Matt Black City Report 13 - Vikings???

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo.
Date 03070117

Day 13 - Vikings ??

Still acting on the Intel from the character known as the Wanderer we sent the drones to the location of the raider camp.

It is circled on the map in red with our position marked in blue.

The drone images show a typically equipped raider band. Much of their equipment seems to be old but functional.

The Vikings gang are from various sources. Most are converted in some way.

By cross referencing our data we can see that these Raider bandits hail from the northern parts of the Brittainna wastes. They call themselves The Vikings but have little to do with the ancient Earth warriors other than raiding.

This band is from areas near the Blasted Ruins and we thought many settlements around those parts had been over run long ago by the mutant armies from the ruins. If they survived then this band will certainly be battle hardened.

Magistrate Black thinks we should hire Claw Company to take them out. The thought of hiring criminals irks me even if it is to deal with bandits. We will wait for instructions from High Command.

Matt Black City Report 12 - Claw Company

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo

Date 02070117

Day 12 Claw Company


After the Intel from the Wanderer that one of neighbours may be the infamous Claw Company we decided to use the drones to take a closer look.

There location is here on the map circled in green. Our location is the one circled in blue. Claw Company base is 11 miles away.

 The images show a well equipped and armed group of around 12 warriors and what looks like a old combat droid. We have confirmed that they wear the claw co markings. This band will certainly be well trained veterans. They are certainly a threat to our security.

The figures are EM4 Combat Zone plastics featuring a few conversions. 

These mercenaries spotted our drone and shot it down.

Claw Company are renowned for having few morals and kill for fun. They have been known to turn for better wages or even turn on their employers.

The presence of these cold hearted murderers burns into every law man sense we have. I had to fight every impulse to go and deliver justice to these criminals for hire.

Magistrate Black thinks we should hire them to take out local threats or even to go up against the Trogs. Then we can deal with them. I do not want to act as there is only four of us and it contravenes our orders.

Magistrate Monk pointed out that destroying our drone could be classed as a crime or even a act of war if we needed a reason to act.

Claw Company is planned to be replaced at some point in the future. 

Wasteland Wondering - a change of direction.

Hello and welcome back to another Wasteland Wondering.

Like real wasteland wandering you sometimes encounter things that cause you to change path. Things like radiation pools, a horde of hungry rad ghouls, angry super mutants, Jedwood or a thousand other possible wasteland horrors. So a change in course is required. Or more likely in my case just stopping, pointing in a random direction and yelling "THAT WAY!".

Many of my recent posts have been setting the scene for the Matt black city setting. They have been following the trails of the Utopia city expedition and has been great for setting the scene. I have a few extra posts drafted but I have found that the path has changed.

There was recent finds of two factions I had stored in a separate location to the rest of my collection. That is now 80 factions. I never realised my 28mm collection was that large.

I am now ready to start taking pictures and writing the background fluff. What is going to be fun is each faction has now got a new settlement in the Matt Black City ruins. Some are outposts, trading posts, colonies or a new settlement. I will have to dream up new settlement names.

There is another issue of me mixing some factions together. When I was reviewing the lists it dawned on me that some factions such as traders would be based or operate in another settlement. That would offer a customer base and some security.

On top of this, I am planning on retiring a couple of factions or combining them. This means that the draft Life in Matt Black City posts will need rewriting as they feature some of these factions. I best get the renforcements to the Utopia forces.

In addition to Trog Town, the major factions will operate townships with trading posts in the ruins of the planetary capital. Brittannia, Liberty City, Wasteocrates, Great Lakes, Greasy Poon, Nu Sodom and a few others will offer trade, law and a few other comforts of civilisation. I hope to run two of these as largely anarchic townships where anything can be sold an bought. The plan is that these will attract all manner of trouble.

Historic faction feuds may also be rekindled such as the war between Liberty City and Nu Sodom.

Hobby wise I have gotten a few figures finished ready to pose for pictures and fluff writing. A couple of factions are ready to be fielded too. Things are ticking along slowly on that front.

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

Matt Black City Report 11 - The Wanderer

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo.
Date 01070117

Day 11 The Wanderer

Today we spotted a lone human moving towards our position. Quickly we moved to intercept him especially as he is the first human we have seen since arriving here.

Monk and I stopped the man with Warren acting as overwatch. Black circled behind him and watched the way he came in case he was a advance scout for a war party.

The man was a "grey hair" as they call older folks out here. Yet he moved like a much younger man. Maybe life in the wasteland has prematurely aged him? His jacket and kit looked ragged and worn. This strange character carried a old hunting rifle with a large knife tied to it so it could be used as a impromptu spear.

 Figure by Project Zeke Miniatures

This raggedy man said he was called "the Wanderer" and he didn't know his real name. He was just a lone nomad scavenger, trading and helping where he can, although I don't fully believe him.

The Wanderer told us that he came across some Trogs the day before. They were not interested in him as he was and he quoted "a weedy ooman, not wurf de effort. No proper fightin wiv im" (note: he even did a Trog voice). The Trogs did seem interested in the amount of scrap and junk they could salvage from a old vehicle wreck.

Images grabbed from one of our patrolling drones show that this gang is still in the area. They show no clan affiliation but all carry red x markings. We shall I.D. them as the Red X mob.

The Red X mob came from a huge box of Orks my friend Xander gave me. I rebased them and added the Red X gang markings. One Trog got a Mek backpack and is mob's blackthumb.

The Wanderer said he had followed the chasm (dry river bed) into the city and had come across two settlements to the east of our position.

The closest is what appears to be a well equipped military unit using old world kit. The Wanderer claims they wore a claw marking. If that is true our nearest neighbours are the infamous Claw Company mercenaries.

The other settlement seemed to hold a group of bandit raiders wearing black. Both settlements will need further scrutiny.

As a Utopia Magistrate I know when some is lying or hiding something and I got nothing. But just in case I had Monk scan his thoughts. She too said he was hiding nothing. We both have come to the conclusion that the old timer is possibly crazy.

Despite Black's protests we gave the Wanderer a meal after which he thanked us, winked and said he had to go. Monk asked if he was going to be ok or need our help. He just turned to us, cackled and said "you better hope that you never need my help!". With that he wandered off.

All this data has been recorded in my daily report to Utopia.

Warren and Monk have been sifting through the data Utopia sent us about these lands and the city as they were.

The city itself is built over thousands of Hab Domes early settlers built. This was over filled covering the domes with plascrete. The cot had a deep network of transport "metro" tunnels. Did humanity survive down there? The tunnels links quite a few blocks and the central shrine, tomb and government buildings. Many blocks had metro entrances in the grounds or in the under levels.

In addition to this a military command bunker is housed under the city along with three SOS bunkers. Dotted around the city is ten recorded Vaultsys vaults for civilians. Sadly it seems none of these installations survived. No doubt the new inhabitants of the ruins will be delighted to find them.

To the west lies the old port now buried ruins. Some fifty miles north there was a space port come repair facility for military craft. I suspect that was destroyed long before the nuclear rain.

Further north there was a coastal military base and a atmosphere air defence base. Most interesting is the notes about a missile bunker/silo. This is linked to the command bunker under the city via a tunnel. I wonder if it is still there?

To the south of the ruins lay much industry including a lead mine which during the latter days of the wars served as a munitions factory. There are notes about a water aquifer and other heavy industrial sites. They are probably long gone.

All we know of the eastern hell zone is that there is a lost Vaultsys Vault some where out there. There are also hints that there are a number of secret laboratories out there too. These are rumoured to have developed several weapons during the wars. These where given the designation prefix X. I hope they are never discovered. This world has suffered enough.

The mountains surrounding the city was once a impact crater probably created long before man walked upright back on Earth. Glaciers and billions of years of weather have carved them into what they are today.

The mountains have/had two military comms/radar bases, an observatory, mines, a power station and many farms. More interestingly there is a Continuance of Goverment (COG) bunker located there. This place would be well hidden and with good reason. Not only does it have all the materials and stores to restart a world after disaster, it has enough kit to equip an army of thousands to fight a war for many years. No one has found it I am sure as there we haven't seen a force like that since before the nuclear fires. Unless that is where the Trogs found the terraforming elements?

In addtion there may be another SOS bunker someplace in those hills. Any of them could set up a kingdom.

Food for thought.

Matt Black City Report 10 - power

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo.
Date 31070117 - power

Last night a late night chat gave me some food for thought.

After studying the basic layout of this type of block Magistrate Warren thinks that the salvaged fuel cells may be able to start up the block's Plasma Reactor. The problem is it is located 100 floors below us. Then there is the issue of the reactor being in a fit state to provide power. However power, heating and lights would greatly improve our chances of survival not to mention comfort.

At dawn Mags Black and Warren took the fuel cells, tools, flashlights and a few good lengths of electrical cable stripped from the walls. After a few short goodbyes they headed into the inky darkness of the stair cases.

Monk and I waited for over two hours at the comms unit before they contacted us. The block as we suspected looks pretty deserted and abandoned. The reactor is located in a sub basement four levels below street level. It took them a good while to find it.

Another hour passed and we got the signal to man the block's control room on the top floor. We both rushed to man the stations. Black's voice came through on the comms to hit the reactor start button (a big red button with Start on it!).

The block shook and vibrated. The lights flashed on then off again. They settled into a pattern of flickers. Thick dust fell from fixtures and fittings. For a few sick moments we could not hail Black or Warren. Then to our great relief they called in ok.

There was power indication on the boards. Only at 34%, but enough for our needs. When I think that this block housed over 154,000 people the power will be ample for us. It will be enough to run emergancy lighting, door power, basic life support and to the relief of Black and Warren to run the grav lifts.

Within the hour the heros of the day where back on the top floor. Tonight we will celebrate as best we can.

Matt Black City Report day 9 - Supplies

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo.
Date 30060117

Day 9: Supplies

It has been eight days since we set off from Utopia and things were starting to look grim. Black kept talking about eating his boots and socks. Again I stopped him on health grounds, especially his socks. Monk claims they are a evolved life form of their own and highly toxic.

Things changed for the better today when Utopia contacted us and advised us to switch on the Shuttle's transponder.

Half an hour later two supply pods crashed onto the roof top. There was a third pod but the navigation system failed and it was lost near the mountains.

The supply pods are modified long range guided missiles with the warhead removed and a extended fuselage to take the cargo and extra fuel cells to extend the range.

We now have a extra solar still, solar panels, emergency lights, a small medi bot, survival kits, water canteens, anti radiation and toxins kits, extra munitions for our pistols, survival shelters, a solar heater, cooking kit, a data chip and about 2 weeks worth of food.

Sadly the missing pod contained perimeter sensors, spybot drones, a sentry gun with 2000 rounds, four assault rifles, 1000 rounds of ammo, more pistol ammo and frag grenades. Looks like we will have to rely on our side arms and basic Magistrate street kit. I hope the lost pod isn't found, that kit could set a gang up. Unlike our pistols the assault rifles do not have a DNA switch in them to prevent illegal use.

We got busy setting up and stowing the kit (after turning the transponder off!). Then we stripped the pods for parts. The engines maybe tradeable. The remaining fuel cells have been stored. Batteries and air vein charging systems have been jury rigged so we now have emergancy lighting on the top three floors.

Looking at this from another angle, I guess we may be alone here for at least another two weeks.

Examining the data chip on the Shuttle's reader it is filled with all manner of survival data, information on most of the world's factions known to us, Trog & Grot biology and as much information on the layout of this city and surrounding lands as Utopia could find in it's data banks. Both Monk and Warren are itching to study the data.

There is a new radio broadcast from the ruins. This is on the old public transmission bands and is unencrypted. Kraptoidiots have now set up a station advertising their awful products broken up by a babbling idiot playing the same three awful ear worm tunes. Much of the old personal tech found in the ruins (usually on human remains) will be able to pick up the broadcasts once recharged. I think K2I hope to have quite a audience.

Black and Warren think we should storm the site and take out the station just for the musical content alone. I suspect after a short while the gangs here may be doing that for us!

Matt Black City Report. Day 8 Maps

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo.
Date 29060117

Day 8: Maps

Nothing much to report today. We have further cleared rooms on the top floors. Thankfully these blocks are similar in design to the ones back home in Utopia. We have set up the managers apartment as our command centre and armoury. The penthouse apartments will be medical bays, dorms, store rooms and common/mess rooms.

Magistrate Black and I went down the block 10 floors. Thankfully this block appears to have been deserted for a long time. It was a good workout climbing back up. I dread when we have to go to the street level. One hundred floors will be hard work.

Whilst we where on patrol Warren flew the drones on a high level data sweep of the ruins. Curiously it appears that several camps are now deserted. It is possible that these groups have joined other factions here in the ruins. Many of the human groups appear to be building walls and other fortifications. Mainly the Trog's appear uninterested in the humans unless they are provoked.

There isn't a lot to do at here in between the night watches . Last night I sketched up a couple of maps of these lands.

A general one of the Hell Zone area around the mountains, not to scale or very accurate as Warren kindly pointed out in a sarcastic tone (maybe I should put him on outhouse duty for a couple of weeks?). The other is a map of the city with the locations of the main factions.

This map shows the mountains that ring this area. There seems to be a few locations of interest in the hills that we spotted. There is probably a lot more in those mountains.

From the mountains through the city runs a a dried up river bed called dead gorge. It runs to what was the sea.

The sea is now many miles out leaving contaminated sands. The whole area is littered with wrecks and other debris generated by the sea before it shrank. The sea is likely to be highly polluted although the Trogs release of terraforming elements may have cleaned it a little. We will need to collect more data on this.

The wastelands around the ruins were highly toxic. The winds and dust have buried most of what was left of the old world. Odd building ruins like through the sands like broken teeth in a rad ghoul' s mouth. A old port lies half buried in the sands a few miles from what is now the coastline.

There seems to be three large settlements to the south of the city out in the wastelands . We will need to collect more data on them. We didn't scan all the wastelands of the hell zone. There could be more settlements out there.

The city itself looks like this:

One square equals one square mile. The numbered squares are settlements our drones have recorded out in the ruins. Our position is ringed in blue.

In the centre lies the Tomb of the Matt Black God. The PSI signal is being generated there. Trog Town surrounds it preventing us or anyone else from getting close. The Trogs seem to treat the Tomb with reverence.

In the North East quadrant of the ruins lies what is left of the city's Space Port. Wrecked hulks and transport containers no doubt providing much scavenging and salvage. Two settlements have set up here. No doubt they will end up fighting over the spoils. I am surprised the Trogs haven't claimed the space port.

The chasm crosses the city and there is a settlement at the bottom of the dried river bed. Another settlement appears on what was an island.

In the north west quadrant is a large area of greenery (the squares marked in green). There is a lot of plant life here and the ruins are seriously overgrown. It is a jungle down there.

In the south west section is three places to note. One is what is left of the capital's airport. The other is a large area of ruins which are still highly contaminated. We have nicknamed it "Nuclear Alley". The other is a large crater that appears to into the bowls of the undercity (assuming that Matt Black City is built in a similar manner to Utopia). We have called it "The Pitt".

The only place of interest apart from the settlements recorded in the south east quadrant is a over grown dome. There is jungle sprouting from it (note the green square marking it).

Both of these maps are on the wall of the command centre despite Warren and Black's mocking sarcastic remarks. I am unsure if Monks "ooh pretty pictures" remark was sarcasm or genuine enthusiasm. I will be detailing them further as we discover more about the city.

Matt Black City Report 7: Storms and signals

Journal of Senior Mag Stevo: Storms and signals.
Date 28060117

Last night a howling chem storm drifted in from the sea. The lightening was impressive and the rain stank of chemicals. There was a lightening strike on a distant half ruined block. We watched awestruck as a huge corner of the block collapsed.

Magistrate Black got a spot rain on his hand and it left a small burn. It only seems strong enough to effect exposed flesh.

The storm passed quickly. Thankfully Black's injury was only superficial and is healing well. The top of the block reeked of chemicals until midday when the heat of the sun burnt them off. It was so bad at dawn we had to wear our respirators. The storm is a grim reminder of the perils of this place.

Later on we formed a three man team to sweep the top three floors for supplies. As there are other factions here we also stockpiled anything we might be able to trade for supplies. Mag Monk stayed with the shuttle to man the comms and scanners.

We found little of use. Some ancient preserved food stuffs. Black seems game to try eating it. But the rest of the team are unsure. I have forbid him from trying. We cannot afford someone out of action with food poisoning or worse.

There is a small pile of personal tech and jewellery we have salvaged that we can use to trade. Monk touched a bit of salvage and recoiled like she had been burnt. Later she explained she felt and saw the horror of the wearers last days condensed into a fraction of a second. It took Monk a hour to recover. Some "gift", more like a curse to my mind.

We have been picking up several radio signals. One is heavily encrypted and seems to be coming from a high tech source. Possibly another group from Utopia?

There is also a few signals using old military encryption tech. We have not cracked the encryption yet. Many signals appear to be moving around the city. I suspect a couple bands of mercenaries are here or maybe groups from one of the wasteland cities. Liberty, Nu Sodom, Great Lakes, The Free Burgs and Brittainna are most likely. I hope it is Liberty City is here as we have a good relationship with them. It would be good to have some allies here.

There was one signal we picked up which wasn't encrypted. It appears to originate from the Kraptoidiots corporation. K2I was banned from trading in Utopia due to the low quality, highly addictive and often dangerous nature of their products. Both Black and I where in the front line during the Mutant Munch riots. Hard to believe a baked snack could be so addictive and as it turns out full of mutagenetic materials.

I have informed Mag Black that he can go trade with them for food if he wants and his reply was that he would rather eat the brain of a rad ghoul. Let's hope it won't come to that!