Nobby Pumpkinhead

Hello and welcome back.

One day over by the Pumpkin patch in the Last City a Grot was caught lurking by the Pumpking’s muscle. The unfortunate Grot was a survivor of the last Trog incursion into the Last City. They hauled the Grot in front of the Pumpking expecting him to blow the green skin away. It came as a surprise when the Pumpking named the Grot “Nobby” and kept him on as his assistant.

Nobby has taken to wearing a pumpkin as a helmet to emulate his new master. He is very happy as new boss is far kinder than any Trog. 

Nobby is a Halloween Goblin from Ramshackle Games.

Thanks for looking and take care out there.

D-mang a Trios

Over on Instagram there is a dude who builds Gasland’s builds. He raffles off his cars regularly so I chipped in and won this awesome car. D-mage a trios is a three wheeled build of bits. 

The body shell lifts off. I may have to add a driver.

The car came with a certificate of authenticity and a note on what went into the build. 

If you are Instagram follow @gokartmozartcustoms and  take a peek at some of his other builds. 

Thanks for looking.

Starport Scum 3 - the Fatties

Hello and welcome back.

Time for more Starport Scum. Introducing the Fatties. 

The Fatties come from the urban planet of Megapolis, a massive urban world. Unemployment is high (95%) and the countless billons that live there seek out new ways to get thrills or to give their lives meaning. 

The Fatties are semi professional competitive eaters who train by eating 24-7. As time goes by and they get bigger and  bigger. They have to buy reinforced bones, upgraded stomach capacity, improved heart pumps, nano blood cleaning gadgets and more. After a while they need support wheels to hold their bulk up. 

These three Fatties have fled Megapolis after trying to organise a coup against the Magistrates who rule the world. They now lurk at space ports at the edge looking for work or a ship to steal. They haven’t had any luck getting work. Starships aren’t really built for people of this size and no captain wants all the ship’s supplies eaten in a few minutes. 

Ton Drump. 

Ton Drump was a Megapolis Eating champion and minor celebrity. Concerned that he wasn’t getting enough calories he started the “Make Megapolis Fatter” campaign to get fatter and also planned to seize power. He started hate campaigns against other groups including the Megapolis Magistrates, assisted by Hatey his fan girl. He bribed crooked politicians and Magistrates in the hope to seize power. With a horde of Fatties they tried to storm the Megapolis central blockhouse but the Magistrates were waiting and arrested most of the fatties. Ton and his crew managed to flee (Ton was leading from the back like all good generals) the mass arrests and headed to the nearest Space port. Unable to book a flight they stole a cargo ship and fled to the edge of human space. At least the Megapolis Magistrates won’t find him there, he hopes. 

Mim Tartin

Mim Tartin was a Megapolis business man who ran a fast food company aimed at the fatty community. The food was designed to be highly calorific and addictive. When his food was accused as dangerous he started eating his product live on the holovid. Mim became horribly addicted to his food and was soon a fatty. Pretty soon, along with his new Fatty friends he ate his own business into the ground. Owning huge debts he backed Ton Drump’s revolution seeing a opportunity to make some credits. Mim fled with Ton when the revolution failed. 

Hatey Kopkins 

No one knows Hatey’s real name. She got the name Hatey because she dislikes almost everyone and doesn’t mind saying it loudly. It is rumoured her real name might be Karen. Hatey is a loyal fan of Drump. She adores him nearly as much as food. To try to get the Fatty community onside for the planned revolution she spread lies about any group that wasn’t the Fatties. When the revolution failed she followed the second love of her life to frontier worlds where she continues her diatribe of hate at anyone who doesn’t toady to Drump.

The Megapolis Magistrate’s have put hefty bounties on the three fatties heads. They shouldn’t listen to Ton’s deranged delusional ramblings and keep a eye open for bounty hunters. 

The figures are from the 2000AD Judge Dredd line by Warlord Games. I am thinking of using the Fatties as part of a rival crew in my (planned) 5 Parsecs games.

Thanks for looking. 

Take Care Out There.

Starport scum 2 - meet Splutinsen

Hello and welcome back, 

Time for another (not so) exciting instalment of Spaceport Scum. 

This here is Splutinsen, a clandestine contact for information and you know spy stuff. No one actually knows what he looks like as he is always wearing a space suit with a tinted visor leading to speculation that he might actually be an alien. This is reenforced by his odd look and shape.

All attempts to capture him has proven futile and he has never been cornered. Strangely he just seems to appear usually startling his contact.

Splutinsen is actually an polymorphic alien usually in the form of a green blob in his natural state (assuming of course a polymorphic alien blob has a sex). He can mimic any shape or fit through any hole at will. He is never armed because he can become any weapon at need. Splutinsen was in a heated space battle and his ship was hit sending out of control. The ship spun into a white hole and ended up in another Galaxy. It is possible that it may even be a different universe.

Lost and unable to return home Splutinsen discovered GELF space and eventually humanity. He keeps this shape as both human and GELF seem to like it. Splutinsen wanders the worlds taking spy information jobs (as humans have a need for a weird thing called money) looking for another worm hole in the hope he can return home. 

Splutinsen is a star link figure that came with on of their starships. I gave it a couple of washes and a quick touch up before mounting him on a base. I will use him as a contact in my 5 parsecs games. 

Thanks for looking. Stay safe out there.

Meet the HZD machines

Hello and welcome back. 

It’s tIme to see the rest of the Finished Horizon Zero Dawn board game machines by Steam Forged Games. These figures are fairly quick to paint but have really shallow details making them a bit of a challenge. We have already met the Watcher machines in the link below.

watcher machines here

The grazer is a smaller herd machine from the Horizon Zero Dawn universe. It grazes keeping grass & plant life down using two rotary blades on each antler. This action also turns & aerates soil to allow new seeds to take hold. Meanwhile the machine “digests” and processes some material to produce a highly flammable fluid which is stored in the canisters at the rear of the machine. 

The fluid is harvested somehow and used as a resource by the automated machine factories known as cauldrons. Tribal machine hunters want this fluid for starting fires, making bombs or traps.

Grazers are often seen in herds with watchers and the occasional saw tooth acting as a guardian. Hunters have problems with the rotary blades. 

Next up the Striders, one of my favourite machines from the game. The Strider is a herd machine and resemble horses. They give similar kick attacks as horses if provoked. The machines grazes keeping grass life down while  “digesting” and processing the grass to produce a highly flammable fluid which is stored in the canister at the rear of the machine. 

Like other resource gathering machines the fluid is harvested and used as a resource by the automated machine factories known as cauldrons. Tribal machine hunters want this fluid for starting fires, making bombs or traps. Certain hunters have the ability to over ride the programming of Striders and can use them as riding machines. 

The Scrappers are pack machines designed to recycle damaged or “dead” machines using grinders at their jaws. The scrappers are highly territorial and aggressive towards humans. Scrappers are equipped with a radar to detect movement and have a energy weapon in the mouth assembly making a pack quite a hazard if encountered.

Shell walkers are a crab like machine with a cargo pod on the back. They move resources generated by the machines to the cauldrons (automated machine factories).

Shell walkers are equipped with a powerful power claw, energy shield and a ballistic energy weapon. The shell walkers also charge and leap into combat. Like all machines in HZD the Shell Walkers are aggressive to humans and will attack on site. 

The Saw Tooth is a newer machine to the Horizon Zero Dawn world intended purely to hunt humans. It is a large armoured machine that prowls around the machine herds to protect them from human hunters. 

Equipped with fangs and claws the Saw Tooth makes similar attacks to a large cat. Despite its size the Saw Tooth is a agile combat machine.

While I come up with ideas to use the machines in my own game worlds I did run into this in the Zone Raider rule book (another hard Sci Fi post apocalyptic setting that really appeals to me).

“LIFEFORMS

Humans, Morlock and Intelligent Robot are not the only forms of life that frequent the numerous Megastrata. Variants of ancient timeless flora fill lush bio-domes, while part-flesh, part-machine beasts roam specialized sectors once dedicated to their creation and containment.

These creatures are at best a source of food, lubricants and other resources. At worst, they are predators to be carefully respected, such as great Technobeasts that stalk ancient overgrown biodomes. Well-established Survivor cultures may even cultivate their own plants, animals and mech-hybrids for their own uses.”

I am wondering if the HZD machines would serve as Technobeasts in the forgotten bio domes of the Zone Raider Matrioshka world (well not quite a world!) setting. 

I have read that there will be other machines from HZD released by Steam Forged Games in the future. So there is a chance there will be more machine posts. 

Thanks for looking, stay safe out there.

Harvester Immuncytes

Hello and welcome back,

I have always been drawn to the background and setting of the Zone Raiders game. For those that don’t know it is a hard Sci Fi post apocalyptic setting on a Matrioshka world (think immense artificial world/Uber super computer built around a Dyson sphere).

One of the perils of the setting is the  Immunocytes - machines created by the post humans to deal with sentient life in the Matrioshka. 

The main Immunocytes are the Harvesters which sound like the usual skelebots.

From the ZR rule book:

“Harvesters are the most commonly encountered Immunocyte. Usually humanoid in configuration, they act as sentries or roving hunters. Each one has a high-powered projectile weapon as well as inhumanly strong bladed thrusts to tear apart unfortunate lifeforms.

Harvesters are a common boogeyman in most cultures, distinguished by their wailing electronic screech upon spotting a fresh target. Wary Zone Raiders can sense their presence by the uneasy tingling of ionized radiation their bodies output when in hunter-killer mode.”

I found these cheap Necrons on eBay, assembled and painted. Saved me a job. As most of the Immunocytes are eons old I chose to age these Necrons. This was done by mixing bestial brown with dark brown wash. After a few applications I painted the eyes and sorted the bases. As the tunnels of  Matrioshka are ancient they are covered with dust and dirt so I chose this over a metal plate base.

Base wise I chose a typical Post Apocalyptic style as I also plan to use these on Mattblackgod’s world as another wasteland hazard. I like the thought of a bunch of salvagers wandering into a field of immobile killer skelebots hoping they don’t suddenly activate. 

Now I have to figure out machines for the Reaper Immunocytes.

Thanks for looking, take care out there.

Orc Boss

Hello and welcome back, 

Now it is time for a visit to my mythical world of Mytharth. 

I got this figure free with a order. I have a bunch of these old Grenadier Orcs from aeons ago, some of the first figures I ever bought. So it was nice to get the Boss for free. 

I guess a Orc warband is in the future of Mytharth. 

Thanks for looking. Take care out there. 

Sci Fi Dropship.

Hello and welcome back, we are off to the edge of human space. 

Every crew of Spacers need a drop ship to move stuff around the worlds they visit. It is always handy to have some fire support from time to time too. Ex dropships aren’t always easy or cheap to come by. 

This drop ship is a Hornet from the mantic game’s Warpath line. My aim was to build something that looks like it was found abandoned on a battlefield. Possibly lightly damaged or suffering from a some failure. Or maybe the crew had dismounted to be massacred. 

My idea is that this thing is used as a taxi and I wanted it to have a battered long suffering look. I added a couple of half spherical beads either side of the cockpit. The drop ship has been modified with a extensive sensor suite probably found on a crashed military search vehicle. A well informed crew makes better decisions. Who knows what other modifications are hidden under the hull panels? 

The more civilised worlds take affront at privately owned armed gunships whizzing about so the weapons can be easily removed by the crew before setting off. Not that they ever go to the more civilised worlds very often.

I have modelled the Hornet with the undercarriage down as this will be scenery in games more than a vehicle. Apart from maybe those “Get to the Choppa” escape scenarios (admit it, you read that in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice).

Thanks for looking, stay safe out there. 

Punk Apocalyptic

Hello and welcome back. 

This week the Punkapocalyptic KS landed whetting my Post apocalyptic appetite again.

The KS came with a rule book (in English at last!) and a book of additional rules (also in English).  The resin figures each have multiple weapon options and 3 or 4 heads. This gives lots of options and plenty of conversion fodder. I am looking forward to getting them assembled and painted. 

I had a quick flick through the rule books. The main rules are designed  for small numbers of figures from 3 up to about 18 per side. They are miniature agnostic rules for 28 to 32mm figures, although the publisher Bad Roll Games, would like you to have some Punk Apoc figures. Both books have a wealth of background, stories, beasts and faction lists for the Punk Apocalyptic world. There is some nice eye candy pictures too. Characters have quite amusing spoof names. One word of warning is that some of the language in the books is colourful and not very politically correct. Hey it’s after the end of the world, what did you expect? High tea and Queen’s English? 

Most of the action takes place around the area of Scrapbridge in what was the USA. The background fully covers the area in detail and there is a detailed world view. With the closed off high tech cities you get the feeling some Judge Dredd style figures would fit these cities well. There is no reason that you couldn’t use the rules for what ever part of the world you fancy your wastelands to be. Or if you are a 2000AD fan, a bit of Cursed Earth action.

This is a D10 roll set. Activation works off the figures attribute score. Highest figure on the table goes first, with highest dice rolls for same number until all figures have activated.

Shooting and close combat are the usual number with modifiers vs dice roll. Close combat is figure vs figure rolls. Then a wound roll which is toughness with modifiers and weapon penetration. 

There is no rules for moral, that I have noticed. Rare weapons are limited to 3 of a type of firearm per team (ie 3 pistols, 3 shotguns etc). You have to buy ammo for weapons and use it sparingly. You have to say how your warband is equipped but not how much ammo you bought which keeps the other side guessing. There is also rules for special ammo. There are also mutations and psychic rules too.

Both books have lots and lots scenarios and campaign rules. I need to dig further into this. There are rules for toxic and radioactive areas. Not forgetting the wandering beasts rules.

The optional and extra rules have beasts, campaign, solo rules, stories, new characters and a new faction. 

I will have to give the rules a whirl sometime. When I get a couple of spare hours. The ammo rules gives a real PA feel. Reminds me of the Mad Max video game where you have to use ammo sparingly and make the shots count. 

The Punk Apoc gangs and lines fit with other PA figure manufacturers such as MEP miniatures, Ramshackle, Lead Adventure and Copplestone. 

Thanks for reading, I hope to see you in Scrapbridge one day. 

Take care out there.

Fort Hardknox pt 2

 Hello and welcome back.

My hobby time over the last couple of weeks has been spent working my way through the fort Hardknox KS set by Fogou models. When the Kickstarter was active I went for the all in offer and got a lot of resin goodness. My progress so far. 

Note: the crates aren’t part of the set. 

The spigot holes on the gate house needed filling and I made a couple of plates to cover them. It was only long after I had painted them that I noticed the set came with a few resin plate panels. Doh! Still I expect they will be put to good use somewhere. 

There is still the fire steps and additional goodies to finish. Apologies for the mess around the fort, my games table seems to have become a temporary dumping ground. 

One nice discovery is that the resin can be painted without needing priming (I had missed a  few bits). 

This set has been hanging over my head since it arrived a couple of years back because of the sheer amount of stuff to paint. I have broken the back of it and I am looking forward to getting this set finished.

The destroyed wall pieces .

Looking at the set makes me want to break out my not Mad Max and not Warboys figures to recreate the fights from the Mad Max video game. 

Thanks for looking and keep a eye open for the next part of Fort Hardknox 

Take care out there.