15mm Vehicle WIP

Hello and welcome back. 

This week I have been working on some 15mm vehicles. This lot are going to be Post Apoc armoured scrap haulers. 

These are Team Yankee M113’s. I have cut the tops back to create a flat bed and added a back panel behind the driver/gunner. The kits are easy to assemble and come with a variety of weapon options for a M113 APC or weapon platform. My bits box now has a load of interesting bits for other to conversions. 

Each hauler had lots of card added to make them further armoured with scrap. 

The Team Yankee Box had 4 M113’s in it. So one had to have a bit of a Sci Fi conversion.

This will see action with my Planet Wolfden forces in my Wild Galaxy setting. 

Now all I need is some decent weather so I can get this little lot primed. Shame the forecast is for non stop wind and rain for the next few weeks. 

Thanks for looking and take care out there.

He Man Comic book!

At the beginning of the year Give’em lead blog (link below) ran a giveaway competition to win a book of HeMan comics. 

Give’em lead

Yeehaw! I was the lucky winner of the competition and this morning this landed on the doorstep. 

The book is much heavier and larger than I expected. I thought it would have been a standard comic size. Great stuff and look forward to reading it. Who knows what inspiration I may lift from it?

A big thank you to Thomas of Give’em lead blog for the prize. If you haven’t checked out the Give’em Lead blog, go take a look. There is lots of great stuff on there. I better get reading. 

Cheers. 

Mytharth Begins.

Death looks down over the world of Mytharth. A world of billons of living things all striving to live. From simple single cell organisms who aren’t aware they are alive to the    wonderfully complex mammals and magical creatures. 

The Death figure is by a random supplier on eBay. It is a resin figure. It’s nice but lacks the size and intimidation factor that Death warrants. A Micro Art Discworld Death is on its way which should solve this problem. 

Skullator 

Skullator is a evil wizard from the Chaos Wastes of Mytharth. A long time ago massive magical war killed all living things in the what is now the Chaos wastes. It was left a barren wasteland filled with highly unstable magical hotspots. It is a evil place filled with trapped souls and twisted animals. 

Skullator is a Masters of the Universe Skeletor figure (as if you needed telling) by  Quest Figures.

The Sorceress of Eagle Mountain:

The Sorceress of Eagle Mountain dwells in the Blue mountains on the edge of the Barbarian lands. 

The Sorceress of Eagle Mountain is a Masters of the Universe, Sorceress of Castle Greyskull by Quest Figures. 

The Grey Seer: 

The grey seer is the Verman equivalent of a Wizard. Vermen are thought to have started life in the Chaos Wastes spawned from rats eating human corpses which had been killed by excessive levels of magic. They have now spread across the world of Mytharth. If there is a large human settlement then there is a good chance a Verman colony is living somewhere underneath it. Vermen seem to have a natural hatred for humans and some colonies work to destroy the human settlement above. 

This Grey Seer came from evil bay painted. I touched it up and gave it a couple of washes. I plan to use him with my post Apoc Gothrats/Vermen just in case they need a psiker. 

The Grey Seer figure is a GW Warhammer Skaven Grey Seer.

I plan for Skullator, the Sorceress and Grey Seer to lead warbands in Frostgrave. Each one will probably need an apprentice. Skullator will have some sort of Chaos warband (not the weird and wacky GW type chaos, but the plain old pure evil and anarchic type). The Sorceress will most likely run shiny hero types and barbarians. Meanwhile the Grey Seer will get a warband built from the old Skaven sprues I have stashed, meaning to build even more reinforcements for my Post Apoc Vermen. That said they could still beef their Post Apoc cousins up as a melee gang. 

Hang on! But there is more.....

I have knocked together this statue which can see action in the ruins of Frostgrave, my Fantasy City terrain or even Post Apocalyptic terrain. 

This is a Zone Immortals figure which I got from the recent cheap magazine offering. The plinth/column is simply a sweets tube salvaged from the Christmas rubbish pile. The whole thing was treated to a couple of coats of thinned down textured paint. Then it was painted light grey which was followed by some heavy white dry brushing. A few dark brown, brown and green washes where applied. A simple easy build. 

This little lot makes a few marks on my 2020 Hobby Bingo Card.

That’s all for now. Thanks for looking. 

Zona Alpha

Welcome back to my blog, over a month since my last post. Life has been hectic. Earlier this week the rulebook for Zona Alpha landed on the door mat. So I thought I would give a quick review. 

As a long time fan of the Stalker computer games I was thrilled to see a rule set aimed at gaming expeditions into the zone. 

Now if you are wondering what the Stalker computer games was all about, the background mixes the novel Roadside Picnic and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker movie fluff with the real life Chernobyl exclusion zone. 

There is a second explosion in the centre of the “Zone”. Then things get weird. The Zone is thought to be alive. Generating anomalies in the laws of psychics to act as traps. These anomalies move, vanish and arrive often instantly. Then the mutants arrived (called Children of the Zone in the movie). The mutants in the computer game are far more horrific. The zone attracts criminals, fugitives and adventurers. 

Zona Alpha is by Patrick Todoroff and published by Osprey Wargames. The game is aimed at 28mm scale figures but there is rules for using them for 15mm scale. This is simply changing the rule measurement scale from Inches to Centimetres (a conversion that I have often used in the past).

There is 64 pages dedicated to gaming in the Chernobyl Zone Exclusion Zone. There is plenty of game pictures and art to inspire games. There is also plenty of examples of the rule mechanics. 

The game is story driven and focuses on your team of Stalkers from one of 6 factions. You are looking for salvage and adventure but ultimately looking to get rich. The games have mission objectives with additional hotspots that may hold loot or mutants or deadly anomalies. Or sometimes a mix of them.

The Zona Alpha game looks quick and fun to play with not much number crunching or chart checks. There are four main stats for figures Movement, Combat Ability, Armour & Will. Your figures can be of one if three levels Rookie, Hardened and Veteran. As well as stat improvements higher level figures get extra action points too. As missions go on there is a system to improve your crew and promote them. There is even a a 10,000 Rubel retirement plan. You also have to pay dues to your selected faction. 

Zona Alpha uses GW sized templates for grenades and flamethrowers. Hopefully you will probably have some laying about. If not you can buy them from GW or many war games accessory suppliers. If you are handy you could probably make you own from cardboard. 

Back in the day, way before Lead Adventure Miniatures began making their wonderful figures I made one of faction from the Stalker video games for gaming “the zone”. Mainly converting figures from various ranges. I look forward to getting them out and on the table again. 

Zona Alpha could also work in the Metro-2033-averse as Metro took inspiration from the Stalker video games. Instead of the zone it will be teams looking for loot to trade at the Metro stations deep below the ruined city streets. There maybe a few faction tweaks. As Metro uses pre Apoc cartridges as currency the pricing may have to be adapted, possibly using a tenth of those in the Zona Alpha rules. Also the mission rewards should be reduced by the same factor.

I am looking forward to getting some games of Zona Alpha in. Thanks for reading. Take care out there.

Mytharth

Hello and welcome back to my hobby blog. 

Now for something completely different.

During the dying weeks of 2019 I have been thinking more and more about a fantasy setting, which is weird as Fantasy has done nothing for me (hobbywise) for at least 3 decades. In some respects this may be my desire to paint figures in something other than the usual blacks, greys, drab green and browns that seem to be a staple in the post apocalyptic genre. 

The idea is to collect random fantasy figures and fit them into my own setting. I started by picking up the Frostgrave rulebook (as usual years late to the party) and strangely I enjoyed the fluff. Admittedly battling warbands in ancient ruins hell bent on grabbing as much loot as they can is very similar to some of the Post apocalyptic games I like. 

There was some debate scale wise. 15mm is far cheaper and is easier to store. 28mm offers a lot more variety figure wise and my current figure collection can be raided for all manner of critters. Deep in my figure store there lies some treasures from the late 80’s which I expect may need repainting but it will be nice to see them on the table again. 

The fantasy world is called “Mytharth”. I am not expecting this to be the usual Lord of the rings clone jaunt. Apart from Frostgrave, my main inspirations are Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, The age of Hyboria/Conan, Shriek and Mythology. Like Mattblackgod’s World this will be a whole world setting. I am resisting the temptation to start a blog purely for this but then Wild Galaxy and Blood & Fire use this blog too. Best keep it all in one place. 

Initially I will start by using figures already in my collection to make some Frostgrave warbands. I should try and get some terrain built for it too. Plus I may start looking into making a Wizard faction. Then I will be creating and inventing in my usual haphazard manner collecting figures that grab my imagination. 

Thanks for reading

Stay safe out there. 

Happy New Year 2020

Happy New Year to all my readers. I hope 2020 is a wonderful year for you all. 

If I am honest I will be glad to see the back of 2019 in many ways. It wasn’t a bad year Hobby wise for me, however it was a difficult year for me and my wife on a personal level. Without going into all the gory details this year saw my wife’s health deteriorating and ending the year on dialysis. As we chose home treatment I have been learning to set the machine up and needle her. While I find hobby time is a good way to unwind after treatments, when I return to work in the next couple of days, I fear I may not have as much time to actually get any hobby time in. 

My usual 2019 review didn’t happen this year simply because Photobucket has been playing silly buggers since before Christmas Eve. It seems to have settled down now.

Hobby wise my 2020 plans are as follows: 

To keep a hobby tally as I find this makes me realise just how much I get done. It also motivates me to get some painting done. I would also like to get over 104 figures painted - 2 figures a week which tops the 64 I managed last year.

To play hobby bingo (see Hobby Bingo Post )

This is to help keep me motivated and keep various projects moving forward. Not to mention getting a game or two in. 

Keep the 28mm post apocalyptic gangs of Mattblackgod’s world coming. I have several new gangs I am planning on adding. Not to mention all the nice resin terrain I have coming.  There is also have some Ramshackle resin Vehicles to paint and a 1:48 VW bug to build. 

To give my 15mm SF & PA projects some love. One of my Christmas gifts was a platoon of 15mm M113 APCs. They and various piles of figures I hope to get out on the table.

Get more Hotwheels converted and built for Warlands, Gaslands and/or Axels and Alloys. It’s embarrassing just how many cars I have to work on. I also hope to get some figures painted for infantry games in this scale.

To start a new 28mm project, because I don’t have enough to play with or paint up - more on that in another post. 

As I have a large pile of shame to hit and funds may be a bit more limited next year I hope not to purchase any new terrain, models or figures from today. Note: this does not include any outstanding forward orders or kickstarters to arrive. This doesn’t apply to paint, glue, putty etc. How long until I fail on this one? I give it a week. 

As I may be cutting my working hours I will be aiming at a Frugal hobby year with cheap trash bashes from my pile of shame being pushed into service. Looking back at my hobby history some of my favourite figures and models have been conversions or scratch builds.

I hope to have a busy and productive hobby year but we shall see. 

Thanks for reading and I wish you and your families a Happy and Prosperous 2020. May your paint brush never lose its tip and your dice rolls be lucky

Cheers.

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.