Pulp Alley: Tarzan and the Mysterious Statues

Introduction

Last weekend, Steve and I and our 2 sons played a couple of games.  The first of these has already been documented (Frostgrave: a Diet of Worms) and I've hinted that the second was a game of Pulp Alley.  It's that which I will describe here.

Actually, there are a lot of similarities between our games of Frostgrave and of Pulp Alley.  We had the same 4 players, each with a small band of followers chasing a limited number of objective counters.  However, both games feel very different in every other respect...

Tarzan and the Mysterious Statues

The recovered journal from the Lost Expedition indicated that the missing archaeologists had an interest in an area known to the locals as "Marufuku".  This was a place of dread deep in the jungle, shunned by hunters and rumoured to be inhabited by evil spirits.  Pages in the journal hinted at strange sightings of partially-human creatures and tales of very bad juju.

Not without some trepidation, Tarzan and his followers set off for Marufuku.  Of course, spies brought word swiftly to his adversaries and they also headed in that direction.  All 4 groups arrived at the forbidden statues at pretty much the same time (oddly enough!)

The Leagues

Tarzan's Jungle Alliance
	Consisting of: Tarzan the mighty Koko the fierce gorilla Caesar the clever ape 3 crafty, but not very tough, simians

Stahl Mask's Doom Squad

Nefariously: Stahl Mask the iron-willed Herr Stengel the cunning Panzerbot 5, an experimental mechanical soldier Ernst, Kurt and Johann, grunts with respective specialities of bomber, muscle-man and none.

Sir Henry's Safari
	If you can find them: Sir Henry, rich and noble Alain Quartermain, legendary shot Lady Constance, plucky heroine Captain Goode, all-round decent chap 3 mighty ascaris In addition, Sir Henry used his wealth to hire a rather shifty-looking trader as a local guide & scout.

The Snake Cult of Hanash

Secretively: Al Masudi the intimidating & hypnotic prophet Taguerjah, the giant snake Jasham, the sniper Nadeem the silent Saeed the wrestler Also, Al Masudi used his dominion to summon 2 tough guardians to swell his numbers.

The Scenario

This was to be a fairly standard game of Pulp Alley, though adapted for 4 players instead of 2.

Objectives:

• The Statues: major plot point, worth 3VP to the first character to pass a challenge.
• 4 Fetish Posts (or skulls on sticks, if you prefer).  These were posted around the jungle paths as warnings to the over-curious.  Each was a minor plot point, worth 1VP.  Study them, take them as souvenirs, smash them apart...
• 4 Masked Devotees: curiously-dressed natives flitted in and out of the trees & bushes.  Each of these also counted as a minor plot point.  However, there was a twist: each native would move 2d6" in a random direction at the end of every turn.  Because they were plot points rather than combatants, they wouldn't be affected by perils and couldn't engage in combat.  Maybe it isn't even the same native who pops up as the one who just moved - in the dense jungle, who knows?

Hazards:

• Snakes: 2 nests of snakes were perilous to anyone who ventured within 3".
• River: the fast-flowing rivers are perilous to anyone entering them, other than at a ford or where the waters narrowed near the little island.
• The Pit Beast is extremely perilous to anyone within 3" of its lair.
• The Quicksand is extremely perilous.
• The Hungry Lion is extremely perilous to anyone within 3".  Like the Masked Devotees, the lion moves 2d6" in a random direction at the end of every turn and cannot be affected by perils or combat itself.  Again, it's not necessarily the same lion all the time; perhaps one vanishes into the undergrowth and another one moves into the open somewhere else.  It doesn't really matter...

On to the Game!

Right at the beginning, just as all the leagues were preparing to race forwards and stake their claims to as many plot points as possible, the Safari player dropped a "Parlay" event card on us.  OK, all movement in turn 1 would be at walking pace only, then.  No shooting either...

Some people were close enough to an objective to attempt it, even walking.  Lady Constance reached for one of the fetishes, intending to examine it, but she pricked her finger on a hidden, poisoned thorn.

She went pale, swayed for a moment and then sat down abruptly.  "I'm not feeling too good" she called out to her colleagues.  "I think I'll just sit here for a while".  Lady Constance failed her recovery roll and was out of the game after just 1 turn.

Al Masudi was also close to a skull-on-a-stick.  He didn't trust any of his underlings to touch the item, so after a couple of his thugs had bypassed it, he strode forwards and smashed the blasphemous idol himself.  +1 VP to the Snake Cult!

Tarzan signed to 2 of his group to cross the river, hoping to catch up with one of the masked natives.  Koko, the gorilla, breasted the waters without any real problem (other than grumbling about getting wet).  Sadly, though, the little simian who followed the larger ape lost his footing and was swept away and lost.  Aw, heck!

So, at the end of turn 1, here's how things stood:

• Sir Henry had spotted one of the masked natives, but hadn't quite managed to reach him.  Other members of the Safari huddled around the fallen Lady Constance or trailed along behind (and out of sight in the jungle), keeping away from the prowling lion.
• The Snake Cult were massing in the undergrowth to the north, having decided that they didn't fancy their chances with the nest of serpents that lay between them and the Safari.
• Tarzan's band had split into 2 groups.  Koko and Caesar had forded the river and were well placed to tackle a masked native and/or a fetish post on turn 2, whilst Tarzan himself and the remaining 2 simians approached the ford.
• The Nazis also split into 2 groups.  One of them, lead by the vicious, machine-gun-toting robot, made a beeline for Tarzan, whilst Herr Stengel led the others towards the closest plot points.

Turn 2 started with the Nazi panzerbot raking the Jungle Alliance with machine gun fire.  Although Tarzan avoided the peril easily (he's very good at such things), one of his simians was gunned down.  Aw, Heck!

Extremely annoyed (and, with just a knife, not really able to take part in a firefight), Tarzan charged at the Nazi machine and grappled with it.  Only then did Ernst, the Nazi grenadier, start lobbing stick bombs at the pair of them.  Fortunately for both the combatants, the first salvo didn't cause any damage.  [Note however that in Pulp Alley, an extreme peril from a blast weapon stays in place and will affect anyone who activates on it or moves through it for the rest of the turn.  Since both the panzerbot and Tarzan had already taken their actions for the turn, that shouldn't be an issue, right?].

Elsewhere, Alain Quartermain examined the fetish post that had felled Lady Constance.  Although dislodging it from the post was challenging, the canny hunter was successful in recovering the item.  +1 VP to the Safari!

Caesar tried the same trick on the skulls to the east.  Even though these would have been much easier to collect, the little ape failed miserably and could only cower in fear.  Later, he failed his recovery roll and fled, terrified, screeching and hooting through the trees.  Aw, HECK!  That's the Jungle Alliance down to 3 models now...

Stahl Mask couldn't get a clear shot at Tarzan in the melee, so he decided to charge at him and settle the matter with fisticuffs.  Big mistake!  Ernst was keeping up his barrage of grenades and one of these hit his boss in the leg, injuring him and preventing him from running for the rest of the game [Stahl Mask had moved into an extremely perilous area and thus had to take a challenge - which he failed].

To add insult to injury (well, injury to injury, really), Tarzan then battered the Nazi a bit more in the ensuing melee.

At the end of turn 2, things had advanced a bit:

• In the background, Sir Henry had managed to persuade one of the Masked Natives to talk to him (+1 VP for the Safari, for a total of 2 VP so far).  Elsewhere, the rest of his team advanced very cautiously, afraid of the lion that was now hiding in the undergrowth near the statues.
• The Snake Cult were pouring out of the jungle in seemingly endless numbers, but didn't quite manage to reach the major plot point.
• Koko smashed the skulls on the fetish post that had terrified Caesar with contemptuous ease, thus claiming +1 VP for Tarzan's Jungle Alliance.
• Herr Stengel and some of his goons advanced on the final skull post.  The cunning fiend quickly saw the marker for the sham that it was and scored +1 VP for the Nazis.

And that's it ... for now!

In the best tradition of pulp serials, I'm going to leave it hanging there for a few days.  What happens next?  Who will stop the flood of cultists?  Will Koko ever overcome his fear of snakes?  What is the Nazis' real plan?  And will any of the Safari be eaten by the lion?  All will be revealed next time, so wait till then and read - if you dare - the concluding part of Tarzan and the Mysterious Statues!

Part 2 is this way ==>

More Plot Points

Introduction

Back in February this year, I showed some plot point markers that I had built: 5 Plot Points.  These are primarily intended for use in games of Pulp Alley, for Tarzan and his opponents to squabble over.  Since then, I've had a load more ideas; some of these have now been translated into models.  After all, it wouldn't do if every game we played used exactly the same set of objectives, would it?

A Few More Plot Points

So easy to make that I built 4 of them...

There's nothing that says "danger!" more clearly on a jungle trail than the occasional skull on a post.  Whether you call these "fetish posts", "jungle totems" or something else altogether, they should strike fear into the weaker-willed members of the party.  Nevertheless, they are a sure indication that you are approaching something important.

These models are very simple to make: just stick a skull onto a rod.  I've tried to make them a bit varied by adding a second skull, a second post or an animal's tail to some of these bases.  There's not really much else to say about them.

For the Naturalists

My goodness, it's a Spratchett's Quintail!

The jungle is full of strange creatures, many of which aren't known to science.  The explorer who brings a specimen of such a rare creature back to civilisation will gain much renown!

This particular weird animal came from a large packet of assorted alien critters that I bought many years ago from the long-defunct Amazon Miniatures.  They're slightly crude sculpts, but a wonderfully alien bunch of bugs and I really ought to use more of them for something.

Here's a slightly more normal creature - a giant snail.  It's not completely imaginary either, as African Land Snails can grow up to 20cm in length.  This one is just a bit larger than that, that's all!  And here's a bonus: if science isn't interested in enormous snails then they make loyal, friendly pets.  Failing that, there's good eating on them, if you like escargot...

My giant snail comes from Black Cat Bases, who have a very interesting and extensive range of "accessories", both man-made items and small animals.

Last in this section is one for the botanists: a rare purple jungle orchid.  Maybe the nectar can be distilled into medicines or psychedelic drugs, or perhaps its beauty will spark a gardening craze and everyone will want one in their conservatory?  It must be of some use to someone, surely.

This model is a hybrid: the greenery comes from a plastic model railroad plant, whilst the flowers have been sourced from some aquarium plants I bought a long time ago.

Traces of Adventurers

Someone has left a whip and a battered, old Fedora lying around.  Holding them makes you feel exceptionally capable and very lucky, though.  How strange...

The whip is scratchbuilt, whilst the hat comes from Black Cat Bases.

My last plot point is a small pouch that has been dropped and is spilling diamonds over the ground.  In this case, the pouch was moulded from one of my Basius II pads, though it could just as easily have been scratch built or have come from a kit.  The diamonds are just very small rhinestones; a packet of about 100 of these cost just over £1 from my local craft superstore.  I've got plenty left over for other projects!

The Collection So Far

I'm beginning to build up quite a number of plot points/objective markers.  The picture above includes those that I built earlier as well as the new ones.  If you include the possibility of using figures as well (such as lost missionaries, recalcitrant natives, shifty traders and the like) then I can probably run quite a few games before I have to reuse any of them.  I like the sound of that!

Jungle Scatter Terrain

Introduction

I'm continuing to document my build-up of figures and terrain for the new Congo game rules.  Last week I described some of my Forest Tribesmen, but this week I'm going to talk about terrain.

I already have some large "jungle" terrain pieces, as can be seen in some of my previous games (for example, Tarzan and the Lost Expedition).  These are all based on old CD-ROM disks and are made from the traditional plastic aquarium plants.  On both counts, they're quite large pieces; also the regular shapes of the disks makes it difficult to set up interesting tables for games.  So, I decided to build a number of smaller, "scatter" terrain models.

Model Railroad Plants

In the past, most gamers' "jungle" terrain has been made from plastic foliage that is designed for aquariums.  That can work well, but such plants are usually greatly over sized and often need quite a lot of chopping and converting.  After all, they're 1:1 scale and frequently designed to have long stalks so that they can wave about in a fish tank!

It turns out that similar plastic plants of a better size are also made for model railroads (and gamers) and these can be bought very cheaply online (usually from China, unsurprisingly).  I bought 3 different packs, each containing 50 plants for less than £9 including postage.  I simply don't understand how this is economically possible - even if the raw materials and labour cost next to nothing, shipping anything from the other side of the world must surely cost something?  Yet here we are...

"2.5cm BUSH Shrubs"

The first set of plants I have is called "2.5cm BUSH Shrubs" [sic].  They look to me more like a type of grass or flax, though.  Either way, they come with a spike on the bottom to enable them to be pushed into a (foam?) landscape.  I cut these spikes off and simply glued the plants onto some prepared and painted bases.

It strikes me that these would work well for savannah as well; these "shrubs" look as if they'd be at home in an arid terrain as well as a very moist one.

"Green Grass Bushes"

Next, we come to the strangely-named "Green Grass Bushes".  Note that I've mixed a few other plants in on some of these bases for variety; the bushes are the ones with the crinkly, oak-like leaves.  I've prepared these in exactly the same way as the previous plants and stuck them to bases.

As with all these scatter pieces, I varnished after sticking the foliage to the base.  That has toned down the dark green, plastic colour of the leaves quite nicely, though they do look a little "milky".  Finishing polythene plants is always a problem; they're usually very bright and glossy if untreated, but it's hard to find any paint or wash which will stick to such models.

"5.5cm BUSH Heart Leaves"

Finally, we come to another set of "bushes".  Again, I've mixed these with a few other plants, but it should be fairly obvious which ones have the heart-shaped leaves.  These look as if they would be much more at home in a jungle than anywhere else; I cannot imagine such wide leaves surviving very well under a blistering sun in the open.  Instead, they're perfect for shady undergrowth in a larger forest.

Conclusion

I'm looking forwards to using these smaller pieces in a game.  When combined with my older, CD-ROM & palm tree bases, I should be able to have a much more interesting layout.  It ought to be easier to mark out paths and clearings, for a start.  Still, we'll only know for certain how well this works once I've tried it for real!

I haven't used all of the plants I bought, so I'll need to make up some more terrain bases sometime.  Cutting out the MDF bases is the bit that takes the most time; actually painting them and then sticking down the plants is relatively quick.  Of course, there are other forms of tropical-looking model railroad plants available too.  At under £3 per packet, maybe I should get some of those as well?

5 Plot Points

Introduction

In my last piece, I mentioned that my friend Steve and his son had visited us last Saturday.  I've already described our Frostgrave game, but we also played a Pulp Alley scenario.  I'm not going to describe that yet (you'll just have to wait a while), but it involved Tarzan, Nazis, a deserted archaeologists' camp in the jungle and some pretty hostile wildlife!

This was our second ever game of Pulp Alley and after the first game (here), I felt that using bland, unnamed plastic chits for the objectives wasn't really getting properly into the spirit of things.  In the intervening weeks, I made some "proper" objective markers.  These are described below.

The Luggage

So, the scenario will be set at a deserted campsite.  Whose luggage is it?  Was he or she planning a secretive departure, unknown to their colleagues?  If so then what caused them to leave the luggage behind?  Is it full of banknotes, treasure maps or other incriminating evidence - or just dirty socks and other laundry?

The Radio

The camp had a radio for communicating with the outside world; the height of 1930s technology!  Was it used to relay secret messages to spies and saboteurs?  If the dials are still set then it might be possible to identify the last person to be sent a message; that would be a useful clue.  Perhaps there's a code book or some notes hidden inside the case?  It's got to be worth a look.

The Native

So, this man is hanging around the deserted campsite.  Does he know what happened to the archaeologists?  Did a swarm of army ants drive them off?  Perhaps he saw some group attack and capture the campers?  Perhaps he's a straggler from the group which captured them?  Does anyone speak his language, anyway?

The Journal

There's a leather-bound book lying in the grass near the campsite.  Was it dropped by one of the archaeologists?  It might have a wealth of clues as to what happened - but maybe it's in code?  Of course, it might just be poetry.

The Ancient Dagger

This is a particularly fine-looking knife, but it's a very unusual, perhaps somewhat archaic design.  Is this an artifact that the archaeologists found at a nearby site?  If so then it might point to an incredible lost civilisation.  Or perhaps it was dropped by an interloper - maybe it's some hidden cult's ritual dagger, mislaid in their haste to escape with more victims to sacrifice?  Hmm, I wonder if the ruby in the hilt is worth anything?

Conclusion

To see how we got on with these items and find out who won, who was eaten and who ran away, I'll tell you just this:

"Listen again next time for another exciting episode of The Adventures of Tarzan, Jungle Lord!"

FUBAR: The Rumble in the Jungle

Introduction

I've mentioned FUBAR before (here); it's a 1-page, fast-play set of rules for squad-level Science Fiction combat games.  Since I was at a bit of a loss when deciding what to bring to the games club this week, I thought I'd give it another outing.  It's been a while since I last played these rules.

FUBAR is adaptable to a wide variety of settings.  For example, it's sometimes used as a free alternative to Warhammer 40K or for games with Star Wars clix figures.  However I though that I would bring out some of my old VOID miniatures instead (note that these are still available from Scotia Grendel).  In this game, the Viridians (fervent ecologists) would attack a Syntha (cold cyborgs) outpost.

I think I may be getting something of a reputation at the club.  When one of the regular players saw the setup for this game, he asked nervously "Does this involve bugs?"  Of course, my answer was "Why?  Would that worry you?" (mua-ha-ha!).  It's true that I have used my Viridians in "bug hunt" games before, but there wouldn't be any hordes of monsters on this occasion!

The Scenario

This would be a very simple game: the Syntha have set up a base in the centre of the jungle and the Viridians don't like the mess they're making.  The attackers must wipe out the base, whilst the defenders must hold on!

The Syntha's southern defences.  2 squads (one of robots, one of humans) man the sandbag wall while "Hades-40" stands ready in the background

Syntha troops are all deployed on the table from the start.  They have:

• 2 tanks (one is much better camouflaged than the other and may be quite hard to spot in the picture above).  Very powerful.
• A troop of grav-bikes.  Fast and heavily armed, but unarmoured.
• Several squads of robots, big and small - a mixture of androsynths and teratosynths, if you're interested.  Well armed, somewhat armoured, but not very bright.
• 2 squads of (slightly) modified human marines.
• ...and finally, a pair of biomechs - mechanically-enhanced cyborg super-soldiers.

The Viridian force would be split into 2 parts; each would enter from a different end of the table.  Total force is as follows:

• 2 behemoths (dinosaur-like "tanks")
• Several squads of power-armoured troopers.
• Several squads of regular infantry.
• 1 scout squad, mounted on fast, bipedal lizards.

Since the Syntha had 2 commanders and the Viridians had 4, I expected the attackers to have a significant command and control advantage.  In FUBAR, when a player fails an activation roll for one of his units then his turn is over.  On average, the Viridians should have been able to activate about twice as many units as the Syntha for each round.  I hoped that this would compensate the attackers for the defenders' semi-prepared positions.

The Game

Oh, there's the second Syntha tank: "Nemesis-41"

The crashing of something large through trees was the first the Syntha knew of the attack on their base.  A Viridian assault behemoth broke through the foliage and its gauss cannons all opened fire on the nearest defending tank, wrecking its grav-drive.  Powered infantry could be seen close behind the monster.

Quickly recovering from their surprise, the defenders returned fire.  The tank fired its star-cannon at the behemoth and stunned it with a near miss, while the marines blazed away on some hapless Viridian troopers who were in the open.  These were quickly suppressed and suffered casualties; they remained pinned in this position for a number of turns until the Syntha eventually found a higher priority target.

The disoriented behemoth failed to activate, as did all of the Viridian southern command.  Figuring that they were only being attacked from 1 direction after all, the Syntha moved some of their large robots into a position where they could see the creature.  A superb shot from the 'bots managed to break one of the behemoth's legs and destroy the nearer gauss cannon.  From now on the Viridian creature couldn't move and had only half its original fire-power.  I would have said that it was a sitting duck - except that it doesn't look anything like a duck!

Finally, the other part of the Viridian attack arrived, from the south.  The Syntha pretty much ignored them, because (a) the attackers were still a fair way off and (b) they didn't seem to know what to do with themselves.

In another part of the northern assault, a Viridian squad had crossed the river.  They hoped that this movement hadn't been seen, but the 2 biomechs were waiting for them.  The armoured infantry turned out to be no match for the super-soldiers and hit the dirt to avoid casualties.

When the Syntha grav-bikes joined in, the attackers started to take losses, despite their armour.  Eventually this infantry squad was wiped out.

Nemesis-41 was busy receiving a software update [i.e. the tank failed its activation roll for several turns in a row], so a Viridian assault squad seized the opportunity to race across the bridge and assault the nearby infantry.  Despite being outclassed, the Syntha troopers defended heroically; both sides were still locked in melee by the end of the game.

At the southern end of the table, the other Viridian behemoth and supporting infantry began edging past the Syntha positions.

For a moment, this looked like a dangerous move.  However, a very lucky missile from the emplaced Syntha infantry detonated the ammunition in the behemoth's howdah, killing the creature and all crew.  The 2 defending biomechs also raced towards the scene, making the nearby Viridian troopers very uneasy.

The worried troopers quickly found that they couldn't draw a bead on the fast-moving biomechs; most shots were dodged and the few which seemed to strike home had no effect.  In return, the cyborgs made mincemeat of the humans, killing one outright and sending others sprawling for cover in the dirt.

Conclusion

By the end of the game (when time was up!), the Viridian attack seemed to have stalled.  Various units were exchanging fire with their Syntha counterparts, but this was fairly desultory.  The one possible success could have been the Viridian assault troopers attack in the north, but a counter-attack from assault robots was expected imminently.  Finally, the defenders still had quite a lot of their forces available as a mobile reserve - Hades-40, the 3 grav-bikes and the 2 biomechs - whereas the Viridian scouts were the only unit the attackers hadn't committed.  I'd say that the Syntha have managed to hold their position very effectively!

So, how did FUBAR work out?  It's certainly quick to play and the unit activation rules force the players to concentrate on what really matters at the time.  Overall I think it's a very useful set of rules, though a lot depends on the attributes you create for your models.

Being caught in the open is bad news, especially for unarmoured infantry.  Not many models died, at least in part because my squads were small and therefore had limited fire-power, but the suppression certainly limited what units could do.

I'm not really a fan of "partial" damage for tanks or other vehicles (e.g. loss of a weapon, mobility or other attributes).  Because of this rule, most of the "vehicles" in the north survived the entire game, albeit with various bits shot off.  Only the luckiest hit would truly destroy such a model!

Unit of the match: the 2 Syntha biomechs, without a doubt.  They were fast, elusive and hard-hitting.  Their elite rating meant that they would activate on a 2+; this made them extremely active.  Indeed, with the exception of the one dead behemoth and its crew, they caused almost all the fatalities in the entire game.

Most useless: I think I'd have to go for the Viridian scouts.  For a long time they refused to come on to the table.  When they finally arrived, they skulked about in the woods and hid so well that they don't even appear in any of the photographs.  At least all of the other units on both sides used their weapons, even if they didn't all hit anything.  Apart from the assault synths, that is - but they were an obvious reserve in case the perimeter was breached!