Fall-In Playtest Game: Doctor Who and the Pirates of the Cyberiad Main

      A few of us got together yesterday to playtest a couple of our games for the upcoming Fall-In convention in Lancaster PA.  I ran a Doctor Who scenario called "Doctor Who and the Pirates of the Cyberiad Main", using GASLIGHT rules.  The set up was that the Doctor was enjoying a trip to a quiet 18th century Caribbean island when it was unexpectedly invaded by pirates who had rescued some Cybermen from their spaceship which had crashed somewhere in the ocean.   The Cybermen had made a deal with the pirates, and the prates had agreed to secure victims captives for the Cyberman.  So the goal of the Cybermen/Pirate players was to capture 6 Townsfolk and/or Garrison troops, and carry them back to their landing boats.  Meanwhile the Doctor had to  travel to three different buildings in the village to collect the equipment he would need to make special ammunition that would penetrate the Cybermen's armor (otherwise they were very hard to disable.)

An overview of the table.

   It was a fun and exciting game that went right down to the wire, with the Cyberman/Pirate alliance coming out on top with 6 captives in the end.

Townsfolk, Pirates and Cybermen scuffle outside the warhouse.

The Garrison takes on its share of Pirates and Cybermen as well.  In the upper right of the photo, a poor trooper is being dragged away by a Cyberman.

    The most exciting part of the game was when the Doctor and his companions (Amy, the Governor of the island, and the Governor's Daughter) attempted to get the last item the Doctor needed.  It was in a warehouse that was overrun with pirates, so the only way the Doctor could get in safely was by an upper story window. So, they ended up hovering in the TARDIS outside the window as the Doctor leapt trough the window into a room full of Pirates.  Amy tried to follow, but fell and was knocked unconscious when she hit the ground.  After the Doctor fought the pirates ineffectually for a couple turns, the Governor decided to jump across too, and a fun multi-turn swashbuckling duel occurred.  Eventually they cleared the upper floor, and the Doctor was able to secure the last item he needed, but it was a little late in the game, and the Cybermen/Pirate team were already near their victory goal.

The Doctor fights off Pirates in the upper floor of the warehouse.

   I'm really looking forward to running this again at the convention in November!

The Vashta Nerada of Frostgrave

     As many of my readers will know, I have been busy these past few weeks building bookcases for our upcoming Frostgrave Campaign game where we will be playing the Library scenario from the core rulebook.  With discussion of what we wanted to do for our game, the conversation naturally turned to two other famous libraries in geek fandom: the spirit infested library from Ghostbusters, and the Vashta Nerada infested one from the Dr Who double episodes, "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".
     So after talking about someone making a pile of symmetrically stacked books, and having an angry wraith librarian going around telling the combatants, "Shhh!", the idea was put forth to include the famous "piranhas of the air": the Vashta Nerada.
      These microscopic organisms, in high concentrations, appear as shadows; and use this appearance as a way to hide and sneak up on their prey.   So I pondered how to make "shadows" as a game figure, and I hit upon the idea of lightly spraying thin plastic cut from a blister pack with black spray paint.

      So I cut out a couple of rough rhombus shapes to look something like the shadow cast by a bookshelf.  I then sprayed one side lightly with flat black spray paint just enough so that you could still see through them.

This Man-at-Arms has heard the stories of the lost libraries of Frostgrave, and is a bit worried about stepping into the shadow of this bookcase (as he should be!).

      The plan is to use them as some of the randomly appearing beasts in the game; and  in talking about it, we may use the Wraith stats from the rulebook for their move and combat abilities.

While the Man-at-Arms suspects the shadow on the right is being cast by the bookcase, he's a bit concerned as to what exactly is casting the shadow on the left. 

Dr Who Napoleonic Retreat From Moscow Game at Cold Wars

Greg Priebe, a relatively new member of the HAWKs, is a real Dr Who fan, and after running a successful Dr Who game at Fall-In, decided to do a follow up one at Cold Wars. This one was in keeping with the 1812 theme of the convention:

S-266 - Russian Treasure, French Tricorn, The
TARDIS - Theme Game
Sat. 9:00 AM, 4 hrs, 8 players
GM: Greg Priebe with Todd Harland-White and HAWKS
Napoleonic 28mm, Rules: DR Who
The sequel to Fall In 2011’s “Victoria Hawkes & the Steel
Menace”: The TARDIS’s malfunctioning randomizer has landed
the Doctor, his companions, and adventuress Victoria Hawkes in
the midst of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. To make matters
worse, the French have gained access to new alien weapons and
are back on the offensive. Does a mysterious artifact of immense
power hold the key to victory? Can the Doctor overcome both old
and new foes, set history straight and get everyone back to their
correct centuries before Napoleon and his new-found allies march
on to victory?

The 10th Doctor was in play for this game, along with an assortment of helpers including K-9.

Daleks move up to support thier new French allies. Exterminate!

Two units of female Cossacks helped bolster the Russian forces.

An overview of the battlefield.

The Russian Commander fights hand-to-hand with a Dalek

Another view of the table.

With the battle swirling around him, the Doctor managed to complete a number of other tasks located around the battlefield.

Due to an injured leg, Greg was forced to GM the game from a seated position, with one leg propped up. Despite this, everyone seemed to have a great time, and really got into the spirit of the game.