Monday 28 October 2019

Zombtober Week 3: Finished Zombie Horde

No posts last week because I was very busy with work but this week I have finished 10 more zombies for my Last Days in Paradise: A Caribbean Zombie Apocalypse. This brings the total to 28, just 2 short of my intended goal. I think I am going to call that a day, although I still have two more based and sprayed, so I am sure I will finish them at some point. I am sure 28 should be enough. 

I plan to try some solo games out using the Seasons supplement. This will allow me to test the rules and have a bit of fun. 






This is my entire horde shambling across my desktop. I like the way teh Mantic zombies look dynamic, but till



Monday 14 October 2019

Zombtober 2019: Week 2

Nine more zombies finished for Zombtober this week (including the one that fell off its base last week) bringing the total to seventeen so far. These have been painted for my Last Days in Paradise campaign, a zombie apocalypse based on a Caribbean island. As such, I have reid to paint these zeds as if they were afro-caribbean. I have tried a variety of different painting techniques to get different skin tones.  

The one think I love about Zombtober is seeing how so many other bloggers are progressing with their zombies and survivors. There are a lot of Walking Dead survivors being painted this year, which is great, as they are lovely models. When Pulp Citizen, Simon Q and I came up with the idea many years ago I did not think that it would still be going strong and inspiring people to paint zombies in 2019! Well done everyone, especially Simon for getting us all organised. 





Saturday 12 October 2019

VBCW Big Game (Herefordshire)

A few pictures from today's Big Game in Herefordshire (not so big as there was only five of us there). 
The Communist and the royalist/fascist were both trying to 'tax' the same area of Herefordshire to replace losses incurred in recent battles. The local farmers had other ideas.
The game started surprisingly peaceful, with both the communist and the government forces not wanting to antagonise the well armed farmers, preferring instead to do battle using proxies in the from of unallied forces (the police, the AA, some well armed rugby players) to influence the farmers.

Things took a sharp detore when two platoons of german paratroopers (umpire controlled) dropped onto the battlefield with orders to eliminate the communist leader, Colonel- Commissar Professor Winters.
Some of the farmers, lead by Farmer Giles, unimpressed with foreign Johnnies dropping into their farms unannounced and uninvited, switched sides and started shooting at the Germans and their fascist allies.
The Communists and Farmer Giles managed to hold off the combined forces of the Government, the Fascists, the Germans and a treacherous, greedy farmer who sided with them. When it became clear that Farmer Giles' farm house was undefendable, the Communist fell back to a solid defensive position behind the farm. 
Reluctantly Colonel-Commissar Professor Winters gave the order for an orderly withdrawal. The Communist had acquired a fair amount of bootie (I mean voluntary contributions to the workers cause), and even rescued forces sweetheart Vera Lynn from the clutches of the Fascist regime. All this and they has only suffered a single casualty, killed by a bouncing exploding rugby ball. 
Not a bad result really. 
Farmer Giles and his family sadly lost their farm house, but Professor Winters gamely arranged to send them all to one of the CPGB's many luxurious re-education facilities. 
A van belonging to the CPGB Voluntary Contributions Unit- charged with redistributing wealth. 

Some unallied rugger buggers

The AA with their new tank. (Another unallied faction)

A firefight breaks out between the Royal Main the AA as both sides start using the unallied factions as proxies in the battle. 

Sergeant Thomson of the Voluntary Contributions Unit of the CPGB stops a passing vehicle and inspects it for contraband. After a small voluntary contribution to the communist cause most of the vehicles were allowed to continue on their way. 

Meanwhile some of the Communist round up wildstock to take. All in the name of the workers of Great Britain, of course. 


The BBC film plucky Communists assaulting the AA tank with nothing more than a crowbar and a Molotov cocktail. 

I wonder if the roadside assistance will be able to fix that!
Boy scouts set up a roadblock and search a cadbury's can. Unfortunately for them it was empty!

One of the farmers had a Flame tank. It looked impressive but it was crudely built. 



Colonel-Commissar Professor Winters and his command section. 

A solid defensive line blocked the fascist advance and allowed the Communist to retreat in good order with their bootie. 

Tuesday 8 October 2019

Last Days in Paradise: Survivors

 I thought I would paint a few zombie apocalypse survivors (I actually painted the last week so they don't count as Zombtober, but I only got round to basing them this week).  These guys don't really fit into either of my two existing groups of survivors (the Outlaw MC and the Jamaicans) so they might form a third group (possible with a selfless leader) or might join one of the other groups if they need to recruit new members. 

First up is Carlos, who was a surf instructor before the apocalypse. A 'Survivor', with Athletic and Shooting skills, wielding a pump-action shotgun and a revolver. 



Samson was a movie stuntman before the apocalypse. He lived in a beautiful beach house on the island. Since the apocalypse he has found that his athleticism and martial arts training have been skills very much in demand. Samson is a 'Tough Guy' with Athletics and CQC skills. he is armed with a surplus SMG, a revolver and a knife. 


Brad was a college frat boy on vacation when the apocalypse trapped him on the island. He is smart and resourceful, but was also a bit of a jock back before the apocalypse. He is a 'Survivor' with Academic and Athletic skills. He carries a Surplus Assault Rifle and a knife. 


Patch is an escaped convict, who used the chaos and confusion of the earliest days of the apocalypse to escape from prison. I am sure he could have easily found new clothes but for some reason he prefers to keep on his orange prison uniform. Maybe he just thinks it is intimidating. 
He is a 'Goon' with CQC and Athletic skill. He is using a pump action shotgun and semi-automatic he stole from a prison guard. he also carries his trusty shiv. 


Sunday 6 October 2019

Zombtober 2019: Week One

Work has commenced on my horde of Caribbean zombies for the Last Days in Paradise. This is part of Zombtober 2019, the annual zombie-blog-fest where wargaming bloggers all over the world bring out their dead and paint their zombies and zombie survivors, aiming to complete at least one a week during October. 

I have painted eight so far (well I painted nine but I dropped one and it came off its base). I plan to have thirty done by the end of Zombtober. In the past I have painted my zeds a classic sickly green colour, but this year I thought I would go more 'flesh' coloured. This is mostly because I want at least half of my zeds to be afro-caribbean, so I wanted the caucasian zed's to contrast better. This is my first go at both skin colours.

Following a bit of research on the internet (watching Walking dead and the Thriller video) I decided that afro-caribbean zombies tend to turn a bit grey-brown after death/reanimation.