Meet a Banshee!

Before I start, I'd like to wish everyone that has it a happy holiday! Either you celebrate it for what it is or so that you can dye some eggs or just stay home and work on your hobby projects!

So...what is a banshee? She's a ghost and a screamer. Not the pleasant one, I am afraid. We're talking about a haunted soul, horribly trying to make life for other as desperate as possible! In game of Strange Aeons, Banshee can unleash a devilish scream, driving people so mad, they try to end their own lives!

Mine is a converted Mantic zombie, simply painted white and washed green.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Meet the Ancient Warrior!

Hello,

I've got 5 miniatures ready to show, all converted Mantic zombies, as I've mentioned before. Each  miniature represents a different profile for Strange Aeons, so I will post them separately, but apart from this one, all 4 are somewhat similar. I will post them in 2 days intervals as I won't be home much in April and if I will be able to post one last time before my flight up to England, I'll gladly explain why these year's Salute theme - Jason and the Argonauts - feels so close to me!

Ancient warrior is your ordinary skeleton warrior. Mine was made from converted Mantic zombie. Was kept pretty simple, ingame it is armed with "claws and fangs", so mantic zombie came in handy. I've sculpted upper body's robe and a helmet. I actually forgot to sculpt chainmail on hands and such...for a taste.
He is not strictly skeleton, but was painted "old"...except for his brass helmet that somehow still didn't turn green :P. As an interesting fact, this was first time I've used my metallic paint for not-FOW miniatures. I much prefer NMM because of the composition of metallic paints and the "arty" feeling the non metal metal (NMM) leaves...had no idea how to do brass though!

The leaf-like symbol is an "Elder sign", a sign of Elder gods in Cthulhu mythos. I've used it to fill the blank space and connect the miniature to Strange Aeons scene.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Meet the Serpentmen!

Well, somehow I keep calling them snakemen, but hey, what is the difference?

Nothing special about those two, both my sculpts, so they're kinda rough. The thing is, most of the serpentmen I saw have legs which looks just silly to me. So mine have snake's bodies with humanoid arms and upper bodies + snake's heads and necks. Didn't came out as nice as I'd hope, but will suffice for now.

They're painted horribly because I had no idea how to do it. That is a huge problem of mine lately.

 I've got 5 more posts prepared that I will be pushing out for next two weeks before my departure. Nothing fancy, just few lurkers for Strange Aeons games, converted from Mantic zombies. I am proud to say I got every finished model (as in finished sculpt or bare metal/plastic miniature) for SA painted now!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

The Assault Group Tudor kickstarter!

Well,

a bit late, but as I feel I will owe one to Peter from The Assault Group for life, I'd like to give you heads up on his Kickstarter project.

It is a project to fund Tudor range (check the awesome Henry! :D), but as I wouldn't expect many of my followers to be interested in this period, there is also an option to pledge and get anything from their existing range (details here)

It is a historical company, but there are plenty useful miniatures for zombie wargaming. Check their modern ranges for SWAT, modern armies and somalis, mafia and african miniatures for your regular survivors.


You can click here:
http://mathyoo28mm.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20assault%20group

and see my TAG related posts. If you scroll down you will see an african with an SMG. He was converted into our own Lord Siwoc from Brains and Guts. I'd seek out a pic he has posted for you, but as he hasn't have a calendar (fix that mate!), it is a black abyss!

So, hopefully that has helped some of the kickstarter enthusiasts find new miniatures!
Mathyoo

Jungle terrain

Hello,

one day I was shopping for groceries and found this cheapish hot glue gun and just had to buy it. I've finally been able to use all the aquarium plants I was hoarding for some months now.

I went with mesoamerican look, not strictly aztec and anything. So they could fit in any historical or fantasy setting. I went with mostly snake motives, for serpentmen and such games.

Below is all that I've made, most of it (except for 3 or so smaller items) was made in one go. I've had the ball rolling when I got the idea for that snake monolith with wooden superstructure. Now, keep in mind they all need more foliage and static grass to call them done.

 Below you can see a stone with half carved snake (not seen to good), a tomb (checked "pyramid") and a random base of left overs used as a bamboo-like plant.

 The tomb up close

 Snake-faced warning sign:
On second picture, you can see more leftovers used usefully.

 A pond - WIP. Probably won't be finished anytime soon, hehe

 Sacrificial monument. small stone infront of the agent is a place where victims are held over when their head/heart gets cut off/rip out. All in sight of great god (the standing monolith)

 Big face something:

 Jungle plants:

 Giant snake statue. Looks like an expedition has built a working stage next to it for easier exploration. The ladders are missing. I was thinking of playing it with special rules - as it grants great vision for snipers, the wood is old.  When a man climbs on it, a die is cast - on 1 the rotten wood collapses and a man falls down to the ground.

 A close up on glyphs. Main image is that of a giant snake eating a man. Can't really make it out? Below is a reference art, hopefully you can make out the snake and the body now!

 A Cthulhu head on other side:

Other than that, I've got many lurkers painted that I will show in separate posts for sake of established pattern. I will probably post more often to pump them all out by end of the month. I've also repainted my Dunwich horror. You can see new and old pictures at its original post, HERE.

Thanks for looking,

Mathyoo

Meet the Swarms!

Hello,

not much to say about swarms, they could appear in one of the scenarios in Strange Aeons, so I figured I'd make some. Swarms could be of anything you can think of, most often snakes, rats, scarabs (will do those once I move to Egyptian gaming), Black Cat bases even has little turtles :D. Talking of Egypt, not related at all, but when I was younger I looooved Ancient Egypt and everything related to it. The passion has since passed, but I will play that eventually for sure!

So, I wanted to make rat swarms myself, but figured it would take too much work for something that I won't be using too much. So, what I did was spend (mostly) excess putty that I had mixed, rolled it into little sausages and put it on the bases. Do that for a couple of months, paint them and voila - snake swarms! Now that I'm reading King in Yellow, I figured I'd be way more satisfied with swarms of white maggots...utterly disturbing! But hey, those are done, so I will leave maggots for another time.

They're painted in 4 different colors to give them some variety. Nothing special up close, decent on a table top!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Meet the Dimensional Shambler!

Hello there,

another of my sculpts. This one has started out as something else...I think a "missing link" (something between ape and a human), but then, as I work as I go, it has became a could-be Shambler. Shambler travels between dimensions and has a body of something between an ape and an insect. Unfortunately, I did not know how to incorporate an insect part in him, so he is mostly just ape :D. His hide hangs loosely, which isn't represented either. I do like "dead-eyed rudiment of a head" that "sways drunkenly from side to side". Its fur is black, so I've figured I'd paint him blacks and grey all together.
In Strange Aeons it is supposed to be covered in moss, easily flammable, but I am not sure if I'd want to glue any vegetation on him. He is also too slim for my taste, but overall, I am quite satisfied. Just imagine how great it would look if I could paint him better! :D

So, my bestiary is slowly growing. As I am saving for my trip I am using what I have at hand and I must say it is really a nice feeling to sculpt something somewhat decent and be able to use it in games. That here is a shambler nobody else will ever have! I have few other sculpts in work, that have mostly bogged down as I am not convinced I can go on. So I need few days to gather courage and I slowly add things. I will show them when they are done. I am also converting all those mantic zombies that I have. I am working on (finished or WIP) 4 different kinds of ghost an an "ancient warrior". But that will have to wait!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Strange Aeons AAR: The bag man!

A courier came to brother's Treshold operative's office. He had a package and a note saying:
BRING PACKAGE TO WHITE HOUSE STOP
IMPORTANT STOP
GUARD WITH LIFE STOP

Fat Guy knew what to do. He called his trusty agents, Smelly Fart and Butt Crack, gave the package to Smelly and they have left for Washington. To come to their destination, they had to go trough abandoned cemetery, known as a cultist's area. And they could be sure the Lurkers already know, they will pass with important piece of information.

The wicked Lurkers have decided to put a show up for the Treshold operatives...literally. They have decided to play them a 2 acts game of extreme morbidity and repulsive lines. The game called "The King in Yellow". (rules for this special relic were published somewhere some time ago and are now available for free HERE)

Treshold team, same as last game, consisted of:
Character Fat Guy, armed with bowie, .45 handgun and bolt action rifle, with hollow point bullets

Agent Smelly Fart, armed with bowie knife, .45 handgun, pitchfork

Agent Butt Crack, armed with bowie knife, .45 handgun, flame thrower and meat cleaver.

I've picked those up:
2x cult leaders (one with shotgun)
5x cultists with .22 handgun
a relic

This relic represents a stage (not yet painted model I've made...it represents a stage and I've made it "mobile", bunch of stacked boxes for actors to play on...can be set up anywhere in next to no time!)

Treshold's mission is to run trough the board and escape on the lurker's short table edge or remove all lurkers from table.
Lurker's mission is to stop them, but now that we've invested in a stage, to play the King play and perhaps summon the King himself.

 Below you can see the board. The mission is simple, run past the well, pass the crypt, pass the woods, voila safe area again....except...what is that silly bunch of boxes doing there, with some cultists, dressed like they're on a masquerade?

 Lurkers, 3 cultist actors on stage, 2 below in reserve. Behind the rocks are the cult leaders to nominate the actors!

 When cultists saw the agents are closing in, they have begun reading their lines, playing as best as they could...they had notime to practice!
 First act of the play went simple (6 actions = 2 dice), the play has now became interesting. Anyone making any actions in 10" around the stage (except actors) has to make a resolve check, if failed they stare at the play and action is wasted. Too bad the agents are used to all kinds of sick means that lurkers use and were extremely cautious. They've quit advancing and Fat opened fire, sniping one of the actors, who in turn fell like an apple of the apple tree.

 This has delayed the play, as new actor had to step up on the stage and Treshold agents have bought themselves some time. The show has reached a point where the spectators and actors alike would be driven mad by the tales being told! One of the cult leaders has snapped and assaulted his friend - killing him savagely! There was some minor brawling between the actors, but no damage was done.

 The show went on, and it had reached its morbid epilogue - the king has came! Fat managed to snipe one more actor, whose death has scared another cultist off board.

 The remaining actor was swapped for the king (Hasslefree's old man, my stand in for everything mystical and powerful, yet not convetional).  Sole sight of the King has made the female cultist lose her consciousness. The King moved to the woods, towards the Treshold agents. He has melted one agent's minds by whispering tales of universal destruction and cosmic horrors behind what human mind can take, but he wasn't able to dispatch him, as the agent was covered by Fat's accurate rifle fire. Fat's bullet has hit the king straight where it had supposed to, taking a life instantly. The cult leader that had accompanied the King into an attack, had a lucky day and has hit the agent critically - later the agent suffered head trauma (+1 to resolve). The cult leader, however, was again sniped off by Fat. The last remaining cultist was decided to avenge the King and her leader and tried to resist, but was no match for the agents, giving them the win.

The relic is quite fun, but wasn't used to its full potential. Also, the king requires some finesse. While he isn't strong in melee versus a fighting opponent (has no bonus in cc as he is unarmed), he can whisper to the agents (if they fail resolve they go face down) and then charge them. This would result in instant major injury, which, if done by the King, would let me pick a phobia for the agent instead of rolling on injury table. I was really hoping I could put a ballistophobia (fear of weapons, resolve test before shooting) to Fat Guy...if he gets a clear shot, he gets a sure kill.

Hope it was interesting to read as it was fun to play,
Mathyoo

Strange Aeons AAR: Monster attack!

Before I start with the battle report, I'd like to mention I've (obviously) renamed the blog. I've decided on this because it a) is more appropriate for most of my recent post and b) I've been thinking about it since I saw that 28 day later pun wasn't as original as I'd hope! :D I've also changed the colors a bit, but was trying to make it somewhat bright anyways, so it doesn't actually take sanity from followers...I do want people to read it, after all!

I am posting a Strange Aeons AAR, I've played 2 games with my brother on saturday. That is first game, and I will post the second in a couple of day.


Treshold team was sent to investigate reports of a cattle thief operating in the area. Local farms were regularly reporting missing cattle, later to be found butchered...if found at all. Usually, those kind of suspicion was a matter of the local police and hunters, but as some swore they've seen wolfman-like creature, Treshold has decided to investigate...could it be that long lost werewolves were operating in the area again?

My brothers 20 points treshold list has came to investigate. The team consisted of (his names!):

Character Fat Guy, armed with bowie, .45 handgun and bolt action rifle, filled with hollow point bullets (less range more dmg). He had 4 extra skills, mostly geared towards being a sniping killing machine. Hits on 2+ and his hits hurt. Vulnerable in CC tho.

Agent Smelly Fart, armed with bowie knife, .45 handgun, pitchfork (we're trying new things :D) and a shotgun. He is a big guy, has "tough" skill.

Agent Butt Crack, armed with bowie knife, .45 handgun, flame thrower and meat cleaver.

Here, from left to right we got Smelly, Butt and Fat.

They have walked pass the rocky terrain and came close to an old, forgotten cemetery near woods. (right short edge). As an experienced agents, they've grown sixth sense and felt they're being observed from the darkness.

 There was a savage beast, unknown to ordinary men but in tales - a werewolf!

 As the dogfaced monstrosity has caught a smell of its prey, it has launched into an attack. When it came close, the agents have spotted her and Fat tried to snipe it from the distance. The cover of trees and beast's agility rendered all shooting useless.

 Werewolf managed to come closer and took cover behind the rocks.

 Treshold members got soft knees and made some distance between themselves and the monster - shooting was even worse than before, as Butt's flamethrower has jammed and became useless.

Werewolf is a skilled hunter and it went straight for the leader of the pack. All that running must have tired him, however, as it was unable to win the combat against Fat. When agents saw their leader in danger, they joined in. Smelly ran close, but as he saw the beast's sharp teeth it ran for his life in fear! (ran over the board, counts as minor injury).

 When Butt saw his friend run, he broke and cried...he was unable to help his friend as his world and hope have both collapsed. When he got back up, he has assaulted the beast and was injured (minor injury!)

 Fat Guy tried his best to defend himself, knowing he needs miracle to get out alive from this one! Somehow he managed to win the fight and instead of futile attempt to kill the beast, he, too has turned away and left the table.

 Werewolf was left by himself, exhausted from the fight, but without any prey.

So, remember how I told you in last post how Werewolf is dangerous if he gets to make a major injury and how I never do it? Didn't do it here again. I've made minor injury to one agent and the other two ran away. This was first lurker's win out of 5 games and even this one was just a minor one.

Thanks for reading,
Mathyoo