Tuesday 31 January 2017

The Mad Baron - Pulp Alley League

Things have been very quiet on the wargaming front recently...largely due to some rather excellent new boardgames that seem to be dominating our gaming time. In particular, Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu is seeing a lot of play!

However, that is about to change this coming weekend as we have a game of Pulp Alley planned...the first of the year...and, to that end, I am posting up the first of the Leagues we shall be using....


Treasure Hunter? Sky Pirate? German Agent? The Mad Baron may be one or all of these things. However, one thing is certain...from his secret island base somewhere in the South China Sea, the Mad Baron is a thorn in the side of the British Empire.

Leader
Health Brawl Shoot Dodge Might Finesse Cunning
The Mad Baron d10 3d8 3d10 2d10 2d8 3d10 3d10
  • Blaggard (4) – Action: Target one downed enemy in base-to-base contact and draw a random challenge. If successful, the enemy is immediately removed from play.
  • Burst Fire (2) – Action: Place a 3” burst within 12” and line of sight.
  • Iron Will (4) – Action: Roll an immediate recovery check.
Sidekick
Health Brawl Shoot Dodge Might Finesse Cunning
Hilde von Braun d8 3d6 4d8 2d8 2d6 2d6 3d8
  • Crackshot (3) – Targets of your Shooting receive no benefit from being in cover.
  • Marksman (1) – Add +1d to your Shoot (included above).
Sidekick
Health Brawl Shoot Dodge Might Finesse Cunning
Siegfried von Braun d8 4d6 3d8 2d8 2d6 2d6 3d8
  • Fierce (1) – Add +1d to your Brawl (included above).
  • Savage (3) – Once per turn, after determining the results of a Brawl, if you are still engaged then you may immediately fight the same enemy again. Resolve the second fight as normal.
Followers
Health Brawl Shoot Dodge Might Finesse Cunning
Goons d6 1d6 2d6 1d6 1d6 1d6 1d6
  • Marksman (1) – Add +1d to your Shoot (included above).
League Perks
Company of (evil) Heroes (2) – see p.7 Pulp Leagues

Saturday 21 January 2017

Immortan Drumpf and Dr Evelyn Hill from Hasslefree

The Tangerine Titan

Hasslefree have just released a couple of superb Resin Master miniatures...the Tangerine Titan, Immortan Drumpf, and the Perennial Warmonger, Dr Evelyn Hill.

The Perennial Warmonger

From the website:

15 years after Drumpf became the leader of the Free World, the planet is in a catastrophic state. The oceans have run dry, the air is toxic, the bees have died and we have run out of spray tan.
Maintaining leadership via the simple process of ignoring reality, Drumpf continues to hold power and in fact has seemingly grown younger, hairier and more orange than ever.
Leader of the opposition to Drumpf is the seemingly ageless Dr Evelyn Hill. Never seen without her equally ageless feline, Chairman Meow (who some have guessed is just a series of carefully bred identical cats) or her unchangeable wardrobe.
Hill maintains her base of power from the gigantic nuclear bunker under Mount Rushmore and rumours persist that she has installed giant lasers into Washington's eyes.

These two managed to put a smile on my face when I saw them yesterday. I'm hoping this pair find their way into the bonus rounds of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge...perhaps under 'West'...as I would love to see them painted up!

Tuesday 17 January 2017

In Her Majesty's Name Company - Cult of the Old Ones

It's been a while since I've done a Company for In Her Majesty's Name but inspired by my latest figs and someone on the In Her Majesty's Name Facebook page (here) asking how you'd stat up Cultists of the Star Gods, I'd thought I'd put a Lovecraftian Company together. 

Here it is...





Plk FV SV Spd Cst Talents Equipment
High Priest




3(+) +2 0 0 74 Leadership +2
Fanatic

Mystical Powers:
The Stars are Right (as Water Bullets p.32) 
Touched by the Old Ones (as Mask of Imhotep p.32)
Visions of R'lyeh (as Dragon Breath p.32 but enemies within 3” believe they are drowning)
Ceremonial Robes (as Lined Coat) (8)
Staff of the Old Ones (as Amulet of Isis p.45 with the weapon stats of a Quarterstaff p.25 for a total cost of 19 points) (+3 FV)


Deep Ones 3(+) +5 0 0 42 Terrifying Scaly Skin (as Brigandine) (9)
Claws (As Fighting Knives) (-1 Pluck, +1 FV)
Cultists 5(+) +2 +2 0 24 Fanatic
Numb
Lined Robes (8)
Club (+1 FV)
Tainted Villagers 6(+) +1 +1 0 10 Fanatic Club (+1 FV)

Options
  • Any Cultist or Tainted Villager may replace a Club with a Pistol (+1 point).

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to put together Companies for IHMN! 

For those who are interested, you can download a PDF of the Company on Google Drive here or Dropbox here

Monday 16 January 2017

The Shadow Over Innsmouth...More Miniatures for Pulp Alley!



I got my latest lot of miniatures back from the talented Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games a couple of days ago. This time figures for Pulp Alley with a Lovecraftian theme!

Spawn of Cthulhu, Deep Ones and Cultists

Spawn of Cthulhu

Spawn of Cthulhu

Innsmouth Civilians

U-Boat Crew

U-Boat Crew

The miniatures are...once again...mainly Artizan from their Thrilling Tales range but the Spawn of Cthulhu and Deep One figs are from Reaper. Matt has, as always, done an absolutely outstanding job! Really pleased with these...and looking forward to making up some more Pulp Alley Leagues!

Thursday 12 January 2017

The Walking Dead All Out War Solo Game Review



I've had a few games of The Walking Dead All Out War now and am really enjoying it so I thought I'd post up a bit of a review.

I have the Core Game, the Prelude to Woodbury Solo Starter Set, the Days Gone Bye Expansion and the Deluxe Mat. The components are all top quality. The miniatures look excellent straight out of the box...lots of detail, no mold lines and ready to go. The booklets and cards are made with thick, good quality paper and cardstock as are the punch-out tokens and scenery. And, of course, there are plenty of illustrations from the comics. The only exception to this superb quality, perhaps, is the dice or rather the choice of symbols on them which I find a bit uninspiring...but they serve their purpose well enough.

In the solo game you take on the role of one or more Survivors kitted out with a variety of pieces of equipment which gives you a total points value. You then gather a number of Walkers (worth 15 points each) that come as close as possible to that points value.

Brian 'The Governor' Blake ready for some Solo action!

You play on a 20" square area with normally around 14 points worth of scenery in the form of cars, barriers, buildings and other assorted obstacles. The Victory Conditions can vary from Scenario to Scenario but in the games I played this consisted of collecting a number of Supply Tokens before the Threat Level reached Maximum. These Supply Tokens once 'Searched' allow you to take a card from the Supply Deck which usually means a useable piece of equipment but sometimes means an unexpected encounter with a hidden Walker! Beware!

A basic solo Set-Up

There are four phases to the Turn Sequence. The first is the Action Phase. First of all, each Survivor must make a Panic Check. If the current Threat Level is higher than the Survivor's Nerve then a Yellow Die must be rolled resulting in a variety of negative effects to the Survivor.



A player can perform two actions...Move, Shoot, Search, Hide, Make Noise, etc. When you Move you can choose to Sneak (4') or Run (8') which has the downside of creating Noise. When Noise is caused, the closest eligible (i.e. not in Melee or Prone) Walker within 10" of the source moves in a straight line towards it. If this brings them into contact with an item of scenery then they stop. If it brings them into contact with a Survivor then they are now engaged in Melee.

Luckily, most of the Walkers have run into obstacles and stopped!

Of course, this can be used to get the Walkers moving in a certain direction or, more importantly, away from a certain location. Other Noises...notably gunshots...cause Mayhem which, instead of drawing the closest eligible Walker, draws every eligible Walker within 10" and raises the Threat Level by one.

Threat is an important concept in the game which really ratchets up the tension. The Threat Level starts off at All Quiet but quickly rises during the game. In a Solo game the Threat Level is increased by one every turn but can be further raised by various actions and events. The higher the Threat Level the more dangerous everything gets!

Things aren't looking good for 'The Governor'

Next up is the Encounter Phase. In this phase you use the Kill Zone template to see if any Walkers are within attack range of a Survivor. If so they move into Melee with that Survivor. You then draw an Event Card. These cards affect the game in a variety of ways from moving Walkers or introducing more of them to increasing the Threat Level. And the higher the Threat Level the worse the effects on the card.





The Melee Phase is next. If there is any Melee, the Threat Level is increased by one. Combats are resolved by rolling a number of dice equal to a combatant's Melee characteristic plus any weapon they are using. Or the Survivor can choose to use Defense but successfully defending from an attack can never do damage but only Push Back a Walker.



A single Walker has one Red Die in Melee but each additional Walker attacking you increases the number of Red Dice...two Walkers means a total of three Red Dice, three Walkers a total of five Red Dice, and so on up to a maximum of five additional Walkers. Victory in Melee results in a Push Back of 1". The difference in scores is the damage done to the loser. When a Walker takes any damage it immediately falls Prone.

Down but not out!

In addition, if a Headshot (! on the Die) is rolled, the Walker is removed from the game or the Survivor is Bitten which means that at the end of each turn the Survivor must make a roll on a Black Die and if the Shield symbol is rolled then one additional Health is lost.

Three Hits and a Headshot!

Yeah...those two Walkers just got straight back up!

Finally, there is the End Phase. In this Phase a Black Die is rolled for each Prone Walker with a Shield result meaning the Walker stands up. And, as mentioned before, a Black Die is also rolled for each Bitten Survivor. Victory Conditions are checked and if not reached a new round is begun.

In conclusion, I have to say I love this game! It really captures the ever-increasing tension of being out amongst the Walkers...and it's pretty deadly. Games take maybe an hour...though, to be honest, I lost track...it was that much fun. And I have yet to win a game. But I am really looking forward to having many more games to try and do so!  

Friday 6 January 2017

Sam Fury's Hellcats - A Rogue Stars Squad


And here is another Rogue Stars squad to go up against the Jax Silver squad I posted up here. Sam Fury with her sister, Jay, and the two felines, Dizzy and Athena...better known in the Fringes as the Hellcats!

Squad Theme
Pirates
Tactical Discipline
Blitzkrieg

Character
Traits
Equipment
XP
Sam Fury
Fast Draw
Leadership 2
Marksman 2
Perceptive 2
Steadfast 1
Tough 1
Veteran
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Laser Pistol (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
74
Odysseus “Dizzy”
Danger Sense
Difficult Target 2
Veteran
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Laser Pistol (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
42
Athena
Danger Sense
Difficult Target 2
Marksman 2
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Needler Rifle (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
52
Jay
Medic 1
Tech 1
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Laser Pistol (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
31

In other news, thanks to Sam Pate of the Wee Blokes blog, I have ordered the Infinity Neon Lotus Scenery Pack for some much needed sci-fi scenery for my games. 


I hope to get a game in next week!

Wednesday 4 January 2017

Jax Silver and the crew of the Shadow Hawk - A Rogue Stars Squad


The kids are back at school today and I've finally had a chance to sit down with the Rogue Stars book and put together a squad...or, in this case, re-purpose a Counterblast crew for Rogue Stars.

Squad Theme
Mercenaries
Tactical Discipline
Opportunists

Character
Traits
Equipment
XP
Jax Silver
Elite
Leadership 2
Marksman 3
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Laser Pistol (p.25)
Plasma Grenade (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
74
Jess
Agile 2
Alert
Danger Sense
Fast 1
Perceptive 1
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Laser Pistol (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
38
Fay
Marksman 2
Stealth 1
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Laser Rifle (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
40
Zee
Amphibious
Marksman 2
Tough 1
Light Combat Dress (p.28)
Heavy Blaster Rifle (p.25)
Vibroblade (p.24)
48

Putting the squad together was fairly straightforward though I am a little bit worried about the quantity of modifiers I shall have to remember. I guess the proof will be in the playing...and I hope to have a game soon. Before that, though, I shall have to put together the opposition...