tournament with four knights on the bracket, instead of the usual eight. These would compete in one on one melee, archery and jousting.
To choose which NPC's to use I diced for knight types as per a Regional Tournament; this gave me three common knights and a veteran. The next step was to flip through the NPC charts until I found NPCs that matched my figures - at least in armament. This gave me:
1) Sir Leonard Weber of the Order of the Sacred Cross, armed with mace and shield.
2) Sir Chester Ainsworth of the Order of the Sacred Cross, armed with sword and shield. (Actually this is my character figure for Lion Rampant, Alexander Scrimgour. I was secretly rooting for this one.)
3) Sir Dan of Halsall, armed with a large axe.
4) Sir Justin of the Order of the Sacred Cross, armed with poleaxe. Sir Justin is a veteran.
The first event was to be single combat; not greatly different from Sons of Mars but I was glad to see that it also felt right for medieval combat.
First up was Scrimgour (sorry Sir Chester) versus Sir Justin. A veteran armed with a poleaxe this was going to be scary. Or so I thought. Sir Chester immediately seized the advantage moving into combat scoring two hits including a critical.
The poleaxe is rubbish at close fighting so Sir Justin attempted to break off but failed with Sir Chester gaining another critical hit! This was to set the pattern for this bout really. Sir Justin made a bit of a comeback mid-game but by round five was down with 9 hits versus Sir Chester's four.
The second bout was Sir Leonard versus Sir Dan with a humongous axe. Yet again the apparent underdog surprised the crowd with a swift charge in round one inflicting three critical hits. Yes count them - three.That's six potential hits in the first attack!
Ironically this bout was to be characterised by good saving throws and only a couple of hits went through. Sir Dan made a fight of it and managed 4 hits in the next round.
Unfortunately, three of these were saved. By round four or five Sir Dan was down with only a single hit on Sir Leonard.
On to the final and it's Sir Chester versus Sir Leonard. Yet again the reliability of the old sword and shield combo plus Sir Chester's knack for rolling tens proved unstoppable. Sir Chester decisively vanquished his opponent with only a single hit on himself.
Contest two was to be the archery. I played this as a dice game to save time. Three rounds of 3 shots per match. I rolled all six dice (3 black and 3 white) for each round simultaneously. Super quick but of course all three arrows have to be at the same ring this way. If I'd spent more time, playing each shot, I suspect it would have been more tactical - a surprisingly effective system really. (And I know Uriah has some plans to jazz it all up as well).
First at the butts were Sir Chester and Sir Justin; both carrying ordinary bows with no particular archery skills. A clear win for Sir Chester with 43 points versus Sir Leonard's 31. Beaten by Sir Chester in melee and archery, the veteran was not having a good day.
The second match was to be Sir Leonard versus Sir Dan. Both carried longbows and Sir Dan had the torque ability; this would allow him a good chance at splitting an arrow. However, as I wasn't playing tactical, the ability went unused. Nevertheless, Sir Dan pulled off a convincing 37 to 22 point win.
The archery final was to between Sir Chester and Sir Dan. A close match but the longbow had the edge with a 42 to 36 point win for Sir Dan.
Then it was on to the jousting and I must say this was great fun. The joust is surprisingly complex (yet with simple mechanisms) with many factors coming into play; relative speed of horses, accuracy of hits, strength of blow, how well seated the knight is and how disciplined the horse are all included. Each bout consists of 5 passes with the knights scoring points for a clean hit, shattering their lance and unhorsing their opponent.
Round 1 saw Sir Chester shatter two lances and unhorse Sir Justin. Unfortunately, Sir Justin also shattered two lances and unhorsed Sir Chester. However, Sir Justin also achieved one more clean hit; winning by one point. Revenge for being beaten in the melee and archery!
On to round 2 and it's the old rivals Sir Dan and Sir Leonard. With two hits plus two shattered lances versus Sir Dan's two broken lances it was aclear win for Sir Leonard.
So it's down to Sir Leonard and Sir Justin in the final. A close match this one resulting in a draw! This called for a final pass with the first knight to land a blow being declared the winner. And to thunderous applause Sir Leonard steals the day.
Final Scores (I forgot to do tie breaks for third place so only first and second places will count)
Melee: First place Sir Chester (5 points), Second place Sir Leonard (3 points)
Archery: First place Sir Dan (5 points), Second place Sir Chester (3 points)
Jousting: First place Sir Leonard (5 points), Second place Sir Justin (3 points)
Totals:
Sir Chester 8 points
Sir Leonard 8 points
Sir Sir Dan 5 points
Sir Justin 3 points
So a tie for first place - perhaps I should have done 3rd place bouts after all.
For this first outing I just used the NPC's straight from the book. I wanted to test the main aspects of the rules so went for a half size tournament with four knights on the bracket, instead of the usual eight. These would compete in one on one melee, archery and jousting.
To choose which NPC's to use I diced for knight types as per a Regional Tournament; this gave me three common knights and a veteran. The next step was to flip through the NPC charts until I found NPCs that matched my figures - at least in armament. This gave me:
1) Sir Leonard Weber of the Order of the Sacred Cross, armed with mace and shield.
2) Sir Chester Ainsworth of the Order of the Sacred Cross, armed with sword and shield. (Actually this is my character figure for Lion Rampant, Alexander Scrimgour. I was secretly rooting for this one.)
3) Sir Dan of Halsall, armed with a large axe.
4) Sir Justin of the Order of the Sacred Cross, armed with poleaxe. Sir Justin is a veteran.
 |
| L to R. Sir Leonard, Sir Chester, Sir Dan and Sir Justin Apparently we're in Verona - actually it's just the tin I keep my knights in! |
The first event was to be single combat; not greatly different from Sons of Mars but I was glad to see that it also felt right for medieval combat.
First up was Scrimgour (sorry Sir Chester) versus Sir Justin. A veteran armed with a poleaxe this was going to be scary. Or so I thought. Sir Chester immediately seized the advantage moving into combat scoring two hits including a critical.
 |
| Sir Chester gives it some welly |
The poleaxe is rubbish at close fighting so Sir Justin attempted to break off but failed with Sir Chester gaining another critical hit! This was to set the pattern for this bout really. Sir Justin made a bit of a comeback mid-game but by round five was down with 9 hits versus Sir Chester's four.
 |
| First bout to Sir Chester |
The second bout was Sir Leonard versus Sir Dan with a humongous axe. Yet again the apparent underdog surprised the crowd with a swift charge in round one inflicting three critical hits. Yes count them - three.That's six potential hits in the first attack!
 |
| Mace - a knight's best friend |
Ironically this bout was to be characterised by good saving throws and only a couple of hits went through. Sir Dan made a fight of it and managed 4 hits in the next round.
 |
| Sir Dan fights back |
Unfortunately, three of these were saved. By round four or five Sir Dan was down with only a single hit on Sir Leonard.
 |
| Sir Leonard Prevails |
On to the final and it's Sir Chester versus Sir Leonard. Yet again the reliability of the old sword and shield combo plus Sir Chester's knack for rolling tens proved unstoppable. Sir Chester decisively vanquished his opponent with only a single hit on himself.
 |
| Sir Chester and the black dice of doom |
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| Sir Chester for winner |
Contest two was to be the archery. I played this as a dice game to save time. Three rounds of 3 shots per match. I rolled all six dice (3 black and 3 white) for each round simultaneously. Super quick but of course all three arrows have to be at the same ring this way. If I'd spent more time, playing each shot, I suspect it would have been more tactical - a surprisingly effective system really. (And I know Uriah has some plans to jazz it all up as well).
 |
| Archers at the ready |
First at the butts were Sir Chester and Sir Justin; both carrying ordinary bows with no particular archery skills. A clear win for Sir Chester with 43 points versus Sir Leonard's 31. Beaten by Sir Chester in melee and archery, the veteran was not having a good day.
The second match was to be Sir Leonard versus Sir Dan. Both carried longbows and Sir Dan had the torque ability; this would allow him a good chance at splitting an arrow. However, as I wasn't playing tactical, the ability went unused. Nevertheless, Sir Dan pulled off a convincing 37 to 22 point win.
The archery final was to between Sir Chester and Sir Dan. A close match but the longbow had the edge with a 42 to 36 point win for Sir Dan.
Then it was on to the jousting and I must say this was great fun. The joust is surprisingly complex (yet with simple mechanisms) with many factors coming into play; relative speed of horses, accuracy of hits, strength of blow, how well seated the knight is and how disciplined the horse are all included. Each bout consists of 5 passes with the knights scoring points for a clean hit, shattering their lance and unhorsing their opponent.
Round 1 saw Sir Chester shatter two lances and unhorse Sir Justin. Unfortunately, Sir Justin also shattered two lances and unhorsed Sir Chester. However, Sir Justin also achieved one more clean hit; winning by one point. Revenge for being beaten in the melee and archery!
 |
| Sir Justin has his revenge |
On to round 2 and it's the old rivals Sir Dan and Sir Leonard. With two hits plus two shattered lances versus Sir Dan's two broken lances it was aclear win for Sir Leonard.
So it's down to Sir Leonard and Sir Justin in the final. A close match this one resulting in a draw! This called for a final pass with the first knight to land a blow being declared the winner. And to thunderous applause Sir Leonard steals the day.
 |
| Sir Leonard wins on a tie break |
Final Scores (I forgot to do tie breaks for third place so only first and second places will count)
Melee: First place Sir Chester (5 points), Second place Sir Leonard (3 points)
Archery: First place Sir Dan (5 points), Second place Sir Chester (3 points)
Jousting: First place Sir Leonard (5 points), Second place Sir Justin (3 points)
Totals:
Sir Chester 8 points
Sir Leonard 8 points
Sir Sir Dan 5 points
Sir Justin 3 points
So a tie for first place - perhaps I should have done 3rd place bouts after all.
Well done to Sir Chester, and loving those hounskull helmets.
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