Some odds and ends

Yesterday was one of those days I picked away at a few small projects and almost finished projects while trying to get some coherent writing done.  Nothing earth shattering here but one more figure I actually needed with a lot of urgency (played using him as my PC last night), and two more sci-fi scatter terrain bits.

First up; Flint.

Flint Stone is my character for Advanced Fighting Fantasy.  He is a member of the Hanna-tribe which of course makes him a Hanna-Barbarian (I'm a dad, I'm allowed to tell dad jokes!).  Anyway Flint is made out of the Northstar Frostgrave Barbarian box set with a Bolt Action backpack thrown on to complete the wandering adventurer look.

Flint did mostly pretty well in his first game until a short run of bad luck (literally, I couldn't make a single 'luck' roll) and I'm looking forward to playing more Fighting Fantasy in the near future.  I also appear to have begun collecting a small tribe of barbarians since last year. 

There's definitely one more Barbarian in my near future and then it will definitely be time to move on.

The other thing I realized late yesterday afternoon while prepping some more Broken Contract figures is that I had the two bases of oil drums I'd gotten with my two female Gen-Mods just sitting around and I could get them done quickly.

I actually tried something slightly different this time and I think it worked out pretty well, but it may have been just a bit too subtle to show up in my pictures.  For the oil drums I started off by dry-brushing them metallic (Lead Belcher in this case), then painted them with a watered-down yellow (Averland Sunset), and then I hit them with a super light dry-brush of the same metallic again.  This gives the effect of painted drums where the paint is wearing off but no necessarily super-rough or dirty.

So that's it.  I have a few more lingering almost finished figures I'd like to wrap up this weekend and then it's back to the wasteland.

-Jay

Barricades, Scatter Terrain, and Objective Markers

Although I've still got a few miniatures I need to get painted in the next few days I've decided to take a short detour and get some modern/near-future/post-apocalyptic terrain done.  Traditionally I've done most of my gaming away from my home so my terrain collection has been relatively sparse for the amount of gaming I do.  With everything going on in the world right now I've been exploring solo miniature gaming a bit and it's definitely highlighted some shortfalls in my collection.  I'm reasonably well stocked for fantasy terrain but my modern/near-future collection is a little bit one-dimensional. 
The main things I wanted to get done over the next few days were some scatter terrain and one building with a detailed interior.  Today is the scatter terrain.

I've started with two of Mantic's Walking Dead All Out War scenery packs.  These packs are AMAZING and terrific value for money.  I highly recommend them to anyone looking for scatter terrain for any modern or near-future gaming.  The key features of the Walking Dead packs for me are that they are 'generic' real-world styled (so nothing to tie them to a specific game or even genre really) so they should work across every game I want to use them for, and being plastic they take paint well and should be very durable and hold up to regular use.

First up are the barricades.  The Walking Dead barricades are extremely well detailed without being cluttered or difficult to paint.  I also really appreciate that the sculptor put as much work into the backside of every barricade as they did in to the front facing side.

The thing I really liked visually about these barricades is that they have enough different materials and textures to be visually interesting without being too 'busy'.

Next up are the objective markers, which when not being used as objective markers can just be some clutter and window dressing for the tabletop.

The objective markers are nice (I have to come up with a better way to paint garbage bags though), with my one real criticism being that the backpack and the suitcase feel way too big and out of scale with the other pieces as well as the 25-28mm models they are meant to work with.  Having said that, having modeled representations of objectives rather than flat counters is a huge improvement and in my case (with two sets) I would only end up using them in games that required more than six objective markers.

I'm really happy with how all this stuff turned out and it looks good with pretty much any period appropriate models.

Next up is a single small building with some interior details!

And always please remember that The Walking Dead All Out War and many other great miniature games are available from your Friendly Local Game Store.

-Jay

Preview - Breaker Kids

I've mentioned over my last three posts that I was trying to get my existing Broken Contract miniatures before my next Kickstarter from Breaker Press arrived.  I made it...with a day to spare.

I was excited when I backed the Breaker kids but much like their previous Kickstarter when the product arrived my expectations were exceeded, drastically exceeded this time around.

When Nick started hyping up the Kickstarter one of the things he talked about wanting to do was not having wasteful packaging.  This resulted in the new models (and the add-ons as well) being packaged in MDF shipping containers that can be used as scenery for your games!

I think any modern or sci-fi gamer would agree that those containers are awesome, and are immediately useful.  But they were part of the pitch, and I mentioned that my expectations were exceeded.  Somewhere around the midpoint of the Kickstarter Nick realized he could throw the slats in that were cut from the containers, and some a-frames to build some scatter terrain.  Having just received the package a few hours ago I haven't built anything with mine yet but when I do I'll show those off.

I really just want to emphasize to anybody who's read this far that I've talked about how awesome this product is, and I haven't even talked about the models themselves, all the above is just...the packaging.  I really hope this continues from Breaker Press and in a perfect world I'd love other companies to see this as an idea they should jump on board with.

On to the kids (and the dog) themselves.  The figure set comes with five figures; one male and one female teen, one male and one female pre-teen, and a dog.

The figures themselves are obviously perfect for Broken Contract but could also easily be used for Shadowrun, Cyberpunk or any modern or near future games.  The textured MDF bases are a really nice touch, especially for gamers that want to step their basing game up to the next level.  The detail is nice and crisp on the figures, and they should be a joy to paint (check back in a week or so).  I'm excited to have some genuinely new and different figures in my collection unlike anything else I've already got.

Hopefully in the next week or so I'll be showing off these figures painted as well as some neat add-on accessories I got with this Kickstarter.

Check out Breaker Press at https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/

-Jay

Is the title of a Breaker Crew leader a 'Contractor'?

Success!

My goal was to get my previous Kickstarter models for Broken Contract done before the newest current models arrived; mission accomplished!

This newest dude will be the leader for my new Breaker Crew which will be made up of my Gen-Mods and some of the Breaker kids once they arrive.
This figure actually came with a variety of different arms and heads.  In hindsight I wish I'd thought to grab one or two more of these guys to make some different characters.

One of the nice things about showing the leader off with the Gen-Mods is it gives a great sense of just how big and brutal looking the Gen-Mods really are. 

Those three figures will form the core of any Breaker gangs I end up playing with the kids and their dog making up the numbers points wise.

Please check out the Breaker Press site not only for these great figures but also for some Dungeon Crawl Classics content in their connected blog https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/

-Jay

The revolution has begun!

A day later than planned but I got my female Breaker Gen-Mod done for Broken Contract.

I LOVE this miniature.  It's rare in any game to find a dynamic looking ogre-sized female figure so I was super happy to get my hand on this wrecking machine.  When I backed the latest Broken Contract kickstarter I actually ordered a second one of these figures so with a different build and a different colour-scheme another one of these models will be appearing in my Fallout collection as a super-mutant.

Not much to say on the painting-side as I followed the exact same colour choices as my previous Gen-Mod (not a lot in the way of high fashion going on in the Ferrum Sky mines) but I did want to call out something I forgot to mention in my last post.  These figures have amazingly detailed backpacks that house their various mechanica and chemical supplements.  In addition to the wicked backpacks I'd also like to call out one other thing I wish more miniature companies would do; as these figures are designed to have backpacks on, the front of the figures are modeled with straps for those backpacks.  This might seem minor but it's small details like that that once they get into your head you can't get them out.

I've got one more Breaker to do (their new leader) and then I'm just waiting for the Breaker kids and dog to show up.

Once again please check out Breaker Press at https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/and support a terrific indie game company.

-Jay

Let the (new) workers revolt BEGIN!

It's been awhile since I did some work on any models for Broken Contract but when I got my notification that the models from their newest release we're shipping to me I figured I'd better get off my butt and get the three miniatures from their last release done ASAP.

Broken Contract is a game set in a dystopian world where indentured miners toil under oppressive conditions.  The basic premise of most game scenarios is that the miners have decided to break their contracts, revolt and escape.  As enthusiastic as I have been about the game the main reason I hadn't rushed to paint the last release is that I have been playing the security force (Black Squadron Security) in the game and the last release and now this new one have been for the miner (Breaker) faction.  Having said all that I realized I could paint all the new Breaker models and end up with a force that is distinctly visually different from my friends Breaker forces made up up miniatures from the first wave.

So without any further ado please allow me to introduce my first Breaker Gen-Mod model.

Gen-Mods are genetically modified workers who are enhanced both chemically and with cybernetics.  For those of you not familiar with the game they are roughly ogre-sized and the fellow you see here is standing on a 40mm base.  In addition to being a fantastic model in his own right, this miniature is also the character depicted on the front of the Broken Contract starter box.

Broken Contract is available online at https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/ also please check out their blog in the sidebar as it covers some other cool gaming as well.

That's it for today, two more Breakers to get done (hopefully) before my Breaker kids and dog arrive!

-Jay

Reinforcements for Black Squadron Security

Following on my last post as an add-on to my Broken Contract game I did get a few of the Ash Walker figures.

Ash's background is that he's a member of Black Squadron Security (hence the gear and armour) but is sympathetic to the Breakers and may take their side (hence the absence of Black Squadron Security logo on his armour.

This is a great figure on multiple levels.  First up the sculpting is great with some great depth and texture.  The gear is not only suitable for Broken Contract but potentially many other near future games as well (he'll be the latest addition to my Peacekeepers for This Is Not A Test).  And he comes with multiple arms and heads so he can be assembled in various configurations.  In addition to the 'basic' model I assembled one with the riot helmet and taser-rifle.

A funny thought occurred to me while taking pictures tonight.  My friend Darren asked me a few posts ago to start including pictures of the backs of some of my miniatures.  For the most part I've never thought that was really necessary but this time out I'm including one.  For some reason the only scene that really sticks with me from Iron Man 3 is when Tony Stark is tied to a bed frame in a basement/dungeon and while insulting his captors he refers to one of them as "Pony-tail-express".  Painted my Ash Walker figure and it all came flooding back....

Alright, now maybe I'm painting cowboys...or maybe I'm not.

-Jay

Review - Broken Contract

A while back I was posting some content for a miniature line by Breaker Press for their proposed future game Broken Contract.  That game then went to Kickstarter where it was successfully funded and has just recently shipped out.  I received my copy this weekend and decided to play a little show and tell.

First up Broken Contract is set in a dystopian future where a significant portion of humanity lives under "contract" (read as; legal slavery) to a number of mega-corporations using them in the most cost-effective manner possible.  The game universe is really well realised through it's art and fiction that has previously been shared through documents on Breaker Press' Facebook page and web store.  To give you a taste here are the front and back of the box my game rules and supplemental components shipped in:

In the basic scenarios for Broken Contract the miners (or Breakers) are basically trying to escape their life of enslavement to the FerrumSky corporation and obtain their freedom.  FerrumSky has employed the private security company Black Squadron Security to keep the miners in check.

The game mechanics themselves are very straightforward but allow for a variety of tactical choices once you start playing.  Attacks are actively resisted so you may choose to attack a specific way based on either your own strengths or your perception of your enemies weaknesses.

The rulebook is attractive and really well laid out.  Personally I really like some of the choices in the design of the book as it makes it feel like a real document in a lived in world somewhat reminiscent of some of the older better quality Top Secret modules.

Lastly on the component-side Broken Contract also shares some conventions with some of the current design of popular miniatures-based board games.  Each character has a dashboard that can be loaded with cards representing various equipment and abilities which is handy because during play some gear can be stolen or handed off.

If you're an old-timey gamer like me the game also includes roster sheets for recording your warband in the more 'traditional' style.

From a game-play point of view the game hits a similar sweet-spot for me that This Is Not A Test hit.  The core mechanics are actually extremely straight forward and simple but some of the options for different attacks and defence as well as scenario specific objectives make the game very fluid without actually becoming overly complicated.  

If you like small scale miniature skirmish games that add-in some RPG and board-game elements Broken Contract is well worth it.  And it should be noted that even though they are a separate purchase from the game itself the miniature line that accompanies the game is full of terrific sci-fi figures that somehow manage to feel unique and familiar at the same time.  I highly recommend this game!

-Jay

Let the uprising begin!

Last night I finished up another Broken Contract model for the Breaker faction.  This time it's Micha Donelly.

One of the great things about the breaker figures for Broken Contract is that they really do convey a worker uprising rather than looking like a bunch of generic futuristic thugs.  Micha is armed with a shovel, that although I'm sure it can be used to great effect is definitely not your 'traditional' armament for a skirmish wargame.

I've decided to go with safety (or prison, depending on your point of view) orange for my Breaker's work clothes.  On this note I'll probably go back tonight or tomorrow and re-do Trest's pants in orange.

I'm really enjoying working my way through these figures and I hope to get a couple more done before my hobby A.D.D. kicks in.

-Jay

Breakin' The Law!

After a longish absence the shipping of the Broken Contract Kickstarter has me circling back to my unpainted figures for some more Ferrum Sky action.

A while back I painted up the forces of Black Squadron Security (the "good guys") for Broken Contract with the intention that they would also blend into This Is Not A Test as some awesome Peace Keeper figures.  Although there is one new BSS figure on the way to supplement my forces I decided to start painting the filthy peasants who are revolting in the mines.

Normally when painting a force I start off with the stock-trooper type models and do the characters and big guys at the end.  This time I decided to deviate from that that and start off with the Breaker Gen-Mod.  For anyone who didn't read my earlier posts about Broken Contract; Gen-Mods are 'genetically-modified' humans who have been enhanced for manual labour.  So far the two figures from Breaker Press for Gen-Mods are what most gamers would conventionally think of as ogre-sized.  It's hard to tell in a single shot but this model is standing on a 40mm base.

Trest (that's his name), to me is one of the iconic images of the Broken Contract game.  He's huge and clearly not something that actually exists in the real world but his clothing (especially the mining helmet) and over-sized rock-saw ground him in a near-future sort of way.  My biggest challenge in painting him is that I wanted a bright yellow for the saw but I also wanted it a but chipped and scuffed up.  For some reason none of my 3 attempts to get the chipping right worked out so I went for a fresh from Home Depot look instead.

I'm really looking forward to getting more of my Breakers done over the next couple of weeks and I'm hoping as Kickstarters ship I'll see more of these awesome figures painted by other backers as well.
If any of you reading this paint and post pics of your painted Broken Contract figures please link in the comments below, I'd love to see them.

-Jay

When it rains it pours (in a good way!)

I haven't gotten as much painting as usual done this past week for the weirdest reason ever...I've been gaming...too much?

Normally my life gives me lots of opportunities to paint when I'm home with my family but getting out and devoting hours to playing is a bit beyond my schedule.  A normal rotation for me is that I get to play 1 game a week, frequently less.  In the past 5 days I've managed to play 4 games!

Sunday Ash and I wrapped up our Swineland campaign for This Is Not A Test.  I'm not going to give away the outcome but it was an awesome game where we both had our moments in the sun and every die-roll counted.  It was bittersweet to say good-bye to a campaign that has been so much fun but the best stories end before they jump the shark.  I'm looking forward to more This Is Not A Test in the near future as both the game-play and post game do a great job of telling a compelling story.

Sunday I also got to play my second game of the new/current version of Pulp City.  The Supreme Alliance once again took it to their cold war foes The Red Republik.  Now that I'm getting a bit more  used to the rules I'm really enjoying the game mechanics and looking forward to trying out some more new models.  I think I'm going to revisit my old models and maybe finally paint enough models from the Heavy Metal faction to make it a playable force.

Monday I DM'd the latest session in my Curse Of Strahd game.  The tone has changed a lot over the last two sessions. early on the game was heavy on exploration, discovery and an overwhelming fear of what was happening.  The party has now recovered some of the relics scattered about the domain and are seeing more combat.  Last session they got a bit lucky as they found their way into a conflict between two opposing faction and came within one decision of a TPK.  Victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat!

Last night I finally played my first game of Broken Contract.  It went the way of most of my first games of anything where I got a few rules wrong as I learned the game but I can say that by the second turn of the game Ash and I were getting it right and it felt very intuitive.  I'm looking forward to playing through the rest of the missions!

And that was my week of more than the normal amount of gaming.  I don't anticipate another week this game heavy for a while but I should be back to my paint table tonight!

-Jay

Wrapping up Black Squadron for Broken Contract before moving on to my Breakers

Last year I started working on my Black Squadron Security forces for Broken Contract.  My thought at the time was that I would both use them as Peacekeepers for This Is Not A Test and that eventually I would actually play some games of Broken Contract.  Well "eventually" is now five days away and I realised tonight that I never painted the last 2 models for my faction.

First up is Xer the Gen-Mod (genetically modified).  Gen-mods are artificially enhanced troopers and workers that are physical behemoths.  Xer is on a 40mm base and is roughly twice the size of a regular figure.  At the time I started painting Broken Contract figures I knew Xer would be the last figure I painted because I didn't have an immediate use for him for This Is Not A Test.  In hindsight I regret putting him off, he was definitely the figure in the collection I've enjoyed painting the most.  He's got a great deal of texture and is both extremely well sculpted and extremely well cast.

Smythe is an overseer for the security forces which basically means his job is to oppress miners.  Smythe is another nicely detailed figure with manacles, and a low-profile headset.

Part of moving Broken Contract back to front-of-mind for me was that the game's creator Nick Baran has just launched a Kickstarter for the rulebook and game collateral (which is also another great opportunity to buy these awesome figs).
Check out his Kickstarter at:  
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/401223236/broken-contract-rulebook

Nick is a great guy and I hope you'll all take a minute to check out an emerging product from a legitimate start-up company trying to find their place in our awesome hobby.

-Jay

Eyes in the sky

My next two models for Broken Contract once again represent something that's otherwise missing from my miniature collection that I'm a bit surprised by, drones.

The use of drones has become very common in the modern world so I would assume their usage will carry forth into our sci-fi universes but outside of servo-skulls in Warhammer 40,000 I don't actually see a lot of drone miniatures out there.  But enough of my droning on (see what I did there) on to the models.

In Broken Contract drones are both used for observation and they all carry a (usually) less-than-lethal weapon.  The drones have the options for either a sonic weapon which causes disorientation in the target or a taser which straight up zaps people.

I've got two models left for my Black Squadron, which  I suspect I'll get to next week, and then after that I'm going to get started on the Breakers.

-Jay

Black Squadron Security employs only the best in hired goons

Late (very late) last night, or perhaps early this morning depending on your definition I got my next two security officers done for Broken Contract.  If the last two were examples of reason and moderation these next  two are not.

Overseer Wire Billins is a petty tyrant of a man with something of a Napoleon complex.  He generally enjoys using his baton on miners and their families and is a pretty classic example of a conventional bully.

Lamal Tulson is a gunner for Black Squadron which means he is more heavily armed than most officers and his job is to use his scatter gun to stop Breakers who breach the lines of conventional security forces with their batons and shields.  Tulson has a reputation for being an exceptionally cold man who follows his orders without question.

Again as with my previous Broken Contract security officers these could do double duty as Peacekeepers for This Is Not A Test and I'd have to math it out but I'm pretty sure at this point if I did one more figure I'd have a starting force done.

Got one more WarZone fig to finish tonight and then a week of extra hobby time is next!

-Jay

More security officers for Broken Contract

I had an opportunity to paint two more security officers for Broken Contract last night during the All-Star game.  As an aside if I'd had an actual shock baton in my hand while some idiot was butchering my national anthem I might have made some bad choices.

It's funny how sometimes you sit down to paint something you have a massive collection of (in my case space-cops and security officers) and you suddenly realize you have something in your hand that is surprisingly poorly represented in that collection.  In this case female security officers.

The first addition is Naria Anlika.  I mentioned the other day that Officer Hickley represented the worst Black Squadron had to offer, Officer Anlika on the other hand represents the true middle of the road.  She is moderate in her approach to her duties Officer Anlika prefers to start things off by trying to reason and discuss conflicts with people but she does know where the 'on' button is on her shock baton when it's go time.

Next up is Sarie Moerta.  Sarie is a young eager officer who's parents bought (read as bribed) her way out the need to serve a hard labour contract.  She was accepted in Black Squadron and now has a world of possibilities ahead of her.

So far the team is looking pretty good.  On one hand they look fairly uniform, on the other hand they all have enough slight variations to make them stand out as individuals.

I'll be looking at a two day break from Broken Contract as I circle back to finish my Imperial WarZone starter and get some special caravaners done for This Is Not A Test <oink oink>.

-Jay

Broken Contract - Officer Hickley

Last night I got my first miniature for an awesome new game, Broken Contract done.  Officer Hickley is an example of the worst the forces of Black Squadron Security have to offer.  Officer Hickley is a bully who relishes the opportunity to lay either his boots or his baton into the mine workers he 'oversees'.

Broken Contract is a game set in a future where mankind has reached the stars in search of new lands and new resources, a journey that started with an optimistic view towards a universe of opportunities but where corporate employment contracts have effectively created a new generation of indentured servants.  As people reach their breaking points as a result of poor pay, unsafe working conditions and mistreatment by their employers some choose to break their contracts and risk everything for a taste of freedom.

The two initial forces for the game are The Breakers which represent the miners and their families attempting to throw off the shackles of the corporation to earn their freedom and the men and women of Black Squadron Security who are employed to keep workers in line and violently put down any worker uprisings.

I'll be working through the forces of Black Squadron Security first as in addition to Broken Contract I will be using them as Peacekeepers in my games of This Is Not A Test.  Once I'm done those I will also be painting The Breakers which have some truly exciting figures that are to my mind some of the most unique and interesting sci-fi figures I've seen in a long time.

More on Broken Contract to come...

-Jay

Return of the hobby grab bag!

Hobby A.D.D. is back in full effect!

This week I have six different projects on my desk for five different games.  Two of them I MUST finish before the end of the week because they are for games that are looming on the horizon, the other four I really need to get done before I can move on and do some other things.

First up, I have got to finish my Imperial Trenchers for WarZone.

The Beta just got released for Prodos' updated version of WarZone so my buddy Ash and I are going to try to get a game in this month.  To do that I need to finish these ten figures and then get three more done from scratch.

Next in terms of priority is four Brahmin for This Is Not A Test.

There is a caravan scenario I want to play and if you've played the Fallout games the Brahmin is very distinctly Fallout-ish.  The Brahmin miniatures are from Armorcast under their license with Lance & Laser.

After that I need to get started on my Black Squadron security forces for Broken Contract.

Broken Contract is a new sci-fi miniatures game that went through a successful Kickstarter last year and has some really awesome models.  In addition thematically (big corporations vs the little guy) it seems very in the now.

After that will be Johnny Atomic for This Is Not A Test.

Johnny is a wasteland radio DJ and alongside Gas-Mask Girl is one of the semi-official mascots for the game.  It's impossible to tell from this picture (sorry) but he's a fantastically detailed model that is covered in cool post-apocalyptic survivor bits.

My final two projects are definite maybes because I don't need them for any game soon.  So if they're not done by Monday they'll be moving to the back of the line again.

First up on the B-list (actually that's really appropriate in this case) is Catman!

Catman is one of my favourite DC Comics characters and is the alpha if not the actual leader of the Secret Six.  I'm super-stoked about finishing Catman and playing with him at some point but I don't have any Batman games planned so he's not a priority right now.

Next up is Sophia Illmora for Anima Tactics.

I've never actually played Anima Tactics but my plan was to use Sophia as a replacement for my apprentice in Professor Vitale's Frostgrave warband.  I may be changing plans and starting a new warband so I may or may not need her but I'd like to finish painting her eventually.

So that's what this week looks like hobby-wise.  I have a track record of NEVER completing all the things I lay out in these WIP posts so hopefully the fact that there's a couple things in there I don't really need means I can at least get the relevant stuff done.

-Jay