Games and figures by Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games and Painting Service. For details visit my website at
www.glenbrookgames.co.uk or email me at slade.m@sky.com
The main Crooked Dice participation game this year was On Her Majesty's Crooked Service featuring a mountain top villains lair. This game was multi player and was run twice during the day to great acclaim. Here we see the base before the chaos.
Crooked Dice also ran three mini-games which were specifically designed to showcase different aspects of the ruels and demonstrated the flexibility of 7Tv.
Fiddlers Green. This was the game which I ran eleven times during the day. Department X agents Hugo Solomon and Pandora King have infiltrated Green's base and are bidding to scupper his plans to take over Great Britain with an army of killer robot scarecrows. They face Morris Men Minions, Scarecrows and Fiddler's wife.
The Mists of Mars. This was run by Matt G (lots of Matts around on the day) and sees Project Time Lift with the Man from 2000 investigating a crashed spacecraft and combating possessed astronauts and technicians.
The Canning Town Collar. This game was run by Tim. DI Skelton and his team race to the docks to intercept east end gang the Poplar Front and their leader "The Duchess" who are unloading ill gotten gains from a cargo ship. One of the boxes contains a nasty, large metal, human shaped surprise!
The mini-games worked really well. Lasting anywhere from 20-50 minutes, they served to introduce players old and young to the concepts and ethos of the rules.
These mini-games will soon be published by Crooked Dice in full as episode guides. Look out for them on the website.
This game was played out at the Gloucester club last night. The scenario takes inspiration from the superb Solway Crafts 1938 VBCW source books. The rules used were Through the Mud and Blood by the Toofatlardies.
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The Battle of St Weonards
The Reverend Henry Meredith (or the “Bishop of Ross on Wye” as he has become known by the locals) is attracting attention. His firebrand preaching against the King and his government has drawn disaffected Anglican League members from the diocese of the unfortunate Bishop of Hereford whose frequent defeats have made his position untenable. Meredith has also been speaking out against Welsh Nationalist incursions into the Severn Valley.
Despite protests from his followers, Meredith insists on going out into rural parishes to give sermons with a minimal guard. Today, he has gone to give a sermon at the Church at St Weonards which lies within striking distance of the Welsh border which is no longer as fixed as it was before.
Government Forces (Blue deck)
British Union of Fascists
Patriot Captain Archibald Bell Level 3 Big Man 1
Patriot Sgt Bob Saunders Level 2 Big Man 2
Patriot Cpl Jim “Fix It” Saville Level 1 Big Man 3
30 BUF troopers rifles/1 Lewis gun (Regulars with Reasonable but Brittle Morale)
Worcester Local Defence Volunteers
Captain Rupert Fforde-Brinkle Level 3 Big Man 4
Sgt Charles “Charlie” Charles Level 2 Big Man 5
Cpl William Squires Level 1 Big Man 6
30 LDV rifles/1 Lewis Gun (Regulars with Reasonable but Brittle Morale)
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Welsh Nationalists (Red deck)
Y Fenni Company
Captain JJ Williams Level 3 Big Man 1
Sgt Mervyn Davies Level 1 Big Man 2
Cpl Clifford Morgan Level 3 Big Man 3
30 men rifles/1Lewis Gun (Regulars with Reasonable but Brittle Morale)
Maesteg Company
Captain Gareth Edwards Level 3 Big Man 4
Sgt Bleddyn Williams Level 2 Big Man 5
Cpl Barry John Level 1 Big Man 6
30 men rifles/1Lewis Gun (Regulars with Reasonable but Brittle Morale)
Objectives for Government and Welsh Nationalist Forces
1 Capture Rev Meredith
2 Defeat any opposition
3 Capture any opposing Big Men for interrogation.
Most of the Blinds have been removed to reveal the bulk of the Government forces making their way across the grave yard towards St Weonards church. The Maesteg company of the Welsh Nationalists crosses the square.
The government forces start to take fire as they close towards the churchyard from lead Welsh elements who have already made their way in. At the wall are the BUF under Patriot Captain Archibald Bell and the WDF under Sgt Charles "Charlie" Charles (in the plus fours). They are supported by WDF sections under Cpl Bill Squires top left and Captain Rupert Ffforde-Brinkle bottom left.
The Maesteg Company of the Welsh Nationalists under the command of Captain Gareth Edwards (nearest the church gate) Corporal Barry John and in the foreground Sgt Bleddyn Williams.
On the Welsh right, The Y Fenni Company under Capt JJ Williams and Cpl Morgan deploys two sections behind soft cover trying to outflank the Government forces.
Fire from the third Y Fenni section under Sgt Mervyn Davies starts to take a toll on Bell's BUF section, causing a number of losses.
Capt Edwards risks a dash into the church, taking fire from Charles' WDF.
The rest of the BUF finally get themselves sorted out. The Blue Jackets are led by Patriot Cpl Jim "Fixit Saville and the other section by Patriot Sgt Bob Saunders.
Not liking the amount of casualties, Capt Bell makes a tactical withdrawal to rejoin the other BUF units on the Government right flank. The WDF move up to take their place.
Charles loses his patience with the constantly jamming Lewis Gun and leads his men in a successful if bloody assault on the Welsh in the church, Sgt Saunders heads for the churchyard but fails to get into cover and takes heavy fire from Welsh Nationalists who have taken cover in the buildings overlooking the square.
Sgt Charles' assault drives Sgt Edwards out of the church. Edwards' section puts heavy fire into that of Charles, but they remain in enough numbers to secure the Rev Meredith.
The section under Sgt Williams takes heavy fire from the BUF (and their uncannily non-jamming machine gun) and is driven back, narrowly avoiding capture.
The combined fire of three Welsh squads takes it's toll on Corporal Squires' section. Bill Squires is badly wounded and is left by his men as they break and run with a massive 11 shock points.
The game came to an end with the Government forces in possession of Rev Meredith, no other Big Men were captured.
I enjoyed doing these but could not get the "Knights of the Round Table" Python song out of my head while painting them. These were painted for Dan who is the author of Song of Arthur and Merlin - the Arthurian supplement for Song of Blades and Heroes by Ganesha Games.
The main Crooked Dice participation game this year was On Her Majesty's Crooked Service featuring a mountain top villains lair. This game was multi player and was run twice during the day to great acclaim. Here we see the base before the chaos.
Crooked Dice also ran three mini-games which were specifically designed to showcase different aspects of the ruels and demonstrated the flexibility of 7Tv.
Fiddlers Green. This was the game which I ran eleven times during the day. Department X agents Hugo Solomon and Pandora King have infiltrated Green's base and are bidding to scupper his plans to take over Great Britain with an army of killer robot scarecrows. They face Morris Men Minions, Scarecrows and Fiddler's wife.
The Mists of Mars. This was run by Matt G (lots of Matts around on the day) and sees Project Time Lift with the Man from 2000 investigating a crashed spacecraft and combating possessed astronauts and technicians.
The Canning Town Collar. This game was run by Tim. DI Skelton and his team race to the docks to intercept east end gang the Poplar Front and their leader "The Duchess" who are unloading ill gotten gains from a cargo ship. One of the boxes contains a nasty, large metal, human shaped surprise!
