Tuesday 2 October 2018

Astounding Tales & Astounding Adventures

A couple of years back I bought Astounding Tales & the 3 copies of Astounding Adventures from the Wargaming Vault, these where published by The Virtual Armchair General which is a company run by  (from what little dealing I had with him)  a very charming gentleman named Patrick R Wilson, who some of you might know from having dealings with or from LAF.

Now at the time I was a bit of a lost soul hobby wise & couldn't seem to figure out what I really wanted my hobby to be or about, the basic idea behind the rules is you play the game out in the guise for your making movie's, this to me was a light-switch been turned on in my head.

Now you can play these rules as a straight up RPG or  a RPG using models, with the GM becoming the director & players becoming actors (eat your heart out TV7 :) now I could imagine how with the right mined people & a few bottles of good scotch how this game would work, but sadly I could never see how it could work as a solo game.

So did I waste my money ? hell no as I found them a very fun & enjoyable read, plus I'm a great believer of that things can often be useful in a different way then the one you bought them for & there are many gaming adventures with in the books that could be played out using other rules.

Why are you telling us all this Frank  you ask ? fair question, well the sets props & makeup departments of the studio's have all been very busy lately but all those high payed stars have been hanging around doing nothing & how is a studio's meant to turn a buck if its not releasing movies ?

So looking for a story I turned to Astounding Adventures to see if I could find one that I could pull off  with what I had & settled for one called Phantom Jungle, this is whats called a two reel movie, in other words there are to games in the adventure, but I did just the first one after throwing a few rules together, well as its says in the book pulp gaming is all about the story not the rules :)

The movie is now in the can & should be released in the next couple of days as there's just the finial bit of edition to be done, when I shot it I was going to just play it out as a straight movie but  as I started on the edition it just didn't feel right, so I though why not do it in away as to pay homage to the spirit behind it.

So after a few bottles of good scotch :) I set to work, will this film turn out to by the flop that they were hopping to make in the Mel Brooks classic movie  The Producers ? tbh I don't know but you guys have been warned so if you pay in to see it & don't like it don't go looking for a refund as none will be given :)

That's a rap for this post, as always my thanks for dropping in & if you'd care to leave a comment it would be welcomed :)

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've "re-purposed" the Astounding Tales into one of your own Astounding Yarns Frank - worry not, I'll be booking tickets for the screening :-)
    I might not be commenting as often as I'd like, but I'm still avidly tuning in whenever I get the chance! (usually at stupid o'clock in the morning with a nightcap)

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    1. Thanks Greg, astounding it will be but will it be astoundingly good or bad that's the question, & remember no refunds :)

      Good to hear from ya & the great thing about stupid o'clock is its the ideal time for a nightcap or two ;)

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  2. This sounds interesting. Howard Whitehouse wrote the .45 Adventure rules. I downloaded the free taster version and found them too complex for what I was looking for, but he introduced me to the concept of Encounter Markers that I use in many of my games, so I owe him a huge debt. So look forward to seeing what you do with this.
    Just a thought and you probably already know this but he did loads of free scenarios, using his rules but they can be played with any rules.
    I did 2 parts of a 3 part adventure of his, which I really enjoyed, it's on my "To be released" list but it needs a new set designer. The script is fine and the actors were good but the set was rubbish. It was called Wake of the Brotherhood.

    Roll on Astounding Tales.

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    1. Thanks John, I know of Howard Whitehouse & 45 from these books but never looked at 45 as I guessed it would have been along the same lines, I guess that just as you owe HW a debt I'm the same with PRW, as its how I got into this whole movie business :)

      There is so much stuff to be had that a studio should never be short of ideas, I hope you do show the two adventures & even do the 3rd to show us how you set design has come on over the years :)

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  3. This sounds really interesting Frank! And definitely seems like a versatile set of rules. Looking forward to seeing this new two reel movie 🙂

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    1. Thanks Ivor, I think the idea behind the rules for AT might be a bit of the rules are for fools way of thinking as it comes across as lets just all have a very few time having a few jars & ham acting :)

      I only done the first reel as the risk of a flop on this is to great & the investors are nervous, if its turns out to be a block-buster then we can look at doing the second one :)

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  4. I can;t think of a a singleset of rules written solely for solo play (I'm sure there will be though). There are several games I owuld love to play, but can;t really see how to play them solo either and abandoned any idea of playing them very swiftly.
    WHen I played 54mm western games, they too were "Roleplay light" and were set-up to see what would happen before we allocated sides., the same can;t really be done solo - secrecy and the unexpected s very difficult to acheive. Good luck wih your ventures.

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    1. Thanks Joe, yep I agree with you on solo play, you can add things like random events that might or might not happen but even if they do as a solo player you still know what there going to be.

      I think I might need to explain something here, for me its not really about the game any more its about me wanting to tell stories, the models are actors in a movie that why some times you get me doing stuff where I don't play a game but just set things up & take the pictures I need for the story.

      So if I play a game or don't play a game I'm not that pushed but the reason that I'll play a game a lot of the time is it helps writhe the story for you as dice rolls or cards mean you can't be sure of what will happen & is the reason why I still find fun in playing games even if it is solo :)

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    2. Frank - this is the reason I enjoy following your blog. It's because you are out on the edge telling a story and using a game system to help do that.
      There are lots of people posting pictures of figures they have painted, inspiring though they are. A lesser number showing terrain, but very few telling stories through a game and even less just telling stories.
      Did I ever send you a link to Carlotta Wynn by Stephen Gilbert ?

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    3. Why thank you John :) as you've been tagging a long here a good while now you'll know I've more or less giving up showing models I've painted or terrain I made or am making apart from the once a month Movie Tone News & there are a couple of reason behind that.
      1) I don't enjoy painting & I'm no great painter.
      2) While I enjoy making terrain & if anyone ever whats to know how I do something I'm more then happy to do a post on it, I don't find that doing a post on terrain or models that I've painted interesting.
      3) This is probably the main reason, as I look a round the blog world I find lots of people doing post on painting, some on terrain & tons on battle reports/AAR's but most re doing it just as the game, so this unit move to here & shot them killing 3 while this unit moved forward with out every caring why they were there in the first place, I wanted my blog to offer something a little bit different so I try to tell stories, its not every-bodies cup of tea but I think/hope that the few that pass this way enjoy it.

      Yes you did mate & it was most excellent, the only problem I had was when reading it I kept thinking of (is it) The Big Sleep movie, Friends of Carlotta Enemies of Carlotta :)

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    4. LOL! Friends of Carlotta!!! It's 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid' :)

      CLEANING WOMAN!!!

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    5. Of coarse it is Ivor with Steve Martin, a classic of a movie that rips, pays homage to what would be the days of pulp :) & Ivor get a tie & here's a slap for thinking out loud lol

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