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!

OFF THE WORKBENCH, AT LAST!

I have not posted for a while as life and work ate into my time. One of the posts from a few weeks ago listed projects I had on my workbench in an effort to incentivise me to finish them.

My new Supernatural Investigator and SWAT team members. This was taken just before final detailing and varnishing.

One of the projects was to paint a new protagonist and three SWAT team members for my Cops faction for A Fistful of Kung Fu.

I am happy to announce that they have now been completed.

A FISTFUL OF KUNG FU: THE FU YU STUDIO RAID.

This Wednesday's game saw my Cops faction raiding the Fu Yu Studios, the plot being to discover a secret held by Del's supernatural creatures, led by his Taoist sorcerer.

Two views of the Fu Yu film studios. Note the varied styles of the buildings and the generic markers to show that the 'crowd' trait was in force. This slowed movement and raised the possibility of bystanders being shot. This would mean the loss of one Chi for my Cops, as the nominal 'good' side.

The plot complication was 'monsoon'. This gave a -1 to ranged attacks and generally made things more slippery. To extract the secret, my cops need to grapple an enemy and spend a full turn 'milking' them for information. Then a d6 is rolled. I find the secret when I have a total of eight points.

The cops enter in two groups to try and find the dispersed demons. The Taoist sorcerer has taken aup position in the tower.

An early loss: the Taoist sorcerer casts a fireball. My veteran cop valiantly sacrifices himself to save his colleagues. Sadly a bystander is also incinerated, this scatters the crowds and eases movement.

My heroic cop Chi jumps to attack and successfully grapple a flying demon. The other cops move to protect him during 'questioning'. One rookie cop fires off all his ammo at the hopping vampire. The glass beads show which figures have activated, The red markers show effects on figures.

The flying demon gives up five points of secret. The hopping vampire knocks down the rookie cop, but is in turn cut down by the SWAT team. The monkey demon has ensnared the other rookie cop, to make him easier to attack.

With no more info to give up, the flying demon is dispatched. Another flies in to support the sorcerer, who has come to intervene.

In an effort to stop some cultists intervening, the SWAT sergeant attacks. He knocks one down, but is killed in the end.

The sorceror transfixes the heroic cop, interrupting his milking of another flying demon. The SWAT team try to break the sorcerer's hold.

The monkey demon takes out the rookie cop.

The sorcerer is driven off. Questioning continues.

The demon breaks free, briefly, but is grappled again. Will the delay allow rescue or death?

Careful milking generates the three points required to discover the secret. The cops are successful.

Once again, a great narrative game that gives the atmosphere and feeling of the type of film the game is inspired by. The mechanic allowing protagonists to react to opponents failed dice rolls means that the emphasis is on them and allows them to recover from potentially disastrous situations.

As can be seen from this report, the game took place in a very small area. There was constant action and the other player is always involved; waiting for failed activation rolls!

The monsoon complication added to the game. It meant a -1 for shooting, which reduced my cops' long range advantage. It also added to the narrative, as an explanation for weapon malfunctions my SWAT team experienced as a result of negative gun fu rolls.

A FISTFUL OF KUNG FU: DEMONS VERSUS MONKS.

Here are a few photos of a recent game of AFoKF involving David's Shaolin monks and Derek's Demons. The scenario objective was for David to find a piece of information by grappling and questioning the opposition. Each enemy could only be questioned once.

Overall view of the battlefield. Demos of the left, The Order of The Smoking Fist* on the right.

Early moves.

A couple of clashes between the foes.

Another demon is knocked down.

The sorcerer keeps the monks at bay, but cannot stop the master monk from obtaining the information.

This was an interesting game. Both sides were dependent on hand to hand combat. The monks' 'Dashing' trait was a great advantage and soon saw the Demons overwhelmed. The sorcerer was able to  use his spells to keep the monks at a distance, but could not effect the result in the end.


* The faction name is a bitof a smokescreen. David had only been able to undercoat his monks,

A FISTFUL OF KUNG FU:FIND THE SNITCH!

Last night saw my Cops taking on David's Shaolin Monks. The plot was 'capture someone'and saw my corrupt Heroic Cop and his henchmen trying to track down a witness in hiding. The monks were trying to stop them. 

Early in the game. The SWAT team approach a ruined building to search it, unaware that a monk has already beaten the to it.

SWAT begin their search. In the background a rookie cop stands guard, while the Heroic Cop searches another ruin.

Several views of the game- long battle between the two protagonists. It's progress measured by the number of counters! 

The game was dominated by a fight between the two protagonists. During the clash, which was sustained by use of reactions to failed activation rolls by other figures, both characters took wounds, My cop took a wound from a successful Quivering Palm. As wounds reduce combat ability, the good monk began to get the upper hand. Eventually he wore down my corrupt cop, who was knocked out and then dispatched. The ensuing morale check saw the remaining cops beat a hasty retreat as the corrupt cop's hold on them died with him.

The battle between the protagonists was really like what would be seen on screen. It really brought home the atmosphere of the genre the game portrays.

WHAT'S ON MY WORKBENCH THIS WEEK?

In an effort to help me focus on, and complete, projects, I have decided to post regularly what is on my workbench. The theory being that, once in the public domain, I will have an incentive to complete them.

First up are the two projects for the next week or so are to paint three more SWAT team members for my A Fistful of Kung Fu cops. I also intend to paint a Crooked Dice Tiny Templeton figure for use as a supernatural investigator protagonist for my Cops.

Late Macedonian DBA army and reinforcements for my Cops. 

Secondly, I intend to do a bit of retouching of the paint job and flocking of bases on a DBA Late Macedonian army. This has been put together from a batch of assorted DBA figures that I bought at Carronade, from the flea market. There are enough figures to make up three  Late Macedonian DBA armies, so I will be able to cover all the variations.  There are also a large number of \Thracian figures for future projects.

Look out for an update.

REASONABLY PRICED CARS FOR STARS.

More useful finds for Fistful of Kung Fu and 7YV games. I was in The Works, in Aberdeen today and they are selling off 1/43 scale contemporary cars for £2 each. 

A Range Rover and BMW X5. Tiny Templeton, by Crooked Dice, used to give an idea of scale.

The Works seem to be selling off vehicles and figures, that were originally sold as part of magazine part-works, for reasonable prices. As well as the cars, they are selling 54mm Napoleonic figures and 1/43 and 1/72  die cast military vehicles. As the Works has branches all over the UK, this may be of interest to some of my readers here.

POUNDSHOP FIND!

I picked up this little fellow in Poundland in Aberdeen. He is from the Anipals Wildlife range. http://www.anipals.com/us/animal/2

I immediately thought that he would be useful for games of A Fistful of Kung Fu, amongst others, where he could be used as a combat trained gorilla, or even a normal goralla. There are a few other animals available too, such as a crocodile, elephant and rhino.

A FISTFUL OF KUNG FU.

Last Wednesday saw our first game of A Fistful of Kung Fu. David set out the terrain, consisting of a couple of buildings, a wood and a Japanese garden. The garden is a 2D print.

Del used his Demons an I gave my Cops their first outing.  The scenario was that my Cops had to find a hidden Person Of Interest in one of the main terrain features. The Demons were also on the look out for them. The scenario complication was a hidden Artefact. This meant that both sides would be doing a lot of searching!

A view of the terrain.

Another view of the printed Japanese Garden.

My Cops get their first outing. 

I decided to concentrate my force, to allow me to search systematically, whilst giving mutual support. Del split up his force with the Flying Demons and Human Cultists moving to search various points at the same time.

Early moves saw my cops search the house for the hidden POI. The Demons are spread out to cover more ground. 

After searching the first house, my SWAT team headed for the wood. Del's Taoist Sorcerer targeted them with a Fireball, killing or knocking down the whole team.

Del's Taoist Sorcerer casts a fireball, taking out the SWAT team.

My detective and a beat cop check out the first house.

After checking out the house, the detective takes a shot at Human Cultist. The Taoist Sorcerer and entourage are in the background. 

The Human Cultist rushes through a hail of bullets to attack the detective. He manages to take him out.

My Detective (protagonist), tried to flank the Demons but was taken out by a Human Cultist, who braved a hail of bullets to charge him down.

The last member of the SWAT team was taken out by a flying Demon, who was in turn taken out by my Veteran Cop. He also knocked down the Taoist Sorcerer, who had closed in for the kill with his entourage, with a powerful shotgun blast. As the Veteran Cop was my last man standing, We called the game as the Demons only had to stop me reaching my victory conditions to win.

Once we got going, the familiar systems from other 'Songs' games that we have played in the past came back to us. We will need to do a bit of research and familiarisation on the traits, stunts and magic, but overall, we are hooked!