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The Silver Bayonet: A Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror

A skirmish wargame of gothic horror during the Napoleonic Wars written by the Joseph A. McCullough, the award-winning creator of Frostgrave.

As the wars of Napoleon ravage Europe, chaos and fear reign and the darkness that once clung to the shadows has been emboldened. Supernatural creatures--vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and worse take advantage of the havoc, striking out at isolated farms, villages and even military units. Whether they are pursuing some master plan or simply reveling in their newfound freedom is unknown. Most people dismiss reports of these slaughters as the rantings of madmen or the lies of deserters, but a few know better...

In Britain, a secret award--the Silver Bayonet--is presented to those soldiers brave or fortunate enough to have faced these creatures and survived. Often, these survivors are swiftly seconded to a specialist unit and ordered to report to one of Wellington's exploring officers. Formed to root out and destroy the supernatural menace, these small units are tasked with investigating strange reports, scouring battlefields, and seeking out allies and artifacts that could stem the tide. Britain is not alone in this fight--the other great nations have their own units dedicated to the fight against the supernatural--but that is not to say that mankind is united in the face of the rising darkness. While the rising darkness is a common foe, and rival units may forge uneasy and fleeting alliances, patriotism and national interest will just as often pit them against each other in races for ancient knowledge or forgotten treasure.

The Silver Bayonet is a skirmish wargame of gothic horror set during the Napoleonic Wars. Each player forms an elite band of monster hunters drawn from the ranks of one of the great powers. Riflemen, swordsmen, and engineers fight side-by-side with mystics, occultists, and even those few supernatural creatures that can be controlled or reasoned with enough to make common cause. The game can be played solo, co-operatively, or competitively, with players progressing through a series of interlinked adventures with their soldiers gaining experience and suffering grievous wounds and their units triumphing... or falling in the face of the shadows. It is a game of action and adventure, where musket and sabre meet tooth and claw.

I'm all over this.

Forgot to add that the release date is October 26th 2021.

Could be a good ruleset for all the Turnip28 folks out there

Everyone is jumping all on board that weird napoleonics hype train. First Turnip28, then Sludge, now this.

Could be a good ruleset for all the Turnip28 folks out there

Turnip28 has its own ruleset in development.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Everyone is jumping all on board that weird napoleonics hype train. First Turnip28, then Sludge, now this.

Could be a good ruleset for all the Turnip28 folks out there

Turnip28 has its own ruleset in development.

I know, but this could be a good alternative home for your creepy napoleonic stuff.

The only thing that would make me consider this would be napleonics in dynamic poses.

But my guess is you will see a lot of historical plastics subbed in their supremely boring "guy walking" poses.

I wonder what creatures would be allowed to join the hunters. I hope that ''not evil'' werewolf could be a possible member.

And now I've found a perfect game for all those Second Government figures from Durgin Paint Forge!

Now I'm even more tempted to grab their STL files during the pledge manager for their last campaign!

Broken Legions, meets Chosen Men, meets Dracula's America..... by the guy who did Frostgrave!

Seems like a solid concept. I am wondering how far it gets from his Frostgrave model?

Flintloque figures might look a little bit out of place..

I’m a fan of Joseph’s designs in the first place, but also a fan of the period. I can see plenty of uses for models in several of my collections for this. Sign me up.

When discussing Turnip28 I did say that the massed intricate formations was a key part of the period for me but yeah I'm interested....

Finally we can play Brotherhood of the Wolf!

I hope they have kung fu Native Americans.

I would be all over this if I wasn't already invested heavily into figures and Wild West scenery for Dracula's America, which is kind of along the same lines.

Well, good to see another game that can use the Dire Alliance: Horror's gothic horror miniatures.

ObPlug: 100 mini's for $70 plus shipping. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blacklistgames/dire-alliance-horror?ref=user_menu

I guess when the ruleset we'll better know how Napoleonic we'd need Napoleonic miniatures for. I'm also kind of loathed to pick up another genre of miniatures (since I don't play historical wargames).so hope to know if I can use, say, my 1920's Call of Cthulhu adventurers, CMON World of Smog steampunk types, or monster hunters from Horror Series 1.

I better be able to play as the monsters! Rawr!

Adding the name to the thread title.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Isn't McCullough Destro's real last name?

No wonder his wargames are so good!

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Adding the name to the thread title.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Isn't McCullough Destro's real last name?

No wonder his wargames are so good!

McCullen

 Theophony wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Adding the name to the thread title.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Isn't McCullough Destro's real last name?

No wonder his wargames are so good!

McCullen

He changed his name and went into wargames to fool the GI Joe team.

While Dracula's America does many of these concepts very well, I can see scope for a cool Napoleonic twist on the gothic horror;
- muzzle-loading weapons; you better be quick with that spit&tap when the dead start shuffling from the churchyard!
- Local folklore; werewolves and vampires sure, for all the existing model lines, but what did Napoleon's legion really come face to face with in the howling Russian winter? Were all the slaughtered patrols in the Iberian peninsula really just the work of vengeful local resistance and guerillas? What are the Kaiser's Jagers hunting for high in the Alps? And what was Napoleon himself looking for in Egypt all those years ago? Lots of modelling potential.

I also wish this was somehow accompanied with more dynamic models, but I'm a little afraid they'd come in the NorthStar's chunky retro-Brit style ... sets of arms&weapons in poses other than shouldered and heads with more expressions, all compatible with the very good existing historic lines would be perfect.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
Finally we can play Brotherhood of the Wolf!

Loved that movie.

In Her Majesty's Name covers this genre pretty well too.

I hope it does something different than the Commander/Lt gain XP, and then a group of goons with upgraded specialists that Frostgrave, Ghost, and Stargrave looks to have.

I would love to see Mr. McCullough branch out a bit in their design ethos.

 Easy E wrote:
I hope it does something different than the Commander/Lt gain XP, and then a group of goons with upgraded specialists that Frostgrave, Ghost, and Stargrave looks to have.

I would love to see Mr. McCullough branch out a bit in their design ethos.

Ghost Archipelago was still a Frostgrave publication (as in: the full title is Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago), while Stragrave's name already implies a close connection to the same mechanics. Nothing of that sort is visible here though, so until proven otherwise, this could be as different from Frostgrave as Oathmark (another McCullough design), aside from the fact that both this and Frostgrave happen to both be skirmish games.

 Easy E wrote:
In Her Majesty's Name covers this genre pretty well too.

I hope it does something different than the Commander/Lt gain XP, and then a group of goons with upgraded specialists that Frostgrave, Ghost, and Stargrave looks to have.

I would love to see Mr. McCullough branch out a bit in their design ethos.

 Coenus Scaldingus wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
I hope it does something different than the Commander/Lt gain XP, and then a group of goons with upgraded specialists that Frostgrave, Ghost, and Stargrave looks to have.

I would love to see Mr. McCullough branch out a bit in their design ethos.

Ghost Archipelago was still a Frostgrave publication (as in: the full title is Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago), while Stragrave's name already implies a close connection to the same mechanics. Nothing of that sort is visible here though, so until proven otherwise, this could be as different from Frostgrave as Oathmark (another McCullough design), aside from the fact that both this and Frostgrave happen to both be skirmish games.

The name pretty much says it's Frostgrave in space.

Definitely unfair to say the man can't write anything else tho

> The name pretty much says it's Frostgrave in space.

Are you talking about Stargrave?
https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/stargrave-science-fiction-wargames-in-the-ravaged-galaxy/news/frostgrave-spin-off-stargrave-announced

 lord_blackfang wrote:
The name pretty much says it's Frostgrave in space.

Definitely unfair to say the man can't write anything else tho

Crossed wires?

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/793033.page

Okay I edited my post to help out those who struggle with context and flowing conversations

Some further food for thought - the name has already been used by a well regarded Vietnam War war game that has nothing to do with Napoleonics or undead - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/214996/silver-bayonet-first-team-vietnam-1965-25th-annive

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
In Her Majesty's Name covers this genre pretty well too.

I hope it does something different than the Commander/Lt gain XP, and then a group of goons with upgraded specialists that Frostgrave, Ghost, and Stargrave looks to have.

I would love to see Mr. McCullough branch out a bit in their design ethos.

 Coenus Scaldingus wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
I hope it does something different than the Commander/Lt gain XP, and then a group of goons with upgraded specialists that Frostgrave, Ghost, and Stargrave looks to have.

I would love to see Mr. McCullough branch out a bit in their design ethos.

Ghost Archipelago was still a Frostgrave publication (as in: the full title is Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago), while Stragrave's name already implies a close connection to the same mechanics. Nothing of that sort is visible here though, so until proven otherwise, this could be as different from Frostgrave as Oathmark (another McCullough design), aside from the fact that both this and Frostgrave happen to both be skirmish games.

The name pretty much says it's Frostgrave in space.

Definitely unfair to say the man can't write anything else tho

For the record, I never said that.

I know from personal experience that once you have a successful model, it IS hard to move away from it. Especially when you are creating at the pace he is creating at!

Obviously Rangers of Shadowdeep was a big breakthrough product as well as Oathmark.

I am just hoping to see something a bit different with this than Nappiegrave.