Wasteland Wondering - furry devils.

Welcome back to my blog and another Wasteland Wondering.

I have to report that my hobby activities will be at a stop because of the arrival of these two furry hooligans. 

The tuxedo kitten is called Toffee whilst the black moggy is called Dixie. In case anyone was wondering about their names, my wife is a life long Everton supporter. 

The house as you can imagine is in mayhem as these furry devils rampage about. It is exhausting fun. There is many belly laughs at their antics. Our existing cat Joey is slowly warming to his new brothers. In time I suspect he will teach them his bad habits including Catzilla attacks on the wargames table. 

Not getting any hobby time doesn't mean I can't think or plan. My focus on the 20mm combat cars is waining. It think I overdosed on it. My thoughts have turned to Trogwana. 

Trogwana is a wasteland on mattblackgod's world populated by the Trogs. Many think they are mutants but the Trogs have been on the world since the before the end. The Trogs are G.E.L.Fs  (Genetically Engineered Life Form) designed as a combat system. The various factions hired them during the wars on the world. Incidentally the Mutiemen are also GELFs produced by the same corporation for use as slave labour. 

Long time readers will remember that I am using Space Orks for the Trogz and they are similar in many ways to the Aliens from the 40K universe. They even use similar tribes. To be honest it seemed a good way to use my old 40k army in the wastelands.

The Trog's genetics enable them to survive the harshness of Mattblackgod's world's wastelands easier than humans. However the various toxins have caused interesting mutations to the GELFs mainly effecting thier skin colours. Okay I confess I am just looking for a reason to paint some orks in odd colours.

Trogwana has attracted the Trogs and is similar to GW's Gorkamorka. There is a large town build from scrap and ruins. The Trogs have several camps and other townships. Here they battle each other for scrap to trade at Trogwana. One of the joys of Gorkamorka is you can make many custom style mobs. I have many ideas. Just need the time and the money! 

The Trog warbands will roam and cross swords with Wastelanders over scrap and other supplies. 

Hobby wise I am thinking of increasing the size of the mobs I have. I found a warboss which I am going to customise. He will be getting a background story. My Goffs will become the Mattblack Trogz clan. This clan will wear black war paint,  rusty metal and black colours. Maybe a radiation symbol with a Ork skull as a symbol. 

I am looking into getting a big mek and a Kaptian Baddrukk just incase I decide to run a 40K freebooter force. Kromlech do some nice Orky things including Afrika Korps Orks which I am thinking of using as Blood Axes. My existing Blood Axes will be reworked into another mob. 

The 15mm orks are still planned for Wild Galaxy too. 

That said a little voice at the back of my skull keeps telling me into getting across the dead earth minatures. Lots of great post apoc figures in that range. 

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Welcome back to my blog. In this Wasteland Wondering I will be discussing real life, hobby slump and new post apoc ideas. 

It has been nearly a month since my last post and over a month since my last hobby post. 

I have found my hobby progress to be slow. As soon as I get started I get distracted. It is partly due to life being busy. Since my return from Spain nearly 4 weeks ago I have been celebrating 20 years of marriage,  had my 16yr old cat Spooky pass away, celebrating my wife's birthday, working on my motorbike, got a mutated rad cold, going away visiting some stately homes and away kitten hunting. Yup it's been busy but it isn't the only thing stopping my hobby drive. I think working just on 20mm cars is boring me a little and I realised that it has been over a year since I played a game! I should get my finger out. 

I have managed a couple of hours playing post apoc games on my console in the last month. Wasteland 2 and Fallout 4. I have barely scratched the surface of both games. 

In Wasteland 2 you play a team of Rangers out to save the wastelands. It is a RPG type game. The Rangers is a nice idea to copy for a Tabletop game. A small skirmish squad of 4 or 5 characters would suit many games. 

Fallout 4 has the main character in cryogenic suspension coming out the vault 200 years later to explore the world. Good fun so far. There is a band called the Minute Men who offer help to folks in the Wastelands in a similar manner to the Rangers in Wasteland 2. Minute men use clothing similar to the historic unit. It is tempting to get a historic figure or two for conversion. 

Cyrogenic suspension often turns up in Post Apocalyptic fiction. The character in the Rage game comes from such a vault (although he has cyber kinetic enhancements too). There is a major character in the Deathlands novels that was also frozen in such a fashion.

Hobby wise I just picked up the Gorkamorka rule books on evil bay. You can't have too many rule books in my book! I have always loved Orks. I am thinking of trying this in 15mm though. I also read the Gaslands beta. Looks a good game. However it doesn't cover infantry so I plan on sticking with Warlands. 

Gaslands is gladiatorial in nature and it gto me thinking of gladiatorial combat in the post apoc world. It could be a great way to get some warfare going. In Mars Arena (Deathlands novels) a bunch of warlords capture Wastelanders to have them fight in an arena which is the walled up Las Vegas ruins. Traps and mutant beasts are added to add to the mix. There is a twist. The winning team must then fight each other to the death. The survivor may get hired by the winning warlord but often snipers on the walls finish the job.

Another idea would be for  a contest run by Utopia City with prizes of supplies and other items folks in the Wastelands would happily kill for. It could be run by a TV show with arenas set up across the wastelands. Thick walls around these places could be built easily using the same technology Utopia uses to build the mega city blocks. In the wastelands bands  of wannabe winners would join to compete. The TV show runs the carnage live on TV in a similar style to the movie Running Man.

Auto dual will also be popular sport enterainment so the contests could run vehicle battles. A friend reminded me of this old battle report which is along the same lines that I posted on the Post Apoc Wargames forum a few years back. 

Auto dual combat

For the gangs/games on foot I was thinking of various traps including mutant beasties to make it interesting. Maybe a league with various gangs fighting each other for the prizes could be created. Wasteland townships and cities would get involved for certain vital supplies.

Thinking about this it may make a great club or show game using various rules. 

This is what I have been thinking about and planning. Let's see what happens next. 

Thanks for looking and take care out there!

Pursuit of the Apocalypse - book review.

Welcome back to my blog. In this post I will be reviewing a post apocalyptic novel. I hope I don't drop any plot spoilers **whistles innocently**

The novel I am reviewing is “Pursuit of the Apocalypse” by Benjamin Wallace (find him on twitter @BenMWallace) . This is the third novel in the series. The other novels in the Duck and Cover Post Apocalyptic Adventure series are “Post Apocalyptic Nomadic Warriors” and “Knights of the Apocalypse”. I am a huge fan of Benjamin Wallace's work. The series are good books with a comic twist. One way to describe them is Post Apocalyptic mixed with Monty Python.

Pursuit of the Apocalypse is as the name suggests about a pursuit. The main character is pursuing his kidnapped wife across the wastelands. The kidnapper is a sinister bounty hunter who has the most horrific clothing I have seen in any post apocalyptic setting. The novel has a great and exciting plot, and fantastic characters. I was howling with laughter reading this book. As I was on holiday I was getting evil looks from other holiday makers who must have thought I was either a nutter (guilty) or laughing at them!

Benjamin Wallace is the Terry Pratchett of Post Apoc fiction. As a massive Terry Pratchett fan myself that is a huge complement.

I could not put the novel down and wished I could read more when I had finished it. I was left with a book hangover thinking what happens to the characters next? Which of the other characters will reappear in the next tale? I hope that there will be another novel in the series.

So what is there for us tabletop gamers? The Pursuit of the Apocalypse novel has some great factions and locations. It made me want to start building new tabletop models there and then. If like me, you like a bit of satire in your wastelands this novel is for you. There are bike gangs (as a non Harley rider myself Benjamin Wallace hilariously hits the nail on the head), strange townships, entertaining characters (Willie and Coy are brilliant) are car chases and battles.

I think all post apocalyptic fans should read this series of novels. They are funny and challenge many of the post apocalyptic conventions. They are cleverly written and have many satires that the reader can relate to. I cannot recommend these novels enough to Post Apoc fans or anyone else who likes a good read. As I have mentioned in another blog post I measure any novel by “would I read it again?”. I am currently planning on rereading the whole series soon.

Thanks for reading.

Wasteland Saga - Book review.

Welcome back to my blog. I have recently returned from holiday in Spain. Whilst there I hammered through a few post apocalyptic novels. I will review them here and do my best not to drop any spoilers into the review. As this is a wargaming blog I will try to point out what ideas can be used for the table top.

I have read novels by Nick Cole @NickColeBooks and Benjamin Wallace @BenMWallace . In this blog post I will be reviewing the books by Nick Cole.

I read three novels by Nick Cole which are a series. The novels are The Old Man and the Wasteland, The Savage Boy and The Road is a River (also available as a single book called The Wasteland Saga).

The Old Man and the Wasteland:

For me this was the second read of this novel. I picked it up as I had little to read just before going on Holiday. It was only then a dim and distant light in the back of my skull blinked on and I remembered Nick Cole tweeting me some time back saying that he had written sequels. I immediately had to download them.

The novel is set some 40 years after a nuclear war. It focuses on a Old Man who leaves his village to go on a epic salvage exhibition in the cursed wastelands.

The novel is well written and at the exciting bits it is a real page turner. There are plenty of plot twists and interesting characters and encounters. I recommend this novel to any fan of the Post Apocalyptic genre.

For the Post Apocalyptic role player or table top gamer there is plenty to inspire. Small skirmishes and escapes the Old Man gets into. There is the Old Man's village (old industrial complex with the usual fallout style shacks), a few places along the Old Man's journey, a tribe and at least two major battles. This would keep any gamer going for a while.

The Savage Boy:

The Savage Boy is the second book in the series. It is set in the same setting but it is a different story. The novel follows a Boy and the pre war Army Sergeant who took the him in. The Sergeant is trying to finish a mission he was given in the countries dying years. The tale takes you through many events and emotions. Life after the end of the world isn't easy!

Like the first book there is many encounters and great characters. This book explores the world in more detail. You get to see what had happened and how the world has changed (or in some cases devolved!). It is a great read and a real page turner.

I really liked this novel as it packed with great ideas for you to use. Many tribes and lots of great characters. Lots of adventure and battles to repeat on the tabletop. There is a Chinese remnant/enclave in the novel and I can clearly picture using Copplestone 19^th Century Chinese for these forces. I have added this to my ever increasing hobby to do list.

The Road is a River:

The Road is a River is the third installment in the series. The Old Man is back and Nick Cole cleverly mixes to two tales together. It is a mix that works well.

In this novel the Old Man's people receive a strange message pinned on a dead man in a old times dune buggy. As a result the Old Man heads out across the wasteland in desperate rescue mission. This tale visits many places and there is a crazy warlord (aren't they all?) out there.

The Old Man makes a few friends and a few enemies a long the road. Again it has a few hidden twists and plenty of excitement.

For the table top has plenty of things to inspire. There are plenty of battles and lots of tribes to emulate.

In short these books are great post apocalyptic adventures which have given me lots of ideas. They are highly detailed. There is lots of excitement, lots of fantastic factions and tribes. There is a couple of reoccurring themes in the novels which are key to main characters however these do not detract from tales. The novels left me with a serious book hangover. I would love to read more adventures in this setting with some of the other characters (hint hint!). One measure for me of any book is would I read it again? Yes I would re-read all three again (and again). I recommend these books to any fan of the post apocalyptic genre.

Go grab a read and enjoy! Thank you for reading. 

Warboys for Blood and Fire.

My 20mm Blood and Fire setting needed some Warboys. This lot are the willing servants of the Warlord Blackskull. 

The Warboys figures started life as 20mm American War of Independence Indians. They required a lot of shaving of hair and other bits. The cheap rubbery plastic was not easy to use. If I ever do this again I will be using metal figures. I drilled out the hands and made thunder sticks from paperclips and putty. 

The warboys have limited firepower. This is it. A mix of old rifles and shotguns. 

The boys with the Thundersticks. Handy for crippling vehicles. 

Warboys with hand weapons. 

Look out wastelands the Warboys are here!! 

Thanks for looking. 

Blood and Fire Gang - Autoskum

Autoskum are a strange gang. They have no leader and call themselves a "Anarcho Collective". The gang roam the roads and wastelands attacking anything in their paths. What is strange is the gang seems to attack simply to create mayhem. Often they race off into the wastelands without even stopping to loot. 

Downed car crews will often cobble together another vehicle from scrap or sneak into camps to steal new vehicles. They then head off to join up with the rest of the gang. 

The left buggy is a matchbox car. It is armed with a machine gun. Unusual for a gang machine. The buggy on the right is a hotwheels buggy. It has a ram spike made from a drinks stirrer. It is armed with a one shot black powder scrap cannon which has a massive spread. 

The cool thing about the Matchbox buggy is that is comes with all manner of stowage. Great for post apoc conversions.

Autoscum cars are often black but they will paint them garish colors. This car has ram spikes made from plastic drinks stirrers. It is equipped with three black powder rocket launchers which are often inaccurate but cause mayhem. 

I intend to use the Autoskum gang as a wildcard during games. They will roll onto the table and cause mayhem attacking every one and everything. 

Thanks for looking. 

Blood and Fire Additions.

Hello and Welcome back,

Here are some of the vehicles I have been working on of late. 

Some old GW Dark Future plastic bikes. This are from my original set. They just needed a little repair and updating. These bikes will be used as additional muscle for various road gangs in Blood and Fire. 

This here is the Sheriff Frag from Wellsprings. This car was rebuilt from my old Axles and Alloys collection. New armor was added to the windows. The plow and rocket launcher came from Ramshackle Games. 

The rear window bars are plastic bar which I heated to bend across the rear window. 

Introducing "Bandit". Bandit is a free lance road warrior. 

The Tombstone rear armor is from Ramshackle Games.

That's all for now. 

Thank you for looking at the results of my madness. 

Product review: Bondic

Assembling plastic models and wargames figures has a few problems. Use polystyrene cement and the fumes incur the wrath of my good lady. Use superglue and you end up with fingers stuck together or plastic parts attached to your hand. 

I spotted Bondic on Amazon. Bondic is a plastic welder tool. It uses a resin that is then cured for 3 to 5 seconds using a UV LED. It is fume free and there is no chance of gluing your fingers together. 

What you get is the lamp and a tube of resin. Extra tubes of resin glue can be bought.

Here is a hard plastic warzone figure which I used the Bondic to glue. Works well. You drip a drop onto the surfaces. Here you can see the glue on the base. In between the figures legs there is a lump of set resin. 

This is the UV lamp. It is battery operated and is handy as it can be used away from a power supply. 

Shine the lamp onto the joint or resin for 3 to 5 seconds. Hey presto the resin is set. 

The Bondic also works well on softer figures like those from GW. The only thing is you will need to figure out how to hold the part in place as you shine the lamp on it. 

This is handy for filling gaps on kits and repairing every day items. It is a handy tool to add to your hobby tool kit. 

Thanks for reading. 

Wasteland Wondering -

Hello and Welcome back  to the chatty part of my blog. Firstly let me wish you a happy Easter, what is left of it. 

In this Wasteland Wondering I will be showing some 20mm car WIPs, chatting about stuff in general and some future project ideas. 

It has been a rough few weeks here. My Lady and I have been poorly with the lurgy that is rampaging around this part of the world. Irritatingly it has stopped me getting my motorbike ready for the riding season. It is mainly servicing work but it needs doing. We even missed the Wirral Egg run a couple of weeks back. 

Of course the time off has allowed me to do a little hobby stuff. Here is a couple of cars I am currently working on. 

This police cruiser is getting reworked to become the ride for the Sherriff of Wellsprings. It is very much a WIP. The ram plow is from Ramshackle games. 

There is also this Trans-Am. I have stripped the paint. It took ages and I don't think I will bother again with stripping the paint off cars in future. 

I was thinking about making this car into a salute to the Bandit from the Smokey and the Bandit movies. 

But this car may also make a good gang pursuit car. 

The tombstone rear plate is a resin part from Ramshackle games. 

My hobby plans is to one day go to smaller scales for everything. 15mm for SF and 20mm for Post Apoc. My main reason is storage. My 28mm figure collection must number into over a thousand with over a hundred vehicles. If anyone has seen my game reports then they will know that I am a terrainaholic. I love my tables to be crammed with terrain. My small box room where it is all stored is choc a bloc with stuff and down scaling would help solve those problems. 

The other issue is setting up games. Smaller tables makes life easier. I bring the stuff down stairs to game. A 3 x 4 foot table will take about seven trips up and down the stairs to set up a game. 15mm takes 4 trips with the same sized table. A 6 x 4 table in 28mm can take over 10 trips. After the game I have to then re-transport them back up the stairs. 

Then there is the time savings of painting the smaller scales. 15mm also allows more junk building than 28mm. 

As a result I will be starting to sell off parts of  my collection soon in the hope to make space. I will start with the stuff I don't need. Then the Sci-Fi. The 28mm post apoc will be kept for now. There is a few figures and terrain I wont be able to part with. My Heresy Not Firefly Crew, Rogue Trader era Orks and some of the odd ball figures in my collection. But then if I can shrink them down into a couple of boxes I can live with that. 

Terrain will be checked to see if it can be converted to 15 or 20mm easily. Some bits will be kept and others sold on.

Now lets look at Utopia city. I had an idea to use my SF troops in the city as house troops. Stealing an idea from Necromudia I thought about introducing Nobel Houses into each city sector. This will allow me to use other figures in the setting. Then I realised that I plan on selling my 28mm SF off. 

As I am going to go to 15mm for SF my warped mind thought it could do this in 15mm in the Wild Galaxy setting. A friend (thanks Dicehead) has donated the 15mm not Judges by 15mm.co.uk to my lead pile. 

Instead of a mega city how about a metropolis world with the Mega City one sprawl covering at least two continents. One continent could be a space port which the world relies upon for vital food supplies. The other continents could be wastelands that have been over worked for vital supplies. 

Like MC1 and Utopia it would be split into sectors and sub divided into blocks. Not all blocks would have massive buildings on them. Some would have three or four stories buildings on them. There would slums and some industrial sectors too. This city could also have a undercity/hive bottom/sump like Mega city 1, Utopia, Necromunda or Futurama.  Each sector would have a noble house who could make trouble for the gangs and Magistrates/Enforcers. The Space port would make a place for gang/house raids or visits to the world by adventurers or smugglers. I have a not Firefly crew in 15mm that would be good for these offworlder visits. 

That is what I am  thinking about at present. I hope this Wasteland Wondering has been of some interest. 

Thanks for reading and Happy Easter. 

Blood & Fire - The Scorchers Gang

Welcome back to my humble blog. Yet another Blood & Fire post.

Introducing The Scorchers gang.....

The Scorchers gang got their name from their preferred vehicular weapons - the flame thrower. The gang maraud in the wastelands around the borders of Civilization and have been known to range as far as the territories held by the Warlord Blackskull. 

These cars came as a HW pack of themed cars, in this case Scorchers. Both cars had been converted years ago and received a recent update. Both cars got flamethowers made from bead tubes and the small thrusters off a 1/72 space station kit. The Rod has a putty made enclosure for the flame thrower. The other car got a bumper off a scrapped car and window armour made from putty. 

The Rod's tank is made from a fuse and the fuel pipes wires. The eagle eyed amoungst you will notice that the car has a flamer nozzle on the sides. It wont do to get too close unless to fancy burning in your car. 

The other car's flame thrower assembly is an 28mm GW Space Marine shoulder pad. The car got crash bars around the wheels and reinforcing straps on the body. 

All the metal straps on these cars are made from putty. The luggage is from 1/35 WW2 figure webbing/belt pouches. 

The Scorchers are at a starting point and will need more vehicles added. I have no idea what 20mm figures to use for a gang of auto pyromanics. I am open to suggestions. 

The next gang I am re-working is Autoskum. Keep watching. 

Thanks for looking and see you on the roads!