Want a Review?

Overall the rulebook is comb bound weighing in at 61 pages, single column, with a sprinkling of pictures from TV series the rules are emulating. Included is one glossy sheet of counters to be cut out representing Clues and Red Herrings.

I'm going to refrain from emulating the game in this review as Cockney Rhyming and British slang of the time period is quaint but is far too comical when presented by a Texan, even in text form. Although around the table it's something to hear when table talk 'gets into character'. Besides the game includes a glossary of more popular terms from the time period to help you know your brown bread from carpet or china from grass as it were. I'm guessing it's the equivalent of saying 'groovy' or 'totally awesome' in the states these days.
So, what's it all about then? Cops and robbers, really. That is when cops were a little more hard boiled on the television screen and criminals were a little more likely to go toe to toe with the law wielding ax handles, boards, and only the occasional sawed-off shotgun rather than a plethora of automatic weapons and high explosives. When a daring bank raid would be settled with a truncheon and a good raking of the face across a chain link fence with hard time being doled out to the usual suspects and a good pint at quitting time.
It's very much a scenario driven game of cops and robbers that covers from the planning stages on both sides, to the actual robbery, and during the wrap up where the criminals run the gauntlet through the courts and the police try their best to make sure the criminals do hard time for their skullduggery rather than getting free to get on with the next plan.

"The Guv'nor", that is the author, makes it clear throughout that it's a loose game, run for fun and excitement, and not to be bogged down in specifics and over engineered complexity. It's not so much beer and pretzels as it is bacon sarnies and a good pint.
The Lads as they're called are the crews engineered for the scenario and made up using a variety of stats that are randomly generated. Shift It! Is a die roll to decide how far a character can move a turn, randomly generated and making for edgy foot chases as are a staple for the genre. Rough Stuff covers melee, Shooters covers firearms, Bottle is the morale stat, Nouse covers the somewhat nebulous qualities of gathering informants and bringing outside forces into the game, Wheels is driving, Up For It! Covers the stamina or hit points a character has before he's dead or at least out of the fight, and 'Ave At It! Covers buying gang or law enforcement members and tooling them up for the encounter.
The forces are lead by a Top Geezer on the law side and a Mad Harry on the criminal end who tend to be a little harder than the average copper or criminal and get a few bonuses to set them apart from the regular characters in the game. Basically you get your Top Geezer together, assemble some detectives for a Flying Squad engagement or some uniformed folks, dole out the weapons. Being a wargame after all there's more than likely a tendency to dole out handguns and the criminals will be the hardest of the hard with sawn off shotguns aplenty. This is the kind of thing that should be worked out during scenario design, but we'll all admit firepower is fun after all.

The pregame set up, which is optional, is called Word on the Streets and is basically the police and the criminals vying for an edge in the upcoming scenario their Nouse score to gain an edge of their opponent. Convincing a detective to call in sick that day with some cash as an incentive, grabbing a criminal at the pub before he has a chance to show up for the planned crime. Adds a little more uncertainty to the game.
The turn itself runs the traditional wargame route. Moving a random amount for each figure, shooting, and then resolving the fistfights. Excepting that the Blaggers (criminals) test their Bottle (morale) between each phase, and the police testing theirs after the shooting phase. Yes, that's three morale checks for the criminals and one for the cops. Which may have you going, "Get out! How can I ever hope to pull off a caper if I have to worry about my guys weeing their Y-fronts at the first sign of a boy in blue?" Well, criminals of the genre tend to have that fear of incarceration and giving both barrels of a shotgun to a police officer will certainly get you there but you don't have to worry about the Bottle checks until the rough stuff starts and well, you've got to stick to your plan. For that matter, the police won't be shooting first so a criminal player can avoid that check by not cutting loose with his arsenal at the first detective that rounds the corner in the middle of a heist. The criminal player has it up to him to come up with a plan and try to stick to it without seeking confrontation with the law. Besides, even a blown Bottle check doesn't mean the criminal just gives up and waits to be arrested, there's a chart for that which involves running, hiding, and yes, just throwing it out and putting the hands up. It works and makes the Blagger player work smarter rather than just getting into a drawn out shoot out where he'll eventually find his lads losing their nerve sooner or later. It adds a clock to the game as once the heat is on, the Blaggers have to finish the scenario objective quick or it will all fall apart. I was leery of this just reading the rules but after a few games my group found it just works and makes for some nail biting situations in the game. Top it off is the 'Don't Move! You're surrounded by armed bastards!' phase which can put the final nail the criminal gang's will to keep up the good fight for personal gain through illicit means.
The rulebook features a list of weapons and tools, really not mussing over specifics too much, a handgun is a handgun is a handgun, unless it's a .44 Magnum "The most powerful handgun in the world". The top end being the hand grenade for those scenarios where you really do have a hardened gang going for broke and all out mayhem.

By the end, some criminals were caught, some got away, a few detectives are nursing bruised ribs and maybe an ego and the game covers the interrogation procedure all the way through to the court and the dividing up of the ill gotten gains should the criminals pull off the crime. This runs through some charts after the rolls have been made and you have a winner, be it the police having bragging rights at the pub or the criminals heading off to spend their cash however they see fit. Knowing of course they'll spend it all and need to be pulling another crime all too soon.
What the Guv'nor labels as advanced rules covers car chases. Not too complicated again, covers the usual U-turns, 3-point turns, slamming on the anchors through use of the Wheels attribute. A chart for losing control, another for wrecking the car, an eight sided die for skidding. A chart for vehicular stats in a broad sense, it's made for quick chases and gets the job done without breaking out the protractor or the slide rule.
It covers rules alterations for Turf Wars which lighten up the morale rules and make for bloodier gang against gang style of combat if you want a change of pace and then it presents the Case Files. Three fully fleshed out scenarios that capture the flavor of the game and whet the imagination for your own robberies, kidnappings, shady deals in back alleys, and whatever kind of shenanigans you can come up with. The scenarios are presented with police briefings, criminal plans, character stats pregenerated, everything you need using the basic rules and working into the advanced rules.

Overall, it's a package deal that provides most everything you need for car chases, hardened criminals locking ax handles with truncheons, or blasting their way through a police blockade. As mentioned, it's casual rules with a flair for fun action amongst friends in the world of 60's and 70's style police action where Mick the Blade, Terry the Nose, Fletcher the Ax meet up against one of the few squads of incorruptible officers that stand for truth, justice, and a pint and a bacon sarnie after a hard day's work.