Prelude to "The Egyptian Adventure"

I have always been a fan of the Amelia Peabody Series of Adventures about Egyptology, mystery, murder, Hidden Kingdoms, Master Criminals and all sorts of mayhem. The series starts in 1884 with Crocodile on the Sandbank and finishes in 1922-1923 in the book The Tomb of the Golden Bird with the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb. As my gaming interests of late have drifted to the late 19th and early 20th Century, I finally convinced myself (it wasn't hard) to run a series of games based on these 20 books written by the Egyptologist Barbara Mertz under the pen name of Elizabeth Peters. For the games I will be using the adult version of all characters so their will be some "fudging" of time periods.

 Some of the tourists visiting the Valley of Luxor.

Over the years I've been looking for a figure to represent Amelia (more on her in future posts) but was unable to find a suitable figure with an umbrella (she is famous for her umbrella) in a field environment. While browsing Wargames Foundry's website I discovered a new (at least to me) range of figures called "Egyptian Adventurers". One of the female figures does have an umbrella and is dressed for adventure; however, she looked to stout for me to be Peabody (as her husband refers to her - another future post)  based on the descriptions of Peabody in the book. There are two figures of women excavating and the one standing - "Tah dah!" - would be the Peabody figure sans umbrella.

A bit out of focus but this will be my famous "Amelia Peabody". More and better pictures to come.

The "Egyptian Adventure" will include the Emerson-Peabody clan, the family of Abdullah ibn al-Wahhab, Emerson's reis or foreman, who supervises their archaeological digs, Master Criminals and evil assassins and smuggling cartels, espionage, and a couple of inter-dimesional surprises (non-canon) that will be thrown in. 

Many of their adventures take place in and around the "Valley of the Kings" near Luxor, Egypt. But knowing the Emerson-Peabody clan, we will be everywhere from England to Egypt to Palestine and a hidden kingdom. It'll be fun!

Of course there will be mummies!

IHMN: So you have a low tech Army?

Note: This is a re-post from 6/23/18. Since I've been posting about my approach to IHMN, I thought it would be appropriate to relate how I tend to get defeated by low-tech Adventuring Companies in my version of 1895.

 In Her Majesty's Name is one of the most versatile and innovative rules out there in miniature gaming land. Though designed for Victorian Sci-Fi it works equally well for purely historical skrimish scenarios of the late 19th or early 20th Century.

 British Infantry company for a 2nd Afghan War scenario and not a Mystical Power in sight.

 In Her Majesty's Name was published on May 20, 2013 and I was one of the gaming geeks that pre-ordered; not only the printed version but also the electronic version for my tablet.  After 5 years of gaming and devising my own companies for In Her Majesty's Name I wanted to pass on some lesson's learned especially in fielding what may appear to the casual observer a low tech army. I'm not going to comment on the Supplement Gothic yet as we have not played enough scenarios with it but . . . look out for those cursed weapons!

At first low tech companies look like they were going to be overwhelmed by Arc Rifles, Steam Fists, modern rifles and other scientific marvels of the late 19th Century.  But a low-tech army has some unique strategies that can frustrate the most high tech and well trained company the 19th century has to offer:

1. Numbers.  Generally with a low tech army (Natives, Dervishes, Swords and Shields, etc.) the points costs for your rank and file tend to be low.  Your advantage is Fighting and there is nothing like mobbing or outnumbering that 120 point figure with 4 of your own and taking him out.  In addition, if the super character is knocked down you gain a bonus of +2 on future attacks.  Also if he tries to disengage from a fight, it is -1 for each figure he is fighting.

 Mahdists breaking into the British square at the Battle of Abu Klea on 17th January 1885.

2. Run as much as you can.  There is nothing for me more frustrating than trying to take out these sword and speared armed warriors with disciplined firing when they are running.  By virture of them running (think Kipling's Fuzzy Wuzzy and they broke a British Square) the shooting penalty is -3; and if you moved more than 3" tack on another -4 to that die rule.  Volley fire can be effective to counter, but you only hit one figure and there are a gazillion more coming at you!

 All of the figures were running and only one was killed; the rest made it to the barricade for hand to hand in the Fighting Phase.

3. Shields.  Get a shield!  It adds +1 to your armor.  That extra +1 can really make a difference.

 Shield armed, running Waziri tribesman get ready to overwhelm an Imperial Chinese soldier. He killed one but the other two made him look like a pin cushion.

German Imperial Marines are desperately trying to hold on against overwhelming numbers.

4. Talents.  Depending on the amount of points agreed to in your game the following Talents are useful for low tech companies and/or key figures in your company: Beserker, Fanatic (personal favorite), Numb, Skirmisher, Stealthy, Terrifying, Meticulous Planning and Tough.  The leadership of your force should be at least a +2 Leader though I recommend a +3 and give them as a minimum the Inspirational talent.

  Running Shield armed natives with the Stealthy Talent are attempting to overwhelm the Explorer's Club.

Terrifying and a Beserker.  Check.

5. Mystical Powers.  Whether they be a dread overlord, witch doctor or shaman, Mystical Powers can greatly enhance your low tech company.  The power that has frustrated our "modern" companies the most is Water Bullets which adds +2 to Pluck rolls against bullet hits until one of them is taken out of the game by a bullet.  Other useful Mystical Powers for low tech companies are Dragon Breath, Harden, Mesmerism, Spitfire, Strengthen and True Grit.

 The Witch Doctor uses a Mystical Power against the Explorer's Club.

Did someone say they needed Water Bullets? 

Have no fear!  A low tech Adventuring Company is here - boy are they ever!

Some thoughts for the Beginner in Designing an Adventuring Company, Part 12c (Adventuring Companies I have created)

 

The Cult of Doom(!) Arc cannon. 

18. Theme: Shiny Toy Syndrome (Pulp Figures) and Superhero Team. The Vigilantes.
In 1895, with the government's of the world actively engaged and committed to the open warfare of what history will refer to as the "War of the Witches" many police forces are tied down following leads or conducting special operations. This has lead to criminals and criminal gangs becoming bolder as they take advantage of the innocent population. And as nature abhors a vacuum, there are men and women who emerge and take justice into their own hands. Following the lead of The Shadow who almost decimated Professor Moriarty's gang in North Piddle, England, others, to the dismay of the governments of the world, have also risen to the challenge.

 Left to Right: The Lady in Blue AKA Lady Blue, The Wasp, The Shadow, and Lord Top Hat.

"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay... The Shadow knows!"

Another member of the so-called vigilantes is Mandrake the Magician. 

Mandrake is a magician whose work is based on an unusually fast hypnotic technique. When Mandrake "gestures hypnotically", his subjects see illusions, and Mandrake has used this technique against a variety of villains including gangsters, mad scientists, extraterrestrials, and characters from other dimensions. While dealing with an extraterrestrial threat from another dimension (sound familiar?) Mandrake and his companions Lothar, the Prince of the Seven Nations and Princess Narda of the European nation Cockaigne also find themselves trapped in 1895!

 

Some new allies meet!

19. Theme: Cultists. The Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!). 

 

There are foolish and evil men who attempt to tampered with the Divine laws of the Universe in order to advance their nefarious schemes of world domination and personal illegal accumulation of wealth - no matter the threat to innocents throughout our fair creation. The Black Brotherhood is a group of international terrorists dedicated to hastening the return of the Great Old Ones. The Brotherhood is made up of people from all ethnicities and ways of life, and, believing that the Old Ones will awaken soon, conduct covert operations, such as attempted political assassinations. Few of its members are taken alive for interrogation, however, as most die shortly after carrying out their operations.

According to the Union rules of the International Brotherhood of Evil Henchmen and Toadies, I get a smoke break every hour.

20. Theme: THE REAL EVIL GENIUS WHO WANTS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Black and white, life and death, good and evil - two sides in a chess game, two forces in the universe - one magnificent, the other sinister. It is said that the devil plays for men's souls; so does Dr. Fu Manchu . . . Satan himself, evil incarnate.

"I am a doctor of philosophy from Edinburgh, a doctor of law from Christ's College, a doctor of medicine from Harvard. My friends, out of courtesy, call me 'Doctor'."

When I saw this figure from Pulp Figures, Lo Pan got immediately demoted and we discovered it was Fu Manchu behind everything! How can you not have Fu Manchu causing trouble! Evil plans to conquer the world, weird science, Mystic Powers, Murder Hornets and Hollywood martial arts. That's what I'm talking about! 

"Men of China! The skies are red with the thunderbolts of Genghis Khan! They rain down on the rest of the world... and burn them!"

The Doctor holds court.  

Fu Manchu is a genius who is the master of modern science and the ancient mystical arts. He is the mastermind and leader of the Si-Fan cult and other organizations. His main goal over the decades is to rule the world. He is a scientist by nature. 

 Look at my beautiful creations.

His quest for knowledge is insatiable. His genius drives him to discover things of a dark and unnatural nature. Nothing is out of bounds. His experiments led to things that were eventually regarded as forbidden and eventually led him to criminal activities as he also employed those of the dark arts to do his bidding. Anything he wants or needs to complete his desires cannot be denied him as he has amassed untold wealth and unlimited resources.

"See Lo Pan, getting all of those doctorates and student loans paid off. My beautiful creation using the Green Mist will further our plans and confuse the real purpose of what we are doing."

"Do you like my new friends, Mr. Holmes?"

21. Theme: Great Heroes from my youth. John Carter of Virginia, ex-Confederate Captain of Cavalry, gold prospector, Prince of Helium, Jeddak of Jeddaks and Warlord of Mars. Arguably, John Carter is the greatest swordsman of his time, regardless of the extra strength and dexterity his Earth muscles give him on Barsoom (Mars). Let's face it, John Carter is a freaking force of nature and beware the bad guy that gets between him and his princess. 

"I am a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality."

A Green Martian War band among the ancient ruins of a Martian city.

 

"The combat was soon over, and, with his foot upon the neck of the dead monster, Tars Tarkas became jeddak among the Tharks. His first act was to make me a full-fledged chieftain with the rank I had won by my combats the first few weeks of my captivity among them." From the journals of Captain John Carter.

"I loved Dejah Thoris. The touch of my arm upon her naked shoulder had spoken to me in words I would not mistake, and I knew that I had loved her since the first moment my eyes had met hers that first time in the plaza of the dead city of Korad.” From the journals of Captain John Carter.

 22. Theme: The Horror of Inter-dimensional Beings! Not complete yet, but I've been doing my research from H.P. Lovecraft and others. They will be coming soon!

“Certainly, the terror of a deserted house swells in geometrical rather than arithmetical progression as houses multiply to form a city of stark desolation. The sight of such endless avenues of fishy-eyed vacancy and death, and the thought of such linked infinities of black, brooding compartments given over to cob-webs and memories and the conqueror worm, start up vestigial fears and aversions that not even the stoutest philosophy can disperse.” 

 "Ten thousand thundering typhoons! Addle-pated lumps of anthracite! They are now definitely lily-livered landlubber miserable earth worm wood lice of some type of Miserable molecule of mildew underground empire! Miserable earth worms!"

"My name is Randolph Carter, Keeper of the Silver Key and you shall not pass!"

Well I hope you liked my jaunt down memory lane and the fun I have had with In Her Majesty's Name. Remember, it is a game for gentlemen and ladies with a hearty "good show" or "huzzah" appropriate during play. Have fun and I hope you enjoy the game as much as I do!

It's 15mm World War II 8th Army Auction Time!

Over the years I have been transitioning from 15mm to 28mm painting and gaming. I keep telling myself that it has nothing to do with my eyesight (hmmm . . . a close up and far seeing contact, bifocals and I paint with reading glasses when I wear my contacts). Yeah, not my eyesight! (Meanwhile I have that swamp land to sell you too!)

Anyway, the valiant Australians and other Commonwealth forces have been collecting dust for about 8 years now and it is time for them to go to a new home so they can continue their winning ways.  By the way, these are the older models and not the plastic figures and kits. Here are the units that are currently on eBay that end 7:00 pm Central Standard Time on June 14 in the USA. Just click on the link that describes the photo.

Australian Infantry Company

Crusader Tank Company (7 tanks)

Infantry Tank Platoon (Valentine Tanks)

17lb/25lb Anti-Tank Gun Platoon

Hurricane Airplanes

Scout Carrier Platoon

Vickers Heavy Machine Gun Platoon

Captain Charles Upham Command Group. Captain Upham was awarded the Victorian Cross twice. Not bad for a Kiwi.

Two objective markers

Some thoughts for the Beginner in Designing an Adventuring Company, Part 12b (Adventuring Companies I have created)

I watched the delightful Miss Gale leave the apartment and after she entered her cab I turned to Holmes.  "Witches?  Burning Deserts?  A magical land named Oz? My dear Holmes, do you really believe all of that?   "Yes I do Watson.  Yes I do." "What can she possibly do?" "Why kill a Witch King of course." 

9. Theme: Literature from younger days. Half truth on the theme; I was a victim of the "shiny new toy syndrome" when I saw these figures on the Reaper Miniatures web site. This is Dorothy Gale and Her Untouchables from the Land of Oz. This Adventuring Company, though small in size, has never lost a game. They even defeated (barely) the formidable Witch King of Sokur.

 The Wicked Witch of the West.

10. Theme: Nemesis. If you are going to have Dorothy Gale on the tabletop, you have to have the Wicked Witch of the West (WWW). WWW and the monkeys are from Reaper, the Winkies from Artizan, the Wolves from GW, and the Gargoyle from Hero Quest.

The Wicked Witch of the West Adventuring Company.

 The Wolves of Oz.

11. Theme: Evil Slavers. Slave expeditions from the island of Zanzibar are the perfect nemesis for Lady Prudence Fiona Throckwaddle and the Anti-Slavery League.

Looking for helpless villagers to enslave.

12. Theme: More Jungle Tribes. Also looking to carve a nitch in the world and to defeat evil slavers is the Kingdom of Ngoni. While the Ngoni were primarily agriculturalists, cattle were their main goal for raiding expeditions and migrations northward.  They raided north, taking women in marriage and men into their fighting regiments.  The Ngoni integrated conquered subjects into their warfare and organization, becoming more a ruling class than an ethnic group, and by 1895 few individuals were of pure Ngoni descent in the world of In Her Majesty's Name.

 The King and his advisors.

 Veteran warriors that are fearless.

And a little fire power too!

13. Theme: "The Best of the Best with Honors, sir!" I decided to put together some of my favorite characters from various companies into what can be best described as based on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. When the Empire is threatened by the worst, send in the best: Department H (there is no Department H).

 Department H (there is no Department H).

14. Theme: Pulp/Victorian Age Supernatural. I fiddled with the time line (didn't H.G. Wells know someone who invented a time machine) and brought to life probably my favorite designed company. With the increase in monsters and Mystical Powers, it was time to bring in from America, the men and women of Miskatonic University.

 When evil inter-dimensional alien bad meanies go bump in the night, there is a Ivy League University that can help!

Miskatonic University is a university located in Arkham, a town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River which flows near the campus.  Miskatonic University is a highly prestigious university, on par with Harvard University, and that Harvard and Miskatonic are the two most popular schools for the children of the Massachusetts “Old Gentry”. Miskatonic University is famous for its collection of occult books. The library holds one of the very few genuine copies of the Necronomicon. Other tomes include the Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich von Junzt and the fragmentary Book of Eibon. The faculty and staff are some of the most respected men and women in their fields; however, very few know that they are also part of the secret war against numerous inter-dimensional beings that seek to destroy and repopulate Earth . . . and the occasional human bad guy has been stopped by these academicians.

 This definitely does not belong here!

Well this does not look good.

15. Theme: A international, mystical league of Assassins. Omar the Magnificent and League of Assassins. My attempt to have mucho Mystical Powers and Deadly Assassins. A disaster and less said the better.

 A colossal failure as an Adventuring Company.

16. Theme: Childhood memories and Adventure. It's Tintin! Though not a complete Adventuring Company (still working on that) Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus have joined TR, Department H (there is no Department H), and are currently visiting Miskatonic University to compare notes on some of their adventures. All four of them walked through a mysterious gateway that brought them from the 20th Century to the Victorian Age.

Tintin and Snowy to the rescue!

Cushion footed quadrupeds!

Randolph Carter: "Professor Calculus. I am so glad that you are finally here."

Professor Calculus: "Why are you mad and there is nothing wrong with my ear."

Randolph Carter: "Unhhh . . . my name is Randolph Carter."

Professor Calculus: "There is dandruff on my collar?"

Randolph Carter: "No, not your coat."

Professor Calculus: "Are you calling me a goat?!!!"

Randolph Carter: (Sigh) "Maybe we should let the Old One's win."

Professor Calculus:"I do enjoy pedaling on my Schwinn."

The Boys are back in Town!

17. Theme: Evil Genius who wants to take over the World. Lo Pan is just your typical Chinese evil sorcerer who just wants to have flesh again in order to rule the universe. Lo Pan has a legion of followers who will die to protect him and three skilled martial artists with mystical powers at his side. Okay I'll admit it, I think Big Trouble in Little China is one of the greatest B Movies every made. Of course I had to have Lo Pan.

Time to cause some mayhem!

Thunder Warriors.

Centuries ago, Lo Pan, a great warrior, but most of all a powerful wizard, was defeated in battle by the first sovereign emperor Qin Shi Huang. The Emperor placed upon Lo Pan the curse of No Flesh. Although Lo Pan can be temporarily granted a decrepit body by supplication to the gods, in order for him to permanently break the curse and regain his human form, he must marry a woman with green eyes.

 Miss Nightengale has green eyes.

Next up: Cultists, Vigilantes, and (brrrr) the most sinister villain on the planet!