Ninja All-Stars Review part 1

January 23, 2016, 10:46 pm

≪ Previous: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Fatties 01

Just last week, I received a parcel from Soda Pop Miniatures containing the Ninja All-Stars game and lots of add-on miniatures. These were all part of the Kickstarter project that I backed last year. There is so much to show that I'm splitting this review into two parts. Part one concentrates on all that you get with the basic boxed set, whilst part two will cover all the add-on extras and stretch goal sets.

First up is the box that the game comes in and what is immediately noticeable is just how deep it is. My one and only criticism of the box is that it does not contain any plastic inserts for storing the cards, dice and figures. It's just a big box. Obviously, there are ways around this but it needs pointing out. The rulebook runs to 80 pages and is in glorious full-colour throughout. The rules themselves are easy to learn and they don't take up too many pages. Most of the book covers stats and info on the characters as well as background detail. Once you learn how to use the dice, which uses 6 elemental symbols instead of numbers you're good to go. More on these later. The game is designed to be played by 2 to 4 players, with 2 being the default option. I'll be playing it solo without bias towards any team I choose. There are eight scenarios, or challenges as they are called, to choose from. Of course, there is nothing stopping you from designing your own challenges.

As well as the rulebook, you get a team roster sheet pad to record your team's stats and progress if you play league games. The game works fine playing one-off challenges but really excels if you choose league play. In this respect it is reminiscent of Bloodbowl and indeed, shares a lot in common with it. You get six large-sized cards of stats for Clan teams and six for Shrine teams. Also included are a deck of 52 Moon Cards which can be played throughout the game to help your team or hinder your opponent, 12 cards of Clan Heroes, 26 cards of assorted Ronin and a deck of cards showing stats of various Ninja All-Stars figures for those who want to use the minis in Super Dungeon Explore, which is something a lot of fans (myself included) wanted to see and clamoured for.

You get two sheets packed with counters to use in the game, all very colourful and characterful. Most feature status effects - Activated, Curse, Delay, Haste, Lucky, Moon Power, Poison, Protect, Slow, Stealth and Stun.

The 16 dice (8 black and 8 white) feature symbols of the six elements - Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit, Void and Water, as shown respectively on the first six white dice reading from left to right. The most common use of the dice is for an Affinity Test. Each model has an affinity with one or more elements. To make an Affinity Test, the player rolls three dice, looking for at least one match with his or her affinity. Models with more than one affinity must choose which element to use before the dice are rolled. In combat, the attacker rolls a number of dice equal to their Attack stat whilst the defender rolls dice equal to their Defence stat. These stats can be modified by certain circumstances. The results of the two rolls are compared and dice are eliminated based on the following pairs - Air and Earth cancel each other out, Fire and Water cancel each other out and Spirit and Void cancel each other out. After all eliminations have been made, the player with the most remaining dice chooses a single die from those remaining for the result of the attack. If the results are tied, the attacker chooses the result. The results vary from element to element. Not all results are good! Three favour the attacker (Air, Earth and Void), one favours the defender (Spirit), one is subjective (Water, which could be good or bad) and one is harmful to attacker and defender (Fire).

The game boards are just superb! To the left and right are the two dojo boards, which show a team's Healing House and Training Ground at both ends. Injured team members are placed in the Healing House until they recover and are then moved to the Training Ground. Models held in reserve are also placed in the Training Ground.
The main board, shown above, is double-sided, and shows a manor house or temple on this side. Figures move from dot to dot, some of which have restrictions depending on their surrounding terrain. For example, it costs 2 movement points instead of 1 to move through Rough terrain, Obscured terrain blocks Line of Sight and Elevated terrain cost 3 movement points to climb up on but only 1 to drop down from.

In the centre of the dojo board to the left is a tracker for marking how many Victory Points a team amasses, whilst in the centre of the dojo board to the right are spaces for placing the Moon Cards deck, discarded Moon Cards and a tracker to determine the six phases of the moon, plus a tracker to note how many rounds have been played.
The game board shown above depicts a small village. Soda Pop Miniatures have announced that new game boards will be produced in the future. Yay!

Finally, I come to the figures you get with the game. All figures are 28mm scale Chibi-style miniatures, very similar to the figures used in Super Dungeon Explore and fully compatible with them. These six shown above are the Samurai Sentries, whose purpose is to protect various objectives depending upon the challenge chosen. They are not affiliated to any Clan or Shrine team and operate independently and against them. I love these figures and I do regret not buying more of them as add-ons, as they'd make a fine force to use in other games or as a tougher challenge for this game.

Now we come to the six Shrine teams, each of which are affiliated with one of the six elements. The nine figures for each team are made up of identical sculpts of five different types. The game supplies you with four Shrine teams - Fire, Spirit, Void and Water. Air and Earth Shrine teams are not included but I'm showing them here just for completeness.
Each Shrine team has an equivalent Clan team. The Air Shrine team's Clan equivalent is Clan Tanchyo. To ease identification, both teams are moulded in green plastic.

At first glance, it may appear that all six teams are identical but that is not the case. For example, compare the stats for the Air Shrine Chunin (leader above) with those of the Earth Shrine Chunin (shown to the right). The Air Shrine Chunin has stats of Move 5, Attack 4 and Defence 3, whilst the Earth Shrine Chunin has stats of Move 5, Attack 3 and Defence 4. Also, the Abilities of certain types, shown below their three stats, differ from team to team.
The Earth Shrine team's Clan equivalent is Clan Yamazaru. Both teams are moulded in brown plastic.

The five character types depicted on each Shrine team reference sheet are Chunin (clan leader), Kaiken (foot soldier), Yajiri (ranged weapon specialist, usually bow armed), Kunoichi (female scout) and Madoushi (mystic). If you play with Clan teams you have limits as to how many of each different type you can take. However, to get you started, Ninja All-Stars includes four of these six pre-generated Shrine teams so you can get straight down to the business of playing the game.
Note that all of the figures in the game have a small mark on their bases to indicate their front facing. This is a great idea, I think.
The Fire Shrine team's Clan equivalent is Clan Tora. Both teams are moulded in red plastic.

The Shrine team characters come with just three stats - Movement (MV), Attack (AT) and Defence (DF). However, Clan teams have an extra stat, which is Koban (the monetary unit used in the game) and this tells you how much it will cost you to buy that particular character for your team. The more powerful the character the more expensive he or she will be. Koban costs are not given for the Shrine teams but if you wanted to add any Shrine figures to your Clan teams you can find the equivalent costs provided with the Clan team sheets.
The Spirit Shrine team's Clan equivalent is Clan Kitsune. Both teams are moulded in orange plastic.

At the start of each round of the game the players determine the order their team activates. The rules recommend playing rock, paper and scissors but I prefer to make a dice roll with the highest result going first. I use a d20 for this. Then each player chooses one figure to move then act. This continues until all the figures have moved and acted. Movement always comes first, although players can choose to not move a figure if it would benefit them. Actions can be any one of a melee attack, a ranged attack, a second move, searching or going into Stealth mode.
The Void Shrine team's Clan equivalent is Clan Ijin. Both teams are moulded in purple plastic.

The figures for the Shrine teams are very nicely sculpted but they aren't particularly outstanding. However, the figures for the Clan teams and the Ronin (mercenaries who can be hired by any team) are absolutely superb. You'll see what I mean when I review them next time. This begs the question - do you really need the Shrine teams? The honest answer is no, you don't. They are just a tool to help you get started and are probably of most use for teaching newcomers how to play the game. I got my Shrine teams simply because I'm a completist.
The Water Shrine team's Clan equivalent is Clan Ika. Both teams are moulded in blue plastic.

Although I only received this game very recently, I have played it once just to try out the rules. I rolled to see which two teams to use and ended up with the Air Shrine and Void Shrine teams. I played the introductory Brawl Challenge and the first team to accumulate 9 Victory Points was the winner. It took about 90 minutes to play and ended in a 9-5 victory to the Void Shrine team. I must say, the game played very well. It was a lot of fun and is a game that should not be taken too seriously at all.

The game is more akin to a non-lethal sports match than to a fight to the death. In Ninja All-Stars no one dies. Characters are either injured or stunned. A character who receives three stuns in a round is automatically wounded. Your role is as a coach, picking the best team for the challenge in hand and coming up with a winning game plan. Like many good games, Ninja All-Stars is easy to play but difficult to master.

I have read some misguided negative reviews of the combat system, with a few people moaning about the colours of the dice (WTF!), the cancelling elements and how characters with low attack stats have no chance of defeating enemies with a high defence stat. I totally dismiss all these criticisms. If you are stupid enough to send a low attack character head to head with a high defence foe then you deserve to lose! The game is all about tactics. Let us assume you are sending a character with AT1 against an enemy with DF3. First, you should have your attacker go into Stealth mode and move behind the enemy. Attacking the enemy in the rear from Stealth adds +2 to your AT (+1AT for a rear attack and +1AT for attacking from Stealth). Now its 3AT versus 3DF. The odds are tied. For each friendly model next to and facing the enemy you get +1AT for each assist. With just one colleague assisting your attacker the odds are now in the attacker's favour - AT4 vs DF3. Ninjas are meant to be stealthy and to attack from a position of strength. Really, combat is all about good tactics, which is why I said the game is easy to play but difficult to master.

I absolutely love the game and can highly recommend it. From what I gather, it ought to go on general release in mid to late February.

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Ninja All-Stars Review part 2

January 27, 2016, 2:20 am

≫ Next: Vampifan's Views 75 - Monthly Musings 50

≪ Previous: Ninja All-Stars Review part 1

Last time I posted a very comprehensive review of the Ninja All-Stars board-game. This time I want to show you all the add-ons that came with the Kickstarter package.

This is my box, which is full of miniatures. How many miniatures are in there? That'd be 186, not including my two trophies. How long will it take to paint this lot? God only knows. My plans for painting them are as follows - paint the 6 Clan teams first, (most likely starting with Clan Tora), paint the lanterns, shines and samurai sentries (in that order), then the Ronin and finally, the 6 Shrine teams because they're the least likeliest to get used. Of course, things may change but at least I have a plan.
Last time I showed you the six Shrine teams. Now I'd like to show you the six Clan teams, who are of a vastly superior quality. I have listed them alphabetically.

Clan Ijin have affinity with the Void element and they are the most demonic looking of the clans. Their tribal totem is a horned demon and all of these figures have a pair of horns. The Ijin value strength above all else. Their clan is founded on the belief that might makes right. In the front row, from left to right, are the Chunin (clan leader), 2 Heroes (Bomechan and Yobuko (Clan Heroes are very powerful allies but they can never gain experience points, meaning their stats and abilities remain fixed) and 3 Kaiken (foot soldiers). In the middle row, from left to right, are 2 Yajiri (archers), 3 Kunoichi (female scouts and my favourite figure from this clan because she so reminds me of Lady Demon, the evil alter ego of Lady Death) and 2 Madoushi (mystics). Right at the back are a pair of fearsome Oni (demons). It is suggested that players start with 100 Koban (KB - the monetary unit of the game) to build their teams. Note that Clan team members come with 4 stats, Movement, Attack, Defence and Koban cost. The two Heroes come with separate stat cards (not shown). When designing a Clan Ijin team, the player must choose 1 Chunin, 1 Kaiken and 1 Kunoichi, totalling 41 Koban.

Clan Ika have affinity with the Water element and their tribal totem is the octopus. In a land where paranoia and insularism are a way of life, the Ika are famous for being even more secretive, cryptic and distrustful of outsiders than usual. In the front row from left to right, are the Chunin, 2 Heroes (Akkorokamui (my favourite figure of this clan) and Mizuchi), 2 Kunoichi and 2 Madoushi. In the centre row, from left to right are 4 Kaiken and 2 Yajiri. Standing at the back are a pair of Oni, looking like avatars of the great god, Cthulhu! When designing a Clan Ijin team a player must choose 1 Chunin and 2 Kaiken, totalling 39 Koban.

Clan Kitsune have affinity with the Spirit element and their tribal totem is the fox. All possess big bushy tails and either have fox-like faces or wear fox-like masks. For many on Kagejima, the difference between the Kitsune and the kami inhabitants of the dark forest is non-existent. In the front row, from left to right are the Chunin, 2 Heroes (Uzumaki and Tamamo No Mae) and 3 Kaiken. In the centre row, from left to right, are 2 Kunoichi, 3 Yajiri (armed with blowpipes) and 2 Madoushi. In the back row are 2 Oni (giant foxes and my favourite figure from this clan). When designing a Clan Kitsune team a player must choose 1 Chunin, 1 Kaiken and 1 Yajiri, totalling 41 Koban.

Clan Tanchyo have affinity with the Air element and their tribal totem is the crane. They are renowned for their archery skills and possess more archers than any other clan. The Tanchyo have close ties to the many spirits of the air and earth that they share the great forests with. In the front row, from left to right are the Chunin (so close to being my favourite figure from this clan) 2 Heroes (Karura and Zenyo Ryu (my favourite figure from this clan. Look, she's firing 3 arrows at once!)), 2 Kunoichi and 2 Madoushi. In the centre row, from left to right are 2 Kaiken and 4 Yajiri. The 2 Oni at the back are hybrid crane-like creatures. When designing a Clan Tanchyo team a player must choose 1 Chunin and 2 Yajiri, totalling 37 Koban.

Clan Tora have affinity with the Fire element and their tribal totem is the tiger. The Tora are much like their tiger totem, a proud and haughty people, always ready to pounce, taking the initiative or advantage. I must admit to liking this clan the most. When I ran my Bushido RPG campaign in the 1980's, my players were all members of Clan Tora. A pure coincidence as they were all samurai. In the front row, from left to right are the Chunin, 2 Heroes (Byakko (who bears a striking resemblance to Wolverine of Marvel Comics fame. Not surprising he's my favourite Clan Tora figure!) and Ryu), 2 Kunoichi and 2 Madoushi. In the centre row, from left to right are 4 Kaiken and 2 Yajiri (armed with flintlock rifles). In the back row are 2 Oni, looking like a really cool pair of Samurai Warriors. When designing a Clan Tora team a player must choose 1 Chunin and 2 Kaiken, totalling 40 Koban.

Clan Yamazaru have affinity with the Earth element and their tribal totem is a mountain. The Yamazaru are hardy, fierce, spiritual and good natured people, capable of feats of toughness unmatched by other clans. In the front row, from left to right, are the Chunin (my favourite figure in this clan), 2 Heroes (Mizaru and Son Goku), 2 Kunoichi and 2 Madoushi (who are excellent healers). In the centre row, from left to right, are 4 Kaiken and 2 Yajiri. Finally, are two Oni, who appear almost ogre-like with tails that prevent back strikes against them. When designing a Clan Yamazaru team, a player must choose 1 Chunin and 2 Kaiken, totalling 44 Koban.

Players may also hire Ronin (clanless mercenaries) to their teams. Just like Heroes, Ronin cannot earn experience points and their stats remain fixed throughout a campaign. Ronin have a Koban cost to hire, but if a player wishes to retain them on his team, he must pay an upkeep cost per game after the first. The upkeep cost is roughly 25 to 35% of the initial purchase cost. A Ronin may be retired at any time. There are currently 26 Ronin to choose from and I have them all. I'm listing them alphabetically apart from Candy and Cola, who deserve special mention. 18 Ronin are listed in the rulebook but all have their own stat cards.
In the front row above, moving from left to right, are Arashikage (MV6, AT5, DF2, KB23/6, Fire and Water Affinity), Bakusho Mondai (MV6, AT3, DF3, KB19/5, Fire and Spirit Affinity), Benkei (MV3, AT3, DF4, KB16/5, Earth Affinity) and Blind Swordsman (MV5, AT3, DF2, KB16/5, Air and Spirit Affinity).
Behind them, from left to right, are Dark Kitsune (MV7, AT2, DF2, KB15/5, Spirit and Void Affinity), Goemon (MV6, AT4, DF3, KB23/7, Earth and Water Affinity), Hanzo (MV5, AT4, DF4, KB25/7, Air and Fire Affinity) and Howl and Yip (who are based on the Manga heroes, Lone Wolf and Cub, MV5, AT3, DF4, KB23/5, Earth and Fire Affinity).

In the front row above, going from left to right, are Inu Clan Kaiken (MV6, AT2, DF2, KB13/3, Earth Affinity), the giant spider demon, Jorogumo (MV5, AT2, DF2, KB16/5, Void and Water Affinity), Kappa (MV4, AT2, DF4, KB20/5, Earth, Void and Water Affinity) and Komuso (MV5, AT1, DF2, KB13/5, Earth and Spirit Affinity).
In the back row, from left to right, are a real life Japanese hero, Miyamoto Musashi (born in 1580 and possibly the greatest swordsman to have ever lived. He was also author of the famous Book of Five Rings. MV5, AT4, DF3, KB20/6. Fire Affinity), Mochizuki (MV6, AT2, DF2, KB18/6, Air, Fire and Water Affinity), Momotaro (MV5, AT5, DF4, KB21/6, Earth and Fire Affinity) and Moon Princess (MV7, AT2, DF2, KB18/6, All 6 Affinities!). Moon Princess is the current ruler of Kagejima, the Land of the Moon, which is the setting of Ninja All-Stars. It was she who organised the various challenges between the six main clans that take place at the Moon Castle once a year during midsummer. The Moonlight Tournament lasts from one full moon to the next.

In the front row of the photo above, going from left to right, are Ondori Clan Kaiken (MV6, AT3, DF2, KB14/3, Air Affinity), Onibaba (MV5, AT2, DF2, KB14/5, Void Affinity), Onryo, (MV6, AT2, DF2, KB16/4, Air and Void Affinity) and Shojo (MV6, AT2, DF2, KB16/6, Earth and Water Affinity).
Bringing up the rear, from left to right, are Sun Empire Wandering Samurai (if Kagejima represents a fantasy version of Japan then the Sun Empire represents China. Eleven Sun Empire armies who tried to invade Kagejima have been repulsed so far with none succeeding in taking the Land of the Moon. Nowadays peace reigns between the two nations, thanks to the machinations of the Moon Princess. MV4, AT4, DF4, KB22/6, Earth and Fire Affinity), Tengu (MV8, AT2, DF2, KB14/5, Air and Fire Affinity), Yagyu Jubei (MV5, AT5, DF4, KB24/6, Air and Earth Affinity) and Sumo Wrestler, Yokozuma (MV4, AT5, DF4, KB24/6, Earth and Water Affinity).

The last two Ronin are Soda Pop Miniatures' mascot pair, Candy and Cola. I love Candy and Cola and so I was delighted to see them making an appearance in Ninja All-Stars. Kunoichi Candy has stats of MV8, AT3, DF2, KB18/4 and Spirit and Water Affinity. Her best friend/pet familiar, Stealth Cola, has stats of MV7, AT2, DF3, KB16/4 and Earth and Void Affinity. Stat cards for using them in Super Dungeon Explore are included.Interestingly enough, Stealth Cola is considered by many to be the most powerful Hero in SDE. I've never used this version of him yet, so can't comment, but others present a compelling argument for why this should be.

These are lanterns (front row) and shrines (back row), which were a stretch goal to replace the card counters. Lanterns are obscuring terrain that cannot be moved across. If a model in Stealth moves within one space of a lantern, it loses Stealth due to the lantern's light. Shrines are also obscuring terrain that cannot be moved across. When a shrine is placed on the board, the player chooses one of the status effects that the shrine radiates: Haste, Lucky or Protect (all beneficial) or Curse, Poison or Slow (all detrimental). When a model moves within one space of a shrine with a detrimental effect it must make an Affinity test. If it fails it receives the status effect shown by the shrine. When a model moves within one space of a shrine with a beneficial effect it may spend one action to make an Affinity test. If it succeeds it it gains the status effect shown by the shrine. A maximum of 6 lanterns and 4 shrines may be placed on the board before play begins and a minimum of 4 of either type must be placed.

And finally are a pair of Ninja All-Stars large trophies. They measure 11cm tall and their bases are 5cm square. These play no part in the game but can be awarded at the end of a campaign to the winning team. So, why do I have two of them? Well, they were a free stretch goal, but it appears that everyone who backed the game on Kickstarter received two trophies per box they ordered. Cool! I may leave one gold and paint the other as a Giant Ninja to use in a unique challenge.
There are so many fantastically sculpted figures amongst the ones I've shown in my two posts. I've mentioned a few of my favourite figures but do I have one figure that I like the most? Yes, I do. It is the Clan Tanchyo Hero, Zenyo Ryu. She's cute and deadly and anyone who can fire three arrows at once earns my respect. I leave you with this picture of her, expertly painted by Minx Studios so you can really appreciate the quality of this superb figure. I think she's the coolest Chibi miniature I've ever seen!

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Vampifan's Views 75 - Monthly Musings 50

January 30, 2016, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Runners 01

≪ Previous: Ninja All-Stars Review part 2

It's my first Monthly Musings post of 2016 and as always I start with a picture of my favourite comic book super-heroine, Vampirella. Last year I had a theme which was to show my 12 favourite real life Vampirella models and cosplayers. This year, I also have a theme and it is to showcase 12 paintings by my all-time favourite Vampirella artist and friend, Joe Jusko. A Google search of Vampirella artwork by Joe netted me more than enough paintings to show one a month. Enjoy!

My biggest hobby news of January was the arrival of my Ninja All-Stars Kickstarter package. I was immediately smitten with this game and I'm looking forward to getting some Clan teams painted up. That will most likely happen later rather than sooner as I'm currently concentrating on painting zombies for Zombicide: Black Plague. I have already painted the 6 heroes, Necromancer and one each of the 10 different zombie sculpts. Expect reviews of them soon. Also on my painting table are some new figures that I bought earlier this month. I ordered a set of 6 Weird West figures from Ainsty Miniatures (3 heroes and 3 supernatural bad guys), 4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by My Way Miniatures (thanks for the heads up, Andy!) and to go with them, a Crooked Dice figure of Pandora King, who I've converted into reporter April O'Neill (friend of the Turtles) and a Mantic Dreadball Veer-myn coach to use as Splinter (mentor of the Turtles).

In a reply to a comment made to me in my first Ninja All-Stars review by my good friend Stephen Gilbert I listed my favourite board-games. Knowing that some of you will have missed our conversation I'm going to update my list to include ALL of my favourite games that I play and want to play.

Zombicide: Black Plague (this fantasy version takes Zombicide to even greater heights - just perfect!)
Zombicide (set in contemporary times, I didn't think it could be bettered. I was wrong! Until Black Plague came along this was my favourite board-game.)
All Things Zombie: Final Fade Out (soon to be upgraded to Fade To Black, this was the game that began my love affair with zombie gaming. I'll be starting a new campaign later this year, combining rules from both versions.)
Super Dungeon Explore (the game that re-sparked my long dormant interest in fantasy gaming. I immediately fell in love with the Chibi miniatures.)
Rum and Bones (at last, after much searching, I found a pirate-themed game that I love.)
Ninja All-Stars (more Chibi goodness that is both a stand alone game and a tie in with SDE.)
Last Night on Earth (a zombie game with a real B-movie vibe about it, giving it a unique feel.)
A Touch of Evil (supernatural horror set at the start of the 19th century in rural America.)
Thunderbirds (superb 50th anniversary celebration of a classic TV series.)
Judge Dredd Miniatures Game (a sci-fi skirmish game set in the world of 2000AD comic's most iconic hero, Judge Dredd. I'll be playing a lot more of this later this year.)
Shadows of Brimstone (a Weird Wild West game. Unplayed at present but I just know I'm going to love it.)
Arkham Horror (incredibly detailed and atmospheric board-game based on H.P. Lovecraft's Call of the Cthulhu stories.)
Castle Ravenloft (the undead abound in this 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons game.)

There are a few other games that I must mention, none of which I've played. First up is Mars Attacks. I bought this game primarily for the human soldiers, survivors and scenery items to use with ATZ. The Martians don't really interest me. I'm unsure if I'll ever play it but I don't regret buying it. Second is another Kickstarter game, The Others: 7 Sins. I'm still waiting for this to arrive so can't comment on its game play but the figures do look quite stunning. Finally, is a new game that I plan on buying within the next week, 7TV 2nd edition. I've read nothing but good reviews of it and it does intrigue me. Most likely I'll add The Others and 7TV to my list in the near future.
Finally, I'm in two minds about buying Imperial Assault, the Star Wars game. It looks good and the figures are more detailed than those found in the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Collectible Minis game. However, it is expensive, especially if you want to replace the card counters with 3D figures (which I would). Plus, the figures for Imperial Assault come unpainted, whereas the WotC figures are all pre-painted. It was suggested (by Brummie Simon) that I buy 7TV instead and use the Star Wars rules for that game along with my WotC figures. Seeing as I plan on buying 7TV anyway, that might be the most sensible option. But seeing Blaxkleric posting lots of pics of his superbly painted Imperial Assault figures is weakening my resolve to resist the game's allure. Ah, choices, choices!

By the way, if any one else wants to make a list of their favourite games, I'd love to see them, either as a comment on here or as a separate blog post of your own, if you run a blog.

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Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Runners 01

February 3, 2016, 2:43 am

≫ Next: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Runners 02

≪ Previous: Vampifan's Views 75 - Monthly Musings 50

I'll continue my review of the Berserker Zombies from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak expansion set with part 1 of a 2 part look at the Runners. These were all former prison inmates, hence their orange jumpsuits.

Berserker Zombie Runners are every bit as nasty as other types of Zombie Runners in that they get two Actions per Turn, but they have an advantage in that they can only be killed by melee weapons or ranged weapons that affect all figures in a Zone (like Molotov Cocktails of Flame-throwers). This makes them especially dangerous.

Three of the four Berserker Runners shown above have not been converted. Their main differences is that they have different coloured bandanas. The Runner third from the left has suffered three gunshot wounds to his chest and back. I simply drilled three holes through his body to represent the wounds - a very simple but effective conversion.

The first two Berserker Runners in the photo above are straight from the box and unconverted. I gave them different hair colours.

The two Berserker Runners to the right are conversions. The second from right Zombie has been badly wounded in the stomach, causing his intestines to start spilling out. They were made from rolled up strips of Milliput. The Runner at the far right had his left arm hacked off. These are all simple conversions and help to individualise the group by making them not be clones of one another. I like my Zombies to look unique.

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Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Runners 02

February 6, 2016, 4:15 am

≫ Next: 7TV 2nd Edition

≪ Previous: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Runners 01

Looking at the four photos I'm showing here, you could be forgiven in thinking that they are the same as the four photos I showed in my previous post. But look closely and you'll see the differences. This is the second half of my 2 part review of the Berserker Zombie Runners from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak supplement.

All eight Berserker Zombie Runners shown here have been converted by swapping their upper bodies and lower bodies around. For most, this was good enough for me to make them look (slightly) different to the eight I showed last time.

A select few had additional conversions done to them, like the one second from the left has had a couple of holes drilled through his left shoulder and upper chest to indicate gunshot wounds.

Also, when I glued the two body halves together (I made my cuts at the waist) I slightly altered how the two halves met. This is a subtle change, but it helps make each zombie unique.

For the Runner second from the left, I converted his bandana into a head band made of Milliput. The Runner who is second from the right has been shot twice in the torso by a higher calibre bullet to the similarly shot zombie shown previously. I simply used a wider drill bit on him. Giving them all different hair colours, as well as making a couple of them bald, also helps to further differentiate them.

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7TV 2nd Edition

February 9, 2016, 1:52 am

≫ Next: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Male Walkers 01

≪ Previous: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Runners 02

For a long time now I have thought about buying the 7TV skirmish war-gaming rules produced by Crooked Dice Games (CDG). I have bought quite a lot of figures from CDG over the past few years and I really like them but I kept putting off buying the rules. Things changed earlier this year when 7TV 2nd Edition (7TV2e) was released. Spurred on by excellent reviews by bloggers like Blaxkleric and Brummie (aka the two Simons), I finally relented and sent away for the starter boxed set last week. Two days later it arrived!

The front cover of the new boxed set.

Department X boxed set. Not painted by me.

I also ordered the Department X boxed set of 12 figures at the same time. In hindsight I should have ordered an extra set of counters and tokens but I'll add them to my next order. The Department X set consists of Dr. Hugo Solomon (who is instantly recognisable as Jon Pertwee in his role as the third Doctor Who), Pandora King (aka Emma Peel from the Avengers (UK series, not the Marvel superheroes)) and 10 Department X Commandos including a heavy weapons team. I mainly wanted this set for the figure of Pandora King, who I've converted into April O'Neil, the reporter friend of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So why didn't I just buy her separately? Well, she is currently out of stock as a single figure option. Not that I minded because the other figures are very useful.
So, for those not in the know, what is 7TV2e all about? This is a simple skirmish game designed to recreate classic spy and sci-fi films and TV series from the 1960's and 1970's, or you can come up with your own ideas of appropriate genre TV shows or films. Films like Austin Powers, Ghostbusters, and James Bond, and TV series such as Captain Scarlet, Department S, Doctor Who, Scooby Doo, Space 1999, The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Sweeney heavily influence the game. Fans of any of these classic shows will recognise many of the figures that CDG use for 7TV2e. To avoid copyright problems, CDG created their own fictional studio, 7TV, which made such cult TV series as AKA, A.R.C., Department X, The Beat, The Daredevils and The Man From 2000.
Film and TV terms abound in the game. The player characters and non-player characters (heroes and villains) are defined as Stars, Co-Stars or Extras. Combined, these make up your Cast. A single game is an Episode, split into three parts - Act 1, Act 2 and Finale. A campaign would be a Series.
The game length is determined by a deck of Countdown cards split up into the three Acts of the Episode. Players draw 1 or 2 cards per turn until the deck runs out, indicating the end of that Episode. Episodes can also end if one side is wiped out or loses more than half its cast. The Countdown cards vary from Act to Act. In Act 1 they mainly focus on movement, whilst in Act 2 the focus shifts to attacking the opposition. In the finale, anything can happen! Games are best played on an area 4 feet square but this can vary up or down.
Cast members are either heroes, villains or neutral and all come with their own Profile cards. Each cast member costs a number of Ratings Value points, which are usually 9 or 10 for Stars, 5 or 6 for Co-Stars and under 5 for Extras. The stats of Stars and Co-Stars can be changed if you want to alter any to come up with how you feel that cast member should appear. Changes will invariably alter the Ratings Value.
Game play is simple and the rules themselves are easy to learn. Obviously, the more figures you use in an Episode, the longer it will take to complete. But there is no limit to the size of your cast providing heroes and villains share the same overall Ratings Value. A starter cast might be 20 Ratings, a small cast 30 Ratings, a standard cast 50 Ratings and an epic cast might be 100 Ratings.
Activated characters can take any two of the following actions per turn - Move, Strike, Special or Free. Move is obviously movement, which also includes changing facing; Strike can be a Melee action or a Shoot action; Special includes anything not covered by Move or Strike, such as administering first aid or picking up an objective. Free actions do not count towards your limit of two actions per turn. They cover things like making a statistic test, using a star quality or a gadget.
Both sides acquire Plot Points at the start of every turn, which can be used to activate a character or group of characters, enhance combat rolls, use some of their special effects or gadgets, or to recover from a debilitating status. Unused Plot Points can be carried over from turn to turn.
At the end of a game, both sides add up their Victory Points total and the side with the highest score wins.
I am very much looking forward to playing 7TV2e and already I am thinking up scenario ideas and Casts I want to use. Seeing as my blog is primarily dedicated to the undead, is there an option for including undead creatures in 7TV2e? Yes, there is, although not in the basic set. To date, there are three supplements available for 7TV2e, all of which are downloadable PDF files. These are guides for using characters from Ghostbusters, Scooby Doo and Star Wars. The Ghostbusters guide costs £3, but the other two are free. Ghostbusters includes stats for zombies. Hopefully, further undead types will be covered in future supplements.

The basic boxed set costs £50 and contains the following items -
The Director's Guide (the core rules of the game)
The Producer's Guide (rules for building a cast, customising Stars and Co-Stars as well as 6 scenarios)
2 decks of Profile cards (heroes and villains)
45 Countdown cards
20 Gadget cards
20 Plot Point tokens
27 Status and Objective counters
A Blast and Flame-thrower template
A pewter 28mm scale Maguffin figure (it's a TV set used as a vital objective)
6 six-sided dice
I know nothing about the rules for the first edition of 7TV, which I've been told is a good thing as I don't have to unlearn them to play 7TV2e. This is a game that looks like a lot of fun to play and if you want to check it out further take a look at Blaxkleric's first 7TV2e batrep here.

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Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Male Walkers 01

February 14, 2016, 12:57 am

≫ Next: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Male Walkers 02

≪ Previous: 7TV 2nd Edition

I have quite a lot of Berserker Walkers from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak supplement to show, so let's start with this lot. These seven figures are all identical sculpts, which is why so many of them have been converted.

The four shown directly above and below are from the Prison Outbreak boxed set and have had the least amount of conversion work done to them. The two Berserker Walkers at the far left have not been converted at all. It is only my paintwork that makes them different.

For the Berserker Walker second from the right, I added a baseball cap from one of the prison guards to his base. You can see it better in the first picture. The zombie at the far right has had his left hand chopped off, which wasn't an easy conversion as the hand was flush against his leg and required a bit of fiddly cutting to remove.

These three male Berserker Walkers came from the Angry Zombies: Box of Zombies set, which contains three new Berserker Zombie sculpts (a male Fatty, a male Walker and a female Walker). All three have been converted. The zombie at the far left has also had his left hand cut off but in addition, he has had a hole drilled into his neck (for a gunshot wound) and half of his face has been chewed off.

The Berserker Walker in the centre of this trio has been shot with an assault rifle or sub machine gun across his chest as you can see by the row of bullet wounds I drilled into him. The Berserker Walker at the far right is holding onto his intestines to stop them from spilling out of a huge wound in his stomach. The intestines aren't that noticeable but I assure you they are there. I probably added too much Tamiya Clear Red to them!
More male Berserker Walkers next time including a few that aren't former prisoners.

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Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Male Walkers 02

February 16, 2016, 9:11 pm

≫ Next: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Female Walkers 01

≪ Previous: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Male Walkers 01

Here are the second batch of my male Berserker Walkers from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak supplement. Not only are there prisoners but also prison guards, which makes a nice change.

The five Berserker Walkers shown directly above and below are not from the Prison Outbreak set. Instead, the three at the left, came from the Angry Zombies Box of Zombies set and the other two were free stretch goals I received for backing Zombicide Season 2 on Kickstarter.

I am quite surprised to see that I have only converted one of them - the zombie at the far left. He has had his left arm cut off just above the elbow. The other four differ by their hair colours and where I have added the gore effects. I assume that because I painted these five in two different batches I must have overlooked the fact that only one had been converted. Ah, well, such is life.

Still sticking with the prison theme, we now come to the prison guards. Looking at their uniforms I was immediately inspired to paint one of them up as a fast food restaurant server. So, there he is at the far left of this group, dressed in his red and white uniform. See how a simple change of colours transforms him.

Of the other three, only the Walker at the far right has been converted. I first cut off his left hand, then I drilled a small entry hole in his neck and a larger exit wound in his back, indicating he has been shot from above. The bullet, on a downward trajectory, entered his neck before expanding and exiting out of the centre of his back between his shoulder blades.

Rather spookily, this is the 666th post of my blog which began just short of 8 years ago! It's the number of the beast! In hindsight I should have marked it with some sort of special celebration or competition. Oops!

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Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Female Walkers 01

February 21, 2016, 2:40 am

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My last group of Berserker Zombies to show you from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak set are the female Walkers. For some reason, they outnumber the male Berserker Zombies. I'll start with this lot, all of whom were prison inmates.

The four female Berserker Walkers shown directly above came from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak supplement. The two at the left of the group are straight from the box sculpts. I gave them differing colours for their hair and panties.

For the two at the right of the group I drilled a hole through the chest of one to show she had been shot. There is a massive exit wound between her shoulder blades. For the female Walker at the far right I chopped off her left arm just above the elbow. Again, they have different coloured hair and panties.

These three female Berserker Walkers came from the Box of Zombies - Set 3: Angry Zombies. They are based on the sculpts shown above and all three have been converted by me.

The one at the far left has had her left arm repositioned so that her hand is clutching at her stomach. The Walker in the centre has been shot in the neck, as shown by the hole I drilled through her. Finally, the female at the far right has had my trademark guts spilling from a huge stomach wound conversion done to her.

These five female Berserker Walkers are unique sculpts not found in the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak boxed set. The three at the left of the group came from the Box of Zombies - Set 3: Angry Zombies, whilst the two at the right were free stretch goals I received for backing the Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter project. The female Berserker Walker at the far left has had her left arm repositioned so it is pointing down more than usual. Note the large bite on her upper left arm, which I made to make the bending of the limb that much easier. The next Walker in line has had her left arm bitten off. The wound is far too ragged to be a clean cut from a sword or axe. This was achieved by adding and shaping a very small amount of Milliput.

The remaining three female Berserker Walker Zombies have not been converted at all. The one in the centre looks like she is stuffing her intestines back inside her stomach but this is just done by a clever piece of painting. Ditto for the Walker to her left. For the two females at the far right I decided to cover up their bare breasts and gave them short wraparound tops. It was difficult to decide if these females should be bare breasted or not. On the one hand, none of them show any nipples. I had to paint them on. However, neither are there any obvious marks to show them wearing any form of clothing on their upper bodies. So what to do? To bare or not to bare? Nudity doesn't bother me so I favoured the topless option in most cases. Your tastes may differ.
Next time - female prison guards and another fast food restaurant employer. No nudity either!

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Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Female Walkers 02

February 24, 2016, 2:10 am

≫ Next: Vampifan's Views 76 - Monthly Musings 51

≪ Previous: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Female Walkers 01

My second post reviewing the female Berserker Zombies brings to a close my reviews of all the Berserker Zombies for the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak supplement. These figures are not former prison inmates but former prison guards and one fast food restaurant server.

The four figures shown directly above and below are from the Zombicide: Prison Outbreak supplement. At the far right is my second fast food restaurant server. She will accompany the male employee I showed earlier. She has not been converted but her colour scheme makes her look very different to the others in this group.

The two zombie prison guards in the centre have not been converted either, however, I did add a spare severed arm I had to the base of the one second from the right. As you know, I like cutting limbs off and I always keep them. Speaking of cutting body parts off, the Berserker Zombie at the far right has had her right hand cut off.

These three female Berserker Zombies came from the Box of Zombies - Set 3: Angry Zombies. All three have been converted. I decided that I wanted a couple of them armed, even though they no longer know how to use weapons. It just looks cool. So I added a Truncheon to the one at the far left and a Pump-Action Shotgun to the one in the centre. Both weapons came from a box of Wargames Factory Survivors.

For the Zombie at the far right, I drilled a few small holes into her chest and upper right arm, but none of them have penetrated all the way through the body, suggesting they were low calibre bullets that hit her.
It is always immensely satisfying when a painting project comes to a close. I'm very pleased with just how many zombies I have painted for Zombicide and its first two supplements, Prison Outbreak and Toxic City Mall. I still have few more normal Zombies to paint for the original set, and all of my zombies for the Angry Neighbors and Rue Morgue supplements. So, still lots more to do but I'm slowly getting there.

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Vampifan's Views 76 - Monthly Musings 51

February 28, 2016, 12:40 am

≫ Next: Goki Wooden Dice Plate

≪ Previous: Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Berserker Female Walkers 02

I start with another painting of Vampirella by the extremely talented Joe Jusko. She looks ravishing!

I have a bit of bad news to report. My camera has died. I had a Nikon D40 digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera and after ten years of faithful use it has ceased to function and shed its mortal coil. Photography is such an important part of my hobby and I need a decent camera for my blog. So, I have ordered a new one from Amazon UK. This time I'm going for a Canon EOS 1200D digital SLR camera. I've used cameras by Canon and Nikon before and I wouldn't dream of buying anything else. It has cost me £225, which is a lot of money but that is reduced from £400, which was a hell of a saving. Plus, this model is the #1 best seller for cameras on Amazon. I'm hoping it won't take me too long to get used to it as I have a stack of photos I need to take. I was expecting it to arrive yesterday but it didn't. Hopefully, I'll get it early next week. It's just as well that I'm very patient.

My painting mojo is at a peak at the moment. Here is a list of all of the figures I have painted this month -

3 Ainsty Weird Wild West Heroes
3 Ainsty Weird Wild West Villains (vampire, werewolf and zombie)
4 Assorted contemporary sheriff and deputies (for Scooby Doo)
7 Crooked Dice Games coppers (6 male, 1 female)
5 Crooked Dice Games detectives
2 Crooked Dice Games gang bosses
4 Crooked Dice Games guard dogs
1 Crooked Dice Games 3rd Doctor Who (aka Jon Pertwee)
1 Crooked Dice Games April O'Neil conversion (friend of the TMNT)
1 Mantic Games Splinter (mentor of the TMNT)
4 My Way Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
6 Zombicide: Black Plague Survivors
11 Zombicide: Black Plague Zombies (includes the Necromancer)

Quite a haul, huh? 52 figures in just one month! All of them need photographing so this really was a bad time to lose my camera. Plus, I now have all the figures that I need for my first 7TV2e batrep fully painted. I'm itching to get that game played as soon as possible. I plan on running The Ambush scenario with characters from 7TV2e's very own cop show, The Beat, hence all of the cops and crooks I've been painting. I have also bought a few vehicles to use in this batrep and future ones. I am busy painting two Crooked Dice Games resin cast Ford Transit vans, one as a police van and the other as a generic white van. I'm not bothered if I don't finish painting them in time for my batrep as I have alternative die-cast vehicles I can use. Indeed, I recently placed an order on eBay for the Ashes to Ashes vehicles set, featuring DCI Gene Hunt's red Audi Quattro and a Ford Grenada 2.8 police car. You can buy them from a number of sellers for about £25 instead of £40. Perfect for a UK-based 7TV2e cop show!

"Fire up the Quattro!"

With all of the painting I've been doing there has been less time left for gaming. However I still managed to play a few more games of Ninja All Stars and Zombicide: Black Plague. Gaming is back down to one game per week, despite my hope to play twice weekly, but I'm okay with that. More time spent painting means I'm reducing my unpainted figures mountain. Yay me! Currently on my painting table are 10 EM4 pre-painted Wild West figures (I just need to texture and paint their bases), 7 assorted dogs by various companies and an SDE Chibi figure of Vampirella that I converted, following on from a suggestion by Jez. After that lot I'll either paint some more of my Zombicide: Black Plague zombies or make a start on some of my Rum 'n' Bones pirates.

I do hope I can show some of my newly painted figures next time. If not, I have a few filler posts planned instead. Tune in next Wednesday.

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Goki Wooden Dice Plate

March 2, 2016, 1:45 am

≫ Next: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Heroes 01

≪ Previous: Vampifan's Views 76 - Monthly Musings 51

First up, my camera news. My new Canon camera arrived yesterday and I'm absolutely delighted with it. I'm not quite ready to take photos of my miniatures with it but it shouldn't take me too long to master it. It is similar in many ways to my old Nikon but also different enough to make me feel the need to fully read the instruction manual first. Always a good idea, in my opinion! I fitted a 32Gb memory card to it and I also bought a shutter release cable to use for photos that I take with my tripod. With close up photography anything that helps reduce camera shake is a good thing. I have loaded the software that comes with the camera onto my computer. I have taken a few test shots and its all looking good so far. I'm hoping to have some new photos to show you on Sunday.

So for today this is very much a filler post but it's something I thought might interest you. Last month I ordered this Goki wooden dice plate from Amazon UK. It was, to be honest, more of an impulse buy than something I was particularly looking for. That said, now that I have it, I think it is an essential gaming aid. As you know, I play a lot of board games and skirmish war-games. Normally, I'd just roll my dice on the table or on a blank area of the gaming board. Occasionally, but not very often, the dice would roll off the table, which was always frustrating and annoying. Now, with my dice plate that never happens.
The plate is very solidly made and sturdy. It measures 10" (25.7cm) square and just over 1" (3cm) tall, which is just a nice size for rolling dice. The inner height of the walls is 1" (2.5cm). I have never had an instance of dice "jumping" the walls and I have used dice of different sizes to fully test it. The base is covered in green felt, which helps reduce the noise of the rolling dice. The plate comes with five six-sided dice as shown above.
An alternative to the dice plate is the dice tower. These can come in a wide variety of materials, shapes, sizes and designs. I got a plastic one as a free stretch goal with my Zombicide season 3 Kickstarter. There's another one on the way with my Zombicide: Black Plague Kickstarter expansion set. However, I don't like them. They're just too noisy and dropping dice doesn't feel the same as rolling dice.
The Goki wooden dice plate costs £10.14 on Amazon UK. I very rarely comment on Amazon about the products I buy there but on this occasion I did and I gave it a five star rating. To me, it is an indispensable gaming aid.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Heroes 01

March 6, 2016, 1:49 am

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≪ Previous: Goki Wooden Dice Plate

I respectively dedicate this post to my friend, Andy Nash, aka da Gobbo Grotto. It was thanks to his wonderful blog posts about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), their friends and villains that inspired me to collect my own versions of these iconic characters from comics, film and TV. Andy and I both agree that the best 28mm scale figures of the four "heroes in a hard shell" are produced by Russian company, My Way Miniatures. Their customer service is first rate.

From left to right are Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, all named after Renaissance artists by their rat sensei, Splinter. From their home in the sewers of New York, they battle petty criminals, evil overlords, mutated creatures and alien invaders whilst attempting to remain hidden from society. Note that these are all multi-part figures made of resin and are rather fiddly to glue together.
Donatello (or Donnie) is a scientist, inventor, engineer, and technological genius. He wears a purple mask and wields a bo staff. Donatello is perhaps the least violent turtle, preferring to use his knowledge to solve conflicts, but never hesitates to defend his brothers.
Leonardo (or Leo) is a tactical, courageous leader and devoted student of his sensei. He wears a blue mask and wields two katanas. As the most conscientious of the four, he often bears the burden of responsibility for his brothers, which commonly leads to conflict with Raphael.

Michelangelo (or Mikey) is the most stereotypical teenager of the team. He is a free-spirited, relaxed, and often goofy jokester and known for his love of pizza. Michelangelo wears an orange mask and wields a pair of nunchakus. He provides the comic relief, though he still has an adventurous side. The least mature of the four Turtles, he shows characteristics of a "surfer" type and is often depicted with a Southern Californian accent.
Raphael (or Raph) is the team's bad boy. He wears a dark red mask and wields a pair of sai. He is physically very strong, has an aggressive nature, and seldom hesitates to throw the first punch. He is often depicted with a very pronounced New York accent. His personality can be fierce and sarcastic, and often-times delivers deadpan humour. He is intensely loyal to his brothers and sensei.

Next up are two very important characters in the TMNT world, April O'Neil and Splinter.
April O'Neil is a former lab assistant to the mad scientist Baxter Stockman and is the plucky human companion of the Turtles. April first met the Turtles when they saved her from Baxter's Mouser robots. She embarks on many of the Turtles' adventures and aids them by doing the work in public that the Turtles cannot. Originally, April was a television news reporter. Later, she and her friend and TMNT ally, Casey Jones, worked for a shipping firm. My version of April is clearly based on her role as a TV reporter. The figure is a conversion of the Crooked Dice Games second version of Pandora King. I snipped of her pistol and made it into a microphone. I also cut off the holster from her right hip. It was a very easy conversion.

Splinter is the Turtles' sensei and adoptive father. He is a Japanese mutant rat who learned the ways of ninjutsu from his owner and master, Hamato Yoshi. Originally, Splinter was Hamato Yoshi mutated into a humanoid rat instead of being just Yoshi's pet. In the IDW comics, he is Hamato Yoshi reincarnated as a mutated rat. The figure I used for Splinter is by Mantic Games from their DreadBall set of three team trainers (the other two are human and dwarf). In DreadBall, he is a Veer-myn team coach. He is such a good match for Splinter that I didn't have to convert him at all.

Andy knows far more about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than I do and I recommend checking out his own post for the four hero Turtles here. He covers April and Splinter in this post here. Note that he has chosen different figures from me to represent both characters. Finally, in yet more praise for my esteemed blogger friend, he has created stats for the TMNT and friends to appear in the 7TV2e game, which is exactly what I want to use them for. Check out his 7TV2e stats for them here.

Finally, before I leave, I'd just like to point out these are the first photos I took with my brand new Canon EOS 1200D camera. It took me no time at all to get the hang of it and transferring the photos to my computer so I could edit them and show them on my blog was a doddle. I couldn't be happier with my new purchase and I look forward to many years of hassle-free photography.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Heroes 02

March 8, 2016, 9:45 pm

≫ Next: Ainsty Castings Assorted Weird West Figures

≪ Previous: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Heroes 01

When I first saw the My Way Miniatures 28mm scale figures of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle heroes on Andy's blog site here I immediately liked them. They were so well sculpted and beautifully animated. I mentioned to Andy that I already owned figures of the four Ninja Turtles but that mine were in a smaller scale. He wanted to see them, so for Andy, and everyone else, here they are.

These figures were made by Dark Horse many years ago (mid 1980's) and are no longer available. They are 20mm scale metal figures and are extremely rare. I read that Dark Horse had a lot of troubles casting them with as many as one in two figures being miscast! They are very nicely sculpted and I like how they are all scowling angrily. These are not the fun-loving heroes from the cartoon TV series. They came with integral bases and I have glued them to pieces of plasti-card and filled in the surrounds with Milliput. In the days before slottabases were invented, this was how I based most of my figures. They are also painted in simple block colours with no highlighting, shading or ink washes, which just goes to show how much I have developed as a painter over the years.

I'm sure you can recognise them all but they are arranged alphabetically from left to right with Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. I'd seen them in the very first comics they appeared in and to be honest, back then I had no idea how tall they were meant to be in real life. So, I was happy to use these figures in games using 25mm scale and later, 28mm scale figures. How times have changed.

I knew that there was no way I could write this post without showing you some size comparison photos of the Dark Horse Ninja Turtles and the My Way Miniatures Ninja Turtles. So, to begin with here are the two versions of Donatello and the two versions of Leonardo. Note that I painted the flesh of the Dark Horse Turtles a lot darker than on the My Way Turtles. I also used different shades of brown for the belts, elbow pads and knee pads. Incidentally, when I dug them out for this post I noticed they all wore the same coloured red bandana. This is how they originally appeared but I decided to bring them more up to date so I repainted the bandanas for Donnie, Leo and Mikey.

Finally, here are the two versions of Michelangelo and both versions of Raphael. Another thing to notice is the difference in height between the bases. I am not a fan of slottabases but I have so many figures glued on them it would be a nightmare to change them now. My preferred bases are either flat plastic or wooden MDF bases and you'll see more and more of my figures glued on them in the future. It is highly unlikely I will ever use my Dark Horse Ninja Turtles in a game, although a scenario in which some mad scientist villain has a shrink ray may be a good way to use them. There is no way I'll be getting rid of them, because they must be worth a nice sum nowadays.
Incidentally, I forgot to mention that the My Way Ninja Turtles cost 11 Euros each or you can get all four for 36 Euros, which is what I did. An alternative is to get all four figures plus a scenic sewer base for just 40 Euros. You can find details of their complete range here - http://mywayminiatures.com/
I have just placed an order for the Ninja Turtles' ally, Casey Jones, as well as the main villains of the Turtles, Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady and a horde of Foot Clan Ninjas, all based on Andy's recommendations, i.e. figures from Greebo Games and Crossover Miniatures. As soon as I get them they'll be jumping to the front of my painting queue. Turtle power!

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Ainsty Castings Assorted Weird West Figures

March 12, 2016, 4:14 am

≫ Next: EM4 Pre-painted Wild West Figures

≪ Previous: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Heroes 02

I have mentioned on my blog before that I am keen to get into Wild West skirmish gaming and to that end I already have the two Shadows of Brimstone(SoB) board-game starter sets and the THW Weird West rules supplement, High Moon, both of which I reviewed on my blog earlier. See here for SoB and here for High Moon. Obviously, I got a bunch of figures with the two SoB sets but what else do I have in the way of Weird or Wild West figures? The answer to that is loads of figures, but sadly most need re-basing and re-painting. They were bought many years ago. Some are over 40 years old! However, I have started to actively collect more modern manufactured miniatures, starting with these two sets from Ainsty Castings Weird West range, which I bought earlier this year.

These three figures shown directly above and below are from set WW01 The Good Guys 1 and consist of a gunfighter, a townsman and an Indian princess. The gunfighter is armed with twin Colt .45 revolvers and could just as easily be used as an outlaw. Indeed, Ainsty have named him as Billy the Kid, but I won't be using him as such. My preferred choice is as a generic gunfighter. I do wonder why Ainsty would class such a notorious outlaw as a "good guy?"

The townsman is named Abe on Ainsty's webstore, after Abraham Lincoln, whom students of the occult will know was secretly a vampire hunter! What? Have you never seen the film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? I'm more likely to use him as a townsman, possibly a doctor, which is why my version doesn't really look like the former U.S, president. He is armed with a hefty axe.
The title "Indian Princess" does not sit well with me. I see her more of a squaw, warrior or scout. SoB features an Indian Scout character as one of the heroes and provides a figure for the male version but not the female version. She'd fit that role admirably. She is armed with a hunting knife.

The next set, WW02 Bad Guys 1, shows why these are described as Weird West as opposed to Wild West figures. They contain a Victorian vampire, a werewolf and a zombie (mislabelled a mummy on Ainsty's webstore). Rules for all three types of villains appear in the High Moon supplement, making these a "must have" buy if you own this set of rules.

All six figures are very well sculpted and were a lot of fun to paint. I can use all of them in High Moon, but only the good guys and the zombie in SoB. Rules for vampires and werewolves in SoB don't exist for this game at the time of writing.
Sets WW01 and WW02 cost £7.50 each or you can do what I did and order set WW03 Good Guys and Bad Guys which contains both sets for the reduced price of £14.00, saving you a quid. Expect to see more Weird West and Wild West posts on my blog in the future.

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EM4 Pre-painted Wild West Figures

March 15, 2016, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: THW - Six Gun Sound Rulebook

≪ Previous: Ainsty Castings Assorted Weird West Figures

Anyone starting out on collecting 28mm scale figures for Wild West gaming faces a wide choice of suitable figures from assorted manufacturers they can buy from. One company that may not be immediately apparent is UK-based EM4 Miniatures. What I particularly like about their two Wild West boxed sets is that their figures come pre-painted to a very high standard, making them ideal starter figures. I bought both sets just last month, despite the fact that I've been after them for a very long time.

OWH1 Old West Heroes Set 1 contains the following five figures shown from left to right in the two photos directly above and below - a dapper sheriff armed with a pistol, a no-nonsense gambler armed with a holstered pistol, a poncho-wearing gun-slinger armed with twin holstered pistols, an overweight Mexican bandit armed with a double-barrelled scatter-gun and a plains Indian warrior armed with a rifle and tomahawk.

All I did to them was add sand and gravel to their bases and then paint the bases. Nothing more needed doing to them. What a lovely, refreshing change! By the way, the slottabases provided with both sets were hexagonal-shaped, I replaced them with 25mm diameter circular bases.

OWH2 Old West Heroes 2 contains the following five figures shown from left to right in the two photos directly above and below - a "soiled dove" saloon girl armed with a pistol, a grizzly mountain man armed with a knife and buffalo gun, a simple farmer armed with a rifle, a deputy sheriff armed with a pistol and a Negro buffalo soldier armed with a pistol.

I repainted the trousers of the buffalo soldier as I felt they were too dark and I also painted the turn-ups of the jeans worn by the deputy. Once again, I textured then painted the bases.
These two sets contain a nice cross section of character types and in my opinion, there isn't a bad one amongst them. I particularly like the Mexican bandit and the mountain man. The fact that they are all pre-painted is a huge plus and a great time saver, even for someone like me. That they are so well painted is just the icing on the cake. I doubt if I could have done such a good paint job on them or chosen these colour schemes, not that I'm criticising the colour schemes (apart from the buffalo soldier's trousers, which I didn't like).
Set OWH1 costs £12.25 for all five figures. £2.45 per figure is not bad value for such well painted figures. However, I do have a complaint to make about set OWH2. It costs £15.30. The reason it costs a lot more is that it was "supposed" to include a CD of simple skirmish rules and floor plans for a Wild West town for you to print out. My set did not contain this extra CD. I resented paying extra for something that wasn't there. That said, the rules are very basic (just 4 pages long) and not that good and I certainly would not have used them or the floor plans either. I have seen both on-line and was far from impressed by them. So, I don't really miss them. It's just the principle of paying for something that should have been included but wasn't that rankles me. Incidentally, both sets also come with five different coloured d20 dice, with skull symbols replacing the number 1's.

This is the floor plan that should have been included with set OWH2.

EM4 used to sell a lot of pre-painted boxed figure sets but I have noticed over the past years that their ranges are dwindling and are not being restocked. The moral of this story would seem to be, buy them whilst they are available, because if you wait too long they may well be gone for good. It is such a shame that these sets are not being restocked. I'm only too glad I bought so many of them when I did.

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THW - Six Gun Sound Rulebook

March 19, 2016, 4:03 am

≫ Next: Deep Cut Studio - Steppe Terrain Mat

≪ Previous: EM4 Pre-painted Wild West Figures

The front cover of the new version.

Six Gun Sound(SGS) by Two Hour Wargames has only just recently been updated and re-released. These are my "go to" rules for Wild West skirmish gaming and I rate them very highly. SGS version 2.0 has a lot to live up to as I always thought version 1.0 (aka Blaze of Glory) was one of the best, if not the best, supplements ever produced by THW.
The first thing I noticed about the new version was that it was a lot slimmer - a page count of 60 compared to 108 for Blaze of Glory. That's almost half as many pages. Hmm, not a promising start. However, it is the content that really matters and that's what I'll concentrate on. The new rules share a lot in common with both the old rules and the recently released supplement, High Moon (minus the Weird West stuff, of course).
Characters can be one of three Classes - Cowboy, Gunman or Townsfolk. Each Class comes with its own Attribute. This is a new rule now and one that I approve of. For Cowboy it is Brawler. (Counts a +1d6 bonus when rolling on the Melee Table). For Gunman it is Marksman. (Can roll twice when rolling on the Ranged Combat Table, counting the best result, but only when firing one shot). For Townsfolk it is Slow to React. (Counts a -1d6 penalty when taking the In Sight and Draw! Tests).
Each Class is furthered defined by one of seven professions. You get to choose from the lists. Cowboys can be a Buffalo Hunter, a Cowboy (obviously!), a Deputy, a Gambler, a Homesteader, a Mountain Man or a Prospector. Gunmen can be a Bounty Hunter, a Gunslinger, a Marshal, an Outlaw, a Ranger, a Sheriff or a Warrior. Townsfolk can be a Citizen, a Greenhorn, a Merchant, a Preacher, a Saloon Staff, a Trades Person or a Villager. I noticed there wasn't a profession for the 7th Cavalry but you can easily class them as Rangers, who function very similarly.
Stars are allowed to have three Attributes - their Class Attribute and two others (choose one and roll for the other) and Grunts may have their Class Attribute and one more Attribute (randomly chosen). Reputation (Rep) defines a character by means of experience, morale and motivation and is rated from 3 to 6+, with 3 being the lowest permitted. Characters can advance beyond Rep:6 but they are extremely rare. Rep is the stat that is used the most often. It is recommended that Stars start at Rep:5.
The actual game rules in SGS are pretty much the same as in other current THW supplements, meaning they are simple and quick to play once you understand how the reaction system works. THW games are not normal IGOUGO games. Reactions play a major part in deciding who does what and when. The Quick Reference Tables have been drastically cut down and kept to a minimum. It was very noticeable to me that the new rules have been greatly simplified from the original game. One thing that Blaze of Glory did differently to any other THW product was provide very detailed rules for combat. Ranged Combat featured Hit Location Charts for shooting various parts of the body. Cover also played a more important role in deciding what body parts could be hit. There were even Hit Location Charts for horses. In short, the original rules were highly detailed and I loved that extra detail. I can understand why version 2.0 has dropped them, to speed up game play, but they were a big reason why I loved the original rules so much. I will probably still use the original Hit Location rules in future games of Six Gun Sound.
Gone too are the Skills like Sand (coolness under fire), Toughness (both physical and mental), Riding (aka horsemanship) and Driving (specifically wagons). Now Rep (Reputation) covers them all, which is kind of boring but much quicker. Once again, I'd prefer to keep the old Skills.
Moving on, the latter half of the book covers individual scenarios, called Encounters, and campaign rules. There are five Encounters listed - Carousing, Confrontation, Raid/Rescue, Riding the Trail and Robbery. Carousing can not occur out of town and Riding the Trail cannot occur in town. An optional Encounter that can only be played if the circumstances dictate it is the Jail Break. A campaign can take place anywhere in North America in the 19th Century and need not be tied to just one location, although that is also an option. Once again, I look back at the campaign rules in Blaze of Glory and they were far more detailed. They were split into six types based on profession - Cowboy, Gunfighter, Marshal, Outlaw, Ranger and Sheriff with the Cowboy campaign being by far the most detailed and hardest. To be fair, THW seem to have realised this and the first new supplement for the updated version of Six Gun Sound will be Range War, due out later this year. Hopefully, this will cover much of the missing Cowboy Campaign rules from Blaze of Glory. They really were very good!
One rule which has been discarded from the original rules was how to place enemy figures on the board. Incredibly, this used a deck of playing cards to determine who went where. I'm glad it has been dropped.

A true blast from the past!

By now, you're probably under the impression that I much prefer the version 1.0 rules to version 2.0 rules and in many ways you'd be right. I miss the extra detail from the old rules. Blaze of Glory reminded my very much of GURPS Old West, the first set of Wild West rules that I used with my 28mm scale figures. It also reminded me of The Old West Skirmish Wargames rules (printed in 1975. See right for the cover) which were the first Wild West rules I ever played. That was way back in the days during the 1980's when I gamed with 54mm scale figures and scenery. Both rulebooks used Hit Location Tables, which for me, is what makes Wild West skirmish games so unique. I grew up with them, and when they're not included I miss them.
However, I am not going to criticise the new version of SGS for being too simple. As I said, I fully understand why Ed has made the changes in the new book. Many gamers want simpler rules and faster game play. There's nothing wrong with that and in that respect the new version deserves the highest praise. Just because I like extra detail in my games does not make the book inherently at fault. It has a specific audience and it surely caters to them extremely well. I'm only too pleased that I own both versions so that I can cherry pick the best parts from both books to suit my own style of play.
Six Gun Sound can be ordered from the THW webstore for $20 for a PDF version or for $22 for a printed version. Order the print version and you get the PDF version for free. In addition, you can download a set of Wild West building floor plans for free from the same webstore. They measure 11" by 17" and feature over 10 different buildings. I prefer 3D model buildings but free is free so I downloaded them anyway.

I have big plans ahead of me for Wild West and Weird West gaming. It'll take time. These things always do. But I have made a start and I'm committed to making it happen. I have the rules I need - Six Gun Sound, High Moon and Shadows of Brimstone. I need to build up my collection of figures although I have enough already to make a good start. But most of all I need 3D scenery. Lots of it! At present I only have one 28mm scale Wild West building - a Stoelzel's Structure barn that I reviewed on my blog here
My future options are -

Make lots of card and/or foam-board models. Carl Stoelzel's Final Frontier set is the perfect place to start. I already own it and lots of other Wild West card models on my computer but they need printing out and making.
Buy pre-painted MDF models and make them. 4Ground are the number one company for pre-painted buildings and scenery but they are very expensive. Some of their bigger buildings cost over £100!
Buy unpainted MDF models, make them and paint them myself. Both Sarissa and TTCombat have a good range of Wild West buildings and scenery at reasonable prices.
Go for a combination of the above - mix and match.

Option 1 is by far the cheapest but also the most time consuming. Option 2 is the most expensive, although, to be fair, the 4Ground models are absolutely superb. If money was no object, I'd certainly choose this option. Option 3 will be cheaper than Option 2 but less time consuming than Option 1. However, Option 4 is the one I'll most likely settle on. By mixing card buildings with pre-painted and painted by me MDF buildings I'll be able to come up with something uniquely mine. We'll see how it goes. Watch this space!

Please note that my Weird West and Wild West posts now have their own Page links which you can access from the top of my blog.

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Deep Cut Studio - Steppe Terrain Mat

March 23, 2016, 2:50 am

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≪ Previous: THW - Six Gun Sound Rulebook

The Deep Cut Studio Steppe Terrain Mat measuring 4' by 4'.

As you will know from my previous posts I am now actively pursuing my passion for Wild West gaming. I mentioned last time that I had the rules I wanted to use, a small collection of 28mm scale figures and a pitiful amount of scenery and buildings. But there was one thing I neglected to mention - some kind of gaming board on which I could play my games. Admittedly, I have the card tiles that come with the two starter sets for Shadows of Brimstone, but they are only of use for mines and/or other world exploration. I had nothing for encounters in town or out on the wide open plains.
So I started looking for solutions. One option would have been to use the card terrain from the World Works Games set - Streets of Blood. I use card terrain gaming boards from Stoelzel's Structures and World Works Games for my contemporary urban games. But I knew this would be a very time consuming process and I wanted a simpler solution. A while ago I stumbled across a website selling terrain mats. That site was run by Deep Cut Studios - see here - http://www.deepcutstudios.com/ My search was over. Now I just had to decide which mat was most appropriate for my needs. Because they are expensive I wanted something that would give me the most "bang for my buck" i.e. something that I could use for multiple settings, not just the Wild West. So, I chose the Steppe mat from their large range of designs. This is such a generic design that it can be used in so many settings and genres and it suits my needs perfectly. When you come to order your mat you have two decisions to make after you've chosen your desired terrain - material and size.

Close up detail of the Steppe mat.

More close up detail of the Steppe mat

The mats come in a choice of three materials - PVC, Cloth and Mouse-pad. The features of the PVC mat are -
– Made from high durability PVC
– Non textured gaming surface with a high quality printed picture
– Resistant to scratch and tear as well as dirt stains
– Compatible with water based pens
– Shipping tubes can be used as easy storage
– The choice for a sturdy and cost friendly battlefield

Further close up detail of the Steppe mat.

PVC is the cheapest option available.

If you opt for a Cloth mat its features are -
– Made from lightweight synthetic cloth
– The paints are soaked into the material and will never scratch or fade off
– Can be machine washed or ironed with steam
– The choice for an ultra-portable battlefield
Cloth is more expensive than PVC but cheaper than Mouse-pad.

Finally, the features of a Mouse-pad mat are -
– Made from synthetic cloth with a 2mm thick rubber foam backing
– The paints are soaked into the material and will never scratch or fade off
– Non slippery backing to keep the mat on the table
– Instant matt flatness and smooth gaming surface
– Soft rubber foam allows you to pick up cards easy and roll the dice without a sound
– The choice for a premium gaming table
This is the most expensive option but also the best. It is the option that I chose. Note, that if you want, the mat can be manufactured with any size grid or hexes as well as tailored to a custom size table. This will, however, cost you extra. I just wanted my mat to be left gridless.

The mats come in a choice of three sizes - 3' by 3', 4' by 4' and 4' by 6'. I chose the 4' by 4' option for my mat. Mouse-pad mats are becoming more and more popular. The gaming mats used by Battle Systems for their Urban Apocalypse, Fantasy and Sci-fi sets are 2' by 2' Mouse-pads. I'll be getting a load of them when they start delivering their Urban Apocalypse terrain for their recent Kickstarter this summer. Mantic Games are offering 52cm square Mouse-pad mats for their The Walking Dead game as an alternative to their paper mats. I have one already for the Mantic Games Mars Attack game.
As I said earlier, I wanted a gaming mat that was versatile. Obviously, my Steppe Terrain Mat will see most use in Wild West games. It is good enough for encounters in town or out on the plains. I can also use it for rural settings for post-apocalypse games like All Things Zombie, contemporary games like 7TV2e, sci-fi games like the Cursed Earth setting for Judge Dredd or something entirely different like perhaps, an Antediluvian Adventures setting featuring cavemen and dinosaurs. There are endless possibilities.
The 4' by 4' Mouse-pad Steppe Terrain Mat that I bought cost £43.90 plus £9.90 for post and packing. Yes, it is expensive but is, I believe, a worthwhile investment that will last me a lifetime.

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Swords of Sorrow: The Complete Saga TPB

March 26, 2016, 2:53 am

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I have reviewed books before on my blog (mainly novels) but I have never before reviewed a Graphic Novel (GN) or Trade Paperback (TPB). Until now. Some of you may know that I'm comic collecting geek, although my tastes are far from mainstream. Naturally, my favourite comic heroine is Vampirella. I tend to prefer comics featuring the so called "bad girls" of the comics industry - Bomb Queen, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chastity, Harley Quinn, Lady Death, Purgatori, She-Hulk and Zombie Tramp, being the main ones. I'm also a huge fan of the 2000AD comic and almost all of their stories. And for sheer quirkiness I love the Girl Genius books. The hugely popular comic heroes such as Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Spiderman, Wolverine, X-Men and the big franchises like Star Wars and Transformers have little to no appeal to me, although I am aware of them. I have often thought of doing a blog about comics and graphic novels that I like in much the same way as Blaxkleric does so superbly with The Brown Bag but I fear it would attract even fewer readers than Simon's. All of this is just a preamble to let you know where I stand when it comes to comics, GNs and TPBs. I like them a lot!
Swords of Sorrow: The Complete Saga is an epic book, and I do mean EPIC! It runs to 530 pages, of which 503 is story, and features all 21 issues of Dynamite Entertainment's biggest crossover event to date. The actual Swords of Sorrow story itself only took up six issues but it also featured many spin-off mini-series and one-shots. I only collected the six issue main series and the four issue mini-series featuring Vampirella. So, much of this TPB was new to me. It was written by Gail Simone with help on the mini-series and one-shots from Emma Bebby, Nancy A. Collins, Mikki Kendall, Leah Moore, Erica Schultz, Mairghread Scott and G. Willow Wilson, and featuring artwork by Sergio Davila (main series), Dave Acosta, Mirka Andolfo, Ronilson Freire, Francesco Manna, Rod Rodolfo, Noah Salonga and Crizam Zamora!

The good trio - Dejah Thoris, Red Sonja and Vampirella

THE STORY. A mysterious woman known only as The Traveller journeys across time, space and dimensions, bestowing magical ebony blades (the eponymous Swords of Sorrow) to a trio of female adventurers - Dejah Thoris, Red Sonja and Vampirella. Her mission is to prepare a last line of defence against the Prince of All Universes, a lovelorn despot with the power to shatter realities. To further aid the heroic trio, the Traveller also enlists the aid of other mighty women such as Athena, Black Sparrow, Eva (Daughter of Dracula), Irene Adler, Jane Porter (aka Lady Greystoke), Jennifer Blood, Jana the Jungle Girl, Kato, Lady Rawhide, Lady Zorro, Masquerade, Miss Fury, Pantha, Red and Voodoo Childe. These women were also given magical blades. United by the Swords of Sorrow, these spirited women must face not only the Prince's powerful Shard Men, but such agents of Chaos as Bad Kitty, Chastity, Mistress Hel and Purgatori.
The heroines are recruited in diverse pairs, which we as readers get to know more about through the one-shot issues and mini-series. These teams-ups feature in alphabetical order, Black Sparrow and Lady Zorro (one-shot), the Chaos Quartet prequel (one shot), Dejah Thoris and Irene Adler (3 part mini-series), Masquerade and Kato (one-shot), Miss Fury and Lady Rawhide (one-shot), Pantha and Jane Porter (one-shot), Red Sonja and Jungle Girl (3 part mini-series) and Vampirella and Jennifer Blood (4 part mini-series).

The bad quartet - Bad Kitty, Purgatori, Mistress Hel and Chastity

From the introduction to the book, Gail Simone writes, "You will notice these stories run concurrently and some issues take place in small moments during others. So you may ask: How do I go about reading this? We have presented the saga in the order that the issues were published to preserve continuity. This way, you will read the story as it originally unfolded, and won't come to the end of one series and have to backtrack by starting another. This is how we recommend reading this story... at least the first time."This works perfectly fine for me although I have read some folk criticising the book for being too confusing. Nah! It isn't!
THE VERDICT. I bloody well loved it! Yes, every single page! In fact, I'd go so far to say that this is one of the best TPBs I have ever read! Obviously, my main focus was upon Vampirella and she was well served in terms of screen time, scripting and artwork. The team up between Vampi and Jennifer Blood worked extremely well. Jennifer, by the way, is very much a female version of the Punisher from Marvel Comics. Some of the team-ups seemed a little odd, like Dejah Thoris and Irene Adler, but worked surprisingly well. What made this series work so brilliantly was the quality of the writing. Gail collected the best female writers in the business and got them to pull out all the stops, making full use of their talent and energy. Obviously with so many artists working on the series the artwork varies but thankfully, none of it is sub-standard. Overall, the quality is good to very good. Going back to Gail's introduction, she wrote, "for THIS crossover, I didn't want the usual boring stuff. I wanted a rough and tumble, fun and sexy, scary and action-packed classic epic. Subtlety be damned. I wanted something that felt like the creators of all these characters got together in a room after a three-day bender and just JAMMED. So that's what we did. We assembled a team of the best writers and artists we could find and just threw every firecracker we could right into the gunpowder factory. I hope you like it."Oh, I did! I liked it very much! In fact I like it enough to award it a 9 out of 10 rating. Why not a 10 out of 10? The artwork, whilst uniformly good, could have been improved by a higher calibre of artists. That said, I have no hesitation in recommending this TPB to any one with even a passing interest in comics. Ultimately though, how much you will want to buy this will depend very much on how you feel about the characters portrayed within its pages and also your feelings on "girl power." This book is ALL about girl power and I certainly don't have a problem with that!
Swords of Sorrow: The Complete Saga costs £22.50 from Amazon UK but I suggest you do what I did and check out the list of sellers offering new or old copies on behalf of Amazon. I got a new copy for just £12, saving me over a tenner from the official Amazon price. That was an absolute bargain for such a hefty tome!

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Vampifan's Views 77 - Monthly Musings 52

March 30, 2016, 2:58 am

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≪ Previous: Swords of Sorrow: The Complete Saga TPB

A new month and once again I start with a wonderful painting of the gorgeous Vampirella by Joe Jusko. This busy montage shows Vampirella surrounded by some of her allies and enemies from the regular comic series.

On 18th March 2009 I wrote the introduction to this very blog. Seven years later and it is still going as strong as ever. Happy birthday! Back then I only posted once a week. Now I regularly post twice a week. I have enough material to keep on going indefinitely. This seems like a perfect opportunity to tell you of big changes that are afoot. I am seriously thinking of upping the frequency of my posts but will be launching a new blog to run alongside this one. It's all early days yet and is still in the planning stages but I hope it will happen and I'm keen for it to happen. The new blog will be dedicated to all things Chibi and more importantly, will be run as a joint venture with a good friend of mine, Steve Gilbert. I know that some of you don't appreciate the whole Chibi genre whilst others love it. It's kind of a Marmite thing. Anyway, I happen to feel that the Chibi side of my hobby should be kept separate from my normal gaming. Vampifan's World of the Undead will continue in its current format with its emphasis on all things undead, including reviews of books, figures, games and scenery, and of course, batreps. The Chibi blog will initially concentrate on Super Dungeon Explore by Steve and me, Chibi World by Steve and Ninja All Stars by me. My tentative plan is to post the Chibi blog every Monday and my Undead blog on Wednesdays or Thursdays and on Saturdays. Watch this space for further news and launch announcement.

Hobby-wise, March has been another good month for me. In my humble opinion, the best figure I painted and converted this month was a Chibi Vampirella. She is soooooooo cute! She won't be appearing on this blog but will most likely be one of the first things I review on the new Chibi blog. I also managed to paint another 18 Zombicide: Black Plague zombies and I'm well on the way to painting 15 Crossover Miniatures Ninjas as Foot Clan Ninjas to use against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also on my painting table are a small bunch of 6 Black Scorpion Tombstone figures for use in my Weird West and Wild West games. My Weird/Wild West project will be ongoing throughout the year but will progress at a more leisurely pace so as to avoid burn out and indeed to avoid spending too much in one go. I'll spend a little bit on it each month as I slowly add to my figures and scenery collections. Getting the Deep Cut Studios mouse-pad steppe terrain mat earlier this month was a big step forward.

I am backing the new Hollywood Havoc Kickstarter project by Studio Miniatures, which runs to Sunday 3rd of April 2016. Thankfully, it's not as costly as some Kickstarters I've backed. I'm in for less than £50 so far. Late add-ons may push that up slightly. We'll see. The Walking Dead Kickstarter by Mantic Games was successfully funded and came to a close at the start of this month. $685,853 of a $50,000 starter goal was raised, making it Mantic's most successful Kickstarter to date. I backed it heavily but the free stretch goals on offer made it extremely attractive financially. I backed it for $205 but for that I'm getting well over $400 worth of product!

Next month will be cops and robbers month. I'll be reviewing lots of 1970's and 1980's style cops and villains miniatures from Crooked Dice Games and Killer B Games. These posts will be the prelude to my début 7TV2e batrep. To get myself in the right frame of mind I have been watching my DVD boxed sets of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, as well as The Sweeney films. Such fun and all the better for being totally politically incorrect! As the great DCI Gene Hunt once said as he prepared to lead his team on a raid, "A word about police brutality. I want lots of it!"

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