Gencon Online - Delta Green - Blood, Pus and Vinegar

This was my second Gencon Online game. A run of Blood, Pus and Vinegar. The original scenario is a meatgrinder of tactical combat, whereby the Nationalists hold off a Republican assault on a mysterious nunnery where all is not as it seems. I ran the fast play version, which flips the script and gives the players the role of Republican fighters headed to purge the church of Fascist resistance.

I gave the group a little context on the Spanish Civil War, the makeup of the popular forces (who they'd be playing as), and the mission they'd be undertaking. Then I gave them the list of pregens. We had three players, and they selected the following characters for the mission:

• Pvt Tommy O’Connelly, International Brigades (Northern Ireland)
• Miguel Zapata, Photojournalist for Spain and the World.
• Jose Esquella, Confederación Nacional del Trabajo

The squad (all of three men in size) had a vague idea of what to expect at their destination: The Chapterhouse of the Zelatrices of the Algedonic Devotion, a nunnery famed for its delicious wine, rumored to now be a staging ground for Nationalist fifth columnists.

The popular forces had a vague idea of what to expect.

With their objective clear, they shouldered their rifles and headed into the mountains.

Blood, Pus and Vinegar - A Spanish Civil War Scenario

Blood, Pus and Vinegar

In the middle of the Spanish Civil War, a scratch force of Nationalists rushes to garrison an isolated mountain convent against an advancing Republican column.

The God Who Drags Himself - an Abortive Attempt at the Spanish Civil War in Delta Green

I ran the famous Lamentations scenario The God That Crawls in Delta Green, set during the Spanish Civil War.

The year: 1937. The place: Spain, near the Ebro. The war still looks winnable for the forces of liberty. The May events have not yet shattered the fragile alliance between the Communists, Anarchists and Republicans.

But all is not well. Fearing a fascist uprising in the mountains, the Brigade commander has sent a handpicked group of loyal freedom fighters to a village in the Pàndols range. Its mission: to clear out the ancient church there, rumored to be a wellspring of nationalist sentiment.

It was easy to transfer most of the details from the scenario over to the Catalan setting. Augustine is Augusti. Father Bacon is Father Cansalada. The townsfolk will die to protect the secret of the church, but now they're armed with a handful of old Remington Rolling Block rifles and hunting shotguns in addition to their sharp agricultural tools.

The above ground section of the adventure went great. The players stormed the church, roughed up the priest, and were duly informed the "fascists" had hidden in the mysterious pit beneath the church. They got besieged by the townsfolk, broke the siege with a well timed grenade, and descended into the hole to root out the Nationalist insurgents.

I think most people have seen Jason Thompson's illustration based on the scenario, which makes The God That Crawls look like a whole lot of fun.

It turns out, the dungeon itself is pretty boring.