Merry Christmas

Wishing all my wonderful readers a Very Merry Christmas.

I hope Wasteland Santa brings you plenty of loot and goodies. 

Have a good one folks.

Thanks for reading! 

Stay Merry and Jolly out there. 

Hobby Bingo 2020

Hello Wasteland Peeps! 

You may recall me mulling over giving Hobby Bingo a spin, as a way to keep my hobby time focused and keep me productive. So here it is - my Hobby Bingo 2020 card. 

The aim is like regular Bingo. Every time I achieve one of boxes I will cross it off. Like regular Bingo the aim is to get all the boxes crossed off. It will hopefully get me productive on a few fronts. 

Thanks for looking.

Stay safe and warm out there. 

Seasonal Hobby Chatter

Welcome back wanderer, come get warm by the fire.

At this time of year my hobby time becomes limited as I start to prepare for the season. Shopping, decorating, wrapping gifts, socialising and celebrating takes up a fair chunk of my spare time. Not to mention all the eating and drinking that my tummy expects. 

Back in 2018 I felt that I didn’t paint many figures. So this year I kept a tally of my hobby work. The numbers are in....

Figures painted: 64

Figures reworked: 27

Terrain finished: 22

Terrain reworked: 5

Vehicles finished: 5

Vehicles reworked: 1

Not too shabby I think. Over 1 figure painted per week - not great but still a decent amount. Well, better than nothing anyway. Maybe next year I will aim at 100 figures. Or 104 to be exact. 

I seem to have reworked a figure at a rate of one every two weeks and finished a terrain item every two and a half weeks. 

Funny, if asked I would have said I didn’t do too much. But I have done more than I realised. It makes me curb the feelings of frustration when looking at the unpainted pile.

One thing I like about this time of year is some time to slow down and a chance to make plans or work on ideas. One thing I may do to keep hobby churning out in 2020 is to play Hobby Bingo. You may not be familiar with it but you take a blank Bingo card and fill it with hobby related targets. Like a conventional game of bingo you cross them off as you achieve them. The aim is to complete a card and hopefully have a productive year. 

Next year I hope to get a new gang or two into the wastelands, build further hotwheels based death machines and do some more work on my neglected 15mm Sci Fi setting. Who knows I may even try something new. 

Hobby wise next year may present some new challenges time wise. So it will be interesting to see what I get made or painted.

I will be back with a post or two before the new year, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your holiday season. 

Stay safe and warm out there wanderer.

Cheers 🍻🍻

Wasteland Wondering - Historic and Fantasy ruins

Hello and welcome back. In this Wasteland Wondering I will be looking at other types of ruins often overlooked on the post apocalyptic table, Historical and Fantasy ruins. 

This all started when I was chatting to some friends about post apocalyptic ruins and I happened to mention that some historic fantasy ruins could be used on the post apocalyptic games table. This was met with some refusal as they don’t look “right”. 

While most Post Apoc films are set in the USA where a lot of buildings fall into the under 200 years old category, here in the U.K. and across Europe there are buildings (and ruins) from the 12th century onwards mixed with modern buildings. There are earlier ruins about too not to mention a liberal sprinkling of standing stones going back to the Neolithic era. In fact it is so common that we don’t really notice it. Some places are like stepping back in time. 

I could list a thousand examples without trying. For example the majority of houses where I live is mostly 19th and 20th century. But within a few miles there are 13th and 14th century buildings can be found some mixed in with 20th century houses. There are even standing stones in the south part of the city.

Scotch piper pub a couple of miles from me

York shambles

Edinburgh has medieval streets and so has York. Not to mention all the castles. Nottingham (centre of the Wargames universe) has a mix of buildings some going back to medieval times. Conway, Llangollen and many parts of Wales have dark age and Norman castles. This is in addition to some buildings going back to Queen Elizabeth the first. Then there is the old abbeys (often ruined) dotted about the place. Derbyshire has a lot of old historical mansions and castles. One of which has been the star in quite a few films including Robin Hood prince of thieves and the Princess Bride. 

Conway castle 

So how does historic and fantasy buildings in your ruins feel to you? How would you feel about them being on the table? What historical buildings are near by you? 

We concluded that if you wanted to you could take a fantasy or historical ruin and add magnets. This would allow to add the modern bits like notice boards, lights, power boxes, pipes etc. 

Looking at that list locally and where I live to visit I am surprised I am not more into Fantasy games. There is a lot of inspiration to be had for the modeller. 

Thanks for looking and take care out there. 

Necrollusc

So we was scavenging in the old ruins and found these old hab blocks that looked pretty much untouched. We started to scope the blocks out, getting excited about our big find when Smash stepped in this trail of thick sticky slime. He couldn’t move his foot. It was horrible and we managed to get his boot out after a few minutes of swearing. The boot started to melt a couple of hours later. Real toxic sludge that was. 

As I waited for Smash to put his boot back on and stop swearing we heard it. This horrible noise like man flu nose only much, much louder. There looking at us was this horrible giant mutant snail. A Necrollusc as the tribal legends call them. We thought they where scare stories but there was this great ugly thing looking at us. It’s eyes popping out on stalks, swivelling this way and that with a hungry look. Weird I tell you. It may be why no one has looted these blocks.

It raised up showing rows of teeth on its underside. What sort of critter has it’s mouth on its foot? Just too freaky. That was it, we legged it. Not too quick at first, I mean just how fast does a snail go? You can walk faster. Not the Necrollusc, this thing was gaining on with us. Panicked we ran quicker and were starting to out run it when two more moved in from side streets in front of us. I guess they must have been trying to catch us in a pincer movement. I thought snails was dumb? Running even faster we just managed to get through the trap. 

We kept running and the Necrollusc’s chased us. Our chests felt like they where going to explode. We didn’t stop until we cleared the ruins and then some. I don’t know when they gave up, but I am glad they did. Smash still has bad dreams of those things chasing him. 

The Necrolluscs are by Thunderchild Minatures as part of their Wasteman range.

Thanks for looking and keep a eye open for Necrolluscs.

The Church of Mutation

Hello and welcome back to my blog Wanderer. Today we are looking at some news from the township of Trashford in the Blasted Ruins.

Wanted ALIVE in the Township of Trashford in connection to the recent spate of murders, kidnappings, abductions and mayhem across the blasted ruins. 

“Mootation is the future, it is the way humanity will receive salvation, it is the way we will SURVIVE! MUTATE AND SURVIVE PEOPLE! MUTATE....AND....SURVIVE! It is the will of the Mattblackgod.” 

This is the Preecher Moot - he wanders the ruins trying to recruit mutants and the unmutated if possible to his cause The Church of Mutation. They dislike the unmutated and worship the more extreme mutations. While the unmutated are frowned upon they have not been seen to actively do anything violent towards them. However there are reports of cult members kidnapping or abducting non mutants. It is not known what happens to the abductees. All that is known is that the cult’s numbers are growing. Trashford while populated largely by mutants are becoming concerned about the cult and missing people.

The reality is that the cult have discovered a vat of mutagenic sludge in a basement in the ruins. They are kidnapping people without mutations or light mutations and dropping them into the vat to cause further mutation. The recruit is left to their own steam to get out of the vat but will be eventually be dragged out if they have been in too long. They are no good dead. As the cult nurse the victims back to “health” they are indoctrinated into the cult’s ways. One lucky side effect of a dip in the sludge is that it causes amnesia. The cult better hope that those they have mutated don’t regain their memories. 

Preecher Moot is a Unwelcome Guest figure from the Wasteman range by Thunderchild miniatures. These rock in at 36mm ish high and tower over 28mm figures. Thankfully this guy is a mutant so I can get away with the extra height. Paint wise I followed the same scheme as the figure on the Thunderchild site. Simply because I don’t get to paint purple very often. I added a heart to his mug as a salute to El Kaptian from the Romantically Apocalyptic web comic.

Thanks for looking and beware the Church of Mutation.

Here comes Claw

Hello and welcome back to my blog Wanderer.

Introducing Claw

Claw wandered into Rubbleborg one day and immediately attracted attention. His mirrored face mask made him pretty sinister to look at. Some combat armour, power claws and laser pistol added a further degree of intimidation. But no one stepped up to challenge him. His kit also caused much speculation. Where did he get such old world artefacts? How does he keep them powered? Just who is that masked man? 

Since arriving Claw has joined the Rubbleborg Irregulars and has more than proved himself in combat. In fact he appears to dance through the melee which is pretty strange. 

Claw is an old 40K Eldar Harlequin from the early 1990’s. 

 

The truth is Claw isn’t human. He is a Genetically Engineered Life Form (GELF) but one so human like most humans can’t tell. Claw is a Fay. The Fay appear human but are more slender, with higher cheekbones, fine looking skin, pointed ears and move with an unusual amount of grace. 

The Fay where originally developed as a pleasure GELF. In the ancient times they where used as artists, musicians, dancers, personal assistants (as they are easier on the eye than Grots) and servants to the wealthy. Sadly this saw many of them abused by their owners. Many Fay ended up working as strippers, prostitutes and personal sex slaves. This has lead to many Fay having a mistrust of humans and often displaying very sadistic behaviour. 

Originally marketed as the Fay - a name based on old Earth legends, these GELFs  came in all human skin tones, plus many others. Pure white, blue, red and pure black skinned where also popular choices for the wealthy). Many Fay pass as lightly mutated humans in the wastelands. Unlike Trogs and Grots they cannot self replicate. They can easily be grown from their DNA using any medical facility (Fay "birthing" colonies are located near old bunkers or hospitals). 

Fay in the wastelands are often secretive about their origins. Often they are on the look out for medical facilities that they can use to propagate their species. Many join raider warbands where their levels of sadism impresses the bosses. As many of them originate in bunkers, labs or hospitals they sometimes carry high tech kit. Some however have reverted to primitive tribalism. 

The question remains, just why is Claw in town? 

This new type of GELF on Mattblackgod’s world is a way to use up the Elf & Eldar figs I have knocking about. Plus it will allow me to have fun with painting some unusual skin tones. 

Thanks for looking and stay safe out there.

The shadow people

Hello and welcome back Wanderer. I told you to keep an eye open for post 501! 

Now for another wasteland hazard - the shadow people.

We found this old tunnel in the hills. Made of concrete like the buildings of old times. Excited we had found a lost bunker or vault we decided to explore. As we crept down this passage these things jumped us out of the darkness. Totally silent, quicker than a gassed up snake. In the panic Donny dropped the lantern and the whole place descended into darkness. You couldn’t see your hand front of your face. As we couldn’t see them we we couldn’t shoot. Not being able to shoot we legged it back towards the light. 

As we emerged they followed us into the light. Ugly black skinned mutants with no eyes. The daylight didn’t slow them. That’s when we let rip, firing every shooter we had. It was hard to hit them as the moved like lightening. But then they paused looking about like they where confused before fleeing back to the hole they came from. That was the first time we came across the shadow people. I hope it was the last, we lost half the crew in that tunnel. 

Found in dark underground places the shadow people are mutants who where once human. Blind, these mutants hunt for food using scent and echo location. The mutants are both feral and territorial. It is common for them to fight each other over food. When encountered your best bet is to stay still. If they start to attack try to make loud noises as this can effect the shadow people’s sonar. It confuses them forcing them to retreat. Gun shots work well. Even better if you can kill the thing while you are at it.

Here we see the shadow people jumping Masher of the Green Valley Hooligans. I think he has got this.

The Shadow people are GW Ur Ghuls from the Blackstone Fortress set - salvaged off eBay. I went for the an all black colour scheme inspired by the future beasts from the Primeval TV series. 

Thanks for reading. Take care out there and keep a eye open for the shadow people.

Green Valley Hooligans

Hello and Welcome back to my blog. This is my 500th post. I can’t believe I made it so far.  So sit back and enjoy next bunch of post apocalyptic miniature goodness. 

The Hooligans started life as a wandering band of bandits. After a decade of wandering the gang discovered a wonderful green valley, unspoilt like a ghost from the distant past. They sent scouts into the valley and learnt that besides the mutant bears and wolves, there appeared to be a group of what appeared to be peaceful tribals. 

Deciding that this could be a great opportunity to settle down. Moving forward into the valley the Hooligans discovered that another bandit clan had attacked the tribals. A small band of the tribals where fighting back with the limited weapons at their disposal. Arriving at the village the Hooligans offered their services on condition that they could settle in the valley. The peaceful villagers had mixed feelings but then having a strong ally who could protect them had it’s advantages. The tribals had problems for years with the bandits. Many of them had been killed and a few women molested. 

The Hooligans moved out and hit the bandits hard, who where expecting badly armed poorly trained tribals not battle hardened bandits. The Hooligans wiped the other bandits out with ease, allowing the abused villagers a chance to execute some captive bandits.

A generation later the Hooligans live side by side with the tribals peacefully and have intermingled with them (and providing a much needed genetic variety to the tribals). The Hooligans are regarded as the warlike element of the tribe. Bandit raids have now become a thing of the past. In addition to patrols and war parties the Hooligans escort trade convoys in and out of the valley. 

Critchlow & Klara 

Critchlow is the Hooligans leader. His calm and ruthless attitude has kept him war party leader and green valley safe. Klara is the gangs second in command. She commands respect and is a fierce opponent. Many of the Hooligans including Critchlow wish was their squeeze but Klara has made it clear she is not interested, backed up by bouts of deadly violence. 

Critchlow and Klara are from Emporium Miniatures. These guys are obviously inspired by the art work of Carl Critchlow in the old GW Dark Future rule book. I decided to name the leader after the artist. 

Mad Dave & Karl

Mad Dave is one of the Hooligan’s close combat specialists probably because he has anger issues. He favours an old rotary cutter which is also handy for cutting into ruins and wrecks for loot, or those rare occasions where an escape is needed. Karl is the Hooligan’s technomancer. He carries a old energy pistol and an energy field generator which is handy for when the gang comes under fire. The field usually allows Mad Dave to take is anger out at whoever is shooting at them. 

Mad Dave and Karl are from the Mini Gangs - Key Chain Mohawks by Ramshackle games. Karl lost his sword tip in a cat invasion of the paint table.

Maz and Broose

Maz is a skilled medic and hacker, skills he learnt from books he found in the library of a school in Green Valley. During a bandit raid Maz was wounded and his arm had to be amputated (by Mad Dave who seemed to enjoy performing the operation). In the weeks that followed Maz grafted an arm from a robot to his shoulder. Although he graft was successful it took him months to train himself to use it. Now Maz’ arm is fully functional plus he can punch through a wall. Broose is the war parties gun man. He keeps enemies pinned with automatic fire while the rest of the gang get close. In battle his trade mark battle cry of “Yippe-ki-ee” can be heard of the rattle of his assault rifle.

Maz and Broose are from the Mini Gangs - Key Chain Mohawks by Ramshackle games. 

Masher

Masher is the Hooligans big un and like Mad Dave like to get up close & personal with enemies. His extra bulk and strength allows him to overcome most wasteland psychos easily and even the bears that prowl the Green Valley. In addition to a large hammer Masher carries an modified industrial rotary cutter inspired by Mad Dave who he idolises. 

 

The figure is Chicken by Ramshackle Games. It lost it’s sword in the same cat related incident as Karl. One of the downsides of resin figures is that they can be fragile and not cat bum resistant. I have lost a couple of other resin figures to those cats. The blade was replaced by a 40K Space Ork weapon. The cutter fits nicely on the hilt of he sword. 

The Hooligans are slightly inspired by the gangs of the Taiga forest in the Metro Exodus computer game. 

That’s all for now. I hope 500th post has entertained. Here’s to the next 500! Thank you for following and reading my posts over the years. 

Take care out there and lookout for post 501. 

New wasteland rigs.

Welcome back to my blog. 

Recently I have been working on some hotwheels cars. Here is the latest bunch. They are intended for my own Blood & Fire setting using Warlands rules. But there is no reason why they can’t see table time for other rule sets such as Gaslands, Axels & Alloys or Darkfuture. 

Group shot:- A scrap runner from Conn is pursued across the wastelands by a Intacepta and Tya Dok from Warlord Carnage’s hordes. Spotting the distant action a lone Road Kill vehicle joins in the chase. The lure of high speed combat is irresistible. 

The Skrap runner:

This car comes from a ancient stone fortress called Conn. It runs scavenged supplies to the fortress. 

The base car was a Hotwheels 70 Chevelle station wagon. It had the studs drilled out and glass removed. A The driver, side armour and bull bars came from the Gaslands sprue by Northstar games. The gun and Jerry cans are by Ramshackle Games. The luggage is from a 28mm figure. The front window bars are a lollipop stick. 

The blower is by Abberant Games from their Warlands range. 

The rear tombstone is by Ramshackle Games and the rear window bars are lollipop stick. 

The car features stock paint with various logos and decal ageing done with nail polish remover and a cotton bud. Rust colours were painted on followed by drydrushing for the dirt. I like this car. It’s gives me the impression that it is only a few bumps from falling to bits.

The Intacepta: 

This car serves the Warlord Carnage by hunting vehicles. The harpoon is used to take out tyres or crew. Or with weaker vehicles harpoon the body work and slow it down to a stop. The objective is to try to capture the vehicle and crew with as little damage as possible. 

The base vehicle is a Hotwheels 69 Ford Torino Talledega . The original intention was to build a copy of the chase car in the opening scene of Mad Max2 Roadwarrior. Somehow it didn’t happen. 

Instead it ended up this way. The studs were drilled out and the windows replaced by the almost compulsory mesh. The wheels where moved to the underside of the car as the original was slammed. A dual rear wheel was added, a popular wheel widening technique in the Wastelands. In this case other spare hotwheels wheels where glued on. The rear had a floor added for the gunner and cargo.

The front bumper is plastic tubing. Blower is by Autokill. Harpoon is from the Northstar Gaslands sprue. The gunner is from Stan Johannsen. Luggage came from a 28mm figure.

The front bullbars is a bit of chassis from a 1/76 tank transporter model. 

The rear armour is by Stan Johannsen, rear bumper came from a lollipop stick, the luggage is 1/35 and 28mm pouches. There is Jerry cans from a 1/76 scale model in the back and a box of grenades from Ramshackle games. 

The paint is the original paint scheme and finished in a similar fashion to the Conn Skraprunner. Before that Warlord Carnage symbols where added with Pokka paint markers. The markings are inspired by the symbols Immortan Joe and Scrotus use in Fury Road & Mad Max game.

Tya Dok:

The Tya Dok is a transport used by Carnage. They follow convoys and war parties replacing tyres and carrying out light repairs to keep the vehicles moving. They also strip what they can from vehicles too damaged to keep going and repair captured vehicles. Tya Dok’s can sometimes get split up from the convoy or force and wasteland gangs will do their best to capture such a useful asset. 

This model started life as a Hotwheels 87 Dodge truck. It just got a coating matt black paint. Then I added bits to it. Thinking about it, I should have built it first then painted it. 

The front ram is from the Northstar Gaslands sprue and the window armour is from Stan Johannsen. 

The door armour came from a gift card. The wheels are from broken Hotwheels cars and the Northstar Gaslands sprue. 

A small bit of plastic tube was bent and added as an exhaust pipe. Keeping it simple I had it exit through the front wheel arch. Digging through the bits box I found a plastic cog so I attached it to the door. 

Graffiti and Warlord Carnage symbols was added using a paint marker. Then the rust and dirt followed. 

Road Kill - Big Red: 

Road Kill are a rival gang to Warlord Carnage and they are moving in across his territories. Operating from remote camps the Road Kill gangs are a hazard to anyone they encounter in the wastelands not just Carnage. Road kill like to decorate with skulls and spanners. Vehicles are often painted Red if possible. 

Big Red is a command vehicle shown by the huge off road wheels and turret machine gun. It started life as a Tesco own brand monster truck. The classic lines of the body caught my eye. 

The front airscoop came from the ever useful Northstar Gaslands Sprue. The machine gun and turret is from Ramshackle Games. The front window grill was a scrap of granny grating left over from a terrain build. The front plow was scratch built from gift cards. I tried to make it look a bit fierce some looking. 

The wheel arches where blanked off as was the rear side window with scraps of gift card. Gift card scraps also became the wheel blades. The driver is from Stan Johannsen. For some reason crew members sit low in this car. 

The rear window armour is also gift card. A crossed bones shield decoration from a 28mm fantasy zombie adds to the rear decoration. 

The passenger here is by Ramshackle games.

I had forgotten how much fun modding hotwheels cars was. It was modding hotwheels and matchbox cars for Axels and Alloys 15 years ago that got me back into the hobby. While I have used some parts from hobby suppliers there is a fair bit of junk added from the bits box. The lessons here is don’t throw anything away. These cars have lollipop sticks, gift card, metal mesh and scraps of granny grating on them. 

What next? So far I have plans for another Road kill vehicle and maybe something from the factories of Civilisation. Plus I am working on at least one more vehicle for Warlord Carnage. I would like to start a buzzard gang too. 

Thanks for looking. Stay safe out there. 

The Matt Black Healers/Matt Black Cross

Welcome back my wandering friend. 

Time to revisit a older faction of mine - one so old it didn’t make it into this blog. Time to change that. 

The Vaultsys Vault 999 was populated with Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, Engineers and other humanitarians (and a few hippies too). During their time underground they decided that to help humanity re-build their destroyed world they would need medicine, teaching and help. 

They formed the Matt Black Healers - otherwise known as the Matt Black Cross. When the vault opened in the Glowing Wastes they set up a hospital above it. The vault was used to make medicines and other items wastelanders would need. 

They set up teams to wander the wastes teaching and helping. Each team had a Surgeon, A Medic, 2 nurses, a survivalist and engineer. They also had some guards. Plenty of Mercs were willing to work for low wages because the health care was so good. 

The faction attracted hordes of people wanting to learn. The wandering teams also pick up people out in the Wastes who like the life style. 

Today the Matt Black Healers are spread across most of the wastelands. Their knowledge, skills and teaching has saved countless lives. It is one of the few factions that isn't obsessed with fighting, killing and war. The faction are also looking to build schools in the larger settlements to start to educate people not only in medicine & survival but reading and writing as well. 

This couple of figures are reworks for the faction. They serve as medics/doctors for the teams. The figure on the left is a Grenadier Future Cop and the figure on the right is a plastic Combat Zone trooper (by EM4). Both figures got fresh paint but the CZ trooper got some putty shoulder pads too. 

Sometime in the future I will have to get a group shot of this faction (all four of them to date!). 

Thanks for looking. Take care out there. 

The Rubbleborg Irregulars

Ahhh Welcome back Wanderer, treat yourself to a rat on a stick while I tell you about the Rubbleborg Irregulars. 

“BZZZTTT - THUNK - THUNK- THUNK - BZZZTT is this thing on? Uh? Right!” 

The Rubbleborg newly installed tannoy announcement system kicks into life, much to the annoyance of the township’s residents.

“Attention Rubbleborg Citizens - this is the first broadcast by your Mayor Bustrd. I have had troubling news that deep in the Blasted Ruins, the mutant cult are rising again. Calm yourselves, news from Trashford indicates that this may be a different cult but intel is sketchy at this point. Hopefully the cult will become a pain for the bloody Brittiannan’s rather than us. Still with a new cult on the horizon and the annoying growth of Brittianna city I think the Borg needs a more permanent defence force so we are forming a permanent full time milita. If you are interested and think you have the stuff to join the Rubbleborg Irregulars go speak to Captain Dunk. T’s n C’s apply. BZZZTTT - THUNK“ 

This motley lot are the first recruits to the Rubbleborg Irregulars.

Left to Right:

Kara (Grenadier future cop- reworked from my collection), Shorty Drinksonly (classic 40K Rogue Trader figure, newly painted), Skullson (Classic Necromunda Bounty Hunter - a painted eBay find which I rebased) and Fred Tenson (10 figure conversion). 

A better look at Shorty Drinksonly. He is a 40K Rouge Trader Adventurer from back in the mists of time. I have been chasing this figure for over 30 years and I found him unpainted on eBay for a decent price. He painted up quickly and was fun to paint. 

I plan to expand the Irregulars with some other Classic 40K Oldhammer figures at some point in the future. 

Thanks for looking, stay frosty out there.