Trumpington - Starting positions

I thought I would outline the general plot and layout of the game we started last Friday night.  The game itself surrounds a German attempt to recover the Sword of St Godswain which is an occult item and is held in the church in Trumpington.

To do so they intend to land paratroops,  a glider containing heavy weapons and equipment as well as utilising Fifth Columnists and a Kriegsmarine amphibious section. The British just have to stop them !

General orders direct that the German players outline their plan which had the the following general structure. Fifth columnists are to secure a landing ground and guide in the Kriegsmarine seaborne unit.  They have to meet Mad Peter who has been bribed with booze to show the safe route to shore. German paratroopers are to land at the same time to provide support and help clear the landing field.  Once the glider has landed the Germans make their bid for the sword.

The British have several villagers that are umpire moderated and additionally have a little control over where the Home Guard are placed. Poor weather and they will be inside the church hall, clear weather and they can employ random patrols as well as man checkpoints and pill boxes.  Once an alert is sounded they can then bring on reinforcements in the form of regular troops.

The gaming consists of using Role playing and written orders for the first stage. Once an alert is sounded we move over to using Bolt Action rules but with special rules for, shall we say, 'non standard' equipment.

View from the East looking along the High Street. Laurence of Maldon  is cockle picking down on the  beach, Denzil the Village idiot (Chair of the Guild of Village idiots no less !) is chatting to the cows to the mid left of the photo. Fraser mans the checkpoint near the beach phone box. Mrs Faulty waits for her husband outside the guest house. Old Harry can be seen heading West back up the High Street towards the Church.

Another view just showing off the skills of Ted in making the beach and seafront. You also have a better view of the obstructions put up in a Farmer Giles' field. Mad Peters hut is rear left just in front of the Cornfield.

Another view from the Southern edge. Denzil is in the foreground and the church is at the far end of the High Street. Pike and Sponge are on top of the church tower. Even if the weather is good there is still a chance that Pike will want to read a comic rather than keep lookout !

Both Craig and myself had to submit written orders to Ted in advance of the game. Mine had to say where my 'traitors' were coming on the board from and detail the overall plan of attack and the scheduling for the arrival of the Germans.

I assume that Craig wrote standing orders concerning how the general alarm is sounded and who was doing what in the village including patrolling etc. I can't say more than that as the game is still ongoing and I simply don't know. I have no idea what other orders Craig has built in to his plan.

Next post will be the opening moves

The Trumpington Glider

Ted has sent me the following photos of his 'Gotha' Glider we will use for the Trumpington Game tomorrow.

The pictures tell the story, the back of the glider is hinged to allow Jo's troops to disembark.  I feel rather awkward that this humble blog showcases someone else's skill.

Glider from the front starboard side.

View of the rear with the hinged door open.

Gotha Glider displayed above the table. Boy does that look good !
On the downside I note the sentry box and checkpoint that wasn't' displayed on my pre game map ! Checkpoint is visible just below the nose! The GPO have also strung another phone line down the High Street. Blast the Grand Plan is already compromised.

I will try and upload the generic game plan and map I received on which I based our cunning plan later

Residents of Trumpington

I really hope village life is not actually like this, especially as I plan to retire to one in due course. Enclosed are pictures of assorted Trumpington Villagers and neighbours. Some may have special rules and others won't. The beauty of an Umpire moderated game is that the Umpire is allowed to toy with both sides and can maintain some sort of game balance. This is particularly true if you are using new or character specific rules.

Mr and Mrs Faulty, owners of the Beach View Cafe and Guest House. It also has a full 'On' Licence allowing it to act as the village Pub.

Here Miguel the Spanish waiter can be seen waiting to make a long distance call to Bilbao. Arthur Streebe-Reebling looks on. He is very suspicious of foreigners.

This is the village Postmistress and her very special friend. Her ambition is to pump a bad guy full of lead as he tries to rob the Post Office. She is a very big fan of James Cagney.

Colonel Blakencroft, his daughter Penelope and her boyfriend, Roger, the Scoutmaster. Colonel Blakencroft's Gamekeeper is far right.

East End 'heavies' who might be meeting 'Black Stan' to do a bit of business.

Mr & Mrs Giles plus their two sons, Bill and Ben. Does everyone in the village have a firearm?

A local cockle picker. If the tide is out he will be on the beach.

Adrian, a fisherman from nearby Chilkley on Sea. His fishing boat was blown up by a stray mine.

Meanwhile on the other side if the Channel, Oberst Heinz Beenz prepares to pilot the Gotha Glider.

Trumpington Game Board

Ted has sent me some photos of the game board.

View looking up the table from the Beach. The beachfront guesthouse is at the bottom of the photo, Denzil's field is to the left.

Another view from the sea, this time showing the dunes and bunker in front of the guesthouse.

The High Street. Jack Jones the butchers is finished. No. 3 High Street is demolished and is now a walled compound and orchard.

Jack Jones, family butcher. He even has his own van  !

The Guesthouse run by Mr Faulty

Essex Rgt.  A/T Gun crew on exercise

Denzil's field. He has been told to park his tractor in the middle of the field by the ARP Warden.

Preparations for the Trumpington Assault

Our armorers and uniform fitters have been preparing for the Trumpinton Operation which is scheduled to commence next week. Several new and 'revolutionary' items of equipment have entered Service but unfortunately operational necessity has reduced the opportunity for field testing.

An example of this is the 'Vaxomatikpsychikflayermachinen', the latest creation of Herr Prof. Stuffenbuch.

Here the SSPD Special Operations Unit parade for a group photograph prior to deployment on the Essex Coast.

Oberst Steiner looks over a custom built Z-boote in the SSPD workshop. He seems reluctant to climb aboard the untested vehicle.

A Fallschirmjaeger team of technicians pours over the operational manual. Clearly these are diligent individuals, most men don't bother with reading the instructions before they start operating dangerous machinery.

They work ! Z-boote undergoing trials. What could possibly go wrong with rocket propelled inflatable assault craft