2017 6x6 Challenge - Retrospective

Earlier this year I announced that I would be taking part in the 6x6 Challenge proposed by Alan over on The Stronghold Rebuilt.

I was a fan of the idea, and submitted a list of six games that I hoped to play at least six times over the course of the year.

Those games were:

1. Arena Rex - 1
2. Blood Bowl - Completed
3. Blucher - 0
4. Fistful of Lead - Completed
5. Saga - Completed
6. Strange Aeons - 5

So, how did I do?

Well, not too bad, but not great, either. I completed three of the six games, and came very close to completing a fourth entry on the list. Some of that was due to a move in early November for a new job, displacing me from my regular gaming group.

Let's take a look at each of the games.

Arena Rex

I had expected to see more Arena Rex this year, but my games played fell flat. I'm still looking forward to getting this out on the table in 2018, especially since I have the entirety of the Ludus Magnus faction painted and ready. 

Blood Bowl

The first of my completed games for the 6x6 challenge! I owe some thanks to Games Workshop, as their re-release of Blood Bowl generated enough interest for me to participate in not one, but two leagues. The Baltimork Reavers came close to taking the championship in the first league, and the Zharr-Angkor Immortals are performing fairly well at the moment.

Blucher

Ah, Blucher. Another game I had such high hopes for. Unfortunately, the rapid pace of changing games with my old group meant that I could never find the time to get this game on the table, especially since I would need to be the one explaining the rules and providing the terrain and units. 

I may attempt to play this in 2018, especially with the New Jersey Wargamers Association. 

Fistful of Lead

Another success! I owe it to Carl and his collection of Wild West terrain and miniatures, along with Gary, Russ, Kevyn, and everyone else who decided to play games of cowboys and banditos. Fistful of Lead is a fantastic ruleset, and I'd like to play more games of it during 2018.

Saga

The last successful entry in my 2017 6x6 Challenge was the entirety of the Age of the Wolf campaign played between Kevyn's Vikings and my Norse. Although the Vikings had a rough start, Kevyn rallied brilliantly and ultimately crushed the Norman warlord by the end of the campaign.

Strange Aeons

Ah, so close! Strange Aeons was another game that was being fueled by a campaign between Kevyn and me. Unfortunately, due to scheduling problems, we never managed to get our last game in, leaving this entry incomplete. 

So, that's 2017's challenge! It seems that Alan's not planning to run the challenge in 2018. That's a shame, but I appreciate the effort Alan put in to tally and link the games from various sources.

The Hunters, Hunted - Strange Aeons AAR

Out in the middle of Nowhere, USA, there have been reports of strange rock formations and unexplained disappearances. Kevyn's Threshold team, newly equipped and reinforced after their last mission, were sent to investigate. 

They stumbled upon an ancient, pre-human ruin, only to discover that whatever the tomb once held had escaped!

The scenario for this game was Monster Hunt, and I decided to use a Formless Thing for the lone Lurker. To meet Kevyn's Threshold list, I decided to make this Lurker a powerhouse with five additional skills: Dodge (5+ shooting save), Duck (+1 to cover saves and a 6+ cover save), Sprint (if spending two actions to move, add +2 inches to movement), Tough (-2 to rolls on the Injury Table), and Burly (increases Constitution from 6/8 to 7/9).

The game started with the Formless Thing oozing around the ruins and using its pseudopods to pull a Threshold Agent into close combat. A round of combat put the Agent on the ground, face down.

Armed with only a knife, the Agent managed to scramble away from the twisting mass of mouths and tentacles.

But the Formless Thing hungered for the flesh of humans.

And so the Agent was consumed.

Seeing their comrade fall to the monstrous mass of flesh, the other Agents opened fire. The Character Agent's .45 with hollow-point bullets managed to piece the Formless Thing's flesh, causing a wound (one down, three to go!).

Still hungry, the Formless Thing crawled over to the other Agents, who not only managed to stay sane in the Thing's presence, but managed to fight it off before retreating. 

Another round of shooting saw a second wound removed from the Lurker.

Seeking easier prey, the Formless Thing went after the lone Civilian photographer that had accompanied the Threshold team.

But the Threshold Agents, brave to a fault, leaped into action to protect the Civilian.

The Character Agent paid the price for his initiative and was thrown aside by the Formless Thing's flailing pseudopods. The remaining members of the Team decided to retreat, realizing that their chances of defeating the Formless Thing without the Character Agent's gun was nearly impossible.

Strangely, they found the consumed Agent the next day, wandering down a stretch of desolate highway, covered in dried goo and suffering from amnesia, unable to recall the events of the previous day.

Graveyard Rave - Strange Aeons AAR

Kevyn's Threshold team was back, having dusted themselves off from their last unfortunate encounter with the weird. 

The scenario was Retrieve the Artifacts, with four markers scattered around an old graveyard. The Threshold team would need to secure these artifacts while dealing with the Lurkers.

The night's calm was broken by the shrieking and whooping of an approaching horde of Degenerates - a local family guarding the dark secrets of the burial grounds, whipped into a frenzy by the unseen hand of the Cult of the Dying Light.

It seemed as though the task would be an easy one, as the horde's numbers were countered by the Threshold team's marksmanship. The team managed to secure three of the four artifacts.

The team leader, was set upon by a pair of degenerates, however. He took a wound, but managed to keep fighting. 

Hoping to save her leader, one of the Agents charged into the fray. However, the grisly and hideous nature of the degenerates was enough of a shock to send the agent into a catatonic state.

With no support, the team leader fell, as did the prone and unresponsive agents. It only took a moment, but suddenly the Threshold team's chance of victory suddenly looked very much in doubt. The civilian photographer was attacked and bore down by another degenerate.

The remaining Agent faced off against three of the nearly inhuman monsters. Her .22 pistol fired again and again, but the small caliber bullets weren't enough to drop the approaching Lurkers.

One of the Degenerates finally reached the Agent and bashed her over the head. A backup team from the Threshold was able to rescue the defeated agents, but not before one of their numbers had died. With another defeat, the team was told to re-equip with more weaponry and personnel. Only time would tell if this would be enough to deal with the Cult of the Dying Light's growing influence.

Run the Gauntlet - Strange Aeons AAR

Somehow, my Threshold team found themselves in danger once again. 

After investigating a disturbed graveyard, the team was ambushed by a rogue Threshold agent who had turned against the agency and had brought a number of the Cult of the Dying Light. 

The agents had to reach the opposite edge of the table and escape before the cultists could take them down.

Leading the way, the head Agent's Tommy gun tore through a cultist and the cult leader. Watching his meat shields take the brunt of the attack, the rouge Agent took aim with his .45 pistol and downed the Threshold loyalist.

Seeing her chance, one Agent managed to flee the table.

The remaining Agent exchanged close-range fire with the remaining cultist...

... and then leaped into close combat, knocking the deranged human to the ground.

Now with a clear path for escape, the Agent fled. The rogue Agent fired again and again, the bullets impacting against the mausoleums and graves but missing the loyalist.

The final Agent escapes, and the team is successful, bringing a map piece back to headquarters. The lead Agent took a major wound, unfortunately, and became a Brain Case - fearless, but unable to learn or cast spells.

Oh, Shiny! - Strange Aeons AAR

Following last week's game, Kevyn and I switched sides. We rolled for the scenario and got Treasure Hunt.

In a strangely familiar shantytown in Somewhere Else, USA, another Threshhold team was searching for a powerful artifact that someone had tipped them off about. But a sect of the Cult of the Dying Light was in the area, also looking for the treasure.

The Threshold Team was led by a Character with two Agents, while the Lurkers had a Cult Leader and three Cultists (although one had a battleaxe and light armor).

Both sides spent their first turns hunkered down, waiting until they could start searching in earnest (at the start of Turn 3).

Kevyn attempted to sneak his battleaxe wielding cultist into charge range. But one of the Threshold Agent's wasn't going to sit by and wait, so she ran out and gave the cultists both barrels of her shotgun, blowing the Lurker into grisly chunks.

Both sides were searching desperately as shots rang out.

One cultist charge the shotgun-wielding Agent, not realizing that she was as handy with a knife as she was with a firearm.

It was one of the Cultists who finally found the treasure, eliciting a cry of triumph from the Cult Leader. The Threshold Agents rushed forward, not willing to let the cultists get away with the objective.

The Threshold Character opened fire with his Tommy Gun, downing the cultist carrying the Treasure.

The Threshold team's assault pays off, with the Cult Leader and the remaining Cultist cut down.

Victorious, the Threshold Agents return with the Treasure, which turns out to be a Ring of Power. They also recover a Map Piece.

Shantytown Massacre - Strange Aeons AAR

After discovering last week that Kevyn had made a rather substantial purchase of Strange Aeons miniatures, we decided to get around to playing the game (also helping with my 6x6 challenge). We both created Threshold Lists, which we'll play while alternating control of the Lurkers. 

Kevyn offered to lead his Threshold team into the fray, and we rolled Fight for the scenario. We set the table up as a ramshackle shanty town in Nowhere, USA, where a cult had set itself up and created a ritual site.

Kevyn's Threshold team consisted of a Character, two Agents, and a Civilian. The Lurkers were members of the Cult of the Dying Light, with a Cult Leader, five cultists, and an Ancient Warrior that the cult had resurrected.

The goal of the scenario was simple - kill the other side!

The Cult Leader, covered by two .22 pistol wielding followers, advanced behind the shambling Ancient Warrior. Due to it's skeletal frame and unnatural physicality, the undead monstrosity shrugged off the Threshold team's bullets.

The Ancient Warrior lurched into contact with one of the Threshold Agents, who managed to pass her Resolve test to withstand the fear-inducing Lurker.

But the Ancient Warrior's claws made quick work of the Agent. Her companion, unable to stand the sight of flayed and brutalized flesh and bone, fell to the ground, catatonic.

The Threshold Character, cursing his bad luck, hunkered behind a fence and fired his .45 at the Ancient Warrior. Ignoring the bullets, the undead Lurker attacked the catatonic Agent, removing her from play.

Finally, the .45's hollowpoint round managed to connect, tearing the monster to shreds.

But now the Threshold Character had to deal with the remaining cultists.

One cultist's advance put him within charge range of the Threshold Character, and the government agent leaped onto the servant of darkness, cutting him down with his knife.

Unwilling to close, the remaining cultists (not counting those who never got beyond their starting positions) starting to shoot at the Character.

After several rounds of shooting, the Character caught a bullet and fell. The remaining member of the Threshold team - a mere Civilian - decided to run for it.

The Threshold team retreated and treated their wounded, while the Cult of the Dying Light went back to their dark machinations. Only time would tell if the Threshold could put a stop to their nefarious plans...

Painting Update - Frostgrave, Strange Aeons, Wargods

I'm at the shore for the week, so let's take a look at everything I've managed to paint since the last update. 

These miniatures are going to go with the rest of the Frostgrave warband, adding to the variety of different classes that can be hired in the game. Additionally, I could always use these for Open Combat, which I still need to play.

This group of Threshold Agents are from the Strange Aeons starter set, in addition to a kickstarter bonus Priest.

Opposing the Threshold agency are the Lurkers, encompassing all of humanity's worst nightmares. The starter set includes the Cultist Leader and his followers, the Fishman, and the Formless Thing. The Maniac and the Cultist Midget were Kickstarter bonuses, and Kevyn passed along the Shambler, which he received two of accidentally with his Cult of the Black Goat membership. I can probably use it as a Blasphemous Construct.

These objective markers were pretty easy to paint up. The crates and chest come with the starter, while the pumpkins, jack-o'-lantern, and Pickman grave were kickstarter extras.

A pair of Asar warriors will be rounding out the hand weapon unit in my warband.