Jimmy Kring was in fear for his life. The little roadster convertible he was wedged into was being driven by a maniac and he was there for the ride. The top was down, it was the only way a man his size could have fit, and the crazed woman beside him seemed in a state of ecstasy with the danger. Bela Gish was that maniac and though Jimmy was infatuated with the woman he was convinced she was about to kill them both. She slowed slightly at an intersection, snap shifted and sped through it. She glanced over to him and she had the smile of insanity on her face. The wind whipped by them. Jimmy thanked God more than once that there was no traffic down in the warehouse district, but where were the cops? Bela braked hard and pulled close to a dark warehouse without squealing the tires. She hopped out and went to the rear of the small auto. Jimmy unfolded himself from the passenger seat and stood up stretching. The small woman pulled a Thompson from the trunk and a sling with six extra magazines. The big man snatched them and looked at the woman. ‘What’s the caper?’
I recently had a bad case of painters burnout and was looking for something to refresh the desire to paint. Looking at the shelves and what not at what I have collected over the years I lighted on the Quick Start rules from Pulp Alley as well as the Rugged Adventures from Pulp Figures. Both are very good and very pulpy. Being a skirmish game you only need a few minis with which to play a game with. Pulp Alley even has solo rules. This all has caused me to crack open the wallet and buy some minis for the crime/adventure genre (six from Pulp Alley and five U.S. Marines from Pulp Figures). So this blog will be all about the, and possibly most popular pulp genres, Crime and Adventure pulp settings. Most of the things I am talking about here are about those sort of Pulp stories set in the period of the 20’s to the late 30’s. Those years between the wars when the country was in a bad state and needed the distraction of over the top adventure. Prohibition, the Depression, and a myriad of other blows to America made it a tumultuous time.
These stories were not just in magazines but on the radio and in films there was a great amount of material for tabletop games and to inspire miniatures. Noir, of course, is what most people think about when you talk about Crime Pulps. Bogart’s ‘Maltese Falcon’ for example, is based on a Sam Spade story from one Dashiell Hammet that was originally printed in the Pulp Magazine ‘The Black Mask’. In film, most, if not all, of them are black and white but I don’t look at that as a detriment but rather as a starting point with painting. Some do paint their minis black and white, and when done right, they look great. If you want to know the colours of Pulp, looking at the covers of the magazines and movie posters, are very much primary colours. Sometimes those raw and simple looks can be difficult to achieve. At least for me. This is going to force me to use washes and glazes more often for the shadows and shades. I was watching a youtube video about Pulp art and artists and they talked about the use of reds and yellows for adventure and crime as well as darker blues and grays for crime and fantasy. With that in mind, minis primed and an ample supply of paint I sallied forth.
For Characters I bought three packs from the various character lines from Pulp Alley. From ‘Phantom Agents’ there is Phantom Ace and Gauge who are very much archetypes of the mysterious flying man of action and his faithful sidekick/mechanic. I managed to snag an original packet of Capt. Wolf (Wolf’s Crew) and Minerva (Minerva’s mercenaries). The folks at Pulp Alley reorganized their mini packs to align members of the same league together so in the new packs Wolf would have his 1st Mate Bosun and Minerva would have her right hand guy Rahjeet. Finally the Red Queen and Jack Spade from the ‘Vice Alley Syndicate’ line. Most are armed with handguns but little Gauge has only her trusty wrench, though PA does not require that a piece of gear be on the mini. I will probably arm her with a hidden snub nose .38. Thinking about how to paint them, well, part of me wanted to paint them like they look on the supplies game card, but in the end, I opted for some different schemes. (While typing this I was drawn to the old Revell 1/48 P-40B on my CPU, the imagination kicked in and…) They are all in 1930s-esque stylised clothing and they were fun to paint up. If there is one thing that I have to consider is that they are on slotta bases that can be problematic with some of the characters. But if that is the only complaint then…
For support I bought a section of five U.S. Marines in tin hats from Pulp Figures in a very ‘between the Wars’ loadout of rifles, pistols and one shotgun. The section is led by Corporal Benatz armed with a Winchester Model 1897 Trench Gun, a shotgun that the Germans protested that it was inhumane in WWI, while they were using phosgene gas. The others are armed with the venerable Springfield M1903 rifle of the period. Both weapons were powerful firearms that could kill most anything met by the Marines. The uniforms are the khakis, leggings and webbing of the 30s and they give me a ‘China Marine’ vibe. I hope to get a second packet of Marines in tin hats that are armed with a Lewis Gun, a BAR and two tommy gunners. They will make a nice group of Henchmen to… well… Hench…. I gave them a black primer coat and a zenithal highlight and now they are waiting for a good coat of paint.
That’s not to say that I don’t have some minis that I can use already painted. There are a number that I can use for my parties of ‘good guys’ as party members and so on. Most are for other games and you know that multitasking minis is a good thing. Also, some are going to be villains or henchmen. Egyptian cultists or guardians (WarGods of Aegyptus), fighters or thugs (Walking Dead) and summoned denizens from the outer void or angels (Citadel and Reaper) are going to be used in a game. Considering that most of the rulesets that I am looking at are pretty agnostic when it comes to the minis you use, the only limitations are about what you have on the shelf. Or you can do what I like to do. Buy more. I can’t say enough nice things about Pulp Alley and their customer service. Same goes with Pulp Figures or Noble Knight Games. If you can’t find it there, it doesn’t exist.
Finally there is the setting of the game. A world of two fisted men and beautiful dames who all carry .45 or .38 Autos, tommy guns, BARs and a plethora of revolvers and they all know how to use them and won’t hesitate. Then there are exotic locales like the Caribbean, South Pacific, Africa to be the backdrop to the stories. The gritty world of gangsters and molls in New York or Los Angeles and any other city you could think of. Were they accurate to period, oh no not even close at times, but you get pulled into that world. A world of The Spider, the Shadow, the Green Lama and Domino Lady. Larger than life heroes who think some, talk more and, more often than not, let their .45s do their talking. Now the streets of Gotham are calling like a dame in trouble. And you know when she steps out of the fog on that cold dark night, well, those troubles will be yours.
The warehouse sprinklers had come on, rousing Jimmy where he lay among the broken crates and pallets. He tasted the blood in his mouth and knew from the pain in his chest that he was not going to get up. He tried to turn his head but couldn’t even do that. He perceived Bela suddenly on her knees beside him. She was saying something and pulling her gloves off. He started to hear a roaring from far off, getting closer. The petite woman leaned closer and laid her bare hand on his chest. ‘I’m leavin’ babe,’ he whispered. ‘Bullshit’, Bela cursed and closed her eyes. Jimmy felt warmth where her hand lay, then the heat began to build and suddenly it burned and he screamed.
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