Saturday, 30 January 2016

Road Merc - Speedy & Warlands WIP

Going through my old Dark Future collection I decided to switch the front wheels on my favorite conversion from back in the day. The car was a cheapo Chinese toy. 

During wheel removal the base snapped and left the car just a metal shell. I made another base up from plastic card. The car is back in action now. 

Road Mercs operate as convoy escorts or guards for various free townships out in the wastelands such as Tinkerville or Wellsprings. 

This car also had some front implements added and a little window protection. It needed to look more Post Apoc and less Dark Future. 



I also got a warlands car assembled this week. 





Dark Future Interceptors.

This week I have been working on some Dark Future Interceptors for my Blood & Fire post apoc setting. 

The Interceptor is built in an old world car factory known as Motortown in Civilisation. The cars are built specially for road combat. 

The Interceptors patrol the roads of Civilisation and beyond dealing with road gangs with superior fire power. They patrol out into the wastes keeping the wasteland gangs at bay. 

Often they supply back up to Civilisation's police forces. 

The Interceptor pilots are regarded as Heroes and celebrities in Civilisation. 

These cars are GW Dark Future Interceptors. 

Just in case you didn't know. 

The pilots paint their cars in garish fashions. If you find any old paint out in the wastelands the Pilots will pay handsomely for it. 





Not all Interceptors return from the Wastelands. Many end their lives as burning wrecks. Some end up hundreds of miles away from Civilisation in the hands of gangs or warlords. 

This Interceptor ended up in the personal retinue of a vicious warlord known as Blackskull. 



Out in the wastelands a Interceptor roams tackling everything that crosses his path including other Interceptors. This pilot is known simply as "Renegade" and Civilisation has put a price on his head. 



This car was badly melted and needed a little cleaning up. 



Civilisation - A Blood & Fire faction.

Civilisation is the nearest thing the post apocalyptic world has to a city state. The state is based in around 5 freshwater lakes, which are possibly the only remaining freshwater lakes in the world. It may be the only green place left in the world. Civilisation is protected by the high mountain range the lakes are located in. The passes into the mountains are blockaded and guarded to stop raiders. The steep mountain sides are linked by the Great Wall, a protective wall of strap and rubble.

Water is taken from the lakes to irrigate the soil which grows the crops used for food and fuel production.

There is several settlements of varying size within the state each fortified by piles of dirt and salvaged scrap. Each settlement has a mechanic/fixer, medic and armourer businesses that deal with keeping things running. The larger settlements (Sanctuary & Sun City) have several of such businesses.

Unfortunately with civilisation comes a darker side, the crime. Civilisation is plagued by petty theft, various organised crime gangs and roaming gangs of road crazies. The authorities have trouble containing these elements. Many gangs roam beyond the great wall looking for salvage and adventure. The gangs of Civilisation have better armed and equipped vehicles than the clans of the wastelands. This leads to them having the advantage but also becoming targets for the Clans.

Civilisation is protected by a roaming police force which runs about in old police cruisers. They are backed up by an elite force of heavily armed Interceptors which are built by the state. The Interceptors often go beyond the state's walls and patrol up to 50 miles away. They often go up against roaming wasteland gangs. The interceptors arsenal of machine guns, grenade launchers and autocannons are often more than a match for the roaming psychopaths in the wastes.

Locations within Civilisation:

Sanctuary:

Sanctuary city is the capitol. It is a ramshackle city of about 10,000 souls. It is home to the Halls of Justice where the police and interceptors are kept, repaired and maintained. The ruler of civilisation President Smeeg holds court in Sanctuary towers.

The bunker of the Nu Life Corporation lies within the city walls. The corporation exists to improve the lives of civilisation whilst there leading scientist Dr X is working to try to reverse the damage to the world. Nu Life trades H20 diffusers with people beyond the walls of Civilisation which is of concern to Smeeg who thinks the scum may use the diffusers to become strong.


Sun City:

Sun City is Civilisation's second city with a population of about 5000. It is the location of the State's refinery. Plant matter is used to make fuel which powers the vehicles Civilisation uses. Fuel and oil thefts are common place and the police force and milita are kept busy trying to contain the crime.

Population:

The township of Population (pop 1540) is at one end of the infamous Anarchy Road. Population is the site of the State's munitions and armourer factories. Population is the only township where human waste and the corpses aren't used as fertilizer on the fields. These are used in munitions and explosives manufacture instead. Old world weapons are brought here and refurbished/repaired before being put to use on the Interceptors.

Motortown:

Motortown (pop 1200) is located in what was an old world car factory. There are new parts for thousands of vehicles. Some of these used for trade but mainly they are used for the production of the Interceptor cars.

There is thriving black market in new car parts and a style of armoured buggy nicknamed “the Renegade” is produced in sheds and caves across civilisation. They are often used by the criminal gangs within Civilisation and can also be found in gangs far beyond the walls of civilisation.

The police often confiscate any renegades that they find and make use of them as support vehicles. Some official state sanctioned gangs are also given the renegades and the cars are often used to escort goods convoys between the townships.

Anarchy:

Anarchy (pop 300) is a dirty slum of a town and is regarded as a hive of villainy. It lies upon the infamous Anarchy Road that runs across the state. The road is plagued by criminal gangs. The township is regarded as the centre of the black market trade in vehicle parts, weapons and food.

Dust:

Dust got it's name from the dusty desert plains it is built upon. Dust (pop 150) is a small town centred in amongst the muck farms. The land here is too poor to grow crops. Instead the farmers develop rich soil which is sold to better farms across the state. Some of the over worked richer soil is brought back to the farms in the hope to make better soil.

Dust is known as Civilisation's graveyard. The dead from across the state are brought to the muck farms around Dust. The corpses and other garbage is fed into what was wood chippers. The blood, flesh and bone sprays over the dead earth in an attempt to enrich the poor quality soil.

DrX spends a lot of time around Dust trying to find new ways to improve the soil quality.

Other Factions:

Dead Eye Gang – a criminal gang operating out of Anarchy.

Screw Jockeys – a roaming nomadic biker gang involved in various crimes. The often operate on the Anarchy Road.

Stalkers – no one knows where the term came from but Stalkers go out into the wastes looking for buried ruins. They return with whatever salvage the can find. The Stalkers often operate off road vehicles & trucks in military colours. Some Stalker convoys have the odd Renegade escort buggy. Despite their appearance and the time spent out in the wastes the Stalker teams are still considered vital to Civilisation's survival. Many Stalkers prefer to live in remote camps a few miles beyond the great wall claiming that they feel at odds with civilisation. As far a Smeeg is concerned he is happy to have these weirdos live outside and the camps do add an extra element of security to the state.

Milita:
All young folks above 16 years spend 2 years service in the Milita. The Milita guard the walls and gates across the state. There is a hardcore of permanent full time officers in the Milita. Most citizens must go for two weeks active service/training per year within the Milita. This allows Civilisation to have a on hand army should a horde sweep in from the wastelands.




Road Warrior Car WIP #2

Hello and welcome back. 

As you may recall from the last post, over on the Post Apoc Wargames forum the Warlord's 2016 challenge is to build a post apoc vehicle. Take a look and join in! Look here.

I am working on make a Road Warrior Car for my Blood and Fire setting as my entry to the Challenge. 

Work has commenced slowly on the Hotwheels Ford XB. The new wheels have been attached to the chassis. As the car model featured low rider tubbed wheels I have had to use bits of balsa to space the skinnier wheels out. 


As you can see the wheels need a little tweaking. That said I bet those wasteland roads are murder on a cars tracking! The front bumper has been removed ready for the sloping front panel. 

Another alternative for the front is the remove the grill and lights. Then it is fairly simple to make the square lamps for the Interceptor look later in Mad Max 2/Road Warrior. 


The Blower and Tank are Warlands items. For now they are resting in place until I get further into the build. The rear bulkhead, boot and window has been removed to take the tank. A bit of work (read as chopped out) to the boot floor has to be done to make the tank sit lower. 
I snapped the rear bumper during removal. Whoops. Still its a Post Apoc ride and it adds to the look. 

The front needs sorting, the wheel arches need flaring (putty) and the exhausts need making. 

Thanks for looking and stay safe out there. 

Sunday, 17 January 2016

Road Warrior Rig WIP

Hello and welcome back. 

Over on the Post Apoc Wargames forum the Warlord's 2016 challenge is to build a post apoc vehicle. Take a look and join in! Look here.

I have decided to make a Road Warrior Rig for my Blood and Fire setting. 

Last year I stumbled upon a Hotwheels Ford XB cheaply on evilbay. Over the Christmas holidays I drilled out the rivets and stripped it down. It now lies in this state. 




So what next for this car? Well a wheel swap is on the cards. Low Profiles look a bit naff on a car which will live on rough roads. I also want to build the front sloping grill for it for that interceptor look. 

I have a Warlands blower. The bonnet/hood will be drilled out to take the blower. At the rear I want to add the tanks and luggage. The problem is that hotwheels cars is that the rear assembly post is situated there. It will require a bit of messing about to sort it. The boot will need removing too so I can add the tanks. 

This is going to be a interesting build. 

Thanks for looking and stay safe out there. 

Blood and Fire Additions.

Welcome back to my blog. 

I cant believe it is past the center point of January already. That said, it has seemed incredibly long since going back to work. The holidays seem a dim and distant memory now. 

Not a lot in the way of hobby going on with one thing another. I have been working on the background and setting for Blood and Fire. I find if I don't write down my ideas they spin around my head and I end up not being able to sleep. That said, no sooner have I finished a bunch of other ideas rumble along and things change. I am keeping notes to update things as I go along as ideas often come to me when going to bed, at work or driving along. 

On the 28mm stuff my order from Taban finally arrived last week, more than 3 months after I ordered it. 

Taban threw in some resin bases as an apology. However I don't think I will be ordering from them again. 

I have been picking up odds and ends for my Blood and Fire setting. Luckily I stumbled upon some cars from the old GW game Dark Future cheaply on Evilbay. That is a rarity in these times as many sellers seem to be wanting stupid money for Dark Future stuff these days. 

Sadly there was no weapons with the cars. Those things are getting thin on the ground these days. The cars have drivers in which is a bonus. The camouflage renegade will fit in nicely into one of the Civilization factions I am developing. This little lot brings my DF collection up to 6 renegades, 7 Interceptors and 8 bikes. 

I put an order into to Elheim for the Warlands set as a Apocmas gift. 
I look forward to getting the basic set cleaned up and painted. The rule book is the basic rules. I am glad I downloaded the full rule books last year. 

It seemed a little silly not getting some of the other Warlands goodies when I was ordering. 

A Maxwell car, wanderer and dog, characters, Biker Boss, Bikers, Blowers and vehicle accessory pack. 

I like the maxwell interceptor model. The back allows all manner of conversions. A goods transport or Fury Road Warboys car springs to mind. I think I may have to get a couple more of these cars. That said I would like to get some more of the Warlands range. 

A fat parcel of Elhiem figures also arrived to help populate my Blood and Fire world. Whilst they are nice sculpts they are aimed at ultra modern gang warfare or zombie games. I am thinking that I will have to (attempt) to sculpt bits on them to make them look more wastelandry. The plan is to remove the some of the automatic weapons and add bags, pouches, bandages, rags, scarves, goggles, shoulder pads, home made armor and other odds and ends (any other ideas greatly received). 

Sometime in the near future I will do another comparison picture of the various figure ranges including the Warlands stuff. I have just picked up a couple of (overpriced) DF figures off Evilbay so I plan to wait until they are in my greasy mitts. 

That's all for now. Thanks for looking. Stay safe out there! 

Friday, 1 January 2016

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year to all those out there in blog reader land! May 2016 be an wonderful year for you and yours!

So what do I plan for 2016? Looking back at 2015 I did get most of the hobby things I planned done.

As the site owner of the Post Apocalyptic Wargames Forum, I have to dream up a 2016 Warlord's Challenge. Much skull scratching is going on.

My big inspiration at present is Fury Road and I plan to push on with my hotwheels scale post apocalyptic setting, Blood & Fire. I have just managed to grab some extra Dark Future cars and bikes off evilbay which will add to my planned forces. This setting will have limited and home made weapons. I wish to limit the arsenals of machine guns and the like.

I am in love with 15mm Sci Fi, so I will be pushing on with the Wild Galaxy setting. I did not get the Hammers Slammers Combat Cars, Jeeps or Blower Tanks started. A mix of weather and time didn't allow me to get to it.

In the hobby room lurks several 1/24 car kits awaiting attention. I hope to build them as Wasteland cruisers. Sadly I have dabbled with a couple of kits and I am not feeling the love for them. Maybe I should stop using superglue and try finding a odor free polystyrene cement?

28mm will remain my main Post Apocalyptic scale, however I will be dabbling in 15mm & 20mm scales this year. I do have a handfull of RT era Orks and some Wastelanders to finish.

I hope to get some games in this year, mainly for the Roach Jones campaign. The frozen wastes are also calling for a game or two. I have the boards now and I am eager to use them.

One thing 2015 saw me do was organise my figure collection. I have a pile of stuff I hope to sell if I ever get organised. Wait and see.

I hope you all have a happy, safe and prosperous 2016.

Thanks for reading.