And here we have the third game of Poldercon…once again Captain Wolf against Minerva and once again a whole different game. This time my dedicated players were Ron and Dick-Jan(Drunkendwarf). Ron donned the cap and heavy raincoat, while Dick-Jan came marching in black leather boots and heavy stahlhelm. Before the game the players drew scenario cards. Ron received a Backup (a level 1 Brawler) and Dick-Jan attributed to the Perils (he drew the Danger-Danger! card which turned Perilous Areas into Extremely Perilous Areas!).
Scenario: The Eyes of Quatzacutl
Both leagues are in South America in search of the ancient Eyes of Quatzacutl, two giant pink rubies. They have entered the area around the ancient temple of Quatzacutl. They know the Eyes must be somewhere in this location, but they don’t know where.
The game starts with three Plot Points on the table; two are close to the leagues and one is right in the middle of the table. Once a league completes a Plot Point, they will find the location of the Major Plot Point: the Eyes. The gems are either in the temple, in the Crystal Skull’s eye sockets OR they are hidden in the gigantic hollow tree. Once the other player also completes a Plot Point, both players will know where to go.
So the race is on for the Eyes of Quatzacutl…there is not much daylight left and the two leagues must hurry to find the treasure. The game lasts 6 turns and at the end of turn 6 night has fallen and both leagues retreat to the safety of their camps.Deployment
Here we have Minerva and her companions deploying close to the bas-relief statue. Both Dieter and Minerva go straight for the big stone for their first clue.
Captain Wolf had met one of his old contacts from years back, an old friend from Sinagpore. Chen Lee was eager for some action and quickly joined in the search for the Eyes of Quatzacutl. The group of sailors all deployed in the centre, close to the first Plot Point. So both leagues were going fast for the first clues!
Minerva was the first to get down to it and inspected the Bas-Relief closely. By interpreting the drawing, finding the hidden levers and completing the puzzle in the right order she found what she was looking for. The Eyes of Quatzacutl were located in the huge jungle tree!
Both Dieter and Wanda went straight for the big tree, while Stahl and Franz went for the other flank to keep the Sailors occupied.
Wolf pushed the vegetation aside and searched the area around the thick basalt blocks. Underneath some rubble he found a golden idol. The runes on the idol were clear…the Eyes were inside the hollow tree. Now both leagues knew where they had to go.
Both Kerry and Bosun Hayes followed the captain and learned the location straight away. The signalled the others and Mr. Grumpy and Chen Lee ran up to get close to the large tree.
Kerry rounded the large grove, spotted Herr Stahl and fired his shotgun. Although a veteran fighter, Stahl responded too late and was hurt by Kerry. The Seadog cheered loudly.
Stahl simply shrugged off the wound and moved into cover of the large carved stone.
Hayes tried to keep the pressure on Stahl and ran up to Mr. Grumpy with his gun drawn. Action was bound to follow as both Sidekicks aimed their pistols…
Dieter thought he could plug Bosun Hayes while he was doing a staring contest with Stahl, but the Bosun was a veteran and spotted the Nazi git fast enough. Both fired at each other and it was the Nazi who went down.
Both Wanda and Minerva ran up, checking up on Dieter but he was too gravely wounded to continue fighting.
Then gunshots flew left and right as Minerva and Bosun Hayes fired ineffectively at each other and Stahl went for Mr. Grumpy. The monkey was a fast monkey, but not fast enough to dodge Stahl’s shots. Mr. Grumpy went down!
Chen Lee tried to make an impact and somersaulted through the bush towards the Major Plot Point, but he landed in an ant nest and was devoured by the large carnivorous ants. Oops…
Smiling, Kerry saw that Stahl was preoccupied with Mr. Grumpy. He quickly loaded a nasty Buckshot shell into his Shotgun. He moved up, rounded a large statue and fired his shot at Stahl. BOOM! Stahl was clearly rattled by the pellets, but his heavy coat and steel helmet kept him safe…for now.
Instead of a race for the treasures, this became a Gunfight at the O.K. Corral…in the jungle. Almost all characters were now firing at each other. Most shots were ineffectual and only contributed to the intense noise, but Wolf was a sure shot and shot Wanda down. Two Germans down versus one sailor.
As Stahl wanted to act, he was peppered again by Buckshot and this time he was hurt. He fired back at Kerry but his aim was off. Fortunately for him, Franz moved up to support his superior. Firing his MP40 fully automatic, he traded shots with Seadog Kerry. Both of them were gunning well and both of them went down! Fortunately for Stahl, this meant he didn’t have to worry about Buckshot anymore!
Then Mr. Grumpy and Kerry Wanda went out of the game! Both Franz and Wanda stood up again.
Seeing her soldiers were going down quickly now, Minerva decided to move closer to the treasure. After all, this was what she was here for. She easily moved through the extremely perilous areas and evaded the ancient spike traps.
But Minerva didn’t see Bosun Hayes who moved into the hollow of the large tree. He easily evaded the hungry centipedes and squashed several with his heavy boots. When he was next to the altar he turned around and fired at Minerva, wounding her!
The Leaders were both only several feet away from each other now! Both saw the glittering reflections from the Eyes from the hollow. Deckhand Sam moved up to his Captain and traded shots with Herr Stahl.
Blam! Blam! Blam! Wolf and Minerva traded shots tried to dodge each other’s bullets. But both of their aims was off and nothing happened!
But this gave Bosun Hayes the opportunity to start prying the rubies from the altar. He was using his might as good as he could and he was closing to prying them loose. Almost there!
Deckhand Sam was shot by the wounded Herr Stahl and went out. Poor old Sam, he never does a thing in the game
Wolf quickly moved through the thick vegetation, evading the biting centipedes. He helped his Bosun to get the Eyes from the altar…but he failed utterly! His sweaty hands were too slippery on the rubies.
Then it was all shooting again! while Minerva and Wolf traded shots again. This time both wounded each other and then Stahl shot Wolf again, wounding him once more. Then Wanda helped her boss and also shot Wolf who went down!
Seeing their chance, both Stahl and Franz went for the large stone in the centre to extract more treasure.
While Wolf rose from the dust, his Bosun
again failed to get the rubies (yes, that is two attempts at 3d8 and one attempt at 3d10 to get a total of 3 results!). So the sailors were SO close to success but just couldn’t finish it. So instead Herr Stahl pried a fist-sized pearl from the statue. Success!
And then darkness descended upon the jungle and the struggle ended. With 2 Plot Points versus 1 Plot Point, the Nazis had won the game!
AftermathWhat a game! Completely different from the other two games with way more gunfights (and no Brawls at all!) and a very weird ending with the Major Plot Point. Ron tried three times to get the Plot Point. His first attempt with Sidekick Bosun Hayes yielded him two successes, so he was close to obtaining it. But then the next two attempts utterly failed (6 dice…no 4+ on d8 and d10’s!) and so he ended the game with empty hands. His planned his approach on the Major Plot Point very well, but then the dice just failed. With the centre of the jungle in his clutches, Dick-Jan could get a second Plot Point and thus win the game. An unexpected ending, but thrilling nonetheless (maybe a bit frustrating for Ron though
).
Next up, the fourth and last game…the one with the most epic and thrilling endings of Pulp Alley I have ever seen
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April 19, 2024, 10:15:02 PM
February 13, 2015, 06:59:16 PM