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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
….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.
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.