League of Extraordinary Gamers Blog

Okay, I know, I missed last week. Last minute revisions on some writing work literally ate up my weekend, and I have the dishes and crumbs to prove it. However, here's a nice look at some work last week, and some new pieces done this week!

Last week didn't see a whole lot get done I'm afraid. I do have two nice offerings though. This guy is a Reaper Bones model that's going to be part of a Post Apoc diorama/Toxic Holocaust force. I've always liked the look of this model, it's always been "Bryan Denehee as Mad Max" to me. The best thing about this guy to me was the fact that it's all "non-blacks," which is to say mixing a color into black to give it a little tint. It may be hard to tell by the photo, but there's actually five different non-blacks on the model: red, grey, blue, purple, and green. It's a good

technique for making a black-based model not look flat when you're not doing a lot of highlights. The last of the red-hot Interceptors to be following, hopefully soon. (By the way, Toxic Holocaust is played on 30mm bases not 25mm. The model is pinned into the base through the left foot, because I'm not yet sure about his final destination. If he doesn't get turned into a diorama, he'll get reset onto a 30mm. In the meantime, I can use him in Toxic Holocaust just by dropping a Firebucket wargaming ring around the base.)

Second up is a redux of a previous WDIPTW model, Sally Starfield. After the initial paint job I did some more color theory work, and came up with a theme I liked better for my GDF. The new palette is all 50's colors, and gives the force as a whole a nice unified look. I'm really pleased with the colors, and think that this is going to me a really well defined force for Counterblast. Now the only thing left will be to "modify" the acrylic bubble helm coming with the kickstarter to fit onto this earlier model. It's going to take some finicky cutwork, but Patrick

Kieth says it can work. With colors schemes for my GDF and Lancers locked down, now I just need to decide how I want to paint my Mekkus force. Two out of three before Kickstarter shipping ain't bad!

And on to this week. I kind of only got two model's done... and at the same time, kind of got five models done. The reason is one/four of those models are the Shattered from Spinespur. These are civilians whose brains have finally snapped from all the craziness around them, so they're basically human cattle that can be steered around the table. Limited effectiveness, but man are they sweet. You gotta love the "quintessential gamer," complete with messenger bag of books and neckbeard, who I think looks just a little bit like a younger Bob Mervine. That black shirt will be getting a freehanded dragon on it when I feel courageous enough to try, but for now it's three colors of blending will have to suffice. The other three I think would make

excellent additions to any zombie hoard all on their own. Ol' Granny's only a few days away from it herself, the construction worker dragging the pipewrench looks the part, factor in the working mom with the unclothed baby and they all look like they're the Night of the Living Rejects. You've got to love how original the models are in Spinespur. You get a few tropes and cliches, but those cleanse the palette between really off the wall original pieces.

The final offering for this week is a color test for my Capitol force in Warzone: Resurrection. Like just about everyone else I was first going to do a classic "Martian Camo" kind of thing, then decided last minute to try something more akin to a night op armor pattern. So, here it is: red camo cloth, black armor. This is the quick-and-dirty version, so don't get all crazy on me for the general sloppy aspects of the brushwork. This was just the test, the rest will be much tighter. However, since last time I waited on my color scheme somebody beat me to it (Cybertronic infiltrators!) I decided to jump early on this one. Anyway, let me know what you think.

This coming week, you won't get to see one of these. I"ll be away all weekend, and have four days to finish everything I usually do in seven. The week after you'll be in for a treat. Not only will have I some more painted lovelies, but we'll be starting up an LXG Campaign in Spinespur!

See you on the other side of the table,
The Second Class Elitist

Zombie of the Month: Tiny Terrors by Studio Miniatures

SCHOOL’S…OUT…FOR…SUMMER! ... SCHOOL’S…OUT…FOR…EVER!

Well, it’s the end of the school year, and what better way to celebrate summer vacation than some zombie kids? So, without further ado, I give you:

The Zombie of the Month- June 2014- Tiny Terrors by Studio Miniatures

What’s so great about these Zombies? They’re kids! What could be cuter (read: creepier) than little zombie kids! I like to reflect some real-world diversity in my zombie horde, and we had several ideas over here at LXG that will require some pint-sized undead, so I went hunting for some zombie kids. Sadly, I found them underrepresented in the miniature wargaming industry. As if eating the brains of the living is just for grown-ups. Sad. But Studio Miniatures came to the rescue. They have a VERY extensive line of zombies (well over a hundred figures), and they have a nice little pack of 6 zombie kids that are just what I needed- regular kids, nothing too fancy, just a few undead rugrats shuffling about town.

The Basics:

Scale- 28mm, which makes them a whopping 21-22mm tall.

Genre- Modern, and fairly basic, too. These are kids that could have just been going about their daily lives when the Zombie Apocalypse hit. Not Children’s Army bratz with bazookas (although that would have been fun, too!), but regular kids.

Material- White Metal. Can you imagine how light they would be if they weren’t?

Parts ‘N’ Bits- Alas, these come with no extra bits of any kind. Even the 8mm tall doll is already attached. A whole assortment of optional itty bitty toys would have been fun, right? Maybe not.

Assembly- They come fully assembled, thank goodness. ‘Cause I really didn’t want to assemble 22mm tall humans.

Bases- They come with plain, lipped, slotted, 30mm bases, which are pretty huge on such tiny models. They look like they are wandering around lost in the schoolyard. It’s kinda funny.

Ratings:

Sculpt- 3 brains out of 5. Let me just say that 5 years ago this would have been a 4. Sculpture has been advancing by leaps and bounds in the last few years, and these guys are several years old. So, they’re solid. They’re fine. They may not be up to par with current standards, but at no point did the sculpts make me not want to buy them.

Affordability- 3 brains out of 5 – The set normally comes in at around £11-13 (since most places selling it are in the UK), so you are probably going to pay around $3 a piece for them, not accounting for shipping. You may not want to buy a 1,000 zombie horde at that price, but it’s not a bad price for adding specific kinds of characters.

Value- 3 brains out of 5- If you really need zombie kids for some reason, this may be a 4, because there aren’t that many zombie kids out there. But for general horde building, they are nice to have (for the reason just stated), but not essential.

Availability- 4 brains out of 5- Okay, you probably won’t walk into a store and find these on the shelf, but if you have internet access, you won’t have any trouble getting them. They are sold by many online retailers.

Pros: You get to sing old Alice Cooper songs while you place them on your table or shelf, and you get to add some kids to your horde, which, let’s face it, is sorely lacking in most zombie media.

Cons: None, really, unless the people you play with are likely to accuse you of cheating for Line-of-Sight checks, or you really need to be able to rep large weapons.

Welcome to our first Reader Request article! Dennis Jansson from the Warzone- Mutant Chornicles Facebook Page asked us how we made the Martian base shown in What Did I Paint This Week, and we are more than happy to oblige. Would you believe you can outfit pretty much a whole army for ten dollars?

This is all your going to need: Craft Sand from your local craft store (AC Moore, Micheals, Hobby Lobby, they all carry the stuff, and it's about two bucks), DecoArt Americana Alizarin Crimson (DA179), Plaid FolkArt Artist's Pigment #914 Light Red Oxide, and DecoArt Americana Burnt Orange (DA018). If you don't have access to these brands, try to aim for an Alizarin Crimson, a darker Cadmium Red, and a slightly brown-toned orange or warm terracotta. You will also need your preferred glue. I like thin superglue for bases because I'm impatient and want to work on them NOW. If you want to use PVA that's fine too, just expect more drying time. (Also, you don't *have* to get the black craft sand... but it saves you a priming step. Also, it makes a perfect asphalt in a one-step base.)

Prep your bases by covering the slots. Paper and superglue does the trick for me, but everyone has their own technique for this. Matchsticks, putty, self hardening clay, trimmed sprue. Whatever floats your boat, because it won't matter as nobody will see it.

Fill the recess in the base with superglue.

Depress the base into your craft sand, and once completely submerged press the sand down into the top of the base.

Dig your base out, and it should look like this. If you have gaps, just apply more glue and repeat until you're happy with the surface coverage.

If you want to add additional texture (such as rises and valleys) on your base, continue applying glue to build up areas, repeating the steps above until you like how it looks.

Apply the Alizarin Crimson heavily, making sure to get into all the recesses of the surface. This is your base coat, and at this stage too much paint is better than not enough. The texture of the craft sand is pretty coarse, so you really can't overdo it.

Once dry, overbrush with the Light Red Oxide. As you can see, you want some texture showing through.

Finish up with a drybrush of Burnt Orange.

Clean up around the lip of the base with your Black (or rim color) of choice. That's really all it takes. Professional looking bases on the cheap, that are quick and easy to do once you know a few simple tricks and have the right color theory.

If you want more work on your bases, glue down rocks (slate or cork) or base objects like this barbed wire. You're then going to paint them exactly the same. You can do a contrast color for your rocks if you want- greys would work really well- or just keep on trucking with your red tones. As I'm not trying to draw a lot of attention to the bases on these, I kept the rocks to the red tones. Your mileage may vary. For added contrast scrub brush and scraggly grass fits the theme nicely. I'd recommend staying to yellower grass and tundra colors. Too much green will give the base an odd tone, and the yellow not only stays in the warm tones, but looks malnourished like you expect desert grass to look (even if it doesn't.)

There you have it. Martian bases cheap, fast, and good, proving you can actually have all three! Hope this helps. Any other requests for anything you see on the Blog, always feel free to leave it in the comments below.

See you on the other side of the table,

The Second Class Elitist.

Well, the goodies from the Counterblast Kickstarter are not due out until at least August, but we’re chomping at the bit over here, so we decided to get ahead by painting up a few Bombshell Miniatures we have.

But what colors to use? Why, a 1950’s palette, of course! The 1950’s are widely regarded as a Golden Age of Sci-fi, so what better color palette to use for our alien cats, jet bikes and space squids?

Hot Rod Red is always in style-
from the 57 Chevy to jet bikes!

So what was going on in the fifties? The 57 Chevy! Poodle Skirts! The Pink Cadillac! Mr. Potato Head! The dawn of the VCR, Fiber Optic cables, and even the first solar cell! And at the end of the decade, we gained the hula hoop, Barbie, and the laser! What greater contribution has there been to modern science fiction than the LASER?

Right. Now that we know when we are, we need to know what colors were popular at the time. As the resident art major and research specialist, it was my job to go hunt down that information. And… wow. They had some fun ones. The array of neutrals and muted colors that had been popular for the last couple decades still had some sway, but people were about ready for some color and contrast, as well. So, in walked bold black and white contrasts, turquoise, Spanish reds and yellows, and hot pink (I mentioned Barbie, right?)

A punk girl from the Bombshell Babes series
shares some black, white and hot pink with this
original 1959 Barbie- yes, she came in blonde
and brunette.

Sound like fun? We thought so. So we took a trip out to AAA Hobbies in Magnolia, NJ, armed with some printouts of the color swatches I found, and got to work constructing our palette from their huge wall of Vallejo paints. Sure, some of them are going to be colors you already have, but some of them were so specific and iconic that we didn’t want to substitute or mix them.

And, of course, we are going to share. So here it is for you, fellow gamers, a pre-constructed color palette for your 1950’s pulp sci-fi. The colors listed here are mostly Vallejo paints, because that’s what they sell at AAA, but you can find brand conversions online if you use someone else.

Vallejo Model Color 70808 Blue Green- serves as your turquoise, either straight or lightened with a little white. This color was popular on cars and appliances (read: jet bikes and robots)

Bombshell's Doom Bunny sporting
a lovely lavender found in this
period poodle skirt.

Vallejo Model Color 70916 Sand Yellow-
a somewhat pale, impure yellow

Army Painter Pure Red- a bright, pure
Spanish red

Vallejo Model Color 70952 Lemon Yellow-
a bright, pure Spanish yellow

Army Painter Lava Orange- a fairly strong, slightly reddish orange

Vallejo Model Color 70891 Intermediate
Green- a medium-dark green with a hint of yellow

Vallejo Game Color 72035 Dead Flesh- a medium light green with a hint of yellow

Vallejo Model Color 70806 Lazur Yellow- chartreuse. Can’t believe someone invented that color, but it was popular then, so I feel artistically obligated to find somewhere I want to use it.

Vallejo Model Color 70802 Sunset Red- this is basically your hot pink. Yup, Barbie pink. They hadn’t really discovered artificial pigment yet, so it doesn’t have that overloaded color we think of as hot pink now, but it’s still bold.

Vallejo Game Color 72013 Squid Pink- I swear I didn’t just buy this to paint my Edo, but now it has to happen. This is the color of the “Pink Cadillac”. It has a touch of blue in it you might not expect, but I swear it's right.

Vallejo Model Color 70811 Blue Violet- basically, lavender (not too light)

Vallejo Game Color 72039 Plague Brown- goldenrod

Another classic car-jet bike combo

We didn’t buy every single unique color I found referenced in 50’s color schemes. There are a few close variations that we didn’t buy separately. And, of course, you still have the more basic, common colors that we don’t need to pick out for you. Black and white were highly popular. You can also use navy blue, your regular deep hunter/forest green, and your other basic neutrals (browns and grays). I have included a couple links below in case you want to look at them yourself to hunt for a few more colors you might like, and to give you a few more ideas for period color combinations.

Sherwin Williams: http://www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/color/find-and-explore-colors/color-collections/historic-palettes/suburban-modern-interior/

About.com Desktop Publishing: http://desktoppub.about.com/od/colorpalettes/l/blcpatomicage.htm

This woman's turquoise oven matches her "toasters"- no one's stealing that roast!

I don’t know about you, but I love wargaming to a soundtrack. And painting to a soundtrack. And driving to a soundtrack. Basically, there should always be music, and music themed to what you’re doing is the best. You know what that means! It means that, with Counterblast coming only about a month away, it’s time to put together a lovely playlist of some music from the 1950’s to be-bop our little aliens to.

So what was happening musically in the 1950’s? Ever heard of Buddy Holly? Jerry Lee Lewis? Fats Domino? And what was that obscure little song… “Johnny B. Goode”? Yeah. That was Chuck Berry in 1958, folks. We’re really rockin’ now! Do you like Crooners? How about some Bobby Darin, or the smooth tones of Johnny Mathis?

Oh, yeah, and some guy named Elvis Presley…

There is actually some variety in the hits society still remembers from the 50’s. You’re bound to find something you like- rock, crooners, and even a whole genre with an almost comedic value (think “Splish Splash”, “Charlie Brown”, and “Love Potion #9”). There was even a small movement of music devoted to the prevalence of pulp sci-fi, the reason we are here today. When you are making a soundtrack for a pulp sci-fi game, how can you not add something with a title like “The Flying Saucer”, or, remember this one?: “Purple People Eater”. Oh, yeah, I feel pulpy already!

So here it is- my club’s (still being tweaked) Counterblast song list. These are just our choices, provided here to whet your appetite- feel free to look around the internet for more options. Just type in something like “Music Hits of the 1950’s” into your web browser, and you’re bound to find plenty of good ideas!

Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets

Rockin Robin - Bobby Day

Charlie Brown - The Coasters

Wake Up Little Suzie - The Everly Bothers

Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis

Yakety Yak – Coasters

Tequila! – Champs

Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino

At The Hop - Danny and the Juniors

Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper

Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry

Earth Angel – Penguins

In The Still Of The Night - Five Satins

I Only Have Eyes For You – Flamingos

Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin

That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly and the Crickets

The Great Pretender – Platters

Love Potion No. 9 – Clovers

Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley

Purple People Eater - Sheb Wolley

The Flying Saucer - Buchanan & Goodman

Shake, Rattle And Roll - Joe Turner

Good Golly Miss Molly - Little Richard

La Bamba - Ritchie Valens

Get A Job – Silhouettes

Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley

When your horde is just starting out, it can seem economically daunting to try to get up a large number of shambling lovelies in a relatively short period of time. My advice? Check into the world of board games. There are an ever-growing number of board games devoted to zombies, which means fairly cheap figures, especially if they sell expansion packs. And nowadays most companies (wisely) choose to make the zombie figures that come with their game somewhere in the vicinity of 28mm scale. The only downside is, it may not tell you the scale on the box, since board games technically don’t need it. Let me introduce you to one of the board games that got my horde started…

The Zombie of the Month- July 2014- Humans!!! by Twilight Creations

What’s so great about these Zombies? They make a great starter box for your horde. Yeah, I know, the box says “Humans!!!”, but it’s really just a sequel to “Zombies!!!”, a previous board game made by Twilight Creations, and the theme is still the same, except, in this board game, you are playing the zombies trying to score yourself the most human entrees! So, you get 10 each of 6 different zombie figures- so each player has more zombie models for when they infect more humans. It also comes with 60 (unarmed) survivors, which you might find a use for. Not a bad haul for $30. And the plastic material they come in is easy to cut, so with a little work, you can get an even bigger variety of figures from this box.

The Basics:

One of the "Survivors" painted as a zombie

Scale- There is no official scale, because it’s just a board game. They seem to scale in at around

25mm, with sizes ranging from 27mm to 31mm. A little small, but they will blend in well enough once you increase your undead population.

Genre- Modern. Very. The suitcases, cellphones, and electric guitars are kind of a giveaway. A little more versatility could be achieved with a good Xacto knife, though, if you are so inclined.

Material- That soft, board game figure plastic. Don’t worry, they’ll hold up. It just makes them easy to alter if you want to.

Parts ‘N’ Bits- None… unless you dissect people for parts. Which you can, since you get 10 of each zombie, though they probably won’t fit well on any other figures you have.

Assembly- None required- just 60 complete zombie figures, and 60 survivors (all identical, in a running pose).

Bases- Integrated bases just big enough for them to stand up. Leave them on when you glue them down to your gaming bases, and put some nice, thick basing materials down, and it will help to make up for them being a little short.

Ratings:

Sculpt- 3 brains out of 5- Average modern board game quality. They’re fine, but there’s nothing too special about them.

Affordability- 4 brains out of 5- There’s no smaller option than the whole $30 board game. Granted, that’s about $.25 a figure, but lets face it, you’re not using all of them. If you only like to use the same sculpt two or three times, your effective cost per mini could be close to 2 and a half bucks.

Value- 3 brains out of 5- Unless you also want the board game, it’s a lot of money to spend for that much repetition of models that aren’t even a standard gaming scale. Still, if you don’t mind them being short, and love conversion work, you might scale this higher. And it’s hard to argue with the instant horde this box provides.

Availability- 5 brains out of 5- Go to a decent sized gaming store, and you might even be lucky enough to find this box on the shelf. Regardless, since it is a board game, there are countless online vendors that sell it. Until the game loses popularity, I don’t see anyone having trouble scoring themselves a copy.

Pros: This box is an instant horde. And it comes with a decent board game to boot!

Cons: The figures are a little repetitive and a little shorter than the 28mm scale you generally need for games requiring zombies.

The Zombie Hulk Collection

From the title some of you might have guessed that LXG has delved into the crazy world that is Malifaux. Ali, TokenGamerChic, Merek, 2CE, and I have all started crews, and some of us have even started the painting process… Even me, some of you will realize that’s an achievement. But that’s for another time, this article is about my experiences and thoughts on our first few games.

In the interests of honesty dear readers, this isn’t the first time I’ve looked at Malifaux. A few years ago I used to listen to a podcast, and one of the casters used to extol the virtues of the game. So when time came for LXG to look for some new games to talk about and play, I looked into Malifaux. This was back in 1^stedition, and I was a bit put off by the game. First off back then there were a slew of books, and the game felt like you needed all of them. Second, the genre was new to me. Horror based gaming? Little did I know that Spinespur would be in my future and that I would love it. And the last thing, no DICE? A deck of cards? I felt lost.

Now though, I think I might be in love. Ok that’s a bit strong, but I’m very happily surprised with 2^nd edition Malifaux. Let’s start with the rules set. The rules are consistent across the board. The deck of cards and the fact that there are 2 bits of info on each card, allow for an element that could only be achieved with dice by rolling 2 different ones. So one card is doing the job of 2 dice. Damage and healing are done using the same mechanics, which means you only have to memorize on mechanic (YAY!). All those books from 1^stedition are gone, replaced with upgrade cards that are available in the rulebook and a free PDF. Really from a rules set the only thing I don’t like, is it’s designed for a 3’x3’ table. It’s just not compatible with the other games I play. But we’re looking into answers for that.

Now about the genre, 2ce and I were discussing this the other day, and we’ve come to realize that we like story more than anything else in our games. Malifaux has this in spades (pun intended). It’s not true horror like Spinespur, it’s not true fantasy like WFB, it’s not even truly steampunk, but a blend of the three. The characters and models borrow heavily from the iconography and great stories of those genres. It’s a blend that plays well on the tabletop as well. The games feel like mini stories, and I for one love that.

Finally we get to the best selling point I can give you. The model’s are gorgeous. From the basics of the show girls. To the crazy that is Yin. There is character and fun in each one. The conversion to all plastics has really paid off with levels of customization and detail that metal just can’t compete with. Honestly, the renders on the boxes just don’t do these models justice, you have to see some painted examples to see the true detail. Here are some that 2CE just finished up.

I’m really stoked for this game going forward and I’ll be back soon with a battle report. Just as soon as I get another game in. Until next time…

Belgarath97

PS. - Here is a look at those gorgeous models 2CE got done.

So, I've been happily painting away on my Arcworlde models, especially the Zombie Pirates of the Black Coast. After showing off on or two on Arcworlde's facebook page, I got a few tutorial requests for the skin. So here goes!

The Pirates of the Black Coast are evil, Undead corsairs who pillage the world of Arcworlde. This lent itself, to me, to the idea of a more "watery" undead: not dried and decayed, but bluish from exposure, with some soft tissue still resembling flesh. (Spoiler: I'm a firm believer that more layers/steps leads to a more realistic finish, so this isn't a "dip and done" paint guide.)

We start with an Arcworlde pirate. Any will do, but I picked Cyclops here so I could demonstrate bone as well for you. (Freebie!) The model had been primed black to allow for deeper contrasts.

The next step was a base coast of Army Painter Necrotic Flesh. I like the AP better than Valejo or GW for this because it is a little more blue/green, which suits the composition. Depending on of/how much you thin your paints, this may take two or three coats. It's well worth the time spent.

Next up is a 50/50 mix of Army Painter Uniform Grey and Necrotic Flesh. No specific reason for the Uniform Grey aside from it being handy. Dry brush the blend over the skin areas to begin a mottling effect.

On to a quick drybrush mix. 1 part Uniform Grey, 2 parts Flesh, and 1 part Vallejo light flesh. This color is a staple for me in mixing. It's not a true white so it never bleaches out color, but is very light and allows for excellent shade control. While I'm not a big fan of dry brushing because it can give a gravelly texture, it's not going to matter soon, and the details Alex sculpted into these models are more than deep enough to carry it.

So, apparently I forgot to take a picture, so bear with me. Wash the entire model with your sepia wash of choice, or a blend of sepia and flesh. I used Army Painter Soft Tone for just that reason- it's a nice midway point between a true sepia and a flesh wash. Do something constructive while that dries. Next, we're going to spot color points of the model in purple tone to give it that submerged bloated look. Aim for soft tissue like around the eyes and mouth, any areas of major damage, hands, and feet.

Now is where the rubber hit the road. Mix a 50/50 blend of Vallejo basic skintone and Uniform Grey to apply as a highlight layer on the skin. This is an "apply to taste" kinda thing. The more you put on, the "fresher" the old One-eyed William is going to look. Personally, I go for just the highlight areas that really rise above the rest. The thinner the paint the better, as it will transition more cleanly.

On to a final highlight layer of the Basic Skintone. You want to take about a third of whatever you just highlighted in the last step, and bring it up a little more. Less is more at this point, you really just want to add high pinpoints of light.

Bonus time!!! This is really the best, easiest way to make bone I've come up with yet. A 50/50 mix of Vallejo light flesh and Army Painter Necrotic Flesh, and basecoat the bone area. Follow with a black wash of your choice, although you might want to thin it just a little bit. Follow that with an edge highlight of your original mix (see it in the next photo) and you're done!

Want some unnatural glowing eyes, just in case somehow someone thought walking bloated corpses were "too natural"? Tough, you're getting them anyway. A small drop of white, which is then covered with Vallejo Yellow Flourescent. When doing so, make sure you don't come all of the way out of the eye socket... leaving the edge blackened will give it that glowing look.

So, that's the hard work of bones and flesh. Follow that up with whatever ideas you had for clothing and weaponry. I painted the barnacles a blend of pink tones...mostly because I had no clue what to do with them, but felt it would stand out nicely from the semi-blue of the skin tone.

After that, you're only a well painted base away from done! Head Wound Harry here is going to be decorating a Bayou Boardwalk base from Firebucket Games. That's how he's done, start to finish. Here he is standing with two of his mates from the ship, the Harpooner and the Old Man of the Sea.

If you've never seen these models before, it's not terribly surprising- you only missed a kickstarter. They'll be available very soon from Warploque's Website. I highly recommend the entire line, they're a lot of fun to paint, and every model is dripping with character. Here's hoping the rules for the game are as entertaining as the sculpts!

See you on the other side of the table,

The Second Class Elitist

Yahar!!! It's your old friend the Second Class Elitist, up to no good and pillagin' Ali Alcatraz's regular monthly column. Why is that? And what's with the bad English? It's time for some Pirates of the Black Coast from Warploque Miniatures, ye landlovers!

So, there was a Kickstarter for a game called Arcworlde that all of LXG really fell in love with. Okay, mostly for the antics of the designer, sculptor, and only actual member of the company, Alex Huntley. No, really, go watch the Kickstarter video. We'll wait. It's worth the time, trust me.

So, it's a goodly amount of time later, and whadya know, the models actually arrived! And more or less on time, too! Okay, so there's a bit of a catch- the rulebooks aren't available yet, so I can't actually play with these guys yet, but the models are here, and they're gorgeous. (By the way, if you're interested in the method used for the bloated sea-dead skin, we've got a step by step tutorial for you!)

The basic warband of the Pirates of the Black Coast comes with five scurvy zombie Pirates, a half dozen zombified bilge rats (not pictured, they're coming in a later article), and a Pirate Captain. Once the webstore opens, as Alex Huntley explained, they will be available in white metal. These lovelies here are actually in resin, but I expect that the metal ones will look identical.

Each of the models has a tremendous amount of character. From the poor bloke getting his brains picked out by a seagull, to the hanged man, each model has a unique character that makes them a joy to paint.

The Basics:

Scale- These guys are solidly in the "Heroic 28mm" category. They are 26-28mm to the eye, and 30-32mm overal height (except for ol' Slouchy to the left here, but come on, he's getting his brains pecked out, posture's the last thing on his mind). Perfectly sized to be average-or-a-bit-above in your 28mm horde of Caribbean extras, or just below average if you flavor of maritime post-mordem is 32mm.

Genre- Arcworld is a Medeival Fantasy Skirmish game, and stays pretty true to the genre. Bows, crossbows, and harpoons seem to be the order of the day, with flintlocks (or, flintloques?) being a rarity. We think... ya know, with no rulebook yet, it's a little tough to tell, but using the released models as an indication, the game setting is very traditional Fantasy. Chances are, if you're going for Undead Pirates, you were going Medieval Fantasy anyway, right?

Material- It's tough for me to comment on the material used in the production line versions, because as stated these guys are resin instead of metal. There were some models received form the Kickstarter though that were metal, and those were received undamaged- even the harpoon was unbent! That being said, the resin models had a bit of a problem with snapped ankles- something which won't be a problem with their metal counterparts. The models had very limited flashing (especially for resin kits), and were pretty quick to clean up.

Parts n' Bits- If you're lucky, there's no parts: all of these models were designed as single-piece units. As mentioned, the resin kits had some bad ankles, but I expect there will be no such problems with the metal ones. Also, to their credit, Warploque responded to notification of broken pieces the very next day... so that says something.

Assembly- None. Just open them up and you're done. Which, considering I've been spending a lot of time recently on Malifaux kits, was quite the welcome surprise.

Bases- All come with a plain 30mm lipped base, as shown on the Captain to the left. It's nice to see more and more games moving to these slightly larger bases. As pieces creep up in height, it helps keep the model more proportionate. Additionally, it gives me more room to work with crafting mini-dioramas.

Ratings:

Sculpt- 5 brains out of 5- Now some people are going to argue this one, but bear with me. It's very true that the Arcworlde models are not "photorealistic sculpting." Sorry to burst your 3D rendered bubbles, but that's not all there is to art. While it's true these models might not have perfectly photorealistic values, they are sculpted anatomically proportionate (aside from a bit of the 28mm Heroic heads/hands/feet thing). These pieces are artistically crafted, in a high level of sculpting skill, and with tons of character.

Affordability- Ummm... well, the website isn't open yet, so there's really no way to know for certain how much they'll cost. I'll make sure to revisit this once the rest of you can buy them. Promise.

Value- Yeah.... if you got them in the Kickstarter they were a great value, considering you can't get them anywhere else yet. See above.

Availability- Still reading, huh? Well, I guess this one scores a big fat NO BRAINS, seeing as they're not yet purchasable in any way, including the creator's website. I wonder if that Seagull pecked the brains all off of this one?

Pros: Very unique, very characterful figures that can easily be added to any 28mm or even 32mm undead force. Bonus points if that force has a maritime theme.

Cons: At least for the time being, if you don't have'em, you can't get'em. If you were looking for something to match more closely with a 3D rendered or photorealistic force, they might be a harder sell. Then again, dead at sea kinda takes it's toll, ya know?

Okay, since you stuck around for the ending credits, these two guys are your Easter eggs. Rotten, smelly, undead eggs. Very high in protein, I'm sure. The first one is the Old Man of the Sea, a spectral (we think) wizardy type bloke (we think). He sits a bit taller than the rest, but that's mostly because he's missing the lower half of himself. A really great piece, and a lot of fun to paint. He was one of the metal pieces, and although he looks a little top heavy, there's more than enough contact to make me unconcerned about sagging.

Metal model number two: The Harpooner. I went a little crazy painting him with Maori tattoos for a literary reference, but it was worth it. Much like the Old Man, no real flash or veining to speak of. He's a bit taller than the rest, but Alex assures me it's intentional- he's supposed to be a mountain of a man. Er, zombie. A sea-mountain of a dead-man zombie thing. Okay, I've lost the metaphor entirely. Trust me though, solid piece.

Okay everyone, thanks for reading! Don't worry, Ali will be back with her normal flavor of zombie articles next month, and I'll be back to my old tricks with some more Kickstarter reads, battle reports, and whatnot.

See you on the other side of the table,
The Second Class Elitist.

Why is it that some gamers can’t grasp the idea of a flexible rules system? Case in point I was just involved in a conversation where my conversation partner felt the rules needed to clearly define buildings, and other types of terrain as to their difficulty, etc. The game system in question basically has the rules defined as “determine with your opponent what keywords apply to each piece of

terrain.” The other side of discussion seemed to feel that the designers had copped out. That to allow the players to decide for themselves how the terrain the use was applicable to the rules was somehow lacking.

As the discussion continued I found myself perplexed, why was the idea of looking at a piece of terrain and deciding if it was rough, or cover, or impassible, not an acceptable way to determine terrain? Has it really come to the point where even the pieces of terrain we place on the table have become a point of contention between players? Ultimately my question became, when did we forget that we are playing a game to have fun?

Of course someone reading this is going to decry, “But what about tournaments, or competitive play?” Yes I understand that in competitive play the terrain being predefined matters, and if the rules don’t define it for players then

the organizer should. But when I face my opponent, and I’m placing terrain, it is not that hard to say “This building looks pretty closed up, impassable ok with you?” We all need to remember, we have chosen a social hobby. It is nye impossible to play these games alone, so guess what? That means we need to be able to interact socially. (insert gasp here) So if you find it hard to agree with your opponent about terrain placement and keywords, you and your opponent both need to go back and re-evaluate the social contract of gaming, because you missed something.

Anyway, that's how I see it. Until next time...
Belgarath97

Some people just aren't comfortable in their own skin…

The Zombie of the Month- September 2014- The Torn by Comfy Chair Games

What’s so great about these Zombies? The answer is the same as it always is with anything related to Spinespur: they went there. What we love about Spinespur is its unabashed way of portraying why we call these things wargames. And the Torn are no exception. You’ve seen those movie clips where the grieving hero is so moved with anguish that he tears his own shirt? These guys have long since passed that stage, and have taken to tearing off their own flesh in anguish over being possessed and controlled to perform unspeakable acts on behalf of their former enemy. Hence, “the Torn.”

The Basics:

Scale- 28mm, with a total height of 28mm. I guess it's not surprising that "The Torn" are not very heroic.

Genre- ::wince:: Well, since they have no clothes, I…guess…they’re useable any time you need… humanoids? Even their exact features are arguably disguised… since some of them are… missing.

Material- White metal. What can we say? The owner of Comfy Chair Gamesjust loves that stuff. We’re not sure why, but we want Spinespur in our lives, so there you have it.

Parts ‘N’ Bits- No extra pieces come with these models. When you really think about it, aren’t you kinda glad?

Assembly- Ironically, they come as one piece models.

Bases- The bases they come with are 30mm slotted lipped.

Ratings:

Sculpt- 3 brains out of 5- These models are several years old, so I can’t be mad at a 3. Additionally, you need to take into account that the sculptor was trying to do something for which there are (mercifully) very few reference materials. You might find yourself kinda painting these guys twice- you’ll put the basecoat on, put a wash on it, then find yourself going “Oh, THAT’S what that was… ew… ok, I’d better repaint that part.” It’s really hard to tell what’s going on in some places. But again, maybe that’s just because most of us have never seen a human tearing their own flesh off. What are you going to compare it to? Still, I’d love to see this idea tried again, now that the skill in the industry has gone up, and maybe in a nice 32mm, where you’d have more room to see the details… yeah, I know…

Affordability- 3 brains out of 5- At $9.99 for a pack of three, it’s not a bad standard price for metal models. And since, if you want them, you definitely want all 3, there’s no reason not to grab a pack at that price. By the way, yes, there are only those 3 sculpts (for now, muahahaha).

Value- 3 brains out of 5- I really wanted to make this a 4, because I really like them, and they are unique, but the simple fact of the matter is that most people think of zombies as something trying to tear apart OTHER people’s flesh, not their own, so, depending on how much of a zombie purist you are (whatever that is), you may not find them appropriate. On the other hand, that little fact won’t be very distracting in a big horde, and there should probably be more naked people in a zombie horde than most of us care to admit. Bottom line, they are still worth getting, if you like the darker side of things, which you probably do if you have a zombie horde.

Availability- 3 brains out of 5- You are not going to have any problem getting these guys so long as there is still a Comfy Chair Games in the world. They are a regular in the Dark Faith army in Spinespur, so they are likely not going out of print. However, aside from the occasional Ebay entry, you probably won’t see them any where else- Comfy Chair Games does not do a large amount of distributing.

Pros: If you love the horror aspect that makes Spinespur… Spinespur, you will love these guys. They really embody that horror (if you’ll excuse the pun). Oh, and there’s that “fits all periods/genres” quality.

Cons: They are not “extremely” anything, other than horrifying. They are not extremely affordable, available, or iconic, nor are they a top-tier sculpt by today’s standards. I’d call it a con that there are only 3 sculpts available, but unless you are specifically doing a zombie nudist colony, you’re probably not minding that too much.

Hello readers! I want to try a new regular article, highlighting new and current releases for some of our favorite games. So, join me on a brand new trip, and tell me what you think!

Okay, so...why not just a regular unboxing article? To be perfectly honest, it's because GMort covers most of the same games we do, and his Unboxed series is just too good to try to follow. Seriously, go read them. Specifically for Warzone, Johan also does an amazing job with unboxings on his blog as well. Instead, I wanted to take a slightly different track, and discuss models going literally from sprue to table ready.

Today we're going to look at the Imperial Starter Box for Warzone:Resurrection, from Prodos Games. It's a dandy of a box, giving you ten Trenchers, two officer models (that can be fielded either as upgraded Sergeants, Lords, or Warlords), and the Greyhound light tracked vehicle. The most limited model of the group for standard missons would be the Greyhound, which can be in units of three, so up to three boxes is a solid value.

The Trenchers in the kit I'm painting (five of the ten, anyway) were the last models to come out of their mold. How do I know? I had to pick pieces of the mold out of them to clean them. However, that means reasonably they were a "worst case scenario" as far as quality, and with just a little cleaning they were good to go. (Before anyone asks, Prodos would certainly have replaced the parts in question, but these were a commission job and my client didn't wanted me to go ahead as planned, replacing any models too badly scarred at a later date.)

As you can see, all the models are basically a three part assembly: body, backpack, and weapon arm(s). I'm not sure if the arms are interchageable to the bodies or not. They seemed to have a "preferred torso" to sit on, but that easily could have been a minimal amount of warp in the resin as well. Regardless, I'm certain a little bending and they would be interchangeable.

Painting tips: while I'm generally a "fully assemble before painting" guy, there's a couple of exceptions here. First is the turret of the Greyhound. There's a lot of opportunity for detailing on his chest and console if you paint them then assemble. Secondly, the back of the helmets are a little tricky to paint the underside of with the backpacks attached. YMMV on that one based on how technical you get with your painting, but it's worth mentioning.

My client wanted these guys painted to the classic paintschemes, and I couldn't agree more- the models look geat in original colors. The brown is layered using Vallejo Model Color Flat Brown in increasing ratios (1:0, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 0:1) with Army Painter Monster Brown. Greys are Army Painter Uniform Grey, washed with Army Painter Strong Wash, and then very thinned layers of Uniform to slowly bring it back up. The green is another layered in ratio of Knarloc Green and Vallejo Intermediate Green. The metals of the guns are Vallejo Natural Steel washed with Army Painter Strong Wash.

Normally I'd say a model isn't painted until its base is done, but in this case the client wanted to paint the bases himself to match his tables, so these are going to hit the table in the "Beautifully unpainted" category. Also, there are a few final touches that aren't completed yet- namely the insignia on the shoulders. I apparently ran out of white paint at the most inopportune time, but didn't want to make this article wait until after the weekend's over when I have a chance to get more.

All in all, these models were a blast. Incredibly easy assembly. Really great detail and depth, and remember that was with a bit of "last pour" in there to boot. The dyamic poses are perfectly reminiscent of the game's graphic roots. The dynamic fluid poses took to paint and shading really well. I could see some great opportunities for alternate paintschemes if you wanted something less Doughboy, such as Martian Reds or camo patterns. Also, if they had been mine, I might have painted the knee cops and greaves in the grey metal colors, or perhaps changed all the metals to an actual metallic. A lot of options for unique painting there.

So, what do you think? Questions, comments, and suggestions welcome below!

I'll see you on the other side of the table,

The Second Class Elitist

Professional Prints Priced Provocatively's video poster

Okay, so I know we have a really strict rule about "no Kickstarters that don't have soldierdolls in them" here at LXG. I know because I made the rule, so there. And now I'm gonna break it, because sometimes doing the right thing means breaking the rules- or at least that's what I tell my Parole Officer. So, get ready for Professional Prints Price Provocatively, by our own Ali Alcatraz.

So, everyone's got their Gaming Den, that fairly antisocial part of the house where their significant other allows their Hobby to fester. What better way to spruce up that place than some really impressive, professional quality art that's suited to theme?

Fairy of Illumination, Aztec Dancer (available as print or lith)

Ali's "Clark Kent" persona is Sheila Haswell, a talented artist who has a twenty year deep portfolio of work. She's established a Kickstarter to try to get some of her work digitally cataloged and archived- which is a massively expensive undertaking, as the full portfolio is well over one hundred works of art! With just about two days left, she's a maddening $300 from fulfillment on the Kickstarter, so I'm putting out the call to the talented ladies and gentlemen who have proven already that they can single handedly save projects.

Vertical Landscape, Our Lady of Sorrows (available both as a print and lith)

There's a good range of backing options on this one. The $5 postcard pledge is a good entry level if you just want a nice piece of desk/cubicle art. $25 for a matted 8x11 piece of art is an incredible price- just ask any convention attendee. Personally, I'm a big fan of the 11x14 size: I think the 8x11 is a bit small for a standalone wall piece, and 16x20, once framed, tends to be a bit big for my tastes. Your mileage may vary on that one however depending on the space you're trying to fill.

Drapery Study #1, It's a Froggie Frog World

Then again, some people prefer original works to digital reproductions. The two black and white pieces you see (left and above) are also available in limited edition lithograph prints. Not only can those lithographs never be created in that manner again, the cost of true lithography continues to go up, as there is only one quarry in the world able to produce the stones needed for the process. Our Lady of Sorrows comes in at $120 for the Lithograph, while the Aztec Dancer sits at $150. As I'm only a Second Class Elitist and not yet full-bore, I'd personally rather spend that $150 as only $90 getting five pieces, or bump it up to $160 and get ten.

Rounding out the pledge levels in a category gamers are more than familiar with at this point, is the art version of the "your face on a model" pledge, the portrait. Anyone who has priced these will tell you $300 for a portrait or $400 for a couple's portrait is an absolute steal. Last time I seriously considered having one done, it was like a grand. Since she can work from photographs you avoid the intensive amount of sitting time. Let me tell you something guys, surprising your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/xeno-lover with a custom couple's portrait goes a really, really long way to excusing how much money you're going to spend on Mantic's or Reaper's next semi-annual million dollar extravaganza.

You can see the use of color and contrast is amazing and vibrant, just like in her miniatures. Funny how classically trained artist know how to art better than the rest of us, almost like a degree and twenty years experience is useful or something.

Unlike most Kickstarters, this one is really looking at zero risk (aside from not funding, obviously). The works are all done. The scanning time is penciled in at the Athenaem (the same facility that scans historical documents for many if not most Philadelphia museums and personal collectors- last time we were there, they had just completed scanning and archiving a several centuries old Canterbury Tales, and schematic drawings made by the Wright Brothers. These guys are the real deal! Even the packaging materials are already prepped and ready to go. Go take a look at the Kickstarter, find something that you need to have on your wall, and drop a couple drachma into an important project for a fellow gamer, and contributing LXG member. Not only will you get something amazing for your money, you're helping a fellow gamer reach an important goal... and that's kinda what Kickstarter is all about.

Keep doing what you do best, and I'll see you on the other side of the table.
The Second Class Elitist

Hello there ladies and gentleman (or should I say dolls and cats?), and welcome to an LXG Book review. Today we're going to get to the nitty gritty of the Counterblast rulebook from Bombshell Miniatures.

Counterblast is a bit unique as far as the game itself. It is set in an alternative mid-twentieth century, where atomic testing ushered in visitors from other worlds. The game is soup to nuts a re-visitation of the classic days of pulp era science fiction, with just a touch of a modern flare involved.

The rulebook is no different. A solid 255 pages in 5"x7" size, it is perfectly reminiscent of the science fiction compilations of yesteryear, right down to the greyscale printing. Which....I'm not sure was the best business call. For those that have the nostalgia attached to the format (like yours truly), it goes over well. To a gamer not familiar with that aspect of the genre, it looks like a cost saving measure, and those never look good. The cover is a game specific piece of art from Matt Dixon, which is wonderful for the look and feel it imparts.

The contents of this dime novel throwback are solid. It basically breaks down into 88 pages of rules, 72 pages of unit information, and 70 pages of backstory covering five different factions within the game (not including nifty things like the glossary, full spread photo pages, and whatnot). That's a pretty even distribution if you ask me. While the $27.99 pricetag might seem a little pricey for an all-grey book (for reasons discussed above), Bombshell does a nice job of cushioning the blow a bit, by including a free download of the PDF with your purchase. Which is great for people that either don't want to have even a short book with them on the table and prefer to play from their phone, or want to be able to print out unit cards for all of the models on the table.

As far as the internal quality of the book... I want to officially congratulate whomever was responsible for proofreading this thing. While I'm sure there's going to be a cringeworthy passage somewhere as no one is exempt from Gaiman's Law, I've yet to come across it. Compared to most first edition game books , this one is easy to read for those who think about burning books in effigy when typos occur multiple times on a page. (I'm looking at you, Dark Age...)

The aspects of gameplay we'll go into in a later article, but suffice to say the game functions well in pickup games, has sufficient balance for competitive play, but really shines in extended campaign play. All in all, if you're a fan of pulp era scifi, character advancement wargaming, or campaign play in general, this book is a solid addition to your collection.

See you on the other side of the table,

The Second Class Elitist.

So, a while back we pushed a lot of people to back a kickstarter from Commission Figurines, and a few months back we all got delivery. In between other work, I've managed to get the kit finished "as it comes," so time to show that off before I start fiddling with it.

Berlin Strasse, the Full Frontal Edition

The Berlin Strasse is the first piece of CF terrain I've gotten finished up. As you can see from the pics, it takes beautifully to some nicely thinned paint. Here's a pro tip guys: don't prime your MDF terrain if you want it to look aged. The laser scarring and uneven absorption of the material will facilitate the look you want really well, so just have at it right from the start. For wood toned flooring, just use a stain, and then brush back up with a little dirt stain and mildew for that properly dilapidated look.

The only real issue with the terrain at all is with it being true-scaled to 28mm, it occasionally looks a little small, especially with larger scaled games. However the detail in these pieces is simply stricking, and adds a great realism on the tabletop. The dislodged but not yet fallen bricks, the detailed building trim, and real-world damage incorporated from field photos from WWII make the work Walkter has done on these pieces something spectacular, and a real bonus on your game table.

Whole block from this side...

...and the other side.

Side by side, front

Side by side, internal

Internal detail, half #1

Internal detail, half #2

The one wall section that has wallpaper? That's a layer of scrapbooking paper glued into it. Oddly enough, if you look around you'll find a decent amount of scrapbooking patterns based on old
wallpaper patterns and colors, so it makes a really easy transfer to the terrain. The only other thing I did thus far, as you can see in the photos below, is cover the interior flooring on the six panels with a custom detritus mix. So simple, and you can see the difference it makes.

Internal detail #1, with rubble

Internal detail #2, with rubble

Anyway, hope that inspires you to paint up your own, or go get some from Commission Figurines if you haven't. This is only one of several kits they have to choose from, and trust me you'll be seeing more of these in the near future from LXG. I'm gonna get back to fiddling with little bits now. Okay.... after a Zombie/Survivors photoshoot... I mean, it is October, right?

Something tells me our Survivors are about to get a "change of status"...

I'll see you on the other side of the table.

The Second Class Elitist

So, our friend over at The Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer has a October Painting and Blogging Challenge for zombies. Go read it, it's really cool. I figured myself and maybe the resident Zombie Queen ALi Alcatraz would blitz through the first month on a short timetable.... but Token Gamer Chic had other ideas....
Part of the fun of LXG is the "Painting Challenge", a club-member callout where one person challenges another to finish a specific amount of models or a project within a specific timetable. The person who looses the challenge gets a "penalty box" of unpainted models, the size of the box is predetermined before the challenge begins.

In this case, Token Gamer Chic challenged Ali Alcatraz, Second Class Elitist, Belgarath97, and Merek to each paint a full model start to finish in an hour. 2CE, deciding that was child's play, bumped his up to two.

Fortunately, the whole thing is video taped and will be up shortly on our youtube channel for your viewing pleasure (I'll update the article once it is.) For now, I wanted to make sure I got these models up while it was still Sunday.

Upper Left: Ali Alcatraz. Upper Right: Second Class Elitist,
Lower Left: Merek, Lower Right: Belgarath97

It looks like TGC's got some terrain to paint!

From all the folks at LXG, and for The Eclectic Gentleman himself, this is The Second Class Elitist, and I'll see you on the other side of the table.

With our Counterblast Kickstarter loot well in hand, it's time to start unpacking the goods. First up on the table is going to be the Mekkus starter box, available now from Bombshell Miniatures.

Counterblast Adventure Battle Game Mekkus Faction Core Set

Here's the stock image for the Mekkus core set, sculpted and painted by Patrick Kieth, also known to many as The Sculptdude. The core set has a list price of $49.99, which comes with five white metal models. Before you balk at the price-to-model ratio, take a look at that huge guy in the middle...the one pretty much filling a 50mm base, and being over 20mm tall in the dome alone. A Mekkus Central Command Unit in a sock is a home defense device Alex Huntley can certainly approve of.

Yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said he was a lump of metal. Measurements viewable in both inches and centimeters. Fourteen metal pieces in this bad boy. The (only semi hollow) dome, a base plate, two piece antenna/dish assembly, three anchors for the weapon systems, and three PAIRS of particle beam cannons. 50mm base included, as is that rather heavy duty metal flight stand you see in the shot. That stand would probably do the trick really well, and it plugs into the base of the model nicely, but I'm a bit paranoid about all the weight being above it. I intend to drill through the bottom, and use a brass rod to "umbrella assembly" the model. This guy is no pushover, and for good reason- with the Mekkus if you loose all models with the "uplink" capability, you're in for a bad day, and in the core set it's just him. My intention is to magnetize the particle beam cannons to allow me to switch them out for other weapons systems the Controller can have. The fact that I don't have any of those pieces yet is irrelevant... always think two turns ahead.

The next up is the Defender unit. Now, if you backed the Kickstarter you have two of these, if you're buying from the website you've got one. Six components make up a Defender: a pair of weapons, a pair of tread assemblies, a chassis component that holds everything together, and a turret mount for the weapons. 40mm base included. This one is shown with particle beam cannons as well. On the website you can order this version, or one with gamma disruptor cannons (so pulpy!). The Defender can also be armed with pulsar cannons or rocket launchers... so more magnets inbound on this guy as well. Oh... unless I miss my guess, we're going to see some of these parts used later for other constructs. The chassis component is the same top to bottom and doesn't need to be for this piece. Also... something about it just screams to me it has a lot more uses, and that it was intentional.

Third in line is the Seeker. A good little spotter model that can also be used for objective running, the Seeker is going to give you speed. Neat little guy, and so easy to assemble too. Body, a radar dish, four wings, and an unpictured metal flightstand to drop into a 25mm slotted base. By the way... I think I mentioned this while talking about the Jetbikes, but these flightstands are amazing. Yeah, I get that they're not clear...but they're also not going to snap, they secure into the base on a different axis than the one the model rests on, and they can reasonably be bent or manipulated for more angles.

Rounding out the box is a pair of Aggressors. Two in the core set, four in the Kickstarter. (This, by the way guys, is why we bring you so many Kickstarter reviews...the value in Kickstarters right now, for good or bad, is of tremendous benefit to the end user.) Each Aggressor is a flight stand, a hull, and two weapons. Simple. Pictured are the particle beam and pulsar rifles, but a gamma disruptor variant is also available form the website, rounding out the three loadout options for the unit. Yup, you guessed it, it's magnets time. For the record, you might even be able to get away without magnetizing them- the rod and socket assembly fits very snug. My concern is eventually it'll wear out, so better to avoid the problem now.

As far as gameplay goes, the core box without any modifications or added on gear comes out to 235 points, which is a respectable sized game. While you'll undoubtedly want to expand and prefer one type of unit over the others, I think this box gives you a really good "sampler package" of what is available for the faction, demonstrates the modular aspect of the weapon systems, demonstrates the "build to purpose" concept of the Mekkus, and really has no throw away models in it whatsoever. I'm looking forward to getting these bad boys painted and on a table soon. TokenGamerChic and Ali have already started painting their core sets, so we should be able to have some pretty battle reports really soon, as well as gameplay tutorials. Questions? Comments? Agree/Disagree? Drop them below!

See you on the other side of the table.

The Second Class Elitist

I think you're going to like this.
I really hope you do...

For our week two submission for Zombtober, I did a little something different. Oh, don't worry, there's a model involved, and it's from the wickedly incredible Arcworld line... but I decided to spice things up a little, so you're getting more than just a model.

The shadow of a sinister man has plagued the shorelines of Albionnica for centuries. His name has been lost for generations; it is said he killed every man who knew it. The truth of his identity is a secret known only to the dead. The long decayed crew of his ghastly ship, The Defiled Damsel, are driven ever on by his lust for piracy. It is said he no longer even keeps the plunder of the vessels he destroys, nor trophies of the lives he ends. He does not sail for gold. He does not sail for blood. He sails solely to hear the shrieks of terror and the wailing of the weak willed when his black sails crest the horizon.

Some say he was once an Albionnican Admiral. A man calculated of mind and feigned of honor, who used treachery to rise through the ranks of the Albionnican Navy until he considered himself untouchable, then used his position to prey upon enemy and ally ships alike. The deep crimson of his sea coat makes this legend possible, as does his knowledge of the coastline.

Others claim he was once an Captain of Esandaluca, who spent his career hunting Albionnican merchant ships like a sea wolf. The legends say when he was finally cornered, he made a pact with The Deep itself to escape the clutches of his enemies, and avoided even Death in the process- after all, Death is the enemy of all Men. As far fetched as the legend is, he lives on beyond death, and his well-plumed hat, the style in fashion in Esandaluca, seems to never wither and decay, the plumage remaining regardless of the seas.

The truth is, his origin matters little. When the dark fogs roll in on moonless nights, the black sails appear. When The Defiled Damsel rises, men no longer care what his name once was. On the whispers of men who hope their hate is death, there is but one word spoken. A single name that the Captain of that dread vessel is known by.

Gorebeard! Gorebeard is coming!

Continuing our Unboxed set of articles, today we take a look at the Neiran Starter Box, now available from Bombshell Miniatures.

Welcome to the second leg of our Galactic Sojourn, where we'll be looking at the Neiran faction boxed set, available now at the Bombshell Miniatures website. I know the first thing you're going to be thinking: only four models? What gives? Yes, it's $49.95 for four metal models- the smallest number of models in any Counterblast starter box (the Mekkus box is five, all others are six). What you can't see in that picture is that the Neiran are HUGE. Mary Profitt's paintwork and Patrick Keith's proper anatomical sculpting conceal the fact that those models aren't on 25mm bases...those are forties. And don't worry, from a rules perspective, the Neiran pack a punch in those four models, capping at an even 150 points before any equipment or upgrades are added- and as many wounds as the GDF box packs into six models. Additionally, if you play a little bit of "counts as" fielding them properly equipped as modeled as a Jamad, Oracle, Huntress, and Scythe Sister instead you're looking at 233 points, and more wounds than I think any other box can hope to match...and still haven't added gear yet.

The first model to consider is the Neiran Jamad. This is the leader of your force. She's no slouch, armed with more than twice as many weapons as she can field at once: longrifle, pistol and Jekara polearm. She has a 1" reach in combat (where the enemies will only have base to base range, quite handy that) and the longrifle means she can deal with threats at range equally well. Trust me, those things hurt. Just about two inches tall, this is a formidable model to be certain.

Second up is going to be the Clansister, which I suggested could double as a Hunterss (particularly if you didn't want to bring a Jamad for some reason). Also armed with a Longrifle and Jekara, I hope you're starting to see a theme emerging here. That theme being "if you're not close enough to hack to pieces, but still on the table, I can shoot you." The boxed set comes with one of these, but the Kickstarter got you two, so I took the opportunity to show you a front and back view.

The Scythesister is the only model that really doesn't "dual purpose" in the box. Then again, when you can swing paired bat'leth looking blades, do you really need to do anything else? Well, just in case you do, she's armed with a pistol too. Just in case they run or something. Why would they run? We'll get back to that in a moment. Once again one in the box but two in the kickstarter, so you get the dual sided view.

Last but certainly not least is the Acolyte, who can double duty as an Oracle. She's got a glaive- which is the small Neiran close combat weapon- and a pistol. Hey... where's her longrifle? Oh, that's right... she's psychic. She's just going to kill you with her mind instead. Yeah, that's nice. At least there's some variety in how you're going to die, right?

Two of the players in our club picked up Neiran, so I'm pretty certain I'm going to be seeing them pretty frequently. Any by that I mean in my nightmares. During the playtesting stage they straight up butchered my GDF forces, in a manner I can only describe as "spectacular in its brutality." If you want a faction that doesn't require a lot of models on the table, or a faction where every single model is really hard to kill, this is definitely a solid choice. That fifty bucks might only get you four models, but in their case, it really is a matter of quality over quantity.

Oh, I did say I'd get back to why they'd run from a Scythesister, didn't I? Remember that almost every model in this game is on a 25mm base (or optionally a 30mm if you want to go that way), and are pretty accurately 28mm figures. That old scythe? Yeah... bigger than them. And she's got two of them. And she's pretty much the cheapest and weakest model in the box...let that sink into your cerebrum for a bit.

I'll see you on the other side of the table

The Second Class Elitist

There are many nice ways of achieving a rich, undead skin tone (see our article on the one-hour Zombie Painting Challenge for four different looks made by the four people in the challenge). Many of them, however, include multiple layers of paint and highlighting, using different washes in different areas, or other special effects that one might not want to take the time for when painting an entire zombie horde. Especially if you ever need to paint models for other games, a multi-step process on your several hundred zombies may take more time than you really want to put into it. After all, zombies are supposed to spread like rabbits (aren’t you scared of rabbits now?) The more quickly you can pop ‘em out, the bigger your horde can get!

On the other hand, there’s something to be said for the nicely mottled look of each of your zombies having a slightly different skintone. It does reflect the entire population, after all. They won’t all look the same. So, how do you make sure everyone looks dead, unique, and yet coordinated, all at the same time, while still maintaining some manner of painting speed? Here are a few of the notes I have compiled.

1- Consider the sculpt of the model. Let’s face it. Some zombie sculpts don’t need any help looking like zombies. If your mini’s guts are hanging out, he’s missing limbs, or half of his face is just a skull, no one will need help identifying him as a zombie, so you could even just use a regular skintone on him, if you wanted. However, if the sculpt is simpler, like “shambling normal guy with a cut on his leg”, his undead state may not be as obvious, and you will want to pick a skintone that couldn’t possibly belong to a living human.

2- Color ideas for the dead flesh look. While dead flesh can take on a number of beautiful hues (much like a bruise), if you want to go simple, there are a couple of colors that can give you that all-over dead effect with little fuss or muss. The most popular of these is a light, earthy green, made by all miniature paint companies, usually with an obvious name like “Necrotic Flesh” (Army Painter). You can use this straight if you want to, or mix a drop of it with several drops of your fleshtone for a more subtle look that let’s you know your zombies were originally humans and not half-lizards. If you are stingy with your paint (like I am), work on several zombies at once and use the color you mixed on several little undead at a time.

Green is not the only color that mixes well into fleshtones, either. I am also a big fan of blending a light blue into my skintones, creating a nice, ashen, no blood-circulation left color. Since I like variety, I change what color I mix in, and how much of it. Trust me- your horde will still look sufficiently homogenized after you get several dozen zombies in this way.

3- Don’t forget to go multi-ethnic! Almost anywhere you go in the world these days, people have a variety of skin colors, and if you want to capture a true zombie apocalypse, they all have to be in there. And remember, almost anything in the brown family looks like somebody’s skin, so you probably already have more than enough potential variation sitting in your paint rack. Just take any brown you’ve got, mix some with a drop or two of light green or blue (the darker the brown, the more of the other color you will need to mix in to see an effect), and you’ve got another lovely undead color. It’s that simple.

4- Pick your wash and stick with it. You have already achieved the unhealthy pallor you want in your basecoat, so there’s no need to go fancy with the wash. Pick a nice neutral, like a sepia, and use it all the time. If you spend a few extra seconds on each model carefully removing the extra wash from highlight spots where you don’t want it, you may even find that you need to do little or no highlighting. After all, this is a mass of dead people who haven’t showered since they died- an overall tinge of dirty brown will only enhance the look.

So go forth, my apprentice necromancers, and raise thee an army. And if you need help selecting new ~~victims~~ recruits, see my new ones once a moon with my Zombie of the Month articles!

What did I paint this week? June 15th

The Zombie of the Month- June 2014- Tiny Terrors by Studio Miniatures

Reader Request- Martian Bases

Counterblast Teaser #1: The 1950’s Color Palette

Counterblast Teaser #2- The 1950’s Playlist

The Zombie of the Month- July 2014- Humans!!! by Twilight Creations

Journey into the Wyrd

Reader Request: Arcworlde Zombie Skin

The Zombie of the Month- August 2014- Arcworlde Pirates by Warploque Miniatures

Psyche of a Gamer: The rules need to define everything!

The Zombie of the Month- September 2014- The Torn by Comfy Chair Games

From Box to Table: Warzone Resurrection Imperial Starter Box

Kickwatcher: Not your usual suspect

Book Report: Counterblast Rulebook

Commission Figurine Berlin Strasse, Part I

ZOMTOBER!!!!

Counterblast Unboxed! The Mekkus

ZOMTOBER week two submission

Counterblast Unboxed! The Neiran

Painting Tips: A Horde's Worth of Zombie Flesh