Tuesday 9th October.
Due to spousal returns and forgotten plays,Wednesday's game was transferred to this evening and due to nobody else being available for selection El Presidente for life Colin Jack and myself indulged in an evening of In Her Majesty's Name but with a difference as the characters involved came from Bryan Talbot's Grandville graphic novel series.
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| The casino in question. |
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| An oft used harbour. |
This series of novels takes place in an alternate universe where Britain has lost the Napoleonic wars,the royal family at the time were all guillotined and has just been given independence from the French Empire.All sounds very different but what makes it different is that the world is not populated mainly by humans but animals albeit humanoid and humanly dressed.
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| Billie watching the bar. |
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| The steamer tramps in. |
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| LeBrock and his hearties. |
Colin has all the figures courtesy of Crooked Dice but they had never been used until this evening.So the scene was set for a set too in some god forsaken North African port and involved the robbing of the safe from the local casino.
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| And Angus is still there. |
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| Ratzi waits albeit rather blurred. |
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| The baddies approach. |
The sides were divvied up and I took charge of the main man Det Inspector LeBrock accompanied by his faithful Det Constable Ratzi.Making up the group was LeBrocks sweetheart Billie who was very capable of looking after herself and making up the group was Det Chief Inspector Hawksmoor,LeBrock's mentor.
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| Hawksmoor chit chats with the camels. |
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| Tiberius Koenig appears. |
The bad guys came in the form of Tiberius Koenig,ably abetted by his cronies Mastock and Apollo with help(or hindrance)from a couple of thugs.
The game kicked off with the baddies approaching the casino from two directions with Koenig's two lieutenants arriving off Colin's newly built tramp steamer which didn't auger well for me as my character Ratzi was keeping watch at the casino front door putting him straight into the firing line of the two goons.Billie was set up in the casino in order to watch for any internal shenanigans.My main guy was watching the casino back door whilst Hawksmoor acted as a reserve spending his time chatting up a couple of camels.
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| The Brits are in town. |
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| "Play it again,Sam" |
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| Billie spots the approaching pachyderm. |
Koenig's two main henchmen immediately headed straight for Ratzi hoping to dispatch him quickly but soon found that they were not up to the task as Ratzi and his lethal swordstick sent both of them packing out of the game and this was before Hawksmoor came to his assistance.The game had just started and Colin was two down and this was to be the norm for the evening.
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| Only to be grabbed by Koenig. |
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| Actually Billie put him on the deck not LeBrock. |
Meanwhile Colin's other goons coming in the forms of an elephant and a crocodile entered the casino with the intention of making a getaway with the contents of the casino safe.They first traded shots with Hawksmoor and Ratzi before splitting up with the pachyderm heading for the managers office and the much sought after safe leaving the croc to hold off the good guys
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| The gallant clerk goes hand to elephant's foot with the bad guy. |
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| My kind of barmaid. |
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Tiberius Koenig then entered the building with the intention of grabbing Billie and using her as a shield to ward off LeBrock's advances.This started okay for Koenig but Billie wasn't giving up without a fight and resisted his advances giving LeBrock a chance to close the distance and defend his lover's honour.
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| LeBrock goes down in the second. |
Meanwhile the elephant had made his way into the manager's office only to be confronted by a "doughface(human)"who proceeded to resist the advances of the evil elephant and protect the casino safe throughout the game.
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| But bounces back up-not bad for a badger. |
In the main room Billie had successfully avoided Koenigs advances and had broken his grip giving LeBrock the opportunity to close the gap and engage Koenig in fisticuffs in order to protect his future spouse.Whilst LeBrock and Koenig were knocking five spots out of each other Billie saw the opportunity to head for the office and help protect the safe .
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| One out of place submarine but it does give me an idea for a Thirty Nine Steps game. |
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| And another lot out of another film. |
Ratzi meanwhile vaulted the bar and proceeded to follow Billie albeit crossing Hawksmoor's firing line in the process.This didn't hinder Hawkswood for long as he finally drew a bead on the hiding crocodile and dispatched him without even a thought.Ratzi followed Billie into the office to be confronted by the sight of the pachyderm lying on the flower after being incapacitated by the human clerk.Ces't la vie!
Meanwhile the titanic struggle in the casino main room was swaying from side to side with no quarter given and none taken.Hawkswood came into the fight to help his protege and with this Koenig thought that it was time to leave the premises and disappeared into the night air.
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| The local ruins. |
A great game played with In Her Majesty's Name rules which are good except for the fight at the end between the two protagonists which just turned into a slugging match due to the similarity of their statistics.
All figures supplied,scenery and scenario provided by Colin who once again provided us with a repast before the game.
See You All when I See You.
