2021 look back

Hello and welcome back.

2021 is drawing to a close and what a year. 2021 was another challenging year for many of us. For me I have been torn between work dragging me onto site and taking care of my wife. Thanks to a total lack of managerial planning and foresight they allowed the rest of the team to retire and then expected me to do the work of three people. The long commute hasn’t helped either. I was running myself into the ground. Eventually I have found a work from home role which I hope will give me more quality time at home and energy. 

The year also saw some personal milestones. My wife and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary and we both celebrated half a century alive. They all took a bit of planning and we had a fun time even if the pandemic had limited our celebration options.

Hobby time has helped keep me sane this year. Kind of. While my blogging has been slow looking back I have been quite productive. A lot more than I first thought. 

Looking back at my hobby output for 2021:

Aliens - these might get a update with a dry brush and wash. 

Stargrave Pirates/Space Bustards

Pyro & Warboys 

MEP Hill people & Followers of the special child.

Stargrave Starships

Lost Fortress Wall

Ruin reworks

Starport scum

Cargo piles

Wasteland bounty hunters

Horizon Zero Dawn machines

Undercity steam vents

Fuel storage tank

Sci Fi building

The Judges

Fort Hardknox

Havester Immuncites for Zone Raiders 

Orc Boss

Sci Fi drop ship

The Witches

Nobby Pumpkinhead

Mean Angel 

Rudolf’s Raiders 

In addition to all this I have been reading Flintloque (black powder/Napoleonic inspired fantasy) and The Silver Bayonet (Napoleonic Gothic Horror) rule sets. I like the feel of the Flintloque figures  and I already have a few gothic horror monsters in my collection for silver bayonet.

I have been fleshing out the world around the Last City of Mattblackgod’s world too. It’s cool having all those factions living close together in the ruins of an ancient city but they need places to go and scavenge for resources. I still need to draw a map up. The planning has given me some new character ideas. Now all I need to do is get some games in. 

Thanks for looking and Happy New Year. I hope 2022 brings you every happiness.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

I wish all my readers a very merry Christmas, Yuletide, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice time, Saturnalia or what you do (or don’t) celebrate (the peoples of Mattblackgod’s world celebrate Apocomas!). 

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday and that you get some nice gifts. For those lucky enough to get a game in may the dice gods smile upon you.

All the best! Merry Christmas!

Danny/Mattblackgod 

Rudolf’s Raiders

Hello and welcome back,

I picked up a pack of Rudolf’s Raiders from Alternative Armies, Dwarf Santa’s with black powder weapons really grabbed my attention. I have liked seasonal miniatures ever since I picked up a 40k Space Santa back in the day in the bargain bin for 50p! The added fact that Rudolf’s Raiders are limited additions also adds appeal for me. 

I found these good fun to paint. I am not sure I could get away with displaying them as Christmas decorations. 😂

But where to put them in my collection. They are aren’t fitting for my post apocalyptic or Sci Fi settings. My fantasy setting of Mytharth is black powder free (for now). They will be fun for a seasonal game of some kind. 

I suppose I could use them for Flintloque, I rather like the whimsical figures. Tony Hardwood’s (damfpanzer on various websites) fantastic models has had me fancying trying my hand at models that aren’t my normal wheelhouse. I am tempted trying to copy some of the older buildings locally as a starting point. A plus is that they can be used as terrain in my fantasy setting. 

In addition Flintloque (Napoleonic inspired fantasy) and The Silver Bayonet (Napoleonic Gothic Horror) are both sparking my interest at the minute. The good thing is that both games are skirmish level so don’t need lots of figures in the same uniforms which would have me losing interest as I painted them. The Silver Bayonet can have a mix of uniforms from the nation of choice plus some informal clothing choices for the characters as they are units made from special characters who had fought the supernatural creatures. 

Thanks for looking, take care out there.

Starport Scum 4 - Some more dodgy characters

Hello and welcome back, 

Ready to take another look at the dodgy denziens lurking around the space ports at the edge of Human Space? 

The Helfather is a notorious bounty hunter from the Dvarg systems that lie beyond GELF space. He roams human space hitting targets for the right price. His power armour and thermo gun ensures he can bring the bounty home. 

Not much else is known about the Helfather. No one knows who he is or why he roams beyond the Dvarg systems working as a bounty hunter. 

The Helfather figure is from the Mantic Deadzone Forge Fathers line. 

Hol Taranga is a Fay GELF many of whom can be easily mistaken for humans. The Fay work human frontier space for their own mysterious ends. Taranga was a dancer before the GELF wars (Fay GELF are incredibly long lived, their DNA coding was set not to expire or age at the cost of being able to breed or replicate. Originally this design was because Fay where often killed by their human masters who took their entertainment too far). Taranga deliberately wears multicoloured patterned clothes. Using a holofield light stealth cloak generator when Taranga moves he seems to explode into a cloud of colour confusing his opponents. Taranga hangs around space ports looking for work including picking up some bounty hunting work.

Hol Taranga is a old 40k Eldar Harlequin figure.

Aethian Sunbane is another Fay GELF looking for work as a sharp shooter or scout for a crew. Does he also have a hidden agenda for working the edge of Human space? Aethian’s origin is lost in the mists of time before the GELF wars. 

Aethian is a old 40K Eldar figure. 

Lenny O’Beer is the Captain of the Merry Mustang currently looking for new crew members in the space ports. He is a ruthless slob of a man prone to bouts of violence so crew don’t hang around for long. There is a chance that any long serving crew may mutiny. 

O’Beer is a Gang leader from the Warlord 2000AD Judge Dredd set. I am thinking of adding the other gangers from the Judge Dredd set to make up a crew for 5 Par Secs or Stargrave. 

Mary Madison works as a ships medic on the Merry Mustang under Captain O’Beer. She is his only long standing crew member and puts up with him until she can join a better crew or she flushes him out of the airlock. Whatever comes first. 

This figure is from the Infinity line.

Believe it or not I have lots more figures to add to my Sci Fi collection.

Thanks for looking, stay safe out there.