Monday 30 December 2019

An Incident at the Dloser Pyramid…FUBAR VSF Scenario Forces & Special Rules


Christmas 2019 so time for some FUBAR VSF action! This year we're going down the PULP theme again...so get ready for more; brave redcoats, nasty villains, heroic actions, ominous creatures, exploding steam driven devices etc...

‘An Incident at the Dloser Pyramid…’

Scenario Background;
After the discovery of the Long-Lost but recently discovered Pyramid of Dloser S.O.E. dispatched a Team lead by Captain Long-Johns with Royal Navy support to survey the structure and recover any items of importance.
But little did intrepid the force’s leader, Long-Johns know but the Pyramid’s location had been leaked by a double agent of the Tsar posing as Fakir in S.O.E. Agent Bigger’s entourage. His task was not going to be easy!
June 20 and after a perilous journey the British Expeditionary Force disembarked from their transport ship, the Shastah and despite warnings of a pending sandstorm moved off toward their objective as soon as the sun began to rise. At the same time two other Teams of intrepid (and not so intrepid) men were carrying out exactly the same mission, the groups Doktor Von Hades and the British Imperial Museum had co-incidentally arrived that very same day!  

The Forces;



S.O.E. selected a group on upstanding members of Her Most Imperious Majesties Army to comprise an Expeditionary Force to be sent to Africa and investigate the Pyramid of Dloser and its environs. These well-equipped “Good Guys” disembarked near the Pyramid from the River Boat Shastah in darkness and awaited the sun. They were men of valour and honour and in true British tradition will kill anyone who gets between them and their objective…the Queen’s men stirred into action at first light and approached the Pyramid from the east, the time was 4:30am local time.

Captain Long-Johns - Hero Type - Revolver Sword
Professor the honourable Sir Cumfrence - Trusty Chap- Revolver
Sergeant Churchill -Trusty Chap -Galvanic Rifle
Rifleman Asquith -Average Bloke- Repeating Rifle
Rifleman Chamberlain -Average Bloke -Repeating Rifle
Gunner Smith -Average Bloke- Flamethrower
Gunner Johnson -Average Bloke-Tesla Cannon - One-man portable version!



Faction Evil, Von Hades Minions!
On hearing of the discovery of a new Egyptian Pyramid Doktor Von Hades dispatched a group of his “evil cronies’ to find and recover any mystic items from the Pharaoh’s final resting place. They were the type of men whom could be found in the slums and dens of iniquity of the world so basically have the same mode of operation as the men from Queen Victoria’s Faction i.e. they will kill anyone who gets between them and their objective. They arrived in the vicinity of the Pyramid and advanced on it from the west at around 4:30am local time.

Doctor Mal Icious - Trusty Chap – Tesla Hand Gun
Mad Eye O'Leary - Trusty Chap - Repeating Rifle
Slasher Thompson - Average Bloke - Repeating Rifle
Jack the Knife - Average Bloke - Shotgun
Johanne ‘the German’ Schmidt - Average Bloke - Light Rapid-Fire Rifle
Mustafa Bey- Average Bloke - Grenade Launcher




News of the unearthing of the Long-Lost Pyramid of Dloser became the topic of conversation in every Public House of London despite S.O.E.’s attempt to keep it a secret. It was while planning a new Safari under the patronage of the British Imperial Museum at the Bucket of Blood drinking establishment the famous Fred of India overheard the news. Being a man of action (and fortune) and willing to destroy any antiquity in search of loot and lion skins Fred was spurred into action! He gathered his loyal Safari companions and native attendants and departed for Egypt post haste. He would search the site for any items of interest (i.e. value) and flog ‘em off to the highest bidder, plus there may be some native wildlife he could shoot and get stuffed for his collection…the Safari arrived at the location of the Pyramid neared it from the south at around 4:30am local time.

George Livingston - Trusty Chap – Sword Cane he has Sword Skill
Andrew Stanley- Trusty Chap - Sniper Rifle
Mewarinmehattoo - Average Bloke – Big Rifle (Elephant Gun)
Mahatsontoo - Average Bloke – Big Rifle (Elephant Gun)
George Bingham - Average Bloke - Light Rapid-Fire Rifle
Jon Smithers - Average Bloke - Grenade Launcher


The Extras;


Lord Richard Puller - Hero Type - Revolver Sword
His loyal Native Attendants Bob and Richard - Average Blokes - Rifle
The Donkey!


Cultists - Average Blokes

Mummies - Average Blokes
Picture of the Mummies was one that was unusable! DOH!


Pharaoh’s Skeleton Guard - Average Blokes

Character Ratings:
Hero Types:                Trusty Chaps:             Average Blokes:
Activation 3+               Activation 4+               Activation 5+
Expertise 4+                Expertise 4+                Expertise 5+
Wounds 3                    Wounds 2                    Wounds 1
Hero Points 7              Hero Points 3              Hero Points 1
Save 4+                       Save 5+                       Save 6+

Scenario Special Rules;

Scenario length is 10 Turns, with 2 more optional turns allowed for by Umpire.
Turns 1 to 5 are played during dawn light conditions so the visibility is only 10".
Doorway cost 0".
Descending/ascending into/out of the Pyramid of Dloser burial chamber costs 1 action
The tributary and Pond of Dloser can’t be entered.
ignore Standard Hero Point rolls for this scenario they can be used to;
assist with character save rolls
assist with character to hit rolls in both firing and close combat
decrease booby trap to hit rolls
Characters can carry only one artefact and can do so at no penalty. The process of finding an artefact includes ‘picking it up’. Dropping an artefact cost no action but can be done when the Character activates, picking up a discarded artefact takes an action after the Character moves adjacent to it.
Artefacts: when discovered;
Place the discovered Artefact adjacent to the Character and roll for a Booby Trap 
a 6 results in a 2 dice attack hitting on 3+
a 5 results in a 1 dice attack hitting on 3+
Note - Characters may play a maximum of 2 Hero Point that give a -1 modifier for the To Hit Number per Hero Point for these attacks
Finding the Pyramid of Dloser entry point;
Move adjacent to the base of the Pyramid of Dloser and then for every complete action i.e. not straight after initial contact roll
a roll of 5,6 Doorway discovered
a roll of 2,3,4 Nothing of note discovered
a roll of 1 and Character has tripped on rubble and takes 1 hit on a 3,4,5,6
If successful the player immediately attempts to open the Pyramid door, further attempts cost an action
Pyramid of Dloser doorway booby trap;
Remove the doorway block and roll for a Booby Trap 
a 5,6 results in a 2 dice attack hitting on 3+
a 4,5 results in a 1 dice attack hitting on 3+
Note – Characters may play a maximum of 2 Hero Point that give a -1 modifier for the To Hit Number per Hero Point for these attacks
Ant unfriendly characters moving within 12 inches of any part of the river boat Shastah automatically receive 1 hit and halt for the turn after rolling their saving die.

Game Characters
Mummies, Cultist and Pharaoh’s Skeleton;
Controlled by the Umpire BUT must attack the closest Player Characters by charging, they have no ranged weapons.
A total of 12 pairs are available, a pair will appear on a roll of 5 or 6 (Umpire’s discretion here too) when any terrain is entered or moved adjacent to. Once the pairs have been deployed no more will appear (okay there is Umpire discretion at call here as well!).
Mummies, Cultist and Pharaoh’s Skeleton: 
Activation: Automatic with 1 Action only
Expertise: 4+
Wounds: 1
Hero Points: 0
Save: 6+

Victory Conditions:
Locate and extricate to their side of the table as many of the hidden artefacts From the Plain and Pyramid of Dloser and kill as many of the opposition as possible. Artefacts can be removed from the play area and the Character can return to the table the next turn to ensure the Faction retain it, artefacts on the tabletop at the end of the game are deemed owned by the Faction (if any) that possesses it.
Artifacts;
Pharaoh’s Sacred Conifer (what we'd call a Xmas Tree) 2 VPs
Pharaonic Statues x 4 1 VP each
Crate of Two Canopic Jars x 2 1 VP each
Crate of Ancient Scrolls 1VP
Pair of Rosetta Stones 1VP
Royal Jewels 1 x VP
Royal Gold Stash 1 x VP
Opening the Pyramid earns that player 3VPs
Entering the Pyramid first earns that player 1VPs
Killing any other opposition Hero earns that player 2VPs
Killing any other opposition Character earns that player 1VP (game Characters not counted!)
Highest total after 10 Turns wins (the Umpire at their discretion may add up to 2 extra turns)

Next Time; the AAR of course!

Thursday 5 December 2019

1879 - The Royal Navy's Newest Armed River Boat, The Shastah! - Includes making a 1/56 Riverboat?

Building a stylised gunboat is a project I have been considering for quite a while and with this year’s FUBAR VSF Christmas scenario being based along a tributary of the River Nile I bit the bullet and decided to build one! I checked out some period pictures and looked at what others had created and barrelled ahead…

A picture of Her Most Imperious Majesty’s Navy’s newest River Nile gunboat, the Shastah with the crew posed 'ready for action' in June 1869.

The Shastah (pronounced shaz-tar) was Britain’s newest addition to her mighty Eastern Mediterranean Fleet. This River Nile gunboat boasted a shallow draft allowing it the flexibility to sail on virtually any waterway and it featured a wide hull making it a very stable gun platform. It was armed with a single aft mounted cannon, two rapid fire ‘machine’ guns and two dozen modern rifles were aboard in the armoury. The steam driven single screw drive ensured it was the fastest and most manoeuvrable vessel available to the British in Egypt.

Building a Generic River Nile Gunboat

I’ll start with a parts list…
0.5mm,1.0mm and 2mm thick styrene sheet
Styrene tube
Gap filler tube nozzle
Washers
Kebab skewers
Paper Clip and Coat Hanger wire
MDF
Bits from the ‘Parts Box’

Firstly, I laid out the deck. I had to make it large enough to include a decent sized superstructure yet allow room for up to 25mm figure bases to be deployed on it. This is what I came up with; an MDF base and a deck (The build pictures feature my 28mm Captain Smith figure)

Next using 0.5mm styrene I created the hull sheets and painted the hull grey. I didn’t add any rivet detail or portholes as this will double for a more modern ship hull!


I built the lower superstructure with front and back cabins and a boiler sort of thingee…

Then built a top deck and wheelhouse.

The funnels ‘decorative’ top was cut from the end of a gap filler tube nozzle.

Okay I now scratch built;
A cannon
An armoured turret for said cannon, the base from this was from the parts box
Two HMGs on pivots these bases were old 1/35 Pz V wheels
The deck supports and mast are BBQ skewers
Here’s all the bits laid out for painting



The completed vessel all crewed up.


The Shastah afloat!

Okay so that’s now ready for the Christmas game I hope it looks the part.

Next Time; scenario details for the FUBAR VSF Christmas game!