"Will All Passengers for....."

Not North West Frontier; Part One

As per the previous post: the train left Haserabad in the wee small hours (as the film) and proceeded across the plains, testing at every Waypoint on the map..

The Dice were kind (see Events Table on previous post) and the group arrived at the first Watering Stop, Bivanda-Pura just after Middday, without incident.

A test revealed that the preceding refugee train was in situ (again, as in the movie), and seems to have been ambushed, so Cpt. Scott took his sepoys to check out the station area before allowing the engine to proceed....

After some slow sneaking, going into Overwatch and testing (dice throw) every four moves for suspicious activity, the soldiers moved through the Station building; "checking out" (basically "kick in the door and look, with the safety off") each room and the train carriages. 

It is clear there has been a horrid massacre... Things are tense as the trio move into the station area...



Despite the grim sight - and a noisy whistle malfunction on "Victoria" (swiftly dealt with by ever-reliable Gupta) - nothing positively hostile reveals itself, so Cpt. Scott waves Gupta to bring the train forward to allow it to take on water.... 

Once the train pulls up the soldiers stay on alert (there is still an Enemy Activity Test every four moves).

Despite orders to stay on the train Mrs. Whyatt and Mr. van Leyden get down from the carriage (there is a test mechanism for this) and, again, things seem to be following the movie script.

While Gupta and Sepoy Khamal water "Victoria", Mrs. Whyatt searches the refugee train, while Mr.van Leyden watches from a distance (he failed his "search the train" test) and Cpt. Scott quietly has kittens....

Still no enemy appear (the dice do not even call for an Activity Type check) but Mrs. Whyatt discovers, hidden beneath the bodies, a wounded European, the "Loafer" Mister Random. He is helped out of the refugee carriage and escorted to our heroes' train. 

Mrs. W. searches the rest of the train, but finds no other survivors. Mr. van Leyden simply observes and makes notes for his next article. The watering operation is completed.



With relief, Captain Scott orders "All Aboard" - he wants out of here as soon as possible...

Everyone scurries onto the train and, after a final test (even a single sniper could upset things even at this stage) the train steams off towards the Hills - and its next encounter.....

The Watering Stop has had an effect on the Victory conditions (the point of the game being Captain Scott's reputation and future career prospects) in that Cpt. Scott gets some reflected glory (1VP) in the saving of Mister random (had he or his soldiers found the guy he would get more VPs). Nobody injured or lost, so no negatives..

There is also a "Romantic Sub-Plot" re. Cpt. Scott and Mrs. Whyatt; the final result of which can affect Cpt. Scotts personal VP score. As the train pulls out it is realised that nobody properly searched (as opposed to the cursory, if soldierly, "checking out") the Station Buildings for survivors. Cpt. Scott will not go back despite Mrs. Whyatt's complaint, so loses -4 on the Romance Tally. However, Mrs Whyatt found a survivor herself despite instructions, so there is an "I told you so" bonus (Cpt. Scott manfully accepts he was wrong) of +6 which makes up for the spat.

All in all this was a tense little encounter. No rebels appeared, but it was still exciting - at this point of the journey no firearms have been issued to the civilians (an oversight - the rifles are still locked up on the Service Area of the train) so that things could have turned very nasty very quickly...

The train will steam into the plain west of Bivanda-Pura, then up into the Nagil Uplands - where movement will be reduced and the train more vulnerable to attack.. More to follow.....