Airstrip Assault

Achtung! Cthulhu is the roleplaying game of fast-paced pulp action and Mythos magic published by Modiphius Entertainment. It is pitches the Allied Agents of the Britain’s Section M, the United States’ Majestic, and the brave Resistance into a secret war against those Nazi Agents and organisations which would command and entreat with the occult and forces beyond the understanding of mankind. They are willing to risk their lives and their sanity against malicious Nazi villains and the unfathomable gods and monsters of the Mythos themselves, each striving for supremacy in mankind’s darkest yet finest hour! Yet even the darkest of drives to take advantage of the Mythos is riven by differing ideologies and approaches pandering to Hitler’s whims. The Black Sun consists of Nazi warrior-sorcerers supreme who use foul magic and summoned creatures from nameless dimensions to dominate the battlefields of men, whilst Nachtwölfe, the Night Wolves, utilise technology, biological enhancements, and wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) to win the war for Germany. Ultimately, both utilise and fall under the malign influence of the Mythos, the forces of which have their own unknowable designs…

In addition to any number of scenarios for Achtung! Cthulhu, Modiphius Entertainment also publishes what it calls ‘Section M: Priority Missions’. These are smaller missions and scenarios intended to help a Game Master is hard-pressed for time or needs an alternate scenario when there are fewer players. Alternatively, they can be used as one-shots or woven into ongoing campaigns. Each though, provides a single mission that can be played in a single session as well as adventure hooks should the Game Master want to expand the scenario.

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 is the third entry in the series and the second to be set in North Africa. Its premise is very simple. A mysterious Luftwaffe aircraft has been spotted making a forced landing at an airstrip in North Africa following an engagement with the RAF where it is undergoing repairs in a hangar on-site. The LRDG, or Long Range Desert Group, which conducted the reconnaissance, indicated in its report that the aircraft resembled the Junkers G 38 bomber, a model based on a 1929 large, four-engined transport. However, there are significant differences. This aircraft has only two engines, both of them rear-facing, and there is no rear fuselage or tail boom. Whatever the aeroplane is, it must be experimental, because what it resembles is a flying wing! The report also contained one other fact: the damaged aircraft seemed to flicker in and out of sight as it landed. Could it be some new radical prototype? The RAF was sceptical. It was just one unidentified aeroplane and the fact that the report said it seemed to flicker in and out of sight as it landed was ridiculous. The report was filed away.

However, the very fact that this strange aircraft was said to have flickered in and out of sight as it landed was more than enough to attract the attention of Section M. Especially when its hears each disappearance was marked by an intermittent burst of blue light! This is definitely more than a simple prototype. Whatever is in that hanger at the airstrip is definitely connected to Nachtwölfe or Black Sun. Likely a wunderwaffe of the former or some devilry of the latter. The mission is simple. The Player Characters have to get to the airstrip, sabotage or steal the aircraft, and then report back!

The LRDG operated in North Africa between 1940 and 1945, which gives a wide time frame in which to run the mission. Ideally though, it should be after the events of Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 2: Our Lady of the Eternal Sapphire is and early on in the war when Nachtwölfe was a relatively unknown force in the Secret War. It would also mean that it could be easily run as a side mission for part of the campaign, Achtung! Cthulhu: Shadows of Atlantis. The campaign involves Nachtwölfe and its third mission is set in Cairo and Egypt. Either way, the fact that the damaged engine is flickering with a blue light probably means Nachtwölfe involvement.

As with other ‘Section M: Priority Missions’, the focus on Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 is on detailing the location and mapping what and who is there. As an active airfield there are a lot of personnel. There are over fifty members of the Luftwaffe and twelve members of Nachtwölfe assigned to operate and monitor the newly designed prototype. There are also fifteen vehicles, primarily used for transport in and around the airfield, plus, of course, several Bf-109 fighters. The map of the airfield is nicely done, showing both how widely spaced out the various locations are for the safety of the men and the aeroplanes in case of attack or explosion and how temporary the landing strip is, with only two buildings. One is a modern concrete command post; the other is an old fortress. There is also a single hanger and a machine shop. These and the other locations are lightly described and there are no internal maps of the command post, fortress, hanger, or machine shop. The Game Master will need to do some research or improvise if the Player Characters want more information or floor plans. That said, these locations should be familiar to anyone who has seen a few World War 2 films!

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 is a strike mission. It is military in nature and it will involve a lot of stealth. Plus, if the Player Characters are to steal the strange prototype, then one of their number should include a pilot. The focus on the strike mission, that is, get in, steal or destroy the prototype, means that there is little in the way of variation in terms of hooks or how the Player Characters get involved. Instead, three possible outcomes are discussed, including destroying the aeroplane, alerting the base personnel, and escaping aboard the aeroplane, ready to fly it back to Allied territory. In addition, several ‘Encounter Escalation’ options are suggested. These are all thematically appropriate such as a sudden downpour of rain that turns the airfield into a muddy quagmire or a flight of Allied bombers attacks the aircraft!

However, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 saves its best for last—“Who’s the big feller?” This is Egypt, there are Nazis, so there has to be big bruiser of an NCO ready to duke it out with one of the Player Characters with his fists! And if that NCO is played by the late Pat Roach, then all the better. His inclusion, though, points to the obvious inspiration for the Priority Mission, and that is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Another is that the mysterious aircraft which initiates the plot is based upon the Blohm and Voss BV-38 ‘Flying Wing’ that appeared in that film. Another possible inspiration is Captain America: The First Avenger in the design and modification of the aeroplane.

Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 is cleanly and tidily laid out. It is not illustrated, but the map of the airfield is nicely done.

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 is more military than Mythos, more stealth and action than cosmic horror. As a military operation though, it is actually easier to prepare and run and thus easy to slip into an ongoing campaign or run when a backup scenario is needed. Despite the lack of Mythos in the scenario, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – Priority Mission 3: Assault on Zuara 2 is fun and its playing around with its inspirations is engaging.