Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Assault of the Furhers Train. RPG Review

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Assault of the Furhers Train By Modiphius, C2022 , Price: £8.00 GBP, Website

Review by Seth Stauffer

Sometimes you read something and your first reaction is to ask, “Is that true?” When I started reading Modiphius’ mission Assault of the Furher’s Train,  I wondered if Adolf Hitler really had a private armoured train. In fact, yes, Hitler had a special train during WW2, and it is fantastic material for the world of Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20. Will the adventurers be able to successfully breach the train, maybe even having a chance to confront Hitler himself? Could they possibly end the war? It’s a tantalizing opportunity, and the player characters are invited to infiltrate this fearsome locomotive, with peace in Europe a viable outcome.

Worldbuilding for Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 is excellent. In Assault of the Furher’s Train, the evolution of the setting is absolutely superb. The way different ideas have been welded together has been fairly seamless. The real-life train being infiltrated by the resistance movement standing against the Nazis, but infusing all of this with Lovecraftian horror and occult powers works phenomenally well. It just works and is a rich atmosphere for gamers.

There’s a lot of tension in the mission as the PCs are tasked with entering a highly-protected means of transportation; one that doubles as a strategic nerve center for Axis powers. There’s magic, freakish encounters, and subterfuge. Not to mention, the PCs are up against a surprise they might not expect. What’s not to like? 

Unfortunately, the conclusion is a bit underwhelming. After reading the whole mission through from start to finish, the outcome felt a bit forced. In a word, if you’ll forgive the pun because the adventure is on a train, it felt like the PCs were being railroaded. This means that the players sort of need to carry on the next mission in the campaign. If this could have been modified to offer an alternative ending so it could stand better as its own product outside of the longer series of adventures this ties into it would have been stronger.

This is part of a larger campaign and will set up very nicely what comes next. It’s pretty straightforward. Break in, sneak to the target, and execute the mission objective(s). It’s a fun and challenging mission, but risks being a little frustrating as a standalone product. Talented gamers can work around the resolution, but aside from that, this is a strong product that will keep players on their toes.