StanleyWheeler

 It began when the princess fled from her father's wrath by taking her flier and leaving the city before dawn. At dawn, as she slept on the floating craft, a party of Zarhoons shot down the flier. Warriors returning to the city on foot saw the flier and recognized the princess' personal insignia before it went down. The princess was injured in the crash but managed to hide herself within the ruins before she passed out from her injuries. The warriors and the Zarhoons search the city for the princess.

This was the Wreck at the Ruins scenario for play testing my new skirmish rules in a Barsoomian setting. Of course, it went fabulously. The miniatures are from Bronze Age Miniatures:

 At one point while searching the city, one of the Zarhoons was set upon by a massive pale simian.

 While his partner tangled with the pale simian, the other Zarhoon found the unconscious princess but could not get away with her before being set upon by her loyal warriors. This multi-armed Zarhoon, Bak Badja, received a wound or two and fled from his multiple attackers. Meanwhile, his companion, Vak Voka, disengaged from the pale simian and rushed to attempt to take the princess from the warrior who was carrying her to safety. Just when it appeared that the warrior would escape with the girl, he fell, dropping his precious cargo. Another warrior, Han Tadron, moved to intercept and engage Vak Voka. His head rolled freely upon the street and his eyes watched his decapitated body drop in a blood-spurting heap. Nantos Nan who had been carrying the princess rose to his feet but before he could once again take up his burden, Vak Voka and the simian react first. The simian charged the warrior Dav Ravo, taking the warriors focus from the Zarhoon. Vak Voka engaged Nantos Nan who stood defiantly between him and the helpless princess. The Zarhoon failed to wound the warrior but did knock him to the ground beside the princess.

Tense change, because it provides a more "you are there" feeling--or because I'm lazy and didn't want to change it.
Another warrior, Mardos Tors, wants to assist Dav Ravo against the simian but duty calls him to protect his princess. He charges the Zarhoon, wounding and knocking him down with his ferocious onslaught. Vak Voka's morale holds. Mardos Tors attacks again. Although wounded, Knocked Down, and facing multiple opponents, Vak Voka cuts Mardos Tors in two and rises victorious above bloody corpse.

Dav Ravos hears the urgent calls of Nantos Nan but the simian has seized him and he can't escape. The monster lifts Dav Ravos above his head and hurls the warrior. Dav Ravos miraculously lands on his feet, escaping injury.

  VV has the initiative. (Pictured above) - He is wounded. At his feet NN and the princess are on one side and DR is approaching from the other side. On his first activation attempt VV gets doubles, so therefore gets an extra action. With two actions to use, he elects to attack NN. NN is forced to use his Deflection Skill and his last Heroic Point to avoid a wound. VV chooses to ignore the maneuver opportunity and remain in contact; he attacks again with his bonus action. NN barely avoids a serious wound, taking a simple wound instead. NN panics and attempts to flee, giving VV a chance at a Parting Gift, which he takes, his second blade scoring another wound on the frantic man--and requiring him to take another Morale Check. The twice-wounded warrior runs for his life, leaving the helpless princess at the feet of the Zarhoon. VV uses his next action to pick up the princess. He cannot avoid DR so he moves into contact with the warrior and the initiative passes. DR activates and attacks VV. VV elects to keep hold of the princess, so will not benefit from his Two-Weapons Skill, but will not otherwise be hindered by her. He is, however troubled by his wound. DR delivers a serious wound to the captor of his princess and Knocks Down the Zarhoon. VV struggles to rise, dropping the princess and allowing DR a free attack which he blocks. VV is on his feet but no longer has the princess. DR uses his third activation to attack again. DR rolls a Stunning Success, killing the Zarhoon.

Were it not for the pale simian, Dav Ravos could escape with the princess. He is forced to drop the princess when the simian leaps, seizing him once more. After a terrible struggle, the simian flings Dav Ravos once again. The warrior is seriously injured and rendered hors de combat. No one remains to protect the princess from the simian.

After modifying the scenario specifics to boost the warriors' morale while fighting to recover and protect the princess, and playing again, the warriors did save the princess. She randomly turned up in the same location as the first time and the pale simian did not appear for the second go-round.

On the third play with more emphasis on shooting, and in which both the simian and the trap to the pits figured significantly, the Zarhoons stole the victory (and the princess) over the dead bodies of the warriors. Although he found the princess, Han Tadron could not escape from the building in which she had hidden. First the simian (see above)--which soaked up a mountain of damage before finally taking a fatal wound--blocked his way and added to the wounds to Dav Ravos and Mardos Tors.

Then Bak Badja engaged Han Tadron, the last surviving warrior, in a lengthy duel. Using his Wounded Warrior Skill, HT succeeded in wounding and knocking down his bigger opponent, but after taking another wound he couldn't hang on against the four-armed attacker. HT went down fighting for the princess.

This scenario was a great test of my skirmish rules. I did create some special scenario details to account for the four-armed Zarhoons and the simian. In addition to giving the Zarhoons the special Two Weapon Skill, I gave them a bonus action anytime they rolled doubles on an activation attempt. The simian had a similar benefit. The simian also only used the grapple maneuver option so those rules got a work out -- the grappling details are the only thing that I'm considering revising; they worked, but not as smoothly as I had hoped.

This is definitely my favorite rules set.

I may have to run a scenario from my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series to see how the magic provisions play.