VSF - Sellswords Back to the Jungle

I had Will come over for a game, so I took the opportunity to revisit my VSF version of Sellswords and Spellslingers.

Player Briefing

You are agents of Her Imperial Majesty, Queen of Great Britain, Empress of India etc., carrying out clandestine operations on behalf of HM Government.  Be aware that other government departments may have agents operating in your vicinity. This can be an inconvenience at times as these agents may get in the way of your operations. However, please note that it is not permitted to engage fellow Imperial agents in combat, no matter how annoying they may be. It is also frowned upon to allow fellow Englishmen (or even Colonials) to come to harm if you could reasonably prevent it.

 The renowned British archaeologist, Professor Mortimer-Whining, has successfully discovered the remains of a previously unknown, mysterious, stone-built settlement, deep in the jungle. Om his return to Britain, government scientists have been most interested in a small blue gemstone that has undisclosed, but extraordinary, properties. Your mission is to retrieve a much larger example of this stone that the Professor noted in a ruin at the edge of the city.

Unfortunately, our Western Asia departments have reported that the Ottoman Empire have dispatched their own expedition to find the city. This is led by Pasha Kartal Nuri, a senior agent of the royal court, and accompanied by the prominent Ottoman scientist, Professor Erman Gukay. As the local tribes were much “put out” by the Professor’s unwanted interference with, what they considered to be, a holy site, Pasha Nuri has capitalised on this and secured the assistance of some of the locals.

Deployment: Deploy all PCs along the southern edge, then deploy foes randomly but not closer than 4” to any PC (if a foe appears closer than 4” from a PC, place it 4” away).

Foes:

3 x Pygmy snipers with blowpipes

2 x Ottoman Dervish Assassins

4 x  hordes of 3 Soldiers (2 with rifles/ 2 with swords).

Pasha Nuri

Professor Gukay (with gas bombs and a prismatic shield).

1 x Bodyguard

Trap: There are three traps in play.

1-3 Snare DL 14 to break free or 3 actions to cut.

4-5 Gas bomb.

Ambush: An Ottoman swordsman leaps out from the nearest cover and attacks the closest PC.

Reinforcements: 3 Ottoman Soldiers (1-4 rifles, 5-6 swords).

At Our Back: 1d6 Pygmies

Complications: The first time the card is drawn a Silverback Gorilla enters the table from a random edge. He will attack any humans within 4” or move towards the nearest PC.

Game Event: Nuri and Gukay have finished gathering the gemstones and will attempt to escape from either the E or W edge.

NOTE:

Nuri will use his gas bombs if any PC comes within 9” (12” once trying to escape).

Wandering Monster

1 or 2: 1-3 Apes

3 or 4: Pygmy Chief

5 or 6: 3 Pygmies with Blowpipes

Victory

The game ends if PCs capture the gemstone and either escape off any edge except the northern, or if Pasha Nuri and the Bodyguard are dead/disabled; or if all PCs are off table or dead.

The initial table layout, the PCs will enter from the nearest table edge.

A Pygmy lurking behind a ruined pillar.

Pasha Kartal Nuri, Professor Erman and the bodyguard search for the gemstones.

Another blowpipe welding pygmy hides in the jungle.

Three Ottoman riflemen take up position behind some ruins.

My party prepare to start.

Will's party assemble.

First blood, with her first shot my hunter takes down the pygmy sniper.

Will starts as he means to go on and is ambushed before he even gets away from the table edge (for the second time!).

My Gentleman Adventurer trips up (but manages to avoid spilling his cup of tea). My scientist moved forward to take a shot at the Ottoman riflemen closing in on us, but mishandled his pistol and managed to jam it.

We finally managed to get underway. While my party got into a firefight with some Ottoman riflemen, Will seemed to have picked a particularly wet and muddy path as his party struggled to move any faster than a giant sloth.
He got really worried when a rather large silverback gorilla turned up just behind him, but was saved when a horde of pygmies appeared almost next to him. The gorilla promptly charged into the pygmies and was kept amused for several turns, ripping them to pieces.

Will's Soldier of Fortune moved up to take a few shots at a Dervish Assassin charging towards him, wounding the crazed fanatic. His Scientist had already been wounded by an ambushing swordsman. Will seemed to be experiencing more than his fair share of ambushes in this game!

His Gentleman Adventurer tried to assist but his revolver jammed. The Soldier succeeded in finishing the Assassin off before he got to grips. My party delayed for a while to allow the Scientist to use his healing skills on their injuries (both the Hunter and Gentleman Adventurer were in a bad way by now).

In the meantime Pasha Nuri had found the gemstones and start to make his escape.

Will drew yet another Ambush and this time his Scientist was cut down.

As my Hunter and Gentleman Adventurer were attacked by two angry apes and a horde of pygmies closed in, my Gentleman triggered a trap and they were engulfed in a cloud of billowing gas!

After escaping from the gas, they found themselves chased by the horde of pygmies.

The Pasha and his cronies get further away with their gems.

More Ottoman riflemen and a couple of pygmies move up to cover their escape. Will's Soldier of Fortune managed to catch up with the Professor and got into hand to hand combat before he could throw one of his gas bombs.

At the last minute, my Scientist got into range with his net discharger and trapped the Pasha and his henchman.
Just out of view, my Gentleman Adventurer has been trapped in a snare whilst the Hunter is cut down by the last surviving pygmy from the horde.

Will's Gentleman Adventurer darted forward and, holding his pistol to the Pasha's head demanded his surrender. Somehow we had snatched Victory from the jaws of seeming obvious defeat!