Do You Wanna Build a Wall? A Pulp Alley Game

Well, it's been a while! Life gets busy, and painting and gaming has felt more rewarding than blogging. But I've been lured out of semi-retirement by the promise of more free Pulp Alley cards. After this report, you may wish I'd stayed there!

Warning: If you're a fan of the serving US President, it may be best to avert your eyes and not read this report. Terrible, tasteless, irreverent, inappropriate things happen to a man who may just happen to have certain resemblances to the POTUS.

Anyway, if you're still here, you have been warned!

Ronald Dump is the new mayor of the bustling Middle Eastern market town of al-Amrica. He swept to power on the back of his promises to deal with the nomad problem: itinerants who skulk into town to steal people's good, jobs and self respect.

Dump Towers, and the mayor's security detail.

Dump is a man of action. He has begun to build a wall to protect the good citizens of al-Amrica from the unwashed masses. But a man of vision and action has many enemies.

Here you can see the wall, and the enemies.

On the left, a group of ne'er-do-wells are escorting a group of nomads into town. One of their goals is to get the nomads into the marketplace (at the centre rear of the table). The other will become apparent as the game goes on...

On the right, a group of archaeologists have heard there is treasure buried under the newly constructed wall. They are making for pile of bricks at the left.

In the centre at the back (and scattered across the table) are zeppelin troopers, a crack team from a certain central European power that is deeply concerned about the global effects of Mayor Dump's economic policies. Their job is to eliminate the Mayor (villainous Euro-baddies!)

In the face of such opposition, who would want to be the team trying to build the wall?

The great man emerges, surrounded by his minders.

Then suddenly, disaster! A fierce gust of wind lifts his hairpiece and sends it flying! The Mayor is a sprightly man for his size, and he leaps down in pursuit.

His bodyguards scramble to protect him from the zeppelin troopers.

The wig and the man keep moving.

A little lying down on the job.

The Mayor presses on regardless.

Now at this point, if you are a fan of the current serving President and you have ignored my pleas to avert your eyes, you really have been warned...

The Mayor is approached by one of the nomads.

And BOOM! That, folks, is why we need border security...or a new mayor...

As the credits roll, the archaeologists unearth their treasure.

The nomads luxuriate in the wonders of modern capitalism.

And the now unemployed bodyguards head back to l̶o̶o̶t̶  secure Dump Towers.

Note: No world leaders or miniatures were actually harmed in the making of this game.

RT Project - Pirates and Pilgrims

Last month I managed to paint just one miniature for my RT project game. Happily, this month has been more productive. Here's the first four figures. First off, a couple of pirates.

The guy on the right is a genestealer cultist with head from the Empire Luminark of Hysh kit. Mr Brown is a Reaper Miniatures Space Henchman. Full of hulking, dim-witted character!

Then there are the pilgrims.

One from Axiom's glorious Colony 87 range, and then a GW flagellant with some alternative bits.

What could they possibly be doing all together on the same table? Stay tuned!

Peregrine - 350

A quick update this time. You make some quick progress when every one of these pillars is eleven pieces!

And a couple of bigger views.

Next time will be much more interesting: most of the roof will be done.

Peregrine - 300

Lots more detail stuff this time! The sensor array at the front.

You can also see interior walls and compartments.

Probably the coolest part of the build so far is the toilet! (The blurry bit to the right is the sink.)

Sadly, most of it gets hidden away.

RT Project - Maximum Havoc - a Pulp Alley Game

Phew, life has been busy, so the February game is only going up now. But it was another memorable solo game for the Rogue Trader project. Also, apologies for some blurry photos. I do miss my old compact digital! Anyway, enough chit chat: on with the show.

The Lamenter scouts have discovered a secret chaos base. They must attack and destroy as much much hardware as possible. At the end of each turn, a random number of reinforcements will arrive (the X number on the Fortune cards). In addition, the fire support robot will switch on when the shooting starts, and once it has warmed up, it will enter the fray. (Start of each turn, roll 1d6. Once the total reaches 21, the robot is go.)

The scouts wait for a chance to sneak towards their objectives, but a wandering cultist forces them to get loud.

Clay Moore, the demolitions expert, sets his first charges against the supply crates.

Moore is intercepted as he heads for his next target. Other threats are dealt with in the background.

This guy put up some fight!

But he goes down eventually and Moore presses on.

Back towards the centre of the table, the squad leader has been a bullet magnet as he tries to deal with a number of cultists. He's the first scout to die, nailed by a shotgun blast.

Another target, another explosive.

And this is where things got interesting. Turn 7.

The robot is now operational. As if that wasn't bad enough, the reinforcements for the turn include a cultist flamethrower and a chaos marine! (This is the figure, who in his maiden outing took over thirty shots to take down!)

Moore pulls back and sets off the explosives he's planted so far.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom! All three targets destroyed (but I need to make me some nice smoke).

At this point, the scouts face a decision. They can seek to destroy the easy objectives that remain. They can withdraw rather than risk being destroyed by their powerful opposition. Or they can throw everything they have at most valuable and most difficult target, the robot.

Call those options? There's only one thing to do! The scout sniper is first to the target, hoping he can put a shot into a vulnerable spot.

But the robot stomps closer and it turns out the sniper is the one with the vulnerable spot!

By the way, here's the one guy I managed to paint for this scenario this month, making a late appearance in the game, sneaking along behind the robot!

Moore begins hurling grenades, but he fails to dint man or machine. The next turns see him go down four times, only to drag himself up again and again!

Another scout faces the robot and is taken out.

Finally, Moore decides to charge the robot in the faint hope that he can disable it in hand-to-hand.

He is quickly surrounded. He manages to damage the robot, but this tale ends in tragedy rather than triumph.

A failed mission for the scouts (three objectives destroyed, but four left unharmed. Plus the death of the entire team.) However, another great game with a big swing of fortune when the big guns came on for chaos.

RT Project - the February Game is...

February has come and (almost) gone and it's game time again. I managed to paint one entire figure for this month's game!

This time it's a scenario from the 'New Worlds' section of the plot generator.

I've changed the scenario a little bit: chaos cultists instead of aliens. A Lamenter ship picked up signs of life on a planet previously though to be abandoned. Scouts have been sent to the surface of the planet to investigate. They discover an extensive network of underground facilities. The scouts are instructed to attack and do as much damage as possible as they wait for their marines to deploy.

Lots of juicy targets!

The scouts are go!

Report should be inbound over the weekend.