A short easy game. We were both too concerned about getting through the Gate to bother with trying to down the Giant Skeleton or fight amongst ourselves. The next scenario things will be different.
With Buck's gang having four pages of the journal we finally were ready to do The Gate scenario. It's getting so we just want to finish the campaign so we can go play This is Not a Test. Buck's gang was really beefed up with 2 natives, a mook from the camp, and Lady Elaine. The Gorillas were joined by one of the Jackal-headed Children of the Gods (also just a mook). Experiment 13 (or is it 7) neared the Gate and attracted the attention of the giant skeleton (Golden Guardian) guarding it. That's OK, that's what he is there for. Buck approached the first altar while the rest of his team fanned out. Experiment 13, surprisingly, survived the first turn. But not the second, well time for Experiment 7 to get to work. Da Boss and Buck each succeed in activating their altars. Lady Elaine, Mr. Purple, and Bananas try activating the third altar (obelisk), with Mr. Purple succeeding. Leaving Experiment 13 behind the Giant Skeleton couldn't reach the person? nearest the Gate. When it went to shoot it got a Can't Shoot card played on it. Buck sent one of his brave men (mook extra) to distract the Giant Skeleton. With the Gate open Adam (Buck's gang) threw two peril cards (remember Da Boss is within 3 inches of the Altar, a perilous area) on Da Boss and a Can Only Move 3 Inches Card. Da Boss survived both perils and still made his way closer to the gate. While the Giant Skeleton was distracted by the Natives and other extras everyone in both gangs made it through the Gate.
A short easy game. We were both too concerned about getting through the Gate to bother with trying to down the Giant Skeleton or fight amongst ourselves. The next scenario things will be different.
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With only three pages from the Journal, we decided to go back to the truck buried in the sands around the Lost Oasis and try to get a fourth. This time it didn't go so well for I was stabbed in the back by my own man(ape). Have won a vehicle to hide behind, I started Da Boss close to the truck, accompanied by Experiments 7 and 13. Buck, Saddler and another of Buck's men started close by, hiding in the underbrush. Lady Elaine and Mr. Yellow set up to back shoot Agent Carsk and some mook of Buck's. Then came the inevitable unexpected betrayal as Mr. Purple turned on Bananas. Damn that gorilla, bought off with some peanuts and bananas (the old Double-Cross bought with the results of good Network of Supporters rolls). Maybe I need to rethink my choices of League Perks for my next team. Despite the betrayal, Da Boss and Experiment 7 moved out onto the sands with 7 bravely (yeah right, he was too dumb to know better) serving as a human(?) shield. Experiment 13 decided to have a lie down after being shot by Agent Saddler and didn't get up. Bananas dealt with Mr. Purple after his betrayal of the Gorilla Gang (at least temporarily). Such is the wages of treason. Agent Saddler tried to bring down Da Boss, but failed. Still, the effort gave Buck a chance to get the missing journal page. Then came the Beast of the Sands. Buck ran like a frightened little girl, while Da Boss grabbed the journal page. Vasquez convinced the native to come with her, while Agent Carsk looted the Mysterious Remains. Where was Bananas while this was going on? Still dealing with that traitor Mr. Purple. Mr. Yellow moved out to deal with Agent Carsk, but was gunned down. Da Boss engaged in a gun battle with Buck and several of his men, but fell wounded. With a final effort Buck stole the page from Da Boss. Experiment 13 failed to make Agent Carsk drop his plot point, Vasquez regained control of the native, and Mr. Purple, in a final traitorous act gunned down Lady Elaine!!!
So ended the game with no plot points for the Gorilla Gang, while Buck had the journal page and two other plot points. After far to long we are back to the Perilous Island Campaign. This time it is the Sacrifice!! Rather than randomly rolling we went with Lady Elaine as the sacrifice and the Great Gorgonzola as the threat. The board with Lady Elaine tied to posts in the center. The Basti Sorcerer surrounded by loyal guards. Buck and company hiding in the underbrush. Agent Carsk quickly grabs one plot point (the Tears of Ra alias Perilium) from beneath the statue. While Agent Sadler finds one plot point in the remains. Bananas heads towards the ring of guards. While Experiments 7 and 13 rush to place themselves between Lady Elaine and Buck's people. Mr. Yellow takes up position to provide covering fire. Hey look at the full moon(s). Muhammad, one of the Arab guards that accompanied Buck's expedition, moves forward to take an unsuccessful potshot at Experiment 7 (or was it 13, I can never tell them apart). Abdul, the greatest wrestler in his village and a Camel Driver with Buck's expedition, knocks down Experiment 13. Both the Gorilla Gang and Buck's team had journeyed to the Lost Oasis (Perilous Island) accompanied by local guides, guards and camel wranglers (with camels loaded with supplies). This was good in that you could occasionally bribe/talk one into accompanying you into the heart of the Oasis. It was not so good when it came to raiding the campsite of the other team, because the guides, guards and camel wranglers working for the other team were related to those in your employee. It was hard enough to keep your hirelings in line, what with all the expeditions to the Lost Oasis that failed to return. But attacking and maybe killing their relatives would be the straw that broke the camel's back (sorry about the bad joke). The Experiments proved their worth by serving as a distraction while Bananas tried to free Lady Elaine. Which he does successfully. It was nice of him to bring her some proper clothes and her gun ;) . Buck makes his move towards the Basti Socerer, who is quite upset about the sacrifice escaping. Now who is the Great Gorgonzola going to have for lunch. Poor Gorgonzola. Just in time for the Great Gorgonzola to appear. By careful maneuvering (run away, run away!!!!) Buck was left as the closest character figure. Fortunately, the fleeing in terror left Da Boss next to a plot point, which he promptly solved. Closer and closer the Great Gorgonzola came to Buck. Da Boss, in a last desperate attempt tries to make Agent Sadler drop her plot point, but fails.
For the first time in far too long I finally won a game!! Hurrah!! But I couldn't have done it without help. So thank you Jill (age 5) and Alex (almost 2). Their babysitter couldn't make it so Adam had to watch them and play. Whenever there was a crash in the next room (or worse yet when it was too quiet) he had to run in and see what they were up to. After far too many months, Buck's Team (Adam) and my team (the Gorilla Gang) once again find themselves at the Lost Oasis, chasing after pages of the Professors journal. The set up, from my gang's entry point. The zombie spawning/plot points are the two small Spinx statues and the obelisk. Oh look, a zombie is already up to greet us! Adam and I were afraid we wouldn't have enough undead to run this scenario (he had a dozen) so I converted a broken pilot figure and two Sherden guards. Turns out it was unnecessary, we never had more than four on the table at a time and only once did a couple survive to the next round (because we targeted them instead of the other team as soon as they appeared). That extra die for short range really helps in taking them out, which we would get since we could move and shoot before they could activate. So Much for the first Zombie/Mummy. Mary, the Mad Doctor's daughter, rushed up to try solve the plot point, but fell too the extreme peril of the area. Poor Mary, she never did get up again. Next game I think I'll leave her back at camp and substitute Experiment 13. Mean while Mr. Purple, the Boss and at the top of the photo, Bananas, all dropped their undead targets. Mr. Yellow began long distance snipping at Buck and company, while Da Boss worked on the plot point. Another Mummy bites the dust, as Da Boss solves a plot point. Meanwhile, Experiment 7 tries to rush one of Buck's allies (unsuccessfully) while Buck drops a mummy and Natalia solves a plot point. Natalia, with plot point, heads towards the obelisk. Experiment 7 quickly moves around the rock to avoid the shots from Buck's team. Two Egyptian skeletons claw their way out of the ground to defend the obelisk. An ally of Buck falls to the spear of a skeleton while the other moves towards Experiment 7. This is the only casualty caused by the undead the whole game. Experiment 7 (sorry I took this from an angle where you can't see him/it) rushes Natalia. Using the card that lets you take the plot point at the same time you defeat someone in hand to hand, he grabs the plot point. Then Buck's team activated and shoots Experiment 7 down and Buck moves up to grab the plot point. I should have thrown Bananas, the ape in blue beyond the obelisk, at Natalia instead. As a sidekick he had a better chance of surviving and keeping the plot point. I really didn't play this round right and it cost me. Another Egyptian skeleton falls to the tune of the Chicago Piano. Buck fled to get out of sight while carrying three plot points, while Natalia stood up a dropped a Egyptian Zombie. I could have moved t0 get two shots at him, but as a leader it would have taken three hits to cause him to drop the plot points he carried. Since we all knew the last card would put a zombie/mummy/skeleton in contact with someone and everyone with plot points (Da Boss and Buck) would have taken 3 hits to cause them to drop the plot points we called the game. Buck's team scored three plot points, including a page from the Professor's journal (a major plot point). The Gorilla Gang ended up with two Plot Points, one was gear so Da Boss tried his luck on the Blood of Ra (Perilium) table. Next game he will get to roll d12s in hand to hand! Since we were both Friends of the Egyptians(Nghai) we finally took a look at that table and both saw we Ritual of the Dreamers. For any three resources we could draw a Fortune Card each time an specific enemy character activates (very nice). Next time we must deal with the Children of the Gods (Jungle Trail)!!
This is actually my third game and Adam's second, but we made enough mistakes in our first game (and my game at a CON wasn't normal Pulp Alley, see http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/bills-gaming-blog/winter-war-2014-dino-roping-yee-hah ) that this counted as a First Game. I'm still getting use to the system, I'm not sure that Allies are any good with abilities other than combat ones, and do you really only get experience when you draw the right card? Still a close game. Here's the link to the AAR http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/2460/508854.page#7530557 along with a couple pictures I liked. KoKo the gorilla smashes Experiment #7 (the man-ape) while Da Boss (an ape-man with a Tommy gun) keeps control of the slightly crazed missionary. Having made it safely up the extremely perilous terrain, Da Boss couldn't get control of the Silver Skull. Adam kept me too busy with dealing with enemies to have the time to try for the challenge, and when I did I failed. We played the Key battle with the requirement that if you had one of the keys (like the Missionary or the Lost Explorer with you) you treated the extremely perilous terrain around the Major Plot Point as merely perilous terrain.
I got the following ship from Hobby Lobby (wait until it is on half-price sale, which it is on a regular basis). A large fishing trawler, very handy for Interwar to present. First, I cut it down to waterline. That wasn't easy. I don't know what wood it is made of but that and the junk they put in the make it heavy (some kind of plaster I think) made it a hard job. I mounted it on a board cut to match the hull, and patched the ragged sections with wood putty. I then removed a lot of the excess deck detail, because that detail would gotten in the way of moving the figure around (I do the same with my sailing ship and leave off the yards and sails on the bigger ones, otherwise it is too hard to move figures around with my big fat fingers). In doing so I unseated the superstructure leaving me with this.... I put the superstructure back on and place a few miniatures on it. Yes, they look about right for the size of the ship. I don't know about the superstructure though. The funnel looks a bit too modern for Interwar or Pulp. A close up of the miniatures on the trawler. OK the superstructure is going to have to go. I can't place a miniature on each side sothe figure stands flat on the deck. You can also tell I didn't do a perfect job cutting it down to waterline. There is a slight lean to the port. I'll need to redo the superstructure, a little smaller with a more rounded funnel. More in a much later post.
A rancher chasing a lost cow discovered the Valley of Garwhangi! A lost land, full of mosnters from another age. Upon hearing of this the famous Col. Phineas P. Barnstock, owner of Barnstock's Circus and Wild West Show (THE THIRD GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH) decided he needed a few of these beasties to display. After offering a large sum for live ones (and a much smaller sum for dead ones) several groups of cowboys, lawmen, and even bandits headed for the valley to try their luck at roping dinosaurs (how hard could it be, they're just big dumb lizards). Pulp Alley rules were used. My group consisted of the good Colonel himself (in the middle), Sure-shot Sue (one the right), and the mysterious El Hombre. You don't think the Colonel was going to shell out money if he could catch his own for free, do you? The one with the initiative got to hold the dinosaur skull (to make it easier to figure out initiative order) and this guy won the first initiative (seems a little too attached to that skull). The roping started off quickly, with this one being the first lassoed. In my group Sue gets the first rope on a big'un But it takes three to take it down. Three from another group ganged up on one little feller. Poor little feller, it weren't fair Others were more sporting and went after bigger prey (the bigger they were the more money they were worth). So, of course, somebody had to go after the biggest, meanest, critters they could find. Finback and the King. While Finback went down pretty quick, the King wasn't such an easy capture. as he started dragging the cowboys and their horses around. And around. One group loses their ropes, and a rider from another band snatches one up. And that group brings the big boy down. Meanwhile, my riders lasso another dino. And another. One group tries to get fancy and goes after two of the three horned critters at once. About this time, wargamers being wargamers, trouble started. First, they began shooting at each other. When that didn't do much, they began sabotaging each other, by releasing the dinos the other hogtied and then riding off. Which was kind of dangerous with the large meat eaters, as one team quickly found out. But went better with the little guys When all else failed, they started roping each other And if one rope didn't do it they would try two. And there was even the dreaded soda attack!!!! My team kept out of the fight, just kept roping and hogtieing dinos. At the very end one team tried to bring down the biggest guy, but two ropes weren't enough. By staying out of the fights and concentrating on roping dinos I won with three roped big dinos. If the extra turn card hadn't been played I'd have had even more, since one player started riding around letting my dinos go (let my dinos go - that has a nice ring to it).
I really liked the card action of Pulp Alley, though until I started throwing out cards the rest of the players really didn't understand what use the cards were. One thing I had trouble with, was the lack of effectiveness of gunfire. The roping cowboys and the releasing of dinos came about because shooting the other players didn't do much good. At the very end of the game I rode my two best shooters (El Hombre and Sure-Shot Sue) into close range and, even with their great shoot scores and having both shoot at the same person, I couldn't down him. It was the first time the guy running the game had run Pulp Alley, maybe he was telling us how to do shooting wrong? Still it was a great game. Arrived in Indianapolis very late on Wednesday (a three hour trip that took six because of damn road construction- I hate traveling anywhere except during the winter because of road construction). Thursday started off with a couple of quick games of King of Tokyo. A basic Kaiju board/card game in which you tried to develop the baddest monster and either winner by points or killing off all your opponents. A fun little quick game (less than an hour) that I'll have to get sometime. Out of the five new to me games I played this is probably the only one I'll buy. One hint for playing the game, try to keep your monster out of Tokyo. I no that doesn't sound right, but the monster(s) in Tokyo get pounded on by all those outside. Played a free game of Settlers of Catan while waiting for my evening game (the coupon book came with a coupon for a free ticket to a Mayfair game). The evening game was Retro Raygun. The Author of the rules, dressed up as Ace McQuire, Galacteer, somehow talked his daughters into dressing up as a Space Pirate and a Valkeeri. You can never go wrong at Gencon wearing a costume. The game was the Galacteers vs. the Robot Legion in the search for the Galactic Key. Some where, beneath one of the structures, lay the vital Galactic Key, that would give the possessor great power. You just have to fight of the enemy, destroy the shielding devices, open the vaults to the underground to find it, and successfully get it off your table edge. Nothing could be easier ;) Some of the Robot Legion's initial start (Legionaires lead by a Centurion, a couple of Warbots, and a swarm of Minibots). I have got to get a better camera, my wife broke my old one and bought another that is only fit for taking pictures of people, not close ups of miniatures. Some of the Galacteer initial setup. Two squads of regular soldiers, with Dr. Zahn, Jane Hunter and Comet the Space Chimp accompanying them. One Galacteer Squad seized the high ground by flying to the top of a mountain. They quickly flew back down behind the mountain after taking enemy fire. In this game you can shot across the board (except through very heavy cover)). Even when there is jungle between you and the target you can still shoot (at a small minus). The only reason to advance is to seize an objective or engage in hand to hand (some units like the Minibots and Hoverbots have no ranged weapons). Because of this infinite range Queen Meckanica (lower center), after the first move, just sat back at her end of the board with her squad. With her ability to force attackers to discard their best attack and defense die she and her troopers slaughtered many a Galacteer (though the guy running claimed they just ran off and only the robots actually were destroyed) and didn't loose any robot in her squad until near the end of the game, when the Centurian was hit. In this game a hit on a squad "kills" that squad. The only way to avoid this is to have a "hero" with it to get hit instead. Then you can "kill" the hero, instead of the squad. The players on the other side didn't realize this at first and kept their heroes running around separately. While the heroes were useful, this made it easy to kill a squad, which usually had more firepower than a character. On the right the large and imposing Warbots and Warbot Destroyers (the ones with heavy rayguns instead of hands) advanced. Despite being very dangerous looking, bad die rolls limit their kills on the Galacteers to Dr. Zahn, who was running about on his own. On the left great masses of Galacteers advanced lead by Ace McGuire. Simon-6 split off from the unit he was with to advance on his (its?) own Using the Vault as cover (it being one of the few things that would stop direct fire) the robots advanced. A horde of Minibots leading the way, closely followed be a Centurion with a squad of Robot Legionaries, and a Warbot. The Warbot destroyed the force field generator and the Centurion opened the vault. Meanwhile the Galacteers blaze away at the Queen's squad doing no damage, while her squad's return shots destroy some Galacteer squads. Through the open door the Centurion and his squad descended to the lower level, unfortunately attracting hostile creatures and natives to the Robot Legion Such as the Giant Bug. And the Aquaclops, which managed to destroy a Wabot. Both monsters kept the Warbots on the right busy. The horde of Minibots advance but were downed by fire by the Galacteers. Hordes are a kind of unit in Retro Raygun. Even if not destroyed by fire or hand-to-hand they still lose one member each time they are shot at or fought. Their big advantage is rather than a set number of dice to roll in HTH, the number they roll is based on the number the remaining members of the horde. This makes them very dangerous in HTH. For instance this horde of Hoverbots destroys this unit. Then this one. Akk!! what a bad photo. I've got to get a better camera.. Before losing to Comet the Space Chimp. Notice the open vault door? Good old Comet managed to Discombobulate it (that's his special skill) by monkeying around with it (sorry about that pun). Jane Hunter rushed into the Vault before the door shuts behind her. There the Centurion and his squad make short work of her and soon found the Key Meanwhile, on the surface, the Warbots finally kill the Giant Bug, but the Aquaclops battled on. The Queen's squad is finally hit after a multiple shots, but is not destroyed because her Centurion bravely (can a robot be brave?) stepped into the shot. The other Centurion brought the Galaxy Key to the surface. After dodging some last desperate shots, he escaped off the board. A win for the Robot Legion.
I found the system to be good, quick, and rather bloody. Our Warbots seemed to be a waste of points (one even fell to a horde of four natives with spears) and the Minibots only served as shot magnets. The Hoverbots speed let them destroy two squads. Queen Mechanika's ability to force the other side to remove one success on defense or offense proved very handy. Ace McQuire also had that skill, but it didn't work out for him as well. The main problem the Galacteers had was not putting their Heroes in their units. You could sacrifice the unit to save the Hero or sacrifice the Hero to Save the Unit. They also didn't use their Jetpacks well. With them they could move 24 inches (though they couldn't shoot when they used them). Instead of spending time trying to open the Vault on their side of the board, they could have flown a couple of units across to the Vault the Robot Legion opened and use that to get to the Key. Though with the hot dice I was rolling with the Queen's squad, I'm not sure even that would have worked. I played in a Where Heroes Dare game at Winter War 40 (I also ran one but with only one player I don't feel like posting those pics). This is the first time I got to play, as opposed to run WHD and it was an interesting experience. The Plot Dr. Evil was exchanging human captives for Element X from the Zombies of the Stratosphere. It was up to the US Rocket Soldiers, Doc Bronze and his gang of heroes, and two units of Aiship Mercenaries (OK I forgot what the names of the groups really were, so I am making that up) to assault Dr. Evil's Sky Lair. The Airship Mercenaries were lowered from their airship, Docs landed via Autogyro, and the Rocket Soldiers flew to the flaoting sky lair. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil awaited the arrival of the Zombies for Planet X to exchange human captives for Element X. Dr. Fong's Tong was also on the Sky Lair to provide the Dr. with extra muscle. Here you see the Zombies caustiously exit there rocketships (yeah $1 rocket sippy cups) while at the far side of the lair Dr. Evil and his henchmen await. Between them await the captives, helplessly in a cage. The two groups of Airship Mercenaries (their motto "If you've got the money, we've got the death from the skies") charged over the hill and quickly gunned down two of the Zombies (it's nice to have the initiative). My group of mercenaries is the one on the left. Then the US Rocket Soldiers dropped in on the ones who had made it to cover. Dr. Evil met the other group of Space Zombies and turned over three captives to them. My group moved into cover behind a rocketship while the other mercenaries tried to get a shot in, but couldn't becuase of the captives being in the way. So they instead shot two of the "dead" Zombies that had stood back up (these Space Zombies were truly zombies, for death didn't always keep them down). Meanwhile the Rocket Soldiers snuck back to the other side of the compound, via the underground tunnels (see the hatch), to join up with Doc Bronze and his men. Unable to stop the Zombies from loading the captives on their rocketship (and unable to figure out how to open the door to the rocketship) my men (and one lady) charged the laboratory containing the Mind Control device with guns blazing. Maybe it was our gunfire, or maybe it was just bad die-rolls, but Dr. Evil couldn't get the device to work. Doc Bronze and his men charged Dr. Fong's Tong, dropping some with the Mercy Bullets before KOing the rest in hand to hand. I kept Dr. Evil's men engaged while being fired upon by the Zombies who exited their Rocket Ship (which promptly took off with the captives leaving them behind). Caught in a cross fire two of my brave men went down, but so did all the Zombies that came out to play. With the Rocket Soldier and my remaining men (and one lady) firing at the Lab with the Mind Control device, while Doc Bronze and his men took over the building right to the north of the Lab. Surrounded and out-gunned, Dr. Evil decided it was time to stop trying to get the Mind Control device to work and fled via a convienent hidden exit. Meanwhile the other Airship Mercenaries escorted to remaining captives to freedom. A victory for the good guys. Dr. Evil's Mind Control device and a rocketship was captured, and most of the Zombies of the Stratosphere and Dr. Fong's Tong were killed or captured. The Zombies did get away with three humans to experiement on, but I'm sure a genius like Doc Bronze can figure out the remaining rocketship and go to free them.
A few things I learned about Where Heroes Dare 1. Remember the Bullet Proof Vest I was the only group to have such an item (I bought it since the guy running the game had to short me a weapon). With so much lead flying a vest is your best chance of keeping people in the game. 2. Numbers count. Especially in the early turns the good guys had a great advantage by ganging up on one part of the bad guys. One group of Zombies ended up facing three groups of good guys, one right after the other. By putting out one enemy group right away (Ok sometimes they got to stand up again, but since that was all they could do on their turn they'd get shot back down) it left the good guys with a real advantage. When I ran a multiplayer WHD game at a Con I had several groups, that all had different objactives and different enemies. With just two sides (even if several players) it allowed one side to concentrate on part of their enemies to gain the upper hand. I will be running a Where Heroes Dare game on January 27th at 9AM at Winter War in Champaign, IL. the game will be... The Curse of the Idol of Doom Found on a windswept plain in Antarctica a strange unearthly idol made of an unknown substance was being flown to New York when the plane went down in an unexplored region of the Amazon jungle. Can you find and claim the idol for fame and/or fortune before the competition? Look out for the dangers of the Jungle. Dr. Roboto seeks the statue because he is sure it is made of that rare metal, Unobtanium. With it he could build robots to conquer the world (or at least one of the nicer pieces of it, maybe the French Riveria or somplace else warm, but not too warm). Dr. Roboto is flanked by two of his killer robots, oh and a couple expendable flunkies. The Master of the Cult of the Green Death seeks the statue so he can contact beings from the Great Beyond who will then give him power (and maybe some more monsters). Here the Master is flanked by two of the Forbidden Worms of Leng and backed up by brain-damaged, I mean devoted followers.
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Mysterious BillI've been gaming since the 1970's and even wrote some RPG adventures in the 80's for the Judges Guild. It seems that I can only get in miniatures is gaming at cons, but I do regularly play boardgames and RPGs. Archives
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