As part of our ongoing series on The Silver Bayonet, we’ve decided to merge our passion for historical oddities, artefacts and wargaming and write some scenarios based on historical ‘fact,’ using the brilliant rules and world of that game as our context. Also – it’s spooky season here at Goonhammer, and we’re into it.
Someone (thanks @classwarcraft) was asking us on the Discord whether any other sources of lore exist for the Silver Bayonet beyond the brilliant rulebook and supplements. Well, dear reader, we can’t speak to what’s in the mind of the wonderful Joe McCulloch, but we’ve decided the answer is ‘History’. There’s an absolute silver mine here of crazy goings on that was reported in and around that era. If this works, this may become a series that will give us a chance to call out some of our favourite stories, and use them as inspiration for additional scenarios set in Joe’s world. Particular thanks to VarianceHammer Eric (@fomite1346) and his gaming group for the advice, feed back and playtesting.
Before you get too deep – we’ve tested these scenarios for both solo and two player and had fun doing so, but they may be rough around the edges. Please see them in the spirit they’re meant. We welcome feedback, so let us know how you find them.
Table of Contents
The History
Between 1764 and 1767, a 50 sq km [Ed’s note: around 30 miles, for us freedom types] area of the Margeride Mountains in the province of Gevaudan (now Lozere and Haute Loire) [Ed’s note: that’s in France, for us freedom types] were terrorised by a man-eating animal or animals. When we say terrorised, this is not an exaggeration. In 1987, a study estimated that there had been 210 attacks, leading to 113 deaths. Fully 98 of the victims killed were partially eaten, and most died by having their throats torn out.
The Beast was described as being the size of a cow, with tawny or russet color with dark stripes, large teeth and claws, and a tail longer than a wolf’s. Terrifyingly it appeared to fly or leap across whole fields to its victims. It was reported to be invulnerable, with bullets ricocheting from its skin, and capable of appearing in multiple places simultaneously. People reported seeing it walking on its hind legs and feet like a human.
Perhaps most frightening of all, the Beast showed no fear of people. Many were attacked in the middle of villages. Most reported attacks took place in the day, often when tending to herds of animals.
After the first few deaths, the Count of Gevaudan (the guy had many hats – he was also a Bishop) issued an appeal, describing the Beast as a “scourge sent by god to punish men for their sins”. Eventually, the situation got so bad that King Louis XV announced a reward, and sent a crack team of soldiers led by First Captain Duhamel of the Clermont Prince dragoons. Duhamel failed, and was soon followed by a rival group of professional wolf hunters, who used a pack of hounds to try and track the Beast. They too failed, and finally a great hunt was organised by one Francois Antoine, the king’s Lieutenant of the hunt. A large wolf, she wolf and cubs were duly killed, and paraded back as far as Paris.
A month passed. Then the attacks began again. Finally a local hunter named Jean Chastel was credited with killing the Beast, shot on the slopes of Mount Mouchet on 19 June 1767. A later French author, Henri Pourrat, claimed he used home made large calibre bullets, with embedded Virgin Mary medals, but this was later shown to be made up.
Either way, no more attacks were reported. The body that made its way for inspection to Paris was significantly decomposed, and seemed only to be a large wolf.
The Scenario / Campaign
It is 1809, and the attacks have begun again. Your unit has been dispatched by the great powers to identify what’s lurking in the Margeride mountains and destroy it once and for all. It’s imperative that you locate, identify and kill or capture this creature before your rivals in other services or factions can get to it.
Your masters are concerned that the panicked reports sound either like something new, or a number of different types of abomination working together. If Harvestmen have developed a new weapon or way of terrorising the populace it needs to be contained.
This scenario uses the rules from the Silver Bayonet, the brilliant multiplayer or solo miniatures game by Joseph McCulloch published by Osprey. These missions are meant to be fun and give you inspiration, so don’t worry about following them absolutely. They are also meant to be fiendishly nasty. Don’t embark on this if you’re emotionally attached to your unit. We hope you have as much fun playing as we did coming up with them.
| The Beast of Gevaudan | ||||||
| Speed | Melee | Accuracy | Defence | Courage | Health | Exp Points |
| 8 | +3 | +0 | 14 | +4 | 16 | 3 |
| Attributes: Allergic to blessed & silver, Damage reduction (3), Large, Strong, Master of Cover, Lunge, Trample | ||||||
| Fangs and claws (hand weapon) | ||||||
Scenario One: The Herd
Two young cowherds and some of their herd were killed earlier this morning. A third managed to escape to try and find help, but the villagers are too terrified to retrieve the bodies. Fortunately for them, your unit was in the area. What should you bring…salt, cold iron, silver or holy symbols? You don’t know. You’re going in blind, but you need to find out more about what’s happened here.
Unfortunately, the villagers also mentioned as you left that another unit has been seen in the area. Of what loyalty they couldn’t say. You might have competition at the scene…
Setup
This scenario is played on a 3×3 table, set up to resemble a mountain field. Think large boulders, the odd isolated tree, gorse, perhaps a stream or two. If you’re playing solo, shrink the table size.
Clue marker placement
The herd scattered to the four winds once the Beast attacked the herdsmen, and a couple of the animals were cut down in flight.
Place five clue markers, one near the centre of the field, the other 4 no more than 10” away from the centre point. Ensure their placement is balanced, ideally in interesting locations, and no warband has an undue advantage.
Place a wolf next to each of the clue markers to represent a pack that’s scavenging the scene…or maybe something more. If you happen to have slaughtered animals (or herders) as terrain or objective markers, that will help the immersion.
Once all the clue markers are in place, each player should role a die. The winner should choose one side of the table, and place their unit within 2” of that table edge. The other player should do the same on the opposite side.
If you’re playing single player, double the number of wolves. Maybe throw in a werewolf or two in the clue card table instead of the dark wolves. Go on. You can take them.
Special Rules
Each player receives +1 monster die in their fate pool at the start of the game.
Each clue marker brings with it a chance the Beast, or more local fauna will arrive.
| Card | Clue |
| Ace of Spades | The Scent of the Beast: It looks like one of the herdsmen or the herd put up a fight. You’ve located a scrap of fur, thicker than that of a normal wolf, locked in the hand or horn of a fallen herdsmen or animal. The hunt is on. |
| King of Spades | “It’s back for more!”: You hear a chilling, guttural roar. The Beast is here. (Use the Beast profile). It activates for 2 turns, seeking to kill or injure the member of either warband that Investigated this clue, then vanishes, seeming to leap impossibly far away into the tree line. |
| Queen of Diamonds | Nothing – place a dark wolf in the centre point of a random table edge |
| Jack of Diamonds | Nothing – place a dark wolf in the centre point of a random table edge |
| Ten of Diamonds | “It’s out there!’ : The figure that investigated this clue must make a terror check (-0) |
If by some bizarre stroke of luck you bring the Beast to zero wounds in this scenario, the body it leaves behind is nothing more than a large wolf.
Rewards
Units gain the following bonus experience points in this scenario.
+1 experience point for killing three or more wolves
+1 experience point for killing a dark wolf
+1 experience points if a unit investigates two or more clue markers
+2 experience points if the unit inflicts two or more casualties on the opposing unit by reducing them to zero health. Do not count casualties inflicted by wolves or the Beast
+2 experience points for locating the Scent of the Beast
If you ‘kill’ the Beast…it wasn’t the Beast. No bonus experience. Don’t lie to L’Empereur!
Scenario Two: A Question of Jurisdiction
With the clues gleaned from your inspection of the attack on the herdsmen, you’re making your way back to the village to share the grisly news and dispatch an update to your superiors.
Someone out there wants the information you hold…a rival faction, or the harvestmen themselves.
As your path takes you through an abandoned village, overgrown and nearly reclaimed by the forest, you’re ambushed.
Setup
Play on a 3×3 table set up to resemble an abandoned village overgrown by trees. A path runs through the centre of the battlefield. Four or more ruined dwellings would work, enough to make up the memory of a small hamlet.
Place four clue markers inside or at the edge of the houses, and a scattering of bandits who may or may not be harvestmen agents. They’re in your way, and they need to be eliminated. One or two in and around each house works well.
If you’re playing two player, one faction will become the defender, aiming to stop members of the opposing warband escaping with the vital equipment they hold. If you’re playing solo, double the numbers of bandits initially deployed, and consider using some of the Harvestmen Agent and Assassin profiles from the Canada expansion.
Special Rules
Each clue marker brings with it the chance of more heat or an edge over the competition. The reward is princely, and the competition intense. Or maybe the harvestmen’s grip on the region is tightening…
| Card | Clue |
| Ace of Spades | Big game hunter: You’ve uncovered a stash of useful kit, perhaps the cache of another unit after the Beast. Add one monster dice to your fate pool, and upgrade one weapon to be a silver weapon. |
| King of Spades | Holy symbol: You’ve found a small shrine in the ruins of an old house. A true believer once lived here. The icon almost seems to glow. It was meant for you. |
| Queen of Spades | Nothing – Ambush! A bandit chooses their moment to attack. Place a bandit in contact with the clue marker / in the house |
| Jack of Spades | Nothing – Ambush! A bandit chooses their moment to attack. Place a bandit in contact with the clue marker/ in the house. |
Rewards
Units gain the following bonus experience points in this scenario.
+1 experience points for killing two or more bandits
+2 experience points for finding the Big Game Hunter cache, +1 if you take down a model in possession of it
+1 experience points for finding the holy symbol
+1 experience points for every member of the opposing unit killed
+2 experience points if you inflict three or more casualties on the opposing unit by reducing them to 0 health. This includes casualties inflicted by the bandits. It matters not how the competition are reduced, only that they are. The ends justify the means.
Scenario Three: Hunted
Since the ambush, the trail has gone cold. Your unit has resorted to sweeping the forests and hills for some sign of the Beast. You’ve killed a number of wolves, and flushed out a few bandits over the past couple of weeks, but no real progress.
It’s daytime, but there’s a heavy mist, restricting visibility. You can only see 4” from each of your men, so ensure they cover each other’s backs. Strange shapes loom out of the mist.
Then you hear a scream. One of your unit has been taken. The Beast is here.
You’re not hunting it. It’s hunting you. Expect to lose valuable men.
Setup
Play on a 2.5 x 2.5, set up to resemble a forested area in the mist
Special Rules
This one is not for the faint-hearted, so feel free to skip it and go straight to the Lair if you have an emotional attachment to your tiny soldiers. Losing two or more of your warband to death, madness or injury is almost a certainty. In fact it’s the scenario mechanic.
It’s meant to be played solo, ideally outside, on a mountainside, on a foggy moonless night in wolf country for full immersion. If you’re in a campaign, it’s worth getting your auld enemy to run the Beast to make it feel really threatening. The mission won’t take long. You don’t have enough men for that. Time to roll the dice…
Assign a number to every one of your unit except your captain. Each turn, starting with the first roll a D10. That member of your unit is gone for the remainder of the mission, representing the Beast picking you off, one by one in the mist.
On turn 1, re-roll until one of your unit is lost. All other turns – if the number you’ve assigned doesn’t come up or you roll the same as a previous turn…you’ve been lucky, but a dark wolf appears in the middle of a neutral table edge.
The clues you uncover will decide the fate of your lost soldiers.
There are six clue markers. One is placed in the very centre of the table. From turn two, each time a member of your unit moves or acts, role a d6. On a six, a clue marker is revealed, placed thematically within 4” of them, at the edge of visibility. Each turn, the difficulty of this roll decreases, so in turn three, a roll of five or 6 will reveal a clue.
Clues will either reveal an injured (or dead member) of your party, a clue to the Beast’s whereabouts…one of its allies, or the Beast itself.
If you’re unlucky enough to lose more than four men to the turn roll, or to enemy action, the beast has had its fill. Satiated and careless, it leaves the scene, leaving an obvious trail. The figures you’ve lost to the Beast’s ambushes that haven’t been affected by the outcomes of the clue table roll on the injury and death table at -1 to represent the accuracy and ferocity of the beast.
| Card | Clue |
| Ace of Spades | “It got him bad.”: You’ve found a critically injured or dead member of your party. Make an immediate roll on the injury and death table for one of the the figures you’ve lost, with a minus three to the roll. No flesh wounds here – the Beast is not playing. If you like, place your fallen comrade on the table. They do not return to play in this mission, whatever you roll. |
| King of Spades | “It’s back!” : The Beast appears at the clue marker – if the Beast has already made an appearance on the table, immediately move it to this clue marker with full activations restored. Roll a d4 and restore that many wounds to it. |
| Queen of Spades | “No! It’s here!: The Beast appears at the clue marker – if the Beast has already made an appearance on the table, immediately move it to this clue marker with full activations restored. Roll a d4 and restore that many wounds to it |
| Jack of Spades | “Is…that you?” : The controlling player makes a decision. Immediately roll on the madness table OR the permanent injury table for another lost member of the unit. The effect is immediately applied. The model returns to play. |
| Ten of Spades | “Jumping at shadows…”: Nothing happens. |
| Nine of Spades | “I hear something…” : A dark wolf appears in contact with the clue marker |
Rewards
Units gain the following bonus experience points in this scenario.
+1 experience points for killing one or more dark wolves
+2 experience points for finding the Ace of Spades
+1 experience points for every soldier you lost
+2 experience points for investigating three or more clues.
If by some miracle you kill the beast in this mission before three of your unit fall…as it howls its last, you hear another mournful howl rising nearby. The rumours were true. There is another one out there.
Scenario Four: The Lair
The Beast must die.
You’ve tracked the Beast to its lair, a cave in the woods.
This is the home of a terrifying, intelligent predator that has killed hundreds of people in the local area. This is where it feeds, and where it breeds. Be afraid. But be filled with righteous fury. You’ve lost many men. Today, it ends. The trouble is, there’s another unit out there with a thirst for glory too.
This scenario should take place in a clearing in front of a large cave. If you’ve got the terrain, it could take place wholly inside in a cavern or gulch.
Make the battlefield as gory as you like. Bones, bodies. Heads. Place six clue markers around the board.
This mission should feel like an epic struggle. The Beast is at bay.
The critical decision will be whether you cooperate with the opposing warband (if there is one) to bring down the Beast and its brood…and if you do, who will take the spoils and the glory. Scatter the clue markers liberally and equitably through the lair, following a rough X shape
| Card | Clue |
| Ace of Spades | “There it is!” The beast appears in contact with the clue marker |
| King of Spades | “There’s a little one!” A smaller beast appears in contact with the clue marker. Use the werewolf profile. |
| Queen of Spades | “The dead are rising” Two Ghosts rise from the bodies of the dead at this clue marker. These Ghosts use the normal monster rules but will also attack the beasts if they have the option. |
| Jack of Spades | “The dead are rising” Two Ghosts rise from the bodies of the dead at this clue marker. These Ghosts use the normal monster rules but will also attack the beasts if they have the option. |
| Ten of Spades | “They’re on the move!” Flip a coin for every monster on the table. Heads – the monster immediately moves to the next nearest soldier within it’s movement distance. |
| Nine of Spades | “Gifts from the dead”: An enchanted weapon or shot is immediately available to the model that investigated this clue. |
+2 experience points for killing the beast (Beast of Gevaudan profile )
+1 experience points for killing the spawn (Werewolf profile )
+2 experience points for reducing three or more members of the opposing warband to 0 health
+2 experience points for investigating two or more clues
If you’ve killed the beast- congratulations. Vivre L’Empereur!
Or you’re food for it. Maybe your ghosts will aid the next unit to find their way to the Lair of the Beast…
We hope you’ve enjoyed these scenarios inspired by a horrible episode in 18th century French history. Let us know what you think of the missions once you’ve had a chance to play. Watch this space for more missions to come.
Thinking of picking up new minis for The Silver Bayonet in lovely multi part plastic? Why not do so and support goonhammer at the same time through our Victrix affiliate link?
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
