Vampifan's Views 75 - Monthly Musings 50

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.

1. Zombicide: Black Plague (this fantasy version takes Zombicide to even greater heights - just perfect!)
2. 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.)
3. 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.)
4. Super Dungeon Explore (the game that re-sparked my long dormant interest in fantasy gaming. I immediately fell in love with the Chibi miniatures.)
5. Rum and Bones (at last, after much searching, I found a pirate-themed game that I love.)
6. Ninja All-Stars (more Chibi goodness that is both a stand alone game and a tie in with SDE.)
7. Last Night on Earth (a zombie game with a real B-movie vibe about it, giving it a unique feel.)
8. A Touch of Evil (supernatural horror set at the start of the 19th century in rural America.)
9. Thunderbirds (superb 50th anniversary celebration of a classic TV series.)
10. 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.)
11. Shadows of Brimstone (a Weird Wild West game. Unplayed at present but I just know I'm going to love it.)
12. Arkham Horror (incredibly detailed and atmospheric board-game based on H.P. Lovecraft's Call of the Cthulhu stories.)
13. 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.