Las Putas de Vagabunda Ride!

 At long last the Calico Queens of Hog Thief Bend are ready to ride. Las Putas de Vagabunda are heading for El Oro Paso Mine.

The Tequila Bandidos Ride!

 I have extracted the proverbial digit and finished the Tequila Bandidos. Now to crack on with the rest of the game figures and bits.

The Tequila Bandidos

My game at the postponed DevLAM '20 was to have been the pirate game. Regular readers of this blog (possibly even reaching double figures, now!) will have seen many of the figures I had been painting for this game. The game was to take place in Islas de Pasaje de Vuelta, in the Caribbean. Doug was donating a folding 8' table and the game (somewhat ambitiously) was going to be played on a 16' long table. Hopefully, this will all take place next year now.

In the meantime, we have been playing some virtual games. I resurrected my Old West mine and have finished building it now. It just needs painting. Unfortunately no photos are to be posted here to ensure that the players do not have a map of the mine.

Here is the back-story:

Skulduggery and Mayhem in the El Oro Paso Mina

The Tequila Bandidos, led by that notorious outlaw Excavado de Vaca, have somehow come across a treasure map showing an abandoned gold mine, named the El Oro Paso Mina. The owner of the mine is said to have died in the mine with a secret stash of gold nuggets worth over a million dollars.

The mine is located just outside Hog Thief Bend in Arizona and the Bandidos have travelled up from Tijuana to investigate. Spending the night in Hog Thief Bend, they naturally frequent the Pink Pelican Saloon.

Unbeknownst to the Bandidos, the calico queens of the saloon are members of a secret society, La Putas de Vagabunda. These girls are led by none other than the legendary La Marinera Vagabunda. La Putas aims are to secure enough wealth to open their own saloon and to elect their leader as Mayoress of Hog Thief Bend.

Full of burritos and tequila, the Bandidos wax loquacious and very soon the girls are aware of the plan and the map. La Marinera Vagabunda manages to make a copy of the map whilst Excavado de Vaca snores through the night in an alcoholic dream.

Seeing that there are two entrances to the mine marked on the map, the girls plan to use the further entrance (marked on the map as El Espalda Paso) and beat the Bandidos to the gold.

La Putas arm themselves and head off to the mine in the early hours of the morning. Hours later, the hung-over Bandidos breakfast on Huevos Rancheros and refried beans and then manage to clamber onto their horses and head for the nearer entrance to the mine (marked on the map as La Frente Paso).

They look set for a windy ride!

The scene is set for an epic showdown in the mine…

There will be eight bandidos and eight Putas in the game. I've managed to paint three of each so far.

Excavado de Vaca in the green.

Trouble in Borsetshire - DevLAM '20

DevLAM '20 was to have taken place at Snapcase Hall over this weekend. Obviously, during the latest Covid-19 restrictions, The Gentlemen of Much-Piddling have been unable to gather in the ancient and dusty environs of the Snapcase's ancestral pile. The annual bean-feast has had to be postponed and The Gentlemen have had to sustain a very stiff upper-lip with nary a tremble. There has been a weeping, a wailing and a gnashing of teeth in the servant's quarters as that band of toilers were traditionally given a day off (the only one of the year) from their duties.

A typical scene from previous years at the Hall.

Doug was to have presented us with a VBCW game and here I present Doug's story of the doings in Borsetshire:

Borsetshire has remained a quiet backwater whilst all round it the turmoil of civil war rages. Until now. 

Alarming reports of incursions by various groups of communists, socialists and similar riff-raff have reached the ears of Sir Rufus Pitt-Bulstrode, Lord -Lieutenant of Borsetshire. Confirmation has been received that these groups have coalesced into one striking force which, even now, is advancing on the county town of Borchester. Fearing that the inadequate resources he has to hand, mainly poorly armed county police, are inadequate to resist the invasion, Sir Rufus has called upon his old friend, Sir Albert "Badger" Brock, the recently appointed Chief Constable of Wiltshire. Sir Albert has been very active in building a well trained, mobile armed unit as part of his force. Known as the Wiltshire Police Flying Column (WPFC), it is designed for use against enemies of the King of whatever persuasion. It recently saw service in Herefordshire against a motley collection of petty aristocracy, socialists and colonial mercenaries, for example.

Recognising a situation for which the Flying Column was admirably suited, Sir Albert assured Sir Rufus that he would send aid. Consequently, a detachment of the WPFC has been sent to Borsetshire. The efficiency of the WPFC has led to detachments being sent to various parts of the country so the whole of the unit is not available for deployment in Borsetshire. However, it’s charismatic leader, Chief Superintendent Ronald Bigsworth-Hill is on hand to command it and he has secured the services of an old friend from his BUF days as his second-in-command. Hilary Snapcase-Mosley, a distant relative of the distinguished peer, Bertram, the 10th Earl of Snapcase. Hilary is the blackest of black sheep of the family and is never spoken of in Snapcase Hall. He still uses his ridiculous BUF rank of "Storm Battalion Leader", still sports a ludicrous monocle and still stamps about in brown leather jackboots, kept in immaculate order by his valet, "Cringing" Cyril Wormtongue.

As well as a cadre of the regular WPFC, some irregulars have been included in the Borsetshire relief column to compensate for those elements detached elsewhere. It is thought some of these are ex-BUF types recruited by Hilary. Sir Albert, virulently anti BUF, has been kept in the dark about these recruits.

 First, I should have mentioned that Hilary Snapcase-Mosely is an Honourable - possibly the greatest oxymoron of all time.

 And now, the other side:

The petit-bourgeois, privileged inhabitants of Borsetshire have been congratulating themselves on having avoided the hardships of the civil war. Not anymore. Elements of various revolutionary bodies from different parts of the country have despatched comrades to foment revolution and smash the smug fascists of Borsetshire. Several sections of committed comrades have coalesced into an ad hoc platoon with the intention of marching on the county town, Borchester, hanging the town council, putting the running-dog Lord Lieutenant up against a wall and raising the red flag over the town hall. It may not be quite as easy as first thought - word has reached the Borsetshire Revolutionary Committee that reinforcements are on their way to bolster the reactionary criminals presently holding sway in the county.

Making up the Platoon for the Freedom of Borchester are a disparate group of comrades. From the Liverpool Free State comes the People’s Revolutionary Shock Army No. 6, Quasi-autonomous, Trotsky-Leninist, Assault Battalion (Women’s Section) led by the firebrand communist politician Bessie Braddock. From the South Yorkshire coalfields an élite section from the Miners Welfare Club led by the inspirational rabble-rouser, Harold Scargill. Finally, from Derbyshire a section from the LMS Locomotive Works, led by "Red" John Hawley, a political activist and demagogue. He has been elected as leader of the platoon.

In order to assist in the mayhem that is VBCW, I have been tasked with producing the Higgleford-cum-Wortlebury-beneath-the-Hill Head Post Office Rifles.

Seen here, Inspector Pat Clifton (3rd from left), Mrs. Goggins (on the left) and Tommy Flowers (on the right, on loan to the Post Office Rifles from GPO Telecommunications).

..and here, the HQ Section, L to R: Lord Haw-Haw, Sir Osbert Molesworth, Unity Valkyrie Mitford, Storm Battalion Leader the Honourable Hilary Snapcase-Mosely, Diana Mitford and last but not least Sir Roderick Spode (the 7th Earl of Sidcup and also the proprietor of a store specialising in women's underclothes, Eulalie Soeurs of Bond Street ).

Killick there, light along a pot of coffee, will you?

 On a whim, I decided to read all the Aubrey and Maturin books again. I am currently reading book eight, The Ionian Mission.

Of course, that reminded me that I had invested in Warlord's Black Seas when it came out. I decided to start with HMS Surprise as I was reading Master and Commander.

So I painted up two brigs, one English and one French.

Then I added the standing rigging to HMS Surprise.

Then the sails were added.

...and a 28mm Rifleman to show you the scale.

Since then I have started work on a frigate, but got diverted by other things. But I will finish it and get a game going soon.

“Two weevils crept from the crumbs. 'You see those weevils, Stephen?' said Jack solemnly.

I do.'

Which would you choose?'

There is not a scrap of difference. Arcades ambo. They are the same species of curculio, and there is nothing to choose between them.'

But suppose you had to choose?'

Then I should choose the right-hand weevil; it has a perceptible advantage in both length and breadth.'

There I have you,' cried Jack. 'You are bit - you are completely dished. Don't you know that in the Navy you must always choose the lesser of two weevils? Oh ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Nothing since August?

 It is with great shame that I note I have not posted anything since August. The culprit?

Gloomhaven!

My wife and I have been playing it every day since I bought it. No time for real life as we are very busy in the caverns and dungeons of Gloomhaven. We've even pre-ordered next year's new game, Frosthaven.

There has been some wargaming activity though, so I intend to catch up on a few posts. I also need to take some time to catch up with everyone else's blogging, my apologies. Anyway, more to come...