Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures, Part 5: The Valley that Time Forgot

[mikedemana]

DAKOTA SMITH'S ORIENTAL ADVENTURES

THE LOST VALLEY

   Sweat rolled off their bodies, and soaked their clothes. Used to temperate climates, the archeologists wondered how in the world could mountain valleys be so blasted hot? They’d followed the trail from the Lost City for three weeks, up mountain passes and down through deep, jungle-clad valleys. They kept their compass point always headed towards the looming mountain whose silhouette looked like a tea bell-shaped, Buddhist stupa. The inscriptions on the temple walls, and the frieze of carvings had been explicit. For a “Lost Valley,” it was amazingly easy to find your way towards. But this last, deep valley was bigger than all the others combined. Volcanic booms echoed off the steep mountain walls. They could smell the sulphuric gasses. Strange, brightly-colored animals shrieked away from the explorers hacking a path through the pitiless jungle. They could have filled their notebooks with sketches of new species — especially reptiles — twice over. They were not naturalists, though. They were archeologists, seeking the Forbidden Temple — legendary resting place of the Tears of the Buddha. If they could get their hands on that storied crystal vial, their name would echo forever among famous archeologists.
   Another, louder boom shook the earth around the archeologists. “Is that volcano gonna blow?” one asked.
   “I don’t think that was a volcano…” was the reply, and a hush fell over the archeologists…

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

This is looking seriously good! 

[Prof. Dinglebat. Phd.]

This is looking seriously good! 

These ABR's are starting to resemble a film production. 

[Prof. Dinglebat. Phd.]

The Pics are a great idea to entice,..well done. I'm hanging off this like a cheap suit. 

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

I'm all over it like a nasty rash! 

[Peter@BattleScape]

I'm all over it like a nasty rash! 

No Snappy....you HAVE a nasty rash...go to the doc and get some penicillan, will be gone in no time, and stop chasing the natives!!!

Pete

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

No Snappy....you HAVE a nasty rash...go to the doc and get some penicillan, will be gone in no time, and stop chasing the natives!!!

Pete

                

[mikedemana]

So, we had our game last night and it was a hoot. The players were warned that their games so far had been fairly competitive, and that this might not be one of those types of games. All four leagues started on one side of the table and had to cross the jungle-clad, mountain valley to the opposite edge. Easy, right? Throw in dinosaurs and secret martial arts societies, and it was not such a walk in the park...!

AAR is on my blog, along with a lot more photos...check it out!
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2014/06/dakota-smith-and-valley-that-time-forgot.html




Mike Demana

[Katsuhiko JiNNai]

Superb boards and miniatures 
I'm sure you and your players have much fun during your adventures

[Mr. Peabody]

Bravo!

What triggered and revealed the various Velociraptors / 'Terrors'?

[Traveler Man]

Nice! Those dinosaurs are great! 

[Prof. Dinglebat. Phd.]

""Hurry up, lassies, we've to go noo."     

Great game, great atmosphere and dino's to die for. Awesome. 

[aggro84]

Amazing!
I would love to game on a board like that!
I love the paintjobs on the dinos too.

[mikedemana]

What triggered and revealed the various Velociraptors / 'Terrors'?

Thanks, everyone for the kind comments. The dinos, believe it or not, are simply store-bought, pre-painted ones from Hobby Lobby in the USA. The only thing I did to them was touch up their claws and give the models a black wash, them base them up on metal bases.

So, I was originally going to have the raptors move towards the closest character at the end of each round. Then one of my players said his son and nephew wanted to attend, so I decided to give them each a league with three Level 3 Savage Predators each. They started the game "hidden," and we put a bush marker out for them and moved it around for their movement until they rushed to attack someone or were spotted, as per the rules.

The T-Rex and Ceratosaurus were terrors (Giant Level 4 Predators) that were added to the raptor teams on Turn 5, I believe. Until that point, the raptors were giving the characters all they could handle. So, I delayed their planned Turn 3 entry until Turn 5. The game ended up going 7 turns.

It was fun...dinosaurs chasing humans always is...!

Mike Demana

[Mr. Peabody]

Thanks Mike!