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)

More Weird War One

 We had so much fun with last week's Weird War One game, Arthur came up with another scenario for us to try!  This time the protagonists were the Germans, taking on the same cultists as before.

                                        

In this scenario, the red-robed, gas-mask cultists are trying to reach the altar (centre top) in order to complete more strange rituals.  The Germans need to stop them!

German force, led by the sniper in his armoured mask.

Gas mask cultists

And a selection of strange creatures, including "Trenchula" the giant spider!

Cultists move onto the table, heading directly for the altar.

Germans come on from the opposite side, and maneuver to a flanking position, making best use of available cover.

Cultists wander too close to a nest of giant spiders and are swarmed!

Germans continue the flanking movement.

Cultists show no caution, and are attacked by the mudworm and the bugeyed beastie.  As it happens, neither of these creatures cause the cultists any distress!

Germans snipe at the cultists from behind cover.

Trenchula charges at the German sniper, but is readily dispatched.

Cultist leader reaches the altar, and summons help in the form of an skeletal pied piper. Rather than rats or children, this one controls giant spiders!  It marches against the Germans with its proteges following.

The German sniper dispatches the pied piper, but it's not enough - the spiders swarm the German leader!

The last German soldier decides to withdraw and take news of this event to higher command.

The Germans were cautious, made good use of cover, and conducted a flanking maneuver that kept them away from the nests of strange creatures, and yet were defeated. The cultists charged straight at their objective, triggered every possible beastie nest, and yet succeeded in taking control of the objective and winning the scenario!  Sometimes there ain't no justice :)

Press, and more strikers

We are going to have another go at the Battle of Ballantyne Pier on Friday, and I've added a few more figures just in time. Arthur took one look at this collection and said, 'that's a lot of blue!', so I will try to expand my colour palette for the next figures :^)

There are a few more strikers with signs.

The press will be represented.  We are still working out the game mechanics but each side (cops and strikers) will be able to influence the story, and manipulate the final score.

And after the press write their stories, the newsboys will be out there flogging their newspapers!

Not all the workers have placards.  There are a few more workers who are ready to use other means to dissuade the scabs from crossing the picket lines.

Not everyone is in the union.  The police detective is also ready for action.

And one more:  the union president, straight from negotiations, waving his notes from the negotiations with the owners.