I'VE BEEN BUSY!

What's occurrin'!

My posting this year has been a little slack to say the least. Hopefully that's going to change from now on. I'm feeling much better now and I'm finally starting to get my shit together at last. I haven't been idle these last couple of weeks either but more on that in a bit. Even played my first game of ATZ! Will wonders never cease?

Before we move on, let's not forget my cultural mission. You know by now I'm trying to bring a little culture to the world of zombies. This mainly involves trying to find different zombie artists and showing some of their work on my humble little blog. Hopefully enriching us all in the process. So this time I want to show you all another wonderful piece by Savagezombie (a.k.a. Chris Bolton). This one is called Fear the Dead. Enjoy!

FEAR THE DEAD!

OK, so after my last post, I decided to re-think the board. After reading your comments and re-reading the rule book I cut some 12 inch squares from stuff I'd been hoarding, namely draw bottoms and the back of bookcases from cheap MDF furniture. It isn't even wood, more like compressed card. Perfect for my use.

I then covered the squares using the two game mats I mentioned last post. This is when I hit my first snag. Even with patching I only had enough for seven boards. Arse! Not enough for the nine boards, making up the three foot square smallest playing area. What to do? Sheldon again came to my rescue. When he kindly donated the urban game mats, he'd also thrown in a railway grass mat that he really didn't like. So I covered three boards with it. Problem solved.

OVERVIEW OF THE NEW BOARD.

I also made up several road sections from card, this was then covered in true Blue Peter style. Yes, sticky backed plastic! I'd picked up some with a chalk board finish, very cheaply, from a local discount store. Just for this purpose. As you can see from the above picture, I still need to paint on some road markings. But it is heading in the right direction.

You've seen all the buildings before, so nothing new on that front. Finally able to lay out a "proper" playing area, I took the opportunity to play my first game. I don't think I made too many mistakes and everything ran pretty smoothly. A few more run throughs and I think I'll be ready to spring it on the WNI. Although playing solo was great fun too. I might need a little longer to be able to post batreps but I'm getting there.

OUR INTREPID BAND OF HEROES LEAVE THE STORE EMPTY HANDED.

The wooded areas, some old 40K scenery I made almost ten years ago, were dragged out of my storage cupboard. The lesson here being never throw anything out.

I then threw a few toy cars on for the photo's, I still haven't glued together my card vehicles yet. To be honest I haven't even dirtied up the toy ones, like I was going to do. Yet another job on the to do list.

A VIEW UP THE STREET.

So pretty pleased with the progress so far, even though there are lots of things to finish.

MY FIRST GANG!  REDNECKS HOLDING OUT IN THE OLD WAREHOUSE.

My first gang made an appearance in my first game. I went with rednecks as opposed to a more urban crew, the figures I had kind of lead me in that direction. I quite like the idea of the local good ole boys tooling up and teaming up to survive.

ZOMBIES LURCHING OUT OF THE WOODS.

You'll recognise the fences too, coffee stirrers and lolly (popsicle) sticks. They are actually finished, just about the only thing that is.

MORE ZOMBIES HEADING TOWARDS ALL THE GUNFIRE.

ZOMBIES AT THE FENCE LINE.

I've also been working on some scatter terrain. The cargo containers are free of course and came from the Combat Storm website. Are cargo containers even scatter terrain?

The "interesting" weathered look of them was the result of a happy accident. I used spray mount to stick the printouts to card. I don't think I shook the can long enough and as a result the solvent stained the printout. Saves me weathering them I suppose.

MORE CARGO CONTAINERS. SCATTER TERRAIN?

I broke out the sculpting putty for the first time in many years, and had a go at creating some rubbish bags. Amazingly, they look almost passable. Well they are rubbish! Should look even better when painted.

POORLY SCULPTED RUBBISH (TRASH) BAGS.

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

SCRATCHING AN ITCH!

What's ocurrin'.

This lack of motivation seems to be lasting longer than usual! Still no painting done. I thought I'd post a few pics to get peoples opinion on something. This blog is into it's second year and initially was to track the progress of my ATZ gaming journey. The progress has been severely sidetracked by my very slow painting of my Zombicide figures. All three seasons! I justify this by the fact that I will be using them for ATZ, to myself at least, until now.

OK, let's not forget the cultural mission. This time I have another masterpiece from Savagezombie aka Chris Bolton to show you. And it's a cracker! This one is called Singlet Zombie, classy or what? Enjoy!

SINGLET ZOMBIE.

Well, I still want to play ATZ and I'm itching to get a few practice games in. To try and scratch the itch a little, I  tried to set up a playing area. So I guess what I'm after is the answer to the question, is it enough?

I know that a lot of it is unfinished, that will be dealt with eventually. I just really want to walk through a few games to get the hang of the rules, before I spring it on the Wednesday Night Irregulars. Which won't be for sometime yet by the look of things.

So I'll let you check them out and hopefully you can leave your opinion.

VIEW FROM NORTH TO SOUTH.

I do have a couple more questions. How many PEF markers do I need?

ISOMETRIC FROM NORTH WEST CORNER.

How many zombie spawn markers do I need?

ISOMETRIC FROM SOUTH WEST CORNER.

Not too many vehicles at the moment, I've printed out 8 more. They're stuck to card and have been cut out, just need scoring and gluing.

A CLOSE UP OF SOME SHIPPING CONTAINERS.

This card modelling is not as easy as some people make it look! Cough, BRYAN, cough.

CLOSE UP OF WAREHOUSE ENTRANCE.

The ground tiles came courtesy of Sheldon, what a Dude! The darker one is from a DUST tactics set, whilst the lighter one came with his Deadzone stuff.

THE COPS MUST BE DRY CLEANING THEIR UNIFORMS. I GUESS BLOOD IS A STUBBORN STAIN.

So these last couple of weekends I have been really busy watching sport. Weekend before last there was a little thing called the Superbowl, some of you may have heard of it. That same weekend saw the Six Nations rugby championship kick off, well I am Welsh!

VIEW FROM THE WESTSIDE.

This weekend saw a continuation of the Six Nations, so that kind of put paid to that. Got to cheer the boys on, see.

VIEW FOM THE EASTSIDE.

Don't forget The Walking Dead is back from it's mid-season break tonight, woo hoo!

Well I guess that's all I've got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time y'all keep walking the right path, following the DUDE'S footsteps and "take her easy".

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".

ZOMBTOBER 2015 WEEK #1. LATE AS USUAL!

What's occurrin' then?

These last few months I've really been struggling for motivation. To try and remedy this I've spent the last week watching all five series of The Walking Dead in preparation for the upcoming sixth season. It seems to have worked, I've actually picked up a paintbrush and started to flick paint onto mini's again. Look, I know they're late, but I got a really good excuse. Honest!

Even with all the excitement of Zombtober, we must not forget our usual cultural enrichment.  I hope your all enjoying the experience as much as I am. Another amazing piece of Bryan Baugh's work again this time. This fine work is called Blasted Zombie. Enjoy!

The Rugby World Cup is simmering nicely, we beat Fiji on Thursday, leaving us three wins from three games. Can't fault the boys at the moment. I must offer my commiserations to any England fans reading. I'll leave it at that!

Right then, about this good excuse. Well, my dog ate it! No honest! I've got a picture and everything. I'm sure your all thinking this is just a bad joke, where's the punchline. Sorry, but it's the truth. I'll direct your attention to the picture below, see evidence.

In the above photograph you'll notice that it wasn't the only casualty of my delinquent puppies mad rampage. Firstly we have my first week's entry, studiously and very carefully painted on Saturday. It was not in this condition when I went to bed Saturday night to dream of a Zombtober entry on time for once. Look back, you'll see what I mean! Even more disturbing is the pile of pieces next to it. This was formerly Mitch, a Zombicide survivor, came in a box of four figures, him, Uncle Honk and their zombivor's. My son bought me that!
Ffs! That's not including the bases and fences.

I remained surprisingly calm, given the situation that I awoke to Sunday morning. I swore for the rest of the morning, but only loudly for about two minutes, trust me, that's a result. She is only eight months old after all.

What was I to do? Luckily, I had been painting three figures, well I say painting, I'd basecoated three figures. You've already seen two of them.So instead of a nice relaxing Sunday just putting the final touches to the figure I'd painted the day before, posting it, then reading everybody's blog, who had entered this years event with a nice cup of coffee. It was spent madly painting the fellow below.

CLEETUS! I REALLY MUST START PAINTING EYES.

CLEETUS'S ASS!

He was painted yesterday but it was late and my official photographer was getting her beauty sleep. Nothing is worth rousing her mid-slumber, so I had to wait until  today.

I said he, how rude of me! His name is Cleetus, he's got that slack jawed mouth breather thing going on, he could be a survivor or a gang member. For now he's on his own, so he's a survivor!

Let's hope there's less drama next week.

Before I forget, it's time to drag the welcome wagon back out of storage to welcome my latest follower. So give a a big BZA welcome to da Grobbo Groto. WELCOME DA GROBBO GROTO. Strap yourself in this is becoming quite a long journey.

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

A LITTLE MORE CARD MODELLING.

What's occurrin' then?

I mentioned last post that the Rugby World Cup might have an impact on my hobby time. Well, it has but I wanted to at least get another post in this month. To this end I've managed to complete a little card modelling, mostly done at half times and between games.

Even though there's a major distraction, we can't let that derail the cultural mission. This time I present you with another masterpiece by Bryan Baugh. Not many more examples of his work left to show now. This fine example is called Drippy Zombie. Enjoy!

DRIPPY ZOMBIE!

Like I said just a little card modelling completed around some of the fantastic games this Rugby World Cup has provided. It's mostly boxes for set dressing and interior detailing. All the boxes came from Model Paper World, they are designed by the infamous TommyGun and are free to download. The car and dumpster can be found at the Combat Storm website, again these are free downloads.

LOTS OF BOXES!

I'm trying to use as many free downloads as I can find to cover my playing area, the two sites mentioned above have some great stuff available and have given me a good start in this venture. Some of the smaller stuff can be really fiddly especially when you've got great big shovels for hands and massive sausage fingers like me. To this end I found those little elastic bands, the ones all the kids were playing with (loom bands), invaluable for holding these together whilst the glue dried.

I was shooting for a Sunday post last weekend but a certain fantastic win at Twickenham and the following celebrations put paid to that. I'd just like to wish the boys all the best for the game against Fiji tomorrow.

The beginning of October tomorrow, the official start of Zombtober. This is going to be only my second one, but last year was pretty cool and it was great to see everyone's work and connect with some like minded bloggers. It's growing into quite a "thing".

So I'd better get the cobwebs off my brushes and my thumb outta my ass, it's painting time. Hopefully Zombtober will provide the impetus to get my pitiful painting progress back on track. I'm really looking forward to seeing everbody's work.

Well, that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and take a leaf out of the DUDE'S book and "take it easy".

CARD COP CAR AND NEW MINI'S

What's occurrin' then?

Still can't seem to get my arse into gear on the painting front. Suffering from a real lack of motivation and enthusiasm. Just can't shake off this fugue, it's starting to piss me off too. I have managed a little printing and card modelling, so I guess that's better than nothing at all. Luckily the WNI (Wednesday Night Irregulars) continue to show up, so I'm still gaming every week, Zombicide mainly. Although once a month we play Dead of Winter for a change of pace. I even tried some retail therapy to lift my spirits but to no avail.

Despite my trials and woes the cultural mission must continue. I endeavour to bring you all some zombie art every post in the faint hope that some culture sticks, not just to you but to me as well. I think we all need to be more cultured, it will make us more rounded individuals. Once again I present to you another fantastic piece from the incredibly talented Bryan Baugh. It's a tribute to the movie The Beyond. Wonderful tonal piece. Great movie. Enjoy!

So instead of painted figures, I'm going to show you Crow Valley Sherriff's Dept first patrol car. I found these on the Inkjet_Paper_Scissors blogspot, they were designed by Grendel's Mother and are free to download. My first real go at a card vehicle so it's a bit shit really, I can only hope to improve. Well it could hardly get any worse.

It's not quite finished yet, still needs it's roof lights, but hey!

SHANE AND THE BOYS CHECK OUT THEIR NEW RIDE.

As can be seen in the above photo' I've also printed out Andy's Gun Works, based on the gun shop from the Dawn of the Dead remake. I've only stuck it onto foamcore so far, yet another project to be completed. It's available to download for free from Model Paper World. There's a lot to see on that site most of it is designed by Tommygun.

Tommygun has designed loads of modern buildings and scatter terrain, like boxes and cases and such. All very useful and free to download.

I mentioned that I'd even tried retail therapy. Spending a little more of my birthday money, I placed an order with Westwind Productions. They carry a modern horror line called Roadkill. A pack of four figures costs £6.50, less than £1.70 a figure, I can live with that.

This first pack is called Rednecks/Militia and they evoke the good ole boy / hillbilly vibe I'm looking for. I'm no expert on weapons but they have a couple of shotguns and a couple of assault rifles between them. Oh, and a four pack of beer. What! Zombie killing's thirsty work! Like I said, just the vibe I'm looking for.

SOME REDNECKS OUT A HUNTIN'

The rednecks are my first foray into the gangs that can be encountered during play. I told you this was going to take a while.

The second pack is another small force of cops, these have different style uniforms to the Crow Valley Sheriff Department. The flashlight is a nice touch. I also liked the fact they are only armed with pistols.

ANOTHER FORCE OF POLICE.

Even these shiny new models have failed to get me to lift my brush in anger. I really have got to get my shit together.

The Rugby World Cup kicks off this Friday, that just might impinge on my painting time. So the last few months of poor productivity looks set to continue at least for one more anyway.

Well, I guess that's all I got for this time dudes and dudettes. So until next time, try and do as the DUDE does and "take it easy".

100th POST. WOO HOO!!!!

What's occurrin' then?

I know, it's been longer than usual since my last post. Progress has been really slow these last couple of weeks. Fighting some personal demons has taken up a fair bit of my time and energy, leaving me less than enthused to do anything. It's also been bloody hot and the bunker doesn't have air-conditioning, further reducing my enthusiasm for all things hobby.Right, enough moaning, we have a cultural mission that still needs completing.

Continuing our mission to bring some culture to the world of zombies, even if it has to be dragged in kicking and screaming. (It's more fun that way). I present you with another fantastic piece by the extremely talented Bryan Baugh. This one's called Loose Veins. Enjoy!

CHECK OUT THOSE BIG RED EYES.

Painfully slow progress indeed. I have managed to cut a base and model the floor for the big storage shed. The base is cut from another placemat, bevelled and sanded. The floor is made from lolly sticks (popsicle sticks) which have been whittled and drilled to get them vaguely looking like old worn floorboards. Then PVA'ed directly to the base.

THE FLOOR FROM ABOVE.

Once it's finished the shed will be hot glued into place and then maybe it might get some colour on it. When it's in situ, I should be able to finish the base with the old filler, PVA and sand combo.

NOT QUITE SQUARE, EH!

FRONTAGE ON THE BASE.

A silver lining to my hobby cloud is that the WNI (Wednesday Night Irregulars) has still been meeting with a regularity that belies our name. As Zombicide is our go to game at the moment, Sheldon purchased the Ultimate Survivors set. We've even used them in anger. Unpainted! (Shock horror!). Very nice figures and their starting skills are excellent.

YOU CAN RELY ON THESE IN A CRISIS

Having played Zombicide weekly for the last couple of years, we're getting pretty good at it now. TCM, Prison Outbreak and Rue Morgue add loads of variety and replayability. To be honest, we haven't really scratched the surface of Rue Morgue yet. Only played the crows once, same with the V.I.P. zombies. Not used the new zombivor rules yet or any of the new celebrity survivors.

Even though we have a lot more of Zombicide to explore, Sheldon felt the need to bring along another zombie game. It wasn't out of the blue, we had discussed trying it out at some point. The game in question was Dead of Winter.

A completely different kind of game to Zombicide. Crossroads is a new series from Plaid Hat Games that tests a group of survivors' ability to work together and stay alive while facing crises and challenges from both outside and inside.

Dead of Winter is the first game in this series. It puts 2-5 players together in a small weakened colony of survivors in a world where most of humanity are either dead or diseased, flesh craving monsters. Each player leads a faction of survivors with dozens of different characters in the game.

Dead of Winter is a meta-cooperative psychological survival game. This means the players are working together toward one common victory condition - - but for each individual player to achieve victory, they must also complete their personal secret objective. This secret objective could relate to a psychological tick that's fairly harmless to most others in the colony, a dangerous obsession that could put the main objective at risk, a desire for sabotage of the main mission, or worst of all : vengeance against the colony!
Certain games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. Work toward the groups goal but don't get walked all over by a loudmouth who's only looking out for their own interests!

A little more abstract than Zombicide, more card driven but still a lot of fun. The game uses card flat figures instead of mini's but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment. The secret objective mechanic is brilliant as you don't know who to trust. All in all, a fun nights gaming. The only drawback is it can't be played solo. I can see this making a semi-regular appearance at the WNI weekly meet ups.

Hopefully, I can be a bit more focused and productive over the following weeks. Thanks for bearing with me.

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

HEAD`S IN THE SHED. MORE WIP SCENERY.

What`s occurrin` then?

Due to some technical issues with my comm's device, I was unable to post last week. Sorry about that. Still, some quick field repairs and we're back in business.

The fences last time didn`t quite quell the voices. "What about ATZ?". Over and over. Until the itch must be scratched. Aaaahhhhh! Sweet relief. So, a bit more WIP scenery.

More culture, in the form of another splendid piece of art by the outstanding Bryan Baugh. This beauty is called Creeper Peeper. Enjoy!

I LOVE THE BLUE TONE IN THIS ONE.

The welcome wagon is being brought out of the storage shed again, although it's really a welcome back. So a big BZA welcome for my latest follower, or is it returning follower, Major Diz Aster. WELCOME BACK MAJOR! The Major is back in command at The Quick and the Zed. Death Warmed Over blog. Go check it out and welcome him back to the blogosphere. He's starting again from scratch. Some very nice vehicles so far, and he's just got his first zombies, again.

Right then, scratching the scenery itch. So I made some fences last time, as mentioned not quite enough. Trying to stick with a more rural theme, I thought that some rocky outcrops might make a nice change from all the fencing, more natural even.

We ventured outside the bunker again, to take advantage of the light. Again not sure if it was successful.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 1

The bases started life as table placemats. I buy them at my local charity shop, usually four for a pound. This entire set was cut from two of them. After they were cut out, I bevelled and sanded the edges to better blend with the tabletop.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 2 

The boulders and rocks are scavenged stones from the garden, hot glued to the bases. A little filler was applied to cover any gaps and blend the stone to the base.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 3.

A few smaller stones and sand were poured onto a liberal coat of PVA. Left to dry overnight.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 4

All the pieces were then given an undercoat of chocolate brown emulsion, from a 99p tester pot, to basecoat and further seal the sand.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 5

Just need to be drybrushed up with some lighter browns, at least two to three colours lightening upwards.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 6 

And finish off with some flock. I've got some somewhere, just have to dig it out.

ROCKY OUTCROP NO. 7

The tree is from a GW piece my son brought home from the local shop one day, when he used to go quite regularly to paint. I don't think they do that anymore.

ROCKY OUTCROP GROUP SHOT.

Now we come to the titular shed. This started as a free download building but after mounting onto foamcore, the scale of the doors and windows started to bother me. Just too small. Project shelved.

STORAGE SHED FRONTAGE.

After finishing the fences, I still had a big pile of coffee stirrers. Wanting a rural set of buildings, I thought that this gave me the oppurtunity to see what sort of result I could achieve with them.

DOOR CLOSE UP.

So the result is this storage shed, not quite a barn, but bigger than something at the bottom of your average garden. As you can see in the photo' below, the inside isn't quite finished yet. A little more clipping and sticking to go.

BACK SHOT AND A BIT OF UNFINISHED INTERIOR.

The doors are hung using the patented Vampifan Masking Tape Technique. VMTT for short. When the interior is finished, it'll be time to think about a base. I'm pretty sure it will fit nicely onto one of those placemats.

This my first building ever using stirrers as planking, it's pretty easy, looks cool and is very cheap. I think a barn could be on the cards.

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

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY MOTHERFUCKERS!