Pulp Alley – Perilous Island campaign – Lagoon of Terror

The heroes of the CSSS has found the Perilous Island at last!

There was only one ship willing to travel from Soerabaja Harbour to the middle of the Indian Ocean in search of the fabled island and the greedy captain took on all four leagues as passengers. All were locked into different parts of the ship as a precaution against unnecessary violence.

The captain and crew are good Catholics and gave the CSSS the best suits while the other riff raff were contained in the cargo holds. Very fitting.

The Island is sighted and all leagues are given a boat to row to shore. The captain promises to wait for everyone’s return before sailing off.

Due to an unfortunate accident the phrenologists’ boat sinks almost immediately. There seem to have been a large hole in the hull of that one. Unfortunate as the Nazis miss the first adventure on the Island. As I said, the crew are loyal, and fearful, Catholics and they are not above earning a ‘Get out of Hell, free’ card. Very useful that.

We are all nearing the shore as a large beast bursts from the depths of the sea and capsizes and breaks all the boats. Members of the leagues swim frantically to the shore.

A mist-shrouded lagoon seem to be the only place nearby where it is possible to get ashore and there, in the middle, is the wreck of a small boat. Possibly from Lord Darrow’s expedition.

The frantic efforts to survive the ravaging sea is, in an instant, changed into an equally frantic effort to retrieved what clues there might still be here.

Before the game we rolled for scenario events and got Low Visibility - line of sight is limited to 12” (therefore the mist) and Reconnoiter – characters may not attack, run, or rush an enemy on the first turn (fitting as everyone is exhausted after the swim and is frantically trying to dry their weapons).

The leagues:

The CSSS is evolving.
Monsignore's got Danger Sense this game from his Contacts, and that means he will automatically pass his first peril each turn- very useful this scenario. He has also bought a Gadget X - letting him pass one plot point automatically.
Soura Innocenza has just received the ability Moxie from all experience points the leage has earned - letting her ignore multiple combats penalties when brawling - perfect as she is our close combat specialist.
Padre Sicario - with tommy gun and cross - is our long range shooting expert, just as he always has been.
Padre Scuro is armed with a shotgun and will be able to place a Long Blast - very useful against cultists and other low level scum.
Soldato Morto wields a SMG and can place a 3" Burst within 12" - equally good aginst scum.
Soldato Scopritori is a follower we got as a Contact. He's a scout and is bad at everything but a bit less bad at dodging. Note the accurate map of Isola Pericolosa he has drawn.

Here we have the Belgian League. Note that they have lost a member :-) The guy who turned traitor twice in a row. Hahahaha!

The cultist.... lots of low level scum and very annoying.

The Lagoon of Terror.
A - Major plot point - a lost page from Lord Darrows personal diary. We need many to be able to find out where Lord Darrow is.
B - Minor plot point - a weird mineral called Perilium.
C - Minor plot point - a small jar filled with Paganga Goo - useful if you're in the Lagoon as the Terror ignores you if you wear it.
D - Minor plot point - Mysterious Remains, some fossilised bones from an ancient creature.
E- Minor plot point - a native fisherman.

The leagues are placed.
The CSSS in black. Notice the lone gunman at the far left.
Belgians in red, concentrated in the far end of the table.
Cultists in blue and everywhere...

Both the Belgians and CSSS set their sights on the lost pages in the wreck. The boat is extremely perilous so everyone except Monsignore avoids entering the boat this round.

Miss Mayhem from the Belgian league sets her sights on the perilium stone...

... and both cultists and Belgians rush the jar of paganga goo.

Soldato Morto sneaks after them.

Both Cultists and the CSSS closes in on the native fisherman. We all notice that he is dressed stangely, as an Inuit. How strange. What can that mean? He must be very uncomfortable in the heat.

A new turn and the cultist start by trying to rush a low level cultist through the snake-infested undergrowth. I play a peril on him as that terrain is perilous and being low level he miserably fails and gets a hit. He falls and as he is an ally he is out of the match and is removed.

More cultists swarm our heroes and the map-maker is knocked down and out of the match by the mummy.

One last cultist joins the fray, surrounding Padre Sicario.

In the other end of the lagoon Belgians and cultists start to fight over the jar of paganga goo. 

Shooting and close combat fells both the new Belgian and one of the cultist.

and another Belgian falls to gun-fire

But is avenged immediately as a cultist falls in close combat

No-one notices the lone Italian hero until it is to late. He lets go with his sub-machine gun and places a 3" burst right over the fracas.

The burst is an extreme peril and everyone under it has to pass a random peril. The female cultist doesn't and is down.

Meanwhile The Belgian leader, the King of Pommes Frites, attacks Monsignore and one of his followers tries to enter the boat also. Remember that it is extremely perilous and as she tries to clamber aboard a tentacle grabs her feet and she is janked under the water and is out of the fight.

Soura joins Monsignore in the fight against the leader of the Belgian league.

A new round and the female cultist revives. 

I laugh evilly as Soldato Morto opens up yet again with his SMG. That takes out one figure from each band. Oh, the joy. Burst are so much fun! 

...and so are blasts! Padre Scuro let the cultists get two barrels in the face.

The cultist is blown of his feet and removed from play while the mummy is knocked down. Not bad for an ally, he has earned his keep. (Sorry for the blurry pic. It is hard to hold a camera steady while heckling your opponents...)

The turn ends with the Terror appearing. It moves towards the closest character, which unfortunately is Monsignore. 

The evil cultist mastermind has coerced the hapless native to follow him (i.e., he unlocked the plot point) and the leader joins the fight against my heroic defenders of the faith. Things are looking grim.

And grimmer still as Padre Scuro falls to the blows of two cowardly cultists.

At the other end of the board the fight for the jar continues. Gun-fire forces the sole surviving cultist away from the plot point. 

She decides enough is enough and abandons the quest for the plot point. Instead she sets her sight on poor Soldato Morto and with a blood chilling war-cry she attacks him, all the while cheered on by the Belgians.

The fight at the boat takes an unexpected turn as Monsignore Cadaverico ducks away from the fight with the monster while Soura, badly hurt, ducks away from the Belgian leader. I have a cunning plan...

Cunning or not, the blasted monster follows Monsignore. Damnation!

The heroic soldier revives at the end of turn and continues the fight with the cultist...

...only to fall again. But he has succeded in holding her for another turn.

Meanwhile the cultist leader runs to the remaining unclaimed minor plot point...

...while his minions fight it out with Padre Sicario. 

Monsignore ducked away from the fight with the Terror and starts shooting at the cult leader who shrugs off all damage and unlocks the ancient remains.

The Belgians finally finds the jar, getting another plot point.

With no tasty priest to munch on the Terror looks about and find a suitably plump Belgian to feast on. The forgotten pages are ripped to pieces when the Terror goes berserk and the league members that still stands make haste away from the carnage, rescuing downed members on the way.

Here the fighting ended.

The Belgian league got away with two plot points, as did the cultists.

My devout league got nothing to show for their efforts, unfortunately, but they had had much fun with the blast and burst weapons that proved so effective against low level cultists and other scum. They are here to stay.

Padre Sicario has shown his weakness again in close combat and in the long run he will probably be replaced by someone with better hand to hand capabilities while still retaining the Padre's long range specialisation.

That was that for this time. More adventures coming shortly to a blog near you.