I played the first scenario in the Pulp Alley "perilous Island" campaign. It was a solo game against an enemy cult out for world domination.
The Pulp Alley rules are fantastic...fast flowing with lots of action from the cards and multiple die rolls. The game allows for a great story and I think it can be used for several genres. I just bought the Pulp Leagues expansion book that contains a nice roll up of all the special abilities in one place.
My Tsarist Russian Émigré league took on the purple clad cultists of the Brotherhood of God (BOG) in Mexico. The first scenario in the campaign has the leagues searching for Lady Elaine Darrow, daughter of a missing explorer. Both leagues are large...the BOG formed by many 1st level thugs, and my own group taking advantage of the "commander" trait and the "call to arms" trait. The latter gave me three 1st level followers in the form of some of Lady Elaine's compatriots (I rolled "familiar area" on the scenario event chart so it made sense to have the reinforcements part of Lady Elaine's explorer group.). Things started slowly as each group moved into the explorers' campsite (the other scenario event prevented running and fighting for the first turn).
The game ended in a solid win for The Duke...lots of figures down and out. It was closer than the score (6-1) would indicate. Having larger leagues with many low level members made for a bloddy game.
My League---
Leader: Duke Alexander Suvorov
Sidekick: Duchess Natalia
Ally: Countess Yekaterina, Natalia's sister
Ally: Boris, The Duke's pilot (and his pet monkey Lenin)
Ally: Mikhail, The Duke's driver
Follower: Vasyli, The Duke's bodyguard
Follower: Vladamir, The Duchess' bodyguard
Follower: Ivan, The Duke's yachtsman
League Perk: Call to Arms
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| The explorers camp. Lady Elaine is across the bridge in the bottom left. Her Daughter is playing in the rough ground, while two boxes of supplies are in the tents. Finally, some gold artifacts are by the temple statue in the top left. (these are the 5 plot points for the scenario...adjusted from the written rules to match what I have on hand). |
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| The Duke and his family prepare for the search. |
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| Hooded figures up to no good. |
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| The Duke pockets the gold to kick things off. |
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| The Torch Bearer grabs hold of Lilly Darrow...the fiend! |
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| Sir Elliot, Lady Elaine's cousin is a crack shot with his Webley revolver...he would claim two cultists by the end of the day. |
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| Ivan, the Duke's personal yachtsman, takes aim from the center of the camp. |
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| A group of cultists ransack Lady Darrow's tent...finding some journal pages in a box. |
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| Mikhail and his monkey, Lenin, fall after an exchange of gunfire. |
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| The Countess puts her fencing skills to good use. |
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| The Torch Bearer tries to intercept The Duke as he prepares to cross the rickety bridge. |
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| The melee in the camp gets intense...The Sinister Man in the tie tries to take on several of The Duke's comrades. |
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| After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lady Elaine agrees to come with The Duke. |
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| Suddenly, explosions rock the camp. The local warlord's troops have started dropping mortar bombs on the camp. |
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| Vladamir takes a round meant for The Duke. |
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| Carnage! The Sinister Man, The Countess, Boris, and several cultists are all down. Luckily, Chip Henderson, the American explorer is on hand to secure the box of papers for The Duke. |
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Lady Elaine explains the mysterious disappearance of her father.
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