'32 Ford Hot Rod

After my game yesterday I decided to add one more wasteland-styled car so I can swap out at least one of my Warthogs next time I play with my raider-type force.  Over the years I've liked two different aesthetics for my duelling cars; the throwback Mad Max style seen here and some more polished Car Wars near future cars that I'm planning on doing next.

For this vehicle I was able to find a Hot Wheels '32 Ford.  I drilled out the posts on the bottom and took the car apart primarily so I could replace the stock flat untextured  wheels with the off-road wheels from a Matchbox dune-buggy.  I added a small single machine gun to the roof that is just a cutoff inverted end of a Heavy Gear missile launcher.  I added some mesh to the front windscreen area slapped some paint on and I'm calling it done.

Although I'll be using them for Gaslands my next 3-4 cars will definitely be inspired by old-school Car Wars art rather than Mad Max movies.

-Jay

My first game of Gaslands today and some new cars for the motor-pool

I've mentioned before a few times that I've been a HUGE fan of Car Wars and vehicular combat games in general and today I got to try a new vehicular combat game; Gaslands by Osprey Games.

For any fans of the genre whether they're gamers or not I have to say this is a really fun game.  Fairly rules-light and straight forward.  You can literally unpack some Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars and start playing right away.  I managed to get in 2 games and the rules seemed very straightforward and balanced and neither myself or my opponent ever got bogged down in complex decision making so the games played fairly quickly and we were both fully engaged the whole time.  I would definitely recommend Gaslands to anyone who plays Car Wars and would like something lighter or even anyone who just likes Mad Max movies and wants to game them.
I'm definitely looking forward to playing more in the near future.

Now, onto the cars themselves.
A funny thing happened last night on my way to the arena.  As anyone who's been following my blog the past few years would know I've accumulated a small collection of 20mm vehicles over the past few years and was definitely ready for today's game.  Except, I couldn't find the storage box with my cars in it.  So after wrapping up my D&D session last night around 1:45am I needed to quickly knock out 3 vehicles for today's game.  I had 1 converted and was able to fake my way through it by touching up 2 other cars that were almost game ready out of the package.

First up is my armoured ram truck.  This is a vehicle from Mattel's Fast And The Furious toy line and was perfect for me as I was really stoked about the idea of having a heavy ram plate equipped vehicle.  The van came with the dozer blade and roll bars already attached (which was great!) but I had to add wheels because the original truck came with treads instead of wheels.  It was a super quick paint job but I'm happy with how it turned out and it was the star of the game for me in the second game I played.

Next up I had purchased 2 Halo Warthogs from a standard Hot Wheels assortment.  Originally I planned to do some real work on these by due to losing my other cars they got pressed into emergency service unconverted.  Basically I sprayed the undersides brown, repainted the gun and roll cage, weathered them a bit and then went to bed.  Some dullcote in the morning and they were ready for the table.

I'm definitely going to get at least 3 more vehicles done this week....I'll try not to lose them this time.

-Jay

Ford Model A post-apocalyptic style!

I finished up my Model A tonight, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I feel like this is the first vehicle I've painted that straddles the line well between the down and dirty style of Mad Max and the near future clean and mean look of Car Wars.

I've got some Malifaux and Robotech to get done in the next day or two but after that I should be circling back for more carmageddon.

-Jay

I'm Mad Maxing!

With the imminent release of Mad Max: Fury Road myself and many of my hobbyist friends across North America seem to be frantically chopping and swapping car parts to come up with models for some cool car games.

I want to preface this post by saying that although I have been enjoying this genre for more years than I should probably admit I got motivated to drag everything back out by my friend Dave Taylor's post on his awesome blog.  So thanks Dave for re-stoking the fire!
http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.ca/2015/05/vroom-vroom-cracking-open-car-wars.html

So without further ado I decided to haul out what's in the motor-pool so far and then decide on a new project from there.

I started off vehicle combat gaming with Car Wars by Steve Jackson Games which is still to this day my favourite system for this particular type of mayhem.  Having said that my first foray into gaming the genre with models came courtesy of Games Workshop and their under appreciated Dark Future game.  years ago I lost all my Dark Future stuff in a move but a couple of years back my friend Andrew generously gave me 2 of his Sanctioned Ops Interceptors to paint.  These vehicles were the result.

I've got to say I still really like the Dark Future models and I would desperately like to get my hands on another box set if I can ever find one!

Next up I started a collection of gangers from the Aberrant Games Warlands line.  To be completely honest I've never played the game but I've used their models for an assortment of other vehicle combat games.  What's also handy is that they offer an accessory pack you can use to modify existing vehicle models you have (like Hot Wheels or Matchbox) to arm and armour them.

I felt the buggies in particular really captured the feel of the second and third Mad Max movies.

It wouldn't feel like Mad Max if the Main Force Patrol wasn't represented so here are my three MFP Interceptors.

If I needed to bolster the bad guys I'm sure one of these could be "borrowed" by The Nightrider.

And finally from my pool of existing models my collection would feel woefully incomplete if it didn't included Mad himself and his dog (I believe named Dog).

Onward to the future!  Although I've certainly got an adequate amount of vehicles to game with I don't feel like I'm participating unless I paint something new.  I decided to go off-book (for my anyway) and rather than build and paint a gaming model I've gone with a modified Hot Wheels car.

Basically I started off with a Ford Model A and removed the roof and windscreen.  I added off-road tires from a different Hot Wheels buggy and then bolted on a supplemental fuel tank from the Warlands accessory pack I referenced earlier and an extra machine gun I had from a Flames Of War tank.

I'll be priming this before I leave for work today and then if everything goes to plan I'll paint and assemble when I get home tonight!

Drive offensively!

-Jay

The biker boss

The last (for now) of my 20mm combat vehicles is now painted.  This time around it was my biker boss.

This was probably one of my favourite vehicles to paint from the Warlands range.  The detail level was excellent, the proportions were good and the rider himself seems like a great character.

That exhausts my supply of figs for these games until I find some more (any suggestions guys?), and I did get a game of Dark Future in (which was fantastic, much better than I remember it being, so it's back to my lingering projects for me....

-Jay

This portion of the apocalypse is brought to you by; KAWASAKI

I got 2 of my 3 bikes done last night.

These guys will basically be outriders for my raider force or cycle gang members for a big (Midville?) game of Car Wars.

Fairly basic paint jobs but I think they provide a splash of colour and flavour to the mostly drab vehicles I've done so far.

-Jay

The last of the V8 Interceptors

At last Max and his dog have a stylish vehicle to ride around in!

Not too much new under the sun here, another combination of parts to make up a Warlands duel car.  I'm pretty happy with how this turned out in the end, having a lighter colour on the vehicle also helped the dirt and dust pop a little more.

Looks like my surly bikers are next!

-Jay

A boy and his dog

....actually that's a different post-apocalyptic movie from the 70s....

The last of the V8 Interceptors is still in the shop getting a last few licks of paint, one day I will abandon the desire to paint white on large flat surfaces and my painting speed will improve greatly, but in the meantime I decided to paint the figures no post apocalyptic vehicles combat game can live without "Mad" Max Rockatansky.

I'm very happy to have figs for Max and his dog, but I have to confess, on the few occasions I have painted 20mm human-sized models I always end up feeling like a pilgrim in an unholy land.  I know at 20mm I should put in a bit more detail work than with say a 15mm model but somehow (maybe just bad luck on my part) all the 20mm models I get seem to be sculpted worse than the 15mm models I get.  Max's dog is great, the figure has the exact right amount of detail and texturing to get a satisfying effect...Max on the other hand is definitely not a great sculpt.  Don't get me wrong the figure is perfectly serviceable and on the tabletop he will look great but upon any close inspection (like say a photo for instance) you can see that his hands are horribly sculpted.  His gun hand is at least twice as long as it should be and his other hand is more claw than hand.  In spite of this I expect the 'cool' factor will distract my opponents from any imperfections in the figure itself.

I've got the Interceptor and 3 bikes to do before calling it quits for this stuff until I find some more good models for the genre, but I'm looking forward to the search!

-Jay

Incidentally I had to postpone my Dark Future game today due to a family issue but hopefully I'll reschedule for next week and then I can show off some gaming pics from the grim "future" of 1995!

Car Warriors

Got my first 2 actual combat cars for Warlands done this morning.

I'm playing my first game of Dark Future in (I'm guessing) 20+ years tomorrow so it was a good excuse to paint up some new cars.

These are definitely the best Warlands models I've gotten so far.  The cars a cross between the Interceptor from Mad Max and the Interceptor (funny they both have the same name) from Freeway Fighter (one of the original Fighting Fantasy game books).  At 20mm the detail level is serviceable, you get all the bits and pieces you need without any superfluous details.

I'm looking forward to painting my last interceptor and it's driver and his faithful hound tomorrow.

-Jay

More road warriors

Tonight I got my second buggy for whatever vehicular combat game I decide on done.

I have to say I've gotten 5 vehicle models from Aberrant for Warlands and these 2 buggies are by far (I'm sorry to say) the worst.  The components did not fit together very well, even though the entire chassis and all 4 wheels are cast as a single piece they don't sit even on all 4 wheels and there are tons of flaws in the casting.  I generally pride myself on always having a positive outlook on my hobby projects and although I highly recommend the rest of the Warlands vehicle range I would have to give these buggies a thumbs down.

Having said all of that they do a good job of representing Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome style attack buggies and I'm sure I will get alot of use out of them.

I'm looking forward to showcasing the 2 sedans I got from the Warlands line which thus far appear to be by far the best models in their range.

-Jay

Rocket Buggy!

 

Do 2 vehicles count as a "gang"?

 

 

Here come the bad guys!

This morning I was able to finish the first of the warbuggies for my soon to be bad guy force for post-apocalyptic vehicular combat.  Right now the buggy looks pretty basic, I also have a second one to paint and I think when that second buggy is done I'll go back and add some dirt and distress to this one.

I also just got the new Zombie Vixens from Wargames Factory in the mail yesterday and I'm hoping to get a few of those done after work today to show off so you may see a second post late tonight.

Cheers

-Jay

Pull over, we just want to talk!

The first of many (I hope)

 

 

Vroom!  Vroom!

So yesterday I dug out all my unpainted Aberrant Games Warlands stuff and started prepping it for painting.  Before I got stuck in with any projects which are likely to see alot of use I wanted to practice a few techniques on a model which doesn't fit that much into my gaming plans.  Enter; The Utility Truck.

In Warlands gangs take on many forms so the Utility Truck exists to fill alot of different roles; troop transport, supply point, rescue & recovery vehicle, etc.  It's a cool model and if I end up actually playing Warlands I'm sure it will be vital but otherwise it just doesn't quite fit.

The Warlands vehicles scale with 20mm miniatures which means they work fairly well with my Sanctioned Ops' vehicles and they blend in reasonably well with alot of die-cast toy car lines.

I've got 2 dune buggies and a Maxwell V8 Interceptor on my painting table now as well.

Keep watching this space!

-Jay

From the front it looks like a supercharged Brinks truck.

 

But from the back it's true heritage is revealed.

 

Cool looking, but more 'combat resistant' than combat vehicle.

 

 

 

A Blast From The Past: Dark Future

Like alot of gamers I first got into hobby games through Dungeons & Dragons before venturing out into the world of miniature gaming with Warhammer 40,000 but the game I have invested the most time, energy and hours into over my time in the hobby by a HUGE margin is Car Wars.

Car Wars was a game published by Steve Jackson Games and was played with cardstock counters on paper maps.  It drew on alot of different source material but the thing most people would probably associate with it is the Mad Max series of movies.

A few years ago I got it into my head that it would be cool to play Car Wars as a miniature game with three-dimensional scenery and so I started collecting vehicles and other bits and pieces.  Also in the long ago time Games Workshop published a vehicular combat game called Dark Future which was my first opportunity to actually paint some dedicated combat roadsters.

I'm currently casting about trying to decide which rules set I want to use for this genre (the contenders are; Car Wars by Steve Jackson Games, Wreckage by Fantasy Flight Games & Warlands by Aberrant Games) but in the meantime I thought I would dust off my Dark Future Sanctioned Ops and show them off.  Hopefully I'll be following this up in a day or two with some Warlands vehicles from Aberrant.

-Jay

Pretty sure if you see this in your rearview mirror you're screwed.

 

Atleast when you approach them from behind you can tell who they work for.

 

A slightly better view of the overall vehicles.