New Broom January- Part 1: Delta Force

My old mate Leon (AKA Pulp Citizen) , feeling the need for the additional incentive of a deadline, has asked me to do another themed month for January.  It certainly seems to motivate him to get his miniatures finished, as he can be ponderously slow and easily distracted.

 As a result we agreed that  as its a new year, we could paint something that has been hanging around on our painting tables for far too long. 

I have had these miniatures based, and sprayed, for almost a year. I painted their brothers-in-arms, but owing to the fact that I decided I hate painting multicam (the type of camouflage pattern used by US Special Forces) I have been putting off finishing this last fire-team for  my Force on Force army.

I will paint two more for next week, and then finish off with something MASSIVE. 

SAGA Monks and Markers

Ahead of this weeks SAGA game I have made a few (16) Fatigue markers. I made these by glueing metal Dark Age shields to copper pennies. The shields are made by Gripping Beasts. A lick of paint and a bit of flock, and hey presto! I am not sure how many of these markers I am going to need, but it's a start. 

Next is a group of Dark Age monks, made by Black Tree Designs. I bought them when BTD had one of their excellent 50% off sales for a few quid. I am not sure what I am going to use them for- perhaps they could be objectives for my Anglo-Danes ("Protect the monastery!") or they might even make up part of my Levy rabble. 

SAGA Warbands!

After many months of inconsistent progress I have finally finished two four point SAGA warbands, ahead of this weeks game. These are the minim size needed to play a reasonable game and, assuming I like the game, I will add some more troops at a later date. But for now, here they are...

 Alfred Greymane and his horde of (mostly) Christian Anglo-Danish warriors, ready to bravely defend England from marauding northmen. 

Ragnar the Fell Handed, bloody scourge of the seas, and his Viking raiders. 

Leon and I are going to get a game in on Friday- our first outing of the SAGA rules.  I will let you know how it goes!

New year Round UP

Happy New Year everyone.

Phew! 2013 is here, and I am delighted that the world hasn’t ended in some kind of Mayan-zombie-apocalypse. I am equally delighted to start 2013 by reaching the epic milestone of having 100 followers. I love to get feedback and comments from you about the things I post, and I hope that in 2013 you will continue to do so.

2012 was a busy year, hobby wise. Apart from some VBCW action, including two Big Games, I mostly played Pulp City. Leon, AKA Pulp Citizen, my regular gaming buddy, is something of a Pulp City obsessive. Last year he joined the creative team at Pulp City, so we have been play testing a lot of mad ideas for the game. It’s been a lot of fun, and jolly interesting, but in 2013 I am hoping -well insisting really- that we get to play some other thing too.

I have spent 2012 prepping armies for some new games we have never played before. It began with SpiFi chic in the form of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and with the Call of Duty inspired modern African Force on Force campaign set in the fictional country of Zugando. Later I added a finished off my Anglo-Danish and Viking force for SAGA. Zombtober added ten more zeds to my growing horde of the zom-pocalypse, which was a great success. As far as Four Colour Supers go, I have steadily added figures to my collection through the year, although not as many as I had hoped, largely due to the cost of the figures. This culminated in Super-November, when Pulp Citizen and I made a real effort to get some spandex clad supers on the blogs.

The idea of themes for the month that began with Zobtober and carried on with Super-November, with continue into 2013, although not every month. Personally I am a rather prolific painter, churning out 3-4 painted minis per week, but Pulp Citizen is something of a painting glad fly. His painting table is strewn with dozens of figures in various stages of painting that he has started, before being distracted by something new and shiny. Many of these half-finished individuals have languished in the man-cave for months (or even years!). Therefore we have decided that the ‘theme’ for January will be ‘New Year- New Broom’. I know it’s not as catchy as Zombtober, but it’s the best we can do at short notice. The idea behind NY-NB is that we will each complete something that has been hanging around, waiting to be done, for a long time. I am going to paint a Navy Seal fire team (I hate painting multicam) and a giant piece of scenery I bought at Salute but have been putting off because it will take so long.

So, apart from NY-NB, what will 2013 hold for this blog? Well, more of the same and some new stuff. Superheroes will be back at the fore, with some super-agents and henchmen planned soon. I will continue to add to my Force on Force armies, expanding the Coalition and Zugandan forces, and adding a few units of Nigerian Peacekeepers. I intend to expand my SAGA warbands to 6 pts each, and to start a Norman warband, featuring cavalry. I want to do a little gang of zombie apocalypse survivors too, ahead of zomtober 2013!

New projects will be based around two great rules I read in 2012- namely ‘Bolt Action’ and ‘Tomahawks and Muskets’. For Bolt Action I will be basing my campaign on the ‘Forgotten War’ of WW2- Burma. I am going to begin with the British Special Forces ‘Chindits’ vs. Imperial Japanese Army, but later I want to add troops from the British Indian Army for a more conventional game. Tomahawks and Muskets is a game by the same writer as SAGA and is generally well received. My campaign will feature British Army vs. French Canadians during the French and Indian Wars.

So that’s it folks! That’s the plan. It’s not much of a plan, and it will almost certainly be subject to change as the weeks roll on, but that’s what makes this hobby so much fun.

Once again, thank you to all my followers, especially those who have posted comments. Please continue to read and follow my blog in the coming year, and as always, your comments are welcome.

Happy New Year. 

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...