The Scales of Anubis - The Stand of Time - Episode 4

Last night saw the fourth part of the Scales of Anubis Campaign...the previous episode can be found here
http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-scales-of-anubis-episode-3-feather.html



So our games have travelled from Egypt to Central America and onto 1936 England...the latest adventure heads into the mountains of Persia (modern day Iran)

The best part of two years have elapsed since the Nazis performed a stunning raid on the manor at Kingston Lacy and seized the Feather of Truth

I didn't have much time to create a full back story on this campaign and to be frank the table was a rather rush job. Out rolled the desert boards.

The Nazis would land on the banks of the river (the top part of the picture) with the British PITH Agents starting in the bottom left...the tomb entrance serving as a proxy for the Behistun inscriptions.

Scattered around the table were ruins, a desert encampment and a solitary camel mounted Arab. All these would be plot points in the game

The reverse view from river into the mountains...

The Background.

The clock has marched on  - it is 1938. With three pieces of the scales now in the hands of the Nazis both sides have been scouring the libraries, museums and histories for clues of the whereabouts of the remaining parts.  

Only recently the Germans conducted some rather unusual investigations in Persia...apparently they used a balloon to take pictures of the Behistun inscriptions. Could this be connected.?

source:

The Nazis believed that the ancient Persian empire had been built by ancient Aryans. Hans Friedrich Karl Gunther, a professor of social anthropology, published a book in 1922 claiming the Persian empire was a nordrassische Schopfung, or “north-racial creation,” emerging in the North to conquer vast lands in Asia around 2000 BC.

Aryan theory was most promoted by Walter Wust, professor for the “Seminar for Indo-Germanic Studies,” later renamed the “Seminar for Aryan Linguistic and Cultural Studies.” Wust believed the ancient Persians were indeed Aryans who had lost their superiority due to racial mixing, leading to degeneration and “denordification.”

Wust had come to the attention of Himmler thanks to his theories that the ancient Sanskrit Rig Veda text provided evidence of a Nordic race sweeping out of Europe to colonize Iran, Afghanistan, and northern India during antiquity. Himmler placed Wust in charge of the Ahnenerbe in 1937, where he strove to sideline individuals whom he saw as cranks, such as Wiligut, and upstarts, such as Gronhagen. Wust hoped to organize an expedition to Iran to investigate the Behistun (or Bisutun) Inscription, located on a mountain of the same name in Iran’s Kermanshah province. The inscription, carved sometime from 522–486 BC, discusses the life and ancestry of the Achaemenid emperor Darius I, or Darius the Great, who described himself as an Aryan.

The inscriptions had been carved into a cliff face with scaffolding, too expensive for Wust to recreate, so he proposed he, his Iranian student wife, a photographer, and an experienced mountaineer be sent via balloon to take pictures. With the outbreak of World War II, the scheme was permanently shelved.

In our background the Germans did undertake this expedition but the local wily Arab leader in the region knew of the interest in these runes once he heard the British were also interested in mounting an expedition.

Siezing the opportunity to earn a bit of cash he hacked off some of the heiroglyphics willing to sell to the highest bidder.

These missing runes in turn would lead our adventurers across the board to another Arab who had somehow mysteriously come to hold the staff..

 

Both players were informed of the importance of this area - the British still had to complete the translations whereas the Nazis had indeed completed most of this themselves. They just needed the missing pieces. These they knew were up for sale.
The Adventure...

Keen to get a march on the expected Nazis, Grainger Stewart lead his Pith agents and accompanying Sikh Troopers into the ruins of Behiston and hastily translated the inscriptions.

It became obvious that a rather key piece of the hieroglyphs had been recently hacked away and the track lead towards the desert encampment closer to the river...

 

 

 The party set off towards the desert camp, perhaps these locals could explain why they had desecrated the runes??

Mean whilst Major Gruntz had also landed his men (including Kapitan Vier). With the fortune of already knowing the translations there next objective was to better understand the texts located at the fallen pillars near the river shore. However a cryptic message from a local guide revealed that the Bedouin camped in the desert might have something interesting to sell.

Gruntz with his men decided to push on to the Arab encampment. As they approached they could see Grainger Stewart moving forward. A furious exchange of fire erupted across the desert.

Fighting across the desert floor - British Empire Sikhs versus units of Afrika Korps

Thinking that the high ground over the camp might give him some advantage in this firefight Major Gruntz sent his sidekick Herr Piece up into the rocks with a couple of troopers.

They took cover in the ruins atop the hill...

But some nifty shooting from the Pith agents soon brought Herr Piece crashing down...

At this point the gorge was filled with the sound of galloping hooves...

Several mounted Arabs poured out of the canyon and onto the desert floor and towards the camp.

Positioning themselves just outside the camp they watched the firefight develop. Neither side seemed to worry about these late entrants.

With confusion raging around Major Gruntz dashed into the camp and secured the missing rune piece from the local arab leader. He was advised that any attempt to confront his mounted men would end badly...suffice to say both sides left my mounted Arabs alone and they played no part in the game save riding around the table and looking cool.

By now both forces knew that the next piece of the puzzle the Stand of Time could be found on the person of the solitary mounted camel rider at the end of the board...the race was on. Why this was the case nobody knew ...I told you the story was rushed...

Pith closer to the edge moved up onto the escarpment and the Sikh captain - Freddy Fowler - took his first tentative step on the rickety bridge. Don't these pulp heroes know anything !! tentative steps get you killed...Freddies footing gave way and he plunged to his death (perils galore)

Meanwhilst Grainger Stuart rushed across the canyon floor to head off the approaching Nazis, dogning the 9mm bullets of the MP40's he scaled the cliffs...

But he was too late - Major Gruntz had beaten him to it and under the cover of his remaining troopers he shot the old Arab in the head and siezed the fourth piece of the scales - The Nazis had won again..!!

Can the forces of good stop the Nazis from collecting all five pieces !! The next episode could decide the fate of the world ...(actually there are at least two more planned)

Until next time