Pulp Alley: Blood Sacrifice! (Perilous Island, Game 8)

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Introduction

It's been a while since we played our last game of Pulp Alley (see here for Swamp of Terror!), but we finally managed to gather all the players in the same place yesterday.

According to the rules for the Perilous Island campaign, we should progress to Act III once one league had collected 4 pages from the journal of the missing explorer, Lord Darrow.  We had decided early on that while this would be fine for a 2-player campaign, it might lead to an interminable number of games for our 3 player setup.  Instead, we ruled that we would progress once any single league had collected 3 journal pages.

Well, it's been a while and I failed to notice that Tarzan's league already had collected 3 pages.  By rights we should have moved on to the next set of scenarios.  However, we still hadn't played once of the Act II scenarios ("Blood Sacrifice") and so we decided to do that anyway.  We'll move on to the final stage of the campaign from our next game onwards.

The Leagues

All of our leagues had by now acquired 25 or more reputation, thus entitling them to an extra roster slot.  The Safari and Tarzan each took another follower, whilst the Cult of Hanesh decided to upgrade a (level-1) follower into a (level-2) ally instead.

Similarly, each league had acquired a number of experience points and now seemed like a good time to spend some of them on permanent upgrades:

• The cultist leader, Al Masoudi, spent 4 of his 5 experience points to purchase the Commander skill, thus adding 4 more slots to his roster.  These were filled with a level-2 rifleman and a level-2 animal (Steve wanted a cheetah, but for now I only had a leopard model.  I'll get a cheetah in due course).
• Tarzan decided to spend 4 of his 5 XP on the Summon skill, intending to surround himself with hordes of monkeys, jungle birds or the like.  However, I completely forgot to use this during our game!  I think it will take some time to get used to it...
• Sir Henry (Safari) chose to save his 2 XP for later.

Tarzan's Jungle Alliance

As usual, Tarzan led a collection of animals: Koko the gorilla, Caesar the clever simian and 4 lesser simians.  This also seemed like a good time to spend 3 backup points on a level-3 lion, just for this game.

Sir Henry's Safari

Sir Henry's league is as it was before, but with the addition of another (level-1) ascari.  He did, however, spend some of his great wealth on a rocket pack.

Personally I think this piece of equipment must be something that Sir Henry had taken from Stahlhelm's Nazis (the 4th league that we had in early games during this campaign, until that player dropped out).  The members of that group still pop up in our games from time to time, usually as perils or other non-player characters.  Since the Nazis have a robot soldier, it isn't stretching things too far to assume that they also had an experimental rocket pack - which Sir Henry either bought or had stolen...

The Snake Cult of Hanesh

As mentioned above, Al Masoudi (the cult's leader) has acquired more level-2 allies.  He now has quite a large, disreputable crew.

The Game Setup

As required by the scenario, we rolled to see who would be sacrificed by the local witch doctor - and to what.  The dice spoke and came up with Duncan (from Lord Darrow's expedition) would be sacrificed to the Great Gonga.  Since I have a nice model of a damsel-in-distress that I had been wanting to use for some time, this was adjusted to Miss Duncan instead.

Plot Points

• Miss Duncan, tied between 2 stakes in the centre of the table (major plot point)
• The witch doctor (minor PP).  Note that he is surrounded by a number of acolytes/bodyguards, thus making it perilous to approach within 6" of him.
• Glowing green crystals (possible perilium deposit, minor PP).
• Pile of skulls (possible mysterious remains, minor PP).
• Strange statue (minor PP, guarded by a mystical force field).
• Expedition radio (minor PP)
• Enormous footprint (minor PP)

These last two plot points were added because we had 3 players; they're not in the scenario as written.  However, we've found that multi-player games need proportionally more plot points than 2-player games - otherwise it alters the balance between solving clues and fighting other leagues too much for our taste.

Perils

• The quicksand in the north of the table is perilous (well, duh!)
• The witch doctor's bodyguards make it perilous to be within 6" of him
• 4 Nazis provide some mobile perils.  At the end of every action phase they will move 6" towards the nearest enemy.  If they have a clear line of sight and are within 6" then that enemy takes a peril.  Should a model move within 6" of a Nazi during its own activation then it also takes a peril.
  If the peril is passed then the Nazi is defeated and removed from the table.  On a d6 roll of 4+, the player who faced the peril may replace the Nazi anywhere on the table, as long as the new location is more than 6" from all enemies.
• A grumpy buffalo is perilous when in contact with a player's model.
  Since that would be too easy to simply avoid, it also has the following rule: every time any model moves within 10" of it, the buffalo will move d10" towards that model.  That gives the possibility of someone running screaming through an enemy camp, followed by an enraged bull!
  Note that in our game this made the buffalo extremely active - it knocked out at least 3 characters.  If anyone wants to reuse this idea then I would suggest that either you make the distance much shorter (such as 6" and d6"), or else use a dice roll to trigger the buffalo's movement.  Perhaps it should move d12" if anyone comes within 12", but only on a d6 roll of 4+?  Or something like that...

Blood Sacrifice!

Sir Henry moved first in our game.  Without any hesitation, the intrepid explorer used his rocket pack to fly over the jungle, past Nazis and other perils.  He landed in the central clearing, just a few steps from where Miss Duncan was tied between the posts.

Of course, the buffalo then spoiled this piece of derring do a bit by charging out of the jungle straight at the gentleman.  I imagine it was startled and enraged by the noise and/or smoke from the Englishman's strange device.

Sir Henry was too old a hand to be bothered by this; he nimbly sidestepped the beast's charge.  However, the buffalo was now in the middle of the table and would react to pretty much any movement apart from around the fringes.

Most of the other players advanced cautiously, approaching their nearest minor plot points to try to gain an early lead.  Sir Henry continued his heroic dash by befuddling the buffalo with a Secret Path card (am I the only person who thought about the similar incident from Crocodile Dundee when this happened?).

He then blew it completely by failing to untie the damsel in distress.  The challenge to undo the knots required 3 successes and Sir Henry only achieved one.  By this time, half of the Snake Cult was closing in on him...

To add to the Safari's woes, Alan Quartermain investigated the glowing crystals - only to find out that they weren't real.  The light filtering through the jungle canopy shone on a rock in such a way as to make it shine, but it was just a very ordinary rock when seen close up.

Meanwhile in the north, the cultist's grenadier was up to his favourite tricks: throwing bombs at monkeys!  2 of Tarzan's simians thought they were safely hidden in the foliage, but the grenade still injured Caesar.

In a hooting, screeching fit of revenge, a couple of the remaining apes charged at the cultist.  He dodged out of their grasp - straight into the quicksand!

The central clearing was now filled with animals racing all over!  Tarzan's lion ran one way, whilst the cult's snake and leopard went the other, all in attempts to distract the buffalo.  In the end, the maddened bull decided to chase down the leopard and gore it to death.

At the half-way point of the game, here is how things stood:

1. Tarzan had collected a minor plot point, but had made heavy weather of it and wasn't well positioned to intervene in the central struggle.
2. The cult's brawling specialist ignored his friend who had fallen in the quicksand and dispatched both of the simians with brutal efficiency.
3. Sir Henry finally freed Miss Duncan from the sacrificial posts, only to be attacked by Tarzan's lion.  Astonishingly (to me, at least), the lion had the worst of the exchange.  There were words that, if not exactly swearing, were strong expressions of disbelief...
4. Al Masoudi and Captain Goode both vied for the witch doctor's attention, whilst the latter's bodyguards attempted to stab them both.  Goode went down several times, but just wouldn't give up and kept returning to the fight (and, importantly, thus prevented the cult leader from solving this plot point).
5. The buffalo continued its rampage, knocking out Lady Constance (safari) and a simian (Tarzan).

Saeed, the cultist knifeman, killed off the two simians.  While he was thus occupied, the cult's grenadier reached for the radio but couldn't manage this and stay afloat at the same time.  He vanished into the quicksand with a soft, sucking sound.

As this happened, there was a crashing sound.  Birds flew up from the bushes, calling wildly.  The Great Gonga had arrived!  He was the most enormous, black gorilla that anyone had ever seen - easily bigger than any other land creature anyone had seen.

Oblivious to the rapid approach of Gonga, Sir Henry and the miraculously-recovered lion tussled for possession of Miss Duncan...

...whilst Al Masoudi and Goode continued to fight the witch doctor's bodyguards and each other just to survive.

Gonga was obviously infuriated by the puny beings who had stolen his sacrifice.  He tore into the melee and gave the lion an almighty buffet.  Sir Henry managed to duck and step backwards with Miss Duncan...

...but it was only a temporary reprieve.  The gigantic monster tossed the lion aside and continued his relentless pursuit of the humans.  To his credit, Sir Henry managed to wound the beast - but this just maddened Gonga even more!

As Sir Henry and Gonga fought, the lion recovered and stood up.  The cult's snake immediately struck at it, though neither creature could gain the upper hand.

Then, Alan Quartermain decided to fire into this melee on the grounds that anything he hit was good.  His shots missed the lion but struck the reptile, which then collapsed into the dirt.  [I think this might be the very first game where the cult's snake has failed to terrorise its enemies and has instead been knocked out!]

As we entered the last turn, the situation was thus:

• Gonga and Sir Henry were fighting for possession of Miss Duncan in the central clearing.  If Sir Henry could just survive until the end of the round then the game would end and he would escape with his prize!
• Al Masoudi and Goode still wrestled [inconclusively] with each other and with the witch doctor's bodyguards.
• The buffalo was annoyed enough to be chasing a couple of ascaris through the jungle.
• Remnants of all 3 leagues hung about the fringes, not particularly wanting to get involved in any further fighting.

Pretty much the only minor action in turn 6 was this: Tarzan's lion ventured into the quicksand.  The clever animal grabbed the sinking radio [minor plot point] and dragged it to the side.

A couple of cultist minions stood nearby and even took a shot at the lion, but this was ineffectual.

Everyone held their breath as the main event came round: could Sir Henry survive another round against the monstrous ape?

Gonga pummelled the man mercilessly, reducing him to a d6 health [i.e. the lowest one can be and still stand up in Pulp Alley].  Then, with the last attack of the game, Gonga landed a final, single blow.

Sir Henry needed to roll a 4+ on one d6 to survive.  If he could do this then his league would have 3 victory points and would win the game, not to mention the enormous kudos he would acquire.  It was a 50:50 chance, but sadly he rolled low and fell to the ground.

Gonga sniffed contemptuously at the stricken man, grabbed Miss Duncan in a huge clasp and strode off into the jungle with the screaming damsel...

Final Results

• Sir Henry's Safari nearly pulled off a considerable coup, but ended up unlucky and empty-handed after the shining crystals proved to be an illusion.  0 victory points.
• The Cult of Hanesh made an early gain when their leader effortlessly grabbed the strange statue.  However, they then seemed to get bogged down in indecision and pointless fights.  1 victory point.
• The Jungle Alliance concentrated on minor objectives and managed to claim several of them (Tarzan scored the large footprint, the lion rescued the radio and Koko grabbed the mysterious remains - though this was something of a poison chalice as Koko contracted Fungus Lung for his trouble).  3 victory points and the winner!

Conclusion

The Blood and Glory card was only drawn on the last turn, when there was barely any fighting!

Well, that was another fun game!  Mind you, I think it was notable for dithering all round.  Once many of the minor objectives had been claimed in turn 2 or 3, all three leagues had models that bickered and skirmished around the jungle fringes rather than pile into the central, sacrificial glade.

The Nazis were fairly ineffectual as perils, being dispatched with surprising ease and (mostly) not returning to the table.  After maybe a couple of turns, they had all vanished without being a significant hindrance to anyone.

On the other hand, the buffalo was a holy terror, chasing down pretty much anything that moved!  For certain it dispatched 3 characters - the tally may have been greater than this but my memory isn't good enough.  Eventually it was lured away into the south west, where it played tag with Tarzan and a couple of ascaris for the second half of the game.

Sir Henry's gamble very nearly came off.  Perhaps if his ascaris had been more central then they might have softened Gonga up with rifle fire and permitted the great white hunter to triumph?  Or maybe not.  Either way, he's acquiring quite a reputation as a man who enjoys wrestling with the most fearsome monsters!

Tarzan and Koko were disappointing; they gained minor plot points easily enough but against little or no opposition.  The temporarily-allied lion was much more impressive, fighting Sir Henry, the giant snake and Gonga (though without actually winning any of those fights) before grabbing a final objective.  On a more personal level, I was thoroughly delighted when the simians pushed the pesky cult grenadier into the quicksand 😁.

As for the cult, once again their leader carried the show pretty much alone; he was let down by incompetent underlings.  Al Masoudi must be getting so tired of this, but that is the lot of a would-be evil overlord.  So it is written!

The next episode is available here ==>

Pulp Alley: Jungle Trails (Perilous Island, Game 6)

Introduction

In our last adventure, Lady Constance (Sir Henry's niece) saved a native fisherman from a terrible misunderstanding.  Now, the tribal elders were giving a feast in honour of the entire Safari, with Sir Henry and Lady Constance as guests of honour.  There was lots of food: spit-roast sucking pig, jungle fruits & boiled starchy roots.  As the night wore on, the village's youths danced and capered wildly, whilst those who fancied their chances competed at wrestling or took turns to beat out rhythms on the big village drums.  Bowls of fermented juice were passed around the audience and many drank deeply.

Just as the senses could take no more, the tribal shaman stood up and waved his arms for silence.  He said a few words in the local tongue that none of the visitors could understand, then approached Sir Henry.  The shaman was holding a deep bowl made of red clay and decorated with white markings; this he offered to the giant, blond European whilst motioning him to drink.  Sir Henry took a cautious sip so as not to offend his host and then his eyes widened with excitement.  "I can see...everything!" he exclaimed, before staggering sideways in a half faint as he dropped the bowl.  It rolled through the crowd, forgotten for the moment as everyone present cheered.

With that, the party broke up and the participants started to move off towards their huts.  Within a few moments, the centre of the village was empty of life.  Well, almost empty.

A large tree grew just outside the settlement's palisade.  One of its branches stretched over the wall and over the village and from here Tarzan had observed everything.  Sir Henry and his safari were rivals rather than mortal enemies, but still the jungle lord had known he wouldn't be welcome at the party.

Now that the villagers had dispersed, he let himself down from the tree noiselessly and crept like a shadow towards the still-glowing embers of the central fire.  He found the red bowl where his sharp eyes had seen it come to rest and sniffed at it once.  Curiously, he dipped his finger into the remaining contents and licked it experimentally.  A look of astonishment crossed Tarzan's face.  Clutching the bowl, he retreated back the way he had come.  Once in the safety of the jungle and some distance away from the village, he wedged himself in a forked branch and scraped out the remainder of the bowl's contents, before falling into a deep, dream-laden sleep.

The Scenario

For the 6th game in our Perilous Island campaign, I chose the "Jungle Trails" scenario.  We were newly arrived on the island itself and now our leagues would push through the jungle towards the larger settlements in the interior.  The only trouble is that the jungle is full of troublesome natives...

As usual, we had 3 leagues:

Tarzan's Jungle Alliance

• Tarzan spent resource points on the "Ritual of the Dreamers" before this game [i.e. he tasted the concoction from the red clay bowl].  He would gain an extra card every time that Al Masoudi [the cult's leader] was activated.
• He was also delayed by a random event and would only enter the table on turn 2 [i.e. he was sleeping off the exertions of the night before].
• One of Tarzan's simians [Kobo] has a nasty case of Fungus Lung, contracted during the last scenario.  He cannot run during this game and thus acquired the somewhat cruel nickname of "wheezy" from the other players.  Just wait and see, though!

Sir Henry's Safari

• Sir Henry also spent resource points on the "Ritual of the Dreamers".  He would draw an extra card each time that Tarzan activated.
• The Safari acquired the services of a brawler for this game.  One of the youthful wrestlers from the village was dared by his fellows to accompany the strange newcomers.

The Snake Cult of Al Masoudi

• Al Masoudi had not spent the previous night partying, but instead had used his time to plot.  As a consequence he was well prepared and would draw an extra card on turn 1.
• He also used his Dominion to summon another fanatic with a satchel full of grenades.
• In a somewhat experimental mood, the cult leader also acquired a large flying reptile as a pet [he seems to be able to capture and tame/dominate pretty much anything without even spending a lot of time on it].  As it turned out later, I suspect that this critter was a nectar feeder: its performance was not at all what one might expect from its fierce appearance.

The Opposition

There are several native youths flitting about the jungle.  They are there as part of some manhood ceremony and so are not particularly aggressive.  However, they will gain a lot of standing amongst their peers if they can taunt the strangers and not get caught.  The leagues have to try to quiz these natives and thereby discover clues as to the whereabouts of the missing Darrow expedition.

Our Game

Almost immediately, someone drew [and had to play] a "Can't See a Thing" card.  Thick clouds rolled overhead, casting the already-shadowy jungle into deep gloom.  It would be quite a feat to even find the native youths - or the other leagues - let alone achieve any objectives.

Another "play immediately" card increased the number of cards that everyone drew each turn.  With this and the other enhancements, there were a very large number of cards in play for the entire game.

As the players had plenty of cards, they didn't hold back on using them!  One of Al Masoudi's cultists fell to an unseen jungle hazard...

...whilst Sir Henry's native brawler tried to catch one of the youths and failed miserably.

After a couple of turns with 6" visibility and thick clumps of jungle, nobody had even seen anyone else, let alone started any fights.

One of the natives popped up behind Tarzan.  This was easily within striking distance and Tarzan generally solves objectives easily; it seemed too good to be true...

...and it was!  Out of the darkness Sir Henry's friend, the wrestler, leaped on Tarzan.  The jungle lord threw his assailant aside contemptuously, but even in those few seconds the native [objective] was gone.

Koko [the gorilla] ran to the crossroads in the centre of the table and roared!  It was very gratifying to see several of the lesser members of the Safari scatter and run away, but the beast soon regretted his impetuous action as both Sir Henry and Alan Quartermain then shot him, many times.  Koko decided to lie down in the dust and wait for tomorrow - perhaps it would be a better day than this one had been?

The Cult had the next opportunity to challenge one of the natives.  They had surrounded the youth and he had no way to escape, or so they thought.  But when Al Masoudi stepped forward to challenge him, the lad was lifted up into the treetops with the help of a rope lowered by his friends.  The natives uttered a few mocking calls before vanishing along a well-prepared escape route.

Elsewhere in the jungle, the cult's fanatic saw Lady Constance trying to talk to one of the native youths.  Seeing an excellent target, the cultist ran forward and reached for the grenade which should have been hanging from his belt - but it wasn't there.  He must have dropped it somewhere along the trail...

...or else it had been stolen by a monkey.  Kobo couldn't move very fast because of the wheezing from his fungus lung infection, but he did have a grenade.  He tossed the bomb towards the Safari; one ascari was knocked out, though Sir Henry narrowly avoided being hurt by jumping aside at the last minute.

Do you remember that Captain Goode ran away from Koko's [the gorilla's] intense roar at the crossroads?  In his panic, he crashed through a dense thicket and came face-to-face with the cult's giant snake, Taguerjah.  Captain Goode had little chance against the monster and was promptly flattened, though the serpent was prevented from devouring him by the sudden appearance of Alan Quartermain.

The cult thought that they had the renowned hunter outnumbered when their other beastie flew in swiftly, but Alan immediately shot this second critter dead.  One-against-one, then...

Elsewhere, one of the other objectives/natives wandered close to Tarzan.  He grabbed for the lad, but even the jungle lord wasn't quick enough as the boy slipped through his grasp and vanished into the gloomy undergrowth.

This wasn't as bad as what happened to Al Masoudi, though.  The frustrated cult leader thrashed his way through some of the densest jungle ever seen, hot on the trail of one of the natives, only to discover that he was thoroughly entangled in thorny branches and held fast.  This was most undignified [though the other players did laugh quite a lot at his predicament, I confess].

Kobo/"wheezy" had much better luck.  One of the young natives wandered right up to him and obviously felt sorry for the sick simian.  The lad's curiosity was his undoing though, as even when ill the ape had a grip like iron.  Kobo grasped the boy's outstretched hand and wouldn't let go [so that's 1 objective claimed for the Jungle Alliance].

Next it was Tarzan's turn to get lucky.  Another of the natives moved very close to where he was lying in wait.  Tarzan struck!  He ambushed the native and subdued him with ease.  Even the vine that caught at his foot [courtesy of an event card played by Sir Henry] didn't slow him down; Tarzan broke through the offending vegetation with ease [so that's now 2 victory points/objectives held by the Jungle Alliance and none by anyone else].

Towards the end of the game, the situation was this:

• Sir Henry's Safari hadn't achieved much and had lost most of their people.  Alan Quartermain and Captain Goode had been knocked out by the cult's giant snake, though Lady Constance was still shooting it out with the cult's fanatic/grenadier.  I'm sure that Sir Henry himself was still going, though I cannot see him in the picture above.
• The Cult had not lost many followers, but had miserable luck when trying to claim objectives; every attempt had been a disastrous failure!
• Tarzan's league was reduced to just himself and Kobo/"wheezy", but at least each of them had control of one native/objective.

In the dying moments of the game, Taguerjah the snake glided along the path and surprised one of the natives.  The poor man didn't stand a chance; he was quickly subdued and taken away to be interrogated to the cult leader and his hypnotic powers [finally, 1 objective claimed by the Cult].

Last of all, yet another native came close to where Tarzan lay in wait [it's almost as if Tarzan had worked out the natives' code of bird calls and had positioned himself to intercept the young man.  The natives/objectives just kept approaching without him having to move from his position].  This time however, Tarzan failed to claim another prize.  An event card played by Sir Henry caused the jungle lord to trip up as he sprang his ambush; by the time he had recovered his poise the native was nowhere to be seen.

Conclusion

In terms of claiming objectives, this game was a disaster!  Tarzan scored 2 points, the Cult scored 1 and poor Sir Henry had 0.  Given that the jungle was dense, incredibly dark and that there were a lot of hostile event cards flying about, it's hardly surprising, I suppose.

But that's perhaps missing the point.  It was an incredibly exciting and characterful game, right from the start where Sir Henry and Al Masoudi mocked Kobo the fungus-lung infected simian by calling him "wheezy".  Well, who's laughing now; Kobo used a grenade to blow up one of the Safari's ascaris and then claimed an objective all on his own, thus winning the game [or at least, contributing to Tarzan's win]!

Biggest disappointment: either the Cult's flying creature or Koko the gorilla: both met ignominious ends without achieving much [though at least Koko did scare some enemies].

Most successful: I'd say either Taguerjah, the Cult's unstoppable snake [who felled Captain Goode & Alan Quartermain and then claimed an objective] or Kobo the simian [who performed well above the level expected by a mere level-1 Follower character].

All in all, it was another exciting and thrilling game of Pulp Alley.  I can hardly wait for the next episode!

Onwards into the swamp ==>

Pulp Alley: Lagoon of Terror! (Perilous Island, game 5)

Introduction

Our Pulp Alley "Perilous Island" campaign is gathering momentum!  It's taken quite a long time to play the first four episodes, but now we're about to reach Perilous Island itself.  I'm really excited about this (and it was another good game, as you'll see below).

For anyone who wishes to remind themselves of previous events, or who is new to this and would like to start from the beginning, here's a list of the earlier scenarios:

• Episode 1: Tarzan and the Lady
• Episode 2: Final Flight
• Episode 3: At Death's Door
• Episode 4: Hunt for the Sailor

Now let me present to you another thrilling installment: "Lagoon of Terror!"

The Scenario

Now that the location of the mysterious Perilous Island is known, the three remaining leagues (Tarzan's jungle alliance, Sir Henry's safari and the Snake Cult of Hanash) have been racing each other to reach it first.  After a wild storm, they are all shipwrecked in the same location, or nearly so.  Those who are near the water's edge, or still in the sea, notice debris from a previous vessel.  Perhaps this was from Lord Darrow's craft?  There may be clues to his whereabouts in amongst the flotsam.

Because we had 3 players, we added a couple of extra minor plot points, neither of which had any special rules, but which gave the leagues a little bit more for which to aim.  This meant that the full set of objectives was as follows:

• Journal pages (major, in the wreckage)
• Local fisherman (minor, on the beach)
• Woman carrying a pot of Papanga Goo (minor, on the other beach)
• Perilium deposit (minor, on the riverbank)
• Mysterious remains (minor, on the other bank of the river)
• Rare orchid (minor, in the jungle)
• Dinosaur footprint (minor, in the other jungle!)

Alan Quartermain, Captain Goode and Lady Constance debate whether to enter the jungle or to remain on the shore and look for Sir Henry (their leader)

For perils, we had the following:

• All of the water was perilous (crocodiles, piranhas, sharks, undercurrents...).
• The jungle had 2 perilous lions in it, one on each side of the river.  These would move d8 inches in a random direction at the end of each turn, but wouldn't cross any water.
• There was also a swarm of perilous tropical bees.  The swarm moved d6 inches at the end of each turn and could move across water.
• The rope bridge was perfectly safe, unless someone spent an action to cause damage whilst either on it or at either end.  Thereafter it would be extremely perilous.

The leagues were much as before, though it's worth mentioning a couple of pre-game acquisitions:

• Sir Henry used his great wealth to purchase a diving suit.  Sadly I don't have a model of a figure wearing a diving suit, but I will superimpose the picture of a helmet on Sir Henry in all relevant pictures to remind us of this item.
• The cult leader used his dominion to summon a grenade-armed cultist and a reanimated corpse to his side.  I suppose he was feeling experimental, since we've not seen him raise the dead before...

The Jungle, part 1

Deep in the jungle, Caesar and another simian were looking for the rest of the Jungle Alliance.  They were taken completely unawares when a mango-sized metal object flew through the trees and landed between them, hissing softly.  Caesar was deeply suspicious; he jumped aside just before the grenade exploded - but the other little ape wasn't so lucky and was knocked out.  First blood to the Cultists!

Seeing the Cult's giant snake approaching from the other direction to pick up the Perilium crystals - and remembering how badly it had gone when he encountered that monster previously - Caesar attempted to escape by swimming across the river towards his allies.  However, the water was faster and deeper than he had imagined; the little ape was swept away and never seen again (at least, not in this episode!).

For a while, it looked as if the Cult would have the entire eastern jungle to themselves.  However, as their leader was congratulating his grenadier minion and preparing to pick a rare purple orchid, a lion strolled into the clearing.  It didn't seem especially hungry, though; initially the animal just ignored both men.

However, the beast just wouldn't go away; it wandered back and forth across the clearing, seeming to track the cultists' movements.  Eventually it turned on the minion and killed him whilst the cult leader escaped with his specimen.

Nearer the beach, two other cultists encountered a native woman carrying a pot of papanga goo.  The Cult's wrestler spoke to her first, but in return he was smacked so hard that he was knocked out!  Who knows what he said?

The sharpshooter then approached and he was far more to the woman's taste [he drew a Free Pass for the plot challenge].

With this, the cultists on the eastern shore had acquired three plot points: the leader held the orchid, the snake had the Perilium crystals and the sharpshooter had the papanga goo [plus a female admirer, or so it seemed!].  Rather than risk their booty by seeking out fights with other leagues, they disappeared off the table and further into the jungle.

The Jungle, Part 2

If the eastern jungle was owned by the cultists then the western part was dominated by Koko, the gorilla!

The cult's stealth expert crept up on the great ape, whilst their shambling undead approached with rather less subtlety.  The first that Koko knew of their presence was when he was hit by a bullet from close range!

Fortunately for the gorilla, he soon recovered from this flesh wound.  Incensed and angry, Koko retreated to a more central part of the jungle [in an attempt to include more enemies in his radius of effect] and then let out a terrible, loud growl!  He jumped up and down, beat his chest and in all ways became as scary as he could [Koko has a shock attribute which can scare lower level characters].

On this occasion, the results were especially gratifying.  Not only did all the cultists who heard the ape's fury retreat, but in its haste to escape the reanimated creature fell down the riverbank and disappeared into the dark, swirling waters!

Pausing only to collect the mysterious remains plot point, Koko charged the remaining cultist and ripped his arms off.

The only fly in this ointment was the sad fate of Koko's companion - one of the only two remaining simians.  He had successfully recovered the dinosaur footprint plot point and was hopping up and down with excitement at the thought of showing this discovery to the boss.  It wasn't to be, though; a lion jumped out of the undergrowth and took him - too late in the game for anyone else to reach the plot point and attempt it again.

The Beach

Deciding that they didn't like the look of the jungle [or maybe it was the strange sounds coming from it?], Alan Quartermain, Captain Goode and Lady Constance all descended upon the native fisherman.  The two gentlemen only had limited success in negotiating with him, but Lady Constance managed to put things right and therefore is now recognised as a friend of the Nghai tribe.

This team (or at least, Captain Goode and an ascari) then took out their remaining frustrations by beating up the last of Tarzan's poor, little simians - who had the misfortune to be nearby and alone.

The Water

The major plot point [the journal pages in the ship's wreckage] was only contested by the Safari and the Jungle Alliance.  From the start, Tarzan was determined to claim this prize, so he used a card to swim like an Olympian, right through the debris and in between the floundering ascaris.  He had no difficulty at all in finding the papers - but could he keep hold of them?

One of the ascaris tried to interfere, but Tarzan wasn't to be defeated by a mere minion like that!  He left the Safari's follower floating in the water, barely conscious, and struck out for the shore.

The other ascari gasped in horror and swam for the shore with all his might - not because he had seen his fellow defeated, but rather because of the awful thing which now arose from the depths of the lagoon.  A horrible monster, obviously disturbed by the humans' activity, breached the surface.  It reached for Sir Henry and wrapped the end of a tentacle around his diving suit!

Tarzan left the water as quickly as possible, only pausing to wrestle the nearby ascari into submission.  The Safari's man hadn't been content to escape the behemoth, but had turned and taken shots at Tarzan - none of which injured him even though some of them were quite close.

Meanwhile, what of Sir Henry?  The adventurer had little option other than to trade blows with the sea monster, but he rolled well and it rolled below average; both were injured.

Further poor rolls by the behemoth and excellent recovery rolls by Sir Henry turned the tables strongly in his favour [he also burned through a number of cards to give him every advantage he could muster].  Even so, it looked as if this titanic battle wouldn't be resolved by the end of the game.

As no plot points were at stake, there was small value in playing out the fight at this point - apart from the kudos.  With the last exchange resolved, the monster had been reduced to just a single health point and it looked as if the battle would be inconclusive.  Then Sir Henry played an "Ain't Over Yet" card to force another round of combat.

With a gasp of triumph, Sir Henry buried his harpoon deep into the creature's vitals.  The water turned red as the creature thrashed around briefly, before it stilled and sank out of sight into the murky depths.  Sir Henry was victorious, though his suit was damaged and he had taken a nasty cut to the leg as the monster died!

Conclusion

This was yet another thrilling game; Pulp Alley never disappoints!  Officially, the scores were as follows:

• Tarzan's Jungle Alliance: 4 victory points (the major journal pages plus the minor mysterious remains)
• The Snake Cult of Hanash: 3 victory points (minor items: the papanga goo, the rare orchid and the perilium deposit).
• Sir Henry's Safari: 1 victory point (minor: the native fisherman).

Against this, Sir Henry deserves to be awarded a whole boatload of "cool" points for deciding to purchase a diving suit, then having the machismo to face the lagoon terror and kill it!  I really wish I'd had a model of a man in a diving suit; that would have made it look so much better.

The end of the game.  Where did everybody go?

Strange, new tactics were employed in this game - especially by the Cult, though they weren't alone in this.  As soon as someone (even a leader) had acquired a plot point they would leave the table as fast as possible.  This certainly preserved their gains since no-one could take the objective from them (well, obviously), but it also meant that these characters were then unavailable for the remainder of the game.

Partly as a result of such tactics and partly because of the thick terrain, there weren't as many fights between characters as there might have been.  Instead, most of the casualties were the result of perils - though even these were relatively light compared with our last "extremely perilous" game!

So, onward into the interior of ... Perilous Island!  ==>