SPRING BIG GAME 2017 - THE COUNTY CUP (PART 6)

Spode's self-confessed reasoning seems to have gone something like this : a minefield looks threatening. However, it is a special objective set by those too-clever Umpires, and is therefore almost certainly not a minefield and no threat whatsoever. Confidently, he strode into the minefield, received and then opened his "Luxurious Sealed Envelope" only to discover that his Special Objective was - a Minefield ! (in fact, of all the minefields scattered across the course, this was the very worst). Only a throw of "6" on a D6 could now save Spode from disaster - and he duly threw - a 6!

Others were not so lucky. Captain Straitt-Jackett, leading his BUF Alarm Company towards the south centre of the Upper Course, wandered into another kind of Special Objective : a strange tunnel entrance. Upon opening his "Luxurious Sealed Envelope", he read the following: 

SPECIAL OBJECT NINE

“THE TUNNEL ENTRANCE”

"Congratulations (we think)! You have discovered the entrance to a large tunnel belong to the “Herefordshire Molemen”, the “underground” faction of Herefordshire Mommetry. These mysterious sappers and miners are in training to assist an attacking faction at any VBCW siege within the County (or perhaps to relieve the defenders of any such siege).

Roll 1D6 and implement the result below:

[1]. NO RESULT! Nada. Nothing. Zilch. This is a long abandoned training tunnel that does not lead very far. Move on. Yawn!

[2]. SECRET EXIT! You and your entire force (as surviving and wherever they may be) follow the abandoned tunnel to a secret exit 12 inches (in any direction) from the centre of this Special Object. Choose your direction, mark your point of exit, and then re-set up your entire force (as surviving) within a radius of 12 inches of your exit point.

[3]. REINFORCEMENTS! The Tunnel Entrance is guarded. The Herefordshire Molemen emerge from the stygian gloom and resolve to join your force. Now choose ONE UNIT (if available) from the “Spare Units” Table and add it to your force - by grouping it immediately around your Command Figure (or senior surviving Command Figure). You can claim an Extra Movement Card for your force at the beginning of each succeeding turn.

[4]. DOUBLE REINFORCEMENTS! The Tunnel Entrance is guarded. The Herefordshire Molemen emerge from their hiding places and resolve to join your force. Now choose TWO UNITS (if available) from the “Spare Units” Table and add it to your force - by placing them within a radius of 12 inches of your home Tee. You can claim two Extra Movement Card for your force at the beginning of each succeeding turn.

[5]. GOLF FLAG! The Herefordshire Molemen have previously stolen a Golf Flag from the Club, and hidden it here. Well done! Now all you have to do is keep hold of it and get to the Tee (18 or 18A) at the centre of the table….

[6]. YIKES! There’s a strange tick-tocking noise coming from the end of the tunnel. The Herefordshire Molemen have booby trapped their diggings. There might just be time to get away before…BOOM!"

The BUF's fateful decision to enter the tunnel entrance of the Herefordshire Molemen

Rolling a 2 on his D6, Captain Straitt-Jackett (Alan) had no option but to transport the entirety of his Alarm Company bang into the centre of the advancing forces of the very surprised Bishop of Lichfield (Tim):

Underground attack! Alan's BUF emerge from the Momett Molemen's old workings into the centre of Tim's forces.

The apparently confident attack (although actually forced on Alan by the rules of the "Luxurious Sealed Envelope") had fateful consequences at southern end of the Upper Course. Captain Straitt- Jackett and the Bishop of Lichfield, both highly experienced commanders, promptly forgot the "Rules of Golf" entirely, and indeed even the vast acreage of the Herefordshire Course itself, preferring to spend the remainder of the day in one vast, swirling, hard punching melee confined within an area of about 12 inches square....

Two stoats in a hessian sack. "It says here - Section B(1) - ancillary rules for kneeing in the groin...."
Captain Straitt-Jackett (left) seeks advantage in his never-ending melee with the Bishop (Tim).
In the foreground, the North Herefordshire Parishioners Militia and the Lew Wallace Memorial
Assault Group quietly get on with trying to win the Hereford Golf Cup.
In the background, the six players on the Lower Course do the same.

"Section 8, Supplement D2 - Rules for Throttling and Eye Gouging. Only allowable in a space less than the square area of a telephone box (1938)." - Captain Straitt-Jackett. "Well, that seems fair enough. Shall we spend all of the next round trying that out then?" - the Bishop of Lichfield - "before we get down to 'Combat with Newly Sharpened Sticks'"?
Everyone else has advanced just a little further towards the central objective of winning the game.