Sir_shvantselot’s Dracula America project and gaming log

[sir_shvantselot]

Well. I was inspired by the aRuMor art in Dracula’s America and keen to use some cowboy models that have sat in my garage for almost twenty years. And I persuaded someone at the Pit Gaming Shop in Borehamwood to play. It was like dope peddling. I even gave him half a dozen Foundry cowboys for free just to get him roped in. And it worked. He added some of the newer bespoke North Star minis, which are a tad bigger but match in fine.

I’ve tried to load some (small kB) pics a few times but I just get “Please try again. If you come back to this error screen, report the error to an administrator.”

[sir_shvantselot]

So we played stake your claim between my Red Brood Coven vs my opponent’s Native Indians. We played on a 4x4 which was too big. We spent two turns just getting into range.

Two Indians turned into a bear and a wolf. I took a shotgun to the wolf and knocked him down to D6 grit. Perhaps foolishly the wolf then charged the shotgun and downed him, only to be countercharges by my broodsire who wiped the wolf.

But stupidity was not restricted to my opponent. My second vampire was enjoying his flying powers too much and zoomed up onto a roof, where he was promptly shot and rendered a casualty, despite my noble efforts to argue he was in cover whilst in full view on the roof.

Maths is not a strength but charging the bear who had climbed onto a first story building just seemed a bad idea, so my crew moved around the building and took lots of pot shots at the Indians which downed a further two. This is a shot from my opponents end and you can see my undead bartender broodsire and his pistol wielding minions edging forward in a menacing way.

We could not find a turn limit and it had been a couple of hours of having fun getting to grips with the rules, so we called it, and I just happened to have many more guys next to the objectives and so won.

I loved the card initiative mechanic and the single stat grit mechanic for all rolls. Great fun. Also the background is superb and I’m avoiding buying a Tong gang. I see these Osprey rules sets as an opportunity to get through the lead pile in the garage and you’d be amazed what you have.

[fred]

Sounds like a cool game.

We struggled to find the turn limit, its on p12 anatomy of a game. We expected to find it amongst the scenarios.

Bits of your game sound similar to ours, where a figure moves forward, kills an enemy, but leaves themselves very exposed, and they then become a casualty.

Several of our group have dug out old cowboy figures. One thought he had a few and must have found 40+ figures in a shoe box.

[sir_shvantselot]

Sounds like a cool game.

We struggled to find the turn limit, its on p12 anatomy of a game. We expected to find it amongst the scenarios.

Bits of your game sound similar to ours, where a figure moves forward, kills an enemy, but leaves themselves very exposed, and they then become a casualty.

Several of our group have dug out old cowboy figures. One thought he had a few and must have found 40+ figures in a shoe box.

That’s very very interesting as I’ll report on our second game soon. But don’t get me wrong, I got the supplement this week and it’s everything I wish Necromunda and Legends of the Old West has been. Very creative stuff and the rules are not too fiddly. I’m also not sure the hired guns are good value but I’ll come to that too. It inspired me to paint up this Eureka mini I bought at Salute in like 2001, as an arcanist/Harbinger. And these two - a big game hunter from Europe who looks like Cecil Rhodes out for  vampires and this Old West civilian from Foundry, who’s been in a box for twenty years too, since Salute 1996!

[sir_shvantselot]

Realised having a vampire leader with just a pistol doesn’t cut it so made up one with a shotgun! Some other work in progress as I know people like to scale compare.

[sir_shvantselot]

A really fun game of a Dracula’s America - my coven of two games versus less experienced Crossroads cult. We chose a scenario from Hunting Grounds, a town hovers in and out of a spectral plane and you need to grab loot from them when they come into our reality. I topped my coven up with two shotguns and two rifles, which took down a good number of crossroads gumps. I foolishly bought a Carpathian Guard, whom my opponent makes a point of taking out every single game in the first couple of turns as he knows it's a point sink for me paying four upkeep a game for a useless dude. You can see the hilltop sniper in a skirt taking out the Carpathian in the pic. But crossroads had their arcanist keep spamming medium level entities into my crew which I struggled to take out (but kept equalising by taking out gumps with my shotguns/rifles). The arcanist was the star of the show as he also exploded a couple of heads “scanners” style. My opponent was only one point up over me but in the last turn ran into a building that popped out of the spectral plane and grabbed some loot putting him four points up. Fun had by all though two of my crew now have a limp and one (with a shotgun) has one eye. But about half have some cool skill making them even shootist...

[sir_shvantselot]

Some of the crew...

And future crossroads arcanist.

[fred]

Cool stuff.

Realised having a vampire leader with just a pistol doesn’t cut it so made up one with a shotgun!

I like your thinking!

[sir_shvantselot]

Cool stuff.

I like your thinking!

Upsettingly, the vampire with shotgun got injured and has one eye now, so there is no point him having the shotgun. I have prepared a new vampire with a sword...

Also my leader vampire, ie the other vampire, now has a limp but also a skill whereby he can fire both pistols in one activation. So I’ve modelled him to look like he’s doing a double draw.

[fred]

The gangs do seem to get rather battered over a few games - or we are all a bit too gung ho.

Impressive that you are making up new models as the members of your gang change within the game.

[LeadAsbestos]

The gangs do seem to get rather battered over a few games - or we are all a bit too gung ho.

Impressive that you are making up new models as the members of your gang change within the game.

Our gangs take quite the beating too. I blame the System! And I agree heartily that you should model your developing gang, good or bad.

Is that a Wendigo in the last shot. with the big red die? Any chance of a close-up?

[Fenrir]

Fantastic photos and a varied collection of figures you have there!

Yep- life in Dracula's America is often extremely short and unpleasant- it's definitely not for the faint of heart!

[OrfeoCulzean]

Shvantselot's opponent here.  I shall post some more pictures from our games. Sher, you'll also be happy to know that I've just painted up some more demons for my Magister to summon and refreshed the paintjobs on the rest of the Cult. Oh, and I'd forgotten this in the last game but my Harbinger can also summon entities  . Amongst the pictures is one of my noble enemy apparently dancing mid-combat, I know not why.

[sir_shvantselot]

Er, yes, being spammed twice a turn with entities sounds super.

But my one eyed vampire with sword and limping vampire leader with 2 pistols and gunslinger will keep them at bay...

[sir_shvantselot]

Awesome game of Dracula’s America at the Pit Gaming Store in Borehamwood, Herts. Managed to rope in someone new who played Revenant Dark Confederacy or whatever they called. I played Crosssroads Cult. Six VPs each playing the scenario where some stash is in one of four buildings and you get 4VP extra for holding on to it.

Frankly I only drew by luck as I found the objective in turn one and held onto it.

The zombie horde is awesome and I think they’re pretty strong as I managed to summon a major entity twice (using the huge Malifaux avatar of Seamus model) and he caused a bit of trouble but one got taken down by a zombie in close combat as I rolled badly on D10s, but then I summoned another  to stop him getting taken out as a casualty next activation but the resummoned major entity then got shot in the back, having mauled a Confederate (I rolled like a 1 on the D10 and he was put as a casualty, which gave my opponent three victory points!)

Of course killing my opponent’s zombies gave me no points according to the rules, which seems a bit unfair seeing as allocating resources to killing them is such a big thing with only three activation  cards!

I caused two novice casualties and a zombie casualty. Confederates caused three novice casualties and Avatar Seamus! Had the zombie given me a point I would have won.

Pics below. Used the lady as the objective both sets of evildoers were after. That’s my dude snatching her, and another dude who looks like Teddy Roosevelt dragging her away screaming whilst the Magister and Arcanist behind him spam two major entities (Seamus), a medium one (A Malifaux lady of the night dry brushed grey who caused a bit of havoc and a casualty) and a little Malifaux lost child with a frying pan who did a good job of holding off zombies as a minor entity with attitude from behind a building’s porch fence.

One of the pics is the inexorable forward shambling of the revenant horde.

Lovely set of rules.  Great fun had by all. Though my three casualties all have a lasting wound of some kind...but the one with one eye and a rifle (not a good combo) has made it to veteran so he will be given a big sword instead.