There had been rumours that the archbishop of Canterbury used to date a certain Madam X. every now and then for quite some time now. Nobody knew her identity and nobody knew her intentions. The archbishops intentions on the other hand seemed to be very clear though. A group of travelling artists from one of the numerous and not well known variety theatres got alerted by the fact that there could be money made. How about catching the cleric in flagranti with that Madam X. and reveal the news to the press? Great idea of course, so the troupe made their way to the park that was appointed for the archbishops next rendezvous.
Some unaware bystanders were present in the park when the archbishop arrived and waited for his appointment near a kiosk where the gardener was cooking some meat over a campfire. The air was mild and calm, but a storm of another kind was on the rise. The Defenders of Moskovia had arrived as well and those were a completely other kind of dastardly men and women from abroad. They were convinced that the archbishop was an agent of the crown and Madam X. tried to sell arms to him in the name of the Prussian Krupp company. As if that was not enough there should be a French circus that tried to get their hands on the cleric first. The Moskovians had a clear idea of what to do: Kidnap the archbishop to interview him and prevent England to be armed with German weapons, kill the Prussian agent and avoid the French taking the cleric away...
Scenario was 9.1.2 "Bring him back alive" (with the archbishop acting as the VIP to be secured)
Scenario complication was 9.2.3 "Collateral damage" (6 bystanders that might fight back when attacked)
Terrain was 10.5 "The city park" (a kiosk, a small forrest, a grotto, a stone circle and a sightseeing hill - all surrounded by cricket field standard lawn)
It took the French two turns to reach the archbishop. Due to her leadership bonus of 3 their leader Madame La Directrice had won initiative in both turns. The fastest four of her circus troupe had to run twice to get into contact with the archbishop of Canterbury. Those were Bald Bo and Gladys MacGill, the boxers and the dubious duo Simsa La Bim and Abra Cadabra who all managed to pace 10 inches forward in each turn.
The Moskovians came from the opposite direction, shooting a lot, but missing their opponents and hitting a civilian instead:
Second turn appeared to be a bit static when no damage could be inflicted on either side. Then Boris threw a grenade. He had aimed at the back of the archbishop who was already in the grip of the circus people. Better kill him and get half of the victory points than let the French go with him to get double! Unfortunate Boris had not checked how far he could throw and dropped the grenade right behind the back of his leader Field Marshal Grigorij Dimitrioff who was set aflame immediately. Boris was rumoured to have been not been unguilty of sinking armoured cruiser POTEMKIN when he used to be a sailor on that ship, therefore none of his comrades were much surprised on the assassination attempt on his boss...(red eight-sided die marks the grenade):
The circus had its officers well placed on strategic points to cover the flight of the archbishops kidnappers. Baroness Samedi and her followers Zombunny and Zomburt were well in cover of the stone circle on the circus right wing while Madame La Directrice and Funny Fred the clown butcher were hidden in the forrest. Joseph Bad Wolf the Injun trickshooter has got in range to fight the Moskovians from a forward position:
The winning move for the circus was well prepared and Madame La Directrice won the initiative for the third time when things went bad all slipped through their hands. The burning Field Marshal ordered his henchmen to fire what they can and they did...(while he calmly extinguished his burning back):
The French moved first and tried to make the archbishop run who refused and they had to walk therefore. That circumstance left them within firing range of the opponents, but Joseph Bad Wolf shot first and drew first blood when he killed Oleg the Moskovian strategic mastermind and only Moskovian with a leadership bonus. Regretfully no other circus artist could shoot and turn was on the Russians now. They obeyed the order given by their inspirational leader and mowed away four of the French and the archbishop of Canterbury what led to a result of 18:2 for the Moskovians.
Gladys MacGill tried to punch the Moskovian soldier in front of her, but was knocked dead by him instead - 20:2 for the Moskovians at the end of turn 3.
The victorious Field Marshal Grigorij Dimitrioff and his retinue:
Posts
