Pulp Alley - Halloween Monster Bash

Monster Mash

This was a seven player game with a  Halloween monster theme using the Pulp Alley rules.

I created this Halloween scenario as a 7 player game so each league was restricted to 5 slots worth of figures and 2 slots of perks which usually meant just 3 figures.  The objective was to capture the treasure in the Crypt in the centre of the battlefield.

An Overview of the battlefield showing the Crypt and the 4 areas with minor objectives

Introducing the Leagues:

The Monster League: Bride, Dr. Frankenstein their Leader and the Monster



he Witch League: L to R: Wicked Witch of the West (leader), Wicked

Witch of the East Sidekick Flying monkey ally.

The Vampire Hunters: Cleric Leader, Brother Cadfael and Fryer Tuck.

The Tomb Kings:  Mummy Lord, Priest Sidekick, and Mummy

Elsie's Pumpkin League: Elsie the Witch (leader) Jumping Jack Flash scarecrow sidekick, and Pumpkin minion ally.

Dark Elf League: Lord (sidekick), Sorceress (leader) and Assassin Ally.

Vampire League: Mounted ally, Dracula bat and human form (leader)  and Succubus (sidekick).

Background:

On Halloween the mysterious Perilium Pumpkins start to glow and this is the only time to harvest them from the Crypt in the Valley of Death. However this must be done before sunrise. This is of course set at night so vision is restricted to 12"

An overview of the battlefield



The Pumpkin Patch

Overview showing the tomb and graveyard.

An overview of the battlefield showing the swamp and the Crypt on the hill.

Objective: The objective is for the Leagues to capture the Purilium pumpkins in the Crypt or Tomb (Major objective) before sunrise.  Before entering the Crypt they must gain a key or minor objective which they can find in the four areas of unhallowed ground surrounding the crypt marked by bone column statues (two graveyards, pumpkin patch, and a swamp).   These areas are protected by zombies.

The Wicked Witch and her League advance

The Dark Elves set out with their leader and sidekick  mounted

Conflict looms as the Witch and Dark Elf league converge on the swamp

Meanwhile the Vampire League and Vampire Hunters enter the graveyard to do battle

Overview of the Graveyard

The Vampire League charges in to the graveyard and clash with the zombies

More zombies appear to hamper the Vampire Hunters

The Cleric battles the zombies,

It seems as soon as the zombies are killed off more arrive.

Cadfael and Tuck attempt to deal with the zombies

The Mummies do battle with the zombies in the pumpkin patch

In the smaller graveyard Elsie's League moves towards the zombies to get at the pillar

The Dark Elves close in on the key they need in the pillar



Foiled!  Zombies get in the way of the Dark Elves



The Witches attempt to enter the swamp and are swarmed by zombies.




"Curse You" the witch screams at the Zombies

Elsie's League advance to the small graveyard



The "Bride" seems rather shy

The small graveyard is close to the Crypt but zombies bar the way as Elsie's group enters to try to find a key.

The battle in the large graveyard with the zombies continues



The Monster wants to get in on the action in the Pumpkin patch

The Tomb Lord, the Monster and a Succubus fight to find key and ward off zombies

The melee is hot and furious, as the 3 leagues fight each other and zombies in the Pumpkin patch

 

The Monster and the Tomb Lord try to gain the key

The Tomb Lord manages to acquire a key but Frankenstein's Monsters and the Succubus do not.  However none  of them can get free of the zombies.

The Vampire hunters continue to do battle in the large graveyard



But the Zombies keep rising and guard the key.



Surrounded by zombies and a Vampire, time for Friar Tuck to Pray!

Between the Vampire Hunters and the zombies Dracula was prevented from gaining a key as were the Vampire Hunters.



The Dark Elves manage to gain a key but can they get out of the swamp?

The orange markers represent combat actions 

The Dark Elves are working to escape the swamp.

The Dark Elves have had the better of the combat and have gained a key.  Meanwhile the Wicked Witch of the West has also gained a key but her Sister from the East has been killed by the Dark Elves and her flying monkey robot butchered by zombies.  As the surviving witch leaves the swamp she is ambushed by yet another zombie pinning her. If she could only shed the zombie she could fly to the Crypt.


The advantage of mounted characters, the Dark Elves escape the swamp with a key!







Meanwhile their are Zombies everywhere in the small graveyard , what is a Doctor and the Bride to do?

Zombies everywhere

Despite the Zombies Dr. Frankenstein manages to secure a key but getting free of the zombies is more difficult.

There seems no escape for Frankenstein's League the Doctor is trapped like a fly on fly paper

Elsie grabs the key in the confusion and escapes the small graveyard.

Witches can flay if they are not engages in combat so Elsie can fly to the Crypt with her League close behind.

Both the dark Elf League and Elsie's Pumpkin League are now heading for the Crypt with keys

Outside the Crypt a Dark Elf lord deals with Elsie's Pumpkin minion



The  Crypt with its glowing Perilium Pumpkins.

The Tomb is breached and the  Dark Elves get inside first quickly followed by Elsie's group.

The Dark Elves and Elsie's League discover they must deal with a powerful archangel guarding the Crypt. Elsie knocks out the Dark Elf Assassin then there is a leaders duel between her and the Dark Elf Sorceress.

The Assassin is Knocked Out



A three way battle takes place in the Crypt

The Archangel watches the two rival leagues fight it out

The Archangel remains in control of the treasure

As the Dark Elves and Elsie's League combat each other and the Archangel they fail to notice the sun is starting to rise.  Too late, the pumpkins vanish and victory slips through their fingers.

GM comments.  This scenario was partly inspired by the swamp scenario from the Pulp Alley Perilous Island campaign book that included the continuous generation of zombies that were placed by the players.  If I were to run it again I would reduce the number of zombies created as they were just "too much fly paper".   It was an enjoyable game and Pulp Alley is a great set of rules.