Pulp Alley China Station-Big Trouble

Last week myself and PY had our 4th game from the China Station campaign. This time we shifted to my place. I have been working on quite a bit of mdf terrain from TTCombat. Some of it I have had for quite a long time as it was acquired during the first kickstarter for the game Carneval. I recently added to the terrain by buying several pieces from their WWII collection. 

The Setting

So it was a bit of a challenge to blend pieces for a Venetian landscape with city pieces for WWII. I felt thought that I could make this combination work for China Station as described in the following.

China Station is a ‘Pulp Era’ international trade settlement somewhere along a sparsely settled coastline of South East Asia. Some have likened it to a more remote, smaller and more dangerously seedy version of Singapore, infested with rival gangs, pirates and foreign spies. The ‘Station’, as its foreign compound residents call it, is located at the mouth of the Boo Kong river delta, a tropical hothouse of sweltering mangrove swamps, crocodile sandbars and triple canopy jungle. The Station itself is partly built upon stilts and it juts out into the main branch of the river not more then one half mile from the open ocean. Its been said that there is nothing that can’t be bought in this seedy little port-for the right price.

At various times throughout recent history the area has been controlled by the British, French, Germans and the Imperial Chinese but, in the wake of the Great War, the area has been left in a sort of treaty limbo and as such, most of the great powers have commercial compounds in the settlement but no firm hold. An international coaling station makes China Station a frequent stop for naval and commercial shipping. Though French colonial authorities are present, both the American and German navies patrol the Boo Kong River, the only semblance of law in the region.

I had a lot of platforms, as Venice is of course canal bound. As different European countries had been involved in its occupation so a varied housing style is reasonable. I actually spend quite a few months putting together the pieces and painting them. I also did a water-based 3x3' mat to set everything on. I am quite happy how things came out, and I also can move things about to represent different areas of China Station as 4 of the scenarios in the campaign are based there. 

I still need to add some scatter terrain as well as some vehicles. I have found quite a number of French vehicles in the 3D Print world but unfortunately my resin printer just bit the dust. I also believe I have to work a bit more on making it look a bit more tropical. I started with some vines on the buildings etc but I need a bit more vegetation. I also need to make it a bit more sweltering....not sure how to do that but I am thinking about it. I used quite a bit of weathering dust, maybe a bit more may help.

The Game

We went with the same leagues as previous as required in a campaign. PY has stuck with his original version of his Followers of the Eye, probably because they work. I have been playing around with my Baker Street league but I changed little from the last game except for bringing back Watson in place of Mycroft as my sidekick and bringing in Inspector Hopkins as a new follower. Still not working really that well, my Order of the Jade Dragon is a much better league.

As usual, I took few pictures but I have a general memory of how the game went. In this scenario, there were only minor plot points which were represented by 5 characters who start on the table. We also have NPC's deploying at the start of the game and at the end of each turn. These NPC's can actually also capture the minor plot points which made it an interesting scenario.

I started in the bottom right while PY started his cultists in the top  right. I should also note that PY has an ability which lets him capture one of my characters quite easily and add him to his league. This has been a bit of a hassle in this and the last game.

Our characters started quite grouped together, as you can see. We were both able to capture a minor plot  point in the first turn. As it was 2 other plot points favoured PY's edge while only one favoured my edge and this was inside the centre building's courtyard.

I did not use Holmes that well, he captured the first plot point easily, I should have handed off the plot point to one of my other characters and advanced him to the centre, my mistake which cost me.

The Cultists have now captured 3 of the plot points, but one of the NPC's took one back and started to move to my edge. 

Watson got in the Courtyard quite easily but really had abysmal dice and ended up finding one of the NPC's to capture one of the minot plot points. He never did. 

So the game ended with the Cultists getting 3 of the plot points with the Baker Street lads getting just one. It was not even close. PY got the secret map so got an extra reward card.

So we have now split the first 4 games, but PY is ahead on the Rewards and I believe has a better league, not sure what I am going to do about it. As per the rules the Leader stays the same and we have been playing it once one of the other characters is put into play, they are not allowed to change out their abilities. 

I believe we have misunderstood how the campaign progresses in respect to rewards so I have had to work backwards to see where we are. I am hoping it is correct.

Campaign Tracker (cumulative)

Scenario 4

Baker Street

Reputation 8

League rewards 6

Experience 1

Investigation Points 0

Followers of the Eye

Reputation 11

League Rewards: 8

Experience 2

Investigation Points 0

Scenario 3

Baker Street

Reputation 7

League rewards 5

Experience 1

Investigation Points 0

Followers of the Eye

Reputation 8

League Rewards: 5

Experience 1

Investigation Points 0

Scenario 2

Baker Street

Reputation 4

League rewards: 4

Experience 0

Followers of the Eye

Reputation 5

League Rewards: 2

Experience 1

Scenario 1

Baker Street

Reputation 3

League rewards: 3

Experience 0

Followers of the Eye

Reputation 0

League rewards 0

Experience 0

 

Pulp Alley China Station-The House of Lau

This Monday, we had our third game in our China Station campaign. We had one a game each so far, so this was an important game, it was also our real first chance to dice to build up our investigation points so we can discover what is Code 3-2-7. I am not sure if I pointed this out earlier but the campaign is in two phases: The Investigation and The Hunt. To get to The Hunt, you need to accumulate 5 Investigation Points.

As usual PY had set up an excellent table, each gets better than the last. 

The scenario was a bit odd, as there was no shooting or brawling, only really opposed rolls using your Might, Finesse or Cunning dice. Draws did not count and if a character lost they had to roll a simple health check and if failing they took a marker. I am using my Baker Street League in this campaign led by Sherlock Holmes. The rules allow you to recruit different minor characters to your league but you have to keep the same Leader and you can not change the Leader's abilities. I am also presuming once you develop any character you can not change their abilities, so I had to proceed with some caution. As previously mentioned, I am using figure from Westwind's Empire of the Dead line. 

Holmes decided to leave the bumbling Watson home for this scenario and recruit his brother Mycroft. You will also see that he decided to bring the bosses in from the Hell Division rather than the Bobbies. I am sure some of you will recognise the fictional basis for the new characters.

PY kept with his same characters, I suppose he could change to his Sidekicks, but when I look at them they look quite flexible for most types of scenarios.

Here are some photos from the game, I will annotate with what details I remember. 

I believe this is around turn 2-3, PY was almost immediately turn DI  Reid to the Cultists, so that was one of my characters immediately lost. DS Drake went to try to convince Reid to re-join the good guys. As you can see in the fairground, two of the cultists almost immediately encountered two of the minor plot points in order to capture them. Captain Jackson also headed that way, Dr Koo has yet to make an appearance (he shows up on turn 4). In the right middle you can see Holmes heading east to encounter Dr Zhikov who is trying to get a minor plot point.

Turn 5. It looks like Dr Zirkov has been knocked down to the east by Mycroft Holmes. Captain Jackson is now challenging one of the cultists over one of the minor plot points. But most importantly, we can see that Sherlock Holmes has encountered Dr Koo, thus gaining the Major Plot Point, the Baker Street league just has to survive one my turn too win the game.

Turn 6-7. Difficult to see but Holmes has made it past the turncoat DI Reid to the SW corner of the terrain thus winning the game. 

It was a nice victory for me, but I did put some prep time into this scenario before we started. If I remember correctly our dicing was about equal, PY captured 3 minor Plot Points, while I only got one. I was able to get the Major Plot Point which gave me the victory. I think I was a little luckier than PY in drawing the scenario cards when capturing plot points. I have to say it was a little aggravating that the Fortune cards were of little value in this game, but so it goes.

We each got 3 League Rewards in this game. We both roll 3 of our rewards, needing a 4+ to get an investigation point, we get one each. 

Baker Street

6+ Reputation

League rewards: +6 (-3)=3

Investigation Points= 1

Followers of the Eye

3+ Reputation

League Rewards: 3+ (-3)=0

Investigation Points=1

 

Pulp Alley-China Station-Breakout!

 

Last Monday I went to P-Y's for the next game in our Pulp Alley China Station campaign. I had won the first scenario but I knew that P-Y would be looking to even the score. This is a follow up scenario from our first scenario where we both ended up having one of our characters captured by the evil Colonel Hakka. I have to say that I was also looking forward to seeing what P-Y had put together as the terrain. We went with the exact same league as we had done the last time.

The scenario was a little complicated as it was in the dark so we started hidden and all movement was through dangerous terrain. The major plot points were the two captured prisoners, with 4 minor plot points. I had to rescue Lestrade and P-Y had to rescue Dexter. As you can see below, P-Y again put together a terrific table. The game was 7 turns, I only took a couple of photos as the action as usual with Pulp Alley was quite intense.

My league approaching from the foreground, you can see the 2 cages that the prisoners are kept in. There were some wandering sentries generated each turn. As you can see above my Hell Division gang has encountered one of them. I believe this would be around turn 3.

Turn 6, as you can see my gang is quite whittled down and was driven off the table. Jekyll, despite his pedigree, was waste of time and I could never get the wounds off Holmes and Watson. I believe I captured 1 minor plot point but failed in rescuing Lestrade. P-Y was able to rescue Dexter and got 2 minor plot points. A clear victory for the Followers of the Eye!

Well I got pretty trounced in this game. My die were not the best, but my league were really not up to scratch, so I believe we will see some new characters in our next game to accompany Holmes and Watson.

Baker Street

3+ Reputation

League rewards: +1 Gear, +1 Contacts, +1 Tips

Followers of the Eye

3+ Reputation

League Rewards: 3+

Pulp Alley- China Station- Enemy Patrol

I had another game of Pulp Alley yesterday at P-Y's in Lachine. He has finished up his gaming room in his garage, and it was really quite nice. It is large with excellent light. The room is centred by a terrific 9x5' very solid gaming table. Around two walls are shelves hosting his gaming terrain as well as some figures. His WaC collection of figures and terrain was especially impressive. Along the third wall are his paint station, his 3D Printers as well an airbrush station. I was really quite envious.

We decided to have a game of Pulp Alley, and I had just recently purchased the China Station expansion with all the cards so we decided to play the first scenario from the book. I went with my Baker Street league, as I felt it might be good for this this campaign which is generally an investigative one set on the coast somewhere in Southeast Asia. P-Y used his Cultist league.

Essentially this pamphlet is a 12 scenario campaign, the goal is to find out what is the meaning of Code 3-2-7. There are multiple groups on the trail of Code 3-2-7. The first part of the campaign is an investigative phase to discover what is Code 3-27 and the second part of the campaign is to track it down.

Our first scenario, is set in a jungle and the leagues head there after intercepting a message to Commander Hakka who may hold the clue to what Code 3-2-7 represents.

As is usual P-Y set up a terrific table as you can see below.

The Table

No plot points but we placed 4 search markers, only our leaders were placed at the beginning of the game which is limited to 8 turns. Initially our leaders search and if successful, draw a scenario card which will either allow you to rescue another member of your league or cause an enemy patrol to be placed. Three enemy patrols were placed at the beginning of the game. These patrols can prevent a character from searching the markers and randomly move about the table at the end of each turn.

Turn 6, Dr Zirkov, Holmes, Watson as well as Lestrade are now on the table.

End of game, I have been able to also get my Hell Division Gang on the table.

My dicing was quite good in this game, while P-Y's was pretty dismal so the game was a little unbalanced.  I had the most investigators on the table at the end of Turn 8. The only character that I had left off the table was Dr Jekyll so he was captured by Commander Hakka as well as the Cultist character Dexter. 

Baker Street

3+ Reputation

League rewards: +1 Gear, +1 Contacts, +1 Tips

Followers of the Eye

No change