AVBCW: The Other Tables

We actually had 3 tables for our game on the 27th September, but as I was for once playing in the game on Table 3, I ahd less time to track the events on the other tables.

Here’s a few photos of the other tables and a sketchy over view of what went on on them.

Table 2: Titley Junction. Lots of open fields. Looks like I need yet more hedges !

Jez & Richard are the fascists vs Steve, Mort & Clive are the Anglicans.

The BUF under Captain Arrowsmith and their allies set up a rail block, and set up their troops hiding in corn fields with German Pkz Is…tin cans in other words…

Whilst the Anglicans including the Bishop of Ludlow’s forces set up opposite coming down the railway track.

Having moved his forces forward, Captain Arrowsmith snarled over the radio to unleash his new Italian aeoroplane which proceeded to shoot up the Anglicans.

Yup, Richard had gone and bought this model, I’d given him some Copplestone Pilots to man it, and he duly unleashed it much to the surprise of everyone including Mort.

Undeterred Steve’s forces advanced across the field to set up a firing line against Jez’s fascist mercenaries (provenance unknown, probably dodgier than one of Doug’s dice).

the Bishop of Ludlow’s forces advanced into a barn with his cavarly lying in wait for an heroic dash across the field to catch the BUF infantry. Apparently, they kept trying the idea, but it was a very boggy field and they kept bottling it despite taking few casualties. At first…

Arrowsmith snarled “Forward !”, and the BUF cavalry cantered forwards, and back and forwards again.

AS the BUF’s allied infantry were moved forward, their tanks started moving backwards – must be Italian drivers.

Leading to the Bishop’s cavalry to charge the now too far forward infantry.

Both sides threw caution to the wind and advanced in a maelstrom of confusion and general ineptness. (I can say this ‘cos I wasn’t playing on this table. 🙂 )

The tanks reversed, again and tried to join the fray, moving right past the Anglican Infantry under Steve and Mort.

BUF Cavalry having an italian moment. By now the Italian aeroplane was nowhere to be seen as the pilot had been discombobulated by finding that unlike Abyssinyians, Anglicans actually shoot back (and had failed numerous Nerve tests).

As a result of total confusion the BUF and allies beat a retreat to fight another day.

AVBCW: DICE SCANDAL & Food

So we’d started playing on our board, and Tym was rolling for the movement of his trucks off road, in a desparate bids to get them on road again.

When Matt spotted the dice being used had lots of 6’s on it !

Indeed, as you can see from the photo, the dice had three 6’s on it…and three 1’s on it…Not the behaviour of a gentlman

Tym had bought a bucket of dice from a vendor at a game show, and promptly found another couple of examples of the “extreme” dice.

In the next turn, we then found, he had another dodgy dice, featuring only 5’s and 2’s, again from the same bucket of dice.

Tym’s status as a Gentleman was now in peril, and he racked his brains.

After discussion, Doug and Tym agreed that it was in fact Doug himself selling these dodgy dice, the biter bit. Doug commented he’d be looking again at those dice buckets to see what was really in them. 😀

So I’ve now ended up with some of these dice as souvenirs.

On a brighter note:

The spread of food arrived. Rosie our normal caterer had had some problems and delegated to her daughter for the first time, so Eliza set up the usual table groaning with food: bacon; sausages; pork pies; chicken wings (well actually more like half a flipping chicken!); sandwiches; crisps; scotch eggs; rolls; and fruit.

We had 15 players, and the bill was £83, our biggest order yet, which coupled with the bill for the curry in the evenin which was another £82 meant we psent £165 on food alone for the day. Good job the hall is cheap to hire.

AVBCW: Fighting in the Golden Valley III

The battle now reached a climax.

Tym’s ladies took fright, and hitching up their skirstn (though not exposing their ankles thank you), and took to their heels (!). On his flank Doiug’s steam tank fired a shot and destroyed Tym’s spotter team.

However, a key opportunity opened up, my LMG trooper (by the back of the A/C) had a densely packed set of socialists hiding behind the ruins.

Seven socialists died under the lewis gun’s withering fire and blunted the socialists’ attack allowing Tym to consolidate his line.

My shotgunners finally got within range and peppered Mike’s troops with their guns, to varying results.

But Matt shot back and killed my Lewi gunner, but failed to destroy my A/C which was now blocked in by the burning wreck of another of Tym’s trucks.

And so the game ended. We’d spent 11.30 to just after 5pm playing the game.

So the result was a draw, Sir Gilbert’s forces had caused and taken a couple of casualties whilst Matt’s troops had taken on Tym’s Royalists, and Mike and I had slogged it out, appropriately enough over a graveyard.

But wait there’s more because we had a SCANDAL in the first turn of the game….

AVBCW: Fighting in the Golden Valley II

The pile up in the centre of the table continued.

Matt and Mike’s troops were dangerously close to a co-ordinated attack on Tym and my forces.

Tym’s second set of Ladies (they get around y’know), were in the ruins and now exposed to Matt’s Socialist Free Miners who now held the farmhouse.

So I moved my troops up into the graveyard (“Not permanently” I joked).

Tym’s ladies put their sniper and AT Bouys rifle in the ruins.

A bit like the hare and tortoise, Doug’s troops and steam tanks waded through the mud to almost catch up with his allies. Or was he just tossing his socialist allies into the firing line and carefully conserving his own minions ?

All my forces moved up as Mike’s troops moved through the hedges towards the graveyard…harsh words were exchanged, and a lot of lead.

The graves of their ancestors provided good cover for my troops, and I whittled down Mike’s troops.

I moved up my third unit along with the Austin-Morris A/C seeing as my “ally” had blocked the road ahead with the wrecks of his trucks and mangled corpses of their drivers 9sorry Tym).

Mike piled his troops in to mine – well actually he’d borrowed my own figures and promptly shot me up with them, c’est la vie.

AVBCW: Fighting in the Golden Valley

For once, I was actually a player in a Big Game, as well as part time umpire.

I was playing on Table 3: Longtown.

Sir Gilbert’s dodgy forces (Doug from em-4) had secured support from two sets of opportunistic socialists (Matt, and Mike) who were hoping to make their mark on the Hereford map. I was allied to another LDV (Tym) and we were determined to reign in Sir Gilbert’s egotistical conquest of this section of Hereford.

We were playing end to end, and a quick look at the terrain suggested they’d use an armoured/vehicle column to force the centre of the table next to the farmhouse and castle ruins, with flanking attacks.

That was obviously their plan, Doug deployed loads of vehicles off road, and before the game started in earnest, I joked it was his car park.

Which was prophetic, as in the first turn Doug rolled for a random event, and the event was: Mud, Mud Glorious Mud, all off road movement is counted as “Difficult Terrain”. Now as vehicles in AVBCW are rather prone to random movement, this meant that his cars were going nowehere fast, and for the first turn he moved at most a couple of inches as they ploughed their way through the thick glutinous Hereford clay, before his troops got out and started walking.

As you can see, the cars barely got past the woods, and it was only the steam tanks that got anywhere close to combat. It was amusing to watch Sir Gilbert in his wheelchair along with the nanny and pram struggling to get to us – probably not so much fun for Doug, but we’ll come back to his reaction later.

Tym deployed his ladies of good repute in the castle ruins, and further back a field artillery piece.

Mike’s socialists deployed opposite me.

Whilst Matt’s socialists hogged the road in their busses, charabanks and other contraptions.

Our makeshift barricades halted the socialists’ steam wagon and trailer, whilst we brought up our forces.

Tym’s Ladies of Good Repute had piled into the farmhouse, just as Matt’s socialists piled out of their buses and into the farmhouse and violence ensued. For a couple of turns, the hand to hand continued until the reds won due to sheer numbers and the ladies were broken and fled.

A firefight also ensued down the road between more of the Ladies in the ruins and the reds at the barricades.

More to come (80+ photos edited !)