AUTUMN BIG GAME 2017 - STORM COMMANDER GILES' COMPLETED DESPATCH !

The concluding instalments of Storm Commander Giles' report [aka Extended Apologia] to Prime Minister Mosley have now been intercepted and deciphered HERE and HERE. The Storm Commander concludes by labelling "the Reds" as the "bete noir" of the County. Shome colour mishtake shurely....does Captain Arrowsmith not retain such title ?

AUTUMN BIG GAME 2017 - FIRST COMMANDERS' REPORTS!

Radio Moscow [Rob, Senior Socialist Officer] proved to be "first off the blocks" (amongst the Great or Not So Commanders) in providing a full - and fully illustrated - Big Game Battle Report [aka Propaganda Broadcast] which can be found HERE. A nice - again fully illustrated - description of the HQ and the prominent unit within Captain-Commissar Winter's CPGB Force can be found HERE as linked to from HERE.

The battlefield-promoted Storm Commander Giles [Giles], Senior Fascist Officer, has been messaging his fully illustrated report [aka Exculpatory Address] to Mosley and HM Government through in parts, which you can intercept and decipher HERE and HERE and HERE. Interception of further messages is anticipated very shortly...

AUTUMN BIG GAME 2017 - FIRST REPORT!

Post-Action Report On The Recent Clash of Arms 

by Cllr.Walter Cracknutt, commanding Wormelow Tump LDV

To whom it may concern.

Sir,

As the opposing forces mustered it quickly became apparent that our loyal forces [Alan, for it was he, had made a satisfactory deal with Storm Commander Giles, Senior Fascist and Government Officer, in the pre-game financial negotiations] were greatly outnumbered by the Anglican-Socialist Alliance, and it was therefore incumbent on us to remain on the defensive to repel the enemy hordes. My troops held our left wing, with Storm Commander Giles [Giles] in the centre and Captain Morgan [Craig] and his Hereford Local Defence Volunteers on our right. The forces of the "Socialist (Very Broad) Front" formed the enemy left wing, which greatly overlapped our own right, leaving the Anglicans holding their centre and right. This was obviously a cunning ploy by the Reds, as will be seen. The Anglicans advanced in their usual laggardly fashion, or not in the case of the cowering townsfolk facing my gallant lads, whose impressive defensive line hidden in a wheat field caused the enemy to hold back, clearly intimidated by the wide open spaces of the countryside. No skulking back alleys to hide in here ! 

After some desultory skirmishing in the centre, disaster struck when Captain Morgan revealed the Hereford Local Defence Volunteers to be TRAITORS ! Seduced by insidious Red propaganda, Mexican gold and vodka, these false backstabbers attacked Storm Commander Giles' Wyvern Defence Force (aka "Wyrd Force"). Fierce fighting raged in a wood, with heavy casualties on both sides. The situation was perilous in the extreme for the King's men.

At that moment, the situation changed when the full import of the Red Menace revealed itself, as, wrongly believing our side was done for, they treacherously attacked their Anglican allies. At once all was confusion, as the Anglican left and centre turned to meet this attack.

Sizing up the situation I immediately sent word to the Anglican commander opposite [Gavin, as Cousin Verity of the Verity LDV] suggesting we refrained from any aggressive action against each other until the situation became clearer. As the Red threat increased this agreement became an official truce for the day as the Anglican and HM. Government forces turned to face the new foe.

My Wormelow Tump LDV dashed to the aid of Storm Commander Giles' Wyrd Force, but unfortunately our fitness training had omitted to include hedge-jumping, which slowed us down somewhat. However the Wormelow Cadets did arrive in time to drive the The Westfield Watchmen CC Gentlemen's XI out of the wood, and save our gallant leader, Storm Commander Giles. Our casualties were light, one sniper and an HMG team; also one of the Wormelow Wildcats Hockey Team was killed early on by mortar fire from the false Bishop of Ludlow, whom it may be remembered from previous battle reports has a penchant for picking on young ladies.

Overall, I believe this was a creditable performance in a battle in which we were heavily outnumbered and betrayed. On a positive note the exact nature of the perfidious Red Menace has now been revealed for all to see, and who knows, perhaps the temporary battlefield truce with the Anglicans may presage a more lasting attempt at peace. 

One other point to mention is that I was personally approached by a shady character with leftist leanings and offered money to assassinate our gallant leader, Storm Commander Giles, which just shows the treacherous nature of these Reds. Naturally, being a loyal stout-hearted fellow, I did not do the evil deed but, being a Councillor, I naturally kept the brown envelope containing Mexican pesos, which turned out to be wise move when the Bank of England sadly went bust at the close of proceedings.

I have the honour to be, etc., etc.,

Walter Cracknutt

(Councillor, Commander, Wormelow Tump LDV)

AUTUMN BIG GAME 2017 - NEWS FROM THE NOT YET BATTLEFRONT No.2

A second (and last) pre Big Game News Bulletin for all those coming along to the Burley Gate Village Hall this Saturday, 4th November (10am - 5pm) !!

Practicalities

For anyone geographically challenged, Burley Gate is located just northeast of the junction between the A465 and the A417. A photograph of the Hall and a helpful map can be found here.

For anyone chronologically challenged, 10am really does mean ten am this time round! The Glorious (or Not) Commanders will be waiting to pounce on you in order to persuade you to their side for the day : latecomers may find the "LDV price" has gone down as the minutes have ticked by...real latecomers won't have the luxury of negotiating their own fees, but will be subject to the Umpires' "Cheap Auction" rules! You have been warned!

Food : in keeping with the spartan "AVBCW - TNG" approach of Spring 2017, please bring your own vittels! We will provide coffee and biscuits (which may be enough for some!) but lunch is beyond our catering capacity...

Charges: £10 per player as usual, payable on the day. Remember to bring along some spare cash if you want to browse the "Bring & Buy" table (mind you, nobody has actually indicated that they have any spare VBCW stuff to bring along, but there is always the possibility of a surprise).

Photography : Yes, please. Bring a camera to record the glorious success of your force on the Field of Battle!

Gaming Etiquette Note : There is no need to put your Action Cards on top of your Sections/tanks/armoured cars/that wood over there/on the table at all at any time (apart from maybe in front of where you are standing/sitting as per poker). Now that everyone has a bit of "campaign cash" (we hope), Umpires' Fines will be in operation! (explanation - it quite ruins "the look of the thing" and more importantly completely buggers up the photographs for use on this Blog).

News

All - even the laggardly - LDVs have now filed their Platoon Rosters, so (in addition to the early birds in the last post) we will be welcoming (in no particular order) Cousin Verity's Urban LDV (Gavin) of streetfighters and scurrilous types, Councillor Cox's very scary Brichester LDV (James) (for Herefordians who wonder which side of the Wye the unusually named Brichester might be located, the background details are here), formed of sections drawn from the Severnford Boilerplate Workers, the Camside Allotmenteers, the Goatswood Fairground workers, together with new campaign character (and very brilliant or very mad scientist), Doctor Campbell and his latest invention (it's alive! it's alive, I tell you!) plus the return of the Rorke's Drift Re-Enactment Society (on Field Maneouvres) LDV (Neil), complete with that new campaign character, alleged arsonist and proven dodgy insurance saleman, Mr. Ivor Petrolcan, Bringing up the rear (on this occasion only) is the (temporarily former) Stokkies Joubert (Roo) in unaccustomed LDV role....

The Glorious (or Not) Commanders have, of course, been preparing. The Government Forces have recorded some early strategic success, calming the LDVs along the route of Captain-General Jermingham's Front (unfortunately, neither Mort nor Doug could make the date, and we suffered a recent withdrawal of the notorious "Taunton Three" due to health issues - our best wishes to J - so we will be playing on two rather than three tables - respectively the Attempted Breakout from Kington [Table 1] and the Bishop's A49 Thrust, from Brimfield to Berrington [Table 2]) prompting the (Very Broad) Socialist Alliance to zoom into action with a the announcement of another wonder weapon (if it arrives on time). No details have been released of this piece of Soviet sourced (no doubt) hi-tech, but Comrade-Commissar Winters promises all LDVs that "the sky's the limit, comrades!" Not to be outdone (and having already promised new Anglican technology), the Bishop of Ludlow has been boasting of the bulging reserves of the Ludlow Co-Operative and Christian Thrift Society (Chairman : Sir Richard "Rock Steady" Provident-Investment), backed by tithes of the County's faithful, and the stellar performance of newly-minted Ludlow Groats against the Great British Pound (and other similarly valuable 1938 currencies, such as the Peruvian peso) on the off-off-markets in the City of London...details of the names and currencies of the BUF Bank and the Socialist Bank are noted not yet even to be "in circulation"!

Negotiating Etiquette Note : No deal is final until the parties have shaken hands upon their agreement in a truly Very British way. Until that time, both LDVs and Glorious (or Not) Commanders are not bound.