Monday 31 October 2016

Peelers from RAFM

Got these Peelers from RAFM’s Airship Pirates kickstarter and they are just perfect for Anders Einstein’s Pulp Alley league.
Both were made by Anders and Greta and incorporates a human brain and parts of the nerve system from some of their not totally successful experiments.
They are named Plåt-Petter and Plåt-Niklas (which is (hopefully) somewhat fun if you know Swedish, have a half-dirty mind and enjoyed Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll if you were young when I was young).
They will see action later today when our new campaign kicks off. I will hopefully have time to fix the last tidying up of a few more figures needed for the league.
A warning about the four-armed Peeler, as his upper right arm is quite fragile. 

Friday 28 October 2016

Pulp Alley: Anders Einstein and Greta de Laval

I’m trying to finish my new Pulp Alley league to be ready when the club’s new campaign kicks off this Monday. One member, a bio-mechanical marksman, is already finished.
Just a couple of days ago I got a box of minis from RAFM and their not super-well-handled Airship Pirates kickstarter.
Anyway, the box was full of just the minis I had been waiting for.
Here we have Anders Einstein, illegitimate son of Albert, and something of a bio-mechanical genius long before that term was even thought of. Our definition of sane might not encompass him, but what he lacks in sanity he sure compensates in brain capacity.
He has made some improvements on himself, and therefore needs to wear a tight-fitting helmet over his exposed brain…
By his side we see Greta de Laval, a forgotten daughter of the inventor Gustav de Laval. Greta got a fascination for steam engines from her father, and during an experiment with a high-pressure miniaturised steam engine of her own design there was an accident and Greta was maimed by shrapnel and steam.
She was saved by her lover, Anders, who did experiments of his own in the room beside hers. He saved what he could of her body and grafted what was left of Greta to his experimental bio-mechanical limbs.
After two years a new and very improved Greta moved out of the labs. She could possibly pass of as an ordinary human if she was dressed from head to toe but one look at her eyes gave her away. They were silvery.
Let’s just say that her improved looks did not go down well with her relatives, who promptly removed all references of her from family history.
She is a perfect partner for Anders. Genius, not totally stable and on the look-out for anything that might improve their abilities, be it from this world or another dimension.
They have continued their experiments and the successful candidates have joined their band of explorers. 

Friday 21 October 2016

Unboxing Conan

The friendly guy from the Post Office just rang on my door. He has become rather used to these large but relatively light boxes by now.
The anticipation... is it?
Yes!
Conan has arrived!
The basic game box
Full of beautiful minis
Oh dear, this will take me ages to paint...
Comparison between my usual female fighter from Otherworld vs Conan and Belit
The kickstarter extras. A box just as full of stuff.
In total this is about the amount if minis I manage to paint during a year. Hmm, what was I thinking about...? Oh yeah, Conan, that's why.
 This looks just great.

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Cowled Cultists from Pulp Figures

These excellent cultist from Pulp Figures and sculpted by Bob Murch will serve well in Pulp Alley and especially well in the Tomb of the Serpent campaign that I will probably play solo. 
Some of them an probably serve in other settings too, as at least the females are non-period-specific. Always a plus.

Back to painting the new league.
Welcome follower Neelam Sethiya. No blog that I could find, but if you do have one, then please comment below with a link.

Friday 14 October 2016

Open Combat - thoughts after a couple of games

A quiet hog-farming village, soon to be not so quiet... My heroes to the right, Thomas' scoundrels to the left.
I have finally started playing with the 2nd edition Open Combat rules, and a lot of fun it is.
I had the first two games quite a few weeks ago, when I met Thomas, Koen and Laffe for a refresher of the mechanics and an introduction by Laffe (a veteran of at least a handful games...) of what’s new in the 2nd edition.
Ganging up on someone is a good idea.
Then we had a go at each other, and Thomas and I sat down for what became two games.
Retreat! Thomas' warband breaks as they have been on the receiving end of a world of hurt.
I had prepared a 150 point warband by taking one of the sample warbands from the rules and tweaking it a bit. I essentially removed one figure and buffed the other ones while I removed some abilities that I thought I would probably forget anyway.
Koen and Laffe fought it out in a greveyard. A good idea as a lot of after action activities are close at hand...
We switched sides in the second game, and my troops attacked from the left. The result was the same, as Thomas' troops were mangled.
The set-up in our living room. Lots of really old terrain I found in a box.
I had another game at home with my 12 year old daughter. I used my warband from the match with Thomas and Johanna used a warband she had used with the 1st edition rules.
Johanna's mostly female warband
My mostly bad-ass warband
It is surprisingly easy learning the basics and after a couple of games you’ll probably have found out how to balance your force. There is also quite a lot of tactical considerations to think of, as positioning is important. To surround an enemy (who don’t wield a two-handed weapon) or force him or her into an obstacle is game-winning and takes a while to figure out.
Long range sniping can be effective. The centaur in the background is protected by the tree and harder to hit and damage.
All in all I think this is a solid set of rules and that it will see a lot of action both at the club and in my home.
Quite a lot of maneuvering to get in good positions
Definitely worth it to try if you want quick fantasy skirmish games. As you stat the figures yourself there is at last a chance to use all those minis that have just languished stored away in a box somewhere.

Spears are good as they have a 1" reach and can attack through your own soldier.
Recommended!
The power of surrounding your opponent. You get a bonus to hit and all results of withdrawal is treated as a wound. The female fighter was quickly felled.
(Hey, and I won three games out of three. Can’t be an altogether bad game!)

The gnome fightress is up against a hedge and can't back off, my blue cloaked fighter is surrounded and can't retreat either, the female knight is also surrounded and can't retreat. This was really bloody and ended the game in my favour.
A big welcome to follower Neil Scott with a blog of his own, Scotty’s Wargaming, a nice collection on a wide-ranging number of topics. He’s building a small army of GNW Swedes, so he is by definition a nice guy with good taste (if he wins with them, of course…). Hop over to his blog to have a look.

A new league for Pulp Alley – WIP

I’m building a new league for Pulp Alley. It’s a gang led by more or less mad bio-mechanical genius Anders Einstein, illegitimate son of Albert.
The first figure is an “improved” member of the team…

The mini comes from Johnny Borg Castings , sculpted by Johnny Lauck, and will probably be some sort of marksman. More to come soon, as this has become a very much prioritized project.

Wednesday 12 October 2016

Torture chamber accessories from Zealot

Every evil villain needs a torture chamber and every hero needs to save someone from said chamber. That is pulp basics, and probably valid in fantasy settings, too.

A good thing then, that I have an assortment of implements for such a chamber. They are all made by Zealot Miniatures, and are part of the kickstarter stuff I got a couple of months ago. 
There will be a thing or two more for the chamber from Zealot soon and also some stuff from Reaper, but those are from the Bones III kickstarter and will take a while to arrive.


A warm welcome to new follower Ivor Evans with Saturday Mornings where you will find fantastic terrain, great AARs and more. Recommended!

Pål from the club has also joined and he’s got a brand new blog, Wargame Development from the Trenches, which is about his just started project to build a WWII skirmish computer-game. Just one post so far (he got started with the blog yesterday!) and it sure looks interesting. I for one will follow Pål’s progress and I became his first follower! Yay! Do check it out and have a chance to influence the design of the game!

Monday 10 October 2016

Zombicide: Black Plague – Lady Grimm

Another hero for Zombicide: Black Death, this time Lady Grimm from the Special Guest Marc Simonetti box och adventurers
I strayed a bit from the original art on this one, but she is still recognisable. 
I also got another five fatties finished. Now there are only five more runners left and the base box is all painted.
A warm welcome to new follower Miloš Sácha. I couldn’t find any blog of yours. Comment below with a link if you do have one, please.