CapnJim's Pulp Stuff (All my 1920s/1930s US Gangster Stuff - Pg. 6...26 Jan 23).

[marianas_gamer]

Really enjoyed your AAR!

[CapnJim]

Sounds like two more fun games, thanks for posting.
The big question is...which set of rules do you, & your mates, prefer?

has.been, I'll get to that in a minute... ...and they were fun games.  Thanks.

Really enjoyed your AAR!

Thanks!  And now I'll let Otis read the paper to Frank and Earl about the other stick-up (our first game)...

Otis went on, "OK, listen up, boys.  Here it is"

"Let's see, says here there were 2 Mail truck stick-up tries in the County yesterday.  The one I just told you about, and another out on Township Road 13.  Sounds like it was out by the Johnson place."

"It says here that a Marine Major Mel Funkshyn talked to reporters about both of 'em.  He said the Mail truck was heading south on County Road 13 by that bend in the road in front of Old Man Johnson's place.  It seems tthree punks pulled their car in front of the Mail truck, but the Post Office Dick had already figured out something was up.  The gangsters started shooting at the truck, and Marines came out of the back of the truck and started shooting back.  Then 2 more cars came up behind the Mail truck."

"Two cars?" questioned Frank.  "Yeah", replied Otis.  "Says here the other one was just some good 'ol boys out drivin' around.  Drove right into a gunfight!. Dumbshits..."   Earl and Frank agreed with Otis's assessment...

Otis took another bite of cobbler, and washed it down with some of Flo's coffee.  "Come on, Otis.  Keep reading!" said Earl.  "All right, all right.  Just hang on!" replied Otis.  "Oh Jesus!" exclaimed Otis.  "What?" said Earl and Frank, almost at the same time.   "One of the punks shot the Marine sergeant down with a shotgun."   "That musta pissed off the other Marines!" said Earl "knowing my nephew."  Otis came back "Sounds like it.  Major Funkshyn said after that, the Marines slowly dropped the punks, one at at time.  They shot the asshole with the shotgun first."  "Good" said Earl "Served him right."  Otis: "Anyhow, it says here one of those punks had run behind that good ol' boys' car to get away from the Marines, and almost got his ass run over when those good 'ol boys backed the hell on outta there."  "Hah.  That would've been funny" said Frank.

"Well, it says here that the Marines took care of the punks that came up behind them.  But Major Funkshyn said the Post Office fellas got back in their truck, and high-tailed it on outta there, leaving the Marines behind."

"What happened to the Marines?" asked Earl.  Otis replied "It says except fer the Sergeant, they're all OK.  It looks like that last punk tried to get into the car that tried to block off the Mail truck to get away, but it stalled and the Marines filled him full of thirty-ought-six rounds."

"It says here that Major Funkshyn said that the Marines were pretty damn good shots.  Except for that last guy in the car, the other gangsters were all killed with one shot.  Says here they even killed one guy in the 2nd punks' car before he even got out of it.  Meh - good for him!"  Otis grinned.

"That's it, fellas.  They killed 12 bad guys in the 2 stick-ups, but lost 2 Marines doing it.  Major Funkshyn also said the 2 Marines that were hurt by my place are gonna be OK."

And that was that.  2 games in one afternoon.  Game 1 went for 12 turns, and Game 2 for 10.

So far, using 2 sets of rules, the Marines are 3-0 in this scenario.  Here are our thoughts:

1.  We thought both sets of rules gave good games, all of which felt right for the period.  In all 3 games, it was the Marines edge in training and marksmanship that won out.

2.  While Pulp! had 6 experience classes for figures, Fistful of Lead only had 3.  But you can tweak the individual figures in Fistful of Lead with traits to help differentiate them.  For example, I gave the Marine riflemen the Dead-eye trait ot give them a bit of an edge over the gangsters. 

3.  Pulp! has Special Abilities to give friendly figures periodic advantages or enemy figures disadvantages.  Fistful of Lead uses special cards to do that (and the way we use Jokers, too.).  Both systems produced similar effects throughout the game.

4.  The big difference was the activation sequence in Pulp!.  Lower level characters tended to have fewer options in their turn, based on the figure's activation roll.  Being Suppressed only negatively affected the activation roll.  But, as I mentioned, failed activation rolls limited your figures actions in that turn, so again the lower level characters tended too have fewer options in their turns.  Fistful of Lead pretty much allows all figures to activate, but Shock negatively affects movement and shooting.  2 different approaches to depict the same net effect.  In both, the lower level the figure, the harder time they have doing what they want to do.

5. The other difference was that most figures only take 2 wounds in Pulp!, while they take 3 in Fistful or Lead.  This didn't seem to affect the course of the game as much as we thought it might.

6.  While both rulesets gave good games that felt right and gave similar results given the players involved at their "tactics", I think our preference is still Fistful of Lead.  We prefer it over Pulp! due to points 3 and 4 above.  We will likely play Pulp! again, but I think our current "Go To" ruleset for our games is still Fistful of Lead.

We hope this helps!  And I hope you all enjoyed visiting with Otis, Earl, and Frank at their Saturday morning at the diner. 

And if our games are even close to what really happened, it's easy to see why Mail truck and train robberies completely stopped after the Marines got involved.  And FYI, here are the Marines guarding the Mail's standing orders (see this link): https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/intense-rules-for-marine-guards/

1. To prevent the theft or robbery of any United States mails entrusted to my protection.

2. To inform myself as to the persons who are authorized to handle the mails entrusted to my protection and to allow no unauthorized persons to handle such mails or to have access to such mails.

3. To inform myself as to the persons who are authorized to enter the compartment (railway coast, auto truck, wagon, mail room, etc.) where mails entrusted to my protection are placed, and to allow no unauthorized person to enter such compartment.

4. In connection with Special Order No. 3, to prevent unauthorized persons loitering in the vicinity of such compartment or taking any position from which they might enter such compartment by surprise or sudden movement.

5. To keep my rifle, shotgun, or pistol always in my hand (or hands) while on watch.

6. When necessary in order to carry out the foregoing orders, to make the most effective use of my weapons, shooting or otherwise killing or disabling any person engaged in the theft or robbery, or the attempted theft or robbery of the mails entrusted to my protection.

The FAQ section of the Mail Guards’ training manual tells you everything you need to know about how Marines would respond to this robbery problem, once the gangster tried to break in:

“Q. Suppose he [the robber] is using a gun or making threats with a gun in trying to escape?
A. Shoot him.

Q. Suppose the thief was apparently unarmed but was running away?
A. Call halt twice at the top of your voice, and if he does not halt, fire one warning shot; and if he does not obey this, shoot to hit him.

Q. Is it permissible to take off my pistol while on duty; for instance, when in a mail car riding between stations?
A. Never take off your pistol while on duty. Keep it loaded, locked, and cocked while on duty.

Q. Is there a general plan for meeting a robbery?
A. Yes; start shooting and meet developments as they arise thereafter.

Q. If I hear the command ‘Hands Up,’ am I justified in obeying this order?
A. No; fall to the ground and start shooting.

Q. Is it possible to make a successful mail robbery?
A. Only over a dead Marine.”

[has.been]

Thanks Capt. I enjoyed the AAR in its Coffee & Cobbler format.
Your assessment of the rules sets was helpful too.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Q. Is it possible to make a successful mail robbery?
A. Only over a dead Marine.

Brilliant!

Great looking games and superb AARs. Marvellous stuff!

[CapnJim]

Thanks Capt. I enjoyed the AAR in its Coffee & Cobbler format.
Your assessment of the rules sets was helpful too.

Thanks has.been.  Sometimes, I rather enjoy telling my battle stories from a participant's or observer's perspective.  Just about any wargame can be turned into such a story...   

And I'm glad our analysis was useful for you.

Brilliant!

Great looking games and superb AARs. Marvellous stuff!

Thanks, your Lordship!  High praise indeed, having read your tales of high (and sometimes low) adventure!

[BaronVonJ]

I like being the “Go to” guy!
On point 5, yes miniatures can have 3 wounds, but they can taken out with just one hit if you roll high enough. Many a Hero has gone down on s “10”. Also Grunts only have 1 wound.

[Kourtchatovium104]

Always a pleasure to read your report 

[has.been]

I like being the “Go to” guy!
On point 5, yes miniatures can have 3 wounds, but they can taken out with just one hit if you roll high enough. Many a Hero has gone down on s “10”. Also Grunts only have 1 wound.

Baron! You forgot to mention the toughness option that can boost a character
up to FOUR wounds.
 

[CapnJim]

On point 5, yes miniatures can have 3 wounds, but they can taken out with just one hit if you roll high enough. Many a Hero has gone down on s “10”. Also Grunts only have 1 wound.

Baron! You forgot to mention the toughness option that can boost a character
up to FOUR wounds.

Yep to both.  But it really didn't help in our first game Friday (the one Otis read to Earl and Frank from the newspaper).  Of the 7 figures put out of action, 6 (the Marine Sergeant and first 5 gangsters) were all put Out of Action on the Wound Rolls after they were hit.  Only the poor bastard trying to get away in his car at the end was the only figure Wounded before he was put Out of Action.  The 3 Marine riflemen lit that car up!  All other Wound Rolls were Shocks...we were beginning to think we were gonna get through an entire game without a Wound result on Wound Rolls.   

[CapnJim]

As some of you may have noticed from some of my other threads (Modern, Vietnam, WW2, Old West, and War of 1812), I have been taking group shots of my collections, and posting them on my appropriate threads.  I was inspired by Ash, who did the same thing...

I've started with my 28mm stuff.  Next up is my 1920/1930s US gangster collection.  And here they are:

The gangsters are almost all Brigade Games metal figures, although there are a few my wargaming bud Ted gave me that I'm not sure who made them.  The law enforcement chaps are also almost all Brigade Games metals, except for the plain-clothes Feds - they are GEG The Chicago Way metal figs.  The civilians are mostly Blue Moon metals, with a couple I'm not sure about and one that is an "O" gauge model RR figure.  The ones Ted painted are the ones with the light gray bases. 

The cars and trucks are a variety of die-casts.  Matchbox, Solidos, Lledos, Eligor, Athearn, Corgi, etc.  The two busses are from a couple US National Parks...

My last 28mm figs will be my Canadian force for the 1866 Fenian Raids Battle of Ridgeway...

[mikedemana]

Sounds like you guys had a blast -- especially since you immediately played it a second time! We area also enjoying Fistful of Lead for our skirmishes. And our games seem to play out, as well, that most figures knocked out of action are not due to accumulating three wounds. Still, everyone is having fun.

We were supposed to do my second post-apoc game last Sunday, but the snowstorm nixed that. It's been rescheduled for Sunday, Feb. 5th. I'll post a report on the Post-Apocalyptic Adventures board once we get it played.

Glad you guys are having fun up there in the semi-frozen north, Jim!

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Thanks, Mike.  Yep - we did indeed have a blast!

Looking forward to your AAR...

[FifteensAway]

Cool gangster collection.

[CapnJim]

Cool gangster collection.

Thanks!  It's about ready to get some additions.  Empress' Brummies, some Warlord British LDV and Defenders of the Realm, and Footsore Irish Wars of Independence civilians are 2nd in line in my painting queue...