AAR : A Train to Trieste, Chapter 4, episode 4 ....

((Here is the set up, the players are defending the trains shipment of equipment to be used as a defensive screen vs the Barons Anti Airship Super Weapon beam! Traveling through the mountains on their way to Trieste from Germany, a trip of several days, they are hoping to get past the Barons total control of the air by using rail.  Secret Agents, spy's and saboteurs.. will make things difficult and of course the Barons forces have control of the air!))

The train pulled away from the station towards night fall. The Team put together a patrol list of who was on guard, who was off duty and who was asleep. ((random diced when action took place to keep them from arranging their "best" coverage))

 

 

 

Overhead a Zeppelin lowers towards the train, many ropes drop and Air Pirates zip towards and land on top of the train. Bob, leader of this teams Mission, responds to the sound of multiple boots hitting the roof overhead by leaping up and grabbing the stop cord and yanking it, response to the action is the train slamming on the breaks!  Several air pirates tumble over the edge of the cars, several others are left hanging on to the edge of the roof!

 

Lily is on duty and races to the top of the train and engages air pirates as she works her way down the roof line, dispatching several with her katana.

Amanda (in a stylish blue dress) also on duty climbs onto the roof of the lead passenger car and blazes away at air pirates near the engine.

 

((not having made roofs for the cars lead to using some of the Pulp Alley cards to hold the roof top people up out of the cars to reduce confusion on who was where))

The slowing of the train led to the Zeppelin overshooting but it corrected its reactions and landed another wave of boarders. In the mean time in the passenger cars, civilian riders were milling about when several threw open their coats and pulled pistols out and a fierce gun battle ensues!

******************game held over due to time of night************  so a cliff hanger ending for the nights play for 2 weeks till everyone can get together again to finish the action packed episode!!!!

 

New Engine

Modifications are done except a painting touch up on the new version of the Train To Triesta engine.

Gave it a more European look. On to the modified cars:

Flat car and two passenger cars. I started making domed roofs for the passenger cars... then realized they would stay on for about the first 30 seconds of the game till the players needed to move their characters about!  On wards with out.

Time for a train Ride.. hmmm all I have is this wild west train set...

For 28mm figures ... bit way to small, cars are about 6 inches of train car and short hook up assemblies.... so..

Train Cars are now about 11 inches long. Planning on 2 passenger cars, 2 box cars and 1 flat car that the Team will be escorting... secretly on a regular passenger train.... what could possibly go wrong!???

Filled in side walls. This is the basic form for the passenger and box cars.

Next.... work on some windows and such for the passenger cars... nope, not going to cut them out...print and glue is the way to go with the short time frame I have......

Storming the Cliffs of Dispair! Chapter 4, Episode 3

The teams mission is to knock out 3 sensor platforms on the cliff sides to allow a zeppelin force to bombard the Air Pirate Base on the very top of the cliffs as a precursor to taking on the Barons Super Weapon! Then they were to take and search the Sensor Control Blockhouse on top of the cliff to earn extra advantage in the next scenario.

(( The party had to list, in general, what they were taking with them to scale the cliff side. Their instructions included Radio contact for when the sensors were down. 3 sub teams of two players were to select a route up the cliff side, take out their sensor target in a coordinated blast and then repel down the cliff side to make their escape.  They were given a climbing skill that was the average of their might and cunning skill dice size and totals. Each turn of climbing was considered to be a extreme peril unless they were on a ledge of some sort. ))

Arriving in the vicinity of the Sensor array the 3 sub teams split up and made their way slowly up the cliff face.

On the left is Amanda and Sarge, to the right is Professor Ice and Iron Kidney Joe, further on down the cliff face is Moren and Atchison.

((I made push pin platforms to hold the figures as they "climbed" by pushing them into the paper machete))  Here Ice and Kidney climb on up while Sarge and Amanda close in on the lowest platform, only to fail a peril check and starts an alert!.... Ack! The sensor platform is a decoy setup!

((Here's  a pic of the entire cliff face...my arm and some of Mo.....))

Ice and Iron make the top of the cliff and right into a hail of fire from Air Pirate Security members!

Here Atchison and Mo top the cliff into ever more Air Pirates responding to the alarm!  A gun battle ensues until Mo decides she will run through the buzzing swarm of hot lead and try to plant her demo charge on the sensor!  Atchison dodges and weaves while laying down the best covering fire he can....but to no avail and goes down but not over the cliff... KOA!

Ice also races to his sensor platform and begins planting his demo charges. With no chance to use a delayed timer, the opt to set their repelling gear, set off the blasts while flinging themselves off the cliffs!  Ice executes his maneuver and 3 peril checks flawlessly! Mo... well she gets away from the blast but slams against the side of the cliff and is knocked senseless, and falls to a KOA status....

((3 platforms were the minor plot points, a block house on top of the cliff was the Major plot point. They failed to take out the blockhouse so will not get the extra advantage it would have given them in the next scenario.....................A Train to Trieste!))

Below we see Amanda and Sarge making their escape down a cliff ladder with the unconscious Atchison!

Cliffs of Dispair update

Surface basics done and a coat of paint.

Now I can get to the Kel Seal and fix up spots that look to much like tape or paper!

Cliffs of Dispair

Started up a fast cliff side board measuring 2 feet by 4 feet for the next episodes adventure, where the team will have to scale the cliffs, destroy sensor arrays and over see the destruction of the sky pirate base! First of course is the construction of the cliffs......

Here is the art board with to back braces. Angle is about 45degrees. Figure in the foreground is 28mm Pulp Action figure for scale.

Underlayment supports. Styrofoam hot glued into place.

First layer of paper machai applied.

And then the second

Drying time... well, have a fan on it outside so hopefully by later tonight it will be ready for a quick spray coat so I can add some texture where needed.

Characters and Wreckage

Long summer break, back to Pulp Alley , next episode to get ready for.  First off some wreckage of a crashed prototype super zeppelin destroying weapon to be investigated.

Here is the base and a card board tube sliced up and hot glued down. Everything, except the figure are primed with spray paint to give a structure to mount the broken debris in. For the surface I used some aluminum foil to give it a crumpled look.

Bah , blurry photo, but it gives the idea. Painted it all grey and then highlighted with silver to pick out the crumpled edges where the paint would have flaked off after the crash and fire.

Assorted bits hot glued together and then inserted. I left the hot glue stringers dangling where they fell, then pushed them around when cooled off to give the effect of wiring. Sprayed the entire interior with a flat black, then dark metal dry brush followed by a silver dry brush of prominent edges.

Base still to work up with plowed piles of dirt etc.

Characters. Several of the players lack the skill and resources to assemble their own character figures so I chipped in and here we go.

Iron Kidney Joe, an attempt at a super soldier that sort of panned out. Extra die in brawling, and one less in shooting and spotting rolls are reduced by one due to his being nearsighted to the point of needing large lens goggles............

Lily, a take charge and hands on problem solver.
And here's Amanda's side kick Fenris

And a final group shot.