Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pulp => Topic started by: Vagabond on March 12, 2022, 06:33:57 PM
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Hello Hello --- this is Nighthawk Calling
After Dunkirk most of the German Army continued to advance into France but a Division of specially trained troops had followed the British Army across the sea from Dunkirk. In the confusion of the evacuation they had been able to cross the English Channel without being detected by the Royal Navy, and had sailed north landing in the Felixstowe area of Suffolk. Operating under strict security they had moved out swiftly from their landing area, and now all of East Anglia was under their control.
The object of this incursion was to destroy the extensive network of airfields in the area and in addition, to open a second front against the British with the aim of bringing about an early end to the war in the west.
As usual with my stories the text relating to the picture is below the picture unlike the normal convention of having it above the picture,
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322180822-54506930.jpeg)
The British had been prepared in a very ad hoc way for an invasion along the south coast but not in the flat lands of East Anglia. As usual with British planning there were a number of hare-brained schemes for local defence but they were totally uncoordinated and very local.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322180822-545072252.jpeg)
In the countryside around Much Piddling in the March for example the local landowner, Lord Snapcase (on the right in this picture), was in charge of the defence of the three villages of Much Piddling in the Marsh, Little Piddling and Bigger Piddling on Tap. The River Tap was an insubstantial river that drained the marshes around the Piddling villages and provided a small barrier to the advancing German troops.
Rather than cross the river at Bigger Piddling on Tap the German troops had gone 5 miles down stream and crossed by the bridge at Upper Piddling, they had continued their lightning advance to the market town of Thetford and consolidated their position around that town.
The rest of the defence of the Piddling’s was borne by Sir George Douglas D’Emfoure (The grumpy looking one on the left) and Snapcase’s Gamekeeper, the son of Old Scrotum, the aged Family Retainer.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322180822-545081322.jpeg)
The Germans were well aware that during the advance they had left behind many small pockets of resistance, indeed this had been their plan all along. Their only worry was that if these isolated pockets of resistance could be coordinated into something larger, then there might be trouble. To deal with that problem they had brought over a small number of radio tracking vehicles and 3 of these had pinpointed radio signals emanating from Little Piddling.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322180822-545092025.jpeg)
Meinhard Wenke and Rachael Weiss (on the left)with a small body of crack troops were despatched to Little Piddling immediately with orders to find and destroy the radio and eliminate the potential resistance from these amateurs.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322180822-545101060.jpeg)
This is an aerial reconnaissance view of Little Piddling and the cunning Germans have decided to split their forces and advance from both east and west of the village and trap the Radio Operator between them.
The small green dots with lentils stuck on them represent potential events, things such as the radio, a rabid dog or even a bag of rancid mushrooms, but you will get the gist as we go along, as usual each marker means drawing a card from a shuffled deck and depending on the card drawn as to what the event might be. Once an event had been decided then there were usually a series of possible options for it. For example the Rabid Dog could run away, or look aggressive or attack the nearest person.
Nothing too complex for me!
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181010-545111053.jpeg)
This is just a close up to show the markers and the fact that I failed to design the buildings with removable roofs for internal access.
The view is from the west of the village, the direction that Minehard Wenke is advancing.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181010-545121535.jpeg)
He issues instructions to his small force and they hurry to obey. Everyone hurries to obey the Gestapo.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181010-54513838.jpeg)
On the far side of the village Rachael Weiss is advancing from the east.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181010-545141414.jpeg)
A slightly elevated view but suffices to show her view of the village and like Wenke she issues her orders with precision.
She decides to stay clear of the pig pens herself but they must be searched and she designates this task to one of her underlings. She will stay on the road, in the centre of her command to coordinate the search.
Of course the real reason, is so that she doesn’t get her highly polished jack boots muddy in this dreadfully dirty countryside.
Well that's the first part of the tale
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Wonderful stuff Vagabond! :o :-* All of it. The AAR and the table. So "English Countryside".
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A great setup - love the simplicity of the event mechanism :D
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Great fun as always 8)
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Looks great John. Nice to see you playing with soldiers again and not just boats and planes.
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Fantastic idea and terrain. This is what wargaming is all about - an original idea carried through to a perfect execution. Well done!
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Cracking stuff 8)
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That’s a lovely looking table, Vaggers and an intriguing scenario. D’Emfore and Snapcase look appropriately splendid - haven’t seen them before. Looking forward to see how this unfolds. Surprises galore, I’ll wager…. ;)
Doug
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Absolutely brilliant AAR with fantastic terrain and masterful brushwork!
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Another fantastic tale of events at Much Piddling. An apparently quiet backwoods area and yet it has so many amazingly fantastic historical events unfold there. The locals must be completely unflappable. :)
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Vaggers, once again your layout looks superb, always so realistic. Plus, as usual a spiffing storyline. Give us more!
'Snappers'
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Cheers Guy's I really appreciate your encouragement. Thanks
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The continuation of Part 1 which of course I forgot to call part 1, this is now part 2 of what will be a 3 part tale.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181010-545152128.jpeg)
Wenkes team spread out, searching the crates on the right of the road and also the first house on the left, but they don’t find anything. They have made rather a lot of noise which might not have been so wise.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181107-5451681.jpeg)
Looking like a lost sheep, Torsten searches the cart but discovers nothing there either.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181107-545171861.jpeg)
Searching the pig pen the underling finds an enraged dog, or maybe the enraged dog finds the underling because without any other warning it attacks him, the pigs remain neutral perhaps expecting supper to be provided by one or other of the protagonists.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181107-54518806.jpeg)
Rachael ignores her underling’s plight as Dietmar finds an Arms Cache in the truck across the road. Whilst this is indicative of a Resistance Cell in the area it’s not really what they are looking for and so they continue towards the centre of the small hamlet.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181107-545192114.jpeg)
The underling’s sense of self preservation is strong or maybe he’s just well trained because with a quick burst from his smg he lays low the enraged dog – Boo Hiss.
It looks like the pigs are going to have a smaller and less tender supper than they would have wished for, but "supper is supper". That’s an old piggy proverb that you might not have heard before.
Rachael moves towards the corner of the field and fails to see a small cache of papers hidden in the wall. If she had looked more carefully she would have found the Radio Operators Code Book, it would have been a bit of an Enigma to her.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181107-54520240.jpeg)
Another of her underlings moves warily to a brown truck and looking carefully under the cover he sees a Radio. He climbs into the back of the truck and reaches out for the Radio thinking that he might get promoted for this.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181227-54521647.jpeg)
Unfortunately he didn’t look closely enough and failed to see that the radio was booby trapped. There’s a loud explosion and he doesn’t worry about promotion anymore.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181227-5452292.jpeg)
Weinhard’s men are moving into the heart of the hamlet, if 4 houses and a pigpen can have a heart.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181227-54523427.jpeg)
One of them goes into the area behind the houses but does a poor job of searching it before re-joining his comrades in the main road.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181227-545241269.jpeg)
He catches up with the rest of the team just as they enter the remaining two houses. After a thorough search the right hand house reveals nothing but on the left hand side things are more exciting…. come on … wake up in the back.
Badeker kicks in the door of the large house on the left and is just in time to see and hear movement.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181227-545251045.jpeg)
It’s the Radio Operator and she legs it out of the back door, she had been watching the German team move through the Hamlet and was well aware they were coming, they should have been quieter. She was lucky in that the dope that searched the area behind the houses had only done a perfunctory job of it before leaving and she had a clear escape path.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181350-545262312.jpeg)
Chasing after her, Oswald the Afrika Korps soldier was just too off balance to fire and she was running like a gazelle for the fence and freedom, anyway he might have one more opportunity to open fire.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181350-54527396.jpeg)
….. but vaulting the fence like an Olympian she escaped, leaving him to report failure to Wenke of the Gestapo.
That's not a conversation he's going to enjoy.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181350-54528975.jpeg)
Meanwhile Rachael Weiss having learned a very valuable lesson decides not to climb into the back of this truck but instead stands back a little and gets another of her expendable underlings to examine it first. After duly rolling a few dice George Douglas decides that while Home Defence is a worthy cause, so is staying alive and he climbs out of the truck but plays dumb and doesn’t disclose any information about the Radio and its Operator.
Of course he may well be aware that both have been discovered and he’d rather not be implicated in any reprisals that might be forthcoming.
A wise man our George Douglas.
OK that's part 2 complete, there was something really important about the game I wanted to impart but unfortunately I've forgotten what it was, maybe in the next and final instalment.
Cheers
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Always a pleasure to see your games on the board. I love the narrative based gameplay.
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Yes, the story buildup these keeners do is always appreciated. :D
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it would have been a bit of an Enigma to her.
Boom! Boom! Kindly leave the stage!
More great stuff, glad to see that the radio operator got away. :-*
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Always a pleasure to see your games on the board. I love the narrative based gameplay.
That's a really nice comment, thanks.
Fram What's a keener?
Snappers, sorry it was a bit corny but I just couldn't resist. Sorry :D
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Sorry for the delay in concluding this story, with my attention span being shorter than a goldfish I personally prefer to read a game report at one sitting and then I can promptly forget it. Anyway this is the last and concluding part of this AAR, although as someone commented on my blog the ending leaves it wide open for a follow on game. ;)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181350-545291185.jpeg)
At this point there’s a loud braying sound as Lord Snapcase clears his throat and bellows “What are you chaps doing on my land” “Don’t you know it’s duck shooting season and I won’t have anyone disturbing my duck’s” He stands, hands on hips glaring at them malevolently.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181350-545301264.jpeg)
With barely a pause he roars like a lion, “Young Scrotum, see them off.” “Quickly man” and Young Scrotum raises his side by side 12 bore nervously, but while he’s pretty nifty at shooting squirrels, shooting a man is quite different.
They've been known to shoot back. :-[
The Afrika Korps veterans are not used to being bellowed at and have no idea what duck shooting is and level their weapons at the Mad Lord and then everything slows down as the cameraman tries to earn his pay with some artistic slow motion shots.
The Germans are veterans from the North Africa campaign, confident in their ability to deal with this old mad man and his Gamekeeper but Snapcase saw action as a Trench Raider in the first World War and has served in countless Colonial actions since, he's not a man to mess with.
A bad tempered old man with a short fuse and a fast right hand, he pulls his redoubtable Webley revolver and opens fire. Damn…he misses and receives a hail of fire in return. A lesser man would have dived for cover behind the stone wall but Snapcase stands his ground and returns the hail of fire, bang bang, click. Both his shots missed and now he’s out of ammunition but worst of all, he realises he’s wearing his reading glasses. Blast and damnation.
Before he can duck down behind the wall the rifleman fires but he misses as well, the adrenaline is making everyone jumpy.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181452-5453157.jpeg)
Before young Scrotum can bring his shotgun to bear he takes half a magazine of sub machine gun bullets to the chest and falls like a sack of potatoes. The Officer firing the smg kept his finger on the trigger too long and has also run out of ammunition.
George Douglas wants to intervene but the sight of Rachael Weiss’s Luger pointed steadily at his left eye has a calming effect and he stands and fumes impotently.
Meanwhile Snapcase is reloading the Webley behind the wall.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181452-545321125.jpeg)
Popping up from his refuge, Snapcase - snapfires and hits one of his adversaries, badly wounding the man and putting him down and out of the fight.
Cunning as a fox, Rachael has moved forward, she fires in return but is also wide of the mark as Snapcase responds by ducking back behind cover. He’s not used to shapely young women taking pot shots at his ample frame. Well not since that incident on the NW Frontier in 25, or was it 26, no time to worry about the exact date though, self preservation is more important.
In the mean time the German Officer has reloaded his smg and is waiting for Snapcase to re-appear.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181452-545331587.jpeg)
….Which he duly does but before he can fire again, Rachael puts a 9mm bullet right between the MC and DSO, both medals that for some reason he habitually wears on his chest. If this had been ½” to the right she would have hit the DSO middle and centre and the story might have finished differently but she didn't and Snapcase hit's the ground with a resounding thump.
Moaning quietly about foreigners and being out for a duck.
You might be wondering why, when George Douglas was released from the immobilizing sight of Rachael’s Luger he didn’t move to help his friend.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/54/7162-100322181452-545341796.jpeg)
You don’t turn your back on the Gestapo.
Weinhard Wenke took the credit for clearing out this nest of saboteurs as the Gestapo are wont to do but when the history of Much Piddling in the Marsh is finally written down, the world will know the truth.
Of course that pre-supposes that local Historian Mary Martin also the School Mistress and Radio Operator survives the war.
Maybe there will be a rescue attempt by the Much Piddling Girl Guides aided by Ms Smethers and her branch of the local Cub Scouts, a dedicated band of boys who seem hell bent on a life of violence and crime, destined to take up positions within the young offenders institute as soon as the war is over and they can be rounded up safely.
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Oh my! One can hardly express the dismay one feels at the felling of Lord Snapcase. :o He shall have to be avenged.
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Oh my! One can hardly express the dismay one feels at the felling of Lord Snapcase. :o He shall have to be avenged.
I wouldn't worry, old Snappers has done for worse many times before.
Though he might need a few feedings to shape him up again after being subjected to the food at the Sisters of Charity and Mercy hospital (aptly named, as they rarely display either).
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Riveting! All of it! Pics, AAR, it's all superb! :-*
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Well quite the setback. We look forward to seeing how our heroes do in the next round! A Webley and a double barrel duck gun hardly seem a fair set up against veteran DAK with Schmeiser's.
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Jolly good fun :)
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One of your best, John - really enjoyed that. And Snapcase has more honourable wounds to boast about once Miss Spankhurst has given him a good fettling to set him back on his feet.
Im loving your table - your scenery puts mine to shame. You certainly put on a damned good solo game.
Doug
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Superb, as always! You can't keep a fat Snapcase down, a couple of band-aids and a stiff tot of the old Laphroaig and I'll be bimbling about in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
Both his shots missed and now he’s out of ammunition but worst of all, he realises he’s wearing his reading glasses. Blast and damnation.
I'm nearly always wearing the wrong glasses nowadays! I go upstairs to get the right pair, do six different things instead and end up downstairs again, still with the wrong specs on.
Maybe there will be a rescue attempt by the Much Piddling Girl Guides aided by Ms Smethers and her branch of the local Cub Scouts
There's a good chance of that, and don't forget the Much-Piddling WI under the doughty leadership of Dame Ena Rancid.
In all seriousness, that was a jolly fine game, old boy. Pip, pip! :-*
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Well quite the setback. We look forward to seeing how our heroes do in the next round! A Webley and a double barrel duck gun hardly seem a fair set up against veteran DAK with Schmeiser's.
I would have to take issue with you there Lon, you forgot the enraged dog.
There were a few other encounters that didn't happen and might have changed the balance a little but I expect the boy scouts armed with catapults will stand a better chance in the rescue attempt. ;)
Thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments, I do feel I should try a rescue attempt to get the two old duffers out of the hands of the Germans, I don't have any boy scouts but could raise a few adolescent girl guides in civi's, maybe led by the Mother Superior of the local convent. I forget her name for the moment but she did sterling work in France rescuing pilots before escaping to Britain when the Gestapo net closed in on her. I don't have a link but it's somewhere on my untended blog.
Cheers
Nighthawk - Out
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Fun read, and I am sure it was as much fun to play. lol
Mike Demana
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girls scouts maybe led by the Mother Superior of the local convent.
Well that should put them to rest. So one sided one probably wouldn't need to play it out. :D
Wonderful games.
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You're probably right but maybe I'll give it a go. ;)
Mike it was a fun game but also quite a while ago. :(
I'm in the middle of the Plague at the moment, Mrs V kindly gave me her left over germs but they don't seem to be as effective second hand and I can feel the strength returning to my right arm, such that I hope to remove the canula and drink red wine out of a glass rather than have it flow from the drip bag straight into a vein.
When that happens then I've an idea on how to run a solo game but try and use the Forum expertise in low cunning and devious tactics to make any particularly difficult decision's during the course of the game.
I'm sure it's been done before but it sounds fun. Just need a catchy title.
Cheers
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I sit here, on the edge of my seat, waiting in anticipation for Part III. Well told and illustrated story!
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Fantastic! I really doubt a 9mm luger round fired from across the drive is enough to put down a man of Snapcase's measure. Most like lodged in a snuff tin.
Excellent game all around.
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Thank you Captain Jim and CPT Shanks you are quite right Snapcase is made of stout stuff and a 9mm round is just going to bounce off that alcohol cured hide of his.
The rescue mission is underway, Snappers friends and associates are currently mustering at Aunty Edna's house in the small market town of Greater Snoring. things are not going as well as they would have hoped. One of the information gathering team's are in trouble. Ms Spankhurst and the Girl Guide Nicole Boursier have been accosted by an enemy patrol and are awaiting "patting down" an Italian method of body search.
You may wonder why the Italians are there....... so do I
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Well, perhaps the Italians fellows were intrigued by Mlle. Boursier's, um, intrigues...
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"Nighthawk Nighthawk --- This is Wild Duck"
"The game is a boom --- i repeat --- the game is a boom"
Well done. Its a great game, scenario and miniatures. :-* :-*
Keep em coming.