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Author Topic: China Station -- Pulp Alley  (Read 5704 times)

Offline d phipps

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China Station -- Pulp Alley
« on: January 09, 2019, 03:56:14 PM »
For 2019 we will be basing our Scenarios of the Month around China Station. We plan to release 12 episodes/scenarios throughout 2019 -- one per month. These scenarios may be played as stand-alone games or as part of a China Station campaign.

China Station is a fictional port developed by Bob Murch (Pulp Figures) and each scenario will feature some of his fine miniatures.

You can pre-order the entire collection and save -- https://store.pulpalley.com









HAVE FUN

Offline Marine0846

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2019, 10:15:05 PM »
Damn Dave. ;)
Just when I think I have most of the stuff I want to buy from you,
you come up with China Station.
I am all in for this.
Maybe now I will use my US gunboat.
Now to send off my order. :)
« Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 12:48:14 AM by Marine0846 »
Semper Fi, Mac

Offline Sinewgrab

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2019, 02:45:19 AM »
Oh yeah - next paycheck, baby.


Wait, you have a gunboat?  Where did you steal that from?
"There is no known cure for the wargaming virus, only treatments with ever increasing doses of metal."

Offline Marine0846

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2019, 03:43:48 AM »
Sinewgrab,

I have US, British and German gunboats.
Also a couple of river steamers. :)
Of course all of them are buried in my garage. :-[
You know how packed with stuff that is.

PS
 I ordered the whole China Station set from Dave today. ;D
« Last Edit: January 10, 2019, 03:46:58 AM by Marine0846 »

Offline d phipps

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2019, 07:43:26 PM »
THANKS for the support!  :-*

These are some really fun scenarios.  :D

Offline lethallee61

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2019, 02:14:31 AM »
As someone who lives over the other side of the world, can I just offer that I'm not the biggest fan of the Scenario of the Month. While it hasn't been so much of an issue in the past (as I don't play the Vice Alley version), this time around it is particularly upsetting as I am personally planning to base the majority of my own Pulp Alley games in China (having already invested a lot of time in creating and/or purchasing Chinese style buildings etc).

If I can explain further - unlike something like the "Perilous Island" book, for example, where I know exactly which type and how many of each particular miniature and/or terrain piece will be required to play the entire campaign, getting this information supplied piecemeal each month potentially makes it economically too expensive for me to invest in.

If, for example, I genuinely wanted the appropriate miniatures (assuming I didn't already have them) and/or character cards (assuming I wanted the professionally printed versions to match the other Pulp Alley cards I already have) I would have to either wait the entire 12 months to then order in bulk and save excessive postage costs, or order the items month by month (which becomes incredibly expensive on postage alone).

It's only an issue because the cards, scenarios and miniatures are simply not available locally - I have no choice other than to order them from overseas. Postage costs have increased almost exponentially in the last couple of years - in many ways this has become the greatest single factor limiting my gaming purchases.

As it is, I will probably at least order Scenario 1 separately when it becomes available to give me an idea of the potential requirements as the year progresses. I genuinely want Pulp Alley to be my contribution to my gang of gaming buddies, and China Station looks like it will be the perfect setting to start them on the Pulp Alley journey. I personally just wish I could get it all in one go.
Enjoying the game is ALWAYS more important than winning the game.

Offline Codsticker

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2019, 05:23:01 AM »
If I am reading the Pulp Alley websote correctly, it looks like the China Station scenarios are only available as downloads so you don't have to pay for a shipped document every month (China Station is listed in the Downloads section but not in the Books section).

Offline lethallee61

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2019, 05:44:15 AM »
Codsticker - it’s not so much about the scenarios (I have all the other Pulp Alley books as PDFs), it’s the miniatures, cards, little terrain items etc that you need to fully recreate the scenario that becomes more difficult with monthly releases.

If you have it all upfront in one book (such as “Tomb of the Serpent”), it’s much easier (and cheaper) for me to source purchases. That’s all I was trying to say.  :)

Offline d phipps

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2019, 10:57:44 AM »
Codsticker - it’s not so much about the scenarios (I have all the other Pulp Alley books as PDFs), it’s the miniatures, cards, little terrain items etc that you need to fully recreate the scenario that becomes more difficult with monthly releases.

If you have it all upfront in one book (such as “Tomb of the Serpent”), it’s much easier (and cheaper) for me to source purchases. That’s all I was trying to say.  :)

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely see your point. Yes, shipping costs are a huge concern of ours as well.

I do try to keep most of the terrain/figures fairly common. So I hope that most players will normally have suitable terrain/figures on hand. In addition, I try to make sure that the figures/terrain may be used in multiple scenarios. Also, we normally provide multiple options and suggestions for the terrain.

For China Station, here's what we're planning so far --

Episode #1 -- Can be located along a beach, jungle, small coastal village, and so on. We're using a handful of Japanese soldiers (PJE 05 & PJE 02) to represent the enemy patrols. The Search areas are marked by a truck, small shrine, small hut, small camp -- but can easily be other items.

Episode #2 -- Occurs at a temporary military camp. Maybe scattered tents, vehicles, supplies, a few re-purposed or temporary buildings, and so on. For this scenario, we're using the same Japanese figures from Episode #1.

Episode #3 -- This one is intended to be in and around the finest bar/brothel/casino in China Station. It could take place entirely inside a large building, or outside courtyards, gardens, and so on. This scenario features miniatures from these packs -- PCS 01, PCS 02, & PSS 02

Episode #4 -- Currently planned to be a waterfront scenario. Buildings such as warehouses, shops, and so on. Figures will include sailor types (PSS 02 & PSS 01).


Basically -- China Station is mostly be set in and around a seedy port. I would like to include a scenario with river pirates/smugglers and maybe a couple small boats. Also, I'd like to do an underground scenario in some caves. But we'll just have to see how it goes.



Anyhoo, I hope that helps a little.


HAVE FUN

Offline lethallee61

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2019, 12:28:59 PM »
Dave - Thanks for the quick response and for also understanding my concerns. That sort of information really helps as it definitely gives me some idea of where I need to focus my upcoming purchases. In the meantime, my Japanese soldiers will have to make do with a slightly “Russian” look to them.  ;)

I’d love to live around the corner from you - then I could pick everything in its professionally printed format. Such is the tyranny of distance these days (and no local supplier).

Keep up the great work - genuinely looking forward to picking up Version 2 of the rules later this year, Kickstarter or otherwise.  :D

Offline AzSteven

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2019, 07:47:05 PM »
Hmmm, this may need to become mine

Offline NickNascati

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2019, 10:57:39 PM »
The only problem, is that the China Station figures have been oop for quite some time.

Offline Marine0846

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2019, 12:05:49 AM »
Nick,

If you go on Bob's site,
he has come out with new figures.

Offline warrenpeace

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2019, 05:13:06 AM »
Nick, you can still get some of the Pulp Figures Chinese packs from Crucible Crush. Slightly more expensive, and no free packs, but at least you can still get them.

One problem with scenario #3 is that Bob never sculpted the couple of packs that would be needed to recreate the bar scenes in the Sand Pebbles. Need a bartender, some bar girls, a mamasan, a pimp, and some sailors fighting. Have to pull these figures from elsewhere.

I think Pulp Figures packs PSS03, PSS04, & PSS07, could be useful here for the civilian sailors. Maybe the 3 Tsuba Chinese packs from Empress could be put to use in these scenarios. Might need to look elsewhere for more Chinese. Also, if one wants to alter the first couple of scenarios a bit, could use Chinese soldiers from Copplestone instead of Japanese.
Sailors have more fun!

Offline Panama

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Re: China Station -- Pulp Alley
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2019, 09:33:07 AM »
I think there are a couple of ways of looking at this, sure a book lets you know everything you need in one go & then depending on how close you want it to be to how Dave see it you can go about requiring all you need & it will save you on postage most likely.
However if your starting everything you need from point 0 it can be a lot of work to do before you're ready to go.

If on the other hand your only get it bit by bit you can work on it piece meal, the down side is postage, or you can wait until the end of the year & then work on it as if you'd just gotten the book, at the end of the day PA is very lose unlike some other games which means China Station could just as easily be set somewhere else, we all look for different things & Dave try's hard to give us a game that can be used in many different ways :)