A civilian for all genres (I think?)

I decided to touch up another figure for use as a generic civilian for superhero/post apocalyptic gaming and when I took a step back and really looked at him realised that as a civilian with no relevant gear he also works really well for Shadowrun and possibly even Steampunk games.

I think the vest and tie but without any other items to define the period the figure is from means it would be passable for alot of different times.  I also thought that the style of the pants made it look somewhat out-of-time, but I might be over thinking that last bit.

Incidentally this is the Harvey Dent figure from the most recent Batman Heroclix set.  As soon as I pulled him from the pack I knew he was destined for a re-basing and some non-clix gaming.

-Jay

Project Scrapheap: Now slightly less "scrapheap-ey".....and Bloody Bradigan

I finished another model for Project Scrapheap today, but more interestingly (for me anyway) I found all the rest of the models I need and ended up with a themed force in the bargain.

About 7-8 years ago Games Workshop published a Zombie Pirate list in White Dwarf.  I thought it was awesome but I can also be painfully lazy when it comes to building and converting so I found a bunch of sources for zombie pirate miniatures elsewhere and placed a bunch of orders.  My biggest single order unfortunately did not work out at all as I had planned, I ordered a ton of zombie pirates from the Reaper Warlord line which all look fantastic, but are all way to big to fit in with Warhammer models.....so I put them away in a box....and forgot about them.....until yesterday!

So I have now revised my list and Skarre will in fact be leading a Cryx pirate force with a couple of other models thrown in to round things out.  My new list is:
-Skarre
-Harrower
-Bloat Thrall (from the Helldorado line)
-Machine Wraith
-Bloody Bradigan
-10 Revenant Crew Of The Atramentous (from the Reaper Warlord line)
-10 Revenant Crew Of The Atramentous (from the Reaper Warlord line)
-Revenant Cannon (from the Reaper Warlord line)
-Revenant Cannon (from the Reaper Warlord line)
*  This leaves me with 2 more points for a 35 point game.  I have a few other models I'm trying to choose from to finish it off.

I mentionned the other day that I was disappointed I couldn't use most of the Mercenaries I bought with my Cryx army but apparently I had bought 1 model who isn't too choosy about who he works for.  Bloody Bradigan is basically a brawling berzerker who fights for the sake of fighting.  Thematically I struggled to figure out why he would be hanging out with a Cryx force without any other pirates around but once I decided on the zombie pirates he sort of fit in with them.

He drinks your milkshake

 

Now that my force feels more coherent I'm definitely feeling alot of enthusiasm for the project and I can't wait for the zombie pirates to hit the table.

Aaargh!

-Jay

Project Scrapheap: Machine Wraith

I'm pleased to report that I was able to get my Machine Wraith done in one sitting last night.  It's great when you are speed painting and you get a model that has this much texture, you can basecoat it, hit it with a wash and then just go back and do some detail work and you're done!

I'm still struggling to figure out what use the Machine Wraith will be against a Hordes army but a buddy mentionned that because the Wraith is on a 40mm base I can use him to screen and protect a more valuable model on a 40mm base from shooting and magic effects early in the game.

I've got my first unit of proxy Bane Thralls (Confrontation Dawn Warriors) prepped up and I'm off to a decent start.  I just need to pick up some putty tonight to do a little work on Skarre and then I can get started on her as well.

Any thoughts on tactics anybody?  It sounds like I'll be playing my first couple of games against Circle and Everblight.

-Jay

Project Scrapheap: Bloat Thrall

I've got some progress to report ALOT earlier than I expected.  After prepping my Machine Thrall for painting I starting looking through my backlog and unused models looking for more potential proxies for my new army.  I started off by going through all the stuff I had that used the same style bases thinking they were also likely to be closer to 30mm (or "heroic" 28mm) than other figs.  Surprisingly even though I have alot of Undead and Steampowered robots for Malifaux none of those quite worked, my Dark Age stuff was all too organic and not undead enough, I found of few potential Ex Illis pieces but the real treasure came when I dugout my Helldorado stuff.

Helldorado is a skirmish game that came out a few years back.  I bought into it with a friend but then he moved away and for a time the product was very difficult to get so none of my other gaming friends got into it.  So my Helldorado figures languished half painted in a box for about 4 years....until this morning.

In my opinion if you're going to proxy models your opponent should still be able to look at them on the tabletop and instantly figure out what they are.  So as great as it is to find things that somewhat convey what they are I find I generally want something that either looks spot on or couldn't possibly be anything else.  The great thing about this figure is that the reason I never painted a Bloat Thrall during my earlier time pianting Warmachine figures is that the Bloat Thrall miniature never appealed to me so finding a suitable proxy is a double win.  What also worked out in my favour is that I had half-painted the model before I put it away so when I found it it took me less than an hour to finish and base it!  So not only is my first model done but it's 2 more points that I hadn't figured into my list yesterday!

The model itself is the Damned Of Gluttony which comes as a 2-pack.  The first model is much smaller, being slightly larger than man-sized and then once it has consumed some opponents it grows to the model seen above.

It's great to catch a break on a project like this, now I jut need to get my paint brush back in hand and keep digging through the treasue trove.

-Jay

Secret Society Of The 52: Obsidian

Back with a quick superhero interlude before diving head first into Warmahordes this afternoon!

Two characters who found themselves in limbo after DCs reboot who now look like they probably won't be coming back are Jade and Obsidian the children of the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott.  Obsidian was a great add to my DC collection because he has a fairly uncommon powerset in DC which is none the less fairly common in Marvel so he feels great for gaming in both venues.  Obsidian has a number of super powers based on his ability to tap into a dark energy (much like the darkforce dimension in Marvel).  He's also a really cool figure that has like many of my new Supersystem team done time as both a hero and a villain.

Like I said just a quick diversion, I'll be painting my Machine Wraith today, which as far as I can tell will be useless against Hordes armies but hopefully I can find some use for it in games as it is a sweet model.

-Jay

Project Scrapheap: Prelude

One of the tough things about the miniature hobby is that sometimes you like the figures but you don't like the game, sometimes you like the game but you don't like the figures, and sometimes you just find yourself a victim of your own shortsightedness and have to make do.

A couple of days ago a friend of mine invited me to join him for some Hordes/Warmachine gaming.  Awhile back I played a ton of Warmachine using my Cryx army and I really liked the game.  After awhile though the group I was playing with lost interest and we transitioned into some other games instead.  Having been bitten by the Warmachine bug again I had one immediate problem; all my painted Cryx stuff it out on loan to another friend and I won't be able to get it back in time to start playing.  The secondary problem is having played the game before and dropped it I'm hesitant to invest in a whole new army.  So the solution is to speed-paint a new army using the odds and sods I have kicking around from my last run at the game.

Is this a good idea?
Let's weigh the pros and cons.
PROS
1.  I've got a pile of stuff just kicking around that I might as well get painted anyway.
2.  When it's done and I get off my lazy butt and pick up my existing Cryx stuff I should have around 90 points worth of models for a big game.
3.  It will be the first time I've ever built an army and felt like it was free!  (yeah, I know I actually paid for this stuff at some point but that was awhile back)
CONS
1.  All of this stuff for one reason or another didn't make the cut (for a variety of reasons) to make it into my army the first time around.
2.  As it really is all odds and ends it's not designed to work together so I won't be able to get off the combos that seem to be what Warmahordes is all about.
3.  I have a bunch of really cool Mercenary stuff that I won't be able to use because it's not Cryx friendly.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter because I'm going to do it anyway.  So what will be in my force?
Skarre Queen Of The Broken Coast
Harrower Helljack
Machine Wraith
2 units of Bane Thralls (using Confrontation Dirz figures)
This will give me 15 of the 35 points I need.  I'm going to keep digging through my backlog looking for other stuff I may have that can fit in there but ultimately I'm assuming I'll have to buy 1 more Warjack, other than that I'm determined the rest will be made out of what is on hand.

The goal is to have 35 points done by the Monday after next, which gives me 13 days, shouldn't be a problem (assuming I can find some more models!).  So at this point I have to assume you can all see why I'm calling this "Project Scrapheap".

Incidentally I would really appreciate any advice any of you would like to offer in the comments section on how to use the figures I ultimately end up choosing and painting, I said I played alot, I never said I played well.

Wish me luck!

-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