I had hoped to post a full and detailed account of Dr. Jones' adventure in the Congo, but with the end of the long summer holiday and the start of the academic year, time just seemed to evaporate. That said, I am determined to keep some sort of momentum going even if that is just stumbling through the occasional month in order to clear a backlog of half finished posts that I have built up.
Back to the game in hand and rather than post a step by step report, I thought I would summarise the encounter, detailing some of my thought processes before sharing the photographs of the day. The adventure was to be a homebrewed affair, sandwiching two of the given scenarios together - The Sanctuary and A River Runs through It. This was to be played using the Forest Tribes and White Men Expeditions factions, using roughly equal points. The teams were fairly standard in their make up, but for the sake of the narrative sailors replaced soldiers.
Our story revolves around an artifact said to possess significant power; the holder of which is believed to be the rightful ruler of the jungle. This has seen the rise of a truly fearsome tribe whose belief in their own invincibility has corrupted their moral sensibilities to the point where they take human sacrifice. Of unknown origin, the artifact is the stuff of myth and legend and so not surprisingly Dr. Llewellyn Jones has been tasked with securing it for the British Museum. Local scouts report that the cannibal shine, home to a great many artifacts and fetishes, is through the next clearing. Dr. Jones and his column need to locate it and make their escape, through the swamp, to where they hope the paddle steamer will be waiting for them.
As far as gameplay was concerned the Forest Tribes got to place six totems in their area of the table, these could be out in the open or hidden within the 'Dangerous Terrain'. Each of the totems was numbered on the base, although not visible to the opposing player, before a D6 was rolled to establish which of these is to be considered the fabled artefact. As soon as the explorers locate the artefact they can make a break for the river, but this will inevitably take them through the swamp. When entering the swamp, and at the start of each following turn if still bogged down in it a D6 is rolled. Depending on outcome the result could be inconsequential, stressful or an attack by one or a group of hungry crocodiles.
The joy of the Congo ruleset is its unpredictability and even though Dr. Jones' column is carrying signifiant firepower the overwhelming numbers of the pygmy archers, who instantly win on the roll of any double, can turn a game in the flash of a poisoned dart. Dr. Jones, unsurprisingly split his column into three teams with the scouts roaming ahead as a possible screen. Ably assisted by another scientist, Dr. Jones headed off with the trained Askaris and a couple of bearers and immediately came across a totem, seemingly abandoned in a clearing; alas it wasn't the one they were looking for. Alerted to the presence of the Forest Tribes by the rustling of the undergrowth the party headed off in search of the fabled artifact. Any slight advantage now nullified, it wasn't long before the local inhabitants closed with the famed explorer and in a frenzied assault the Askaris were cut to pieces, Dr. Jones forced to flee for his life. Meanwhile, Lady Marion, escorted by a Royal Navy landing party, decided to risk exploring some dangerous terrain and as luck would have it located the artefact at her first attempt! The chase was now very much on as Lady Marion and her team race towards to swamp and the hope of retrieval by the paddle steamer. The Forest Tribes abandoned their toying of Dr. Jones, much to his relief and looked to close the gap as quickly as possible. Dr. Jones, not one to give up gracefully made a series of daring, harrying attacks that gave the good Lady just the time she needed to make it to the swamp. The comparative safety of cover was short lived as the surface of the swamp erupted with the thrashing of scaled tail and gnashing jaws - a crocodile attack! Several good men were lost to this encounter, before the good Lady managed to extricate herself from the unforgiving terrain and started the swim for the steamer. With the artifact no longer in the possession the Forest Tribes also succumbed to a reptilian ravishing allowing Marion the chance to pull herself up and onto the deck of the boat.
This effectively ended the game, a fast paced romp through the jungle with a movie like narrative and hugely entertaining fun. Ideally we would run through the scenario a second time with the opposing players changing sides, but it had taken us a little longer than expected to remember the rules and so time was called. Fabulous fun and always lovely to get this collection on the table, but I was also thrilled with the addition of the swamp mechanic that just seemed to ramp up the excitement at the end of the scenario.
