Showing posts with label Mummy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mummy. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Tannhäuser Tuesday - The Mummy Strikes!!!


By littlewars

"The Eye Of Horus is a symbol of health perverted by Set, the god of violence and evil. This amulet, created as a healing aid, now has quite the opposite effect. In the expert hands of Hermann Von Heïzinger the gaze of the Eye is the gaze of a vengeful God."
- FFG Bonus Token, Eye of Horus



A hybrid of a token and character, with a scenario flavor, this month's special U-Chronic Halloween edition features the mummy Hor-Aha.

A favored disciple of Horus, he was slain through the trickery of the rival god Set. The pharaoh Hor-Aha was the original owner of the ancient Wedjat that became corrupted by Set. Centuries later it was discovered by Von Heïzinger who would wield its powers as his own.

The card lists all the necessary rules for the token. For the sake of clarity I will expand on a couple of finer points:

Curse Of Hora-Aha follows standard bonus token rules and occupies an Equipment Slot on the character sheet. It costs 1 Victory Point to equip a character with the token. It is placed (during an Action Phase) on the Entry Point regardless of the character's current location (there is no condition the character be adjacent). The token can only activate once the current Sequence is completed.

Hor-Aha is a token and not a character. Thus, he may not pick up or place flags in certain Game Modes. He is activated like a character and may only move or attack like a character. He also blocks all character movement (including the controlling player's team) and may be Bull Rushed (or Dueled) and attacked (with a shock roll) like a character.

The mummy can only attack characters with a Reich Affiliation Symbol; either the Obscura Korps, the Blutstrum Divison, or the Paranormal Division. Hor-Aha contributes to Victory Points by eliminating any enemy characters. Eliminating Hor-Aha does not count towards earning Victory Points for your opponent, he is not a Hero or a Trooper.


Optional Curse Of Hor-Aha Game Aids



You can use an optional miniature for Hor-Aha. Just swap the token from the character card for the Hor-Aha mini when you decide to deploy him. It is not necessary, but the mini is useful to remind players that Hor-Aha blocks movement. I recommend the D&D miniature #28 Guardian Mummy, an uncommon from the Desert of Desolation set.



The Hor-Aha character sheet is also optional. It helps keep track of health and includes a summary of Hor-Aha's special rules. You can also keep track of wounds without the card. For example, you could place a marker on Hor-Aha or rotate the token (say, to face your opponent) if you receive a wound.



Tannhauser Halloween Game Ideas

The Curse of Hor-Aha and the Eye Of Horus tokens make a good combination for a Halloween game. If you wish to further mix things up, consider adding any of the following variants:

• Fantasy Flight Game's Trick Or Treat Mask Bonus Token
• U-Chronic Sentinel Token, a demonic sentry
• Savage Tale's Hellboy and Hellboy Summer Pack
The Black Fortress Scenario at Black Sheep Archives


Photo taken in 1939 by a combat zeppelin stationed over the Obscura Korps headquarters in Cairo.

The unmarked plane is believed to be piloted by the rouge ace known as "Pique La Lune", a french national suspected of smuggling antiquities, including mummified remains, from the Ombos dig.

Later, when tracked to Constantinople, he is observed in the company of mercenary Wolfgang Otto Ludwig Friedrich, thought dead.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Raiders of the Lost Adventure Movies

I love adventure stories. Doc Savage, Indiana Jones, Professor Challenger and the Lost World, Conan and many others. The early and mid twentieth century were full of adventure tales. The world was not fully explored and full of mystery. The pulp magazines of the time were chock full of adventure.

Where do we find adventure today? Our society seems skeptical about adventure. The world seems fully explored and there are not a mesa full of dinosaurs to be had. No Martian canals or Tars Tarkus to lead us. The moon is a dead rock; no Lunarians lurking about. The Earth is not hollow; no Pellucidar, no Ka-Zar with Zabu his Saber-Tooth Tiger. We seem to find adventure in the past far more than the present. Or maybe that's where I find myself looking...

At the movies this summer there are a few adventure films, I am even looking forward to some of them. All are sequels or remakes.


First off, last weekend saw "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" from Disney. I haven't seen the first, so I won't be seeing this one. Caspian did good money, not great, but solid.


Then comes the behemoth of adventure films, the upcoming "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". I am really wondering which Indy we will see. The tough as nails, gets through by brains and sheer force of will Indy from "Raiders of the Lost Ark", or the luckiest man on Earth from "Temple of Doom." I'm praying for the Indy with guts. (Friday, May 23 from Paramount)


Next is "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" from the minds of Mike Mignola and Guillermo Del Toro. I am really looking forward to seeing Big Red again. I'm had the good fortune to meet both of those men and in addition to being brilliant, they are wonderful people. This is my most anticipated film of the summer. (Friday, July 11 from Universal)


The same week is also "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D" starring Brendan Fraser. Word on the street is not good on this one... (Friday, July 11 from Warner Bros)


I am really hoping that "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" doesn't suck. It has been a long time since we last saw Mulder and Skully - OK, not as long as since we've seen Indiana and Marion - and this movie was really off my radar for some reason. I like the X-Files and I hope it's good. (July 25 from Fox)



"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" is yet another summer sequel and another Brendan Fraser film. There are good people in this - Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li. Here's hoping it's good. Another period adventure film, this one in China. I did enjoy the previous Mummy films, and Rob Cohen has made some good films. Some lesser ones, too...

In the future I'm sure I will write more about adventure fiction and comics. May you find a little adventure in your life.