Kingdom

Hello and welcome back.

Time for a inspiration recommendation. I got this 2000AD graphic novel as a Christmas present (did I say that my Wife is a keeper?). I have been a long fan of 2000AD and it has given me lots of inspiration. At the time these stories were in the comic I wasn’t a regular reader for many reasons.




The premise is 
‘Earth, the far future. Mankind has been all but destroyed, those still surviving forced into hiding by Them – insectile creatures that have taken over the world. Charged with protecting humanity are genetically engineered dog-soldiers like Gene the Hackman – savage warriors that patrol the wilderness, directed by Urgings from their Masters.
Now without a pack and having the responsibility of protecting young Leezee Sower, Gene has to survive in the kingdom of Auxtralia, where if Them don’t kill him, the ‘Wild Bunch’ just might!
Written by best-selling author Dan Abnett and featuring the stunning art of Richard Elson.”

I found the comic full of great Post Apocalyptic ideas as a setting. Overgrown ruins, giant insects (I guess from the odd human comment that they might be alien to Earth), the genetically engineered dog solders (mix of dog and human dna with certain improvements), feral and mongrel dog soldiers and the odd human. All the humans (the Masters) are hidden away in cryogenic storage until the bugs go away. Apart from the two in the story that is. The problem is the bugs haven’t gone and those cryo units are getting a bit old.

You will need lots of giant bugs - get down the toy shop! For the Dog Soldiers Orks could be used at a push. Or maybe frostgrave Gnolls with Stargrave arms. Not sure on the mongrels but no doubt some inventiveness could knock something together. If the gang at Warlord and Rebel publishing are reading this - hint hint please! 

I really enjoyed the adventures of Gene Hackman in the comic and will be adding the later issues to my collection. 

Keep an eye open for it. 

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my readers a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you all have a wonderful time. 

Zone Raiders - life in Megastrata 170622B on the post singularity Matrioshka

Hello and welcome back. 

I am getting my background fluff together for my Zone Raiders setting. Zone Raiders is a small skirmish game by Tony Xano that is set in a Matrioshka sphere in the post singularity. It is a high tech post apocalyptic setting on what is essentially a unimaginably sized space station. 

The Matrioshka sphere is a thinking machine powered by a Dyson sphere built around a sun (possibly our sun the background doesn’t specify!). It is constructed with many spheres built over each other, each split into uncountable continent sized Megastrata. 

The post humans built Matrioshia to develop a fully automated thinking machine that would enable them to join together as one consciousness in the Singularity. This took a long time and the post humans used humans as workers, companions and possibly pets. During the time taken to develop, construct and perfect the brain, the post humans entertained themselves by creating genetic constructs, sentient robots, machine animals and many new technologies. When the brain was complete the post humans vanished into the singularity leaving their creations and humans to survive in the Matrioshka alone.

Megastrata 170622B - is over 12,000Km x 12,000Km in size. The floor of the Megastrata is littered with all manner of dead machines, ancient 4d printers, pipes, ducts, vents, tanks, vats, cables, towers, domes, biodomes, toxic lakes, radiation pockets, ruins, rust deserts and more. What townships or city’s that exist in the Megastrata are hundreds of kilometres apart. The city zones are the only true safe spaces from the dangers of Matrioshka. Although the city zones have the other dangers usually associated with civilisation. Beneath the floor of the Megastrata there are many hundreds of levels filled with tunnels, pipes, ducts and travel tubes. Legends speak of old domes and storage bunkers deep below the ground of Megastrata 170622B. 

The Megastrata ceiling is some 10Km above the floor. Massive inverted towers hang like stalactites from the ceiling filled with artefacts of the ancients (the post humans) and possibly supplies. These towers are incredibly difficult to get at. Old disused mono rails hang from the ceiling. There are hundreds of levels above the ceiling reaching the upper edge of the Megastrata. No one knows what exactly is hidden in the levels above Megastrata 170622B. All of the outer bulkheads of the Megastrata are hyperdense and impenetrable although that doesn’t stop attempts to break into the neighbouring Megastrata.  

In addition to the many environmental hazards in the dark zones of Megastrata 170622B there are wild tribes of Morlocks, prowling Immunocytes looking to attack for anything sentient , sentry nodes, out of control ancient industrial machines, wild electrical discharges, unmapped Immunocyte nodes, nano-swarm leaks, strange plants, toxic fungi, strange creatures and technobeasts. 

There will be future posts with more detail of Megastrata 170622B. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Stay safe out there.

Wasteland Wondering November 22

Hello and welcome back to another Wasteland Wondering. Pull up a crate to the fire and sit yourself down.

It’s now that time of year when my hobby time gets put on the back burner as we get ready for the Christmas season. It’s a busy time in our house. I may get to slap some paint on a figure or two. Hopefully I might get a little kit bashing done. Who knows I might even find time to run a couple of games especially while the football World Cup is on. 

While the lack of hobby time is frustrating for me during the dark season, it does give me more time to let my imagination to run riot and work on background fluff. As well as my imaginings for Mattblackgod’s world there will be some for my Wild Galaxy setting and he fluff for my Zone Raiders setting on the post singularity world of Matrioshka. 

Zone Raiders is a game by Tony Xao. The setting is one I keep returning to as it is rich and suits my figure collection. The faction lists would help anyone with 40K, Necromunda, Deadzone, Firefight or Infinity figures in their collection. One thing is definite, I will need a lot more rusty industrial terrain for the dark zones of Matrioshka. 

So while my hobby posts will be limited there will be a few fluff posts. There may be the annual review post too. Hopefully there might be a post Christmas loot post as well, assuming I am on the fat man’s good list that is.

Stay warm and take care out there. 

Thanks for reading. 

The Asterians

Hello and welcome back.

A couple of months back I picked up the Insurgent Earth rules by Patrick Todoroff. A quick overview of the rule background is that the Earth is attacked by alien invaders and quickly over run. In the game you play a small resistance cell. It is a solo or cooperative game. 

While I have more than enough figures to cover a team of resistance fighters I found that I didn’t have enough for the aliens. For the grunts and solider levels of aliens I chose to use the Necron Skelebots that I have for Zone Raiders Immuncites. For my flavour of Alien Invaders I decided upon robots controlled by a evil alien intelligence who is too smart to actually get involved in the dirty work of combat. 

Meet the Asterians 

But I needed more figures. I needed some figures for the alien elite, lieutenants and boss. Looking about I settled on Mantic Asterian Cyphers as alien elites, Black Talon Prime as a alien Lieutenant and a alien Marionette as the final boss. This also gives me the option of adding to the Cyphers ranks if I feel like it. 

The Cyphers

The figures are painted with Army Painter speed paints. I am not too sold on the scheme I chose for the Cyphers.

The Marionette (L) as the final Boss and the Black Talon Prime (R) as a Lieutenant. 

As I like to get the most from my collection the Asterians will also serve as a Nth Generation gang (think sentient robots with a common construction template) for Zone Raiders. 

Thanks for the looking, take care out there. 

The old storage tanks.

Hello and welcome back,

One feature of any old ruins, industrial sites, post apocalyptic bases, the Neo Soviet industrial wastelands of the “zone”, underhive or busy space ports is huge tanks. They could be storing water, fuel, gas, oil, chemicals, waste, neurotoxins or pan galactic gargleblaster. What ever is or was in them they make great line of sight blockers or table detail. For the more despicable gamer they might leak from stray shots or even explode causing much tabletop chaos.

These tanks will be handy table decor. They are HST boiler tank parts by Ramshackle Games. I was going to scratch build some tanks but these are probably cheaper and quicker. 

Thanks for reading, stay safe out there. 

Happy Halloween time!

Hello and welcome back,

It is almost Halloween and the Spooky season is upon us. What better way to celebrate the season than some seasonally themed miniatures? 

Those fans of Halloween films reading may recognise the Anderson Sisters. A trio of witches from the film Hocus Pocus. I like these figures because they can be used in a variety of settings either as witches or as civilians. They will fit happily into fantasy, The Silver Bayonet games, historical or as people found around the independent frontiers worlds of Firefly’s verse & my own Wild Galaxy setting. 

The Anderson sisters are by Northumbrian Tin Solider. 

Yet more witches….Introducing Toil and Trouble. These two witches are more comedic looking.  

I feel sorry for the toad in the pot. These Toil and Trouble and the cauldron are from the Northumbrian Tin Solider’s Nitefolk line. 

And there’s more….

Say hello to Ardwick the fluffy toed bat. 

Yet another figure from the Northumbrian Tin Solider’s Nitefolk line. I thought he looked a little different and he was a fun figure to paint. 

That is my Halloween figures for this year. It was nice to change pace and paint something a little different. I think it’s important for the old hobby mojo to change things up once in a while. All these figures will be used as decorations this year and who knows they may take part in some Halloween themed games at some point (I hope!). 

Thanks for looking. Stay safe out there and Happy Halloween. 

Bad Moon Loonshrine

Hello and welcome back,

Travelling through the mountains and you get caught in a wild storm. Seeking shelter you wander into a cave. Curiosity grabs you and you follow the cave. Deeper and deeper. The walls become cold and slimey. You step into what feels like a open chamber. Something crunches under foot. 

Baffled you reach into your pack and produce your only torch. After a few attempts with a tinderbox you light the torch the flickering light illuminates the cave. You stand in a vast chamber. Bones are strewn across the ground. Human bones. At the edge of the circle of light cast by your torch you see this….

The Badmoon loon shrine is a kit by Games Workshop. While not my usual vibe I liked it enough for my wife to remember it and buy if for me as a gift last Christmas. 

The kit has a lot of detail. Loads of mushrooms at add too. The prisoner cages are particularly fiddley to assemble and can be quite delicate. 

The amount of detail has meant it has taken ages to paint. It might have been easier if I pre-painted the parts before assembly. The green slime at the base of the rock is done by Dirty Down moss effects. I have used a Posca paint marker to paint the spots on the toad stools. 

A fun project for my fantasy table which I have enjoyed.

Thanks for looking. Take care out there.

Happy Orktober time

Hello and welcome back,

As it’s Orktober….it’s time to show off what I have been working on this month. Working on the hobby helps distract me from recent family events. Before I press on I have to say thank you to everyone for their kind comments on my last blog post about the  recent passing of my Dad. They mean a lot, sadly for some reason I cannot reply to your comments on Blogger. It keeps saying I am logged out when I attempt it. Thank you all again.

Right on with the Orktober posts. First up is this old metal 40K RT02 Ork. 

He is painted in a Deathskull’s colour scheme which is my favourite Ork Clan. I like that they loot the battlefield and beyond (waits for all the old scouser jokes). This gives the clan a great opportunity of converted “looted” vehicles and equipment which greatly appeals to me. He will be joining my RT02 Ork Deathskulls mob. 

As we all know Orks get bigger, tougher and meaner the more they fight and win. It’s why the Ork Boss is usually the largest and hardest (‘arrdest, sorry) Ork in the warband. I don’t know how many fights this Ork has won…..but I think we are going to need a bigger gun! A much bigger gun! 

This figure is a Grimbatul Giant-Eater a Kickstarter only resin figure by Ramshackle Games. Old Grimbatul is intended for Fantasy games rather than the wastelands of Mattblackgod’s world or the infinite expanses of the Wild Galaxy. But as I of yet have no Fantasy Orcs (I do but they are from the 80’s and in much need of some TLC) he will be a Ork Warboss. A real Mega Boss and I guess he would be a real bullet magnet on the tabletop. 

I chose a paint scheme that would suit the style of the figure which is along the lines of the Snakebite Clan. Plus plenty of rusty metal. It’s not a proper Ork without rusty metal. The Snakebites have a feral old world look to them allowing fantasy figures to be used on the tabletop. 

Grimbatul has a dark elf witch on his shoulder pad which his believes gives him protection in battle. In my settings it will be a psychic Fay Genetically Engineered Life Form (GELF). I like to think of the Fay Wytch as biding her time until Grimbatul is weakened to free herself and exact her revenge. 

That’s my Orktober post done. Onto other seasonal postings. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for looking. Take care out there. 

In Memorandum RIP Ted Stevenson

I have some sad news. My Dad passed away on Sunday. Normally I wouldn’t post this to my hobby blog but there is a good reason. 

My Dad loved his scale models and he got me into it when I was 4. I still recall the kit, a 1/72 Airfix Curtis Hawk. It started a love of model making. In the mid 80s he bought a wargames magazine as he was planning a battle of Arnhem diorama and there was a article in the magazine. I saw the magazines and realised there was something more I could do with my models other than just display them. It made me think and wonder. 

Being a huge Lord of the Rings fan he turned up one day with the original metal Citadel Fellowship of the ring set (which I still have) and told me of a new shop selling them in Liverpool city centre. A shiny new Games Workshop store. I had to check it out and with my paper round money bought my first blister pack of metal dwarves and fell in love with a new aspect of my hobby. A hobby he inspired in me. The rest is history.

Without my Dad’s inspiration there is a good chance this Blog and the Post Apocalyptic Wargames Forum would not exist. 

RIP Ted Stevenson 29-11-1945 to 09-10-2022 - thank you for everything Dad. You will never be forgotten.

Thanks for reading. Take care out there.