The Black Smoke Arises!

Been meaning to paint this figure up for ages as my tabletop alter ego, but never got round to it. But playing Pulp Alley has totally inspired me to get cracking on some of the pulp figures I've had lying around and I've been more productive than I have been for ages. In fact, I painted both of these figures in 2 nights! Completing a whole figure in a night is absolutely unheard of for me, so 2 in a row is amazing progress! And the nice thing is I get to use The Black Smoke in Pulp Alley tomorrow! :)

The Black Smoke

 General Ernst Von Krauch

Every hero needs a nemesis!

Mr. Vampire rules and AAR

As I mentioned in the last post, I playtested the scenario & rules for the Mr. Vampire game using Pulp Alley. The game can be played cooperatively or competitively by adjusting the victory conditions. In coop mode, the players win if they beat the Vampire, but lose if any one Hunter is knocked out. In competitive mode, the Hunter that has succeeded with most plot points wins (the plot points should not be removed whenever a player completes one). The rules are in a page that you can find on the right hand side of the blog. And to whet your appetite, here's how the game played out. Bear in mind that there were some tweaks made to the rules after playing this -

The setup. Uncle Kau is busy in the graveyard, Man Choi is near the house and Sheng is on his way back from his day job.

The Vampire pops up in the graveyard! Very thematic, but not a happy experience for Uncle Kau who is immediately beaten up!

Uncle Kau holds his breath while Man Choi runs nearby to lure the Vampire away.

But he misjudges his distances and the Vampire is drawn towards Uncle Kau who is frantically trying to make a ward in the house. Sheng is in the woods in the distance fetching wood for a firebrand.

Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Mr. Vampire!
Oh sh....!

Uncle Kau leaps out and manages to stick his ward on the Vampire's forehead. Alas, it falls off in the next turn! Kau should use more spit next time!

The Ghost drifts in to complicate matters. Man Choi fails his peril, as does Sheng, which puts him at a disadvantage against the Vampire who proceeds to finish him off! Mr. Vampire rules supreme! 

Hope you enjoy and any comments or suggestions are welcome. Oh, and I actually made the Chinese house from the tutorial on Matakishi's Tea House. I'm normally not known for my terrain making skills, so thanks Matakishi!

Dirk Drake and the Case of the Stygian Idol

Ladies and gentleman, brace yourselves for the pulse-pounding heroism and derring-do of Dirk Drake and his Daredevils!

Tonight I played Pulp Alley for the first time* with George and Nick at the G3 club and it was a total blast! I can honestly say that this rule set is right up there with the best of the recent skirmish games I've played, such as 7TV and In Her Majesty's Name. There are some mechanisms in here that really appeal to me and totally bring out the story-telling and narrative aspect of a game. In fact, I'd say it's probably the strongest of the lot in that respect! So, onto the action, but be warned - animals were hurt in the making of this game!!

In this, the first episode of the "Adventures of Dirk Drake and his Daredevils", we find Dirk leading his brave chums to secure the precious Stygian Idol that has just arrived in the country and is ready to be shipped to the newspaper tycoon that has paid for it's retrieval. However, the Idol holds the secrets to a terrible power that could wreak havoc in the wrong hands, so Dirk has set out to steal it and deliver into safer hands. However, he is not alone in his quest to seek out the idol! Closing in on the treasure is the crooked Detective Lt. Chuck Chance (played by me) and his cronies, and Mr Stamper, the head of an evil crime syndicate simply known as the Executive (George's league).

The table. The Stygian Idol is being loaded into the trucks outside the warehouse. There are also some experimental cylinders, a scientist, an engineer and a footpad as plot points.

The crooked cops pile out of the patrol wagon, ready to move on the warehouse.

Warehouse workers are ready to move the crate into the truck. The workers were made into an extreme peril, to make things more interesting.

Janssen, Mr. Stamper's henchman attempts to accost the footpad for information on the whereabouts of the Idol. However, the thug pulls a knife and Janssen has to dodge back!

But Stamper simply moves up, swats the knife aside and subdues the informant.

Dirk Drake bounds up the steps to the rear entrance of the warehouse, but his girlfriend, Lavinia Love, breaks a heel on a broken paving slab and falls over (she failed a peril as a result of a fortune card played by me! Teehee!). Lavinia would later attempt to climb in a window to snatch the experimental canisters, but failed the peril challenge and fell back out and was knocked out! 

Billy Priest takes the first shot of the game as The Executive come into view.

Officer Muldew moves up and catches sight of Dirk's faithful bulldog companion, Chomper!

The squat little canine proves a hard target to draw a bead on and a hail of bullets all miss him! He scampers forward and leaps at the police officer, chomping down on his tommy gun! (Yes, he survived all the defensive fire!)

Dirk Drake spots the engineer who has some knowledge of the construction of the Idol. Despite the intervention of Officer Kripkey, he easily persuades the engineer to accompany him to work on the Idol.

Lt. Chance moves near the prize and guns down one of the crooks lurking in the buildings across the street who windmills into the street in dramatic Hollywood fashion before falling prone!

Professor Lawrence Love, Lavinia's father, runs up to the crate and dodges the attentions of the warehouse workers, before prizing the crate open and seizing the Idol. A burst of gunfire causes him to dodge back behind a truck clutching the treasure.

Officers Muldew and O'Mally attempt to cut off Prof. Love's route of escape after a titanic struggle with Chomper held them up for half the game! Finally, they managed to beat the dog off, which crept under a nearby truck to lick his wounds.

But in a moment of inspiration, the Professor leaps into a nearby truck and gets it running. Billy Priest also leaps in and they make good their escape with the Idol!

I...Love...This...Game! Pulp Alley has so many interesting facets, from the Fortune Deck to the Plot Points and the constantly switching initiative. Normally I would go into some detail about the mechanics, but I don't actually have to! You can download the quickstart rules here! I thoroughly recommend that you check them out and support the authors as they are just a small, independent father and daughter team, and I really think that our hobby is better off for these kind of innovative games developers. Any visitor to the Lead Adventure Forum or TMP will find that they are very active in supporting the community and showing off their excellent game. The main rules are only $10 for the PDF and are pretty much all you need as you can print off the fortune deck. For such a cheap entry price I can't recommend them enough! If you're looking for an extremely strong narrative game that is incredibly easy to pick up (we hardly referred to the rules) but has masses of tactical nuance, you can't go far wrong with Pulp Alley. If we weren't already down to play Fireball Forward next week then all three of us would readily play it again then, but we'll just have to wait till the week after.

So, roll up your sleeves and stub out your cigar, as Pulp Alley bursts onto a tabletop near you!

* I umpired a playtest of my Mr. Vampire game using Pulp Alley the other night with my brother which helped me learn the rules. It went really well and I'll blog the rules and report soon.

More IHMN figures and a ghost!

It's been a wee while since the last update and I actually had someone complain about that (you know who you are!), but I haven't been completely idle. I've finished the Dragon Lady figure from the Black Dragon Tong set, although I haven't come up with a name or backstory to fit into the Brotherhood of the LOST yet, so she's currently under the working title of The Mother. I also finished a Chinese ghost figure for the Mr. Vampire game that I am working out. That's the cast complete and I have most of the rules and stats done, so it's just down to terrain making now. I also attended the Claymore show in Edinburgh yesterday and picked up all the figures for the other half of the LOST crime syndicate. If you look back a few posts you should be able to get some idea of what that might be! :) I also got another carry case and sort of impulse bought a rules set and a starter box that I will be looking at soon! But that's enough for now. Here's the pictures!

The Mother - I went with the theme of red here to fit in with Lo Chan Fu himself and was a little inspired by the wedding dresses in Big Trouble In Little China. If you look closely, I even did green eyes! I think that's the first time I've ever painted coloured eyes and not just black dots. I think she's suitable as alternative boss figure, or perhaps his actual wife or something. She's pretty formidable looking, don't you think?

The Yeti - Thought I'd post an official portrait of this one, as we only saw him in some blurry shots in the last battle report!

The Ghost - The capricious spirit that will (hopefully) be entwined with the fates of the hapless Vampire Hunters! 

The Fists of Lo Chan Fu

Played my first game of In Her Majesty's Name tonight and it was really fun! I'll talk a bit about the rules in a while, but first, here's how Dr. Lo Chan Fu's first appearance went.

It is the turn on the century and the Brotherhood of the Fist has found an enigmatic and shadowy new leader, known as Lo Chan Fu. Rumours abound that this sinister figure is far older than he appears and, in fact, there is truth behind them. However, it is dependent on a very rare and expensive herb, which he has been having difficulty in getting. The reason behind the shortage is the activities of an organised criminal gang that has been controlling shipping out of Alexandria. 

From his lair, deep in the deserts of Egypt, the reincarnated spirit of the ancient pharaoh Akhenaton has been leading the cult known as the Servant of Ra on a campaign to reclaim Egypt's ancient glory. Their gangs have descended on all the major ports in Egypt and have been extorting the merchants and sea captains for all they can get. The effect of this has to dramatically raise the price of the herbs needed by Lo Chan Fu, so he has personally arrived in Egypt with his daughter and a cadre of Fists from the Brotherhood to deal with the bothersome cultists. And with him has come a crate that the dock workers are afraid to approach due to the grunting and thumping coming from within...!

The mission we picked was a simple Last Man Standing one, where the two factions simply try to eliminate each other. George and I felt that was the easiest way to get to grips with the rules. So, without further ado, roll credits...!

The Fists lead the way towards Akhenaton's lair.

But the reincarnated Pharoah is not alone within!

As they spot movement in the temple, the Fists take cover. Lo Chan Fu leads his pet Yeti forwards!

And Akhenaton sends his Servants of Ra surging out to face the enemy.

But the Dragon Warrior skulks in the shadows to pounce on any unsuspecting cultists.

A swirling melee ensues, but the Yeti's appearance sends one cultist scurrying away (seen in the distance). Akhenaton strides forward unphased, though.

Meanwhile, as Xiufang approaches the temple, a deep moaning is the first sign of danger as a hideous mummy attacks!

But she has some Brothers on hand to help out!

The cultists are no match for the Yeti and the Dragon Warrior and, sensing victory, battle is joined with the pharoah himself. He would prove a far tougher nut to crack, though!

While the action was going on in front of the temple, the mystical Professor Abir levitates to the roofs to get a better view of targets for his mesmerism. However, a bullseye from a lurking Fist with a musket catches him full in the chest and he falls to his death on the temple floors!

And with that, all defence collapses! The Yeti pounds on Akhenaton's head and he succumbs to the onslaught. His body crumbles to dust and his enraged spirit flees to the safety of a sanctuary from where he will surely rise again! 

This was a really fun game and had a really strong narrative, despite the simplicity of the mission. The rules themselves are really simple to get to grips with and within a few turns we were rarely looking at the book or even the QRS! But, being simple doesn't mean shallow and there are plenty of tactical decisions to be made, particularly with the alternating activations. I'll not go into detail on the rules as a Google search will throw up all the info you need, but essentially, what you have in IHMN, is a pretty elegant ruleset that provides you with a framework to create whatever factions you want and is easily adapted to the figures you have and the concepts you want to convey. In a time of huge, hardback books that cost a small fortune, In Her Majesty's Name is an absolute bargain for the price and I would highly recommend it if Victorian Steampunk skirmish gaming is an itch you have to scratch! I'll certainly be playing it again!

Hold Your Breath - Black Hat Hopping Vampire and Hunters

A couple of posts back I showed some photos of the figures I had bought from Black Hat Miniatures' Tales of the Dragon Kings range and compared them against the North Star In Her Majesty's Name figures. Seeing as we've now seen the latter with some paint splashed on I think it's only fair we see the Vampire Hunters likewise pigmented! So without further ado...

The assembled gang!

I. Love. These. Figures!! I think that some people might find them perhaps a little caricatured, but I just reckon they are bursting with character and were an absolute joy to paint. The detail is just right for my style of painting: not too detailed but not too bland either. All told, I'm delighted with these and will definitely be painting up more. I actually have the Chinese Ghosts pack to do next and then I'll be trying a wee adaptation of 7th Voyage to play a 'Mr. Vampire' game. So stay tuned for that and rest assured that holding your breath will feature heavily! :)