What a Cowboy - Hog Thief Bend. Update by Snappers 22.04.24

[CapnJim]

As Proud Mary quite possibly proclaimed, dynamite schmynamite...but I bet she couldn't hear much after that blast ...and is there now perchance a hole in that roof?

Lovely reporting thus far,  if I do say so myself.   Which I did, I guess.  I await further news on this affair...

[FifteensAway]

Ah, some forward progress on the story telling.  I hope to see the finish if it arrives and make appropriate - or perhaps inappropriate - comment in good time.  But don't lose faith if I am very late in doing so since I am winging off to the British Isles in just over a week for a few weeks, scheduled to land on May 1st and depart on May 22nd.  Maybe I'll find fodder for future scenarios in your homelands - though how they'd make it to the Old West, well, who knows? 

Keep the stories coming.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Have a great holiday.

The conclusion of this stirring tale has now been reached. The momentous events will be appearing here, in the next couple of weeks.

[Doug ex-em4]

As Proud Mary quite possibly proclaimed, dynamite schmynamite...but I bet she couldn't hear much after that blast ...and is there now perchance a hole in that roof?

Haven’t had a chance to check the roof yet because of the smoke and there’s no-one left on the floor below to scream. Mary is a bit singed in awkward places.

Lovely reporting thus far,  if I do say so myself.   Which I did, I guess.  I await further news on this affair...

Thank you - below will follow the last part of my stint as rapporteur after which…….Stand by…!

Ah, some forward progress on the story telling.  I hope to see the finish if it arrives and make appropriate - or perhaps inappropriate - comment in good time.  But don't lose faith if I am very late in doing so since I am winging off to the British Isles in just over a week for a few weeks, scheduled to land on May 1st and depart on May 22nd.  Maybe I'll find fodder for future scenarios in your homelands - though how they'd make it to the Old West, well, who knows? 

Keep the stories coming.

I hope you have a great time over here. I read your itinerary on another topic and I think you should have a lot of fun and enjoyment. The story continues below.


WE ALMOST REACH A CONCLUSION


The dynamite explosion seems to have ignited more than the roof. It’s ignited, metaphorically, most of the cast of this drama. Misty and the Chief Saveloyard himself decide to leave their roof tops and eat some dust down at street level.




Granville who, after his dynamite drama retreated round the back of the barber, through the yard back round the front (why, one wonders?).




Proud Mary, minus eyelashes and with singed jeans as result of the dynamite, takes an ineffective pot at Misty before she (Misty)leaves the roof of the barbers.



Saveloy exits the Broken Drum, scuttles across the street and the railroad track………




…… and heads off down the length of the train, always keeping a piece of huge rolling stock between himself and any possible danger.


Misty exits the rear of the barber’s shop and moves through the yard at the side. The Melon remains sweating on his roof, smoking an endless succession of cigarillos and hoping someone will obligingly present themselves as a target. Oliver Standish gets more comfortable and feels a bit better (recovers an Action Dice).




TMWNN and Loco decide to have another try at taking the fight to the enemy and leave the shelter of the newspaper building, heading for the train.


Loco moves out




TMWNN moves in, through some interesting Asian citizens and……





…….takes position between two railcars. Nicely outlined, almost like a shooting gallery target.





Which is unfortunate because Granville has appeared opposite and has the drop on him.




As the Earps settle scores with Billy Clanton right in front of TMWNN, Granville does the same, shooting him down from the cover of some rocks. TMWNN is no more.


At this development, Loco decides to return to the newspaper office one more time. He gets a shot in at Misty which makes her keep her head down briefly and then he ducks out of sight.


With Oliver Standish slowly bleeding to death in the store and TMWNN out of the game and very possibly dead whilst the Saveloyards haven’t suffered so much as a scratch, things are looking bleak for the crusaders against corruption.

All that can save them now is a highly unlikely deus ex machina……


Stay tuned for the ultimate, complete and final finale………

Doug

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Great reporting, The Man Who Can't Remember His Name, should have remembered that age-old maxim, "don't stand in the open near people who have yet to activate"!

...and to conclude this wondrous tale of legendary bravery, pettifogging idiosyncrasies and sheer stupidity, the baton is passed to me, to cast light on the end of our campaign.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

The Beginning of the End, Part 1.

There it was then, thought Standish, the end. He’d been hit twice, in the shoulder and through his upper thigh. He was losing a lot of blood. He was trapped in Albert Arkwright’s Dry Goods Store in Hog Thief Bend and could see no way out.

It was a Mexican standoff alright. The Arthritis Gang had such high hopes, when they had ridden into town, earlier that fateful day. But now, Proud Mary, although in a commanding position on the roof of the Hog Thief Bend Reporter building, had nearly been blown off it. Granville Arkwright was proud of that throw, landing a stick of dynamite on the roof. Mary had survived the blast, but had been pinned, in position. Oliver Standish, the only surviving member of the original gang, lay bleeding out in the grocers and Loco Maine had been forced to retreat, via the back passage of the Reporter building. The Reporter’s staff, Lois, Jimmy and the editor Perry White had rapidly evacuated the building after the explosion on the roof. The Man With No Name, probably had no need of his name, where he was headed.

The problem, reflected Sherrif Saveloy Snapcase, was that although the Arthritis Gang could not advance against them, his posse were having the devil of a time, trying to winkle them out from their various refuges.

Melon los Cojones, had the whole town covered, from his vantage point on the railway station roof. Armed with his trusty Winchester Model 1873 "One of One Thousand" rifle, Melon had the range to keep the opposition pinned down and in cover. Deputy Misty Meaner, had kept Mary busy from the roof of Bill Gull’s Barber-Surgeon’s shop, whilst also peppering the Dry Goods Store, in case Standish poked his head out.



Snapcase and Arkwright were advancing undercover of the slowing train which was pulling into the station. Shortly, that cover would disappear as the train stopped at the platform.

There was a pause in the shooting, as both sides took the opportunity to reload and consider their next moves. At that moment, a rider thundered into town. He looked all in, as he literally propped his exhausted horse against the wall of O. W. Bandy’s blacksmiths. Snapcase recognised the Dutch settler, Spaire van Keyes, who lived out towards the Guadalupe Mountains.



The news that van Keyes brought, was dire.

For some time, the Mescalero Apaches had been discontented with their situation, high in the Guadelupe Mountains. Forced up there, after their war with the Comanches, they had learned to live there, but not to love it.

The Mescaleros, or Nde as they called themselves, hunted mule deer, elk, and bighorn sheep, and harvested plants including, agave, sotol, and bear grass. The agave, or mescal formed the major staple in both their diet and culture. In addition to supplying fibre for ropes, blankets, and sandals, agave hearts were roasted in large cooking pits and eaten or made into cakes for later consumption.

Settlers were constantly encroaching on their land. The Mescaleros were constantly on the move, ranging over vast areas and following the changing seasons.

Finally, they could endure no more. They had taken to the warpath and attacked the settlements along their route to Hog Thief Bend, which they intended to burn and sack. Spaire van Keyes had survived their surprise attack on his farm and had ridden ahead to warn the town.

Before the townsfolk had a chance to react, three columns of Apaches arrived. One column, of about thirty warriors, entered by Madame Meme’s saloon.





Using fire-arrows, they had set light to the wagon train and even Doc Vagabond’s snake oil wagon. Madame Meme’s girls had armed themselves and were shooting down into the mass of whooping braves.



The centre column, consisting of about forty braves, had ridden along the railway track, setting fear into the hearts of all who saw them.





The third column, about twenty-five braves, had dismounted behind Arkwright’s and had surrounded the building. Standish and Arkwright were forced to retreat to the roof, fighting for their very lives.



Most of the townsfolk are running away from the attack. In the swirling dust everything is chaos.





Misty, seeing Standish’s plight, runs to help.



Saveloy and Granville edge towards the bridge over the creek as the unstoppable charge heads up the tracks.





Loco and Mary are shooting into the mass of Apaches. They can’t miss at this range.



Seeing that Mary and Loco are about to be cut off, Snapcase shouts for them to run towards him, the bridge and temporary safety. Previous enemies need to become allies in these dangerous moments.

To be continued...

[Doug ex-em4]

Wow …! Who saw that coming? God from the machine and no mistake!! A very entertaining account of this unexpected development and some wonderful photos - what a visual treat. But can our heroes survive this terrifying surprise attack?

We must await further updates from puckish pen of M’lud Snapcase…..

Doug

[CapnJim]

Well, that was unexpected...nearly a hundred pissed off Mescaleros descending on poor Hog Thief Bend.  How can our various heroes (I use that term loosely) escape what must surely be their inevitable demise?  Ii guess we'll all find out what happens to them in due time...and why do I suspect that the ever-trusty US Cavalry is about to make an appearance, riding to the rescue (to paraphrase Gen. Horrocks in A Bridge Too Far...)?   

[FifteensAway]

Say...what?!  Mescal infused Mescaleros invade a bent up hog!?  My eyes are rolling around rather furiously in my head.  Maybe when they slow down and a thought is able to form I may wonder at when we shall see a little Pony Wars action push aside the Old West action.

...and thanks for the well wishes on our trip...no plans to be anywhere near Sherwood Forest but perhaps Old Blighty will inspire some Robin Hood action, the collection of figures most recently getting prepped for painting.  For more, hunt around the Medieval page...

But back to the "story?", will someone with long yellow hair be making an appearance?  And maybe his wife Libby, too?  Only time will tell.

[Harry Faversham]

Nottingham Castle museum is well worth a visit. In the grounds there's a magnificent monument to the WW1 Hero, Albert Ball. Inside there's a display including his medals, and most interesting, an Avro windscreen with a bullet hole in it. It must have missed his melon by millimetres, he was known for getting right in where they were thickest!
Meanwhile  back on the Plains. How about 'Libby Custer's new Frock'? A Troop of the 7th, tasked with escorting a wagon containing a new ball gown for the General's wife. Fort at one end of the table, Major Tantrum and the wagon at t'other. Plod down the trail to the fort on a pleasant afternoon...
wot could possibly go wrong?
 

[FifteensAway]

Well, Harry, the closest we are likely to get to Nottingham is a drive through on our way from York to Stratford-upon-Avon on our last day heading back to London on the Guided Bus Trip.   Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll make a stop.  Any thoughts on where to check out in London for hobby stuff - from any of you?  We have a whole week to absorb in and around London, mostly in London - one side trip to Windsor Castle planned, one day for British Museum, one day for Kew Gardens, and the rest will be 'famous touristy' places but we should have some time to spare to explore.

Old West or otherwise, Robin Hood or otherwise?  Only hobby sort-of related stop is the Imperial War Museum for me, not fair to my wife to burden her with too much military history. 

As to them Mescalero, that is a lot of folk!

[Lord Raglan]

A wonderful spectacle of a game