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.

Workers, strikers and protesters

 Here are some more people to populate the town, as workers, strikers or protesters, or just ordinary folks going about their lives. These are all (but one) from Eureka Miniatures, with the one exception being from Pulp Figures.

These ladies are sold as 'Plantation Workers', however I've converted them slightly to make them a bit more urban.  

I assume that these were assumed to be carrying cotton, but in my mind they have baskets of laundry.  I attempted to paint the laundry in a mix of colours but it didn't look right, so they each have baskets of whites.

The two ladies holding their tools horizontally originally had hoes (as with the lady on the left).  I converted the one on the right to a broom.  The one in the middle has had her original shovel changed into a mop.

Some younger folks.  The lad on the right is from Pulp Figures, the rest are Eureka.

The chap on the left has had a striker's sign added.  I suppose he has turned out to be a Barcelona FC fan!

Battle of Ballantyne Pier take 2

On Friday, we had a second go at the Battle of Ballantyne Pier.  I hosted the game at my house, and invited Craig, Doug, Gord, Lisa, Kevin and Peter over to participate.  It was a tight fit in the gaming room, but we managed!  The major change from the previous game at Bonsor was that we switched to Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles.  We made a few significant errors as we missed several of the differences between the two rulesets, but despite that the overall gameflow was better. Still things we need to adjust, though!

Vancouver Police (VPD) block Heatley Ave where it crosses the railway tracks.  Lisa brought the 'Refined Pallets' warehouse, which was a pun that greatly amused the dads in the group!

Longshoremen march toward Ballantyne Pier.

VPD Chief WW Foster steps forward to order the marchers to disperse.

Press photographer records the march.  We included rules that awarded victory points if the press recorded the other side committing acts of violence, representing either lawlessness by the union, or excessive force and brutality by the police.

The march turns from Powell Street onto Heatley Avenue, observed by a couple of intrepid reporters.

A group of longshoremen head down the lane, straight into a group of British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP).  As these men were mostly 'specials', recruited just for this event, they were rated as d8, compared to the d10 VPD and RCMP.

The confrontation is recorded by the press!

More strikers follow up to see what's happening around the corner.

Meanwhile, on Heatley Ave the main group of longshoremen confront the VPD.

Strikers battle the BCPP.  If you look closely, you might be able to tell that I recruited WWI British officers to proxy for the BCPP :)

Police deploy tear gas.  Our tear gas rules allowed for a lot of randomness.  There was a chance that the grenade could go off before being thrown, affecting the police, or when thrown it might miss the target.  Once deployed, the gas would add between 0 and 2 shock to any affected models, or possibly force the models to disperse.  At the end of each turn, a die was rolled to determine if the gas effect remained or if it dissipated.

More tear gas on Heatley Ave.  The die on the cloud marks how long it has been on the table.  A test is made at the end of each turn to see if the gas disperses.

The reporter (in brown, lower right) is affected by the gas and takes two points of shock.

BCPP stand in the face of charging strikers.

Drone shot!  Just as well that drones hadn't yet been invented in 1935.

This was about where the game ended.  Police had been effective in dispersing the strikers, but at significant cost to their reputation (as recorded by the press).

Finally, after all the action was over, the mounted police arrive!  Doug was particularly annoyed.  Each turn there was a roll to see if they arrived, getting easier each time, and somehow it still took 4 turns for them to finally come on the table.  This was a contrast to the previous playthrough, when they appeared at the first opportunity.

Lisa kept score through the game, and here is her final tally:

Police gained 9 points:

1 - Dispersed Granny Ivana

1 - Press photo of strikers throwing rocks at police chief Foster

1 - Press photo of strikers throwing rocks at VPD

1 - Press photo of strikers knocking out 2 BCPP

1 - Another photo of strikers throwing rocks at VPD

1 - Union leader Mickey O'Rourke dispersed

1 - Union charges and beats up BCPP

1 - Group of strikers dispersed

1 - Two BCPP hospitalised 

Strikers earned 10 points:

1 - Photo of BCPP beatdown of strikers in alley

1 - Photo of VPD charging and beating senseless two strikers on Heatley Ave

1 - Photo of BCPP charging out of house and beating strikers close up 

1 - Photo of striker being shot at close range

1 - Dead striker

1 - Cops deploy tear gas

0 - Cops drop tear gas on themselves, unit of 4 police disperse

1 - Tear gas thrown "at" reporter (he got in the way, but that's not how he reported it!)

1 - BCPP shoots at and wounds a striker

2 - 2 Strikers killed (one hospitalised)