Don't worry! Be Harpy!

Last week I had a first go at 7th Voyage with George. We've played 7TV a few times, but to be honest, it's kind of drowned in the roiling wake of Pulp Alley, so it was nice to go back to the system, but with a slight change in flavour. The main difference is obviously in the focus on melee versus shooting and I think that it actually lends itself to the 7TV mechanism a bit better. So in this game we recreated the iconic sequence from Jason and the Argonauts where Phineus is rescued from his torment at the hands of the Harpies!

The Harpies descend on poor, quivering Phineus before the temple steps.

To the rescue! Jason leads his Argonauts in a battle line. He leads the bulk of the veterans, while his captain (in the red cloak) leads a group of light foot with slings and nets. A couple of them also guard Jason's left flank (nearest the camera).

The opponents ready to close on each other!

An ugly beast screeches and flaps menacingly above Phineus.

In an all-out charge, the captain leads his light foot into the Harpies, catching one before it could flap into the air.

Meanwhile, Jason leads the way and his veterans run to shield Phineus. His own light foot advance with their slings whirling at their side.

With their bronze shields safely between the arrows and axes of the winged horrors, the veterans take the fight to the enemy.

While the Harpies to the rear, armed with bows, soar into the air, a general melee begins between the remaining Harpies and the veteran Argonauts. Would their numbers be enough to overcome the Harpies unnatural toughness!

Jason stands victorious after cutting down the Harpy queen!

The first Argonaut falls to a Harpy axe...

...but his comrades surge up the steps to avenge him!

With the vile creature vanquished, the warriors pull Phineus up the steps and into cover.

The hail of stones from the slings brings a flying beast down in a flurry of feathers and the remaining Harpies flap away, desperate to get away from the furious Greeks!

This was a really fun game. George and I really got into the theme of this and we even got George to squawk like a bird! Just like it's predecessor, 7TV, I think that 7th Voyage is a good solid skirmish game. The mechanics are pretty basic, but the flavour is achieved by the events and skills of the main characters. There is also the added twist of Luck and Audience Appreciation, which creates some lightweight resource management. However, I am a firm believer that you get out of a game what you put in, so George and I will probably have fun no matter what we play. The only problem for me is that Pulp Alley has totally coloured my view of skirmish games where every single model has a character and you can roleplay. 7th Voyage suffers slightly in that the extras are just that...extra! They don't lend much flavour other than the theme of the cast, and the main characters don't make up for that enough. Having said that, 7th Voyage does deliver nicely on it's theme and I will play it again without question, and will definitely paint up a cast for it. I have a Perseus and a Medusa that will do nicely! :)