Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Call of Cthulhu => Topic started by: tomcat51 on November 21, 2014, 09:58:56 AM
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Inspired by Mitakashi's Tea House Hellfire game, I've decided to but together a BPRD skirmish game, using either Crossfire or Bolt Action rules. Finding Demons and monsters is no problem, but does anyone have any ideas on what minis would be suitable to use as BPRD troopers and agents. I'm not necessarily looking for the characters like Abe, Liz or Johann, more generic BPRD personel. Suggestions?
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There was a box set from Heroclix a while back with Hellboy, Abe, Liz, etc. For the agents you could use SWAT style troops. Foundry Street Violence or Copplestone Assault Troops.
http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/range.php?range=FW
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/street-violence/streets-collection-bcsv001/
Another option could be Crossover Paramilitary Goons
http://crossoverminiatures.com/product-category/minions/
Fenris APEX Investigators would also be good.
http://fenrisgames.com/shop#!/APEX-investigators/c/2202439/offset=0&sort=normal
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The Fenris minis would be spot on actually, I've seen them before but it didn't click. Cheers for the suggestions.
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I had wanted to do the same thing but never quite gotten around to it. I was aiming more towards the Plague of Frogs period from 10 years back when the the BPRD had a more organized and militaristic look. I was going to do a repaint of some AT43 UNA troopers. They had the advantage of scaling well with the Heroclix figures. If I was going to revisit the subject, I'd probably go with the Tactical Troopers from Puppetswar.
(http://puppetswar.eu/img/p/342-1299-thickbox.jpg)
On the other hand if you go with the classic look from the 90's where they were guys in suits with guns you could go with Foundry's "Juno's Crew"
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Hassefree have a Not-Hellboy/Not-Marv character with swappable heads IIRC.
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I had wanted to do the same thing but never quite gotten around to it. I was aiming more towards the Plague of Frogs period from 10 years back when the the BPRD had a more organized and militaristic look. I was going to do a repaint of some AT43 UNA troopers. They had the advantage of scaling well with the Heroclix figures. If I was going to revisit the subject, I'd probably go with the Tactical Troopers from Puppetswar.
On the other hand if you go with the classic look from the 90's where they were guys in suits with guns you could go with Foundry's "Juno's Crew"
Those Puppetwars minis look pretty good, and the guns would be a good match for the ones the BPRD agents use, the ones that look like beefed up Sten guns. I got two minis from Fenris which would make good Kate Corrigan and Andrew Devon representations, but the Puppetwars minis are tempting. I was edging more towards the Hell on Earth Storyline for my setting, that way I could incorporate real world soldiers and military vehicles fighting against Giant Monsters and Eldritch Horrors, all ably supported by BPRD Agents. I might start a thread to chart the progress, if it doesn't become just another lead mountain of lost hopes and dreams.
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That would be pretty cool but I've found it hard to get into the Hell on Earth era myself. The story lines are so large and the comic format is so short that it seems the BPRD has been stuck on the precipice of the Apocalypse for something like 5 years without moving the story line much.
I've got the Fenris characters too and the gal makes a great stand in for Kate. The only thing I don't like is that they're a little on the short side with the Heroclix figures.
One note on Puppetswar though is that they are known for casting issues. I bought a set of the troopers last year and they came with bubbles in some of the toes and gun muzzles. On the plus side PW sent a replacement set when I complained. They had some bubbles too but they were in different parts so I was able to cobble together a full set of figures.
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I've got a few minis now and I think I have enough to set up a small game of BPRD Vs. Monsters, but what rule set to use? I was thinking of Showdown as I'll be making my own units and that will allow modern weapons versus magic and monsters, but there may be better options. Any thoughts?
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Pulp Alley mayhaps?
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I've got a few minis now and I think I have enough to set up a small game of BPRD Vs. Monsters, but what rule set to use? I was thinking of Showdown as I'll be making my own units and that will allow modern weapons versus magic and monsters, but there may be better options. Any thoughts?
Solo or head to head with another player?
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Pulp Alley mayhaps?
I thought of Pulp Alley but I would prefer and bit more "military realism" if that makes sense. Military vehicles going up against giant monsters and special forces fighting werwolves, stuff like that.
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Solo or head to head with another player?
Head to head against another player.
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Probably the biggest factor would be how "big" the monsters would be. If they are roughly human sized or double human sized then most any of the skirmish sets out there could work (AK:SE, Tomorrow's War, 7TV, Chain Reaction). I don't know of any out of the box so you'd probably have to do a lot of tinkering with stats to make things balanced.
On the other handif you want really big monsters like in the comics you might have to step up to a bigger mass battle ruleset (think 40K guard vs Tyrinids).
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This is all marvellous but what is BPRD?
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Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. It's a comic spinoff of the original Hellboy comic series.
http://hellboy.wikia.com/wiki/Bureau_for_Paranormal_Research_and_Defense (http://hellboy.wikia.com/wiki/Bureau_for_Paranormal_Research_and_Defense)
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Probably the biggest factor would be how "big" the monsters would be. If they are roughly human sized or double human sized then most any of the skirmish sets out there could work (AK:SE, Tomorrow's War, 7TV, Chain Reaction). I don't know of any out of the box so you'd probably have to do a lot of tinkering with stats to make things balanced.
On the other handif you want really big monsters like in the comics you might have to step up to a bigger mass battle ruleset (think 40K guard vs Tyrinids).
I'll have a look at those suggestions, see if any look like a better option than Showdown.
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Probably the biggest factor would be how "big" the monsters would be.
What about ogdru-hem sized? :D
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What about ogdru-hem sized? :D
I would probably have to game in 2mm if I was to introduce the Ogru-Hem, and it would take up most of the table!
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You could try Fear & Faith from Ganesha Games. It is a pretty easy to learn Horror rules set and has much of what you are looking for. If you need some additional rules it is not hard to port things over from their other games. Flying Lead is WW2 through modern times gun play and Song of Blade & Heroes is the Fantasy setting.
http://www.ganeshagames.net/
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SuperSystem would allow you to create squads of military types and then also allow you to tailor-fit your monsters to how you'd want them to behave.
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I've used SuperSystem for gaming Atomic Robo-inspired stuff, which is not dissimilar to BPRD/Hellboy. Should work fine.
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Reaper has a figure that seriously looks like Hellboy.
(http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/50312_w_1.jpg)
Wild West Wizard of Oz Lion from their Chronoscope line.
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I would probably have to game in 2mm if I was to introduce the Ogru-Hem, and it would take up most of the table!
Not really. Most of the Ogrdu Hem encountered in the comics would be around the size of a gallon milk jug in 28mm. It's implied they can grow pretty much indefinitely if empowered/fed, but they're usually dispatched before that snowball can get rolling. Totally gameable as a "boss monster". IIRC there was a Kaiju-sized one in the "Black Flame" arc, but that's the only really huge one I can recall (though I haven't read all the stories yet).
Ogdru Jahd though... That pretty much needs space-ship game scale to do, and it's heavily implied in the comic that them just getting free alone is the point-of-no-return failure state for the heroes (and the habitable universe), so it wouldn't be lore-friendly to have them as a dynamic tabletop presence anyway.
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Ogdru Jahd though... That pretty much needs space-ship game scale to do, and it's heavily implied in the comic that them just getting free alone is the point-of-no-return failure state for the heroes (and the habitable universe), so it wouldn't be lore-friendly to have them as a dynamic tabletop presence anyway.
The Ogdru Jahd was probably what I was thinking of. If you read the latest series, Hell on Earth, it has loads of wargaming oportunities. The battle of Seattle, New York etc.
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Been a LONG time since I saw any of the comic books, so I may be confused by the film.
However, I thought the majority of 'agents' were of the Men In Black variety. I guess there were troops when in Russia, even in the movie, but I thought they were supposedly drafted from 'outside'.
Doug
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That's the movie version. The movies changed a lot of stuff.
In the comics the BPRD is a paramilitary organization wrapped around a core of non-military experts. Picture something like SG1, only with a later-seasons' Daniel Jackson in field command instead of O'Niel (and a civilian government director in charge of the organization instead of a general). Also they aren't secret: their ops may be classified to varying degrees, but their existence and that of both the supernatural in general and "exotic" agents like Hellboy and Abe are public knowledge. Their bases are regular buildings and ex-military facilities*, and IIRC Hellboy lives in a regular apartment somewhere.
In the movies they are basically the MIB but for the supernatural instead of aliens. All G-man suits and fancy hidden bond villian-style bases*, with their exotic members being basically willing captives, and stereotypical "masquerade" fuss and angst over keeping themselves and the supernatural totally secret from the world.
*Their base (in the comics) started out as something resembling a cross between an old government admin complex and a university, but later as the frog wars got hotter they moved it to an old DOD R&D facility in the mountains somewhere. Definitely more of a "lair", but more SGC/Shadow Moses style than MIB/Bond villain style like in the movies.
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I'd highly recommend the Horrorclix ones, as you even get a baby hellboy as part of the set.....
The sculpts are very nice indeed and when re-based and re-painted, they are well worth the effort
I bought the box set on ebay for a few pounds and was very glad i did!
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That's the movie version. The movies changed a lot of stuff.
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Thanks!
"Been a LONG time since I saw any of the comic books," should probably be extended to 'and didn't read all that much anyway.' Bit embarrassed about that...
I certainly remember being intrigued long before the movie came on.
Doug
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I'd highly recommend the Horrorclix ones, as you even get a baby hellboy as part of the set.....
The sculpts are very nice indeed and when re-based and re-painted, they are well worth the effort
I bought the box set on ebay for a few pounds and was very glad i did!
Although its general BPRD Agents I was planning on playing with i am tempted by the horrorclix minis. I'll keep an eye out for them.
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From what I've seen, the Hellboy Heroclix minis are fairly decent. We do quite a bit of BPRD style scenarios with Pulp Alley, including military vehicles and big monsters (see Terrors).
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From what I've seen, the Hellboy Heroclix minis are fairly decent. We do quite a bit of BPRD style scenarios with Pulp Alley, including military vehicles and big monsters (see Terrors).
I was planning on using Pulp Alley for some small scale games, more two fisted adventure style, and then use another ruleset for larger skirmishes involving vehicles and troops fighting large monsters and armies of Cultists.
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Not really. Most of the Ogrdu Hem encountered in the comics would be around the size of a gallon milk jug in 28mm. It's implied they can grow pretty much indefinitely if empowered/fed, but they're usually dispatched before that snowball can get rolling. Totally gameable as a "boss monster". IIRC there was a Kaiju-sized one in the "Black Flame" arc, but that's the only really huge one I can recall (though I haven't read all the stories yet.)
Just yesterday I bought one of the 'big bumper' volumes of BPRD, with stuff I hadn't read yet, including that Black Flame arc where Katha-Hem showed up. I think my reaction would have been pretty much like Professor O'Donnell's.
There are smaller Ogdru-Hem, like Sadu-Hem, the 'Conqueror Worm', the Lovecraftian 'twin brother' that Abe and Daimyo killed, etc. But since the Ogdru-Hem really started to wake up, many have been absurdly massive. Cyclopean, even. Like the Salton Sea monster (https://p.dreamwidth.org/f631f0e4fb4e/i47.tinypic.com/2j0k2s2.jpg), the O-H in Scotland and Russia, and so on.
Not to mention all the smaller monsters and subsequent mutants and things. Hence the 'Hell on Earth' subtitle. And it'd be very difficult to cover that up. :D
Gaming-wise, I agree that's it'd be a great setting for wargames of various scales. The big Ogdru-Hem would be a tad unwieldy (and those games would largely boil down to whether you can survive or stay sane or unmutated long enough to chuck a nuke or a Liz Sherman at it) but conversions of the big tyranid kits could be used for smaller hems and other gribblies. Although the basic models could still seen too... 'conventional', in ways. The bigger gap in the market, besides readily-available BPRD members, might be suitable representations of frogs...
I think I have some of those BPRD horrorclix about here meself, though. Time for a hoke.