IHMN vs. Pulp Alley vs. Larger than Life?

[NickNascati]

All,
I have the two latter sets, had IHMN but sold it. For a game that is basically a skirmish game with some role play elements, which of the above better fits the bill in your opinion? What I am looking at is something like "King Soloman's Mines" with perhaps some larger skirmishes.  I also have the 20th anniversary version of TSATF, which I guess can me molded to fit anything.

                                                                                                                                       Nick

[Alfrik]

Depends on how much chart crunching you want to have with your "skirmish" game. IHMS can have some rather elaborate character tracking as you play, and Pulp Alley typically sees a team of 4 to 5 characters with some rather simple tracking. I have played both and like the PA system myself.

[Shawnt63]

I haven't tried IHMS, looks interesting though. Pulp Alley is certainly quick and easy to run!

[Mr. Peabody]

Pulp Alley features some brilliant mechanics, but you will always be resolving combats one figure at a time. As Alfrik points out, the game is oriented towards smaller forces.

In Her Majesty's Name allows ad-hoc groups of figures to combine their fire. This approach is flexible and quick to resolve. This can really help speed along larger games. However, if someone at the table insisted on individually resolving each figure's shots things could drag on.

IHMN is designed for multiple players, but will work best with small forces when there are more than two players. Pulp Alley, with its smaller 'teams' becomes more exciting and chaotic with three players...

I think they are both excellent games. Pulp Alley asks you to collaborate and 'tell a story' as each person around the table plays challenge and peril cards from their hands to influence the action. In Her Majesty's Name is much more of a traditional skirmish game where fire and manoeuvre is emphasised.

Both games provide a solid structure that allows you to create the forces you wish to play, the way you imagine them.

Keep in mind that Pulp Alley, right out of the box, is set in the classic pulp era while IHMN is all about Victorian Science Fiction. I would go with the rule set that best fits the period I want to play. And of course, I play both.

[Amalric]

You've had excellent replies concerning IHMN and Pulp Alley already and I see that as you're selling Larger than Life, you've decided against that one, but I will reply anyway for folks looking for this info in the future.

Pulp Alley for Pulp games with friends with light RP elements.
There are plenty of Pulp Alley AARs for you to look at.
Use these rules if you want one off games or a campaign where you make up the scenarios or use the excellent Perilous Island book.

LtL for Pulp solo campaigns.
Use this one for a fun solo campaign with lots of unexpected twists and turns.
Links to my solo LtL campaign are below and here is my answer to a similar question after game 1;

....I love 2hour wargames, because mostly i only get to play solo right now and they play solo so well. I have played and enjoyed many a campaign of ATZ and Nuts, have a campaign of 5150 on the back burner, and this was my start of my pulp one and my first game with Larger than Life. LtL plays a bit different then other 2hour games. The combat is a bit simplified and a bit more cinematic than ATZ or Nuts. LtL is really geared to a campaign and not so much for 1 off games. The campaign driving mechanisms are a ton of dice rolling charts that lead you to the show down with the big bad guy at the end of the story, ie The Climatic Miniatures Pulp Battle Extraordinaire! There may only be a couple of miniature games played before you get to that showdown with most of the clue finding that leads you to the showdown being off board dice rolling.....

AARs
Chapter 1 can be found here http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=57724.0
Chapter 2 can be found here http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=57938.0
Chapter 3 can be found here http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=58393.0
Chapter 4 can be found here http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=59117.0
Chapter 5 can be found here http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=59811.0

Bottom line is you're comparing apples to oranges, which is best depends on what you want to eat.
Either way, you've got no excuse not to have rollicking fun playing Pulp!
I look forward to your AARs!

[NickNascati]

Amalric,
              I'll follow suit, and paste my TMP reply here -

            It all comes down to the fact that what I want is a skirmish game which has some Role Play elements in it. I think that both Pulp Alley and Ltl are really meant for small groups of figures. As much as I like the work that goes into THW games, I have hard time actually  playing them. Like you Amalric, I play almost totally solo.
                                                                                                                 Nick

[Amalric]

Nick,

As you're looking for a game a bit larger than PA or LtL, what about Bob Murch's Rugged Adventures?
Its free on his website and seems to handle larger numbers. Take a look at his AAR here, it starts page 4; http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=64045.45

I don't know how it wold be solo, but perhaps you could wrangle it?

[NickNascati]

I'm thinking that PA might work for larger games with the "Gang" idea Dave is working on.  Also, I think it would be pretty easy to use PA or LtL along with TSATF.  The one advantage of solo gaming is that no one can tell you they don't like it!

[former user]

have You tried Triumph and Tragedy? It might be more balanced towards what You are looking for

[Leapsnbounds]

It look like I'll be sticking with the Sword and the Flame

[NickNascati]

Herman,
               How are you?

[Prof. Dinglebat. Phd.]

I'll throw a cat amongst the pigeons and say I use the rule set of "I ain't been shot mum" by Two Fat Lardies. I'm also dabbling with Pulp Alley. All my games are solo, so I have to pay attention to be very non attached to any one side and just watch what develops by the sole implementation of the game mechanics themselves. IABSM allows me to do this as it's based on a card system so I have no input on who moves next. The more random I can incorporate, the less control on the outcome I have, which is what I seek to do.

[NickNascati]

Prof.,
         One thing I know for certain, is that I don't like the Lardies rules.  I've played Sharpe Practice and the AWI variant of it. 

                                                                                                                     Nick

[Prof. Dinglebat. Phd.]

Prof.,
         One thing I know for certain, is that I don't like the Lardies rules.  I've played Sharpe Practice and the AWI variant of it. 

                                                                                                                     Nick

I haven't played those sets. Are they the same mechanics as their ww2 version? Any specific part you don't like, or is it the whole concept? 

[NickNascati]

Prof.,
          I believe that all the Lardies rules are based on the IABSM mechanics.  I found them to be just a bit too "affected" for my taste.