Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures, Chapter 3: Coming to a Boil

An overview of the most elaborate table I've ever set up: the river encircles an island in the center of the table. White steam marks where the cannibal cookpot has Brother Virigi on "simmer". The cliffs and pathways represent the various entry points for the five archeological factions.

The drum beats and howling from the pygmy cannibal village unnerved the archeologists as they crept towards it. Through the trees, they could see the glow of flames. Would they be too late? Would the Portuguese monk, Brother Virigi, already be the village dinner by the time they arrived? Caution and haste were called for at both times.

The players study their initial fortune cards and try to map out a strategy to be the first to rescue Brother Virigi

On the river, Harris McLeod poled his hastily-built raft to shore, motioning his companions to follow him. The monk knew the location to the hidden city, and God alone knew the riches he could find there for the British Museum! Not far away, Pierre Fournereau hissed instructions to his men, "Zee monk must be rescued at all costs! Only with him, will we find zee ruins we seek..." Far above them, Von Jaeger and his Germans surveyed the scene from a rocky cliff. Giant stone idols loomed out of the jungle -- doubtless showered with riches by the savages of the jungle. Hurrying down the path leading to the cannibal village, a step ahead of the Germans, Dakota Smith and his friends also were eyeing the same giant stone heads, and the riches that may lay hidden near them. Another group of fortune hunters, Lady Shannon's Irish, looked down from a rocky hill at the two paths ahead of them. Should they cross the perilous looking rope bridge -- the quickest way to the village -- or detour to the temple below them and search it? Meanwhile, hidden in the jungle, three agents of the Order of the Fire Coral watched the approach of the westerners -- vowing the foreign devils would not succeed.

The leader of the secret martial arts society, Opay, saw the Irish head towards the temple and acted first. He found a way into the temple and discovered the skeleton on the floor. The satchel of the long-dead foreigner carried maps, he saw, maps that must not fall into the hands of the foreign devils! Before he could escape the temple, though, the rugged Irish mercenary Ryan O'Shea burst through the door and the two struggled over the satchel. Eventually, Opay disengaged and dove out through the window. There, he had to dodge a fusilade of shots fired by Ryan's companions. Unscathed, he scampered off into the jungle. Here was one clue to the Forbidden City's location that the Westerners would never find!

Both the German and American archeologist leagues close in on one of the stone idols. Dakota Smith's band would spend the game frustrating their rival Germans, snatching treasure after treasure from under their nose.

On the other side of the village, Dakota Smith and his pal Harold found their way to one of the giant stone idols. Together, they pried out the immense ruby eyes, and disappeared into the brush as the sound of German voices drew near. Von Jaeger, cursing that Fraulein Blucher had fallen and knocked herself out climbing down from the cliff, let off a stream of Teutonic obscenities as he saw his rival Dakota disappear into the jungle. The empty eye sockets of the idol seemed to be mocking him. He and Otto hurried out onto the path, where they saw Dakota Smith and Dolly Flanders clambering up a cliff path towards another one of the savage's stone idols. Chuckling evilly, he and Otto Tulmann fired bursts of automatic fire above the Americans, which set loose a rockslide. Dakota reached for Dolly's hand as she slipped, but missed and watched her fall, knocked senseless onto the rocks below. "Zat is for Frau Blucher, mein American..."he growled. Dakota leapt up and blazed away at the Germans with his six-shooter, who ducked, then fired back. Harold Fortwine, who had made it to the bridge leading to the village, hearing the firefight, turned and pulled out his revolver and joined in, as well.

Dakota blazes away at Von Jaeger and Otto Tulmann below, while Dolly takes a tumble from the rocky cliff path

Harris McLeod and Maj. Speke-Eastman had looted an idol of their own when they were surprised by the Fire Coral agent Jaz Minh leaping onto the path next to them. Inexplicably, all were too stunned to attack each other. Instead, the speedy martial artist raced up the path towards the cannibal village. Dumbfounded, the two Brits looked at each other, "Bloody Hell...?" Harris cocked his head, and asked, "Say, my good major, have you seen Clara?"

A "Parley" fortune card made for this comic moment as Jaz Minh leaps out from the underbrush at Harris McLeod and Maj. Speke-Eastman, only to have all concerned stare at each other until she darted off.

The major looked back on the path and shook his head. "She was behind us just a moment ago..." In the woods a ways off, Harris' niece lay unconscious. They pygmies looming above her noticed the two Brits, and turned to stalk them next.

Tex becomes my rope bridge's first (and probably not last) victim as his cowboy boots break through the rotted slats and send him hurtling towards the river below

Meanwhile, Lady Shannon's American mercenary, Tex, swallowed and tread softly out onto the rope bridge. His cowboy boots seemed to sink into the soft, almost rotted wood until there was a crash. He caught himself, though, and slowly dragged himself onto the next wooden slat. Beneath him, the waters of the jungle river writhed with evil dark shapes. Tex watched them for a few seconds, then pulled himself up and raced for the end of the bridge. There was another crash, and the American screamed as he fell towards the river below.

Cue climactic orchestra music: With a display of athletic prowess, French leader Pierre Fournereau kicks aside pygmies and rescues Brother Virigi from the cookpot

There was a chorus of shouts and the drumming ceased when Pierre and his Frenchmen came charging across a bamboo bridge into town. Pygmies ran towards them, but Pierre kicked them aside. Dr. Lambert swatted another with his stout leather briefcase, while Jacques Nero blazed away with his shotgun, scattering the crowd of cannibals. Pierre hurled himself across the village and up the wooden plank that led to the boiling and hissing cookpot. He picked up the two pygmies who were poking the flames with their spears and hurled them to the ground. With a display of superhuman strength, the athletic French archeologist snapped the leather bonds holding Brother Virigi and lifted him bodily out of the cookpot. The monk was flushed red and looked slightly scalded, but seemed not unduly hurt. Pierre half-dragged, and half-carried him back down the plank towards his companions.

Jaz Minh bravely hurls herself on the three Frenchmen to keep Virigi (and his knowledge of the Forbidden City) out of the hands of the foreign devils

There was a shout and the martial artist Jaz Minh raced towards Pierre and began kicking and punching the Frenchman, who fended off her blows. There was an even louder shriek of fury, and the pygmies of the village converged on the intruders. Jaz Minh gasped as a pygmy spear laid open her leg. The Frenchmen knocked away pygmies from all sides, gathered up the monk and moved towards the bridge. Pierre handed the monk off to the doctor, and stood as a valiant rearguard, battering aside any pygmies that tried to follow.

Another agent of the Order of the Fire Coral, Tatko, bravely holds off the Irish leader and sidekick for several turns -- keeping them out of the action

Not far away, the martial artist Tatko and the Irish fortune hunters Lady Shannon and Ryan were engaged in a fierce brawl themselves. Tatko showed blazing speed in avoiding the attacks of the two Irish. The furious clamor from the village prompted them to break off their melee, and sneak towards the path to investigate. When they saw Dr. Lambert hurrying the monk down the path, they knew the French had been successful. Tatko stepped out onto the path for a clear throw, and zipped two shuriken at the archeologist. Dr. Lambert calmly ducked, then opened his briefcase, pulled out a revolver, and blazed away, wounding Tatko. Lady Shannon and Ryan appeared and both raised their weapons. "The monk comes with us!" they shouted. Lambert trained his revolver on them and fired. The Irish clucked in disbelief, "Och, bad decision, laddie..." They aimed at the doctor and squeezed their triggers..."Click! Click!" Out of ammunition -- both of them! The two let out a stream of curses in Gaelic as the Frenchman scooted past them, laughing.

Clutching the monk's arm, Dr. Lambert runs the gauntlet of Tatko, Lady Shannon, and Ryan -- aided by not one but two "Out of Ammo" fortune cards

Meanwhile, far away in the jungle, Dakota Smith was definitely not laughing as he fled from the angry orangutan, whose frustrated howls rivaled those of the pygmies. Although he had not rescued the monk, he was somewhat relieved to see the French had done so. Now, all he would have to do would be to follow the French to the hidden city! He'd calmly finished looting the last of the pygmy idols and had been sneaking off into the jungle when he'd surprised the massive ape. His shots back at it did not seem to deter it from its chase, though. Eventually, he blundered onto the path, where he met Harold Fortwine, carrying Dolly Flanders. "What's that sticking out of your tail end, Harold?" Dakota asked.

A comic end to the tale was a great ape chasing a wounded Dakota Smith out of the jungle

The burly academic grunted, "Cursed pygmy arrow!" Behind them, they heard more howls, though they could not tell if it was pygmies or apes. The two giggled and fled off into the jungle, not sticking around to find out.

Our third game of Pulp Alley was a blast. I had six players -- five archeological leagues, and one martial arts society whose job is to frustrate the objective of the others. Each team except for the martial arts society had a Leader, Sidekick, and Ally. Humorously, four of the five allies ended up being knocked down and out -- and all by the play of Fortune Cards. Both Frau Blucher and Dolly Flanders took tumbles on perilous cliff paths, while Tex was the first character to try to cross my rope bridge (and failed). British Clara was ambushed by pygmies in the woods early on. The only Ally to survive was the French Jacques Nero.

The French won the scenario, with the heroic charge led by their leader, Pierre Fournereau. They were really the only faction who made a concerted effort to go for the major plot point -- Brother Virigi stewing in the cookpot. All of the others were distracted by the minor plot points of idols and temples. The Germans in particular, spent the game chasing after Dakota Smith and his band after they snatched a plot point from under their noses. The Irish were also frustrated, but by the Order of the Fire Coral. First, Opay stole the plot point out of the temple just ahead of them. Then Tatko was a one-man wrecking and dodging crew, holding off the Irish leader and sidekick single-handedly. The Order of the Fire Coral has three sidekicks instead of the Leader/Sidekick/Ally combination. They played masterfully this time. They did not win, as the French had the major plot point, but they prevented the Irish from being a factor. The British succeeded in looting one idol, and seemed content with that. Dakota Smith surprisingly ignored the quick pathway to the village and left it to the French to rescue Brother Virigi, while he went off idol hunting. The Americans snagged two plot points, and escaped off board.

The players all seemed to have a good time...well, except for the Germans! We are getting better at creating the storyline of what happens in each perilous area, and making up what form each challenge takes. In the extremely perilous river island -- the cannibal village -- the perils were simply pygmies rushing at the players. Easier challenges represented lone pygmies, while difficult ones were swarms of them. The systems forces us to tell the story as we go along, and it often turns out to be a fairly hilarious one, too! Seven friends sitting around the table can be pretty ruthless when it comes to thinking of embarrassing things that happened to your characters when they fail challenges...!

The next chapter will find the archeologists finally exploring the hidden city that Brother Virigi had spotted so long ago. Stay tuned to this channel for more thrilling Oriental Adventures with Dakota Smith...!

"Indiana Jones" Rope Bridge, Part 3

The rope bridge amidst terrain and loaded up with figures. I recommend clicking on the image for the full size photo -- it is an atmospheric one...!

So, it is done. As I said in the last post on the construction of the rope bridge, I was all but completed. I took the upper assembly and stone sections and added green flock and clump foliage to them. I painted straight white glue onto the brown and sand spots, leaving a little brown visible here and there. I then sprinkled Woodland Scenics Blended Foliage onto it, tapping off the excess.

The completed upper assembly of the bridge, with flocking and clump foliage

Once it was dry, I pulled out my tubs of three different colors of Woodland Scenics clump foliage. I put a big splotch of glue was placed near scattered green grass sections and pressed the foliage into it so it would stick. I didn't put one on every spot where I had green flocking, but placed them here and there so they'd be visible from just about any angle. I used the lighter colored clumps on more open ledges and the darker ones in the shadier, more recessed ones. I am not sure if that works to look more realistic, but it certainly can't hurt!

The stackable stone sections made of craft foam and birch wood. Two are stacked atop each other in this picture, which shows the final step of adding flocking and clump foliage.

Once the foliage was dry, I did my first spray coat of Testors Dullcoate. I let that dry. Then I mixed up a 50/50 batch of white glue and water and painted it over all of the green flocking and clump foliage. I do this to cement it onto the terrain piece, so that I don't have to worry about it shedding flocking and growing threadbare with use. A final spray coat and the rope bridge was complete!

The completed rope bridge and stone sections it sits atop

Would I change anything I did in retrospect? Actually, no. I think the build worked well. The concept of the upper bridge assembly sitting atop the stackable stone sections worked really well. I loaded up the bridge with 28mm figures, and it didn't seem to sag or lean noticeably. Yes, putting the texture on the craft foam and birch wood sections (see "Part 2") was a time-consuming process with lots of steps. If I had a spackling or textured compound that I'd used before and liked, it might have been simply easier to spread it over the pieces instead. However, I haven't really "invented" a process like that, though I've seen many other miniature terrain and model makers that have. My only suggestion to someone who goes that route rather than the black spray paint and textured stone spray would be to make sure your material is black. I started out with black craft foam, sprayed it with black spray paint, and then sprayed it with the textured stone paint. So, I never had to worry about lighter colored recesses showing through. I think it would be a major pain if you coated the stone pieces with a white compound of some sort and then had to find a way to get black in all those recesses!

The rope bridge posed amidst jungle terrain and up against one of my pine bark cliff pieces. I really love the way it turned out!

I think the craft store "picket fence" is a perfect fit for a Pulp rope bridge, too. The wire holding it together is wound around the planks much like a rope would. It is sturdy, wide, and holds 28mm figures well. You can bend the wire to get whatever kind of curve you want in the bridge. I highly recommend it. Others more talented and patient than me may come up with a way to do rope hand rails. Just remember if you do that, those parallel hand rails will make it more difficult to place and move figures along the bridge, too.

A close up showing the skulls atop the bridge posts, and the wooden planking. I think the wire holding the craft store "picket fence" looks very convincing as rope.

It was fun to set up my terrain and take pictures of the rope bridge in action. Of course, since it is an "Indiana Jones" rope bridge, I had to pose Dakota Smith in the middle. Like Indy in the Temple of Doom, he is beset on each side of the bridge by enemies. Bandits out for his scalp advance from one side of the bridge, while the martial artists of the Order of the Fire Coral close in from the other. Will Dakota escape? Well, it is a Pulp game, isn't it...?

In a scene stolen from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dakota Smith is surrounded by bandits on one side and martial artists from the Order of the Fire Coral on the other. How will our hero escape this predicament? Tune in to Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures on this blog to see...!

Cannibal Cookpot

An iconic scene in Pulp adventure -- an unfortunate explorer ends up in a cannibal cookpot!

 The story arc for my 28mm Pulp games has the Portuguese monk, Brother Virigi, being captured by pygmy cannibals (of the South Seas, no less!). An iconic cartoon image of cannibals is a big metal cookpot with a hapless explorer plopped down inside of it. So, I just h-a-d to build one for the game where the players' archeologists race to rescue Brother Virigi. After all, he's the only one who knows the way to the lost city. I agonized over how to do this and how elaborate to make it.

I knew I was doomed to an elaborate construction when my friend Mike S mentioned "LED votive candles" to me one Sunday evening after gaming. "The make votive candles with LED lights?" I asked. Then immediately went into "Hmmm..." mode. I stopped by Hobby Lobby the very next day on the way home from work. Wouldn't you know it? They had all their LED candles on 50% off! Naturally, I picked up a pack of two. They were a bit taller than I'd hoped. My original thought was to make a little mound to slip over the candle and have the cookpot suspended over the LED flame. At 1 1/2 inches tall, the mound would have to be bigger, which meant more elaborate construction around it.

This terrain piece was made from 3 layers of blue foam with a hollow cylinder in the center for the LED votive candle

I apologize for not taking "work in progress" pictures. It is a fairly straight-forward construction. I cut three layers of blue foam out so they would stack on top of each other in a rough, rounded, pyramid mound. I then traced the edge of the candle out in the center of each piece of blue foam. I cut out this central circle and stacked the three pieces up, gluing them together so they would fit over the candle. I sized it so the flame part of the LED barely protrudes above the surface of the mound. A piece of black styrene was the base, which also needed the candle hole cut out of it.

Next, I took some dowel rod and roughed it up with an X-acto knife so it looks like a tree trunk, carving it to a point. I drilled a hole right before where it narrows to a point and inserted a piece of craft wood to be the crossbars the cookpot hangs from. Then, I plunged the dowel rod poles through the three layers of blue foam so they'd have a firm grip and stand upright. I added Tacky glue around the base for additional grip. Next, I trimmed up the three layers of blue foam to give it a less stacked and more rounded appearance. Blue foam doesn't really trim well with an X-acto knife, so this was fairly messy.

The next step was working on the surface of the mound. I glued on larger stones here and there along the surface of the foam. Afterwards, I painted all but the stones the earth brown I use for my bases. When dry, I painted the brown areas again with white glue and poured Woodland Scenics "Gray Blend" coarse ballast over it to make it a rocky mound. Once dry, I painted the surface with my black ink wash to give the stones further depth.

Ladder and platform made from bamboo skewers and craft sticks

Because of the height of the votive candles, I decided my pygmy cannibals would need a ladder and platform to stand on while cooking their "dinner." I made these out of craft sticks or bamboo skewers, and Tacky glued them into place. I also dug through my figure drawers and found two plastic figures I wouldn't be needing. I cut off their heads, hollowed out a wedge shape underneath and mounted them atop the poles with Tacky glue. Now, it was time to do some painting. All wooden parts were painted Dark Brown first, then dry brushed a medium brown and then Khaki. The heads received a light gray base coat, then a dry brush of the palest flesh tone I own. I very sparingly added some less ghoulish flesh tone here and there on the bald head to break up the monotony. Everything painted then received a black ink wash. I did go back and add a highlight to the larger stones that were protruding from the mound -- the ink wash had really darkened them up.

The cookpot itself is a doll house tin pail from Hobby Lobby, as is the votive LED candle

The cookpot itself is a doll house tin pail from Hobby Lobby. I painted it black with two coats, then dry brushed it copper. I don't know why, but I always imagine primitives having copper utensils and metals. More earthy looking, I guess! Anyway, the pail already had two little rings which I'd pre-measured to loop over the craft wood crossbars. I hung the pail on the crossbars and then added more ink wash to "fix" it into place so it didn't swing back and forth. The final step was to flock the styrene base, as well as adding patches of grass on the mound. I used my normal, multi-step method of coarse ballast and sand for the earth texture.

Now imagine that yellow light flickering, reflecting off the cotton whisps, and you get a better idea of the effect...!

Now, it was time to go back to what started this whole elaborate construction -- the votive candle. I shredded cotton ball material and glued it around the top of the candle so that only the fake flame protruded. The cotton ball would reflect the light of the flickering LED and look like smoke from the firepit. I did not glue cotton to the inside of the pail. I figured I would just manually place it in there to cover the base of whatever unfortunate figure has been chosen for that evening's dinner.

All in all, I am happy with how it came out. It'll be a great counterpoint to Skull Cave once I run the scenario. Plus, cannibals are a staple of Pulp adventures, so I'm sure I'll be able touse it time and time again. Hope you like it!

Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventure, Part 2 - Missing at the Mission

Western Archeologist Briefing
Near the Ta-bo Mountains, French Indochina
November 30, 1930

    Despite the failure to get your hands on Brother Virigi’s journal, you came away from the Portuguese monastery on Macau with solid information. The monk had left a few weeks ago for the monastery’s mission on the mainland in French Indochina. The brother monks had set up an outpost in the foothills of the Ta-bo Mountains to preach to the primitive tribes living there. Villagers you speak to along the way there always spit when saying the name of the mountains, so you suspect an evil story lurks in this area’s history.
    It takes about a week to trek through jungle and cultivated plain before you begin to climb into the foothills. Once or twice, you see signs that the other archeological teams you encountered at the monastery may be on the same trail. Villages and hamlets are becoming more and more scarce, though. What’s more, in your last several days of travel, all the villages you pass through are deserted. Chickens and goats wander untended, making you suspect the villagers left in a hurry. There is a smell of smoke in the air as you finally come to the mission station. A grayish haze hangs over the area, as if a fire has been smoldering for days...

The second scenario saw Dakota Smith and his rivals discovering Brother Virigi's mission station on the mainland raided, smoking, and with no signs of life...

So, after our first game of Pulp Alley, I was trying some changes to adapt the game to the large number of players. Once again, we had five players and myself for our Sunday evening game. This time, though, each player had only 3 characters under his control -- a leader, sidekick, and ally. That is, except for the Order of the Fire Coral, who had sidekicks for all three characters. I shrank the board to 4'x4', and placed the 4 minor plot points 12" from each edge. The major plot point was in the center of the table. The major plot point was a badly-wounded survivor of the raid that had apparently wiped out Brother Virigi's mission station. The minor ones were clues to the the identity of the attackers, including inscriptions on the walls of a ruined temple, the boxes of supplies looted by the attackers, a muddy patch with lots of footprints, and Brother Virigi's new journal.

A map showing the board as I initially planned it -- some changes were made when I set it up

This game saw a new archeological faction take the field. Mike S had created his own Irish archeological team, and switched over to playing them. Allen, who'd been absent our first game, took over capably in playing Dakota Smith. The French player was absent, so they were obviously held up by bureaucratic duties, while the other Europeans skirted those. Each team made a beeline for the plot point nearest where they'd set up. Dakota Smith, accompanied by Dolly Flanders and Harold Fortwine, hoofed it up the hill to the ruined temple to examine it. Harold stumbled a couple times in the perilous footing -- with vegetation concealing pits and crumbling floors. His arch-nemesis, Von Jaeger, came in on the opposite side of the board and headed for the muddy patch of ground that promised to show good footprints of (and possibly identify) the attackers. The Irish came in not far from them, and advanced cautiously towards the looted supplies, hoping to gain a clue as to who the attackers were by what they took and what they left behind. Harris McLeod and the British hurried towards the swampy patch of ground where the raid's lone survivor lay hidden. And finally, Opay, Tat-Ko, and Jaz Minh infiltrated through the mission huts. Tat-ko searched the monk's quarters, while the other two stealthily closed in on the Europeans.

Dakota Smith passes up on checking out the village to instead examine the temple ruins at the top of the scrubby hill, hoping to get some clues about the history of the area

The steely-eyed Von Jaeger notices something odd left by the footprints in the mud

The mystery of the raided mission station distracts Lady Shannon -- always ready for adventure -- from her hunt for a Buddhist tomb

The British come upon a grisly discovery in the marshy patch in the center of the table. They are stunned to find the horribly stabbed Chinese man still alive, but even more astonished by the stunted, misshapen body of what wounded him...!

Once again, the mission of Opay and other members of the Order of the Fire Coral is to frustrate that of the westerners, and keep hidden the mystery that Brother Virigi must have stumbled upon...

All leagues except the Fire Coral ran afoul of an occasional perilous area, but no lasting damage was done to any. This time, I put markers on the table for the perilous areas -- venomous snakes in the jungle patches, crocodiles in the river, feral chickens near the huts (just kidding, but there were some angry, neglected water buffalo that the adventurers gave a wide berth to...!). To be honest, this is probably an area all the players need to improve upon. We still need to learn how how to best play Fortune cards to the maximum effect against their opponents -- especially when characters enter perilous areas. Last game, Tom was particularly effective doing this. However, everyone struggled this game to make much offensive use of them against their rival leagues.

The perilous areas on the board slowed down the occasional character, and even temporarily downed Fraulein Blucher (German ally). However, she recovered quickly. All hands were available at the bullets began to fly, shortly...

By turn three, all five plot points were in the hands of the characters. There was a humorous moment when the players turned to me and asked, "Is the scenario over?" Once I explained that you could take away plot points from other characters, and that they were worth more experience, they quickly caught on that their next objective was each other!

Dakota was a bit miffed that Dolly sauntered in and finished off his deciphering of the minor plot point. This didn't prevent him from taking a quick pencil and paper rubbing of the temple inscriptions...

Now, the bullets began to fly (there had actually been a "Parley" card played on Turn 3). Predictably, the bloodthirsty Von Jaeger and his Nazi thugs started it. Otto Tulmann wounded Harris McLeod, who managed to dodge the follow up gunfire of Von Jaeger himself. The next turn, Otto poured more fire into Harris, wounding him further. Steve played a "Stay Down" card to keep Harris from recovering. The portly hunter quickly shuffled away, leaving Major Speke-Eastman and his niece Clara to deal with the vicious Nazis.

Guns blazing, the Germans chase after the British and the major plot point

Lady Shannon's Irish also showed a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. Her sidekick Ryan and her cowboy ally, Tex, whooped as they blazed away at Jaz Minh and Opay. Meanwhile, inside the hut, Tat-Ko located Brother Virigi's new journal and hid it inside his robe.

Ryan O'Shea and Tex open fire on the Order of the Fire Coral

Inside the jungle huts which composed the Portuguese mission (and newly-constructed for this scenario), Tat-Ko discovers the missing Brother Virigi's new journal and swipes it

Drawn by the desire to capture the wounded Chinese survivor of the raid, all the teams except the Irish closed in on the center. Fraulein Blucher boldly charged up the hill, fists flying, at an astonished Dakota Smith, who had seized the opportunity to open fire at the hated Nazis. Harold Fortwine, an ex-boxer in his undergrad days, waded in and belted the stout, gray-haired matron to the ground, though. Harris McLeod recovered his nerve enough to turn and let loose a fusilade at Von Jaeger, who returned fire. Both were wounded. Major Speke-Eastman also fired off a flurry of shots, further wounding the German. Jaz Minh and Opay avoided crocodiles to dash across the river. As the Irish continued to take pot shots at the martial artists, Jaz Minh skipped back across the river and kicked Ryan O'Shea's gun from his hand.

The melee in the center is furious, and the Germans are in the thick of it. All teams are eventually drawn into the brawl, though.

A couple of the players had the foresight to send their plot points off towards the board edge, in the hands of one of their characters, though. Dakota handed the temple wall rubbing off to Dolly. The socialite needed little encouragement to dash off down the hill and away from the gunfire. Tat-Ko sprinted for the edge of the board, but his movement drew the attention of Tex. As his companion Ryan knocked down Jaz Minh, Tex drew a bead on the fleeing martial artist. His shot rang true and Tat-Ko fell to the ground, the journal flung free of his robes.

Bullets and fists fly as the characters all compete to drag off the howling, wounded survivor of the raid. They know he had key information on how to track down the attackers, and hopefully, rescue Brother Virigi.

The sixth turn drew to a close with the major plot point having been wrested from the British, but under no one's control. The grisly tug-of-war with the horribly wounded survivor saw Clara McLeod dig her heels into the ground and prevent Von Jaeger from carrying the man off. It ended the game under no one's control. The Fire Coral also lost possession of the journal to a long-range shot which put Tat-Ko down and out. The Americans, Germans, and Irish all retained possession of one minor plot point, so came out on top.

As the leagues retreated from the bloody fray to bandage their wounds and take stock of the situation, they knew they all had one piece of information. The monks of the Portuguese mission station had been kidnapped by a tribe of savage pygmies known as the Ta-bo. The wounded survivor's words still echoed in their ears, "Save the brothers, please, masters! The Ta-bo are cannibals...!" If they were ever going to find the location of the lost city from Brother Virigi, they'd first have to rescue him from pygmy cannibals of the South Seas...!

Everyone seemed to enjoy the game, and got into the fact that they were bitter rivals eventually. Pulp Alley is still a new rules set for our group, so we are still learning tactics and strategy. I am still learning at how to incorporate the perilous areas into the game, and keep the storyline of them coherent, pulpy, and well, as believable as a rousing pulpy yarn should be...! I'm sure I'll get better at the storytelling aspect of the game as we play more. The guys are helping out, though, and suggesting reasons for outcomes that make good "B movie" sense. It'll probably be January before I run Scenario 3 (The Search for Skull Cave), as our Sunday night schedule is filling up. That's fine, though, as I have lots of jungle pieces to create. Plus, I have a hankering to make a rope bridge, and what can be more "Indiana Jones"-like than that...?

Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures - Part 1, Brother Virigi, Wherefore art thou?

Keith, Mike S, and Tom hot on the trail of Brother Virigi -- a Portuguese monk from Macau in the 1930s

 I had 5 players for my first-ever Pulp Alley game. I had been working my way towards this for many, many months. So, it was nice to get all those 28mm figures I'd been painting out on the tabletop. I'd asked Keith, who was hosting, to set up the table with a 6'x4' area. After the terrain was all laid out, I discovered it was a bit bigger -- nearly 5' across, not 4. So, I told the players controlling the four Western archeological teams to deploy within one foot of each of the corners. The Order of the Fire Coral would begin the game disguised as Chinese peasants scattered throughout the board (roughly 1 in 3 would be agents, the rest actual peasants). The player controlling them secretly marked the bottoms of the figures representing agents with tape. To move, they had to "cast off the peasant garb" and be revealed. The four minor plot points were just over a foot away from each starting location, with the major plot point being hidden inside the church's Chancery in the center of the board. They discovered the location of the major plot point (Brother Virigi's journal) only by taking control of one of the minor ones (monks from the monastery).

Fraulein Blucher is escorted by two German sailors, while Von Jaeger and Ottom Tulmann interrogate Brother Malachi by the pig pen

 Since these were brand new rules that we'd never played as a group, I had a number of worries heading into the game. My first worry was that I wouldn't have enough Fortune Cards if the players decided to hold onto them. I have just the starting deck of 25. With each player receiving 3 at the start of the game and a further one at the beginning of each round, I was wondering if the deck would ever grow dry. At first, the players were hesitant to use them. Eventually, they got the hang of using them to frustrate their opponents -- especially the weaker characters belonging to other players, who may have trouble passing the tougher challenges.

Reporter Eric Bylan and socialite Dolly Flanders, tagging along uninvited on Dakota Smith's expedition, approach the monastery graveyard

 My second worry was there would be no way the characters could accomplish their goals in the game's six turn limit (cards can be played to extend it a 7th and even 8th turn). The board looked simply too big. I think that worry was borne out by the events. Only one character actually entered the church by the end of the game. Of course, the two "Parley" cards played over the course of the first six turns really slowed things down, too. I almost feel like making a change so that is a one-shot card, and not letting it be played a second time. To not be able to attack or run for 1/3 of the game's turns seemed a bit extreme.

Harold Fortwine guards the rear of the American column, unaware of the agent from the secret martial arts society, Order of the Fire Coral, hiding in the shadows behind him

 The rules explanation at the beginning went fairly well. Of course, true to Sunday night form, my gamer friends were more off-task than my 7th grade students are on average. I expected that, though. It is part of the fun -- the random comments, the digressions in conversation, and so on. The players picked up the rules fairly quickly, it seemed. The one fairly consistent mistake we made was that wounded characters roll dice no higher than their current health level. I'd predicted we'd miss that one and we did a few times. It took a turn or two to wrap our heads around the Challenges, when to play them, and how that is different than passing a plot point. We did it right, but had a couple players question the proceedings. I have to say I was fairly happy with how we caught changes in Initiative -- how it gets traded back and forth between players -- although I would not be surprised if we missed one or two.

Keeping together tightly, the British party is shadowed and harassed by the Order of the Fire Coral all along its advance towards the church

 The only real issues anyone had with the rules was when the German archeological team got pinned down by the French sidekick Jacques Nero. The best gunman of the French, he got into a covered firing position and started gunning down Germans as they passed in front of him. The player was upset that Jacques' "Hardened Veteran" ability meant he could keep shooting with no "Multiple Combats." That, and Dr. Lambert's "Deductive" ability meant the French league snagged an extra Fortune card nearly every turn. I showed the Germans how he had a character with the exact same stats. He had just rolled worse when Jacques Nero and Otto Tulmann had their gun battle. I explained that one extra Fortune card among 5 players should not imbalance the game. The British had a character with the "Deductive" advantage, too.

The French league nabs a plot point, discovering that Brother Virigi has left for the mainland mission station. His journal with maps and drawings was left behind in the church Chancery, though (major plot point)!

 So, what happened? All four archeological teams moved fairly steadily towards the closest Minor Plot point (the monk nearest them) and took control of it. The Order of the Fire Coral focused its attacks on the British and German teams, harassing them with attempted attacks on its weaker characters. They seemed to focus less to the French and American leagues. All the players got into the act of trying to zap each other with Challenges as characters entered perilous areas. None of the sidekicks or leaders went down and out, but the German Otto Tulmann was knocked out momentarily. The Order of the Fire Coral lost the most agents, but its characters were weaker (9 total characters vs. 4-5 for the Westerners).

Brother Malachi points Von Jaeger towards the major plot point, Brother Virigi's journal inside the church Chancery...

That brings me to the next issue with a five player game. I think we had too many characters on the board. A few of the players commented that the game moved a little slowly, although part of that is probably due to the too-large board. Another part could be that it was our first time with the rules. I may experiment with smaller leagues (less than the normal 10 slots) in games with 5+ players. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I'd had my 6th player had shown up with the Bandits and their 11 character league! Perhaps I'll trim down the two most excessively-sized leagues (Fire Coral at 9 & Bandits, 11), giving them tougher characters, which may make play go quicker. I think a smaller board would help, too.



 The players said the rules were "interesting" and seemed willing to give them another go. They understood it was our first time playing the game. Everyone seemed to have fun, well, except for the German player. And he seemed to be having a good time until his league got pinned down. There are a lot of subtleties -- especially in the use of Challenges -- that we need to wrap our head around. Tom, the French player, did the best. He seemed most attuned and goal-oriented of the archeologists. His leader, Pierre Fournereau, was the only European to enter the church, though he never made it to the Chancery.

And all five leagues come together in the middle! The French had an advantage, and were able to elude the concentrated attacks of the others. Of course...I *have* to say it: "Tom's winning!"

 So, the game ended up with a massive-sized scrum and logjam at the entrance to the church. The leaders of all five leagues were present in the donnybrook. The Americans blocked the Germans from entering the church, the French got in via clever use of Dodge moves, and the British and Americans appeared like they'd need to take a number. The carnage of so many figures in such tight quarters would have been interesting to play out. It was 11:20 pm, though, and most of us had to work the next day. We had played the six turns in about 3 hours (once rules explanation was done). That is not bad for a 5-player game that no one had played before. As I said, most seemed willing to give it another go and learn the system better.

Sorry this is more of an analysis than straight-up, after action report. I did not take notes on the nitty gritty. I did snap some close up shots of the action, so I hope you enjoy those. Next game will see them follow the trail of Brother Virigi to the mainland and the Portuguese mission station in the Ta-bo Hills. Feel free to comment on my thoughts about larger games, or make suggestions.