[1938] Timeline, Part 2: The Alternate Timeline

Continuing the timeline of 1938: A Very British Civil War (reference Edward VIII Cocktail Bar forum thread):

1936, December 7: King Edward VIII and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin meet a second time, where the King informs the prime minister he will marry Mrs. Simpson. Baldwin and the cabinet resign.

1936, December 11: The King asks his friend Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), to be prime minister.

1936, mid-late December: In light of an unelected prime minister, both houses of parliament walk out, leaving Mosley to form a rump parliament. Across the country, people protest the appointment of Mosley as well as the parliament. The BUF take to the streets in response, attacking protesters.

1937, January: Opposition by the The Church of England to the King's planned marriage increases in most of the United Kingdom. Additionally, anti-Mosley protests and riots occur across the country.

1937, February: The King authorizes the Chief Constables to create auxiliary constabularies to assist police in quelling the unrest. Often, these constabularies are staffed with BUF members, prompting many to call them "Mosley's Legion."  In Scotland, the cities of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee experience a wide variety of protests and strikes, all aimed at the Mosley administration.

1937, February 15: Supply trains for the BUF and the army are hijacked near Nottingham, with no clues to the culprits. The local rail union chapters are suspected.

1937, April. The Scottish Kirk issues a statement decrying the King planned marriage.

1937, April 4: The BUF fight at several protests, including York and Wighill.

1937, April 12: A military supply convoy is ambushed in Yorkshire near Ferrybridge. The Yorkshire Communist Collective claim responsibility.

1937, May 12: In the midst of King Edward VIII formal coronation, shots are fired at the royal car. BUF soldiers fire onto the crowds, sparking the Guards regiments to retaliate against the BUF.

1937, May 13: The King orders Mosley to declare martial law. The Scots, Welsh and Irish Guards regiments are disbanded at the King's orders. Mosley expands the auxiliary constabularies powers. The United Kingdom is in civil war.

1937, late May: Scotland secedes from the United Kingdom, declaring the King unfit. The Scots Guards are welcomed home with full honors. Between June and September, several Scottish regiments desert and return home, bringing their not inconsiderable equipment with them. The BUF are violently forced from Scotland.

1937, June: Wales splits between a national movement in the north and those loyal to the King in the south. The mayor of Cardiff welcomes the Welsh Guards home and bases them in the city. Many coal pits in the south create socialist militias. The BUF elements of the auxiliary constabularies form their own official BUF Legions, separate from police control and answerable to Mosley.

1937, August: Dock workers strike in Liverpool.

1937, September: With more authorized powers, the BUF attempt to break the Liverpool dock strike and the city explodes in violence. The Liverpool Regiment defects to support the city council and the Liverpool Free State soon forms. Royalist forces lay seige to Liverpool.

1937, September: Military campaigns into Scotland, with battles at Sumburgh, Castlegate and Glasgow. A final battle at the Bridge of Dee formally establishes Scottish independence. Cornwall experiences growing violence.

1937, November: British troops, with loyalty split between Cornwall and the King, fire on each other. The Scottish border is fortified by both sides.

1938, January: Indian troops are moved to tension points around the Empire, like the Middle East, to facilitate a recall of troops to England. The BUF march on Canterbury to capture the city and the Archbishop. The attack ends in a military and propaganda disaster for Mosley and the King. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in league with other bishops, forms the Anglican League as a result.

1938, February:  The BUF Canterbury front stalls in the Medway. Mosley appoints BUF governors and administrators across the Empire. Canada and Australia decline the appointments.

1938, March: BUF militia attempt to disrupt the nascent Scottish Republic.

1938, April: Carlisle is shelled.

1938, May: General Wynd-Grator receives rushed orders to return to England. Gathering his army around him, he marches to Acre and sets sail to England.

1938, June: BUF troops invade the Isle of Man but the Islanders, with Scottish assistance, turns back the invasion. Port St. Mary is occupied by the remnants of the BUF invasion force and soon under siege by Manx forces.

1938, July: Wynd-Grator establishes a base in the Channel Islands to raid (and eventually invade) England.

1938, August: Scottish forces under command of Admiral James Douglas-Buccleah, land near Liverpool to aid the Liverpool Free State. The Royalist army bars the Scots from the city, so Douglas-Buccleah marches south, causing havok along the way.

1938, September 3: Scottish forces capture Shrewsbury then retreat through northern Wales to the coast.

1938, September: Scottish forces return to Scotland via boat.

1938, October: The International Brigades withdraw from Spain.

[Aftermath!] GURPS Operation Morpheus, Session 4, Part 2

Session Four: Part 2: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (April 4, 2104)

Important PCs: James (S), Bill (X), Bob (E), Alexis (C)

Important NPCs: Robbie the PolRob, Nasdaq the Robot, and assorted Giant Spiders.

The Carslaw Building, as they found out by doing some simple research, houses the Student Union, as well as some Administrative and Math Department offices.

Group B again gets in the saddle and prepares for action. They load up their Land Rover again with the electrical generator and also bring along food and water, not knowing how long they will be out. With Robbie the PolRob and Nasdaq the Robot along, Group B leaves Anderson Stuart at 9 AM and drives to the Carslaw Building, only a few blocks away.

Carslaw is a large four-storied L shaped building with a separate auditorium out-building. They drive around Carslaw and notice that all the ground floor doors, with the exception of the main front doors, are sealed with heavy plates welded over the doors and that all the first floor windows have metal shutters also welded shut. The second and above floor windows just have sealed metal shutters, probably bolted from the inside.

Parking between the auditorium and the main building, out of sight of the main road and in a relatively secure spot, Group B disembarks and leaves Robbie to guard the car. The Group gets into a short discussion about Robbie's verbal orders concerning the car and who should be allowed access to it. With that issue ironed out, they decide to check out the auditorium first.

Entering the auditorium, with James in the lead and the rest following, the Group finds an old, makeshift field hospital. Scores of body bags, most filled, are piled everywhere around the floor. Used medical supplies - needles, empty bags of medical fluids, syrettes, bandages, scalpels, surgical scrubs and more - are scattered among the many surgical tables. Powerful battery-powered halogen lamps are placed above the tables, their batteries now run down.

Bob expresses interest in opening some of the body bags to determine how the occupants died but is quickly shouted down by the rest of the Group. Both Bill and James believe that this was a combat hospital - the sheer amount of shredded and age-blackened uniform battle dress bear this out - and that this was used during the defense of the University, 100 years ago.

Looking around, James finds several pieces of unknown combat armor. On the inside of the armor they find Russian letters. James says that it was probably Spetz-Naz issued armor. Finding nothing of value in the auditorium, the Group heads to the main building.

Opening the wide, wooden double front doors, they enter the dark recesses of a large foyer/hall with openings leading to the rest of the building in each wall. Flashlights out, James leads the way with Bob second and the rest following, the Group head towards the opening opposite the front doors.

Looking through the opening, they all see that, with their limited flashlights, a majority of the building is an empty shell. Across the building, they see one huge hole in the ceiling and several smaller holes, each illuminating a pile of roof debris with sunlight.

Believing that there may be some of the upper floors still intact in the darkened areas of Carslaw or that there may be a bunker, the Group decides to explore a little. Bill and Alexis stay by the foyer, while James, Bob and Nasdaq walk towards the largest pile of sunlit debris. Nasdaq turns on its personal spotlight.

Half way across this cavernous floor, James leaves Bob and Nasdaq and continues on towards the debris alone, holding his Gauss Needler at the ready. Bob covers James with his M16. James approaches the large debris pile and almost goes completely around it but realizes it will cut him off visually from Bob and company. He turns to come back and is knocked to the floor by a sudden attack!

Bob sees a giant thing jump from the shadows onto James' back and knock him to the ground. James quick-draws his pistol and fires over his shoulder at his attacker, shooting three rounds off right next to his ear. Filled with horror and disbelief at seeing Giant Spider #1 jump on James, Bob nonetheless opens fire and kills Giant Spider #1. Bill, seeing James get attacked, rushes toward him to render medical aid.

Suddenly, all around them they hear the sounds of many, many, many Giant Spiders moving. Bill drops, completely fainting at such a horrific noise. James drops his pistol and lies stunned by the sheer horror of it all as Bob orders Nasdaq to go get James.

Taking short steps backward, Bob brings his M16 to bear all around him, keeping moving to avoid being a tempting target for these 8-legged horrors. Alexis moves up to Bill and, with Bill's collar in one hand and her M16 in the other, slowly drags Bill towards the foyer and escape. Bob quickly radios to Robbie to come assist them.

James recovers his senses and his Needler as Nasdaq grabs his collar and lifts him to standing position. The two of them start walking back to the foyer, with Nasdaq covering Bob and James watching both their backs. Bob, meanwhile, notices two Giant Spiders (#3 and #4) descending on Alexis and Bill and opens fire, striking one but only wounding it. The wounded Giant Spider #2 drops on Alexis and she uses her Judo training to smash it to the floor under her. It grapples her, pinning her arms to her sides. Giant Spider #3 lands on Bill and quickly gets him lifted to carry off.

As two more Giant Spiders (#5 and #6) descend on Alexis, causing her to freak out, Bob, still taking short steps toward the foyer, fires at Giant Spider #2, killing it, then turns his gun on but missing Giant Spider #3.

Suddenly, Nasdaq fires his built-in Gauss Needler full burst, killing Giant Spider #7 hanging above Bob's head. Giant Spider #7 drops onto Bob, striking him but not knocking him down.

Giant Spiders #3 and #6 get Bill in their clutches and start dragging him off as Giant Spider #5 wrestles Alexis to the ground. In it's many arms, Alexis is helpless as the spider drags her toward the darkness. Bob fires on Giant Spider #5 and kills it, freeing Alexis, as James turns around and has Nasdaq cover their backs.

Alexis amazingly still has her M16 and both she and Bob kill Giant Spider #6. Alexis is the only one close enough to hear Giant Spider #3 cry "No, Mommie!" as Giant Spider #6 dies. Shaken but resolute, Alexis brings her gun to bear on Giant Spider #3 as James fires the killing shot from his Needler into Giant Spider #3.

With seven dead Giant Spiders around them, Group B opts for a tactical retreat - quickly crossing the foyer and getting the hell out of Carslaw.

Once outside and together with Robbie, Alexis tells the others what the spider said and believes that they are intelligent! James wonders where he dropped his pistol. Suddenly, the Group realizes that they are being observed from the rooftops by the spiders and James spots something!

End Session Four.

[1938] Timeline, Part 1: What Happened in Our Time

Here's the first part of the timeline for 1938: A Very British Civil War (reference Edward VIII Cocktail Bar forum thread), including the important events in the prior decades, which had a lot of effects on the current conflict.
 
The Great War:
1914 - 1918: The Great War. 1.1 million soldiers in the British Imperial Forces die over the course of the war.

Interwar period:
1918 - 1921: Economic output falls in the United Kingdom by 25%

1918, August 30: 12,000 men of the London Metropolitan Police Force strike for better pay, pensions and pension rights for widows. 

1919, mid-year: A series of police strikes occur all over England. The Police Act of 1919 establishes the Police Federation, a union separate from trade unions.

1922: Hunger marches to London, organized by the National Unemployed Workers' Movement. These marches are repeated in 1928, 1930, 1932, 1934 and 1936.

1926, May 3 - 13: In an unsuccessful attempt to get the government involved, the Trades Union Congress called a  General Strike which lasted 10 days to protect wages.

1929: Unemployment at 1 million.

1929, October 29: The Stock Market Crash in the United States of America heralds the beginning of the Great Depression, sending aftershocks throughout the world. In Britain, it is known as the Great Slump. Almost overnight, demand for British products dried up.

1930: Unemployment increases to 2.5 million (nearly 20% of the workforce).

1931, September 15 - 16: Royal Navy sailors mutiny at Invergordon, Scotland, over reduction in pay.

1932, October: Sir Oswald Mosley forms the British Union of Fascists (BUF).

1936: Farmers refuse to pay tithes to the Church of England in what was known as the Tithe War.

1936, July 17: The Spanish Civil War starts when General Franco leads fascist rebels against the  Second Spanish Republic after the election of leftist President Manuel Azaña.

1936, September: Volunteers leave for Spain.

1936, October: 200 protesters march from Jarrow to London, over 300 miles, to petition Parliament about unemployment and poverty.

1936, October 4: A riot breaks out between the police protecting the BUF and 100,000 anti-fascist protesters in an event known as The Battle of Cable Street.

1936, November 16: The King meets with Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to discuss the King's desire to marry double-divorcee Wallis Simpson. Baldwin informs the king that the government will resign en masse if he marries her. Baldwin's view is held by the other Commonwealth countries.

[Vids] The Unusuals

The Unusuals was a short-lived cop show that originally aired in 2009. Only 10 episodes were made before it was cancelled by ABC.

It's a combined comedy-drama, with some pretty funny and at the same time heavy stuff: one of the minor characters has a brain tumor and another wears body armor because he thinks he's going to get shot. Since these two are partners, it is both tragic and comic.

The main characters are played by Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Amber Tamblyn (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Jeremy's Detective Walsh is by far the better watch, playing a cool cop surrounded by oddballs, while Amber's Detective Shraeger doesn't quite hit all the cylinders (at least in the first few episodes I've seen) but I'm hopeful.

I'm liking the show so far. With only 10 episodes, it may not build up steam enough to have some good development, character and overall story arc-wise, but it's given me some ideas for a cop-inspired modern game.

Maybe I'll write up my thoughts on this and post them sometime.

[Blogs] Marchland

My friend Mark has written up his urban fantasy Savage Worlds campaign setting, Marchland, on his blog (You may remember this campaign from my earlier posts 1, 2 and 3). The campaign is set in the town of Brighton Bay, near Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest (you can get there by ferry).

So far he's got info on the town and surrounding geography (including 15 town locations written up, from the Town Hall to Fort Allard State Park and Froudian Slip pub to Pine Grove Cemetery, with the Public Market, St. Mary's Cathedral and the ODDitorium in between.

A heading for characters gives three excellent setting-specific examples, Revenants, Fae-Blooded and Grave Touched, along with Edges and Hindrances for Savage Worlds.

Mark explores the Fae in another section, creating Fae Boons and Scourges for PCs and NPCs, while his Spirits section does similarly for the ghostly, with Spirit Favors and Burdens.

The remaining three web pages outline Magic, the Otherworld, and a Bestiary.

There's good stuff here for an urban fantasy game, enough that I haven't fully read through it all. I suggest you check it out.

Hmmm. A thought comes to mind ... having a cross-city adventure, with Mark's Marchland and my Fae Portland (see Issue 1 and 11 of my Switching to Guns 'zine).

Happy Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of Asshat Paladins.

I've done a year worth of posts so I'm taking today off. See you tomorrow.

[Characters] Harry Lime

In the 1949 classic noir film The Third Man, Orson Welles plays immoral black-marketeer Harry Lime trying desperately to escape war-ravaged Vienna right after World War II.

Harry steals a new antibiotic called penicillin from local military hospitals, dilutes it then sells it on the black market, to the detriment of his customers. He fakes his own death to take the money and run, escaping the law on all sides: Soviet, American, British and French.

Unfortunately, his old friend Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) shows up and tries to find out what happened to Harry. Hearing that Harry had been struck and killed by a truck, he investigates, trying to find a mysterious third man spotted at the scene of the accident when only two had been reported. I won't ruin any more of the movie for you but I suggest you watch it. Orson Welles is excellent.

Now back to our Harry.

He's wonderfully immoral. A perfect NPC for any game. Either as a foil for the PCs or a black market contact or a friend that becomes an enemy over time. And he's damn useful in any genre.

When Holly asks him "Have you ever seen any of your victims?" Harry responds:

"You know, I never feel comfortable on these sort of things. Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of income tax - the only way you can save money nowadays."

and

"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

and

"Nobody thinks in terms of human beings. Governments don't. Why should we? They talk about the people and the proletariat, I talk about the suckers and the mugs - it's the same thing. They have their five-year plans, so have I." 

and when Holly says "You used to believe in God." Harry corrects him:

"Oh, I still do believe in God, old man. I believe in God and Mercy and all that. But the dead are happier dead. They don't miss much here, poor devils."

Watch the film. Use Harry in your next game. And, don't worry, I'm not going to bother writing up his stats because you should decide what skills, abilities and qualities make him fit your game best. Just make sure he's perfectly immoral and have fun with him. You won't be disappointed.

I'll let Harry end this post with his best:

"What did you want me to do? Be reasonable. You didn't expect me to give myself up... 'It's a far, far better thing that I do.' The old limelight. The fall of the curtain. Oh, Holly, you and I aren't heroes. The world doesn't make any heroes outside of your stories. "

[Resources] The Lost Tomb of Caligula

A thief found the lost tomb of Caligula!

The thief was caught loading a 2.5 meter (over 8 foot) statue, worth a million Euros, of the emperor onto a truck. After questioning by police, the criminal led them to the site, on the shores of Lake Nemi, south of Rome.

I don't know about you but that is a pretty cool adventure story, perfect for an RPG. Is this an opportunity to spring the Tomb of Horrors on the players of a medieval scenario? Or more like King Tut's Tomb (including requisite curse) set in the 1930s? Or an action-adventure ala National Treasure with world-spanning clues for a modern game? So many ways to run this.

I'd be interested to see if anyone does this. Maybe I'll find some time to map out the tomb myself.

[Aftermath!] GURPS Operation Morpheus, Session 4, Part 1

Session Four: Part 1: "Question Everything" (April 1 - 3, 2104)

Important PCs: James (S), Bill (X), Bob (E), Alexis (C)

Important NPCs: Miles Dayton, Rich Johnson, Amanda Hayes, John Ritter, Andy Smith, Reactor Controller at Anderson Stuart Bunker, Steve Miller, IT Lead at Anderson Stuart Bunker, Jill St. John, biologist at Anderson Stuart Bunker, Matt Borselli, various other Uni Survivors.

Group A and Group B return to Anderson Stuart Bunkers with the University Reactor on full automated power.

James and Miles spend their down time investigating the crazy PolRobs, learning about their weaknesses and best target locations. They also use the undamaged parts to re-build damaged sections of Robbie the PolRob. James and Miles also remove the crazy PolRobs computer cores and give them to Alexis to check. Miles and James also tell each other about what they've seen around the Uni campus - Miles mentions a partially-destroyed Soviet helicopter in the ruins of St. John's College.

Bill assists James and Miles in this project as well as spends a good amount of time studying medicine. Talking to Dr. Shaw and several other doctors in Anderson Stuart allows Bill to improve his skills.

Alexis spends time with the Anderson Stuart IT group, headed by Steve Miller, bringing them up to speed on the Trojan Horse program and assists them in trying to overcome it. Most of her time is spent on the computer. When James and Miles bring Alexis the crazy PolRobs computer cores, she finds that they were not programmed to attack Group B. Instead she finds evidence of hard drive damage in each of them which mixed their Civilian Goodwill programming with their Combat Protocols programming. Alexis learns about how PolRobs are programmed and writes a few test programs for Robbie.

Bob goes to the biology department and gives biologist Jill St. John the unknown creature fur. Jill says she'll take a look at it and let him know what she finds out. Bob then meets with Andy about the whole Reactor thing. He also assists Andy and a group of Uni militia in returning to the Physics Building and setting up automated/watchdog systems for the Reactor. Bob notices when he goes back to the Physics Building that the lights are all back to normal (dim) around the University Campus. Andy instructs Bob on how to start up any other reactor he might find on campus. Jill calls up Bob and lets him know that the fur is not of any known species (circa 2003 knowledge) but it has some similarities with rats. Jill and Bob have dinner and discuss the matter further.

After these few days of rest and study, Matt from Supply brings both Group A and Group B some new weapons. Each Group gets 2 new Gauss Needler Rifles. Each is overpowered (10D IMP damage) and has limited ammunition (each gun gets 2 - 100 round clips). Each gun can fire single shot, short burst (3), and full burst (20). James and Alexis arm themselves with these guns, as Miles and Amanda are chosen to get them for Group A.

Group B is back on duty and decides to follow Alexis's lead: "Carslaw Building. Security Code: Transmit-Chocolate-Novel-Eight-Five-Niner-Jacket"

[Blogs] A Character For Every Game

A Character For Every Game blog is an excellent resource for OSR fiends. Dyson, the blog writer, is full of great stuff, including character write-ups and (more importantly) maps!

Just check out the Dyson's Delve, a 11 level dungeon that is cool beyond cool. But he doesn't stop there - another is Atarin's Delve. And there's also Dodecahedron No. 1 and Peridane's Tomb!  Wait a sec, you can't swing a dead and disease-bearing polecat* around his blog without hitting at least 151 different cool things before breakfast.

In fact, what are you waiting for? Stop wasting your time reading my crap and go there now!

* Note: The author intends no insult to any dead and disease-bearing polecats out there or to those who love or have loved their own dead and disease-bearing polecat.

[Resources] Scramjet X-51 WaveRider!

Boeing tested the unmanned X-51 WaveRider on May 26th, 2010, reaching Mach 5 in over 200 seconds of flight with the longest scramjet burn of 140 seconds. While the proposed speed was Mach 6 for 300 seconds, this is just another step to potentially replace bulky oxidizers needed to boost rockets into space and achieve real space travel.

You can use this fine bit of technology in a modern espionage game or alien invasion setting or even in a future explore-past-the-solar-system campaign.

[Quotes] Cole Younger

"We tried a desperate game and lost. But we are rough men used to rough ways, and we will abide by the consequences." - Cole Younger, 1876, member of the James-Younger Gang

[1938] Setting Up the Campaign

After reading through the six 1938: A Very British Civil War books I received before Christmas and checking out the Edward VIII Cocktail Bar forum (the official forums of the VBCW), I decided to prepare a Savage Worlds campaign.

The reference materials I'm going use are Savage Worlds Explorers Edition and Savage Worlds Weird War II (an excellent book that is close enough to the time period that it will work well) plus some of the stuff from Savage UNIT (edges, hindrances and such, even though it's considered modern era), as well as the six 1938: A Very British Civil War series books: Main Sourcebook (MS), The Gathering Storm, Part 1 (GS1), The Gathering Storm, Part 2 (GS2), The Fall of the Empire (FE), A Guide to the Anglican League (GAL), Factions, Flags and Formations, Volume 1 (FFF).

In addition to the campaign notes, I'll also be writing up some specific vehicles, weapons and such that I'll be using, some from the Great War and some from the 20s and 30s. But that's not all.

The single change in the setting material is that I'm going to nix the Spanish Civil War (though I'm going to include it in the "official" timeline I will post in over the next few 1938 posts). The reason I'm going to ignore it is that I think that having the main conflict in England, while the rest of the world uses it as they used the Spanish Civil War - as a cockpit to try out equipment and tactics and other stuff that was later used in WWII. So Franco and the rest of the Nationalist generals end up dead, killed by Spaniards loyal to the elected government of Spain, all within two or so weeks of the start. It becomes a short footnote in history, an attempted coup that failed utterly. So the International Brigades are going to be forming up and going to England instead. That will give plenty of  role-playing opportunities for my players.

[Resources] The Tombs

"What is this dismal fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama?" - Charles Dickens, American Notes, 1842

The Tombs was a jail in New York City on lower Manhattan. Originally built in 1838 on a full block of the city to hold the police, courts and jail, the structure looked like an ancient Egyptian mausoleum and was designed for 300 prisoners.

It's official name was the New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention but it was colloquially called The Tombs. The building was replaced in 1902 (The Tombs II) and then again in 1941 (The Tombs III) and renamed the Manhattan House of Detention. The Tombs III finally was closed in 1974 and replaced with another jail, this one The Tombs IV.

The Tombs appears in popular culture and is a great resource for GMs with the history of jails in New York.