Guardians of the Flame, Books by Joel Rosenberg. The Warriors by Joel Rosenberg. The idea of this ballad is taken from a scene in 'Storkother,' a tragedy by the Danish poet Ochlenschlager.
The sepulchral fire here alluded to, and supposed to guard the ashes of deceased heroes, is frequently mentioned in the Northern Sagas. Severe sufferings to the departed spirit were supposed by the Scandinavian mythologists to be the consequence of any profanation of the sepulchre. Voice of the charm and the Runic rhyme! Then the torrents of the North, And the forest pines were still, While a hollow chant came forth From the dark sepulchral hill.
Then died the solemn lay, As a trumpet's music dies, By the night-wind borne away Through the wild and stormy skies. The fir-trees rock'd to the wailing blast, As on through the forest the warrior pass'd,— Through the forest of Odin, the dim and old, The dark place of visions and legends, told By the fires of Northern pine.
Our grouplet has played The Sword and the Flame since about , and still enjoys it. Since we play with more figures than the game was designed for, we use a simplified faster version that eliminates some of the individual-soldier features of the game though one figure still is one man. We got more grandiose as we went along. First just buildings, then a fort. Native-bashing began to pall, so we started playing Brits vs German vs.
American colonial troops, with their native allies. Then came small steam launches and native dhows. Then early aircraft to fling hand-bombs at them with appalling inaccuracy. The period stretched from about to the eve of WWI, all occuring at once -- Gatling guns bringing down DH-1 biplanes.
River steamers next; a big amphibious landing to rescue the Colonel Bunthorne's daughter from being sacrificed to appease the volcano god Paper-mache volcano spewing dry-ice vapor. Then a detour into HG Wells' War of the Worlds -- Martian tripods battling it out with field batteries and ironclads in darkest Whosistan. Then steam-powered Landships ramming and firing high-wheeled bicycle torpedoes at one another.
Though the group games rather seldom nowadays, the German player still occasionally threatens to build a zeppelin from 1-liter drink bottles. Their gallant opponents, from the wily Pathan to the fanatic Dervish, were often severely beaten, but the fight was always hard, and the British ranks somewhat depleted.
The frontiers of the Empire were truly, as Kipling said, "bought with the sword and the flame". One Captain, Sergeant-Major, and two platoons represent an infantry company. The colonel and two infantry companies represent an infantry battalion. Tribal opponents are organized into clans or bands of 20 figures, one of whom is the Clan Chief, Amaviyo or Sheik. Three clans and a tribal leader called Hill Chieftain, Induna, or Emir, form a tribe. Mark Stevens strikes again!
Mark Stevens does it yet again! Under developement. May change frequently. Major updates and changes to come! Only low level infantry weapons so far. Return to the Jackson Gamers' Home Rules.
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