Pulp Adventures - Cultists and Captives

I don't know what the hell to say. I'm sorry that this greyscale thing has gotten a little out of hand. 

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The Great War in Greyscale - The French 'Poilu', 1914

'Poilu'.

Translated, it literally means 'hairy one'.

'Poilu' is one of those wonderful French words, like jolie-laide ('ugly-beautiful'), that is nuanced, encompassing several meanings, some divergent, but on the whole somehow 'right'. It was a common nickname given to the French infantrymen of the Great War, simultaneously describing a sense of affection, derision and fierce pride for those rustic, bearded, and fatalistically stoic soldiers of France.


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'Worst Case Scenario #2' - The Crossing at Nussdorf - May 13, 1809

Voltigeurs crossing the Danube by barge.

One of my favorite wargaming subjects is the 1809 Austrian campaign, in particular the Battle of Aspern-Essling. It is regarded as a one of the pivotal actions of the Napoleonic period as it showed to the world that Bonapart, a man who up to that point had never tasted the bitter fruit of defeat, could actually be beaten.

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Product Review - 'Strange Aeons: A Miniature Skirmish Game of Eldritch Horror'

The man himself: Howard Philip Lovecraft

As a little diversion I recently ordered a copy of 'Strange Aeons' which is a tactical skirmish game set in the disturbing eldritch universe of that wonderfully strange man, H.P. Lovecraft. 

The rulebook is coil bound which makes it great for accessing rules without breaking the spine after hard use.

Not wanting to simplify matters too much, but broadly speaking 'Strange Aeons' is akin to GW's 'Mordheim/Necromunda' except with tentacles, tommy guns and little chance of a happy ending. (So pretty much spot on for any fan of the nihilistic Cthulhu mythos!) The rules call for each player to create and equip a team of investigators, lead by a suitably courageous hero (usually 2-5 figures). Each scenario requires that one of the players run the forces of evil (the badies can be fine-tuned by players to fit the scenario) while the other player (or players) takes in their team to attempt to defeat the dark menace awaiting them.

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'Worst Case Scenario #1': The Combat of the Thirty / Combat des Trente, 1351

I came across a description of this little donnybrook while reading Barbara Tuchman's 'A Distant Mirror' and thought it might be a good scenario for a large, multi-player game.

By 1351 the Hundred Years War was already grinding through its first generation of combatants. The Battle of Crecy (1346) had been an unmitigated disaster for the prestige of French arms and it had placed their nobility on their collective back foot for years afterwards. With the French warrior elite seriously denuded by arrowshafts it allowed bands of mercenary companies (much of them English soldiers unemployed from the King's service) to roam the countryside, raiding and laying waste to large areas of France. 


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