7th Voyage/8th Voyage: Jason and the Playwright

Introduction

It's been a long time since I played any games based around ancient Greek myth; I think the last such one was in 2016 (here: Jason and Medea).  All my previous outings have used the 7th Voyage rules from Crooked Dice, but despite there being much to admire in these rules, something wasn't quite right for me.  More specifically, the combat felt flat; both sides would simply stand next to each other and hack repeatedly until someone got lucky and hit their opponent enough times to knock them out.  Boring...

Since that last game over 2 years ago, I've been intending to write my own, revised combat rules for 7th Voyage.  This new adaptation would be based loosely on the equivalent combat rules from 7TV (2nd edition), but with inspiration also taken from Song of Blades and Heroes and the existing 7th Voyage.

Well, I finally got round to firming up and writing down my ideas (which I'll call "8th Voyage"; more on those in a future article) and this is a report of the first playtest.

Jason and the Playwright

The story for this game would be very simple: it's the Steal scenario from the 7th Voyage rulebook.  However, instead of an object the Argonauts have been charged with the rescue of a person.  The famed playwright Phineas has fallen in with bad company; he's been taken away by a bunch of hard-partying satyrs!  It's not completely clear whether Phineas has been kidnapped, or whether he has been beguiled and tricked into this wasteful life...

Either way, Jason and his fellow Argonauts have determined to rescue the man.  They have an ulterior motive: Phineas's work is much respected in Agathopolis, their next port of call.  If they can persuade the playwright to put on a show in that town then their passage would no doubt be expedited by the locals!

So, forces are as follows:

• Jason, plus a whole bunch of heavily-armed Argonauts.
• Meleager, plus some very lightly-armed skirmishers/psiloi.
• Antigone.  She doesn't have any followers at all, but has a magic helm which makes her invisible.  The black "7th Voyage" counter denotes when she has activated this item and cannot be seen.  Note that this doesn't make it impossible for opponents to hit or impede her; it's just much more difficult for them!

Antigone with her Helm of Invisibility.  You really cannot see her at all, can you?

On the other side:

• Hylaeus (the satyr leader) plus several spear-armed satyrs (in the background of the picture above).
• A small group of satyr archers, beside the river.
• A larger group of satyrs with a mixture of bows and spears (foreground).
• One cyclops.  Note that this monster is a neighbour of the satyrs and therefore an ally against human intruders.  However, there's not much love lost between him and the satyrs, so the monstrous cyclops causes fear in everyone who comes within 6" - friend as well as foe!

Phineas, the playwright, starts in the middle of the ruined theatre.  He is too befuddled to move on his own, but can move when accompanied by any of the rescuing humans.

The Game

Made invisible by her magic helmet, Antigone stalked forwards towards the amphitheatre and the playwright.  The nearest satyrs sensed her presence (maybe saw dust swirls, or smelled something)  but although they prodded the area with their spears, they failed to make contact with the heroine.

She reached Phineas and was just about to make herself visible and lead the playwright away when the cyclops came lumbering up.  Like the satyrs, it could sense that something wasn't right, but unlike them it had a much longer reach.  One of its flailing limbs caught Antigone with a forceful backhander and threw her across the stage.  She wasn't injured but - at least temporarily - was decidedly out of action.

Help wasn't forthcoming from Meleager and his light infantry.  The young javelineers were ineffective against the tougher satyrs who rushed to intercept them, though one lad caused a lot of frustration to Hylaeos (the satry leader) by simply refusing to die!  Even the hero Meleager was knocked off his feet and wounded; for a few moments he seemed to be in real trouble...

Jason made better progress.  Two satyrs tried to block the river ford, but Jason and his hoplites swept them aside with ease.  Not everything went their way, though: a lucky, long range arrow from a satyr archer felled one of the Argonauts in return.

Now that the way was clear, the Argonauts surged forwards.  The cyclops was reaching about in the dust trying to find the still-invisible Antigone when one of the hoplites ran around and stabbed it from behind.

Remember that the cyclops is fearsome to all other models on the table?  Since it was now pretty much the centre of the action, an increasing number of Argonauts and satyrs had to take fear tests whenever they were activated.  Not all of them passed; indeed later in the game we ran out of my yellow & black "Scared" tokens and had to improvise with other types of counter as well...

Whilst the cyclops roared with pain, Antigone made her move.  She stabbed at the creature (thus becoming visible at least for a while) - but her blow was ineffective.  In return, the cyclops belted her so hard that she landed in the amphitheatre's cheap seats (at the back).  It then turned around and swatted the Argonaut away as well.  Truly it was a very annoyed monster!

The dazed - and now visible - Antigone was promptly showered with arrows from the nearby satyrs.  Although a fair number bounced off her shield, eventually one shaft struck home and took her out of action.

Bellowing loudly, the cyclops rushed at the approaching Argonauts.  Its initial rush left Jason on his back in the dirt, but the hero was soon on his feet again and attacking.  Whilst he and the approaching Meleager distracted the monster, a brave Argonaut sank his spear into its flank [the spearman was considerably aided by a +2 modifier gained from sacrificing an event card.  As it happened, this particular event card was only useful for a spell caster, so "sacrificing" it wasn't much of a loss for the Argonaut player!].

Between them, Meleager and the Argonaut attacked repeatedly and forced the cyclops back all the way across the amphitheatre.  Jason saw his chance, rushed up to Phineas and started to hustle the confused playwright away from the fighting.

Before he could escape cleanly, Jason was shot in the back with an arrow.  Of course, it would take more than a single injury to fell a hero of his standing, but even so it was worrying...

Two Argonauts had been tasked with killing Hylaeus, the satyr leader, or at least with keeping him occupied so that he couldn't do anything especially useful.  After fighting with them inconclusively for much of the game, Hylaeus switched tactics and started to use his hypnotise power instead of his spear.

Almost immediately, he managed to dominate both of the humans; they were at least temporarily under his control.  The wily satyr suggested that they go and take a bath in the river, reasoning that the Argonauts would have to take drowning tests when they were next activated.  In this way there was a good chance that they would be lost to their original side whether or not they regained control of their senses.

As it happens, neither man recovered from the hypnotism by the end of the game; they were never seen again by the other Argonauts...

The cyclops tried to go around the amphitheatre to reach Jason and the escaping playwright, but it hadn't gone very far when it was charged from behind by an exceptionally enthusiastic Argonaut.  The man stabbed the monster fatally and as it writhed around on the ground [courtesy of a "Taking your time" event card], he stabbed it some more until it finally stopped moving.  Thus was Antigone avenged...

The exhausted Meleager was suddenly surrounded by satyrs who bounded into and across the amphitheatre.  He tried to defend himself, but was struck by arrows and fell.

With the loss of this hero and the two hypnotised hoplites, the Argonauts cast was thoroughly shaken.  Jason escorted Phineas off the table and at that point we had to call the game because we ran out of time.

Victory

So, who won?  Scores were as follows:

Hylaeus and the Satyrs

• 2VP for knocking out Antigone
• 2VP for knocking out Meleager
• 1VP for shaking the opposing cast [i.e. reducing them to less than half their number of starting models].

So, a grand total of 5VP.

Jason and the Argonauts

• 3VP for knocking out the cyclops
• 3VP for rescuing Phineas and escorting him off the table.

...for a total of 6VP.  Therefore, it's a marginal Argonaut victory, albeit a somewhat Pyrrhic one.

However, consider this: if the game had gone on for just one more turn, the satyrs would almost certainly have axed the Argonauts [i.e. reduced them to 1/4 of their starting models] and would thus have earned themselves another 2VP, increasing their score by enough to claim themselves a marginal victory.

Conclusion

This was a fun game for me (as umpire) and hopefully for the players as well.  I'm delighted to have re-entered the world of gaming Greek Mythology!

The Argonauts achieved their goal of rescuing Phineas.  In addition, their heroes all acted, well, heroically.  Some hoplites got stuck in enthusiastically to help their leaders, though a few just cowered at the back and refused to engage.  The psiloi/javelinmen were not particularly effective, which is as it should be...

For their opponents, the cyclops did its thing, dominating the centre of the action and terrifying all and sundry.  The satyrs proved to be remarkably resilient; relatively few fell in combat - though this might reflect their tactics rather than any special powers.  I'm still not quite sure how they managed to wipe out so many armoured, veteran warriors!

My revised, "8th Voyage" combat rules seem to have worked very well and I don't see any immediate need to make changes to them.  Some more play-testing would be good before I can declare them to be "finished", of course.  I will publish this set of house rules soon, so if anyone is curious then you can see where my thinking has led.  In the meantime, I think that combat in 7th Voyage has become a whole lot more fluid and interesting...

Batrep: Tintin in Tunisia

Introduction

Another Thursday, another night at the Helensburgh games club.  This time, it's Pulp Alley again, with a 4-player game set amidst the ancient ruins of a Carthaginian or Greek colony in Mediterranean North Africa.  We had 2 of the same players as the last game which involved these leagues; the other 2 players were new to Pulp Alley.

The Setup

In the remote, ruined town of Hadrumetum, someone has been conducting unauthorised excavations.  According to local reports, this was a large, well-organised group - possibly from somewhere in central Europe.  Rumours suggest that they weren't interested in the archaeology but were instead looking for something very specific, though no-one knows what was their target.

It appears that the foreigners have left their camp temporarily; no-one knows why.  This would be a good time to descend upon it and find out what's happening!

The table is set up as follows:

Objectives:

• The major plot point is the loaded truck in the middle of the site.  It's full of crates and looks as if it is ready to depart.  Perhaps the site owners found what they were seeking and it's in one of the boxes?  Got to be worth a look!
• 4 diggers/camp servants are minor plot points.  They might be able to tell something useful about recent events, if you can speak their language (and not scare them too much!).
• The camp radio and a packed suitcase are minor plot points; they could have clues as to the identity of the Europeans.
• This is an ancient and interesting site: the ancient pile of skulls may reveal information about the original site's history.  There's also a rare purple orchid growing here; it's said that the pollen from this flower has medicinal properties, or perhaps it can be used for dark science.  Both of these are further minor plot points.

Dangers:

• The camp fire is still smoking and occasionally spitting out embers; it is perilous.
• The amphitheatre has steep side walls.  Attempting to cross these where there are no steps is perilous.
• Climbing one of the ruined pillars (should anyone care to try it!) is also perilous.
• The area is infested with poisonous snakes.  Swarms of these move at the end of each turn (1d6" in a random direction); any model which activates within 3" of such a swarm will be subject to extreme peril.

Combatants:

The semi-deserted site and its mysteries have attracted the attention of four leagues:

Idaho Smith (and the M.I.T. Archaeolgical Society)

Idaho Smith, Marion Allen, Kerem, Indiana (the bloodhound), Mother and Lady Constance

Idaho used his Network of Supporters to recruit Lady Constance, a keen amateur historian and accomplished shot.

The Mummy

The Mummy, and 3 fearsome Tomb Guardians.  He also has a scarab swarm (not shown in this picture)

Tintin

Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus

Doctor Demento

Doctor Demento and 4 of his Zorgl slave creatures.  The Doctor hasn't waited for the start of the game, but is already investigating the purple orchid with a view to extracting rare & deadly chemicals from it.

The Game

Before Tintin could even move, his followers were beset by horrors!  A skeletal warrior clawed its way up from the sands to attack Snowy [courtesy of a hostile Fate card], whilst a scarab swarm scuttled towards Professor Calculus.

Snowy dodged his boney attacker easily enough, then Tintin emptied an entire clip of bullets into it to destroy it for good.

On the other side, Captain Haddock ran to the rescue of Professor Calculus.  He stomped all over the beetle swarm, dispersing it temporarily.

These actions didn't injure any of TinTin's followers, but they did delay them considerably.  It looks as if someone was trying to interfere with their plans!

In another opening skirmish, a Tomb Guardian charged and felled Kerem, but was then shot down by Marion Allen.

Elsewhere, Doctor Demento wasn't even slightly bothered by the approaching snakes.  Kicking the nearest serpent out of the way, he collected the purple orchid with ease.

Not so the Mummy!  The undead lord approached the camp radio, but he just couldn't figure it out.  Hardly surprising, really: they don't have such things where he comes from...

Things were still not going well for Tintin's followers.  Professor Calculus approached an Arab digger, but the rough workman knocked him down [the Professor failed a peril when attempting this plot point].

Snowy ran up to help, but was subjected to a desperate, flailing charge by a Zorgl.  The little dog didn't jump out of the way quickly enough and took a nasty buffet to the side of the head.

After a couple of turns, this is how things stood:

• Tintin himself had moved only a short way before he was attacked by a pair of Tomb Guardians.  Someone really has it in for him!
• Zorgls advanced quickly; they seemed to be everywhere; chasing Snowy, grasping at an Arab digger and uncovering a pile of skulls!  One of them was even reaching for the door of the truck in the centre of the campsite.
• The Mummy was still struggling with the new-fangled technology of the radio.
• Idaho Smith and most of his group were conferring on how best to avoid the spluttering camp fire on one side and the nest of vipers on the other.  They did at least pick up the luggage which had been left nearby.

The Zorgl continued to chase Snowy, but this time the little dog evaded the clutches of the hairy monster.  It was then attacked and knocked down by an unlikely alliance of Captain Haddock attacking it from one side and a Tomb Guardian on the other.  However, the Zorgls in our games have an incredible reputation for passing health checks for recovery; the creature just stood up again.

Tintin evaded the other Tomb Guardian and ran towards the truck.  As he did so, he heard the crack of a rifle - but the shot wasn't aimed at him.  Instead, it bowled over the Zorgl who was on the other side of the vehicle [I told you that Lady Constance was a fine shot...

  

...and that was her last bullet.  Things were looking up!]

Tintin's optimism was short-lived, though:

• The Mummy finally figured out the radio; he then decided that he was now familiar enough with machinery to approach the truck.
• Tintin was still under threat; this time it was a Zorgl which left the Arab digger it had been pestering in order to attack the boy reporter.
• Snowy, newly recovered from the ringing in his ears, raced around the ruins towards the now-unclaimed digger.
• Doctor Demento strode purposefully into the centre of the amphitheatre and unleashed a mind blast on all those around.  Whilst this affected a goodly number of foes [i.e pretty much all of The Mummy's and Tintin's leagues!], most of them were stout enough to avoid any ill effects.

Indeed, Doctor Demento spent pretty much the entire second half of the game amusing himself in this manner; standing in the same spot and issuing blast after blast to discomfort all those within the central area.  There were usually at least one or two enemies each turn who just couldn't take the pressure in their brains, though the repeated blasts of psychic energy were probably an irritant rather than a game-changing tactic.

Idaho Smith and his group had finally plucked up courage to pass by the campsite snakes.  However, Mother wasn't careful enough; she was bitten by a particularly aggressive asp and collapsed immediately [a "3 successes or take 3 hits" peril is almost impossible for a mere follower to pass; she was very unlucky to draw this].

Once past the snakes, Indiana charged the nearest enemy.  This happened to be one of the (many!) Zorgls who were clustered around the truck.  The wily dog showed several moves [Old One-Two, One Way or Another] before sinking his teeth into the hairy monster's leg - only to find that his best bite had no effect after all [Hit or Miss]!

Finally, one of Tintin's group attempted a plot point!  Snowy grabbed at the hem of an Arab digger's rode - only to find that the "digger" was just a dummy, a crudely-made scarecrow.  Strange...

After his initial rush, Indiana was unable to keep up the momentum.  He was knocked down by the Zorgl, but Idaho Smith raced in to help his beloved dog and flattened the Zorgl in return.

Meanwhile, the nearest other Zorgl had recovered from its bullet wound and was trying again to get into the truck's cab.

At the back, Marion Allen had decided to start up the other, unladen truck in the hope of ramming & disabling the laden one in case anyone else looked like they were going to drive it away.  It was a good plan, but the door to this second vehicle seemed to be a bit stiff...

In a desperate attempt to talk to one of the last unclaimed Arab diggers, Captain Haddock sucker-punched the Zorgl who stood in his way, before playing a "Stay Down" card to prevent it from recovering immediately.  However, the good Captain then had an attack of the vapours [i.e. one of Doctor Demento's mind blasts got through to him] and by the time he had recovered from that it was too late to complete that plot point successfully.

The Mummy's scarab beetles approached another Arab with a view to carrying him off for a terrifying questioning by their boss at a later stage.  Only here's the thing: this "digger" was also a scarecrow, a poorly-dressed imitation of a real man.  What on earth was going on?  [No, seriously - there aren't many Red Herring cards in the rewards deck, so how did we manage to draw two of them so close together?].

"Everybody was Zorgl fighting..."

As the end of the game approached, the Mummy decided to stop the Zorgl who was trying to make off with the truck.  The undead lord ignored the other nearby squabbles (Tintin vs a Zorgl, Idaho & Indiana vs a Zorgl) and instead marched towards his chosen victim.

Firstly, he moved close and issued the Mummy's Curse [because otherwise that turn he'd have had to charge the closest enemy - Tintin].  The curse incapacitated the Zorgl temporarily; when the creature stood up again at the end of the turn, the Mummy charged into combat and felled the hairy beast [he used a "Finish It!" fate card to make certain that the Zorgl wouldn't just get back up].

Incredibly, the Mummy took some hurt himself from this encounter!

Idaho and Indiana backed away from the remaining Zorgl, freeing it up to attack the Mummy.  Between this melee and Idaho's shooting, the Mummy took another hit and started to look a lot less tough than he had before.  Importantly, this had preventing him from reaching the truck door - so far.

Sensing an opening, Idaho set his dog on the stumbling Mummy; if Indiana could just clear the enemy out of the way then Idaho would have one chance to reach the truck.  He even made the fight a bit more vicious by playing a "Rivalry" card - but nothing came of it.  The bloodhound and the reanimated corpse remained locked in combat with neither side prevailing.  There was no way past for the archaeologist to claim the prize.

Marion Allen had managed to start up the second truck, though she hadn't yet had time to move it and achieve the rest of her plan (to block the laden truck & prevent it from leaving).

Finally, there were only two characters left to activate in the very last turn of the game.  The last Zorgl attacked Tintin, but this time the young man fought back.  He slammed its head against the side of the vehicle and the monster slumped down, temporarily unconscious.

That left Tintin as the only character still to have a go in the last turn of the game.  So far, his league had failed to claim any objectives, but he now had a clear route to the truck.  That's a major objective; if Tintin could claim it then the 3 victory points would be enough to win the game.  No other league had more than 2VP at this point...

Nothing could stop Tintin now!  He leaped into the truck and looked for the button to start the engine.

The truck's controls were smashed and broken.  Glancing behind him, Tintin could see that all the crates and boxes in the rear were empty and torn.  The whole thing was a setup!  But who had known they were coming, in order to populate such a ruse?  And why?

[Another Red Herring?  What are the odds of that?!   Hmm, it looks as if there is more to this than meets the eye...]

Final results

It's a tie for first place!  Doctor Demento achieved 2 plot points (the purple orchid and the pile of skulls)...

...and Idaho Smith also had 2 minor plot points (the luggage and an Arab digger - a real man rather than one of the scarecrows used to confuse everyone else).

The Mummy's crew had just a single plot point (the radio)

Lastly, Tintin and his followers didn't achieve any plot points at all.

Conclusion

That was a thrilling game, but with a totally unexpected twist at the end!  Of the 8 minor and 1 major objectives, only 5 minor plot points were achieved.  3 of the rest were Red Herrings; the final minor plot point was not attempted successfully.  It seems that there are other forces at work here.  Perhaps those mysterious central Europeans who set up this dig aren't all they seem?  But then what are they trying to achieve?

Zorgls are tough!  They passed every single recovery roll that they made; if they were knocked down then they just got back up; I lost count after 5 recoveries in a row.  At 50% odds, you'd think they would fail some of these rolls occasionally, but in this game the only time a Zorgl was knocked out permanently was when someone played a Fate card to prevent it from even making a recovery roll.  Something very similar happened in the last game too [and this is how reputations born...].

Maybe another game is needed to settle this once and for all?!

The Amera Amphitheatre

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago, at Salute 2014, I bought a couple of bits of terrain from a company called Amera Plastic Mouldings.  They make vacuum-formed pieces and while this technique limits the sharpness of detail that can be achieved, their terrain is incredibly cheap.  I've had my eye on them for some while - the long-defunct Bellona range of vac-formed terrain is a very fond memory of my childhood - but until now I'd not bought any of Amera's product.

Of the 2 pieces I purchased at Salute, I've now finished one.  I have special plans for the other (F218 Temple Ruins); it won't be finished as a temple if my ideas work out - but that's for the future.  For now, here is a description of the model that I have completed.

The Amphitheatre

This piece appears in the Amera catalogue as "F208 Amphitheatre".  Officially it is in the 28mm Fantasy section, but I see no reason why it couldn't be used for historical settings or indeed for 15mm or smaller figures.  Other than the depth of the terraces and possibly the size of the stone slabs, there's not much to indicate scale on this.  Indeed, the "orchestra" (the circular space in the middle for the performers) averages 78' (23m) in real-world Ancient Greek theatres.  For 28mm figures, this equates to rather over 1' (30cm), which would be a prodigiously large terrain piece.

So, my amphitheatre is going to be a small, provincial affair rather than one associated with a busy city.  However, it has a wealthy patron, so the orchestra will be paved with marble rather than just packed dirt.  This is really just an excuse for me to try out a circle-cutter that I got for Christmas (from a pound shop or similar "bargain" store, so not a very expensive tool at all!).

I cut out a disk from plasticard that was embossed with paving.  This is really sold for scratch-building model railway layouts and is scaled for OO layouts, so the paving is perhaps a bit small for my project.  Still, it'll just have to do.

I also cut out a slightly larger ring from plain plasticard, to be used as a border.  I used a triangular file to mark out the stones on it by cutting a slight groove every 1cm or thereabouts.

Fitting these new parts to the model was easy - or at least it would have been if I'd applied the super glue to the correct side of the plastic!  If the finish looks a bit rough then that's because I had to wipe off the embossed side very quickly, wait for the remnants to dry and then try again.

I also took the opportunity to shape the rim around the bottom, thus removing any straight lines.  It's my opinion (not backed up by any science of which I'm aware!) that straight lines draw the eye more than gently-curved ones.  My intention is for the base to blend in with the table a bit better.  I really don't know if this works or not, but there we are.  Hmm.

Actually, I did consider removing the base rim completely, but I decided that it probably added some structural strength.  I also thought of packing the reverse side to enable the model to take heavy figures.  However, it's made from quite thick plastic as it is and barely flexes when I press down in the centre of the orchestra.  In the end, I decided that such reinforcement wasn't needed.

Painting

The amphitheatre was coated with my usual grey undercoat (Halfords spray body primer, for cars).  The circle of marble was painted in a much paler colour and then all the stonework was washed with black.

For the dirt parts, I under coated with a mid yellow-brown paint to which some sand had been added (for texture).  A couple of successively lighter dry-brushes completed this.

Finally, the edges of the stonework were highlighted and I added some static grass and clump foliage.  This theatre might have had a rich patron once upon a time, but I think it's fallen on hard times more recently and the weeds are starting to take hold!

The End Result

It occurs to me that I haven't mentioned the size of this model amphitheatre yet.  Well, it works out at roughly 30cm wide and 21cm deep, or perhaps slightly larger than this.  Even if it's really too small for a historical Greek theatre in 28mm, it's still quite a big model!  The figures seen on it are some of my "Jason and the Argonauts" project; I don't think that the skeleton warriors summoned by the evil King Aeëtes are part of the show at all!

The cost of the amphitheatre is a mere £3.50 (plus a little for the materials I've used on the model).  I'm very happy with the way it has turned out and I can certainly see myself buying more products from Amera in the future.  Now I've just got to work out how to store this piece...