Rumble in the Jungle: Background and Scenario

Padre

Member
First, atm the title is a lie. Only the background is done so far, the scenario is to follow.

Rumble in the Jungle
Oldhammer ‘Bring out your Lead’ 2013 Scenario

Background

Deep in the jungles of the great southern continent of Lustria lies a long lost valley. For over a thousand years no-one in the outside world knew of its existence. Those who stumbled upon it never left. The first visitors were soldier-explorers from an ancient Southlands kingdom (now just as forgotten as the valley itself). The last were a band of Old World pirates searching the jungles for a city of gold, most of whom died fighting in the valley, the remainder being enslaved.

They were defeated by the valley’s defenders, a large tribe of pygmies and their war beasts and allies. Once, millennia ago, when strange powers ruled the valley, the pygmies were mere slaves, living lives of drudgery, scuttling about the valley barely noticed by their masters, polishing this and scrubbing that, weeding here and tending there. They used domesticated, native animals as beasts of burden. To perform different tasks, other slaves were brought to the valley by the masters - including a tribe of hairy ape-like men taken from their home on an entirely different continent.

The masters themselves lived a life very different from their slaves – being more akin to gods than mortals. They clothed themselves in shimmering garb, wielded potent, magical tools and weapons, and travelled in most mysterious ways. They built 3 (and perhaps began a fourth – depending on Thantsants!!) large, stone temple-homes, arrayed in a manner pleasing to themselves, and they dug a deep underground cavern where they performed secret rituals and stored their most precious belongings. And then, one day, they were gone.

The valley and their slaves remained. Over a thousand years passed, perhaps several thousand – the pygmies are not very good at keeping time – and the slaves changed. They could not leave the valley as the very notion never occurred to them. The masters had dominated them so well that even today they believe it is their most important duty to serve the valley and the temple-homes within. But in other ways they changed. They grew more intelligent, becoming more fearsome and a lot more independent. They bred their beasts to make them more ferocious so that they could fight in battle, and they made the hairy-apes obedient to them. The stories they told of the past mutated through the years, and although they still revered the temple-homes and the beings who dwelt there with deep religious reverence, their gods and beliefs came to bear little similarity to the actual, distant past. They began to worship immortal pygmy fathers and mothers, who manifested through divinely chosen individuals in each generation, re-born again and again. Then, for a time, their religion became cruel, as they found ways to reanimate the dead – trying to keep their gods within their chosen host for longer than the host’s mortal life. Eventually they shunned such practices, for the living dead seemed unworthy of containing their gods – and most doubted that the gods truly inhabited such hosts anyway. But they did not forget the sinister art of re-animating the dead, a knowledge passed on to selected shamans of each generation.

Then came the RUMBLE! An earth-quaking tremor that rocked the whole valley. The pygmies’ huts collapsed, many of their statues tumbled, and huge boulders came rolling down from the heights. Several sections of the cunningly crafted (to appear natural) valley walls crumbled, leaving rubble-strewn gaps like gates. The temple-homes remained standing, for they had been divinely crafted, but cracks and fissures appeared in their ancient stone walls. And deep beneath the ground, in the completely forgotten caverns, something toppled, something jarred, something cracke, and an artifact so intricate as to defy all mortal understanding stuttered into life.

This subterranean artifact is connected to the temples above. Once it was used by the masters to facilitate their magical mode of travel. Now it is partially awakened, bleeding phosphorescent fluids, emitting eerie illuminations, and reaching out, uncontrolled and chaotic, to distant times and places.

The pygmies don’t know this. They are too busy righting their statues, rounding up their beasts, and arguing over which temple they ought to attempt to patch up first. They also don’t know that the RUMBLE was heard and felt by others. Nor that a wave of magical energy rippled out from the valley when the deeply buried thing broke, whispering of ancient power and wisdom to the magically sensitive. Nor that the last of the enslaved pirates were not buried underneath a rock slide as they believe, but fled over the valley wall to carry word of the valley to the outside world.

So they cannot know that several interested parties (some out of curiosity, others out of greed) are this very day approaching their valley.

.....................................................................

Note: In case you're wondering, the deep cavern is far too deep for anyone to reach. But the temple-homes ('homes' being the clue) have got precious, ancient artifact stuff in them too, which is now accessible due to the cracks and fissures. (No, I don't know the difference between a crack and a fissure.) Thus we have the basis for a 'smash and grab' scenario. It's all about who gets away with the most loot.
 

Thantsants

Member
Bravo - can't wait to get rummaging through those temples!

Mine is coming along - nearly there with casting the blocks I need - hopefully I can get it painted up and craft some kind of top for it...
 

Padre

Member
Working on the scenario rules now (entry and exit, looting from the temples and each other, secret rules for the valley defenders, etc etc).

One part that worries me, however, is the rules for dealing with multiple players and combats per turn. I will present it here for those of you brave enough to tackle it. If you do, please say whether you think it will work in practice .... (I've had decades of trying to work stuff like this out) ....

---------------------------------------------------------

Game Turns

Each player gets their own turn, commencing the moment they arrive on the field.
(The GM may use a D2 or D3 roll to determine when exactly the new player’s turn occurs, in relation to those player’s forces already in the valley).

Combat rounds in Game Turns
Every combat can only be fought twice per full turn. This is complicated to explain but should be easy in practise, especially as we have a GM and a lot of happy to help players (I hope). Each player only has to remember which of his units has fought once or twice already. If it gets hard to remember, we may use dice to indicate this (no dice, ‘1’ or ‘2’) on the day.

Example (if you really want to out yourself through this …) ...

4 Players = Defender, player A, player B & player C

Units already in conflict
Defender unit 1 vs. A unit 1
Defender unit 2 vs. B unit 1
A unit 2 vs. B unit 2
A unit 3 vs. B unit 3 vs. C unit 1

Defender’s turn
Defender 1 fights A 1
Defender 2 fights. B 1
Defender 3 charges & fights C 2.

A’s turn
Defender 1 fights A 1
A 2 fights B 2
A 3 fights B 3 & C 1
A 4 charges & fights B 4

B’s turn
Defender 2 fights B 1
A 2 fights B 2
A 3 fights B 3 & C 1
A 4 fights B 4

C’s turn
C 1 has already fought twice, so no combat fought this round
C charges & fights A 5
Defender 3 fights C 2

The exception
If a unit charges into a combat that has already been fought twice this turn, then another round of combat IS fought – due the extra mayhem and bloodiness of the combat situation. A precedent for this is the rules re: capturing standards on p. 78, in which an extra round of combat is fought within the round. To add to the example above (if I dare!) if in C’s turn he charged his unit C 3 into the already completed fight between A 2 & B 2, then they would all fight again. You can’t have a charge without a fight.

-----------------------------------------------

PLEASE, if anyone can spot any flaws in this system, say so now. I am hoping that although it is bloomin’ difficult to explain, it is easy for a GM and the players to do.
 

Padre

Member
First draft, full scenario rules (minus defender's secret rules)...

Scenario

Victory

The player leaving the valley with the most Loot Points wins the game.

Forces

Forces must be composed as per the Warhammer Armies Book, or White Dwarf modifications to said book, or White Dwarf lists, with leeway given for painted figure collections, fluff-tastic forces, etc. Just don’t get silly with the number of characters or elites. Keep them close to the guided bounds and the spirit of the army lists.

The valley defenders, being an NPC force, have a lot of units and creatures that are new to 3rd edition, modified from other list entries. As this force cannot win the game, and is a GM controlled force, I think this is appropriate.

Entering the Lost Valley (Or ‘Joining the Game’)

There are 3 – 5 entry/exit points to the valley (depends on the table/scenery on the day). Players can join in when they wish, subject to a possible slight delay as we finish a full turn. A die roll will decide which of the entry points a player arrives at.

The entry/exit points will be at the table corners &/or on the short edge of the table. The long edges of the table are assumed to be natural mountains which did not collapse in the RUMBLE, but the short table edges are where the cunningly crafted defensive barriers are. These are the barriers that have partially collapsed thus creating the entry/exit points.

The entry/exit points will be ‘x’ inches wide (decided on the day), allowing a player to place as many units as he can side by side to enter. The first units are placed on the table edge, within the limits of the entry/exit points, and take their movement. In the reserve phase, another bunch of units can reserve move from the edge of the table behind the first batch, provided there is room, and so on until the whole of the arriving player’s force is on the table.

If another player is already entering at one of the entry/exit points, this won’t be including in the roll as if they were to do so they would have effectively been travelling together and probably would already have started fighting!

If another player is leaving from the same entry/exit point, then the arriving player can attempt to snatch some loot (using simplified rules cf. those given below for capturing loot on the field of battle). The departing player chooses one unit from those in his force who have already left the field, and the arriving player chooses any unit. They then fight an ‘off-table’ round of combat. If the departing player wins, or it is a draw, no loot changes hands. If the arriving player wins, roll a D6 – on 3+ he steals one Loot Point. This can be repeated the next turn, using a different arriving unit and a different ‘off-table’ fleeing unit, if the departing player’s force is still in the process of leaving. This second chance is the last chance to steal ‘off-table’ loot.

As soon as the departing player has left the field, the arriving player begins to enter. The GM will modify this rule if the departing player has units strung out across the valley and is going to take some time leaving, or maybe doesn’t intend certain units to leave, thus allowing the arriving player to arrive before the departing player’s units have all left.

Departing the Valley

Simply move your models over the table edge at one of the entry/exit points and it has left the valley. (Note: If another force is entering via that same point, then the rules given above apply.)

If your units are in desperate circumstances they may attempt to leave by the long table edges, i.e. over the mountainous valley sides. If they do, roll a D6 on the following table for each unit …

1. Unit perishes in the attempt. All loot lost.
2. Unit loses half its number in the attempt and loses all loot.
3. Unit loses its loot.
4. Unit may lose some loot. Roll D6 for each Loot Point, on 4+ it is lost.
5. Unit loses half its number but keeps its loot.
6. Unit and loot make it over successfully.

Game Turns

Each player gets their own turn, commencing the moment they arrive on the field. (The GM may use a D2 or D3 roll to determine when exactly the new player’s turn occurs, in relation to those player’s forces already in the valley).

Every combat can only be fought twice during a full turn. This is complicated to explain but should be easy in practise. Each player only has to remember which of his units has fought once or twice already. If it gets hard to remember, we may use dice to indicate this (no dice, ‘1’ or ‘2’) on the day.

Example (if you really want to put yourself through this …):

4 Players = Defender, player A, player B & player C

Units already in conflict
Defender unit 1 vs. A unit 1
Defender unit 2 vs. B unit 1
A unit 2 vs. B unit 2
A unit 3 vs. B unit 3 vs. C unit 1

Defender’s turn
Defender 1 fights A 1
Defender 2 fights. B 1
Defender 3 charges & fights C 2.

A’s turn
Defender 1 fights A 1
A 2 fights B 2
A 3 fights B 3 & C 1
A 4 charges & fights B 4

B’s turn
Defender 2 fights B 1
A 2 fights B 2
A 3 fights B 3 & C 1
A 4 fights B 4

C’s turn
C 1 has already fought twice, so no combat fought this round
C charges & fights A 5
Defender 3 fights C 2

The exception
If a unit charges into a combat that has already been fought twice this turn, then another round of combat IS fought – due the extra mayhem and bloodiness of the combat situation. A precedent for this is the rules re: capturing standards on p. 78, in which an extra round of combat is fought within the round. To add to the example above (if I dare!) if in C’s turn he charged his unit C 3 into the already completed fight between A 2 & B 2, then they would all fight again. You can’t have a charge without a fight.

PLEASE, if anyone can spot any flaws in this system, say so now. I am hoping that although it is bloomin’ difficult to explain, it is easy for a GM and the players to do.

Looting the Temples

Each fully constructed temple can be looted. The ‘incomplete’ temple may be harder to loot. A unit or hero can attempt to loot one of the four temple sides.

To loot a temple-side a unit of at least 5 models (or one redoubtable and cunning hero character) needs to be in base to base contact with the temple-side and not in combat. Whatever the size of the unit, only one group of 5 goes wriggling in (there are only enough cracks, and fissures, to fit 5). Up to 2 characters can try per side of the temple, either on their own or at the same time as a unit. They spend that turn wriggling through the cracks (and fissures), scrabbling for prizes in the semi-collapsed chambers within. Each full turn that they do so undisturbed, they roll Intelligence test and Initiative tests. If they pass both they have found an item of loot. If the looters are ogre sized or bigger then a group of two can a search, but as they are a tad too large to squeeze easily through the cracks (or fissures) they must pass a Strength test as well as the other tests.

If a looter/looting unit is attacked during the turn they are looting, no loot is found and they fight combats as normal, except they are at a -2 Initiative due to starting the round scrabbling out the temple arse-first.

Each item of loot so obtained is worth 1 Loot Point. Loot Points will determine who is the WINNER at the end of the weekend/day. But Loot Points take a variety of forms.

For each Loot Point discovered, roll a D6 …

1,2 = Big and heavy – Needs 5 dwarf/human sized creatures to carry it, or 2 ogre sized creatures, or can be dragged by 2 mounted figures.
3,4,5 = Conveniently sized – Can be carried by one man, ogre or mounted figure.
6 = Delicate. As 3,4,5 but may be damaged in transit, or in combat.

Carrying delicate loot

Every turn the carrying unit moves, roll a D6. A roll of one means an ‘incident’ has occurred. If this is the case, the carrying model needs to pass an initiative test not to break the item.

Delicate loot in combat

If a unit/individual carrying delicate loot is in combat, then per turn of combat (not per round) they must pass an Initiative test or the loot is broken.

Broken Loot is only worth half a Loot Point.

Stealing Loot Points from other players on the tabletop

Loot Points are treated like standards in the rules. If a unit is pushed back, and Loot Points were being carried by a model/models in the fighting rank, then the victor can attempt to steal the loot in the same way they can steal a standard (p.76) – by fighting an extra round of combat. Delicate loot will be broken in the process of being stolen on a D6 roll of 4+. If the loot is trampled in the dirt (the result of a draw) it is lost, as it will be recovered by the valley defenders at the end of the battle. Attackers could steal multiple Loot Points this way, if multiple Loot Points were being carried in the fighting rank. Only one extra round of combat, however, is fought to decide this.

Loot being carried by models not in the fighting rank cannot be stolen unless casualties whittle down the unit so that the loot is in the front rank, or if the unit routs. If a unit routs, then as per the ‘Routed Units’ rules on p.76, then the loot is dropped during the last round of combat and is captured by the winning side. If it is dropped during a rout not from combat, it is lost (lying discarded and forgotten on the field. (Although the GM may rule that it is found in certain appropriate circumstances.)
 

Padre

Member
Being an optimist I shall assume that either (a) you all trust my opinion on the multi-player combat round system described above, or (b) that you’re all too busy to check it over. Either way, Huzzah!

Now that I have slept there are two things I have decided I don’t like about the first draft.

1. The arriving/departing rules

I am no longer keen on the idea that a player entering the valley can steal from another player currently departing at the same point after they have left the table with an off-table fight. First, I would much prefer to keep all action on the table, and second, this system lazily assumes a player’s force will all leave together through the same entry/exit point.

So instead let’s assume that a player’s individual units can leave the field from ANY entry/exit point, provided they can move legally off the table. IF enemy units get directly in the way (like an arriving force) then the departing force will have to fight their way through or take another route. Once off table, they count as safe (even though they’re deep in the Lustrian jungle still). No off table conflict – the jungle has many paths.

Players entering the field roll a die for which point they arrive at. If enemy are in the way they deploy what they can and enter if legally possible to do so (i.e. if there is sufficient space). If they can’t deploy they wait until they can.

The GM to adjudicate all complications and confusions as they arise on an individual basis.

2. Victory Conditions

I am not keen on the simple system of ‘most loot wins’. If a player who arrived with a force of 500 points leaves the valley with 3 Loot Points, while a player with 2000 points leaves with 4 Loot Points, surely the 500 point force has achieved greater success?

Look at it this way: The 500 point force cost less to put together and will cost less to reward afterwards, so the general/backers gain much more profit from their 3 Loot Points. The 2000 point force was four times as expensive to put together and costs four times as much to reward, so gain a lot less profit from their loot.

I know this is a fun game, so we could simply just let players decide who they think did best – the 500 points player’s post-game bragging might outdo the 2000 point player, while a 1000 point player who took 3 Loot Points with the loss of a single figure, might reckon he ‘is de best!’

But we ought to consider an actual rules mechanic for victory. The trick is - what system best reflects this?

This is my first (and as yet only) idea:

A force that enters the field with 500 points or less counts every Loot Point as double its value.

A force which enters between 501 and 999 points counts every point as 1.5 times its value.

A force of 1000 to 1999 points counts each point as 1 times its value.

A force of 2001 to 2999 points counts each point as 0.75 times its value.

A force of 3000+ points counts each point as 0.5 times its value.


If you have an opinion please do comment as I have to make a decision before I collate and press print.
 

Norse

Member
All sounds good to me! I'm guessing most people won't have pointed up, but it should be fairly easy to estimate?
 

lenihan

Moderator
I haven't worked out points yet, but I'll sit down for half an hour at the start and write out an army list.

The rules seem good to me, Padre. Do you want a hand from participants setting up, or should I aim to arrive at the 10am "general opening" time?
 

Harry

Moderator
All looks good to me.
My 'armies' are tiny but I can always make them reluctant allies to make a bigger force?
I have not worked out points for anything.

I think you may be worrying too much about working out who wins. I think most of us will just be in for some fun in the jungle and won't be too bothered.

I will be there early anyway (with other stuff to unload) and can lend a hand.
 

Padre

Member
Then shall we not worry about the points-victory connection?

We'll know if a tiny force has done well to get 3 Loot Points compared to a massive force getting 4. Players should enjoy the game regardless, and decide for themselves if their force was one of the most successful ones.

I don't want you guys having to points cost if it ain't necessary. Do at least keep in mind not going too crazy on the monster front, like 20 warriors and 5 dragons/hydras or such. As long as your force looks like it could viably hold itself together for the march there and back, it'll be cool.

As for set up, I envisage this sequence:

I arrive 8-8.20. Dump stuff/sort a table while car is parked on street. I then take car to car park.
I then walk back to shop.
I then set up on the table. Should not take too long at all. Scenery isn't too difficult to deal with. And getting the pygmies out isn't really something anyone can help with. So ... participants really do not need to be there until 10 onwards.

EDIT: Theoretically Citadel-Collector - who is effectively a co-GM - and myself are gonna provide the figures for the weird hiccuping time/space transporter encounters. His rules for events/encounters are great. But (hint) Citadel-Collector, you need to get that list of what you can provide so that I can sort what I can provide and modify the encounters accordingly. Unless, you want me to send YOU a list of potential encounter figures, then you can do the sorting of the list to ensure you and I have it covered?
 

Norse

Member
Well, everybody wins anyway! And if Svein's there he'll have other aims anyway. Trying to find Fumerend, who probably will be trying to loot the place.
 
Padre":2k5crgtp said:
EDIT: Theoretically Citadel-Collector - who is effectively a co-GM - and myself are gonna provide the figures for the weird hiccuping time/space transporter encounters. His rules for events/encounters are great. But (hint) Citadel-Collector, you need to get that list of what you can provide so that I can sort what I can provide and modify the encounters accordingly. Unless, you want me to send YOU a list of potential encounter figures, then you can do the sorting of the list to ensure you and I have it covered?

Currently engaged in chainsaw work...so that sounds like a good plan. I'll get in touch late tonight either way.
 

Thantsants

Member
I'm just hoping the Magnificet Sven and his Wild Bunch make it out alive so I don't have to come up with some complicated plot device to bring them to life again for my Lustrian Campaign!

The temple's coming along - slowly. Is now a good time to tell you its about 4 feet by 3 feet? :shock: :lol:
 

Padre

Member
Hmm. I knew it was big, but that's BIG. Are you really sure you wanna bring such a massive lump to the event? We can get by with three temples, you know. I'd hate for you to carry such a weight/bulk and then discover we can't really fit it on the table- which is a more than likely possibility. If you don't bring it, see this week as a welcome spurt of activity on a project that you want to get on with anyway!

Myself have nearly finished the valley inhabitants' army list and special rules. And I have been working on pygmy scenery. As you may guess, slightly different scale to your project .
 

Thantsants

Member
Yeah - small fry ;)

If its finished I'll bring down, but if there is no room I won't be at all put out if we don't use it. Like you say its been good to get really motoring with it.

If nothing is it could serve as some blatant self promotion for my Lustrian project if there's a table spare :lol:
 
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