Open for Business

The Ascension Savings Bank is now open for business, despite being an empty shell at the moment; I’ll get the inside done at some point, I promise.

Ascension is a boom town; first to come were was the traders and merchants, taking advantage of it’s “free port” status to get around trade blockades, and later the jet setting elites of the late 1930’s on the newfangled airships. Originally the travellers would just transfer and travel to their new destination but many now party or gamble the night away before continuing onward; Some even come just to experience the night life in Ascension, now selling itself as “The Atlantic Vegas”

In the days before internet banking and credit cards, all these wealthy people also needed access to cash (or more likely, credit); exchange currency for their destination country; and if they are very fortunate, somewhere to pay their winnings into their account before travelling onward.

It didn’t take long for someone to realise that whoever was the first to provide all these services would get quite ridiculously wealthy, and surprise, surprise, many of the consortium behind the casino are backing this project as well.

Equally unsurprising, the bank is already attracting the attention of a number of less official organisations who have heir own views on where some of this money should go…

Steep hills

It’s a travelling to Stuttgart weekend so it seems appropriate to look at some developments in the Stuttgart tram network, and not just because it is high time I had some railway based material on here.

Uniquely in Germany, the city of Stuttgart is in a deep valley. No-one seems sure why this is, but one result of is the Zahnradbahn or rack railway running 2,2 km or 1.3 miles from Marienplatz in the inner suburbs up to Degerloch, 204m or 670 feet higher. That’s a gradient of 17% or 1 in 6.

The line is metre gauge and has been entirely isolated since the city converted the rest of the network to German standard gauge. However, the city kept this link and has recently introduced new trams, which it really rather needed. It also introduced much longer bike carriers, which is very helpful for this tree hugging hippy: I have on occasion pushed my bike from the centre to the top of the valley, but I’d prefer not to repeat the experience.

The bike wagons were in fact so full that when I used this tram on my regular commute from college, bike locked to a lamp post at the top of the valley. From there it was a mere five minutes ride to the forest that surrounds the city and thence to my home village.

The bike was never disturbed; it was such a posh neighbourhood I was more worried about it being removed as a vanguard of the peasant uprising than being stolen…

Standing “Stones”

After much effort the bank of Ascension is taking shape, such as it is.

After feeling rather smug at being able to make the window and door prints fit as designed, I realised that I now have to paint the rest of the frontage to match the off-white I used for the window surrounds. I’ll also need to extend those corner stones around the um… corners, so that it’s at least pretending to be built of solid stone.

As usual this would be much easier if I actually planned ahead instead of trying to sort out problems as I go along…

Shallow Edifice

The next project on the list is a bank, and for once I actually started the model instead of getting distracted.

The Bank of Ascension naturally wants to project wealth, stability, and reliability to attract the custom of wealthy tourists. To do this they have commissioned a classical frontage, made from stone brought to the island at great expense. It will feature all kinds of cornices, accolades, scrolls, quoins, and other things I learned about online while researching this project.

In keeping with the general theme of Ascension, the less visible parts of the bank will probably be made of any old rubbish…

Jewelled Tome II

Time for another story from Ascension Island. In our previous story a new gang calling themselves the “40 Elephants” has turned up on the island. London has become a bit to hot for them, so they are trying new territory and this new travel hub/destination of the rich and famous seemed ideal. In the last episode they managed to get away with a mysterious “Jewelled tome” in a security van. Now they have hidden the Jewelled tome in the islands power station and are trying to make contact with a buyer, but the military police aren’t far behind…

The Buyer, a “mysterious Heiress” (Don’t ask me, I just roll the dice) has pulled up at the agreed meeting point in front of the casino.

The leader of the gang, Alice diamond, and her sidekick, Jim Bullock, approach from a side alley…

Suddenly the Island’s military police force arrive, having had a tip off that the deal is about to take place. As they have two cars now, they can approach from two different sides of the town…

This is a serious inconvenience to two of the gang, who were quietly sneaking into a factory yard to steal some small machinery for other nefarious purposes.

Alice sees the police and hesitates, but despite her orders Jim carries on to go and talk to the Heiress about terms and delivery.

This does not go well. The Heiress is not interested in talking with one of the labouring classes and ignores him.

Meanwhile two other gang members are running as fast as their heels will allow, to get to the machinery that Alice told them to steal. Unfortunately Captain Bryant has noticed them and approaches to investigate.

The 40 Elephants don’t seem to have got their various tasks very well allocated today; while Shirlie and Florrie risk damaged nails while dragging the heavy boxes, Mary Carr, who is quite at home dealing with Explosives, is sent to deal with some turf negotiations between the gang and Col. Lawrence. It turns out that she is to negotiations what Jim is to smooth talking heiresses. Unfortunately Alice has also forbidden any shooting which rather cramps her style.

Meanwhile Alice has taken over negotiations from Jim, and Lieutenant Cain of the RNAD Police has noticed the commotion. Jim grins; this is more his thing. He takes a swing at the policeman and fisticuffs ensue.

Meanwhile Shirley and Florrie try to steal the mysterious machine Alice has sent them to get. Unfortunately the area around it is ‘perilous’, so I have to turn a card for a random challenge. This reveals that both need to roll a four or above in their ‘finesse’ skills. Unfortunately, they don’t.

Williams, who has managed to avoid whatever peril is lurking in the box, offers help, but Florrie tells him in some well chosen words what he can do with such an offer and the two pick themselves up and leave the area. (again, a dice roll; they’re both “out” which I take to mean fed up and leaving.

As Bryant and Williams assistance is not required by the two women, they head for the alleged hiding place of the tome. Bryant is confronted with a locked door, but as he turns to ask Williams to go and get the key, his Sargent deals with the problem using a size 12 boot. They head for the boiler room…

At the same time Alice has the information she needed from the Mysterious Heiress and Jim pushes a way through the police. The pair run to the power station, where Jim applies the Sgt Williams approach to locked doors. It doesn’t work.

Recognising that this requires more finesse than muscle Alice yells at Jim to keep the police at bay and picks the lock. She runs inside and…

Amongst the machinery Sgt. Williams is searching for the Jewelled tome; I really need to paint the machinery because I couldn’t see anything. Fortunately the Sargent could and he collected the Jewelled Tome.

Jim ran into the power station to help Alice, followed by Lieutenant Cain, meaning that on a table 1m x 1m (3″ x 3″) almost all the characters still in the game were battling it out in a tiny space in one building. Still, that’s how Pulp is supposed to end, in a big cliffhanger ending full of fisticuffs and drama…

The arrival of Lt. Cain tipped the balance. Outnumbered and realising the Jewelled Tome was in Sgt. Williams possession, the 40 Elephants turned tail. Jim escaped through the back door while Alice ran out the front…

…where she leapt into the limousine belonging to the Mysterious Heiress. This sped off in a screech of tyres and a clatter of bullets…

So the 40 Elephants escaped, but without their prize. The police will now try and return it to its rightful owner, but the criminals aren’t going to give up that easily. Who will have final possession of the book, and what secrets does it contain? Find out (maybe) in the next thrilling instalment of “The Jewelled Tome”…

Vintage Gangsta

So with another police car, there had to be another bigger, better Gangster car. If the previous getaway car was for the lower order thugs to escape from their nefarious crimes, this one is for the upper class of mob society.

It’ll probably still end up being chased by the local police at some point, but at least it will do it in style…

Show the Way

The search continues for vaguely appropriate details for an 1930’s alternative history. Road signs seemed a good bet, and I had a vague memory of some very distinctive British road signs from my dad’s old toys that I’d played with as a child.

A certain amount of on-line searching revealed a catalogue of old designs as a PDF that could be cut and pasted and printed out on paper. That’s me using technology, that is.

After that it was back to the usual. The printouts were mounted on thin card and the edges hidden using marker pens, which worked pretty well; I’ll have to remember that. The poles were wooden dowels, while the bases are card on steel washers to avoid Horizontal Sign Syndrome.

The red parts should really be a hollow frame but I think some artistic licence can be allowed…

Habit Forming

Yes, I know, I’m late again. This is likely to get worse over the next few weeks with work and family commitments. There is some light at the end of the tunnel but it’s going to take time to get there.

So, once again I decided to do one of the “simple” jobs I’d lined up and convert another police car. There’s no reason for this, other than wanting a second police car for tabletop gaming.

Sometimes I’m shocked by my own decadence, I really am.

“RNAS” by the way, stands for “Royal Naval Air Service”. This used to be the air arm of the British Navy, which was merged with the Royal Flying Corps in 1918 to create what is now the Royal Air Force. In my alternative time line, WW1 ended in 1917, and the Royal Naval Air Service uses airships for long distance flights to the Empire. Ascension has long been a supply point for ships, so naturally the RNAS built an aerodrome there too.

The Island should have its own civilian police by now to go with the civilian government, but the UK is a bit busy with an abdication crisis which in this time line is rapidly turning into a civil war, so replacing the military police isn’t a priority at the moment.

Supplying vehicles to a tiny island in the middle of nowhere isn’t a priority either so the cars are a collection of hand-me downs from other more important bases, which is to say, anywhere else. They also come in whatever colour they are using, which is why this one is painted for use on aerodromes with a yellow roof so airships can see them, and hopefully avoid landing on them. It also conveniently means that I can have a “good cop, bad cop” police chase without losing track of which car is which…

Pulp Game: The Jewelled Tome

Ascension 1938; the tiny 9 1/2 mile (13,7km) long island in the mid-Atlantic has become a centre of international trade and a stopover for airships carrying the rich and famous, the unscrupulous and the downright criminal.

Amongst the latter are the oddly named 40 Elephants Gang (link) , a largely female gang of thieves who started shoplifting in fashionable parts of London, but are branching out into other areas. They have been contracted to steal a package allegedly containing a mysterious “Jewelled Tome” being kept in the Montaro Warehouse and due for transport today.

Captain Bryant of the Royal Naval Air Service police, which is the only police force on the Island, has been tipped off and his small squad are rushing to stop the heist…

The 40 Elephants have moved in just as the Jewelled Tome was loaded into the van. The crew have escaped and had the presence of mind to lock the door on the way.

Getting into the van takes some time. Above Jim Bullock, the Leaders Sidekick and the main muscle, is trying to smash a window on the left, while Shirlie Pitts is using her cunning to pick the lock.

Meanwhile gang leader Alice Diamond (L) and follower Florrie Holmes (R) use their combined finesse to remove a fuse from a power switch, so no-one can raise the alarm…

Fortunately Capt. Bryant and the RNAS police are already near the scene. Bryant and Lt. Cain get into the car while Sgt Williams and Sgt. Coulson scout out the alleyways.

Immediately Williams spots “Matron Fox” of the Auxiliary police, and a local character known as “Lev the Anarchist”, lurking around several crates marked “Explosives”. He moves in to investigate and Fox, unwisely under the circumstances, takes a shot at him while hiding behind the crates. His returning shot predictably hits the boxes of TNT which go bang, whereupon she loses any further interest in the affair. ‘Lev’, is unscathed, apparently immune to explosives.

Meanwhile, Capt. Bryant and Lt. Cain are racing through the narrow streets in the police car.

Fortunately for the Police, Shirlie and Jim appear to be working at cross purposes. As Shirlie later explained “I woz tryin’ to open the door, and every time oi got moi skeleton key in der lock, Jim would ‘it the van on the ovver side so it’d fell out again, and then I’d try again and ee’d ‘it it again.” Eventually however Jim “Jemmied it good” allowing them both access to the vehicle.

They roared out of the yard, and…

Meanwhile, it turns out the explosives were a consignment the Auxiliaries were intending to sell to the 40E Gang, presumably to open the van later. Diamond and Holmes approached but hearing gunshots narrowly avoided a confrontation.

The van itself, driven by Jim, is trying to escape the police. Jim turns wildly down an alleyway…

…with the police in hot pursuit. The other member of the 40e Gang, Mary Carr, can be seen in the distance, Not to be outdone she fires a volley at the police car but fails to cause serious damage.

However, all is not well for Jim in the van. in turning down the alley he hits an oil slick and loses control (The random peril was finesse, which Bullock isn’t good at); the van careens forward, smashes into a wall, narrowly missing Diamond, and slams into the building opposite. Being a security van this doesn’t do a lot of damage, but it does stop them.

The police are in a difficult position now; if they go forward they risk hitting the same oil slick and crashing themselves. Bryant opts to block the escape and let the rest of the squad move in.

Williams gets to the van first but is foiled by Diamond. He’s focused on Jim Bullock in the van, makes the mistake of ignoring the petite blonde and regrets it when bullets start zinging around his helmet.

While Diamond distracts Williams, Bullock has managed to reverse the van, The road behind is blocked but he manages to change gear and races off up the road; the chase is on; again.

Jim Bullock and Shirlie Pitts race off in the truck, with the “Jewelled Tome” still in the back. Bryant sets off in Pursuit, passing the random peril for the control check and incidentally somehow passing Alice Diamond unscathed, despite her firing a full revolver at him from point blank range.

As this was turn 6 the 40 Elephants had “Won,” making this a successful début on the island, but the RNAS police won’t be far behind; they can’t be on an Island less than ten miles long…

While all this was happening, Florrie Holmes had slipped off to a quieter corner, and found a box of what looks suspiciously like hooch, which she then purloined on General principles. As Ascension has become a regular dropping off point for Mafia deliveries of booze to the US, this may come back to bite her at a later date…

Bulk Delivery

I sometimes wonder why I’m like this. Most Tabletop gamers, the sort with things like a social life, create scenarios in a couple of minutes based on a cursed temple, a mad scientist creating giant spiders, or a zombie army out for revenge, and have at it. My scenario is based around the Imperial Preference trade treaties of the 1930’s. I wish I was making that up but I’m not.

Don’t panic; I’m not going into too much detail. In the real world, Britain got into a bit of a spat with Argentina over trade, it was quickly resolved and everyone moved on with their lives.

In my world, this escalated into a trade war between much of South America and Europe, which bunged up trade, which cost money. This made some rich people upset, so a number of “free ports” were set up which could trade with both sides so they technically could get around the problem, without the politicians looking weak.

Ascension was one of these ports, which made it the place to be for traders, smugglers, et c, which gives me lots of possible stories, but also means I have to make “cargo” to fit them. Hence the big piles of boxes; to represent goods/contraband being transported/traded/smuggled/stolen/pirated.

As part of the games of course, various characters will in their turn attempt to steal/trade/blow up said boxes, use them as a hiding place, or possibly all of the above…