Ultimate Alliance China: Part VI

One of the workshops in the Engineering department had been hastily converted by the student protestors into something of an iron monger's; building barricades, shields and other weapons intended to fend off police incursions. A bench was quickly cleared and a sextet of students dragged the damaged and soiled body of Inframan off the floor and pulled a spotlight over the workspace. Almost immediately, an argument started in both English and Cantonese over how to approach the, seemingly-impossible, task of repairing a bionic superhero built in the 1970s. The tools at hand in the workshop were reasonable, especially given the many student hands they had passed through over the years, but none were of a Super Science Team quality, even going back forty years. Vice-grips and pliers removed wedged bullets and knife-tips while ratchet-straps from someone's car kept Inframan from thrashing too badly, but it took an enterprising handyman with a grinder and an old screwdriver to finally make a tool that could unfasten the chest-plate.

The insides of Inframan were shockingly sleek and chrome, even with the years of storage and the recent battle. A collection of esoteric pumps, pistons, tubes and circuits kept the robotic and human elements of Inframan running and in sync. A few probings and measurements were made gingerly, no one wanting to risk damaging the apparatus, but each feeling that doing nothing may actually be worse. A medical student produced a stethoscope and confirmed something reminiscent of a heartbeat, though what that meant remained a mystery to everyone present.

The bustle and jabber of the room fell silent with the entry of Cassandra Cain, a Criminology/Psychology student whose fierce intellect and general intensity gave her a palpable aura of "don't fuck with me". In a personally unique combination of English, Mandarin and at least two forms of sign language, Cain cleared the room in seconds. Flipping open a custom-built communication device a few years ahead of consumer electronics, Cain made contact with Oracle, another former holder of the Batgirl mantle, and technical advisor for the Justice League as well as what Nightwing jokingly called the "Bat-Family", of which she was a part. Typically Oracle was represented on-screen by a cryptic symbol, but as she and Cassandra had become close friends during the "No Man's Land" debacle, so she could see Barbara's bespectacled face. She signed "I'm in." in American Sign Language at the screen and awaited instruction.

Oracle quickly ran Cain through the process of connecting her device to Inframan's archaic Coaxial Network port, which required some quick soldering with whatever in the USB family Cassie could find lying around and a small amount of swearing. The data stream was patchy, but enough that Oracle could pull out the pertinent bytes and get them running on her hyper-advanced system. For all the leaps and bounds which computing had taken since Inframan was constructed, the process of converting from archaic programming languages intended for Mandarin speakers into something that could run now in something appropriating English (though both Oracle and Cassandra spoke multiple languages) took time. So that precious moments weren't wasted, Cassandra finished up the work of removing foreign objects and any obvious damage she could with the available tools.

Oracle grumbled something about data corruption and magnetic tape, Cassandra suppressing a smile; Barbara wouldn't bat an eyelid facing a horde or armed bikers, but mess with her system and the griping would never stop. The code-name Oracle was not factitious however, and soon a facsimile of Inframan's personality was running on a virtual clone of the famous Bat-Computer like any other program.

"Where am I?" even through the synthesizer, the voice was clearly of a scared and confused man, "I can't see."

"You're in an engineering lab in Hong Kong," Cassie didn't have the most soothing voice, having not learned to talk until nearly an adult, "what is the last thing you remember Officer Hayama?"

The cyborg did his best to look around with his limited movement, shaking violently as ancient servos ground together. Instinctively, Cassie put Inframan's hand in her own and squeezed, taking a moment to recall that the appendage was entirely metal and plastic.

"I had just helped the police halt a riot in Hong Kong," Hayama ceased trying to turn his head, "I needed repairs, so they put me under, it was 1992."

"It's 2018," Cassie had been raised to favour directness, time spent with other Bat-heroes had not softened this edge, "you have been warehoused for decades because there was not the funding to repair you."

Two sounds filled the space, one was the low electronic buzzing that Cassie had come to associate with Oracle exhaling through her nostrils in lieu of sighing, and a kind of popping like old mobile phone signals interfering with a speaker. In a moment of clarity, she realised that Inframan was sobbing as best as his vocal synthesizer allowed.

"Officer Hayama," Oracle's voice cut into the reverie, "do you recall the man you fought tonight? The reason you were damaged and why you were brought here?"

With the sound of a physical drive starting up, Inframan's eyes began to flicker like an antique pinball machine and his body became rigidly still. Cassie's laptop screen opened a new window that Oracle sent, showing the fight between Inframan and the Masked Warrior from a first-person perspective. An analysis of the Masked Warrior's movements began and soon his Bat-Computer file was scrolling next to the playing footage. Cassie noticed that even Batman hadn't confirmed his identity, having instead a list of around four suspects of varying likelihood.

"Masked Warrior, vigilante, Shanghai based, likely legacy title," Inframan recited the information as he received it, "typically battles organised crime, why was he fighting me?"

"A lot has changed since you were last awake," Cassie's directness was occasionally a boon, "Hong Kong is Chinese territory again and the People's Army is attempting to occupy the city. The people of Hong Kong are resisting, but have no international support and the elections are rigged. They need a champion again."

A series of drive noises and flashing lights accompanied a very robotic twitching as Inframan processed the new data. The screen now showed a rapid series of images of the Hong Kong riots interposed with monster battles and representations of the British occupation. The robotic hands began to flex and Cassie withdrew hers before it was crushed. All a sudden, the lights and movement stopped.

"Fix me," Inframan demanded, "I need to defend my city."

Spider-Man Mini Campaign - Building a Narrative

Sorry this keeps getting delayed, but rolling COVID lockdowns are pushing the chance to wargame further and further back. On the plus side, I do get more painting done, which kind of speeds up the game planning to a certain degree? Of course, it is a little annoying that I am completing all of these projects and don't get to do anything with them, but I'd rather be keeping my vulnerable friends safe than playing games and getting them killed, y'know?

Anyway, one of the biggest challenges with planning out a SuperSystem Ultimate Alliance game is building in the narrative, so that it doesn't just become an exercise in combat and dice rolling. Yes, the fight is a fun part of any superhero story, but there really needs to be context, otherwise it's superhero UFC and I get bored pretty quick. This is probably why I've never gotten much into the Batman Miniatures Game or Marvel Crisis Protocol, it's just a fight that never really feels organic to me. To that end, I try and build all of my supers games, especially the Ultimate Alliance ones, around something other than a straight punch-up. This doesn't always need to be a grand narrative, but something as simple as a bank robbery, hostage situation or gaol break can work.

Naturally, this being the first game of my "Death of Spider-Man" campaign, the scenario will involve the death of Peter Parker. This complicates things a little, as with any wargame, guaranteeing an outcome will be tricky. There are a few things I can do to help this along, I'm thinking of starting the game with Peter being down some Hits and just kind of stacking the whole scenario against him. What this does mean, as I'm trying to keep the full narrative of the campaign under wraps before it begins, is that I'll have to be careful about who plays which characters in the actual game. Some players are happy to bend to narrative if the game is fun, but there's always those who see dice and numbers and go for the win no matter what. No judgment, I'm playing competitively for the first time in years in a Kill Team League and loving it, but that's just not what SSUA is about.

The primary antagonist for the mission will be 'Venogoblin', a version of Norman Osborn who's hopped himself up on drug symbiote in an insane attempt to finally kill Spider-Man. So, functionally, it will be a one-on-one game, meaning I can skip things like the Initiative Step and just keep the action rolling. To facilitate the 'death' of Peter Parker, both characters will start out a little lower on health, maybe only as much as D3+1 Hits down, with the trick being that Venogoblin can Regenerate, whereas Spider-Man cannot. Add in some conflicting objectives, with Spider-Man having a focus on saving people rather than defeating Osborn, and our hero should be nicely up against it from the first turn. Again, I can't ensure that I'll have the specific outcome I'm looking for, but there's not just the mechanics to consider when I'm doing all this. Unsurprisingly, a big part of a Narrative Campaign is the narrative.

Although I (or probably, a couple of people I rope in) will be playing these games, they won't be "complete" until I get the write-up done on this blog. So as well as planning out this first Spidey Vs Venogoblin game, I'm also doing the fiction that leads into the game and flows out from it. So lets say Spidey somehow gets the better of Venogoblin in the game, through some god-tier rolling or something, well that doesn't matter too much, as I get to write up what happens later. Peter could well defeat Osborn against the odds, yet again, but perhaps he was badly injured in the fight? Maybe Peter finally took one too many Pumpkin Bombs to the face and he just couldn't recover this time? It doesn't have to be something overly epic or special, Into the Spider-Verse had Peter killed by falling machinery and that worked just fine.

Knowing the basics of the game now, I can start to get the details sorted. I have a painted Spider-Man and Venogoblin, and the stat card for Spidey, so I just have one character to write. I have the table and most of the accessories, so what's stopping me from just running the game? Well, last time I ran a series of linked games, way back in the Dark Ages when this was all done on the Lead Adventure Forum, it would take me months to get each new game together, so the enthusiasm just petered out after two games. This time around, especially as I'm only planning 4-6 games in this Campaign, I want to have at least two ready to go at a time so I can arrange games each month or so. On to next time then, where I'll be outlining game two and maybe looking at scheduling game one.

Spider-Man Mini Campaign - Planning

As I am still somehow struggling to get some decent superhero cards up and running, and it has been quite a while since my last "Rulebook" article, I thought I could show people how it is I get a game (or in this case, campaign) up and running. Hopefully it's instructive and you can start planning your own games based on how mine go.

The Death of Spider-Man
Years ago, with my original "Champions of the Omniverse" TSR Marvel Superheroes RPG, one character, Spider-Strike had a fun little background that stuck with me, being an "Edgy 90s" version of Spider-Man that took over for a while after Spidey's death, ala The Death of Superman. It was a fun joke that sat in the back of my head for years, and was slowly added to as new ideas occurred to me. Coincidentally, I also really got into converting Heroclix to make unavailable characters and home-brewed ones, expanding my options greatly and offering opportunities for unique characters still in the mold of existing settings.

The concept behind my "Death of Spider-Man" mini-campaign is pretty straightforward, really, as the entire process is an obvious pastiche of The Death of Superman, so my framework is already done, and I just need to plug in the Spider-Man related details. Let's start with the easy part, who will replace the main players in the original story?

Well, Spider-Man is our obvious Superman stand-in, here the 616 Peter Parker version (more on that later) because he's almost as iconic as Kal-El, and that lets us spin this out to alternate Spider-Men and Spider-People when we get to the big blow-out at the end. Next, we pretty much have to consider Doomsday, a lame character to be sure, but necessary for the narrative. Where I've settled is "Venogoblin" (pictured above, 3rd from the right), a version of Norman Osborn who thought it would be a great idea to mix the Goblin Formula with some Simbiote he had lying around, turning himself into a rampaging monster that Spidey dies trying to stop. We'll be running into a "Reign of the Spider-Men" story, so we'll also be needing Eradicator, Superboy, Steel and Cyborg Superman analogs; enter Spider-Strike (or is Spider-Stryk more '90s?), Octo-Spider, Spider-Slayer and, um, Cyborg Spider-Man. Look, I opened him in a booster, ok?

More on these characters later, but yeah, Spider-Strike is an edgy, '90s take on Spider-Man, with too many pouches and combat pants, he also probably uses an awkward slang phrase too much. Octo-Spider is actually intended to be Flash Thompson, using an experimental mobility harness made by Otto Octavius that he has stolen and weaponised. As usual, this Flash went to war and was injured, and is a huge Spidey fan, so his death would encourage him to get out and try and take his place. Steel Spider would probably be a better idea here, but as Heroclix haven't made one, I decided to make something up myself. Finally, yes, that's meant to be J Jonah Jameson inside the Spider-Slayer, affected enough by the death of Spider-Man, and the revelation that it was Peter Parker, a close confidant for years, he has broken his Slayer out of storage and is doing the best to undo the damage his papers have caused over the years.

Naturally, some of my Spidey villains will be playing a part as well, either as "dressing" in some scenarios, or for the various "Spider-Men" to fight in some games. You'll notice a lack of some famous faces here, but that's deliberate, and we'll get onto it in a later entry.

I've also long been a fan of the idea of Spider-Man side characters getting to do their own thing as a team, like the Slingers or Silver Sable's Wild Pack, the latter being my inspiration for the above, work-in-progress team.

So far the plan is to run say, 4-6 games, mostly small ones, but maybe a big blow-out at the end with a kind of Spider-Verse deal happening, if I can get enough Spider-people ready. At this stage, the end of the campaign is pretty far away, so I'm comfortable with it being a little vague right now. By the time I get going, things should be worked out, but right now I don't need every detail covered, and getting bogged down is just going to delay things further. Next time, we'll break down the scenarios and how I plan to link them together.

Ultimate Alliance: China - Part V

With speed and reactions honed from years of brutal combat, the Masked Warrior spun his whole body in a jumping heel kick that landed squarely in the middle of Inframan's chest plate. Though there wasn't much of Science Officer Hayama left under the armour to be injured by such a strike, the force behind it was enough to throw off his jump and he was sent sprawling across the roadway outside the University of Hong Kong. The ancient computers wired into his brain were working overtime analysing the power of the blow which struck Inframan as he picked himself up, just as he focused on the shape the move had taken, identifying the technique with almost the same precision. Win-Chung Kung-Fu certainly, but with elements of less rigid and more brutal styles mixed in. Adjusting his pose, Inframan was again ready to fight. 

Reading his foe's movements, the Masked Warrior started to dash towards Inframan and the pair clashed at a rate of knots, the shock-wave rippling through the police who had cleared a circle around them, unwilling to get between two superhumans. Despite being composed of cutting-edge cybernetics, Inframan was decades out of date and hadn't had a proper overhaul since the '90s, so the Masked Warrior was working rings around him and raining blows. The Masked Warrior was strong for a human, but still all too human, so his blows did little to shift Inframan, but in return, Inframan was far too slow to get a hit in himself. If the fight continued at this stalemate, it was Inframan who had the advantage, though his battery power was limited, it was measured in days, much longer than most humans could reasonably operate at the same level. Unless the Masked Warrior had a nasty surprise awaiting him, Inframan was confident in his eventual victory.

From the Masked Warrior's perspective, however, this was just another in a lifetime of fights where he was outgunned and had to rely on skill and cunning to win. As he had rushed to Hong Kong without a large amount of time to prepare, most of Chen's equipment was out of date, which rendered a lot of it too dangerous to use. Sweaty gelignite, leaky gas canisters and damp flash powder would have to be disposed of properly at some point, but for now, the Masked Warrior still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Dashing forward, Chen used his momentum to kick up and off Inframan, gaining some vertical distance and flinging a slender but strong throwing blade into the wafer-thin gap between his foe's shoulder and neck armour plates. Chen had had the blades made decades ago when a Shanghai gang he was battling had the bright idea of building suits of armour to protect themselves from police gunfire. Whilst Inframan lacked too many human parts for the blade to injure, the delicate mechanical joints under his armour were an obvious weakness.

Almost immediately, Inframan's right shoulder seized as the socket ground against the high-tensile steel alloy of the Masked Warrior's blade. Not giving his opponent time to breathe, the Masked Warrior followed up the first knife with a second to the knee and a third to the left elbow. Collapsing to one knee, Inframan twisted in panic as a stone-faced Masked Warrior closed in, drawing another small explosive from his jacket and preparing it for use. Taking his time, Chen leaned in towards Inframan, putting his face close to what passed for the cyborg's ear so that he would be heard over the commotion of the clashing police and students.

"Do you bleed?" mocked Chen as he placed the explosive on Inframan's head, "because you will."

Facing probable death and certain serious damage to his long out-of-date robotic upgrades, Inframan was forced to unleash his ultimate weapon, the Infra-beam. Even during the worst of the Kaiju wars, Inframan had never used this devastating beam of concentrated energy against a human target, and had no idea what the effect would be, as it was designed for killing giant monsters, but he had precious few options remaining. The Infra-beam operated on the same atomic reactor that powered Inframan himself, so it took only a fraction of a second to charge, unleashing a vivid scarlet beam of energy just as the Masked Warrior stepped back to discharge his explosives.

The beam split the pavement below Inframan, scattering asphalt across the area of the conflict and blasting the Masked Warrior backwards. Despite his dire situation, what remained of Science Officer Hayama could not bring himself to kill another human being. Using the limited motion remaining in each arm, Inframan snapped off the blade protruding from his knee joint, giving him enough movement to launch himself into the hole blasted by his Infra-beam, which had cut right through to Hong Kong's intricate sewer system. In the chaos caused by the blast, few saw Inframan escape and none were in a condition to pursue him, including the Masked Warrior, who painfully picked himself up, a significant distance from where he had left the ground and fought down the painful ringing in his ears. Whatever fight had been left in the mob was gone, the protesting students had retreated behind their barricades and even the police had begun to withdraw.

Cursing the cowardice of the police and the failings of his own aging body, Chen drifted stiffly into the smoke and made good his exit, swearing revenge on Inframan when they next met.

Ultimate Alliance: China - Part IV

As tear gas canisters rained down into the rear of the pro-democracy protestor's lines, an all-too-familiar wave of panic began to ripple through the ranks. Even now hardened by months of protests and living off scraps in unpowered and unplumbed University Dorms, the unforgettable burning sensation of CS gas hitting mucus linings could give pause to the men and women fighting for their freedom. Inflexible doctrine meant that the gas would also be followed by a police surge, already the lookouts were reporting that a line of riot shields had formed and was preparing to advance; those protestors who could arm themselves with makeshift shields did so as the designated medics prepared for more casualties. The surge came, the police crossing the open ground of the forecourt with practiced quickness, closing in on the makeshift barricades that protected the dorms. 

With a booming crash of twisting metal, a car landed only meters from the advancing police, halting them in their tracks. Before the shock could register and convert to action, a second object impacted the ground with incredible force, only to stand a moment later, a spotlight revealing the chrome and magenta form of Inframan. For a moment, the entire scene paused, with even the roar of the fires and crack of random shots seeming to fade for a moment to allow Inframan's arrival the gravitas it deserved. Training and experience soon kicked in, and a smattering of small-arms fire was shortly directed at Inframan, to little effect. Leaping more than a dozen meters, Inframan landed a series of kicks, clearing a space in the middle of police lines for himself.  

"These people are under my protection," the booming, semi-robotic voice of Inframan cut through the roar of battle, "retreat now and you shall not be harmed!

Inframan's answer was a roar from a nearby officer as several came at him with batons raised, he deflected the first into the second with his elbow just in time to be dog piled by a dozen more. Activating the rocket boosters in his feet, Inframan slowly rose, lifting a score of police officers as he left the ground, before tossing them into their comrades, scattering the crowd. Even in his battered state, the image of Inframan, hovering in the air in exactly the way humans could not set off a primitive response in many of the police, and even the hardened riot officers began to back away from the superman in front of them. Just as it appeared to the beleaguered pro-democracy protestors that the tide had turned, however, something impacted Inframan, and a moment later, he was thrown to the ground by a small explosion.

Through the clearing crowd of police strode a black-clad figure, sporting the unmistakable leather suit of the Masked Warrior, a ripple of disbelief and anticipation moved through those around the two costumed heroes. The Masked Warrior stopped only a few feet from Inframan, who had picked himself up, and the two began to circle, gauging each other's movements in the manner of practiced martial artists. Growing up in Hong Kong, Hayama had head stories of the Masked Warrior, even seen some of the films they made, but was never sure that he was really real. Assuming that what Hayama knew was accurate, then he was confident he could win this fight easily. Engaging his rocket boots, Inframan leapt into the air, aiming a powerful kick straight at the Masked Warrior. 

Ultimate Alliance Annihilation - Prelude I

The chromed gleam of Ulysses' iconic skull helmet was reflected in the view window of the bathyspheroid as he gazed out onto the edge of a nearby universe. A relic of an adventure long-past, the bathyspheroid was a unique, alchemically-powered machine that enabled a small crew to "dive" through multiversal boundaries and peer into a reality without entering it fully. The size of an average caravan, with only a kitchenette and marine style bathroom, the bathyspheroid was designed for two people at most, but today, five were standing in it's brass-heavy, but tastefully understated interior, taking in the sight through the view window. Made of a section of a massive, flawless diamond, the technology of the bathyspheroid placed a molecules-thick sliver of the window into the "target" reality, allowing observation and only risking being spotted by those with microscopic vision. 

Joining Ulysses on the bathyspheriod was a small collection of his most loyal advisors, drawn from both his Hussars and Cataphractii; he had brought them here to witness the beginning of the end. Though most realities were finite in nature, few had an edge or boundary in the way most imagined it, the current example of "The Crunch" being a typical example; a scar of energy across empty space where another universe pushed into this one. Built around this event horizon was The Kyln, an impossibly ancient and cyclopean structure of unknown origin and purpose, currently used as combination power generator and prison for the inhabitants of the Andromeda galaxy. Ulysses raised one hand, palm up, his suit generating a holographic display buzzing with information and analytics, but dominated by a countdown, implying that something was only minutes away from beginning.

At a verbal command from Ulysses, a retrofitted databank began to record the scene outside the view window. The mood inside the bathyspheriod shifted from tense anticipation to muted horror as the Kyln was ripped apart by an explosion the size of a solar system. Though sound did not travel through the vacuum of space, the view window vibrated slightly as the reality they watched trembled, almost as in anticipation, or revulsion. Even at the cosmic distance Ulysses and his companions were from the Crunch, they could see the change that came over it as something ripped through from another reality. The amorphous blob of sickly green that pushed through the multiversal boundary slowly resolved as it spread into the invaded reality, revealing billions of living ships, devouring all in their path. 

"It comes, and there is no escape," Ulysses broke the silence, "he has come, the Living Death That Walks. Annihilus is here." 
 

Ultimate Alliance Rulebook - Part V

So that last example game certainly broke down the Ultimate Alliance rules pretty well, but it was an unsatisfying game; why was that? First up, when running a Super System Ultimate Alliance game, I'm typically "Game Mastering" which means I can change things on the fly, and I also tend to play-test the scenario, neither of which was happening this time around. For example, the zombies were a last-minute addition, which didn't really work, they slowed the heroes down too much and gave the Dark Judges too much of an advantage. Without an internal points balance, the guesswork can be a bit tricky sometimes, and it's been a couple of years since I ran my last SSUA game; my Civil War game was play-tested at least three or four times before the final scenario was ready. Where I to play this scenario again, I'd add or swap-out another hero, probably a more powerful one, drop the zombies in favour of a less durable Henchman team, or maybe even a solo Villain. 

In many of my games, I try and make sure I have at least one or two characters that are pretty well known (have had their own recent film or television run) and some that are more obscure. The obscure characters have the advantage of introducing interesting heroes and villains to potential new fans but are also great for attracting some of their existing fans to play. As an example, I had a dad join in with his son once at Little Wars Melbourne because he found I had a playable Vision, his favourite character. Similarly, I pushed Booster Gold on a friend once, who now has followed some of the character's comics and checks in on the odd game to play him again. I also like to have a good mix of characters, both in terms of powers (so that everyone can have a go) and who would be fun to see together. Again, I think ideas like "X-Men Vs Doom Patrol" should be avoided, but that leaves plenty of scope for fun team-ups like Constantine and the Ghostbusters, Daredevil and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Masked Warrior and Green Hornet and many, many more. Ever wondered how Lex Luthor would fare against Tony Stark? What about Public Security Section 9 hunting down a "Secret Invasion" of Phalanx? The possibilities are endless, do don't get hung up on "who would win" scenarios. 

Sad to say, this is likely to be the last of my Rulebook articles for a while, as pretty much all I have left to do is post character cards for the game, which is something I'm still working on doing nice versions of them. I could just post up the raw stats, but I'd rather give you something ready to go, as I know there are a few of my readers who want to get these games going with their children or play groups that aren't really into tabletop miniature wargames just yet. I'm writing this during July 2020, so I'm not sure when I'll get to do more wargames again, but as soon as I can, I'll try and get some more SSUA games in and do some AARs for those of you starving for this particular kind of content.

Ultimate Alliance: China - Part III

Stuck for hours in an overly-stuffed chair in, yet another, board meeting, Chen Zhen subconsciously engaged in the simultaneous, yet contradictory, actions of tensing his legs, and rubbing the fused portion of his wrist. Edging ever closer to his sixtieth birthday, Chen found himself more and more haunted by the spectre of youth; be it in the business world or in his own reflected face. As a young man, Chen's world ended at the city limits of Shanghai, it was his birthplace, his patch and his charge, handed down from his father. For generations, his family had protected Shanghai through their influence, business and through the identity of the Masked Warrior, a dynastic vigilante persona who had stood against corruption and violence in the streets since the 1930s. Chen had given much of his twenties, thirties and even a hefty proportion of his forties over to the duty of protecting the city. Finally, age and injury had forced Chen to retire the Masked Warrior until his son was ready to take on the role.

On the eve of Chen's fiftieth birthday, a major dip in share price due to a weak US market caused him to work late, not a big deal as the exclusive steak restaurant his son demanded that they go to would hold the table until they arrived, but it did mean that the family town-car was idling outside corporate headquarters for longer than expected. Chen exited his building into the autumn rain, prepared for the good-natured chiding his wife and son would give him, finding instead a gang of youths tearing through his car, taking anything of value they could lay their hands on, down to tearing out the walnut panels from the doors. Leaping into action with no care for his secret identity, Chen battered the youths with a lifetime of martial skill and experience, driving most away and rendering several unconscious. Too late, Chen discovered that his wife and child had already borne the brunt of the attack, his wife throttled during the act of her necklace being stolen and his son with a split head on the curb. 

Chen would only remember the remainder of that night in fragments of blood and bone, but his wealth and a team of lawyers kept any legal repercussions at bay whilst he found his way far enough out of his grief for the rage to clear. The scum that attacked his family were starving street kids, all underage and desperate for any food or money they could find. Those that survived his initial wrath avoided any serious gaol time due to their youth and circumstances, leaving Chen with a blazing desire for revenge. Throwing himself into his Masked Warrior identity, Chen began a crackdown on street crime in Shanghai like hadn't been seen since the days of the revolution. Orgainsed crime was running scared for months before a plan was hatched to bring the Masked Warrior down permanently. Lured into an ambush, Chen barely escaped with his life, but was too badly injured to continue on in his vigilante identity. Years past and things calmed down, but it seemed that the days of the Masked Warrior were done.

Melancholic and weary, Chen retired to his private office to reflect and enjoy a quiet drink before calling the car to take him home. The evening skyline of Shanghai always had a calming effect on Chen, and when combined with $500 whiskey, it could numb the pain of regret and years. Tonight, however, Chen was not destined to find respite, instead, a rising plume of black smoke broke the skyline and any reverie that may have been due faded quickly into cold reality. Several large screens in Chen's office constantly steamed the local and international Markets, but a secret switch in a draw would flip to news networks and police scanners, a remnant from the days of the Masked Warrior. The major networks were already carrying reports of a fire burning at the Baoshan Campus of Shanghai University, started when a student-led protest turned violent. People were hurt, students and police, and footage of black-masked, anti-government protesters throwing Molotov cocktails at police and into buildings made Chen's blood boil. 

Scarcely aware of his actions and blinded by visions of trouble-making youths assaulting his family, Chen found himself pulling on the spare Masked Warrior costume he had habitually kept in his office, even all these years later. The costume was tight in places, and the leather gloves cracked and flaking from age, but once the mask and hat were on, Chen felt the weight of years lifted; The Masked Warrior had returned, and trouble-makers should beware.

Ultimate Alliance Rulebook - Part IV

Whilst I continue to work on better character cards, I think the best thing I can do for these "Rulebook" articles is to run through a quick game, demonstrating what we've covered so far. This will be a little smaller in scope than what I'd normally do at a convention, with only three heroes and two villains on a smaller table. When planning this kind of game, I always try and get at least one Marvel, DC and Indy character in the hero team, all more or less on the same "power level", as discussed previously, there is no real points cost or balance for SSUA, so this requires some guesswork. I tend to make the villains a little more powerful than the heroes, simply to add a bit for challenge, again, this typically requires a little trial and error. 

For this game, I've chosen a more "horror" theme, mostly because my Necropolis table is quicker to set up than my city. Judge Fire and Judge Fear are enacting a dark ritual to summon Judges Death and Mortis through to our dimension, so Johann Krauss, Iron Fist and Metamorpho are rushing to stop it. For some extra fun, I'll be throwing in some Zombies as cannon fodder and running an objective for the Villains. Each turn, Fire and Fear can spend Action Points (AP) on the ritual, when the AP spent reaches 40, the villains succeed. Each turn after points have been initially spent and in which no AP are spent on the ritual, the counter goes down D6; if it reaches 0, the heroes win. Pretty simple set-up, the heroes need to disrupt the ritual to win. No turn limit as I don't suspect the game will run long. 

Turn 1

The turn starts with Initiative, as neither team has a member with a power that grants a re-roll, it defers to the model with the highest Agility or Mind, in this case, Judge Fear (Mind 6) and Johann Krauss (Mind 8). The roll-off results in the Heroes getting 6 Goals and the Villains 3, so Heroes will Activate first this turn.

Metamorpho's "Shapeshift" ability lets him move through terrain without penalty for no AP spend, and his "Transmutation" lets him make Melee Attacks at 15" range, so he makes a Charge move 16" (8 APx2), granting him a 0 AP attack at the Zombies. Zombies have a Physical Hit of 2 and Rex's "Brawler" attack uses 5 dice. With only two goals, Rex misses, which would normally put him at risk, but his "The Element Man" ability protects him from most forms of Damage, so he should be safe for now. 

Villains activate next; taking the chance to get some points on the board early, Judge Fear dumps all 11 of his AP into the ritual. 

Each character/henchman group can only Activate once each turn, so the Heroes move onto Iron Fist to try and get some damage going. With a whopping 13 AP, Danny can Charge up to 26", giving him more than enough distance to get to the Zombies. Danny's "Kung Fu" has 7 dice, so he easily beats the Zombies' Physical Hit, scoring 6 Goals. The extra Goals will roll over into Danny's Damage, 2 in this case (3-3-1=2, the one needed to hit is deducted as well). Danny's Kung Fu has a base Damage of 6, so now he'll have 8 dice against the Zombies' Physical Resist of 3. Danny scores 5 Goals, taking out two Zombies (5-3=2), as Zombies only have one Hit each. As a Henchman Team, they take Damage as a group, even if the Attack couldn't normally reach, as is the case here. 

Seeing the chance to deal some Damage back, the Villains Activate the Zombies, due to their "Horde" ability, 2D6 more zombies spawn each Activation. Rolling 7, the new Zombies are placed in base contact with the existing ones. Having only 4 AP, Zombies only have an 8" threat, which is more than enough to get to both Metamorpho and Iron Fist. Despite the fact that the Zombies' Attacks can't Damage Metamorpho and they don't get the Ganging Up Bonus against Iron Fist, due to his "Weapon of Kun'Lun" ability, neither model has an ability to leave Combat unopposed, so they will be at least slowed.  

With no Damage being rolled, the Heroes activate their last character, Johann Krauss. Krauss just moves up this turn, as the Zombies can hurt him and most of his Powers/Abilities target Resolve, which the Zombies are immune to. 

Finally, Judge Fire dumps his 9 AP into the ritual, ending the first turn of the game. 

Turn 2

With a roll of 5 to 4 Goals, the Villains win initiative. Pushing their advantage, Judge Fear puts another 11 AP into the ritual, putting them only 9 AP away from victory! 

Due to his "Complex Compounds" Power, Metamorpho is best placed to take out one of the Dark Judges first. Both Fire and Fear have a Power/Ability that halves Damage Dealt, making them pretty tough, so getting around that is vital. Activating the Power costs 3 AP, leaving Rex with 5, Judge Fire is 8" away, so can be struck without Moving this turn. In order to break from Combat, Rex needs to beat the Zombies in an opposed Agility Goal roll. Should Rex fail, the Zombies get a free Attack on him, as they can't Damage him however, there's pretty much no risk involved. Rex Fails the roll, but it doesn't matter, and he's off. 

Judge Fire has a Physical Hit of 5 and Rex has 5 dice to his Brawler Attack, so only this lucky roll of 6 Goals would have been enough. No extra Damage dice this time, Rex will have to beat Fire's Physical Resist of 4 with his base 6 Damage Dice. 

Another good roll sees 6 goals, dealing 2 Damage to Judge Fire, half his Hits. That ends Metamorpho's Activation, but the Heroes are finally getting points on the board. Now, by the letter of the rules, Judge Fire could technically dump his 9 AP into the ritual and win the game right now. However, I tend to run these games at conventions and for friends, so just declaring myself the winner in turn two seems a bit mean. For the rest of the game, the Dark Judges cannot initiate the Ritual when in combat. This will still put the heroes at a disadvantage, because they'll need to get Judge Fear into combat before the next turn starts. 

When he Activates with a foe in base contact, Judge Fire's "Burn With Me" Power triggers, dealing 6 dice Damage to anyone in contact. As Fire is classed as "Energy Damage" rather than "Physcial Damage", this can effect Metamorpho. Rex still has a Physical Resist of 8, so the 5 Goals rolled won't phase him. 

Using his "Trident" Melee Attack, Judge Fire rolls 6 Goals on 5 dice, beating Metamorpho's Physical Hit of 5, but gaining no extra Damage dice this time. With only a base Damage of 4 though, Judge Fire fails to damage the hero threatening him. 
 

 
Still needing some decent luck to keep them in the game, the Heroes try for a tricky play with Iron Fist. Easily winning an Opposed Agility roll 5 goals to 2, Danny Rand Breaks free from the Zombies and Charges at Judge Fear. 

Judge Fear is, naturally, pretty fearsome, his "Dark Judge" ability meaning that enemy models need to pass a Difficulty 5 Resolve Test to Charge him. With a Resolve of 7, Danny is pretty brave, but this terrible roll ends the Charge before it begins. 

As their last Activation, the Villains have only the Zombies left, and another 7 join the party. Sadly, Iron Fist is out of Charge range, so the best move to guarantee victory is to Charge Johann, the only hero really vulnerable to their attacks. 

Due to the size of his base, only 6 Zombies can attack Johann at the same time, so I've cleared the others away for the sake of clarity. Henchmen teams can choose to attack individually or Gang Up, with each additional member granting +1 Hit and Damage die; here, that jumps the Zombies from a 3 Dice Attack to 8 Dice, which is a nice bonus, but it fails to beat Johann's Physical Hit of 3. 

With only Johann left, and him being too far to effectively use his powers against either Dark Judge, the Heroes elect to take a swing before breaking from the Zombies. With an Attack pool of only 3 Dice, Johann fails to connect, but the Opposed Agility Test is a draw, letting him slip away unharmed and get closer to the action. 

Turn 3 

With a spectacular roll of 7 Goals to 1, the Heroes seize the vital Initiative. They need to get Judge Death into Combat before the next Villain Activation, oddly leaving Johann Krauss as their best hope. Johann's "BPRD" ability means he can re-roll a failed Resolve Test, with his Resolve of 10, he has the best odds to get past Judge Fear's "Dark Judge" Ability. 

Starting out wanting to hedge his bets, Johann attempts to use his "Supernatural Expert" Power; he makes an Opposed Resolve Test against an enemy model, and if he wins, that model cannot use Powers/Abilities until Johann's next Activation. Judge Fear has a Resolve of 10 as well, but doesn't get the re-roll that Johann does. 

Johann wins the Opposed Test comfortably without his re-roll, meaning he no longer has to make a Resolve Test to Charge Judge Fear, as the Dark Judge's Powers/Abilities are currently unable to be used, even the Automatic ones. 

Johann isn't much of a fighter though, so his Charge fails to deal any Damage, but it does tie up Judge Fear, as planned. 

Despite not being able to win the scenario outright anymore, Judge Fear is probably still the best choice for the Villain's opening Activation. His attacks are unaffected by his lack of Powers/Abilities, and if he lucks out and KOs Johann, he'll still have a few AP left for the Ritual. With his "Claws" Attack, Judge Fear gets 5 dice against Johann's Physical Hit of 3, which sadly doesn't pan out for him this turn. 

It is now up to the Immortal Iron Fist to save the day! He Charges Judge Fear, connecting with an impressive 7 Goals against Fear's Physical Hit of 5. With an extra die Damage, Danny is in with a shot to take down Judge fear, but will need a total of 10 Goals on 7 dice to bypass Judge Fear's Physical Resist of 5 and 5 Hits. 

The gods of Kun'Lun must be with Danny Rand this day, a roll of exactly 10 Goals ends the threat of Judge Fear for the time being. 

Judge Fire is much in the same boat as Judge Fear was, except that his odds of taking out Metamorpho are slim. Instead, he makes a break from Combat with a tie on the Opposed Agility Test. Charging 4" away for 2 AP, Judge Fire spends his remaining 7 AP on the Ritual, leaving only 2 points remaining for a Villain Victory. 

Once again, Metamorpho activates his "Complex Compounds" power for 3 AP and Charges Judge Fire, just scoring the 6 Goals needed to beat Fire's Physical Hit of 5. With a base of 6 Damage, Rex now needs to score two Goals over Fire's Physical Resist of 4, meaning 6 Goals on 6 dice to win the game. 

Doing just that, Rex scores a victory for the Heroes, ending the game two AP short of a completed ritual. 

So that's a basic game of SSUA, next time we'll dissect this game and discuss various pitfalls of Game Mastering this style of game.

Ultimate Alliance: China - Part II

A longstanding colony of the waning British Empire, Hong Kong often found itself between two worlds, culturally, politically and also in terms of its people. MI-13 had been concerned with the mystical aspects of the Chinese mainland, as well as the growing number of giant monster, or "Kaiju", attacks on nearby Japan, but lacked the resources to implement any permanent defense network against such threats. When the Japanese started to fight back against their own Kaiju with the Super Sentai Teams and Ultraman Project, Hong Kong science and military personnel began work on their own version, drawing as much from the American "Six Million Dollar Man" as much as the Japanese programmes and code-named Project: Inframan. Due to budget constraints, the project never came to fruition and by 1974 was shelved and all-but-forgotten. In 1975, however, Hong Kong was rocked by the attack of Dragon Mother and her Monster Legion and Science Officer Rayma became Inframan to defend his homeland.

After the Monster Legion was defeated, it was found, as suspected, that Rayma could not be separated from the Inframan parts, and though the stoic young man took it in stride, the loss of his old life was a grave one. For several years, Inframan was experimentally deployed at part of the Hong Kong Police, but as the machine parts of his body wore down, they became less controllable and several incidents of property damage and injury of suspects resulted in the trial being terminated permanently. With nothing to do and no reliable way to be repaired back to full function, Rayma reluctantly agreed to be "switched off" for the foreseeable future, until such a time as Inframan was needed or he could be returned to being human. Decades past, and Inframan was eventually forgotten, left to collect dust in a government laboratory and often considered a myth or hoax by those who had never seen him in action. 

When the 2019 Hong Kong Riots started, Black Bat, aka Cassandra Cain, former Batgirl and member of Batman Incorporated, immediately took a stand against the totalitarian actions of the government, working from the shadows to aid the protesters and harry police. As the situation worsened and Chinese troops massed on the border, Black Bat reached out to the broader superhero community, but received no aid from her peers wanting to avoid aggravating the Great Ten and creating an international incident. However, Black Bat had one vital ally that, according to most of the world, didn't exist; Oracle. With almost unparalleled hacking skill, Oracle dove into the secret history of Hong Kong's superhumans, quickly finding the story of Inframan and the resting place of Science Officer Rayma, still in suspended animation and long forgotten.

Breaking in to a secure, but abandoned, facility was no struggle for the daughter of Cain and former Batgirl, but even after following Oracle's instructions to reactivate Inframan, the real work had only just begun. Having been "sleeping" since the 1980s, Rayma was disorientated and unwilling to believe that it was now well into the 21st century, let alone that Hong Kong was Chinese territory and troops had started moving in. When Rayma saw the riots for himself, and the accompanying youth movement for Independence and a free Hong Kong, he quickly made up his mind on what to do with his new lease on life. Out of date, somewhat broken and lost in a world not his own, Super Inframan had returned to defend Hong Kong once more.