Games and More Games!

It's been quite a week! The hot weather followed by very heavy rain has prevented me from doing my day job, so I've managed to get quite a bit of painting finished (archaeologists, camels and even some figures from Congo are nearing completion). I've also managed to get quite a few games in. Along with yesterday's Doctor Who game I had a fantastic game of C&C The Great War with John at Friday Night Firefight Club.

 

A really super game!

If that wasn't enough, today was our (now annual) Hail Caesar big game! There were at least 1500 points per side on the (large!) table with five divisions of Romans battling against three divisions of Macedonians supported by two divisions of Indians. My Celts entered as Gaul mercenaries - available to the highest bidder! The Macedonians won the bid for the Gauls and the Romans found themselves on the wrong end of several hundred very sharp sticks!

 

Thanks to everyone for making it such a great day!  

 

Pyramids of Mars - Damsel in Distress

The story so far...

The TARDIS has been pulled from its course and materialised in a rambling old Priory, somewhere in the English countryside. A mysterious Egyptian called Namin has taken up residence and the owner, Marcus Scarman, is missing - last seen at an archaeological dig just outside Cairo. Worried about Marcus' prolonged absence, Dr. Warlock began a desperate search for his friend and pushed his way past the butler, Collins, to discover  the truth that he believed was hidden somewhere in the priory. After a close encounter with Namin and his robot mummies, Warlock and The Doctor together with Sarah Jane and Collins escaped through an old priest hole. Although they didn't find Marcus, they did find an old scroll with hieroglyphs that describe an ancient relay device hidden within an Egyptian tomb. 

 After emerging from a cave entrance, the group fled through the woods hoping to seek refuge with Marcus' brother Laurence. But they are pursued by Namin's mummies. Just as they are nearing safety, A bandaged hand reached out and choked the life from Warlock. 

 The Doctor has a plan, but he is thwarted by a Forcefield that envelops the grounds of The Priory. Taking Sarah Jane he searched for the control mechanism that would allow him to disable it. Again, he and Sarah are pursued by mummies, but The Doctor succeeds and finds the mechanism hidden in an old Egyptian jar. But Sarah finds herself face to face with a mummy and is captured. Before she passes out she sees The Doctor struggle with a mummy. Struggle and fall...

The Doctor rubbed his head and staggered to his feet.

"Sarah!"

[Kyle failed to recover all of The Doctor's hit points in the post game review, so was forced to use two points of luck. He therefore starts this scenario with just 4 luck points]

After stumbling back to the lodge, The Doctor is determined to rescue Sarah from the clutches of Namin.

"We can sneak back in through the cave", suggests Collins.

"Yes!" exclaims The Doctor, "But we'd best split up. Take Laurence through the secret passage and I'll find my own way in through a window." 

 

[Since The Doctor had to find an unlocked window he would enter play after D3 turns - Kyle rolled a 4, so turn 2].    

 

Two mummies stand guard beside the communication device - disguised as an Egyptian sarcophagus. If Namin reaches it he can request a gift from Sutekh...    

 

  

Laurence and Collins emerge from the priest hole.  "I say!" exclaimed Laurence, "I bet she's hidden in a sarcophagus!"   

 

  

Whilst Laurence is searching for Sarah, Namin enters the priory through the hall and scurries along the corridors to communicate with Sutekh.    

 

  

Meanwhile The Doctor finds the window to the library unlocked. He opens it and climbs through. 

"Hmm" he muses, "should be able to find something useful here..." 

[Before the game started, the library was designated as a location where inventions could be discovered]   

 

  

Laurence finds nothing amongst the dusty boxes, but his actions attract the attention of a robot mummy. Luckily Laurence has brought his rifle and when he hears the door open he spins around and shoots the mummy square in the chest!  

[unfortunately for Kyle each mummy has two hit points] 

Collins cowers in fear on the balcony whilst Laurence retreats, firing as he goes. The mummy seems impervious to his bullets. Laurence closes his eyes...   

 

  

But the mummy climbs the stairs and heads straight towards Collins!  

[in this scenario a dead Collins is worth more VP to me!]   

 

  

Taking aim, Laurence fires again. The mummy staggers and then falls!  

While The Doctor continues to work on his invention, Namin reaches the communication device. Sutekh speaks... And grants the gift of another robot mummy! 

"Kill them!" commands Namin, "Kill them all!"

The mummy enters Laurence's room and shuffles towards the stairs. Again Laurence fires. The mummy staggers but remains standing.

Collins panicks and leaps from the balcony. He runs across the room and takes refuge behind some crates. 

Bullets bounce off the mummy as it shuffles towards Collins. The mummy pushes aside the boxes and grabs Collins who is crushed to death. 

Another mummy heads off towards the library, but The Doctor has made a breakthrough and discovered how to block the signal that controls the robot mummies.

[the invention roll was jammer +2]

The Doctor adjusts his sonic screwdriver and the mummy suddenly lurches to the side crashing into a wall! 

Seeing his chance, The Doctor sprints past the mummy and flings open the lid of a sarcophagus. Inside is Sarah Jane, a little shaken but otherwise unharmed. 

"Doctor!", cries Sarah, "Let's get away from this beastly place!"

"We will Sarah, but first we must stop Sutekh or he will destroy Earth!"

Namin calls once more upon Sutekh for assistance. 

The communication device pulsates and a dark figure appears. 

"Sutekh grants a gift" it announces. "Sutekh grants the gift of death!"

Grabbing Namin, Sutekh's minion discharges a pulse of energy and Namin drops to the ground dead.

"Sutekh needs only one servant!"

The minion seems to shimmer and then transforms into the pale, ghost like incarnation of Marcus Sharman!

Marcus turns to the communication device. 

"Build me a rocket!" Sutekh demands. "Build me a rocket that will free me from these bonds!" 

"Did you hear that Doctor?" exclaimed Sarah Jane. "The voice sounded like it came from inside my head."

"Yes Sarah. Sutekh's psychic powers are growing stronger. We must hurry!"

Suddenly there's a noise behind them.

"But we'll have to do something about that robot mummy first!"

[time for Kyle to bring out the big guns!]

[time for Kyle's dad to show who's got the biggest guns!]

Using his jammer to disable the pursuing mummy, The Doctor leads Sarah Jane back to the storeroom. 

"But I don't understand Doctor! Why can't we just leave? We know Sutekh doesn't destroy Earth. I'm from the future, he can't destroy it!" 

"Can't he?"

The Doctor and Sarah Jane enter the TARDIS. 

"Where are we?" asks Sarah Jane. 

"Earth" replies The Doctor. "This is the future Earth if Sutekh frees himself from his prison" 

Back in 1911, Laurence continues to struggle with a seemingly endless onslaught of robot mummies. Despite his sure aim, he realises that he can't fight his way further into the priory. Pursued onto the balcony, he climbs into the priest hole and escapes. 

The TARDIS rematerialises in the storeroom. The Doctor and Sarah Jane check that they are alone before leaving the TARDIS and opening a window. They then climb through, back into the grounds of the priory. 

"You see Sarah. We can't just leave. Now come on there's a rocket to stop!"

Stay tuned for Hit the Hut!

Pack Animals

I picked up these camels last year at SELWG and intend for them to be scenery items for our DWMG campaign.  

With the demise of my iPad blogging software, I've been hunting around for a replacement. Blogging directly in Blogger is quite a faff on an iPad and the Blogger iPad app is, well poor. Anyway I've now found BlogPad Pro. We'll see how it works after a couple of posts...   

Intrepid Explorers for DWMG and Congo

Bit of a milestone. Last four figures are now painted for our DWMG Pyramids of Mars campaign. I've also finished all of the terrain bits I need for the last scenario. Here's a sneak peak.

I took these shots to see how the terrain items sat together, the actual game will likely be played in a smaller area.

The robot mummies will be aided by a group of tomb robbers.

And here are the last four figures, stalwart archaeologists ready to dig into the Ancient tombs for the advancement of science, but completely unprepared for what they might unearth...

I rather suspect that these four may well find themselves on a slow boat to The Congo once our DWMG campaign is finished!

Pyramids of Mars - May the Force (Field) Be With You

Once again escaping Namin and his servitor robots, The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Collins the butler join Laurence Clemons in his hunting lodge.

"Poor Dr. Warlock." sighs Sara Jane.

On a table before them sits an unusual scientific instrument...

The Doctor examines the apparatus and uses his sonic screwdriver to decode the bleeps it is emitting.

"B e w a r e  S u t e k h ..."

"How could you possibly know that!" exclaims Laurence.

"Well you see, Mr. Scarman" replies The Doctor "I have the advantage of being slightly ahead if you. Sometimes behind you, but normally ahead of you."

"I see" 

Smiling, The Doctor turns to Laurence "I'm sure you don't, but it's very nice of you to try."

"But what are we to do?" asks Sarah.

"I have a plan. But the grounds appear to be shielded by some type of force field." replies The Doctor "We must first find a way to disable it..."

The Doctor and Sarah Jane leave Laurence and the still trembling Collins in the Lodge and make their way across the grounds of The Priory. 

"Look!" Exclaims The Doctor

Sarah Jane looks to where The Doctor is pointing "Egyptian urns?"  

"Of course, Egyptian urns! We'll find a control mechanism for the force field in one of them, I'm sure." states The Doctor.

While pondering what to do next, the sound of snapping twigs can be heard in the distance and four robot mummies appear from the dense undergrowth. 

"Let's distract them." says The Doctor.

[Mighty Kyle rolls a 6 allowing him to move all six figures on the table]

The mummies inexplicably shuffle their way into a thicket, while The Doctor and Sarah Jane carefully make their way to the first urn.

But as they move around the trees, a nasty surprise awaits.

The Doctor catches his foot in a poacher's snare set earlier in the day by Clements. 

"Ouch!" 

The Doctor falls to the ground, stunned.

Regaining his composure, The Doctor nurses his sore ankle and examines the closest urn.

But it is empty! 

Meanwhile the robot mummies shuffle ever closer.

"We'd best split up Doctor" says Sarah Jane as she disappears behind a thicket.

"Be careful Sarah!" warns The Doctor. 

The Doctor approaches the second urn but is confronted by a robot mummy. The Doctor takes aim with his sonic screwdriver and the mummy falls to the ground, stunned.

But the second urn is also empty!

Disabling two more robot mummies, The Doctor follows Sarah Jane to the third urn.

Before she can reach the urn, Sarah Jane is ambushed!

"Help!" She screams.

But to no avail, she is grabbed by the mummy. Struggle as she might Sarah Jane is unable to free herself and the mummy drags her back towards The Priory.

Unable to run because of the difficult ground conditions, The Doctor eventually finds his way to the third and final urn.

"Sarah!" shouts The Doctor. "Where on earth is she?"

The Doctor opens the urn but is unable to deactivate the mechanism.

[Kyle failed his intelligence test, but then plays this]

"ah hah!" exclaims The Doctor. With a click the mechanism switches off and the force field around The Priory powers down.

"But where is Sarah?" He puzzles.

Distracted by Sarah's disappearance he doesn't realise the approaching danger, until it is too late!

The robot mummies have reactivated themselves and one strikes The Doctor. Spinning to confront his foe, The Doctor attempts to deactivate it with his sonic screwdriver.

But fails, three times! 

His luck deserting him, The Doctor crumples to the ground...

With a muffled yell, Sarah Jane looks on horrified. The world suddenly goes fuzzy and then dark as a musty, bandaged hand covers her face...

Stay tuned for Damsel in Distress! 

Pyramids of Mars - Flight of the Intruder

The secret panel slowly slid back into place, closing the entrance to the priest hole and hiding their escape. 

"It's awfully dark down here!" exclaimed Dr. Warlock. 

"Never mind the dark, what's that awful smell?!" remarked Sarah Jane.

"I'm so terribly sorry Miss." muttered Collins "The foreign food that the Egyptian chap insists upon really doesn't agree with me..."

"Excuse me Doctor! There's daylight and fresh air ahead!"

Blinking in the daylight, Sarah Jane crawled from the mouth of the cave. 

"Oh dear. Doctor, I think we have trouble!"

"Do be careful Sarah" said the Doctor as he gently pulled Sarah Jane back into the cave before emerging to assess the situation. 

The Doctor, Sarah Jane, Dr. Warlock and Collins the butler had managed to escape from Namin but now found themselves in the grounds of The Priory being hunted by the Egyptian's murderous servitor robots - disguised as ancient mummies. 

"If we can get to The Lodge we can ask Marcus' brother Laurence for help" suggested Warlock. 

"Good plan!" whispered the Doctor "We'd best get going."

  

The Doctor hurried his companions from the cave and the group crept towards the Lodge climbing over rocks that blocked their path. Nearby a lone mummy stood guard.

 

Carefully taking aim, The Doctor's sonic screwdriver let out a pulse of energy and the closest mummy crumpled to the ground. 

"Run!" shouted The Doctor.

But another mummy stood between them and the Lodge. 

"Sarah!" shouted The Doctor "where are you going?"

Sarah suddenly became disorientated and wandered off in the direction of the pursuing mummies! 

Realising her error, Sarah retreated from the pursuing mummy. 

Meanwhile, Collins made a quick dash for The Lodge but found himself face to face with a mummy. Screaming with fear Collins fled and threw himself into a thicket. 

Seeing his chance, Warlock made for a gap in the hedge. But he was too slow!

A bandaged hand reached out and Warlock found himself held tight. Too tight! Before he had chance to call for help Warlock's lifeless body fell to the ground. 

"Help!" shouted Sarah Jane as yet more mummies advanced. 

Overcoming his fear, Collins scrambled through the gap in the hedge. 

A shot rang out in the woods, Namin had arrived! 

But it was too late, The Doctor and Sarah Jane managed to evade the mummy that stood over Warlock's lifeless body and ran towards the Lodge. 

"You chaps look like you could do with a drink." remarked Laurence "Best come in!"

Stay tuned for May the Force (Field) Be With You!

  

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