M.O.O.S.(E). Ministry of Occult Studies (England): 12/10 Game shots

[Mason]

I have been reading the posts and lurking. I´m all the day painting so sometimes I just stop painting for me and when I feel that the stars are right I start posting again!!

 
Is see that are back on the dangerous path again...


Legionnaire Bert came over earlier for a game, and what a game it was!
Probably the longest game of SA I have seen.

It became very tense and it swung back and forth several times.

I wont give too much away here as I hope to get an AAR up in the next couple of days as I remembered to take pictures this time!
 

In the meantime, here are a couple of better pictures of the Russian Gals









As you can see, the model on the right in the second picture needs a little work.
She is obviously meant to be a standard bearer or similar, so I will have to add something to be carried in her hand.
A tommy-gun, methinks!
 

[Legionnaire Bert]

As you can see, the model on the right in the second picture needs a little work.
She is obviously meant to be a standard bearer or similar, so I will have to add something to be carried in her hand.

I dunno, she looks like she's sorta going "Nice one, chuck!" which I kinda like!

Nice Broomhnadle Mauser on the first gal top right! I likes it.

I have Aubrey's own jounral account of events last night, which I'll post once the AAR is up - don't wanna give away any of your fine report, Mr Mason! No hurry though mate, I know you are a man who is busy with paint brush and all that ...

Bert

[Mason]

I have Aubrey's own jounal account of events last night, which I'll post once the AAR is up - don't wanna give away any of your fine report, Mr Mason! No hurry though mate, I know you are a man who is busy with paint brush and all that ...

I would appreciate it if you held fire on that for a bit, please, mate.
I will make a start on it now, but it may have to done in several parts.


Retrieve the Artifacts.

Aubrey Werther-Minte, Head of the Thames Valley Division of M.O.O.S.(E). had been investigating the area known as Marley Wood to the north-west of the city of Oxford, following recent reports of suspicious activity in the area.

Having received confirmation from one of his local informers that the Cult of the Purple-Headed Worm had been sighted in the leafy glades, he led his team into the area.

The informer led them to a Forestry Commission Lodge, which appeared to be lacking Foresters, but did have three vehicles mysteriously parked amongst the small collection of buildings, including a rather expensive Town Car that looked seriously out of place in its surroundings.
The area was liberally scattered with crates and barrels.
The Cult had obviously been using the area as a storage facility.





As Aubrey's team approached, cautiously, with weapons drawn, they could hear chanting coming from behind the the small hamlet, from the direction of an old ruin at the edge of the clearing, directly behind the collection of Commission buildings.






Before Aubrey could direct his team into the Forestry Commission compound, the loud report of a gunshot sent birds scattering into the air from the forest.

They had been spotted!



To be continued...

[Legionnaire Bert]

Good start Mason! Lovely clear pics as well .

[Ithaquatini]

She could be holding a bottle of vodka, you know, of the molotov variety  

[Doug ex-em4]

How much info about their opponents do you give your M.O.O.S.(E) player(s) in advance of the game start...?

Doug

[einarolafson]

Love your AAR, looking forward to seeing the second part!!

[styx]

More!

[Mason]

Good start Mason! Lovely clear pics as well .

Cheers, mate!
At least they were clear before I started to make them look 'vintage'!

BTW: Thanks for a great game, Sir!

She could be holding a bottle of vodka, you know, of the molotov variety 

That is a great idea!
I have a bottle that I could use for that as well....

I still feel the need for a Tommy-gun in the team, though!

How much info about their opponents do you give your M.O.O.S.(E) player(s) in advance of the game start...?

Doug

I am running this campaign as a GM, so we do not use the standard rules of rolling randomly for a scenario or spending Map Pieces to choose.
I choose the scenario for each player to try and keep a narrative flow, whilst letting the players tell me of any ideas or scenarios that they would like to play.
For example: I chose that The Lockswin should play the Doomsday Device as he had had such amazing luck in getting four straight wins and really enhanced his reputation that he should play such a tough game to balance things out.
Having GM'd so many roleplaying games for the boys over the last 20 years, I feel that I have a fair grasp of how to balance a campaign so that it is enjoyable and 'doable' that they trust me to run a fun campaign for them.
Hence: Legionnaire Bert has told me that he really wants to play the 'Hound of the Ackervilles' scenario for some time, that he will be playing that next, as he now has the required Map Pieces.

Love your AAR, looking forward to seeing the second part!!

More!

OK, chaps, I will try to get the next installment up tomorrow.

[Doug ex-em4]

Thanks for the reply Mason - I thought it was something like; it's similar to how I would do it. But what about the actual opponenets they are about to meet? How much do the players know? Do they know what type of monster/cultist etc they will be facing? Can they just look up in the rules what the details of their opponents abilities are? Or do they have to figure these things our as the scenario progresses?

Doug

[Mason]

Thanks for the reply Mason - I thought it was something like; it's similar to how I would do it. But what about the actual opponenets they are about to meet? How much do the players know? Do they know what type of monster/cultist etc they will be facing? Can they just look up in the rules what the details of their opponents abilities are? Or do they have to figure these things our as the scenario progresses?

Doug

Regarding opponents: They know what they are facing once it appears on the table, not before.
I try to keep everything as WYSIWYG as possible, but there will be a few situations where everything is not as it seems.

I dont want to say too much here, as the players will all read this ( ).
Lets just say that there will be a few surprises for them, and you will all get to hear about them in the AAR's.

As for knowing their stats/abilities, they are free to read the books for those should they wish, but I will not tell them of any upgrades or additional skills taken until the particular upgrade/skill becomes relevant or apparent.

I am trying to make the games somewhere between a standard tabletop game and a roleplaying game, using elements of each to, (hopefully!) enhance the playing experience.

I think that it has been working so far, but it is up to the players to tell me if they are happy with any element of it.
I have not received any complaints so far, so I guess it must be okay (for now...).

.

[Doug ex-em4]

Sounds like a great balance between playability and surprise - I like the way you're handling it and I'm enjoying the campaign, even if only vicariously.

Doug

[Mason]

Sounds like a great balance between playability and surprise - I like the way you're handling it and I'm enjoying the campaign, even if only vicariously.

Doug

Thanks, Doug!
 


Retrieve the Artifacts- Continued.


Aubrey Werther-Minte and his team had made their way to the Forestry Commision holding in a clearing in Marley Wood, on the outskirts of Oxford.
They were investigating reports that their arch enemies, the Cult of the Purple-Headed Worm, had been sighted in the area.

They had found the Commision preserve to be, apparently, deserted, except for the fact that there were three vehicles that obviously did not belong to the Forestry Commision parked amongst the buildings.
Behind the buildings, on the far side of the clearing, was an old ruin, half hidden by the trees.

As the team began to head into the clearing, the sharp crack of a gunshot was heard, sending birds scattering into the sky from their leafy perches!

An overhead view of the table



The RED dots indicate the starting positions of the crates (potentially!) containing the Artifacts, that the Agents would be attempting to Retrieve.
The M.O.O.S.(E). team would be setting up on the right into the buildings, whilst the Cult would emerge from the woods on the left.



At the sound of the gunshot, the M.O.O.S.(E). team broke from the cover of the woods and entered the compound, making for the cover offered by the stacked crates ahead of them.





On the other side of the clearing, the shadowy forms of the evil Cultists began to emerge from the woods.




They had split into two groups.
The group on the left contained the Cult Leader, a Maniac(!) and three cultists.
On the right were another four Cultists, including one that had strapped himself into a Dynamite Jacket!




The Ministry team advanced towards the centre of the compound, heading for the well and the crate next to it.





Meanwhile the Cult advanced swiftly towards the two crates on the flanks, trying to rescue them before the Ministry team could claim them.

A Cultist, closely followed by a frothing Maniac, heads for a crate, with orders to quickly bring it safely into the cover of the woods.





Meanwhile, a lone Cultist rushes forward towards the crate in the center in an attempt to prove his devotion to the cause...





The Agents advance, one of them searching the crate by the well and emerging with a Map Piece, whilst the rest of the team advance towards the centre and the lone (foolish) Cultist facing them.
One of the Agents draws his .45 and opens fire, causing the Cultist to abandon the attempt on the crate and move into the path of the shotgun-toting babe, who guns him down mercilessly.
First blood to the Ministry!






To be continued later....

[aggro84]

Lovely stuff Mason. Fantastic. 

I've been using objectives in all of my games lately.
They really add a lot of tactical decisions to a game.

[Doug ex-em4]

2' x 2' table....?

Doug