After many, many hours of planning over many, many years, James finally brought his Dad's Army game to the table for the first day of this year's Rivals "Weekend" (the second day will be at Andy's in a few weeks' time).
The figures were bought and painted well over a decade ago, and we did use them once in a wargame back in 2002. Some of the older style buildings I'd had for many years too, and I'd built and painted the 20th Century buildings last year, after Andy bought them for use with his WW2 figures.
One of the challenges had been finding a ruleset that reflected the spirit of the TV series. The usual move/shoot wargame just didn't feel right for these figures - it needed something to allow the characters and humour to come through, without lots of firefights and consequences that wouldn't be appropriate in a family-friendly sitcom.
I finally found a role-playing ruleset called
Dead of Night that someone had once used to run a Dad's Army horror RPG session. I didn't want the horror but the story-telling aspect really appealed. Rather than any detailed rules, the players (and the gamemaster) describe what is happening, make a few rolls when necessary, but together move the story on in a hopefully exciting and amusing way. I made a few amendments to the rules, created some character sheets, wrote the scenario and we were finally ready to go. The players and the characters went together pretty well...
Introduction
It is late summer 1940. The air war in Britain’s skies is raging. The people of the small town of Walmington-on-Sea, on England’s south coast, watch the German aircraft fly overhead every day. This may not dampen their spirits but it does increase their fear of invasion.
Like most towns, Walmington-on-Sea is defended by Local Defence Volunteers (or the Home Guard) and Air Raid Precaution Wardens. Walmington’s Home Guard platoon is part the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, and is proudly commanded by Captain George Mainwaring. The platoon meets most evenings in the hall adjacent to St. Aldhelm's Church.
It is the end of the working day and the platoon members are due to meet shortly in the hall for a briefing before heading out on a night exercise.
Scene 1: “There is a war on, you know.”
Jones and Frazer shut up their shops. Mainwaring, Wilson and Pike closed the bank. And they all started to make their way to the church hall. As they passed the village pond, a flock of geese started to attack Captain Mainwaring. Fortunately Wilson had some breadcrumbs in the bottom of the bag in which he'd taken his sandwiches to work. The geese were much more interested in the breadcrumbs than Mainwaring's trousers, so they all continued down the High Street unhindered.
Once they remembered they'd left Godfrey up at his cottage and sent Jones to fetch him, all of the First Section were present and correct and met up with Sponge's section in the hall.
Scene 2: “I say, would you mind awfully forming three neat ranks?”
Mainwaring briefed the troops on the planned night exercise but as they went to leave, the phone in the office rang...
“Mainwaring, it’s Colonel Pritchard. Some of our brave boys brought down a Luftwaffe plane earlier this afternoon. It crashed north of Walmington-on-Sea and the aircrew were picked up by Captain Square’s Eastgate platoon. Somehow, don’t ask me how, they managed to get away from that buffoon Square and stole a taxi. We think they are trying to make it to the coast and could be coming through your town any time soon. You must catch them and hold them overnight. You may as well see what you can get out of them.”
Scene 3: “Are you sure that’s wise, Sir?”
Sponge's section was ordered to the far end of the High Street where they broke down the fence around Godfrey's cottage in order to encourage the sheep to block the road. Jones and Wilson encouraged Mrs Fox and Mrs Pike to seek refuge in the Red Lion. Sponge rang from the phone box to report that he could see a fast-moving taxi in the distance. Jones then drove his van up to block the road.
As the taxi entered the town, it swerved to miss the sheep and then Jones' van and ended up on its side. A German aircrew emerged.
A couple surrendered straight away, another was shot by Jones, and another made a break for it. Pike attempted to shoot over his head but failed the roll, and shot him in the heel instead. Pike climbed on top of the telephone box to cover their prisoners with his Tommy gun.
Jones tied some rope to the taxi and righted it with his van. The prisoners were then escorted back to the church hall - after another altercation with the geese, one of which Frazer took back for his Sunday roast.
Eventually, Frazer had the bright idea of searching the prisoners and found the officer was carrying a copy of Germany's invasion plans for the south of England!
Wilson unloaded all the confiscated weapons and rang HQ to report on the discovery of the invasion plans. HQ ordered them to hold the prisoners until the following day when a courier would arrive to pick up the plans. Jones took the plans to the bank to be secured in the safe, planning to have a snooze next to the phone. Pike luckily had the keys on him, and the Verger was convinced to make a second copy of the plans.
Scene 4: “A typical shabby Nazi trick.”
As dawn broke, the Verger burst into the church hall:
“Parachutes, Captain Mainwaring, parachutes. I seen ‘em coming down over the town. I don’t know what his Reverence will say.”
Oberleutnant Muller:
“Our rescue party is here already! These plans will soon be safely back in Germany.”
Eight paratroopers dropped in randomly over the town, although mostly around the sea end of the high street, even one straight into the graveyard at the back of the church hall, and one whose chute caught on the church spire. This led him to be dangling right in front of the window where Fraser had taken up a sniping position. A quick shot cut through some of the parachute cords, leading the German to drop down a few more feet, enabling Captain Mainwaring to knock him out after a couple of blows with his pistol butt.
The German prisoners started shouting out where the plans were being held, as all conversations had taken place in front of them. Wilson gagged one with his only handkerchief and then Mainwaring gagged the rest with Pike's scarf.
Wilson shot at a precarious gravestone which toppled over, pinning the unlucky German paratrooper to the ground. Another German shot at Frazer, missed him but knocking his dead goose out of his hands and into the church doors. In an extremely unlikely shot, Pike managed to tear a strip down the back of a German's uniform, rendering him harmless if somewhat embarrassed by his nakedness.
Mainwaring broke down the door of Frazer's shop in order to bluff the German in the back garden to surrender. After calling from the bank to see what was happening, Jones managed to shoot a German who had climbed on top of a truck. He bounced off the roof, on to the bonnet, and on to the floor, where PC English promptly arrested him and handcuffed him to the truck.
Two other Germans hotwired Hodges van and started driving down the High Street. Even though they were driving on the wrong side of the road, some members of the platoon didn't realise the threat. Fortunately, after they'd exited the vehicle near the church hall, they faced a hail of gunfire and the remaining German got dragged backwards and forwards by Frazer in the van.
Scene 5: “You’ve all done very, very well.”
With all the Germans rounded up in the church hall and the plans still secure in the local branch of Swallow Bank, Walmington-on-Sea was safe once more. Colonel Pritchard turned up in a taxi to congratulate Captain Mainwaring and his men, and relieve them of the vital plans.
Summary
The players really got stuck into the scenario, with a particular mention in despatches for Andy who even turned up dressed up as Jonesy in full Home Guard uniform! Everyone played up their character's strengths and weaknesses, and there was a lot of laughter. The Gamemaster was much relieved! Here's a little
video of the game table:
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