Zugandan Aid Convoy Ready To Be Ambushed

I wanted to do a UN aid convoy as an objective for a Force on Force game set in my fictional war-torn West African Imagi-nation of Zugando. It wasn't the first time I have converted toy cars, having done them for my VBCW and my Battle Cars games, and it is something I really get a lot of pleasure from.

I began by sourcing a couple of trucks- cheep ones from Tescos and Sainsburys. These ones scale well with my 28mm figures and the other vehicals I have already painted for my Africa Campaign. 

Next I made some cargo- I used resin crates made by Ainsty, Ebob's metal barrels, some crates I had left over from another toy I dismantled and some Tamiya 1/36 scale sand bags, which at 28mm scale make nice sacks. 

I cut a piece of plasticard to fit the flat bed of the truck and glued the cargo to this prior to painting. This was so I could remove the cargo to paint it. It also means I can use the trucks empty, and use  the cargo as a piece of terrain- multi-purpose is the name of the game!

The Orange one- with cargo...

...and without.

With cargo...

...and empty

This truck scales well with my 28mm scale stuff

And the cargo can be removed and used as terrain, should the battle call for it. 

Painting was simple- spray it black and paint it. I painted in the windows to match the other vehicals in my collection  This is because the resin Toyota technicals I bought form Britannia miniatures have solid windows which have to be painted, so it makes sense if all the windows on all the vehicals match- even if it doesn't look 100% realistic. A good coat of weathering adds the final details- after all- it's dusty in Zugando, and the poor conditions of the roads means vehicals get very dirty, very quickly.

IED for Force on Force

The ever present threat of Improvised Explosive Devices, road side bombs and booby traps have been something British and American soldiers have had to get used to in Afghanistan, Iraq and even Northern Ireland. Until recently they were fairly rare in Zugando, and the Peoples Resistance Army lacked the expertise to make anything but the simplest IED.

Recently, however there has been a worrying increase in both the numbers of IED used against the coalition and government forces, and in their sophistication. MI6 and CIA agents are investigating the possibility that an Al Qaeda trained bomb maker might be assisting the Peoples Resistance Army. Why AQ would help the neo-communist PRA remains a matter of subjection amongst the intelligence community, but they have placed a high priority on locating and eliminating this bomb maker- whoever he is.

I made these IED markers for Force on Force. They are based on a copper penny, so are quite small. They have various bits and bobs, found in my bits box: The barrels are metal ones from ebob sawn in half, while the mortar is a Games Workshop Imperial Guard one. The bin bag with the wires sticking out is made form green stuff- very simple really.

Christmas Madness 2012: The Revenge of Bad Santa

It was Christmas Eve, in Pulp City, 

and no one stirred, not even a mouse.
Well, except for Bad Santa and a load of primate terrorists.

And some Zombie Christmas Elves. 

And giant evil snowmen.

OK- not a great poem, but it is a great battle report, courtesy of my mate Pulp Citizen. 

Merry Christmas everyone. See you on the other side. 

Super Santa!

I wish all of you a Four Colour Super Christmas.

I hope you've all been good, and that the big man brings you what you want and need.

Superhero Santa Claus, ready to punish wrongdoers and protect the innocent.  I wish I could draw half as good as this but I can't. I found this picture on the Deviant Art website. It is by Angelo Nardone. The second I saw it I knew I ad to use it for my blog- and possible inspiration for next years Christmas Madness!

Three more sleeps to the Christmas Madness Battle Report!

Zombie Survivor: Bad Ass Jeff

  Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse might be down to luck- just being in the right place at the right time, but sometimes it’s because someone is too tough to die. Jeff is one of the latter cases.

Jeff was a US marine, until is dishonourable discharge for striking an officer. After that he became a drifter, before falling in with a Hell’s Angels gang. Even amongst the biker comity he was respected for being one tough son of a bitch. When the zombie apocalypse came Jeff was ready: well armed, determined to survive, with few friends and emotional attachments.

This is my first Zombie Apocalypse survivor, a left over from Zombtober who never got painted. The figure is by Musketeer Miniatures in their Heroes and Weirdoes range and is lovely to paint, with a very characterful face.

Christmas Madness is nearly here...

It's nearly that time again. The nights are drawing in, the spiced wine is warming on the stove and the annual Pulp City Christmas Madness is coming soon!

Don't forget to check out the blog Christmas Eve to fill you boots with Christmas cheer. Will Bad Santa finally succeed in steeling Christmas, or will Hero Santa save the day...

Liebster Award!

I have been honoured, in the past month, by being nominated twice for the Liebster Award. I was delighted to have received the award from fellow 28mm superhero nut Pulp Citizen and from JP, a VBCW fanatic and all round good egg. I am constantly delighted by such positive feedback to my humble blog, and I am always pleased to receive comments about my postings. 

Upon receiving a Leibster award, the following rules need to be observed. The second part of the award is to nominate five fellow bloggers using the following rules listed below.

• Copy and paste the award on your blog linking it to the blogger who has given it you.

• Pass the award to your top 5 favourite blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of there posts to notify them that they have won the award and listing them on your own blog.

• Sit back and bask in the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing you have made someone's day!

• There is no obligation to pass this onto someone else but its nice if you take the time to do so.

Without further ado, I would like to nominate the following blogs for Liebster Awards, for the continued contributions to wargaming!

Shed Wars, by Eric the Shed; For his ongoing contributions to many areas of wargaming, and for having a REALLY cool gaming room!

Miniatures, Painting and Hobbies, by Adam; For steadily populating the Canadian city of Havensburg with a massive horde of the living dead.

Jon's Wargaming Minis, by Jon Ward: Always beautifully painted and photographed- from VBCW to the Dark ages. Cracking stuff.

Wargaming Buildings, by Old West: Some of the most stunning terrain and buildings for wargaming you will see- diorama quality buildings which remain eminently practical for wargaming too. The blog concentrates on cowboys and zombie apoc.

Saxon Dog Wargames Blog, by Saxon Dog: For lots of stunningly painted Dark Ages and medieval figures

I would strongly recommend you take a look at these blogs- they represent some of the best wargaming blogs around.

I would also add a honourable mention to Brummie's Wargaming Blog and Pulp Citizen. I would have nominated both of these, but I couldn't, because they have already received the award. 

Force on Force Transports

  Although I haven’t had many chances to play Force on Force, I continue to plod on with gathering models and scenery for my FoF campaign set in the fictional civil war-torn West African country Zugando. The latest additions are a couple transports.

  The first is a civilian Ford Transit van, in dark green. This will be used as a transport for the Zuganda People’s Resistance Army, the militia force opposed by a coalition of UK, USA and African Union. Alternately it can be used as a piece of static scenery, or even in Zombie games. This model is a resin/metal model made by Sloppy Jalopy, and was given to my by my good pal Leon (cheers mate).

  The Second one is a Unimog. These trucks are made by Mercedes-Benz, and are widely used by various armies around the world, including the SAS, who used them during the Iraq war for long range patrolling, in conjunction with snatch land rovers. Their serious rough terrain capabilities makes them suitable work horses for the coalition troops in action in Zugando. This model is die-cast model made by Solido. I picked this one up on eBay, along with a white UN one. It scales nicely with my other stuff. I still need to add some mud and dust to this model, as it looks far too clean for Zugando.