The Battle of Bournemouth, 1907
A Scenario for Viktoria!
When Professor Smithers-Clydewell (a lifetime pigeon fancier) first taught one of his favorite feathered friends to speak English, he had no idea that it would prove to be essential to the security of the Realm, and yet so it turned out. "Fluffles" - the pigeon in question - had been blown out over the Channel on what was supposed to be a direct flight to a fellow fancier's home in Dover, but while airborne spotted what was clearly an invasion fleet ("White flags black crosses coooooh... so many boats cooooh!"). When he heard the pigeon describe it, the Dover pigeon-fancier - an ex-Royal Marine - was quick to sound the alarm.
And so it was that instead of landing unopposed on the Dorsetshire coast, Feldmarshall Falkenhorst faces a motley crowd of drunken, disorderly militia well-armed, well-organized force of His Majesty's finest! Worse yet, a lucky shell sinks the lighter bringing most of the cavalry's horses ashore - almost all of them will have to fight on foot!
Despite this set-back, the Germanic invaders are not without some advantages: they have been secretly playing with the latest technological wonders, and hope thereby to gain the upper hand. These include a flying machine, fitted with bombs, and a land battleship, "das Kaiserliche Landschlachtschiff," bearing a remarkable number of machineguns. With support from an armored cruiser offshore, the Prussians are still confident of success!
And it doesn't end there - the unsuspecting British have been infiltrated by spies and fifth-columnists, ready to make their presence known when it matters... In addition to which, they have armed their wives and daughters and kitted them out in hussar's uniforms! (Apparently, the Kaiser has a weakness for Prinzessin Viktoria - who in turn has a weakness for hussars, somewhat unsurprisingly).
Prinzessin Viktoria surrounded by some of her favorites (her cousin has a preference for dragoons, it seems)!
Against such perfidy, the British - good, solid gentlemen the lot - have few defenses, but they are damned if they will allow the Prussians to waltz in and conquer Britannia's pastures green without a fight! They have assembled Lord Balfour's local Yeomanry from neighboring Hampshire, and summoned a sizeable force of regulars, backed up by the Royal Artillery. Even the local lads from the pub down the road have come, not wanting to miss out on the fun.
Their only secret weapon - unless you count Sir Henry Thompson's beagle - is the Lady Agatha. She is admittedly eccentric, but also quite wealthy, and as a Spiritualist, she is sometimes the target of idle gossip. But when the Hun comes knocking she can pull togther a group of her associates from her Saturday evening seances, and they can help confuse the enemy with their mesmeric trickery! Her niece Dorothy keeps an eye on her, and puts up with the Spiritualist nonsense, but she's also a crack shot, so she manages to make herself quite useful, one way and another (and further, she can drive the new-fangled motorized carriage her aunt bought for her on her last birthday, whatever good a horseless carriage can do on a battlefield!) And the two are always found in the company of the absent-minded Professor Smithers-Clydewell, pigeon-fancier, trans-species linguist, and inventor. Besides doting on the two females and his pet birds, he is sometimes found to have fabricated the most incredible things!
It will be up to this assorted company to make sure that the invaders get no further inland than Exton-on-Sea! (And certainly not so far as Lady Agatha's Dower House...) For beyond that - just up the coast road - lies Bournemouth. And if Bournemouth falls, local life will never, ever be the same!
The tabletop shows a section of the Dorsetshire coast near Bournemouth. The headland and the other smaller hill are both rough and provide soft cover. Exton-on-Sea provides hard cover for figures inside the buildings. The Dower House is a large park surrounded by hedges (soft cover) but featuring a large stone house which provides hard cover. The woods is rough and will provide soft cover. The enclosure is a field surrounded by a stone wall, which provides hard cover, but the field itself is not rough.
British forces can deploy anywhere on land, with the exception that Lady Agatha must start in or adjacent to the Dower House, accompanied by the Professor, her niece Dorothy, and the members of her seance circle. They may begin the game in the motorised carriage. They function as a unit and may not be separated.
Prussian forces will march onto the table from the West along the coastal road. The SMS Lothringen may be positioned anywhere off the coast, but is always considered to be at the longest range both for conducting and receiving fire. The SMA Walküre can enter from anywhere on the ocean edge of the table.
Lord Balfour: Officer armed with sword and pistol, mounted. Commanding...
Hampshire Carabineers (Mounted): 10 Average cavalrymen armed with sword and carbine.
Hampshire Carabineers (Dismounted): 15 Average infantry armed with sword and carbine.
Colonel Ponsonby: Officer, mounted, armed with sword and pistol. Commanding...
Connaught Rangers: 14 Veteran infantry armed with bayonet and rifle (officer has sword & pistol), one sargeant.
South Wales Borderers: 14 Average infantry armed with bayonet and rifle (officer has sword & pistol), one sargeant.
Scots Guards: 14 Veteran infantry armed with bayonet and rifle (officer has sword & pistol), one sargeant.
Gun, Royal Field Artillery: Field artillery piece with 4 Average crew armed with pistols.
Spotters, Royal Garrison Artillery: Three Average spotters, armed with pistols - can call in fire for off-board heavy artillery.
The Dower House Crowd
Lady Agatha: Character, armed with hair pin. Will detect a spy within 9 inches on a 1-5 in 6, when they are activated.
Mesmerists: 3 robed Spiritualists (unarmed Characters) capable of mesmeric attacks. They have Hannibal's Lectern (see Special Rules, below).
Dorothy: Character armed with pistol (may use as club). Can drive the motorized carriage (see Special Rules, below).
Professor Smithers-Clydewell: Character armed with a walking stick. May command automatons (see Special Rules below).
Automaton (Speargun): An Elite soldier armed with mounted lance and one improvised attack (allowed 2 attacks). May fire speargun as carbine (see below). Armored as Hard Cover.
Automaton: An Elite soldier armed with a machinegun and two improvised attacks (allowed 2 attacks). Armored as Hard Cover.
Sir Henry Thompson (and Beagle): Officer (may command any troops), armed with rifle. His beagle will sniff out a spy on a 1-4 in 6, when activated, if within 12 inches. Commanding...
The Lads from the Rose and Thorn: 15 Conscripts armed with rifles and bombs (may throw up to 2 per turn).
Kapitan Katherina-Louise: Officer, mounted, armed with sword and pistol. Commands...
Prinzessin Viktoria's Husarerin: 13 Veteran dismounted cavalrywomen armed with sword and carbine. Includes one NCO.
Hussarerin Artillery Detachment: Field gun and 4 Veteran crew, armed with pistols.
Spotters, for SMS Lothringen's Heavy Artillery: 3 veteran infantry, armed with pistols.
Prinz Frederich Wollkorn-Blauschmittel: Officer, mounted, armed with sword and pistol. Commanding...
Uhlan Detachment: 11 Average dismounted cavalry, armed with sword and carbine.
Jager Detachment: 12 Veteran infantrymen, armed with rifle and bayonet.
Line Infantry: 14 Average infantrymen, armed with rifle and bayonet.
Oberstleutnant Karl Zweiherzen: Officer, mounted, armed with sword and pistol. Commanding...
Landschlactshiff SML Das Reich: Slow transport armed with 5 machineguns (see Special Rules), Counts as Fortification. Driver and two Average MG gunners as crew.
Hussar Detachment: 6 Average mounted cavalrymen, armed with sword and carbine.
Armored Cruiser SMS Lothringen: Offshore battery - two heavy field guns each with 3 Average crew. Counts as hard cover. (See Special Rules). Self-commanding - Feldmarshall Falkenhorst will remain safely on board the cruiser during all combat!
Luftschiff SMA Walküre: An Average airship capable of dropping 1 bomb per turn (see Special Rules). Crew is integral.
Spies and Infiltrators: Count as Elite infantry, armed as appropriate to type. See Special Rules below.
Mesmerists: There are three mesmerists, and they have in their possession "Hannibal's Lectern," a device which can project mesmeric force in a broad arc when operated by one of them. It works like other mesmeric attacks, but has the range of a machine gun. Hannibal's Lectern is heavy, and can only be moved using the motorized carriage. It requires an entire Advance move to be loaded/unloaded from the carriage, from a position adjacent.
Motorized Carriage: The motorized carriage is a fast vehicle, providing only soft cover to its occupants. Its only driver is Dorothy. It has room inside for Dorothy, Lady Agatha, the Professor, all three mesmerists, and Hannibal's Lectern all at the same time (carrying capacity of 5 plus the boot).
Automatons: At the start of each turn, roll two dice. On a score of 10 or better, the Professor will remember that he has two automatons stored in one of the houses in the village (his workshop). They can be activated remotely (by pigeon, of course) and will then proceed to do whatever he wants until he is killed, at which point they will become dormant, lacking orders. The speargun will ignore cover of any type, being designed to penentrate armor and the walls of buildings.
SMS Lothringen: The armored cruiser is stationed off the coast, and functions as a pair of heavy field guns, each with 3 Average crew. The ship does not move, but is considered always to be at the lomgest range for the purposes of artillery fire (other weapons cannot rech it). Once 3 crewmen are put out of action, one gun goes silent, representing damage to the guns. All tests taken by the crew assume they are in hard cover.
Landschlactshiff SML Das Reich: This is a heavily armorted steam-driven tank. It has an integral driver, as well as two Average machine gunners, who may each fire any of its machineguns in any given turn. It moves as a dismounted transport. Fire against it or its crew is considered to be in fortifications.
Airship SMA Walküre: The dirigible is played according to normal rules. Each turn, it may place a field artillery blast within 6 inches of its base (use a Fire Artillery" action) with the altitude dictating the range (you cannot drop bombs when on the ground). The Weather rules should be used, checking at the start of every turn. Wind direction is directly onshore at the start of play, and conditions are Calm (it is morning and the sun is coming up). Integral crew is Average.
Spies and Fifth Columnists: At the start of play, the Prussian side will roll a hidden die, and add 2 to determine the number of enemy figures who are actually their agents. They may designate any British figures as spies which are not officers or characters and which are in a regular or Yeomanry unit (the Hamsphire Carabineers) or are lads from down the pub. Each spy may choose to go into action whenever their unit is itself given the initiative. Before the unit itself acts, the spy will perform their own action, equipped as the figure they are impersonating, but rated Elite. Before they act, however, Henry Thompson's beagle and/or Lady Agatha may roll to detect them. If detected, they are immediately suppressed and are removed from play before acting. The shock of being infiltrated will cause a morale check in their unit, even if their subsequent actions to not cause a casualty.
The Germans are hoping to establish a foothold on English soil. To do this, they must capture the village of Exton-on-Sea and the Dower House. If they are prevented from doing so, the the British will be triumphant.
If the Germanic forces lose 6 units (including rendering vehicles or ships combat ineffective by destroying all weapons/crews) or officers, they will withdraw, leaving the field to the defenders. If the British forces lose 5 units or officers (with both automatons counting as a single unit) they they will concede the field and hope to stop the Hun before he reaches London!