(01/01/07) Wild West Campaign:
"The Ten Tragic Days," or
an urban warfare experiment using the Flemish Fast Play rules for colonial warfare, necessitating an ever larger number of 'dirigible shots' and bigger pictures of a smaller table, with even smaller sized units of "little lead dollies." Please click on the link above to peruse the FFP rules.

At right, the gaming area of Mexico City seen from the west. That's the western edge of the table, not necessarily the west of the city, as the map used by the umpire to reconstruct the playing area inconveniently included no compass points. At the bottom right is the National Palace, here rather shabbily represented by a piece of white tape inscribed with the words "National Palace," in front of which is the Zocalo, or grand square. Just beyond the Zocalo is the National Cathedral, which for gaming purposes has been represented by a cardboard Mayan temple. The grey/green areas of the map represent broad avenues or open squares in which movement and firing is unaffected. The light tan areas, in actuality a rather unconvincing shade of orangey brown, represent heavily built up areas reducing both movement and firing to a distance of just one square. Buildings are purely for decoration and were picked up and moved with reckless abandon in order to facilitate gaming. In the distance at the far left can be seen 'The Citadel' and Belem Prison.

At right, the gaming table from the North East with a close up of the white Belem Prison (portrayed by an African mission) and "The Citadel" (here portrayed by a grey stone Norman Keep). The shabby wooden outbuilding at the bottom left is the US Embassy, selected not for its appearance, but because it was the only structure in the club inventory long enough, and thin enough to squeeze into the tiny area available at that end of the table. It is worthy of note that the player representing American Ambassador Lane Wilson drew a special event card allowing him a small unit of broadsword armed, Chinese Tong warrior bodyguards. This unit played no part in the actual game, and incidentally not in the actual battle, but its presence did serve to keep Ambassador Wilson off balance as to his next move, and strategic goals. Your humble correspondent pauses to comment on the seemingly ever present nature of these sword armed oriental white slavers in almost every aspect of the club's Wild West campaign, causing even he to reflect that perhaps our western games project an exuberant excess of eastern flavor. Still, no formal complaints will be lodged until the Chinese Emperor actually appears in Bisbee Arizona to participate in his first shoot-out on main street.

At right, many (actually many, many, many) turns into the game at the top left the loyalist troops of General Villar have suffered a series of unexpected retreat results at the hands of the rebel sailors behind the barricade in front of the Cathedral (Mayan temple). The sailors are doing better than their historical counterparts who lost their commander to a fatal wound in the first fusillade from federal troops outside the National Palace. On the other hand, General Villar is still in the game, when in real life he was killed by rebels in the second exchange of gunfire when attempting to lead a bayonet charge whilst mounted. In between the opposing units can be seen the FFP 'wacky dice,' a nickname given to these customized items by the vast majority of the membership. Throughout the game members could be heard calling out, "Did you roll a lipstick? Oh man, I needed a pizza instead!" The umpire took great satisfaction that no one was able to come up with a nickname for the 'blue flag' result on the customized dice, and that all players were forced to refer to it as 'rolling a blue flag.' At the top right of the photo can be seen troops under the direct command of Gustavo Madero, the president's brother. While in the center, near the small chapel which bears a striking resemblance to a Sudanese mosque, can be seen troops under the command of member 'Top Grunt' (El Grunt Grandé ?) which are rather furtively sneaking from one built up area to another in an effort to minimize the impact of the, apparently random, Federal artillery barrage.

Above right, many more turns later, so many turns in fact that the umpire was having trouble concentrating (numerous visits to the bar), and the club's newest member had actually been able to bring his first unit of his troops onto the table at the bottom right. At the top left, General Villar is still alive (!!!), although he has been left behind by his troops as they advance down the Avenida Juarez. The, much depleted, rebel sailors have been forced back to reveal two nasty surprises; a second barricade across the avenue, and a French made Hotchkiss machine gun. At the center El Grunt Grandé advances up the 'Calle Uno.' (The paucity of street names on the map used by the umpire to create the scenario necessitated the naming of streets despite the umpire's very limited Spanish vocabulary.) They have replaced two earlier rebel units routed by government troops commanded by Gustavo Madero. At the very top of the photo can be seen a pencil laid across the calle/street. Much to the umpire's surprise Gustavo drew a special events card from the deck and produced the standard FFP card entitling him to "1 extra entrenchment." Having exhausted their supply of decorative miniature barricades the players were forced to substitute a pencil to represent the entrenchments.

Final photo, a dirigible shot very similar to that previous, but from an even greater height, included here to display the evil General (soon to become President) Huerta using the top of The Citadel to make one of his dice rolls to determine the random fall of artillery fire. In the actual battle General Huerta replaced the loyal General Villar when he was killed in the first half hour. Huerta then conspired with the rebels, arranging the repeated ambush of his own troops in order to weaken the goverment's position. Then he ringed the capital with Federal artillery which fired into Mexico City at random to demoralize the population.

In the game most players received 10 victory points for seizing each geographical features in the city, or 5 points for eliminating each enemy unit. <contd at right>

(12/22/06) Gaslight in Africa, or
"Up the White Umfloezi without a Paddle"
A game held at The Bismarck Bar and Lounge some times referred to as The Bengal Club Northern (but not too northern) Annex. A complete, and some might suggest far more accurate, chronicle of the game may be had by clicking on the link above and visiting the web site for TBBaL.

At right, the "Le Croc" cruises up the White Umfloezi, with captain Lawrence on the roof, instead of at the helm, and numerous Arabs, who weren't actually there yet, in the background. Perhaps the photo was in reality taken later in the game? Never mind, have a look at the modeling skills on that boat! Consider the scratch built roof and the bamboo supports made out of brass tube.

At right, US marines move up (or down) the river preparing to storm (or flee) the native village. Again, the editor isn't quite certain when this photo was taken during the game. However, the beautiful figures are sporting a new technique tentatively known as 'The Magic Dip' (not to be confused with The Magic Wash). The modeler assured the assembled membership that none of these figures were actually shaded, or dry brushed, but only painted in solid colors and then 'dipped.' This is a technique that certainly bears further investigation and will certainly appear, eventually, in the painting tips section of the TBC web site.

(12/01/06) Wild West Pickup Game, or
"The Mexican Revolution Campaign Rides Again"
As the 2006 gaming schedule collapsed under the weight of the membership's last minute holiday plans, and clerical inefficiency, it was decided to run a Wild West game that wasn't part of the actual campaign, as organizing this seemed to be quite beyond the abilities of the campaign umpire at the time. So each member was allowed to pick two characters from his list and then drop them into a decorative town specially created by Col. Winky for the occasion.

At right, the sleepy western town of Nolow Contendre. The railway station is just out of frame to the left. The ranch house of John W. Jizum is the pale green building at the rear, and the headquarters of Tommy Sixguns is located in a tall, very tall apparently, building just out of frame to the right. The town bank is the orange colored building at the center of the photo, on main street between the two red saloons that both have white trim.

At right, two east coast bankers, easily mistaken for Pinkerton Detectives from previous games, in bowler hats stroll leisurely from the railway station towards the bank. They carry with them the 'Maguffin,' or game winning prize, which all players are maneuvering to capture. By this point in the year the umpire had become so lazy and jaded that the Maguffin consisted of a slip of paper, hidden beneath one of the banker figures, on which was written not 'gold' or 'jewels,' but merely 'maguffin to be determined later in the campaign.' Viewers should note that the tires on the automobile in the background are yellow because the vehicle has not been completely painted yet. Also, the character Jack Russell, at left in the white shirt, only appears to be towing a 19th century Gatling Gun. In reality he is lugging about a French Hotchkiss machine gun no models for which could be found on the club premises. Very strange for a club specializing in The Mexican Revolution.

At right, the town as seen from Tommy Sixgun's sniper position. The east coast bankers are moving up main street soon to fall prey to a hail of well aimed rifle fire from the concealed Tommy Sixguns, whose companion Rude Dog will sneak down the left hand side of the photo - in between the decorative cacti, past the paisley dice bag, and behind the thin brown shack later to be used as the American embassy in the club's recreation of "The Ten Tragic Days." The plan is for Sixguns to pin down everyone on the street with accurate rifle fire while Rude Dog runs across the street and grabs the Maguffin.

At right, as Tommy Sixguns shoots, and Rude Dog maneuvers (all while their controlling player rolls a disconcerting number of 6's on the dice and draws an alarming number of movement cards) Joe Kennedy rushes up and shoots an east coast banker in the face. The 2nd banker and the unfortunate Jack Russell have already fallen prey to the deadly, and nearly 'off table,' rifle fire of Tommy Sixguns. Joe has already seized the highly prized maguffin, the crumpled paper marker can be seen under his base, and has rather cunningly turned away from two other player characters. The rules prohibit gunslingers from back shooting an opponent as this would be a violation of "The Code of the West." So the unfortunate Don Jose and Juan Morales will not be able to fire on Joe. However, their backs are now facing Tommy Sixguns at the end of the street, so they should be safe from him.

At right, the very last turn of the game. Joe has nipped down a side alley taking him towards the table edge. Jose and Morales turn to follow him, but roll poorly for movement and are stranded in the middle of the street with their backs no longer facing Tommy Sixguns and his deadly rifle. Sixguns appears to believe that if he can't acquire the maguffin then he might as well gun down some other player's characters. Jose and Morales can be seen writhing on main street as Joe makes good his escape. His passage is briefly contested by two other characters who had hoped to rob him as he exits the playing area. It was a cunning plan, exposing the characters to a minimum of risk from the rifle file of Tommy Sixguns. However, Joe, no doubt suffused with Adrenaline, overpowers the two other characters to make good his escape. Thus necessitating that the umpire will now finally have to determine just what the maguffin is, and how valuable it will be for Joe in subsequent games.