Geezers! Wages Snatch

I've been playing a bit of Geezers! Shut it!, playing the Midgate Wages Snatch scenario. I find the rules a bit sketchy. It covers a lot of the key bits of the genre very well, but misses out some basic stuff. I might have a go at expanding it out a bit. A weird thing, the rules neglect to even mention stuff like who goes when. I've assumed that they've assumed we would assume it's a standard sort of one side moves everything once, then the next side moves everything once, sort of format, but that's not explicit.

These are the geezers, Mad Harry's gang from the scenario in the book. They've been staking out a wages deliver to a local factory and are confident of the routine. Two of the boys will be hiding in the factory when the van arrives, while the rest of them will be ready to pounce from their trusty Capri (it's a transit in the scenario, but a brown Capri is extra 70s).

Unknown to Mad Harry (due to a random roll based on the respective Nouse of the two sides), however, DI Callan has got word that something a bit naughty might be going down. He has replaced the two security van guards with police officers. He will be driving around the area in his jag, with his two plain-clothed, pistol-armed sidekicks and there will also be a patrol car in the area with a couple of truncheon-wielding PCs.

Mr Smith, the factory owner, will be waiting in the factory at the crack of dawn, for the wages to arrive, and will have the two birds from accounts with him. There will also be a security guard at the factory. For some reason, the two fake delivery guards have disguised themselves as WPCs, to throw the villains off the scent that they are actually PCs. The real WPCs are of course back at the station putting the tea on.

Not wanting the area to feel suspiciously quiet, Callan has sent one PC off on his normal beat.

Right on time the security van arrives at the factory...

...and the guards get out.

Johnny 'Nostrils' and Arthur have been hiding in the factory grounds waiting for this moment.

Meanwhile, Mr Smith and the birds from accounts don't suspect a thing.

Two uniformed PCs are in a police car, waiting for the alarm to be raised.

While Callan and two more detectives are taking the jag for a spin. 'Blimey, Guv, 92p for a gallon of petrol. I remember when it was 4 and 6.'

The villains seeing the security van pull into the factory, pull down their balaclavas and start the Capri.

Forgot to mention, the villain player leaves a bunch of clues around the place, that the police can bother to pick up. Some of these are red herrings, but the good clues will help with bringing to justice any villains that they manage to apprehend.

In our first game, three villains were arrested, but two of them got off scot free, despite four police ending up dead and a couple of good clues being found. Only Mad Harry went down, and that was for a ten year stretch. The next scenario in the book is about springing someone from custody, so that works well, narratively.

So, Johnny and Arthur surprise the security van guards. Had they been normal neutral figures then they would be obliged to do what the robbers tell them. But, as they're undercover police, they're not. So, they attempt to arrest the robbers.

Meanwhile, the villains on their way to the blag see the beat officer, and can't resist...

...a quick hit and run. This isn't really covered in the rules, but was too good to resist.

The security van guards' arrest attempt wasn't successful. One gets hit by a shotgun blast and the other is forced to back away.

Then Johnny takes Mr Smith hostage. Having a hostage is pretty decent under the rules. It's much more likely that any police trying to shoot you will hit your hostage instead.

And Arthur gets the first bag of loot from the van. We played there are three bags, each with a grand in it. In used oncers, probably. One bag max per person.

The plan was for the Capri to steam into the factory grounds, pick up the rest of the money, and then make a swift getaway. Unfortunately, trying to take the tight gateway at 30 mph, it runs out of control and smashes into the wall.

End of

Part One