Robo-Mule for Space Salvage Games

My local crew has been gamely trying all the recent space salvage rulesets I've foisted upon them (Kosmika, Scrapjacks and soon Legitimate Salvage). So, I thought it only fair to give our intrepid crew of space truckers a bit of help, with the addition of a robotic mule to schlep their gear and hard-won salvage. 

This is a figure from Artificers Mini to which I've added, literally, a load of additional stowage to assist its crew as they delve into the Deep Dark of spooky wrecked starships and abandoned space stations.

Coming up: More Droids!

- Curt

Radioactive Space Zombies!

Continuing on with my Space Salvage diversion, I figure I need to amass some adversaries for my Space Cowboys to face off against. And what better to start that with a group of Radiation Space Zombies! 

These models are 3d prints from Pascal Blanche over at MyMinFactory.

I really like the animation of these guys. They have that herky-jerky menace one often attributes to the undead. 

I decided to try out some fluorescent effects o these fellas, thinking they're driven by some malignant, sentient radiation similar to something in the original Heavy Metal movie (love that flick). 

'Bad Plutonium Nyborg, man...' 

The bases for this project are all metal washers as I wanted the extra weight with these 3d prints. I just tarted them up with bits and bobs of plasticard, clipped tubing and 3d printer supports. 

Next, will be some robotic assistance for our space truckers.

Thanks for popping by!

- Curt

Deep Space Salvage Crew

This spring we see three(!) rulesets being released focusing on the theme of creepy, claustrophobic, salvage work in deep space. Black Site Studios has recently published 'Kosmika'; in early March, Patrick Todoroff's released 'Scrapjacks'; and Will RD has just closed a Kickstarter for the Forbidden Psalm spinoff, 'Legitimate Salvage'.

As one can imagine, all of these rules draw heavily from 1979's  'Alien', which depicts a gritty crew of 'space truckers' being redirected by their corporate paymasters to a mysterious planet to investigate a beacon, where, of course, everything go horribly, horribly wrong. 'Alien' is an all time favourite of mine, with fond memories of being scared out of my wits while watching it, knees to chest, through half closed fingers. Glorious.

So I've been very keen to try these various rules out to see how they do in portraying that balance between space horror, corporate salvage and lo-tech combat. Each of the systems require a very low figure count, which is good as I had no appropriate figures or terrain. This quickly needed to be addressed.

The terrain was easily sorted with an order to the good folks over at TTCombat. I picked out a selection of kits from their 'Chroma' Archology and Refinery ranges. These are all pre-coloured kits, just assemble and you're off. Terrific for those who're not keen on painting MDF terrain after spending hours simply assembling the stuff. Highly recommended.

Stacked examples from TTCombat's 'Chroma' Archology range.

The figures required a bit of spelunking through MyMiniFactory, but I found these excellent designs from Papsikels Miniatures depicting the void suits worn by the 'Nostromo' crew. I just love these designs. So heavy, ponderous and baroque. Even after over 45 years since the film's release, they still look like something one would wear for salvage/exploration in deep space.

For the spacesuits' colours, I tried to keep it similar to the film, with the faded pink for Dallas, yellow for Kane, and the blue Lambert. I also did up a green suit as an extra, as some of the rules allow for larger salvage crews. 

I wanted to mimic the corroded verdigris seen on the original helmets, armoured shoulders and chest plates, so tried out the AK Verdigris paint set, which, with two simple steps, worked a treat. Recommended if you want to go for a similar effect for bells and old brass fittings.

I'll follow-up with more figures (flora and fauna) along with a few short reviews on the rules as we play through them.

Thanks for popping by!

- Curt

Some Sci-Fi Rogues

Hi All!

I stutter-steped with these guys at the beginning of the Painting Challenge back in December, and they've been waiting on their paint holders, half done, balefully staring at me, willing me to pick them up to get them across the line. So, I finally relented, and here they are, done.

These rogues can fit in for a multitude of sci-fi skirmish games (Five Parsecs from Home, Kill Sample Process, Galactic Heroes, etc.). A cast of characters from Sci-Fi Central Casting.

This yellow-spotted green alien dude is from Knucklebone Miniatures. 

The sculpt is great (love the re-breather and chunky blaster), but I found that my initial colour blocking really sucked. Nonetheless, the vibe finally hit and after a few washes, blends and highlights he staggered into his own. I quite like him now. 

The beastman is another great sculpt (From Imitation of Life). He looks a very capable and no-nonsense kind of fella. Very much the veteran mercenary. 

If I were to do him again, I'd snap off one of his horns midway to give him a more hard-bitten, down-on-his-luck look. 

'Don' and 'Sancho' were must haves for me when I first saw them. Thes are prints from Imitation of Life as well. 

The Quixote figure has this terrific disheveled-but-oddly-regal beard, like much of the art depicting him. I thought I'd make his armour a multicoloured hodgepodge to reflect his somewhat hapless background. I made his visor rose-tinted, which I think is suitable for this particular romantic knight.

I added a power-feed to his rifle as it seemed the thing to do.

As to poor Sancho, I especially like his lugubrious face, seen here faithfully schlepping Quixote's kit without complaint, his BAR rifle as the ready to support his slightly crazed master when needed. 

His pasta strainer helmet and oxygen tank cracks me up.

The gunslinger, also a 3d print from Imitation of Life, is a bit soft in some of his detail, but I think his pose is spot-on.

I think of him as a young desperado, constantly getting into scrapes, eager to make his mark. 

So there you are, five more rogues ready for high-jinx and adventure in the far-off starlanes. 

Thanks for dropping by!

- Curt

Rashaar Warband for 'Carnevale'

Hi Everyone!

A few years back I picked up the starter box for 'Carnevale', you know, as one does when one already has loads of other game systems to play. I'll take a page out of the Orange Toddler's playbook and blame someone else for clearly what I did myself. So, I blame Jamie and David as, over the years, they have posted some wonderfully painted miniatures from the game and I thought, 'Geez. This is essentially parkour street combat in 18th century Venice with some Cthulhu vibes thrown in... Well, pass me an espresso, and take my money!'

So here are my efforts with one of the factions: The Rashaar. 

The Rashaar unashamedly draw upon Lovecraft's Innsmouth creepy-watery mythology of Father Dagon, Mother Hydra and their Deep Ones. So lots of aquatic nasties to take advantage of Venice's network of canals. The Rashaar are also slavers, so they can call upon the unwilling support of poor unfortunates to assist them in their nefarious plans. A damp, villainous crew to be sure.

I have to say I wasn't really feeling it with these models. That's entirely on me as the models themselves are great. I simply ran out of steam with them. Thankfully they're not very complex, so I managed to get a lot done with the airbrush and some light brushwork.

I think they'll be fine on the tabletop, and they help set a colour palette for any upcoming additions to the faction.

Thanks for dropping by for a peek!

- Curt

More characters for 'Devilry Afoot' - Johann, Felix and a Leprechaun

Hola!

Some may have noticed that I've been a little quiet, and somewhat tardy with updates as of late. Well, Lady Sarah and I and are enjoying a much anticipated vacation to Costa Rica. 

So while my Canadian countrymen, especially those in the Prairies, are enduring the last body-blows that winter has to offer, we, in turn, have been lounging by the pool and enjoying the warm weather. I don't want to gloat, but it's been glorious.

This all being said, before we left for our vacation, I did manage to get a few figures done to help nudge my tally along. Here are a few more figures for 'Devilry Afoot'.

On our way home, we will be stopping in Toronto to visit with Greg and his lovely wife Linda. On top of food, drink and catching-up, I look forward to playing some games with Greg and being complete geeks. One game on our roster is 'Devilry Afoot'. 

Greg has made up a hero for Devilry Afoot, Johann von Saxe. A scholarly priest, a jaded survivor of the Thirty Years War, Johann now wanders the land, hunting monsters and fighting evil where he can. 

This was a 3d print from Michael Evans on MyMiniFactory. A wonderfully expressive figure - nice and chunky. I like how he's slightly stooped, road-weary, but still stolid in his resolve. 'Johann' will be staying with Greg as a thank you for his hospitality during our visit. 

Next is a Leprechaun to serve as a 'Pact Devil'. In 'Devilry Afoot', Pact Devils tempt heroes and NPCs to enter into 'special arrangements'. For NPCs they are simply whisked off to the land of the fae to be the playthings of fairy folk, but to players, Pact Devils will give them boons to help them in their missions. Of course, these boons always come with a price, and they are often quite steep. Fun!

I thought this grinning little trickster, raising a big mug of foamy beer, laying amongst a heap of treasure, an excellent 'pact devil' I think. 3d model by Epic-Miniatures, coin stacks by Metalik Studios.

Finally I offer 'Felix' the faithful, if somewhat incontinent, terrier.

Dogs in 'Devilry Afoot' provide a significant benefit to heroes as they can alert them to threats in the darkness (it's ALWAYS dark in DA), and be a general nuisance to monsters. 

I love the pose of this little fella, especially as, in the game, dogs need to be in base contact with their masters. I thought his pose perfectly lampoons the more posh adventurers who are facing the horrors of 17th century Europe. Fellix, what a good boy!

Thanks for dropping by!

- Curt

Some Villains for 'Devilry Afoot'

Continuing on with my 'Devilry Afoot' dalliance, here are a few Villains and Monsters for our brave heroes to face and overcome (or get made into wet bits scattered about the moors).

First up we have the Count along with three of his brides. These are from Crooked Dice, through their MyMiniFactory store. Lovely models and a joy to paint.

One thing you gotta say about Dracula, the dude's always been solid with the ladies. Look here, three wives! Wow, right?! All at the same time and not at each other's throats... Well, yeah, anyway. Now, I figure you either have to be French, Mormon, or the Prince of the Undead to pull that one off.

The slightly yellow-greenish cast of his skin is on purpose to drive home that he's not entirely human.

Nothing says lady-killa like a purple velvet jacket and red-lined cape.

Devilry Afoot has a profile for 'Bogeymen' with a relatively open interpretation describing them. So, I decided to go with two variations, one a good ole scarecrow (from Reconquer Designs) and the other a creepy AF harlequin/jester (from Bestarium Miniatures). 

The scarecrow was fairly straightforward, but I took a little bit more time with the harlequin as I wanted a more desaturated look to him. He was great fun to work on.

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt