Shattered Wastelands WIP pt1

After decades of playing post apocalyptic video games of various flavours one thing seems to be a common feature. A shattered landscape caused by nukes, big space rocks, alien weapons, earth quakes or a mixture of all of them. There are scars gouged in the earth, bits higher than others and so on. 

Looking at my tables they always look a little flat. Even Wargames hills are a little low and don’t have the right look. With that in mind I have decided to build some. 

Lurking in the bits store is a salvaged piece of polystyrene packing sheet. I kept it as the beads are smaller than usual and the material a bit harder. The sheet is around 30mm thick which is useful for hill making.

Out came the polystyrene cutter. The polystyrene sheet was cut into three. The plan is to make to hills of separate heights. I chopped out some recesses which will house the broken pipes. 

Higher hill 

Lower hill 

The shattered pipes are cardboard rolls that aluminium foil comes on. 

Next up is to start gluing and filling. I plan on adding other bits to the hills to give the shattered world look. 

Thanks for looking and stay safe out there.

Howlers

When howls start in the wastelands it’s time to start worrying. If you are lucky it is wild dogs or wolves. If you are unlucky it will be howlers. 

Howlers are a mutant that looks to be part dog, pig and possibly lion. They were first encounter in some contaminated ruins around 20PA. They have since spread across the wastelands. 

Howlers hunt in packs. Like wolves they communicate with howling. These creatures are fast and powerful. They seem to be pretty immune to most of the toxins and contamination in the wastelands. 

The howlers are Hell Hounds by Grendel. 

The recent beastie additions manage to hit another box on my hobby bingo card.

Thanks for looking, stay safe out there.

Sand Worms!

Hello and welcome back. 

The ground starts to shake. The wastelanders think that there is another earth tremor. Suddenly the ground erupts and the sand worms burst forth. Men are snatched and swallowed whole. Men screams and shout. Weapons start firing on the terrifying creatures. 

The sand worms are by Ramshackle games. Great fun to paint. 

Thanks for looking and remember if the ground shakes head to hard ground. Take care out there. 

Wing nut clan

Hello and welcome back to my blog. 

Wingnut was a officer in a enclave long ago. A mission into the wastelands showed her just how dispensable they were to the enclave’s masters. Bandits ambushed the patrol with Wingnut was the only survivor. Hunted by the bandits Wingnut tried to return home. She was bitter that they had been sent to their deaths and she intended to deal out some well aimed retribution on the enclave leaders. 

Wingnut - figure by Bad Squiddo Games

As she approached the Enclave lands she saw a ominous column of smoke in the distance. While her patrol was being massacred the bandits were attacking the enclave. Was the patrol sent out deliberately to weaken the enclave’s defences? A few bandits were left behind, stupidly drunk. Wingnut executed every one, torturing the last bandit to find the bandit base. 

After saying good bye to her dead friends and family Wingnut collected what supplies she could scrounge, mainly off the dead bandits and set off hell bent on revenge. 

Wingnut found the bandit’s base and observed from a distance trying to figure out a plan of attack. Tonight she would die and take some bandits with her. As luck would have it the bandits were still blind drunk after celebrating their victory. Wingnut walked straight in and she started firing. The drunk bandits attempted to fight back but it resulted in them taking even more casualties. 

Wingnut walked straight up to the Boss and challenged him to a fight to the death. The bandits laughed. The drunk boss proved to be easy pickings for the hardened warrior. As he fell by her hand Wingnut stepped back ready to face the onslaught but was shocked to see the remaining bandits on their knees. She was shocked to learn that she was now the bandit’s new leader. 

After a moments thought Wingnut realised that she had nothing left in the world and being a bandit leader wasn’t a bad gig. She changed her name to Wingnut (you didn’t think that was always her name did you?). She whipped the bandits into a better shape and started to take out the competition while raiding settlements. 

Wingnut Clan - Figures by Copplestone, TAG, Bad Squiddo and Oakbound Studios 

This also hits a couple more boxes in my Hobby Bingo. 

The TAG figure has been in the pile for years and that’s a complete gang painted.

Thanks for looking, take care out there.

Wasteland Wondering

Hello and welcome back to another Wasteland Wondering, 

Due to the CV-19 virus that is plaguing the globe at present I find myself with a lot of time on my hands. My wife is at risk from the virus. As a result both her and I are in social distancing for the next 12 weeks. 

Luckily I have plenty of hobby to got at. 

There is loads of figures in the pile of shame which with my wife’s running daily dialysis and regular cat interference should keep me busy for at least two years. 

In addition there is 3 x Ramshackle games cargo haulers, A Ork buggy, a fantasy house, Ainsty Bus gang hideout, 3 x alternative armies 15mm apc’s, 15mm Hammers Slammers combat cars & blower tanks, 4 x 15mm M113 APC conversions, FOGOU 28mm Scrap wall Kickstarter to paint, FOGOU sand village Kickstarter to paint. That’s just the stuff off the top of my head. 

There is a few model kits to get built too and lots of terrain to update. Then there is the endless list of ideas I would like to build. 

So what else is happening on Mattblackgod’s World? I have been playing Rage 2 on the PS4. The game pretty much fits MBW perfectly. It has been inspiring me. I would like to build something like the Arks in the game (think of high tech bunker). It would make for a great game objective. No idea what the track bits are for on the top. 

One thing I have been considering is changing The Kraptoidiots Corporation (K2I) modus operandi. At present they supply very addictive food/drugs to settlements across the wastelands. I am thinking that they will start to “recruit”/press gang/kidnap people as slaves from smaller settlements. 

The figures I use for the K2I goons are 40K Catachans. I am thinking of updating the figures to a more wasteland look. Despite the tweaks that they have had the force still has a too uniform look. 

Hopefully I will have some figures painted soon so I can share some pictures with you. 

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and health out there. 

Mytharth characters.

Time for another visit to the fantasy world of Myarth. 

Vaan the Barbarian 

Vaan hails from the barbarian lands and is in the barbarian warband of the Sorceress of Eagle Mountain. I plan on using this figure in my Frostgrave games. The figure is a Barbarian Queen by Copplestone Miniatures. 

Invisas Univasitas

The largest city on the world of Mytharth is Lienad. One of the reasons this city holds so much power is the Invisas Univasitas - the Wizard University. Having so many spell casters on hand has stopped neighbouring cities and countries from attempting to sack the city. 

The Invisas Univasitas is Mytharth’s only wizard school and many of it’s members live on campus. The pointed wizard hat is a symbol of wizard office and only worn by wizards of the school. There is no standard style to the hat and they are as often as different as the wizards. 

Wizards don’t always get on and while bickering is common there are serious rivalries in the University.

Susliad the Pink is a senior wizard from Invisas univasitas. He is currently searching the magical ruins with his apprentice Harry Wotsazname looking for spells and riches. He is currently hiring mercenaries to assist his work in the ruins. Susliad the Pink is by Copplestone Castings. 

Dewin Glas the blue is a senior wizard from Invisas Univasitas. He is currently searching the magical ruins looking for spells and riches. He is currently looking to hire an apprentice and mercenaries to assist his work in the ruins. Dewin Glas has a long lasting rivalry with Susliad and will do anything to beat him. Dewin Glas is by Copplestone Castings. 

Marwoleth is a untrained wizard interested in necromancy. He has recently been recruited as apprentice by Skullator. They are headed to the magical ruins in search of loot. Marwoleth is by Copplestone Castings. 

Harry Wotsazname is a student at Invisas univasitas. He has been recruited by Susliad the pink as an apprentice. Harry Wotsazname is by Copplestone Castings. 

This gold chest is an objective for my fantasy games. It is made by Northstar games from the Frostgrave line.

It has taken a while to get these finished. Life has kept me busy. 

Stay healthy and safe out there. Thanks for reading. 

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.