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.

4k Battle Report

The Knights of the Round gathered together with the Dark Angels. Across the ruined city the Grey Knights and an inducted chapter of Space Marines stood ready. The prize: a relic known as The Holy Grail. A vessel claimed to have been used by the Emperor himself. A holy chapter relic to both groups of knights they would stand at nothing to achieve their goal. 

The game type was multiple objectives (5) which we placed one in each table quarter and one in the middle of the table and the setup was table quarters. We set up a ruined city on an 8' by 4' table. The Knights(Space Wolves) and Dark Angels have chosen to set up last. This was unfortunate for our long fang and devastator squads as we ended up with the least amount of terrain. We didn't chose to seize either and the game was afoot. The Space Marines and the Space Wolves moved up and the massed Terminators of the Dark Angel Deathwing and the Grey Knights marched forward and waited in deepstrike.

The enemy's tanks advanced down the streets. A speeder dropped to end Sir Lucan's (Dreadnought) involvement in the battle but missed. Two squads of Dark Angel terminators dropped down. One on the objective to our far left and one behind the enemy's Vindicator. Rockets fired and the Vindicator was no more. Plasma, rockets, las cannons and heavy bolter rounds were fired against rhinos and other heavy weapons squads. Sir Perceval's tank burst through the ruined walls of the central building which housed the Grail. Sir Plomyd's tank(Checkered) was not so lucky, immobilizing itself against the same ruins.

Two squads of Grey Knight Paladins appeared, both to retaliate for the Vindicator. One against the squad of Terminators the other against our Vindicator. They removed the Vindicator's turret and destroyed the squad. In return Sir Lyonell's tank containing a Rune Priest swung around and unleashed the Jaws of the World Wolf, dropping to Paladin's to their deaths.

The paladins, their mission complete, was teleported across the board to the Librarian. Two squads of Space marines left their rhinos near the center of the board, one toward the Grail and the other toward Plomyd's tank. A well placed melta shot made short work of the tank and a few of the knights inside. They returned the favor and mowed the squad down with the aid of their missile launching counterparts. Across the a rhino is destroyed and the initial squad of Dark Angel terminators containing their leader Belial engages in heated combat with the marines inside as well as Paladins nearby.

Lucan charges and destroys the upstart Land Speeder, the heavy weapon squads destroying each other in the meanwhile.

Belial stands firm in round after round of combat but eventually falls.

The squad in the ruins destroys Percival's tank and engages the squad in a combat that lasts the entire rest of the game.

Another squad of Dark Angel terminators drops and goads the Paladins to attack. 

Unit after unit enters the center of the board to take the Grail but none succeed.

The pictures run out here but in the bottom of the 6th turn we each controlled two objectives and contested the Grail. Three Paladins remained after the combat against the Terminators on the far side of the table. After a round of firing from the Lascannon devastators they were down to 1. Arthur had moved to within view of the last, fired his twin-linked lascannon and killed the last. We rolled the dice and the game ended there. A Knights(Space Wolves) and Dark Angels victory.

The day was won. Many had lost their lives but the Dark Angels succeeded in supporting their brethren Knights in acquiring the Grail. The Grey knights were forced away with their Space Marine allies and would fight again another day.

Team Shiv Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines vs Blood Angels

Here's an older Team Shiv battle report. TheGodOfNothing vs Harsh Rhettoric! Chaos Space Marines vs Counts as Night Lords (Blood Angels).

Team Shiv Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines vs Space Wolves

Our first battle report. TheGodOfNothing vs Dave (not formally of Team Shiv)

Video quality is a little choppy cause I was still learning how to edit the video clips. They'll get better. I promise.