New Years Eve Gaming with the HAWKs

As has become the yearly tradition with the HAWKs, Buck Surdu and his wife, Candy, hosted a New Years Eve gaming party at their house on Monday 12/31/12.
   First on the gaming line-up, Buck ran two simultaneous GASLIGHT games.  He had planned to run two games at once because both were playtests for games he will be running at Cold Wars, and were designed for only 8 people each, and there were nearly 20 guests (including spouses) at the party.   

Buck, in khaki pants, gets ready to start GM-ing his two GASLIGHT games

Both games involved Buck's perennial Pulp hero, Duke Morrison, along with his friends 'Boats' Morgan, and Wrench.  The game I played in pitted Duke and his friends, aided by Sgt Preston and his dog Yukon King along with some RCMP Mounties, against a group of trappers, gangsters, and their Venusian employers.  The Venusians had kidnapped the daughter of Professor Nanini and had her tied to a saw in an old mill (in 12 turns she would hit the blade and be sawn in half), near where they had set up a laboratory in a nearby cave.  Duke and his mates, needed to free the professor's daughter, and find the hidden laboratory and blow it up.

Sgt Preston (mounted), and his Mounties head for the old mill, as Yukon King leads the way..

The action was fast and furious and the firepower of the heroes and their Mountie allies, soon took it's toll on the bad guys.  First Duke was able to free the girl from certain death and then he and his pals headed for the lab.  By then the resistance against them had crumbled, and Duke made his way past a couple leftover gangsters, dispatching them along the way, and into the lab.

    Meanwhile on the other table, Duke and his friends were tasked with freeing the professor's daughter from a group of evil Thugees deep in the jungles of India.



The ancient Indian temple where the professor's daughter is being held prisoner for future sacrifice

Everyone seemed to have a great time in these two games. In the Mountie game, the Good guys won, and in the Indian Temple game, the Bad Guys won.
   Afterwards we took a break for a great lasagna dinner, while the next GM, Noah, set up his popular dungeon crawl game.  Unfortunately, I had to leave after we ate, so couldn't take part in the second game session of the night. 
 

The action in the mill.  Duke Morrison (in white sweater) bursts into the room where the Venusians and a gangster are guarding the professor daughter (in pink dress), as she moves slowly towards the spinning saw blade.

It was a great way to end the year with good friends and good food. Many thanks go to the Surdu's for hosting this annual event.
Here's to a great 2013!
Happy New Year, to all my readers!

As the action moves towards the hidden laboratory entrance, Yukon King makes a heroic leap onto a Venusian, killing him, but unfortunately falls to a shot from another nearby Venusian.

As the action winds down in the Indian game, the heroes, now dragging an unconscious Duke Morrison, make their way into the lower temple to free the professor's daughter.  They did, but were unable to escape back out of the temple.