Zzzzzz...

Unfortunately SWMBO has thrown her back out and it is times like this that you filly appreciate all she does around the house, I am bloody knackered so will be falling asleep on the sofa instead of painting the Reaper NOVA troopers as planned...

I did fill in my Winter War survey earlier today, ummm I may have got a bit carried away but more of this another day. Zzzzzz....

Researching Mars Attacks!

With an eye on the Mars Attacks Kickstarter I have been doing some "historical" background research! And to think some historical wargamers mock us... :-)

As you are probably aware Mars Attacks was originally a series of 55 bubblegum trading cards produced by Topps in 1962 which has entered SF pop culture for their gruesome content and rarity. As the primary source material they are unfortunately extremely rare, however they have been reprinted in a superb 50th anniversary Mars Attacks book containing four unreleased cards and a host of other concept, book and comic cover artwork.

Of course most people will be familiar with the 1996 Tim Burton film which captured the wackiness of the background perfectly, even if the Martians were too small compared to the cards. That apart it is a must see if you want to get into game, it captures the whole vibe perfectly.

In the nineties Topps released a Mars Attacks comic series that can now be found collected in three TPD volumes as Mars Attacks Classics. I must confess I'm not overly keen on this series, but the artwork is pretty good and it does expand the background.

Bringing us up to date is the recent IDW Comics series, which it appears Mantic are basing their Kickstarter on. This brings the series up to date and is set fifty years after the initial encounter with the Martians. Two volumes have been released in a collected format so far Mars Attacks: Attack from Space and Mars Attacks: On Ice.

If you are pledging in the Kickstarter you need these as many of the characters are based on ones from these books.

Finally there are a number of crossover comic books, the Martians having encountered Zombies v Robots, Ghostbusters, Transformers and even Popeye! Most recently is one that really appealed to me -  Mars Attacks Judge Dredd! A collected edition will be released in February but I couldn't wait and picked up the first of the series today - great fun!

A Brush With... Birmingham!!!

Now there is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the rumour I moved a work meeting from London to Birmingham so I could pick up some new paintbrushes from Waylands Forge, that is by merest coincidence on the way from the train station to the office. Nope, no truth at all... ;-)

Anyhow in Britain's second city today (obviously behind Bristol) I popped into Waylands Forge and picked up some new paint brushes as mine had started to get to the drybrush only stage.

When I started painting I used to frequent art shops for proper brushes but laziness had led me to buying from Games Workshop when I switched to acrylics. However their brushes have go to the stage that a serious look will cause them to lose their point so when in Birmingham a few months back I popped into Waylands Forge for a poke around and walked out with a Kolinsky Sable no.2 and 3.

For the last several months that's all I've used, they keep their points like nobodies business...

Today I expanded my collection picking up a couple of 0's, a couple of 2's a 3 and 4. A little research indicates they are sold by Game Craft and what I like (after trying them) is the triangular handles. When I bought the first two I thought this was a silly gimmick, but have really appreciated how it helps keeping the brush steady.

Unfortunately by the time I got home it was too late to christen them, but hopefully tomorrow I can give them a spin!

View From The Other Side...

As I ponder increasing my pledge on the Baker Company Winter War Kickstarter (now in its last 24 hours - don't regret missing out!) I came across this on Facebook and it made me smile...

I also came across this which made me think, spend and be damned! :-)

The Winter War and Beyond...

Each platoon costs £60 post free

The Baker Company Winter War Kickstarter has entered its final 48 hours and all the free stretch goals have now been reached. This means that for both the Finns and the Red Army a pledge of £60 for a platoon gets you around £250 in miniatures.

As bargains go in this day and age, I doubt we will see one quite like this for a while...

Gav Tyler at Baker Company has been very responsive in developing the Kickstarter with his customers, ensuring unit compositions are corrected when wrong, allowing customers to decide which Anti-Tank gun would be produced etc.

What is really good is that he has agreed that any stretch goal you don't want can be swapped for a section of infantry of the same nation, and any vehicle you don't want can be swapped for either an infantry section or truck. Good stuff.

Having decided to opt for a Finnish and Soviet platoon earlier on in the Kickstarter, the sheer value for money here has me pondering whether to double up and get platoons in summer uniforms, swapping out some of the items that don't need duplicating (I think I can do without four field kitchens!).

Why am I considering this? Well it is not really a case of shinyitous but thinking ahead.

I really want to do some winter games, I have plans to do some other wargames using snow terrain (and have always wanted to do Battle of the Bulge) so that is my starting point, I want a platoon of each in winter kit.

However, with an eye towards my WorldWar: 1940 project some early War Russians in summer uniforms would be quite useful and could face not only the 1941 Germans but also the 1939 Poles and Japanese. Some summer uniform Finns would be good for the Continuation War and may also be able to be converted into some other Axis allies.

And it is exceptionally  good value for money...

Painted Finnish Riflemen in Winter Uniforms (Baker Company)

If you haven't jumped on board and are a 28mm WW2 gamer give this some serious thought, even if you have not thought about a Finnish or early War Soviet army before.

Opting for the summer uniform option gives you a lot of potential use and you are unlikely to get quality miniatures this cheap again for a long time (or until Baker Company do their next Kickstarter!)

Painted Soviet Riflemen in Winter Uniforms (Baker Company)

Ack! Ack! Ack!

Today has been university recce number two, though this time was only an eight mile trip to the University of the West of England.

However it still took most of the day and after a rather intense week at work and dad's taxi duties in the early hours of this morning I am bloody knackered (if you will excuse the French). So no painting this afternoon, just a snooze on the sofa!

I have though weakened on the Mars Attacks! front. I was always going to as I love the source material, though I am mentally steeling myself to be strong when it comes to stretch goals. The game itself appears to be based on Mantic's Deadzone and includes Martians, US infantry and some civilians. To be honest I really only want the Martians but hopefully the human types will be useful for other games as well including those with Zombies. Any extra humans can be sourced cheaper from elsewhere.

No doubt Mantic will tantilise me with lots of exciting looking stretch goal miniatures but unless it is something exceptional (and Martian) I am planning to resist. Things such as giant bugs are all well and good but again, if I do want a giant spider or whatever, I'm sure a cheap toy will do.

Just in case any of you are thinking "I remember Steve saying no new projects...", well all I can say is look below...

Unpacking the Bones Part Fifteen: NOVA Corps

Finally we come to the end of the Vampire pledge level box of miniatures, it's only taken three weeks to cover the contents! I will leave the Optional Extras I purchased for a little while! :-)

The NOVA Corps are part of the Chronoscope range and there was another (different) NOVA in the Chronoscope pack. I liked these models so much I bought a second pack so I had enough for a full section (and a bit).

The figures are pretty decent hard SF types and my only criticism is the inclusion of some kind of bedding roll on the small backpacks. I had planned to use them as some kind of Police para-military unit or on-board spaceship Marine unit and am not sure why they would have that kind of equipment (I suppose them could be stealth cloaks or something for overwatch units).

I have actually started painting these and hoped to get them finished by today, but unfortunately work got in the way. The detail on them is very good and has come up nicely with just one heavily drybrushed coat applied.

Unpacking The Bones Part Fourteen: Griffon, Owlbear and Storm Giants

If there is one thing the Bones material does really well, it's the bigger monsters and creatures. These three were all included in the $100 Vampire box and are truly lovely models.

Kicking off is this wonderful three part Griffon. I should have put a figure in the picture for scale but it measures an impressive 18cm from wingtip to wingtip. The detail is superb and it would also be easy enough to convert to have a rider.

The Owlbear is a D&D staple and this one is nicely done and well detailed. Dynamically posed this should be a joy to paint...

I didn't pick up any of the other Giants as optional extras in the Kickstarter and only have these two Storm Giants that were automatically included in the Vampire box. I am slightly regretting that decision as these figures are lovely and with the male giant being 80mm tall, they will look impressive on the battlefield.

Unpacking the Bones Part Thirteen: Swamp Things, Golems, Half-Sized Heroes and Familiars

I thought I'd celebrate 21 years of indentured servitude to SWMBO by looking at some of the creature packs in the Vampire box today (it's also Richard III's birthday today).

The Swamp Things pack contains a lovely Troll (that I am hoping will fit in with my old Citadel River Trolls), two decent Lizardmen and a Snakeman, All are really good figures, I love the look of the lizardmen, so much better than GW's and the Troll is awesome and shows the Bones plastic at its best.

The Golems pack contains a Flesh Golem, a Stone Golem, an Iron Golem, and a Clay Golem. These should be straight forward to paint up and I am considering a couple of them transferring from the realms of fantasy to the dark streets of Victorian steampunk England.

The Half-Sized Heroes are a mix of Halflings and (beardless) Gnomes. It is hard to tell the difference, presumably the Gnomes are wearing the boots. Ok, but uninspiring.

Reaper have also produced a set of twelve familiars that were in the Vampire box, a useful mix of small beasts, which I have forgotten to take a photo of but take my word are worth looking at and potentially very useful if you are looking for a 28mm cat or whatever...

Unpacking the Bones Part Twelve: Dark Heroes, Grave Danger, Necromancers, Who's Your Mummy? and Zombie Hunters

Following on from yesterday's look at several of the Reaper Bones packs in the Vampire box, here are a few more, mainly from the dark side...

First off are the Dark Heroes - two fighter/paladins, a demonic wizard, and a necromancer/death priest. I like the necromancer with the scroll and plan to use this figure with my WHFB Undead army. I may replace the weapon though.

The Grave Danger pack contains a Vampire Lord (called Judas Bloodspire), a Ghast, a Death Knight (an armoured skeleton) and a Liche Lord. The Vampire Lord is a bit of a pain  as even when the sword is straightened he does not sit flat. The others are decent enough figures though and will be useful in the Undead army.

Next is the Necromancers set, a nicely done selection with a GW type necromancer with sword, a great wizard point with staff (with entwined snake) and two females. 

Who's Your Mummy? is an Egyptian undead inspired release with a generic Mummy, Tomb Guardian, Mummy Lord, and a wonderful Pharaoh-God. The Lord and Pharaoh God will be eventually seen in a Tomb Kings army, the Mummy may end up in Victorian London...

Finally, tenuously related to the above, a set of Zombie Hunters. A useful post Z-Day pack with a zombie hunter totting a chainsaw, girl with two Uzi type smgs, a seventies style Pimp, and the compulsory Sheriff!  Great stuff, especially of your zombies games are US based...

I managed to put some more paint on some Bones today and it is quite deceptive how much detail there actually is on these miniatures, that appears soft in the unprimed white plastic.

Unpacking the Bones Part Eleven: Bedevilled, Vermin, Pathfinder Goblins, Iconics, Iconics II and Dungeon Dressing

As we still have a lot of Bones miniatures to get through from the $100 Vampire box, I am going to rattle through a fair few today...

The Bedevilled pack contains a Marilith, and a Hellborn rogue, a Hellborn fighter, and a Hellborn mage.  The Marilith is, I suspect, the snake woman and is a great miniature. Really looking forward to painting this one. The fighter will no doubt end up with some Chaos warriors...

The Vermin pack is great and contains two each of a Bettle, Beetle Swarm,  Rat Swarm, Scorpion, Spider and Spider Swarm. Useful stuff...

The next three packs are Bones versions of miniatures produced for the Pathfinder RPG. The nine Goblins are nice sculpts, but conceptually I don't like the look of the "Gremlin" like heads. These may end up on eBay soon...

The Pathfinder Iconics contain seven character miniatures called Seelah, Damiel, Merisiel, Feiya, Valeros, Amiri, and Seon. Unfortunately I only have five. They are nice mix...

Iconics II contains four characters, Ezren the wizard, Kyra the cleric, Lem the bard, and Seltyiel the Magus. Again nice dungeon delving types and they should be useful if my half baked dungeon skirmish game idea gets off the ground.

The Dungeon Dressing pack contains some dungeon furniture including a small treasure chest and a nice throne. The candle stands suffer from some severe bending and need to be dunked in some hot water to straighten. Potentially a very useful pack.

Ragnarok Hits The Six-Oh!

Over the last few weeks I have been working hard to bring Ragnarok 60 together. As you are (hopefully) aware Ragnarok is the journal of the Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers which has a somewhat irregular publication schedule. This is down to a mixture of factors but largely down to getting people to write stuff and me having the time to edit and DTP it. That said I think it looks pretty good and the content is usually very interesting as it is written by gamers with a love of the games rather than companies trying to sell them.

I've got a couple of pages left to finish off before we go to print but I thought I'd give you a heads up so you have the opportunity to get on board before its printed.

Contents are as follows:

Into the Big Meg - a look at the new Judge Dredd Miniatures Game with scenario.
The Shopping Trip - a Flintloque scenario, Orcs v Othari
Zombies!!! Triffids!!! - introducing Triffids into Zombies!!!
Crystals from Dinom - Stargrunt scenario set in Traveller universe
The Scramble for Africa - an Aeronef campaign
The Fall of the North - the Dunlendings in LOTR
Death to the Strawheads - scenario for above
Blink! - Doctor Who scenario
Episode 25D - Space Vixens From Mars scenario set around the 1966 World Cup
Tanks v Tyrannosaurs - Lost Lands battle report
Out of the Abyss - Kings of War scenario
Confessions of a Serial Flasher - collecting Flash Gordon miniatures
Gruntz Revisited - a detailed look at the Gruntz rules and battle report

If this sounds like your kind of thing, you can join here.

Kickstarter Attacks?

This weekend sees the Blease clan off on the first of a series of University open day visits to look at possible places we can post Blease junior to keep making music after he finishes his A levels. Consequently we shall be off to Southampton later today and no doubt I shall ponder things gaming as I drive down the A36. Hopefully this Kickstarter which starts in a week's time will not feature too heavily as my wallet cannot sustain my addiction!

Unpacking the Bones Part Ten: Dwarves, Elves and Dark Elves

The next miniatures out of the Bones box are three sets of popular fantasy races. The Dwarves are an interesting set of a Dwarf rogue, pair of fierce Dwarven fighters, and new Dwarf wizard with two being female, not normally seen with Dwarf miniatures. Nicely sculpted figures, if a bit large compared to other manufacturers.

The Elves are nice miniatures, but presumably aimed at role-playing given the inclusion of two with staffs. I must say that I do like the way that American sculptors capture the lean other-worldly look when it comes to Elves.

Finally we have the servants of the Spider Queen, this pack of four Dark Elves contains a Wizard, Rogue, a Cleric, and a Fighter...

Again, these are great, shame there are not enough of anything for proper wargaming purposes.

Unpacking the Bones Part Nine: Intergalactic Marine Expeditionary Force

Today we have the first of a couple of SF Bones miniatures in big Vampire box of fun. These six miniatures from the Intergalactic Marine Expeditionary Force are a great example of just how good these plastic miniatures can be, the only issue being the fact that Reaper only do the one IMEF pack so building bigger units with variation and support units is impossible. That said they are great for a section level skirmish...

I actually slapped some paint, well undercoat, on some Bones today, so hopefully there will be some properly painted examples on show here soon...

Unpacking the Bones Part Eight: Chronoscope

I'm not 100% sure what Reaper's Chronoscope line is supposed to be about but it includes a right mish-mash of different miniatures, many of which are useful for a wide range of games.

Taking the Bones figures from the Vampire box we have some cowboys, a thirties pulp hero, a witch, Arnie in Terminator mode, some SF figures and a cybernetic gorilla! All very useful to some extent or the other and who can't find some use for a cybernetic gorilla?!

On the subject of the Bones figures, I tried the hot water/cold water dunk method to try and sort out any bent bits (such as the witches broom above). Pretty successful, there are a couple that might need some work but out of thirty odd figures not a lot of effort and not much work left to do on the odd ones.

Unpacking the Bones Part Seven: Fire It Up! and Haunts

Continuing the grand unboxing, one of the more interesting releases are two sets not cast in the standard white Bones plastic but a transparent orange and green.

Fire it Up! (above) contains a wall of fire, flaming sphere, as well as medium and large fire elementals. The Haunts pack (below) various translucent spirits, ghosts and wraiths.

I'm not 100% convinced that the miniatures work well just in their translucent state and some careful drybrushing may help the effect (I  am thinking some black on the edges of the flames) but they certainly are interesting models.

Unpacking the Bones Part Six: Heroes and Klocke Classics

Next out of the big Vampire box of Bones are a pack simply called Heroes. The six figures are supposed to be a Cleric, Rogue, Ranger, Wizard, and two different fighter types but I was missing the wizard. Bit of a mixed bag, but all potentially useful...

The Werner Klocke pack of female miniatures was supposed to include a Paladin, a Fighter, a Sorceress, and a Bard, unfortunately I am short two which is a shame as I like the two I have (love the bard's "electric" guitar!).

Dux Bellorum Romano-British Mounted Companion

Despite still struggling with the intermittent effects of man flu (cough, sneeze, urrgh) and really needing to get some new brushes in (points would be useful), I was determined this morning to do some painting as my output had dropped off to zero since the start of the month.

Sitting forlornly on the workbench were the last three figures to complete my Dux Bellorum Romano-British army - the Mounted Companion unit, so I decided they would be the victims!

Two of the miniatures (the "Arthur" figure and the standard bearer) are West Wind, the spearman is from Gripping Beast.

I still need to do the sabot base but am feeling a bit pleased with myself in that I have finished the first of the three planned armies. I must schedule some time for the Saxons next...