Escape from Old Delhi
By Warren Gleeson
Notes: These are the rules for a participation game for British soldiers attempting to escape the chaos of Delhi in the immediate aftermath of the native indian troops mutinying and rampaging through the City on 11th May 1857.
Players – 6 players (and the umpire).
Duration – about an hour.
Game Premise
The year is 1857, you are a dashing British officer in the British East India Company. The locals are revolting and the army is in mutiny. All hell has broken loose as you flee from the irate horde of locals towards the British muster at the Flagstaff Tower. Unfortunately everyone is out to get you so you need to make your way to Kabul Gate at the other side of the city. The objective is to survive, but any people saved along the way wouldn’t do your career a disservice, whilst any goods acquired would certainly aid your mess bill.
Players
Each Player is a Gentleman or a Cad. The objective for the player is to get their character from the Kashmire Gate all the way through Delhi to escape through the Kabul Gate and get to the Flagstaff Tower where it is believed (hoped) that a detachment of British troops are currently stationed.
The Player Turn
A player has 3 action points that can be used to do a multitude of things. Each Player completes their turn before another player starts their turn.
Action points may be used for any of the following
- move 3 spaces
- fight one round of combat
- fire gun
- pick up object
- use object
- Load Gun
- Shrug off a wound
Firing Weapons
Each weapon has a maximum range. A clear line of sight must be available, where the line drawn from the centre of the originating square to the centre of the target square does not cross any building or figures. Each shot taken reduces your bullets by 1 (given to umpire)
Pistol 3 squares
Musket 6 squares
Rifled Musket 8 squares
To hit a target the character needs to roll equal to or above their Shooting skill after any modifiers have been applied.
Modifiers;
-1 Character has moved or intends to move this turn
-1 Target is a child or female (must pass a ‘Cad‘ test – if passed increase cad rating)
-1 target has cover (cannon, table clutter, doorway, low wall etc.)
Fighting
A character may attack an NPC or Indian Mob. To hit, the character needs to roll their Fight skill after any modifiers have been applied.
Modifiers;
+2 Character has charged into combat
+2 Character has a sword
+0 Character has an improvised weapon
-1 Character is unarmed
-1 target has a shield
-2 Target is a child or female (must pass a ‘Cad‘ test – if passed increase players cad rating)
-1 target has cover (cannon, table clutter, doorway, low wall etc.)
Wounding Someone or Something
A simple roll of 4+ is required to wound an NPC or Indian Mob, a character is wounded on a 5+.
Once a character is reduced to zero wounds they are out of the game.
Regaining Wounds
A character may attempt to ‘shrug off a wound’. This takes an action point. The player rolls a dice which is modified by the number of wounds which they have already taken.
Wounds Taken | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Die Roll1 | It’s more serious than I thought You’re Dead | It’s more serious than I thought! – lose 1 wound | It’s more serious than I thought! – lose 1 wound |
2 | Nothing | Nothing | Nothing |
3 | Nothing | Nothing | Gain 1 Wound |
4 | Nothing | Gain 1 Wound | Gain 1 Wound |
5 | Gain 1 Wound | Gain 1 Wound | Gain 1 Wound |
6 | Gain 1 Wound | Gain 1 Wound | Gain 1 Wound |
As characters take wounds during the game their ability to move, shoot, or fight reduces until such a point when they are incapacitated.
Doing things
Generally it takes one action point to do something – just give it a go. Doing things include opening doors, picking things up, throwing things, drinking things etc. The umpire will confirm whether an action is allowed and the consequences arising from it.
Gentlemen and Cads
A player starts as a gentleman, however their actions may result in their caddish dark-side slowly coming to the fore. The objective of the game is for a player to escape from Delhi. Should two or more players succeed then the player with the lowest Cad rating will be determined the winner. Of course there is nothing to stop a Cad from arranging a suitable ‘accident’ for other player characters. An accident can take place out of sight of any other player characters who aren’t involved in the ‘accident’. The player must successfully pass a Cad test before arranging an accident. An accident can be anything as simple as taking a shot with a pistol or musket, to attacking them with a sword even to firing a cannon at them! More subtle arrangements such as drawing the mobs towards the intended victim may be attempted and may in fact be more rewarding…
The Cad Test…
To successfully pass a cad test a player needs to roll equal to or lower than their Cad rating. If they are successful then their Cad rating increases by 1. Players start on 1 so it takes a lot to overcome their upbringing but once they start, then it becomes easier to continue down the slippery slope.
Mutineers & Mobs
Once all of the players have taken their actions the umpire then takes the actions for the mobs and mutineers.
1– generate new mob counters
– a new counter is placed on each generation point face down.
2 – mobs move towards British in priority;
– Nearest British in sight
– Nearest ‘Loud Noise‘ in order cannon/musket/pistol
Until Mobs come within 8 squares line of sight of a British character the mob counter remain ‘blind’. Once within 8 squares and line of sight the counters are revealed and replaced with the appropriate figures. A maximum of 4 figures may occupy a square, surplus figures are placed further back.
3 – mobs in contact fight round of combat.
A single dice is rolled requiring 6 to hit the British character. A +1 is added for each additional figure in the Mob. If the mob hits the character then they need a 5+ to cause a wound.
Materials Required for Game
– Character Stat Cards + Appropriate Figures
– Board Layout for Old Delhi (Map)
– Street Cards for Delhi
– Deck of Cards for Mob generation
– Mob Counters (30 singles, 10 Doubles, 10 Quads)
– Key Buildings – templates or 3d buildings. Templates buildings generally contain items of use as identified on the card.
. Delhi and London Bank – 1 Male NPC with sword, with wife and 2 children
. Magazine (Cannon, Pistols, Muskets) 1 British officer with sword & 4 NPC British NCOs with muskets attempting to blow the arsenal.
. St. James’s Church – 1 padre with bible and 7 NPC parishioners – no weapons or skills.
. Palace – 2 NPCs with swords
. Telegraph Office – 1 NPC + 2 Indian Guards with muskets
. Treasury – 3 NPCs + 2 Indian guards with Muskets
. Skinners House
. The Delhi Gazette
Notes: These are an old set of rules which were run a few times about ten years or so ago. The rules require an umpire as the game requires a bit of role-play on behalf of the players.
[Edit] Looking back, it was probably more like 15 to 20 years ago
This looks great! Are there any other supporting documents for the game eg board map and umpire’s notes?
Cheers
Simon
Simon, I did have some basic tiles for the the Delhi streets and buildings. I will see whether I still have them to share.
Thanks – that would be great!
Simon
Hi Simon,
I’ve only managed to find the original templates for the streets and building internals. I’ve added them into the article so you can download them if you want. I’ll continue to look for the mob cards and markers, and NPC event deck.
The street templates were 6 inch squares, or 12 inch by six inch rectangles, with 2 inch grids, you’ll need to print multiples to fit whatever table size you end up using. The original game was played on a 6 foot by 4 foot table, with the walls of Delhi around the edge (taking up the outside 6 inches all around). A size inch wide road was left clear around the inside of the walls, and two roads crossed the city, one lengthways, and two crosswise at the 2 foot interval marks, Buildings were then placed long the roads in rough 6 inch sections, with alley ways and side roads designated by the templates with the coloured areas indicating street clutter such as wagons, markets, etc. When the players entered the buildings then the internal templates were used. Significant buildings were identified at the game start to encourage players to consider heading for them.
Many thanks!
Simon
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