‘The Case of ‘Swiss’ Tony’s Thumb and the Lady Mayoress’ (The End, posted - 4th)

[Vagabond]

There's more to be learned here than on my briefings, there's an awful lot of scroat's, baby sitting Le Gruyère and most of them seem to have shooters.

Plod is in full swing, truncheons at the ready, the WPC's are as brave as badgers, our tame spook is as helpful as you would expect from someone dressed like the dinner of the dog but they're all deputized as acting Sweeny so the mob had better have it away on their toes before they get battered. 
We're going to have full cells at Gasforth Nick tonight, unless we have to send them to the Mortuary in canvas bags.

Well I hope so at any rate.

[Doug ex-em4]

the WPC's are as brave as badgers

They share many other characteristics with that creature, including hairy, pie-bald faces and a pungent odour...

 

Swiss Tony

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

There's more to be learned here than on my briefings,

Yes, it's quite tricky posting here whilst the game is afoot! I can't post the Turn 1 photos yet because although we are about to start Turn 6, they would give away some info that Doug has not yet seen in the 'fog of war'! There are some tasty rucks in progess!

the WPC's are as brave as badgers

including hairy, pie-bald faces and a pungent odour...

Presumably you are excluding the lovely WPC Maggie Habib from this diatribe?

[Doug ex-em4]

Presumably you are excluding the lovely WPC Maggie Habib from this diatribe?

I hesitate to correct the Supreme Arbiter but, "diatribe"? 'It’s only an observation, based on indisputable facts.

Regarding the lady you are referring to, I’ll let you know once we’ve shot her....

Swiss T

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Regarding the lady you are referring to, I’ll let you know once we’ve shot her....

                

[syrinx0]

What a magnificent fun adventure.  I don't understand at least half of what is said but it's magnificent anyway. 

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

What a magnificent fun adventure.  I don't understand at least half of what is said but it's magnificent anyway. 

I don't think I understand all of it either, syrinx0!   

What a magnificent fun adventure.

Thanks, we are having a lot of fun with it. I will be starting the post the AAR soon, watch this space.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

TURN 1

In the pre-game set-up, there were some pre-conditions the players had to follow. Doug was tasked to put six guards out in the grounds of Snapcase Hall. These guards could be in cover but not inside buildings. Within the Hall, he had to pick a room for him and Mimsie to spend the night in. The Lady Mayoress and one guard were to be in another room. Although Vagabond was not aware of this, the other six members of the Cowie Firm were dispatched on a recce for a future wages snatch. They were to be available as reinforcements later in the game, at the discretion of the GM. The six guards in the garden were then under the control of the GM, using the stealth rules from Black Ops. The rules used were a mixture of Black Ops from Osprey, GEEZERS! "Shut It!" from Killer B Games and the rest I made up as we went along! This meant that Doug had very limited control at the start. 'Swiss' Tony could not emerge and take control until the alarm was raised by the guards in the garden. When the alarm was raised, Doug would then fully control all his figures on the board.

The game itself was designed to have two separate tables, the exterior of Snapcase Hall and the interior. The photos will have to wait for a later post as the game is still in progress. Only views that the players can see are being posted.

Vagabond has to plan his raid with only the sketch map previously published. The guards positions were roughly marked on a second sketch map obtained from DI Grim's nark.

The forces on either side are not balanced, due to laziness on my part. I just used whatever figures I had which were painted. The coppers are superior in numbers and training but the Cowie Firm have more shooters!

Without more ado - Turn 1

'Swiss' Tony is tinkling the ivories with Mimsie in the Ball Room



In the nearby Library, Major Crispin Cadwallader guards Dame Christabelle.



In this photo, at the start of the game, Fowler and Goody are approaching the main gate (bottom right). Luther and 'Fancy' Smith are bottom left. Two guards are in cover behind the fir trees in the front garden. 'Camp' Freddie and Dinsdale are guarding the doors on the east side of the Hall. The two police assault teams (Hawley and Dawkins) facing them are not yet visible as it is dark.



In this view, Jason King can be seen (bottom, centre) hiding behind the brick wall. Grim and Windsor's teams are just left of the other end of the brick wall. 'Snorter' Bough can just be seen under the tree near the steps to the westernmost back door.



The sixth guard, Billy the Fish is hiding behind the bins on the west side of the Hall.



This is Cold Comfort Farm. The police have parked their vehicles here. Vagabond needs to get the Lady Mayoress back to the vehicles and safety.



Vagabond's raid on Snapcase hall is planned to start when the church clock at nearby Steeple Bumpleigh strikes 05:00am.

The clouds temporarily uncover the moon as the church clock at Steeple Bumpleigh starts to chime the hour of 05:00am. An owl hoots somewhere over in the vicinity of Smattering Woods. There is a light drizzle and visibility is still limited.

Bong!

Bong!

Bong!



PC Luther with his silenced sniper rifle opens the batting by shooting at Dinsdale. Unfortunately, he misses.



Dinsdale Piranha, who is on guard at one of the eastern doors hears a sort of weird zipping noise and a disturbance in the air by his right ear. The church clock is on its third bong. Being as thick as a miner’s sandwich, he has no idea what the noise is. He advances in the direction that he thought the sound came from. ‘Camp’ Freddie who is nearby heard nothing. Dinsdale peers into the darkness in all directions but sees nothing.



Jason King moves along the exterior of the brick wall (marked here by a red gem) as the figure would have fallen off the table!).



DI Grim and DC Windsor move their teams forward cautiously, looking for the guard on the west side, marked on their sketch map.

To be continued...

[Doug ex-em4]

I don't think I understand all of it either, syrinx0!   

That explains so much.....

Swiss Tony
aka Doug

[FramFramson]

As always, a Snapcase action report is never to be missed!

Always happy to see the Pirahana brothers in action. DINSDALE!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

That explains so much.....

   

As always, a Snapcase action report is never to be missed!

Very kind of you to say so, Fram. Bags more action to come. I am taking the players through turn 8 this morning and will be posting turn 2 here this morning.

 

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

TURN 2

Bong!

Bong!

A very short video:

As the church clocks strikes five, the assault goes in. This is the agreed signal from the briefing back at the nick.

Jason King moves cautiously along the outside of the wall (once again marked by the red gem, the purple one represents noise made). He attempts to climb the wall behind the pig-sty but somehow his Savile Row suit gets caught on the wall and he goes arse over tit or 'aris over first-aid kit' if you will, landing on the same side of the wall that he attempted the climb from. Hence, the noise marker.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Hall, Grim is leading WPC Habib and PC Gene Hunt in a search for the west side sentry. he whispers to his team "this is a very important operation. Now it's my arse, and if you stuff it I'm going to end up very red in the face".Using caution and the cover of the brick wall, Derek Grim discerns a movement behind the rubbish bins. Billy the Fish behind the bins, brings his pistol up just at the same moment as Grim. An exchange of shots in the dark, Billy is down and Grim has had his hair parted but is OK. He hopes that in the dark, the wet stain on the front of his trousers is not visible to his colleagues.

In the back garden, Frank 'Snorter' Bough hears a noise (Grim and Billy the Fish exchanging shots) and starts to patrol the grounds.

At the front of the Hall, Otis Spunkmeyer and Eric Daft are also hearing noises which means they start moving about. Otis makes a random move but Daft comes under Doug's immediate control.

PC Luther has reloaded his sniper rifle with the assistance of 'Fancy' Smith and has another pop at Dinsdale. This time with more success and Dinsdale goes down like a sack of Roy Hudds. 'Camp' Freddie who is guarding the door next to Dinsdale, see the big man drop and moves forward to investigate. He cannot see anyone yet. At that moment, the two teams on the east side of the Hall move forward to assault the doors. DCI Hawley's team have a clear run but Sergeant Patricia Dawkins team run into 'Camp' Freddie and a rather tasty ruck develops. The Plod are mainly armed with truncheons but Freddie produces a wicked-looking machete from under his purple crushed-velvet jacket.

More noise is generated by the coppers big boots running across the garden and by the punch-up at the fountain.

'Camp' Freddie whose looks belie his vicious nature, swings his machete and PC Reg Hollis takes a nasty cut to the bonce and collapses into the fountain.

Eric 'Brains' daft runs to join the fight. Pat Dawkins is looking in her bag for the ammonia spray she habitually carries.

With all the noise counters and a propitious dice throw, first Mimsie Slopcorner and then 'Swiss' Tony himself are awakened by the racket.

To be continued...

[syrinx0]

With Mimsie and 'Swiss' Tony up and about it's sure to get more interesting. 

I think I really need a Mimsie and Tony for my pulp collection...

[marianas_gamer]

Loving it fellas!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Thanks syrinx0 and marianas_gamer.

I have to apologise for the long delay in any more reports being added to this thread. This is due to a trapped nerve in my spine. Sitting at the PC and typing was just making it worse, so I took a bit of a break. It's starting to ease now, so back to the action with turn 3. I've started using a vertical mouse and a new keyboard and that is helping as well.

TURN 3

Otis moves to the north-west corner of the Hall to see what has happened to Billy the Fish.



He cautiously peers round the corner and is astounded to see coppers everywhere. He can see three rozzers trying to open the side door. Further behind them is more movement in the dark. It looks like Billy the Fish has had his chips! Otis could have shot at the coppers but decided it was in his best interest not to announce his presence.

Inspector Fowler and PC Goody advance towards the main gate to Snapcase Hall. "You'd better have your truncheon in your truncheon-pocket and not a Curly-Wurly" snaps Fowler as they advance.



Fowler and Goody's view of the Hall, they just catch a glimpse of Otis who is scouting the west side.



Jason King has now managed to climb the wall behind the pig sty. He is desperately trying to keep away from any pig shit which might soil his elegant Carnaby Street suit. Outside of King's hearing, DCI Hawley tends to refer to King as "that ponce!" Jason King cannot see anybody yet. 'Snorter' is out of sight behind the woodshed.





'Swiss' Tony and Mimsie move into the central hallway to see what's going on. They can hear noises at the entrances to the east and west of the Hall.



Over on the east side of the Hall, the action is hotting up! As 'Daft' runs over to assist 'Camp' Freddie in the ruck, PC Luther takes a shot at him with his sniper rifle. Eric is running and in the dark, Luther shoots wide. 'Daft' joins the ruck.



WPC Jane Tennison has observed Eric's approach. Taking her ammonia spray from her police-issue handbag, she sprays it right into Eric's boat race. Eric is out of the game. Dixon and Freddie are still at each other's throats. Dixon seems to be gaining the upper hand but Freddie just won't go down.



Three of the four assault teams have now reached their objective and are confronted with locked doors. There were nine possible entrances and Doug was given the choice at the start of the game as to whether he wanted individual doors locked or not. Doug elected to keep one of the southern doors open, next to Frank Bough and also leave the main door to the Hall open. All the rest were locked.

The assault teams line up to batter down the doors.

To be continued...