And now for something completely different. Here we are with a box set module! The first of its kind it’s also a standalone introduction to the Battlesystem wargaming rules. In fact Battlesystem was named Bloodstone Pass during development, only later getting its final name as it was thought that the name didn’t do a good job of conveying the fact that this was a new battle system for use of armies in the context of AD&D. 

They were right, Bloodstone Pass sounds like a bad night with kidney stones rather than a new battle system, but we ended up with a cool box set to go with the Battlesystem set that had come out earlier in the year. We get an adventure with plenty of maps, and a roster of troops to play around with, and finally a whole village to build from cardboard included with the set. All you need is a big enough table, some friends and some time. 

In terms of story this isn’t a particularly original adventure, but it’s pretty fun nonetheless, a riff on Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (or the Magnificent Seven for all you yanks) this involves a couple of villagers from Bloodstone finding the party and asking them to come defend their village from a criminal gang, you go to the village and train up the populace to face the brigand army that pillages them on the reg. You know how it goes. Even if it is an old plot, it’s a tried and true one, and getting your party to play Seven Samurai is still great fun.