7TV: The Mystery of Dutchman's Creek

Introduction

A few weeks ago, we played a game of 7TV at the Helensburgh games club which pitted Mystery Inc (i.e. Scooby Doo and pals) against some aquatic monsters led by an extraterrestrial megalomaniac (see here: The Mystery of Frenchman's Cove).

This game was quite fun and seems to have been well received by readers of my blog, but I couldn't help feeling that we had missed some opportunities.  In particular, our grasp of the rules - and especially the abilities of the two casts - wasn't strong enough to make a really good game.  So we played it again at home, just to see...

The Setup

Much as before, we set up a table that used my new lighthouse model.  Mystery Inc and Sheriff Stone advanced from one side (I was playing them myself), whilst my friend Steve took the Master, the lighthouse keeper and their undersea allies on the other side.

Sheriff Stone and his men saw some strange-looking people advancing up the beach, carrying what looked like car headlight.  "Hippies, I expect" muttered one of the cops.  "We'd better go and see what they want".

Without warning, the creatures raised their devices and opened fire [literally - they were using heat rays!].  One officer went down, whilst the rest scattered for cover and shot back.  This merry little firefight continued for a while with only a few casualties...

In the meantime, Velma drove the Mystery Machine past the lighthouse - and past the bemused lighthouse keeper, who consoled himself by taking potshots at Fred with his revolver.

Velma wasn't driving into danger recklessly - there was a plan: Shaggy and Scooby, using an Unlikely Disguise, would dismount and retrieve the objective right in front of them.  The disguise should prevent them from being shot down immediately..

Velma ran for a more distant objective, but Shaggy and Scooby found their way blocked by a scary-looking pair of Sea Devils.  Hmm - a conundrum...

Ah, but these aliens were unreliable allies.  That means the opposition can spend plot points to command them, within limits.  "Look over there!  Behind you!" screamed Shaggy at the tall figure in black armour.  Burbling to itself in its own, undersea language, the reptilian creature turned around and strode off to see what might be found in the middle of the creek.

"I don't think that was the brightest fish in the fishtank, Scooby!" exclaimed Shaggy as he watched the monster depart.  "And look, here's Tia!" he added as he solved the objective [what, again?  In our last game the very first objective also turned out to be the missing friend].

Meanwhile, near the door to the lighthouse cottage, Fred was charged by a huge, four-legged, slimy monster!  He quickly took a Scooby Snack [err, shouldn't that have been reserved for Shaggy & Scooby?  Well, never mind - the effect of the generic 7TV Adrenaline Boost gadget is pretty much how I imagine a Scooby Snack would work] and waited for its attack.

The Myrka didn't mess around trying to hit Fred, but instead picked him up bodily and threw him about 10 yards.

Daphne used the cover of the commotion to slip into the lighthouse and climb to the top of the tower.  There was an objective on the balcony; she was the only one who had a chance of reaching it.  However, events overtook her and the game ended before she could find the clue.

Tia drove the Mystery Machine away, across the field, to escape the renewed attentions of the Sea Devils.  They did manage to hit the van once, but this wasn't enough to slow it down.

Seeing their transport vanish, Scooby and Shaggy ran after it, shouting "Stop!  Wait for us!".  Of course, the Master then couldn't resist pursuing them [no, he really couldn't resist.  They have a special Star Power which can force an enemy to chase them - great for drawing someone out of position!].

Not fazed at all by being hurled about, Fred ran back into contact with the Myrka and stunned it with a Sleep Spray gadget.  He then proceeded to thump the creature and weakened it as well [actually, Fred's adrenaline boost, plus the status(s) on the monster, plus the fact that it was knocked down gave him extremely good odds of hitting it].

But here's the thing: the Myrka has 4 health points and Fred hadn't even managed to injure it yet.  If he did nothing else then it would almost certainly just get up, shake itself down and be good as new on its the next turn.

I have a cunning plan: Mystery Inc would Steal the Scene and take two turns in a row.  Each side can opt to do this once per game; the moment seemed appropriate because Fred could hit the monster again.  Because it was already weakened - and because 7TV doesn't allow multiple statuses of the same type - he would then inflict an injury on it instead.  It's not much, but it might be the best we can do.

So, Mystery Inc stole the scene.  In the most fortuitous moment possible, the Countdown Card for the new turn was After the Watershed - which allows a free attack with one model.  Immediately, Fred took this and inflicted one wound on the Myrka.  He was then activated as normal for the turn and hit it again: 2 wounds!

OK, this is good - what else can we do?  Fred grabbed his pen [another gadget] and dug it deep into the creature's skin: 3 wounds!

And still the monster wasn't able to respond: it was stunned, weakened, prone and [importantly!] wasn't able to have a turn for itself.

You know what: there's a cop just on the other side of the lighthouse.  He could charge in and have an attack as well.  Result: 4 wounds - the creature is unmasked and the two people inside the rubber suit are arrested!  "It's Mr Gruber, from the delicatessen!"

The game wasn't over yet, of course, as the evil side still had many other models.  One of the effects on the Large Monster profile is Rubber Suit.  This has the following effect: when the monster is knocked out, 1d6 other models from the same cast are removed from the table.

With an air or resignation, the monster player rolled the die and came up with an inevitable '6'.  By the time he was finished, all the Sea Devils had retreated into the ocean and the lighthouse keeper had slunk off, hoping that no-one recognised his part in the fracas.

Only the Master was left on the Monster cast, but he wasn't about to give up and come quietly.  He advanced a little way and threw down some noxious bomb which left Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and the cop choking and coughing.

The Master followed this up by charging Shaggy and knocking him out; Shaggy didn't do himself any favours with his histrionic over-reactions!

The madman kept going; it became obvious that he was trying to recapture Tia, or maybe to steal the van and make his escape, or both.

The Master didn't make it, though.  In the very last turn of the game [thanks to a Cliffhanger countdown card], Fred activated one of his traps.  The heroic side used all their available plot points [8 of them!] to power up the Capture Bubble gadget.  Although The Master attempted to resist, he just couldn't win against this.

Result: the Master was flung far over the lighthouse and into the sea.  No doubt he'd be fished out by a police boat, or arrested when he returned, bedraggled, to shore.  Either way, this was a massive victory for Mystery Inc!

Conclusion

We did add up victory points for this game, but I can't remember the exact amounts.  Even allowing for knocking out Shaggy, the monster side were soundly beaten.

There were some very lucky moments for Mystery Inc, it has to be said.  Fred's rampage and the final unmasking of the Myrka were only really made possible by the After the Watershed countdown card; without this the monster would probably have survived, shaken off its statuses and started to do some damage.  Of course, losing another 6 models when the Myrka fell was catastrophic for the monster cast and there was not really any way they could recover from this.  Catapulting the Master into the sea was just icing on the cake.  Sorry, Steve...

This game felt much more like a Scooby Doo episode to me.  Not all the star qualities/special effects of each cast were used, but a number were.  More importantly, we were aware of all of them [i.e. we hadn't forgotten any - I think] and therefore could plan in advance how to trick or trap our opponents.  It's not just about shooting!

7TV: The Mystery of Frenchman's Cove

Introduction

Recently at the Helensburgh games club, I had the urge to play 7TV again.  I wanted to use my new "haunted" lighthouse model; this seemed like an excellent opportunity to deploy a "Scooby Doo" cast!  Hmm, who could be their opponents, then?  Who...Doctor Who...monsters...why, Sea Devils, of course!  I downloaded the free "Scooby Doo" program guide from the Crooked Dice website and set up my game.

Casts

Mystery Inc

The program guide has just a single scenario and this uses a fixed cast for Mystery Inc:

• Fred
• Daphne
• Velma
• Shaggy
• Scooby Doo
• The Mystery Machine
• A local sheriff and 3 deputies.

There's also a lost friend ("Tia") who is added to this cast when/if she is found.

Note that this cast is short on fighting skills, especially for ranged combat.  However, they do have a lot of gadgets, special effects and star qualities.

Monsters

As opposition, I put together the following:

• The Master (for the purposes of this game, he was playing the role of Sinister Mystic)
• A large monster (the Myrka - the Sea Devils' bio-weapon.  It looks a little bit like a pantomime horse)
• A spy (the crusty old lighthouse keeper)
• 6 alien warriors (sea devils)

The monsters have quite a lot of firepower, but the alien warriors are unreliable allies.  Also note that the cast is dominated by extras and therefore won't generate as many plot points as it would like.

The Game

From the beginning, Mystery Inc advanced rapidly:

• The sheriff and his deputies formed a firing line along the hedge in the north.  Note that one of the deputies tripped and fell over whilst crossing the rocky ground [courtesy of a Countdown card].
• Fred and Daphne drove the Mystery Machine through the field and towards the lighthouse, uneventfully.
• Velma ran forwards to investigate a clue, whilst Shaggy and Scooby hung back noticeably.  She took a long range shot from one of the alien warriors, but fortunately a First Aid Kit soon put her right again.

Worryingly, the Myrka was charging across the grass towards the good guys!

In a stroke of outrageous luck, the very first objective counter investigated by Mystery Inc turned out to be the lost friend, Tia.  This would give them significant victory points in the bag if they could just get her to run off the table the way they had come.  Easy!

Shaggy had an interesting ability: if he ran at full speed then he could cause an enemy to run towards him, also at full speed.  Normally I imagine that this would be used during a chase, but in this case Shaggy and Scooby ran towards the lighthouse, thus causing the Master to attempt to intercept them.  In doing so, the villain had to run straight across the gun line of local deputies!

It was a very cunning plan, only spoilt by the fact that the deputies couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.  The sinister mystic may have used a few plot points to mess with their minds as well; that probably didn't help!  Whatever the reason, the Master emerged from the fusilade unscathed.

In desperation, Fred activated several traps and gadgets.  His rocket cigarette bounced off the Myrka without injuring the beast and the Master evaded the capture bubble with ease.

The angry monster retaliated by zapping Velma and then charging Scooby Doo from behind.

Things started to go bad for Mystery Inc now.  Firstly, an alien warrior shot down one of the deputies; even though he was behind a hedge the heat beam passed through the cover as if it wasn't there.

Then Shaggy was subjected to a series of attacks from the Master's disorienting gaze and the alien weapons of a trio of Sea Devils.  The combination was too much for him and he disappeared [I reckon that Shaggy probably couldn't take the mystic's withering glare and crawled under the hedge to hide there for the rest of the game, rather than being killed by the aliens' ray guns.  The effect was the same either way: the model ceased being in play].

With yet another piece of bad luck, the remaining 3 cops were set on fire by a badly-judged piece of pyrotechnics[another countdown card!].  Perhaps the alien soldier's heat ray had set fire to the hedge, or the grassy embankment?

In a strange reversal of fortune, some of the alien warriors were then subjected to a gratuitous special effects sequence.  The series of explosions left one of them dead.

Having scared off Scooby Doo, the Myrka turned its attention to the stunned Velma.  She recovered enough (just!) to escape by means of a jetpack gadget.  At the same time, Fred and Daphne gave up any hope of recovering more objectives, turned the Mystery Machine around and fled...

In the last turn, while Mystery Inc fled the table, the good side drew a Big Break countdown card.  They only had 2 extras left, the sheriff and one of his deputies - both of whom were still on fire.

The opportunity was too good to waste, so the deputy drew a bead on one of the alien warriors who were advancing up the beach - and nailed the loathsome creature!

Conclusion

Even though Mystery Inc had fled, they did recover 1 objective - and it was the most important one as it turned out to be their missing friend, Tia.  When the victory points were added up, it turned out that this scored enough to counteract the loss of Shaggy and give the good side a victory by 1 point!

I feel that the monster side were somewhat cheated by this rather technical win.  After all, the good guys ran away without solving the riddle of Frenchman's Creek.  Indeed, the monster side never even got to use all their models; their spy wasn't activated at any point.  The lighthouse keeper just watched over the entire debacle from his tower, probably laughing softly to himself at how his plans were coming to fruition...

I feel it's worth making a few comments about the game play.  The Mystery Inc cast is a very unusual one which cannot do much to hurt its enemies.  Instead, it needs to use its abilities to score victory points in other ways; this probably requires some very imaginative planning.

It's difficult to keep track of all their special effects and star qualities; they have so many.  When you add in "disadvantage" effects which the monster cast may have, the range of possibilities becomes overwhelming!  How many of you remembered that the alien warriors were unreliable?  Mystery Inc could have spent plot points on them [up to a point] as well as their own models - but who can keep track of all of this?

Another comment: we used virtually the entire pool of gadget cards in this game [Mystery Inc get to choose from a huge number of cards].  If we play with these casts many more times then I suspect that the gadgets will become a bit predictable.  It would be nice to have a much bigger set of cards, just to keep things fresh and different.

In a similar vein, more [generic] countdown cards and more Mystery Inc-specific scenarios would be very nice to have!

7TV2: Eternia Base and the Daleks

Introduction

To my everlasting regret, I've only played 7TV once before (here), though I've played its precursor - the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) several times.

The one previous game of 7TV was fun, but it wasn't a total success for two reasons.  Firstly the forces were too small for the table (or if you prefer, the table was too large for the number of figures) and secondly the objectives were too easy to collect very early on (and that took away much of the point of playing the remainder of the game).

Last Thursday, I decided to revisit the game at the Helensburgh games club, but with some adjustments which would hopefully improve the experience.

The Setup

Somewhere in Federation space, on a remote and otherwise uninhabited planet is a top-secret research establishment called "Eternia Base".  There, scientists are conducting dangerous experiments to establish the nature of anti-photons.

A cross-dimensional rift caused by these tests has allowed universes to collide; Davros and a group of xenocidal Daleks have been sucked through.  They would like to take the secret knowledge of Eternia Base for themselves.

However, all is not lost.  Another dimensional traveller (who calls himself "the Doctor") and his assistant have persuaded the nearby starship USS Matakishi to intervene.  Captain Bellamy is leading an away team to try to rescue the scientists and save the base.

Special Rules

This would be a regular 7TV2 battle with 60 ratings per side.  The only alterations that we made to the standard rules were concerning objectives:

1. An objective wouldn't automatically be claimed just by spending a special action.  Rather, the objective would be successfully claimed only if the model making the attempt could pass a Mind test.  Of course, for the Doctor and for Davros (both with a Mind rating of '6') this was just a formality...
2. The central objective is the plasmatron, which splits photons or something like that.  For the heroic side, claiming this objective means that the experiment has been shut down safely; the structure of the base will be saved (even if its inhabitants are overrun by Daleks).  On the other hand, if the evil side claim this objective then they set the experiment to overload and eventually suck the base (and maybe the planet too?) into anti-space.  Either way, once this objective has been claimed the effect cannot be reversed.
3. The other 4 objectives are scientists.  Claiming one of these objectives allows the successful player to add the model to his cast (though note that the scientist's Gadget special effect will be of limited effect: it won't allow any more gadgets to be claimed as that's a pre-game effect only) as well as gaining the usual 2 plot points immediately and 1 victory point at the end of the game.
   Once in play, the opposing player can try to knock out the scientist, or can claim the model for their own cast by following the rules for taking an objective.  In theory, a scientist could change allegiances every turn, as the two sides plead, threaten and trick them!

The Game

At the beginning, the Federation advanced as quickly as they could.  Both the Doctor and Captain Bellamy manage to talk to a scientist and convince them that safety lay in joining the good guys.

In contrast, the Daleks were afflicted by a nasty Countdown Card which effectively restricted them to half speed for a turn.  Since they weren't exactly fast movers to start with, their progress was distinctly sluggish!

Davros took out some of his frustrations by shooting and injuring Brook Aria, the Doctor's plucky assistant.

In their second turn, the Federation advance continued.  The Doctor ran up to the plasmatron, though he didn't have an action left with which to try to defuse it.  Also, the redshirt squad advanced, firing for all they were worth and actually hit one of the Daleks.  [They were shooting at Davros, but he has a 'Sacrifice' special effect which can redirect hits to a nearby friend].  Sadly for them, each Dalek can take 3 hits before succumbing and even worse, this was one of only two times in the entire game where a redshirt hit anything!

However, this single hit did change the results of the game, as you will see...

In one of those "I did not see that coming!" moments, the Daleks then drew a Script Editing countdown card.  There was a weird continuity error as Davros was suddenly next to the plasmatron (and was immediately able to set the device to overload before scuttling back to his own lines)...

...whilst the Doctor found himself in the midst of a bunch of angry Daleks, who proceeded to zap him.  It took all the plot points they had for the Federation side to keep him alive, though injured (and then there was some luck involved as well)!

Never underestimate the Doctor!  On his next turn, he ran up to the red Dalek and did something with his sonic screwdriver, thus adding another wound to the battle machine [he used a "Pen Gun" gadget, but I imagine this was just a setting on his normal device rather than a separate piece of kit].

On the other side of the base, two grey Daleks had tried - and failed - to claim the 3rd scientist/objective.  In a moment of sheer coolness (or perhaps utter madness!), Captain Bellamy transported in and rescued the terrified scientist from under their blasters [in game terms, these Daleks were hit with a Countdown Card which prevented them from activating for a turn and then Captain Bellamy used a "jet pack" gadget to move up for free before claiming the objective and scarpering]!

The Federation wasn't the only side to have gadgets, of course.  One of the Daleks produced a noxious cloud [nerve gas canister] that sent most of the redshirts coughing and reeling; it then exterminated a couple of the hapless humanoids.

Things started to get a bit hectic at this point:

• The Doctor used a disguise kit to prevent the red Dalek from disintegrating him.
• Davros threatened the 4th scientist into submission...
• ...but just as he did this, a Federation shuttlecraft landed nearby and disgorged another squad of redcoats.  Two of them were promptly shot by the grey daleks, sadly.

The other two redcoats brawled with Davros, but had no effect whatsoever [honestly, they'd have done better to stand back and shoot him - though even that probably wouldn't have achieved much].  Fortunately for the heroic side, the Doctor was having a much better turn:

• A Countdown Card allowed him to retrieve a gadget; the Doctor re-tuned his sonic screwdriver and inflicted the 3rd & final wound needed to destroy the red Dalek [with the same "Pen Gun" gadget as he had used before].  One down, four to go.
• To cap this, the Doctor also persuaded the scientist that he didn't want to follow Davros after all...

So at this point, all four scientist objectives had been claimed by the Federation/heroic side - though the Daleks had set the plasmatron into irreversible meltdown.

Right, time to leave!  The Doctor and his new scientist ally ran from the enraged Davros, whilst the shuttle relocated to the centre of the table to pick up Captain Bellamy, his scientist and a stray redshirt.

The evil side wasn't going to take this lying down.  Only one grey Dalek was in range of the shuttle, but it hit the craft squarely and inflicted heavy damage [i.e. 2 of the shuttle's 3 damage points were gone].  However, if that was the worst they could do then it looked as if the heroes might escape after all...

...but the Daleks chose this moment to Steal the Scene and take a double turn.  All the Daleks that were at all close converged on the shuttle; it was rocked as bolt after bolt hit it.  The Federation side was all out of plot points and so there was nothing they could do except hold on and hope for the best.

Amazingly, the shuttle's armour [shields?] held.  It made every single saving throw needed and then flew off into the sunset with its precious cargo!

There goes my armed astronaut!

 The Daleks' fury was intense!  They spent the last turn or two shooting down anything that moved.

I spent my last four plot points trying to save this scientist!  Didn't work, though...

Another redshirt bites the dust.

I had spent all my remaining plot points trying to save the last fleeing scientist, forgetting that the Doctor was also threatened.  A single hit would knock him out easily, but this time the rolls went against the Daleks and the Doctor survived & escaped.

At this point, the Countdown Cards ran out and the game ended.  Whew!

Victory

At the end of the game, after the Daleks' last minute shooting spree, the Federation cast was axed.  The Doctor, Brook Aria and one scientist had escaped on foot, Captain Bellamy, a redshirt and a second scientist had escaped in the shuttle and another two redshirts were still on the table - but all the rest were dead.  +1VP to the Daleks for axing the opposition.

Against this, the Federation had possession of 2 objectives/scientists.  +2VP to the Federation.

Hmm, Davros set the plasmatron objective to overload: +1VP to the Daleks.

So far, that's a tie at 2VP each.  However, we need to add in the points for cast members killed.  Nothing for extras (for which the Federation were extremely grateful), but +3VP to the Federation for destroying an enemy co-star (the red Dalek).

The final tally:

• Evil side (Davros and the Daleks): 2VP
• Heroic side (the Doctor/Federation): 5VP

So, who'd have thought it?  The Federation won; even though virtually all their shots had no effect at all, the destruction of the red dalek was the key!

Conclusion

Well, that was a thrilling game and no mistake!  There were so many moments where it could have turned - Davros swapping places with the Doctor was a masterstroke, the Doctor seemed like a goner in the midst of his enemies but somehow survived, the Daleks were all but invincible, the shuttle's escape under fire was very cinematic...and so on.

Both players enjoyed the game tremendously.  A number of other attendees at the games club wandered by during the evening to try to figure out what was going (there were mutterings such as "there are Daleks - but that looks like Star Trek?!", though nobody actually asked).  From this, I anticipate that there's plenty of latent interest in 7TV - even if many of the club members don't yet realise it 😃.

We'll be back...