Greetings agents,
Assault on the Führer Train which launches today is the fifth Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 book which has made it into print and now, eight months on from launch, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about the development of the mission and also peel back the curtain on this and future releases.
Buy it now on Modiphius.net, Modiphius.US, or DriveThruRPG.com.
Führer Train was born of a desire to do a standalone set piece adventure based on board one of the armoured trains that first Hitler, and then other members of the Nazi high command, commissioned as both transport and status symbols during the second world war.
Researching the subject proved fascinating. The original Fuhrerszondersag or Führer Train was christened America and was some 300 metres long, had 16 carriages, a staff of over 200, and featured a 100 ton marble bathroom. Quite the steel behemoth indeed, but a little unwieldly for a fast-paced adventure, so in the interests of streamlining, it’s been compressed and sharpened up for gameplay purposes.
Still, it was fantastic fun to write and provides a serious challenge for any resistance members willing to take up the cause and try to assassinate Hitler aboard his own personal locomotive. There’s moments of high adventure, daring, intrigue and even a humorous interlude before you confront the dark secret lurking in the final carriage. I hope you and your players will have tremendous fun exploring its unholy corridors and carriages as it can also be adapted for any existing campaign.
As well as being a standalone mission or a one-day convention scenario for the 4-5 resistance members included as pre-gens, it’s got some fantastic cover and interior art from Boris Martsev and some splendid Blueprint- style maps from Glynn Seal to really bring the adventure to life. We’re kind of testing the waters with this format as a new premium adventure, so let us do know if you like it and want more.
Führer Train also forms the prologue to the forthcoming Forest of Fear campaign which is currently going through final editing and will be debuting later in the year. This is where the Secret War advances onto the borders of Germany in 1944 and tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge, so in its epic 11 mission campaign expect to encounter woodland spirits, monster Shoggoth tanks, and an ancient evil which slumbers beneath the eaves of the forest but is eager to be reborn.
Next month, the long awaited Shadows of Atlantis makes its debut in print (first production copies have just arrived and it’s looking great) and we’re just putting finishing touches to Behind Enemy Lines, the first Mission Dossier compendium, a print book which incorporates the first five PDF mission releases and includes a brand new adventure in Operation Eastbourne.
After that, we’ll be keeping up our PDF releases on schedule with Operation Snowstorm which moves the Secret War to Alaska and an encounter with the pathfinder demon hunters, before moving onto the Serpent and the Sands, a book which includes a ten-part campaign and serves as guide book to North Africa. Beyond that… well, we have some intriguing offerings in prospect for next year, but we’d like to get your input on what you want to see.
So why not come join me for an AMA today at 4pm BST on the Modiphius Discord channel? You can throw any questions you need answered, learn about the future of the line and influence it too.
If you can’t make it, we’ll have a survey up and running shortly, so you can share your thoughts on what you want to see and where Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 goes next.
John Houlihan - Section M