Alternative Armies Sci-Fi Figures 01

I recently discovered a range of figures produced by Alternative Armies for their Ganesha Games 28mm scale sci-fi range. I was instantly attracted to them and ordered the complete range. I want to start my reviews of them with a look at the following four figures shown below.

At the far left is Graul Granite, a rock-like alien and a bodyguard of Lord Phalag. He does look a lot like Ben Grimm aka the Thing from Marvel Comic's The Fantastic Four. I have yet to decide what race he is. He could be a Boromite from Warlord Games Beyond the Gates of Antares game but seeing as I have no interest in that game at present, I doubt if I'll go down that path. Most likely I'll come up with my own stats for him. The figure is a two piece casting - upper body and lower body.
The figure that most intrigued me from this set is the one second from the left. He is Lord Phalag and most likely a human. He looks every inch the cruel despot, powerful crime-lord or planetary governor. I plan to use him as a crime-lord in my The Ace of Spades Campaign for my N.E.W. RPG that I'm running on my other blog. I also think he would be a great rival of Lord Valatrix in the Death Match game by Wargames Terrain Workshop. The figure is made of resin with the four lower panels of the hover chair and the familiar sitting on his shoulder being made of metal. The alien familiar very much reminds me of Salacious Crumb, Jabba the Hutt's familiar in the Star Wars films. Note that he is not supplied with a flying base. Fortunately, I have loads of spare ones. I attached him to the base with a piece of copper tubing.

The light turquoise skinned female second from the right is another member of Lord Phalag's retinue. She is called Skarra and is described as a mutant mindblaster, so that means she is a psyker. To me, she looks like a Yazirian, an ape-like race with wings who appeared in TSR's Star Frontiers sci-fi RPG. Or she could be a totally different species.
Sticking with the Death Match theme, the final figure is Lord Phalag's champion gladiator - Silas the Strong. He is clad in tight-fitting silver armour and he wields a laser sword. Note that in the N.E.W. game, the colour of a laser sword denotes its core properties. Red laser swords symbolise aggression and anger. They do more damage than other laser swords. That seemed highly appropriate for him. I'm in two minds about whether to add a shield to him. The way he's holding his left arm means it would easily fit on.
These figures are all currently available from the Alternative Armies web-store, see here - https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/ganesha-games-scifi
Prices are £8.00 for Graul Granite, £5.00 for Lord Phalag, £2.00 for Skarra or £15.00 for all three. Silas costs £2.00 and is also available as part of the Techno-Barbarian pack of three figures. I am very impressed with this range of figures, especially as I can get double use out of them in Death Match and in my The Ace of Spades Campaign. I realise that I could just as easily have posted this review on my WOIN blog, but by posting it here, ensures it gets seen by a wider audience.

Death Match Horned Hominid and Recnac

Here are two more beasts produced by Wargames Terrain Workshop to use in the Death Match arena. Sculpted by Dave Stone, these are very tall figures but seeing as they are alien beasts, does that really matter? Here then are the huge Horned Hominid and the deadly Recnac.

The huge Horned Hominids originate from a lush vegetative planet. In the wild, Horned Hominids live in family pods of one alpha male and several females. As the male young get older, they split off and create a new pod. Only the males are used in the arena as they are highly aggressive and a lot easier to provoke into fighting. The females have a strong aggressive nature as well, however, it only comes out when protecting their young from imminent threat. In Death Match, the Horned Hominids have two special abilities. First is Charger - whenever this beast moves, treat that move as if it were a charge and add 1 hit to this beast's attack. Second is Large - certain rules and abilities apply to large beasts. Large beasts are easier to hit with a ranged attack - any stars rolled in a ranged attack against a large beast count as hits. This impressive figure stands 93mm tall and is a multi-part model. Note the little lizard crawling on its base. That's a nice touch that I like.

Found on desert planets, Recnacs hunt using heat vision. They have a deadly sting in their tail. However, their mouth can be just as dangerous. Territorial creatures, the Recnac is usually found alone, however, there have been cases where more than two have been found sharing territory. Ultimately, a predatory creature, it attacks when its territory is being invaded. In Death Match, the Recnac has three special rules. First is Heat Vision - when selecting a "nearest player or beast" for the Recnac to approach, the Recnac will select a Scabendi if it is within 4 inches. Any further than that and the Recnac is unable to "see" the Scabendi. A Lava Salamander will always count as the "nearest player or beast" for the Recnac. Second is Stinger - if the Recnac is engaged with a player or beast that has suffered less than half damage, it will attack with its tail. It has a base attack of 1 hit, rolls 2 red dice and scores a knock-back on 2 successful hits rather than the usual 3. Third is Powerful Jaws - if the Recnac is engaged with a player or beast that has suffered half damage or more, then it will attempt to finish it off with its powerful jaws. The jaws have a base attack of 2 hits and roll 2 red dice. The figure of the Recnac stands 78mm tall and is 78mm long.
Both beasts are available to buy from the Wargames Terrain Workshop (see here - http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?product_cat=death-match&paged=2
) The male Horned Hominid costs £15. Note that Dave also makes a female Horned Hominid (price £8.00) and a baby Horned Hominid (price £2). A set of all three is available for £20.00, saving you a fiver. The Recnac costs £9.00. By the way, Dave told me that Recnac is "cancer" spelled backwards. A piece of useless trivia for you! Given the size of these two beasts, they are very impressive models and I found them a joy to paint.

Death Match Lava Salamander and Deathcoil Beast

In Death Match, not only must the gladiators fight each other, but also various alien beasts. The sabre-tooth razorback, an animal indigenous to Traventi, was the first exotic beast to be introduced to the games in 2588. To accommodate the latest addition, four pods were built around the outside of the arena equidistant from each other. With large sliding doors, the sabre-tooth razorbacks were housed in those pods before being released one at a time into the game. Since then, Lord Valatrix has assembled numerous teams of hunters to bring even more beasts into the arena, as the introduction of the sabre-tooth razorback was so successful. Here are two of the newer beasts to appear in the arena - the Lava Salamander and the Deathcoil Beast.

The Lava Salamander, shown at the left in my two photos, is native to volcanic regions and the sight of it jumping in and out of lava pools is truly majestic. Hunting armoured fish, their teeth are adept at tearing through armour finding weak spots. Tough armour plating covers its body to protect itself in its natural environment. Its special ability in the game is that it treats any stars it rolls on its defence dice as blocks.

Various species of Deathcoil Beasts have been found in varying climates from dense jungle to vast deserts. They were originally considered to be only from the Scabendi home planet, however, they have since been found on other planets. Their front legs are used to drag themselves along and can move at lightning fast strike speeds. However, this speed cannot be used for a prolonged period. Victims are crushed, making it easier for the Deathcoil Beasts to swallow them. Prey can be as large as themselves, with a triple jaw, their mouth can open as large as needed.
In Death Match, the Deathcoil Beast has two special abilities. Constrictor - if the beast's combat roll scores 2 stars, then in addition to any normal damage inflicted, the victim also becomes ensnared in the beast's constricting tail. An ensnared victim may take no action other than a fight action against the Deathcoil. Secondly, Down in One - when the Deathcoil Beast is in combat with an ensnared model, its dice roll becomes 2R instead of 1R,1G. In addition, if its combat roll against an ensnared model scores 2 stars then the opposing model is swallowed whole. A swallowed model has one more chance to fight its way out of the beast's stomach. When it next activates, it rolls 2 red dice - on a score of 3 hits or more the victim escapes and the Deathcoil suffers 4 damage. On a score of 4 hits, the victim bursts forth from the beast's gut with a flourish - the Deathcoil is killed and if the escaping model is a gladiator, he gains 1 Favour Token.
Only a model smaller than the Deathcoil can be ensnared or swallowed. If the Deathcoil already has an ensnared victim and rolls 2 stars against another model, the original victim is freed in favour of the new one.
These are two interesting beasts. I like the Deathcoil Beast the most, despite suffering very badly against it when I played Death Match with the game's creator, Dave Stone. My gladiator got ensnared by it, allowing Dave's gladiator free attacks against me, which eventually killed my poor gladiator.

Death Match Lord Valatrix and Concubines

In the year 2579, the planet Traventi had become a cesspool of crime. The poor were either preyed upon or forced to turn to a life of crime just to survive. The planet contained 40 provinces each with its own Lord. Each province was struggling with criminal activity with more of the population becoming imprisoned by the day.
A year later the prisons were overrun. With more criminals arriving each week the prison wardens looked for a way to keep the population down. Some of the wardens started to pit criminals on death row against each other in trials of combat to help keep the prison numbers down. These trials were crude and barbaric; two inmates were tossed swords and instructed that one would eat that day and one would die. Inmates surrounded the the two in combat lining the walls and watched until one triumphed. Lord Valatrix was asked to visit his prison as the wardens had run out of ways to keep the prison population down. A trial of combat had just been started by the wardens and upon entering, Valatrix caught the exchange. Struck by an idea that could help keep the prison populations down permanently and create massive riches, the Death Match games were created. They became a huge success and soon saw alien races and beasts being introduced into the games as their popularity extended far and wide across the galaxy.

These three figures from Wargames Terrain Workshop show Lord Valatrix, the creator of the Death Match gladiatorial games, and two of his alien concubines. I should point out that these are all very big figures, that may be too big for some of you. The fact that they are aliens means I'm not at all bothered how tall they are. Lord Valatrix. in the centre of the group, is 48mm tall and 60mm wide from the edges of his cushions. The blue-grey skinned mutant concubine is 60mm long and the feline concubine is 57mm long from the tips of her toes to the tips of her fingers.

I have to say that I like these figures a lot and whilst they don't do anything in the actual Death Match game, I just think they are great spectator figures. I'd certainly like to develop Lord Valatrix as a non-player character for my N.E.W. role-playing game. He'd make an ideal crime lord. Note that the blue-grey skinned mutant concubine has three breasts. I shall say no more on that matter. The feline concubine is by far my favourite figure out of this set. As a cat lover, I have a fondness for feline alien races. This particular figure has been exquisitely and very cleverly sculpted. I say "cleverly" because incredibly, she is a one-piece casting. When Dave Stone, who sculpted her came to visit me, I asked him how on earth it was possible to cast her in one piece? Dave enigmatically replied that it was a trade secret. The more I look at her the more I'm stumped how he did it! Dave, you're a genius!
Lord Valatrix costs £7.00, the mutant concubine costs £6.00 and the feline concubine costs £5.00. All are available from the Wargames Terrain Workshop web-store found here - http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?product_cat=death-match&paged=1
If anyone would like them for free I have a spare set available. Just leave a comment saying you'd like to own them and I'll draw out the lucky winner by the end of this month and announce his name when I post this month's Monthly Musings. Note that my spare set is unpainted.

Deathmatch Ceratid and Human Gladiators

Apologies for the delay in my postings but  I was hit by a double whammy of my internet router dying, followed soon after by my PC developing a serious fault. My PC is away getting repaired and I have received a brand new router. I'm typing this on my laptop. Anyway, here is part 2 of my review of the gladiator races who appear in the Death Match by Wargames Terrain Workshop. This time, I'm looking at the Ceratids and the Humans.

The Ceratids are large hulking brutes who resemble bipedal rhinoceroses. They hail from the planet Craxis, an earth-like planet. Being herbivores, Ceratids flourished on Craxis with its high levels of vegetation. As a race, they place great emphasis on gaining knowledge and they are noted for their magnificent and well-stocked libraries. The Ceratids are known throughout the galaxy as the zen species, as they will maintain peace wherever possible. The gained knowledge has been used to further their technology, building starships to travel the universe. Although a peaceful race in general, they are formidable fighters when defending their planet. The arena and inclusion in the games is looked upon as a way of protecting their planet, as they strive to discourage other species from invading them.

The three Ceratid gladiators currently available stand about 50mm tall and are sculpted onto integral 40mm diameter bases. They come with separate arms and weapons. Knowing that these figures are made of resin I did think that the weapon shafts would snap very easily. However, Dave Stone, who sculpted them, has been very clever by reinforcing the shafts with metal rods. Nice move, Dave! Lacking dexterity, all Ceratid weapons demand brute strength and are often too heavy for others to lift let alone use. At the far left is a male Ceratid carrying a Battle-shield and a Pugile Stick, which comes with a built-in projectile barb. In the centre, this male wears heavy armour and is armed with a Doom Flail. At the far left is a female Ceratid equipped with a Battle-shield and Scythe Mace. The Ceratid have 15 Life Points and their special ability is if a Ceratid inflicts at least 2 damage after making a charge, it causes a knockback.
My colour scheme for them matches that chosen by Dave for his figures in his web store.

Earth is a desolate wasteland, ruined by years of war and misuse. By the 26th century (Death Match is set in the year 2587) humans were wandering the stars looking for a new home. After many failed attempts to find a suitable planet, humanity discovered the Ceratids (see above). They were allowed to build bio-domes on specially selected parts of the planets the Ceratids were not inhabiting. Being an expansionist race, the humans encroached on Ceratid territory, despite agreements not to. The Ceratids reacted furiously and ousted the humans from their planets, earning all humans the nickname, revili, which translates as wandering scum. Unfortunately, for the humans they were unable to translate this word properly and they believe revili means regal and revered. No other species will allow humans to inhabit part of their planet and so, they continue to wander the stars, looking for a new home.
So far, there is only one human gladiator figure available from the WTW web-store but more will appear soon. The figure shown is a female wearing heavy armour and armed with a Laser-blade and an Energy Shield (both separate parts). The sword and shield are made of translucent green resin, which I have lightly dry-brushed. My only criticism of the figure is that she is very tall - about 38mm, which is way over-scale for 28 to 32mm scale figures. In Death Match humans have 12 Life Points (the same as the Scabendi) and their special ability is when making an initiative roll, they may add any stars to their total.
I copied my colour scheme for this figure from the front cover of the Death Match rulebook.

Death Match Exuvium and Scabendi Gladiators

Having introduced the Death Match sci-fi gladiatorial game to you last time I'm going to take a closer look at the figures used with this game. I'm starting with two sets of alien gladiators - the Exuvium and the Scabendi, simply because these are the two races that come with the two-player starter set deal.

The Exuvium are large, six-limbed insectoids from the planet Ectos. They are a peaceful race, who do not seek conflict or conquest. They are noted eco-warriors, sustaining their environment and using resources at a minimum. They are ruled by a queen in hive colonies and they live in huge skyscraper-like spires made of secreted resin and connected by walkways. Females are considerably larger than the males and they do not participate in the gladiator games. Despite their pacifistic nature, they decided to take part in the gladiator games to show the other races their deadly fighting skills. As a result, they have never been raided. The queen chooses which adult males will fight in the games and a select few are granted the Mark of the Queen to fight in her name for the good of the planet. The Exuvium are masters of bio-engineering and can craft living weapons.

These three male Exuvium insectoids stand roughly 50mm tall and are moulded onto 40mm diameter bases. Their arms are separate components that must be glued in place. At the far left is a gladiator with the Mark of the Queen (note his spiked carapace). He is armed with a Battle-blade and a Battle-shield. In the centre, this Exuvium is armed with a Heavy Battle-blade, which is a two-handed weapon. At the far right, this gladiator is armed with an Insectoid Whip (may also be used as a lasso) and an Insectoid Axe, which is a living weapon. In Death Match, Exuvium have the fewest hit points of any race - just 9, but they do have natural armoured exoskeletons, which can absorb a fair amount of damage. Their racial special ability reflects this - they have an intrinsic defence value of <2 blocks="">2 blocks. Also, in combat, they may re-roll one attack die (unless it is a fail) but the second roll must be accepted, even if it is worse than the original roll.
Note that I painted them using Foundry Forest Green 26 mixed with a small amount of Gold to give their carapaces that slightly metallic colouring. They were given a Citadel Coelia Greenshade ink wash, then dry-brushed with successively lighter shades of Foundry Forest Green mixed with Citadel Liberator Gold. Their weapons were painted with Foundry Boneyard 9, the shield with Foundry Ochre 4 and the living axe head with Foundry Nipple Pink 16.

The Scabendi are a reptilian race from the jungle planet, Scorullia, where they live in large tree houses. An aggressive race, the Scabendi seek out combat whenever they can. From the moment they hatch they learn how to fight. Each conclave of Scabendi is ruled by the Leader of the Hunt, who may be male or female. This position is always hotly contested. The longest known Leader of the Hunt maintained his position for four years and fought off 72 challenges before finally losing. When they were first encountered by human explorers, it was wrongly assumed that there were two species of Scabendi living together. This was because male and female Scabendi look so different. Males have spiky protrusions around their necks and squat faces. Females have no protrusions, slender faces and a crest upon the top of their head. The games are seen as a rite of passage to all Scabendi. Humans are considered to be the blight of the universe and the Scabendi relish fighting them in the games. It was the humans' mistake to underestimate the Scabendi when they originally entered the arena. Because of this, the Scabendi will head directly towards a human if they enter the arena together. No other race has been foolish enough to underestimate them since.

The figures are the same height as the Exuvium (50mm tall) but are sculpted onto smaller, 25mm diameter bases. I think Dave just likes sculpting tall figures! 😀 As with the Exuvium, these came with separate weapons and it is worth mentioning that both races have separate weapon packs, allowing you greater customisation for their choice of weapons. At the far left is a male Scabendi in Heavy Armour. He is armed with a Laser-blade and a Punch Pistol (may only fire once per round). The male gladiator in the centre is armed with a Heavy Battle-blade that looks a bit like a Klingon Bat'leth. The Scabendi at the far right is a female armed with a trident. The Scabendi have a decent amount of hit points - 12, which is the same as a human's. Their special ability is when making an action roll or a dodge roll, any stars rolled may be added to the total.
My colour schemes are similar to what Dave used but not an exact copy. The skin colours are almost identical but I have only painted the male heads red and not their upper bodies as well. Also, my armoured gladiator has Foundry Vivid Blue 22 armour instead of yellow armour, which I thought was too bright. Their blue skin is Foundry Sky Blue 21A with a Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade ink wash. The female head was painted with Foundry Yellow 2 and the male heads with Foundry Scarlet 38.
Next up will be the Ceratids and the humans.

Wargames Terrain Workshop Death Match Game

Death Match is a simple sci-fi gladiatorial game with humans and alien races fighting one another as well as alien beasts and monsters in an arena. The game is produced by Wargames Terrain Workshop and I have to admit, the whole concept just grabbed from from the moment I first learned about it. I have always had a hankering for playing a gladiator game but I never found the set of rules that made me commit to playing them. THW's Red Sands, Blue Skies came close. I did buy them but never got round to playing a game with them. Part of me was looking for something more than just a Roman-styled historical game. I wanted something extra; a fantasy setting may have done it but I never found such a game. However, science fiction has always been my favourite gaming genre, so when Dave Stone, from WTW told me he was developing a sci-fi gladiator game I was immediately drawn in.

Dave kindly sent me an advanced copy of the rules in PDF format for me to play test. I printed them out and even designed my own arena using tiles from World Works Games' Arena Works set with a 1" grid overlay on them. The figures I used were mostly 28mm scale EM4 Roman Gladiators, a few appropriately armed sci-fi figures and some fantasy monsters (giant spiders shown here). The huge Sky Shark was an official Death Match figure and it is every bit as fearsome as it looks. The rules are very simple to learn. Players roll 2d8s which can be attack dice, defence dice or one of each. The dice are supposed to have symbols on them (swords for attacks and shields for defence) but Dave was, and still is, trying to find a cheap source for them. So, normal numbered d8s are used and the number rolled determines what symbol is used. High is good, low is bad. If both dice come up with double 1s or double skulls, that is very, very bad. Results are compared to see who scores the most hits or defences and if hits win, then damage is determined. When a figure suffers sufficient hit points lost he/she or it is removed from the game.
Fast forward to when Dave came to stay with me for a short while. Prior to his arrival, the Death Match game went on sale on the WTW webstore. I placed a large order for the game and enough figures for a four player match. Rather than post them to me, I asked Dave to bring them with him when he drove all the way to my house. This arrangement suited us both fine. That evening, we played a game on the official arena mat (beautifully made of neoprene plastic) and used some of Dave's own painted figures. It was a huge thrill playing with Dave, who had done much to design the game rules and of course, sculpt the figures for it. I got soundly beaten but I could have no excuses. Dave was simply the better player on the night.

Here is a game in progress using the official figures and gaming mat. The gaming mat measures 2' square and is made of neoprene plastic like a computer mouse mat. This makes it very strong and durable and is my favourite material for gaming boards. You'll notice the game board does not use a grid pattern, which I'm fine with. By having two types of arena, with and without grids, means I can use these in an even wider variety of games. For example, the What's Old Is New games use 1" grids for their ground based combats, so I can use my scratch-built arena if I decide to convert Death Match to N.E.W. (there's a good chance that will happen).

At present, the game features four gladiatorial races - the humans, the large horned Ceratids, the insect-like Exuvium and the reptilian Scabendi. In addition, are numerous beasts and monsters, a few of which are shown above. I have all of the gladiator figures, the bystanders, the 3D gaming tokens and most of the monsters. I will be buying all of the monsters in due time. Over the next few posts I will be reviewing the figures that are currently available for this game.

Dave has a number of expansions planned for the game, the most exciting of which are 3D stands to form a complete arena model. That will look most impressive. New races and monsters are also in the pipeline but I don't want to say too much about them, suffice to say, I'm interested in all of them. 

Death Match is a fun game to play that can be played solo or with 2 to 4 players. Matches do not usually last long and depending on the dice rolls can be over very quickly. If you fancy a really long match, try increasing the number of gladiators per side from one per side to two or three per side.

Regular followers of my blog will know that I'm a big fan of Dave's Wargames Terrain Workshop figures and models and this game has quickly become one of my favourite sci-fi skirmish games. My one and only criticism of the game is the lack of the official dice - a problem which Dave acknowledges and is working on to rectify. When it comes to buying the game you have a number of options. The cheapest option is to get a PDF copy of the rulebook for just £5.00. Alternatively, you can buy the two player deal set for £65 (RRP should be £80.50) which bags you 1 Exuvium and 1 Scabendi figure of your choice, 4 monsters (Deathcoil Beast, Horned Hominid, Lava Salamander and a Recnac), the rulebook, the gaming mat, and tokens for defensive stance, favour, initiative and knockdowns. If you go for the four player deal set, it will cost £75 (RRP should be £94.50) and you get everything from the two player version plus a human gladiator figure, your choice of a Ceratid gladiator figure and extra tokens. I went for the four player deal set to get me more bang for my buck. Here's a link to all of the Death Match products - http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?product_cat=death-match

John Carter of Mars Heroes 01

When Dave Stone recently visited me, he discussed how his sci-fi gladiators game, Death Match, originated. It was whilst watching the 2012 film, John Carter, where John is fighting in an arena, that Dave thought how cool it would be to create a sci-fi gladiators game. Despite the film getting panned by many critics, Dave and I are both fans of the film. So from that germ of an idea, the game was developed. Anyway, what I forgot to tell Dave was that I had a small selection of 28mm scale John Carter figures. They are produced by Tin Man Miniatures and I bought them at the beginning of this year when TMM had a 30% discount sale. Funnily enough, they are also offering this same discount this month up until the 18th. Dave's comments about John Carter got me to thinking about how perfect these figures would be for his Death Match game. Currently, he only has one human gladiator (a female) for sale in his webstore. More will be available later.

From left to right are John Carter, Dejah Thoris and Woola. Most likely for copyright reasons, Tin Man Miniatures have renamed them as Jack Carson, Princess Dari and Moola. Jack Carson/John Carter is available as shown above or in a nude version. He is armed with a cavalry sabre and a pistol and he would be right at home in a game of Death Match. I won't go into any details about who John Carter is, as I'm sure most, if not all of you, are familiar with him. If not, check him out on Google or Wikipedia... or get the book the film is based on, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Princess Dari/Dejah Thoris is a native of Mars (called Barsoom by the inhabitants of Mars) who falls in love with Carter. I am quite familiar with Dejah from the comic book series by Dynamite. Indeed, she once teamed up with Vampirella and Red Sonja in the epic Swords of Sorrow series as one of the three wielders of the aforementioned swords. Once again, Tin Man offers a clothed and nude version of this figure. This time, I opted for the nude version, although as you can see, she isn't totally nude, just topless. Whilst she is a very good fighter in the books, comics and film, I don't think she'd fare well in Death Match. Her lack of armour and single weapon puts her at a big disadvantage. At least Carter has a pistol to deal with opponents at a distance, even he is also lacking in protection.
Moola/Woola is described as a "Calot" - a large creature that resembles an amphibian and behaves like a loyal dog. He becomes devoted to Carter and is rarely far from his side. He has ten legs and thus is very fast.
I bought these figures because, A) I liked the film, B) I'm a big fan of Dejah from her comics and C) because they were on offer at the time. I can certainly find uses for all three figures in some of the games I play. I'm undecided about buying more figures from this range to recreate a Barsoomian skirmish game. I received very good service from TMM, who are based in America. They quite often have these sales, so it is well worth waiting for one to come along if you want to place an order with them.

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!