Fantastic Voyage - A Solo 7TV2 Game

Fantastic Voyage - a solo game of 7TV2

Here is the narrative and pictures of one of several games that followed a week's work during lockdown, which was the result of what I can only describe as a moment of madness. I like these modelling and gaming challenges, but I honestly thought this one would be easier; with more time and considerably larger spend the result of this project might have looked a lot more professional, too. Please therefore consider this as what Fantastic Voyage might have been if it had been made by the BBC special effects dept on a particularly small 1960's Dr Who budget.

This is the second of two related posts - this one that describes the narrative of a game, mostly in pictures, and the pother setting out the rules by which the game was played. Enjoy!

THE PLOT SO FAR

During the cold war, a Soviet scientist who has perfected a technique for shrinking things has defected to the West. Unfortunately he was attacked on the way and is now in a coma. A blood clot needs to be removed from his brain or he will die - but the only way the clot can be operated on is to use the scientist's own techniques to shrink five members of the Combined Miniature Deterrent Force (CMDF) and a repurposed submarine called Proteus to tiny size, inject them into his bloodstream, and get them to use surgical lasers to remove the clot from the inside. They then have to escape safely before they expand to normal size, and it's a race against time as they can only remain that small for an hour. Travelling through the heart and the inner ear to the brain, they have to contend with the body's defences, and what's more, there's a saboteur on board as well.

The adventure (or at least, the way it turned out on one occasion of playing) is best told in pictures.

The Proteus approaches the brain wall, where the blood clots that must be removed can be seen. Proteus moves easily through the more open areas of this capillary but body tissues become denser closer to the brain wall.

Grant, Dr Michaels, Dr Duval and Cora Peterson leave the submarine via the air lock. Red blood cells flow all around, some of them dangerously close to the Proteus. If they collide and cause a disturbance, antibodies will soon arrive.

Equipped with surgical lasers, the divers swim closer to the brain wall, taking care not to disturb the sensitive body tissues. Nerve cells flicker with light as they approach.

A red blood cell bumps gently against the Proteus, doing no damage, but the ripples cause antibodies to be attracted.

Cora's laser appears to be ineffective, but Grant burns part of one of the blood clots away. Using the surgical laser can clear the obstruction efficiently, but the vibrations it causes inevitably disturb the bloodstream and antibodies begin to gather. In the distance, Dr Duval and Dr Michaels work to weaken another blood clot.

Antibodies gather, attracted by the disturbance cause by the surgical lasers.

Another round of surgical laser shooting proves less effective. The clots here are more resilient and stubbornly remain in place.

A distant view of the action as seen from Captain Owens at the helm of the Proteus.

Numerous antibodies close in on Cora, whose efforts to shift one of the blood clots prove unsuccessful.

It's time to get moving! Cora alerts Grant that they need to hurry.

Without warning, Dr Michaels' body goes limp - oxygen is leaking from his tank and he has momentarily lost consciousness. Stunned and weakened, with the last of his awareness he seals the leak, but this can only be sabotage!

Working together, Cora and Grant clear one of the blood clots entirely, but a large number of antibodies are closing in and one clot has to be abandoned. Grant turns his attention to a second clot while Cora makes her way in his direction.

Further along the brain wall, Dr Michaels has recovered thanks to his smelling salts (it's not clear how he used them in the diving suit, but we will gloss over that). He and Duval get to work together on another blood clot.

A distant view across the body tissues.

Antibodies swarm around in the bloodstream, hunting for targets.

Antibodies start to close in on Cora, who beats it quick in Grant's direction.

The Proteus attempts to move to a more protected location, but antibodies are dangerously close.

A mass of antibodies is generally drifting toward the Proteus.

The same moment, from a different angle.

View of the whole table and game in progress. I'm not sure what the sellotape is doing there.

Dr Duval and Dr Michaels clear another blood clot. Cora swims past Grant toward them.

Another red blood cell blunders into the Proteus, and this time antibodies attack. Behind, others home in on the disturbance.

Grant, determined to remove just one more clot before he leaves, finds himself in a dangerous position. Despite antibodies close by, he destroys the clot with laser fire, and then deploys a grapple gun to pull himself out of position away from the antibodies and closer to the rest of the crew.

Working together, the divers clear a fourth blood clot from the brain wall.

Antibodies start to build up on the hull of the Proteus. Captain Owens starts to worry. Many more and Proteus will be unable to move.

Their job done, the crew pull away from the brain wall. They know that time is of the essence and they need to get back to the submarine soon.

Proteus slowly pulls away, a mass of  antibodies attached to its hull, as yet more close in. Captain Owens calls on the radio for the divers to hurry back.

Masses of antibodies that have built up relentlessly pursue the Proteus.

Job done, at last our heroes swim back between body tissues toward the submarine.

But there's a twist in the plot - Cora swims up behind Grant and stabs him in the back with her diver's knife. She's the saboteur, secretly working for the Soviets, and intent on the mission failing! Now we know why her laser was so ineffective earlier!

Unfortunately for her, Cora is closely followed by Dr Duval, who manhandles her away from Grant and leaves her for dead in the water. The saboteur has been dealt with, but the massive disturbance this has caused means that antibodies are already homing in.

Wounded, Grant makes it back to the Proteus, which continues to accumulate antibodies.

At the back, Dr Michaels is attacked by an antibody. Weakened, and with more pursuing, he makes his way back toward the Proteus with all speed.

As time runs short, Owens, who has left Proteus, does what he can to clear antibodies from the hull using his laser, while Duval accompanies Michaels back to the submarine.

At this point the Fan Favourite card is drawn from the deck - and there's only one way to interpret this. In another twist of fate, this can only mean that the beautiful Cora isn't dead at all (this traumatic loss of eye candy at such a critical point in tjhe film would have been very bad for ratings) but has in fact been saved by Grant, who manhandles her unconscious body back through the Proteus airlock. She'll survive to be passed to the authorities to be dealt with when they return to normal size. And so, with just enough antibodies removed to enable Proteus to make its escape, the remaining crew swim aboard.

It's the final turn, and the last Countdown Card is drawn: Inevitable Explosion. Somewhere, something explodes - but Proteus leaves the table safely and the episode ends.

The patient is saved. The crew and the Proteus have survived. The saboteur is sent to be dealt with by a military court, and the reputation (and future budget) of the CMDF is secured. A resourding victory for the good guys.

But that is only one possible outcome of the episode...

Fantastic Voyage - The Episode

This is a 7TV2 episode designed for solo play. It's based on the film Fantastic Voyage, which I thoroughly recommend anyone reading this to watch. Ridiculous, inaccurate, full of plot holes, and gloriously dated, It's a terrible (yet utterly brilliant, and fairly highly rated) film. A classic.

This post is one of a pair: this first one sets out the rules for playing the episode, while the second is an example, and runs through one of the games I played giving the narrative alongside photos taken during the game.

Warning: this post contains spoilers. If you don't want to know what happens in the film, stop reading now and go and watch it. Otherwise, please continue…

The plot of the film is pretty straightforward. Set during the cold war, a Soviet scientist who has perfected a technique for shrinking things (and people) to minute size has defected to the West. While being brought to the USA he was attacked and is now in a coma. A blood clot needs to be removed from his brain or he will die - but the clot cannot be operated on conventionally. The only solution is to shrink five scientists who work for the military's Combined Miniature Deterrent Force (CMDF) and a repurposed submarine to tiny size, inject them into his bloodstream, get them to use a high-powered surgical laser to remove the clot from the inside, and then escape safely before they expand to normal size (which would not be good for the patient or the laboratory décor). However, the available technology can only shrink people to the necessary size for one hour - to the minute - exactly one hour. It's a race against time, during which the crew of Proteus will have to contend with the body's defences, and various other logistical problems, like travelling through the heart and the inner ear. And if that wasn't enough, there's a saboteur on board as well.

For this scenario I have ignored some of these plot elements and conflated others to end up with what I believe is a playable solo game. The rules for the episode are set out below, or you can download them as a pdf here.

Threatened by antibodies, Proteus waits for the divers to return

SOLO PLAY

The main changes from conventional 7TV2 for solo play are:

- There is only one cast to play (CMDF). The opposition is the body and, during the finale, the saboteur, both of which are controlled by game mechanisms. The opposition to the CMDF cast does not generate plot points, cannot use gadgets, and does not turn over Countdown Cards.

- Plot points are always generated as if all of the CMDF cast are on table, regardless of whether they are inside Proteus or not. Play testing showed that this does not imbalance the game; in the early stages of the game you will have lots of plot points available but these will get steadily scarcer as things get more critical!

- The CMDF cast cannot be Axed, and cannot Steal the Show.

YOU WILL NEED

- Five models to represent the CMDF cast. The Scuba Diver figures made by Crooked Dice are perfect.

- A copy of the 7TV2 Spy-Fi rules.

- A model representing the Proteus mini-submarine. Some people, I know, have beautiful ones of these, made perfectly to scale from kits or 3-D printed, that look exactly like Proteus does in the film. As I'm a cheapskate, mine's a bit crappy and made of cardboard and papier-mache. Use your imagination.

- A terrain setup representing a microscopic view of a part of the inside of a defecting Soviet scientist's brain. Yes, mostly cardboard. I have deviated a bit from the film, my props and special effects budget being considerably smaller.

- 12 Red Blood Cells, which are easily made from modelling clay or similar, set on large bases.

- 16 Antibodies, made from something appropriately representative. Mine are small pieces of cotton wool, dyed and painted and set on small bases, and while they don't look anything like real Antibodies they have a passing resemblance to the ones made using special effects in the film.

- Two sets of markers, each labelled with the numbers 1-6 are useful to indicate the arrival and departure points of Red Blood Cells and Antibodies.

- If you really want to go to town, you can use something appropriate to represent the wall of the brain and the blood clots, but this is not necessary to play the game and really only for those whose obsession gets the better of them. Like me. Especially if they decide to simulate brain activity using LED lights.

You do not need an opponent! 

THE CASTS

The crew (Crooked Dice figures) with Proteus (paper mache) behind

The CMDF cast comprises five Co-Stars deliberately made to be roughly equal in capability, and their mini-submarine Proteus:

Agent Charles Grant, Officer in charge of Security (Co-Star, 6 ratings)

Dr Michaels, Head Scientist (Co-Star, 6 ratings)

Dr Peter Duval, Surgeon (Co-Star, 6 ratings)

Cora Peterson, Assistant to Dr Duval (Co-Star, 6 ratings)

Captain Bill Owens, in charge of Proteus (Co-Star, 6 ratings)

The mini-submarine Proteus (Vehicle, 4 ratings)

Profile Card for Proteus

I've made Profile Cards for the cast using the brilliant 7TV2 Casting Agency website. Here are links to download the cards as pdfs or the yaml file for uploading to the site.

SYNOPSIS

The CMDF cast members have been shrunk to 'about the size of a microbe' and injected into the body of a comatose defecting Soviet scientist to remove a blood clot from his brain and get out before they revert to normal size. It is a race against time.

SET-UP

The game is played on a 3ft x 3ft table as shown in the diagram below, with appropriate terrain to represent a microscopic view of part of a blood capillary inside a comatose defecting Soviet scientist's brain.

Table Setup showing Red Blood Cell and Antibody entry points (left) and exit points (right), configuration of terrain and CMDF entry and exit corners

One side of the table (the top in the Table Setup drawing above) represents the wall of the brain, and the opposite the open capillary along which Proteus and her crew have travelled to arrive. The closest third of the table to this entry side contains no terrain. A band across the central third of the table contains terrain that is composed of elements of body tissue, spaced such that the Proteus can just manoeuvre through, but so that it must make turns should it do so. The final third of the table closest to the brain wall contains denser body tissue terrain, with gaps that are too small to allow Proteus to pass through, but large enough for Red Blood Cells - between 2" and 4" or so in width. The brain wall is the location of the elements of the blood clot that must be removed. All terrain apart from open space is impassable.

Roll a die and use whatever method you like to place that many Red Blood Cells randomly anywhere in the open space on the table.

Place five objective markers at 6" intervals along the far edge of the table, touching the brain capillary wall. These represent the parts of the blood clot that must be removed.

You can add blood clots to the wall as well as objective markers if you like

AND… ACTION!

There is no initiative roll. Play begins with the Proteus moving onto the table, measuring its move from the entry point shown on the Table Setup drawing. The CMDF cast members begin the game on board Proteus. Although they start the game off-table and in a vehicle, they always generate plot points each turn as they were all on table. 

SPECIAL RULES

Red Blood Cells

Red Blood Cells. These are harmless but count as mobile terrain and can therefore block movement, and are modelled on large bases. 12 of these is about right for this sized table. Red Blood Cells can be targeted by attacks (Defence 8, one point of Health). For the purposes of the effects of Countdown and Gadget cards, they are considered to be Stars, Co-Stars or Extras. If reduced to 0 Health, they are removed from the table and their models become available to arrive again as new cells. Red Blood Cells can never gain any Status and cannot be knocked down.

Antibodies. These are best represented by small bits of cotton wool fluff, and are modelled on small bases. 16 of these works well for this size game. Antibodies each have Defence 8 and one point of Health.  If reduced to 0 Health, they are removed from the table and their models become available to arrive again. They automatically attack any opposing model which they contact, with a +8 attack (0 health + weakened).  Antibodies automatically attach to the first opposing model they contact, and remain attached until either is destroyed. A model counts as disadvantaged, may not make shoot attacks, and has its move reduced by 1" for each attached Antibody. Antibodies do not get free strikes when an attached model moves, but move with that model and remain in contact until either is destroyed. Antibodies can never gain any Status and cannot be knocked down. For the purposes of the effects of Countdown and Gadget cards, Antibodies are considered to be Stars, Co-Stars or Extras. 

NOTE: White Blood Cells are assumed to be present to act with the Antibodies, in due course, to get rid of unwanted miniaturised scientists. You don't need to represent them in the game but if you want to you can replace a few Red Blood Cells with white ones for a bit of variety. In game terms they will operate in exactly the same way.

Disturbance Status. You'll need some markers to indicate the status of models that have caused a Disturbance, as these then become targets for antibodies. A model gains the Disturbance status immediately if it is not inside Proteus and it contacts or is contacted by a terrain feature, Red Blood Cell, or Antibody; if it makes any attack; or if it uses a Gadget card. A model can only have one Disturbance status at a time, and should it gain this status when it already has the Disturbance status this has no effect. Each time a model gains the Disturbance status, one Antibody arrives on the table at one of the numbered entry points, determined by a dice roll.

Models inside Proteus cannot have the Disturbance status. The Disturbance status is removed automatically when a model enters Proteus. The Disturance status can be removed from any model at the cost of one plot point during the Activation Phase, but only if there is no Antibody within 6" of that model.

End of Turn Sequence. At the end of each turn, after checking to see the effect of the On Fire status, the following sequence takes place:

- Red Blood Cells drift. Starting with those closest to the exit table edge, roll a die for each Red Blood Cell in turn and move it 1d6+2" toward the exit point with that number. Red Blood Cells move around intervening objects and terrain by the shortest move possible, generally drifting from entry to exit edge with the blood flow through the capillary. Any models contacted receive the DIsturbance status. Red Blood Cells that touch the exit table edge are removed from the table.

- Red Blood Cells arrive. Roll a die. Place that number of available Red Blood Cell models at starting locations on the entry table edge. Determine the starting point of each arriving Red Blood Cell by rolling a die and referring to the numbered locations on that table edge. Multiple Red Blood Cells arriving at the same point should be placed next to each other.

- Antibodies attack. Each attached Antibody makes one attack on the model to which it is attached.

- Antibodies move. Antibodies that are within 12" of models with the Disturbance status move towards the closest such model. Starting with the closest within 12", move each Antibody 1d6+2" directly toward the closest model with the Disturbance status. Antibodies stop when they contact a model. Any model contacted by an Antibody gains the DIsturbance status and is immediately attacked.  Antibodies that are further than 12" from all models with the Disturbance status drift 1d6+2" in the same way as Red Blood Cells. Antibodies that touch the exit side table edge are removed from the table. Move Antibodies sequentially. Note that if at any point an Antibody that would have drifted but has not yet moved finds itself within 12" of a model with the Disturbance status, instead of drifting it will move toward the closest model with that status.

- Antibodies arrive. For each model that currently has the Disturbance status, one available Antibody model arrives at the left table edge. Determine the point of arrival in the same way as for Red Blood Cells.

U-91035 Proteus

Proteus. Statistics for the mini-submarine Proteus are provided on its Profile Card. Proteus can only move if it has at least one cast member inside. The submarine is fast, but difficult to manoeuvre. It moves up to 8" during each activation but this movement must be in a straight line directly forwards or directly backwards. It may end that activation with a free rotation to face any direction. My model Proteus is provided with a clear base to easily indicate when it has made contact with terrain. Note that Proteus has no weaponry and it is not safe to use surgical lasers when inside Proteus against targets inside or outside as these lasers will cause irreparable damage.

Countdown Deck. Use the Countdown Deck from the Spy-Fi rules. Construct the deck with five cards in each Act. Note that some Countdown Cards will have no effect in this scenario. You may choose to turn two Countdown Cards at the start of any turn. The following actions automatically take place at the start of Act 2 and the Finale:

Sabotage! When the topmost face-down card on the Countdown Deck first shows Act 2, at the end of the Countdown Phase, but before the Action Phase starts, roll a die:

1: Fire in the Hold: something flammable has caught! All models inside Proteus gain the On Fire status;

2 Engine Damage: the engines have been tampered with. Proteus may only make one move activation each turn for the rest of the game;

3 Broken Laser: a bit like the film. Choose one surviving non-vehicle CMDF cast model randomly. This model may not use its surgical laser for the rest of the game;

4. Radio Interference: with a sudden blast of sound, all surviving CMDF cast models, including Proteus, immediately gain the DIsturbance status;

5. Explosion: a grenade has been hidden in someone's wet suit. Choose one surviving non-vehicle CMDF cast model randomly. Centre the 5" Blast Template on this model. All models under the template are targeted by a +10 attack (-1 Health and Stunned).

6. Oxygen Depletion: someone's been careless with the oxygen tanks. Choose one surviving non-vehicle CMDF cast model randomly. This model immediately gains both the Stunned and Weakened statuses.

The Saboteur is Revealed! When the topmost face-down card on the Countdown Deck first shows Finale, at the end of the Countdown Phase, but before the Action Phase starts, randomly choose one surviving non-vehicle CMDF cast model that is not in fight range of any Antibody. This model is no longer considered a member of the CMDF cast, but reveals itself to be the saboteur. Remove all statuses from this model and move it into contact with the closest non-vehicle CMDF cast model (if this turns out to be a long move, the saboteur has obviously been sneaking about unseen!) The saboteur now immediately makes a surprise fight attack. Set half the available plot points (rounded up) aside. The saboteur will use these to improve this attack roll. The saboteur never uses the Star Qualities or Special Effects of the cast member it replaced.

At the start of each subsequent turn, the saboteur acts immediately before that turn's Countdown Phase. When this happens, the saboteur moves towards the closest non-vehicle CMDF cast model. If this move ends in fight range, the saboteur makes one fight attack, using half the available plot points (rounded up) in the same way as above to improve their attack roll. Don't forget that the Saboteur can also gain the Disturbance (or any other) status!

Should the saboteur become the only model inside Proteus, at the end of the turn move Proteus towards the nearest accessible table edge. If it touches that table edge, Proteus is lost.

NOTE: The player may wish to remove the Disturbance status from the Saboteur to prevent more Antibodies arriving. For this purpose only the Saboteur is treated as if they are still a member of the CMDF cast.

Removing the Blood Clot. To claim each objective token, it must be destroyed. Each objective token has a Defence of 10 and two points of Health. Claiming each blood clot objective grants an award of two plot points. Don't forget that anyone operating a surgical laser gains the DIsturbance status!

Leaving the Table. Models that move to the table corner marked as the Exit point (see Table Setup drawing) may leave the table. Models that leave the table cannot return.

VICTORY POINTS

To claim any victory points at all, at least one objective must have been claimed and at least one member of the CMDF cast must have left the table by the end of the game. If this has happened, roll a die and add the number of objective tokens that have been claimed. If the final score is six or more, the blood clot has dispersed, the operation is a success, and the comatose defecting Soviet scientist will recover.

If the CMDF cast leaves the table with Proteus, they will exit the patient according to plan. If not, they will extract themselves successfully via the patient's tear duct, just like in the film. It is also possible that the Saboteur will also have left the table in Proteus, in which case there will be a lot of difficult explaining to do!

If you are allowed to claim victory points, score your game as follows:

+4 if the operation was a success and the scientist survived

+2 if the saboteur was killed

-6 if the saboteur left the table in Proteus

+1 for each cast member other than the saboteur that left the table

-1 for each cast member other than the saboteur that did not leave the table

+2 if our heroes left the table with Proteus

10+ points is a resounding success

6-9 is a success, though probably a costly one

1-5 is a difficult situation. Serious questions will be asked about value for money and the practicality of the CMDF

0 or less is a disaster, an immense waste of money and a political embarrassment. The CMDF will be disbanded.

USING THESE RULES IN NORMAL 7TV2

If you want to use this situation and its terrain in normal games of 7TV2, then why not! It might stretch credibility, but that's just something for the narrative to resolve. I've done my best to create an appropriate Peril Card - essentially this just repeats the rules for Red Blood Cell and Antibody movement, and the Disturbance status, as describved above. You can download a copy of the card here.

It's Criminal!

Following on from painting the police, it made perfect sense to paint some opposition for them. The figures below are those, completed a week ago.

More Men in Black

Not criminals, these are actually FBI men from The Assault Group that I painted as Men in Black because they will go very well with the Copplestone Men in Black I already own. Lovely castings and highly recommended.

"This is a stick-up!"

Crooked Dice's criminal gang are some of the nicest figures of masked raiders you're likely to come across. I love their sawn-off shotguns.

"I only asked you to blow the bloody doors off!"

More Crooked Dice figures. These are The Italian Job (the drivers left and centre) and Hugo Solomon with a Michael Caine-like head transplanted. I do have two mini coopers as well and should have put them in the photo.

Terrorists

Some more useful bad guys. Five of these are from The Assault Group, but one odd one out should have actually been in the drug cartel photos below; I think he suits this gang better.

"Yo"

Five Yardie Rastas from Wargames Foundry's Street Violence range. These are big chaps compared to the others, but painted up beautifully. Their dog is from Crooked Dice.

Half a cartel

The other half of the cartel

A selection of nice figures from Tiny Terrain which I belioeve are no longer available. These were bought ages ago to be a sort of drug cartel opposition to the A Team. A mixed bag in terms of quality, in my opinion. Some are lovely (the Mexican in the vest, and the priest, for example) while others are quite frankly a bit weird when you look at them closely. But they will be fine on the gaming table.

Armed geezers

Four armed geezers and a northern detective, far right (who has somehow got himself mixed up with those on the wrong side of the law). Characterful (if short) figures from Killer B Games' Shut It! range.

Some civilians

As I have said before, you can never have too many bystander and civilian figures. These chaps from Killer B are quite excellent.

A few more miscellaneous civilians

And finally, four more civilians. Left to right: two football hooligans - AGGRO Miniatures from Ainsty Castings; another Killer B chap; and an odd figure which I think is from Blue Moon who appears to be a teacher - and will therefore probably work well with the Girls of Not St Trinian's which are some way further down my painting queue.

Next on the painting table: military miscellanea.