Pulp Alley AAR - Capture the informant

[blacksoilbill]

In our last episode, the heroes and villains learnt that the german agent Siegfried Grunstrasse is making a secret visit to Egypt. In order to find Grunstrasse, they secured clues to the identity of an informant.

In today's game, a dozen civilians will cross the town. One of them is the informant! The cultists know that the informant is male. The Metrobots know that the informant is not wearing green or blue. The spies know that the informant is carrying market goods, but not wearing a turban. The other leagues must 'interrogate' the civilians by knocking them down in a brawl. How hard could that be? Let the mayhem begin!

The first two civilians begin the hazardous journey. They have to make it off the top edge of the table. Notice the forces closing in from two sides...


...the metrobots...


...and the cultists.


Meanwhile, the black cat sizes up some potential targets. In the end though, he wandered off in the other direction and had no bearing on the game.


At the other end of the table, the cultists were intent on eliminating all opposition.



The main action, though, all happened in this alley. The possible informants were funneled into it and the leagues followed.


Things got busier...


and busier!


But for all the attention, the leagues found it almost impossible to grab and interrogate the civilians. I'd rated them all as Level 2 scouts with a 3d6 dodge. Up against leagues with lots of followers the civilians proved to be very slippery customers! There were countless attempts at brawling and all but two resulted in civilians dodging away.

However, the civilians' elusiveness was aided by a vengeful obsession that distracted the Metrobots. In the previous game the spies' monkey had proved impervious to all manner of violence. Here, the Metrobots send their best to blot out the monkey. His attempts at hiding behind the cardboard cutout of a monkey proved futile, but it did take three characters to take him down!


The first civilian makes it through for his end run.


But he's trapped by the cultists' enforcer at the last possible moment. This was turn five and finally the first success in interrogating a civilian! He turned out to be a minor plot point.


Elsewhere, things weren't going quite so well for the cultists. A mounting casualty list.


Turn 6 came around, and the informant still hadn't been revealed. Any guesses who?


Finally, a lowly babybot (a follower) made a successful interrogation of a civilian who turned out to be the informant! Six turns, the Metrobots holding the major plot point and the cultists holding one minor plot point. The spies empty handed. But, the leader of the spies had other ideas.


At the end of turn five he gunned down the cultist with the minor plot point. At the end of turn six he lined up a shot on the babybot with the major plot point. That tiny dot in the distance. He steadied himself, aimed, and


BANG!! Babybot down! The game ended with no one holding any plot points!


With no one holding an advantage, who will be the first to track down the agent Grunstrasse? And what will they do when they find him? Tune in next time!

[Metrobot]

Foiled!  Victory was in my greasy little robots hand!

Good AAR, thanks BSB

[oldskoolrebel]

Some awesome stuff here! Cultists, Robots, Middle-eastern towns, crowded market places and lots of civilians! Jealous much! Now out of interest; where are all the civilians from?

Cheers
Andy H

[joroas]

Cracking looking game, well thought-out...... 

[blacksoilbill]

Yes, it had a bit of everything and a whole lot of chaos!

The civilians are from Eureka Miniatures. They are on the large side (taller than anything else on the board, excepting the big robot), but they blend in fine and they're full of character. You can buy them in three different sets with market stalls or get the figures individually.

http://eurekamin.com.au/index.php?cPath=87_126_138&sort=3a They're halfway down the page.

Bill.

[joroas]

Yes, I bought a load from eBay, on my primed and ready to paint pile........... 

[blacksoilbill]

Do them! They're quick and easy and they do lend great flavour to a game. And it's not as if you'd have anything else vying for your attention 

[joroas]

Nooooo, I guess I don't!   


I lied! 

[pistolpete]

that's a really great idea of semi-randomly tracking down plot points; i will be 'borrowing' it.  i assume the clues the two teams had at the beginning were carried over from a previous episode.  a superb AAR too - thanks for sharing.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

The other leagues must 'interrogate' the civilians by knocking them down in a brawl.

  

What a great idea and a great game!

I see the black cat returned but didn't do much?  

[FramFramson]

Brilliant game. Looks like a tense load of fun!

[Traveler Man]

Great AAR! 

[BlackSmoke]

I really like this scenario idea. Might have to borrow it sometime soon. Also loved the monkey hiding behind a cardboard cutout of a monkey! 

[blacksoilbill]

Thanks for the feedback, gents.

Pete - yes, the clues came from this game: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=63806.0 The wandering clues game is fun - makes the game quite dynamic. We've used it in a few ways:

• All the civilians in a market in the centre of the board. Some of them hold clues, but nobody knows who. As the leagues come onto the board, the civilians scatter, running in random directions.
• The major plot point runs away from the nearest figure.

Lord Snapcase - I think the cat will feature in all our games. It's a low level threat, so it's not going to dominate a game. At the same time, no one wants to get near it, so it can create interesting choke points - especially on town boards like this one.

Blacksmoke - it was supposed to be a shadow lying on the ground (to signify in hiding), but it did look pretty funny.

Bill.

[magokiron]

Seems like a REALLY FUN game!

I like your models and scenery, and some of your gaming ideas are treu gems.

Thanks for sharing.