Party on moif!

Last night I went to a party.

I'll repeat that for full effect.

Last night, I went to a party, at my work, and I dressed in a shirt, a slim shirt and with a hint of the suave about me. I managed to comport myself with some sense of occaision, and I even danced to applause from the girls and something akin to admiration from some of the guys (I'm guessing they thought I had two left feet perhaps?). Since I'd already been to the gym first, I took a taxi so as not to arrive in a muck sweat after having showered and annointed myself with something that smelled socially acceptable. I don't actually know if it was male or female, it was something with no alcohol in it that Mette had in the bathroom, so I'm guessing I smelled slightly feminine. I guess I shall have to find a more appropriate scent for any future social events, something masculine that sweeps people off their feet and has women swooing at my mere approach.

Fortunately my confidence is high having lost so much weight and last night I stepped onto the 'dance floor' with the steely eyed determination of a man with something to prove to himself, and although ten years of sitting in front of my computer, developing a backside capable of withstanding earthquakes has left me slightly off balanced, I was more or less able to include my sudden lurches to one side into my erratic dance routine. I realised after two dances that what I really need to do is go to some kind of dance class. The gym, cycling and dieting is all well and good, but nothing leaves you gasping for breath like two numbers on the dance floor. My knee's were ready for industrial action after the first ten minutes, but I suppressed their complaints and took a turn in the cool air with the smokers to cool down again.

The biggest problem with the evening was the divergence of music tastes. My boss, who dances like he believes in it, is a great fan of vapid pop music, where as my colleague Garn prefers Death Metal and Gangsta Hip Hop. I can dance to almost anything I think, but its hard when the music keeps getting hijacked. One song I did enjoy despite other people's complaints (one girl actually took to shouting "No!" when it began) was the above video by a Danish band called Nephew. It reminds me of Depeche Mode, which is always good in my mind. Poor Goeg was sick so he missed out on a good evening.

It helped to know most of the people, by sight if not by name. I was able to converse and the clammy hand of teen angst which once strangled my voice when speaking Danish in public has passed almost into memory. The irony of it though. Especially ironic is the comfortable indifference afforded by years of a steady relationship. Liberation through indifference you might say. When it mattered, I couldn't speak to a girl to save my life. Now, it doesn't matter and I find I have little to say anyway. I'd rather just dance.

Admiral

Dir: Andrei Kravchuk

No Rocketman this week as RL imposes itself onto our fantasies, instead Oleg and I watched 'Admiral', a self described Russian 'blockbuster' which details the last years of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, who was one of the military leaders of the Imperialist White Russians, including his time in battle against the Germans, then later against the Bolsheviks and all the time framed by an evolving romance with the wife of one of his officers.


On the face of it, this film ought to press all the right buttons, and indeed some of the naval combat scenes came close to exciting, but essentially there are two major flaws which I could not ignore. The first was the plot which leaped from scene to scene with little regard to context, and half the time I had difficulty keeping up with what was going on. The Russian revolution and its causes for example were not mentioned, nor even hinted at before sailors were bayonetting their officers to death. The Germans were nothing but pixels rendered at a distance, and worst of all, history went by as if it were a murky landscape glimpsed from the window of a speeding train. I kept having to turn to Oleg, whose paternal family are Russians, to ask if he had a better grasp of events, which he generally did. The film is not entirely historically accurate however, painting a very benign picture of a man whom history portrays as far more nuanced and there is very little mention of Kolchak's involvement with the British

I can live with a sporadic plot and dodgy history if the acting is good, but alas it wasn't. The actors playing the two main characters seemed utterly mismatched, and if there were any chemistry in their great love affair, then I couldn't see it. Konstantin Khabensky, who plays Kolchak makes his way through the entire film with only one facial expression and I wasn't sure if this was intentional (Russian stocism in the face of mounting hardships) or just uninspired acting. Elizaveta Boyarskaya who plays Kolchaks lover, Anna Timiriova did a slightly better job of portraying emotions, but as often as not the speed of the plot meant events were happening faster than the two actors could manage; thus they met at a party and within a few seconds the people around them are showing concern at how close they are. A few seconds later and Kolchak is declaring his impossible love with a deadpan face, cut to next scene, months later and suddenly its the Revolution and Anna Timiriova is openly flaunting her desperate love before her helpless husband.

The Discovery Institute’s Russia Blog writes, “Russian filmmakers have proved once again that they can outpace Hollywood’s production with a tenth of a Hollywood film’s budget".

I think not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9

Dir: Shane Acker

I've been looking forward to seeing '9', for quite some time, so maybe my expectations were unrealistic. Watching the film I felt slightly cheated because it seemed rather simplistic. The animation was great, and the ambience too. The characters and creatures were basically well done and the rendering was excellent, but the story was very simple, and the premise was student-film-weak.

Halloween, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween isn't really a big deal in my experience, but this year, with Freja's kindergarten celebrating it, we bought a couple of pumpkins on the way out to my Dad's and I cut my first Jack-o-lantern. We met up with (my youngest brother) Philip, who gave me his old digital camera, having acquired a shiny new one with additional bells and whistles, and together we spent a reasonably enjoyable day, inspecting my Fathers fairly successful attempts at setting the old house into order, moving a mechanical piano and engaging in arguments.

The Goon Squad

In my family, any occiasion has traditionally meant a debate, bordering on an argument, and once in a while, objects being tossed about. Its not so much physical violence, as too much testosterone, with my Dad doing his best Uncle Joe routine when ever more than one of his sons is present and needing to be put in place. Naturally none of these dog fights are about anything remotely important but this doesn't prevent every one giving their all, whilst any female members of the family who happen to be in the blast radius shake their heads in resignation and contemplate cheap flights to warmer climates.

Though I say it myself, I think my pumpkin came out rather well.
Mette took the pictures which is why there several of me and none of her.

Magnezilla & Flicka, hair not included

Its life Jim, but not as we know it!

Freja and Magne were not too happy about the day. Both of them got really cranky, especially Magne who's been ill and 'distempered' of late, but Freja did enjoy the pumpkins, which is weird as to me they are still an American cultural oddity. Actually Jack-o-lanterns appear to have originated from Ireland so there's my cultural ignorance and preconceptions showing me up.

Currently I am well and truly p'd off though so I will beg leave to be slightly grumpy. Most of my life is going really well, but since I started making some fairly decent money, I've had nothing but huge bills from social services demanding I repay obscene amounts of moneys received over the course of the last year. Perusing these letters reveals some unusual numbers to say the least. Some one some where is operating under the false pretence that I have made about three times as much as I have, which wouldn't be much of a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that the Danish social servies are entrenched by miles of telephone answering machines, vacant offices (he's on a course and won't be back for three weeks) and just plain old fashioned misdirection. In the mean time I have eight days to lodge a complaint or the matter will be considered closed. Four days have now passed and all attempts to lodge such a complain have been met with better defences than the 8th airforce faced over Berlin. Tomorrow and Friday are my last chance to avoid paying back as much money as I've received in my wages for the next two months as no way will any one be in an official office over the week end. In fact even friday is highly dubious. If I have to, I'm going to start lobing bricks through windows tomorrow so if I suddenly stop blogging in the next few weeks, its probably because I've been arrested for stating an opinion.
Rant over.
Happy thoughts.
I get paid on friday again and I intend to buy some more figures, though the last lot, ordered a month ago from BTD still haven't materialised yet...


...in the mean time, I am prepping RM6 (warning, its all wargaming babble from here), but I still have a lot of painting and assembly to do. Ever since Trace decided to rejoin Rocketman, I've been juggling my initial set up trying to make it all work. Previously the game was structured around a 3 vs 2 imbalance, with Goeg and Rasmus playing support units to Oleg's heavy tank main Bolshevik force. Facing them would be Palle and I with our Vickers Mk II's and Mk VI's and British infantry support.

Changing the games to 3 v 3 without additional armour is difficult, so now, Palle and I will be playing reduced forces (we both give an armoured Rolls Royce to Goeg who plays Rocketman and Afghan allies). This is a bit risky as Goeg is still a noob, but I can't see how else the game would work. Tracey can take Goeg's oroginal group (Olga and her Uigher bandits) and what we end up with is an equilibrium of sorts

Palle = Lt Col Sir John Napier, 1st Tank Company & British Inf Company. (2 Vickers Mk II medium tank's & 1 Mk VI light tank)
Jan = 2nd Lt Algernon ’Lefty’ Leftbridge , 2nd tank company & Sikh Rifle Company. (2 Vickers Mk II medium tank's & 1 Mk VI light tank)
Goeg = Rocketman and ’Afghan contingent’ (2 Rolls Royce armoured cars and one Vickers Mk VI light tank)

Oleg = Main Black Guard command with heavy tanks and infantry support
Rasmus = Uzbeck Bolshevik support group with light armour, anti armour guns and infantry support.
Tracey = Olga & Uigur bandits with 'technical'

I anticipate mass slaughter

Since I now have a working digital camera again, I'll be posting some more posts regarding models and figures soon.

Any way, time for some atmospheric gaming music...

Georges Bizet

Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

Yesterday was Bizet's 171st birthday and I forgot it, so here is some of his splendid work (and which isn't from 'Carmen'), to celebrate.

moifs wonderful overview of European history

It quickly became apparent that seven columns just were'nt enough to cover the subject of European history, but changing the screen width isn't a factorwhich I can be bothered to wait until I have a bag of surplus funds for that purpose. Thus, plan B developed. Instead of one document, there are now three with interlocking links. That was the original purpose of hypertext after all.

So, now I have twenty one colour coded columns, with twenty six sub catagories in three documents and this is working so far. I've also learned more about the context of Europe's history in this week end than all of last year put together. I've discovered new and interesting people, like Flavius Aetius, Thorir Hund and Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and I've had a laugh learning about the Popes, especially the murdering rapist Pope whose father bought him the office, but who then got kicked out for "feasting on immorality" when the other priests had had enough of his "many vile adulteries and murders". His name was Benedict IX and he didn't take any shit from the clergy. He naturally returned with an army and got his job back, but then got bored with it anyway and sold it to his father in law. He later decided this was a bad move and returned with another army. In the end, the German King had to intervene to put a stop to the madness. If Dan Brown wrote it, people would call it far fetched. Almost as funny is that there was a Pope named Hilarius. I imagine he was a blast during prayers.

Including the sub catagoies (in itallics), my overview of European history now has the following catagories;

Page 1
Britain. Scotland. Wales.
France. Normans. Burgundy. Carolingians.
Italy. Rome. Venice. Papacy.
German. Teutonic Order. Hanseatic League.
Denmark. Vikings.
Others. Holy Land. Significant international events.

Page 2
Iberia. Al Anadalus.
Greece. Balkans.
Holland. Belgium.
Denmark. Vikings.
Norway. Iceland.
Sweden.

Page 3
Russia. Finland. Golden Horde.
Eastern Europe. Poland. Hungary.
Anatolia. Byzantium. Ottomans.
Eurasia. Bulgaria. Huns.
Art History.
Science.

Denmark is currently listed twice for convenience of comparison with neighbouring countries. Most of the latter are just empty columns, awaiting the time when my eye roves across their times. I'm also thinking of adding other sub catagories as I go, Baltic states, Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar, various Italian mini states, &tc. A major gap thats already apparent is Austria and Switzerland, but I've not figured out how to slot them in yet, maybe I'll dump one of the Denmark's, it should really be the first one as the scond puts Denmark into context with the rest of Scandinavia. Another probelm is the Holy Roman Empire which seems to exist in a parrallel universe all of its own.

I may have to scrap the current version and build a new one on what I've already figured out and have one page for England, one for France, one for Germany and so on... the trouble with that is the lack of clarity. The whole point is show context of historical events on Europe, not nit pick at the details.

I'm tempted to start two more documents anyway. One dealing with the America's and Africa and another with the Middle East and Asia. Currently all of these fall under 'Others' which works now, but will probably become a problem later on as the details start to fill up.

The significant international events catagory sits as a black bar, right across all the columns. The idea is to place a marker for events so significant they more or less effected every one. Currently these include the birth of Jesus Christ, the capture of Jerusalem (to the Crusaders), the fall of Byzantium, the discovery of America, the beginning of the Thirty Years War, the Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars and Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Palle reckoned the consolidation of Imperial Roman power under Augustus ought to count as a significant international event too, but I don't see how that effected Britain, Scandinavia, Russia and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, there is always the reverberations of events to consider. The discovery of America didn't have an immediate effect either. I'm still undecided though as I see Augustus's reign more as an internal Roman matter as opposed to a significant international event. Points of view welcomed.

In other news, my brother Philip gave me a camera so I shall soon be posting images of models and figures again.

I'd like to be able to boast about my latest acquisitions, but the Teutonic cavalry and various Fallschirmsjaeger I ordered from Black Tree Design, almost a month ago now, have yet to materialise. I understand that BTD have been having problems with deliveries, but I only came by this information after I'd placed the order. It wouldn't have mattered much anyway, as I wanted the figures and they were on offer and if I have to wait a few weeks more, then so be it.

Sgt Michael Ebert. Killed in Afghanistan

23 year old Sgt Michael Ebert, of the Royal Life Guards was killed in action yesterday, whilst leading a patrol in Helmand Province. Afghanistan. Ebert had previously served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2007.

»I går gik solen ned efter en trist dag. I dag er solen stået op igen, og vi fortsætter med at løse opgaverne. Det gør vi, fordi vi fortsat tror på, at vi gør en forskel. Vi lader ikke Michaels offer være forgæves.«

"Yesterday the sun went down on a sad day. Today the sun rises again and we continue to do our job. We do this because we still believe that we are making a difference. We will not allow Michael's sacrifice to be in vain"

Karsten Eiholm Kjær,
Commander of the Danish forces in Afghanistan

Ramble on, and nows the time, the time is now

Whats annoying is having so much historical knowledge in my head, but without having an overall context to tie it all together. The other day, whilst running on the running device (I have no idea what the instrument is really called, only that I start with 15 minutes on level 15 'fat burn+' before I move onto the next curious device), my mind a-wandering, as seems the norm when one is sweating monotonously, I began to dream up a table of events for European history, it has to be European history as I don't know as much about the history of the rest of the world, and anyway my screen is not very wide (though I'm thinking of buying a new screen soon as I'd like to do painting on my own computer instead of only practicing at work) so I can only fit seven columns and have room to actually write anything and they have to be interesting to me. I imagined; the year, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Other to cover the rest of Europe and the world. In each column, major events in the history of Europe, pertaining to my personal interests, Order Teutonica, the Normans, the Rennaisance, the Medici family, galley warfare in the mediterranean, Imperial Rome, Art history, Valdemar Sejr and the Northern Crusades and so on, with links to maps, lovely old Wikipedia and any interesting pictures which might shed light on the various Kings, Queens, battles, inventions, etc. I'm not too bothered about modern history (like everything post 1900) as most of it is so drab and depressing, and I already have a fairly good idea of what happened when and in conjunction with what. This idea deals mostly with the period between the foundation of Rome and the end of the Victorian era. Quite a lot of history, but sometimes difficult to get a grasp on what happened in one place as at the same time as events in another place. For example, the Venetians introduced coffee into Europe in 1615, just one year before Keplar was charged with practicing "forbidden arts" by officials in Württemberg. Theres no Burkesian connection between these events as far as I can see, and without Wikipedia, I'd never know it. With 'moifs wonderful overview of European history' I will be able to place events in different countries into context with each other. I've already begun and been suprised to note that Valdemar II Sejr was king of Denmark just a few years after the death of Richard I Cœur de Lion was King of England. That must have been a great time to be a war mongering bastard! Once I fill in the Germans, Italians and French, I'm expecting more curious juxtapositions of popular tyrants and their glorious fields of carrion. Especially curious is that Richard's crusade holiday to the Holy Land slides right in between the two big Danish crusades (the Wendish slaughter of Valdemar I and the Estonian campaign of Valdemar II). The latter is especially interesting as its when the Danish flag is said to have fallen from the sky at the battle of Lyndanisse, though I maintain Dannebrog is just the Crusade Banner of the Holy Roman Empire (the Germans) which must have been all over Estonia in those days with the Teutonic Order bringing baptism or death to the grateful heathens. The Battle of Lyndanisse took place in 1219, four years after Magna Carta was issued in England. Odd to think of these two events, each pretty significant in their respective countries, as being contemporary.

Meanwhile, life is still good. I haven't weighed myself in a while, but I can see the differences and they are starting to be profound. I'm guessing I've lost about ten kilo's and my daily uphill ride to work, whilst still leaving me drenched with sweat (though thats as much to do with the extra winter clothing) is nowhere near as strenuous as it once was, and I have started to cruise by other cyclists with something akin to contempt. Every once in a while some younger fellow on a racer passes me by and I urge Betty to go faster. Sometimes it develops into a silent race, but usually I lose these. Betty is so fat and lazy.

Taking my Wacom to work has meant I have the time to play with it, whilst I'm working of course *cough*cough* and some right minded nerds to call upon in case I run into problems (see my latest post at JRC-1135 for an example of what I've been up to). I really ought to have a domesticated nerd, sort of like a little bespectacled geek in a kennel whom I could call upon to sort out my numerous computer related problems. Its intolerable to have to sort out such things by myself.
I've given thought to the idea of self publishing Rocketman but so far it still seems more like late night induced fevered fantasy than a viable proposition. Thats never stopped me before though. I love pointless projects that require vast amounts of preperation, for dubious purposes and scant results. Thats how Rocketman came into being in the first place.

And now, listen to the music below because why not?

Pro Test

I'd never even heard of Skinny Puppy before I came across this on You Tube, but I've been listening to it all this and last week.

Did I post this already? I don't remember. Who cares. Its worth posting again if I did. I even like the lyrics.

Hit me on the street while waiting to do nothing.
Where within the space can anything feel certain.
Look into the future make out the word speak
Send in the spies to watch them.
Creepy are the people unable to do something.
Sitting on an armchair fenced in their creation.
Look up to be there, anywhere is somewhere.
Itchy past scratch the itch.

The Mike Hammer Omnibus vol 1

By Mickey Spillane

Vol 1 contains three novels;

'I the Jury'
'My gun is quick'
'Vengeance is mine'

Not as good as the Philip Marlowe novels, but still interesting. Mike Hammer is a much more hard boiled character, much given to emotional outbursts, often bordering on the psychopathicc and unlike Marlowe and Spade, Mike Hammer is also violent, and moves in violent circles, so much so that corpses litter these stories, left, right and centre.

Having read Marlowe first, I think I've become preconditioned, for I find these books, though entertaining enough, to lack the sense of mystery and novelty that Raymond Chandler was able to create. Spillane seems more like a teenager who discovered a type writer and used it to exorsize his adolescent demons. Guns are great, women are disposable dolls and men beat the beejesus outta each other, then carry on as if nothing had happened. The first two stories were easy enough to solve and I hardly bothered with the third, simply reading it something to do whilst sitting on the toilet. Thats probably more information than you needed, but there it is. I was never able to put down Chandler's novels, but with Spillane I merely coasted along when I had five minutes to spare

RM5.2 conclusion

Despite being let down by Rasmus, 'Beach Assault' was quite a success, though no actual beach assault took place, unless you count Goeg's heroic effort to bring his HMG closer. Both sides had moments of glory and bloodshed and in the end, the result was satisfactory.

The players, sans Rasmus who never turned up

The game began with the Germans scrambling to get into position whilst the good guys, who were dubbed 'the pirates' for convenience, brought their two ships boats into position. Both sides used their long range weapons to engage, but found rifles to be at a distinct disadvantage and smaller weapons were useless. The range from the bunker to the ships bow was exactly 72 inches, and a rifle has an effective range of 36 inches in our rules.

Rocketman took one look at the Heinkel and decided to grab it. He flew off table to avoid being an airborne target (Which he is allowed to do, given the nature of his rocket pack) then flew back on to land on the jetty. The Germans immediately opened fire and suppressed him, but he was about to cut the tethers any way due to being crouched on the seaplane's pontoons. Meanwhile Oleg brought his ships boat, loaded with pirates closer in order to tow the Heinkel away and thus win the game. I have to admit, I didn't see this possibility. For a long time this game was designed as a straight up battle and the winning criteria were very different. I changed the nature of the game to save time (as we only have four hours or so) and because the plot cannot depend on one side winning. A consequence of this was I hadn't given too much thought to the jetty which suddenly became a dangerous bottle neck. Ah well, c'est la guerre.

Le Mollusc under fire.

Whilst Oleg was performing small miracle's, Goeg was still learning. Having lined up his pirates on Le Mollusc's superstructure (see image above), he had the most perfect firing squad I've ever seen. Unfortunately he was out of range, so his men were firing with a -3 and -4 penalty for the whole game). Given that my Germans were chemically enhanced (thanks to mad Dr Meztger), and out of range, the best he could hope for was to keep them pinned down. Goeg also had his African MG crew, with their Vickers Maxim. A dangerous weapon, but old and some what unreliable. In our rule system, its classed as a Machine Gun (as opposed to a Heavy Machine Gun like a .50) which means it has a 36 inch range equivalent to a rifle, or an LMG. It does however do slightly more damage if it hits.

Goeg stuck his Vickers Maxim gun in the second ships boat and used the boat like a sort of seaborne 'technical', chugging closer in an attempt to do more damage. Unfortunately what happened was he became a priority target and spent most of his time suppressed (the MG gunners cowering for cover on a wooden boat). What Goeg, and Oleg didn't know, is that the Germans had some secrets up their sleeves. Palle had a second Heinkel, returning from patrol and able to attack with twin MG-17's and six 10 kilo bombs, and I had a sniper with an anti-materiel rifle; a 13.2mm M1918 Mauser.

Once Rocketman had secured the biplane, the game was nearing its end, but it hadn't ended yet. I couldn't see how the Germans could grab the plane back unless the German pilots risked a dash to grab the speed boat (which can be seen moored to the jetty in the image below). A risky move, but better than not doing anything. Palle however had other idea's. The second Heinkel came down from the north and hardly any one noticed it until it was strafing Le Mollusc's deck, clearing away pirates like a broom. At the same time, I used my sniper against Geog's commanding officer (Iron Fist Chung) and he then stopped commanding. I also used my grenade launcher (A non historical weapon developed exlusively by the Schattentroppen's gunsmith) to put Goeg's seaborne MG out of commission.

The Field of Mars.
In the foreground the Germans, watch in disbelief as Rocketman and his allies steal the Heinkel

For a moment, I thought we might have a chance, especially as the next round would see the second Heinkel deploy its bombs. Alas, I had counted my velociraptors before they were hatched, and Oleg put Rocketman into the air and used his rocket plumes (and 4 hero points) as a flame thrower to set fire to the speedng fighter as it passed below him (hence the title image). The burning aircraft hurtled over head and crashed behind the German line, probably landing on their camp.

Oleg was definately 'Man of the Match'. He was forced to contend with twice as many elements as usual, and they were all named characters (meaning a set of individual stats for about forty elements), he played Rocketman to perfection, bringing down the second Heinkel and he won the game by using Rocketman to quickly secure the first Heinkel whilst a boat chugged out to tow it away. A well deserved win.

Faced with such unbelievable heroism, the Germans fell back to better positions, and to salvage what they could from their burning camp.

If the back ground looks odd, then its because I'm experimenting with tiling the image, trying to make it work better on bigger screens

RM5.2 'Beach Assault'

”Take a seat” Sir Hugh Sinclair motions towards a plush armchair and Daniel Mansfield eases his tired body into its welcome embrace. The older man smiles sympathetically. ”How was your flight?”
Mansfield casts his mind back over the last three days. ”Strenuous” he replies.
Sir Hugh nods, then pulling out a thin brown folder, his face takes on a serious demeanour. He pulls out a map and places it on the low table between them. Mansfield picks it up and regards it.
”Farquhar Island” Sir Hugh says. ”One of our islands in the Southern Seychelles group. It features prominently in the log you recovered from Brazil.”
”Do we know why?”
Sir Hugh shakes his head. ”No. The island is controlled by a British corporation called Imperial Sea Foods. It maintains a large sea food farm on the island, along with an extensive research facility”
Mansfield looks up sharply. ”Researching what?”
”Officially, sea food. Unofficially, who knows?”
“I doubt the Brotherhood of the Black Cross are interested in sea food”
Sir Hugh shrugs then slides a second sheet of paper across the table. This is Imperial Sea Foods... As you can see, it’s connected right up to the very top. Two MP’s, one a former minister, and Lord Shaftsbury“
“The King’s cousin?”
“The same.”
“Do you suppose they are in league with Baron Schöenberg?”
“Probably not, at least not directly, but we must consider it a possibility and act accordingly. Any official investigation of the island will be noticed... and sending the Royal Navy in, which I would love to do mind you, is very much out of the question at this stage.”
Daniel Mansfield grins and Sir Hugh nods.
“Exactly. You will have to investigate using unconventional means.”
Mansfield ponders the problem for a long moment as he regards the map.
“What do we know about the island? How many people live on it?”
“There are no updated records, but we know it has seen considerable development in the last twenty years. Imperial have built a small harbour facility and a large research station on top of this peak. It’s possible the island contains several hundred people... perhaps even an armed force.”
Mansfield stretches his legs and yawns.
“If I feel I need to use force of arms...?”
“Then do so.”

Fourteen days later, Daniel Mansfield steps out of the fuselage of a Boeing 247 and regards the small sun baked airport of Port Victoria. Behind him, ‘Mad Dog’ Mitchell fusses with a long heavy case.
“Can you see him?” Marcel Messnier asks from within the plane. The Frenchman pushes past his American companion and hops lightly onto the concrete. He gazes about; shading his eyes, and then gives a short Gallic exclamation of satisfaction.
“There he is!”
Mansfield follows Messnier’s gaze and sees a tall European man in a white shirt approaching them, flanking him are two hard faced Africans in gaudy clothes.
“Monsieur Lavarre I presume?” Messnier steps forward to meet the European. “Who are your friends?”
“Ship mates” the other replies with an unmistakable French accent. “You are Messnier?”
“Oui, and this is Mister Mansfield.”
“Mad Dog?” one of the Africans suddenly exclaims in a thick voice.
“Eh?” Mitchell looks down from the fuselage door. “Jo Jo Bouché? Is that you? Goddamn boy, where’s your Pa?”
“Do you know every one?” Mansfield asks the burly Texan
“Every cut throat, gun runner and smuggler from Athens to Jo’burg” Mitchell grins as he steps down from the plane. ”I’ve known Jo Jo’s old man since about 1927 or so. Haven’t seen this kid since he was fourteen, but I’d recognise that smile any where”
Daniel Mansfield regards the scarred face of the African, his chipped front teeth and the slightly manic gleam in his eyes and decides to remain silent”
“Papa is on the boat” Jo Jo grins. “He’ll be mighty pleased to see you again I bet”
The Frenchman, Lavarre, looks from face to face sneering slightly. “So we’re all good friends eh... Perhaps we can go some where and talk some business?”
“Time is a factor for us; perhaps we should go straight to your ship and look her over?”
“Certainly Monsieur, I shall arrange a car for you whilst you retrieve your luggage”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Le Mollusc is an old French tramp steamer, long since fallen into decay and disrepute. Abandoned by her original owners in Indochine, then bought, sold and gambled from owner to owner she has come into the hands of a motley band of disreputable characters under the leadership of an aging Kenyan Captain named Wangai. Described by some as mere pirates, the gang have used their ship to great effect, usually to move weapons and supplies for many a local warlord or regional government, but just as often to engage other seaborne or coastal targets. Wangai himself is an ambiguous character, frowned upon by the British authorities and effectively banished from Kenya but still tolerated in the Seychelles.
“What a rust bucket” George Macarthur mutters to himself as he regards the ancient ship.
“You got that right” Mitchell says as he casts an eye over the bows. “What do you suppose that big wooden box is for?”
Jo Jo leans closer. “thats the big gun boss” he whispers as he widens his eyes theatrically.
“Oh?” Mitchell’s interest is immediately peaked. “What ya got under there?”
Dominique Lavarre turns with a frown, glancing disapprovingly at Jo Jo who ignores him. “A Schneider” he says in a low voice.
“A French 75mm gun” Mitchell tells George Macarthur who nods sagely.
A tall dark faced man appears at the gangway and nods to Dominique Lavarre.
“Captain Wangai” the Frenchman introduces the man with a broad hand gesture as the man steps from his ship.
“Pleased to meet you Sir” Daniel Mansfield says with an outstretched hand. “I’m Daniel Mansfield.”
“Greetings Mr Manfield. Welcome to our ship. I understand you are in need of some assistance. Come aboard and tell me all about it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you know about Farquhar Island?”
Wangai and Lavarre exchange a glance.
“It has... a reputation” The Frenchman replies. “Fishing boats from here and Madagascar have... disappeared while fishing in its vicinity. The locals here have taken to calling it accursed.”
“That is interesting” Mansfield says. “I’d like to take a closer look”
“Why?” Captain Wangai asks abruptly.
Mansfield hesitates only slightly before replying, but the hesitation is enough to convey a sense of absolute caution.
“I believe the island is being used by a secret German organisation, an organisation which has high level connections in many countries, including in the United Kingdom.”
Captain Wangai’s eyes regard the Englishman’s face. He nods slowly then pulls out a cigar and then lights it.
“And you are an Englishman, investigating this mysterious German organisation... very well. It is none of our business, and we do not like the German, not after his misdeeds in Africa these last many years. You have your ship”.
“How large is your crew?”
Wangai looks to Lavarre who frowns before answering “...half a dozen. Why?”
“I need more than passage. I need to get on that island and possibly seize control of it.”
“Now wait a minute!” Lavarre begins, but when Wangai raises his hand he falls silent.
“If you want to land on the island, then yes, we can do that too Mr Mansfield... but we will need more men, a lot more, and the price will be higher, much higher.”
“How many men can you get by tonight?” Mansfield asks. The mercenaries’ eyes widen in surprise and Wangai laughs suddenly. “By tonight, I can have thirty men, maybe forty or so if Iron fist Chung is available.”
“I have myself and these three men” Mansfield indicates his companions, Mad Dog Mitchell, George Macarthur and Marcel Messnier.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days later, le Mollusc reaches her destination. Having carefully planned his approach, Captain Wangai has cunningly approached the island during the hours of darkness, and the small merchant ship slips into the northern lagoon as the first light of dawn touches the horizon.
On the bridge, Daniel Mansfield scans the early morning darkness through a pair of binoculars.
“I see an aircraft on the water” he reports.
“Where?” Wangai lifts his own glasses.
“Two points off the starboard bow” Mansfield replies. “A biplane... looks like a fighter, I suppose that explains the missing fishing boats...”
“There is a building just by” Wangai turns to Juan Luis Ortega who stands near by. “Ready a line. We’re going as close as we can”
“I see movement” Mansfield says. “Several men... “
Mitchell enters the bridge holding his Browning automatic rifle in one hand, and strange contraption of tubes and nozzles in the other. “Are you ready? They’re putting the boats over the side.”
“I’ll be right with you... Captain Wangai. Good luck sir. I think today you may see something you’ve never seen before.”
He grins happily then leaves the bridge leaving Captain Wangai to wonder what he meant...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Klaus Kreusser sits in his watch tower, shivering slightly. The dawn is the coolest part of the day on the island and after a long shift on guard duty he feels ready for a cup of coffee and then to his bed. Below him he can hear the sounds of early risers. Laughing voices, the unmistakable rattle of a safety razor in a cup of water, some one in the communications bunker fiddling with a wireless. Best of all comes that blessed aroma of coffee wafting faintly in the still air.
“Klaus!” the voice of Hauptman Krebs reaches him. “Come on down now. Scherber will be ready in a few minutes.”
Kreusser stands up and stretches his legs. He takes one last look about the lagoon before he turns to towards the ladder, then freezes and looks back. To the west of him, coming around the island is a smudge of smoke and below it a large dark shape. A ship is coming into the lagoon! For a moment he stares at it, amazed and uncertain, then his training takes over and he grabs the alarm handle and pulls it down hard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starting

The Germans are caught completely off guard. Having approached by night, le Mollusc is able to get as close as the lagoon allows before they are even in position. The game begins with le Mollusc to the north of the beach with both her boats in the water, sheltered behind her (these are not shown on the map as they are not static elements).
All elements of players one, two and three begin on le Mollusc or in the boats behind her.

Kampfgruppen Rot of the Schattentroppen are in position, in and around the bunker and along the beach. The two pilots are in their hut.

Kampfgruppen Gelb of the Schattentroppen begins off map. Unaware of the approach of the ship, they are caught by surprise and come running to reinforce Kampfgruppen Rot. They enter the game in small groups of three, beginning in round two.

Both sides want the aeroplane. The object of the game is to capture and hold it. In order to do this, at least one element should be in base contact with the end of the jetty at the end of the game. Alternatively a pilot could take possession of the aeroplane, start it up and taxi off map. In order to do this, the two mooring lines must be cut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Player One (Rasmus)

Rocketman (SMG)
George Macarthur (Handgun)
'Mad Dog' Mitchell (LMG)
Marcel Messnier (Rifle)
plus one group from le Mollusc

Players two & three (Oleg & Goeg)

Divide the remaining four groups from le Mollusc between them.
See below for character details

Player Four: Kampfgruppen Rot (Palle)

Hauptman Krebs (Handgun)
11 x Schattensoldater (5 x rifles, 2 x grenades, 2 x SMG, 1 LMG & 1 flamethrower)
Luftschutzobertruppmann Schultz (Handgun)
Luftschutztruppmann Klengel (Handgun)

Player Five: Kampfgruppen Gelb (Jan)

Hauptman Seitz (Handgun)
11 x Schattensoldater (5 x rifles, 2 x grenades, 2 x SMG, 1 LMG & 1 flamethrower)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Map

Note. The three boats in the game are not included on the map

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victory conditions

Either side wins by holding the sea plane at the end of the game, or by default if defeating two thirds of the opposing force. If one side should destroy the seaplane, the other side wins automatically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special notes

The seaplane is cold but fuelled and ready to go. It takes six rounds to start up the engine and a further three rounds to rev up sufficiently to taxi off map. The mooring lines which secure the plane to the jetty run from fore and aft of the land side pontoon and must be cut. Cutting these takes a single round.
Unmooring and starting the speedboat takes two rounds.

Rocketman has six hero points in this game

The beach path and the pier are Good. The beach itself is Rough and the breakwater is Rough. Inside the buildings, boats and on board the ship is Rough. The sea is calm and there is very little surf. The sea is good going for boats and impassable for all other elements. The surf is Difficult for all elements.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Characters

The crew of Le Mollusc

First group

Captain Wangai. A well built Kenyan approximately fifty five years old. Wangai was once a rebel of some notoriety who eventually left Kenya after several run ins with the British authorities who regarded him as little better than a terrorist. Inspired to sail for Europe, Wangai signed on to a Portuguese merchant ship but after a great many years roaming the high sea’s and never reaching his destination, Wangai gave up his dreams and concentrated on his own advancement. He was eventually made an officer on a French ship, but soon troubles in Indochine, saw him forced to take up arms again and fight to defend his shipmates. After this return to violence, Wangai turned to mercenary work, hiring himself out, at first to the French, but later to any one who could afford his services. He became Captain of Le Mollusc when he took the ship with his men during a coastal skirmish in 1931. Since then he has worked for a number of employers providing services which no government can be seen to touch. By 1937 he is based in the Seychelles and operating along the western coast of Africa, mostly in the pay of private British interests. In combat Captain Wangai is cool, cautious and calculating. He never takes unecessary risks being the perfect mercenary. Wangai means ‘Child of God’ in the Kikuyu language of Kenya.
Edith Flavien. A French woman who fell in love with Captain Wangai in Shangai and now sails as his lover. A hot headed woman who gets ‘excited’ when the bullets start to fly.
Murphy. An Irish engineer and former terrorist. Murphy is an expert on explosives, but due to years of opium and cheap whiskey he is also utterly mad. Murphy tends the engines on the ship, and is possesive of them.
Lester. A former Australian soldier who never managed to find his way home and who is drunk most of the time. Lester is the ships cook.
Fernando D’Alessio. A Spanish communist forced to flee Spain after the defeat of the civil war. D’Allesio is a fearless ideolog who regards men like Baron Schöenberg as imperialist swine who must be destroyed forthwith. He is probably the most fervent of all the crew and this shows in his desperate actions.
Juan Luis Ortega. A Brazillian communist who fled Spain with Fernado D’Alessio. Something of an alcoholic, he is less enthusiastic about his ideals, but due to his being drunk all the time he is more or less fearless.Ortega has no dreams nor hopes and he regards communism as merely the best cause to die for.
Ivan Kopylov. A huge Russian who cannot speak a word of English. Kopylov was a sailor who got left behind in the Seychelles by accident and who now works as a hired thug for local criminal gangs because he is a alcohol fuelled murdering machine who shrugs off bullet wounds. Kopylov can speak some of the local pidgin but not much.
Pierre San Uté. A French criminal who escaped frm prison and who has drifted about the harbours and ports of Asia ever since, drinking, gambling and longing to return to France.
Zoë. A French woman with attitude. Pierre San Uté’s lover. Nothing much is known about her except that she has a Chinese mark branded into her shoulder

Second group

Dominique Lavarre. Second in command of the ship, Lavarre is a former Gendarme from Morocco who was forced to flee the law after he seduced the wife of his superior and was charged with rape. After several years in the West African underworld, he sought new pastures and found himself in Hong Kong where he worked for a while as a bar tender. Eventually he grew bored with the passive life and began peddling drugs. This put him in the way of the Golden Dragon Tong who chased him out of town. Lavarre left, but only after he murdered one of the leaders of the Tong to assist his lover Vixen. In battle Lavarre is brave, perhaps even foolhardy, but never stupid. He always takes good care of his men.
Jean-Francois Laguna. A Frenchman who fled Indochine when he murdered another man over a local girl.
Ganz. A South African mercenary, born in Germany. Ganz is a despicable criminal whose hard life of villainy and misfortune has left him with a hook instead of a right hand. A true pirate at heart, Ganz is a murderer and rapist with a reward on his head. He fights hard and gives no mercy.
Vixen & Vesper. Twin sisters, born in Rhodesia, their father a British diplomat they grew up in South East Asia and studied Eastern mystic arts. When their parents were killed by a Chinese gangster family in Hong Kong, they took revenge and became outlaws. Both are deadly in close combat.
Coxley. A Rhodesian mercenary who just happened to be in a bar drinking his last shilling away when he heard a job was going down.
Boston. An American adventurer who gets into trouble every where he goes in his never ending quest to find some treasure and get rich.
Jack Marley. Boston’s partner in recent years, Marley is amongst other things, an explosives expert.
Maputo Diogo. A Mozambiquan Adventurer who has recently been in several scrapes along side Boston and Jack marley.

Third group

‘Butcher’ Bouché. A former French soldier from Senegal who left his home to fight in France in 1914. Unable to cope with returning to Senegal after the slaughter of WW1, Bouché eventually became a mercenary. He is an experienced machine gunner, professional and calm when under fire.
Jo Jo. The son of Bouché by a Maseille prostitute. Jo Jo is a popular member of the crew for his happy go lucky nature, and lewd stories. Following his fathers example he appears unconcerned by danger in combat.
10 x East African riflemen. Captain Wangai's gang.

Fourth group

Mehmet Ilchet. A middle aged Turkish engineer. Mehmet was formerly a gun running smuggler who left his homeland to seek his fortune, but ended up on Le Mollusc instead. A practical man, he maintains the ship, though he doesn’t touch the engines which are Murphy’s pride and joy
Mustapha . Mehmet Ilchet’s older cousin. Mustapha is a studious man who studied medicine with the intention of becoming a surgeon. An unfortunate incident involving the daughter of a village elder forced him to flee Turkey and join his cousin .
Ali. A young Turk with stars in his eyes. Ali ran away from home because he was the youngest son of seven and faced dim prospects. Saved by Mehmet Ilchet, he now plays the part of side kick.
Zebedee. A Malawian healer, much loved by the crew for his potent remedies, who took it upon himself to see the world and who ended up n board le Mollusc.
Usama Ibn Fadel. A Saudi gentlemen of some means, apparently from a high standing family. Forced to flee his home after murdering a cleric over a religious dispute.
Mohammed Al Jar. A Yemeni mule trader who was forced by a family feud to leave his country. A dark and passionate soul who takes his revenge on the world at large, Mohammed is prone to murder but a reluctant soldier.
‘Mad’ Abdul. A Palestinian Arab, Abdul was raised in a wealthy family with western tendencies. He went to school in Paris and learned to fly. He returned to Egypt in 1932 and was employed for a time as a pilot in the service of the Ottomans, After an unsuccessful uprising amongst the officer corps, Abdul fled to south and met Captain Wangai in Ethiopia. Wangai recognised Abdul’s potential and persuaded him to join the crew. In combat Abdul is as cool as ice. His nick name is the result of the crew’s misapprehensions regarding human flight.
Ali Al Zebid. An Arabian Beduin. A devout Muslim, Ali became a pirate after his sister brought shame upon his house and he was forced to kill her. Alas the damage was irrecersable and his clan ousted him. Ali accepted his fate and feels no remorse about his life. He refuses to kill Muslims but will happily slaughter infidels.

Fifth group

‘Iron fist’ Chung. A large, heavily muscled Chinese man, Chung is the leader of the ‘Asian group’.
Soo Suk Wang. Iron fist Chung’s Korean girlfriend.
10 x South east Asian riflemen. 'Iron fist' Chung's gang.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vehicles

Boat
An un-armoured military vehicle that can provide +1 to occupants if used as effective cover. The boat can be sunk by grenades.
Top speed: n/a
Range: n/a
Capacity:6
Length: 3.4m
Width: 1.2m
Weight: 0.2t
Turret: No
Armaments: None
Power plant: n/a. Armour: None
Speed is Good 4
Rough 2
Difficult 1

Ships motor boats
An un-armoured military vehicle that can provide +1 to occupants if used as effective cover. The ships motor boats can be sunk by grenades.
Top speed: 24km/h
Range: 40km
Capacity:8
Length: 4.4m
Width: 1.4m
Weight: 0.36t
Turret: No
Armaments: None
Power plant: 70hp.
Armour: None
Speed is Good 12
Rough 8
Difficult 4

Happy Birthday Ralph!

Today was none other than Ralph Vaughn Williams 137th birthday. Happy birthday dude. You haven't been forgotten. =)

I don't have much to say about Vaughn William, except to express my opinion that our contemporary film score composer, John Williams, wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he hadn't nicked just about every good thing he ever did from Vaughn Williams. Thats just my opinion, and its probably based on my utter ignorance of composing music as opposed to just listening to it.

I am a big fan of Vaughan Williams, especially some of his earlier symphonies. He's the only composer which I've bought his entire symphonic catalogue, and it was money well spent!

Since Brando already made a reference to Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis, here it is;


And here to broaden Brando's horizon is Vaughan William's symphony nr 8.

Inspired by Iron Mitten, I've decided to start a parallel campaign to my various other projects. The difference however, will be that this project has no planned time line, no planned game dates and no terminal dead line. It may be one, five or a hundred games, all depending on where history and whim take me. There will be no permanent players besides my self, only a story line interspaced with skirmish battles.

RM5.1 conclusion

The players, sans Oleg who played paparazzi

It felt good to get back into the Rocketman vibe, and what better way to start than with ships? Earlier campaigns have featured gun fights on merchant ship deck plans, but RM5 takes this a step further with combined models and deck plans to further enhance the visual ambience of the game.

'Bremen on the Amazon', was rather imbalanced, and though the imbalance was a deliberate factor in the game, with two players facing three, a real problem lay in the rules for hand grenades which I had misunderstood, and which were more powerful than I'd realised. This didn't hasten the pace of the game however. I'd expected the game to take about two hours and instead it took three hours and forty minutes. As it was Goeg's first time, there was some hesitation and explanation along the way, but nothing that dragged the flow of the game down.

We began with Rocketman & his companions (Rasmus) , Captain Ortiz (Oleg) and Captain Armando (Goeg) approaching the submarine in Government patrol boat Nr 17, but their pretence at being innocent traders was blown when the U boat captain made a successful perception roll and the Germans (Palle and myself) opened fire from the conning tower. The Brazilians returned fire, with Oleg using the first of his grenades to successfully supress the Germans. This opening salvo set the tone for the rest of the game, as I'd not given the Germans any grenades (they being relaxed, caught by surprise and not having any weapons to hand but their immediate hand guns).

With the Germans in the conning tower taking grenades, the Brazilian boat could come along side almost unopposed. Once this happened, the Germans attempted to withdraw into and secure the submarine.

Rocketman lends a hand

The Bremen had five hatches which had to be secured, but the Germans failed to secure one of the rear hatches, with Captain Ortiz firing down into the hatchway to suppress the crew member who attempted to reach up and shut the hatch door. More Brazilians leapt onto the U boat and the remaining Germans took up positions inside the sub. At this point I was reminded of the opening scene of Star Wars where the Rebels wait for the Imperial Storm Troopers to breach their hull. It didn't take long for a grenade to drop down into the submarine, killing the two Germans who were directly below, and quickly followed by the macho Captain Ortiz.

On the surface, a rowing boat of six German reinforcements was approaching the submarine, and as these came onto the table, Rocketman's engineer side kick, George Macarthur, set a demolition charge to crack opn one of the forward hatches. The fire fight inside the submarine continued with more Brazilians following Capt Ortiz into the submarine.

New models included the 'leather U boat', the cardboard river boat and a new improved Rocketman, and Rocketman-in-flight

Rocketman took to the air (see image above) and George Macarthur blew open the hatch. The Germans in their rowing boat began to take fire and return it, failing to down Rocketman who was hovering in the air above the submarine. There was some contention regarding Rocketman's ability to fire a submachine gun, whilst firing, the question being whether or not the recoil from his weapon would spin him around. It probably would, but such niggling details ring hollow once you've already accepted the premise of a man wearing a rocketpack...

Gov Health Warning; Grenades in confined spaces are bad for your health

Rocketman survived intact and dropped back down in to the comming tower and the fight continued with the Germans gradually being cut to pieces. In the end it was something of a blood bath, 14-3 to the heroes.

Given this game was originally designed for three players, and had been 'adapted' in order to allow for continuity, and a new player, then it was okay. The Germans couldn't really have won, but this was as much due to accident as design. On the whole I enjoyed it imbalanced though it was.

Aging disgracefully

dOWN IN THE PARK

I love this song. It sends shivers down my spine, its got such an evocative ambience. Its like a version of 'Logans' Run' by Pieter Breugel.

Down in the park where the machmen meet
the machine and play kill by numbers
down in the park with a friend called five
I was in a car crash or was it the war
but i never been quite the same
little white lies like I was there
come to tom-tom's the place to eat
like it was built in one day
you can watch the humans trying to run
oh look, there's a rape machine
i'd go outside if it'd look the other way
wouldn't believe the things they do

Actually, my life has never been so good. I'm fantastically in love, we have two healthy kids, everything is looking upwards, like there is no death tomorrow and I can believe in the future for once. Feeling naive never felt so good.

I failed to do my bike run from Silkeborg, but it was due to Mette being ill rather than my laziness, and I'll try again on saturday. On Monday I went to the gym for the first time in my life and got a plan laid out by a very trim young fellow named Anders. It was a piece of cake. 14 km a day for the last three months has deffinately made a difference. I'm not sure how often I'll go to the gym, but I'm guessing twice a week to start off with. I have no idea what the various exersizes are called, but they're not designed to build up huge muscles or anything, just to get me into something resembling the shape of a human being again, and not a naked mole rat.

Its not all physical though. Whilst perusing Steve's blog, I came across a most excellent gaming blog, called Iron Mitten, and at first it was the cartoon illustrations that grabbed my attention, but then I saw his older, Roman stuff and my fire got stoked. Next thing I know, I'm roaming the internet checking out 10mm, 15mm and 28mm Romans. So much good stuff, so many ideas but so little time.

RM5: 'Bremen on the Amazon'

After a year of anticipation, and much preperation, its finally time to play RM5: The Island of Perdition.

Chapter One, which is a direct sequel to RM4; Raiders of the Golden Anaconda Part 2 is set to take place on Thursday, 8th October, with Chapter two following one week later.

Below is the game, as written up, sans element stats. If all goes to plan, I'll post a post game write up as usual, and hopefully we'll have a few photo's.



It is late 1936 and Sir Hugh Sinclair studies a typed dispatch with a puzzled frown. ”This can’t be right” he mutters to himself. Striding across his plush office floor he pulls open a concealed door to reveal several young secretary’s all busily typing and one young man waiting in a corner with owl like glasses perched on a long slender nose.
”Cartwright. Get in here and explain the meaning of this!”

Harold Cartwright is a young, slender man with pale skin and poor eyesight. For the past several months, Sir Hugh has had him working down in the basement, listening to intercepted radio transmissions, specifically transmissions of a non national nature. Broadcasts whose sources are obscure, whose messages are clandestine and which almost certainly originate from international criminal organisations.
Sinclair holds up the most recent Brazilian dispatch.
”An explanation if you please.”
Cartwright swallows nervously, he knows full well how unlikely his conclusion will sound but he is duty bound to do his utmost.
”Sir, I believe the recipient is in possession of a submarine called the Bremen, a German U boat to be specific.”
”A U boat?”
”Yes sir.”
”Your telling me that some one in Brazil, who isn’t a German naval commander, has a fully operational German U boat?”
”I’m afraid that is my conclusion based on the evidence sir”
Sinclair examines the paper in his hand for a few moments then sits behind his desk and reaches for a bright red telephone.
”Records? This is number one, put me through to Fanshaw...Thank you Cartwright, that will be all”.
Harold Cartwright breathes a sigh of relief and leaves, it seems as if his outlandish theory might not have been so far fetched after all.
Sir Hugh lights his pipe whilst he waits for the connection to go through. He is not surprised to learn that Baron von Schöenberg might be in possession of a submarine. An elderly voice cuts through the crackling line.
”This is Fanshaw speaking...”
”Fanshaw. What do we have on German U Boats?”
”A lot sir” The voice replies.
”I’m specifically interested in a boat called the Bremen. Ring any bells?”
”Just a second sir and I’ll look her up...”
The voice is replaced by shuffling footsteps, a hollow cough and a creaking floor board, then, after a few minutes of the old archivist muttering to himself, Sir Hugh finds himself listening to pure gold.
”The Bremen. Yes, here we are. Built in 1917 by the Deutsche Ozean-Reederei, a subsidiary company of the North German Lloyd shipping company as a merchant U boat at the Atlas werke in Bremen, she went missing on her maiden voyage, presumed lost to mines some where along the Northern Passage.”
”North German Lloyd shipping company? Are they any relation to our Lloyds of London?”
”Oh yes, very much so sir, let me see... The idea for building a submarine merchant ship is said to have emanated from one Alfred Lohmann, the then President of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce we don’t know too much about him I’m afraid. A company was formed under the name of Deutsche Ozean Rhederei G. M. B. H., and the Germaniawerft at Kiel, was awarded the job of building both the Bremen and her sister ship Deutschland. The German national bank provided a share of the costs”.
”Very interesting indeed.” Sir Hugh murmurs. ”What do we know about her capabilities?”
”Well, the U 151 class to which she appears to have belonged were originally built with merchant trading in mind though they later became war ships of course. Officially they could sail upwards of twenty five thousand nautical miles and carry some seven hundred tons of cargo. The remaining boats were all converted to cruiser type U boats and armed with two one hundred and five millimetre main guns, two eighty eight millimetre guns and carried eighteen torpedo’s. According to what it says here Bremen was probably not armed for she went missing before the refitting. She never even received a U number.”
”There’s no chance the Germans have built a new submarine called Bremen?”
”I doubt it, Germany has begun rebuilding U boats on the sly, but there has been nothing to suggest they’ve built anything similar to the original Bremen and she’s the only such submarine listed here under that name.”
”What happened to the Deutschland?”
”Ummm... she was surrendered and we scrapped her in ’21”
”Thank you Fanshaw”. Sir Hugh puts down the receiver of the red phone and gazes into the middle distance, after a while he picks up the phone again.
”Brazil again Margret. Yes, same number as last time”

”A U Boat?”
”That's what he said.”
Dan Mansfield sips his whiskey and waits as Marcel Messnier digests this latest news.
“It must be hidden some where along the river. Maybe we could take a few boats out and look for it?” Arthur suggests.
Messnier shakes his head.
“The river is too big. We could search for weeks and never find it. No, I think I must ask around amongst the native tribes. They are the only people who might have seen such a thing were it truly hidden on the river. Give me a few days and we’ll see what they say.”
“It has to be the Baron” Mansfield muses.
“Von Schöenberg?” Arthur replies. “What makes you so sure? It could be that the Nazi’s are after the Golden Anaconda too”.
“Perhaps, but I have a feeling our paths are going to cross soon. I’m almost certain that blond woman was at the air field.”
Messnier sitting in a rocking chair, nods slowly. He’d also heard the unmistakable chatter of an automatic Mauser interspersed with the heavier roar of a Bergman.
“Not many blond German women running around the jungle toting a pair of machine guns eh? still we could be mistaken. How long are we going to wait in this mosquito infested country anyway?”
“I don’t know. Until we find the Golden Anaconda maybe or until Sir Hugh tells us to go some where else”
Arthur nods wearily. So far Brazil has been a disappointment to him. Hot, humid and full of the most amazing insects, he catches Marcel's eye and they both sigh in resignation.

‘Mad Dog’ Mitchell stumbles out onto the veranda. “What’s that I heard about a U boat?”
“London thinks there might be one hiding some where up the Amazon”
Mitchell helps himself to a whiskey and soda.
“Is that so? Well I dare say we’ll be asked to go and put her out of business”
“It’s a funny thing though” George interrupts.
“What’s so funny old man?” Mansfield asks.
George shrugs. “I’m no expert, but it’s been almost twenty years since the U boat menace. Where did he get one?”
“Who?” Mitchell looks blankly from George to Mansfield.
“The Baron of course” George replies
“The Baron?” Mitchell gapes. “Why I was sure we’d seen the last of that Kraut varmint. You mean to tell me he’s here in Brazil too?”
Daniel Mansfield stands up and straightens his jacket over his muscular frame as a car pulls up and Sancho Gutiérrez steps out wearing a happy smile.
“I think that’s we’re about to find out old boy. Sancho...?”
"Good news my friends" the Brazilian accepts a whiskey and soda from George. "Capitano Ortiz and his men found the Golden Anaconda in a bush and I have your missing papers here in my car..."
"That's jolly good news old boy" Mansfield puts a conspiratorial arm about Sancho Gutiérrez's shoulders, "...but now we're interested in something a little larger."
"Larger?" Gutiérrez looks from face to face.
"Much larger"
Gutiérrez sighs with resignation.
"Very well, what is it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The submarine is here..." Captain Ortiz points at a large map of the Amazon pinned to the wall.
Two days have passed and Mansfield and his friends are gathered in Sancho Gutiérrez's house. In a room cluttered with weapons and ammunition they listen as the Captain explains how local tribesmen reported the submarine earlier in the week, but no one took their tales seriously.
"...and as far as we can tell, the vessel is still moored in this tributary to the main river channel."
Ortiz glances about the attentive faces. "Gentlemen, it is but five hours sailing from here.
"Five hours?" Mitchell exclaims, "why then, what are we waiting for?"
Daniel Mansfield stands up and turns to Captain Ortiz.
"Can you get us there faster?"
Ortiz thinks for a second but shakes his head doubtfully.
"If you leave now, yes, but then I won't have time to gather my men..."
"Never mind that, I have a feeling that speed is of the essence here. Any delay and the U boat may slip away. We must strike now. That U boat is a key to the Barons entire operation!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starting

Rocketman and his companions, approaching the Bremen from upstream, start at the north western corner of the game table (see map) in Government patrol boat Nr 17. Anticipating trouble Rocketman and the soldiers are below deck or concealed.

Despite observing the approaching vessel as soon as it comes into view, the U boat crew do not anticipate trouble as they have been approached by several similar vessels in the past few days, all proving to be river traders intent on selling merchandise. Since the Bremen is currently being stocked with local foods for a long journey, the crew are lulled into a false sense of security which directly translates to a -2 penalty on any percpetion rolls against the approaching boat.

Kapitan Bruch and his men are inside the Bremen, clustered around the command compartment.

Hauptman Fernando and his men are on the hull deck.

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Player One

Rocketman (SMG & grenades)
George Macarthur (Handgun & explosive charge x 2)
’Mad Dog’ Mitchell (LMG)
Marcel Messnier (Rifle)
Sancho Gutiérrez (Handgun & explosive charge)

Player Two

Captain Ortiz (Handgun & explosive charge)
6 x militia infantry (Rifles & grenades)

Player Three

Captain Armando (Handgun)
Marcel the river pilot (Handgun)
4 x River police officers (Rifles & grenades)

Player Four

Kapitan Bruch (Handgun)
5 x German sailers (5 rifles & grenades + 1 LMG)

+ 6 Schwarztepfeile reinforcements (Rifles & grenades)

Player Five

Hauptman Franz Fernando (Handgun)
5 x German sailers (5 rifles & grenades)
2 x Schwarztepfeile guard (SMG)

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Map

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Victory conditions

Either side wins by defeating two thirds of the opposing force. The German reinforcements do not count until they are on the table.

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Special notes

Once firing starts, six members of the U boat crew who are nearby loading food onto the ships boat are alerted. They immediately grab their rifles and make for the submarine. They arrive on the south eastern corner of the game table in the tenth round after firing has begun.

The U-boat’s internal bulkheads are very strong, but if the water tight doors are locked and must be breached, then explosives must be employed. This gives rise to a serious risk of breaching the inner hull. If this happens, the U-boat will begin to sink. A maximum die roll against the hatches will result in a hull breach. From that point onwards the U-boat will begin to take on water. A die roll (1d6+3) determines how many rounds remain until the apartment adjacent to the rupture, and any subsequent exposed apartments are flooded.
To destroy the lock on a hatch, one must employ an explosive device and roll against 12.

There are two large native fishing boats moored along side the Bremen. These have been used by the crew for loading cargo but are currently not in use. They give +1 in protection.

The river runs from south to north, this means Boat Nr 17 is moving against the current (rough) when the game begins.

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Vehicles

'Bremen'
An un-armoured merchant submarine that can provide +1 when used as effective cover and +2 to any occupant of the conning tower. There are two large native fishing boats moored along side the Bremen. These have been used by the crew for loading cargo but are currently not in use. They give +1 in protection and have the same movement stats as the ships boat.
Top speed: 15 knots (7 knots submerged).
Range: 20,330km
Crew: 26
Length: 65m
Width:8.9m
Disp:2,272 2.8t
Turret: No
Armaments: None
Power plant: 800 hp
Armour: None

Boat Nr 17
An un-armoured military vessel that can provide +1 to occupants if used as effective cover.
Top speed: 9 knots. Boat Nr 17 cannot be sunk by grenades. It is simply too big and absorbs the damage.
Range: 600km
Crew: 2
Length: 22m
Width: 5.2m
Displacement: 21t
Turret: No
Armaments: None
Power plant: 120 hp Diesel
Armour: None
Speed is Good 12
Rough 8
Difficult 4

Ships boat
An un-armoured military vehicle that can provide +1 to occupants if used as effective cover. The ships boat can be sunk by grenades.
Top speed: n/a
Range: n/a
Capacity:6
Length: 3.4m
Width: 1.2m
Weight: 0.2t
Turret: No
Armaments: None
Power plant: n/a.
Armour: None
Speed is Good 4
Rough 2
Difficult 1

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