Manchurian Rule Candidate

 Wednesday 6th December 192ish.

Place-Manchuria (Backlot of Garvald Film Studios)

       Tonight’s get together found us with a little skirmish in the Back of Beyond.El Presidente wanted to try out another set of rules for this period as the chief Skulker had asked for them to be tried out and an opinion given but of course he wasn’t there.

The not needed command unit bellowing out orders.

My army in full swing.

The Japanese pile of the train from standard class.

       The skirmish involved Imperial Japanese against Imperial Chinese.The Japanese were regarded as superior to the Chinese rabble but sometimes appearances can be deceptive. I took charge of the Chinese “rabble “reinforced by a troop of White Russian cavalry who were to prove to be the saviours of the Chinese Empire albeit very temporary.

The Manchurian Choo Choo.

The Japanese Horse Soldiers.

A little village somewhere in Manchuria.

      The object of our desires was some forsaken crossroad with a few buildings huddled around it and only one peasant to be seen.The game kicked off with everybody converging on the crossroads some a bit more faster than others.One of the traits of the game was dicing to see if you could perform an action which is a bit of a bummer when your units can’t even be bothered moving-repeatedly especially cavalry and assault units.El Presidente moved straight in to town with his cavalry,unhorsed them and set them up in the local church ready to repel all boarders. The only forces of mine was a unit of infantry who started trading shots with the Japanese cavalry.

Now the first class passengers get off.

My lads digging in.

The forces of evil arrive.

             One of El Presidente’s units had a “drunken “leader and this hindered them from moving forward and even El Presidente stated that he hoped the unit leader would get killed in order for the remainder of the unit to be able to function better-no such luck.His other infantry arrived at the crossroads and decided to stay in the open.This gave my assault unit a chance to charge in and scatter the Japanese peasants to the four winds.No such luck as my infantry were sent scurrying away into cover by their enemy.Things were not looking good for the Chinese.

The machine gun team welcoming the drunkards.

My lads advance to the rear.

Crossroads brawl.

            My other infantry came up on the other flank and proceeded to take cover in some peasant’s garden trampling over the Pak Choi in the process.They readied themselves for an attack by the saki sodden infantry facing them and they traded shots with each other for a few turns before lo and behold the Japanese were dislodged from the premises and were last seen heading back to the nearest saki bar not to take any further part in the proceedings.My victory was short lived as El Presidente moved up a machine gun and proceeded to rake my poor ensconced infantry disastrously meaning my lads had to retire ungracefully from the now well trodden cabbage patch.My only real success I was having was with my mortar which was chipping away at the cavalry in the church.

The Japanese best unit.

The Whites charge in.

And keep on charging!

          The game turner came when I finally got the White cavalry moving away from the main road and around the side of the village.Once they made their way around the Japanese infantry on the crossroads came into view so it was a matter of lances out and charge in which they did with instant success.El Presidente did make a comment about the lances being very powerful but he did divvy up the forces.His church ensconced cavalry tried to take some pot shots at my victorious lads but couldn’t land a shot on target..My mortar and my only viable infantry unit kept up fire on the church eventually causing the unmounted Japanese cavalry to leave the church by the back door putting them straight into the sights of my White cavalry.Tally Ho!(in Russian)was heard to be uttered by my cavalry as they ploughed into the pitiless Japanese.Game,Set and Match to the Chinese although it was the foreigners who done the deed.

My mortar wi a wee lad at the back sitting eating his rice.

“I haven’t a clue where you’re army went?”

        A quick game played out without any bickering apart from a few words about the lethality of the lances.The rules we used were “Men Who Would Be Kings”Ok but I can think of a couple of preferred sets.I didn’t realise that the rules come from the same stable as Lion and Dragon Rampant as well as Xenos Rampant although I did notice a few similarities I.e dicing for activation.

      All figures,scenery and scenario provided by El Presidente.Hopefully I’ll get in another game before Hogswatch and a chance to regale you with our escapades.

     

    This has been a Garvald Film Studios Production.

Snow Station Moose

 Date 29th November 197odd.

Place Northern Canada.

                     Another winter day in northern Canada found us on some deserted airfield with a hidden forgotten secret.This uncovered “secret”was to provide tonight’s entertainment with a Svalbardian incursion involving sleeper cells,paratroopers,evil KGB manipulators and intervening Canadians(how dare they).

The deserted airfield.

      I’d been working on this game for a wee while getting figs and scenery ready but it did turn out to be a wee bit of a damp squib.I always find that anticipation always far exceeds the event but one wasn’t giving up.I used the 7TV original game rules with the original random event cards as I find they provide for a better game than the new ones. I also added a few rule adjustments to move the plot. The plan was for the sleeper cell to do away with the security guards making way for a para drop leading to the arrival of the KGB mastermind and eventually the arrival of the transport plane that was going to whisk away the “maguffin”.

Target rich environment.

The Sleepers.

Spreading out in a bunch.

Here come the paras.

     The game kicked off with the arrival of the sleeper team who proceeded to do away with the security guards within two turns.I suppose I was to blame as I had set them up having a chinwag in the middle of the snow strewn runway.The only guard who got a shot in was the female squad commander but even then it only managed to dislodge a few flakes of snow.The quick disposal of the guards made way for the safe arrival of the Svalbardian paras who proceeded to drop all over the airfield with the squad commander and one of his lackeys landing in the “dense”forest.This arrival drew the attention of two passing ski troops who came to investigate the aircraft noise.One of the skiers was immediately dispatched whilst the other sped towards the nearest cover.

On her tod.

Taking up position.

Here come Hoddit and Doddit.

              The disposal and cowering of the ski troops meant that the evil KGB mastermind Vladi Vostock and his seductive assistant Nikita Cruiseshipski could arrive safely in their helicopter hoping for no setbacks to their appropriation of the super duper forgotten secret gadget.This was to prove fruitess as the gunfire drew the attention of Canada’s most sooper dooper agent Monte the Mountie ,his trusty sidekick ,Pandora Box,and a whole load of gun toting soldiers this time sans skis.

Regrouping.

And regrouping behind Doddit.

Landing in six feet of snow.

         The Svalbardian paras put a ring of steel around the newly found Maguffin and were ready to defend it till the arrival of the transport plane in the third act.The Canadians edged forward into the hail of bullets that were coming from the ensconced defenders.The Canadians dived for whatever cover they could find taking some casualties along the way.

Vladi and Nikita arrive.

Finding the lost secret.

       The main contingent of the Canucks headed for the main building and proceeded to do battle with the Svalbardians whilst the remainder (all two of them)traded shots with the sleepers cowering behind oil drums on the other side of the runway.The Canuck star Monte the Mountie made his costar Pandora Box,make her way around the rear of the nearest hanger whist he slowly edged his way around the front door drawing fire from the paras on top of the main building.A bit of luck came my way with the drawing of an event card that caused a three inch blast amongst some of El Presidente’s bunched up paras.Two down but still a s***load to go.

Ring of steel.

“Is this it(in Svalbardian)?

     Mr KGB Vladi,meanwhile had made his way to the now appropriated vehicle and was wondering how to hot wire it when he heard the sound of approaching aeroplane engines.Time to get a move on .He delegated his Babooshka to hinder the Canuck movements and she headed venomously towards the rear of the main building and immediately took out an unsuspecting Canuck.This gave Pandora the opportunity to fire back unhindered but she wasted both opportunities.

Waiting for his mates.

The Canucks congregate.

       The unmarked aeroplane made its landing run in hoping to land,turn,load the cargo and be offski.It was then I had realised I hadn’t given the Canucks anything to bring the plane down with but I wasn’t going to tell El Presidente.I even thought of commandeering the helicopter and hover in front of the plane but realistically that wasn’t going to happen.

Pandora boxing herself in.

Two interlopers spontaneously combusting.

     Pandora’s shooting eventually proved successful as she took out the babooshka,sexy black number and all,but I still hadn’t a plan to stop the plane in the game’s time schedule but I’m sure in the TV series world something would and it did(sort off).I drew an event card ending the game after the next turn-boo yah!

Getting roond the back.

The plane arrives.

Times running out for Pandora.

        The game ended in yet another cliffhanger with the sight of the vehicle being driven into the cargo plane and the sound of gunfire resonating around the airfield.What a stroke of luck.A scoring draw was snatched from the jaws of a Svalbardian victory.One doesn’t complain.

Vladi hot wiring the car.

Nikita goes down.

       The game was enjoyable with a few more ideas and thoughts for future games.My thanks to El Presidente for supplying the mat and various pieces of scenery.The remainder came from a few years of picking  things up and scrounging.

Into the plane.

“And off we go!”-or does it?

       See You All When I See You!

          This has been a Garvald Film Studios

The Klingons Kame.

Dateline 2323ish!(A week after last)

Place-Still in the Garvaldian Universe.

  

    Back oot to the Garvald Film Studios tonight for another run through of last week’s game with a few more participants and with that a few more bad guys and things trying to take over the SS S**tshoveler from Captain Jones Caligula Balderdash or JCB for short(digger of big holes for himself).This evening we were joined by our favourite colonist Mr Ray(The Connecticut Confederate)and the local ne’er do well Oor Andrew for a rip roaring tale aboard our favourite starship.

Another three views of the SS S***hauler.

         Mr Ray being the rugged yank as he is took on the role of the Klingons whilst El Presidente took charge of the Romulans hoping for them to do better than last week.I took charge of the ship’s crew and we settled down for an evening of skullduggery.Oor Andrew would be joining us after our pub break and although we didn’t know which horde he would be overseeing the existence of alien eggs in one of the hangars gave it away plus El Presidente does have a soft spot for Sigourney.

JCB doing his Bill Nighy impersonation.

The bridge before the storm.

Here come the Klingons.

         The essence of the story was that the last week the SS S***shoveler had been attacked by a Romulan raiding party and had repelled boarders and was heading on it’s course to wherever that was.

        Once again the ship was well set out with a few extras from other dimensions mainly Rick Decker and Rachel.Also on board were a hidden assassin and a Princess Ardala type character being transported but without Killer Kane.All Mr Ray saw at the start was a spaceship from the outside and therefore didn’t know who was where until he materialised.He materialised right in a supply deck and immediately came under fire from an alert technician who incurred a few wounds on an unsuspecting Klingon.This just drew fire from the rest of the Klingons.The poor technician didn’t last long.I decided to put my crew on the defensive I.e let the bad guys come to me.This didn’t happen as I now know Mr Ray had other ideas mainly capture some eggs that were lying about in a storage room obviously he didn’t reckon on the can of worms(or aliens) that he was about to open.

Watering the flowers.

Hangering about.

“Spread out in a bunch!”

              El Presidente and his Romulan horde materialised near the bridge with the intent of doing away with the bridge crew as well as all the innocent passengers but he was a bit taken aback when they all started firing back.His secondary plans as stated were to kill the princess and also an assassin who was travelling incognito.That didn’t work out too well.As soon as the alarm had been raised JCB with Posck and Janice in tow headed for the elevator to take them to the Romulan invaders but as usual due to the constraints of the ship they had to wait for it as it was on the bottom floor.None of the Enterprise super duper elevators here.When they finally got into the elevator and landed in the passenger deck floor they were met by a hail of phaser fire which made JCB go down like a sack of spuds.Once again we were a leader down.Time for a pub break.🍺🍔

               The game resumed with the arrival of Oor Andrew and also the guest arrival of El Presidente’s daughter’s pa in law Bob.He had come along to see what us yokels got up to on a stormy Wednesday evening.Not ones to stand on ceremony he was given charge of some of the ship’s crew.He stated that he didn’t know the rules but what the heck-neither do we.

Piling into the lift.

Looking to kidnap the princess.

Two dippit Romulans trying to assassinate an assassin.

                 Oor Andrew was having secret confabs with El Presidente about his charges trying not to let on what his force consisted of but we all knew it was plain to see that the odds on favourites were aliens since the Klingons were in the process of stealing their eggs.Let them get on with it I thought.They didn’t arrive straight away as I think their boss was biding his time and hoping he could strike when everybody else had moved.No such luck as he kept on rolling the best initiative dice.My only move was for Lt Ruhu to move into the hangar bay and shoot the Klingon mate in the back as you do.Down he went.This was the lull before the storm for as soon as he went down a horde of Aliens appeared in the bay with most of them heading for the egg store to protect the eggs.The others went straight into fisticuffs with remaining Klingons.I tried to leave the premises but was confronted by a queen Alien and I hadn’t even touched the eggs.

Boomer is still hanging about.

Janice and Spock shooting out of the lift.

Klingons not getting their own way.

      Two floors above JCB and Posck were still ensconced in the lift trading shots with Romulans.JCB succumbed to his wounds leaving Posck and Janice to fight it out .To add insult to injury Posck’s  phaser jammed.So much for 24th century technology. The only shooting success from the entombed ship characters was when Janice took out a Romulan with a clean shot but just when we thought the tide had turned Poske went down still trying to unjam his phaser in the process.The rest of the Romulans started doing away with the passengers but didn’t get there own way as the pax started fighting back.Two of the Romulans task was to do away with a travelling assassin but found that she was more than a handful with one of the Romulans immediately biting the dust.Another pair entered a cabin and found Decker and Rachel canoodling.They were given a short shift with the two of them biting the dust.Decker was so mad with his nuptials being interrupted that he started trading shots with the Romulan leader.On the other side of the deck Princess Ardala’s door guard was unceremoniously dispatched but on entry to her boudoir the assailant was met with gunfire from the princess supplemented by her other bodyguard.Other Romulans had entered a cabin containing lizards and once again although the first lizard went down easily the other one gave as good as he got.Not a good raid for the Romulans.

And still they’re hanging on.

Rhuhu dispatches a Klingon.

The assassin refuses to be assassinated.

        Meanwhile in the hanger bay there was a big scrap going on with a no holds barred struggle going on in the egg store with casualties being taken on both sides. I thought that the Aliens would have had an easy fight but the Klingons proved me wrong with a few Alien corpses being thrown out of the room.My Ruhu lasted a couple of turns with the queen before being turned into an alien host but it gave the rest of my crew time to get themselves into better positions to face the Aliens if there had been a Klingon  defeat.I was informed that opening the outer door on the supply hangar was not an option which would have been the common sensical thing to do and empty all the bad guys from both factions into space.

Aliens and Klingons spar in a very narrow space.

A posed picture.

The fight spills out.

      The final whistle was about to be blown with the Klingons and the Aliens going head to head,the Romulans taking on more than they thought with dispatching the passengers and Janice still hanging on in the lift listening to the horrible Kenny G music.After all the points were divvied up it was found that the crew had won. I suppose a lot can be said for standing back and let everybody else knock five spots out of each other.

Klingons coming out on top.

Queen Mama appears.

Romulans coming second best against the lizard folk.

           Another great game played in our usual cynical way.All figs,scenery and scenario provided by El Presidente himself.Our next game I believe is the one that we are taking to Kirriemuir this year and it’s based on Kirriemuir’s most famous son and I don’t mean the guy out of AD/DC!

     See You All When I See You.

      This has been a Garvald Film Studios Production.