Lord of the Western Keep: Prep for Cangames 2024 the Shakespeare Code

This years Cangames game (May 19, 2024) will be another Doctor Who game, based on the TV episode the Shakespeare Code. The game will be set in London England in 1599 with the Tenth Doctor, Martha and a variety of Elizabethan characters attempting to foil or expedite the scheme of six witch-like Carrionites to rewrite the ending Shakespeare’s play Love's Labour's Won rewording it to cast a spell to free the rest of the Carrionite race from imprisonment bring destruction to the world. The scenario is based on a two player scenario created for the Doctor Who the Miniature Games Rules (DWMG).

Unlike previous years when I used the DWMG rules, this time I plan to use Pulp Alley rules as I think these rules are better suited to represent this multi-player scenario. Those of you who have read some of my earlier blogs will know I have used these rules for other genres in the past. A short introductory video on the rules by the author Dave, can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBraL7mwXgM

Those of you who just watched the video will have heard Dave say that the rules are designed for up to four players and I will likely have 5 to 7 players, so some adjustments will have to be made. This includes drawing coloured tiles to determine who moves to speed up the game. Additionally I have kept the leagues small, 3 figures per player.

This will be an "evergreen" post as it will get updated as I progress preparing.


Promo picture from TV episode the Shakespeare Code.


Some of the potential figures I may use in the game from my existing collection as of March 1, 2024.

Prepping for this game has certainly added a lot of Tudor / Elizabethan figures to my collection, plus the Carrionites:

New figures painted in March and April

Shown below are some of the potential Leagues that will appear in the game (rough draft versions final game versions may be changed as I like to tinker). Since there are only really enough characters in the TV episode for about three players I have added in some other Doctor Who villains, some characters from Black Adder II, and historical figures from 1580 to 1600 to round out the selection. The Doctor, Master of Revels and the two Carrionite Leagues will be compulsory, the other remaining leagues can be chosen by the remaining two or three players.

The main villains will be the Carrionite their leagues are shown below:

Here are some more images of the Carrionites,

Carrionite in its natural form

Carrionite in witch / human form

Carrionite in Witch form by Eaglemoss in 1:21 scale, wish they made it in 1/56 scale

Lilith Carrionite witch figure by Eaglemoss in 1:21 scale, to bad not in 1:56.

Shapeshifting Carrionite Lilith in her attractive form as a maid

This figure below by Reaper Bones would likely work for Lilith in her attractive form, something more to add to the painting list!

Painted by member of the Reaper forum

Below is are some 3D printed skeleton Ravens I will use as an Carrionite, and as the pictures will show, this is how I painted them using Contrast and Speed paints for the first time, starting with priming black then a white highlight with my airbursh (Zenithal Priming) then on to the Contrast paints:

Zenithal Priming

The figures shown below are some Carrionites in the hag /witch form and in the skeletal raven form painted in the conventional way:

This figure below is a conversion of an Assault Group Tudor woman figure that I added in a torch (her right hand was originally empty). I am pleased with the way the flames turned out, Contrast paint over clear plastic (Wizkids Torch). She will be part of the Witch Hunter League.

Burn witch burn!

An NPC Molly the Bar Maid and a Tudor Woman with a basket:

Another NPC below: the leader of the City Night Watch, unless he gets drafted into Drake's League:

Plus a Black Cat, don't walk across its path!

Here is a hostile back-up NPC that players may meet if they draw an unlucky fortune card:

Assault Group Tudor figure with Halberd

Shown below are two of the minor plot points, in this "lost keys" Pulp Alley scenario players must obtain one minor plot point before attempting to obtain the major plot point in the Theater. There will be one minor plot point per player plus possibly an extra one.

Minstrel, minor plot point

Peter Street, minor plot point

Pilgrim plot point

The main plot point Shakespeare and the Weird Sisters:

Shakespeare Major Plot Point

Weird Sisters, Perilous Area

As you will see from the map below this scenario will involve a lot of buildings (possibly 22) which will mean expanding my collection of Tudor type buildings

Scenario map on a 4' x 4' table.

The key building will the the Globe theater, or should I say the thrust stage inside it and my initial idea was to use the wooden model kit I have of the Stratford Thrust Stage in 1/48 scale shown below.

Unfortunately this wooden kit proved too complex for the time available and not ideally suited for this particular scenario so I will save it for a future scenario (maybe a Pulp Alley Murder Mystery set in Stratford Ontario in the 1950s). Later in this blog I will explain how I scratch build the Globe Theater stage.

Some other building on the workbench shown below:

Sarissa MDF Tudor Tavern

3D printed Tudor Cottage

Pre-painted MDF kit

So far the eclectic building collection looks like this:

Trial set up with stand in stage or far right and some unpainted buildings

The above picture has around 20 to 22 buildings in it, but a trail game demonstrated I only really needed about 12 otherwise it became too crowded.

A deflated rubber Tudor Inn, can Joey revive it?

The solution to the sagging Tudor style inn building was to build a cardboard interior skeleton for it out of cut down boxes. It now looks much better, but it was not ultimately used in the game after reducing the number of buildings from 20 to 12.

Nothing like new information just before the test game to make me reconsider the layout.

A screen shot shown below from the TV episode definitely shows trees near the Globe Theater

Taking a look at the pictures below of parts of a map of the area around the Globe Theater dating from the 1570s that was discovered in 2021 and published in the Daily Mail depicts the area around the Globe Theater as far less urban than in the TV episode suggests.

The two round structures in the two maps directly above are Bear Baiting Theaters from the 1570s, the Globe was built in 1599 and would have been slightly East of the Bear Baiting Theaters and nearer the Bridge as shown in the images and maps below

So there appears to be room for trees and field in this scenario near the Globe theater, especially based on the illustration above.

The map below is the most detailed and helpful I have found although since I don't have a source or date for it I can't be sure how accurate it is. However it does conform to the description of the the surrounding land described on Wikipedia: "The Globe [was built] on some marshy gardens to the south of Maiden Lane, Southwark. While only a hundred yards from the congested shore of the Thames, the piece of land was situated close by an area of farmland and open fields. It was poorly drained and, notwithstanding its distance from the river, was liable to flooding at times of particularly high tide; a "wharf" (bank) of raised earth with timber revetments had to be created to carry the building above the flood level."

The map above also works in terms of how the TV episode was filmed as the urban area where most of the action was shot would be the clubs of roughly 17 houses to the right of the Globe Theater in the lower foreground this side of Mald or Maid Lane.

The area inside the red rectangle is the potential area for the game table.

Sketch of the area around the theatre

Area where the game would take place

Building the actual Globe Theater would be a massive project, and if built to scale (1/56) it would have taken up the entire 3' x 3' board, which is not what I wanted. So instead I abstracted it and just scratch build the stage which would be the centre piece surrounded by period buildings.

The materials used to build the Globe Theater stage were: foam board, wood, Mod Podge, printed paper wallpaper (wood floor, backstage, mural on underside of ceiling, and thatched roof) and some plastic cake pillars. The pillars provided an unexpected challenge as I could not get primer paint to stick to them. I eventually solved that and in the end used paper Italian red marble patterns I printed to wrap them and create the Italian marble pillar look.

Architectural drawing of the Globe Stage

View of the reconstructed Globe Stage in present day London

Modern reconstructed Globe Theater drawing

Picture of present day reconstructed Globe Theater

Globe Theater Stage present day reconstruction

Using the pictures above and the materials listed above I began to scratch build the stage.

Testing different cake column sizes

Building the stage floor

Work in progress foam core roof

work in progress foam core roof.

Priming cake pillars

Primer & paint chipping

Wallpaper to the rescue!

Italian Red Marble wallpaper

Actual Pillar in the reconstructed Globe Theater

Stage floor with covering of planks

Nearly finished stage

Finished Globe Theater stage

I used magnets so that the stage roof could be removed, as this would be necessary towards the end of the game as most of the action would take place on stage.

Overall I was pleased with the finished stage although I would like to change the windows at the front as they look too modern, perhaps switching them for a "Juliet" style window. However the day before the game all I had available was the more modern windows that I used. I would also like to add some back stage detail when the stage is viewed from the rear.