Pink Gins & Googlies 5:2 Zeppelin Death Volcano Peril

The four ladies of Cranford Ladies College Old Girl XI Empire & America Touring Team sheltering in the French sky pirate volcano blue dome base:

• Mavis Winthrope (Old Scouser Roleplaying) – awkward number 3 bat
• Edith Tremoux (Stubber) – Belgian genius former spy
• Margret ‘Mags’ Hebblethwaite (Matt) – a scholarly type
• Hettie Larwood (Andy H) – scholar girl and fast bowler

Decide on a plan, they exit the dome and shiny up the zeppelin tethers (we all learnt about zeppelin bends) and picked the lock into the bridge gondola. Once onboard they heard footsteps and snuck into a nearby room – turns out to be the Captain’s wardroom.

Searching his desk and bookshelf they uncover the following things:

• The crew and their training is global
• Several have done stints in a Force d’Space including ‘project deadelus’
• Project Orpheus – is a project to colonise other dimensions. The US ship has a exhibition of Romano-British artifices including a sword called Skyfallen which is the final artefact needed to open the portal.
• The general point of divergence for L’Empire du Monde was when a French party crashed a buried spaceship into the Sphinx during napoleon’s invasion of Egypt. The reverse engineering technology allowing Napoleon to conquer the world.

As the ladies chatter there is a knock at the door – in rushes a lieutenant with a ray gun who they overpower and incapacitate. Lieutenant Malfleur refuses to give any secrets and Mavis despatches him with a clock on the head with a bust of Napoleon.

As they continue to debate their next move they hear another voice in the corridor and drag the enlisted man in. He freely shares with girls the Orpheus running numerous reconnaissance and survey missions – planning to find a colony world to conquer. Why ? Because their Earth is under alien attack – not from crocodile men but an alliance of other aliens with a meteor dropped on Benos Aires.

The aircraftsman is very relaxed to say this he considers the girls doomed. They can hear s siren sounding from the prison camp bing and gag the prisoner and march to the bridge.

Storming the bridge they disarm the crew though Edith is bashed with a sextant by a navigator. Ditching the prisoners overboard “it’s only 50 foot down the rocky side of a volcano’ Edith supercharged a point defence death ray for Hettie and Meg’s over rides the engine controls. Mavis bars and blocks the doors using officer swords to wedge it shut.

Hettie then blasts the dome and circling French planes. Meg’s lines up the Zep to ram the volcano. Mavis holds the door shut while Edith unscrews the map table from the floor as a further barricade. Then as Mavis holds the door Edith notices French crew climbing along the side of the gondola to board and sprays a fire extinguisher to try and discourage them.

From a safe height they use parachutes all but one landing injured. Disastrously while the zeppelin crashes in flame it misses the dome. The hounds of search parties ring out. The mists around the island start to clear. The girls may have delayed invasion but can they still save the world ?

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Pink Gins & Googlies Tour Match: Bombay Fagins Ladies College v Cranford Old Girls Touring XI

A thrilling 30 overs match was played between a local ladies college and visitors from England. We asked from comments from Chair of the State Cricket board and Indigo plantation magnate Mr Vaughan.

” i thought the local girls batted with great disciple and resolve after the openers fell. Vartha looked really dangerous until she took a hit on the thumb from Bouchet and then she was a shadow of her former shelf. Kamini hit 12 off Larwood in the 5th over that really scraped them out off a hole. It was Smasher Flashard and Gregson that dried up the runs – causing impatience which caused two run outs in the 22nd over.

The visitors showed overconfidence but also enjoyed boisterous support from local railway workers and urchins for some reason. I think the support helped the northern workhorses of Larwood and the Contessa Lemichello (who I understand used to work the Liverpool empire) get them over the line and after many flimsy southern lasses misplayed the bowl earlier in the innings. That’s not to deny good tight bowling by the Indian, a great catch in the deep and a couple of stumping when Ravean just flighted balls tempting the batters forward off their ground. I think experience in depth won out.

Scorecard

1st Innings

Mithra Kaur 0 b Larwood

Thirush Raj 3 LBW Bouchet

Mona Karmini 36 LBW Flashard

Poonam Vartha 11 run out off Flashard (Tremoux taking bails)

Jemimah Raut 2 run out off Flashard (Hebbeltwaite taking bails)

Latika Verna 22 not out

Sushma Kuman 10 not out

84-5

2nd Innings

‘Smasher’ Flashard 0 bowled Jhulan Ravean

Mavis Winthorpe 5 stumped off. Ravean (Kamini wicket keeper)

Gwen Devonshire 2 stumped as above

Agatha Gregson 18 bowled Deepti Pendeeg

Megs Hebblethwaite 7 bowled Pendeeg

Petra Harvey 9 caught in deep Thirush Raj off Anuja Bharti

Deborah Carstairs-Lomax 20 bowled Mona Kumari

Contessa Lemichello 10 not out

Hettie Larwood 10 not out

Extras 2 leg byes 2 wides

85 win by 1 run

Lunchtime Lairs 19d: Escape from I.G.O.R

Arjad the Arcane and the unlucky Waterwind are working in UGGE salt mines having been taken prisoner (what happened to Satanna ? Maybe he was working in another working party.) They’ve spotted a blue domes castle has been built by the orcs on a nearby volcano.

One night they are minding their sores & bruises when a new prisoner is thrown in. He is wearing a crushed purple velvet fez, matching hip huzzar jacket,  empty fast draw holsters, scarlet cravat, tight trews & baseball type boots with purple knee gaiters.

He introduces himself as François l’Ollonais an explorer from a different world in prisoned by the UGGE when he cane exploring. Talking he realises his comrades are wizards and using a hidden lockpick takes off their anti magic bracelets.

They escape with Waterwind casting sleep on the gatehouse with then Arjad using charm on a sentry to attack other watch-houses. Having lost their spell slots – They escape raise a storeroom and get some strange crossbows from Francois’s comrades & a spellbook.

Running to the hills they become chased by warg riding ‘cavalry’ they set up in ambush. Francois and Waterwind shoot it out Arjad runs up and tries to loosen a rock fall.

While the riflemen take care of the Goblins the Wargs close and combat – Arjad singularly fails to create abs rock fall over many turns as Waterwind gets savaged. Some wolves turn and turn Arjad who at the VERY LAST MINUTE losens the rocks driving the wargs away in a torrent of debris.

The compadres flee in the dust clouds created as further reinforcements turn up. Scrambling up the mountain they find a cave mouse trail they leads to a cave mouth. Sneaking in they find two very neat goblins guarding an iris valve door – Arjad sneaks up and takes one out and the other is dispatched on mass.

Opening the door they find a cut away of the volcano – like a volcano in a glass jar – surrounded by sinister equipment with Orc shaman and soldiers. Looking a ghast they here an announcement of ‘test’ as the orcs pull on hoods abs Goggles and

FLASH !

They appear on s Hill side with females drinking brown liquids out of small delicate tankards sat on a blanket.

Where are our heroes ? What does this mean for lunchtime Lairs ? Could this be a possible spoiler for pink Gins & Googlies ? Who knows ….

Pink Gins & Googlies 5:1 Singapore voyage sky pirates

As four ladies of the Cranford Ladies College Old Girl XI Empire & America Touring Team on route their next match to Singapore:

Mavis Winthrope (Old Scouser Roleplaying) – awkward number 3 bat

Edith Tremoux (Stubber) – Belgian genius former spy

Margret ‘Mags’ Hebblethwaite (Matt) – a scholarly type

Hettie Larwood (Andy H) – scholar girl and fast bowler

promenade on the deck of the SS Charlotte Rose flagship liner of the Onedin line, they noticed a speck in the sky.

A strange futuristic (for 1924) monoplane circling around the ship in red, blue, white and gold.

Shortly afterward a trio of aggressive stubby planes flit around the liner.

Hettie looks up and spots a dark dirigible shape in the clouds above and two small planes buzz around signalling by Aldi’s lamp for the ship to stop.

Captain Fairweather differs but the trio of ‘fighters’ fire death-rays into the sea across the bow of the ship from the nose of the planes. The crew decide to surrender.

Meg goes to the radio room – finding the radio jammed she struggles to unjam the blocks. The others see the zeppelin glide down and uniformed troops rappel down on to the deck where the Charlotte Rose crew have been told to assemble the passengers.

Meg’s manages to get through to the Royal Navy’s Mandalay station who agree to send a floatplane to investigate before the landing marines break the radio.

On deck the girls Megs, Mavis, Hettie and Edith confront the Major of the Marines Jean-David Nau. He’s a very cordial pirate and forms they into a tea committee and sends them off with guards to get refreshments.

They take this opportunity to grill the guards – they appear to be from all round the world but speak Arab inflected Corsican accented French. Major Nau explains they’ll be temporarily detained as a matter of planetary security as the ‘Rose is taken to a mist shrouded island and docked with a Dutch and French ship.

Meeting the crew and passengers of these ships in the prison blocks – they find the Dutch ship has Egyptian artefacts and the French scientific equipment. Studying the volcano dotted island they spot a blue dome in the middle where the zeppelin ( the chaudron bouillonnant) is tethered.

They resolve to escape and investigate but having had tea Meg’s becomes lethargic – Edith has to develop an antidote out of nail varnish and shaving foam and the adventure is back on.

Sneaking through searchlights Edith is neatly spotted but Mavis pulls her to ground and they scramble under the wire. They pass a cafe which as well as marines they see another uniformed types:

They typically are in a crushed purple velvet fez, matching hip huzzar jacket, , scarlet cravat, tight trews & baseball type boots w purple knee gaiters, mirror shades or goggles.  They are armed with ray guns in fast draw holsters and a cutlass with mother of pearl hilts and grips.

Gliding past the cottage of revellers and clambering up the middle volcano they examine the Dome. It has a pair of helmeted sentries on the door but there is a cable connection for cargo and a cargo hatch they managed to pick open and sneak in. Inside the volcano moth is surrounded by Egyptian artefacts and French scientific devices wired up to displays eerily similar to the interfaces of Doctor Vulcan.

They hear one of a flamboyantly uniformed ones of obvious high rank speaking to various white coated boffins. Phrases caught were ‘ when the American ship comes in which should have the final piece’ to ‘open the portal’ and that it should be ‘ one in the eye for project deadelus.’

Who are the francophone sky pirates ? Are they goodies and babies ? What is the Egyptian connection ? Where does dr Vulcan fit in ? These and other questions may be answered next time we play …

Conjourers Club Lecture: the Union Of the Greater Goblin Empire

The Conjuror’s Club is a ramshackle club for magic users in Thiefstown which holds lectures on the night of a new moon for its members here is a recent lecture inspired by a recent lunchtime Lairs** adventure.

An aged wizard called Kaos with salt and pepper hair marches on stage.

” listen up – this threat assessment was give to the acting Governor. He wasn’t interested. Too busy with the aftermath of the poultry riots and the Hersey crisis. I think we need to harness our magical energies to this new threat.

A number if our brethren and sisters have had experiments ruined or spied upon by assistants. Many when killed despite human appearance turned out to have orc biology.

I have through my Flying Monkey programme identified these are agents for a power north of the great desert called the Union of the Greater Goblin Empire (UGGE.)

This is no wild tribe of goblins or orcs you have encountered threatening a village or caravan on the frontier. This is a systematic Union of tribes brought together under the iron first of an Imperial clan some 100 years ago.

The martial heritage of the Goblin races is now conscripted into an imperial military. Tribes are broken up and troops selected into units on ability :

• The best go into the elite Griffin cavalry who act as scouts, commandos and airborne troops.
• The next go into the warg cavalry – wolf riding shock troops.
• Then there is the Huscarls – horse riding infantry who ride to battle but fight on foot.
• Then the Shock Infantry who have artillery and engineers
• The Garrison Infantry who occupy towns.
• The Navy
• very bright but unsuitable for officer positions can selected as a Intelligencer of the Goblin Office of Recognisance (IGOR)

These troop types are typically organised in a triangular fashion for example an invasion army which usually feature:

1 Assault Corps

• A lead division of 1 hippogriff & 2 warg brigades
• 2 huscarl divisions of 1 warg & 2 huscarl brigades

2 Shock Infantry Corps each of

• 1 Huscarl division (as above)
• 2 shock Infantry divisions of 1 huscarl brigade and 2 shock Infantry brigades

Then a suitable number of garrison Infantry divisions with independent huscarl battalions for occupation and line of supply duties.

Here’s the bad news – just such a force appears to poised north of the great desert above the sulphur valley spring valley.

The Griffin airborne seize bridges, tunnels and small towns. The wargs power through bypassing any serious resistance with the huscarls dismounting to engage determines enemy forces. Should a sustained siege be needed that is given to the Shock divisions but if it looks like it will delay the assault and give initiative to the enemy then Garrison forces are called up to pin down opponents while the mobile units drive on.

These UGGE units make integral use of magic users and clerics. Their battalions are made of alternate companies of archers and spear or Lance troops well drilled I all manner of tactical formations.

I suspect they’ll attack shortly from what my spies tell me. As the Governors not prepared to defend the frontier we should assemble a force if wizards, warlocks, witches and sorcerers to do so …

Heh … where’s everybody going … heh come back …. ‘

Am I becoming a one trick pony ?

I had a moment of revelation running the most recent episode of #lunchtimelairs – I have run a lot of PCs under siege games in the style of the burning of Nijal or Assault on precinct 13.

• Defence of the Aden cop shop
• Defence of the communist bungalow
• Flashing blades defence of the bubbling cauldron

Now far greater creators than me have fallen back on these tropes such as the Troughton ‘base under siege’ years of Doctor Who. There are great strengths – the PCs can show wit and initiative in defence, the turtling instinct of players is boxed off and it’s quite easy to manage pacing which is important when playing in short spots at lunch or online.

Bizarrely I’ve bit really used the trope of the siege in Cheshire Pendragon PBEM!

However I do feel I should flex other muscles so a little brain dump on other action scenes/tropes I should call on

• Hostage rescue
• Heist or burglary (lots of traps)
• Car/horse/boat chases
• Fights on speeding vehicles (planes / trains / mining wagons)
• Assassinations
• Long cons
• Melee / bare knuckle tournaments
• Prison drama
• Commando raid
• Pitched battle
• Country house murder

Any other suggestions ?

Lunchtimelairs B&B3&5 Blazing Presses

Week 7 in the election campaign and the party as the ‘money for everyone’ party hire a prostitute who books a room in the drovers hotel. They then charm Mayor Cassidy of the rival Law and Order party to murder her while Seneca is being interviewed by Parker of the Promise City Herald at the same hotel.

The horrible callous little shits.

Seneca and Jirard rush in accusations flying. Moloch is sent to get the Marshal. The Mayor throwing off the charm attacks Jirard who deftly dodges and backs off out the room slamming the door.

Mayor Cassidy bars the door with a chair – smashes the window, leaping and escaping.

Moloch fetches the Marshal but is arrested and bound when the Mayor arrives complaining of being magicked. The other player characters turn up as do supporters of both sides with accusations and barracking on each sides until a rock is thrown at Jirard and a riot breaks out. As the Marshal and Mayor are quite tough the party retreat to the gay lady with Parker.

There as well as the murder they lay the caravan plot on Parker putting the evidence down to a mole in the Silverbell office. They then head to the driver hotel and get the county Sheriff and Judge hanging Nat with this evidence.

The judge won’t interfere with the election. He does want to see the news printed, but with the riot win by the law and order they control the streets. The Judge has written to the local Militia to get a troop of mounted militia to keep the peace but the Judge, Sheriff Hunter, Parker and PCs go to the Promise City Herald to print the story.

Mayor and Marshall put a guard on but Moloch snuck up and at knife point tied the heavy who was to blow a whistle to draw further muscle from Cassidy’s nearby lumberyard. The noise of the printing would attract he heavies so the ‘heroes’ fortify the newspaper office.

• Farquhar is on the roof with boiling lead, cutouts of archers and heavy tools to drop.
• Moloch also on roof to fire
• Seneca on mezzanine floor to fire
• Jirard, Romula and Hector defending the doors / windows
• Blegrim in the water trough breathing through a straw ready to leap out and attack people.

Farqhaur engages the Marshal in threats the cut outs scarring his hired barvos. The Marshal climbs up dodging molten led and Farqhaur runs but moloch smashes Molotov cocktails setting the Marshal ablaze so he falls off the roof. He kills the flames but rallies his men revealing the cut outs.

The mob rushes the building – Blegrim rushes up from the water trough attacking the Marshal , Farqhaur ineffectually throws things and Seneca joins Molochs in sniping on the Marshal.

Meanwhile the defenders engage the attackers.

After a brutal fight the Marshal is hurt and runs but is shot and killed in the back by Seneca. The heavies glee. The Mayor stands and fights but retreats to his lumber yard. By dawn the mounted militia arrive and end up defending the lumber mill from an angry mill inflamed by the Promise City Herald hot of the presses.

With seeming two law and order candidates off the bill the elections looking very interesting going into week 8…..