Sunday 29 March 2015

Vampifan's Views 62 - Monthly Musings 40

Miss Vampirella March 2015 - Avery Misuraca
I start this month's musings post with a look at the third of my Vampirella models - Avery Misuraca. Avery was an actress with a deep fascination for the horror genre. She is probably best known as the inspiration behind the character, Countess Vladimira, who appeared in a number of comics of that name in the 1990's. This photo was taken when she was invited by Harris Comics to join their stand at a New York comic convention in 1996. Her costume is very good apart from the garish yellow bat logo over her crotch. It should be gold and the wings should be much shorter. On her right wrist she has a plastic bat bracelet which doesn't impress me much. It looks cheap and naff. Although you can't tell from this particular photo, she is wearing strappy high heel shoes, which is just so wrong for Vampirella. Still, I can't fault her looks. Physically, she certainly looks the part.




Moving on to hobby news, this has been another very busy month for me. I have finally finished painting my Super Dungeon Explore figures by doing the Rocktop Turtle Gang from the Caverns of Roxor expansion set. So that ends my foray into Chibi miniatures for a while. I know this will please some of you. Currently on my painting table are a real mix of figures - 5 Reaper contemporary Survivors, an ultra rare Zombicide Survivor and Zombivor (Kyoko, whom I bought from e-Bay just last week), 5 Zombicide Toxic Zombies (an Abomination and 4 Fatties), 4 A Touch of Evil Heroes, 1 Rackham Wolfen and 1 Mantic Deadzone Plague Demon. The last two were gifts from my good friend, Lord Siwoc. I recently bought the two Zombicide paint sets and so, naturally, I am using them to paint my Toxic Zombies. My initial thoughts on the paints are highly favourable. Reviews of all these figures will follow soon.

Although my card modelling has taken a rest for the time being I did buy and make this 28mm scale detached house you see to the right earlier this month. It is from the 4Ground World at War range and is described as Detached House 2 on their website. This is the first time I have ever bought anything from this firm and I must say I was very impressed by the quality of the model, the very clear instructions on building it and on the speedy delivery. It cost me £30.00, which I think is a fair price to pay for an MDF model that comes fully painted with removable floors and roof, interior detail and working doors. This photo was taken from the 4Ground website. As I said, I have made the house but I don't know whether to review it soon or wait until I make and add furniture items for it. Although it is sold as part of 4Ground's WW2 range there is no reason not to use it in a modern day setting, which is what I intend do.

I have been playing a few more games of Super Dungeon Explore using the Von Drakk Manor expansion set. Von Drakk is one seriously powerful opponent and is hard to kill. However, I have mostly been playing A Touch of Evil and you can expect to see a review of this mighty fine board-game and its figures in my next few posts.
I'd like to say a few words about Super Dungeon Explore and The Forgotten King and which set should you buy? The simple answer is both. TFK changes the rules in a BIG way. It will come with four books, offering differing ways of playing the game. These will supercede the rules in SDE. In addition, the stat cards are changing, although in some cases it is nothing more than a change of graphics. Some characters, however, will change more dramatically. An upgrade deck of cards for all SDE figures currently available (this includes the Von Drakk Manor and Caverns of Roxor expansion sets and the unique figures that don't come with the boxed sets) will be available to buy separately for about $15.00. So what does SDE have to offer given the changes that are afoot? Quite simply, the figures. The figures are not changing and if you want the original figures then you should buy SDE whilst it is still available. The expansion sets of Caverns of Roxor and Von Drakk Manor will be re-released but will contain the newly designed stat cards. SDE will eventually be phased out. I don't know when (probably after TFK goes on sale) and I don't know if the figures will be re-released. I hope they are. It would be a huge shame if they were discontinued.

I received a huge parcel this month that contained all of the figures I had ordered for the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter project last year. My god, I had forgotten just how much I had ordered! There were so many figures in the box. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Zombicide season 3 Kickstarter parcel, which should be soon. I recently received an e-mail saying it had been posted. Fingers crossed it will arrive next week. Looking further ahead, the Studio Miniatures Z-Clipz: Outbreak set of figures are due for release in April; The Forgotten King expansion set for SDE is due to be released in May and Rum and Bones should be released in July. I am very excited by what lies ahead. It's going to be a great year for gaming and figure collecting!

16 comments:

  1. Sweet looking forward to seeing which reaper survivors you have picked up and are working. Flamethrower babes are a must so Kyoko will be awesome no doubt. Did you get a mahoosive mix of bones stuff or was it for just one setting?

    Great looking building from 4ground I'd not seen that one I may have to have another browse through seems some new kits have been added since I last looked through. Shame about SDE maybe they will do a figure pack as an add on.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. The Reaper survivors are all from the Chronoscope range - three in metal and two in plastic (from Reaper Bones).

      Kyoko is quite a babe with her flamethrower. She seems more believable than the Jessica Fletcher lookalike with a flamethrower.

      My Bones II stuff was a mix of all sorts - mainly fantasy (obviously) but contemporary, pulp and sci-fi as well. It was a mahoosive mix!

      It is well worth checking out the 4Ground stuff. If I had the money I'd spend a fortune on their scenery and buildings!

      An SDE figure pack would be a logical decision. I hope it happens, if not for me then for others who are new to the game.

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    2. I was quite impressed with the few bits I picked up. I have only gotten the small shed and a corner ruins set. I think a couple of house like this one will make a good addition to the table. Providing I keep the details neutral I can use them for 7TV to. I just need to get over the crikey its £30 price tag lol.

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    3. I agree that £30.00 is a lot to pay for a single house but do bear in mind it comes fully painted, is quite big (roughly 8" by 5") and is packed full of detail. In comparison with say Sarissa Buildings, which are unpainted, I'd say £30.00 is more than reasonable. I'll be adding card furniture to mine but you don't have to. It works just as well as a deserted house.

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  2. I like most everything you have to say this month.... I know rare for me!

    The 4 ground building is very nice, so nice it might push me into British Zombies this year. Depends on money of course but we can all dream.

    Nice one mate I look for=ward to seeing the rum and bones and Reaper bones and Zombiecide stuff. Yes I am greedy like that.

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    1. Cheers, Clint. I'd love to see your take on British zombies. Yeah, I know what it's like to want stuff but not be able to afford it. We gamers have never had it so good with so much lovely stuff tempting us to flash the cash!

      I'll keep you informed on all my projects. With so much to review I may have to post more often!

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  3. Wow Bryan! You certainly have a lot going on the next few months. Great to hear you excited by it all. Even better is hearing your painting zombies again. Would love to hear your thoughts on the new paints.
    Can't wait to see your Reaper survivors, I really have to get some myself.
    The 4ground building looks amazing, pre-painted too. Is this a new direction for your scenery?

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    1. Yes, very busy times ahead, Bob! I am very excited by all that's going on. I'm having more fun with my hobby now than I ever have and here I am, 57 years old!

      As I said, my thoughts on the Zombicide paints are highly favourable. I have used most of them from the two sets. I particularly like the Zombie Skin and Zombie Shader, both of which are exactly what I was looking for for painting my Toxic Zombies.

      I'll showcase my Reaper survivors as soon as I finish painting them, which should be soon.

      The 4Ground detached house is superb. It is so well detailed inside and out. Is it a new direction for my scenery? I see it more of an add-on, Bob. I'll never give up card modelling. A friend of mine recommended I check out the stuff made by 4Ground and I promised him to give them a try. I will be buying more from them in future but no way will they replace my card buildings.

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  4. A mouth-wateringly good posting, Bryan, with so much to look forward to from you for the rest of the year. If you were a magazine I'd be subscribing :-)

    Spookily I'm painting up a few of the Chronoscope range myself for a foray into the "Gamma World" of D&D; having looked at the models in a bit more detail as a result of painting up a couple of minis. So I'm really looking forward to seeing yours.

    I've really enjoyed your SDE stuff, and hope to start posting some of my own painting at some point (only the odd one though Bob!!!). but it is good to see you back painting decaying flesh once again. Doubtless you've been inspired by another viewing of the best Zed film to come out in decades "World War Z"?

    I'd love a review of "4Ground" as I'm close to picking some of their pre-painted housing up at Salute... though I get the impression it would jar with other manufacturers?

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. Hey, unlike a magazine subscription you can subscribe to my blog for free!

      I love Reaper's Chronoscope range and I have quite a few of them but there are lots more I'm still after.

      Yes, it's great to get back to painting "proper" zombies instead of Chibi zombies and the Zombicide paint sets are a huge help. Please wash your mouth out after mentioning the "World War Z" film! Still, I suppose it is inspirational in one respect - that being how NOT to depict zombies! LOL!

      Comparing my 4Ground house with some of my card buildings it actually fits in very well. I painted the edges of the house to hide the evidence that it is made of MDF. But this is something I do with my card buildings to hide the fact that they are made of card or foam-board.

      Finally, I am very much looking forward to seeing your own SDE painted figures.

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  5. The mountain is getting bigger... Hehe sounds good. Looking forward to my z3 too. And my terrain from Impudent Mortal.

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    1. The amount of unpainted figures I have is growing into a huge mountain, Johnny.

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  6. Plenty of interesting stuff there. I want to hear more detail about all of it, please!

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    1. Thanks, Hugh. This post is just an overview of what I've done this past month, what I'm working on and what's to come. More detailed posts for each subject mentioned will come soon. Watch this space!

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  7. That's a lovely house, I am looking forward to reading the review, but it might be best that you wait to have it fully equipped and finished?

    So the Forgotten King is a sort of second version of the game already? I do not follow the games outside your posts, but this seems like a lot of fairly new stuff is obsolete already.

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    1. The house is a lovely model but it looks a bit bare right now. I may wait until it is fully furnished before reviewing it properly.

      The Forgotten King adds a lot of new stuff to SDE. However, do bear in mind that I only learnt about SDE long after it was originally released so it's not that new a game. Since writing this post I have learnt that most of the figures will be re-released in the future. The Heroes will definitely be coming back. There is some confusion as to whether the villains will come back in their current form or be remodeled. Also, the SDE game boards are going to be redesigned to fit in with the new rules. It is not as bad as it first appeared to be.

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