Monday 16 April 2018

Nazis and Dinosaurs in the Lost World

The fascination with dinosaurs continues....

After Operation High Jump in 1947 finally discovered and captured the main Nazi cave entrances to the Hollow Earth (the original entrances in the salt mines of Bavaria being dynamited shut in 1945) the Allies are finally exploring the lush jungles of Middlehiem, in search of the two divisions of Nazi troops and untold concentration camp slave labourers who disappeared into the underworld in 1944-45.

The charming log chalets of Nieu Deutschland were made with slave labour....

With mainland Europe devastated by the Z-Virus, and much of Eastern Europe still quarantined due to hordes of wandering undead, there is an eye to colonizing the Hollow Earth.

 The British Empire has found new lease of life, with their experience of "colonising" hostile regions...  They are one of the foremost nations exploring the Underworld...

But first, threats must be neutralized.  Without the ability to use air support or heavy vehicles, Allied light infantry troops must fight their way through the caves and jungles of Middlehiem.  Giant beasts, dinosaurs, and primitive tribes are not the only horrors they must face.


The armoured Bren suits are well adapted for exploring the dangers of Middlehiem...

The Nazis have brought many of their most deadly weapons with them: werewolf soldiers, light mecha and psychic troops wielding alien tech.  Warfare tends to be on a small scale; scout squads and light infantry recon platoons clashing in the remote jungle far from support, or battling in claustrophobic cave systems.  

 The Soviets, wary of their erstwhile allies, are also energetically staking claim to the underworld, through their Tunguska entrance.

 Their vaunted sniper teams are very useful for dealing with rogue dinos, and they use anti-tank rifles to good effect.

Already cracks are appearing between the old allies - there have been clashes between British and Russian troops, and their is talk of a "Cold War" as the Soviets attempt to establish a new Communist empire.  

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful setting!
    What are the Bren suits?

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    1. They aren't a scratch build, but actual models from a little known 40K-esque Weird War II set known as Secrets of the Third Reich by West Wind. A surprisingly good set of rules, and all the models shown are from their range (if you look closely, some sport futuristic assault rifles).

      I'm painting more - they''ll probably appear some time as I experiment with my homebrew rules.

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  2. Have you ever considered a Dino vs. Dino game? I am thinking a small scale skirmish similar to Arena Rex or Bushido?

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  3. I hope you're ok, it has been quiet on the blog for a while!

    What mechanics have you come across for limiting game length so it doesn't devolve into just killing the other side? I'm tired of games where scout-type units are useless and the most successful strategy is running two mobs at each other and rolling dice...

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    1. I'm not dead. Just my 5 and 3 year olds "help" me so much in the shed I barely have time to paint, let alone muse on a blog afterwards!

      Your question is a tough one and one I don't see many games successfully solving.

      Besides the obvious; randomly limiting game length - i.e. on every turn the 4th turn, roll a dice, say, and any 5 or 6 means the game ends...

      ...another method is to have "sub missions" i.e. objectives that earn VPs. Malifaux is good for this.

      Sadly, killing-em-all is still a very effective way to stop a side accomplishing objectives, no matter how interesting...

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    2. Mind if I take this question to the Delta Vector Google Group?

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    3. Go for it!

      Hopefully with holidays I'll be able to dust off some models....

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  4. Regarding Scout Units, instead of limiting game time, I think Chain of Command and Battlegroup systems have some good rules regarding scout units. They do not change game length, but impact set-up, reserves, and a few other tidbits. Therefore, units with no scout elements get punished in the early game.

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