Strange Aeons

Yesterday I received my copy of Strange Aeons a Canadian independently produced skirmish miniatures game. The game is a two player game. One player takes the role of the baddies who are anything from cultists who seek to raise dead gods to avatars of those gods. The whole game is based around the stories of H. P. Lovecraft of whom I'm sure everyone has some knowledge of *cough*Cthulhu*cough* The other player takes control of Agents of "Threshold" an organization that fights these evil powers at every turn.

The rules are simple enough and there are more advanced rules later on. The game distinguished itself right away with its imaginative campaign style rules. As the Threshold agents grow and gain power so too do the "Lurkers." The Threshold crew must keep the same list until the main character is killed. Lost secondary agents can be replaced. There is also a way to balance the equipment of both sides which makes everything fair.

So Gott Des Todes and I threw some crews together and played a few games. My crew of what I had termed D.O.S.I.E.R. (Department Of Supernatural, Interdimensional and Extraterrestrial Research) started out small but grew by the end of the last game (Mainly because we misread the rules and I needed to get more men). Leading was Ivan Gregoryvitch the only Russian who knew the true nature of the Tunguska event. Armed with his trusty Mosin-Nagant rifle, lucky bear hat and armor he was sent with his fellow agents to investigate the explosion at the Brooklyn Museum. The area had been cordoned off by the police but anyone that had gone in to investigate had not returned.

Joining the stalwart hero was Agent Mark Wesberg a rather tough fellow who macheted first and asked questions later, Agent Shelley Winthrop who was well versed in Ancient Script and Peter a sailor friend of Mark's who had been brought along as extra muscle. Inside they came upon the cause of the ruckus: A mummy who had been part of the Egyptology exhibition and had subsequently risen from the dead. They confronted the mummy and after filling it with lead realized the futility of their actions. They escaped barely but not without the mummy assaulting and cursing Mark. Later he would find everything he fought causing a deep and horrible fear in him.

Then as the team made their way through the museum to the exit they came upon three zombies raised by the Mummy. Using the the exhibits Ivan, Mark and Shelley maneuvered themselves around the living dead. Peter, unfazed drew his .22 to unload round after round at the nearest zombie. With his second shot the gun was jammed.
"Damn it you piece of shit! Of all the times!" He moved away from the three zombies who now placed their attention on him. He unjammed his gun and fired again. The last thing the other three saw as they ran out of the museum was Peter surrounded by zombies.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Peter later showed up at D.O.S.I.E.R. HQ none the worse for wear. The crew re-equipped they returned only to face a giant undead monstrosity stitched together from the zombies and given monstrous strength. Mark was killed and the crew fled once again. This time to the rest of the museum where they searched for ancient artifacts to aid them in their battle. Ivan used a telephone in the curator's office to call in reinforcements.

In an hour the final showdown in the center of the Egyptology museum began. Shelley now armed with the knowledge to be able to bless the teams weapons did so. Training D.O.S.I.E.R. agents led by Alan Firth brought a .25 machine gun to the fight. Cultist followers of the Mummy, hellhounds and the mummy itself were waiting for the Agents. The battle was fierce with a two training agents and Shelley being struck down but in the end the D.O.S.I.E.R. agents prevailed.