INWarD 2019 - Save the Whales

My offering for INWarD 2019 was a run through of my "Whale Wars" game. In this scenario a trio of Japanese whalers has its sights set on a small pod of whales, whilst the ea Shepherd organisation is out to frustrate their efforts. An Australian patrol boat stands by to observe the action.....

The start of the action. Japanese to the bottom of the picture, Sea Shepherd to the top left, RAN centre right, whales in the middle.

The Japanese whalers steaming in formation - whales ahoy!

George and Gracie blissfully unaware of the peril that is about to befall them

Meanwhile the Aussies look on...

 Sea Shepherd dashing to the rescue - The Steve Irwin and Brigitte Bardot head towards the danger zone

As the Japanese close in the Steve Irwin slows and launches inflatables

Boats away!

The inflatables streak ahead of the Steve Irwin as the Brigitte Bardot closes on the Kaiyo Maru 3

Interception to the South as Brigitte Bardot crosses the bows of Kaiyo Maru 3

Collision! Kaiyo Maru 3 hits Britte Bardot. Both ships heave to and a vigorous "debate" on the application of COLREGs ensues 

Meanwhile the first inflatable group swarms the bows of Kaiyo Maru 2

 

The inflatables swarming Kaiyo Maru 2 attempt to daub slogans on the side of the ship, appealing to the world's media (embarked on the Aussie ship), whilst the whalers retaliate with fire hoses

Kaiyo MAru 2 and Brigitte Bardot continue to bounce off each other and trade insults

 

chemical bombs thrown from the inflatables distract Kaiyo Maru 2, whilst the Steve Irwin amkes a run at Kaiyo Maru 1 

Steve Irwin and Kaiyo Maru 1 collide. The Sea Shepherd ship is temporarily disabled, the whaler undamaged 

Kaiyo Maru 1 slips past the Steve Irwin and heads towards the whales, a pair of inflatables positioning themselves between the Japanese ship and George 

Meanwhile, Kaiyo Maru 3 gets under way again and heads for Gracie

 

The Japanese continue to close, the inflatables marking George get into position btween the whale and the ship

Kaiyo Maru 1 fires its harpoon, but the inflatables crossing her bows distract the gunner and his harpoon falls wide of the mark

as the Steve Irwin gets under way again the whales decide it is time to make deep dives. As they disappear from the surface the game ends. A victory for the protesters and the whales.

This was a fun game that lasted a couple of hours and which threw up a few improvements needed to the text of the rules. It also reminded me that I need to knock up some markers to show the various attacks taking place, such as fire hose sprays, stink /chemical bombs, harpoon shots and slogan daubing. Some thoughts on that needed over the next few days.