The League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers presents....

[Ignatieff]

                                                            The League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers presents
                                                                              THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE
                                                                   Thursday 4th till Monday 8th August 2011

                         

In 1824, the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding discovered the ‘Helix Nebula’, which became known as ‘The God’s Eye Nebula’. Almost exactly 100 years later, the eccentric Serbian inventor and pioneer of modern radio technology, Nikola Tesla, has detected faint radio waves emitting from the nebula, and has identified their target as ‘somewhere in southern Africa’.  In the same year, Airdrie won their one and only Scottish Cup, watched on at Ibrox stadium by their proud Chairman, and hero of the defence of British East Africa, Brigadier Donald Linn (MC & bar).
Meanwhile on the Dark Continent itself, the uneasy peace that settled after the First Great African War (192?-2?) is under severe threat.  A new scramble for precious resources has broken out.  Vast quantities of oil have been discovered in Lake Nyasa, causing renewed tensions, and rumours of a new arms race, between German Tanganyika and the fledgling Republic of Nuovo Portugal. And just to the north-west, along the sensitive border region of Northern Rhodesia, German Tanganyika and Belgian Congo, the largest deposits of diamonds ever discovered on the planet has been unearthed. And to complicate matters more, a terrible and as yet unknown virus has emerged from the darkest heart of Africa, Mitumba region, sending streams of refugees out in every direction.
Meanwhile in the north, the Juba river demarcation between Kenya Colony and the Bukharan puppet state of Somalia remains on armed alert, whilst far away in Rome, Mussolini plots his revenge…. The Beast of Bukhara himself appears preoccupied elsewhere, and has recently been in Tokyo signing a cultural and economic co-operation pact with the emerging Japanese superpower.  On the same day as the treaty was signed, The Beast’s great regional rival, Baron Ungern Von Sternberg, was annointed ‘Lion of Juddah’ and heir apparent by the Emperor of the Ethiops, Haile Selassie. In April, the world awoke to the astonishing news that Austrian archaeologists working high in the Rift Valley had unearthed the missing part of the Rosetta Stone, throwing new and startling light on the origins and purpose of this ancient text. And all the while the new empire of Bolshevik Russia continues to weave is ambitious web, amidst rumours of a devastating economic offensive that has sent shudders through the world’s stock markets…….

Gentlemen, the stage is set, the die is cast. And remember, as always, we are dealing with forces you cannot possibly comprehend…………..

May the 4th be with you……

to be continued......

[OSHIROmodels]

HUZZAH Another outing by the Kriegspielers 

Can't wait for photos, reports etc 

cheers

James

[gamer Mac]

Hey Airdrie get a mention. Thats just up the road from me
Not that I follow football, to busy painting little lead figures
Looking forward to more reports and loads of photos please

[Bugsda]

"Baron Ungern Von Sternberg, was annointed ‘Lion of Juddah’ "

Him no dread, I tink him a rude bwa 

Looking forward to this 

[marianas_gamer]

Huzzah!!  But you can't fool me, the Beast will be back if only to grant himself a new metal......................and what about the myserious Red Can Man? 
LB

[Gluteus Maximus]

Looking forward to the pics etc!

Great title, by the way. I love Larry Niven and that's possibly my favourite of his novels   

[gamer Mac]

Is part of this game going to be in Falkirk.
The club name is mentioned?

[Traveler Man]

Huzzah! I'm looking forward to this! 

[Remington]

Very intriguing and if your past topics are anything to go by... this will be an absolute blast!

[Ignatieff]

Is part of this game going to be in Falkirk.
The club name is mentioned?

A subset will be there, but the details of this game are still toppo secret.  Worth watching them tear each other apart trying to get the (as yet) non-existant briefs.  Just ask them about Mad Bob, and why the Texas Rangers are on his tail, that'll get them scratching their chins.  Or maybe why the Bolsheviks are heading up the Congo....

[Ignatieff]

The Briefs......

The Mote in God’s Eye                                   Austrian brief

You are Colonel Walter Rudolph ‘Rudi’ Schneiber, hero of the Holy Roman Empire and winner of the highest military honour, the ‘Pour Le Merite’ for your exploits on the Italian front during WWI.
You had a ‘good war’ in the recent unpleasant business in East Africa.  Much though it annoyed that little man Linn, the British Government was pleased by your timeliness in getting involved and helping ‘hold the line’ when the British were under severe pressure.
In return, they extended your permission to stay and allowed you to continue archaeological digging in the north-west Rift valley. Which was a stroke of luck, because you have unearthed perhaps the most fabulous discovery of the past 100 years: the lost sections of the Rosetta Stone. And what a find it is.  It was thought that the Rosetta Stone was merely a multilingual stone from the time of Ptolemy.  Oh no, oh no.  What you have discovered changes everything. For one thing, the other parts of the stone you have uncovered are massive.  The whole thing is some 4m x 3m.  The bit found by the French in 1799 was therefore only a fragment. In addition to the Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphics on the original fragments, the whole piece has Latin, Chinese, what looks like Aztec, and three more languages the likes of which you have never seen before.  And the symbols, the strange yet oddly familiar symbols.  For one, in the top right hand corner is the all seeing eye held in a triangle.  Long thought to be a masonic symbol, and also found on the U.S. Dollar note.  Beneath that, there seems to be a map, but not the likes of which you recognise.  There are also three ‘boxes’ with what look like scientific formula.  And all around the edge, in a hybrid semantic language, is a story, a tale of a journey.  But you can’t figure it out here, in your desert camp.  You need to get back to Vienna and the full resources of Vienna University.  But what to do with the massive original stone?  You are dealing with forces well beyond our comprehension, and this information can’t be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.
And there remains the small matter of the unfinished business with Der Baron and the stolen ‘Spear of Destiny’.
You start at the northern end of Lake Rudolph in north west Kenya Colony.

Objective
1.   Decipher the secret of the lost fragments of the Rosetta stone
2.   Do not let the stone or its secret fall into the ‘wrong’ hands
3.   Recover the Spear of Destiny from der Baron.

Forces Available
Colonel Rudi Schneiber: + 2 leader            Major  Erwin Sikorsky: +1 leader
1 Lloyd Aviaitik reconnaissance aircraft
30 German and Austrian archaeologists
100 local diggers and workers.
You can of course equip a bigger expedition when you get back to Vienna.

Intelligence
The Pink will provide a fertile source of intelligence, as will the brief from your last ‘adventure’. However in addition to that, the following may be of use:
•   Der Baron seems to have settled into a hash-induced existence in Abyssinia.  The British took a lenient line with him, as The Beast of Bukhara remains their biggest fear.  He and Haile Selassie have become the best of friends.
•   The British have significantly reinforced Kenya Colony, with an eye on the Somali border in particular.
•   A huge oil find has been made on Lake Nyasa, which looks like it might mean war between German Tanganyika and the newly independent Nuovo Portugal.
•   A massive diamond find has been made in Katanga Province in Belgian Congo.  Law and order appears to have broken down as every adventurer and criminal on the planet has headed south.
•   The Belgian Congo government is led by a civil servant called Dr. Emille Shauffhausen (late of the Shauffhausen Institute), based in the capital Boma.  However his control over the colony is weak, particularly in the interior.  In these parts it is adventurers like the notorious Stroganoff who hold sway.
•   There are rumours that ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ has been discovered, somewhere in Belgian Congo.
•   The Beast of Bukhara has signed an economic and cultural treaty with Imperial Japan.  It is not clear what this might mean.
•   The Bukaharans have re-occupied the Comorros islands.
•   It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.  The corrupt British administration there, under Governor Richard Sims Donkins, turns a blind eye to most indiscretions, on account of this bonanza
•   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                  Beast of Bukhara Brief

At last, a seat at ‘The Big Table’.  The Japanese need oil and you need technology.  You both feel shunned by the so-called ‘Great powers’ and you both share a virulent aggressive anti-communist doctrine.  A marriage made in heaven.
Given what was going on Africa, you both realised that your fates were intertwined.  The largest oil finds outside central Asia.  Weak local governments (the Portuguese and the Germans), international indifference, and an emergent Japanese super-power itching to try out its new technology and brimming full of inspirational military strategy.
And so was born, Operation ‘Climb Mt. Somoni’ (after the highest peak in Central Asia). A joint Japanese-Bukharan naval invasion of German/Portuguese East Africa!
10,000 men, advanced naval, air and intelligence assets, the element of surprise and the strange Dr. Shitikamasata and his weird experiments…
But the operation will be a dangerous one. With long supply lines, a hostile environment (physically as well as militarily), and a British Empire on high alert after the recent incursion, you will need to be at your finest.
This is your moment.  This is your chance to go from regional superpower to a global colossus. Attack! Attack! Attack!
You start in the Imperial Command Bunker underneath your palace in Bukhara.

Objectives
1.   A major victory would be to conquer both colonies and avoid a confrontation with the British Empire
2.   A significant victory would be to conquer one or the other.
Campaign Forces Available: c.10,000 men
Adrian Enver Pasha: +2 leader, ‘hero’.       Admiral Takana: +1 ‘hero’, expert swordsman
6,000 Bukharan infantry, cavalry, armoured cars, artillery and air assets.  Coastal flotilla of patrol boats based in the Comorros islands, with 800 of your 6,000 men stationed there.
Japanese naval assets, including an aircraft carrier (The ‘Midnight Blossom’ with 12 light bombers), two heavy cruisers, four destoyers and two submarines.  Also six fuel tankers. 800 marines aboard the surface ships.
3,000 Japanese infantry, cavalry, artillery, light tanks and armoured cars.
Dr. Shitikamasata  and his ‘top secret’ experiments.
This armada is based at Victoria in the Seychelles, which you have seized en route for Africa.  It is 1124 miles east of Dar e Salaam. You need to keep your forward base secret for the time being.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will of course provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
-   The Comorros, which you obtained from the French government in return for oil concessions, could prove a useful staging post.  You currently have a battalion of Bukharan regulars plus a coastal flotilla based there.
-   There are strong rumours that the Germans and Portuguese are going to ‘kick off’ over the oil finds.  This will open more opportunities for you, which you should take advantage of.
-   The British have reinforced the border with Somalia.  Invasion through there would be difficult, but a demonstration could be used
-   There appears to be rumours of the discovery of King Solomon’s Mines, somewhere to the west of Nyasaland.  You don’t put much store on it yourself.
-   Belgian Congo has a new Governor, the world renowned Professor Emile Schaffhausen, late of the Lichtenstein based Schaffhausen Institute.  He may be a man to talk to
-   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
-   Mad Bob is on the run from the Texas Rangers for the murder of Rachel Weiss.  Apparently he has asked for 345 other serious offences to be taken into consideration.  Texas Ted is assumed to be helping them.
-   Zanzibar has been burnt to the ground following the recent disturbances there and failed Bolshevik invasion.
-   The Bolsheviks have been very quiet of late.....almost....too quiet.

STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                             Bolshevik brief

Lenin wasn’t in a good mood.  Your last foray into Africa had ended in disaster.  Defeated militarily and humiliated on the international stage.  That and Chuggerchevsky going off the edge and thinking he’s a character from a Jules Verne novel.  Normally all this would have meant a permanent suite in the Lubyanka (as well as the removal of all but the most vital of your organs), but those photographs of Dzerzhinksy came in useful after all.  You always wondered why he was called ‘Felix the Cat’ by his enemies. You smiled to yourself.
“What’s so fucking funny?” yelled Lenin in that strange whine he had when he was particularly angry.  The only other man in the room let out a snigger.  Dr. Manfred Isaacs, the ‘Scientist’.  The only man you were genuinely afraid of.  As was Lenin you suspected.
“Well, as conventional warfare does not seem to have worked, its time for something more ‘unconventional’”. He looked across at Isaacs.
“Dr.Isaacs has located a radio pulse emitting from the Helix Nebula in the constellation of Aquarius.  The so-called ‘God’s Eye’ nebula.  Dr Isaacs?”
Isaac’s licked his lips in a disconcerting manner. He was a German Jew, who had spent years in the shadows of ‘advanced’ medical and physics research.  You had seen for your own eyes what sort of monsters he had created, most recently at Lake Baikal. “There is more than a ‘pulse’ coming from the Helix Nebula.  There is a signal, an activation signal.  We don’t know what it is activating, but we can only surmise…”  He gave the most disconcerting smile you had ever seen.  It seemed to peer into the deepest blackness of your soul. “We can only surmise that it is a ‘superior’ intelligence”. He made word ‘superior’ sound like a particular act of depravity.
Lenin took over.  “Comrade V.I.Blackwood.  You are to take a small force of elite Cheka and Bolshevik naval forces to Africa.  You will travel incognito and will be lightly armed.  Dr.Isaacs will accompany you. He will bring some ‘enhancements’ to your military force”.  Lenin almost spat out that last bit. “We have located the transmission target as residing somewhere in south-east Belgian Congo, in one of the most remote locations in the continent.  You are to locate the site, and recover what technology exists at it, and bring it back to Russia. You will not fail this time”.

Objectives
Locate the receiving site of the Helix Nebula signal, and recover the technology for Bolshevik Russia.  You will have to organise the expedition, choose a suitable landing location, and maintain secret cover.   Intelligence gathering will be the key to a successful insertion and recovery.
Forces Available
V.I.Blackwood: + 2 leader, ‘hero’, marksman            Dr. Manfred Isaacs: -2 leader. ‘Special powers’
100 of the very best Cheka, heavily armed
100 Kronstadt naval personnel
2 HMG’s
2 unarmoured machine gun carriers
50,000 gold sovereigns to oil your passage.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
- You still have a contact with ‘Major’ Dai Llewellyn Stroganoff in that corrupt sumphole of Belgian Congo.  He may be of help, if only as a greedy fall guy
- There remains endemic drug related corruption in the sea ports of East Africa.  Most of the trade is controlled by a loose network of notorious ‘Ruga-Ruga’ gangs, with some of whom you have cordial relationships, though no large measure of trust.  You should use these connections to your advantage.
- Central Africa is criss-crossed by illegal slave routes and blood diamond traders.  Most of the most notorious are Arabs from the east, and Belgians in the west.  Many of these parties are large and heavily armed, and are rumoured to be in cahoots with local businessmen and state organisations.  You need a slice of this action.
- Texas Ted has established himself as the big Cahuna in Nyasaland, buying up half the farms, and taken to dressing as Robert E. Lee.
- There are rumours of Communist agitation in Leopoldville.  Again an opportunity.
- Stories abound about ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ being discovered in the mountains of south-east Belgian Congo.  This may just be off the back of the diamond discoveries, but there are stories of archaeologists heading south to look for it.
- Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.

STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                      British brief

Goal!!!  Willie Russell’s second put the game beyond Hibernian in front of 65,000 fans at Ibrox.  It was a dreich grey April afternoon, but one of your happiest.  Lauded as the victor of Kenya colony’s defence against the odds, a nice new bar to your MC, and now your beloved Airdrie picking up the Scottish Cup for the first time ever.  Aye, all that and a nice wee dram in the Ibrox trophy room.
However, there is no rest for the wicked, and you have to be on the packet boat first thing tomorrow morning.  A new assignment: Nyasaland.  The very name has become a byword for corruption and is need of some ‘corrective’ cleansing action.  Including finding out what exactly yon Yank Texas Ted is really upto.  He’s bought out half the farms in the colony, and has taken to dressing up as Robert E. Lee, would you believe.  There is something very fishy about the whole affair.  There has also been a lot of ballyhoo about the oil and diamond finds in the region.  The problem is that most of it seems to be just outwith the borders of our colonies.  You are to ensure that the British Empire is not disadvantaged in any scramble for resources, and are authorised to use force if necessary.
Before that, you need to make sure the Airdrie team don’t get too carried away tonight as they are coming with you on a tour of the colonies: Egypt, Kenya, German Tanganyika, Mozambique and then South Africa.  Before putting on an exhibition tournament in Blantyre.  Three solid months of fitba.  You wished you hadn’t made that promise now at the post semi-final match party, but you never really did think they would beat Hibernian….
Lodge No.1 had given you a right good send off as well.  They even brought out the sword of Prestor John, which you presented them with after the last caper.  But was it just you, or was it glowing with an eerie cold blue light that night?

Objectives
1.   Successfully arrive in Blantyre with Airdrie Football team.  Extra points will be awarded for winning all your matches en route.
2.   Root out corruption in Nyasaland, and assist the Texas Rangers in their pursuit and apprehension of Mad Bob.
3.   Ensure that the British Empire secures its fair share of the recently discovered oil and diamonds in the region, by playing one side off against the other, and if necessary, armed intervention.   
Campaign Forces Available in Nyasaland: c.1,800 men
Brigadier Linn: +2 leader, ‘hero’        Major Langan: +2 leader, ‘hero’.
Blantyre
1 coy Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (150 men)
1 squadron of mounted yeomanry (80 men)
4/K.A.R. (600 men)
15/K.A.R. (600 men)
1 coy of HMG’s
1 battery of 18pdr guns
2 Rolls Royce Armoured Cars
plus various police units.  Additional detachments, including air units, may be available from Northern Rhodesia should the need arise.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will of course provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
-   The War Office reckons it will all kick off between German Tanganyika and Nuovo Portugal.  Both are as poor as church mice and these oil and diamond finds mean they have the chance of transforming their fortunes.  The Captain of the Vital Spark has orders to go straight to South Africa from Kenya Colony if it does.
-   The Indian Ocean is deemed safe.  Since the sinking of the Red October the Bolsheviks have been lying low, no doubt upto no good, but not here.
-   There is some suggestion that Nuovo Portugal is behind a lot of the corruption in Nyasa Land.  They’ve reportedly being using it as aback door smuggling route.
-   Mad Bob is reportedly hiding somewhere in Nyasaland, rumoured to be en-route for Katanga Province in the Belgian Congo.  The Texas Rangers are on his tail for the murder of Rachel Weiz in the last campaign.  He has gone ‘full Mexican’ by now, and should be considered public enemy number 1 in Nyasaland.
-   It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.
-   Belgian Congo, a good ally in WWI, has a new Governor, the world renowned Professor Emile Schaffhausen, late of the Lichtenstein based Schaffhausen Institute.  He may be a man to talk to
-   There appears to be rumours of the discovery of King Solomon’s Mines, somewhere to the west of Nyasaland.  You don’t put much store on it yourself.
-   Your radio operators in Blantyre have picked up a distress signal from an Italian big game hunting party in Katanga Province.  Deuced strange place to go hunting ivory, as it really is ‘The Heart of Darkness’ around there.  As is the fact that they had a radio set. Hmmm..

STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                Der Baron brief

Life in the Ancient Coptic Kingdom of Abyssinia appears to agree with you.  The Christianity of the natives, an oasis of civilization in a sea of depraved atheists, is pleasant and refreshing.  Your host, the amiable if eccentric Haile Selassie, is a cultured despot of the best kind.  And you had come to appreciate the great and wise insight gained by daily use of hashish.  Even if you couldn’t stop babbling. And you were always soo peckish.
You hadn’t thought much of it at first.  The Spear of Destiny, which you never let out of your sight, began to glow a dim cold blue light one night.  As the nights went by it grew gradually brighter, but not enough for you to mention it to your host.  It was he who raised it first over dinner one evening. “Have you noticed anything with the Spear recently?”  You said you had.  “Well look at this”.  He placed the ‘Cup of the Carpenter’ on the table.  Despite being made of wood, this too glowed with an eerie blue glow.  “This, my Lion of Judah, is not good.  This means trouble”.
He then went on to tell you the most incredible tale.  Of an ancient civilisation that came from the stars and settled in what was The Garden of Eden, far, far to south of here.  Of how they had produced all the nations of the earth, and all the wisdom of the ages, but had, after the Garden had ‘changed’, spread across the four corners of the planet.  He told you in incredible detail how all the holy men of old – including Jesus – had carried the main blood line of these aliens (“though not that bastard Mohammed”. He was very clear on this point), and how lots of this had been written down but had been lost. “The best bit was the Rosetta Stone” he said, giggling.  The bit in the British Museum is thought to be ‘just’ a text with Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphics. In fact it’s only a fragment of the real thing.  Its shows not only all the languages of the earth, but a star map, and details of the technology they used to get here”. He hesitated for a second. “But we lost it”.  He suddenly looked quite sad. “Somewhere down south.  It was huuuuge!”. He suddenly started running around the room, waving and flapping his arms. “Yoh big!” before tripping on his robe and knocking himself unconscious on the marble floor.
When he came to, he was quite serious, which was unusual for him. “You need to find where the Garden is.  It has technology in it that could destroy the world.  Come with me”.  He took you down into the treasure vaults of the Palace.  Ancient rooms going back thousands of years ran off in seemingly limitless directions.  He took you to a small vaulted chamber, and opened an ancient wooden box with an even older key, and pulled out a hessian sack. Suddenly the chamber glistened.  Inside the sack was a large golden bowl, seemingly plain.  You then noticed that there was a small pyramid raised at one corner. “The Garden is in a crater of the civilisations making.  The ship they used crashed there.  They built a fabulous city.  Known as ‘Mote’.  This, my Lion of Zion, is ‘The Mote in God’s Eye’”. He pointed a trembling finger at the small raised pyramid.
“But what of the blue glow on the Spear and the Cup of the Caprenter?” you asked. He looked straight at you. “It means they’re back”, he replied. “Who?” says you. He just tilted his head ever so slightly upwards, and raised his eyes to the heavens………….

Objectives
1.   Discover the rest of the ‘Rosetta’ Stone and decipher what it says.
2.   Locate ‘The Mote in God’s Eye’ and save the world.
Forces Available
Der Baron: +2 leader ‘Hero’          Chuffer Campbell: +3 leader (super) ‘Hero’
You have your usual dedicated Mongol and Tibetan fanatics, numbering over 800.  Plus your Rastafarian bodyguard, some 400.  You can call upon the slightly out-of-date Abyssinian armed forces, as well as your old friend Piet Tealief, down south.  The question is, where to go? And how to get there without causing an international incident?  A small force could get through, but might fail. A large force would meet serious problems getting there.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
•   The British have significantly reinforced Kenya Colony, with an eye on the Somali border in particular.
•   A huge oil find has been made on Lake Nyasa, which looks like it might mean war between German Tanganyika and the newly independent Nuovo Portugal.
•   A massive diamond find has been made in Katanga Province in Belgian Congo.  Law and order appears to have broken down as every adventurer and criminal on the planet has headed south.
•   The Belgian Congo government is led by a civil servant called Dr. Emille Shauffhausen (late of the Shauffhausen Institute), based in the capital Boma.  However his control over the colony is weak, particularly in the interior.  In these parts it is adventurers like the notorious Stroganoff who hold sway.
•   There are rumours that ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ has been discovered, somewhere in Belgian Congo.
•   The Beast of Bukhara has signed an economic and cultural treaty with Imperial Japan.  It is not clear what this might mean.
•   The Bukaharans have re-occupied the Comorros islands.
•   It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.  The corrupt British administration there, under Governor Richard Sims Donkins, turns a blind eye to most indiscretions, on account of this bonanza
•   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
•   The Austrians are rumoured to be watching you, under the guise of an archaeological expedition at Lake Rudolph.
STEVE LANGAN                           25/05/2011