The Egyptian Adventure: The Town of Hijarat ai Shara (Stones of the Desert)

The market place in Hijarat ai Shara

Hijarat ai Shara was a bustling town on the trade route between Aswan and Luxor as merchants, travelers and traders moved from the upper Nile to the lower Nile. It was convenient also as a trade route for travelers from Arabia crossing the Red Sea.

 Overview of Hijarat ai Shara

The town declined from the 13th through the 17th Century and became a shell of a once luxurious way station for travelers. The town has seen a massive revival and new capital is flowing into the region due to the continuing involvement of the British in the Sudan (in fact the railroad spur to Hijarat ai Shara is almost complete) and the Archeological excavations that take place nearby. Many local inhabitants and adventurers from all over the world now converge on this growing town of interest.

 New construction near ancient artifacts attest to how long the area has been occupied. In the background is the District Police Headquarters. 

 A view of the Central Market.

 An Egyptian police officer helps to direct the crowds and onlookers in the market.

 Merchants call out their wares to their favorite customers.

 Another artifact, near the mosque, is guarded by another policeman as an English scientist makes a sketch.

The entrance to the District Police Headquarters is just off the market.

 Irish reporter Kevin O'Connell, who works for the"Daily Yell" jots down notes that he will undoubtedly exaggerate with mummies and ancient curses.

New wealth and unwary travelers are often prey for the bandits that infest the "Stones of the Desert" surrounding the town.

Deputy Inspector Abasi Gamal is determined to stamp out the banditry and the illegal antiquities market in Hijarat ai Shara. 

 Dara 

Hijarat ai Shara is also close to the new excavation at Dara making it the ideal location for supplies, adventurers, criminals and unexplained encounters . . .

The Troglodytes of Mars

Thark Warriors engage the heavily armored Troglodytes of Mars.

From the Journals of Captain John Carter: My distant cousin Randolph Carter communicated to me in what seemed an almost telepathic way (which greatly surprised me as no Martian could penetrate my mental defenses) and directed me to where a discovered portal is, the ancient city of Kaldor. Kissing my princess good-bye, and accompanied by some mighty Thark warriors, we headed out to the unknown to face this deadly peril to both Earth and Mars . . .

Ancient Kaldor with the bubbling portal placed by the Ancient Ones.

 The starting point for John Carter and Company.

The evil Troglodytes of Mars defend the portal of the Ancient ones.

Now this was cool to his Boomer Dad as Honorable Son #5 (The Skirmisher) used is Apple 11 Iphone instead of a measuring tape to plan his moves. Here he is planning on having the troglodyte run (9 inches of movement) through the gate of the ruins.

The completed move.

Dang! Where did Carter come from? Yep, this here Southern Warlord can move.

The green Martians from the Thark Clan move rapidly across the dry and broken landscape.

John Carter, ex-Confederate Cavalry Captain, Prince of Helium, Jed of Thark and Warlord of Mars has outpaced his companions (as usual).

Let me introduce you to my little friend.

Volley fire from repeating crossbow fire makes one of the green martians look like a porcupine. Carter's Company is now down to 3 figures.

The troglodyte uses his shield to block Carter's long sword.

The Tharks scream their horrifying battle cries as they seek to avenge the loss of one of their own.

Of course they have a yeti.

Radium pistols consistently miss as the speedy Troglodytes outmaneuver the Green martians . . .

. . . but not so fast to be out of the reach of a powerful sword!

The other Troglodyte attempts to block with his shield . . .

. . . as he is cut down by the long sword of the vengeful Thark.

The second string back-up to the white apes of Mars does not last long against John Carter's sword.

The mysterious cloaked leader enters the fray as more troglodytes enter the fight.

"Ready to go again?"

He really did not stand a chance against the whirling dervish known as the Warlord of Mars.

The cloaked figure points his finger menacingly and a fire ball knocks down one of the Green Martians. Yep, radium pistols are still missing their targets.

Leaping back to his feet, the littlest troglodyte of them all is caught between the blades of two mighty green warriors.

John Carter leaps over the wall and expertly skewers the leader of the troglodytes.

Blades flash and strike as the troglodytes are cut down.

Cross bow bolts continue to rain down as the Green martians use the available cover.

Carter leaps to the top of the tower!

And is hit in the back by cross bow volley fire. He rolls a "one" for pluck, remembers he has the Fortitude Talent, and rolls another "one". Hmmm . . . maybe it's just a concussion since he can have the Immortal talent for campaign games.

The repeating crossbow volley fire tactic is quite successful.

I was down to one Thark, was satisfied with the play test and conceded the game to Honorable Son #5 (The Skirmisher). Okay, I was hungry too.

The surviving Troglodytes.

Just for fun we tried 2 against 3 . . .

The play test was a success as all of the figures, talents, moves, etc., played out in an exciting, Barsoomian style! Now I need to talk to my beautiful bride (The Chief of Staff and Minister of Finance) about expanding my Martian forces.

 

Prelude: The Troglodytes of Mars

From the journal of Captain John Carter: I had long ago mastered the way to travel back and forth between Mars and Earth; therefore, I was surprised that my distant cousin Randolph Carter had also mastered this feat - but in a different way. He traveled in a mystical, almost ethereal manner using what he called the "Silver Key" . . .

Randolph Carter in an abandoned Martian City.

Randolph had come to warn me that not only was my native planet Earth in danger, but a deadly threat to the existent of Barsoom also existed. There were what Randolph described as horrible and evil inter-dimensional alien beings that were older than the most ancient of Martian civilizations. And they planned to remake the Solar System as their own. Randolph had discovered one of their gates in the ancient city of Kaldor, and the enemy was sending reinforcements to Earth . . . the Troglodytes of Mars!

 John Carter, ex-Confederate Cavalry Captain, Prince of Helium and the Warlord of Mars.

We were finally ready to do our play test of the John Carter Adventuring Company for In Her Majesty's Name. I re-read the first three volumes of Captain Carter's adventures on Barsoom and I wanted to reflect his prowess and abilities accurately for In Her Majesty's Name. On Mars John Carter is a force of nature, and I was concerned at 158 points he might be too powerful for skirmish game like this. But in reading the journals, there were numerous skirmishes that he was involved with, and not all of them did he win. So with the play test we decided on 250 point companies (which ended up being about 265 for each company). Since I didn't really have any other Martians we thought, "Why not put it in the context of the 'War of the Witches' and fight around the source of the Witch King's Troglodytes. So here is our play test!

 The ruins of Kaldor where a deadly portal from Mars to Earth exists.

John Carter's allies: Mighty Thark warriors.

 The evil Troglodytes of Mars. No, that is not the Witch King of Sokar - just a Trog leader. And yes that is a yeti because we have not figured out White Apes yet.

For the play test we decided on a simple scenario: Protect the portal (in other words it was really the Last Man standing scenario).

The entire battlefield.

Next Time in our Play Test we learn:

1. Wow. John Carter can jump.

2. Darn repeating crossbows.

3. Let's stick with the long swords instead of the radium pistols.

4. Why do I have to fight the Warlord of Mars by myself?