The Valley of Gwan-gee-three - Pulp Alley style

[BlackSmoke]

Hi all! Yesterday I had an absolutely brilliant game of Pulp Alley with my friends George and Nick at the G3 club (hence the title!  ). We wanted to do something a little different as it was a memorial games day for a well respected club member who passed away last year, so in this one we recreated one of my favourite stop-motion films from my childhood, The Valley of Gwangi. I mean...who doesn't like cowboys and dinosaurs, right? And, once again, Pulp Alley shows it's versatility! As usual, the full report is over on my blog - http://colourofwar.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-valley-of-gwan-gee-three.html

[aggro84]

Cool idea!
I love the lassoing.
 

[BlackSmoke]

Thanks!

In the film they capture the dinos, so I wanted to recreate that. The rules for the lassos were concocted and then fine tuned a wee bit during the game, but we all thought they worked pretty well. The actual lassos themselves were just bits of string. I was trying to think of some sort of counter to identify who had a lasso on, but then I just though "why not actual lassos?"

[DoctorPete]

Hog tie them lizard varmints!  Yee-Haaaaaa!  What a fun game.   

[Wolf Girl]

Great job on the "Dino Wrangling and Lasso Rules"! 

I bet you guys were laughing and talkin' like cowpokes through the whole game! 

[aggro84]

Thanks!

In the film they capture the dinos, so I wanted to recreate that. The rules for the lassos were concocted and then fine tuned a wee bit during the game, but we all thought they worked pretty well. The actual lassos themselves were just bits of string. I was trying to think of some sort of counter to identify who had a lasso on, but then I just though "why not actual lassos?"

And far more interesting than the standard dino hunt theme!
Love the lassos too.
I just remember, one guy posted up a few years ago where he ran a game where they would try to physically lasso the dino's.
 

[magokiron]

What a WONDERFUL idea!

Seems like one of the funniests games one can play with friends.

And the PULP ALLEY rules adjusted to "lasso" the dinos is truly inspired.

Thanks for sharing.

[Tom Reed]

Would it be possible for you to post the stats for the dinosaurs? I'm thinking about stealing you great idea for a convention game that I have coming up. last year the guy running the con dared me to run a Valley of Gwangi game.

[d phipps]

WOW! That looks like great fun!

We'll have to call those the "Official" Dino Wrangling and Lasso Rules. 

I like how you tied the lasso range to the character Finesse die-type.

Funny thing is, that's exactly how a character's close-range was originally determined for shooting in Pulp Alley. So if the character rolled d8's then their close range was up to 8". 

And yes, we had cowboys trying to lasso other cowboys!

But did you have cowboys trying to hogtie other cowboys? 

Would it be possible for you to post the stats for the dinosaurs? I'm thinking about stealing you great idea for a convention game that I have coming up. last year the guy running the con dared me to run a Valley of Gwangi game.

Tom, they used the stats out of the Perilous Island book -- The T-Rex was the Great Gonga terror from the Perilous Island supplement and the Triceratops was a Level 3 Prey from the Predators and Prey section at the back of that book. The raptors were level 2 predators.




THANKS for sharing!

[Tom Reed]

Tom, they used the stats out of the Perilous Island book -- The T-Rex was the Great Gonga terror from the Perilous Island supplement and the Triceratops was a Level 3 Prey from the Predators and Prey section at the back of that book. The raptors were level 2 predators.

Oh, of course, doh! Completely forgot about that. I will have to give the book another look.
Like I said, I'm thinking about running a convention game for up to 6 players. For factions I would have the three that Blacksmoke used, and add three more.

1. Rancher & sons
2. Circus owner
3. Outlaws
4. Indians, out to protect the raptors
5. Scientific expedition with US Cavalry escort
6. Russian hunting party

I haven't tried running with so many players. Do you guys think this would work ok?

Thanks,
Tom

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

What more can I say? Fantastic idea, fantastice game! 

[BlackSmoke]

I haven't tried running with so many players. Do you guys think this would work ok?

What timeframe do you have for your game? We had three players in charge of 18 characters and it took about 4 hours, although that included lunch break and snooping about other tables. I'd say for that many players you want much smaller leagues, like a leader and a couple of allies. I imagine that a leader/sidekick/ally would put too many powerful characters on the table. I'd also think about dropping the Triceratops I favour of a few more smaller dinosaurs, say 1 for each league, and the T-Rex. But you'd definitely want to try it out first.

Oh, and great concepts for the extra leagues!

[Cubs]

One of my favourite Ray Harryhausen films ever. Also, a great movie title for playing hangman.

[mikedemana]

Like I said, I'm thinking about running a convention game for up to 6 players. For factions I would have the three that Blacksmoke used, and add three more.

1. Rancher & sons
2. Circus owner
3. Outlaws
4. Indians, out to protect the raptors
5. Scientific expedition with US Cavalry escort
6. Russian hunting party

I haven't tried running with so many players. Do you guys think this would work ok?

Having run a massive two whole games of Pulp Alley (but both 5 player), I wouldn't go with a 10-slot league. We just played with each faction having a Leader, Sidekick, and Ally (thanks, Dave and Mila for the suggestion). It flowed much smoother and played faster. We played 6 turns in about 2 1/2 hours...

Oh, and I loved the Dino Hunt idea...! I forwarded it to one of my players who's run Dino hunt games for us. Wouldn't be surprised if he ran a version of it, too...

Mike Demana

[d phipps]

Having run a massive two whole games of Pulp Alley (but both 5 player), I wouldn't go with a 10-slot league. We just played with each faction having a Leader, Sidekick, and Ally (thanks, Dave and Mila for the suggestion). It flowed much smoother and played faster. We played 6 turns in about 2 1/2 hours...

6 new players getting through 6 complete turns in 2 1/2 hours is pretty damn good when it comes to wargaming. You're doing great, Mike! 

WARNING -- If you ever get a chance to play a 2-player game, it will move so fast your head will spin! 



HAVE FUN