The Back of Beyond, Contemptible Little Armies / Back of Beyond, 28mm

This was another of those very large multi-player Back of Beyond games, where everyone gets to stab someone else in the back, lands up fighting on two (or more) fronts, and ends up with little to show for the huge bodycount! This game involved Russians (Reds and Whites), Turks, Tibetans, Chinese, Bokharans and the Army of God – and that wasn’t counting the umpire factions such as fractious Bhuddhist monks or fanatical Russian Orthodox sects!Each faction had a 1,000 point army, and the “last one standing” rules meant that everyone had to make (and break) alliances in order to survive. For instance, my Turks had a non-aggression pact with both the Reds and the Whites, until both sides shot at us at different times – as well as shooting at each other.We saw off a half-hearted Red assault, turned our own guns on the Whites when they least expected it, and fought off the Mad Baron’s Tibetans in a hard-fought melee. We were also strafed by the God’s Army plane (don’t ask), and our armoured car was brewed up by a Chinese armoured train! Yes, you guessed it – it was all very silly, and great fun!The game was run by Colin Jack, and true to form he introduced the possibility of strange special events, finding money or recruits when occupying buildings, and the odd appearance of special characters – mine included Tin Tin and Snowy! the Tibetans (who for some reason had Polish allies) spent the game sniping at people using an anti-tank rifle, the Army of God retaliated by firing a massive 8-inch howitzer at the Poles, and the Whites kept on attacking neighbouring factions and then apologising for their actions. Actually, silly doesn’t even begin to sum it up…The game was fought on a table which was around 18 feet by 8 feet, with extensions in various places. You’d have thought this was plenty of room to play on, but people kept on being hemmed in, then deciding to attack their neighbours in order to gain a little bit of lebensraum. The pictures above shows a clash between Tibetan cavalry (encouraged by the Mad Baron) attacking a Turkish infantry unit, while an 8-inch howitzer belonging to the God’s Army fired on the Poles. All crazy stuff…The rules were Chris Peers’ Contemptible Little Armies, and his Back of Beyond lists for them. The rules always produce a quirky, bloody but fun game, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Who won? Well, hard to say. This was a two-day battle, and I had to bail out ant the end of the first day of fighting. At the time, my money was on the slimy backstabbing Chinese to win, whose army was poised to crush the Whites as the game finally drew to a close. The real winner? The Whites and the Poles – they rallied, fought off their opponents, and fought each other to a bloody draw.  

Tags: Contemptible Little Armies