What has happened to Flashy ??????????

Rozwi_Game10 wrote:And so...

...Heinrich von Blitzmann, Pour le Mérite, Order of the Red Eagle, House Order of Hohenzollern

...is born.

[if I've got the 'translation' wrong then forgive me, German isn't my strong suit - as in, I'm ignorant of it]

Does the above mean that Roy is now going to play a single scrabble character called "Heinrich von Blitzmann" in scrabble?

A German with a load of army medels.....what could possibly go wrong? And how could anyone think you are a spy?

Got enough on my plate with the three games I already play, is the honest answer. But just imagine the chaos if British Flashman and German Blitzmann both were pursuing the same goals, and opposed to each other!

August 1860 Britannic Times has shown up and for non players in Scabble here are the highlights/lowlights depending on how you see things:

- In a major shock the Opium Cartel (now re-branded as the Albion Corporation) has passed Rossia and is now top of the Prestige List.......what is that old saying about you can fool all of the people some of the time? The Prestige of this alliance of Triads and British Hongs seem to be based on charitable donations and first rate public relations since as a trade concern they are clearly 2nd rate. 6th rate and hardly making any profit at all if their tax returns are anywhere near correct. Though in the words of Lord Derby there are "lies, damn lies and Opium Cartel tax returns". It will be interesting to see if current investigations by Sir Quentin and the ISB can shine some some light on this evil but oddly well thought of Organization.

- More good news for the Opium Cartel is that British Courts in Bombay declined to consider a case concerning the land they stole in Sarat to build a Port as being outside the area of authority. The fact that the Port is twenty miles from a railway and you can not get to it other than across temple land would seem to limit its value from a commercial point of view. Being outside of the "law" or at least the authority of British Courts would seem to be a bit of a mixed blessing (free fire zone?).

- The German Kaiser seems to have gone nuts.

- A German Army under Field Marshal Otto Model has made to to Casablanca, but without artillery quite what he can do to this fortress is not clear.

- In the America's Sir Charles Ogle seems to be trying to recruit the US Army into corporate activity while President Alaxander Stephens of the CSA was also meeting with British Diplomats. Meanwhile down in New Orleans Lord Weatherbee has arranged to marry a local Southern Belle....Miss Catherine McGehee. Seems that the vision of the "Transatlantic Nation" is still alive a well in many quarters and perhaps some day the lost colonies will be welcomed back into the British Empire by the Motherland and sales of tea and cricket bats will rocket.

Opponents of this glorous vision in Dyers are still fighting but are slowly being shelled into seeing the "light". Perhaps of greater concern to the development of a Transatlantic Nation which also extends form shining sea to shining sea is the fact that so many local landowners in the South West seem to happy to ally with the Russian Empire.

- Russian expansion in the Orient currently seems to be on hold, it has not even got a toe hold in what used to be called the "Great Game" but in Siberia the vision of Rossia as a great Asian Power and the double headed Eagle flying over the warm waters of the Pacific seems alive and well and kicking Koreva.

- While the Rossian Navy continued to raid behind them the Koreva Field Army which seems to include every man the King & Queen could raise decided not to engage the reinforced Rossian Army in Pusan and retreated again from Western Pusan into the Rossian allied province of Yong. The retreat enabled the defeated Korevan Army to avoid a second major battle but with Cossacks cutting up any stragglers and generally acting like Cossacks do when faced with the back of a retreating Army the has probably not been kind on morale and Cohesion of many Korevan Units.

The question now is will the Korevan forces attempt to rally in Yong or keep retreating. In Yong they are still on hostile territory which may make life harder for the Army but if the King and Queen abandon the invasion and lead a defeated Army back into Koreva how many men esp from the raided provinces will disperse back home? And how many Lords will abandon the King & Queen for Lord Yong and his Rossian allies?

- A major riot has rocked the Port of Colombo.........no one is sure what caused the riots but far away Dr Fu-Manchu has promised further blows against all European Barbarians. So far his ire has mostly been against the British HEIC and the Tea Cartel in Colombo but the mad Doctor can not be happy about the Germans holding Tsing-Tao in his home province or see the slow but steady growth of Russian Power to his north as anything but a possible threat even if Russia is a semi Asian power.

The Czar may claim the Asian title of the "Khan of Khans" but is this really a comfort to a Chin Nationalist? Esp when the Russian Army is busy saying that their victory in Pusan over the satanic hordes is due to divine providence and the faith of the troops "Proof positive that God loves the Russian Army"

- Finally the really important news - Lord Hardinge has lost a foot but has otherwise made a full recovery but sadly the great Flashy seems to be no more. The Porcelain Potion he was force feed should put someone into a frozen state of suspended animation, making them appear dead but the problem is a probably toxic potion was feed to a already badly wounded man and it is probable that the body can only stay in the fake death stage for so long before either the "Liquid Smoke" cure is given or the body actually dies........poor Flashy:(

Qu does the Scabble tread need a new title and what should it be? I was thinking:

"The Empire Strikes Back"

"Revenge of the HEIC"

or "The Transatlantic Nation and other tall tales"

Hmmm, now question is...assuming a certain doctor has an antidote...could he show mercy to his enemies...

Jason wrote:Hmmm, now question is...assuming a certain doctor has an antidote...could he show mercy to his enemies...

Will the British show any mercy to Dr Fu Manchu? Or has the first shots of the Opium War been fired in a Hotel Bedroom in Bombay?

The Empire Strikes Back does have a ring to it.

The good "doctor" might do himself a favor if he provides the item in question. Otherwise, the concept of "guts for garters" might well be in his future.

revvaughan wrote:The Empire Strikes Back does have a ring to it.  

The good "doctor" might do himself a favor if he provides the item in question.  Otherwise, the concept of "guts for garters" might well be in his future.  

Perhaps "What has happened to Flashy" could be replaced by "What has happened to Dr Fu-Manchu"

Though perhaps we do not want to scare new players too badly?

But who is there to counter the cunning of the Doctor? Sherlock Holmes is (if I remember aright) already dead (in game) and I haven't seen Nathan Smith mentioned?

Richard Hannay might be the man for the job...but we're a number of years early...is Quartermain kicking about in Africa?

Jason wrote:But who is there to counter the cunning of the Doctor?  Sherlock Holmes is (if I remember aright) already dead (in game) and I haven't seen Nathan Smith mentioned?

Richard Hannay might be the man for the job...but we're a number of years early...is Quartermain kicking about in Africa?

To the best of anyones knowledge Sherlock Holmes is alive and well but keeping a low profile even since his man Dr Watson was caught red handed with a set of stolen blue prints for the HEIC latest machine gun.

Rather than match wits and cunning with the Doctor in the back streets of Canton I suspect the Brits are more likely to shell the whole place flat. The Russians have Von Sternburg in their employ but also tend towards simple, direct and brutal.

Which leaves the one man with the brains, cunning and gile to take on the Doctor and save Western Civilization from the yellow peil.......our Hero Otto Von Bismarck

Bizzie is still wrestling with a few personal issues. But once extricated from North Africa the successful German navy will be heading with the army to the Far East !

Basileus wrote:Bizzie is still wrestling with a few personal issues. But once extricated from North Africa the successful German navy will be heading with the army to the Far East !

Bizzie and the Orient Corp v Fu-Manchu to decide the fate of Western Civilization in the East! How can anything go wrong?

Anyone know what caused the Boxer Rebellion?

I think there is a BBC In Our Time podcast on the Boxer Rebellion.

Basileus wrote:I think there is a BBC In Our Time podcast on the Boxer Rebellion.

Did it say anything about the Boxer Rebellion being a reaction to really offensive Tuba playing?

September 1860 Britannic Times has shown up and we are now able to answer the question at the top of this thread

- Following the failure of attempts to get him out of a potion induced coma....the great and heroic Flashman is no more! His final resting place being a marble tomb looking out over the Bombay Oval Cricket ground. Its the way he would have wanted to go!

It seems like the three remaing kidnappers and killers of Flashman have broken down and started to give up names. Dr Fu-Manchu and General Wichung are safe in China but it seems that James Cornel and Mr Spalding only just got out of India ahead of the law and now have a £2M price on their heads. The HEIC do however seem to have managed to arrest Spaldings Security detachment and all the workers he had employed in Surat. While back in London Chief Inspector Chamberlain tried to arrest John Smith but he was protected by the infamous legal friend of Drug Dealers and general bounders Judge Jeffries.

- Meanwhile while the legal pressure builds up on the lower ranks of the Opium Cartel its infamous leaders - Lord Farnworth and Gladstone continue to pose as whiter than white public benefactors. The truely shocking thing is how many still believe the bare faced lies of the "Treason Two" (Opium Cartel AKA the Albion Corporation is now top of the Prestige list!)

In other news:

- The German Siege of Casablanca seems be going no were fast. Due to lack of Heavy Guns the Germans have elected to starve the Port Fortress out but on land they are suffering from raids from outside the siege lines with one party of raiders taking Josiah Woodall captive. While at sea the blockade is being carried out by Admiral Max von der Goltz and his Squadron of "underwasser whale hunters"......a form of Submarine which spends most of his time on the surface and seems to be about as safe to use as Austrian and Italian Airships. Oh the plus side Bismarck right arm is now fully healed so the Germans now have the option of breaking the Moors by making them listen to the terrible sound of Bismarck tuba! The problem here is that the Moors have spent a lifetime listening to strangled camels so are tougher than most against the terrible tuba.

- Russian diplomacy seems to be making progress in the South West of America and has even been noted by the British who think people are idiots to trust the supreme Autocrat of all the Russia's. Meanwhile the British siege of Dayton passed by with a change of Commander, more British reinforcements and not much action.

- Lot of trade talk, movement of plant and even construction of 16 power stations seems to be going on in various parts of the America's.
No one seems quite sure why the Opium Cartel want with 16 power stations or what the Russians are doing in the South West but its clear that if Dayton falls the Brits will have linked Canada to the Mississipi and cut the Americas in two.

- In the Far East the Korean Army seems to have got away from Cossacks and the Russian Navy trying to blockade the Yalu River and escaped from Yong with only one more battlalion of spearmen machine gunned. While some say the great battle was something like a draw the fact that the Russian were able to hold their ground and have their wounded treated under cover by aspecialist medical unit while their foes retreated across hosile territory pursued by fresh cossacks means the battle is looking ever more like a Russian Victory.

- In India the HEIC is still suffering a bandit problem which has now spread to Poona. But too be fair they do seem to have shot a lot of bandits.

So, is Fu Manchu working for the Opium Cartel? Or are they allies?

Jason wrote:So, is Fu Manchu working for the Opium Cartel?  Or are they allies?

Who knows, who cares...........I am on a mission from God & the MCC. Triads, Thuggee and all who block Indian Railways and the spread of the Holy Game of Cricket will be EXTERMINATED

PS Yes, the head of the HEIC has just obtained a Bath Chair and is wondering if a motor can be fitted.

Orders for HEIC have been sent and in case anyone is thinking of putting their toe in Scabble Waters I think they may be interested to read a extract form a telegraph sent to Lord Hardinge from Sir Harry Smith our man in Bombay. Naturally following the murder of Flashman the Brits are keen to avenge the Murder of Flashman and have already offered a £2M reward.

The problem is what will be the long term results of going in like a Bull in a China Shop? And should it be made a International effort?

Its a tricky one......and if anyone has any "cunning plans" they would like to provide Lord Derby we will even name the operation after you. So we know which underling in the Imperial General Staff to blame when it all goes wrong! Very important to have a blame taking flunky lined up in these circumstances!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To: Lord Derby, Prime Minister of Britannia
From: Sir Harry Smith, Governor of Bombay
Sept 1860


My Dear Lord Derby,

I have the sad duty to report that we were unable to revive Flashman from his coma and the hero has finally fallen in the service of Queen and Country. Lord Hardinge however is making good progress and should survive his injuries by many years.

Tricky situation about what to do ref Dr Fu-Manchu, General Wichung and the rest of the Boxer movement. Not helped by the fact that half of them are Triads and hand in glove with our own criminals like Farnworth and John Smith.

Looking at the wider picture the Boxer movement seems to pose a threat to the stability of the Chin government and traders of all nations. This would seem to give us two problems: a) How to punish Fu-Manchu without damage to the position of the Emperor and b) Do we invite international support against the Boxer’s since this is likely to result in intervention of Rossia, Germania and Nippon in Chin. Getting the Bear out of Chin may prove rather more of a problem than getting it into Chin. You also have to worry about letting the Germans within 500 miles of Hong Kong and the tea trade.

The Government of Nippon has started research into portable Camerys, to allow for invasions by Nippon tourists across the world, development of luggage on small wheels is alos being considered, with these technological breakthroughs the days of the Chin Empire may be numbered.

Any decent tour guides to the rest of the world will be greatfully received on the Islands of Nippon.

J Flower wrote:The Government of Nippon has started research into portable Camerys, to allow for invasions by Nippon tourists across the world, development of luggage on small wheels is alos being considered, with these technological breakthroughs the days of the Chin Empire may be numbered.

Any decent tour guides to the rest of the world will be greatfully received on the Islands of Nippon.

As a very rough guide to the tourist areas in scabble:

- India good railways so your Nippon tourist can get around, some good hotels and clubs & some first rate cricket pitches, tiger hunting and Polo if he is into Sports. Problems to avoid include thuggee, bandits and Afghans probably also best to leave the tiger hunting to the locals and do not step on the local Cobra's.

- Chin a land of mystery, ancient culture and civiliation and as a added bonus its close to home for Nippon tourists. Probably best not to smoke too much of the local herbal tobacco or ask too many questions about the famous Dr Fu or local mystery cults as having your head stuck on a pole can really spoil a holiday. For time being its also probably best to avoid visiting Korea unless Nippon tourists are into war photograph and speak basic Russian such as "I surrender" "dont shoot" "Can I offer you a Vodka/Saki/Drink" "And can you direct me to the gents toilets"

- Africa a perfect Holiday location for the bold, brave and termally stupid. Famous for stunning views, crashing airships and friendly locals who hardly cook and eat anyone these days.

- The Orient - were East meets West a land of spices, debourched courts and ancient markets were Nippon Tourists can buy anything they want at a price. Try and avoid mad nuns, mad Germans, mad Frenchmen, mad locals esp the ones with religion and mad camels as they bite! Make sure you always have enough cash to buy half of your tour party back from the local slave market.

- The West Yanks to the East, Brits to the North and some Russian interest in the South West but in between we have ?????? not really sure but it seems to involve cows and friendly and charming natives like the Apache, Commanche, Mohawks etc the later tribe have in recent years converted to become Christians and have started to trade furs for simple trade goods like blankets, cloth, metal knives and hunting Rifles. Meanwhile Eastern cities continue to develop with Clubs, Riverboats, telegraphs, merchant banking and large tenticled monsters in the sewers.

Hope the above pocket guide is of use to Nippon Tour parties setting out to explore the world of Scrabble. I am sure they will all have a really nice time and most will get back, mostly in one piece.