The man with the ruffled collar has his ego ruffled as well.

Howard and I got together for a game of En Garde! last night. The others in the group were working or as Matt put it "murdering a Fir tree and dressing it's dead carcass with lights and shiny things."

Still not familiar with the rules, the first game was fun so why bother to read them, we came up with a scenario which essentially was to get into combat as quickly as possible.

Entering the square.

My band arrogantly enters the town square looking mostly for free food and drink but ready for sport.

Vengeance drives this leader. 

Howard's band enters from the other side clearly on a mission. Apparently I had insulted his sister and he was looking for revenge. I couldn't recall offending his sister but if she looked anything like him I must have erased the vision from my mind. Not looking to disappoint him or his friends I quipped that his cloak was a horrid color and the ruffled collar on his tunic clearly showed that he still thought Elizabeth  was Queen. His face burning a brighter red than his cloak the steel of his blade sung as he pulled it out of the scabbard. 

Exchanging words turns to exchanging blows.

I was able to parry the mighty blow of Howard's man and he in turn blocked my thrust. His next attack cut me lightly but enough to aggravate me and my next thrust critically  wounding him.

Not only were his cloths out of date so were his sword skills.

On the left Howard's second made short work of my underling. My companion not wishing to soil his blade hired a nearby group of ne'er do wells to attack. Concentrating on the biggest ruffian he was able to slow him down but the others slipped in and caused multiple wounds taking another of Howard's men out of the fight.

The sword master moved against me hoping to avenge his student/employers honor. His rage must have distracted him as I was able to over power him quickly.

Villagers hope for some excitement but are disappointed.

Across the square the other members quarreled but the fight was basically over and no one was looking to get injured. 

Tired from teaching others their place.

A good game all in all. We got the basic mechanics down and I think with a little more attention to the character development will have more entertaining games.