Whew, we’re slowly recovering from the insanity of convention rounds.  A warm welcome to all the new cultists that joined the fold!

As promised, this month brings another of our Arcane Relics, previously published in issues of Strange Aeons magazine.  This time out, we have our most chaotic concoction, The Resonator!  Switching on this scientific marvel will turn reality on its head, and have Threshold scrambling to shut it down.  Also, firing up the Resonator will finally give you a use for that stack of blank CDs we all seem to have hiding in the forgotten depths of a dark closet.

Miniature releases will, at long last, resume next month with the arrival of Threshold Agents IV.

Uncle Mike’s annual travelling road show is under way, offering our full line of rules & miniatures, as well as a chance to try your hand at our fiendish new Assault on Devil’s Reef demo scenario, complete with rowboats and Deep Ones.

We’re currently en route to Trumpeter Salute in Burnaby, BC., where the UMW booth will be available for the full run of the event, April 5-7.  Lower Mainland cultists take note!  You can visit us and our good friend Bob Murch of Pulp Figures in a single convenient trip.

We’ll also be appearing in our own backyard at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, April 26-28.  Look for us under Trilogy Games – who are generously sharing their space with us – in your floor guide.

The equinox is upon us, which means cult members have been shipped a fresh newsletter, filled with previews and amusements.  If you’re a member and did not receive yours (do check your spam folder, as it seems to get caught by some), please let us know and I’ll get that remedied ASAP.  As an added bonus for cult members, we’ve also sent out an updated edition of the Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten PDF, expanded to 107 pages and containing all sorts of material not present in the public playtest edition.  New members will also receive these documents (plus an archive of previous newsletters), so you can still get in on the fun.

This being the beginning of a new “cult” year, it’s also time to unveil a brand new cult-exclusive model.  This year, we have a Submerged Deep One, the rules for which appeared in the previous issue of Fhtagn!:

This model will be included with the first order placed by cult members through the UMW store this “cult” year, and also with all new memberships purchased.  As an added incentive to join the ranks of the Black Goat, we’ll still be including last year’s captive agent models with new memberships until the end of March.

So, what would that Deep One look like out of the water, you might wonder…..

Yow, that’s a monster!  Sculpted by Iain Colwell, this beast stands 3″ tall, and looks about ready to rip an unfortunate agent in two with those massive webbed hands.  We’ll be formally releasing this model with Shocking Tales #4 (should give you a hint as to the issue’s theme!), likely in 2014, but have cast up an early batch to make available exclusively to Black Goat members.  Setting this up in the online store was a little tricky: we had to bundle a cult membership (plus download of Fhtagn and VUK) with the model, the price of which is discounted for members when logged in to the store.  A little convoluted, but it also beats having you mail in a form to request your model – yikes, that sure takes us back….  It all seems to work so far, but do send an email off to webmaster@strange-aeons.ca if you have any trouble with the shop.

So, here’s what you get right now if you join the cult:

• Lifetime cult membership
• Black Goat logo t-shirt
• Cult membership card
• Bi-annual equinox PDF newsletter (including archive of previous newsletters)
• Revised and expanded Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten PDF
• Submerged Deep One model (plus captive agents if you join by March 31st)
• Access to order Deep One (if you want one right away, just buy a Deep One bundled with membership)

Hard to argue with all that for $60!

We’re aware of the issues with the webstore, and are working to get it back up and running, but can provide no ETA at this time for its return. More news as we have it…

UPDATE: Seems our host opted to change some things on the back end (in this case, the location of the store!) without notifying us. This resulted in the site ceasing to function. Unfortunately, your intrepid webmaster tried a little too hard to fix things before sorting out the issue, and is now getting those new matters corrected. On the plus side, the store will now be running the latest and greatest version of the cart software, and will have a new home at www.strange-aeons.ca/umw-shop/. Shouldn’t be too much longer now!

RESOLVED!: The webstore is back up and running. Again, please note the new location at www.strange-aeons.ca/umw-shop/. Accessing the old address will automatically redirect you, but it’s probably best to update any bookmarks/links regardless. Thanks for your patience.

Or in this case, the Thing is in the Play. Today we’re pleased to release “The King in Yellow”, the first of our Arcane Relics supplements, as a free download (click the link here, or head over to the Resources page). Arcane Relics, which provide unique powers to Lurker forces, were previously featured in issues of Strange Aeons magazine. We’ll be releasing the full series as free supplements over the course of the year, so keep your eyes peeled in coming months. Well, assuming The King didn’t peel your eyes for you….

In other news, March has arrived, which means the equinox is nearly upon us.  That means the time of the Black Goat is nigh!  Less than three weeks from new, a fresh newsletter will be distributed to our loyal cultists, containing experimental rules and secrets man was generally not meant to know.  A new promotional figure for cult members will also be introduced March 21, and it’s more monstrous than you can possibly imagine – watch for a preview when the middle of the month arrives.

A new package of rules has crept it’s way into the online store. If you’d like to snag all three of our in-print rulebooks at a discount, be sure to check out “The Bundle of the Beast”. The Strange Aeons core rules, Morbid Adventures and Shocking Tales #3 together for the fiendishly low price of $66.66!

Nefarious doings are in progress at Uncle Mike’s lab, as we prepare some monstrous surprises for Cult of the Black Goat members.  The equinox rapidly approaches!

As the festive season descends upon us, we always feel it’s important to add a little holiday cheer to the gaming table.  With that in mind, we present to you Season’s Beatings!, random holiday happenings for your games of Strange Aeons.  Previously available in Issue 4 of Strange Aeons Magazine, we’re pleased to now make this amusing supplement available as a free download.  Grab your copy here, or from the Resource page:

Season’s Beatings! PDF

Also, if you didn’t snag it last December, don’t forget about Nightmare on 34th Street!, our rather twisted little Christmas scenario.

Eric Larsen's winning Dark Puppeteer

Another BrushOff! has come to a close.  While we only had a few more entries than last year, they represent a larger number of participants, which we were quite pleased to see.  Now, on to the winners!

Category 1 – Single Pack
1st Place: ‘Supervike’ – Fishmen I
2nd Place: Patrick Ballinger – Cultists III
3rd Place: Florian Stockbauer – Madmen

Category 2 – ‘Big Kits & Battles’
1st Place: Eric Larsen – Dark Puppeteer
2nd Place: Michael Domino – Godling
3rd Place: Florian Stockbauer – Cultists I vs. Threshold Agents I

Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who participated.  The winners will be receiving their webstore gift certificates shortly (which is code for: the webmaster got so wrapped up in picking winners that he hasn’t learned how to create certificates just yet).  Additionally, generous sorts that we are, and because we had so much trouble deciding how some of the entries would place, each of  the winners will be receiving a full pack of unreleased models, which you can even spot in the contest entries if you hunt for Uncle Mike’s entry.

As December is now upon us, check back later today for a little Christmas bonus.  And we promise it won’t be a Jelly of the Month Club membership.

Less than two weeks left to get those BrushOff! entries in folks.  Despite having over ten entries at this point last year, we have one lone competitor at the moment.  Check out his tentacular composition over in the Gallery.  If you’re working tirelessly to get that entry just right, keep at it!  If you’re not painting, pick up those brushes!  The field is wide open.

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  Break out those brushes, dust off those primed-but-not-painted minis you’ve been carrying around for months, and re-hydrate that dried up pot of medium brown, because BrushOff! is upon us!

As always, we’ll be rewarding the three best painted packs of official Strange Aeons miniatures.  Any pack will do, but you must paint the whole pack!  And to make things a little more interesting this year, we’re adding a second category: Big Kits and Battle Scenes.  For this one, you can either paint one of our large kits (Godling, Dark Puppeteer or Crypt of Cthulhu) – OR – one Threshold pack doing battle with any one Lurker pack.  You’re free to enter into both categories as many times as you wish, but note that you may not submit the same models in both categories.

So, how about prizes?  Well, with double the categories, we’ve obviously had to double the loot, so here’s what each category will dole out:

• 1st Place: $30 UMW Webstore certificate, plus THREE unreleased models!
• 2nd Place: $20 UMW Webstore certificate, plus TWO unreleased models!
• 3rd Place: $10 UMW Webstore certificate, plus ONE unreleased model!

Want to get in on this bounty?  Well then get painting, and send photos of your entry to contests@strange-aeons.ca, or post them in the Strange Aeons area at Lead Adventure Forum.  We’ll add your photo to our Gallery, where you’ll be able to view your handiwork pitted against your competition.  Need some inspiration?  Check out the BrushOff! 2010 and 2011 Galleries, where you can still view all the entries from our past competitions.

You have until 11:59PM MST (GMT -7) on November 30th to submit your masterpiece(s).  Let the BrushOff! begin!