Tag Archives: Cthulhu Mythos

Spawn of Yhagni

January 31, 2018 Subedai 9 Comments

I am no longer certain whether it was at last year’s Salute or longer ago, when I purchased these additions to my bestiary from Heresy Miniatures. Initially I wasn’t sure which collection they should belong to, but once I read about the maggot-like form of Yhagni, the imprisoned cousin of Cthulhu and Hastur, a possible interpretation took shape.

Four human sized maggots amongst a ruined building — The servants of Yhagni writhing in abandoned places

The Terror Grub is a demonic servant of the Great Old One, devouring humans and other sentient beings and excreting them in horrific new forms.

A giant white maggot with a fanged maw — With open maw the demon waits for a sacrificial offering

Tail end of a giant white maggot — From the Temple of Pillars it has burrowed its way

These Maggotmen are utterly insane yet still capable of communicating using common language and can thereby act as intermediaries with other cultists.

Maggot creature with a human face and arms holding pieces of flesh — Feasting on offal

Humanoid maggot with clawed hands — Hunting for victims

Giant white maggot with human face and arms dragging itself forward — Stalking its prey

Fantasy, Salute 2017

Salute 2017 – Fantasy & Weird

April 29, 2017 Subedai 4 Comments

There was a distinct lack of epic Fantasy action at Salute this year, so I am combining the category with anything ‘weird’, like Lovecraftian horror and… other things.

The Sons of Simon de Montfort ran a skirmish game based loosely on Animal Farm, using the animated movie from 1954 as a guide for their scratch built terrain.

Farm buildings with anthropomorphic animals carrying swords — Animal Farm by Sons of Simon de Montfort

Farmland and buildings with skirmishing miniatures — Animal Farm by Sons of Simon de Montfort

Bexley Reapers Wargaming Club hosted a Jurassic Park inspired participation game with suitable special effects.

Helicopter in front of Jurassic Park entry gate — Cretaceous Camp by Bexley Reapers Wargaming Club

Military installation in a jungle with roaming dinosaurs — Cretaceous Camp by Bexley Reapers Wargaming Club at Salute 2017

Mierce Miniatures showcased Darklands on some very nice terrain.

View from behind classical pillars onto a green landscape and stone bridge — Darklands by Mierce Miniatures

Troll monsters fighting against spear armed humans — Darklands by Mierce Miniatures

Dark stone portal and white marble weathered pillar — Darklands by Mierce Miniatures

Modiphius Entertainment led the fight against the Great Old Ones in Achtung! Cthulhu, while Legion Wargames Club ran a demonstration game for Paranoid Miniature’s Mythos.

Firefight inside an industrial facility — Achtung! Cthulhu by Modiphius Entertainment

Pulp World War 2 soldiers and monsters — Achtung! Cthulhu by Modiphius Entertainment

Small 1920s American townscape — Mythos by Legion Wargames Club

Large beastman, giant snake and human figures on a cobblestone square — Mythos by Legion Wargames Club

Osprey Games themselves presented Dragon Rampant in Frostgrave, pitching a large warband of barbarians against a tribe of gnolls, while Chesterfield Open Games Society took the wizards and their gangs into a ruined city and deep dungeons.

Large wargames table with grassland, river and ruins — Dragon Rampant in Frostgrave by Osprey Games

Paved road across green fields with marauding bands of barbarians and gnolls — Dragon Rampant in Frostgrave by Osprey Games

Medieval city streets under snow with adventurers and undead — Frostgrave by Chesterfield Open Gaming Society

Large stone walled dungeon — Frostgrave by Chesterfield Open Gaming Society

The remainder was a collection of smaller tables for a multitude of skirmish level games. Of course there were more, but some I covered in previous years, missed, skipped or only took blurry pictures of…

Ruins on green fields with skirmishing medieval style figures — Fabled Realms by 4Ground

Board with race track and witches on brooms in front of a castle — Discworld Witch Racing by Grantham Strategy and Gaming Club

Savannah landscape with infantry figures and 1930s race cars — Tribal Primeval and Mad Maxillian by Little Wars Australia

Oil platform with submarine — 7TV by Crooked Dice

Inner city buildings with super heroes — X-Men vs Avengers by Chelmsford Bunker

Suburban landscape with zombies — The Walking Dead by Mantic Games

Armed stock cars racing through a desert landscape — Devil’s Run: Route 666 by G3 Gamers

Cthulhu Mythos

Unspeakable Rituals

April 9, 2017 Subedai 13 Comments

After centuries of perfidious planning, the Cult of the Kraken Lord has finally gathered to conduct a ceremony that will spell the doom of humankind.

Group of ten humanoid creatures in red robes and with green tentacles for faces — The cult is gathered

Wielding the Staff of Many Eyes and reciting from the Cursed Tome of Conjuration, the cultists seek to raise their master from the depth of the sea to enslave our world.

Two robed figures with a staff and grimoire — Priests are invoking a sinister spell

Flanked by monstrous guardians, the High Priest observes his diabolical plans being enacted.

Figure on a throne in the shape of a kraken, flanked by two large robed guards — The ancient throne was carved by alien hands

This Kickstarter funded new range from Midlam Miniatures was entertaining to paint and will hopefully make for a colourful and challenging threat in a Cthulhu themed adventure at some point.

Since I have backed quite a few campaigns last year that have now mostly been delivered, I am trying to be disciplined with getting them finished also. Next up in the Kickstarter painting queue are some post-apocalyptic types, while for my Lovecraftian horror it is probably time to find a few fearless investigators who might save us from the predations of ancient gods.

Cthulhu Mythos

Cultists of the Kraken Lord

March 21, 2017 Subedai 12 Comments

I took part in Midlam Miniatures’ Kickstarter for the Cultists of the Kraken Lord since they were the perfect fit for my casual collection of Lovecraftian grotesques. Are they humans wearing masks, mutants, crossbreeds, an ancient race from the deep or travellers from a plane beyond consciousness? Nobody knows for sure, and if they did, such forbidden knowledge would probably have come at the cost of their sanity.

Three humanoid figures in red robes with tentacles in place of faces — The ritual begins

I completed the first half of the cult, going for a classic combination of dark red robes with contrasting green tentacles. The figures are fun to paint, and quick to achieve effective results with.

Two figures with tentacles for faces and wearing red robes in front of a stone wall — The cultists don’t look kindly on intruders

Cthulhu Mythos

Prowling Pack of Ghouls

February 26, 2017 Subedai 15 Comments

The other day I completed the remaining figures from Heresy Miniatures’ Ghoul Tribe, sculpted by Paul Muller. I’d originally bought them just because they are such characterful sculpts, then started painting them as part of a long term project to collect a range of creatures fitting into Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.

I’ve also since read Brian McNaughton’s The Throne of Bones, following a recommendation by Somet. He wasn’t kidding when he said it makes for ‘often uncomfortable’ reading, but it indeed provides many intriguing layers to the background of ghouls that most fantasy settings would rarely venture into.