Supply Markers

The Walking Dead: All Out War by Mantic Games is my favourite apocalypse game at the moment. Nuclear war (especially Fallout) and other forms of zombies are pretty close. Does that sound a little insane? Maybe I am a little insane. I am comfortable with that :)

Anyway, I like the idea of skirmish gaming and post-apocalypse skirmish gaming is particularly appealing. TWD:AOW is still drawing me in although I have only played a few games of it. I keep looking at it and want to buy more of it.What has been on the list of things to do for a while is the supply counters.

Supply counters, or something like it, seem to be a facet of a lot of skirmish games. I was looking at doing something like this for Scavenge, Skirmish, Survive. This made me think I should put some effort into these thinking I might use them in other games as well. If nothing else they will do as scatter terrain. The bases are either basically painted green or sand. Over time I have developed a box of basically green and basically sandy terrain so I might as well make stuff that would fit for either.

Clearing Up

I haven't done much painting. I will rephrase that, I haven't done much painting that didn't involve a roller. Some might say, uncharitably, that this does not end up much different result than usual. Still the desk clean up continues.

I am mucking about with some stuff I started many years ago and never finished. Then I restarted them when I didn't have a magnifying lamp. My only real mission at the moment is to clear the desk and I guess these show that I am getting a little bit closer. Some bits in the picture below have already made their way back into long term storage.

This is what the work bench looked like at the beginning of December. The only stuff that is finished are the alien eggs  (which are a little too dull to post) and the half-orcs. The Alien eggs date back to the late eighties I think.I suspect that they would be worth quite a bit of money on eBay, for the lead rather than the paint job.  I was well into doing stuff for Summerland/Scavenge, Skirmish, Survive/Death By Trees at the time and they were all that I could find that I wanted to paint.

These are some gangers which I think I got from EM4. A lot of them got converted into zombies a long time ago. They got picked up when I was short pf something to do in November. On the plus side I think these have been in the queue for about ten years.

These are some modern soldiers that I got about twelve years ago. The idea was to use them for a post apocalyptic game probably involving zombies. Now I am considering using them in a Very American Civil War game that I have been planning for a number of years. They are British SAS and American Marines.

I hope that I will finish them off in the next week.

2015 The Plan

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions but I do believe in having a plan. Both carry the same amount of weight really it's just when you say you have a plan it sounds better. A nice idea in principle. I will be moving house in the new year (January or February) which is going to have a big knock on effect on my gaming time. My mum and dad will be moving back to the UK, at least for a bit, so I am hoping that will work out for me and them. This might also have a knock on effect. I also seem to be spending some time with old friends which I would obviously like to do a bit more of.

Obviously, the first step is to clean up the painting desk. I have a load of fantasy/dark age minis that are part way through. Then there are a load of odds and sods figures. These are some modern street gangster minis that I have been fiddling about with. I also have some modernish soldiers. The general plan was that I have some ideas to do an very American civil war game set in the near future. They may also be of some use for a post apocalyptic game.

I got hold of a big box full of ECW plastics. I have started painting them but have gone of the boil with them. I run hot and cold with the ECW period. Some of the first wargame figure I got were ECW and there is some big nostalgia stuff going on with me. That said, I have about 200 plastic figures to paint which would give me an army to play with. The idea is just a bit daunting. In 2016 I don't expect to buy anymore and I expect to paint a few units, or maybe about fifty to sixty figures some of which I have already started. Maybe I could use some of them for Witchfinder which is another game I am thinking about.

I have some figures for X-Com now and this would not be a major project to get off the ground although there would be a fair amount of effort to get it to where I would like it to be. In my mind I have always got all the figures before the game begins when really I don't need every figure, just enough for season one. This has more to do with the free form way that I play than the actual need to own figures, The hard thinking for this has been done now. Some figure painting and some digital map drawing are all that is required now. I expect to get about forty figures painted this year and maybe order another forty or so with the remainder being finished in 2016. I also expect to make up a little scenery for this game during 2015 should the right bits and pieces appear.

The Scavenge Skirmish Survive figures are now available again, I just have no free cash at the moment as the plan is still that I will be moving in the new year which continues to break the bank before I have even moved. So I think if one of the other projects doesn't get in the way, this will be the focus over the summer months. I expect to buy about sixty figures and get them all painted by the end of 2015.

Fallout would be nice to run again but some of the players are not currently available so may have to put that on hold for a while. I am toying with the idea of the idea of getting this off the ground in 28mm. It would be a smaller scale game but I think I have a lot of figures that could be re-purposed. I may buy some monster figures but think I can repurpose some of what I already have. I could see me buying some vault dweller figures. The plan may currently involve changing the plot and maybe even the vault but keep a lot of the ideas in place. Any figure buying is likely to be done on impulse. I can see me buying about twenty to forty figure and painting hardly any of them.

I have put a lot of effort into the Viking game so would like to go back to that. My main painting focus still seems to be on the Viking/Fantasy figures so this is likely to continue. Most of my purchases for 2014 and nearly all of my painting has been for this game and I still have a stack of lead so I guess this is still going to be showing up on the blog. I am looking a lot more at bad guys and monsters for this at the moment and these may well take centre stage for a while. I can see me buying another forty or so figures and maybe some more monsters. I suspect that I will find the time to paint most of these and a lot of what I already have. So the plan involves painting another sixty figures for the Viking game before the end of 2015.

I have a very British Civil War itch that has been going on for some time. I am plotting two forces at the moment. The first would be Greenshirts. It was a powerful and almost forgotten British political movement that was one of the reasons that uniformed para-military groups were banned in the UK. I am not sure that throwing a green brick through the chancellors front window helped them much either. I am also thinking in terms of a very middle class battalion. Gentlemen, their servants, the local Hunt, Grenadier Guards and the like. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, VBCW seems to be a game about losing gracefully and I wouldn't mind losing with these guys. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the ire that these guys would generate amongst my fellow gamers would amuse me greatly. I can see me making a series of purchases this year and maybe as many as a hundred figures. The aim is to paint a platoons worth and if I really get giddy with it maybe an opposing forces.

Speaking of itches that need scratching, I have a number of super hero minis to paint and I am planning on buying maybe a couple of dozen more heroes as well as minions (probably another forty or so of these). Again I have a plan for these. My big problems is that I have no experience of playing in, let alone running, a super hero game. I am unlikely to run this game in 2015 but I would hope I have the figures painting so that I can run the game in 2016. Forward planning or what. SO I expect to buy about fifty and paint sixty figures.

I have got some WW2 figures to do some WWW2 . So far this means I have some half painted British Paras. The plan is to get some more. I may even cross this with the VBCW timeline. I have a whole line up of ideas for this game. In fact it is the game I have the most clear ideas for. It's just not lighting my fire right this minute. I can see this running from about 1936 till Korea and maybe even later with the main action taking place around 1941. This is not currently at the top of the list so I have no plans. If I do decide to d this it could be a big game.

The Derelict Is Looking Worse

Well the derelict is moving on, slowly. Time has been a bit short, but I have had some time today to sit in front of the work bench. I am kind of kicking myself at the moment as I have started a project that I know that I can't finish right now. The outside needs something to looking like rendering and the two things I can use, I can't find. I have had to do a few changes from what I originally planned. First I have extended the ground floor walls in two places so that there is something their to support the ceiling. I have also added a first floor. This is partly aesthetic and partly structural.

 I thought I would put a figure in to give the picture some perspective. The plan now is to do some internal painting, weathering and just generally improve on the derelict feel. I have a few bits to do away from this but I am running out of prime projects and even projects that I would class of new at the top of the list are hard to find. I may have to do some major moving of boxes and...open up some boxes that I was hoping to keep sealed up. The other alternative us that I might go to a show at the weekend and spend some of my money Lets hope something will turn up.

A New Post Apocalypse

I have had an idea in my head for a while. I watched a film about seven years ago called Origins: Spirits of the Past. I don't mind a bit of anime as long as there are not too many tentacles. I saw it on a monitor in a Virgin Superstore which should date it a bit. I just fell in love with the look. The apocalypse in this case was plants taking over. Then I read a roleplaying game called Summerland. Very Indie, more about the story. Less about dice and not very figure friendly. The game I am planning is not really either of these but I guess there will be elements of them in there somewhere.

What I was going to do was take the figures from Scavenge Skirmish Survive which are all outdoors types and some fantasy figures and make into something that would fit into the wild woods. This means moving into 28mm buildings which is not something I have done for a while.

The world as we know is now covered with trees. So houses are ruined, building collapse, roads are overgrown and wild things run around the woods. The look is similar to Stalker. I can also see things like the surface in Metro 2033, I am Legend (but with more ruin and trees) or The Last Of Us.

So I want so terrain to reflect that. This is not the kind of thing that is easy to find. So I thought I would do my own. This is the first one.

There is a lot to do on his one, not least it needs to be fastened to a board. I have decided to use a standard sized board which will be cut down from something that I found in B+Q (which I will get a picture of eventually).