It was a Dark and Stormy Night...

Sometimes an idea is so good, it just has to be done!

We'd been wanting to play Ganesha Games' Fear and Faith for a long time. The opportunity to add in the supplement Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters made this a definite must. But for a long time it sat on whatever a PDF's equivalent is to a bookshelf as we couldn't decide on which miniatures to use. And then one day I came up with a wild plan. Why not see if my son would mind if we used his Lego Monster Fighters sets for our games? The answer was a definite, "Oh, heck, yeah!" and I've got to be honest and say I'm absolutely delighted by his response, because what has happened as a result of this decision has been so good that I just had to share it with you all!

Let me begin by introducing you to the Monster Fighters. From left to right we have Jack McHammer whose face is partially hidden by the enormous Rifle wielded by Major Quinton Steele. In the middle is Frank Rock. Then we have Ann Lee who famously uses ammunition as a hair grip. Finally we have Sir Rodney Rathbone, famous investigator and fearless leader of our band.

I set out just a sample of the Monster Fighters range on some Hexon boards. The gaming surface was four feet by a little over three feet for those of you who appreciate the attention to historical accuracy in our gaming. The Fear and Faith rule book suggests a 3' x 3' gaming surface, but since the minifigs are approximately 35mm scale (you know, from foot to eye, the basis on which all good scales are measured!!!!) I felt something slightly larger was required!

Both the Fear and Faith and Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters books have quite extensive lists of sample characters you can use in your games. These have points you can use to build a force balancing characters and well. .. plebs. Now we were using the world famous Monster Fighters who are clearly heroes all. And arrayed against them would be some for the fiercest and most frightening minifigs you'll ever meet. So we said pah! to all that and modified the heck out of their skills profiles. Unfortunately the aforementioned rule books don't give you a points calculator. So we did what anyone else with an excess of common sense would do in these circumstances. You guessed it; we modified their skills as seemed appropriate and left the points as they were originally. Since when was a battle ever fair...?

You're supposed to create a force of 300 points for an evening's entertainment. Well that clearly wasn't going to happen with a bunch of heroes that amount to 402 points. Give or take a lot. So Lord Vampyre assembled a force with Frankenbutler, Zombie Driver, the Mad Scientist, two Manbats and two Ghosts, the sum of which I can reliably inform you amounted to exactly 410 points. We clearly had two balanced forces...!

Our objective was simple. The Monster Fighters had to get to the castle and rescue the Ghost Crystal lfrom the top of the tallest tower. Oh, and make it back to the car and exit safely. All the Monsters had to do was stop them.

Then it came to determining the hour at which our encounter would take place. The result was Dawn. We would begin in the dark of night, but on the second Turnover rolled by the Lord Vampyre's player, dawn would break and give all vampires -1 to their Quality checks.

We then rolled for adverse weather conditions. Lo and behold we got some. We rolled again and maxed out with a storm producing fog and rain which limited shooting to short distance. I was so glad Major Quinton Steele had that assault rifle with him...!

And so our adventure began on a dark and stormy night...!

Sir Rodney Rathbone's research had led him to a long abandoned castle deep in the heart of Transylbrickia. It was here he hoped to wrestle the Ghost Crystal from the clutches of the evil Lord Vampyre. They pulled up in their vehicle and spread out on either side. The castle's silhouette was barely distinguishable through the impenetrable fog and riving rain...

...even if our gaming surface was lit up like a football pitch!

The dice had determined I was the attacker, but as with most games I play, my dice decided they hated me once again and I began rolling turnover after turnover. This of course meant that the initiative kept passing to the monsters, who seemed to have an Uncanny knack of passing pretty much every action dice they rolled. Sigh.

My lot were moving a single action a turn. I deluded myself that they were moving cautiously through the fog, alert to every sound.

Of course, by this point the ghosts were literally floating along. Look, one of them is about to make full use of his Immaterial ability and move right through the castle. How cool is that?

And on their left flank, the Mad Scientist and Lord Vampyre were ready to come round a corner and surprise Sir Rodney Rathbone who was the only Monster Hunter to be asking any real headway through the impenetrable gloom. Oh, and let's not forget the Manbats gliding across the left of the picture...

And here's a bat's eye view of how far my Monster Fighters hadn't managed to move!

This was the point the ghost managed to pass three activation dice and teleport anywhere on the board. Looks like Frank Rock has his hands full for a while!

The other ghost swept through the castle, emerging to the left of Sir Rodney Rathbone.

So Major Quinton Steele stepped forwards. His automatic rifle would be brilliant about now, were it not for the fog...

Oh, and this was the point that one of the Manbats managed to come to roost on the batttlements of a nearby tower. Not that Ann Lee could see anything in this rather frustrating storm!

Then Lord Vampyre took guard over the entrance to the castle and the only route to the Ghost Crystal.

And just when things couldn't get any worse, Mad Scientist dashed round the corner of the castle, attacked Sir Rodney Rathbone, was knocked down and killed. it was at this point we decided to create the "No Base Equals Scenery" rule, whereby a defeated minifig would have its base removed. of course, we don't suggest for one second applying this to our non-minifig games, but it did look rather good. So impressed were we about this, that we were completely carried away by our enthusiasm and completely forgot to take a photo of the events as they unfolded. Truth be told, it was a lso a little sad to see a minifig get taken out...

Oh well, at east you can see the recumbent corpse of Mad Scientist in the next photo as Zombie driver and Frankenbutler shamble towards the action.

Suddenly Lord Vampyre launched a frenzied attack on Sir Rodney rathbone. As the two mortal enemies clashed, we decided to pose our minifigs for this epic clash!

Clearly Lord Vampyre had the upper hand...

Amazing how badly my action rolls had left my fighters behind. Sir Rodney was definitely on his own.

Then the attention turned to the Ghost and Frank Rock.

Each combat kept ending in stalemate or pushback.

And then Major Quinton Steele joined the fray.

Then Lord Vampyre manage to knock down Sir Rodney Rathbone. You can tell he's not dead, because he's still attached to his base!

Of course, if you attack a knocked down enemy, you only need to beat his combat score by 1 or more and you kill him.

Which is obviously what happened, because you'll notice Sir Rodney no longer has a base. Thankfully the action dice began to swing the other way, and Ann Lee was able to rush into range and ready herself for a shot.

The took aim and fired a wooden bolt from her crossbow. It hit successfully and punched straight through Lord Vampyre's heart, dusting him at once! Just look at that Matrix-like dive!

Look! No base, and only a cloak to prove where lord vampyre once stood! And with the pesky ghost pushed back, major Quinton Steele, Frank Rock and Jack McHammer made a dash for the castle and the Ghost Crystal.

Here we can see the brave Jack McHammer half way up the castle.

While down below Ann lee and frank Rock make short work of knocking down the remaining ghost.

The next moment Jack McHammer was descending from the tower with the crystal in hand.

And as he did so, Ann Lee and major Quinton Steele turned to face the Manbat that made a desperate bid to stop out heroes in their tracks.

I gotta be honest. This is not quite the level of carnage I usually associate with Lego...

And despite the way our game was turning ugly, Jack McHammer decided not to stick around and watch. Instead he made a dash for the car. It's not fleeing, it's escaping with style!

At which point the good Major was slain by the Manbat! Ann Lee would have to finish it off in revenge for another fallen comrade!

By now Jack McHammer was turning the key in the ignition, and Frank Rock was doing all he culd to dispatch the remaining ghost.

Ann Lee tried to catch up with the fleeing...er...exiting heroes (remember the objective, folks!) but was charged by the remaining Manbat.

Which was the point that the Zombie Driver and frankenbutler finally managed to activate and reach the castle. Before them stood a scene of carnage that would have made your average lego player blanche!

Thankfully Anne managed to fell the foul Manbat and dash across to the car...

She was just ready to rush to Frank Rock's aid when the activation dice failed miserably. This was a shame because jack McHammer had done a wonderful job f turning the car around ready for their escape.