NOT DEAD YET!!!!

What's occurrin' ?

Happy New Year everyone! Yes a little late but I found that after the festivities I needed a bit of a lie down to recover. Must be getting old! The blog is also two years old now. Wow, never expected that. I've only just dug my paints and minis out, so no new stuff to show this time, don't worry normal service will resume shortly.

More cultural goodness again. Another beautiful piece from savage zombie aka Chris Bolton. I love this one, black and white, and really creepy! This one is called Zombies_Sketchy. Enjoy!

ZOMBIES_SKETCHY.

It's been awhile since my last post, my apologies, haven't really done any hobby related stuff since my last post. Real life has a funny way of sneaking up on you and kicking all your plans in the ass. A serious lack of motivation has also played it's own part. This seems to be a problem that I periodically continue to suffer with, the meds do help but not all the time.

Anyhow, I hope everybody had a great festive season and I'd like to wish you all a very belated Happy New Year. I'd also like to thank all my followers, commentors and lurkers. The blog has dragged itself to the two year point and I'm more than convinced that if it wasn't for you guys (and gals), it would not have lasted anywhere near this length of time. So thank you, one and all!

I haven't made any resolutions regarding the hobby, or anything else really. I'm not going to be reviewing last year either, I'm sure there was a lot I could have done more of, or stuff I could have done differently. Lessons were learned, so let's leave it at that.

Christmas this year suffered from the austerity thrust upon us by the wonderful people in government. Cheers Bastards! So gaming goodies were in very short supply, but I did get something other than socks.  My son very kindly gifted me more Zombicide goodness in the form of Paolo Parente's survivors box featuring Dylan the Handywoman and Maki the Scream Queen, plus their zombivor counterparts.

LOVELY CRIMBO GIFT FROM MY SON.

These two will join the painting queue and be dealt with in good time, like everything else.

TWO MORE SURVIVORS CRAWL FROM THE RUBBLE!

Let's hope 2016 continues better than it has started. For me at least. I haven't even visited my usual round of blogs, something I hope to rectify soon.

Well that's all I've got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and be like the DUDE and "take it easy".

DE(AD)CEMBER WEEK # 3

What's occurrin'.

The wonderful Mrs. K has made me pack away all my modelling stuff until after the Winter Solstice festivities have finished, so unfortunately I have no painted zombies to show you. Luckily I do have a couple of photo's of some gaming the WNI has been upto. I'm sure your all glad of the rest from the zombies anyway.

More culture to show, another magnificent zombie santa by savage zombie. I really like this dude's style, they are incredibly detailed. The lighting effect, I find superb.Beautiful work! This delightfully festive piece is called Merry Xmas 2011. Enjoy!

MERRY XMAS 2011.

These shots were taken a couple of weeks ago at our usual WNI (Wednesday Night Irregulars) gathering. It's about the fourth time we've played Dead of Winter and we still haven't won a game yet. I think it's because so far we've tried to play it like Zombicide, where killing zombies is the order of the day. Hence the name.

Dead of Winter is much more about resource gathering and management, rather than fighting. One of the main reasons is that it's so easy to die. Every time you travel to a location or fight a zed, you have to roll the exposure dice. With varying results like dead, frostbitten or just bitten, I'm sure there's blank spaces on it too, I just didn't roll any.

A COUPLE OF TURNS IN. MY ARMS AT THE TOP.

At the bottom of the above photo you can see a knife shaped counter, that's the first player token. The large square in the middle is the colony, where your band of survivors start and have to defend from the zombie menace. You'll also notice cards surrounding this with piles of black cards on them. The black cards are the results of your searching, mainly resources but there's also a few surprises including more survivors to join your merry band. They are stacked in the different locations that you have to travel to.

Not only are you battling zombies but you are also combating the cold and potential starvation. Every survivor has to be fed as do a few hapless survivors, who are not characters like the survivors you can play as. This is one of the main objectives, just finding enough food to last from turn to turn. On top of this every turn has it's own crisis, a new crisis card is turned over every turn, solved by gathering certain resources like food, medicine or fuel amongst other things.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ZOMBIES. WE'D ALL GONE FOR A SMOKE BREAK.

The main objective was revealed at the beginning of the game by drawing a card from the scenario deck. This tells you how many turns the colony has to survive for and any other requirements to be met. Another way to lose is have morale hit zero. Your starting morale is also on the scenario card. Morale is affected, usually negatively by things like not completing your crisis needs, not having enough food and people dying.

The zombies also turn up with alarming regularity mind. Every turn zombies appear at the colony, equal to the number of people in the colony including hapless survivors. They also show up at the various locations where survivors are, again equal to the number of survivors, but there's also a chance the noise you made searching has attracted more. A four plus on a d6 results in a zombie appearing.

SHELDON PUTTING ZOMBIES ONTO A LOCATION.

There's also a waste management issue to resolve. Every resource you use to fulfill crises and food issues are put into the trash pile at the end of the turn. If there are ten waste cards in the trash pile at the end phase of the turn you lose one morale. Not good.

Another mechanic in play are the "crossroads" moments. Some of you may have noticed the yellow cards with the black arrows on the back of them. These are the crossroad cards. They represent chances that can change the course of the game, not always good. A crossroads card is given to the player who went first the previous turn or to the first player's right at the start, the first player token is passed to the left at the start of a new turn.

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE BOARD A FEW TURNS LATER.

The crossroad cards can only be played if certain conditions are met, like going to a particular location or by moving the character mentioned on the crossroads card. When they are played the shit can really hit the fan, a good example of one outcome is a mother seeing her zombiefied kids resulting in her burning down the school with her and her kids inside. Oh, happy days!

Everyone starts with two survivors. You roll a number of dice equal to your survivors plus one. These are your action dice and the results let you pay for searching and fighting plus a few other things. So you don't have unlimited actions to resolve everything. Also your survivors can die on one roll of the exposure dice, as happened to me, twice in the first two turns. Awesome!

AN OVERHEAD VIEW OF THE ACTION.

As you can see there are a lot of ways to lose Dead of Winter. We were doing really well on this particular evening, having survived three turns with only two more to endure for the win. When my clumsy ass knocked over an almost full cup of coffee. The resulting coffee tsunami flooded the playing area, taking us the rest of the evening to clean up and try and rescue Sheldon's Dead of Winter. Awkward! We haven't seen Sheldon since.

I'd just like to thank The Tollman for taking the pictures! And take this opportunity to wish all my viewers, followers and commentors a Happy Christmas. That's it for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and be more like the DUDE and "take it easy".

DE(AD)CEMBER WEEK # 2

What's occurrin' then.

Wow man, this year has flown by!  Eleven days until Crimbo, it feels like five minutes ago I was telling you all what pressies I got last year. Well the zombie painting has continued again this week. It was a lot harder resisting the call of the wasteland this week too, but now my son has finished for Xmas I doubt I'll get a look in until the new year.

Our cultural mission also continues with another excellent example of Savage Zombie's work. He's done quite a few zombie Santas, luckily for me. So the festive theme continues. This wonderful piece is called Xmas Card 2006. Enjoy!

XMAS CARD 2006.

So even though the call of the wasteland was strong this week, this post is late. I managed to get a few zombies painted. Five of the little blighters! Left to right are a season one walker, season two walker, season three VIP, seaon two Berserker walker and a seaon two Berserker fatty.

FIVE MORE SHAMBLERS FOR THE HORDE.

Introductions are in order, again from L to R. First  under the spotlight is Beinon, a rather infamous scrap dealer before reanimating as a shambling flesh eater. Next up is Huw, an unemployed actor. Bit of a career change then! Following him is another former law enforcement agent, Officer Dalton was on the frontline the day of THE EVENT. My undead police will soon outnumber my rather small sherriff's department. Moving along we have my first Berserker, Anir was a inmate at the state pen, I think the bright orange overalls kind of give that away. Lug came from the same prison.

YOU KNOW THE JOKE NOW. FROM THE BACK.

The first present I've given myself is, to re-read my '68 graphic novels. Should get me in the festive spirit, lovely! Come to think of it a rewatch of some zombie movies will be my second. Now we're talking!

I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes, so until next time try your best to follow the path of THE DUDE. And "take it easy".

DE(AD)CEMBER WEEK # 1

What's occurrin'!

The winter of the undead continues here at the bunker. Like an out of control unstoppable undead juggernaut my zombie painting crashes into it's third month straight. I'm going to call it De(ad)cember for a bit of a giggle, it's quite surprising what you'll do to keep motivated during the long dark nights.

A new artist to continue the cultural mission this time. I'd like to introduce you to the work of Chris Bolton. Know as Savage Zombie on Deviant Art. Chris hails from Australia. Our first antipodean I believe! Just goes to show what a truly global phenomenon zombie art is. This excellent piece is called Treat Yourself This Xmas. Enjoy!

TREAT YOUR SELF THIS XMAS.

The welcome wagon needs to be dragged out of the storage shed again. I'd like you all to put your hands together and give a big BZA welcome to my latest follower Ptr. WELCOME PTR! Ptr runs the Hugg Och Slag blog, go check it out, it's really good. He likes conversions and scratchbuilding, nice!

Righty oh then! On with the show. Not as much painting as I would have liked due to the lure of Fallout 4, it's a truly massive game with so much to do. I'm up to level 31 now, don't know how many there are altogether. Inspite of the pull of the post apocalypse, I have managed to paint five zombies. A season 2 walker, three season 3 VIP's and a season 1 walker.

On to the introductions, left to right as usual. Up first this time is former gangbanger Hedd. Next up is Seaman Apprentice Aneiren Cole, caught on shore leave no doubt. Another gangbanger next, Osian or Os to his crew mates. Following along is Rhion, a construction working family man. Finally we have Wmffre a phoneshop salesman.

FIVE MORE SHUFFLE IN TO JOIN THE HORDE.

The WNI are still meeting regularly, giving me something else to look forward too every week. It really helps keep the motivation to paint going, chatting about the latest hobby releases, almost normal compared to some of the other weird and bizarre conversations we have.

FROM THE REAR! (INSERT OWN JOKE HERE).

I don't know about you lot but I'm already suffering TWD withdrawl!

I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time you all try and follow in the DUDE'S footsteps and "take it easy".

ZEDVEMBER WEEK # 4

What's occurrin' then?

Zedvember shuffles to a close this week. So once again painting zombies has been the order of the day, here at the bunker! It has made a little dent in my plastic mountain, but only a little one. Still many more in need of paint. Does the winter of the dead need expanding? Maybe! There's a rumour of De(ad)cember, but I'm not sure yet as I really have to get some scenery finished. I haven't put the roof on my shed yet! Remember the shed from back in the summer? Maybe Shedcember would be a better idea?

It's with a touch of sadness that we say goodbye to stayinwonderland, as this is the final piece of his that I'm going to be sharing. Another fantastic piece of work, it's entitled The Fog People. Don't know if they are zombies but they certainly look like them to me, I don't think I'd be hanging around to find out! Enjoy!

All four of the walkers are Season 3 VIP's and the abomination is the normal one from Season 2. I say normal, I mean he's not a berserker, there's nothing normal about the abominations.

Introductions are in order so let's get on with them. From left to right as usual. Kicking us off this time is Derfel, not sure whether he's dressed as Neo or Rob Zombie. Next up is Glanmor, doing a very passable James Brown impression. Moving along, our Princess Leia cos-player is the lovely Alwena. Maelor is quite literally the human hotdog. Finally, the big fella is known as Tudur.

FANCY DRESS ZOMBIES?

So inspite of the call of Fallout 4, I managed to push the productivity back up to five figures. I'm still playing Fallout, reached level 25 too. I'll call that a win! Remember, small steps and all that.

TAKEN FROM BEHIND! OOH ERR MRS!

Let's finish with a group shot of everything painted this month. Eighteen more zombies for the horde. Not too shabby and the whole point of this personal whimsy that is Zedvember.

THE WHOLE GANG'S HERE.

Well I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time be a little more like the DUDE and "take it easy".

ZEDVEMBER WEEK # 3

What's Occurrin'.

Still ploughing on with the zeds. Although I have been drawn away from the painting table by the lure of a new computer game. More on that later! So production has taken a backward step. What can I say! Easily distracted, um definitely.

Keeping up with the mission, the cultural one? Another great work from stayinwonderland. His penultimate piece unfortunately. Entitled Zombie Amusement Park. I've have enjoyed his small selection of zombie images, he does a lot more than zombies if you care to check it out. All of the same exceptional high standard.

ZOMBIE AMUSEMENT PARK.

Production down, back to four zombies. Never mind, it's still four more off the plastic hill. Season 1 walker, Season 3 VIP, Season 3 VIP and a Season 2 walker.

FOUR MORE SHAMBLE IN TO JOIN THE HORDE.

From left to right. Firstly is Luc, another vest and shoes zombie, shot as well as having lost an arm. Secondly another officer of the law Deputy Hughes, obviously injured on duty. Next up is short order cook Tomos, looks as if he ended up on the menu! Groan!! Finally for this time another guy in a suit, without a tie. Maybe a software designer, called Bran.

AND AGAIN, TAKEN FROM BEHIND.

I said I'd been lured away from the paints by a new computer game. Lost quite a few hours to it this week too. My son bought Fallout 4. Oh my word, lost in a post apocalyptic reality, check! Get to shoot big guns, check! Familiar but with enough new twists and tasks to keep it epic, check! You get the idea, check! Feckin' Brilliant!!

Well I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time follow in the path of the DUDE and "take it easy".

ZEDVEMBER WEEK # 2

What's occurrin' then?

Painting zombies once again has been this weeks task here at the bunker. Hey, it's not called Bob's Zombie Apocalypse for nothing. As  Zedvember draws to it's mid point the zombie count increases steadily, which is exactly the point of this bit of tomfoolery. Well, for me it is! The things we do for a little motivation.

The cultural mission also continues! More art from the extremely talented chap stayinwonderland. This fine piece of work is entitled Infected - Zombie RPG artwork # 1. He's a great artist but his titles need a little work. Enjoy!

INFECTED # 1.

Managed to crank out five of the little motherlovers this week, a small step back to my initial levels of production. A very small step! Someone far wiser than me once said something about every journey starting with but a single step. I'll take this as a win, the very reason this whole Zedvember thing started.

Looking back over Zombtober's posts, it suddenly dawned on me! I had been so focused on getting zombies painted, I'd completely forgotten to name them! D'oh, what a twunt! I'll be rectifing that this post.

So without further ado, (little drumroll)  on with the show. All of these zombies came in the various seasons of Zombicide. The other thing they have in common is that they are all missing at least part of one arm. My first clumsy step into converting these excellent sculpts.

From left to right, as was usual before the break. First up this time is a Season 2 walker, a besuited gent by the name of  Gwydion. He was in local government middle management when things turn bad. Next is another Season 2 walker, you've just gotta respect his hair game. The Mohawked Merfyn! An estate kid and local gang member, probably out on the streets when the first attacks started. Moving along we have a Season3 VIP. Very Infected Person. A doctor, very obviously a front line casualty when the dead started reanimating. She's called Doctor Sioned Jones. Fourth in line we have yet another Season 2 walker. Rhydian was an inmate of the state until quite late into the outbreak. Finally for this time is a Season 1 walker. Iestyn must be a pikey! I've never seen anyone else wear a vest with shoes. Not having a permanent home was not a way to survive, it seems.

DON'T WORRY THEY'RE 'ARMLESS REALLY!

Some of the conversions were more successful than others. Pretty pleased overall, besides they'll get lost in the horde.

Well it seems that even with the incentive of Zedvember, I couldn 't bring this in on time. It's my first Zedvember, what can I say. Slacker! Anyway back to the NFL. Arizona v's Seattle!

AND TAKEN FROM BEHIND!?!

Short and sweet this time! Before I go, I want to extend some best wishes to fellow blogger and honourary Dude, Vampifan. He's had to go offline to visit hospital. Take her easy Bryan! We'll still be here when you get back.

I guess that's it, for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time, try and follow in the DUDE'S footsteps and "Take it easy".