No Mans Land. Maidstone.

I went over to Maidstone today as I knew that Karl from Crooked Dice (7TV and 7OMBIE TV) would be running a game. He actually had two games set up. "You Only Live Dice" which we were lucky enough to play at the club two weeks ago and this one. "Fiddlers Green" is a small introductory game that takes 30mins to a hour to play. As such it's a very good stepping stone into understanding the rules. The whole game is on a 2 foot square tile. Set in a fictional English village, I assume called "Fiddlers Green" as that is the name of the scenario. A couple of good guys are sent into town to investigate the strange happenings aided and sometimes hindered by one of the locals (a little old lady with a shotgun) All the pics, apart from the first one are in play photos. The Villainous opponents are some Morris Dancers with pistols and unfriendly attitudes and some robotic scarecrows with scary attitudes.

I did not play, I probably could have Squeezed a game in but elected to take some snaps and bother Karl about a few game ideas.(More of that in a second or two). Because I did not play I am not 100% sure of the victory conditions. So all I will say about that for now is that the game did look well balanced seemed to flow nicely. One player did struggle to get the initiative dice roll and was always just slightly out of step. But as we all know you just can't beat the dice when you continue to roll low.

As mentioned above the real reason for going was to talk to Karl about the proposed show game. I showed him the picture of the "Tigers nest Monastery" and he firmly bit into the idea. As a visual it's very strong and If I can make it to look anywhere near as good, the game will be a winner in the public eyes no mater what. (we all get seduced by nice terrain). I was concerned about using any of the Characters that already exist in the rules. I need not have been Karl is happy for me to use them, or not as I see fit. He will get a chance to play test it before I take it to any shows, so anything he really dislikes can be changed.

One of the problems with the two show games Crooked Dice have is that they take too long. I think I can remedy this by breaking my game down to 4 sub games that can, if you choose and time permits play in sequence. Or I hope you can play it as 1 large game. The 4 smaller games strike me as the best option though as at shows most people in the UK don't want to commit themselves to a long game, but could spare 30mins to an hour. The freshness of 4 smaller games might work well. I have not seen it at a show, where all the games are linked, but I hope it will give a very episodic feel.

I plan to start buying some materials on Monday and maybe to start the build. Plans are great as they always change so when Monday comes I can always change my mind. I intend to build one 2 foot square section at a time. This will allow me to try it down the club at each stage. Maybe this is a prudent, maybe it's me being a wimp! One of the first things to do though is to decide on the style of the casts. Artisan do some "Sky Pirates" which will look good as the heroes troops. I have two packs unpainted so that is a start. For the Villains though I am torn as there are so many options. I want them to look as dramatic as possible, as well as villainous evil underlings. My current thinking is to change them on different boards. The first board for example maybe some Copplestones "Back of Beyond" Figures will look correct with one Ninja. Progressing through the boards with the foes getting more and more daunting. Maybe the 4t board has an end of level boss...

AT this stage it's all just talk. Now the hard work begins.

Thanks for looking have a good weekend. Take care and roll good dice. All the best Clint.

 Post script: A pic of Rochester Castle from the train as I came home from Maidstone.

Update 0.1

A little while ago I ran a poll asking what project I should tackle next. The most popular result was 7Tv or7ombie Tv. So what have I done with that idea since I hear you ask. Well last club day I had Karl from Crooked Dice visit the club and put on a 7TV game for us. I hope the club members enjoyed it, I know I did. Karl has promised to come back later and run another game for us. Which would be great and very much appreciated. This was an important first step, as it confirmed that we mostly had got the rules, mechanics and flavour right in what the company was looking for. There were a few minor tweaks (aren't there always) grenades actions and luck that we will have to look at. But generally everything went to plan.

Following this step I started to look at possible settings for the game. I did not want to encroach on Crooked Dice show games, which tend to be based around James Bond settings. The painting to the right is of the "Tigers Nest Monastery". As a current Buddhist Monastery this will not be used in any James Bond film. That being the case I feel sure that to take inspiration from this site would be acceptable, and yet still retain the feel of the genre. Quite obviously a direct copy of the setting would be unfeasible. I can use the Tigers Nest Setting as a start point for planning a game though.

 Which is what I have started to do. As you can see I have started putting together some notes, sketches and game ideas down on paper. Don't get too excited this really might fall flat on its face. I do however feel confident enough in the idea to start to share the process now. My current thinking is that I should move away from James Bond and treat the setting as semi mystical. This is one of the reasons for painting the Yeti and the Ninja! Yes there is a method to my madness... but on the whole much more madness than method. For figures I have ruled nothing out. I do anticipate buying some more Ninja.... and painting them in RED  robes possibly some Chinese terracotta warrior figures to use as robotic guards or maybe some Chinese Zombies. Or I might purchase some modern 28mm Afghan fighters to act as site security. At this stage it really is totally wide open. I intend to talk to Karl on Saturday and ask if he wants me to use his existing heroic cast, "Pandora King" And "DR Soloman" or if he wants to retain them for his own game. The last thing I want to do is tread on the companies toes on this matter.
I must stress the "Tigers Nest Monastery" is for inspiration only do not expect to see me build the whole thing!

I will post again on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for looking. Any ideas you want to contribute will be more than welcome but as ever I will get the final say. Take care and have a good couple of days. All the best Clint.

Yeti

This is a http://newlinedesigns.co.uk/ Bigfoot miniature. Having looked at images of Bigfoot and Yeti's It came clear that Bigfoot were usually shown as being brown and Yetis are shown as being white. It seems that these mythical creatures are so similar as to being just about the same thing. That being the case maybe the colouring is geographic in nature. This is of course speculation. As I have chosen a white colour scheme we can think of this one as a yeti and not Bigfoot. A really nice one piece sculpt. (The Ninja is shown only for scale.) Painting was simple. White undercoat with black ink washes to get the main fur colour then my normal techniques on the flesh. I won't say the figure painted itself, but it was a nice straightforward figure to paint. To be honest it was the base that gave me the biggest problem. I decided that I wanted patches of snow on the base which were the problem.You can just see them on the base. They look better in real life, but you'll just have to take my word on that.

The figure was purchased at Broadside in June. Which means it made its way to the top of the painting list in double quick time. I do have a second pose, but that one is not fighting quite so hard to get coloured up. But maybe soon. Someone (sorry I forgot who) mentioned "Drug crazed Chinese Zombies". That simple comment (I think on the Zombie Bloggers Association before you search all the blog comments) sparked an idea in my head which has since spiralled out of control. Luckily it has not resulted in a spending spree (yet). It has resulted in a frantic Internet search for both information and miniatures.

Well that's today post. I shall post again on Thursday. Thanks for looking. See you again in a couple of days! All the best Clint.

Fembots (2)

Back to the wargames stuff. I am still not quite managing to get much painting done. However I have finished two Crooked Dice 7TV Fembots. Long time readers of the blog will remember I painted a couple after the Cavalier show one of which I gave to Kev. Anyway, long story made short, here are the next two. I purchased 4 at BROADSIDE, so two more to do sometime. ! of each pose and two heads although I am tempted to grad a few extra heads to create more variety, shame the robot face one is only available with one hair style. (I am too lazy to sculpt new hair, even If I could do it!) It is clear the fembot on the right has had their artificial face mask come loose whether this is for maintenance or from battle damage is unclear, still I suspect most of my followers would not be looking at the face first. I also think a variety of skin tones on the Fembots is desirable as well so I have painted the figure on the left to be more from the Indian sub continent region.

The game Karl put on last weekend has sent my brain into all sorts of confusion. As a club we have the offer to run the Crooked Dice show games at shows. This really is a Fantastic offer. As a club I think it would be a real boost to us as well. As such I have contacted a couple of local shows and await their reply to determine if they have space for another game. Time will tell. I am not the kind of guy that will be happy running other peoples games for very long so I suspect I shall sort out my own game of 7TV suitable for shows. I am pretty much bursting with ideas, and I suspect that Karl will be happy with anything I can get made I still want to get it "right". I will want a game that looks and plays well.

For today that's enough waffle. I need to get started on some of the projects so I have set aside this afternoon to do just that. Time will tel if I manage it! That's it for the blog today. Hope you like the Fembots, I'll post again on Tuesday. All the best Clint.

A moment of History.



Torch bearer.

30 mins to go!

Torch bearer coach

As a change of pace here is a moment of history. At 7:50am the Olympic Torch arrived at Gillingham. I arrived about 35 minutes before the torch, It's a good job I did as it was already fairly packed. It became more packed as time went on. But being over 6 foot I was confident I could get some kind of pictures. I gradually moved back from the edge conceding ground to the kids and eventually their mums. But I would not yield to prams, I have my limits.
 The Kids opposite were loud with cheering. They Cheered every police car, every police bike and even passing motorists that waved at them. All in all they really added to the atmosphere. Some of the local schools had a late start and the children did not have to be in class till 10am or so one of the mothers told me. I guess the teachers wanted to see the torch as well.  The crowd held an atmosphere of excitement, anticipation and pride. Every person united to support the country. It really was a good feeling to be part of it. So If you still get the chance to see it go. The first official vehicle, was carrying all the days runners, dressed in track suits and huge grins. The level of pride was fantastic.



Sponsor float

 Then came the sponsors waggons. It did add to the parade, but in my mind cheapened it with rank commercialism. The Samsung coach was the best not just because of the pretty girls, but also the enthusiasm they had.



3rd Sponsor Float

Sponsor float with pretty girls!

























The motto on the support vehicle was very apt. The torch carrier would not be long now. Every camera was ready. I was convinced that my batteries would fail. You know the feeling I'm sure.

The crowd silent but with whispers of "Here he comes!" And some puzzled looks on children's faces. You could hear the noise from further along the road so you knew it was coming. 

Support Vehicle



The crowd before the torch.



Torch Bearer.

And Finally your reward. A moment of history.

Vampire Leader/Undertaker.

I feel as if I have been resting on my laurels. I have only finished 1 figure since Saturday morning and it's Wednesday already. At this rate I'll have nothing to show on Friday. This is a FOUNDRY 28mm wild west Undertaker. An old figure that I have repainted to represent a Vampire in Empire of the Dead. The skin tone is a very pale blue as a base colour and pale flesh on the highlights. Red eyes complete the Evil look. Dressed all in Black (Hi lighted with different dark greys of course) with a dark purple sash on his hat, which you should just be able to make out.

As stated previously I have mixed feelings about EotD. While I am sure the mechanics will work fine, they are as I keep saying Necromunda with d10s. I do wonder if it is sufficiently different from Necromunda and therefore "Legends of the Old West" the Warhammer historical variant, which we have played at the club. Maybe I am spoilt by having too many game options but I do wonder if we will play this to any extent. Or if the players will say we have done something similar as they remember Legends of the old West. For convenience the Wild west would be the obvious choice as we already have the scenery but I fear it might be too similar. I could build new scenery of course, but that takes time money and motivation. So for now I'll just move forward slowly until motivation grabs me.

Although I have not finished much I have done some preparation and undercoating of figures. Nothing I wish to share just yet. I am sure I will soon though. But for now that is today's post. More again on Friday. All the best Clint

7TV "You only Live Dice" Game at club.



Burly Gatecrashers

As a club we were luck enough to have Karl from "Crooked Dice" run a game for us. This is his show game, "You only live Dice!" The situation is that... it was a quiet day at the office, the office being a dormant volcano somewhere in the home counties. And my security chief caught some Eco terrorists breaking in so we locked them in a cupboard and carried on with our work. The next thing we know all these butch burly men arrived in a helicopter and started attacking us. It's just not cricket! The rocket countdown had started and we were struggling to install the crop fertiliser before it lifted off.



Office layout!

 As you can see not a typical office, but when you rent a building you sometimes have to make do! As you can see the fertiliser delivery system (AKA the rocket) can be reached along 2 aerial walkways.


"Fertiliser"Barrel

 Not sure why the Eco Terrorist referred to the Barrel as Nerve Gas it's a genetically modified crop fertiliser destined for the third world to boost Rice Harvests. And That's the story I am sticking too! Me produce "Nerve Gas" that must be some kind of joke. It's a weed killer and a very good one. It would have changed the world if it was not for those darned Eco terrorists!


Barrel at end of first move.

I could not believe it these Eco terrorists burst in and opened fire on my security guards we had no choice but to defend our selves and our property! Even one of the ones locked in the cupboard escaped before the Police could arrive and sort the problem out and that one viciously assaulted a technician who was doing no more than twiddle some dials in line with health and safety protocols and his job description.


The Burly Eco terrorists cower behind cover.

Staying at long range the Eco terrorists took advantage of the office facilities knowing the site security guards were reluctant to damage company property. As a result the poor chaps suffered terribly by being shot at. Many of them being hard working family men were appalled by the actions of the Eco terrorists!

Stalwart technical staff carry out Moving and Handling protocols while being shot at.

 Security did try to intervene but with the terrorists all in cover they needed to roll 6 on d6 in order to hit them. The unfortunate chaps did their best but on most occasions a trip to Spec savers might have served them better, So of these boys are getting on you know and can't compete with the hooligan element existent in the youth of today. So after killing several of these valiant defenders the Eco terrorists targeted the junction boxes responsible for powering up the rocket... erhm I mean delivery system.

Rampaging Eco terrorists destroy private property!

 Then the terrorists killed Bert, one of the technicians carrying the payload. Harry carried on moving a mere 3 inches a turn with bullets whistling about his head as he tried to man handle the "fertiliser" onto the delivery system so that the hard work of his colleagues would not be wasted. Dr Mao a visiting Expert from China was horrified at the behaviour of the Eco-hooligans and he and his female companion (who doesn't talk much, she's very shy) Gave two of the terrorists one of their own medicine.

Dr Mao intervenes.

  The corporate forces of good from Dadelaes Enterprises where just managing to get the upper hand. Thanks to the good Dr Mao, and Mr Plesances's personal assistant who waving a fan had managed to thwart the efforts of a kilt wearing mad man. When disaster struck.

Disaster srtiking!

 The terrorist who had been locked in the cupboard had crawled through the ventilation ducts and suddenly carried out a lightning strike sabotage mission on the office Plant room. They managed to beat up some harmless technicians and cut the power supply. These sort of acts should not be tolerated in civilised society. These interlopers had no right of entry, nor did they present any form of search warrant not offer a "cease and desist" notice with annoy of our legal team Therefore officer we were merely defending our selves and our property and in no way using disproportionate force in any way. I humbly suggest all our property be returned to us along with both an apology and suitable re numeration for both the work disruption and the endangerment of our loyal personnel.

Ok I was the baddies and we lost, because I roll Naff dice. I Failed my Morale test, used a luck point

To re-roll it and then rolled a 1. Meaning 4 of my staff had to leave the board. At this stage I only had 4 left so for me it was game over. I was supposedly playing a bady, but I think they were just misunderstood. All in all a very enjoyable game. But Next time the forces of "Good" need to follow the letter of the law and I will need to see a search warrant.

There was just time for a second game so I stepped out and all new players were brought in. Karl is the guy behind the screen. It is not a ref's screen from role playing, but it could have functioned as one should the need have arisen.

Kev and Stew were the evil forces this time and Tim and Frasier the goodies. The game flowed faster on the second run through as these guys tended not to worry too much about cover, but did try to move about in the open.I won't give a detailed description of all the actions, but there are the hi lights.

•  The barrel of Nerve Gas first tried the right most gantry, then the middle and finally started to come down the slope.
• The Fembots in the control room held up Pandora King and Dr Soloman for a lot of the game.
• Dr Mao used his jet pack to move into the middle of Captain Gordons men and then used a sonic stunner to make most of them unconscious.
• The game was a lot more bloodthirsty from the start with movement being preferred over cover.
• Kevin made exactly the same morale roll as me including the re-roll, but having one extra figure meant that he could keep his star on the table while all my fled.
• Dr Mao managed to reach the escape helicopter.
• Tan (Tim's co star) managed to shoot both technicians carrying the gas with a long range SMG shot without hitting the gas canister.

Overall I think everyone enjoyed the day. I know I did. Karl has offered to come back and put another game on for us in the future. He wants a run through of my Zombie car park game as well so that's a possibility. He lives about a 20minute drive away so all things are possible.

Hallo Sailor (part 2)

Here are all the Victorian era sailors all painted and all massed together. When I say "all the Sailors" I do in fact mean all the enlisted men.|I have a couple of officers to add so you will no doubt be seeing this lot again when I manage to finish them. All they need now is a coat of varnish and to be stored properly.

Meanwhile back in my own thoughts. I think I will start working on a few projects this week. Obviously we have Crooked Dice coming to the club tomorrow which may (I hope) allow me to have a decent chat with Karl. So many ideas I am bound to forget some of them. Anyway my current thinking is that I should start building some desert terrain now. Not for anything Crooked Dice or Zombie related, but if I start making some desert terrain pieces I can use them for a couple of projects that are hanging around in the edges of my consciousness. Desert hills, cliffs, rough ground etc can be used in a few projects. 15mm Apaches, Empire of the Dead, and 15mm sci fi. I was not going to do a desert setting for 15mm sci fi but it makes sense not to start too many projects which would need very different settings. Better I feel to make scenery which has a variety of uses.  I won't start anything until later in the week, but at least I can start thinking about it. Certain terrain feature like hills don't scale so can be used for 28mm as well as 15mm as such these are the most likely places for me to start. As mentioned a long while ago I want these peaces of terrain to be free standing and not a complete terrain board.

Club day tomorrow I'll try to remember my camera and photo the Crooked dice game as much as possible to share on Monday. All the best Clint.