Pulp Alley: Shiva's Chosen, Keepers of the North

Over the past while I have been steadily painting models terrain and the like. I have a few irons in the fire with my interested in Pulp Alley and gearing up for my next game of Delves. For today I figured I would focus on my new Pulp Alley league. The Keepers of the North.

Since the beginning of time Shiva, the Empress of Ice, goddess of cold has protected the great frozen plains of the earth, keeping the elemental balance in check. For every good there is a bad, for every night there is a day, for every desert there is a tundra.

Their are many mysteries and myths surrounding the arctic expanse. Many ancient powers and secrets have been told to lie hidden deep within the northern region. Explorers bitten with curse of curiosity have come and gone and those seeking riches have fell to the same fate. But yet they keep returning.....As long as they do the Keepers of the North will be there to protect the secrets that lie within.

For this league I wanted to create a more "feral" type of league. As you can see from my abilities they are melee machines. They hit hard and fast. I suspect they will have problems with some perils but I chose the abilities more in the favor of fluff then practicality.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

Pulp Alley AAR: Liberators met The MaoTaa

When we last left our heroes Cap't Grant and his Liberators were unable to foil the plans of the Crimson Professor and the Sinister Syndicate. Vladimir Vrex was able to obtain the plutonium needed for his skelebot upgrades. The massing of his army for a global takeover will soon be complete.

In Vrexs escape with his cache, Gregarious was able to capture one of the Syndicate's skelebots. Calling on one of his many contacts he was able to obtain some valuable information from the memory banks of the evil automation...... The location of Vrex's secret lair!

Wasting no time The Liberators boarded the "Liberation" plane and headed to coordinates located deep within the German Black Forest.

Little did Grant know but Vrex was one step ahead and planted the coordinates as trap! The Liberators were about to engage the crazed cult of The MaoTaa....

Liberators vs The MaoTaa

The Scenario was Race against time. For flavor we decided The MaoTaa would be the defenders and Grant and his Liberators would be the attackers, stumbling on the cult preforming an ancient ritual.

The MaoTaa were deployed around the main plot point which was the altar in the center of the table.

Grant was deployed to the southeast of the alter with the aid of his hobo whom he befriended in his travels. Lester would later join them as we made a small error in the deployment.

The rest of the Liberators (excluding Lester) advanced over the bridge to the east of the Altar.

Turn 1

The MaoTaa activated first sending Aron the Fanatic who launched his Alchemist Fire at the Liberators. Only to have them all stave off the perilous blast.

Azular raced to the old grey bird to listen to its secrets next turn.

Three of the Fallen headed southeast to head off Grant and tarpit his advance.

Grax and the rest of The Fallen advanced towards main charge of the Liberators. While Abuhar started his incantation of shadows. (Successfully completing the first of three plot point challenges).

Spider, Monique and Yuri activated within the burst of the Alchemist fire. All were unscathed except for Spider who could not combat the peril. Yuri jumped the bridge into cover firing at the guardian wounding him and taking the initiative.

Monique used her "burst fire" to target two of the fallen, returning them to the ground from where they came.

Lester advanced firing at The Fallen only to have his bullets ring through the hallow skeletons. The deadly accuracy of the undead arrows would prove to much from Lester. (Initiative returns to MaoTaa) The befriended hound charged the undead but The Fallen's blade to end the animals existence. Grant moved towards the plot point hidden in the old shack and took a shot at the lifeless Fallen. But his gun would jam in the frosty climate of the black forest.

Turn 2  
Recovery checks were made for Grax and Spider. Grax was able to recovery while Spider was not.

 Azular heeded the chaotic wisdom of the old three-eyed bird discovering a plot point.

The Fallen moved towards Monique while those with ranged were able to wound the Liberator ally. Abuhar continued his incantation succeeding at the second challenge. The rest of The Fallen back pedaled towards Abuhar, to protect against the interruption of the process.

Not to be counted out Yuri engaged the guardian Grax with both being wounded in the process.

Capt Grant rushed the melee undead crushing its bones into the ground.

Turn 3
Grax and Yuri attempted there recovery checks with Grax recovering (Rough night on the dice for Jet)

Aron the Fanatic launched its Alchemist fire at Yuri who evaded the peril dodging out of combat. In a turn of fortunes, "Just reward" was played giving the Liberators the initiative. Yuri activated and searched the grave to find a plot point. Grant advanced and fired at one of the ranged Fallen taking it out.

The other ranged Fallen would fire back at Grant, but the return fire would be to much of a gamble and to dust it returned. Another Fallen would rush to the aid of Abuhar. Grax again engaged Yuri dropping him unconscious. Azular ran to an old wood cellar to find the hidden contents inside.

Abuhar attempted the 3rd and final challenge only to be stumped on this attempt.

Turn 4
Yuri attempted his recovery check and passed returning to D6

With the initiative Grant activated first with plans to charge Abuhar, but his fortune would not be so as he "tripped up" in the process. Yuri tried to claim the cache he previously held but was unable to pass the challenge.

Azular searched the old wood shed finding the hidden Tome of Shadows and the award of a plot point.  Grax and Aron continued to target Yuri wounding him unconscious.Abuhar attempted the final challenge and completed the incantation.

Turn 5
Yuri yet again had to make a recovery check but was unable to overcome his wounds and would remain down.

Aron turned his attention to Grant and targeted him with the fire, but the rugged veteran would be un-phased by the attack. Abuhar called upon Ahzool's blessing and took on his image to protect the annihilator's gift.

Grant made his final attempts on the madden cultist but would be unable to pry Ahzool's gift from the acolytes hands.

 The game ended with The MaoTaa in control of the main plot point and two others. The Liberators would survive with no plot points.

"The madden hackles of Ahzool could be heard deep within the soul of Gregerious Grant. Which shook the Liberator to his core..."

This game was our first test with the reanimated rule. We found the ability a little powerful when matching dice. We have decided to play the rule that you are unable to match dice with this ability which in turn makes the ability more in line to what it should be.


As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

 

Pulp Alley: The MaoTaa

Over the weekend I decided I wanted to make a new a league for Pulp Alley, enter The MaoTaa. 

The MaoTaa or The Madden Acolytes of The Annihilator Ahzool  have but one goal in life, the release of their dark god. The Prophesy of Shadows from the Grimoire of Azhara explains how Ahzool imprisoned himself only to be released on the chosen day of rebirth. On this day all existence will be annihilated only to be reborn, new and in his crazed image. To deem his followers worthy and the day of the rebirth to be true, his worshipers must earn the gift of his return by finding the "key" to his release. This has lead the MaoTaa across the world in search of a way to release Ahzool.

The MaoTaa do their masters bidding without question or regard for their own life. For Ahzool is the Annihilator of all things and will bring a rebirth to all existence. They follow no mortal and listen only to the many voices of Azhool.

Abuhar is revered by the rest of the MaoTaa as he is the only follower to enter the Halls of Madness and return. He is believed to have been touched by Azhool and granted his dark blessing.

Azular is the reflection of complete chaos. His devotion to Azhool is unmatched in the MaoTaa. He was able to unlock the reason within the masters madness. This is turn made him a powerful acolyte.

The Fallen are gifts from Azhool, reanimated in his image to aid in their search for the answer to his release.

I decided to use the Mastermind perk as I pictured the MaoTaa following direction directly from Azhool and the many madden voices in their head heehee. They are mad after all so their strength would be in numbers.  Overlord added the flavor I was looking to achieve with extra followers to aid the cause. Reanimated was a given to aid the undead gifts of Azhool. I wanted to have a few chosen members of the MaoTaa and Company of Heroes did exactly that. 

I am hoping to post a report later this week of the Liberators first encounter with the MaoTaa.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

Pulp Alley: Liberators Vs. Sinister Syndicate

Last week Jet and I were able to get together for a game of Pulp Alley. We both were looking for to trying out the game again. We only managed to play it a few times before our gaming time had to take a back seat to other responsibilities.

Jet hosted, and the table setup was his masterpiece. He has quite the selection of terrain to add to any gaming table. The buildings were scratch built with cardboard, amazing stuff.

The interiors were deployed and could be accessed when you enter a crypt. To keep the game flowing he thought it best to have all the interiors met up for easy access for all players.

The main plot point was the center statue in the garden. Since we were playing on a smaller surface we decided the west side of the board wouldn't count against plot point deployment. I deployed the two tall statues, one next to the smaller crypt and the other next to the graves. Jet deployed to grave markers, one above the main plot point and the other was deployed closer to a crypt on his side of the table.

The game was started. We both chose not to use any points from our pot, just the abilities that our characters had. Captain Grant, leader of the Liberators had the "Network of Supports"  perk and rolled 3 goals and chose the "Lucky Devil" ability. Vladimir Vrex, the Crimson Professor, leader of the Sinister Syndicate had the "Bastion of Science" perk and rolled 3 goals as well. Vladimir enhanced one of his Skelebots with "Gadget X and a Utility Belt". He then pocketed a smoke grenade if his plans are foiled. The Professor also had the "Wealth" ability and chose the aid of a level one follower, Wach. One of the Professor's deadly hounds.

The Liberators won the initiative and choose to let the Syndicate to start activating characters.

The upgraded Skelebot ran to the first plot point while its counterpart rushed behind the larger crypt to take up a firing lane.

The Crimson Professor advanced to the main plot point to search next turn.

Boris headed to the other plot point aided by Kaiser and Wach.

To end things for turn one Captain Grant quickly raced to the plot point to the west, while Lester hurried to the other plot point. Monique headed to cover behind the trees Yuri advanced to the main plot point.

The Liberators still had the imitative and again allowed the Sinister Syndicate to go first. Vladimir started by moving from charge range of Captain Grant and explored the main objective, but did not find success. Continuing to let me activate, both hounds charged Yuri dealing no damage. The Skelebot advanced out of cover and took aim at Lester, but the return fire would hit the Skelebot damaging the ally.

Jet then stepped in and activated Monique who had the "Burst Fire" ability. He placed his blast template over the hounds taking out one of them from the peril and then activated Yuri. He then searched the main plot point but failed to find the hidden plans.

Again the Liberators allowed the Syndicate to activate and Boris searched his plot point. Luckily for the Professor his sidekick was able to find the weapons stash. Vladimir then passed the initiative back to the Captain. Grant then searched for a stash of his own but was unable to find the secret switch. Allowing the Liberators to continue Lester then investigated the grave discovering its plot point taking the initiative.

The Liberators had activated all their personnel, and were forced to allow the Sinister Syndicate to activate.     The final Skelebot searched the ancient statue. With the aid of gadget X the robot was able to obtain the plot point that was hidden inside.

The Skelebot tried to repair its damage but was unable to do so and fell to the ground. The next turn Boris rushed Yuri with fists flying. Yuri quickly evaded the blows. Kaiser then lunged at Yuri missing as well. The Liberators were then allowed to activate and Monique dropped another template taking out Kaiser in the process.

The Liberators continued their move and sent Lester to cover with his plot point.

The Captain then activated and charged Boris landing a hit, wounding him and taking the initiative. The Liberators had activated everyone and passed the turn to Syndicate. The Professor again searched the main plot point, but this time finding what was inside and regaining the initiative.

The Skelebot opt'd to stay in cover and protect the plot point.

The next turn The Professor engaged  Monquie to try and put a end to her "Burst Fire" and was able to wound the female sniper. Boris threw a haymaker but was unable to connect with the wiry Yuri. The Liberators then activated and Grant rushed to the aid of Monique wounding Vladimir Vrex. He then allowed the Syndicate to activate and the last Skelebot dashed up behind the crypt to try and aid its maker.

The final turn saw Monique wounded in the attack from the Skelebot but not before she was able to bash the robot who then dropped its important cargo. The attacks continued on all sides with none being wounded.

The game ended with a 4 to 1 victory for the Sinister Syndicate. Great game and look forward to playing Pulp Alley a lot more.

P.s. It should be noted that we played two games, one of which the Liberators were able to claim victory.

As always thanks for reading,


Tenz

Pulp Alley: Boris

Over the weekend Jet and I had our first game of Pulp Alley. I was quite surprised by how fluid and fun the system was. The combination of different dice sizes and fortune cards made the game exciting and strategic. If you would like to find out more of the Pulp Alley rule-set you can check it out here.

Having the Professor the mastermind behind the league, some muscle was needed for protection. The side-kick Boris more then fills that roll.

I created Boris to be focus on the physical aspects of the game, allowing him to deal with all combat situations in Pulp Alley. The combination of "Muscles of Steel" and "Fierce" makes Boris extremely deadly in melee.

After Boris was finished it practically completed my league. I decided to use a dog as a follower, one of which I already had painted for Chaos in Carpathia.

P.s. I should mention that the Professor and his gang did marvelous, winning both games. It was our first try at the system so I suspect, Cap't Grant and his Liberators will be back to foil my evil plans..... 



Thanks for  reading,

Tenz

Pulp Alley: Skelebot 1000

The next feature for my Pulp Alley league are two allies, The Skelebot, Model 1000. Specifically designed by the Professor for ranged combat with deadly accuracy.

Mass production of the model was foiled by the foul Liberators, lead by Cap't Gregarious Grant. But the Professor was able to escape with a few bodyguard models.

The Professor will get his revenge! Muhaahahaha

Thanks for reading,

Tenz

Pulp Alley: The Crimson Professor

Jet and I have been following the uprising of the new rule-set Pulp Alley on the LA forum. We decided we would like to try out the rule-set as we've both were interested in the pulp genre. This leads to our first game this coming Saturday.

Each player creates a league usually consisting of 3-10 models, depending on your configuration. They usually include a leader, a side kick, a couple of allies, and a few followers.

For this post I will focus on the leader of my league, Vladamir Vrex, The Crimson Professor

The focus of the league will be around the professor and his ability to support the league. I have also chosen theBastion of Science perk to aid the league with his evil inventions. Vladamir will be cunning based, with abilities focused on Wealth, Clever and Shrewd.

Stay tuned for the next post of an ally, The Skelebot 1000. One of Professor's greatest creations.

Thanks for reading,


Tenz