Nothing Bloody Changes! - A Victorian Detective Tabletop Game In 28mm.

 "You know what they say about Hobbs End?" said DI Bolton, "what's that Guv" replied Sergeant Theakston, "nothing bloody changes! Come on, we've got a disturbance outside the town hall, let's see what excuse it is this time for grown men to try and knock each others heads off."

It looks like this mornings entertainment is due to a double booking, the Skeleton Army want the town hall pitch but the Socialists have beaten them to it, the sight of the thin blue line means nothing to either side so the police keep a distance to see how things pan out.

No surprise there really, things get ugly very quickly and the Skeleton Army leader receives a nasty razor cut, DI Bolton is quick off the mark and soon nabbs the razor wielding Socialist.

The police tell both sides to bugger off, which they do, but resentment is simmering. Back at the station Bolton and Theakstone are called out to the Drovers Road doss house, chasing a possible lead to a series of local burglaries.

No sooner do they reach the front of the building they are set upon by two men, seemingly for no reason. The two detectives put up a good fight driving one assailant off, the other is arrested after receiving several whacks to the jaw from Bolton.

The one that got away was recognised as being a particularly violent Socialist thug, could this have been revenge for breaking up their fun this morning outside the town hall? Bolton is sure of it, time to go to Wells Street and confront them!

The Socialists believe that Wells Street is their own little fiefdom, the police believe it is not. Up on his cart Comrade Beron is whipping up a storm against all sorts of things, but mainly the police and in particular DI Bolton. So, speak of the devil and he shall appear! DI Bolton and a couple of constables come marching around the corner much to the amazement of the Socialist congregation.

After accusing the Socialists of conspiring to give him a rotten day DI Bolton becomes the focus of a violent attack and is soon knocked to the ground. From the other end of Wells Street Theakston is closing in with another two constables and they give a good account of themselves.

The Socialists are eventually driven back, many with wounds from truncheon blows, three are arrested and one policeman is taken to hospital after he was felled with an iron bar. With more police arriving and a black mariah for the prisoners the altercation is all but over. More of an exercise in marking his territory than solving crimes Bolton then smashed in the door of the Socialist HQ on the pretext of searching for seditious material, it's doubtful that this feud is over. 

With me Theakston!! - A Victorian Detective Tabletop Game In 28mm.

                  WATCHING THE DETECTIVES.

I wanted a game where I could walk up to my diorama, pick a card and see where it took me. The game I devised has three types of cards; Blue are police, Red are witness and Green are evidence, to progress through each card you must first draw a police card and score the percentile number on it with two D10.

Once this is done you may pick a witness card, again, the number on it has to be scored, if this is accomplished you move onto the evidence card and if you have success there you have your criminal! It's not as easy as it sounds but I found it great fun and that's what counts. So here we go.......

Detective Inspector Bolton and Detective Sergeant Theakston of Hobbs End CID are on the trail of a violent criminal who is hiding out somewhere in Hobbs End.

Pass

Pass

Fail, draw another police card.

Fail, damn it Theakstone!!! Draw another police card.

Pass

Pass

Fail....so close, draw another police card.

Well that's just frustrating....

Pass

Pass

Fail, DI Bolton is getting angry, things need to change.

Pass

Fail....

Just what our duo need in the middle of an investigation!!

Poor old DS Theakstone, he copped an unfortunate one right on the jaw.

Pass

Pass

Pass, a massive breakthrough, an arrest is imminent.

"You have the right to remain silent...."

There goes another one on the Dartmoor Express.

Sir Oswald & Lady Mosley visit Hobbs End - A Mean Streets Tabletop Game in 28mm.

       Sir Oswald & Lady Mosley visit Hobbs End.

                        Terrible Scenes, Many Injured, Police Attacked.

A surprise visit by Sir Oswald & Lady Mosley caused much consternation in Hobbs End yesterday, Park Road and Hobbs Park were filled with Blackshirts from all over the East End. Sir Oswald and his men have been constantly denied the use of Hobbs Hall, however, no one can stop him posing for the camera outside of the building.  

Local opposition quickly mobilised, street meetings were convened and a march against Mosley was created in the High Street, mounted police were on the scene in minutes.

With the march being halted on the High Street tensions were rising, some anti Fascists made it through to Station Road and made their way towards Hobbs Park and a line of police.

In the park the Sir Oswald was addressing the crowd, the loud cheers almost drowning out the sound of opposition as the crowd in Station Road drew near. Suddenly in High Street fighting broke out, the mounted police cracked heads left and right.

The fighting in the High Street was over quite quickly, resulting in one policeman needing medical treatment and several arrests. A few of the Communists broke through the police line and headed towards the park to disrupt the Fascist meeting. On Station Road there was considerable pushing and shoving between the police and protesters, violence was imminent.

In the blink of an eye fists, clubs and truncheons flew into action, Station Road became a mass of fighting men lashing out at one another, from Drovers Yard Police Station reinforcements were on their way. In the park Mosley was still engaging with his followers, saying how great it was to be back in Hobbs End and what a superb job the local branch was doing, at this point a surprise attack by a group of Communists made him stop mid sentence.

Station Road soon resembled a battlefield, protesters and police knocked to the ground in a vicious fight, in Hobbs Park the Communists were soon confronted by a pack of Blackshirts and were hopelessly outnumbered, it was a brave but foolhardy act on their behalf.

 Unsurprisingly the Communists were soon beaten out of the park, from the Station Road entrance several of the protestors had broken through the police line and attacked the Blackshirts one of whom was wounded with a knife. Police reinforcements from Drovers Yard and the High Street stopped the riot soon after and multiple arrests were made.

The cells at Drovers Yard will be full to bursting tonight, the hospitals will be incredibly busy too, in all 18 Communists were arrested, 6 remain in hospital, 1 Fascist is still in hospital, 6 policemen are in hospital and a police horse has a serious razor cut, but will pull through. With the end of hostilities Mosley carried on his address to his followers declaring how much he liked Hobbs End, never a dull moment apparently!