I never realised that Ned Kelly only had one leg.

Here's Eureka's version of Ned Kelly riding a penny-farthing:
http://eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=87_126_153_157&products_id=1882

Quoted from Chris Viau

Bribing police officers could be a good SFX for the criminal star archetype.  Cops are available to the heroic cast, but each officers loyalties could be subject to the villains influence.  G-men could be immune, untouchable as it were.

I'd say that the Underworld Boss already has this with his 'On The Payroll' star quality. I like the idea of some extras being immune though.

I've also found out where the gangsters got their tommy-guns from: the manufacturers!! Yes all you had to do was give them c. $225 plus $10 -$3 for ammunition and it was yours. That's about £3,000 in todays money so you'd need a substantial amount of income to afford it (try running a pub )

Ah the days when you could buy a Tompson straight out of the box . . . . .

Quoted from Booboo

This is what I want to see....




might not be the right year, but....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ned_kelly_armour_library.JPG  

A great quote in Wikipedia:

Quoted Text

Kelly's skull, however, remains at large

Who can sculpt Mick Jagger?

Quoted from Doctor Warlock

We're talking "TV and Movie Land" here, in real life it was often more violent.

American Police have always used firearms, in the early 1900's each Station House would have a cache of Shotguns and Rifles - though the extent would depend on the district and crime level I would imagine.

...

The implication being that the Police were issued with them first.

One of the first orders for Thompson SMGs was from the US Post Office, though the US Navy supplied the Marines to use them.

I know very little about the period (though see later), mostly it is from fiction (film or book). I guess some areas were Warzones, though I would have thought that in a lot of areas heavily armed police would not be popular.

My thought was that the Armed Law Enforcement would have pistols, but some higher authority would have to release heavier firepower.

Inspired by the subject, I bought the Osprey book on the Thompson, but I have not finished it yet.

On the subject of background, has anyone any suggestions on books and films?

One of my favourites is "Last Man Standing", part of my "Yojimbo" collection.

I remember Connery's accent in The Untouchables (plus the Eisenstein inspired pram in the station).

For books I'd recommend 'public enemies'. It'll cover all the main protagonists as well as the founding of the FBI. Its also packed full of potential scenarios. Film wise, the untouchables obviously, Millers crossing, The shadow (for some Pulp).

As for heavily armed police, I honestly don't think it ever occurred anywhere in particular. Each state police force was a separate entity and operated independently. Many gangsters plans were to rob a bank and then head to a neighbouring state to avoid arrest. Many banks took matters into there own hands and armed their security guards to try and deter thieves. This problem with inter-state cooperation is the one thing the FBI tried to counter, creating a national database so that a criminal wanted for a crime in one state was wanted across the country.

Nearly finished the Osprey book. Very interesting (if I get the chance I will put a review together - not quite sure which section to put it in).

Research is normally described as follows, one source: copying, two sources: plagarism, three sources: research...  and the following is based on the one book ^__^

An interesting item was that Chicago bought 35 tommy guns, but returned them because they were concerned about collateral damage in the event of a shootout.

Hoover went out and bought a Tommy Gun and posted it to an officer in Kansas.

I do wonder how the forthcoming film will deal with Hoover's first dealings with the tommy gun in bulk (probably by ignoring it).

ironclad do some landing party figures in tis type if scheme

One range of figures  for this that has most things you may need are the Steve Barber Models Prohibition Wars range. It doesn't have everything including the kitchen sink........but it does have some trash cans. There is also a photographer who could appear as an event card and double the cost of using  more firearms than the other side . Or perhaps give everyone a chance to re-roll fear and other morale checks if they are within 6" of the model (everyone shows off for the camera). Or perhaps everyone has the pacifist disadvantage if the photographer is within 6" (the police aim carefully to avoid appearing too bloodthirsty and the gangsters prefer to be compared to Robin Hood rather than Ghengis Khan).