Kalydonian boar hunting with Palaeo Diet

[Nic Wright]

This week I decided to play around with the Palaeo Diet rules a little bit and take them to a different setting. From the distant mists of time to the mythical past, I dug around in my box of Greek myth stuff for Of Gods and Mortals and came out with a big pig and three heroes. Welcome to the closing scene of the Kalydonian Boar hunt!

Oineus, king of Kalydon in Aitolia, west-central Greece, has offended the goddess Artemis. Forgetting to honour her at the annual harvest festival, she has sent a giant boar to ravage the kingdom, destroying its crops and vineyards. Desperate to kill the beast, Oineus has sent out to all the neighbouring kingdoms, seeking heroic hunters to bring the beast down. Prominent among the hunters who respond are Meleager, the king’s own son; Atalanta, the Arkadian huntress with whom Meleager is besotted, and Peleus, exiled prince of Aigina, soon to be king of Phthia, and future father of Achilles.

http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/this-week-i-decided-to-play-around-with.html

Please do have a read and see how they got on.

http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/

[Victoria Dickson]

That was great, the blood wound markers add to the look of the report. 🙂

http://crazywargames.blogspot.co.uk/

[Angel Barracks]

That was cool, more please!!

[kyoteblue]

I like it.

[Nic Wright]

Cheers all. 🙂

Victoria, the wound markers are from the Litko Ganesha Games marker set. I use them in everything these days.

 

 

http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/

[Gaz045]

Heroes indeed to tackle wild boar with clubs!

Great AAR…..I’m not familiar with the ruleset…..?

"Even dry tree bark is not bitter to the hungry squirrel"

[Patrice]

Great pics and story, thanks for sharing.

I like the blood markers too.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Gone Fishing]

Timely, this. I was just looking over my collection of Greek Mythology figures yesterday, so needless to say I read this with great interest. Really a splendid report – you write well – and it’s clear the game was a close-run thing to the very end. The figures and table are lovely; there is something about focused, compact little games like this that is very attractive. Must say I’m not familiar with the rules either. I’m aware of a thing called Google, but care to say what you think of them? I’m always on the lookout for a fun new set.

As an aside, I’m quite blown away with the AAR’s here lately. Been loving AB’s Hyborian adventures with CROM!, and now this. Thank you!

[Nic Wright]

Daryl, Gaz et al., the rules are something I am developing for Ganesha Games.

Palaeo Diet: Eat or be Eaten (PDEE) is a table top hunting game set in a pre-historic world where our hunter-gatherer ancestors (and their hominid cousins) had to hunt and eat, or be hunted and eaten. The game seeks to model a time when humans are not yet in control of the world around them – a time when the landscape could just as easily give succour to a struggling tribe, as it could cripple a thriving people.

The game is designed to be used for solo games or for (mostly) co-operative play with up to four players. Models are divided broadly into three categories:

1) Hunters, armed hominids activated and controlled directly by players. Hunters may attempt up to three actions per turn, although if they attempt to do too much at once, they can get a bit stressed out and mess up. There are different equipment types and a range of optional traits that can be diced for to give each of your tribe members a back-story and personality.

2) Hounds, domesticated wolves or dogs under the limited control of players. A hound has to activate after its master and is often quite obedient. However, when it does fail activation rolls, a hound’s instincts take over and it automatically conducts actions out of the player’s control.

3) Beasts, non-player models that react to the actions of hunters (and hounds). Ranging from giant grazers and apex predators, down to fluffy little critters, beasts are never directly controlled. They react to various triggers and their actions are randomly determined against their stimulus.

The hunting party should normally consist of between two and eight hunters in total, divided equally between the players. Any number of beasts may be placed on the table but, as a rule of thumb, the total bulk of the beasts (a determination of both their number of wounds and their food value as a carcass) should be equal to, or more than, the number of hunters. The introductory scenario, for example, sets four hunters against a single mammoth (bulk 4).

The Kalydonian boar hunt was the first time I have tried them ‘out of context’, but they worked very well for this particular scenario. If you’d like to see more after action reports, you can find some here —> http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Palaeo%20Diet

 

http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/

[Gone Fishing]

Thank you for the detailed description, Nic. At least that explains why we’d never heard of it. The basic engine of the Song series is remarkably strong, and it’s fun to hear about your new take on it. Keep us posted on its release!

[Gaz045]

Thanks for the info!  I have just got the FIW and Napoleonic ‘Song of’ versions…..very interested in these too as I have some Greeks and barbarian types kicking about from a Jason & the Argonauts frenzy about 20 years ago!!

"Even dry tree bark is not bitter to the hungry squirrel"

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