The Battle of Durham 1938

Although, in some senses, this was the grand finale of the first season of our VBCW campaign, it does in fact stand apart as separate game in itself. The game was actually designed as a participation game in the club's annual celebration of all things TFL related - 'WorLard'.
As a consequence, the forces used were slightly modified from those used in the campaign so far. In essence all troops were rated Green and we removed as many automatic weapons and other items of a more 'military' nature as we could. Rifles, pistols and shotguns are the order of the day here.

The Market Place

Paradise Gardens

Paradise Lane

The table layout represents our best guess at how the city centre looked in 1938. The marketplace itself is little changed but the adjacent area of Paradise Lane and Paradise Gardens no longer exists, having been replaced by the Bishopgate shopping centre plus the A690 road junction and slip road.





In our fictitious alternative history, the local area is dominated by Communist inspired mining communities but the city itself is the scene of a power struggle between rival Albertine and Fascist factions. The University has raised a force in support of Prince Albert (the future King George VI) and is supported by local landowner Lord Farthingdale.








The Mosely government backed forces are represented by a force based upon HM Prison Durham supported by local BUF supporters. The Mayor, Teflon Blair, has so far succeeded in playing these factions off against each other.
The overall aim of the Fascist force is to carry out a rally in Durham marketplace; local shop owner Eddie Tattsyrup believes that he can persuade some of his fellow shopkeepers to join the Fascist cause. Eddie espouses traditional values of IGUGO and 6 inch moves for all, believing that this will sway the locals.
However, it is rumoured that the renowned anarchist ‘Big Rich the Rabble Rouser’ is hiding in the area of the Paradise gardens. Big Rich could be used by the Albertines to disrupt the rally with his talk of Free kriegsspiel and friction.
The fascists have also received intelligence that Mayor Teflon Blair is behind a secret leafleting campaign to undermine the Mosely government. They have been informed that the latest batch of leaflets is held in a strong box on the top floor of Proctors the Printers. They intend to seize these as proof of the Mayor’s duplicity. They also plan to use the rally as cover for a plot to snatch the Mayor himself.

The Rally Begins

 For their part, the Albertines also plan to seize the mayor and use Big Rich to disrupt the rally. Furthermore, in their efforts to eradicate the blight of fascism from the city they plan to firebomb the BUF office currently situated above Hepworth’s Menswear in the marketplace.
Although the University troops currently control access to Elvet Bridge and the route to the prison, the HMP Auxiliaries are still able to infiltrate the city via Baths Bridge. The Albertines also plan to close down access to this route by seizing the HMP Deployment Point in Paradise Gardens.

Major May in Tilly

The BUF opened the proceedings with Eddie Tattsyrup attracting half a dozen shopkeepers to the rally. Using this as diversion, Major May and a section of BUF made a dash for the Town Hall in a ‘Tilly’, narrowly missing Ma Whitmore as they sped by. Once there, they stormed into the Town Hall where they were lucky enough to find the Mayor in his chambers.

The Dons Disrupt the Rally

Whilst the fascist efforts were focussed on the Town Hall, a part of Dons in full academic dress had muscled in on the rally and were threatening Eddie and the Shopkeepers.

The Sacriston Hunt Joins in

In this the Dons were supported by the Estate Militia, led by Lady Penelope in her Pink Rolls Royce armoured car. At the wheel, Parker the chauffeur sped towards the Town Hall closely followed by the Sacriston Hunt, fully mounted and brandishing shotguns. Much to the surprise and consternation of ‘Unlucky Alf’ the toilet attendant.

Big Rich Apprehended

Whilst tension mounted in the market place, the Cathedral Bedesmen had been meticulously searching the town backsides. Here their patience paid off as they discovered Big Rich in his lair, despite the HMP Auxiliaries also combing the area with dog teams.

Lady Penelope Opens up

Meanwhile, the BUF had been quietly infiltrating the market place. One section had slipped into the Angel Inn where they spent the rest of the day drinking whilst another became inexplicably lost in the lingerie department of Doggarts. When a third section entered the marketplace, this was too much for Lady Penelope who opened up with the armoured car’s machine gun. Although no one was killed, this precipitated a general outbreak of hostilities. The huntsman tied their horses to the railings of the Gent’s lavatories and charged towards the Town Hall, where they discovered that the BUF had barricaded themselves in. However, the driver was dragged from the Tilly and taken prisoner. During the ensuing chaos, Eddie Tattsyrup inexplicably ‘fell’ down the stairs to the Gents, before the Dons ran for cover.

Moments Before the Explosion

Earlier in the day, Dr Pea’s Stinks and Bangs team, supported by the University Police, had slipped unnoticed into Hepworth’s menswear. Here they deftly avoided the attentions of Mr Humphreys who apparently was actually free. Making for the stairs they headed towards the BUF office. Outside a firefight had developed with a BUF section, ensconced in St Nicholas’ Church taking pot shots at the Chester Moor football team who had taken cover behind the brewery wagon. The Huntsmen, caught in the cross fire made a dash down the side of the church into Walkergate. Here they ran into a previously unseen section of BUF and a general melee ensued. With all seven Huntsmen armed with shotguns, the outcome was never in doubt. The BUF were wiped out to a man but predictably the Huntmaster Fitch-ffoukes bit the dust.
At this point, when the BUF morale was teetering, there was the sound of a huge explosion from the direction of Hepworths and smoke billowed from the windows of the BUF office. As the day came to a close, the BUF had retired leaving only a small section besieged in the Town Hall where they held the Mayor hostage.

                                                               

The Rabble Rouser himself. Rich Clarke of TooFatLardies at WorLard 2018.