Getting ready for; Last Days!

We're about a month away from the release of my friend Ash's first game from Osprey Games; Last Days.

I'm gearing up to play some games ahead of release so I'll save a review until actual release week but I thought I'd just touch on a few things as I dust off a lot of the models I was painting back when I started this blog.

First up Last Days like all Osprey Games I'm familiar with is miniatures-neutral which means you can play it with any models you already have in your collections, or you can go out and cherry-pick all the coolest stuff.  This means for anybody already playing a zombie miniature game you already have everything you need, if you're one of those collectors like me who just buys cool models hoping to one day have rules to use them with you're all set as well.

Back during Ash's first pass at the game the forces were themed (cops, survivors, bikers, etc) so I tended to collect and group my figs that way.  Now you can mix and match as each model represents a trope rather than part of a traditional 'force' of soldiers.

In addition to each player's chosen force you will need a small collection of zombie models.  For anyone who's been into the genre previously this will be a non-issue but for newer gamers there are a ton of options for easy cost-effective zombies to fill out your ranks.  Walking Dead zombies are easily available and great durable figures, Warlord Games produces the old Wargames Factory zombies, even board games have some decent quality zombie figures these days, I've personally used a bunch of zombies from Last Night On Earth.

If there's one piece of advice I would give a new modeller collecting together different zombie and survivor figures it would simply be to base them the same (or at least similarly) so they take on the appearance of one coherent collection.

This is my trip through one old figure case, I plan on painting a few new figs up this week to add in, and hopefully you'll all see a full game review in 3-4 weeks.

-Jay

Grimes family reunion

During my lunch break today I managed to crank out Lorrie and Carl Grimes to join Rick on his post-apocalyptic adventures!

I honestly didn't spend too much time on these but went with a less-is-more approach.

Tomorrow should be a real hobby day so if I can find some primer I should have some exciting stuff going on!

-Jay

Iron Painter Round 2 - The End Of The World As We Know It

I stayed up last night until about 2am finishing my entry for round 2 of the Iron Painter.  But I've got to be honest, when I got up this morning and discovered the deadline was NEXT Sunday I kind of wished I had gone to bed earlier.....

The theme for Round 2 of the Iron Painter is 'The End Of The World As We Know It'.  I didn't have a Michael Stipe miniature so I decided to go for something post apocalyptic.  I've had Mad Max on the brain for a few weeks but I didn't have any unpainted Mad Max miniatures so I went back the zombie apocalypse once more.  It was a bit weird for me to dig through my zombies and zombie survivor miniatures looking for one I wanted to paint because when I started this blog three-ish years ago it seemed like that was my bread and butter but I haven't painted anything along those lines in quite a while.

I settled on Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead (comic, not movie).

Rick is from a Studio Miniatures pack called "The Family" which also includes Carl and Lorrie, who I will probably paint this week just to have them done as well.  When I started the blog I had stuff from Studio Miniatures up here regularly and circling back to them it was really easy to remember what I liked so much about them.  They do great versions of action and horror movie heroes and have some fantastic themed zombie sets.

That's it for today but the protoculture factory has been hard at work churning out mecha so expect a run on those soon.

-Jay

Zombieland!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge zombie movie fan.  Not just since zombie movies became the rage but since the first time I saw Night Of The Living Dead on the late night horror show WKBW in Buffalo used to have on when I had rabbit ears on my TV.  I mention this to frame my next comment and avoid being accused of decending into hyperbole; Zombieland is the best zombie movie ever!  I have enjoyed alot of zombie movies over the years and Romero certainly broke new ground with his "Dead" series of films but Zombieland hits on all cylinders for me.  When it's tense,it's legitimately tense, when it's funny it is absolutely hilarious, when it's action time Woody Harelson manages to put the action heroes of the 90s to complete and utter shame, and it has hands down the best celebrity-as-themselves cameo in the history of movies.

Enough of my praise, back to miniatures.
As part of their line of modern post-apocalyptic survivors Studio miniatures released models of Tallahassee and Columbus from Zombieland.  These figures are not quite as iconic or spot on as the John McLane figure but they are still excellent figures of 2 great characters from a terrific film.
I was able to paint Columbus in about an hour sticking to basecoats ad washes but I put slightly more effort into Tallahassee as he was the nicer miniature and is ultimately more likely to see some regular use on the gaming table.

Also if nothing else I learned how to spell "Tallahassee" today.

-Jay

Time to nut up or shut up!

 

Be a hero

 

Rule 8: Get a kickass partner

 

 

 

There are some injuries even a tough guy can't "walk off"

Today's addition to the growing ragtag collection of survivors is John McLane circa the first Die Hard movie.

This is another fantastic miniature from Studio Miniatures and really showcases the highest standard of their sculpting.  There are a ton of companies out there doing movie characters of various quality but this miniature is in my opinion one of the best.  The likeness of Bruce Willis is decent and the details on the figure (wrap around the feet, the pose, the hair, etc) are perfect and in addition this figure has the best sculpted MP-5s in my collection.

I chopped up the plastic on the pack he came in to create some shattered glass for the base and I think the effect turned out reasonably well.

I've got a slew of other Studio Miniatures survivors on my desk waiting for some attention who should be debuting here soon.

-Jay

Redneck Zombies!

I finally finished my last 2 zombies from my first box of Studio Miniatures!  These are 2 redneck looking zombies (can't figure out why one has a samurai sword in him mind you....) and I think these guys were a great 1 day diversion.

Tomorrow is hobby-day and with any luck I should be mostly finished my Fallout mercs by the end of the day.

Wish me luck!

-Jay

Why do I suddenly want to watch 'Duck Dynasty'?

 

Back to the studio for more zombies!

I decided to take a break from my Fallout mercs for a couple of days and get a few more zombies done.  After my last post I had 4 more zombies to paint to finish Zombie Horde Part 1 by Studio Miniatures.

Of the remaining four two are done now and I hope to finish off the other two tonight.

One of these guys is a very generic zombie male with shirt, pants & shoes, well sculpted and executed but nothing truly noteworthy.  The second figure however is outstanding, it's funny because I never even noticed him on the box when I bought it.  First up a quick 'warning'; he's wearing an open bathrobe and nothing underneath so if you're offended by zombie junk hanging out don't scroll down....  Having said that this figure is AMAZING, in addition to the general sense of comedy created by the clothes (or lack thereof) he's wearing bunny slippers and carrying around his coffee mug!  It's one of those figures that really stands out as something more interesting than the norm.

One more post later tonight featuring my last two zombies and then it's a dozen Fallout mercs for tomorrow!

-Jay

Always dress your best, zombie attacks can happen when you least expect!

 

Odds and ends

One of the things I have found that happens when you're bouncing back and forth between hobby projects is that you come across things that have been "half-done" for a long time.  Every once in a while it's nice to finish those things off because they don't take much time and they make you feel like you accomplished something.

Today I had 3 half-dones that I decided to finish.
The first was another Hasslefree Survivor, this one is a cop with mini riot shield and baton.  Unfortunatley the pictures didn't turn out at all so I'm all tell and no show on this one.
The second model was my not-Leon Kennedy from Recreational Conflict.  The funny thing about Leon is that this is the figure that convinced me I needed to do an order with Recreational Conflict 3 or so years ago but somehow he was the one figure from the entire order I never got around to finishing.
And lastly I have 2 more zombies from Studio Miniatures that didn't get finished with my last batch.

Thanks for visiting

-Jay

The first character I ever played in a Resident Evil video game and still my favourite.

 

Two more zombettes.

 

 

The man...the legend...the miniature

One of the things I really like about the Studio Miniatures zombies is that their basic package format is 8 figures but they also come in boxes of 17 that are made up of 2 of the basic boxes plus a free promo figure...and the free promo figures are pretty cool.

Zombie Horde Part 1 (the box I'm working through right now) comes with what might actually be my favourite promo figure I've ever gotten from any company; a zombified version of George A Romero!  Zombie George has a great level of detail and for anyone who has seen pictures of George on set does an awesome job of capturing his likeness.

I just painted him last night but I'm really looking forward to first time I mix him in with a batch of zombies on the tabletop and 2 or 3 turns into a game somebody recognizes him.

Thanks for visiting

-Jay

Lights...camera...BRAINS!

 

Three more for the horde!

Tonight I'm delving back into my Studio Miniatures Zombie Horde Part 1 box for 3 more figures.

These are 3 of the more 'generic' looking figures in the set but I still found them to be well sculpted and full of character.  One of the goals I have for my modern day zombies is to not use duplicates of any sculpts, so being able to add 3 more unique figures to my collection is a great boost for my next game.

Thanks for visiting

-Jay

That guy on the right looks like he has an ouchy.

 

And the horde continues to build.......

Hi again everybody.  So I've circled back around to the box of Studio Miniatures I got my zombie in chicken suit from and painted 3 more figures from that pack.

When I first saw these figures the one that grabbed me right away was the heavy woman her stylin' sleepwear.  I think for most of us who saw the Dawn Of The Dead re-make that is the zombie that stands out in our memories both because she was just so visually awesome and also because when the survivors bring her inside it's one of those moments where every single person in the theatre is sharing the exact same thought "have none of these characters ever SEEN a zombie movie?!?!"

Thanks for visiting

-Jay

Be careful...she`s faster than she looks!

 

Sometimes you paint figures for a particular game you are planning and sometimes a miniature or two just comes arounf that you have to piant because...well...just becuase.

To that end I present a great representation of Duke Nukem (by Comfy Chair Games) and a Zombie in a giant chicken suit (by Studio Miniatures).

In the next 2 weeks you should be seeing alot more painted Studio miniatures around these parts.

-Jay

Hail to the king baby.....Chicken a la King baby!