Estevan repeat

Long gone to Saskatchewan - having refined the approach for the strikers vs cops, we had another go at Black Tuesday in Estevan.  The major difference from the previous game is changing from standard Fistful of Lead to FFoL Bigger Battles.  The two sides were steamlined:  the strikers consisted of union organiser Annie Buller with three bases of 6 striking mineworkers plus two bases of their families - one each of women and children.  The police side had two bases of 3 police (RCMP plus Estevan Town Police) led by Chief of Police Alex McCutcheon and Mayor David Bannatyne.

As a recap, in the summer of 1931, mineworkers in southeast Saskatchewan's Souris valley went on strike to protest their wages being capped and for a release from the company store monopoly.  On September 29th, the workers planned a parade through the Town of Estevan to bring attention to the reasons for their strike.  Town cancel met the night before to ban the parade, so when the mineworkers and their families arrived, they were met by a line of Estevan Police reinforced by RCMP.  

We kept the scenario objectives simple.  The strikers goal is to get to the cenotaph, and the cops goal is to stop them. Below is the table looking southeast along 4th Street with the cenotaph in the foreground.  Souris Ave runs diagonally just past the courthouse.

A farmer drives his Model T Ford past a run-down building.

The strikers, led by Annie Buller.

Against them, the police led by Police Chief McCutcheon and Mayor Bannatyne.  Mounties are in their khaki patrol tunics rather than the more famous red serge. 

Mineworkers march down 4th St.

Police form a line at Souris Ave as a local shopkeeper looks on.  Chief McCutcheon gets his loudspeaker ready to warn the marchers.

After being by a rock thrown by the miners, the shopkeeper gets out of the way!

The police chief "reads the riot act" at the marchers.  This is a contested roll.  If the chief wins the roll, he gets to put a number of shock points on each group of miners.  Shock points are shown by the black dice.

Which Side Are You On group decides that they will go via the back yards to get around the police line.

Mineworkers are reluctant to close with the police.

Another group of strikers choose to flank on the other side of the intersection.

A couple of RCMP get out the fire hose to discourage the marchers.

But they can only point the hose one direction at a time!

Two groups of workers close in on the cenotaph.

Chanting "Down with the Company Store!", Annie Buller and the mineworkers' wives keep up their advance along 4th Street.

Mineworkers reach the cenotaph, put their boots to Mayor Bannatyne and claim victory!

Overall, the rules we use for these games are getting smoother.  Deploying the groups of strikers and cops as FFoL BB units works much better than as standard FFoL skirmish mobs. We've come up with ways to use shock rather than wounds to influence the game outcomes - the cops want to inflict enough shock to force the strikers to withdraw.  There are still a few rules to fine tune but overall I think we are on the right track. 

A mixed bag.

Here's a mixed group of figures coming off the painting table.  Mostly Pulp Figures but a couple of exceptions.

First up a couple of folks who might end up participating in some civil disturbance.  The kid on the left is wearing what I would call a Jughead hat, as I've only ever seen is on the Archie Comics character, but apparently it's called a 'whoopee cap'.  Go figure!  

Here's another view of the chap with the Molotov cocktail tipped back so his face is more visible. 

A couple of working folk.  The laundry worker or tailor on the right is from Brigade Games, with more of a 19th Century/Wild West sort of vibe than interwar. 

And to finish up the group, a Pulp Figures journalist (or similar) and The Highland Major from Grey for Now Games.

Cenotaph

Pretty much every community in Canada, and for that matter, most of the Commonwealth, has at least one cenotaph or similar war memorial.  While there are war memorials commemorating almost every conflict that involved Canadians, the real push for building cenotaphs was in the years following the Great War of 1914-1918.  So when I was planning the Black Tuesday game set in Estevan Saskatchewan, it seemed appropriate to me to make the Estevan Cenotaph a focal point for the game. (image copied from Veterans Canada website)

Canadian war memorials come in a great variety of styles.  They include pillars, stautues on plinths, ceremonial or artistic walls, stylistic sculptures and more.  One of the distinct styles of cenotaph is an obelisk.  Inspired specifically by the Estevan Cenotaph, I found a paper model of an ancient Egyptian obelisk and it was good enough for the Black Tuesday game.

I thought that was that, but then Arthur's friend Oliver and his dad Tyler got a 3D printer, and asked if I had any ideas for projects.  So I suggested a cenotaph!  To keep it simple, I suggested a basic obelisk, with a stylised cross from an inverted sword and the dates 1914-1918.  Of course most modern cenotaphs include the dates 1939-1945, but as my gaming is focussed on the interwar period, it would be anachronistic to include the WWII dates.

Tyler provided a small sample - the darker blue obelisk in the image below, and then after my feedback, the larger light blue cenotaph on the left.  Pulp Figures character beside the original paper model in the centre.

Painting was very basic.  Black undercoat, light grey drybrush and pick out the sword and the date in gloss black.

The other sides of the cenotaph are plain.  The striations from the 3D printing are usually undesirable but here I think they work well to add texture to the model, perhaps depicting the grooves from when the blocks were carved from the quarry.

Pulp Figures RCMP Sergeant Prestown for scale.

Ballantyne Pier - third playtest

Last night, Lisa came by for our third playtest of the Ballantyne Pier game.  We leaned further into using Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles and adjusted the two sides a bit further.  This playthrough allowed us to see the effects of some of the rules we came up with for the police to inflict shock and disperse strikers.

VPD blocking the railway tracks.  Arthur selected a figure in a trenchcoat as a more accurate representation of what Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Chief Constable WW Foster was wearing on the day.  

Striking longshoremen marching down Heatley Ave.

A variation on the railway tracks!  With no model train tracks or trains, we substituted with cobbled streets and sci-fi shipping containers.  Chief Constable Foster started the action by 'reading the riot act'.  This was a contested roll with groups of strikers within range.  He was very successful and managed to disperse a couple groups of strikers and a strike leader right off the bat!

Police deployed tear gas near the start of the game, immediately adding shock to the strikers.  WWI British soldiers are standing in a proxies for the British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP).

We felt that the tear gas was persisting too long, so we adjusted the duration.  At the start of each turn roll 1d4, with each cloud of tear gas dispersing if the roll is equal or less than the number of turns it has been on the table.  Strikers have white dice to show their level of 'fervour', which must be exhausted before they accumulate shock points.  Shock is then shown with black dice.  Note the photographer on the balcony on the left.

Dramatic shot showing the police holding the line just behind the area of effect of the tear gas!

The strikers tussled with the special constables of the BCPP, but could not overcome the effects of the VPD tear gas or the orders to disperse from the Chief Constable.

Following are some more game photos, no particular story for each one.

News hound catching photos of the action.

BCPP about to be rushed by more strikers after they were pushed off the street.

Battered BCPP recover after taking a beating from the strikers, as well as being affected by their own side's tear gas!

The Crutchy Push

As part of their 'Right Bloody Mess' collection, Eureka Miniatures released this set of amputees based on a Melbourne street gang called the Crutchey Push.  Or maybe the Crutchy Push, spelling seems to be inconsistent.  The gang these models is based on was active roughly around 1900-1905, but their clothing style allows them to fit in with my interwar folks.

Most of the Crutchy Push members were missing a leg, but one had an amputated arm.  This member is depicted by the man in the blue shirt.  His weapon of choice was a broken brick that he had hidden in his empty sleeve.  

The two crutchies above could simply be amputees moving through the city as best they can.  The three below however are showing a bit more aggro!

These men will add some more diversity to my 1930s tables.

Toffs, Resistance, Heavies and Assassins.

 Catching up with my painting output, here is a collection of figures I've recently completed.

First up is another of the Bad Squiddo Women of the Resistance.  Meet Danish Resistance explosives expert and music composer Else Marie Pade.  One of the things I love about Bad Squiddo's resistance members is that, since most of them are in civilian clothing and many are unarmed, they fit nicely into my interwar labour action games!

These two toffs represent a change from the working class that I've been working on recently.  The gent on the left is from Pulp Figures, while the flapper on the right is a bonus figure that Nic included in my latest order from Eureka Miniatures. 

Nic informed me that she is based on a photo of early Hollywood film star Louise Brooks.  

Also up is a collection of heavies from Pulp Figures and an assassin from Grey For Now Games' 02h00 'Operation Torchlight' set.  

Here's a closeup of the shotgun-toting heavy.

And to round out the group, this mid 19th-Century RN midshipman from Copplestone Castings.  This particular model had been sitting in the old lead pile for many years (ok, decades), long after I painted and in some cases lost the other figures from the same set!

And to round out today's offerings, I also finished up more docks from the Games Workshop Middle-earth Laketown House set.  The slightly darker painted set are the docks that I painted over the past week and the slightly lighter coloured docks are the ones I painted a few years ago.