(Savage4) Tomb of Serpent 4.5 - The Evil Below

When her only son marched off to fight the king's enemies in Africa, Mama Vinadio was quite proud.  When he returned in a box two years later, she was still proud.  All she could say as they laid him to rest was "He's sleeping with the angels."

The cemetery north of Savigliano is small, walled, and laid out in sensible straight rows. On the surface it appears peaceful and orderly, but madness and chaos lies right below the surface... clawing for the relic! 

After her last dream, Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato compiled her trusted friends and associates and traveled to a Manor House in Scotland to unsuccessfully obtain an artifact.   The night before they departed back to America, Dolores had another dream, cancelled the tickets, and after some research, she and her party were heading to Italy.

Savigliano Cemetary

Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato was already on her third career.  Disgraced nobility, turn rooftop cat burgler, turned South American explorer, she only really trusted her right hand gal, Diana "Dibby" Boyle, a former nightclub singer known to go toe-to-toe with famous boxers who got a bit too frisky after the performance.   "Mango" Tangier was a seaplane pilot who needed to ditch his last plane (and very illegal cargo) into the Carribean, and Aurelio was a former reporter who fell in love with the concept of treasure hunting and adventure, but... just wasn't very good at it. 

"Mango" Tangier, Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato (Wild Card) Diana "Dibby" Boyle (Wild Card) , and Aurelio Farmer

Of, the agents of evil knew their every move, and came in force.

Objective:   Legend had it that the artifact could be found beneath the pedestal of the Wailing Statue.    As the group quickly discovered, the statue was a cursed spirit who moved from pedestal.     The heroes would need to pass two tests in the same turn to capture the statue.  Destroying the other pedestals would limit places the statue could teleport to (it could always stay in the same spot.)

And all in six turns. 

Turn One: While Mango and Dibby snuck through a hole in the wall and dashed to pedestals, El Dobbie and Aurelio quickly hop the wall.   

Dibby swallowed hard and moved to the statue in the center of the cemetery (passed horror check), prepped to seize the entity... and the statue had the audacity to move toward El Dobbie and Aurelio!

Turn Two:  El Dobbie was the target of the Serpent Priest's, but pushed the the troubling thoughts with ease, firing at and killing, one of the cultists.... but unable to focus on the statue.

Aurelio tried to play hero, but was quickly reminded he was just a goon/thug/minion.  The terror of the entity was too much, forcing him to flee, but not so much that he couldn't take a shot at the cultist sneaking around towards Dibby. 

Mango and Dibby quietly pushed over two of the pedestals, but of course, at the of the turn, the statue moved to the farthest pedestal.

Turn Three:  Another cultist killed, another exchange with Dobbie and the Priest.    The statue moves again, still out of touch.

Turn Four:  El Dobbie rushed to the Wailing Statue, in hopes that the others would push over at least one of the remaining pedestals.   They did not, instead getting locked in hand-to-hand combat.  As she looked up from the base of the pedestal she was at, she saw the Wailing Statue disappear, and reform exactly where she had just been at! 

Sonnuva! 

Turn Five:  The rest of the group's stalemate with the cultists seemed to be taking a drastic turn for the worst with the flame-haired Dibby taking a point blank shotgun blast.    With the familiar feeling of the ground rumbling beneath them, El Dobbie knew she needed the Wailing Statue to teleport back the previous pedestal if they had any chance.  

At the end of turn five... The Statue satisfied the her hopes...

Turn Six: And with another cultists killed, and the minions tending to Dibby,  Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato successfully unearthed the artifact, dispatching the tortured spirit.  

In dreams that night, El Dobbie confirmed what they all already knew.

Next destination: Egypt. 

Next: Episode 4.6 - 

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.4 - The Thing in the Well

As Napoleon's armies drew near, the master of the nearby castle fled into the woods and dropped a small bundle into a stone well.  He had hoped to return and retrieve it, but fate was not so kind, and there is remains to this day.

Centuries later, Bethany LePage and her entourage  find themselves in the Netherlands, a stone's throw from Leiden, looking for the stone well that plagued their dreams.  They knew the item was in the dark, cold water, but what they didn't realize was that the Servants of Apophis had been following them the whole way...

The cadre from the Soviet Union had found one of the artifacts of Apophis hiding in the States, the gang of "El Dobbie" Gato failed to find one up in Scotland.  The dreams of the end of the world had led dilettante Bethany LePage to the Netherlands, to that odd well that kept beckoning her in her dreams.

Our Continental Explorers (L-R) Bethany LePage, Suzanne Verlaine, William Scott, and Claire Halloway

I figured that our heroes had an advantage in the scenario.  They were already at the well and needed to spend a turn to go down the well, then achieve three different task successes, one per turn, I figured a decent contingent of cultists when put enough pressure on them, but the heroes would succeed. 

Miss LePage took it upon herself to go down the well....

I did not anticipate a statistical impossibility. 

For this game, my daughter Maja ran the third and final league of heroes for the campaign.  She had picked her figures, giving her leader, Bethany, no weapons, and the only thing bigger than a pistol was William Scott's shotgun, and William was a mook/minion level character with a Shooting die of d6 (Short range is a 4+ to hit and you can roll higher dice for better characters).

Luckily for her (I thought), the appearance of one cultist with a pistol, one Serpent Priest with spells, and the rest being cultists running amok with big swords should be sufficient.  

Early one the cultists attacked William Scott, managing to make him Shaken.  The old man shook that off like a winter chill, knocked the cultist out with the butt of his shotgun, and proceeded to track the others down like it was cultist season and there was no limit.

Oh the cultists tried, but William's shotgun kept hitting, and when they tried to reconnoiter around him, Suzanne would turn a corner and gun them down, with enough damage to take out a three-wound hero, much less a one hit mook.

Even the Serpent Priest, the poor Serpent Priest.... he threw curses at the visible characters.

They all saved...

He threw Eldritch Bolts at Claire, she took no damage.... then promptly shot at the priest and hit!

Damage:   6+6 (+1).   Dice explode in Savage Showdown, so roll the 2d6 again.

6+5

and again for the final raise

3

Twenty-seven points to the priest was three wounds over maximum, and he failed his feeble attempt to try. 

These cultists stood no chance, with none standing turn four, when LePage emerged from the well with the artifact. 

Maja's die rolling might have been the most most impressive thing I've seen someone do over the age of ten.  She made all but one of her rolls, which she used a Benny to re-roll, and each time she hit she rolled close to maximum damage each time.  Meanwhile, the cultists were rolling just below average and couldn't catch a break.  

We don't know William's backstory, but he might think pulp adventuring is a relaxing vacation. 

I had the pleasure of having my daughter over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm proud to say, the first visit as a licensed driver!  Her mother and I did run escort duty for her first visit, she driving behind Maja halfway down, and me taking her the second half of the way.  She shopped, visited friends, and was super excited to drive me down to my college buddies (+25 years) SATLOF.   

Maja completing this episode means her younger sister, Millie, has one, maybe two more scenarios until the campaign moves to Egypt.

After the game, I introduced her to Fishing28 to play while I got ready to go to a get-together with some college friends.  She approves of the system, provided some optional rules, and determined Tropical Fruit Swedish Fish are sub-par. 

Maja knew her drive was consisted of (a) a trip to her grandmothers in Easton, followed by a (b) a drive to the other side of Allentown for SATLOF.  Knowing I needed to do two things around my mother's house, and it's a home of a chronic smoker, I chose a detour to take up extra time. 

The Lehigh and Keystone Model Railroad Club open house in Bethlehem. 

From their website.  It was an all-Steam weekend.

Maja used to be my little train show companion... engineer hat, a million questions, and begging me to do the train races...

From the Allentown Train Show parking lot, 2013

We've only managed one show post-COVID, so I was worried about the weird surprise I was directing her to.  

She might be a teenager, but the second she realized the L&K recreates the Lehigh Valley Railroad (and Reading, and CNJ) and she knew all the locations, it was like she was tiny all over...  

I heartily recommend visiting the club during one of their open houses, it's fantastic.

Finally, after my mom's we headed to SATLOF, and none of my back-up games were necessary, as Steve (the host... Squiggles the Worm in our Gamma World games) had gone to PAX and picked up the complete set of Thunder Road: Vendetta with all the bells and whistles! 

Another hearty recommendation, we had ages 5 to 51 playing it, it was raucous and exciting... even if all three of my cars crashed into rocks! 

Next: Pulp Season 4, Episode 5:

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.3 The Haunted Hall

There were more dreamers around the world, who dreamt of Egypt, who dreamt of ancient artifacts.  For one group, their dreams led them to Scottish Borders, through West Linton and Blyth Bridge, past Kirkurd Church and solemn gravestones, then down a narrow, tree-lined path to Fotherington Hall.  They recognized the building immediately.

I know there are some nice set-ups for Tomb of the Serpent, but my kids are more amused by building it out using Jenga blocks. 

Our Heroes

"Mango" Tangier, Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato (Wild Card) Diana "Dibby" Boyle (Wild Card) , and Aurelio Farmer

Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato was already on her third career.  Disgraced nobility, turn rooftop cat burgler, turned South American explorer, she only really trusted her right hand gal, Diana "Dibby" Boyle, a former nightclub singer known to go toe-to-toe with famous boxers who got a bit too frisky after the performance.   "Mango" Tangier was a seaplane pilot who needed to ditch his last plane (and very illegal cargo) into the Carribean, and Aurelio was a former reporter who fell in love with the concept of treasure hunting and adventure, but... just wasn't very good at it. 

TURN ONE:  Of course, the group split up in three directions.   Mango flew up the center hallway, kicking in doors, looking for anything they would help them find the relic.  

What he encountered was a strange robed individual... with no face! 

That person quickly had no pulse as Mango blasted him with his shotgun.  If anyone else was in the hall, they certainly knew they had visitors.

TURN TWO:  Dibby had a single-minded focus to reach the fireplace for some reason, but she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around when Aurelio's rifle went off.  A different dead cultist, with a giant knife, lay dead.

So far, so good.

More trouble was near, as the cultist with a tommy gun starting making too much noise in the darkness, the sound of metal clicking, and ... a dog barking?

Dolores had gone solo, and started to move a painting in the room... too many safes in walls from a past life.  The visage of a ghost appearing did surprise or hurt her all....  The faceless cultist who attacked her drew blood.   She needed to get rid of both of them, fast! 

Dolores drawing a LOT of attention. 

Mango had found a body of the maid at the end of the hall. Searching her uncovered a key that looked very old and important.    

TURN THREE:  

Mango didn't have much of a chance to think about it, as another cultist (with a hood, face status unknown) ran up and pistol-whipped him! 

Meanwhile, Dibby dodged a rain of bullets to get to the fireplace, and Dolores had her hands full with two cultists and a ghost, but held her own. 

TURN FOUR:   Gunfire was exchanged in the main room, the tommy gun finally silenced by Dibby.   Aurelio moved up carefully to investigate the barking.  

TURN FIVE:  Dibby pulled one of the wall sconces and she could hear a secret passage open... somewhere.  Aurelio found the source of the barking: a very scared old dog, properly belonging to the (probably deceased) master of the house.  He couldn't get the dog calmed down.  

TURN SIX:  Dibby wanted to explore more, but the sight of cultists running OUT of the building, rather than attacking signaled something was very wrong.  She starting moving out of the hall, firing at the escaping cultists.  Her shots were matched with Dolores' who had managed to compliment the faceless cultist with a headless one from her machete.  Grabbing her rifle, she was firing back at the cultists and ghost as she headed to the door.  

Mango couldn't take control the dog.  The rumbling floor gave the old canine a reason to run and it made it out okay.    Mango also grabbed the unlucky and unconscious Aurelio, a nice bump on his head.  

The explosion was deafening and the ensuing fire drove everyone out of the hall.  The cultists serving some evil master escape into the night, probably with the relic. 

When asked what to do now, Dolores answered calmly, "I've had other dreams,  I know where to go to next..."

I am converting the Temple of the Serpent campaign for Pulp Alley, into Savage Showdown (Savage World lite), the system, we've been using for our Pulp "Egypt" games for over a decade.  Episode 4.2 was a nail-biter until the end.  This one made me realized that there should be at least one more character in these crews.  I did find it amusing that the leader of each game thus far has been bogged down for most of the game, allowing the others to try and finish the scenario.  

After a decade of playing with the girls, I've learned to let them do their silly things, and I'll tweak things in the write-ups.  I had originally thought we would get Maja's gang up and running, but I was blessed with a lot more Millie time as I ran them back and forth from friends' houses.  Millie showed off her Gen Alpha energy, adding annoying phrases and number combinations in the names, but a simple request in ChatGPT gave us the names used in the scenario, as well as pretty elaborate back stories I toned down.  

Next: Episode 4.4 - The Thing in the Well

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.2 The Craft Fair of Chaos

While our normal heroes recover from the Attack on Lake's Wharf, some sleep soundly for the first time in years.... others can't close their eyes at all during the night, staring into the darkness of what they can't see... but they know it's everywhere...

It will be other "heroes" who get the dream, like Alexander Mikoyn.  His hair is turning white.  He saw enough of the horrors of war during the Great War and the Russian Civil War.   He's seen thing men... or comrades were not meant to know, and as a high ranking agent of the SV-8, he's kept the Motherland safe, even as the threat of Stalin's purges keep his head on a swivel.

But he's never dreamt of Egypt before.  Doesn't even remember if he's ever seen more than artist's work of the pyramids, but there, in his dream, he's there, in all its vivid glory.   The old gods of Egypt are there... with a message.

He wakes up, wide-eyed.  The message is distorted and hazy, but the meaning is still clear.  A great evil is returning to the world, and he must assemble his trusted cohort and save humanity.

He must go to this... Indiana....

Alexander (Wild Card), Elani (Wild Card), Viktor, and Myshkin

Greystone, Indiana -  Mr John T Rea has always been a respectable businessman.  Scratch that, he's been a shyster and a con since the day he was born.  But the cons aren't as profitable as they once were.    Event the "Sideshow of the Incredible" hasn't been making money for weeks.  They've been forced to join forces with a popular local community craft fair... with just the flair for pranks and spookiness. 

It's the early morning, and Rea is wandering through town, grabbing a cup of coffee from the folks setting up a kitchenette in the back of a truck, before the craft fair... and his failure of a sideshow opens up.  He worries about how he's going to make payroll this week, especially after spending the last of the money on a number of supposed relics some scoundrel pawned off on him.  Egyptian in look, he's quite certain that law enforcement is going to descend on him.  He just has no idea who's coming for him that morning.  

Greystone, Indiana.  The Objectives are numbered with green dice 

Alexander Mikoyn and his associates don't know exactly what they're looking for... and they don't know the Servants of Apophis are in town for the same mission, but a far more nefarious purpose.  

The Serpent Priest, 4 Militant Cultists (guns), 1 Fierce Cultist (sword)

Turn One:  Alexander walks through the graveyard to the first objective, a broad-shouldered man kneeling in front of a gravestone.    Two-Gun Babbitt is an associate of Rea, his marksmanship and feats of daring-do bring in the nickels to the sideshow.  But he's also the whole reason they're in Greystone, wishing to visit his mother's grave, after his own dreams of Egypt trouble his mind.  

It doesn't help that a crazy old man with a thick Russian accent comes stumbling through the cemetery, barking at him with word he doesn't understand.  And what's up that the pick axe?

(Alexander is a grumpy old Russian man who kills monsters for the Soviet Union.  He gets a -2 to interact with people, plus his limp forced him to run to Mr Babbitt... another -2 modifier, and almost a guaranteed failure.  He should be grateful ol' Two Gun wasn't a perilous objective, or he quite certainly would have been shot in the face. )

Babbitt was  going to be a gentleman and start walking away to avoid a confrontation, if the bullets from the cultists didn't start flying... and missing.  A loud man barking in broken English with a Russian accent seems to attract cultists!  Even the priest tried to throw a serpent curse onto Alexander, but he easily shook it off.  

Alas, poor Mishkyn, he was dim-witted, but had survived some skirmishes with Alexander back in the Soviet Union.  We walked with no impetus towards his objective.  A rifle shot over his head made him turn to his left, and a pistol shot behind him struck his back, dropping him. 

Turn Two: Meanwhile, the only cultist who brought a sword to a gun fight rendezvoused with their contact in town.  The relic they were seeking was somewhere in town, just not with him. 

Another agent for the Servants...

The Serpent Priest was getting dispirited.  He was throwing every type of curse and eldritch blasts his dark gods had granted him at the Russian, and there was no effect, save the old man scaring away some cultists, and the other individual wandering away. 

Victor avenged his friend Miskyn's death, trading shots until the cutist's body his the truck and slumped down onto the cobblestone.   Mr Rea, finally coffee in hand, began to look for an escape from this chaos.  

Elani's mission was the snake charmers tent, trading shots with a cultists before diving into booth... full on snakes.  The snakes managed to do what the cultist couldn't:  wound her. 

Turn Three:  With the gunfire and explosion, Two-Gun put some pep in his step, turning around, only to be met with the business end of the cultist's sword. Two objectives secured for the Servants of Apophis!

(Our fierce cultist drew a Joker, allowing him initiative, a +2 to rolls , a +2 to damage and a Bennie [reroll]. His measly minion dice exploded, seizing the objective [Two-Gun].  It just made sense that he killed the gunslinger on the spot.)

Back at the gravesite, things had gone from bad to worse for Alexander.  His mouth agape from watching the outright murder of Two-Gun, the graveyard exploded with a blast, sending the Russian flying, wounded, bleeding, but otherwise intact. 

Alexander Mikoyn might be in trouble.... 

Elani had managed to get the information she need from the snake charmer, then fired a burst from her SMG at the cultist creeping up to the booth.  

Viktor might just be a spy living in the States, an untested asset for Alexander, but he was proving his worth with each moment.  Viktor reached Mr Rea.  Despite the broken English, the gunfire and other fellows wearing robes within eyesight convinced the sideshow owner than Viktor was one of the good guys.   

Soviets: 2 objectives, Servants: 2 objectives. 

Turn Four:   A shot rang out between Viktor and Mr Rea.  Viktor pushed Mr Rea back behind the truck  with his hand to the face, before rolling to the cover of the water fountain and kills the cultist across the square! 

Elani walked towards the chaos in the cemetery, unleashing her SMG on the sword wielding cultists.  

(She needed a single wound to kill them.  She got five!)

Under threats of torture or sacrifice from the Serpent Priest the one cowardly cultists finally got to nerve to hop of the cemetery wall and go after Alexander, shooting him with a pistol  The Russian was in a bad spot, still on the ground, crawling to the far wall from where he came from...

But he wasn't ready to die quite yet.

Meanwhile, the Serpent Priest finally moved, turning the corner to confront Elani! 

Turn Five:  The cultist standing over Alexander's head was covered, but there obviously a smile of sadistic glee on his face as he simply kept pace with the crawling Russian, putting a few more rounds into him as they neared the wall. Alexander had somehow regained some of his composure to futilely swing his pick axed at the cultist's ankles. 

(Alexander had finally recovered from being shaken, but chose to attack from the ground for cinematic purposes.  The same cinematic purposes that made the point-blank shots look painful, but in reality, the minion kept missing!   Let's chalk that up to the world-renowned Soviet seamstresses that made his uniform!)

Viktor dashed across the town square to the booth with the last objective, reaching it but unable to roll for it. The Serpent priest turned all his attention to Elani, casting dark and ancient Egyptian curses at her.  She laughed and spouted off something back at him, her own curse, not in Russian.  Finnish?  Or something older?  

(She needed a 4 to avoid the curse on a d6, with exploding dice with got a 19).  

The priest threw an eldritch bolt at her... she sidestepped it.  

(He used the last of his Bennies to finally get a hit and a wound on her, she used her last Bennie to soak the wound...)

Turn Six:  Viktor spoke with the gentle behemoth inside the booth.   Two objectives, two dead cultists.  Not bad for a mere minion.  Three objectives for the Soviets. 

Elani just lowered her SMG and said... "Minun vuroroni" 

And Alexander, the human target for this encounter?   He finally managed to get up on one knee and swing his pick-axe properly....

And that's how the Soviets acquired The Wand of Destiny from some sideshow barker in Indiana....

I've been playing "The Egypt Game" with my girls on and off for the last ten years.  My plan for "Season Four"  was a big send-off for our original heroes (Episode 4.1) followed by new groups/gangs/leagues, to use Pulp Alley, and run Tomb of the Serpent.

Beside a near lifetime to finally get the Zulus painted up for Episode 4.1, the girls have moved away and I'll be perfectly honest:  I love Pulp Alley, I love the cards, I love the feel... but we've been playing a version of Savage Showdown since my oldest, Maja, was three... and she drives now!    It works, we adapt.  

A lifetime ago... playing TIARA, which I created, but realized it was kid friendly Savage Worlds/Showdown. 

I was also not going to invest in circus tents and sideshow minis for a one-off game, so I made due with what I had.  My only regret is I do have three different types of cultist minis for each type in the scenario, and the proper "fierce" ones were right behind me the entire time.  

Next:  #4.3 - The Hall of Horrors

I got some of the inspiration for the board from a Pulp Alley game at The Land of Counterpane. 

(Savage4) #4.1 The Relief of Lake's Wharf

After dealing with bandits, cultists, and even dinosaurs over the years, fame archeologist Maja Millie and her band of two-fisted scholars had been keeping a low profile.   The famed desert town of Sohai had been under the stable and relatively corruption-free German academics, and they stifled the black and white market for artifacts in the region.

Word had come around that a British nobleman, one Wadsworth Lake, had established a trading post, bar, and dock, upriver from Sohai.  Further rumors stated he had come into possession of some antiquities through the uKrazi tribe.  

With their connections, and museums willing to fund the finds, the group ventured down.  

They had gotten a ride down, and a scheduled pick up the following day, only to discover they hadn't just been "acquired," they had robbed the uKrazi outright.... and number of the tribe's warriors were coming to get it back.

Lake's Wharf, with a few friendly ducks splashing water. 

uKrazi Tribesmen (31) 

Objective: Seize the compound (re: outnumber the compound's inhabitants).

Lake's Wharf Defense: Hold on until relief arrives, whether they want it or not. 

Turn One: With the way initiative went, Lake obviously saw the incoming horde, and failed to alert anyone, preferring to sip on his questionable beverage in his mug.  When he made a half-hearted attempt, famed Swedish adventurer Nils Lingonberry, and seasoned native fighter Sergeant Awari came running up and finally motivated the others.

Turn Two: The uKrazi were still out of range of pistols, and Lake's private guards waffled between just defending the gate, or climbing up the to the roof of the building. 

For almost 40 sessions, the girls fight over who gets to play the famed Maja Millie, and everytime they forget that she is incredibly fast,  (d8+10 inches per turn running), incredibly cunning, but has a Code of Honor not to use guns of any sort.   That relegated her with guarding the gate, armed with only a knife. 

Turn Three and Four:  The errant shots of the uKrazi only managed to graze Sergeant Awari, who did recover... and did not fall off the edge of the roof. 

Once Lake's guards got into position, they were relatively effective, whittling down one of the 3 units of ten so far they fled! The second of the units were going to go over the wall, while the final group used the best tactics to get near the gate. 

Turn Five:  Five turns in, and the current residents of Lake's Wharf stood a pretty good chance at withstanding the assault.  Seeing Captain Klockenspiel's Germans "relieving" the port... and possibility the antiquities were the last thing they wanted.  

Captain Klockenspiel's unit personally captured the fleeing uKrazi.  

The uKrazi trying to climb over the wall timed their actions poorly.  They were out of sight from the rifles on the roof of the main building, and should have waited for the gate to collapse.   As they dropped over, the guards at the gate turned and fired upon them.  Maja Millie even got into the action, flying across the courtyard to stab one of them, although being armed with just a knife was a harrowing combat. 

Turn Six:  The guards had managed to get into position and take out some of those coming through the the gate.  Of course, not one remembered to physically hold back the gate from the invaders, to it collapsed easily, leaving the tribesmen dumbfounded.

The group had time the press against the gate poorly, and left themselves open the the heroes' guns, as well as the other guards from the main building, who had just moved back into the courtyard and lined up some productive shots.  

Turn Seven:  The entire turn was predicated on three of the tribesmen who got shot at the gate, recovered from shock (4+)

It was pre-ordained.

In the end, the Germans seized Lake's Wharf.  It's unsure whether Lake is arrested, detained or rescued by them.  Our heroes, in order avoid some trumped up charges on the (obviously) stolen antiquities, will spend the next few weeks cataloging and returning the stolen goods, from within the newly renamed outpost of HorusHaufen.  

Wadsworth Lake - Prisoner or Oligarch?

Post-Credit Scene:  While our normal heroes labor away at the HorusHafen, the scene shifts to a number of individuals around the the world abruptly waking up in the middle of the night from obvious nightmares:  Bogota,  Archangel, Montpelier.  Potential heroes subconsciously linked to something they only vaguely know as... The Temple of the Serpent.

This scenario was directly pulled from AJ's Wargame Table.  I've been accumulating building everything up for it over the years.  This opening for the fourth season, was closer to the made-for-TV movie to kick off the season, and explain why new characters will be the focus of the normal episodes, a good a time as any to possibly transfer from Savage Showdown/Worlds over to Pulp Alley and the Tomb of the Serpent campaign book!  

Next:  #4.2  - The Craft Fair of Chaos? 

(Painting) Married Zulu Impi by Warlord Games

 A funny thing happened on the way to the next campaign...

With no Cold Wars steering what needed to be painted, February was going to be a month of getting some significant lead (and plastic) off the painting table. 

We were going to start with a massive project (for me) that's curtailed the vaporware Season 4 of the "Egypt Game" I've run with the girls since they were little. The first episode requires 30 "Nubian" warriors for *spoilers*.  

A boxed set of Married Zulu Impi from Warlord fit the bill... and literally years have passed.  They got assembled, primed, and base coated, however each one was missing its left arm... so I could paint everything the same and glue the arms on at the end.  

This stayed this way until this month, where I lined them up on the painting bench, but the parts sprues to the side, and immediately discovered that none of the compatible left arms were attached to the sprue.

They are in a zip-lock bag, buried somewhere in the office.  

So I managed to assemble two the Zulus, and they will hang out with the Zulu Chief I painted eons ago. 

We're a little shinier than I wanted, and I shine detracts from the three layers of shading I did them, turning them far darker than I wanted. I strayed away from the suggested colors Pete the Wargamer suggested in his YouTube video on painting these guys.

Once I find 28 more left arms, I can take a crack at it again! 

In the Queue: The Zulus are still in a queue, as a search one box at a time for the missing bag o' arms.  Gnomes, Ducks, and Star Wars individual characters! 

Project 350: Maintaining exactly the same at 459 (295/164) from 459 (295/164).  I'm hoping the upcoming Cold Wars at Home will move the needle a bit.