Vampifan's Views 92 - Monthly Musings 65

Reflection of Vampirella by Mike Mayhew

I have had a great month, which I can't wait to tell you about. But first, I begin as always, with a portrait of my beloved Vampirella. This stunning piece was painted by Mike Mayhew, a highly talented comic artist, whose work has featured on a few of my previous blog postings.

So, what have I been working on these past four weeks? On the painting and modelling front, I have mainly been concentrating on my N.E.W. sci-fi campaign. I have repainted and rebased a lot of my old sci-fi figures so that I can use them in this new venture. I have also been buying some new figures of alien races to use in the campaign. The heroes of the campaign will be the all female crew of "The Ace of Spades" scout ship. They are all completed and I have photographed them so that I can show them to you soon. The miniature starship I'm using for "The Ace of Spades" has been painted and based.

To help aid in any starship combats I may do in the campaign, I bought a 3' by 3' stars mousepad gaming mat made of synthetic cloth from Deep Cut Studios. I'm a huge fan of these types of gaming mats. I paid a bit extra to have a hex grid printed on the mat, which they did in a very subtle, understated manner. You have to look very closely to see the hex grid. Note that the photo to the left of here is of the 6' by 4' mat without the hex grid, but it gives you a good idea of what the mat looks like.
In addition to this, I have also been churning out NPC record sheets and printed gaming aids. There is a lot of work to do when setting up a sci-fi role-playing campaign but I am extremely enthusiastic about this project that it is all time well spent.

Just over a week ago I received this bundle of Doctor Who goodies from Warlord Games, containing the Exterminate! miniatures skirmish game, which pits the Cybermen against the Daleks, and the two expansion packs featuring Davros and 12 more Daleks and Missy and 12 more Cybermen. Davros and Missy are metal figures, whilst the Cybermen and Daleks are multi-piece plastic kits, that can snap together very easily. As most gamers will probably do, I glued mine together. Despite some criticism of how awkward the Daleks were to assemble, I had no problems with mine. They all fitted together perfectly. The Cybermen come with three different bodies and three different right arms, allowing for lots of variety. Although the Daleks are all in the same pose, I found it very easy to bend their eye-stalks,  manipulator arms and weapon arms to give them some variety as well. Plus, you can paint leader or named Daleks in different colours. I haven't played the game yet but having read the rules, it looks like a simple game to play. The rules remind me a lot of the Project Z rules (also by Warlord Games), which I was highly critical of. Until I actually play a game or two I'll keep an open mind on the rules. I certainly can't fault the figures. They are all beautiful sculpts. Incidentally, the rules do allow for the inclusion of the Doctor and his companions and a few alien races (Judoon, Silence and Zygons).

I forgot to mention in last month's musings that I had been invited to take part in Tim's (aka Dark Eyed Warrior) Pathfinder fantasy campaign called "Keep on the Borderland". It is a very long time since I did any fantasy role-playing and whilst I have never played Pathfinder before, it shares much in common with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, so I wasn't too far out of my depth. I play a mightily strong 1st Level human fighter called Per, who has only recently joined the party of adventurers in their quest to clear a passage through the Menador Mountains for caravans to travel safely between the five towns that border the pass. You can read about how the party is getting on here - http://wargamersparadise.blogspot.co.uk/
Tim weaves a fascinating tale in his play by e-mail campaign and I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience, simply because it is such a huge departure for me.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the month was getting to meet Dave Stone, the head of Wargames  Terrain Workshop. As readers of this blog will know, I'm a huge fan of Dave's work and he kindly agreed to come and visit me so that we could spend a full day gaming and chatting. Dave is every bit as enthusiastic about our hobby as I am, and was a great conversationalist. He told me of many of his plans for future projects, which whilst I was not sworn to secrecy about, I'd rather keep quiet about until Dave is ready to reveal the relevant info. Suffice to say, I was drooling at the prospect of just what is planned!

We got to play two games during a very late evening session. The first game was Dave's sci-fi gladiatorial game called Death Match, which has only just been released on his webstore. This game really appealed to me. Dave kindly sent me a pre-release copy of the rules to play-test, which I did. I even made my own Death Match arena. I ordered the four-player game from Dave, which he brought with him to save posting it to me. What was even better, he also brought along all of his painted figures for the game. WOW! I was gob-smacked at A) how well painted they were (you can tell that Dave is a master painter) and B) just how tall many of them are. Believe me, the photos on his webstore give you no indication of how tall they actually are. For example, the female Arachnid must be about 4-5" in diameter and 2-3" tall. She is a beast in every sense of the word!
So, we played a game with Dave taking a Ceratid male (a rhino-like humanoid) and me taking a Scabendi male (a reptilian humanoid). And, yes, we did use Dave's painted figures. Before we began, Dave told me he always got beat at Death Match, especially when playing against his wife. Well, it was to be Dave's lucky night because things went bad for me from the start, rolling double ones for my activation (the worst possible result!) and proceeded to go downhill from there. I was soundly beaten by Dave, but I can't complain. He was by far, the better player on the night, and I refuse to blame my bad dice rolling.
I plan on giving this excellent little skirmish game a full review on my blog in the near future. I just want to get my figures painted for it first. I also plan on investing heavily in this game. I especially want the full 3D arena Dave is hoping to bring out for it. Dave has also told me about the new expansion races he wants to add, and one of them, the feline race, has me very excited.
The second game we played was the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game. This was a continuation of my campaign and I let Dave play the Justice Department (led, of course, by Judge Stone) and I played the perps. Full details will appear in my next post as another Comic Life batrep. This was the first time Dave had played this game and he took to it very well.
It is unusual for me to get any visitors, seeing as I live so far north, and even rarer to have a gaming friend come visit, so I'm sure you can imagine just what a thrill this was for me. Dave was the perfect guest and I'm sure this visit will cement our friendship even further. It will certainly linger in my memory for a very long time. Dave, mate, you more than made my day - you made my year!

Finally, I haven't forgotten about the prize draw competition I set a couple of weeks ago. I'll post the results of the winners some time in June, just in case anyone else still wants to enter. One change I am prepared to make, seeing as some entrants came from abroad, is that if you'd prefer a straight cash prize instead of a gift voucher I can do that providing you have a PayPal account. This also applies to UK-based entrants. Have fun and thanks for reading!

JDMG MC1 CitiDef Soldiers 02

Here I present another small group of Citi-Defence soldiers. These come from the James Caan block in Sector 13 of Mega City One, where my Judge Dredd Miniatures Game campaign is set. All five figures were pre-painted 28mm scale sci-fi troopers produced by EM4 Miniatures. Sadly, this set is out of production now, so these are very rare figures. I won't go into any background info for the Citi-Defence squads as I'd only be repeating what I wrote here - JDMG MC1 Citi-Def Soldiers 01
The only painting I added to these figures was on their bases.

At the far left is the squad's officer, Byron Hazlett, a Level:3 Infantry Hero. He is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle and he wears a Shell Jacket. His four Talents are Agile, Quick Dodge, Rallying Cry and True Leader. He costs 165 Credits.
His second in command is a Citi-Def Soldier and Level:2 Infantry Hero called Joe Markowitz. He is armed a Spit Gun Rifle and Hand Bombs and he wears a Shell Jacket. His three Talents are Aim, Frag Out and Suppressing Fire. He also has the Special Rule, Trigger Happy. He costs 205 Credits, making him the most expensive recruit in this squad.

In the centre of the group is Nick Lewis, another Soldier, but this time, a Level:1 Infantry Hero. He is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle and is protected by a Shell Jacket. He has two Talents - Aim and Suppressing Fire and the Special Rule, Trigger Happy. He costs 150 Credits.
Second from the right is another Level:1 Soldier and Infantry Hero, Russ Kokin. He is identical in every respect to Nick Lewis.
Bringing up the rear is the squad's Medtech, Semel Javan, a Level:1 Infantry Hero. He is armed with a Spit Pistol and is less well protected, wearing Pad Armour. He has the Talents of First Aid and Medic and the Special Rule of Lifesaver. He is worth 105 Credits.
They are not a great force by any means but on the plus side, they are made up entirely of Heroes, making them more resistant to arrest attempts by the Judges. I am planning on featuring this squad in the next episode of my JDMG campaign, which should appear next month.

JDMG Chainsaw Warriors Citi-Def Squad

One of the best solo boardgames I have ever played was Chainsaw Warrior, produced by Games Workshop way back in 1987. In this game, designed for solo play, you took on the role of a battle-hardened warrior who has to clear a large building full of zombies, mutants and a powerful evil creature known as the Darkness. To complement the game, Citadel Miniatures produced a small range of 28mm scale figures. Although you were only meant to use one Chainsaw Warrior in the game, I decided to build a small squad of them to use in other sci-fi games. I boosted the squad size with very early versions of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guardsmen. These were all slightly converted to match the official Chainsaw Warriors. I ended up with a squad of 10 Chainsaw Warriors. I recently dug them out and rebased them in order to use them as a Citi-Defence squad for my Judge Dredd Miniatures Game.

The three figures to the left of the photos directly above and below were the official Chainsaw Warriors. Because these are meant to be an elite squad I made them all Jaeger Squad Commandos. I have named all the squad but haven't worked out their JDMG stats yet. So, at the far left is Jan Podoski, who is armed with a Missile Launcher, a Spit Pistol and a Knife. All of the Chainsaw Warriors wear Shell Jackets and are equipped with Respirators, Stim-Packs and Sucker Guns.
Next in line is Stephen Craven, who is armed with a Heavy Spit Gun. In the boardgame, this powerful weapon was known as "the Reaper"!
In the centre of this group is Brett Andrews, the leader of the squad. He is a Citi-Def Officer armed with a Chainsaw, a Knife and a Spit Pistol. This figure is the default Chainsaw Warrior who is used in the boardgame. He is named after Brett Ewins and Dave Andrews, who did much of the artwork for the Chainsaw Warrior game.

The figure second from the right was a limited edition figure of the Chainsaw Warrior that Citadel Miniatures made for use in the Talisman game. I have named him Mark Dixon and he is another Jaeger Squad Commando armed exactly the same way as Brett Andrews.
Last in line is Tony Oliver, who is armed with a Laser Pistol, a Spit Pistol and a Knife. I converted him by adding the helmet visor and the ammo pouch bandolier slung across his chest and back.

The next five figures are all converted Imperial Guardsmen. The four to the left are Jaeger Squad Commandos. At the far left is Dan Rockford, who is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle, a Spit Pistol and a Knife. I added the visor to his helmet.
Standing next to him is Chris Faulkner who is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle and a Knife. Once again, I converted him by adding the green helmet visor.
In the centre is Graeme Wooton, who is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle, Laser Pistol and Knife. He underwent quite a lot of conversion work. From top to bottom I added his helmet visor, body armour, webbing over his back and chest, communicator on his left chest, studded gauntlets, holstered pistol and a knife in a scabbard on his right boot. He is unrecognisable from his original figure.

At the second from the right is Dave Gallagher, who is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle, a Laser Pistol, a Hand Bomb and a Knife. I added his shoulder straps, pistol in shoulder holster and his communicator on his left chest.
Finally, is Patricia MacDonald, a Citi-Def Med-tech, who is armed with a Spit Gun Rifle, Electra Zap Gun Pistol and a Knife. I converted her by switching her sex from male to female. I remodelled the chest armour by adding larger breasts and shoulder straps. I also gave her a ponytail and a knife in a scabbard on her right boot.
Although I have yet to work out their JDMG stats I know they will all be Hero characters, most of whom will be Level:1 to reflect their elite status. Brett Andrews, the officer, will be a much higher Level, possibly 4 or 5. These guys are nothing like a normal Citi-Def squad. They are well trained professionals with good combat experience and training. If they go up against the Justice Department they will be tough opposition.

Vampifan's Views 91 - 1,000,000 Page Views & Prize Giveaway

My blog has just reached a major milestone. One million page views. Yes, one million page views. Okay. I know a lot of them will have come from me (I check my blog at least five times per day) and of course, the dreaded spammers. But for those of you genuine followers I would say a massive THANK YOU!
Since starting my blog way back in March 2009, I never expected it to be quite so popular. It has been an absolute labour of love for me. Even if it wasn't quite so popular, I'd still post it twice per week. It lets me showcase my vast collection of 28mm scale miniatures, which is a good record for myself to remind me of what I have. Plus, it's a great platform for me to record my batreps, which I so enjoy doing. I am at heart a gamer and the reason I collect miniature figures is to game with them. I am not a competition painter... never have been and never will be. My painting is of a good standard but not great. I have certainly developed as a painter this century as I try out new techniques like dry-brushing, ink washes, highlighting and shading. When I look at my old figures from the 1970's and 1980's I think, "oh my God, did I really paint that?" But I have developed a lot and I'm very comfortable with my painting style nowadays, even though it is more time-consuming.
Thanks to my blog I have made some amazing friends from all around the globe, which is what the Internet should be about. Without your continued support this blog would never have achieved the respect and reputation it has. What I do may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I'm fine with that, but for those of you who do get it, my heartfelt thanks.
Incidentally, this is my 799th post, so maybe I should have a double celebration for 800 posts and 1,000,000+ page views. How about a celebratory competition? Yep, I thought that would attract your attention! I'm feeling flush, so I'm going offer three cash prizes in the form of gift vouchers that can be redeemed at online stores. First prize will be for a £50.00 gift voucher and the two runners up prizes will be for £25.00 gift vouchers. You get to chose which store you'd like your gift voucher for. Doing a quick cursory glance, I noticed that Amazon, Games Workshop, Mantic Games, Warlord Games and Wayland Games all offer gift vouchers that can be redeemed at their online stores. There are probably others but I'll leave them for you to decide on if you are one of the lucky winners. To enter the competition all you have to do is leave me a comment saying why you like this blog. Simple, huh? I'll get my mum to draw three names out of a hat (my baseball cap) sometime next month. I'll then announce the winners on my blog and they can tell me what store they'd like their gift voucher for.
Once again, many thanks to every one of you who have viewed my blog.

Bryan aka Vampifan.

Late news extra. 
Dave Stone from Wargames Terrain Workshop has a further gift to offer for the lucky prize winners. He'll add a resin cast miniature of Tweak and/or Ape Judge Heston to the prizes. Note that these rare figures are not available from his webstore.

Tweak the good alien from the Judge Dredd Cursed Earth Saga.

Ape Judge Heston. Both figures painted and sculpted by Dave Stone.

Rum and Bones Wellsport Brotherhood Heroes

Last time I reviewed the Bone Devils undead faction of the Rum and Bones boardgame with miniatures. This time I'm highlighting the British pirate faction known as the Wellsport Brotherhood. Note that not all of the crew are British, but most are. Captain Pale and his Wellsport Brotherhood have sacked ports and ships from the Spanish Main to the far Mediterranean to the East Indies.They appear in an area, linger for a year, then vanish out into the blue. No one quite knows where "Wellsport" is, and none of the crews are talking. Theory has it that Wellsport captains can conjure their ship far across the waves to a magical island of piratical delights; ale, women (and men), song, and feasting... but it only works if you've got the coin. Either that or "Wellsport" is whatever local destination they've chosen as their home base. The magic one has a much better ring to it, eh?

The five Heroes shown directly above and below are part of the original boxed game. At the far left is Captain Daniel Pale the Bastard of Wellsport. He commands the Brotherhood with an iron fist and a velvet glove. He's tolerant of their excesses at port and utterly ruthless in his discipline at sea.
To his left is Brute "Stumper" Pete the Chief Wellsport Bosun. He earned his nickname "Stumper" in the Royal Navy after he lost his leg battling the Wellsport Brotherhood. He didn't take well to the constant jokes about his peg leg, so he deserted and sought down Captain Pale, who readily accepted him as a loyal crew member.

In the centre of the group is Gunner Blackout Bart the Drunken Marksman. He is another RN washout. Captain Pale recruited him when he witnessed Bart was just as accurate with his pistols and cannon when drunk as he was when sober. Alcohol has no affect on his aim!
Next in line is Quartermaster Margaret "Miss Mags" Hale the Wellsport Paymaster. She grew up as a seafarer and when she managed to find the semi-mythical island of Wellsport, Captain Pale recruited her on the spot. The two have an obvious affection for one another and as such she has become the de facto First Mate (and any new crewman making the obvious pun only does so once!).
Finally, is Swashbuckler "Mad Ivan" the Dervish of Wellsport. A former officer in the Bey of Algiers navy, Danar ibn Mohammed was forced to flee his post when the Captain-Bey was deposed in a bloody uprising. He soon found employment with Captain Pale and his crew. His nickname resulted from an encounter with Blackout Bart who, whilst drunk, slurred the name "ibn" into "Ivan" and the name stuck.

These five Heroes were all included as stretch goals during the initial Rum and Bones Kickstarter project. I start with Captain Anne Bonny the Ruthless Commander. By joining the Wellsport Brotherhood she was able to fulfil her lifelong dream - being able to command a ship of her own.
Next to her is Brute Baston the "Not So Noble". Twin brother to the French pirate Gaston Duchampe, Baston and his brother cut a dashing pair through the ranks at Parisian court. Where Gaston was lucky in love, Baston was lucky in cards (he was a brilliant cheat). Both brothers were forced to flee Paris by angry men for pursuing their wives and purses. Baston now travels with the Wellsport Brotherhood where his shocking talents with swords and cards earn him praise and renown.

In the centre of the group is Gunner Grace O'Malley the Sea Queen of Connaught. As a leading figure in the Irish resistance to English conquest in the late 1500's, it could be argued that she commanded the whole Irish naval forces at one time. Her skill with paired pistols is the wonder of Wellsport.
Second from the right is Quartermaster Theo the Terror of Nova. Theodore MacAdler was the bastard son of a long-dead captain's widow. He was press-ganged into the HMS Nova at age 17. He eventually jumped ship and found his freedom with the Wellsport Brotherhood.
Last in line is Swashbuckler Slevin the Lucky. Quick with a smile smile or joke, "Lucky" Slevin is renowned for his sunny disposition and brilliant swordsmanship. He's a welcome addition to the Wellsport Brotherhood and a boon to any ship as his luck seems to rub off on anyone he spends time around.
I like this faction very much. I think the three female pirates are just terrific. I love the idea of running an all-female pirate crew. The Wellsport Brotherhood are well matched against the Bone Devils. In the four games that I have played with these two factions, both sides have won twice and lost twice. I have yet to try them out using the new rules from Second Tide. So a rematch is definitely on the cards. I do plan on showcasing the game with a batrep in the near future, so most likely I'll use these two factions for it.

Rum and Bones - Bone Devils Heroes

Last month I finally got round to painting the first of my Rum and Bones 35mm scale figures. I chose the two sets of Heroes from the original boxed game - The Bone Devils and the Wellsport Brotherhood. I'm highlighting the Bone Devils in this post and I'll showcase the Wellsport Brotherhood next post. The Bone Devils are the undead faction and are, without doubt, my favourite faction.

The Bone Devils are an accursed lot. In life they committed crimes so horrible that even Davy Jones wouldn't have them in the Locker. But rather than bemoan their fate, Captain Albrecht and his fellow undead pirate lords are doing one better: now that Jones has gone down to meet Old Scratch, they're gonna take his treasure, claim his power, and expel everyone from the Locker! Death among sailors will be a thing of the past, and they'll be forever free to comb the waves in search of plunder!

From left to right are the Bone Devils "A Team" starting with Captain Albrecht the Thrice Damned. It is said that even the Devil wouldn't cross him. Next up is Brute Little Tom the Undead Juggernaut. Note that Little Tom is the midget in the stomach cavity of the giant skeleton he controls. Little Tom has no legs! In the centre is Gunner Ghost-eye Gunther the Witchlock Duellist. He was a German pirate who was killed by a lightning strike before he was raised by Captain Albrecht. Next in line is Quartermaster Patchwork Porter the Soul of the Ship. He is a sea creature who regularly misplaces stuff. Finally, is Swashbuckler The Spectre aka the Avatar of the Reaper. He is bound to Captain Albrecht by an unholy pact of revenge against Davy Jones for slights both real and imagined.

These next five Heroes were all stretch goals offered in the initial Rum and Bones Kickstarter project. At the far left is Captain Dracula the Prince of Darkness. A long-time associate of Captain Albrecht's, he was intrigued to learn of the troubles in the Locker and the appearance of Davy Jones's treasure in the living world. Since then he has taken up service with the Bone Devils and often commands his own ship and crew. To his right is Brute Eric the Dead, a Cursed Norseman. One of the most famous Viking sailors from out of time, Eric the Dead (as he is now called) is one of the most feared Bone Devils afloat.

In the centre of this group is Gunner Mr. Smith the Dark Manipulator. He's no captain but rumour has it that his crimes rival those of Captain Albrecht himself. The two of them have a chilly accord built around them, which makes the crew wonder just how they knew each other. Mr. Smith's distinctly German accent is a near match for Captain Albrecht's, which stokes speculation. Next in line is Quartermaster Daedalus the Soul Herald. He was once a disciple of the Ferryman himself, and would light the way to the river Styx for souls lost in Limbo. But the Ferryman is a stingy boss, and Captain Albrecht offers far better pay. Lastly, is Swashbuckler Renfield the Blood-crazed. A long-time disciple of captain Dracula's, Renfield is incurably insane. Most recently, he has decided he is also a vampire.
I absolutely love these figures and this game. For a very long time I have had a hankering for playing a pirate skirmish game. There are numerous rules sets to choose from but none appealed to me as much as Rum and Bones did. It ticked all the boxes I was looking for and it is now one of my top ten favourite games. These figures are a lot taller than most pirate miniatures available on the market but I don't mind that at all. I will only be using these figures in Rum and Bones, so won't be mixing any of them with my other figure ranges. They are exquisitely sculpted, with a certain cartoon-like quality to them, which I find so endearing. They were an absolute joy to paint. Note that I painted their bases to match the planking of their ship. I deliberately left the sides of the bases unpainted so that I could readily match their plastic colouring with their respective crew position - white for Captains, green for Brutes, purple for Gunners, orange for Quartermasters and yellow for Swashbucklers.

JDMG Scenario 06 - Devereux's Debut

Following a few requests for me to add a female Psi Judge to my team of Judges, I decided it was a good idea and so I devised this scenario to introduce PSI Judge Justine Devereux to my cast. Devereux is a pre-cog and telepath. She recently had a psi-flash of an arms deal involving the Chambers Brothers gang that was due to take place very soon. The gang was placed under 24 hours surveillance and a day later, in the early hours of the morning, they were traced to a warehouse situated on Damon Wayans Way in Sector 13. Street Judge Scott and PSI Judge Devereux were assigned to the case, with orders to arrest anyone involved in the arms deal. A Mob arms dealer called Mr. Johnson, was conducting the deal with B.J. Chambers, supplying him with a cache of 30 Spit Gun Rifles.
THE FORCES - MEGA CITY ONE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Street Judge Scott - Level:3 Infantry Hero with 5 Experience Points and worth 200 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +2, Shoot +2, Melee +1, Melee Dice 2D, Will +3, Armour +5, Hits 4.
Equipment - Boot Knife, Daystick, Lawgiver Mk II Pistol, Stumm Gas Grenades and Standard Issue Armour.
Talents - Academy Star, Accurate, Voice of Command and Voice of Justice.

PSI Judge Devereux - Level:1 Infantry Hero with 0 Experience Points and worth 175 Credits.
Stats - Psi Points 4, Move 5", Agility +1, Shoot +2, Melee +1, Melee Dice 2D, Will +2, Armour +5, Hits 2.
Equipment - Boot Knife, Daystick, Lawgiver Mk II Pistol, Stumm Gas Grenades and Standard Issue Armour.
Talents - Accurate and Concentrated Mind.

THE FORCES - THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS STREET GANG
B.J. Chambers - Level:3 Punk Infantry Hero with 4 Experience Points and worth 130 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +1, Shoot +2, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +1, Armour +0, Hits 4.
Equipment - Spit Gun Rifle.
Talents - Accurate, Brave, Crackshot and Crippling Fire.

Otis Chambers - Level:2 Punk Infantry Hero with 2 Experience Points and worth 105 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +2, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +1, Armour +0, Hits 3.
Equipment - Spit Gun Rifle
Talents - Accurate, Brave and Crackshot.

Larry Chambers - Level:1 Punk Infantry Hero with 1 Experience Point and worth 80 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +2, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 2.
Equipment - Spit gun Rifle.
Talents - Accurate and Brave.

Willie Chambers - Level:0 Punk Infantry Minion with 0 Experience Points and worth 30 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 1.
Equipment - Spit Gun Rifle.

Randy Bridgeforth and Damion Bridgeforth - Level:0 Punk Infantry Minions with 0 Experience Points and worth 30 Credits each.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +3, Hits 1.
Equipment -Spit Gun Rifles.

Anthony King and Terrance Stewart - Level:0 Juve Infantry Minions with 0 Experience Points and worth 20 Credits each.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +3, Hits 1.
Equipment -Spit Gun Rifles.

Mr. Johnson - Level:5 Mob Gangster Infantry Hero with 11 Experience Points and worth 200 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +1, Shoot +2, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +1, Armour +4, Hits 6.
Equipment - Stump Gun Rifle, Handgun Pistol, Pad Armour.
Talents - Accurate, Crackshot, Close Combat Shooter, Slippery and Stealthy.

The Justice Department forces were worth 375 Credits, whilst the Chambers Brothers Gang were worth 445 Credits and Mr. Johnson was worth 200 Credits. It appeared that the Judges were seriously outmatched, but read the Special Rules section below.
SET UP
Just for a change, I played this scenario on my urban ground tiles by Stoelzel's Structures, measuring 3' by 3'. All of the buildings are from my collection of contemporary card buildings, with the flat-roofed warehouses being produced by Ebbles Miniatures. Note the tower made from a Pringles crisps tube, which has never been seen on my blog before.

The Chambers Brothers Gang were set up first, in and around the large warehouse in the centre left half of the board. The Judges deployed second and could enter anywhere 3" in from the opposite side of the board. The Judges would activate first in this scenario.
SPECIAL RULES
As soon as combat starts, Mr. Johnson will attempt to exit the board by the quickest route possible. He would much rather flee to live and fight another day than to stay and get in a firefight with the Judges. He is not a coward but he has no loyalty to the Chambers Brothers, so he will not aid in them in their fight. Self-preservation is his number one priority.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
The fight continues until all of the models in one of the forces have been removed from the battlefield. The remaining force is the victor.

AFTERMATH
Well, that couldn't have gone any better for the Judges. The shooting by both Judges was exemplary. PSI Judge Devereux only missed with one shot at the start of the game when she fired at Anthony King. But every other shot of hers was a hit and a wound. Judge Scott was just on fire. He hit with every shot he took, and also scored a critical hit on B.J. Chambers, which took him out. Armour and cover behind the warehouse door helped prevent him from taking any damage, even though he was hit a few times. B.J. was unlucky not to have wounded Judge Scott.
Once the dust and gun smoke had cleared it transpired that B.J. and Otis Chambers both suffered injuries to the body (suffering -1 to Agility and Melee stats). Both served time in the Iso-Cubes. Larry and Willie Chambers died as results of critical head and body wounds respectively. Damion Bridgeforth, Randy Bridgeforth and Terrance Stewart served lesser sentence in the Iso-Cubes. Anthony King suffered an injury to his right leg (-1 penalty to his Move stat) and he also served time.
Suffice to say, both Judges performed well enough to advance another level.

Judge Scott earned the following experience points.
+1 for surviving the battle.
+1 for arresting 1 Minion.
+3 for slaying a Level:3 Hero.
+2 for slaying a Level:2 Hero.
+1 for slaying a Level:1 Hero.
This earned him 8 experience points, enough to raise him to Level:5. However, a character can only advance one level at a time, so he rose to Level:4 with 10 experience points, just one point short of Level:5. He added +1 to his Shoot score, bringing it up to +3 and +1 to his Hits, bringing them up to 5. He also acquired a new Talent from the Gunslinger list - Close Combat Shooter, which allows him to perform Shoot actions with Pistol weapons even if an enemy is in base to base contact with him. His credits score increased by +25 to 225.

PSI Judge Devereux earned the following experience points.
+1 for surviving the battle.
+2 for arresting 2 Minions.
+2 for slaying 2 Minions.
This earned her 5 experience points, enough to raise her to Level:3. But, she was capped at Level:2 with 3 experience points. The other 2 experience points were, sadly, lost. She added +1 to her Agility score, raising it to +2, +2 to her Psi Points, raising them to 6 and +1 to her Hits, raising them to 3. Not surprisingly, she chose a new Psi Talent - Danger Sense from the Pre-Cog list. She gains a +1 bonus to her Agility score until the start of her next turn. This is a Special Action with a Psi Cost of 1. Her credits score increased by +25 to 200.

CONCLUSION
The dice gods were clearly smiling on the Judges when I played this scenario. It was another fun game. Even though it appeared to be a cakewalk for the Judges it could have gone very differently. Also, I suspect that if Mr. Johnson had stayed to fight, the Judges would probably have lost badly. At Level:5 he was a combat veteran! We have not seen the last of him in my campaign. So, PSI Judge Devereux passed with flying colours and, hopefully, will prove to be quite an asset to Judge Scott's team. I hope to have more Judge Dredd Miniatures Game action for you soon. Thanks for reading.

Chiltern Miniatures African Militia/Gangstas

Sticking with my current contemporary posts, here is a bunch of figures I bought quite a few years ago and never got round to reviewing. They are two sets of four 28mm scale African Militia, produced by Chiltern Miniatures, who no longer seem to be trading. I have no interest whatsoever in African wars, but when I saw these figures I immediately thought of using them as gangstas in a modern day American setting. Sure, they are heavily armed with AK47 Assault Rifles, but a lot of gangs do have access to such weaponry in big numbers.

I have called this gang, the Chambers Brothers gang, who are named after an actual gang of that same name. Incidentally, the real life Chambers Brothers were the inspiration for Wesley Snipe's gang in the film, New Jack City, a film I rate very highly. In the photos directly above and below are the four Chambers brothers.

At the far left is B.J. who is both the eldest brother and the gang leader. Moving on, in order of seniority from left to right are, Otis, Larry and Willie. These are all hardened criminals and brutal killers.

Brotherhood seems to be a common trait in this gang. At the left of these two photos above and below are twin brothers, Damion and Randy Bridgeforth. The other two gang members are Anthony King and kneeling down is Terrance Stewart.

The figures made by Chiltern Miniatures were not the finest on the market. These are very chunky and their AK47s are vastly over-scale. But... there is just something about them that appeals to me. They are nicely posed and they do have character. I do like the way the faces have been sculpted. They were fun to paint as I deliberately went for a very colourful palette on them, seeing as they are clearly dressed for hot weather. Otis's shirt really stands out!
These could have sat in a box for a long time before I decided to review them. However, I do have a pressing need to review them as soon as possible. They will be making their gaming debut very shortly in my next Judge Dredd Miniatures Game Comic Life batrep. This is the gang that Judge Scott and PSI Judge Devereux will be tackling. Their AK47s will appropriately enough, be classed as Spit Gun Rifles. I have their JDMG stats already worked out as well as the details of the scenario, which will be another one of my own designs. I'm planning on playing it this weekend so it should be ready for posting some time next week.

Goths and Rockers

I was going to split this review into two posts but I have so much I want to show you this month that I decided to give you two reviews for the price of one. Besides which, they are complimentary. I recently finished painting a bunch of contemporary figures, including these two gangs of Goths and Rockers.

This group of Goth gangers were produced by Slow Death Games, a relatively new company who made these and a few other gangs for their skirmish game, Wild in the Streets. These figures consist of a set of six 35mm scale figures - five females and one male, called Dave, who is the gang leader. I have not named the female Goth gangers yet but I will.

The figure at the far right is called Claudia and she is the leader of the Murder Cult Girls. She looks so much like a Goth that I decided to make her part of Dave's gang. When I bought these figures they were on sale and you could buy the leaders separately. Now, however, you have to buy the gangs as a group, usually consisting of four figures. The Goth gang is the largest available to date with six figures. They cost $35.00 for all six. The other gangs cost $25.00 each. I realise that some people will bemoan the fact that they are 35mm scale (scale creep strikes again!) but as I keep on saying, this is not something that ever bothers me. I actually like having figures of varying heights, as it reflects real life more accurately. The Goths are not well armed - they have one baseball bat and one knife between the seven.

Next up are the leather-clad Rockers, who also favour black clothing. At the far left is the gang leader, currently unnamed, and armed with a machine pistol. This figure was produced by Spectre Miniatures as Criminal Element Commander Alfa. He costs £2.99 but I got this figure as a present from fellow Blogger, Clint, when he saw it a wargaming convention. I am very grateful to Clint for his generosity. The figure fits in so well with the rest of the gang that I just had to make him the gang leader.

The other five figures are produced by Wargames Foundry as part of their Casting Room Miniatures Street Fighters range - SV510 Leather Gals and Boys. As with the Goths, they are short on weapons, with just a baseball bat, a short length of chain and Big Ass Pistol - a .50 calibre Desert Eagle, which the pale-looking woman is trying to hide behind her back. This set of five figures costs £12.00.
Both gangs are very usable in a lot of contemporary or near future games.