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".

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 W.I.P. POST

What's occurrin' then?

What's this weather all about then? The humidity is killing me, I haven't left the fan's area of effect for several days at a time. Sleep? Your having a laugh! Way too hot and sticky at night to sleep.
Due to the sleep/weather situation my weeks productivity is way down, that's even comparing it to the last couple of months' pitiful output.

Enough moaning and on with the mission. You know, the culture thing. Once again another offering from the insanely talented Bryan Baugh. This one is called Ribcage Guts. Enjoy!

My enthusiasm as well as my productivity is at a real low point at the moment. I really can't be arsed to pick up a brush, or stick anything together, or even print out more buildings. So I haven't got much to show you all except these W.I.P. photo's. Better than nothing, eh!?!

STREET WALKING TOXIC WALKERS.

Proving to be a real slog are the Toxic zombies, I don't know why, I was really enjoying painting them at the start. I seem to get this feeling every year, just after my birthday. It must be a reaction to getting old.

The ladies below have been in this condition for months, the last of my Zombicide season 1 to finish off, yet I can't seem to get them completed. The DUDE will make an appearance shortly as well, although I seem to be hitting a wall with him too. Mitch is going to be painted by my son, allegedly. He's got undercoat at least.

MORE WIP ZOMBICIDE HEROES.

What about ATZ? I'm still slowly getting stuff together for that. Having a stab at making some P.E.F. (Potential Enemy Force) markers, using these old Heroquest skeletons. Grim reaper and all that!

From left to right is my painting progression. Using the Army Painter Zombicide paints. First one is painted Boney Spikes. Next one is overbrushed Zombie Skin. Third one is drybrushed Brainmatter Beige. Finally washed with Zombie Shade and typically I broke the blade off the scythe just as it was finished!

SOME P.E.F. MARKERS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

Using some of my birthday money, I managed to recruit two more members for the Crow Valley Sheriff's Department. These are both by Reaper, from the Chronoscope line. On the right is Sheriff Joe Don Mitchel and to the left is Deputy Wayne Tisdale. Their names not mine.

These are my first ever Reaper miniatures, I must say I'm quite impressed. Although the bases they came with were not my bag. At £4.50 each they are not the cheapest mini's on the market, but they are very good quality and no where near as expensive GW single metal mini's.

They'll be painted up in the same colours as Shane and the gang, finishing off my small town's local police force. Now I just need to find them some budget transport.

CROW VALLEY SHERIFF'S DEPT LATEST RECRUITS.

Let's hope I can get another post in before the end of the month. Maybe even finish that bloody shed, don't hold your breath though.

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

I'M BACK. MORE NEW STUFF AT THE BUNKER.

What's occurrin' then?

Well, April turned into an unmitigated disaster hobbywise, no that should be painting production wise. I think my mojo's broken, I just can't seem to sit down and paint anything. Having my son home for an extra week of Easter seems to have disturbed something in the force. That and I've been feeling really down. Although gaming wise the new Zombicide has had a serious workout, I must say that I'm really impressed with the new tweaks. The skinner zombies and new spawning rules make things a little more entertaining and less certain. Making everything more replayable.

So, let's try and act like I've never been away, to continue with my relentless attempt to bring some culture into the world of zombies. Once again I present you with another amazing example by Bryan Baugh. This one is called We Caught One! Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure this one is called We Caught One!

Before charging off into the rest of the post, I must first go to the storage shed and wheel out the welcome wagon. It needs a little dusting off and a couple of squeaks oiled. So the welcome wagon is out for my latest couple of followers, first can we have a big BZA welcome for Ken Reilly. WELCOME KEN! Ken runs the Yarkshire Gamer blog, go check it out, everything from musketry to X-wing. No zombies though.
The second BZA welcome goes out to Carvin' Joe. WELCOME JOE! Can't find a blog for you Joe, if or when you have one let me know.

April turned into a painting wasteland. Motivation was at an all time low, the mojo tank was drained. Even amongst such desolation, there was a silver lining to some very dark clouds. My son, in an effort to cheer me up, did something that left me stunned. He bought me some Zombicide stuff. I say "some" stuff, he bought me loads.

Firstly, he woke me up on Friday morning, telling me that I had some mail. It was Toxic City Mall, the season 1 expansion for Zombicide. I thanked him profusely, much hugging ensued.

FRIDAY'S SUPRISE. TCM.

I thought, WOW, what a great kid. Trying to cheer up his miserable old man. Little did I know just how great a kid he was being. So Friday was spent oohhing and aarrhhing over TCM.

Saturday morning, same routine. This time it was Zombicide season 2:Prison Outbreak. I was speechless, I told him to stop spending his money on me. More hugging and a few tears shed this time.

SATURDAY'S SUPRISE!

As I was still going through the Prison Outbreak box, marvelling at all the plastic goodness, there was a knock at the door. My son ran to answer it, very unusual behaviour, returning with a beaming grin and another box.

In that box was Uncle Honk and Mitch. Again struck dumb by such generosity, I hugged him fiercely and more tears were shed. I asked him why he had done it, he said he just wanted to cheer me up. What could I say? Well thanks for one. See, I told you he was a great kid.

TWO MORE SURVIVORS TO TAKE BACK THE STREETS.

As I mentioned at the top of the post, I think my mojo's broken. I just can't seem to sit and paint, the following W.I.P. pictures have taken me weeks to get to this far.

And I now have a plastic mountain to climb. To that end, I'm going to challenge myself to paint all my Zombicide figures by years end, I just hope it's do-able. Does anyone know if you can buy bottled or canned mojo?

ZOMBICIDE SEASON 3 WIP.

I hate posting WIP pictures, but it was that or nothing. Still better than nothing eh?!? It's why I haven't posted, I've had nothing to post.

A FEW SURVIVORS AND A COUPLE MORE SEASON 3 ZOMBIES.

It's great to have all these new figures and games, now this may seem churlish, but it's kind of delaying my ATZ journey. I know that nearly all these mini's will be pulling double duty and appearing in my ATZ games, so maybe it's not going off on too much of a tangent, but it feels like I'm not making any progress on the original plan. Anyway, enough whining, I'll just have to "nut up or shut up".

Don't forget Star Wars day tomorrow. May the 4th and all that..................

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

ZOMBICIDE COMPANION DOGS. PART 1

What's occurrin' then?

Things are improving, here at the bunker, after last weeks sad news. I really didn't feel up to much this week. Then I remembered some figures that would make me feel better and act as a kind of memorial. These were the Zombicide companion dogs, which I had won in a prize draw on Vampifan's blog. Cheers again Bryan.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, my endevour to inject some culture into the world of zombies must continue. To this end, I present you with another great piece from the maestro that is Bryan Baugh. This is titled "Bloody Weirdos". Enjoy!

BLOODY WEIRDOS.

Some survivors run on all fours. Dog companions can fight alongside you, cross the block to lend some help, distract zombies and reach blocked areas in no time. In these times of zombie mayhem, dogs are more than pets... they are teammates with natural weaponry.

Before the apocalypse we called them "pets". Now we call them "companions". Some dogs turned, some didn't and like us, some survived. Dog companions are of great help. They warn us, they fight alongside us and allow us to reach areas no one else can. Of course, a companion has to be strong to survive and do what we ask of it. Being a survivor's dog is not really a Chihuahua's job.

In the following pictures, the cards are from Zombicide. I doubt I'll need them for ATZ, the only dogs in that seem to be the barking type, followed by a random amount of zombies.

GASPARD, BIT OF A BEAST IN MELEE AND CAN KILL FATTIES.

In Zombicide these dog companions count as pieces of equipment, and can be traded as such. They won't actually do anything unless you give them commands (actions of your own), except for giving you extra dice in melee if they are in the same zone as you when you attack a zombie.

CHERRY, MORE USEFUL FOR SEARCHING. AN EXTRA SEARCH EACH ROUND SHOULD NOT BE SNIFFED AT.

If you do give them commands, they'll happily attack zombies for you, run around and search for stuff (they can only carry one piece of equipment at a time) or go off and bark a lot to distract the zombies. All these actions have their uses at the right times.

MARTENS, VERY GOOD AGAINST THE REGULAR ZOMBIES.

Plus, it's not quite as sad when these ones die. Because they can take a wound for you. We the WNI(Wednesday Night Irregulars), have found them to be very handy pieces of kit and when used properly can affect the game positively, but not so much that they seem overpowered.

In other news, the third instalment of '68 arrived at the bunker this week. Having read it three times already, I must admit to being a huge fan. The artwork is not quite as impressive as the first two tpbs due to a change of artist, it's still bloody impressive (pun intended). I would still heartily recommend this to any zombie fan.

SEMPER FI, MOTHERFUCKERS.

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

STOP PRESS. AS I WRITE THIS, MY MATE JUST KNOCKED THE DOOR WITH MY ZOMBICIDE : RUE MORGUE KICKSTARTER BOX. HAPPY MONDAY TO BOB. YIPPEE! CAN YOU TELL I'M EXCITED!!!!!!!!

LAST OF THE SURVIVORS FOR NOW.

What's occurrin' then?

A real mixed bag of a week here at the bunker. A little painting, a little shopping, a little reading and a lot of watching rugby. Yes, the Six Nations circus touched down again this weekend (taking up valuable painting time) but at least we beat the French, in their own backyard no less. Cue happy Bob.

Let's continue to inject some much needed culture into the world of zombies with more art. This is another great piece by the man of the moment Bryan Baugh it's called Hot Dirt. Enjoy!

HOT DIRT

You may remember me complaining last post about Amazon's slackness in delivering my goods. Well, it turns out that the enigma that is my son gave them his old payment details, which were out of date. Cue reorder last Sunday. I'm pleased to say that everything has arrived safely.

What was it that you ordered Bob? We can't remember and are too damn idle to look back at last weeks post. Well, let me refresh everyone's memory. The first thing, being so impressed by the Core Set, was the Zombicide Toxic/Prison paint set by Army Painter. The other item was a collected trade paperback comprising the first story arc of the zombie comic '68.

The Zombicide Toxic/Prison paint set has only six colours but is half the price at £10, representing even better value for money than the Core set. All the colours are intended for painting the zombies that come with Toxic City Mall and Prison Outbreak box sets. Although I'm sure I'll use them for other things as well.

NICE LITTLE PAINT SET.

I've only just discovered the zombie comic '68, if you haven't seen it, as a zombie fan I urge you to check it out. It runs with the idea that the events in Night of the Living Dead really happened and shows how the world was affected, in particular the Vietnam War. The first story arc is collected together in a trade paperback called '68 : Better Run Through The Jungle. I'm very impressed, this is a beautiful product and would highly recommend it to any zombie enthusiast. I'm going to get the second trade paperback as soon as I can.

EXCELLENT READ & BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK.

So, we've covered a little shopping and a little reading. Let's move onto a little painting. As the title suggests, these are the last of the survivor type figures that I've made up from the Wargames Factory Apocalypse Survivors : The Men box, I've also made some cops and zombies but these are the last survivor types.

THE FINAL SURVIVORS FOR NOW.

So the line-up this time, first guy is another Studio plastic/Wargames Factory mash up. The similarity to George W. Bush is quite unnerving. I was so short of survivors I had to throw in Crazy Ned from Zombicide season 1. I think I read he's based on Alan Moore, the comic book writer behind some awesome stories such as The Watchmen and V for Vendetta, to name just two. The final guy I decided to make as a very well prepared survivor (or a prepper), so he has just about everything needed to bug out to his well stocked hidey hole. I made the straps for his backpack myself.

AGAIN, PAINT IS STILL BEING APPLIED TO THE BACK OF THEM.

That's it then for the survivors from this box, like I said some cops and zombies to come, then it's time to buy something else. Unless Zombicide : Rue Morgue turns up in the meanwhile.

Right then, it's St Davids day today so we have to go and get the leeks ready, oh and prepare the feast and human sacrifice. DEWI SANT!

That's it for now dudes and dudettes. So until next time try and be more like the DUDE and "take it easy".