Pulp My Rules

[Elk101]

I thought I'd just put up a little note on my impressions of Pulp Alley which may help anyone who is thinking about dipping a toe in. It's mainly just ramblings though!

Having played a little bit of 'Where Heroes Dare' in my pulpish WW2 Home Guard setting I was quite keen to develop this and perhaps look to utilise more of my figure collection in a more outrigth Pulp setting. I liked the compatibility between WHD and Disposable Heroes, the WWII rules by the same company, but there was a fair bit of tweaking required to bring it in to the sort of Dad's Army world we wanted (i.e. less Captain America, more Captain Wainwaring). The games we have had have been great fun, but we quite often forgot to implement special rules, abilities and so on and sometimes things slowed down a bit with close combat and shooting as you determined what weapon a figure had and what its modifiers were. We kind of ignored a few things to let the game play out too, which was fine. The group liked the games but struggled to pick up the rules and really left it to me to facilitate everything, which again was fine. I thought about tweaking the rules some more or trying to simplify them a bit and then forgot about it as we moved on to some Napoleonic gaming.

Now there has been a lot of Pulp Alley activity on the LAF and the visual treats that the AARs display have been great to look at. This got me interested in finding out a bit more about Pulp Alley so I purchased the PDF for a bargain £6.60 ($10). I don't recall reading too many rulesets where I go from cover to cover without thinking, 'I could tweak that' or 'maybe we'll just leave that bit out'. I did this with Pulp Alley.  Even when I thumbed through looking for the weapons tables only to find there wasn't one, I didn't feel that there should be one but rather thought 'actually, this might help with some of the niggles we had with the other games'. The game seems to be pretty slick, and the little test games I've had make for just the sort of fast and furious action that we wanted to see before, but still allowing for a decent level of tactical play. I'd be very interested in replaying our last Home Guard game using the Pulp Alley rules to see how it went, and to see if it would take less than 2 1/2 hours! It reminds me a bit of Fistful of Lead in the way that it lets you focus on pace and action. The only issue I have is that I now want the nice shiny cards that you can only get from the US!

I'm very much a believer in trying to make figures and terrain, etc. as multi purpose as possible as I have neither the space or time (or the money!) to invest in all the periods I'd really like to. However, one of the directions I'm thinking of taking this in relates to my first foray into Kickstarter with the Empire of the Dead Requiem Kickstarter. I picked up quite a few figures on the basis that I have always wanted to do a Sherlock Holmes style game. I don't really want to play it as a straight EotD and I was looking at a Victorian 'Where Heroes Dare'. This would have made for a fair bit of weapon conversion work and so on before we could play (and for me to actually paint some figures) but it struck me after reading the rules that with Pulp Alley there is no need, we can play as is. I'm already putting together leagues on paper based on the figures that are coming; Consulting Detective Sheraton Howell and his trusty sidekick Professor James Whittle will round up a few informers and fight crime Pulp Alley style. The wierder elements of the Kickstarter free minis will become members of Dr Cecil O'Podd's Circus of Damnation (naturally using the Uncle Thulhu figure). The flexibility and freedom offered by Pulp Alley as a ruleset is really quite a release, offering a great deal of options and directions if you want to take them. Hats off to David and Mila for a fun, refreshing bit of entertainment that would be described as 'very drinkable' if it was a beer!

[Argonor]

I second your opnion; I bought bundle and am eagerly awaiting my printed rulebook and the cards.

Can't wait to get stuck in 

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

I third your opinion! I bought Pulp Alley when it came out and have been delighted with it.

[Wolf Girl]

Thank you so much for the support. For a family business like ours we get really excited when people talk about how much they like the game. I'm glad that your games are running smoothly. We really tried not to include any unnecessary charts in the game for that very purpose. Will we be seeing any AARs?

[Sinewgrab]

Will the rules hold up for a mutiplayer convention setting?  What I mean is, I like to run 5-6 players with 4-10 models each, and I am curious if the rules are :  A) simple enough to learn in 10-15 minutes so the other 2-3 hours can be enjoyed, and B) can still be quick in those situations?

[Dr. The Viking]

I thought I'd just put up a little note on my impressions of Pulp Alley which may help anyone who is thinking about dipping a toe in. It's mainly just ramblings though!

Having played a little bit of 'Where Heroes Dare' in my pulpish WW2 Home Guard setting I was quite keen to develop this and perhaps look to utilise more of my figure collection in a more outrigth Pulp setting. I liked the compatibility between WHD and Disposable Heroes, the WWII rules by the same company, but there was a fair bit of tweaking required to bring it in to the sort of Dad's Army world we wanted (i.e. less Captain America, more Captain Wainwaring). The games we have had have been great fun, but we quite often forgot to implement special rules, abilities and so on and sometimes things slowed down a bit with close combat and shooting as you determined what weapon a figure had and what its modifiers were. We kind of ignored a few things to let the game play out too, which was fine. The group liked the games but struggled to pick up the rules and really left it to me to facilitate everything, which again was fine. I thought about tweaking the rules some more or trying to simplify them a bit and then forgot about it as we moved on to some Napoleonic gaming.

Now there has been a lot of Pulp Alley activity on the LAF and the visual treats that the AARs display have been great to look at. This got me interested in finding out a bit more about Pulp Alley so I purchased the PDF for a bargain £6.60 ($10). I don't recall reading too many rulesets where I go from cover to cover without thinking, 'I could tweak that' or 'maybe we'll just leave that bit out'. I did this with Pulp Alley.  Even when I thumbed through looking for the weapons tables only to find there wasn't one, I didn't feel that there should be one but rather thought 'actually, this might help with some of the niggles we had with the other games'. The game seems to be pretty slick, and the little test games I've had make for just the sort of fast and furious action that we wanted to see before, but still allowing for a decent level of tactical play. I'd be very interested in replaying our last Home Guard game using the Pulp Alley rules to see how it went, and to see if it would take less than 2 1/2 hours! It reminds me a bit of Fistful of Lead in the way that it lets you focus on pace and action. The only issue I have is that I now want the nice shiny cards that you can only get from the US!

I'm very much a believer in trying to make figures and terrain, etc. as multi purpose as possible as I have neither the space or time (or the money!) to invest in all the periods I'd really like to. However, one of the directions I'm thinking of taking this in relates to my first foray into Kickstarter with the Empire of the Dead Requiem Kickstarter. I picked up quite a few figures on the basis that I have always wanted to do a Sherlock Holmes style game. I don't really want to play it as a straight EotD and I was looking at a Victorian 'Where Heroes Dare'. This would have made for a fair bit of weapon conversion work and so on before we could play (and for me to actually paint some figures) but it struck me after reading the rules that with Pulp Alley there is no need, we can play as is. I'm already putting together leagues on paper based on the figures that are coming; Consulting Detective Sheraton Howell and his trusty sidekick Professor James Whittle will round up a few informers and fight crime Pulp Alley style. The wierder elements of the Kickstarter free minis will become members of Dr Cecil O'Podd's Circus of Damnation (naturally using the Uncle Thulhu figure). The flexibility and freedom offered by Pulp Alley as a ruleset is really quite a release, offering a great deal of options and directions if you want to take them. Hats off to David and Mila for a fun, refreshing bit of entertainment that would be described as 'very drinkable' if it was a beer!

I pretty much totally concur with your points on this subject. Right down to the wanting of the shiny cards that are only in the US. And the reading through end to end without squinting at it once..

Now I just need to play it till I drop (which for my record is typically not that much)

[Argonor]

I pretty much totally concur with your points on this subject. Right down to the wanting of the shiny cards that are only in the US. And the reading through end to end without squinting at it once..

Now I just need to play it till I drop (which for my record is typically not that much)

I just received the cards (and 2 rule books) yesterday.

Maybe, if Horisont is happening this year, we could make a little joint project; I could bring the cards, the rulesets, some leagues, maybe some scenery, and you could bring a table, some more scenery, and perhaps a couple of leagues, too? It depends on me not having to work the weekend in question, though... 

[Anpu]

I am also very satisfied with buying Pulp Alley. The snazzy cards are definately worth it even though it definately works with printouts as well. The only tweaks I used for it for my Fallout setting was the one Dave recommended that I add an extra ability to all characters for flavour.

Will the rules hold up for a mutiplayer convention setting?  What I mean is, I like to run 5-6 players with 4-10 models each, and I am curious if the rules are :  A) simple enough to learn in 10-15 minutes so the other 2-3 hours can be enjoyed, and B) can still be quick in those situations?

It definately holds up to convetion play.  
A) Yes they are simple enough to learn in 10-15 min. Just quickly introduce them to game mechanics, turn and modifiers then the rest is learnt during play.
B) They are a bit slower with five to six players but very enjoyable and since you always fight or shoot back when attacked you are involved when the other players activate their minis as well.
As always you as organizer can help to move things  along, but the player with the initiative shares that responsibility.
Four to ten models each is the regular size for pulp alley leagues with extremes being 2-15 the smaller or larger league you have the trickier play will be so 4-10 seems ideal to me.

[Elk101]

Wolf Girl, we should be thanking you guys for the rules!

I'm glad to see others of the same opinion as Pulp Alley deserves the support. Andy's response on large games seems to mirror my own thoughts. I've not played a big game yet (I.e. more than two players) but the fact that anyone may get involved during anyone else's turn suggests that it would work well for conventions.

I'm hopeful of getting my Requiem figures soon so AARs should follow once I get my Victorian leagues painted up!

[BaronVonJ]

Sinewgrab,
I ran an 8 player Pulp Alley game at our local con, RECRUITs in 3 hours:
http://baronvonj.blogspot.com/2013/04/pulp-alley-at-recruits.html
It worked out great. The key is preparation. I had the Leagues ready along with short dossiers that gave the group motivation and their objectives. I also made stat cards for each model. You could turn over the card after a model moved to help remember if that gone yet. The rules took 5 minutes to explain and worked through things like shooting and fighting as they arose as a teaching moment. The biggest hurdle is initiative. Because one can seize the initiative by winning a fight or securing a Plot Point initiative moves around quickly. It is helpful to have a item that the person with initiative has to remind them (and you should do frequently) a Tiki god or something would be great. If a person is taking too long to decide who goes next, you have to step in. We had in one game a young lad, maybe too young, who was having fun but had trouble grasping the idea that he got to decide who went next and that that decision was very strategic. I had to just start rolling a die randomly to decide for him. No biggy. He didn't care, and nobody else did either.
Otherwise, great for conventions. Remember: preparation!
-J

[Sinewgrab]

Huh - I get paid tomorrow, and I am in the US, so maybe the print copy with cards is in my future.  I noted that it can obviously cross genres if someone was using it for Fallout, which, if you recognize my handle from the Post-Apoc board, is one of my favorites to game.  I use the Weird Krieg with some modifications right now, but explaining action points in 15 minutes or less has always proved challenging, even with a dial to use to keep track for each player along a stats card. :/  Plus, I find it difficult to keep people to a goal with no reinforcing mechanic - they just shoot everyone who is close.

[BaronVonJ]

THe rules allow you to make just about anything up so I've used PA for a bunch of genres, Fantasy, SciFi, etc.

[The Hooded Claw]

Pulp Alley is THE rules set I have been looking for for my pulp gaming needs.

Dave and Mila do suggest adding an additional starting ability to characters when playing in fantasy or more science fiction settings.

-Eli

[d phipps]

WOW! You guys really made my day! Thanks for all the encouraging comments.


@ Sinewgrab --

Will the rules hold up for a mutiplayer convention setting?  Yes, ineed.


I like to run 5-6 players with 4-10 models each? Thats perfect for Pulp Alley. As with any game, play is going to slow down a bit as you add more players, but a slow Pulp Alley is still much faster than others. 


Simple enough to learn in 10-15 minutes? Yup, very easily.      


The other 2-3 hours can be enjoyed, and still be quick in those situations? Absolutely.    




Just like any other set of rules, I'd recommend playing several games to get familiar with the rules. Pulp Alley is really intended to be played without referencing the rulebook during play. So once you play a few games and learn the core concepts, you're good to go! 


AND you can download a free version of Pulp Alley from Wargame Vault. It is not the full version, but certainly has enough to get you started --  http://www.wargamevault.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=5628


Please let us know if you have any questions.




HAVE FUN

[Sinewgrab]

For some reason, I have never been able to get Wargames Vault to work with my computer - it crashes every time I go to the cart.  No worries - I'll probably just take my chances on the ruleset as soon as my check gets put in the bank. 

I'm looking at it for Fallout, maybe for small skirmish VSF on Mars, and maybe for a Wolfenstein game...and of course, for Pulp era stuff.