Falmurth Article 5

Falmurth GameDays and Players: Falmurth 1975, 1976, 1977

By Jeff Martin  06/13/2024

 

Note:  There do not appear to be any photos from these three years.

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Falmurth II, 1975

The games were held on November 22nd in Cincinnati, OH.

I don’t have a roster of players from the 2nd Falmurth nor any pictures. An article about the games was published in my Crystiellion newsletter at the time (December 1975). The overall game included 3 boards connected by Gates which played a large role in the action. One board was set in Falmurth (northern Golas), one in Larry Connor’s Fantasy world and one in Limbo. Good won 2 of 3 boards and thus the victory for the day.

 

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Falmurth III, 1976

The 1976 games were held in Columbus, OH (actually Gahanna same as the old Gahanna convention). My only records are a few bits referring to the units and the Gates. These imply there were 4 tables. Two based on Falmurth (Northern Golas and Regalio), a Medieval table and a table of Orcs vs. Byzantines (I don’t recall that at all). The Good side (mostly from Columbus) won the overall game. At the end of this game the consensus was the Gates were too disruptive to play and some other approach should be taken.

 

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Falmurth IV, 1977

As mentioned earlier, this year saw the start of the Falmurth persistent campaign and the games were focused only on Falmurth scenarios. This year also started a gameday scoring system with each side (Good-Columbus, EvilCincinnati) earning victory points toward the day on each table based on size and level of victory. This approach generally persisted until 1989 and eventually was accompanied by a traveling trophy. I believe the trophy was last sighted in the hands of Chuck Crain and it never traveled onward after that.

 

There were four battle scenarios for Falmurth IV – Talser in Vraltor, Regalio, Scandia in Vraltor and Forthing in Vyka. The Regalio and Scandia tables were decisive Good victories, the Talser table a moderate Good victory and the Forthing table a Decisive Evil victory (starting a very long series of games in this setting). This gave the overall Falmurth IV win to the Good guys. The games were held at the Ral Partha factory in Cincinnati.

 

Participants –

This was the first master list of the player-characters for Falmurth and also those who participated at Falmurth IV

 

Jeff Bundy as the Emperor of Vyka

Tom Meier as the Black Prince

Jeff Martin as the High Lord of Sindar

Glenn Kidd as the High Khan of Khand

Larry Connor as the King of Golas

Rich Smethurst as the King of Xindurbil

Greg Hopper as the King of Hater

John Melby as the King of Vraltor

Neil Rinehart as the Earl of Scandia

Ron Haas as the Warden of Khaldir

Charlie Ahner as the King of Syrtax

Vic Harpley as the King of Donizar

Tom Cordell as the High Captain of Rhada

Roger Rhodes as the King of Lanaster

Jim Rush as the Imperial Champion of Dalvar

Shawn Mallory as Wood King of Lassarand

Chuck Crain as the High Chieftain of Malkosha

Beth Stocker as an Astari

Andy Mallory as the Witch-Magician of Talser

Howard Anderson as the Lord Protector of Meneldor

 

 

Three or four of the players had Demi-Heros as their starting figure, but none play now in Falmurth so Dave Packer’s story (being the only player to start as a Demi-Hero) still stands.

 

Rich S and Howard A (and Jeff M) are the only players to still play their original countries. Ron Haas also plays his original country (Khaldir), rejoining Falmurth after many years absent. Golas, Scandia and Malkosha / Sutherkrein have been played by the sons of the original players.

Several countries have had multiple players but probably none as many as Vraltor which will likely be evident.

 

Famous Troops –

The first 3 page list of Permanent Falmurth Troops appeared for Falmurth IV. This was the precursor to Troopsheets and units (and fantasy as well) were listed for 25 countries.

 

Here are some of the Famous units noted at the beginning (including some of those from Falmurth I)

 

Vyka – Imperial Guard, the five main Legions, Gladiators and the Rue Lancers (from Shirland);

Black Prince – Black Halbardiers, Red Guard, Goblin Commandos, Black Prince’s Knights;

Xindurbil – King’s Ft., Gremlins;

Khand – Scuzbeck Hvy and Lt Hrs (later to be the Murghols);

Malkosha – Malkoshan Spearmen, Malkoshan Chariots;

Golas – Mountain Guard;

Rhada – Imperial Rhadan Marines, Rhadan Continentals;

Dalvar – The Champions of Dalvar and the Companions of Dalvar;

Jyllaran – Jyllaran Missile Corp and the Crown Prince’s Own;

Talser – The Queen’s Own;

Sindar – High Lords Horse Guards, Guards of the Golden Tower;

Hater – Royal Foot Regiments;

Vraltor – King’s Guard;

Scandia – Earl of Scandia’s Own;

Khaldir – Wardens of Khaldir;

Syrtax Royal Ft;

 

other countries with troops listed included

Lassarand,

Donizar,

Sutherkrein,

Regalio,

Avrenth,

Meneldor,

Shirland,

Fu Mien,

Lanaster.

 

 

To be continued in Falmurth Article 6