Reinforcements for Congo!

I've just seen on the Studio Tomahawk Facebook page here that new reinforcement boxes for Congo will be available from Wargames Foundry from next week.

And, of course, the Death in the Dark Continent Nickstarter is currently running here.

I still have a bunch of Foundry Belgians to get painted up as well as assorted Ruga-Ruga, Askaris and Tribal Musketmen....not to mention all my North-West Frontier figs! But...partly because I've been re-reading The 39 Steps and Greenmantle and so have been thinking about Richard Hannay, Peter Pienaar and the Matabele Wars...I couldn't resist, I've just ordered some British South Africa Company and Boers to go along with my copy of Death in the Dark Continent!

The Night Hawks - Pulp Alley League

One last post before we move! Another Pulp Alley League...this one a League which frequently finds itself up against The Justice League!

The Night Hawks are the terror of the skies! Led by the English aristocrat, Lady Minerva Hawke, and her ruthless right-hand, One-Eyed Sal, these Sky Pirates prey on the corrupt fat cats of America! Often found in league with the mysterious masked assassin, Black Nemesis, the Night Hawks make anyone who has abused their wealth, power and position pay for their hubris...in many cases with their lives! Best keep one eye on your money and the other on the skies!

Leader	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Lady Hawke	d10	2d10	3d10	3d8	3d8	2d10	3d10

• Commander (4) – Add +4 slots to your league roster to use for level 1 and level 2 characters only.
• Shrewd (3) – Your Dodge and Cunning dice are not lowered due to injuries.
• Wealthy (4) – Before each scenario, you receive 1 resource point (Tip, Backup, Gear or Contact). This point may be spent on this scenario or saved.

Sidekick	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Black Nemesis	d8	3d8	3d8	3d8	2d6	2d6	2d6

• Moxie (3) – You ignore the multiple combats penalty when rolling your Brawl dice.
• Veteran (3) – You ignore the multiple combats penalty when rolling your Shoot dice.

Sidekick	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
One-Eyed Sal	d8	3d8	3d8	2d6	3d6	2d6	2d8

• Dead Eye (3) – You are not limited to shooting the closest enemy.
• 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.

Ally	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Night Hawk (w/pistol)	d6	2d6	3d6	1d6	1d6	1d6	1d6

• Marksman (1) – Add +1d to your Shoot (included above).

Ally	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Night Hawk (w/machine gun)	d6	2d6	2d6	1d6	1d6	1d6	1d6

• Blast (2) – Action: Place the Long Burst in contact with your base. This burst is immediately removed if you move, fight, or are injured.

League Perks

Company of Heroes (2) – see p.7 Pulp Leagues Well Armed (2) – see p.7 Pulp Leagues

The Justice League - Pulp Alley League

Things are busy as we get ready for our move...not much time for gaming other than the odd board or card game. 

I have found the time to put together another Pulp Alley League, however! 

 

The Justice League has just one goal...to protect the citizens of America! The Patriot and Ace trust to their pistols to mete out justice while Liberty uses the Tesla Energy Repulsor invented by the kid genius, Sparks. Sparks herself has Bolt...the Tesla Energy robot she has built...to protect her as well as a variety of other gadgets! Criminals of America beware!

Leader	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
The Patriot	d10	3d10	4d10	3d8	2d10	2d10	3d10

• Extraordinary (4) – Increase one of your starting d8 skills up to d10 (included above).
• Marksman (1) – Add +1d to your Shoot (included above).
• Veteran (3) – You ignore the Multiple Combats Penalty when rolling your Shoot dice.

Sidekick	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Liberty	d8	2d8	3d6	4d8	2d6	2d6	3d8

• Agile (1) – Add +1d to your Dodge (included above).
• Blast (2) – Action: Place the Long Burst in contact with your base. The burst is immediately removed if you move, fight, or are injured.

Ally	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Ace	d6	1d6	3d6	2d6	1d6	1d6	1d6

• Marksman (1) – Add +1d to your Shoot (included above).

Ally	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Sparks	d6	1d6	1d6	1d6	1d6	2d6	2d6

• Inventor (2) – Before each scenario, when determining your Resources, roll your Cunning dice. You may equip one Gadget or Gear item with a point cost equal or lower than your number of successes. This roll may not be combined with any other Gear points.

Ally	Health	Brawl	Shoot	Dodge	Might	Finesse	Cunning
Bolt	d8	2d6	1d6	-	2d8	-	1d6

• Big (2) – Shift your Health and Might up one dice-type. Shift your Dodge and Finesse down one dice-type (included above).

League Perks

Resourceful (1) – see p.6 Pulp Leagues

Henry Ironside and...The Pagan Stone! - A Pulp Alley AAR

Six weeks late. Sorry. Real life stuff getting in the way. But at long last the boy and I have finished our latest Pulp Alley comic battle report. So without further ado...

Another brilliant game of Pulp Alley. The boy loved it, too! Not sure when we're going to be able to get the next game in as we're moving again in a couple of weeks and then will be doing so again in August...so a lot of stuff will be staying in storage.

The figures are all Artizan Thrilling Tales and were painted for me by the brilliant Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games Painting Service. The scenery is all aquarium decorations.

For those who are interested, there is a PDF version of the AAR on Google Drive here and Dropbox here...for a bigger and easier-to-read option.

To the Ends of the Earth on BBC Radio 4

Something else that might interest some of you...BBC Radio 4 are starting a new season of dramas celebrating 19th century adventure fiction including Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth this month, Haggard's King Solomon's Mines in April and Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King as well as Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in June.

These are some of my all time favourite reads so I'm very much looking forward to this! Check out the Radio 4 page here.

Lenin and Russia's Revolutions in World Histories Magazine Issue 2

For those who might be interested, there are some interesting articles on Lenin and Russia in the latest issue of the new (and rather excellent) BBC World Histories magazine. Definitely one of the better history mags out there.

Artizan Highlanders for the North West Frontier

My latest lot of figs from Matt of Glenbrook Games Painting Service arrived today. This time some Highlanders for the North West Frontier. Matt has done...as always...a superb job on these Artizan figs!

So I now have three units for The Men Who Would Be Kings...only a couple more and I can actually field an army!

Here are a few pics of the Highlanders with my other units...

300,000 Page Views

According to Blogger stats, this blog has now had more than 300,000 page views. I'm not quite sure I trust their stats...and a good chunk of those views are no doubt spam-bots...but still, my son and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have taken the time to read this little blog since its first post way back on November 23rd, 2014! Thank you...and happy gaming!

Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!

My copy of Gothic, the new supplement for In Her Majesty's Name, arrived today! I've had a quick flick-through and..as is to be expected from The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare...this is a high quality softcover book chock-full of new equipment, talents, mystical powers and companies. I'm looking forward to giving it a proper read tonight...but I'm already itching to put some Companies together!

Gaming Mats Kickstarter from Ceri Design

Dark Dungeon Mat

I came across this Kickstarter today. Very reasonably priced felt gaming mats with some good designs. I've also seen some positive reviews on a couple of Facebook gaming groups. I may be tempted...

Mutants and Death Ray Guns

I was pretty excited about Rogue Stars before it came out. Sadly, after a couple of read-throughs, I realized it was too fiddly for my tastes. A bit like the Counterblast rules. I'm sure it is a great game but my main opponent is a ten-year old and so it's my job to be on top of the rules and remember everything...straight-forward intuitive rules are where it's at for me!

To be honest, I was really hoping for something more akin to Song of Blades and Heroes. I played a few games of this way back when it first came out and really enjoyed it...in fact, it was my first taste of wargaming.

Anyway, there I was wondering what rules to use for those all those cool Counterblast and Rogue Stars miniatures I have...and then I read a post on Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog about how he he had decided to use Mutants and Death Ray Guns to scratch the sci-fi itch that Rogue Stars had given him! And there I was wishing Rogue Stars was more like Song of Blades and Heroes!

Available on Amazon for a very reasonable price, I picked up a copy of the rules and the supplement, Project Simian Ultra X. After a quick read -through I thought 'this is more like it'! I've now statted up for Mutants and Death Ray Guns those same warbands that I had previously done for both Counterblast and Rogue Stars...

	Quality	Combat	Traits	Points
Jax Silver	2	2	Hero Laser Gun Leader	123
Jess	3	3	Champion Laser Gun Opportunistic Sprint	88
Fay	3	2	Laser Rifle Sharpshooter Sniper	70
Zee	4	3	Amphibious Sonic Stunner Tough	60
Combot CB3	4	4	Artificial Heavy Armour Laser Gun	56

	Quality	Combat	Traits	Points
Sam Fury	2	2	Laser Gun Leader	85
Dizzy	4	4	Champion Danger Sense Hero  Laser Gun Long Move	108
Athena	4	3	Danger Sense Long Move Sharpshooter Sniper Sniper Rifle	75
Jay	3	2	Sonic Stunner	36
Ellen	3	2	Laser Gun Psychometry Superior Touch	50
Combot UZ3	4	4	Artificial Heavy Armour	42

I'm looking forward to finally getting a game in with these wonderful minis...but sadly, real life is getting in the way at the moment. Gaming and blogging are having to take a bit more of a back seat (yeah, I know...that Pulp Alley batrep is still on the to-do list) and things are unlikely to change until the end of the Summer. Still, we may manage to squeeze the odd game in here and there and I shall try to keep posting when I can.

Of course, the lead pile will keep on growing and there are lots of lovely rule books coming out over the next few months...one of which might well suit those Rogue Stars figs...