Rumors of my Demise...

Life being what it is, I'm not even going to offer any excuses as to why I have not posted since July 4.  I guess we will all need to come to terms with the reality that this blog will be sporadic...

Anyway, here are two more minis I've painted recently.  That makes 9 of Bobby Jackson's Thugs for my collection.  I have the other 3 in the queue to be painted.

There is not much to say about these figures that I haven't already said.  Exceptional quality and fairly easy to paint.  The baby on the woman's hip was a bit fiddly, but I think it turned out OK.  She certainly adds a lot of character to the game.  I did modify the man slightly.  He came with a topknot or maybe a beany for a hat on top of his head.  I thought it was silly so I shaved it off and left him bald with a bandana.

From the photo you may be able to notice I've also been working on some Stoelzel's Structures.  For the keen of eye you will recognize the Farmhouse from that collection.  These are great models.  I will post more about them later.  I've also been working on some cardstock vehicles...more on those later too.

I've decided I will revamp and start a new campaign with the introduction of All Things Zombie: Final Fade Out.  I'm looking forward to the new rules being released.  I've begun some initial character development and am creating a story tree, making up my own Day One and following series of encounters.  Look for more on that later too.

Meanwhile, I'm expanding my collection, one model at a time.  Until next post...peace.

The Growing Horde

I've been painting a fair bit these days.  Finished 6 more Victory Force zeds for my growing horde.

First up is one I've painted to be a hooker.  As I was painting her I realized she had a Star Trek badge on her left breast.  I'm not even sure she's a zombie since she has no obvious wounds.  She was in my 50 for $50 pack from Victory Force though so now she's a zed.  I filed the badge off and kept on with the prostitute theme.  Next is one I call 'Zombie Gerry'.  He's a big guy in sweats with an arm off.  He must have been on his way to his workout when the apocalypse struck.  Next is a zombie Rabbi.  I imagine that he is using his hands to keep his guts from spilling out.  On closer inspection I suppose he could be Adam Sandler...

First in this lot is a woman in blue sweats with a fanny pack.  Her right hand has been eaten off and she has wounds on her shoulder and elbow.  Next is a man in shorts with butt crack showing and both arms eaten off.  He has a massive head wound but apparently it was not enough to put him down permanently. Finally we have another woman in sweats, this time all pink.  She has wounds on her leg and shoulder. Other than her hair she is virtually identical to the first woman in blue sweats.

So, some good, basic zombies all in all.  The VF zeds do have a lot of character and the sculpts, while not stellar, are good enough for a horde.  And speaking of hordes...

...this is mine in all its glory.  A mere pittance compared to some out there but this is my 42 finished zeds all in a mob.  Of course I have about 50 more to assemble and paint but these will do for a while.  Time to start working on more survivors and the cops I ordered a couple weeks ago...

The buildings in these last 4 shots come from World Works Games.  They are from their instant scenics line.  These are a great way to build a quick urban table.  There are no interiors but if you don't mind that, or you want to scratch build your own, these are a great way to start.

More Painted Zombies...

I've been slowly painting my way through my Victory Force zombies. Here are 6 more for your enjoyment...

Starting at the left we have a zombie in a leather jacket with his arm eaten off.  He reminds me of The Fonz, but that probably dates me.  Next is a pair of zombies wearing what looks like yoga clothes.  I call them 'Zombie Mike' and 'Zombie Jenn' for reasons of my own...

In this group we start with a diminutive zed who I've painted up to be an old man.  I think it is actually supposed to be a boy but I'd already painted him before I realized this. Next is a zed who looks for all the world like Edgar Allan Poe.  I suppose he could also be Tom Selleck, but I went for the Poe theme.  Last we have the ubiquitous 'nurse zombie'.  She's wearing a red name badge because all the nurses wear red name badges at the hospital where I work.

Finally I'm adding one more shot of the alley behind my house.  Somehow I missed posting this in my last post.  I especially like the potholes in this one.  Anyone seen any good pothole modeling out there?

That's it for now.

To all my American friends, have a safe, happy Independence Day!  To my British friends...well...have a safe, happy July 4th.

: )

Post Apocalyptic Images

On my urban run this morning I got to thinking about zombie war gaming.  This is a common occurrence but this morning the images I was seeing sparked my imagination.  Many of the buildings and sites I was running past have a 'Post Apocalyptic' feel to them.  I started taking pictures with my iPhone.  Maybe these will be helpful to others for ambiance or inspiration for that new piece of terrain.  Or maybe you just want to try to guess what U.S. city I live in...

A bridge like this would be an ideal spot to set up a fortified survivors camp.

Some creepy graffiti under the bridge.

Another view.

A view of the downtown from another bridge.

A closer view of downtown.

This hospital building was abandoned about 8 years ago. Some of the windows are broken and there is a lot of overgrowth. Interesting to observe how nature retakes our structures.

A house that burned. And my thumb...

An abandoned factory complex, partially demolished.

The abandoned factory from across the river.

Closer view.

A different, active factory viewed from under the bridge.

House that has not been painted in years. Another interesting study in Nature's reclamation.

The alley behind my home.  It was very quiet this morning...kind of creepy.

Sign on my neighbors garage.  Seems appropriate for the Apocalypse.

A neighbor's shed that is getting overgrown.

So, any guesses as to where I live?

Other than running and daydreaming I've been painting zombies.  Should have 6 more to show you by next week.

Zombies in Blue Jeans

I painted up 7 of the 50 Victory Force zombies I bought a while back.  They had a 50 zeds for $50 deal and I have to say these are some great looking minis for an awesome price.  They paint up well and have lots of character.  In the lot of 50 I only had 4 that were identical.  I'm planning to make corpses with the extras.

As I said they all have character and a few of them look like celebrities.  The first one in this lot has to be Paul, Sr. from American Choppers.  At least I painted him that way.  The second looks a bit like Ringo...or one of the Beatles.  The last one looks like Patrick Stewart when you look closely at his face.  I wish I would have realized this earlier.  I would have painted him in a Star Trek uniform.

This second batch are not easily identified as any celebrities.  Although the first one reminds me a lot of Christopher Walken.  The beany guy cold be Gomer Pyle or Jughead from the Archie comics.  The other two are just standard zeds.  The last in the line is the one my 7 year old stepson did.  With only a little touch up he turned out pretty well.

Hope you enjoy looking at a few minis.  I have LOTS of VF zombies to finish, a few more Hasselfree survivors and the rest of Bobby Jackson's thugs.  I also ordered the Tactical Miniatures Police and Narcotics team figures today.  Soooo, look for more minis to be finished and posted soon.

Zombie Killer

This is Oscar...

 

He's half Beagle and half English Bulldog.  He's a good dog and we love him very much.

We got him in January and in March he was one year old.  He's a rescue puppy and seems very happy to be part of our family.

 

He has more personality than 10 dogs and is very affectionate.  Truly everyone's best friend.

 

He looks great in his Ohio State jersey and is always up for some fun with the kids.


These are some zombie miniatures I painted a while ago.  Note especially the one on the far right.

We had a game the other night and several zeds were close to the table edge.  No one noticed but apparently Oscar decided to get in on the action.  My beloved found Oscar with this in his mouth at some point in the evening...



 
You will note in the above pic the zombie has no head.  Coincidence?  I think not!

Apparently Oscar knows what he is doing when it comes to zeds.  A natural born zombie killer.  Can't fault him for that.

Did I mention he is a good dog and we love him very much?

Eastside Refinery

We had another game night date night a couple weeks ago.  We used the same characters we had last time.

E - Rep 5 Civilian, BA Pistol, Knife, No Attributes
D - Rep 5 Civilian, Shotgun, Cricket Bat, No Attributes

We decided to do an urban discover scenario based loosely on the area where we live.  About half a mile away from us is a huge refinery.  It is surrounded by urban neighborhoods and major streets.  I have a bunch of refinery-like scenery from my 40K days so I was able to cobble together a reasonable modern refinery.  I used some house ruins to represent the edge of our neighborhood and my roads for the city streets.  The grey 'pavement' under the refinery is foam sheets I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  I used the black version of this same stuff to make my roads.  I wish I had some chain link fence to put along the road at the edge of the pavement but I have not modeled any yet.  New project I suppose...

The Eastside Refinery

We decided the party would move onto the table along the main street, coming in from the 'West'.  ('North' is the top of the table in the above pic)  We rolled 2d6+2 for starting zeds in an urban area and got 7.  We used a scatter die to place them and ended up with three pairs of zombies roughly surrounding the party and one straggler behind some barrels.

D and E move onto the table

Street Level View

You can see my ruined houses have that Gothic 40K look.  I really need to develop more modern scenery.  I should also get some kind of backdrop for my photos.  Having my living room in the background spoils the mood...

Turn 1 - Initiative roll:  Humans 3, Zombies 2
D and E decide to cut to their right and take out the two zeds there.  They Fast Move.  Both pass 2d6 and easily charge the zeds.  The zombies are overwhelmed and taken down without incident. (both D and E win the combats in the first round of rolling.)  The remaining zombies shamble towards D and E, moaning as they come.

Two quick dead zeds

Turn 2 -  H 4, Z 3
D and E Fast Move again, heading towards the big fuel tank.  They hope to loop around it, evading zombies and head toward the ruined house in the North East corner of the table.  E passes 2d6 and easily reaches the tall tank.  D passes only 1d6 and struggles to keep up.  Typical...  The zombies continue to shamble after the humans, intent on their prey.

E darts between the tanks, running easily

D Plods along behind, still visible to the zeds

Turn 3 - H 1, Z 4
The zombies continue to pursue the humans.  D and E move to the door of the maintenance shed near the tanks.  They both prep weapons to storm through the door...

What's inside?  Loot or a sticky end?

The zeds are unsure where the humans went but head in the direction they were last seen.

Turn 4 - H 6, Z 1
D and E hesitate to open the door.  They check weapons again and take a deep breath.  The zombies continue to close on the spot where the humans were last seen.

Turn 5 - H 3, Z 5
The zombies realize their prey has evaded them.  They pause, confused, and moan.  D and E enter the shed.  We drew a Risks and Rewards card and found a Rep 4 Survivor armed with a machine pistol.  Immediately E turned on the charm and won the Meet and Greet by two successes.  Rufus decides to join our group!  "Thank God you're here," he says.  "I thought I was all alone."  Rummaging around, D finds a can of baked beans. (1 Food)

Turn 6 - H 6, Z 5
D and E take a little time to get to know Rufus.  Just small talk while he gathers his things.  The zeds, their prey having avoided them, take to shambling aimlessly.
 
Turn 7 - H 1, Z 5
The zombies continue to do nothing, waiting in the silence to hear their next victim.  The humans move quickly out of the maintenance shed and head towards a smaller storage tank to the east.  The plan is to loop around the tank and continue to head towards the ruined house.

Making a break for it

Aaaarrrgh...where did they go?

Turn 8 - H 6, Z 1
The humans pause, listening.  It seems quiet...too quiet...  The zombies may have heard the door of the shed swing shut.  The zeds begin to move with purpose again.

Zombies close on last know human location

Turn 9 - H 4, Z 5
Once again the zeds get confused and pause.  The humans move into the shelter of the small tank.  D takes lead while E covers him.  Rufus covers the party's rear.

It's quiet...too quiet...

Turn 10 - H 6, Z 2
Once again the humans hesitate.  Something just doesn't feel right.  It's too easy...  The zombies again begin their wandering hunt.

At this point we had a little debate.  We were headed towards the ruined house but I was wanting more to explore and discover.  Between us and the house was a collection of 55 gallon drums.  We decided that this would be considered like a building.  In other words, when we moved into the area of the barrels we would draw a Risks and Rewards card as if searching a building.  It seemed likely to me that there would be something among those barrels...

Turn 11 - H 3, Z 3 Reroll - H 3 Z 1
The humans move to the barrels and we draw a card.  5 zombies burst from the barrels as we begin searching!  We roll for surprise.  The zeds get a 9.  D gets a 9, E gets 7 and Rufus gets 6.  We get jumped!  Rufus is attacked by a surfer zed wearing nothing but swim trunks.  He ends up locked in melee after a long series of rolls (0 successes after 6 rounds).  E is attacked by two of the beasts leaping over the barrels.  Quick like lightning, she knifes one in the eye (2 successes in first round).  The second proves a little more difficult but she eventually manages to put it down (1 success after 3 rounds).  D is less successful.  He is also attacked by two monsters and puts the first down with a quick swat of his bat (1 success after 1 round) but before he can turn to the other it knocks him down and bites his shoulder, preparing to tear him apart.  (D goes OOF after 1 round).

Crap!  They're everywhere!

It's a bloodbath.

Turn 12 - H 3, Z 6
At the moment of victory, the zeds hesitate, perhaps gloating over their prey.  Rufus continues to fight the zed he is tangled with.  He manages to avoid being bitten but he can't seem to put it down.  "Get it off me!  Get it off me!" he screams (0 successes after 3 rounds).  The zed who put D OOF is standing over him with his back to E preparing to dive into the feast.  E springs into action and puts her knife through the base of its skull.  It drops without a sound.  (E pops the weasel).

Turn 13 - H 2, Z 2 Reroll - H 6, Z 4
Stunned by the attack, shaking with adrenaline and fear as she watches D bleed from the shoulder wound, E does nothing for a moment.  Rufus fights desperately for his life as the zed renews its attack on him.  He struggles to get his hands around its neck and twisting, twisting, twisting he finally manages to put the thing down (1 success after 3 MORE rounds).  The rest of the zombies on the table amble around aimlessly.

This is not good.

The zed menace leaves no time for mourning.

Turn 14 - H 5, Z 6
Everyone pauses to catch their breath...

Turn 15 - H 1, Z 5
The zombies are purposeless now and return to their default mode:  standing and staring, slack jawed, occasionally emitting a low moan  As she stoops to help D, E sees a BA pistol stuck in the belt of the zed that wounded him.  She grabs this and tucks it into her belt.  Rufus walks over and looks at E kneeling beside D.  D is bleeding badly.  "You got a place to hole up?" he asks.  "Yeah, not far from here," says E her voice flat.  "We can take care of him there," she adds.  They both know what this means. 

Turn 16 - H 3, Z 4
Rufus and E lift D and head east, leaving the table and ending the game.

Since she had killed a zombie and found a resource we rolled for E to advance.  Unfortunately she did not.  We rolled for recovery for D who did recover, regaining consciousness without losing Rep.  Then came the most important roll of the whole game:  infection.  D couldn't hack it and as one might expect from such a wound, he was infected.

A word to the wise here:  in ATZ there is no reason to go looking for trouble.  Trouble is usually just around every corner.  If you find yourself in a game that seems too easy, just wait, it will likely get much more difficult very shortly.  In hindsight I wish I had left the barrels well enough alone...

At this point I asked my sweetie if she wanted to keep me around as a pet zombie or put me down.  She made the hard call and decided to end my undead life.  She made Rufus do the dirty work.

"This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it hurts me."

Once again we had a lot of fun.  The game started slow and seemed like it might end up like the last cake walk we had but true to ATZ style it all changed in a heart beat.  The picture in my head of those zeds leaping out of the barrels is my favorite moment.  The stuff of the best B horror films.  It stinks that D was lost but E will carry on.  She is now the leader of a small group, just her and Rufus, but with the skills she has gained I'm sure her party will grow.