Jungle Halloween Madness 2014

It's Halloween again and Pulp Citizen and I were not about to let it pass unnoticed, so we held another of our annual Halloween Madness games of Pulp City- using the second edition set of the rules which will be out VERY soon. 

The figures are Pulp Citizen's own, except the ninja minions (I did those). I also made the jungle and the Idol of the Ape God too. Thanks to Pulp Citizen for editing my photos with his usual style. 

We transferred the supernatural action to the steamy jungles of South America, and pitted the indomitable forces of nature verses the relentless minions of Science, in a story we called...

Some game pictures from Earlswood Wargamers Club

Here are a few more pictures from last weeks wargaming night at the Earlswood Wargames Club. As I have already reported I played an exciting game of Dead Man's Hand, but there were two other games on- I took a few photos just for fun. The first game is a War of Spanish Succession game- not a period I know anything about, but lots of nice figures in fancy hats. 

Next up was English Civil War. Keith Johnson from the Earlswood Wargames Club has just published his own set of rules with the nifty title "To Defy a King". I have yet to play it but I have had a good look through the rules and they look gorgeous- serious eye candy for any fans of the English Civil War. And with large print for those of us who are not perhaps as you as we were. 

If you want to know more about "To Defy A King" here is a link. 

Zomtober Week 4: Napoleonic Zombie Survivors and Undead Cowboys!

First up- for Regardez! Zombie! I have three more Napocalypse (do you see what I did there?) survivors- These three are cavalry men who have lost their horses- may be their mounts ran off at the smell of the undead, or else perished it the bitter winter. What ever happened these poor donkey-wallopers are now reduced to tramping through the snow like everyone else.

First up a Dragoon, sporting a musket as well as his cavalry sabre and pistol- A dragoon might do better that his other cavalry colleagues because at least he has been trained to fight on foot.

Next up, a very dashing Carabinier sporting a rakish brace of pistols- I love this one- very dynamic pose for a Perry Twins model. He certainly has a dash of the élan you would expect from a French cavalryman.

Here is my last cavalryman, for now. A hussar with a pistol and a sabre.  Hussars have a reputation for being dashing rakes with the skills to live off the land behind enemy lines- useful skills when surrounded by Les Morts Ambulants!

And on the Cowboys vs Zombies front I have finally finished all the ones I intended to do- these pair are from West Winds Victorian Zombies set. 

And here they are all together. In the further I might add a few more to this collection, may be some of the Warlord Games Zombie Indians, or a few of the Wargames Foundry zombie cowboys. On the whole I think the Red Box Games undead go quite well with the West Wind Games Victorian Zombies. 

Dead Man's Hand: A Deadly Shoot Out

Last Sunday I joined the Earlswood Wargamers for an evening of gaming- my planned game- Drums and Shakos, was called off when my opponent was unable to make it, but instead I ended up playing Dead Man's Hand with Dave and his nephew James on Dave's new Dead Man's Hand Board. Regular Readers may recall that I posted some pictures of Dave's last Dead Mans Hand board earlier in the year- here is a link. Well Dave's new board it at least as cool as his last one,and he had out done himself with scatter terrain that help make the board feel 'lived in'.
For the record Dave is using Dead Man's Hand figures and his terrain is mostly from 4Ground- although he has added many of his own embellishments.  

For the game we each took just three men from each gang- I was the desperadoes, James the Mexican Banditoes and Dave was the Law. Basically the plot was that there was some bad blood between the Mexicans and the desperadoes over a deal that had gone sour, and both sides were going to settle the score, while the Law just kept the peace and killed the bad guys- a classic three way battle.  

The encounter kicked off early, when one of my thugs wielding a shotgun decided to take the initiative. Howling a curse at the slimy double crossing Mexican, he leapt up onto the wagon and tried to blast the Bandito who was carrying a shotgun, hoping to take him out of the fight early. Things did not go well, when the Mexican snap fired with both barrels, blowing my desperado away, and only reviving a light wound in return! Even in Dead Man's Hand people do tend to live a bit longer than that!

He ain't all there is he?
Not such a smart move after all!

With one man down I decided to play smarter. My boss clambered onto the roof of the gun shop, where he had good cover and could snap shots off at the Mexicans in the street bellow, while my sneaky injun half-breed skulked in an ally-way beside the gallows, hoping to outflank the banditoes. 

Sneaky lightfoot halfbreed injun!

Alerted from the gun shots the Marshal and his deputies appeared from the jail and saw the Mexicans standing over the body of my desperado, smoking guns in hand, and drew some quick conclusions, before shooting. Reasoning that it might be better to let them get on with it my boss hid on the roof, popping up to let of the odd shot, including shooting the Mexican's boss in the back and wounding a deputy. This last action singled him out for some 'attention' from the marshal, who had my boss in his sights- but to my good fortune, the marshals gun jammed, and my boss made it across the rooftops onto the balcony of the undertakers, out of sight of the vengeful marshal. 

In this town I AM THE LAW!

Meanwhile my half breed got into a close range gun fight with one of the Mexicans- which end up with a tense moment when the both realised their guns were empty. The Mexican  licked his dry tips nervously as they eyed each other up, but the half-breed got the drop on him and dashed drew his hunting knife, gutting and then scalping the Mexican. 

The halfbreed scalps his victim

The last of the Mexicans, with revenge in mind, sprinted into the undertakers, intending to sneak up on my boss and shoot him in the back. He never got a chance, as my boss spotted him: Crashing through the window from the balcony into the first floor of the undertakers, the boss ran to the top of the stairs and shoots the last Mexican dead as he began to climb the stairs!

The desperado boss leaps across the alleyway to avoid the marshal's vengeance!

The Marshal spots my half-breed scalping his victim and opens up with his six shooter, narrowly missing the injun. The half-breed dived for cover in a half-built building and returned fire. The last deputy tries to out flank the half-breed, but comes under fire from my boss, who charges out of the undertakers, guns blazing. 

The Deputy has a chance to end it, but misses the desperado boss. Fatal mistake. 

It was then everything changed- the half breed opens fire, and in a lucky moment hits the marshal, killing him outright. The last deputy opens fire on my boss, but his nerves get the better of him, and he misses. Outnumbered and out guns he makes a dash for the undertakers, but is cornered by my desperadoes. More bullets fly, but in the end the deputy was gunned down.

I shot the sheriff. And I did shoot his deputy too. 

 All in all an excellent game- and a privilege to play with Dave's lovely figures and scenery. I thought I was a goner when my shot gun wielding thug bought the farm on the first round, but by being a sneaky backstabbing lucky scum-bag I pulled the game back- Nine men started- only two left standing- both mine. 

Zomtober 2014: Week Three

Unfortunately real life has, as usual, got in the way of my plans...having spent most of the week in hospital with my son, my painting scheduled had gone up the swaney. Never the less I did manage to get two more survivors completed for Regardez! Zombie!

Here they are- a couple on daring infantrymen, exhausted from trudging through the bitter Russian winter, and having to grimly muster what strength they can to face a foe no one in Napoleons army had ever dreamed they would have to face...Les Morts Ambulants!

Hopefully next week I will get more done now Charlie is out of hospital - I intend to finish the Cowboys vs Zombies undead, and get at least three more Regardez! Zombie! survivors finished too. A tall order perhaps, but its good to set goals.

Peninsualr War: Royal Navy Ships

I bought a couple of ships to go with my Napoleonic sailors- but with a mind that they might be good for Freebooters Fate or On the Severn Seas (a game my son and I fancy getting into in the New Year). 

I got these from Eleven Tree Designs. They are laser-cut but pre assembled and are detailed enough not to need much by way of painting. They usually come with long masts and rigging, but I thought that would get in the way on gaming, so opted to have these cut off masts (which made it a bit cheaper too).  

Eleven Tree Design were a good company to deal with. I contacted them through their Facebook account and they were helpful and even game me a discount as I was buying two ships. the cost was good too, compared to the resin ones on the market. 

Zomtober 2014: Week 2

Week two of Zomtober is over already, and I managed to squeeze out some more historical-zom-apoc figures. There first three survivors for the Zombies vs Napoleonics game (I have decided to call it Regardez! Zombie! for short). 

The survivors are from Perry Miniatures 'Retreat from Moscow' range. Les Morts Ambulants (does everything sound cooler in French?) are from Mantic and I painted them last year for my Finnish zombie game 'It Snows in Hell'. 

In addition to Regardez! Zombie! I have added another zombie to my slowly growing horde of living dead for my Cowboys vs Zombies game (which has yet to be given a funky title). Some intrepid photographer even managed to capture the unfortunate zombies likeness in sepia film (just before it ate his head!)

Again, another one from Red Box Games-

Zomtober 2014 Week 1

Week One of Zomtober finds me with two more zombies for my Cowboys vs Zombies idea. I make no apologies for the green skin- I am just old school. 

These two are from Redbox games, and I picked them up when Red Box was having a clearance sale because they were switching from white metal to some sort of spin cast resin. Even having them shipped from the  USA they were a bargain.  Nice models- quite slight, with small heads, Well probably not that small, just realistically proportioned unlike most heroic scale minis. They work OK along side West Winds Victorian Zombies, but would look stupid next to GW and Mantics.

Blood and guts were painted with GW new technical paint, Blood for the Blood God (yes, that is what it is really called) which goes on semi-translucent and dries with a lovely sheen- an excellent product. 

two down- twelve survivors and three more zeds to go!

AtDE: Another Rag Market Trader

Joe the Soleman is another of the merchants living and working in the Rag Market (the post-apocalypse ruins of Britain's second largest city- Birmingham). He specialises in supplying pre-war shoes for the discerning customer- not the post war canvas or leather rubbish most folks wear, but the supremely comfortable trainers and boots made with amazing fabrics which mankind has lost the knowledge and skills to manufacture. These items aren't just foot-ware...they are collectors items, works of art and relics of a lost age. 

The majority of the items the Soleman sells are reconditioned. He is skilled at repairing old shoes and making them as good as new (well almost). He buys pre-war shoes off gangs, no questions asked, and will pay top Points even if they are splattered with mud or blood. 

What really gets the Soleman excited is when he comes across a mint condition pair of pre-war shoes and boots...such a find happens rarely nowadays, but when it does the whole Rag Market will be buzzing with rumours and excitement. Any gang coming across such loot will be well advised to speak to the Soleman first, as he has the connections with the wealthy private collectors in the Trade Guild and the State who have the Points to spend on such a rarity.