A FISTFUL OF KUNG FU: THIEVING DEMONS!

This Wednesday's game saw Derek's Demons having to break into a guarded building to steal a dangerous piece of treasure. The Demons, of course, attacked at night. 

Initial deployment. A flying demon has managed to avoid the guards in the surrounding area and stands at the door of the inn, where the artefact is stored.

The flying demon is joined by an ape and a hopping vampire. A SWAT trooper and a veteran cop are on the scene.

The ape works to pry loose the artifact,while the cops and the supernatural investigator close in. 

The Taoist Sorcerer fires a fireball at the investigator and two SWAT troopers, killing the troopers and recoiling the investigator, who used his acrobat trait to jump clear.

The ape frees the artefact and starts to make his way off the table. The other demons prepare to run interference.

The investigator attempts to exorcise the flying demon and get through to the ape, but he loses the melee and is recoiled.

A flying demon is taken out by a SWAT trooper. Note the zombie that has appeared, attracted by the concentration of supernatural power.

With the investigator at bay, the veteran cop and SWAT trooper pursue the ape.

The ape manages to evade it's pursuers and escapes, protected by the sorcerer and three cultists.

The flying demon attacks the SWAT trooper, who is distracted by the sight of  the zombie greedily feasting on one of his colleagues.

This was a fairly quick game. Derek managed to get his protagonist, the sorcerer, to make an early breakthrough by making a hole in my cordon. The scenario dictated that my team was spread out, therefore vulnerable to such an attack. My protagonist failed to take full advantage of the activation dice failures as he kept failing his rolls! This left him standing around for long periods, the first time this has happened in any of the games we have played. Still, the game told another good filmic story.

A FISTFUL OF KUNG FU: COPS AGAINST YAKUZA.

Our last Wednesday game saw my Cops take on David's newly put together Yakuza. The scenario was 'Challenge' the location was the city streets (in monsoon conditions, again!).

David's Yakuza protagonist was thirsting for revenge after my Supernatural Investigator had helped the cops exorcise some of his demon allies.

The opening stages of the game. My investigator is looking a little isolated away from his Cop escort.

The cops rush to protect their ward, as the Yakuza forces draw close.

On the other flank, no Yakuza in sight.

My veteran cop bruiser gets in the way of the Yakuza protagonist. My protagonist has been disarmed after being shot at.

The Yakuza manages to avoid the bruiser and leaps on the investigator. After a battle lasting several game turns, he was victorious, first by humbling and then knocking out my protagonist. 

The narrative quality of the game is really exciting. The action concentrates on the protagonists as they benefit from failed activation rolls from others. Even though I lost, I enjoyed the game. Just like watching a movie!

ANOTHER 'TANKS' TRYOUT.

A couple of Thursdays back saw me introduce Rick to 'Tanks'. I used my collection of Axis & Allies Miniatures, since I have moved on my 15mm collection , and only have the starter models in 15mm, and my 10mm buildings and trees to give the terrain a more 3D look. 

To start, we did the ' Barkmann's Corner' scenario.

The game set up.

Early moves. Barkmann's panther scores a hit on one of the Shermans.

The Panther takes a critical hit, in return reducing it's attack dice to 2. 

The Panther is engaged by both Shermans. 

The Panther and Sherman both hit each other. The Sherman takes a hit and is destroyed.

The Panther destroys the second Sherman.

The game was very familiar, the mechanics being based on the likes of X-Wing and Star Trek: Attack Wing, and played well enough. At times it was too similar to those games as there was something 'not right' about tanks haring about like fighters, trying to get the best shot. This was probably due to their being no infantry or anti tank threat in the game. We decided to see how the game would play with a number of tanks on each side. I took the Germans, Rick the Russians. We played with no upgrades or crew.

The Germans and Russians move to contact.

View from the German lines.

Hits scored on the German forces.

Russian fire takes out the German PzIVs.

Although the Germans lost heavily, it was an entertaining game. The greater number of tanks meant we were a bit cagey with our movement and positioning. It is a useful game to throw on at short notice or as a filler. Interesting to see if the game gets any expansions other than tanks.