Strange Aeons: Formless Thing/Shoggoth

In honor of H.P. Lovecraft's death today in 1937, I figured I would unleash a bunch of Strange Aeons stuff I have been working on, getting ready for some Second Edition this Spring.

First up is a Formless Thing or perhaps a Shoggoth. This is a BONES mini and it is fairly straightforward. As far as "starting" Lurkers go, this model makes a perfect Formless Thing at 15 points; a great monster for a new Threshold team to cut their teeth on (or the other way around.)

The palette was a mix of purples and pinks over a black undercoat, along with reds and yellows on the eyes with Orange/flow enhancer for glow. I finished with my usual gore mix of Tamiya Red with some GW purple mixed together and appropriately applied as a trail, careful not to over do it.

Strange Aeons: Rogue Agent WIP

This is my first legit post since... I'm not sure when. Last semester was a brutal finish to a long degree in Fine Art but I am now gradu-amated frum kollege. So, let the wild rumpus start! Many backed-up projects to tackle...

To warm up my hobby skills, I put together an old RAFM miniature I found in the bargain bin a few weeks ago, for US$3.00. Not only was he perfect for Strange Aeons as a Rogue Agent, he came with a lil' casket with a skeleton in it and while it is hard to tell by the casting I do think there is a stake through its chest. Nifty, as I have use for such things.

I cut open the bottom of a Privateer Press base and back-filled with greenstuff. After the sculpting and smoothing was done, I set him on wax paper to cure. Wax paper is handy for allowing the base to cure flat underneath and not stick when it's time to scoop up the mini for trimming and paint.

You better believe the sheriff from Oh Brother Where Art Thou? is inspiration for this guy...

I have one of the old GW blow-molded foam Graveyards and in that cool lil' piece is an open grave with a skeleton inside. I had already cut out the skeleton, intending to replace it with a better jangle of bones but get this, the casket fits perfectly in that crypt and I totally called it when I saw it in the bargain bin. Yes, I am awesome. So I got that going for me. I have that Graveyard trimmed and undercoated for a total repaint and detailing too, expect that completed soon. And by soon I mean taking less than 8 years to complete, like I did working on a degree part time.

Strange Aeons WIP: Tombstones

Just a WIP of some tombstones that I picked up for Strange Aeons, though they can be used for anything. We have a mix of Armorcast tombstones/monuments and some more generic but actually more badass 'stones from itarsworkshop. All told I dropped about US$25 for the bunch, minus GW bases I already had.

I mounted them on aforementioned bases so I can alter the arrangement of the yard a bit. I factored in most of the solution set for tombstones to SA missions, so 6 free standing tombstones and the rest ranked up. Note that I took three cruciform tombstones, lopped off their bases and mounted them on GW cav bases, so the look like... wait for it... sarcophagi.

I'll be adding texture mix to the bases and then painting them up for the next game. Which may be after I graduate in June.

Sigh.

Strange Aeons: Custom Strange Aeons Case

I picked up this cool wooden box at a local Scottish/Irish festival today. Not bad for US$20. I added some old unused Chessex foam that I cut to fit; foam layer on bottom, figure foam for 12, then a foam layer above that. My Cthulhu dice tower and bag o' Arkham dice fits nicely on top. Given that SA games are such a low model count, I think this will carry all of my Threshold team and whatever Lurkers I want with me for games at a friend's house just fine.

Fantasy Flight Filled Sunday

I inadvertently had a game-filled Sunday, and not with the typical hockey and football, which was OK, given the pathetic start to the season for the Flyers.

I went to my buddy Pete's for some Strange Aeons but when I got there his family was still playing a Warhammer Historicals Western game, Legends of the Old West... cowboys vs lawmen. The lawmen managed to rustle off the cowboy's herd to a great extent. Interesting to see scatter dice controlling livestock on the board... steering steers? Awesome game, added it to the punchlist.

So, more skirmish through Strange Aeons didn't seem to our collective liking and we tried a board game instead.

Mansions of Madness! (Image courtesy of BGG)

I finally played Mansions of Madness! It was great and we actually won! This is a big deal, because I've owned a copy for a year and never played it, intimidated by the set up and rules but dying to play it at the same time.

Pete controlled the bad guys, running a maniac around the mansion as the house reacted to our heroic presence... but instead of attacking us the maniac just took samples of hair or whatever maniacs take, and kept running back to the basement. The heroes chased after him and explored the mansion at the same time, solving puzzles, picking up items while detecting clues all while slowly going crazy in the dark.

At one point we swear Mcginn tommy-gunned a maniac to death at the top of the main stairs only to have the maniac reappear later, snatching another lock of hair from the heroes. Pete managed to get the maniac's two offerings to the elder gods and a Shoggoth appeared in the cellar and rampaged up to the first floor, trying to escape the mansion. We stopped it at a choke point on the grand staircase, bullets flying everywhere, but most of the damage was done by the old professor's magic spell Shrivel. Since we had discovered the right clue in time, the heroes were able to win the game. It was just great.

Then I go home for awhile and my cousin Patrick calls, asking me to come over. I went to his place and I showed him Star Wars X Wing for about 30 minutes, which he did not seem enthused about at all, which was odd, given we fledged together in the same Star Wars nest as kids. That, and most of the miniature-game tactile overhead that boardgamers resist in mini games seems missing from this game. Perhaps he is better at staying conservative with a few games instead of being promiscuous, game-wise, as I seem to be these days. I think he isn't convinced about the fact it's just dog fighting.

A short but legit session done, I packed it up and we discussed Memoir '44, some of the missions from the new Equipment Pack (which is awesome) but Pat and his wife Colleen got Elder Sign for Christmas so we stopped fooling ourselves.

After their sons went to bed we played Elder Sign.

After being behind the Doom Track for most of the game, we finally caught up with 8 Eldar Signs at the 11th hour. We then managed to seal Yig away before it awoke but it was a close, hard-fought win. Nobody died either! That was some kind of record for me, for this game and the number of different games in 24 hours.

So in one day, three Fantasy Flight Games were played, which means something, just not sure what.

I've been saying for the last few months how impressed I've been with Fantasy Flight games, as Elder Sign & X Wing managed to displace a long-established habit of steady Memoir '44, 40k and Warmachine. Perhaps it was due? Perhaps it is part of this complete breakfast.

Anyway, it was a blast and maybe I'll have a review of X Wing up soon.