Saturday, 9 February 2019

Ruston’s crew and more

Hello and welcome back to my blog Wanderer.

Time for some figure updates.

Introducing Stitch.



Stitch is the medic for the Warriors gang from the township of Piean. The figure is a old GW Necromunda Orlock, which is in keeping with the theme of the gang. Stitch has had a gas mask container added as a medical pack. 

Moving West from Piean. 10 miles North West across the sands from Rubbleborg lies a strange tower. They say it was once standing in the sea. That has to be a lie, how did the old ones build it under the sea? Not only that but the sea is miles and miles beyond the tower. 

Mayor Bustard knows what the tower is or was. It was some sort of natural gas platform. So he convinced a team to go out and try to get the platform operational again. It would be good source of energy for Rubbleborg. 

Ruston and his crew have shipped out and are sorting the platform out. 


The figures are Dwarves by Ramshackle Games. 


Ruston is the crew’s leader. Not much is known about this strange exo armoured Warrior, except he has a short temper and is a great engineer. The figure is a Dwarf Techno Jarl by Ramshackle Games.


Mech Turnkey is the crew’s mech and fix it man. The lone survivor from when his settlement was massacred by raiders he wandered alone and eventually joined the crew. The figure is from Minimus Squat and his crew by Ramshackle Games. 


Wreckersen is the team’s muscle. If there is something that needs killing Wreckersen is the Dwarf to do it. The figure is from Minimus Squat and his crew by Ramshackle Games. 


Trader Rod Mc Feets is one of Rubbleborg’s many traders. You have to be careful as he will rip you off. The figure is from Minimus Squat by Ramshackle Games. 

The 2019 hobby totals so far: 

Figures painted: 8
Terrain finished: 1
Terrain reworked: 0
Vehicles finished: 1

Running slow on the painting front thanks to my furry friends. There is more Rubbleborg and Trashford figures to come.

Thanks for reading, take care out there.

Wasteland Wondering







Hello and welcome back to my blog. 


So what’s happening wasteland dudes? 


Hobby time has been limited for me over the last few weeks, I have a handful of Ramshackle figures to show you when I get my act together and get the pictures sorted.


My time recently has been eaten by prolonged commutes due to wintery road conditions. The extra time on the roads has left me too tired to pick up the brushes. Then there my cat Dixie who seems to wake up every time I pick up a brush and comes to “help”. This usually leads to my abandoning painting. 


I have gotten some reading in. The Forager by Peter R Stone is a PA novel set in Australia and has a good mix of action, tension and ideas for the table. One of the many issues some of us have with our PA settings is how to introduce a foreign faction. The author manages to work around this by having a Japanese fishing fleet unable to return home after the nukes, setting up a settlement in Australia. It is an idea I will keep in mind for future setting fluff.


Recently I have discovered Metro 2034 and 2035 novels are on kindle and translated into English so they are now on the reading list. I am a huge fan of Metro 2033 so I hope they will inspire my madness.


I have been working on some background ideas which I hope to add to Mattblackgod’s world. One is a way to allow the high tech Brittannian’s more wasteland contact and to stir up tensions with the factions around Rubbleborg and beyond. I am still working on the fluff but it will also allow for salvage runs into a Metro 2033 like ruined mega city which is filled with mutated beasts and other terrors. 


The issue with the High tech city is they have firepower and equipment which leaves the local area somewhat unbalanced. Thankfully the Brittannian numbers are limited. But to mix stuff up I am working up a Brotherhood of Steel like faction who will have the kit to go head to head with the high tech dystopians. 


I have painted figures in my collection to cover most of these changes so hopefully that will keep the paint queue from getting too clogged up. I want to add more beasts to the collection especially like those found in the Metro 2033 novel and games. Giant slugs, amoebas and bio mass like things. Plus what ever catches my eye in the figure ranges across the world. 


Painting wise I am still working on Rubbleborg, Trashford and bounty hunter additions - when the cat allows. Plus work has started on reworking the first ruin that I ever built - hotel Paradiso. The white dry brushes are on and next up will be the washes. I will be going for that ageing ruin look. 


Hopefully there will be pictures soon.


That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and take care out there.

Sunday, 20 January 2019

Warboy transport.

Hello and Welcome back.


Sometime last year I began working on a transport for my 20mm warboys for use in my Blood and Fire setting and to be used in  games of Warlands or Gaslands. 




This is a 1/72 Warlord M3 half track kit. The chassis was taken and a Hotwheels car body & engine added. The body was hacked and stretched to fit the M3 chassis. Thankfully it was a plastic body and easy to work on. Various bits from the M3 kit and the junk box was added. 





During painting the primer became textured as the solvent in the can seemed to be running low. It has added a gritty effect to the paint job. 


That’s all for now. Thanks for looking and take care out there.


Trashford reinforcements

Hello and Welcome Back to my blog,


The first figures of the year have been finished. Some additions to the Trashford gang. These guys are back up for Blubba who runs Trashford. 



The Trashford guys bearing the fancy energy weapons Blubba found inside a bunker in the Blasted Ruins. The gang and residents of Trashford are largely mutated. The remains of the Blasted Ruins where Trashford is located was the centre of the Mutant Uprisings 50 years ago. It is unusual for people in the area not to have mutations or half lives. 



Skull’s appearance is often used by Blubba to intimidate Norms (non mutants). 



Brute is the Gang’s muscle, he is also a hothead and most likely to charge off into a fight before Blubba has had a chance to assess the situation.



Lo down is a foul mouthed trouble maker who loves to pick fights with anyone taller than him, which is everyone.


All these figures are from the Warlord 2000AD Strontium Dogs line. There are more figures planned for the Trashford gang. Stay tuned. 


Thanks for looking and stay safe out there.

Amera Double Blast Craters

Hello and welcome back Wasteland Wanderer.


Back before Christmas I won a Amera blast crater in a competition ran by Amera Plastic Mouldings. I finally got them finished.





Z256 Double Blast Craters. 


These where super quick to paint up and I enjoyed working on them. 


I have a few pieces by Amera and think that their models are super value. Go check them out.


That’s all for now, thanks for looking and take care out there.




Tuesday, 1 January 2019

Happy New Year 2019


Happy New Year!!! 

2019 is upon us like a lumbering Deathclaws or an out of control War Rig.



So what do I have planned hobby wise for this year? 

Firstly I plan on trying to do a little hobbying ever day however small. I hope to keep a record of it and hopefully keep you updated. This also includes reading rule books, writing rules, map creation as well as the usual hobby stuff.  The hard thing is finding time to update the blog. 

The gangs of Rubbleborg will be expanded. New characters, gangs and possibly figures reassigned from older gangs. Brittianna will get some additional troops who are mostly oldhammer era 40K Imperial Guard. This matches their infantry look already as I am using old IG for the various companies. The Warriors gang will be getting some medics mostly old Necromunda Orlocks. The Fatal Floozies proved to be wanting at Helsreach due to no heavy weapon support. So a heavy weapons lass will be recruited to their ranks. 

In addition to this I have the 2000AD Strontium Dogs figures by Warlord games to finish. They will mix up the Bounty Hunters and Blasted Ruins folk. I also have a Dungeron by Ramshackle games to paint. They are seriously huge critters. I suspect my wastelanders will need some artillery to take that beast out. 

I need to get my 20mm stuff done too. I got a lot of nice 20mm post apoc bits last year not to mention the 50 Hotwheels cars my wife got me for my Birthday. As far as car mods go I think I won’t bother stripping the paint off Hotwheels cars any more. It takes too long. I will still be hacking the cars about though. It’s part of the fun.

The 28mm terrain refresh will continue too. Mainly dry brushes, washes, plants and more. I have one or two new terrain pieces planned and a few vehicle conversions too. 

2018 had too many kickstarters and fantastic figure releases, far too many to support. I am afraid I have to knuckle down and get stuff painted before adding any more to my piles. That said I also need to thin down the piles of painted and unpainted toys. Hopefully I may have some stuff up for sale later this year.

The Radlands rules will continue to be worked on and I hope to get them out for beta testing sometime this year. I may be asking for volunteers. 

Inspiration wise I hear that Days Gone, Rage 2, Metro Exodus and Wasteland 3 computer games will be hitting the shelves. So no doubt I may get some extra inspiration from them. 

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a hobby filled new year. May 2019 be fruitful and prosperous for you all. I hope you have a safe and happy 2019. 



Take care out there and stay safe. Happy New Year.

Monday, 31 December 2018

2018 review....



Hello and welcome back to my blog. 

Well another year comes to a end and it is traditional to look back at my hobby year. This year I want to keep it brief. It has been a interesting year and I have learnt a few new hobby related things. I met a few people and hopefully made a new friend or two. It has also been challenging in some ways as I had the never ending viral infection in the first half of the year, my wife’s health hasn’t been great, technology problems and I have had a host of vehicle health issues including crashing my motorbike on a diesel spill (don’t overfill your cars, vans and trucks folks).

Although I didn’t get as many figures painted in 2018 as I hoped looking back it is actually more than I thought it was. It was a good mix of figures from Necromunda 2017, Copplestone, Warlord’s 2000AD Strontium Dogs and Ramshackle games lines with the odd figure from here and there thrown in for good measure.

The big thing for me this year was the BYOL 2018 oldhammer show. Curtis of Ramshackle games invited me to join him in setting up the Helsreach table on which the original Necromunda rules were going to be played. The idea was that I was going to supply the town buildings. I trundled on down there with my wife in tow, two cases of figures and three plastic crates of models. 

If you are looking at the pictures my terrain was anything covered in graffiti or posters where as Curtis’ models tended to be larger and had heavy weathering. I also supplied a great number of the citizens to be shot at or aggressively romanced by the space bastards marines. For good measure I took along three gangs. The Warriors (Orlock), Fatal Floozies (Eshers) and my old Gothrats - OOP Shockforce mutant rat man. 







Take a peek at the tables and Helsreach action here:


I had a fun couple of days gaming Helsreach. Thank you Curtis for inviting me, GMing and the fresh inspiration. 

The Helsreach gaming inspired me to arrange a Post Apocalyptic Wargames meet up for next year. So far the plans have fallen flat trying to find a suitable location to host it. Things may have to go on hold on that front as my wife may be starting dialysis by then. As you can imagine it will be a busy life changing year for us both. 

The post apocalyptic Wargames forum reached 10 years in the wastelands of the internet. I commissioned a figure to celebrate. Eventually I took delivery of the 10 figure from the casters after a few teething troubles. 





BTW - I have plenty of these figures still for grabs. You only have to pay P&P. Email me on mattblackgod@gmail.com if you are interested.

My own homebrew rules Radlands got a quick play test this year. They seem to play okay. My debate is to release the main rules for play test or to finish them before I let the wastelanders get their mitts on them. Batrep here:


That pretty much sums up my 2018 hobby wise. I hope to be more productive next year. I have some ideas and plans which I hope to explore in next years blog posts. 


So my lovely wasteland wanderers, thank you for reading and putting up with the sporadic blog posts this year. Have a happy New Year’s Eve. Stay safe out there and have fun. See you next year.

Monday, 24 December 2018

Merry Apocmass.



Seasons Greetings, merry apocmass or what ever you choose to call the season. Have a great time. 


Don’t drink too much of the hooch the warboys have been brewing all year. 



Have a wonderful time and stay safe out there.

Sunday, 23 December 2018

Blubber

Hello and welcome back to my blog. 

It must be Christmas, two blog posts at one. 

The Blubber gang rule Trashford. It is a square mile of territory in the Blasted Ruins. The main centre is a ancient shopping mall which is the town. Nearby is a old stadium in which Blubber runs gladiatorial shows usually using captives vs his best warriors or savage beasts.


Blubber is a Max Bubba from 2000AD Strontium Dogs line by Warlord Games. 


The Blubber gang trades and raids across the wasteland. They have also given Brittannia a head ache by taking on their troops as they try to control the Blasted ruins. Blubber and his boys may just hang on to their grip on Trashford as long as Brittannia don’t roll out the big guns. The gang’s grip is helped by a pristine weapons cache looted from a lost military bunker in the blasted ruins.

So that takes my figure total up to 28 painted. Some 72 short. I tried to get more done but real life kept getting in the way. That’s going to be my lot for this year. I always pack the brushes away over the silly season. 

I will try to post before the big day, but just in case. Have a very merry Christmas, Yule or whatever you call it. 



That’s all folks, be careful out there and Seasons Greetings. 

Post apocalyptic vehicles.

Hello and welcome back to my blog. 

And now for the Xmas eve eve blog post...

Now for some 28mm vehicles. The wastelands are home to all manner of vehicles. Many are cobbled junk heaps together barely recognisable from the vehicle it started out as. Here or there the old vehicle makes it out of the production units of Utopia or Britannia cities. Some vehicles where built near the end but stayed locked away unused in a bunker only see the light of day decades later. Others where built from bits of many other vehicles and wrecks. These are products of the builders twisted imagination and ability to adapt anything to their purpose. Often they mix utility with the bizarre.

This is Mayor Bustrd’s favourite ride. To blow off steam he races it around the wastelands around Rubbleborg. It is his pride and joy. I may have this as a game objective. Steal the car. The car is a Gigapig resin model from Antenocitis workshop. It is a super detailed model.



There are a number of vehicles in Rubbleborg, many of which are built in it’s workshops from the many items the scavengers and salvage teams. 

Many vehicles are armoured up trucks which the locals use to haul loot from various locations in the wastelands. The trucks are handy for moving trade items from place to place. This is a Badger by Ramshackle Games. I have been wanting one since Ramshackle first started casting models. Now it’s mine....all mine...ha ha hhhaaaa. 




The  Badger has a skull hood Ornament that I sculpted from putty. 


There are a few smaller vehicles used as escorts or for scouting. This is a Ram Stoat by Ramshackle Games. 





Everyone has heard of the legend of Max, the Road Warrior (also known as the man with no name, the raggity man and blood bag amoung other names) and his mighty ride, the Interceptor. This car is a 1/43 scale model by Autoart. I dirtied it up with some dry brushing. I did try to copy the movie car but the dirt on it was too heavy to look realistic on a car of this size.




Bandits use various vehicles and this car is a typical bandit ride. 




The car is the chase car from the opening scene of Mad Max 2 the Roadwarrior. This car is a 1/43 scale model by Autoart. I dirtied it up with some dry brushing. I got them both as a set. Luckily I managed to get them for the prices they where before Fury Road came out. Auto Art also made some dirty cars but they are even more expensive and look like they have been in a mud wumping competition rather than racing across the wastelands. The dirt is painted on too heavily for my tastes.

I will be including the vehicles in my paint totals...

Figures painted: 27....73 short.




Thanks for looking, take care out there.