Saturday, February 28, 2015

Die Samurai!

A few snaps from an older game. I tried out Pulp Alley for samurai. I played the Death Trap scenario from the rulebook - the leader of one league is separated and surrounded and needs to fight his way out.
 The game ended up being a bit of a fizzer - the samurai hero (in the yellow above) succumbed easily to the bandits, despite having the Hardened Veteran skill.

Still it was nice to get the samurai out for a game!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Spycatchers

Hogard is the man who knows. The master spy with a finger in every pie. So when he emerges from the shadows, everyone wants to have a word. And here he is, skulking on the outskirts of the market, waiting for someone. Just perhaps not these particular people...
Rhys, Andrew and I got in a game at the club. Mad scientist vs zeppelin troopers vs adventurers. The objective - grab the master spy. However, before we could do that, we had to verify his identity  by quizzing one of his lackies (minor plot points).

Hogard, in situ, in fez.
The early parts of the game saw us all grabbing the lackies.

Some proved harder to get than others.
The teams advance on Hogard.
The zeppelin troopers are unnervingly quick. They can all fly thanks to their jetpacks.
Ace Mason, the adventurers' sidekick, makes a dash for Hogard and successfully grabs him.
Mason falls back to the protection of his fellow adventurers.
However, the dastardly captain of the zeppelin troops drops him.
Jack Sampson, the leader of the adventurers, runs and grabs Hogard.
Now everyone wants a piece of Jack.


The finish was a nailbiter - multiple attacks. However, Jack just managed to hang on until the end. A win for the adventurers!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Questions for the Professor

Professor Oscar Schmied is a boring man with a flair for unearthing interesting things. Rumours at the market suggest he's assembling an expedition to unearth something big this time: a treasure of astonishing wealth and power.
Two [intrepid/nefarious] parties of [adventurers/ ne'er-do-wells] decide to have a friendly word with Schmied concerning the approximate whereabouts of his treasure. They track him to a small encampment on the edge of the desert.
The minor plot points.
A thief who has been shadowing Schmied.
A lonely goatherd, but he may have seen something.
Clay jars bearing some curious inscription.
The game began with both sides advancing to the centre of the table.
The mad scientist and his minions.
The adventurers.
Meanwhile, members of each party peel off to grab minor plot points.
The rats interrogate(?) the goat herd.
The pilot gazes at the inscriptions on the jars.
The adventurers' dog is the first to make it to Schmied.
He doesn't get an advantage for long. He's soon joined by the hunchback and then the robot.
The dog is outnumbered but game, attacking the hunchback.
But help is on its way.
The dog goes down, but no one has been able to grab the archaeologist yet. The fight acts like a magnet, drawing characters from all over.
Fighters go down all over the place, but the leader of the adventurers grabs the archaeologist. 
The fight is made trickier when the leader encounters the black cat. For the way the cat works, see here: http://preacherbyday.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/the-black-cat.html
A desperate struggle
Finally, even the mad scientist joined the struggle, attempting to subdue the leader of the adventurers.
However, he shrugs off the attack and holds on to the archaeologist. Victory to the adventurers!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

The Black Cat

Everyone knows a black cat is bad luck. Especially when you're in the middle of wrestling giant robots or twisted cultists.
For a while now, the black cat has been a regular feature of out Pulp Alley games. The cat starts at the centre of the table and moves d6" in a random direction at the start of each turn. If the cat collides with any character, they're in trouble. Once per turn, an opponent may force them to reroll one die. The bad luck lasts until the character expires, or the cat runs into some other unfortunate!
The rule works well. It's not a game breaker, but everyone tends to give the cat a wide berth.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Latest Painting

I'm a slooooooow painter, here's the last couple of weeks' work.

A knight for Lion Rampant. I'm doing a retinue for the Second Baron's War. This is Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford.

The rampant lions were a serious pain to paint. Most were done more than once. They look passable from a distance.

The figure is from Gripping Beast.

A sea captain for Pulp Alley. The face didn't come out quite as I'd hoped. More shrew than siren! Any ideas for a name?

She's from the Pulp Figures Captains Courageous pack.

And lastly, a Provincial for the French Indians Wars. Galloping Major is responsible for this one.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Little Lion

I climbed aboard the Lion Rampant bandwagon on the weekend. 15mm Normans vs Anglo-Danes. The Anglo Danes were attempting to escort a convoy of wagons across the table. The Normans were aiming to prevent them.

The Anglo Danes got off to a terrible start with his activation rolls, enabling the Normans to well and truly close the noose around them.
Norman bidowers harassing the wagons.
Norman knights moving in.
One of the few bright spots for the Anglo Danes. The
outnumbered warlord beats off a charge of knights.
Normans from Khurasan miniatures and Anglo Danes from Khurasan and Splintered Light.