Trying out Fivecore Pulp

Having missed a few title releases from NWG while I had my impromptu hiatus, I decided to start with a new Fivecore variant, Fivecore Pulp.

On some unnamable planet, our hero, Nyland Smith, has finally found it!

"It may look like any other cave, but this is the one I tell you!" He stated, not without a great deal of enthusiasm, to his local guides. The hirelings looked suspicious, but then they weren't trained in Xenoarcheology. 

He could only hope that this really was it, and that his competitors hadn't beat him to it!

Making their way through the narrow passages, the party come upon a decidedly aftificial construction. He had been right, the treasure must be here!

Searching through the abandoned facility, Nyland Smith and his followers come upon a locked blast door. After some time trying to pry it open, one of the locals summoned Smith to his side. "Sir, there is some panel here you see, it started up as soon as we started prying at the door. It has some strange symbols.."
 "Let me see." Nyland checked over the panel, touching a few symbols he recognized. Somewhere, a power-cell hummed and the blast door suddenly shot open.
 

The they stepped in through the door, our hero saw that he had been correct. Inside the improvised vault was heaps of gold and other precious metals. Various alien artifact could be seen in the piles of treasure as well. "I was right, I knew it!" Smith exclaimed.

 In the cavernous hall outside the vault, the followers yelled exitedly. Nyland came running to see what all the fuzz was about, and stopped in his tracks as he saw them. Space pirates!

"Ah, Mr Smith, we meet again." A pirate clad in copper-colored armor stepped out.

 "Jagar, I'm afraid I beat you to the punch" Smith smiled as he said this.

"Yes, but I have more guns, so I believe that what was yours is now mine." Jagar shot back, the smirk in his voice evident.

Not wanting to give up his newly aquired treasure that he had worked so hard for, Smith got ready to fight for his life.

Jagar had clearly expected this, so as Nyland moves, both sides open fire, lasers and slugs flying left and right. A rifle-shot cracked the face-plate of a pirate, knocking him out of the fight.

Charging through a hail of gunfire, leveling his shotgun at the pirate with a pulse-machinegun, the follower in green fire, knocking over his target.

He is quickly forced to duck down by the crate  next to him as Jagar sends a torrent of energy from his weapon towards the follower.

A brave pirate throws himself in behind a set of barrels, firing his sub-gun on full auto. His shots go wide, but the followers duck instinctivly.

Running to his ailing comrade, the follower in blue helps him up on his feet, dodging fire from the two pirates closest to them.

Back on his feet, Smith's shotgun-toting follower charges into the injured pirate, slaming him into the wall. As the big pirate got his bearings, he swiped a power-assisted arm. Swatted like a fly, his attacker falls back, injured but still in the fight.

To stop Jagar taking any cheap shots at his local men, Nyland Smith fires off a few shots, forcing the pirate leader back behind the pillar.

As he runs across the open space, he suddenly senses danger...

..For he'd forgotten about the last pirate, hiding behind the barrels! The sub-gun barks a sharp burst, knocking the wind out of our hero!

At the same time, the local in blue pins down the last pirate.

Knocked sensless, the follower in green can't defend himself as the big pirate close on him with his fists, taking the man out of the fight.

Charging ahead like a bull, the big pirate faces off against Nyland, who just got his wind back.
Ducking, blocking and trading punches, the pirate is eventually forced back, earning our hero a brief reprieve.

Seeing a chance to overpower his foe, Jagar charged from behind. Still out of breath, Smith manages to keep from being knocked out, but is pushed back!

 Taking advantage of the lack of attention, the follower in blue avenges his comrade by attacking the exposed back of the big pirate.

Aiming his gun, Smith dents and damages the armour of Jagar, forcing him to run for cover.

Deciding that his best chances lay in escape, one of the pirates take off, running for the door.

"Jagar, you'd best give up, we have you beat!" Nyland Smith yells at the pirate lord, as his followers take care of disarming the remaining pirate and tending to their friend.
 "You win this time, Smith, but I'll be back, these treasures will be mine!" Jagar boasts as he falls back, careful not to turn his back to the victors.

So what did I think of FiveCore Pulp?

A solid addition to the existing lineup, with the addition of the Cinematic move, an extra 3 dice you can use to make suitable pulpy moves like swinging on ropes and jumping across rooftops, is the most iconic thing from this particular set.

Like the earlier titles, Fivecore has the same simple and fast playstyle with all the bits and pieces that I've come to expect from the NWG titles, lots of tables for generating characters, scenarios and situations as well as a comprehensive set of campaign tools.

The focus on more terrain and interaction with it was welcome as well, allowing for some more focus on traps and overcoming obstacles with exploration rather than just shooting bad guys. Mind you, there's plenty of that too if you are so inclined. It just makes it possible to recreate situations from movies and games like Indiana jones, the Uncharted and Tomb Raider series, which makes sense since it's all about pulp!

The only thing I found a bit lacking was the amount of pre-made items in the book, and the lack of any form of vehicle rules, for those fights on top of moving trucks or air-plane wings, but these are minor complaints and really doesn't detract from the game itself.

Racking my brain trying to decide what to do next, I've not touched any of my 6mm fantasy stuff in what seems like an age. That realization, combined with a healthy bit of Skyrim mixed in have got me in the mood for some dungeon crawling. So watch this space and you are likely to see lasers replaced with broadswords for some time to come.

Til next time!

Fighting retreat; A Horizon Wars AAR

After the initial success of their raids, Burke's Iron Men started to feel the push-back from Zephyr.

Having pulled off a hit and run on a supply convoy, an all power armor detachment of IM infantry is falling back through the rocky desert badlands. They know that some sort of pursuit force must be coming for them, and before long a heavy mech and some tanks appear in the distance.

 They will be upon the infantrymen soon and so the decision has been made for them, this will be a fighting retreat!

Six fireteams of the Iron Men power-armoured heavy infantry take up positions on the slopes of a terraced rock formation. 

Passing between the last outpost towers, the Zephyr pursuit force is ready to run their enemy to the ground.

The very ground shake as the heavy footfalls of the mech takes it into cover by a large boulder. His heavy guns open up on the infantry, blowing great holes into the bedrock and pelting them with rock shrapnel. No less than three fireteams return fire, determined to discourage the warmachine from coming closer. Micro-rockets and shells strike the metal giant, temporarily disrupting his aim. 

Moving to engage the besieged mech, one of the fireteams set out across the desert floor.

A heavy grav-tank moves up and fires at the ailing infantrymen targeted by the mech, further damaging them.

Seeing and opportunity to cause some real damage, the moving power armour changes direction, charging directly into the speeding tank, firing as they go.

A great thunderclap and the groaning of over-taxed metal can be heard as the heavy infantry´s assault eats through the vehicle and causes a fatal detonation.   

The victorious Iron Men´s celebration is short-lived however, as a second tank moves into point-blank range before firing all their weaponry. The already damaged suits can't take another beating like this, and the team fall, out of the fight.

After the successful charge and subsequent defeat of their comrades, the remaining Iron Men dig in, aware that they couldn't outrun their pursuers, especially not with unit 2 heavily damaged.

Adopting a more cautious approach, the tanks stand back and fire rather than risk another close combat with the deadly infantry. The dug-in infantry takes some damage from the fusillade, but return fire, giving as good as they get.

Growing bold one tank commander orders an advance, focusing fire on one of the more exposed infantry units..

.. And soon the second tank follow suit, gunning it´s engines and firing as they go.

The targeted unit is withering under the barrage of lasers and bullets, but they hold..

..Until they get close enough! With a roar, the infantry charges into the fire, trusting their armour and speed to keep them safe. Landing on the tank, the unit proceeds to rip it apart with their enhanced strenght, shooting and smashing the tank point blank. The vehicle shudders and drops to the ground as the power finally fails. Another tank down!

Using it's bulk, the last tank avenges it's fallen comrade in short order, running over the remaining few heavy infantry, but not before they dent the last tank some as well.

Not wanting to waste their comrades sacrifice, the entrenched infantry starts falling back, putting the rocks between them and their hunters. Disaster strikes for the rearguard as the Zephyr mech catches up, the already damaged suits can't shield their charges from the intense damage from the many guns of the mecha.

With most of their pursuers damaged and destroyed, the remainder of the infantry manage to escape as the hunters break off pursuit to begin rescue and recovery as well as POW securement on the battlefield.

Again Burke´s Iron Men have pulled off a tough operation, yet it came at a high cost to both sides, with roughly 50 % of combatants ineffective on both sides.

I ran this scenario to test out just how well infantry would to against armour without any air or armoured support of their own. Safe to say, they are still a real threat! If they had been caught in the open, or fighting in a populated area I think the results would have swung widely in favor of one side or the other, but even so they did a good job.

I have a few ideas for games I'd like to play, so in the next few weeks I hope to come to a decision and have another AAR or two for you. Meanwhile I'm most likely going to make a few bits and pieces of terrain, and maybe some more figures as well.

Til next time!

Some new real estate

Having been kept away from the blog due to a mix of work and a great video game fall line-up, I have now finally returned. When I left things a few months back I had started painting up some of Sayiner Micro Toys lovely pieces, so I felt it only proper to finish them before anything else was started:

The complete haul. A NTC Warrior mech stand in for size reference.

A group of warehouses. What does these steel boxes hide?

Another military compound, because I like the look of this structure. This particular one comes with a long tower topped with a multi-barreled cannon.

 

 A administrative building. It could be the seat of local government or maybe an office-block for civilian or military use.

These hab-modules are commonplace, used to house both supplies and men, civilian and military. 

For the less fortunate as well as a myriad of officeworkers, these highrise complexes is where they spend their days. 

A Sat-com facility, allowing a colony or outpost to communicate with the rest of the planet as well as far-away worlds through ships and relays in orbit. This also makes them a priority target during conflicts.

Last but not least we have some emplaced guns. Little more than a ferrocrete bunker with a double-barreled gun on top, these static defences are usually reserved for spaceports and other important installations.

I have a few ideas for some games that I hope to get into, and I hope to share these with you soon!

Til next time!