The Missing Millions

[Vagabond]

I’ve not done much recently in the Pulp genre, but I had an invitation to Snapcase Hall. Home of that dilettante the Mad Lord Snapcase, so who was I to refuse such an invitation. The food is always good, the wine and beer better and my host is as good as it gets, so I said yes.

Besides that Ms Spankhurst does the rounds each evening to ensure the guests are safe and secure.

I wanted to do a follow up game to one we played last April up in Vagabond Manor when I tried to rob the Baby Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells and got my arse handed to me on a plate. I think that’s an Americanism, although I’ve often wondered what the hell that might look like, tripe poached in milk perhaps. Anyway Snappers was keen to play some 1930’s Pulp game on the new terrain he’d created. - Venice



You all know about the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that lead to the Great depression a few years later but do you know of the runs on the banks between the two events.



There were runs on various banks and the Federal Reserve tried to prop up some of these by loaning money at competitive rates. There were a number of different Reserve districts and they adopted different policies so there was no consistency across America.

Well - in the Atlanta District they were keen to get money out to the banks and Ruth Marrot worked for the Federal Reserve in Atlanta. She was in control of many of these transactions and saw a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve her retirement package……by a considerable amount.


PIC of Ruth enjoying retirement.

Unfortunately the Fourth & First National Bank of Nashville that should have been propped up by her transfers of cash didn’t receive all the money they were expecting and went under, owing customers very large sums of cash.
This happened to a number of banks in the Atlanta District and under normal circumstances wouldn’t have been a problem for Ruth Marrot, but unfortunately for her one of the largest customers of the Fourth & First National Bank of Nashville was a young woman called Lian Su Smith. Lian was the head of the infamous Mabel Street Mob and when the bank went bust Lian felt that she was owed, and she intended to collect…..in full…..with interest.

All she had to do was find Ruth Marrot; a world wide search narrowed it down to this place.



Lian was soon pacing the streets of Venice, looking for her money.


Lian on a woman hunt

Anyway that’s the premise of my game. I took this notion to Snapcase Hall and we played a game around the Missing Millions and finding Ruth Marrot.

The full backstory is here. https://vagabondswargamingblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/

And the actual game is here.  https://vagabondswargamingblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/

[marianas_gamer]

Oh, I had been looking forward to this! There seems to be a little bit of moving back and forth in time in the references but all in all a great read! I wouldn't worry about the Mad Lord putting together the clues first. I suspect that his dedicated man, Old Scrotum, did the heavy lifting!

[Vagabond]

Lon, look on it as you would a BBC historical drama, history happened but they will write their own history so suit their own narrative.

From what I could gather the Atlanta District did get money out there and avoided a lot of bank collapses, so I'm maligning them, some other regions didnt agree with this policy and their banks went bust. I think this is why governments were so keen to bail out the bankers in the last financial crisis.

Snappers was spot on with clue solving, his man Scrotum just kept the little grey cells going with a constant supply of alcohol.

Glad you enjoyed the story though, it does mske it worthwhile.
Cheers

[mikedemana]

I had been waiting for that AAR for weeks...! Sounds amazing, and I'm jealous of getting to play on such an amazing tabletop. What a thing of beauty!! 

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Well now.  That was very interesting.  So the bent cops figured it all out?  What about the missing millions?  Do they get that too?  That's quite the payday, if so.

In any event, well done to all.  3 cheers for jobs well done!   

[mikos khan]

That is a great looking Venice. 

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Vaggers designed a brilliant game here. It was a very pleasant change from the usual type of game. We had to elude perils and find clues and then for the denouement, we had to solve the clues we found. Vast amounts of merriment all round.

I have booked Vaggers on a decryption course after I detected a small anomaly in his code-breaking process, which prevented him from solving where the crime had originally taken place (or was it the lunchtime beers which had befuddled him?).

[Sgt_T]

That is a great looking Venice.

Indeed!


T

[Doug ex-em4]

Vaggers, you should put some more photos of the game on here - it looks spectacular.

The game you devised was very original and well thought out; a great way to use Snapper’s fantastic Venice layout.

I must go back and read the report again. I can understand that two brain-boxes like you and Snappers latched onto the subtleties instantly but it needs a bit more studying from me.

Doug

[FifteensAway]

Haven't the time just now but I will be back and study up.  You rather mad lot are as entertaining a group of gamers as there are out there in my humble opinion.  Well, perhaps matched by the blokes behind Major General Tremordern Reddering - but they existed back in hobby 'antiquity' and are now but dusty relics of the past.  This game looks epic and sounds great fun.

[Legionnaire]

That table looks absolutely brilliant  , such nice little details and what joy it must've been to play at that.

The background and story with the AAR was a very enjoyable read. Hammering home what gaming is about, to have FUN!

Thank you very much sir for sharing.

[FifteensAway]

Having taken the time to read through the backstory and the game report, my conclusion is:

You lot are a bunch of unreconstructed rapscallions.

Of which, I heartily approve!

I was struck by the description of the tower - especially after tripping over a building and/or character name or three.  Re the tower, quite a, ahem, cough, cough, "construction".   .  . 

[Ragnar]

The setup looks great.  Must have been a fun game!

[Vagabond]

Cheers guys,  the scenery as you can see was very very nice and has so much potential for gaming over such a long period of history.

Cptn Jim, the game was centred around finding the location of Ruth Marrot which Snappers achieved.  The next stage is to go there and collect her with a view to recovering the missing millions. She's a resourceful young woman so that might prove harder or maybe more dangerous than the first. 

[CapnJim]

Cheers guys,  the scenery as you can see was very very nice and has so much potential for gaming over such a long period of history.

Cptn Jim, the game was centred around finding the location of Ruth Marrot which Snappers achieved.  The next stage is to go there and collect her with a view to recovering the missing millions. She's a resourceful young woman so that might prove harder or maybe more dangerous than the first. 

Ah.  Gotcha.  I'm with ya...