April Hobby Progress

Hello and Welcome back, 

Time for my hobby Progress report for April.

As you can see from my previous blog posts April has been a productive month hobby wise, somewhat helped by the Easter bank holiday. I got various bits Fogou terrain finished and blog posts written. I also began work on building a dusty space port town, featuring many Fogou desert buildings (and hopefully some reworked models from my collection). 

This cool model from the recent Diehard Miniatures arrived. I am looking forward to seeing this jet bike zooming around my Maddans world table.  As it is from a Kickstarter from last year, I am not including it in my Figures Bought stats.

In addtion to this I have cleaned the paint off a couple of Ebay finds. Yet more 40K Oldhammer space Dwarves. I still haven't managed to find time for a game.

The order from Ramshackle hasn't arrived yet. But then given the avalanche of work Curtis has I am not expecting them any time soon as he clears the backlog. I also put a order into EM4 and Heresy for some figures to flesh out various gangs. I expect they will pop up on my May Figures Bought stats. We shall see as Andy from Heresy also has long lead times.

Figures finished* = 7 *Figures that needed bases finishing from 2024

Figures painted = 12 (total so far 18)

Figures reworked = 6

Vehicles finished = 0

Vehicles reworked = 0

Figures bought = 0 (total so far 1)

Vehicles bought = 0

The figures painted is still more than the figures I have bought, so I am happy.

That's all for now.

Thanks for reading and take care out there.

Fresh 15mm loot.

Recently (well a couple of weeks ago) I was a little older (but not any wiser). Dicehead - one of my friends over on Post Apoc Wargames Forum (if you are not a member - why not???) sent me a Birthday gift. His entire 15mm collection.... Very generous of you Dicey! Cheers! 

I have not counted them but I think there must be close to 200 figures in this lot. Maybe more. There is everything in here from Romans to Aliens. There is also some not Judge Dredd & Spug figures. There will be much needed reinforcements for the 24th Browncoats (15mm.co.uk Rim Mercs & Cold War Russians) and a one of the Hullscape gangs for Wolfden. In the pile is a gang of Cultists....expect some fun for planet Wolfden in the near future. 

There is some British Colonials and what appears to be some North American Indians (Mohawks) which will make great post apoc tribals. 

Thank You Dicehead. 

Ok....who's next with the gifts???  ;) 

200th Post - Eye candy time!!

Welcome back, this is to be my 200th post on this here blog, and to think I thought this blogging lark wouldn't last! I thought some pictures from my Photobucket account with some blurb would make for nice way to celebrate. 

To be honest the idea came from some chatter on Twitter. I guy I follow has made some 40K IG with Warlord Zulu Wars British heads. They look good and are painted in traditional British Colonial colours. During our chatter I mentioned that I had done something similar by painting some classic 40K IG figures in a British Colonial style. 

Those who have follow my madness across the many forums I have marauded across over they years will remember that they started out as the Britannia Corporation for my Combat Zone games and later became the Britannia Bunker City on Matt Black God's world. The chap ask for pictures so I naturally went off to raid my photo bucket and discovered so much goodness that I have made/done over the years before I started this blog. After bombarding Twitter with random pictures I thought it only fitting that my Blog followers. Of course the advantage here is I am not limited to how many letters I can use when talking about the pictures. 

So grab a brew, sit back and enjoy! 

These are the figures that started the picturefest. I think the Colonial British colour scheme works well for Sci Fi Soldiers. It was a shame they got retired when a Nuke from a satellite hit the Bunker City. I miss them on the table and I am thinking of bringing them back into my Wild Galaxy setting as the forces of the Britannia Space Nation. 

Of course my Bunker city didn't just have Grunts...they had Power Armour too. 

I used my old 40K Rogue Trader Beakie Space Marines as Elite Power Armoured Troops (the Queen's own personal guard). In the picture above civil war had broken out in the Bunker City state as Lords Blair and Brown did a runner with the contents of the Treasury. Their own defence companies remained loyal to the scoundrels. Lord Brown was killed in this action and part of the loot recovered however Lord Blair escaped into the Wastelands. He was last seen heading into the Confederacy Wastes. Brown's head was put on a spike and put on display for all to see.

In the above picture the Smoggers are in action as the Junker Crew try to recover their beloved truck "the Thunderchild".  The Junker's where successful and the Smoggers got a good kicking.

Buggy Class Death Racing. This was on a enclosed track and Rad Zombies released to wander the arena making life interesting as drivers fleeing burning wrecks had to contend with them as well as the death machines screaming about trying to kill them. The buggies are converted hot wheels cars. Their small size made them idea as 28mm Single seater buggies. 

The Vermen move through a Wasteland settlement. The Vermen figures are converted WHFB Skaven figures. Their numbers where increased with some old Shockforce Gothrats. I have some more Skaven to convert and some Mantic Vermyn to add to this force. 

In this picture the Vermen take cover. This battle resulted in the combined Mutant forces (Vermen & Smogger with some Ghoul herding) taking the Araynreiche bunker from the Neo Nazi bunker Nation.  

Smoggers go into action. 

The Children of Goodness cult and their Cultie Mobile. 

Into the Ruins. A Bandit leader looks out of the ruins of the Grimwas factory. The figure is a converted Foundry one. He got a gaskmask head and hood.

Mad's Truck faces off with a Araynreiche APC. He got the initiative and plowed the truck into the APC killing the crewmen. Mad's Truck only took light damage. The APC is a converted 1/48 Tamyia Hetzer tank and the truck is a converted toy.

Rum & Coke. Rum is a notorious Wasteland Slaver with Tox's Blackhearts. Coke is his strange mute beast that Rum uses to round up potential slaves. Rum n Coke is one of my favourite figures. 

A wasteland battle rig. This is a converted toy car. The car was a cheap Chinese toy and has to be one to the cheapest models in my collection. 99p for two cars! The die cast metal was easy to cut and a bits box delve finished it off. The double rear wheels are off a toy truck.

The Hole Bar was built to order as a commission. It now lives with a guy in Germany along with the Hospital and chapel that went with it. I had fun building these buildings and I keep meaning to go to this level of detail on some of my models. Maybe one day I will go back and add those finishing touches. One day...

The Vermen get the edge of the Blacks & Whites gangers in the Ruins of Nu Manhattan. In the background the gangers half track truck burns. The jeep wreck is a diecast toy I got for 99p. 

Post Apoc Wasteland Gang Leader. This guy lead the fight against the Guardians when they attacked the gang's home base (which was a old industrial site). Sadly for the gangers the Guardians won hands down. You just can't compete against automatic weapons, body armour and comms systems. 

The Junker's crew and the "Thunderchild".  The Junker's crew are professional scrap men who wander the wastes looking for loot. The Thunderchild is a 1/35 scale Ural truck. Sadly I cannot remember the name of the Russian company that made the kit. All I can remember is it was ridiculously detailed (CV joints on the axels - on a kit. I ask you?!) and most of the bits didn't fit too well. That didn't matter as I was mutilating it anyway. I am thinking of moving this faction into my Wild Galaxy setting. They will be a ships crew and go planet hopping looking for scrap to haul away. 

Got a trade convoy that needs protecting as it crosses the Wastelands? Then you need this little beauty. This started life as a 1/35 Revel WW2 German Puma Armoured Car kit I built about 30 years ago. Over time it got bust and when I discovered 40K RT it got a new life as a Space Ork Battle Wagon. When I started MBG world it seemed a good vehicle to have. It got reworked with Big wheels and a new engine bay. 

Finally - now you are yawning....into the ruins looking for salvage. This is part of inside of the Grimwas Factory ruin. The piece is huge and was made with a mix of Post Apoc and Necromunda in mind. It is on my models to rework list. 

I hope you have enjoyed my nostalgia trip. If you want and further details or pictures of any of the models in this post, give me a shout and I will dedicate a blog post to it. 

Thank you all for reading and following this blog! Cheers - heres to the next 200 posts! 

Wasteland Wandering - More minis for the grinder

I have been busy getting some minis prepped ready for paint. You may have noticed the Dreadball figures in my previous Blog Post. There is more...

Back before Christmas I started work on Dr Steel's Steam Driven Combat Suit. It is now in undercoated along with a random Wastelander from the NY3K range supplied by East Riding Miniatures.

Dr Steel is to be an objective in a game. A kind of rescue the Mad Doc game.

Another thing I am working on is the army for Great Lakes. These are GW 40K Tallarn figures. I am tempted to write up some fluff to make them a Tribal group absorbed by Great Lakes who have been fashioned into a Military Unit.

All the eagles & skulls have been shaven off. That was no easy task and its a miracle that I still have all my fingers. Some Green Stuff paint was used to fill gaps and hide any rough spots. I don't care too much as these are intended to be a Post Apoc force. Rough & Ready is better.

I got these figures on Evilbay a few years ago. The problem is there was a couple of bits missing for the heavy weapon.

I used a pair of Ork drivers legs and pair of wheels from a 1/72 truck kit I had laying about. Yippeee Autocannon!!

Then there the Squad Leader with the Plasma pistol. I have never liked the look of 40K Plasma weapons. It had to go.

A resin pistol from Anvil Castings fixed him up.

Then there was the Melta Guns. They look okay but again I am not a fan of them in my games. Actually thinking about it they would probably make better looking Plasma weapons than the usual 40K offerings. As these a Post Apoc I wanted Squad level support weapons. With a little carving I came up with these....

They have a kind of Lewis Gun feel. The Magazine on top is made from some 1/35 land mines from a German WW2 accessories kit.

I like them anyway. Next up for this force - the undercoating.

This week's work and plans....

The votes for which figure to use as the Warlord for my new Wasteland setting are going to be counted and I hope to announce which figure I will use in a week or so. 

Hobby wise I havent gotten to start anything this week as real life has kept me a busy. New Job, New Year and some small home improvements. 

I did look more deeply at the Dreadball rules. They look good and once the mechanisms have been grasped they should give a good fun game. My good lady is looking forward to trying Dreadball. To keep her interested I am going to let her choose which team she likes, let her name them and decide what paint scheme for the team. I will them paint them up for her. 

Whilst taking stock of what was in the lead pile I discovered that I had more GW 40K Tallarns than I thought. It was one of those cheap Ebay finds years back and I was keeping them for a wasteland project. There is enough to make 2 x 6 man squads plus a leader or two. This is often enough for the skirmish size games I like to play. 

So I am going to use them as the Great Lakes infantry/army. Tunics will be sand or Khaki with various coloured trousers. Not sure what to do with the head dresses colour wise. I am thinking of white head dresses and metal armour. I am going with a Blue shoulder flash to add a bit of unity and mark them as a force. There is a couple of Meltagun figures in there so I going to weapon swap for Machine Guns or Grenade Launcher. There is a figure with a Plasma Pistol which I also don't like so a weapon swap is in order for him too. 

I am thinking of 40K IG plastics modified so I can squeeze another section in. Head dresses will be added. The mix of kit between them should make them suitably Post Apoc looking. Of course I can buy some more from Ebay or GW should I have the urge to grow this force. 

Also in the Lead Pile are some Lead Adventure Miniatures Street Judges. I think that make great looking Special Ops or Elite. As Great Lakes is partly descended from a Military Bunker I figure a Spec Ops unit will be part of the military line up. I cannot imagine the emerging city state not using dirty tricks to enforce its power. 

The WW2/Modern military and Gangers mix with basic weapons are still planned for militia units. But we will see how everything pans out. 

The Warlord's Challenge 2014

Over on the Post Apoc Wargames forum there has been much talk around the bar and camp fires of a Challenge to make for 2014. 

The challenge is simple this year  - You will be required to make a mini for your wastelands, the only stipulation is that it must be a mini you and it must reflect how you would see yourself if this was your mini's home in the wastelands (& personality on the Post Apoc Wargames forum). You can mix in anything that you feel reflects you. For instance board member Tinker may do a figure with some sort of Rat on a Stick or beer barrel (denizens who visit the boards will know what nonsense I am talking about). Of course that doesn't mean that you can't further embellish it with your own character traits. For instance a Scotsman may want a kilt or Claymore on his figure. 

There is no limit on the figure scale, after all you may want to use your mini you in your own table top adventures. If you are a print and play gamer you may want to make a figure from a collage or draw your own if you wish. 

Again, like all the other challenges this is just for fun. There is no reward. The idea is get some interaction going and the have a bit of fun. There is no real time limit but it would be nice to have it done by 31st Dec 2014. 

So fancy a go? Go join the Post Apoc Wargames Forum, say hi in the Bar and then join in the fun here. Don't forget to show us your progress. 

Happy New Year...Nearly.

I hope Dear Reader that you had a good Christmas - assuming of course that you celebrate it. If you don't I hope you had a good few days. As anyone who knows me will be able to tell you I am a fan of the dark time of year.

As the hustle and bustle dies down I find some time to update this blog. I hope Santa was good to you and you got some nice goodies. I was a lucky boy and got some very nice gifts. My lovely wife got me...

Dreadball!! 

I am looking forward to getting the figures made up and painted not to mention playing the game. My good lady is also interested in playing. Hopefully the new year will bring some reviews and game reports to my humble blog. As if that isn't enough she got also got me....

1/48 Gloster Gladiator kit.

This is a nice kit and comes with the Finnish markings and skids too. I am thinking it may make a good scout vehicle for my  Frozen Wastelands. My Lady also got me...

1/100 BA10 Soviet Armored Car Kit

This little gem will be used for my 15mm Sci Fi colonials. They need a little fire-support. It should be fun to make & convert. 

As if I wasn't lucky enough. My Sister in Law got me something good  hobby wise too...

Wargames Factory Zulu War British. I suspect my Good Lady had something to do with prompting this gift. I am a lucky man. These figures will bolster the British Thin Red Line on Mars in my VSF/Steampunk setting with a little converting. Goggles and revolver drums will be added to the rifles. One or two may get a face mask added. Some figures may even be used for my future Free Irish faction that I have planned. 

On top of this I have found a fair bit of materials to make more Sci Fi buildings and other gubbings. 

It looks like the plan for the coming  year have changed. I want to get the Dreadball teams made up. Work on my new Wastelands factions will commence. Many of the bodies for the Republic of Dan/Wasteocrates will be used from current mini collection. Another game for me to concentrate on is my Jugger teams. I would also like two make some Jetbikes for a Jet Bike racing game idea. 

The Sci Fi city and Frontier World buildings will be getting added too. I have a few bits of terrain in construction so I hope to display them soon. 

Well that's it. 2013 has been a year of ups and downs for me. Many lessons have been learnt and I hope that 2014 will be a good year for me. I start a new job too which I am looking forward too. 

I doubt that I will find the time to update my blog before the year dies. So I would like to offer you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!! May 2014 bring you every happiness. 

Very Best Wishes to you All!! 

What miniatures for the Great Lakes Factions?

My mind has all been a flutter for what figures to use for the Great Lakes forces in my new Post Apoc setting. I have been tempted by the Ramshackle Iron Brothers minis for the army of Great Lakes. Sadly funds will be short this year so 2014 is looking to be another Frugal year. 

In the figure pile I have a mix of WW2 to modern figures in the collection awaiting painting. Mainly USA and British. So I will be converting away I expect. 

After digging through the minis piles there may be other options available to me. I have come up the following military style figures to use for great lakes: 

1:- Mix of WW2 to Modern figures (American & British) with some converting. I have a handful of Warzone plastic Imperial Trenchers which will do for elite forces. This will give a Fallout NV NCR style force with a ramshackle look to them (mix of equipment & kit). This would make a pretty decent sized force.

2:- GW 40k IG. Mix the plastic Cadains & Catchains I have unpainted. Add some SM Scouts for elite forces. The downside of this is that this force would be a little too high tech looking in feel for what I want.

3:- GW 40 Tallarns:- I have a handful of Tallarns in the pile. They make great wasteland looking warriors. They are a bit limited in numbers to make a full force (cash flow is not at the minute). Although they could make a good scout or long range wasteland squad for another force.

4:- Combat Zone Plastics:- I have 10 plastic CZ warriors still on the Sprue and a pile painted unused from my CZ days. Head & weapon swaps with Warlord WW2 to make infantry. They would then have body armor that doesn't look too high tech. Maybe use the gangers (I have 15 of them unpainted) like Themightyflip over on the Post Apoc Wargames form has with old Necromunda figures, as a Milita force. Again weapon & head swaps would make them look the part. Maybe use the WZ Trenchers as the elite force. I would need a distinctive look to make the army look uniform but rag tag.

5:- Mix the ideas in 4 and 3. 

I was thinking of adding a large patch to the shoulders of the figures in maybe blue or another color (Great Lakes will use white and blue in the flag). 

Then again a faction with the industrial capacity to produce ammunition and limited amounts of firearms would be able to produce uniforms. Or at least dye old uniforms to make a uniform looking force. Brown would be a good choice or perhaps grey? Black has a certain intimidation factor.

The other option is to go for a bright color. Modern forces go for camouflage and drab colors to protect the soldiers. However bright colors are easy to make as uniforms from Napoleonic and earlier eras prove. Would a Wasteland force fighting tribals and scavengers need camo? Bright colors would have a certain psychological advantage. 

What do you think? All ideas welcome. 

Terrain Bits n Bobs provided by the season!

Welcome once again to my blog. Today I will be exploring a seasonal topic. The silly season is upon us and hobby time is becoming slim....unlike Father Christmas or me for that matter.

Assuming that you have been good, you will hopefully get a load of nice miniatures and kits. Or if you have been bad, or you have sent Santa the black mail note and on Boxing day a group of Black Ops Ninja Elves have stormed your home liberating a badly photoshopped picture of Santa and Rudolph in a compromising position. Hey, I try it every year! Those Elves are lighting quick. Santa also seems to dodge the Santa traps I set up too. You know, I think I need to lay off the eggnog and cheesy Xmas movies!  

Now of course you will need some terrain for your new table top forces to fight around. Any one who is into the Wargaming scene knows how expensive that can be. There is plenty of stuff out there at this time of year to make terrain from cheaply. All it takes is a little practise and imagination. Lots of  these items are just laying about and waiting to be thrown out. You will be the brave liberator saving them from the rubbish heap! Not to mention the kudos for recycling. I shall now list some of things you can find and what you can use them for.

First a rule – always ask permission to take or use stuff even if it is going into the bin. People find our hobby strange enough as it is without acting in a creepy and insane manner. Plus you don’t want to get into trouble for stealing.

Oh – a tip! When asked to explain when found in routing in the rubbish asking/begging for items, tell them that you are working on a Art piece built from recycled materials. It's easier than explaining that you want to make a model so your toy soldiers can fight over it! It can lead to long conversations with relatives looking puzzled or looking for a quick exit.

Strap in dear readers, this could be a bumpy sleigh ride!

Artificial Christmas Trees

Last year's old tree is getting replaced. Before it goes to the landfill go check it out. Often there is realistic bits. Trim the branch ends off with some clippers. They make great model trees. Some trees have realistic tips. Just take them off and you have a instant forest after gluing them to bases

Battery Operated LED lights
There are a lot of £1 battery operated lights out in the stores this year. Now you are asking what the eggnog?? Well these guys can be butchered and added to models to make realistic looking lights. Now before you go mad go and read a few articles on what to do. Sites like Terragensis carry articles on how to wire LEDs into models.

Blister Packaging
Now lots of things come in sealed blister packs that are near impossible to get into. Often you have cut the item out. Keep this clear plastic. It is handy for using as a paint tray, making glass windows or even plastic card.

Broken Toys
Come New Year there will be many broken children's toys out there headed for land fill. Check them out. Many toys have bits that can be used or recycled into something useful for the table top. Make sure you ask before you liberate these items. You don’t want a reputation as a grinch.

Cheap Toys
This is the time of year that the thrift stores are filled with cheap toys. You can buy up a variety of items to use as detailing, terrain or tanks/vehicles.

Christmas Cards

Christmas has passed and you and your loved ones have a pile of greeting cards to go to the tip. Now the fronts of these may have sticky jewels or other decorative items that can be used on your models. The backs can be used for model making. Many of my models use thin card.

Christmas Ornaments

If your family follows trends they may replace decorations regularly or your family may want to replace older worn out decorations. Grab these,  as many are usable for terrain. Don't neglect the old tree decorations either. Many can be used as building parts while others may be used for other things such as planets. At worst they can be cannibalised into something else.

Cocktail Sticks

So you are hanging around the Buffet filling up on grub. There in front of you is a party treat designed by Vlad the Impaler. Stuff stuck on a wooden stick. Help yourself to stuff and eat your fill. Keep the sticks. They are handy for making fences, pinning bits of polystyrene and the all important Punji Stakes to impale those pesky dungeon explorers.

Corrugated Cardboard

Often at this time of year someone gets some new white goods or a BIG gift. These often come in cardboard boxes. This is handy for making building, ruins and other stuff. I often use it as basing material and I have built roads out of it. The issue is that it can warp. Layer it so that the corrugations on the layers run in opposite directions. It helps build the strength.

Drinking Straws

You often get drinking straws when out and about. So keep them. They are ideal for making pipes.

Drinks Stirrers

At this time of year, you will often meet friends at fast food places and coffee shops. These places often have wooden or plastic stirrers. Grab a few. Wooden sticks can be used for making fences or flooring. Plastic stirrers can be used as struts, detail, aerials, sign posts and more. I have even though of using them as a base for building 1/3500 scale star ships.

Food Packaging

This is the time for feasting. Plastic food tubs/trays often make great a basis for Sci-Fi buildings or vehicles. They can be flimsy so use PVA glue and paper in layers internally. It takes time but it does stiffen them up a treat. The other use is for mixing trays.

Foil mince pie trays make great craters. Larger foil trays can be used to mix coloured plaster in. Let it set and then break it up – instant Rubble scatter for your ruins!

Gift Boxes

This time of year the shops are filled with unusual shaped gift boxes of various sizes. They are cheap to buy and make great starting point for a building. Or just fancy miniature storage.

Gift Cards

The joys of the plastic gift card. When you have used it, then what? You have a plastic card! I have used them many times in my models.

LED Tea Lights

Like the LED lights there is also LED Tea Lights that flicker like a real flame on offer. Handy, if you have young children or animals. These can be reused as fires or other items. Again check out online for guides on how to use them.

Lollipop Sticks.

If you have a sweet tooth you can stock up on these or you can wait until the kiddies have finished eating their's. Or you can just buy them from the craft store. These come in both plastic and paper. They make great posts or pipes.

Plastic Cutlery
Many parties will have plastic cutlery at the buffet. No one wants a load of drunks with sharp metal objects running about or they don’t want the best silver vanishing into the pockets of that dodgy relative. Plastic cutlery can be used for all manner of things such as struts, girders, detail and other things such a cockpit canopies. Help in the post party clean up and score lots of plastic goodies. You may also score some brownie points with a relative which never hurts.

Pressed Cardboard Packaging.

Many items come in Eco Friendly Pressed Cardboard Packaging. These are great for making buildings on frontier worlds. The pressed card looks like old de-laminating concrete. Like the plastic tubs they will need re-enforcing with PAV and paper. I have made many buildings like this this year.

Polystyrene Packaging.

The other popular packaging material is Polystyrene. It is also popular with model makers too. Often then will need sealing with PVA glue. Some textured paint and details and you can make all manner of buildings and ruins with it.

Real Christmas Trees.

If your family is like mine, you will love a real tree at Yule time. Come new year they go to recycling or the fireplace. Now look closely at the branches. Remove those needles that still remains. Clip bits for logs or dead trees. Some bits make great alien trees.

Snow Mat

Every store sells the snow mat this at this time of year. Or so it seems. Snow mats are for making Seasonal scenes with those seasonal decorations. They are good for gaming too but I found the fleece material often makes the figures fall over. But dear Gamer all is not lost. Glue it to your gaming boards. Give it an coat of PVA glue and there you go. Frozen wasteland.

Spray Snow

The instant way to decorate your home and make it look all Christmassy. Okay I have never used it for modelling. Put a layer of PVA glue on your board. Spray the spray snow on. Let it dry for 24 Hours. Put a couple of layers of watered down PVA glue on the spray snow to seal it. Hopefully, it will make a good durable Snow Board.

Sweet/Chocolate Wrappers

Ahh the joys of the season. Lots of sweets & chocolates. Now stop. Look at the wrappers. They are often made from coloured foil or cellophane. They are great for making model fires or coloured glass.

Walk in Nature.

After all that feasting you may feel the need for a walk to aid the digestion. Go to your local park or out into nature if it is close enough. Why? Mother Nature is a store house for modelling materials. Twigs for making logs or trees, Small stones for rocks, Litchen for bushes and pine cones for making alien trees. Old tree bark can be used as rocks or cliffs. There has been a few fantasy dioramas that have used Acorn cups or Chestnut husks as drums or crows nests.

Wrapping Paper

After Christmas day there is tons of this stuff heading for landfill or recycling. Grab it. It can be used to re-enforce those plastic tubs or make paper mache hills.

That's the list, it is by no means exhaustive. I am sure you will find more items to use.

Hopefully you will have blagged some great items to make terrain with come the new year. Good for your pocket and it helps save the planet by recycling some old items. Of course I realise that I may get hate mail or death threats from your significant other/room mates/parents when they realise that I am responsible for you hoarding junk. But for our Art it's a sacrifice I am willing to make!! ;-)

Finally I Wish you a your family a Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Best Wishes!!

Naming the Wastelands!!

As regular followers of my humble blog will know, I have been running a ideas post over on the Post Apoc Wargames forum to get some interaction going and get some suggestions for the names of the main factions in this new wasteland. The new wastes are going to be inspired by the (sometimes strange) things discussed over on the Post Apoc Wargames forum over the last few years. It is a salute to a forum & some of the wonderful people I have met online there in the last few years of running the forum.

From past experience the members of Post Apoc Wargames Forum are not big on voting, so I have taken some time to mull over the suggested names.  We have some winners. The suggested names to date are:

 

The Warlord’s settlement/fortress:
The Mound - By wiggles
The Oil Pan - by Tinker
New Hope - by Rych
Boneyard by Rych
The Fortress of Rust by Rych
Black God Forge Fortress by nasa911
The Smog Pits by TheMightyFlip
Doom by MBG
Dregsville by MBG
Fortress of Skulls by MBG
Fortress of Bones by MBG
New Anarchy by MBG
New Heaven by harveywallbanger
The Last Stop by harveywallbanger

 

The Wastelands they inhabit:
The Sump - By wiggles
The Sump Basin - By Tinker
Usanduk - By Rych
The Republic of Dan by Rych
No Go Zone by Rych
The Desert of Ashes by Slayer Dragonwing
The Devils Oasis by Rych
Heaven & Hell by Hollander
Insanity Sands by nasa911
The Forlorn Wastes by MBG
The Desolation by MBG
The Nowhere by MBG
The Great Nothing by harveywallbanger

 

The names of the city/civilisation:
The Resurgency - By wiggles
shittip - by Rych
Fear hole by Heavyfishcannon
Kingdom of Mercy by Rych
Land of the Callies by Rych
The New Wall by Rych
Insanity Sands freeman by nasa911
Great Lakes by MBG
Civilisation by MBG
Polis by MBG
The Western Alliance by MBG
The Knights of Yooza and Ukk by harveywallbanger

 

Places in the Wastelands:
Moramarth’s Morass – a septic sump into which all the pollution and poisons drain. by Moramarth
Ol Greggs lair - A wasteland legend.
Paps of St Milla - a couple of low hills where mutants fear to tread - by the Warlord
Dirty Meg's Slag hole by heavyfishcannon
Dirty Meg’s brothel - by Tinker
Ross' Shed of Boobs - By Rych
Dawgie's Caverns by MBG
Baddawg Mountain by MBG
Hacienda Pudenda by Moramarth
Mr Cleans Bath House by Rych
The Dawg Howse - by Sykoholic
Rusty Hole by MBG
Cheesy Crack by MBG
S**t Creek by Tinker
Shady Sand's Trading Post by Shady13
Coober Pedy by Warlord Paul (on blogger)
Colcors by Warlord Paul (on blogger)
Bostop by Warlord Paul (on blogger)
Old Clinik by Warlord Paul (on blogger)
Servstation by Warlord Paul (on blogger)
Disneland by Warlord Paul (on blogger)
Woolmarket by Warlord Paul (on blogger)

 

And the Winning Names are:
The Warlords Fortress/Town: The Mound – by Mr Wiggles. This seems to be the best name seeing as the place anyone would use as a defendable position would be a hill or mound.

 

The Wastelands: The Republic of Dan – by Rych. I think this would be a good name the Warlords people would call the area. In general the land will simply be known as the Wastes, like everywhere else on MBW. It may even be called the Wastelands of Dan by the Wastelanders. 

 

The Name of the city/civilisation: This was a difficult one for me to choose from. All the names suggested do not fit the city faction in my mind. They are too scrappy & rough n ready for a shining beacon of civilisation in the wastes. So I will be going with a suggestion of my own. As the city is on a lake I am going to use Great Lakes as its name.

 

Wiggles & Rych will be added to the mini warband. I hope to find some minis to use as them.

 

Mattblackgod's world is a big place. Much of it is unchartered. The other name suggestions will be used to populate new parts of the wasted lands of MBW.

 

Thankyou everyone for giving me suggested names for the new Wastelands and taking part in my madness.

 

And now....time to start writing up the background stories and fluff.


Remembrance

It is time to remember those who fought for the freedoms we often take for granted. To remember those who protect us. Those who take up arms so we do not have to. Never forget their sacrifices. Wear your poppy with pride.

It is also a time to remember those who came back wounded both mentally and physically. Remember the loved ones of those who fell. The widows and orphans.

Never forget.

Your (Post Apocalyptic) Warlord NEEDS YOU!!!

Your Warlord NEEDS YOU!!!


One of the many advantages of creating an entire imaginary world is that there is a lot of space to fill. If you look at the map of Mattblackgod's world there is a lot of empty space. So to fill up some space I thought a new Post Apocalyptic project is in order. A Post Apoc setting based on the Post Apoc Wargames Forum!

Over the years I have made some great friends over there and the forum has developed a life of its own with its own legends and stories. Its been a great laugh and extremely inspiring. In an attempt to give something back and get some interaction going I am giving the good folks over there a chance to make their mark on Mattblackgod's world which can be found in this here thread.

The plan is this....

There is a Warlord in a wasteland which will be modelled on the forum. I have no name for Warlord Dan's (some say he is a direct descendant of the Matt Black God!) AKA Mad Dan Terror of the Wastes, AKA the great Greebo's town or the wasteland they inhabit.

The characters of his mighty army of raiders will be based upon forum folks using minis from my collection or new ones. This will be of course a bit tongue in cheek fun. The local area will have features named after forum legends (some of the forum characters who made a big impact on the forum who have left the hobby or are no longer of this world. Or many of the daft crazy topics that crop up on that forum).

There will be another town over 200 miles to the south of this blessed place in the Wastes. It was made up from the descendants of a fallout style vault, military bunker and some local survivors. I do not have a name yet for this town. They will have a series of stations that serve as outposts.

One day the Warlord hears rumours of this place of politicians, bankers and accountants. He launches a war to deal with the blight of civilisation that caused Mattblackgod's world to be destroyed.

So I have challenged my Wastelanders to come up with:

A name for the Warlord's Settlement/Fortress
A name for the Wastelands they inhabit
A name for the civilisation that the Wastelanders will invade.
Names of local places in the wastes inspired by forum legends such as Ross, Dawgie, The Outhouse, Rat on a Stick, The cult of the purple helmet and Ol Gregg.

We will put the names to the vote or the moderators will decide. This is purely for fun but I will add the winners as characters in the Warlord's Warband. On 1sr Dec we will decide/vote on the best names.

This is only the beginning. Who wants a mini them in the Warlord's mighty army? All you need to do is to give a outline of your character. Are they a warrior? What weapons do they favour? Any other colour would be good too (this will be open for a while).

So if this sounds fun to you, wander across the Wastelands to the Post Apoc Wargames Forum, say Hi in the Bar and join the Warlord's army in the Wastelands. Go on give Post Apoc wargaming a whirl.....you wont get addicted. Honest! ;-)

Wasteland Wondering

Its been a busy few weeks for me. 

For the past few weeks my social life has been hectic and work has me chasing my own tail at times. Long hours and a long drive are not a good combination. Every time I wanted to do some hobby stuff I have been too tired or there not enough time. I even fancied doing some creative writing of a post apoc vein but even that got sidetracked by lack of time and energy. 

My Wife and I to see two fantastic live acts (live music is one of her passions) - the Eels and Cairo Emerald. If you like a spot of live music I recommend them both. 

Hobby wise very little has been happening. I joined a blog carnival called the Spruecutters union (well you know, you will have been reading my nonsense). Every week there is a hobby related subject each blogger writes about while promoting the other blogs. That is fun and makes me think about what I do and why. I have come to the conclusion I am quite mad!!

Model wise I have knocked together a couple of smaller bits for my sci fi urban table. I hope to get them finished soon however there is four half painted figures on the work table that have been there for a month now. Time and energy seem to be at a low. Its the old curse for our hobby isn't it? 

I made a start on a Tamiya 1/48 WW2 Crusader III tank. I got bored with the individual tracks and put it to one side. To fiddley for my tired eyes (what sadist thought it was a great idea to make tanks with individual track pieces?). That was two weeks ago. When I get to it I hope it to become a Post Apoc battle wagon for the Black Daggers. 

As Halloween is on the way I decided to put together the GW Garden of Morr kit. The kit went together nicely. I wouldn't mind more walls and railings from the set. When I get a minute I want to get it painted. I plan a Halloween game or three and this set would make a nice centre piece.

I have Zombies, Werewolves and Vampires in my mini collection. So I guess there will be some poor souls fighting them all off. Maybe I version of the film Dog soldiers with Mega City 1 Judges instead of British Soldiers? Any game ideas greatfully received. 

More random twittering - Judge Dredd & Orks

This week I have been working my way through the Judge Dredd case files vols 1 & 2. Get them for Kindle/e-reader if you have one as they are a lot cheaper. Lots of inspiration for my Utpoia city project. On top of that the Luna stories are good for some ideas frontier worlds that I may work into my Wild Galaxy setting. In Vol2 Dredd crosses the cursed earth. They run in a vehicle called a Land Raider....10 years before GW. 

Loads of wasteland inspiration. There is a footnote about a couple of missing episodes. Apparently there is two warring Burger chains..and another with a character from a certain fried chicken chain.....they can't publish them for legal reasons. Ahh the 70's, before corporations got twisted by the legal vampires. 

Hobby wise I am still paint the Enforcers for Utopia city. Then I got side tracked. I got a few bits of platformer set painted up for my Sci-Fi (pictures to follow).

Looking at the minis pile is there was enough plastic Orks from 40KV2 to Black reach and Gorkamorka to add some extra bodies to my 5 Trogs clans. I have spent some time today assembling and repairing them. I am looking into adding vehicles to each clan. I think a Trog version of Gorkamorka on MBW will be fun (Trogamorka?).  The vehicle collection is getting a good look at. There is plenty to use. 

Found a old Gorkamorka Truk that I am fixing up. A old Rouge Trader Ork Battle Wagon is getting repaired (the wheels snapped off and where lost) and a Ramshackle buggy is getting a rework. There is some Mantic Orx Marauders and a Trike on its way too. 

I want to add a new Trogs clan too. I am thinking of calling them Da Metal Eads or Skull Bandits. What do you think?? Any other Ork/Tribe name suggestions?