The Children of the Sea Serpent: Chapter 1

The good guys.

The bad guys. One of them quite impatient.

My name is  Dr. Oscar Webb. My irrational fear of the sea and any other large body of water, for that matter, has not always accompanied me.

It was not until an interesting incident back in the twenties that I started shivering at the sheer tought of the water. For...you see...something lurks in the darkness of the depth. Something so terrifying, I risk fainting just by writing about it...as you can probably see from my shaky handwriting.

It is best I start at the beginning. Years ago, I was recruited into a top secret governmental agency, called Threshold. I would imagine you have not yet heard of it. Agency has been working in the shadows for hundreds of years, some say its roots go back to the mad emperor Nero of Rome, but I digress.

I was with the agency for a long time and have grown accustomed to dealing with queer things and beings, yes, beings, that do not belong to this world. But nothing could have prepared me for what I have encountered in those days of Autumn 1924.

It was me, my  good friend Stan Hastings and a scholar Artemis Seaton (who possesses certain...gifts) that were sent on a mission in a scarcely populated coastal area in New England. Reports of blood-freezing chanting and daemonic rituals were coming to the Agency more and more frequently. It was a routine mission, find out more about the possible cult and its practice and break it...little did we know, that we were already late.

It was a cold, misty morning, when we went on a foot patrol around the area and we closed in on a worm eaten old barn in the middle of the forest. We heard human voices - or so we thought - and closed in with weapons drawn.

We tried to remain unnoticed for as long as possible and took cover behind the barn. We could heard human sounds...no doubt of that, but there were also sounds that you would not be expecting to hear on the shores. What are we to deal with on this god forsaken place?

There was no time to think - it was time to act! Helped by Artemis, Stan climbed in the barn to outflank the godless worshipers, while I rushed around the corner, putting my faith in Diana, my family shot gun. I emptied both barrels in the direction of a villain and made sure he would see another day. Artemis was following closely behind me.

Inside the barn, Stan was under light pistol fire, but managed to keep his skin whole. I would be worried about Stan more, hadn't I been approach by a being of such a repulsive look, even horror writers would faint! The slippery scaly humanoid rushed at me and I did my best to protect myself - the rest is lost to my memory as I was bested in the fight.

This story continues as it was told by trusty Artemis and Stan. Stan was of quick wits and charged the imposing figure he thought was a leader of the group. He was locked in a fight with the cultist, but was unable to secure a definite victory against the evil doer.  In the mean time, that awful fish-man hybrid shambled towards Artemis, whose wits were so strained, he missed the creature at point blank with his pistol and then fell tho his attack in close combat.

Stan could still not overpower the leader of the party and henchman decided to intervene. Afraid he might hit his leader, he joined in the brawl and did not fire from the distance. This decision turned out to be his undoing, as Stan hacked through him with ease. This small victory apparently motivated Stan to focus and he finally settled the dispute with the cultist.  He wasted no time and rushed around the corner to meet the devil that dealt such a great amount of pain to his friends. He emptied a clip, but did not manage to hit the shambling young man, who turned towards Stan but failed to reach him and engage in a close combat. While Stan always preferred to dance to the song of swords than orchestra of powder, a rusty old cleaver that that pitied creature dragged behind it made him think twice and he instead decided to keep some distance and rather fill the abnormality with lead.

After two carefully aimed shots, the being dropped dead on the spot and Stan rushed to get me and Artemis to hospital, where is it I woke up.

The mission was costly for our little team, as poor Artemis lost all his trust in the fire arms and pledged never to use them again - they are inaccurate and not worth the bother, he claims! As for me...oh god...that forsaken beast has swung its blade all over my face and the result is beyond imaginable. I dread seeing myself in mirror - how can I ever let my loved ones see me like this?


Post-game thoughts:

While it has its cons (First version at least), Strange Aeons is by far the most fun I have playing games. Fast and simple and if I play alone nobody hears me adding the sound effects!

To be completely fair, I replayed the scenario, as after first game all three agents were removed from play without causing any damage whatsoever. Henchman with the Tommy gun was killing them without too much trouble - the profile is strong by itself and it had all the best rolls! According to the injury roles, one died and the other one was horribly crippled, so I decided to cheat a bit and call it a practice game, as I haven't played in months.

Artemis suffers from Ballistophobia and will need to preform a test before he can fire a weapon, while Oscar is now hideous, which means every human that comes into base to base contact with him, will have to throw a resolve check.

1920 Cthulhu mythos size comparison

 I am a part of "Eldritch" group on facebook where I was asked for size comparison photos of BCB miniatures. I've added some others in the mix and decided I'll make a post out of it. I can also proudly say I am painting something as we speak so next post will be proper post again!

I have decided to show mostly humans, as showing monsters doesn't really make much sense, but I could do that if needed.


I will keep it short, below every picture manufacturers will be listed left to right.

 BCB (Black Cat Bases), Artizan, BCB, EM4, BCB werewolf, Mantic, Artizan, BCB

 BCB, Artizan, BCB, EM4 (smaller)

 BCB, Mantic, Artizan, BCB

 BCB, GW Ungor, Dixon (larger), BCB

 Dixon (smaller), BCB, EM4, BCB

 BCB, Artizan, EM4, BCB

Hope it proves useful,
Mathyoo

Meet Threshold Operatives 2!

Hello,

a guy that got my attention to Strange Aeons here in Slovenia has contacted me and asked me for a demonstration game. This gave me a slight boost to start painting my miniatures again.  I have found out that my biggest enemy in painting is deciding how to paint stuff.
When I was watching the figures, I've recalled that I saw an episode of Boardwalk Empire on TV few weeks back. I've recalled a striking red suit of the lead actor (Steve Buschemi, to me mostly known as the guy with a "funny face" from Fargo), so what I did was a) watch the series some more for 20s fashion b) got motivated to paint last 3 threshold agents that I own (well, 3 from 6 :D) and above all c) got interested in prohibition and mafia again. I have to admit I have never seen Godfather trilogy completely. Always saw most of it, never all. Now I feel the need to see it again. And to bug Shelldrake with questions about Mad dogs and guns. I had an idea of incorporating prohibition in my Strange Aeons game for quite a while...it is a game of evil cultists and they, much as modern terrorists, need money. Where could you get more than from selling the devils elixir? ;)

Anyways, here are the pictures. All miniatures are from Black Cat Bases:

We got miniatures of a writer whos name always slips out of my mind...Charles Fort, thats the one! He had various options for his right hand. At first I went with a pen, which would be painted as a cigar and I'd sculpt a pile of dynamites at his feet. It didn't glue well enough and as it was too small to drill with my drill, I went for the shotgun. It is a common weapon in Strange Aeons, so it made sense.  Second is a tommy gunner, which is really amazing except for one thing...his tommy gun. It is a model with thinner magazine (instead of drum) and it misses a vertical handgrip. This tommy gun is from 2nd WW, which was bothering me so much that I was considering a conversion. As the miniatures are from some sort of kinda resistant metal, I kept it. It bothers me less now, but I'd still love the drum magazine. Third miniature is one of the two adventurers. Again, his left arm could hold variety of weapons and I went with a civil war sabre, which was used quite a lot in games with my brother. Miniatures, especially left and right most two are really well done. Tommy gunner is older. They all got moldlines I had problems cleaning, but if I'd take more time, it could be done quite easily.  Other weapons choices on the adventurer and Fort are broken bottle, knife, axe, pen, book, pistol , electric hand torch, that lantern I used on first adventurer and a magnifying glass. Might be something else as well.

 I gave Fort the red checked dress, being an educated intellectual, he surely has to other financial incomes but a low wage of a govermental agent, fighting the monsters out of cosmos. He carries a trench broom, weapon so terrifying germans called for a ban during WW1. Also has pocket watch...can't miss on those monster. Mind his black and brown shoes.
Agent that has no name atm (in game I use names from various characters from Lovecraft's stories) picked an "experimental" thompson submachine gun. Compared to the type used by government officials and criminals it holds a smaller magazine and has lost the vertical hand grip, making it easier to conceal (I guess!). He is wearing a long raincoat and a fedora hat, making him blend with the crowd yet look intimidating.
Last in the line is another nameless agent, who is also dressed up to the latest fashion. His ancestor was a well known civil war cavalry commander and our agent has inherited the sabre. It gets hot under fire, so he has untied his raincoat. Looks like a batman if you try hard enough!




Below are some pics of all the team together. I've put Font infront to show you once more how proud I am of his suit :D. Those miniatures were WAY more joy to paint than the first three. And I think the standard has risen, now Lovecraft looks more like some puny baker's apprentice than a secret agent, saving the human kind...and selling his adventures as a fiction to them unaware citizens!

Oh, I might mention that I have booked flight to England in April and will 100% attend Salute this year, so I got to make sure I meet you guys that will be there as well!

Cheers,
Mathyoo

Meet Threshold Operatives 1!

Hello,

my painting mojo is lost for quite a while, proving once again I don't really like painting my miniatures, hehe.

Anyways, after a week or so, I've manged to finish painting three of my Threshold operatives for my Strange Aeons game. I got six of the good guys all together for now and I've painted half. I think painting 2-3 miniatures at a time works best for me.

The three guys are all in my current list for the campaign me and my brother are playing (way less often than I'd like!). The fourth guy will be painted with the next batch. After that, on to the evil lurkers!

Let me start by mentioning I HATE! painting skin. I did two tries on those guys, after I failed in an attempt to paint some eyes for a change. I got Vallejo skin tones pack, so I got all I need, but that skin never comes out the way I'd want it to! I also have problems with picking high light colors, so I tend to simply mix white in it. This makes highlights somewhat invisible on the model...I simply guess one isn't enough!

Anyways, those are about as good as they get and here they are:

 I didn't name them for the eternity, but in the current campaign, they got names from Lovecraft's stories. I represent you (from left to right):

Howard Philips Lovecraft, civilian (that simply refuses to die in a campaign!). As you can see, he carries a haunted book of secrets that one mad arab, Abdul Alhazred has written long time before the events! For his own safety, H.P. is armed with .22 pistol. To keep his sanity, he is accompanied by a cat. In one of his stories, Lovecraft has named  a narrator's cat "Nigger man", which, for obvious reason, won't be used. We can call the little fella "cat" anytime!

John Raymond Legrasse, character. The name comes from a police officer in a "Call of Cthulhu" story. In-game he is armed with dual .45s (one tucked on his right hip, other in his left hand). As awesome as he'd look with actual dual .45s in his hands, I went for lantern. As you've seen so far, that really comes handy in the scale photos. And here, Legrasse is astonished by the book his friend carries.  Or maybe he just likes the cat? I don't know how visible it is, but I did some "effect lightning" on him. I'll give you a closer look below in the post. He is somewhat shiny because my matt varnish appears to be pretty glossy, which really bothers me, to be honest.

Last man from batch is agent-in-game, but a fisherman from appearance, James Woodville. I forgot what story I got his name from, but it doesn't really matter. He is dressed in very dirty yellow overalls (painted glossy, but this gloss seems too matt somehow...those varnishes!). Armed with a bolt-action gun (which is sculpted really simplified), but I play him as if he'd be armed with a bigger calibre, elephant gun. Now that I think of it, I shouldn't paint him and then varnish, but paint his overalls yellow, paint gloss varnish on, then wash it with brown wash to dirty the clothes. You know, mud can't be glossy, even if on glossy clothes!

For the end, close up on some light effects, I didn't want to over do it. Neither I like how the light in the lantern came out...way too firey!

Otherwise, in the hobby, I am trying to restrain myself from buying any more miniatures, as I'm saving for my trip to England in April. I have to paint all my zombies, all my SA miniatures, game all my SA games, start my zombie campaign...will see how long I can restrain myself from getting some dollies for sculpting, Ramshackle's goodies, cultists and probably something I don't need at all! Oh, I do need sculpting tools, actually...I've ordered some in February from Maelstrom games, but they happened to be out of stock at supplier. I got some mails how the tools will be sent "next week" about 2 months ago, but now that store is in liquidation, I think I can say goodbye to the money now. I didn't want a return as I figured that if I'd wait so long, I might as well wait some more...oh well. I did bought a pack of tools for drawing in local store...got 2 useless pointy tools, a stipple brush, useless fan rush and...AND a pointy and flat "rubber shaper", which should prove useful for smoothing my sculpts.  I even found a picture online!



Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Strange Aeons AARs

 Hello,

last week, me and my brother sat down for three games of Strange Aeons. I played the Treshold Agents all games while he took over the lurkers. I made pretty basic list and was hoping for 5 wins in a row, which would allow me departure in the jungle on a special mission. Thing turned bad....


FIRST GAME

Treshold squad consisted of:

Character John Raymond Legrasse
armed with dual .45's and a bowie knife

 Agent Charles Fort
armed with .45, bowie knife and a shotgun

Agent Walter Williamson
armed with .45, bowie knife and a tommy gun

Civilian Howard Philips Lovecraft
armed with .22

First mission was Escape...into danger!
Treshold agents were on a reconnaissance mission, investigating reports about haunted graveyard. Once they were engaged with strange old man...a high priest (had 2, 3 and 5 evil spells), their mission was to leave the area and report back to office.

They were not aware of great knowledge the old man possessed and tried to eliminate him. Below, you can see the scene just before contact. We got old man lurking behind a crypt on right side. Above crypt is agent Williamson with tommy gun. Left of the crypt is Legrasse, below are Fort and Lovecraft.

The old man has chanted two spells, giving his cold hands a touch of death and eldritch barrier making sure he gets hit harder. He shot a fireball straight into Howard Phillips who instantly suffered a minor injury (has left the table but was okay next game)

Then the old man charged straight for Legrasse, dispatching him with touch of death. Williamson was ineffective with his kugelspritze and he has suffered the same fate. Eventually, even agent Fort suffered the same fate.

After the game I've thrown the dice to see what happened to our heroes.

If you got the book, you can see that:
Williamson was dead.
Legrasse became claustrophobic (has to roll on insanity table when he enters scenery)
Fort suffered from ballistophobia (has to pass resolve if he wants to shoot)

 As Williamson died, I got a chance to reequip my agents. Legrasse took hollow-point bullets for his dual .45s. His range decreased, but damage increased. Fort felt he is more than uncomfortable with his shotgun, so he swapped it for a meat cleaver he got from butcher's shop. Williamson was replaced with James Woodville, armed with a bowie knife, .45 and a bolt action rifle.

Here is a closer picture of an evil doer!

SECOND GAME

Second game was a monster hunt. Straight forward scenario where our reequipped team faced a Dimensional Shambler (with bunch of skills that made him virtually indestructable)

Here is a table:

 Long story short, I couldn't really hurt him and I should've fled the table (a  loss and everyone suffers a minor injury)

A highlight of battle was when shambler threw Legrasse into scenery (forest). Legrasse got so paranoid, he immediately  lost his consciousness!

 Seeing all his friends dead or seriously hurt, greenhorn Woodville fainted. He was charged by a shambler and removed as a major injury.

 Here is the outcome:
Lovecraft suffered a minor injury and was okay by next game again. As he is a civilian, he can't get phobias, but would be okay on a roll 4-6, dead on any other.

Fort got lucky this time and came out without any permanent effects!

Legrasse got unlucky, his injuries were severe and he got D3 injuries! (I threw 2, so 1) - but he got lucky and is now a basket case - immune to psychology!

As Fort, Woodville came out untouched.

 Last  game was a bag man. Lurkers were easy this time, a buffed Herbert West and two zombies. The plan was to insert serum into uneads and make them grow!
Reality was worse, one zombie died (even with reroll!), the other got super fast.

 Long story short, they almost eliminated Legrasse, who was my bag man (he had 25% chance to guess who is it!) He has dropped a bag but Fort charged in and killed a zombie. West was killed when he charged Fort last turn.

Quite a fast win for the Treshold. As they were all still on board, I rolled 4 dice for map pieces and fount two!

We ended after this game and I really hope he will play more cultists so my .45s can actually hurt someone! 4 more games and we're off to jungle, wish me luck!

Black cat bases unboxing

Hello,

so, my Black Cat Bases parcel has arrived and I was busy basing and cleaning them yesterday. All the packs came with lipped 30mm bases, but I've decided I'll continue my 25mm slotta bases trend and have used those. 

Everything came nicely packed in blisters. I got loads of them now and I would be completely satisfied with 2 or even 3 miniatures per blister...but well, I can always "throw them away" (by which i mean store them for "sometime later").

Below is a picture of a blister, they're mostly all the same. This one has a deep one typing in it :P.

I have also got a nice little cat free with my order. I am not a collector, but it made me a bit sad I won't be able to get the rest of them! The compan being BCatBases, cat makes the sense. And I am more of a cat person myself, so that was really a nice move. I got no use for it yet, but it can wait.

As for the miniatures themselves, I am pretty satisfied. They are around as good as TAGs, if not better. But I am just painting Hasslefree-Mantic Grant so my estimates my be under the influence of what I found to be THE MOST DETAILED miniature I own :P. So,. considering the price the sculpts are really decent for what you pay. I have noticed, however, that werewolf (comes with separate lower body, upper body and 2 different heads) can't be put together too smoothly and I will use greenstuff to make it a bit bulkier in its waist and to to fix it a bit as it looks okay from one side and totally missed from the other. This could be my problem gluing it, but just to let you know. I've also noticed many figures had traces of releasing gel (oil?).  I always wash my miniatures, but thats the first time I've actually saw the stuff!

As for mould lines, I could say there aren't too many, but still the figures demand quite some work. The metal is also very thick, so I found a bit hard to work with them (I had to chop secret mini's head and one hand off, but if you're not doing that, being a hard miniature is a bonus, i think). If you buy one of those new miniatures, with multiple options for weapons, note that a) so many choices make decisions hard to make! b) not all the choices have "pin" included and some are very hard to detach from the sprue. Again, I found metal very solid.  Then, some of the slotta tabs are too wide and need some filling. But, all in all, I am very satisfied with miniatures and a customer support. I've ordered a mad man, but I found a suitable miniature in my collection (TAG freebie!), so I've mailed if I could swap this one with some other mini and there was no problem.

Below, I've added some scale pics.

We got TAG, BCB, BCB, Mantic, BCB, BCB, WGF, BCB, BCB, Urban war, BCB, BCB and forementioned Hasslefree-mantic Grant.

A close up on first half. You can see the amazing pose of werewolf. Miniatures tend to be true 28mm, so they turned out a bit small compared to Mantic. I really like the deep ones, as I think they are pretty close to what Lovecraft described them as. The guy with lantern and a pistol had a choice for his right arm (lantern). I wanted to go with another pistol, but there is one on his belt, so I picked lantern....you know, he was searching the pyramids and he has heard a sound behind his back thing! The "doctor" is putting his gloves on, which is quite a nice idea for the pose. He will be my mad scientist.

Here is the other part. Sorry for the blurry pic. The first one is one of 3 hybrids. I am sure they will be fun to paint and I will try to blend green-grey of deepones with some skin tones. Second guy has a WW2 tommy gun, which is a shame, as I'd prefer the 1920's edition. But, well, its a minor thing. You can see another agent with sabre and Lovecraft himself. I gave him .45 colt, so he can defend himself!

There is one more writer that I got. I keep forgetting about his name, but the thing is, I gave him a hand with pen for his "weapon". I was going to paint it as a cigar and put a pile of dynamites on his base. I had some problems attaching the hand and it broke, so I'll just give him a shotgun instead!


Well, I think thats all I got to say about BCB. If I sounded too negative, its all accidental, as I think miniatures are great. Cthulhu line is somewhat hard to get and hybrids are just amazing. But some sculpts are not as good. Fisherman with rifle, that I got, for example, has no noticeable border between his boots and trousers, but I think he just needs some paint! The werewolf is also much better than expected. They sell many different variants, but I like the "leaping" one the most.

Again, I hope this helps if you were wondering how those miniatures look like!

Mathyoo