Our gaming group enjoys board games almost as much as pushing miniatures around (Gasp! Sacre bleu!) and one of our current favourites is 'Eldritch Horror' by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG).
'Eldritch Horror' is a cooperative game which is set in the world of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos (similar in theme to FFG's 'Arkham Horror' but significantly streamlined). The players work together, investigating exotic locations around the globe, gathering clues and combating monsters all in order to thwart the coming of an ancient evil who is set on the world's destruction. The game is very well designed, giving a brisk-paced and very challenging romp which plays out like a rip-roaring cinematic adventure.
At the beginning of each game every player needs to select a pre-designed character from the dozen provided (though I understand that there will be more featured in an upcoming expansion). The characters represent a gambit of the great archetypes. Some are cleft-chinned, two-fisted heroes, a few are well connected politicians and debutantes while others are unassuming academic-types who can harness arcane spells of incredible power.
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| Example of the stock Character Cards from 'Eldritch Horror'. |
We've played the game enough now that we've tried out all the characters numerous times, enjoying each one's strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, always liking to tinker, I've decided to make up characters for the game which correspond to each member of our gaming group or are tongue-in-cheek sendups of friends and family.
Each of these new characters has it's own custom designed card and a corresponding figure to represent them on the game board. Some of these characters I've already shown in a previous post (my apologies for the repetition for some), but as a brief recap they are:
Captain Peter Douglas (retired Royal Navy)
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Captain Douglas is a grizzled veteran of the Great War where he made a reputation for himself as a hard-driving commander of a destroyer. He gained both his D.S.C and his prized 'Broomhandle' Mauser from a boarding action where he and his crew captured a light cruiser off the coast of Africa. (The same Mauser shattered his left arm, when he was wounded by the German cruisers captain.)
Major Marty 'Gimme' Mohr (League of Nations League)
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Like Douglas, Mohr is also a veteran of the First World War, but that is where the likeness ends. 'Gimme' Mohr ended his Great War as a German Stormtrooper, where he was ultimately captured, severely wounded, entering the outskirts of Paris... by himself. (From this, he has the unique distinction to have personally marked the furthest point the Imperial German army had advanced on the Western Front.) His martial skills were quickly recognized by his captors and he was quietly recruited into the secret 'League of Nations League'.
Lieutenant Jarmilla 'The Hand' Fedorak (League of Nations League)
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Jarmila is also a valued member of the elite 'League of Nations League'. As a teenager she was a member of a Ukrainian nationalist group who fought with the Whites during the Russian Civil War. She attracted attention to herself when it was found that she could, through shear force force of will, throw devastating shock waves from her withered right hand. The League has helped her harness and focus her powers through arcane psychic training and utilizing a unique power gauntlet developed by the renown Nikola Tesla.
The new character I wish to debut today is...
Anastasios Sangarangos, Brother of the Order of Alexander, renown slayer of the undead (Vrykolakas in Greek) and keeper of the Faith.
In fact Anastasios is the real name of our friend Stacy from our gaming group. Stacy is quite proud of his Greek heritage and so I thought for fun I'd make up a character (and select a figure) to reflect this.
For Anastasios' character sheet, I scanned an original card from the game in high-resolution, imported it into Photoshop and then stripped out the contextual information to create one with blank values. Now I can design cards for each member of our gaming group at will. The power is all mine...Mwhahaha!!
This 28mm figure is from the Victorian Steampunk range offered by Brigade Games. Great, characterful and clean sculpts that I can heartily recommend.
It will be fun to see how Stacy's character works out in the game. I just need to dream up some stats for that funky automatic crossbow he's toting...
Next up: Hmm, Romans or Gladiators or more Pulp Characters - perhaps all three! We'll see what the week brings.
Anastasios Sangarangos, Brother of the Order of Alexander, renown slayer of the undead (Vrykolakas in Greek) and keeper of the Faith.
In fact Anastasios is the real name of our friend Stacy from our gaming group. Stacy is quite proud of his Greek heritage and so I thought for fun I'd make up a character (and select a figure) to reflect this.
For Anastasios' character sheet, I scanned an original card from the game in high-resolution, imported it into Photoshop and then stripped out the contextual information to create one with blank values. Now I can design cards for each member of our gaming group at will. The power is all mine...Mwhahaha!!
This 28mm figure is from the Victorian Steampunk range offered by Brigade Games. Great, characterful and clean sculpts that I can heartily recommend.
It will be fun to see how Stacy's character works out in the game. I just need to dream up some stats for that funky automatic crossbow he's toting...
Next up: Hmm, Romans or Gladiators or more Pulp Characters - perhaps all three! We'll see what the week brings.
