Review of 2010

I have just reviewed my blog from twelve months ago. Then I had just 6 followers, and now, twelve months on, I have 33. I guess I must be doing something right.
Last year I declared that 2010 would feature more superheros, villains, thugs as well as some cowboys and some SciFi, and the start of a Zombie horde. Well it certainly did (if 9 zombies can be considered a horde), but what I hadn't anticipated was getting into 1938: A Very British Civil War (VBCW) via the Lead Adventure Forum, and later the Gentlemen' Wargame Parlor. 2010 has seen 80+ models painted for VBCW, in addition to the rest of the stuff. I have attended a few games over in Stourbridge, and the Big Game 3, in Evesham, and generally got to know, via the forum, a great bunch of enthusiastic war gamers (some of whom follow this blog).
2011 will feature, I think, more of the same. Supers will still be the core of the blog, and I have lots more unpainted supers waiting to get featured. A number of SciFi/supers cross overs might be on the cards too. I hope to get my hands on AE Bounty, a SciFi skirmish game from the makers of AE:ww2, and get a crew together for that too. I plan to add to my VBCW armies, to bring the BUF/ Royalist factions up to strength, and to add some much needed anti-tank to my Reds. I hope to add to the zombie horde too, as I enjoyed painting the Studio Miniatures zeds so much. I will to paint some more scenery, mostly for VBCW, but also to paint some interior scenery for Supers (namely a mad scientists lab, probably featuring sharks with frikin' laser beams!). I expect I might be doing some more Battle Cars too, as Charlie wont stop pestering me about it. Leon wants to get some pulp-era stuff done too, and while I have some ready done from a RPG campaign we ran last year, I might be tempted to add a small number to this to flesh it out a bit.
Other things I am looking at, but might not get around to, are more little space ships, and possibly Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, or Gezzers Shut it! Some more Flames of War might also be on the cards.
Phew! When I list it like that it looks like I am going to be very busy in 2011. And very skint!
Happy New Year every one. See you on the other side!

Merry Christmas

Please allow me this opportunity to extend my warmest seasons greetings to all thirty three followers, plus anyone else who happens to wander by. I hope that Christmas is good for you, and brings you everything you wish for, and that the new year brings you plenty of health and prosperity.

Credit where it's due, this art is from Deviant Art web site, and is by an artist called wondermanrules.

Ho Ho Ho.

Pulp Hero WIP

Pulp is a genre of American writing, predominately from the 1930's and 1940's, which features extraordinary heroes battling it out with the likes of Nazis, dinosaurs, cavemen and so fourth. It's long been an era that has interested me, especially considering that these all-American heroes, such as Phantom, The Shadow and Rocket Man are really the precursors for the four colour heroes.
I am planning to get on and do some more Pulp stuff in 2011, as is me old chum Leon. Originally I painted my pulp miniatures with a view to role-playing, but Leon and I have recently decided it would be fun to do a few skirmish games too.
Here is the first of my new wave of pulp minis painted specifically for skirmish games. This is one of the American Rocketeers Corp. These brave and adventurous individuals are always vigilant when it comes to protecting the American way form the nefarious plots of the villainous Nazis!
I thought I would post this picture to show you what I am up to, but I posted it as a WIP as I am not entirely happy with the green for the helmet and rocket pack; I might yet repaint it. Obviously I also need to flock his base etc. I plan to paint six of these guys- kindly given to me by Leon, presumably to kick start me back into the pulp mood- well it worked!
These lovely minis are made by Pulp Figures over in Canada, which is probably one of the best ranges of pulp ere minis out (along with Artizan Designs Thrilling Tales range).

Christmas Madness Pulp City Battle Report!

"Twas the night before Christmas all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

Things are seldom that peaceful in Pulp City, even at Christmas, and this year is no different.

This is a bit of Christmas silliness my regular Pulp City opponent, Leon (aka Pulp Citizen) got up to recently. It's just a bit of fun.

Through the evil plotting and arcane experiments of arch-villain Mysterious Man, The essences of the mythical Spirit of Christmas has been split into two parts. The first part, the bit that likes to reward all the children in the world who have been good, and who braves the Arctic winters to bring joy to the world, has become Good Santa. Unfortunatly, the other part of Santa, the part that likes to swig brandy and scoff mince pies, and punish the naughty children, has become Bad Santa!

Bad Santa is hell bent on ruining Christmas for everyone by building an army of evil toys and terrible snow men to help him take over the world. To do this he needs to capture the mythical Snowman's Hat. With the hat, he will have all the power he needs to ruin Christmas for ever. Bad Santa Has assembled a team of unscrupulous villains to help him capture the Snowman's Hat.

Bad Santa with Evil Toy and Terrible Snowmen minions, Francis Gator, Guerrilla, Sanguine and his little vampire dog Draku. (Controlled by Me)

Luckily for everyone else, The Good Santa has also assembled some allies from amongst the heroes of Pulp City, and is determined to stop Bad Santa capturing the Snowman's Hat.

Good Santa with Kitty Cheshire, Iron Train, Crimson Phoenix (a play test character) and two Vigilante Minions. (controlled by Leon, Aka Pulp Citizen)

Bad Santa's team got off to a sterling start, when the vampire Sanguine surged forward to grab the hat. Good Santa's team seemed surprised by the sudden move, but soon recovered. The heroes advanced as a team, slow but sure.

Good Santa advances behind Iron Train, whose massive armoured body acts as a mobile shield.

As the evil minions advance the civilians run for cover!

Kitty Cheshire phases through a car, supported by two vigilantes, and manages to take down Sanguine. Bad Santa then cuts her down in a hail of gunfire.

Kitty and her allies take out the vampire Sanguine before he can make good his escape. The Snowman's Hat is still up for grabs.

Iron Train smashes right through a Terrible Snowman like a snow plow.

Good Santa grabs the hat while Crimson Phoenix leaps into action against Bad Santa. Bad Santa's minions launch themselves ant the vigilantes, heedless of the dangers, but prove to be no match for the good guys. A violent brawl erupts in the center of the table, before Bad Santa is taken down by Crimson Phoenix's Five Fingered Death Punch.

Iron Train then fights a heroic rear-guard action against Francis Gator and Guerrilla, while Good Santa Makes good his escape with the Snowman's Hat.

Iron Train takes out Gator, but both Iron Train and Guerrilla prove well matched, and a Titanic battle ensues, with neither one of them able to best the other.

Good Santa escapes with the Snowman's Hat, heroically saving Christmas for everyone (Hooray!)

I hope you enjoyed this bit of Christmas Madness. It was lots of fun to play, even if I was cursed by the gods of crappy dice rolling. Check out Leon's excellent Blog, Pulp Citizen, devoted, as you might guess, to all things Pulp City. Leon will be posting his own version of the battle report, which may give a different perspective on the fight.

Leon set himself a challenge at the beginning of the year, to paint the entire range of Pulp City Figures before new year- keep checking his blog and see how much progress he is making as the deadline approaches. He has already made a herculean effort, not helped by the fact that the guys at Pulp Monsters keep bringing out more minis! He only has a few more left, and needs all the support he can get, so why not pop over to is blog and post an encouraging message.

Merry Christmas every one.

Narg Slave Race

The Unnargs are a sub-race of the Narg aliens, believed for have developed into a distinct species millenia ago. The Narg's view the Unnargs as little more that beasts, and have enslaved the entire species. In Narg society the Unnargs are employed exclusively for hard manual labour, something the Nargs are physiologically unpredisposed towards. Generations of selective breading, and later genetic manipulation, have produced a people that are strong and durable, yet docile and easily trained. Unnargs have been known to exhibit rudimentary psyonic powers, especially empathy. Their peaceful nature is likely to make them a rare sight as part of any invasion force.

This mini is an alien made my Hasslefree. I picked it up at Salute 2010, and have finally got around to painting it. It is obviously a relative of the Grey aliens I bought from Black Cat Bases.

New Superhero Sighted- Fatastic Elastic

The newspapers are ablaze with the story of the cities latest superhero, spotted yesterday preventing a bank heist. The Hero, who calls himself 'Fantastic Elastic', is seemingly unaffiliated with any of the existing super teams. An unnamed source close to Fantastic Elastic revealed that he developed his astounding stretching powers after a freak accident in a chemical laboratory. In addition to being able to stretch, his rubbery body is resilient to damage, and regenerate extraordinary quickly.

This one was a quicky, because I was aware that I haven't posted any superheros lately, just lots of villains and thugs.I also needed a stretchy guy, as I am using the excellent Squadron UK RPG for the forth coming supers campaign, and it features a rather unique random power generation table, and I keep on rolling stretch powers. This it the first mini I have painted who is obviously a stretcher.

This is a Mutants and Madmen miniature, by Black Hat Miniatures (not to be confused with Black Cat Bases, who make the grey aliens I have been painting). I picked up at Salute 2010. He stands 50mm tall. His legs too thin to easily take off his tab, so I opted for a slotta base for a change.

Christmas Madness Returns!

It's December and yet again I am feeling the tell tale signs of Christmas Madness creeping in: Eating too many mince pies, drinking Stones Ginger Wine, and painting inappropriate Christmas themed miniatures. Last years Christmas Madness featured evil snow man, Bad Santa, pulp heroic Santa and some very naughty toys. This years madness will feature some more unsuitable miniatures, and even a special battle report- stay tuned in, and be good for goodness sake.

No really- be good.

Christmas madness kicks of with a zombie-contagion outbreak in the Santa's Grotto at a Birmingham based department store. The resulting outbreak lead to a brief situation when the entire Bullring Shopping center was placed under quarantine until specially trained police squads and Superheroes from Team Metro managed to get the situation under control. Normal Christmas shopping was resumed after a few hours, and the relentless march of consumerism continued unabated.

As an aside, this particular outbreak of the contagion was blamed on some cheap plastic toys imported from China. Chinese authorities have, of course, denied that the contagion started in their country, and blamed western imperialism for the outbreak.

These miniature are made by Studio Miniatures. Me old mate Leon bought them for me in the summer when I was laid up with a bad knee. He wisely realised that it would take me six months to get round to basing them and paining them in time for the onset of Christmas Madness. Cheers Lee.
I would have to say that painting these was a lot of fun. They are superb sculpts, with hardly any mold lines or flash. A highly recommended product!

Battle Cars Reinforced!

Charlie and I have made two more battle cars for our crazy post-Apocalypse Mad Max thing.

Charlie created The Exorcist for his gang boss. Traveling in style, this '47 Chevy is fully tooled up fro offencive play, featuring twin bazookas, and a massive roof-mounted automatic cannon. That's serous firepower for anyone unlucky enough to find itself in front of this bad boy.

My VW Camper, Aka Grunge, belongs to a traveling band on hippy-rockers. It's tooled up with twin-linked military pulse lasers in a turret, smoke launchers and a reinforced crew compartment, making it far more defencive than Charlies vicious car.

For this lot, I broke my self-imposed rule about doing things cheaply, and splashed out £4 for the VW camper off eBay. The thing was so battered it barley had any of it's original paint on, and I know I payed over the odds for it, but I love the classic camper van so much I had to have one in my gang. Again weapons are by Games Workshop, and cars are by hot wheels (Chevy) and matchbox (VW).

Now we have got three cars a piece I think we have enough to start gaming. Charlie and I will try out the Axel and Alloys rules, and I will post a battle report, probably early in the new year.

Rat Catcher Returns With Minions!

The evil Rat Catcher is rumoured to have recruited some minions to help him commit his wicked crimes. From the deepest depth of the city sewers he has brought forth giant rats, to do his bidding. His reign of terror shows no sign of slowing, despite the best efforts of the city officials and superheroes to unearth his subterranean lair.

In addition to the giant rats, he has also been sited in the company of hideous mutant giant rats. No one knows where these monstrous creatures came form, but they seems as loyal and as vicious as a pack of wolves.

I found these lovely miniatures whist sorting out some stuff for eBay in the garage. They are Games Workshop- presumably from the Skaven range (but the mutants rats might be from Necromunda). I based them on resin bases by Fenris, to be in keeping with the rest of my supers range, and with The Rat Catcher in particular. They had thin integral bases which would have been very difficult to remove without damaging their spindly legs, so I filled them back and disguised them with a bit of fine sand.

Can I say a big hello to my new followers, SR, Smillie and Zanazaz. I hope you like what you see.

Tintin Vs Cthulhu

I so wish that some one would write this book. This has to be the greatest ever idea for a Call of Cthulhu adventure.
This is the work of artist Murry Groat, who has made four Cthulhu/Tintin covers, including Tintin in Innsmouth. It's very cleaver and right up my street.
It's kind of got me thinking, as Mark Copplestone already does a Tintin character, and some snow-bound explorers, it could be great fun to do as a mini project (And could possible tie in with my Pulp stuff).
Great, just what I need- another mini-project to distract me!

More Battle Cars

My 10 year old son and I have been at it again, and have created two more battle cars for our Axles and Alloys game. Charlies is the Red Rocketeer, a van armed with a turret mounted medium missile launcher and a smoke launcher, while I opted for the more 'up-close-and-personal' Disco Inferno, a pick-up truck armed with a huge flame-thrower on the side, a rear facing military grade pulse laser, and a big ol' rusty ram on the front.

The cars are matchbox-scale Fast Lane cars, and the weapons are old Games Workshop.

Big Game 3 (VBCW) review

Last week end I went to the famous Big Games 3 (Or BG3), one of the biggest annual event in the 1938: A Very British Civil War (VBCW) calender. Organised by hardcore VBCW nutter Mort, and attended by some of the big names in VBCW, including some of it's visionary creators.

Trades Union Band

(Not my picture, but so nice I had to use it)

Unfortunately because of work commitments, I could only attend one day, but I proudly took my VBCW militia along. The weekend was a bit chaotic, in a good way, with various battles being fought simultaneously on various tables, and events occurring on one table directly effecting the events on another table: For example, it was possible for a force to retire from one table only to enter another table, based on a rather random map in Mort's head (or based on Mort's whims, I wasn't sure which).

The campaign had a narrative style, not a competitive one- no one bothered with points values or trying to make sure the fights were balanced, it was all about building up an interesting narrative based on the battles going on.

British Union of Fascists Tank show scant regard for the high way code (again, not my picture, but too good not to pinch)

For my part I was rather on the periphery of the main battles. I was allied to the Anglican League, a militia based around the Church of England. My job was to organise road blocks and extract a tithe from passing traffic, in order to fund the Leagues continued campaigns.

In the first battle I advanced with about half my force onto a tiny hamlet, hoping to extract some money from the unsuspecting villagers and any passing travelers hoping to make their way through. Unfortunately I encountered stiff resistance from the Somerset Freedom Fighters (SFF), and their allies in the RAF, who had managed to muster up an anti-tank gun. My troops performed poorly, not least because my commander got shot down in short order by the troops of the RAF. My 3" mortar made a good showing, wiping out the best part of an RAF platoon, but eventually I was forced to withdraw and leave the village to the SFF.

My boys advance on the village, hoping to extract tithes form the locals, unaware that a large force of Somerset Freedom Fighters were heading our way, determined to stop us.

In the second battle, I managed to secure an undefended village, and construct a road block. My troops took up well defenced positions in the village. Again I was attacked by the SFF, this time controlled by Mort himself. This time I performed better, and although some heated shots were exchanged, I managed to drive off the SFF without sustaining any casualties. Once their HMG was wiped out by my armoured car they lost the stomach for the fight and quit the field.

My boys hold the line and repel a SFF attack.

All in all the event was a lot of fun, the VBCW guys were very welcoming, and the native driven plot was a welcome change form the highly competitive Warhammer 40K tournaments I have been to in the past. Things were chaotic, and often the people organising the event seemed as confused as everybody else, but it was a a great laugh. It was fantastic to play on some lovely scenery, and to see so many brilliant VBCW armies in one place. I am defiantly looking forward to BG4.

Just one of the fantastic battlefieds we

fought over- exactly what a VBCW battlefield should look like.

More Grey Aliens Sighted!

The evidence of a plot by the Grey aliens to invade Britain continues to mount with the siting of two important members of the alien delegations were spotted surveying tactically sensitive sites around Birmingham.

Lady Bitnarg, supreme mistress of the fourth rite,

and undernarg to Master Psynarg.

Science Officer Scarnarg,

Wielder of the Trans-portal communicator.

Yet again these grey aliens are form Black Cat Bases. I have really enjoyed painting these little chaps, and I am looking forward to incorporating them into my supers campaign.

Battle Cars

My son Charlie (who is 10) and I have embarked on a new, exciting, and slightly silly project. We have started converting old Matchbox type cars into crazy post-Apocalypse Mad Max style battle cars, by gluing on lots of bits and bobs I have in spadefuls in the garage- all sorts of Games Workshop guns and such from a myriad of half finished projects or spares. The result looks surprisingly cool, and we are delighted with the way they turned out. Cue a frenzy of filing and gluing as we both embark on an arms race to create the ultimate killer car.

I will point out that the black car, aka The Destroyer, is Charlies. He painted it himself, and I think that it's hard to tell because his standard of painting has improved so much. I am very proud of him. My VW, aka The Battle Bug has come out very well too. Charlie added an Imperial Guard Lascannon, and death spikes made from part of the GW 40K buildings kit. I added a Heavy stubber, and oil slick dropper, and armoured wheels.

We will use the rules Axles and Alloys, which is available free of the net in a play test format. Although the cars are nominally 20mm scale, we can us the rocks and cactus etc from the western board for scenery, so I won't have to start making lots of new scenery (but I might anyway, just to use up some of the bitz I have in the garage).

Here's some WIP shots, to jive you an idea of what we did. We are hoping that when me old mucka Leon sees these pics he will feel inspired to rise to the challenge, make a few himself, and try his hand in the Arena of Death!

That's if he has got the balls.

Two cars- 70p each from Tescos

Key the paint with a file to create a good surface.

Add detailing from left over bitz box stuff, and aluminium body mesh (from car repair shop) to windows to keep the zombies out.

Bullet holes added with a pin drill.

Spray Chaos Black, paint with GW .

Don't forget some mud spatters and weathering on the paintwork.

easy.

VBCW Chester Local Defence Force

The Duke of Farndon's own militia forces continues to grow, their ranks swelled with volunteers from the dukes personal estates in and around Chester. Here is Lieutenant Arthur Maxwell, recently commissioned to the CLDF. Luckily for the CLDF, Maxwell has some previous millitary experience, all be it during the Boer war in 1902. He was retired from the army after receiving a wound in battle, and since then he has worked as a solicitor in Chester. The Duke himself personally persuaded Maxwell to once more take a commission. At 57, Maxwell is well past his prime, but his experience and maturity are useful in tempering Captain Grover's own excessive enthusiasm. He also like to point out that he won his medals in battle, unlike his commanding officer.
Maxwell's adjunct is Second Lieutenant William Pinkerton, who previously worked for Maxwell as a solicitors clerk. Pinkerton is, at best, unimaginative as an officer, but his meticulous attention to detail is ideal for his role as adjunct.
Their uniforms are specially made by the good women of the Chester Women's Institute to a design made by Captain Grover. Not quite as nice as his own, but certainly conforming to his own sense of what an officer should look like.

2nd Lieutenant Pinkerton and Lieutenant Maxwell

of the Chester Local Defence Force

These minis are from West Wind Games (I think, or they might be Black Tree Designs). They are WW2 Soviet officers, but Maxwell has had a head swap with one of WWG's own WW2 British army heads. I added a holster to Maxwell's belt using green stuff.

The Rat Catcher

This unsavoury character is the Rat Catcher, and while he might look harmless enough, he is mastermind behind a series of audacious crimes that have plagued the city over the last few months. Leading his minions of giant rats, rat swarms and even mutant rat-men, he has infested the sewers of the city, meaning he can strike where ever he wishes, emerging from storm drains and man-holes to wreck havoc, before escaping back to his sub-terrainian lair.

Law enforcement and heroes have made it a priority to locate the Rat Catchers lair, but so far have turned up nothing, despite numerous sweeps of the city's archaic network of Victorian sewers.I painted this to prove that this blog is still about superheroes and super villains, despite the fact that all I seem to be painting at the moment is 1938: Very British Civil War (VBCW). If you like the VBCW stuff fear not, there is a glut of it on the way soon.

The miniature is a limited edition Wargames Foundry one I picked upon ebay for a couple of quid. it's a lovely characterful model. it was nice to paint brighter colours after the dowdy 1930's armies I have been working on lately. I also plan to get hold of some ratty minions for him, but as always, money is in short supply.

A big hello goes out to the newbies Nick and Cash1204. hope you enjoy and as always comments and so on are always welcome.

VBCW: Duke of Farndon's Militia

The Duke of Farndon is a powerful figure at the royal court of King Edward, although his reputation has been tarnished by his close association with the British Union of Fascists, especially since the Prime Minster, Mr Oswald Moseley, has fallen out of favour with the King. Recently the Duke has tried to distance himself from the BUF, and Moseley, by openly supporting the more conservative British Fascisti (BF). His political maneuverings mean that the Duke is forced to spend much of his time at court in Madresfield.


The Duke is also the main land-holder in and around Chester, with his ancestral home just on the outskirts of the city. Having lost many of his holdings in Westminster to the Anglican League, the Duke is determined not to loose Chester to the damn Reds from Liverpool, and so has formed his own militia, the Chester Local Defence Force (CLDF). This private army of volunteers drawn from his estates has been armed and financed by the Duke himself. While they are firmly Royalist, the dukes history with the BUF mean the CLDF are as likely to clash with the BUF as they are fight along side them.

Captain Hon. Robert G. Grover

of the Chester Local Defence Force

The Duke, being absent at court most of the time, has appointed his youngest Nephew, Hon. Robert George Grover, as commanding officer of the CLDF. Styling himself as Captain R.G. Grover, the young lord has taken to his new role with relish, despite his lacking in military experience, or ever having held a commissioned rank. He designed his smart uniform himself, and is believed to have bought the glittering array of medals he often sports at an auction. He believes that it is more important to the average British tommy that their CO looks and acts like an officer, rather than actually having any experience.

Captain Walton, Royal Artillery

Luckily for the defenders of Chester, not all of those in command lack military experience. As well as the BUF Legions from Manchester, the city is defenced by detachments of the Royalist Northern Army, in the form of the Manchesters, loyalist members of the tretcherous Liverpool Regiment, and a detachment of the Royal Artillery.

These officers represent the start of my new force for VBCW, the CLDF. I plan on building up a small force of the militia, possibly with some allies from the regular army, and the Manchester Legion BUF. Captain Grover is a Black Tree Designs miniature representing a Russian general, but I painted him in the fictitious uniform of the CLDF, using English uniform paint by Valleyo. Captain Walton was one of Gripping Beasts WW1 German air force officers from their Red Baron pack. I just painted him up as an Artillery officer instead, without converting him.

In addition to this CLDF Stuff, I have also been out shopping, and have bought myself a train. I bought it from the Entertainer, for just £6, and I think it scales very well with the 28mm minis. Great value at the price. The trouble is I am not sure what to do with it. I think an armoured train might be cool, or I could do it up as a piece of static scenery. I think I might throw the topic out onto the Gentleman's Wargame Parlor, to see if any of the VBCW fans there have any ideas. I am thinking of getting another to use with my Legends of the Old West cow folks.

A train. Any ideas?

More British Black-shirts

Captain Ernest Webster, of the Manchester Legion of the British Union of Fascists; sometime known as the Butcher of Beswick. He likes to encourage the use of this nick-name in the hopes of fostering a fearsome reputation, but in actual fact he earned it not for some act of brutality but because before the war he was just that: owner of a village butchers shop.
Webster is an ambitious man, who sees the BUF as a means to an end- and that end is to become ennobled. In his own mind he sees himself as a crusading knight, fighting for king and country against the forces of liberalism and socialism. He honestly believes if he distinguishes himself in battle, then the king might grant him a knighthood, or even a peerage. The fact that he has no experience as a commanding officer, or even served in the military, does not seem to daunt him.

Corporal Edith Benson, of the Women's Volunteer Axillary of the BUF, is Captain Websters driver, and sometimes bodyguard. Many snigger that she is a good deal more than that, but never to her face. She is absolutely loyal to the captain, and shares his vision of his eventual rise to the ranks of nobility. The BUF are not short of weapons and equipment. The Prime Minister, Oswald Mosley, makes sure that they have the latest equipment at their disposal. It's a pity that so few of them have the skill and training to put them to good use. Here is a heavy machine gun section ready to lend support to their BUF colleagues during the siege of Liverpool.

These minis are by Musketter Miantuires, exsept for Edith, who is by Pulp Miantures.

Mr Achnacarry and Mr Archer (VBCW)

In the alternative Britain of 1938: a Very British Civil War, the city of Liverpool has declared itself a free city, independent form the rest of war-torn Britain. It's mayor, Henry Walpole, is a socialist, and has managed to unite the diverse forces in Liverpool, ranging from Irish Nationalists, to Communist dock workers, Anglican league militias, local volunteer militias and elements of the Royal Navy and the Liverpool Regiment who have declared themselves in support of the Liverpool Free State. Keeping this desperate group of idealists acting together as a cohesive force in the face of the besieging royalist and fascist forces is no easy matter. Mayor Walpole is a charismatic man, but sometimes it is necessary to use more direct forms of persuasion to influence his supporters.
These two 'gentlemen' are Mr Archer (on the left) and Mr Achnacarry, agents of Mayor Walpole. Officially they are civil servants, but they are more commonly known as the mayors secret police. Mr Achnacarry passes himself of as a gentleman, mild mannered, sporting an umbrella and a monocle, but his soft spoken threats are real enough. Rumor is that he used to be a policeman in Shanghai, and knows as much about killing as is possible to know. Mr Archer is his assistant, bodyguard and sometimes his enforcer. Most people believe the rumor that he used to be a circus strongman or a wrestler. Certainly the way his muscles bulge beneath his ill-fitting suits suggest their may be some credence to these rumours.
Mr Achnacarry and Mr Archer are seen all over the Liverpool Free State, having quiet words with the commanders of the various forces fighting for the city, ensuring that Mayor Walpole's wishes are carried out.

These two minis are by Artizan Designs. I liked them so much I just had to come up with a back story so I could use them in my army. I will probably treat them as special characters, or something like that.

Later in November I will be joining a load of other VBCW fanatics at the Big Game 3, in Evesham, where my Reds will be representing a militia force working for Lord Bath. The chap who is playing Lord Bath has requested I bring along a heavy machine gun or a mortar. As I haven't got one, and I am a bit skint at the moment I thought I would have a stab at making one. Here is the work in progress shot of it. The bipod is a GW mortar, and the barrel is a piece of plastic form a cotton wool bud. Minis are by West Wind. I am quite chuffed with the result. It might not be an exact copy of a ww2 3 inch mortar, but you can tell what it's meant to be. I also hope that a lucky shot form a mortar might prove to be effective against the royalist armoured cars when I next go down to Stourbridge, because I had nothing that could damage them in our last battle.

Welcome Newbies

Firstly, let me say a big welcome to new members Jfreeman2002 and the mysterious follower known only as S. I am still amazed that 22 people follow my blog- it's very encouraging to know that people are interested in what I slap paint on to.

This Blog has been criticised in the past (mostly buy my good mate Leon aka Pulp Citizen) for straying too far from it's core content, which is superhero related 28mm gaming. A quick view of the blog content will reveal that this is probably justified, as I have interest in other areas of gaming, but I will always return to the core Four-Colour theme. I hope you find something in the diverse mix of blog entries that peaks your interest, be is Supers, Scifi, Old West, Conan or Very British Civil War.

Greys in Red-Shirts

More Alien Invasion nastiness for my forthcoming Supers campaign. I have added to my Grey alien force, by painting a squad of security officers, also known as "Scenargs". They are variously armed with an Aznarg stun-probe, twin ear-cannons and a light particle transmodifcator (PTM), and wear the obligatory red-jackets clearly compulsory to all members of the Secnarg caste . More Greys will be joining their ranks soon!

These lovely little guys are made by Black Cat Bases, ad I picked them up at Salute 2010. I love their fun, cartoon styling, and think they look great in their primary colours. they will be useful for my supers campaign, but will also find their way into my SciFi campaign, when I get around to writing it, and may even surface as a team of mercenaries in AE Bounty- I love multi-purpose miniatures.

Additionally, here another space ship. This is a private yacht, The Advent, owned by the notorious smuggler-poet Andre Eg'moss. it's heavily modified engines feature particle injectors salvaged of a wrecked Martian Light Cruiser. It's a bumpy ride, but when those injectors kick in there are very few ships this side of the Arms of Orion that can match The Advent for speed.

This tiny bad-boy is just 28mm long. Again I picked it up at Salute, from GZG (Ground Zero Games).

VBCW buildings

I have been splurging some of my hard earned cash onto some new scenery for my 1938:A Very British Civil War (VBCW) table. I eventually plan to make two possible tables, one rural and one urban, to represent the area of Cheshire and Merseyside from where I originally hale. I have started with the rural scenery, as that is probably easier. Some of the cowboy scenery I made of Deadhorse will easily be pressed into service for a rural Edwardian England, such as the barns and shacks, as well as the fences, but I want my board to look more typically English. To that end I have bought a pub ( what could be more English than a pub). This is the Red Lion Pub, made by Warbases. It is laser cut from MDF and is very strong and durable. It cost just £12, has a removable roof, and a back yard, with a brick privy shown below). All the details are etched onto the surface, so all I have to do is paint it, and add a roof out of a suitable material. I could use plasticard, but I will probably go with the cheaper option of using a cornflake box (reuse, recycle etc).

A slightly more expensive, but less bothersome option is the second building I bought, a timbered building with a tiled roof. This is from Conflix and comes prepainted, ready to use out of the box, but I might repaint it anyway so it is black and white- All of the historic timbered buildings in the area I am trying to depict were painted black and white during Victorian times, so it would look more convincing if I do. I payed £17.99 for this, but I have since found it going for about £15 on the net (plus p+p).

I need to add some hedges, roads etc, and then may be get my hands on some farm animals etc. Mean while work progresses on the British Union of Fascists- more photos to follow soon.