The Planter's Wife - The Chase

The Planter and his chums have been driving for 6 hours across the dry dusty Plains of Gabala in pursuit of a band of slavers who've kidnapped Patricia his wife. They have arrived at a small native settlement where they hope to get some news that will enable them to track down the slavers and rescue her.

This follows on from my previous game  HERE and as usual text relating to pictures is below the picture.

The settlement just before the rescue party arrived from the west (left hand side).

The Rescuers

A rather large cast of rescuers, which was determined by the fact that I had just painted 5 trucks and I wanted them all in the game, so 5 trucks 2 people each therefore 10 rescuers, works for me.

Quick introductions from left to right.

Billy Ryan from Ireland, seems he left the country in a bit of a hurry, no one is quite sure why, but you don’t enquire too closely into a chaps background – don’t you know.
He doesn’t have much of the old Irish charm but has 2 pistols which tends to makes up for it.

James Hadleigh from somewhere in the Home Counties, rumour has it that he spent some time in acting but quit when he married into the landed gentry, his dear gal of a wife is at home in the ancestral pile near Epping Forrest. A man with a stiff upper lip, but that may just be the wax on his moustache.

Amelia Frost is a well known academic, primarily interested in ancient history. When young she had a riding accident, broke her leg very badly and it didn’t heal well. Now her constant companion is pain and a hardwood walking stick, which if you get on her wrong side you will feel both her walking stick and her pain, or rather your pain.
The accident was horse and hounds not bicycle, just thought you needed to know.

Hassan Tarek an Egyptian colleague of Amelia’s, they are rumoured to be very good friends. He works at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, Head of Hieroglyphics and Religion.

Krassimier Carlsen – Swedish national living in Africa for many years a successful plantation owner and the husband of Patricia Cholmley-Smythe, she who has been kidnapped by the slavers and he wants her back, and what Krassimier wants he usually gets.

Countess Juliana Elena Alverez, the well known Portuguese aristocrat and socialite, what is not so well known is that she has some very shady dealings with many of the Secret Service Departments of Western, and some also say Eastern Europe as well. She studied Languages at Lisbon, Paris and Moscow Universities and has a strong interest in the occult.

Gaylord Young is a long time friend of Krassimier, he is a fanatical hunter and a crack shot, unfortunately that is not a yellow shirt he is wearing, it is a yellow streak - a very wide yellow streak. A well known dandy and eccentric with a penchant for straw hats, acceptable at Henley but he regularly wears one in London, to his club, not the done thing.

Henry Wyncham, another long time friend of Krassimier, he served in the Royal Navy for many years and was an exceptional sailor, which in the era of steam is not so useful as it would have been a hundred years previously. He has a small sailing boat in which he has completed many long distance passages, and usually has a far away look in his eye. No one is totally sure if it is the horizon he is seeing or the influence of the wacky backy he gets from far away stations and burns in a foul smelling pipe. He was with Patricia when she was kidnapped and has some scores to settle.

Charles Beaumont a Cambridge fellow, academic and explorer of renown, normally found in hot dusty dry places, he enjoys riding camels unlike his Welsh ancestors, who were more sheep men, nowadays he spends more time in the desserts than in the university town of Cambridge. Only a few people know that his walking stick is not to help him with walking but with staying alive in some tricky circumstances, he was in the Cambridge fencing team, no prizes for guessing what the stick contains.

Cyril ‘Sapper’ McNeile served with distinction in the Great War in the Engineers, before joining the Royal Flying Corps so that he could get a better view of the trenches, he has been gassed, blown up and shot down more times than he or anyone else can remember, although he thinks the whiskey that he takes regularly for medicinal purposes may affect the memory.

The not so quick introductions over and on with the story.

Turn 1 - The convoy enters the table from the Plains of Gaballa, this is the first habitation they have come across in 6 hours, hopefully they will find some information about the slavers and Patricia.

Turn 2 - They lager up and form a defensive circle.

Turn 3 - Everyone jumps out.

"OK we will form 3 groups" commands Krassimier. "James Amelia and Billy, you investigate the hut we passed on the way in, then go to the native village, Henry and Juliana come with me and the rest of you watch our backs and the trucks".

Turn 4 - James Amelia and Billy set off towards the hut as directed by Krassimier.

Turn 4 - Krassimier Henry and Juliana set off towards the other hut, but straight away a savage dog charges out to meet them growling in a most fearsome manner, good doggy, now ‘SIT’ commands Juliana and amazingly the dog does so.

Turn 5 - Over on the far side of the table with James all is quiet but on Krassimiers side 3 natives burst out of the hut but seeing their dog playing with the white folks makes them happy, especially when they are addressed in their own language and not some pidgin English.

Turn 5 - 3 Baboons burst out from the maize field and charge straight at Sapper who gets off a couple of quick shots, missing both times.

The baboons close rapidly but he gets off another 2 shots and hits the leading baboon with 1 bullet, straight between the eyes and it goes down ‘dead as a dodo’, or is that ‘dead as a dead baboon’. This deters one of the animals who stops in his tracks, but the other leaps straight at Sapper, who manages to fight off the maddened beast.

Turn 6 - Both Charles and Hassan snapfire at the baboon but miss, also fortunately they miss Sapper as well, Gaylord looks on in a bit of a funk as the fight continues and the baboon tears lumps out of poor Sapper, there is a lot of blood and he falls with the angry animal on top of him.

Turn 6 - The natives were just about to pass on some information when a crocodile lumbers out of the trees and attacks the natives, the fighting is inconclusive with Okangini dancing around like a girl (no offence girls). This had happened so fast that Krassimier Juliana and Henry just watched in amazement (didn't activate).

Turn 7 - Three Chinamen come steaming out of the hut and two of them attack James and Billy Ryan. The other one fires on Billy but misses and when Yang Ting Kai charges straight at him it's all a bit too much for Billy and he runs.

Yang runs faster and catches him. In spite of attacking Billy in the back when the chips are down the old Irish luck overcomes all and Billy decks Tang with a fast right hook. James mean time has drawn his sword and engages Dai in a sword fight. Dai has this great big huge chopper (which he’s quite proud of) but he is just not fast enough with it and James with a quick riposte sinks his sword full length into Dai who falls to the ground with a surprised look on his face.

The fight with the crocodile continues, both Henry and Krassimier shooting at the animal and miss. The baboon continues to chew on Sapper. Charles fires on it but misses and Hasan and Gaylord freeze.

Turn 8 - James calmly sheaths his sword and pulls out his pistol but he is no quick enough and Amelia, with the speed of a lecturer reprimanding a slow student pulls her pistol and gets off 2 shots at the remaining Chinaman standing on the veranda but misses, James finally gets his service revolver out of the flap holster (no gun fighter this man) and shoots and also misses, bugger this mutters Wing Young and disappears into the house and through the back window and into the trees.

He had a muzzle loading musket of unknown vintage it is no surprise that when under fire from modern pistols he took to his heels leaving Dai Wei (he might be of Welsh/Chinese decent) writhing on the ground.

Turn 8 - Over on the other side of the board the croc finally gets a good grip on Okangini and pulls him down and out of the fight, everyone else seems to be stood around watching. I am writing this up some time after the game and can not remember why this would be.

Turn 8 - Both baboons now attack Charles and Hasan, they stand their ground but fail to fire on the animals as they close the distance, Charles has a sword stick and after a quick fight he kills the animal but Hasan has a big red book and this is no match for sharp teeth and he is badly injured.

Turn 9 - The other 2 natives and their dog attack the crocodile who manages to kill one of the natives but succumbs to numbers and is killed, Krassimier and chums did not activate and took no part in the fight.

Turn 9 - Back in the lager both Charles and Gaylord shot at the final baboon and killed it although it took 3 hits before it went down.

Turn 10 - Blimey things are happening all the time, this turn a huge silverback male gorilla rushes out of the forest. Juliana takes one look and does a runner, too many beasties for me she thinks, but Henry and Krasimier are made of sterner stuff and stand their ground. However they are sufficiently shaken not to shoot before the beast is on them and they engage the big ape in hand to hand combat, a bit of a silly thing to do really. Krasimier goes down to a gigantic backhand swipe but against all the odds Henry fighting like a demon kills the ape.

What a hero this man is.

Turn 11 - Henry carries Krassimier back to the vehicles, and sees the result of the fight with the baboons. With 30% of their force seriously injured and without the driving force of Krasimier they decide to call it a day and get their friends back to the station and patched up.

A sad end to their attempt to recover Patricia from the slavers, will Krassimier recover and continue the chase, will his friends support him after the fiasco of this attempt, will Henry who has always carried a secret torch for Patricia go it alone next time!!!!

To be continued..... Maybe!!!

Just in case anyone reading this is under any misapprehension They are Palm Trees - not pine cones. The huts are not hessian and badly applied towelling but are woven fronds and thatching grasses.
The Elephant grass is not badly trimmed brush bristles and the crop in the field is not some plastic mat but is whatever crops might be grown in a field where ever in Africa I have set the story.

Joe should you be at a loose end and have got this far - did you notice your gorilla has moved from the swamps of Jimland to the dry savannah ? I suspect he's out of place in either story but it's only a game.:-)

Well if you are still here – Thanks for reading.