The Great Jam Raid - Turn 4

Racing forward from the back gate, Cleo Rockarse thinks to get a quick shot in at her nemesis, Lady Snapcase. Taking cover behind the statue of Sir Francis Snapcase (the man who singed the Queen of Spain's bush) she suddenly realises she is unloaded and stays in cover.

Lord Snapcase makes a beeline for some hard cover and shelters in the lee of the log store. He is also currently unloaded. By now Cleo has got a couple of cartridges up her barrels and lets fly at Lady Snapcase. One hit and Lady S. fails her save, falling to the ground with an aristocratic groan. The Mad Lord can only look on in horror, but his dander is well and truly up now. If Old Scrotum were nearby he would have been dispatched to fetch Lord Snapcase's fighting trousers.

Fighting off the urge to charge into battle (fisticuffs with a lady, would his old friend the Marquess of Queensbury allow it, he wondered?), Snapcase took the wiser course and stayed in cover whilst reloading his Purdey.

Meanwhile, Albert Steptoe (the rag and bone man) makes his weekly visit to the Snapcase Estate crying out "Any old iron?".

Meanwhile Sid and Marcel have dashed to the wall to get in cover. Now that the stealth rules are finished, they can see Miss Spankhurst and her party advancing at the trot, so to speak. Gizzard is not far behind them as he climbs over the wall.

Meanwhile, Cleo has been joined by Dr. Gitfinger, Reg and Honeygander. Reg and Honeygander shoot at Lord S. but all four shots miss. As a group their morale is OK because they need to take more than one casualty to undertake a 'dedication' test. So far, only Cupid has fallen by the wayside.

Old Scrotum has had to break into a run now the alarm is raised. It's not good for the poor old wrinkled retainer but needs must. On his second activation he manages to get into position behind the unsuspecting Sons of Stan and fires both barrels. Unfortunately, with his chest heaving from the run, he only manages to shoot the weathervane off the roof of the Hall.

Miss Spankhurst, Sponge and Young Futtock take cover behind a stone wall, preparatory to firing at Sid and Marcel. Chulmleigh carries forward at a run, he only has melee abilities. Peaches has run from her guard post at the front of the Hall but if you run you can't shoot in the same activation. The three at the wall open fire. They have all moved less than 3" so no penalty on the shooting throw, only the dark and hard cover is against them. 6 dice are thrown and 2 are hits.

Sid and Marcel take a hit each and both fail their saves. They are cut down in the side passage. Gizzard, seeing two of his mates shot down has to take a dedication test but he passes.

So there we have the situation at the end of Turn 4. Lady S. is down but the only casualty from the Snapcase retinue. The Sons of Stan have lost Cupid Stunt, Sid Snot and Marcel Wave. Things are not looking so rosy for the jam-bandits from Loose Chippings.

To be continued...