Red October Subs & Sandwiches

One of the things I decided I needed to add to my gaming collection is modern/post-apocalyptic buildings with interiors.  These are largely what all the scatter terrain I've been painting over the past couple of weeks will be populating.

About two or three years ago I bought a set from TT Combat that was 3 single floor store fronts with second floor apartments.  Unfortunately I assembled two of the buildings before I became aware of a problem (it's one of those 'now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it' things), there is no way to get from the first floor to the second floor.  For my third building I will be cutting out a hole in the ceiling/floor to accommodate a staircase but for the two I've already built I just decided to leave the second floor off.

I should also point out to anyone new to MDF scenery that it largely comes in two flavours; super basic having no interior detail but being amazingly inexpensive, and fully detailed but far more expensive.  All of the TT Combat buildings I got fall into the first category.  That may seem basic but the price was amazing and they can be dressed up with scatter terrain.

I actually tried something a little different this time and undercoated the building dark brown and then painted over top of that.  I was hoping to get more of a dirty worn look and that seems to have worked out fairly well.  I also decided to add a splash of colour and detail by wallpapering the interior walls, which I think makes the building look more like a real place and less like a model kit.

I took these pictures while I was waiting for the Mod-Podge on the paper to dry so I will probably still go back and dirty it up a bit.  I also kept the doors I cut off the building as I may use those as rubble or in another terrain project.

What are your thoughts?  For about $10 worth of kit and material an less than 2 hours work I'm really happy with this and using it as a template I should be able to get a reasonable collection of buildings done fairly quickly.

-Jay

Are those mattresses....sanitary?

I mentioned in my last post that after acquiring my 'fantasy' beds I had found some beds more appropriate to post-apocalyptic gaming.

A few years ago when I placed my first order for TT Combat buildings I grabbed a couple of their resin accessory packs which included these...gently-used mattresses.

These are perfect as they look like the exact bedding you find scattered around the capitol wasteland in Fallout 3.

My collection of scatter terrain is filling in nicely but hopefully on Tuesday I'll have time to finally complete a more sizable piece.

-Jay

Now I lay me down to sleep

Although I'm finally getting around to getting an assortment of scatter terrain done a fair bit of it is stuff I've collected over the past few years.  Quite awhile back when I started playing This Is Not A Test I bought these Reaper Bones beds, they're intended for fantasy games, but I thought their ramshackle appearance would fit in with the look of post apocalyptic games.

As it turns out I found something else that will work better for This Is Not A Test and Fallout that you'll hopefully be seeing in a few days.  But having said that it's still nice to have these and they should work as set dressing in a variety of games.

I got these Reaper beds as well as many of my other miniatures and games from my Friendly Local Game Store.

-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

A long overdue return to the wateland

It's been a while.  It seems like not that long ago two different flavours of post-apocalyptic gaming were  my main miniatures focus; zombies, and Fallout or Fallout inspired games.  Gears shifted, things changed and Fallout had been left behind for what seems like over a year now.  Two things have changed that in the past few weeks.  First my buddy Andrew wants to get back to playing This Is Not A Test when we're all allowed to go outside and stand within 6 feet of each other again, and secondly I've been playing some Fallout 4 and it's gotten me excited about the look and feel again.

Deciding I would paint some new models I pulled out the copy of Fallout by Modiphius I got when it was initially released, took a deep breath, and finally started working on those models,  For anyone who doesn't remember I was super excited about Fallout leading up to this game's release, but then once I had it (the version with vinyl figures) in my hands I was super disappointed in the state of the warped bases.  I decided to push past that feeling and simply chop the bases off and re-base the figures.  While waiting for the primer to dry I flipped through the rulebook and had also totally forgotten that Fallout included rules for solo play, so this also meant I'd be able to get some games in during the current lockdown.  So although I'm ultimately painting the 'survivors' to use in my This Is Not A Test game, I decided to start off by painting the Super Mutants as they will be my AI force for Fallout.

The two player starter comes with three Super Mutants and two Super Mutant Hounds.  I decided to do the hounds first, and hopefully will get the actual Super Mutants done this weekend.

I still need to do some cleanup around the eyes (I'm starting to feel like that could be a copy-paste comment in every blog entry lately) but overall I'm happy with how the hounds turned out.  They have a lot of great texture and one thing I didn't even realize until I started painting them is how much more feral and savage these look for not only having huge sharp teeth but a lot of exposed gum area to really give the impression that they're snarling.

I'm looking forward to batch painting the Super Mutants next and then it will be the survivors one at a time.  Once I get those done and have a chance to do some solo play I'll probably circle back and review the game itself as well.

And just a friendly reminder that Fallout Wasteland Warfare and many other games are available from your friendly local game store!

-Jay

Should I use this figure as a mutant or a raider? I think the answer is yes!

I'm slowly transitioning away from straight up mutants and into raiders for This Is Not A Test, but to be perfectly honest a few of the first few figures I've selected are clearly still slightly mutated but don't show signs of any true beneficial mutations.

So the first example of that (second? do I count Mean Machine?) is Coke another awesome Neuroshima Tactics model.
Coke is a classic scavenger/raider type but his pinhead marks him as not quite purestrain human.
I'm probably sounding like a broken record on this at this point but the detail and character on this piece make me ask once again not only why I didn't but every Neuroshima Tactics model I could get my hands on when they were available but how this line failed in the first place?  This is a better fig than what a lot of successful companies are out there producing now.

Also I generally don't go in for showing off different angles on the same model but I had to show the "armour" that those straps are holding on his back.

Maybe he can be a post-apocalyptic Captain America?

-Jay

The rising tide of post-apocalyptic mutants

I managed to get another Fallout-style Super-Mutant done tonight, this time Brother Vinni's take on the model.

This is another fantastic take on bringing the creatures of the Fallout gaming universe to the tabletop.  My one regret is as I was looking at the figure AFTER I finished it I found myself wondering if Space Ork arms could have fit on the existing torso?  Of course if that had occurred to me ahead of time I could have just dry-fitted it and figured it out.

The other thing I wanted to check once the model was complete was how it scaled against my earlier Reaper Super-Mutant.  Obviously at this point I have both so it's not terribly relevant to me but I thought a side-by-side comparison might be helpful to other people.  The Brother Vinni model is noticeably larger but not so much so that I couldn't image the Reaper model being a Super-Mutant and the Brother Vinni version simply being a Super-Mutant Boss.

Thoughts?

In addition I thought I'd show my entire "non-critter" mutant warband as it stands now.  In addition to the two Super-Mutants the other six mutants are Worlds End Publishing's own mutant models for This Is Not A Test.  

I feel like by using a reasonably coherent colour scheme it feels like they all tie together.

I'm pretty pleased with how this is shaping up.  I think I'll be looking to the Judge Dredd line for a few more mutants but overall it feels like a tidy little group to me.

-Jay

Neuroshima Tactics, you're my latest 'why didn't I love you more when you were here?'

In addition to buying a bunch of  cool new figures for This Is Not A Test I've been digging through my backlog looking for denizens of the post apocalyptic wasteland.  Meanwhile there have been two figures sitting on the corner of my desk for close to 3 years now that never quite got to the top of my painting pile that are perfect for games of This Is Not A Test.

Neuroshima Hex had been a popular euro-style board game for years and a few years ago they decided to venture into the realm of tabletop miniature games.  The miniatures are AMAZING but for some reason they never caught on and were never widely available.  The game quickly (very quickly it seemed) went out of production and died a quiet undeserved death.

I was only able to get two Neuroshima Tactics figures before my retailer's supply chain dried up but they are going to be great for tons of different games.

Both figures are very nice but the one with the drum magazine on his weapon is absolutely covered in pouches, accessories and survival gear.

I feel like finding more of these awesome figures will be my white-whale for the next few years.  I know they're out there (somewhere) and I desperately want more.

As an aside with the rise in popularity of post-apocalyptic gaming I'm surprised no one has bought the production rights and molds and put these back into production under a different imprint.

-Jay

Please state the nature of the medical emergency

My small but growing force of robots got a new member last night; the Heal-O-Matic for This Is Not A Test by Worlds End Publishing.

The Heal-O-Matic is a medical variant of the Depend-O-Bot that I did a few weeks back and I have to say I'm  very happy with how it turned out.

One of my biggest struggles in the hobby has always been painting things white and after how this went I'm tempted to circle back to my Peace River gears for Heavy Gear.  This time out I primed black and then basically lightly (very lightly) sprayed multiple coats of white on over top, giving each layer time to dry before applying another coat.  Once that was done I thinned down Nuln Oil with Lahmian Medium and went over the whole thing, overbrushing with a dry paint brush to make sure there were no puddles on the surface.  After that I highlighted the original white back up and voila!  It was a lot less work and a lot less frustration than I typically experience painting white, the only downside is that it only works if 75%+ of the model will end up being white, if I wanted to use a similar technique on a model with some white on it I'd have to finally get around to learning how to airbrush.

Next up are some figures for a new game (new to me anyway) set in a steampunk fantasy universe (but don't worry, it still has robots).

-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

Mootant Cows

Okay first up; that 'Mootant Cows' thing, not even my pun, that's the actual product name.

In the Fallout universe there are certain creatures (Death Claw, Rad Roach, Mire Lurk, Rad Scorpion, etc) that feel like a defining part of the background.  One of the most pervasive animals in the wasteland is the Brahminn which is a two headed mutated cow that functions both as a source of food and as a pack animal.

One of the scenarios for This Is Not A Test requires a caravan of four pack animals and six caravan drivers.  I decided to get the pack animals done first because I'm sure I have enough poorly armed survivors to sub in as the caravan drivers if I don't get something specific done in the next few weeks.

The figures themselves are part of Armorcast's Lance & Laser line.  The detail level is good but I suspect the molds are getting older as some of the parts didn't fit together quite as cleanly as I would have hoped.  Having said that I think they were great value for the price given that they look perfect and will be perfectly functional.

Alright, back to my desk.  What's next?

-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