Do you remember those imaginary monsters that lurked under your bed when you were a kid? Well, I have two bad news: they were not imaginary and they are not hiding anymore...
Turn on your flashlight and hold on tight to your gun. Let's go down this staircase together into the dark cellar where you can hear things crawling...
Today we are going to focus on a not very usual setting when we talk about wargames. Horror, but not just any horror wargame, but those set in the works of HP Lovecraft. Most of them are skirmish wargames and are miniature agnostic, which means that they don´t have an official range of miniatures for the game, so you can use whatever miniatures you have.
Solo as this game is designed to be played alone, just you trying to make your warband survive another day. Although it could be played with two or even three players in cooperative mode, that is, fighting together against the forces of darkness.
This is not an usual wargame (competitive mode / player vs player) with some solo rules designed ad hoc, this is a solo game.
Horror as the supernatural and the mystery will be the common thread of our scenarios.
Our characters will have to face haunted houses, gangsters, supernatural beings drawn from the worst nightmares, groups of cultists who want to awake forgotten gods, mysterious murders, ancient curses, and dusty books that predict the end of the world as we know it.
Skirmish since the games will be played with just a few miniatures on a table with some scenery, although this game is not attached to any specific brand of miniatures and you can use any that you like. Forget about huge armies and lots and lots of miniatures on the table.
Another strong point of this game relies in its narrative aspect. The focus is on the story since the plot in each scenario will have a great narrative weight, not just fighting without any reason or random encounters of wandering monsters.
The scenarios will have a story that connects everything, all the events that happen will have a reason, and even may never be known by the player until the scenario is over.
Mythos Encounters is a miniature skirmish game of the Cthulhu Mythos. This is a cooperative game, in which Investigators work together to face the horrors of ruthless cultists, mysterious alien creatures and the elder gods themselves.
Your investigators can face enemies head-on, trusting in your strength and weaponry, or take a more subtle approach using stealth and gathering clues to gain an advantage.
Enemy creatures in Mythos Encounters change from encounter to encounter, and their behavior is determined by a variety of AI tactics.
As your investigators progress through each encounter, they will gain new abilities, equipment and allies that will allow them to face even greater threats. They may also gain permanent physical injuries or debilitating mental disorders.
Players build squads of valiant agents from the Threshold Agency - mankind’s only shield against the unimaginable forces that lurk beyond the veil – and do battle with the foul Lurkers, who seek to pave the way for the return of their dark gods. As Threshold squads progress through a broad range of scenarios, they will gain new abilities and equipment through an option-filled advancement system. Be wary though! The opposing Lurkers can tailor their forces to match Threshold’s level each game, selecting from over 50 devilish monster profiles lifted straight from the pages of the Mythos to present Threshold with a nearly limitless variety of challenges. As you advance, the injuries will mount, followed by the inevitable onset of madness, assuming your operatives remain stalwart and don't fall prey to the insidious temptation of darkness...
Journey into fear and beyond madness!
Lovecraft's Revenge is a tabletop game by Two Hour Wargames that plunges you into the world created by horror writer HP Lovecraft. It's about persons who dug a little too deep, driven mad by knowledge never meant for mortal minds. It's about places with thoughts and souls of their own. And it's about things whose very existence cackles at the laws of nature. These creatures defy accurate description, view people as mere insects, and can drive you out of your mind (sometimes literally) simply by standing before you.
This game can be played by any number of players; either solo, same side, or head to head.
In Lovecraft's Revenge, players control one or more characters in an rpg-like Lovecraftian adventure. Each adventure has a goal and the goal is attained by collecting clues and managing to survive the ordeal with mind and body intact. The game unfolds through a number of scenes at various general locations. Each location will likely have some kind of encounter. Some encounters will surely be of a combat nature, but others might involve solving puzzles or interacting with npc's within the adventure.
This is it for wargames based on Lovecraft´s works. The setting of the above games is strictly the setting created by HP Lovecraft for his books. The next wargames are classic or generic horror wargames that can be twisted easily into Lovecraftian horror. Even if you are not looking for a classic horror wargame they are worth a look.
Nightmares become real, and the dead walk the earth! All the monsters from man's worst nightmares come alive in this set of fast-playing horror miniature rules which is based on the popular, Origins-nominated Song of Blades and Heroes mechanics. Fight zombies, vampires, mad slashers, ghosts, werewolves, witches and other bloodcurdling monstrosities straight out of the folklore books and horror movies. Hunt for them - before they hunt YOU!
Perilous Tales is a cooperative skirmish wargame of thrilling tabletop adventures. Not strictly a Lovecraftian Wargame, but can be easily twisted into a tentacled nightmare.
Fend off unknown beasts in an Arctic camp. Uncover evil doings in an abandoned church. Hunt the wild beast of the Hemwich moors. Ghosts, vampires, evil genius, Russian spies, witches, fiends from beyond the stars… You are only limited by your collection of miniatures and your imagination.
You create a band of heroes; using a flexible and simple character creation system; generate an episode and play it to its thrilling conclusion!
In each episode, the villain and its minions are controlled by the game, using a simple “programming” system. Each episode will have several objectives that your characters will be striving to complete before the time runs out or the plucky heroes are slain. The play area is beset with threat markets, which may be perilous terrain, or the terrible beasts that are hunting you.
In Perilous Tales, the emphasis is not always on killing, in fact often you are trying to take a critical photograph, recover a crucial artefact, or escape to achieve fame, fortune, or simply to live to another day.
Imagine a world where all of your deepest fears have come to life, a place where monsters, terrifying creatures and deviant criminals threaten your very existence and that of the entire planet.
You and your friends are the only ones that can stop these terrible plans… Will you succeed or will you die trying?
In Arkeo Obskura a handful of heroes (from the Modern or Victorian eras or even from the early 1900s) face incredible adventures populated by zombies, witches, mummies, ghosts, the forgotten, aliens...
The game system is easy to lean and intuitive and you don’t need a Master.
You can play solitaire or with friends in cooperative or competitive mode.
You will see your characters grow, buying new characteristics and equipment from one game to the next.
Chaos In Cairo is a fast-paced, skirmish-level miniatures battle game designed to simulate clashes in the Pulp-era of fiction. It tells the tale of warbands of rival antiquarians and their associates battling for items of occult power amidst the dusty streets of 1920’s Cairo, Egypt.
Chaos In Cairo is a Goal-System Game, based off of the same mechanics that power the SuperSystem: Superhero Miniature Battles game (specially tailored to fit the Pulp genre). It focuses on a clash between two unique bands of rival antiquarians, and complete game stats for these models are included. Additionally, an appendix is included featuring rules for character and henchmen creation, allowing players to bring in appropriate models from any range.
FISTFUL OF LEAD TALES OF HORROR
Fistful of Lead: Tales of Horror is not a standalone wargame but a supplement for Fistful of Lead (you will need a copy of the Fistful of Lead rules)
As with previous Fistful of Lead rules each player only needs 5 or 6 miniatures to start gaming. You can play 1 on 1 games or larger skirmishes with up to 6 or 8 players.
The main protagonists of Tales of Horror are the Vampires, Werewolves and other monsters from folklore and the horror films of the silver screen. This supplement describes the various creatures and provides traits and additional rules to allow players to use the Fistful of Lead rules to play Gothic Horror games, or any Horror genre.
Players will take on the roles of these Creatures of the Night, or the brave Hunters who pursue them
Well, this is it for now. You have now a lot of rulesets to check. I hope you sleep well tonight and nightmares don´t keep you awake.
I know that I may have not mentioned many wargames that I missed or forgot, so I would be really grateful if you drop a line by the comment section reminding me what I forgot.
P.S. I know I didn´t mention Achtung Cthulhu, because although it includes monsters and deities from the HPL works it doesn´t fit the Lovecraftian setting as is based in a weird ww2 background about the "secret war".
I missed one supplement from the acclaimed 7tv (you'll need the core book), it's name is LURKERS FROM THE DEEP and it's a 6 episodes campaign based on Innsmouth.
ReplyDeleteI was about to mention 7TV :) Specifically, the 7TV Pulp box contains many Lovecraftian creatures and scenarios. The Lurkers of the Deep supplement is a (pun intended) deeper dive into that, focussing on an Innsmouth(ish) campaign. They've got a Mountains of Madness(ish) campaign in the pipeline too.
DeleteThanks for posting them. I do have a couple of them in my collection & now you've gone & gotten me thinking about pulling them out once again. I am looking forward to the new Crooked Dice Mountains of Madness release!
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteAll the preview that has been show is amazing, there is even a Uboat!!!