Questions about Pulp Alley

[gruulgor]

Hi, this is Ivan, from Spain and this is my first post  

I have a couple of questions about pulp alley, so I was wondering if someone could help.

- 1. Which is the average size of league/band? From what I've read in the free rules is about 5-10 miniatures, but in most of the reports seem there are about 4-8 miniatures per band.

- 2. How important/useful are the two expansions?

Currently I'm running a small campaing (only 4 players) in an african pulp setting using  In Her Majesty's Name rules. The year is 1900-1910 and it's full of the usual stuff: Jungle cannibals, lost temples, long forgotten creatures, explorers, a man-ape and a bunch of german soldiers. No steampunk technology and low on magic.

Although I love IHMN rules I'm very tempted to give pulp alley a try using the same miniatures. My plan is using pulp alley rules for small encounters (the core of each band) and IHMN for "bigger" encounters.Do you think it could work?

PS: Sorry for my bad english

[Mr. Peabody]

Absolutely it will work. But they are very different games. IHMN is a tactical sort of adventure wargame. Movement and modifiers are at the heart of the game. Pulp Alley is much more cinematic; racing to get the Plot Points really tells a story and the focus is on the characters, not on equipment.

I think playing both will be good fun for your group.

- 1. Which is the average size of league/band? From what I've read in the free rules is about 5-10 miniatures, but in most of the reports seem there are about 4-8 miniatures per band.

We typically play with about 5 figures per side, and play head-to-head games with no GM. But there are lots of good reasons to use more figures depending on how you build your leagues and play out your scenarios.

- 2. How important/useful are the two expansions?

Perilous Island would be the most useful expansion for the setting you have described. It has all the weird & exotic stuff plus a great selection of new abilities.
That said, we had a lot of fun getting used to the basic rules, maybe three or four games, before we started to add in any of the content from Perilous Island or Guns, Gadgets & Vehicles.

I really like having the 'official' Fortune Deck, but printing out the .pdf version and sticking the 'cards' into protector sleeves is an excellent way to go. In fact, now that there are some new cards being play-tested, we have our entire deck in protector sleeves so the play-test cards don't stand out in the deck...

[gary42]

PA is way more cinematic than most games!  It can really tell a story!  You can use about 2 to 10 minis happily.  You have to get in a bit of a different head space and get away from the basic "I wipe you out... You wipe me out" habit we sometimes get into while gaming.  Get the plot points and have your battles along the way but get the plot points!  The plot point are also a great excuse to paint up non-combat minis.

Adding perilous areas to your board really turns your table into another big character! 

The expansions are great but you could certainly have great fun with the basic rules to start!

I have a home printed deck and it's just fine for the moment but the official ones are really niceand I will be picking up a set!

The era that you are currently playing in will work beautifully as do many other genres!

Never played IHMS so I can't compare.

You English is just fine!

[Wolf Girl]

I think Peabody and Gary are right. The average number of models in a Pulp Alley league is probably around 5-6 characters.

It is easy to go much higher or lower as well. In our games this weekend, I saw a couple leagues with 13-14 models and they played very well. 

[Malebolgia]

My 'default' leagues are 6 models: 1 leader, 1 sidekick, 3 allies and 1 Follower. Mainly because It gives good varied leagues and, they are fast to paint and you still have a lot of characters running around.

[FramFramson]

My 'default' leagues are 6 models: 1 leader, 1 sidekick, 3 allies and 1 Follower. Mainly because It gives good varied leagues and, they are fast to paint and you still have a lot of characters running around.

Yep, that's the starting point for all leagues.

[religon]

I played IHMN before Pulp Alley. I continue to play IHMN, but table time is down about 80% after buying into Pulp Alley. I use many of the same figures. Perilous Island is an excellent supplement. I was less impressed with the two IHMN supplements.

I have a yet-to-be-fielded Lizardman league using 'Gangs' and the 'Mastermind' perk that has 23 figures. Two of my regular opponents use smaller, elite 4-5 man leagues. I often field 6 to 8 characters. Most of the games I have played with disparate leagues sizes have been competitive. I would like to see my Lizardmen in action.

[Wolf Girl]

Dad did this crazy lizardman league for my Venus VSF campaign and it had about 40 models! 

He used the Mastermind perk and a bunch of the 1 slot 'Mob' Gangs. It was really funny to watch. 

[gruulgor]

Wow! Lots of answers  So far all the answers have been exactly what I was looking for. I like the idea of "cinematic" game, in fact I'm playing IHMN with traps and random events, and the average size of 6-8 members per league is perfect for me, my plan is use pulp alley rules to give more "details" to certain characters of our campaing.

So ....I'm in I've just bought the pdf version of pulp alley and perilous island and should start reading them after I finish this post. I'm very excited with this rules and I'll try to post a "battle report" of our first game in spanish in order to help other spaniards

[religon]

Mila wrote...

Dad did this crazy lizardman league for my Venus VSF campaign and it had about 40 models! He used the Mastermind perk and a bunch of the 1 slot 'Mob' Gangs. It was really funny to watch.

Nice picture. I'm curious about how effective the large force was in play. Did the skulking skinks melt away in the face of the brave bevy of beautifully bellicose babes?

I am collecting dinosaurs for a sort of lost civilization valley of the dinosaurs in the heart of Africa...cave girls, lizardmen, Tarzan and expeditionary parties trying to survive while getting chased through the jungle. The idea is a big convention game.

For those collecting smaller dinosaurs, my local Toys-R-Us had clearance Jurassic Park action figures (3.75 inches?) with small dinosaurs for a pittance 2 weeks ago. I cleaned my local store out. The two best figures were a small carnivore (T-Rex) and a pterodactyl of the same size used in WFB Lizardman armies. I bought a pack of 5 nasty carnivores for less than seven dollars. These guys: http://youbentmywookie.com/wookie/gallery/0809-hasbro-announces-exclusive-jurassic-park-toy-line-at-toysrus-stores-nationwide/new%20hasbro%20jurassic%20park%20toys%205.jpg

Apologies to the OP for the dinosaur diversion, but I like me some toothy reptiles.