Return to Strange Aeons

[diehard]

Greetings All, it's been a while since I last posted here. Reason being cataracts in both of my eyes which robbed me of my depth perception and totally put the kibosh on painting for me (which was what drew me to TT gaming to begin with.) In fact the last project I gave up on was a decent purchase from Uncle Mike. And luckily I happened to notice the first Kickstarter and went all in on the Second Edition. So I have a drawer full of SA minis, the solo deck and all the plastic tokens and other good stuff.  Sadly though I missed out on the second one and it doesn't sound like VUK rulebook or the minis in that KS are planned to receive general distribution any time soon. Now at 62 with no gaming friends it's unlikely I would have been playing it any time soon but would still like to have it to complete my collection but it is what it is. However this doesn't affect my original First Edition plan, the Mars Protocol, which I will touch on further shortly. As I was cleaning my modeling desk I decided that now that I have my vision back and am retired I was going to return to my SA plans.
My background on this is I have been collecting Lovecraft/ Cosmic Horror related things since 1969 (paperback edition TotCM) and my book collection is almost 500 volumes at this point and have been collecting miniatures and games since Grenadier first released their CoC RPG line so a lot of models built up at this point. So I decided that I would first finish off the 1st edition models I gave up on (all I did was a horrible flesh job on them) and a Shoggoth for practice on the eyes and teeth. Before I ramble on any further lets see if I can post a pic. Been a long time.

[diehard]

Well the attachment worked but came out upside down. So I can post pics but just have to figure out how to tweak them. Original figures are 4 agents/characters, 9 cultists, 2 Ghouls and an ancient warrior. And finishing from scratch 8 of the Grenadier Deep Ones which were always one of my favorite versions out there.

[diehard]

Okay let's try this. Nope, see that they're still upside down even after rotating them. Will have to work on that before posting any more pics. More shortly about the MARS Protocol.

[diehard]

One more time.

[diehard]

Okay seems like I have the pics doped out. Taken on my phone because I can't find the charger for the camera. First painting in close to a decade so I consider them practice and also gives me some models to try out a game or three using the solo deck. Without any further adieu.

[Sterling Moose]

Very nice!  Welcome back to the group.

[diehard]

Thank you Mr. Moose it feels good to be back. Before I touch on exactly what the MARS Protocol is a little background on the idea behind it. In my many years of reading Mythos works I came up with some story beats and concepts. I then came up with the idea of playing the story out using SA for the action pieces. In the past I've had games that took on a life of their own and told a better story than I could have imagined. With a little house ruling here and there and the Solo deck I think that SA could handle this. And as I like the aesthetic of the SA sculpts I will be using them with the exception of Lurkers from some other lines I like or don't exist as SA models or are in a different form in their line. Like the Grenadier Deep Ones I just finished and will be tacking on at the end here. As a big Lovecraft fan and with this thread to help keep me enthusiastic about the project I think I may just be able to pull this off. Really glad I went all in on the first KS but now sad that I missed the second, not only for the models but the rules would have been nice to facilitate cult on cult action (yes, there are a number of factions involved in the story.) Next up the MARS Protocol revealed but here are the Grenadier Deep Ones frog/fish men.

[ZenWired]

It stinks that you have no one to share your gaming passion with, but happy to hear you were able to get back to something you love. I can't wait to see more pics of your immense (one might even say Cyclopean?  ) Lovecraftian collection!

[Mason]

Another one getting back into SA, I see..
Great news!
 

I like what I see so far and looking forward to reading more, especially about the MARS Protocol.
 

[diehard]

Thanks, much appreciated. Still a little getting adjusted to having depth perception again and the nerve damage in my hand but painting is coming back though my days of wet blending are passed. But I've been collecting these models for years, time to finally have some fun with them. Up next I have one more Grenadier model I always liked, their Star Spawn (good leader for the frog men) and a figure I think is RAFM that I call Mr Bubbles, a shoggoth  transforming from human. Next some Uncle Mikes stuff (although Bob Murch's cultists have been laying around for a long time..........)

[ZenWired]

Mr. Bubbles reminds me of Doctor Shiny - maybe "coming out of his skin":

[diehard]

Hey Zenwired, that story was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the miniature and decided then and there he'd make a neat shoggoth/human hybrid.

[diehard]

The MARS Protocol - Throughout the ages there have been attempts by cosmic entities from beyond time and space to penetrate the barriers that bar them from our reality. And there have always been defenders to foil those attempts, from the Night Watch of old to present day defenders such as Threshold, M.O.O.S.E. and others. And from early in it's founding Miskatonic University has played a role as the greatest know repository of eldritch knowledge. Recently however, with increased activity from nefarious groups such as The Esoteric Order of Dagon, the Black Brotherhood, the Whatley Foundation and others it was decided that a greater need for security was required for the dangerous books and artifacts acquired in the course of this ongoing conflict. Thus the MARS Protocol was established. Next to the prestigious Orne Library was built the Armitage Annex, whose vast sub basements became the operations center for the Miskatonic Arcane Retreival & Storage division, tasked with holding and researching the dangerous finds of the various organizations aligned against these threats. They also have a dedicated group of agents who explore the world tracking down rumors of potential threats.

I have the organization pretty well mapped out but more on that at another time. Now I have to get back to work on the four new agents I'm working on but here's some picks of some tentacles bursting through the floor. No idea where they are from saw them on Ebay and thought they looked pretty cool.

[Sterling Moose]

Tell us more!!!  Looks great     The tentacles are from Mantic Games HellBoy Board Game.

[ZenWired]

...but here's some picks of some tentacles bursting through the floor.

Nice!