Zomtober 2018, Week 4

<== Week 3's duel is this way

Introduction

Whew!  It's the last weekend in Zomtober 2018 and I've finished my models!  Well, OK - that's not entirely correct.  The figures you'll see below have had all the painting done, but they haven't yet been varnished.

Sealing these models would only take a moment, but I want to hold off for a while because the wash I've used on the bases is still slightly wet in some of the deeper recesses.  I know from bitter experience that if I spray sealer over paint/wash which isn't completely dry then the models will go "milky", at least in the damper parts.  It's better if I wait for a few days before varnishing.  Anyway, all the rest is done...

Cora vs Green-haired Zombie

Today's duel is between a couple of young women.  The lucky one (the survivor) is "Cora".  She's young, slim, pretty and armed with an assault rifle and a revolver.  Presumably the satchel slung over her shoulder holds spare ammunition, food, medicines or other useful survival equipment.  I've experimented with colours by giving her pink hair; not something I usually do.

The unlucky one is also young, slim and was probably pretty when still alive.  However, she's now a zombie.  She has half the scalp on one side of her head torn off, as well as gashes and cuts on one leg.  I'll call her "Green-haired Zombie" ("GHZ" hereafter) because she also has been used to practice my painting techniques.  In this case, I've given her green hair and a striped, multi-coloured skirt and top.

Cora is a Hasslefree model.  Indeed, I believe that she's just another version of the survivor I presented last week, though the model is still an excellent one.

GHZ comes from one of the "zombie mobs" produced by Studio Miniatures.  Personally I think that the sculpting is a little weak on this figure; she has slightly overlong arms and legs and an implausibly narrow waist.  The model is still good, just not great.

I'd give the GHZ model maybe 3.5 out of 5, whereas Cora is a solid 5 out of 5.

As always (at least, until I run out of them), both of these figures are mounted on Escenorama resin bases.  Cora's base is fairly plain, but GHZ is standing in a gutter near a crushed Irn Bru can (look it up if you're not Scottish) and a torn takeaway menu.

Conclusion

It looks to me as if Cora has this all day long.  She has a good weapon which she seems to know how to use (no firing from the hip!) and she seems fit enough to be able to fire it.  The zombie isn't particularly special in any way, but there are just a couple of doubts in my mind about this duel even so:

1. I wonder why Cora has decided to straddle a sunken - and probably dangerous - manhole cover.  If she loses her balance or shifts her position even slightly then she could suddenly find herself in a lot of trouble.  Falling down a hole in the road, or even just stumbling at the wrong moment, could be fatal during the apocalypse!
2. GHZ is really skinny.  If Cora doesn't aim carefully, she might miss this very narrow target, especially if she hasn't done this sort of thing before.  Killing zombies casually, without having any doubts or worries, is probably an acquired skill.

So, as always: what do you think will happen next?  Comments below, please 😃.

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!  ==>

Zomtober 2018, Week 3

<== Week 2 is this way

Introduction

Well, we're into the third week of Zomtober 2018.  I've presented a zombie/survivor duel on each such occasion since 2013 and I'm not going to let you down this time.  Hope you enjoy this week's offering!

Sarah vs Parking Meter Zombie (PMZ)

This week, I have painted a couple of oddments from my lead pile.  The survivor is a young woman made by Hasslefree Miniatures; I've called her "Sarah".  She is reasonably well dressed and has a (camouflaged) hunting crossbow slung on her back.  Oddly, she doesn't seem to have any bolts for the bow.

Instead, Sarah is clutching what looks like a wooden stake or tent peg (are wooden tent pegs even a thing these days?).  It's not the improvised weapon I would chose to deal with post-apocalyptic monsters!  Something with a long handle and sharp bits at the far end - perhaps a type of gardening tool - might work better...

Sarah is about to attack Parking Meter Zombie (PMZ).  This zombie appears to be heavily damaged - he's missing half a leg and his belly has been ripped open.  However, he hasn't quite given up yet; he's using a parking meter that has been ripped out of the ground as a support.

PMZ is from one of Studio Miniatures's "zombie mobs".  I've mounted both figures on resin bases from Escenorama.

There seems little doubt in my mind that a fit young woman with a weapon - even a poor one - should be more than a match for a single, crippled zombie.  The real question must be why is she about to attack PMZ, though?

Here are some possibilities:

• She's shot her last crossbow bolt deep into PMZ without killing the creature and intends to retrieve the arrow, come what may?
• It's an act of revenge for something PMZ has done, either in his previous life or in his continuing zombie existence?
• Sarah is using the weak zombie as an opportunity to practice her hand-to-hand combat skills?
• The woman has a desperate need for any coins that are in the meter, perhaps to operate a vending machine that cannot be prised open?
• The zombie and his parking meter are blocking her path?
• She's cleaning up the street, making it safer for some companions who aren't as capable as her (possibly children or elderly)?
• Maybe Sarah isn't about to attack, but instead was caught off guard by a low moan from behind and has spun around to see what might be threatening her?

None of these possible reasons seem especially convincing to me.  Can you come up with anything better?

For Week 4's duel, follow me ==>

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!