Sunday 30 September 2012

Vampifan's Views 29 - Monthly Musings 14

Vampirella by Greg Horn
This has been a busy month for me. Playtesting on the ATZ Final Fade Out rules has come to a stop, and like everyone else, I am now just waiting for the rules to be published. In my last Monthly Musings I said that I wanted to give my old ATZ Better Dead Than Zed campaign a proper send off. Well I have, and oh boy, what an ending! I played the final scenario of the campaign, called "Sunny's Revenge," last week and it was one of the shortest games of ATZ that I have ever played. It was all over in four turns! I'm saying no more about it (yeah, I know, tease!) but I will post the batrep very soon, probably next Wednesday.
The new Final Fade Out campaign will take place in an alternate universe to the BDTZ campaign. Some characters will have the same name and use the same figure as appeared in the old campaign but they will differ in many other ways. Providing that FFO is released in the next few weeks, I'd like to start my new campaign in November but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Once I do get the rulebook there will be a lot of prep work to do.

Work continues slowly on my Stoelzel's Structures Warehouse model. On the painting front I finished painting the latest zombies and survivors from Studio Miniatures, the new zombie nurses from Grekwood Miniatures and the Victory Force armed office workers that Ernie Huff sent me a couple of months ago. I am currently painting my third batch of 25 zombies from the first Victory Force Zombie Horde. Coming up with colour schemes is the hardest part of painting civilians and zombies. Clothes catalogues and Google image searches are a big help. Just recently I made my final choice of figures for the Studio Miniatures/Indiegogo plastic zombies deal (I pledged $100) and for the Reaper/Kickstarter deal (I initially pledged $300 but ended up spending $378!). God alone knows when I'll find the time to paint that lot!

I have recently read a couple of excellent novels by Rhiannon Frater, who wrote the As The World Dies trilogy, which I rated very highly. The Last Bastion of the Living is another zombie apocalypse novel but this time set about a century in the future. This stand-alone novel is part horror, part sci-fi and part love story. I liked it a lot and I may do a full review soon. The second of her novels that I read was Pretty When She Dies, the first part of a vampire trilogy that was just superb. I can't wait for parts two (out later this year) and part three (out next year) but I'm going to have to. I am currently working my way through the Rizzoli and Isles series of crime novels by Tess Gerritsen. There are ten in the series and I'm up to volume 4. The first TV series featuring the homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles is released on DVD towards the end of this month. I will be buying it. The stories are in a similar vein to Bones, of which I am a big fan.

I've had another good month at the cinema, with four films seen. In order of viewing they were Brave, a very funny Pixar animated comedy. Billy Connolly was in it and for me, that's usually good enough reason for me wanting to watch it. The man is a comedy genius. Zombies vs Cockneys was exactly what it says it is. There are a lot of very funny scenes in this comedy/horror that had me laughing out loud. I'll certainly be buying the DVD version when it is released. Sticking with the Cockney theme, I then saw The Sweeney and I was pleased to see that it was as good as the TV series, which I adored. My film of the year was Dredd 3D, which more than made up for the turkey that was Judge Dredd from 1996. I have been collecting the 2000AD comic since issue 1 (it is now up to issue 1802!) and Judge Dredd is one of my favourite strips and character. This film more than lived up to my expectations, which I must admit, were very high. Judge Dredd and PSI Judge Anderson were just superb, played respectively by Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby. It was action-packed, brutal, violent and everything that a Dredd movie should be. I do hope this is the start of a major movie franchise. Tomorrow, I'm planning on going to see Resident Evil: Retribution. All praise St. Milla!

That's all for this month. Do look out for my final ATZ-BDTZ batrep in my next post. It may just surprise you!

30 comments:

  1. Lots going on then Bryan. Wow you will have a lot todo when the Reaper stuff lands on your door mat with a thump.

    I'm surprise you've not gone in with Judge Dredd kick Starter by Mongoose Publishing. Seems Interesting

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    1. I know that I spent far more on the Reaper stuff than I intended but they had so many amazing offers that I just couldn't resist. I'll be getting over 250 figures and some of them are really BIG beasties.The Jodge Dredd Kickstarter deals didn't impress me as much as the Reaper deal. I will end up buying most of the stuff on offer but from the webstore when they are released.

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  2. That's quite a lot going on. ATZ-FFO (waiting now) yes I shall get it part curiosity and partly concerned about changing rules AGAIN!

    Not been to the cinema for about 8 years. But I will watch Judge Dredd but will have to wait for the DVD, (lon live chief Judge Cal! opps!)

    I have wondered about the kickstarters but never pledges anything as it all seems to be in dollar$ and I am a skeptic by nature, wanting to make sure it is not in anyway a "con" of some type. I am sure they are mostly legit, but that voice in the back of my mind.... keeps my hand on my wallet. SO let me know how it all goes and if you end up happy with the purchase.

    All the best Clint

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    1. Regarding THW changing the rules for ATZ again, I am assured by Ed that FFO will be the ultimate edition. The clue is in the word "Final" of Final Fade Out.

      Long live Chief Judge Cal? Are you insane, man? That's treasonous talk!!

      I have no doubt that the Kickstarter and Indiegogo deals are genuine. It's not as if these are their first deals. Both companies do have proven track records, so I am happy to support them.

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  3. Sunny....That bastard!!!

    I am looking forward to this report mate!!!!

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    1. Sunny the bastard! Oh, yes! Just wait until you see the upcoming batrep! Then I'd like to see your comments.

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  4. This was an excellent wrap up for the month. I'm always excited to see what you're reading, and enjoying.

    I have an odd question for you whose answer might benefit more ATZ players. If you were to come up with some ratios for you models what would they be? I mean; about how many zombies to civilians, to military, to gangers would you suggest? I have a quirky project going that needs a bit of guidance, and I can think of no one better to ask for help from.

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    1. I'm very glad that you enjoyed my Monthly Musings, Varangian.

      Your question is an interesting one. You're always going to need more zombies than anyone else. So I'd say for every 10 zombies, use 2 civilians, 3 gangers and 1 military and/or police. These are not the ratio of figures that I own but what I feel would be representative after a few months of a zombie apocalypse. It's a tough one to answer accurately so I'm just going with speculation on my part.

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    2. It's incredibly helpful to have an idea as a starting point. From here I can tweak as needed, and that's a huge help. As you've played it so much more than most players I think you're likely to have a solid grasp on what'll be needed, even if you'd never sat down to figure out numbers before now.

      With all of that said, I'll say the most important bit now: Thank you!

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    3. I'm only too glad that I am able to help you out, my friend. Please keep us all informed about your "quirky project."

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  5. I was very close to getting in on the Reaper set. In a better economic situation I probably would have, but I managed to resist. There were some great models in there, but I remain a little skeptical of the material used. I will most likley pick some of them up once they are released individually I assume.

    Can't wait for FFO to be released, I'm just about ready for it, haha.

    Also glad to hear Zombies vs Cockneys was worthwhile. I'll keep an eye out for it on dvd.

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    1. I admit that I am lucky to be able to spend so much on my hobby, Adam. I have heard that the Reaper plastics do paint well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that is the case.

      FFO can't come too soon for me!

      I'll certainly be buying Cockneys vs Zombies when it is released on DVD. It was such a hoot!

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  6. Love the update. I too am thinking of evloving my campaign. Back to where I initally wanted it to go before 'the game' took over. Love tis month's Vampirilla picture!

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    1. I would do it, Irqan, and play the game that you want to play.

      Greg Horn is a very talented artist but this is the only Vampirella portrait that he painted.

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  7. Sounds to me like you've been taking it easy!

    Looking forward though to the final confrontation of Vampifan and Sunny and seeing what you do with your new campaign.

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    1. Yeah, i know what you mean, Joe. Slacker, huh?! I really should pull my finger out! :)

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  8. Look forward to the batrep, and it sounds like you saw some nice movies.

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    1. Thanks TE. I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed all four movies that I saw at the cinema this month. Not a turkey amongst them - just sheer entertainment!

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  9. I don't like Killer Klown! I don't like Killer Klown! Only four turns? Wow!

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  10. What a busy little Vampifan you are! Looking forward to the batrep, sure you can't post it Sunday? :)

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    1. Be patient, young Padawan! I can promise you that the batrep will appear this Wednesday.

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  11. I had just seen the trailer for Zombies vs Cockneys, and glimpsing Alan Ford's performance has me sold to see this one very soon. Dredd, was also spectacular, and has me wanting to get in on the Mongoose Kickstarter just to get a few Dredd figs to paint. There fist edition Dredd box is still sitting with a thick coat of dust on my shelf, definitely finding some new incentive for this.

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    1. Carl, I have to say that Alan Ford's character in Cockneys vs Zombies was my favourite out of the cast.
      The new Mongoose Pat Wagons and Manta Prowl Tank for Judge Dredd have me drooling in anticipation. I have a large collection of JD-based figures (Judges, perps, mutants, civilians and robots) and I'd love to do more gaming in Mega City One again.

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  12. Can't wait to see the painted Victory Force armed office workers and the Killer Clowns!

    Ernie

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    1. Ernie, I must admit that I'm very happy with how the VF armed office workers have turned out. I'll post pics of them ASAP.

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  13. Hi, from spain.

    I like your site. I´m very interested how do you do your buildings, is there any tutorial?

    thanks.

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    1. Hi, Forofo27. There are no tutorials yet, but they are on my "to do" list.

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  14. Sooooo have those studio miniatures arrived yet??? Mine have been intercepted by the Christmas Pixie dagnabbit !!!!!

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    1. I am pleased to say that they arrived earlier this week. To say that I am a happy bunny would be an understatement! It's been a long wait and believe me, I feel your pain, Phil.

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