Warlord Games Judoon

One of the first figure sets I bought for Warlord Game's Doctor Who game was the box of three 35mm scale Judoon. For some inexplicable reason they remained unpainted until the end of last month. They were incredibly easy to paint, so here, at last are my Judoon.

Single-minded in their pursuit of the Law, these black armoured Rhinoceroid bipeds serve as a mercenary intergalactic police force affiliated to thee Shadow Proclamation. Known for their strict adherence to the Law and their brutish application of it, the Judoon have been harshly but accurately described by the Doctor as logical but stupid.

Judoon carry scanners to identify their quarries, translator devices to communicate during their enquiries and powerful energy weapons capable of incinerating their foes.
These figures are quite exquisitely sculpted and were a joy to paint. Obviously they will get most use in the Doctor Who: Exterminate skirmish game but I really want to use them in a Judge Dredd scenario, in which they land in Mega City One in pursuit of a time travelling villain (Kahler Tek perhaps) only to be interrupted by the Judges. Judges vs Judoon would make for a fascinating encounter since they both have so much in common.
This boxed set of three pewter figures costs £13.00 from the Warlord Games webstore.

Warlord Games Specialist Daleks & Kahler-Tek

In this post I'm reviewing the three figures from the Maximum Extermination! boxed set from the Warlord Games' Doctor Who range as well as the figure of the android Kahler-Tek, who was recently offered as a freebie if you spent £75.00 or more. Believe me, that was not hard as Warlord Games are constantly adding to this range.

At the far left is the Genesis Ark. Dimensionally transcendental, like the TARDIS, the Genesis Ark was a Time Lord prison ship, similar in shape to a Dalek casing, and contained millions of captive Daleks. The Cult of Skaro, led by Dalek Sec, used a void ship to transmat themselves and the Ark out of The Time War, materialising on 21st century Earth. They aimed to resurrect the Dalek empire, opening the Ark and releasing the Daleks inside. However, to achieve this they needed the touch of a time traveller. Mickey Smith accidentally primed it by placing his hand on the outer casing during an altercation with the Cybermen. The Ark was subsequently raised into the sky, releasing the millions of Daleks inside to wreak havoc on the human race and into battle with the recently arrived Cybermen armies. The Doctor eventually re-opened the void and the Ark was sucked back through along with the Dalek and Cybermen forces.
The Supreme Daleks were commander Daleks, either of a faction, or, in the absence of the Emperor Dalek, the leader of the entire Kaled race. Traditionally they were different to standard Daleks casings, often seen entirely in black or gold, or a mixture of these two colours. After the return of Davros and the establishment of the new Dalek empire, the Supreme Dalek was red in colour, featuring gold ridges and spheres as well as an extra light on the back of the head dome. The Twelfth Doctor, Clara and Missy encountered this model on the rebuilt Skaro, home planet of the Daleks, but his army was destroyed by reactivated Daleks in the sewers beneath the city.
Visually different from other models, The Special Weapons Dalek was heavily armoured with deadly offensive capabilities. The traditional Dalek eyestalk and operating arm was replaced with a giant laser energy cannon. Capable of destroying several renegade Daleks at once, it also easily deflected their energy rays. Known amongst the Dalek race as "The Abomination", it was emotionally unstable as the result of radiation damage seeping into its brain from its own energy weapon.

Kahler-Tek, also known as ‘The Gunslinger’ was a Kahler cyborg, one of many humanoids who was experimented on by Kahler-Jex on his home planet of Kahler. Jex wanted to create a super soldier race so he could win the war his people were engaged in. Tek and several others were converted into powerful half men, half machines: A terrifying army of armed war machines featuring powerful energy weapons and built in targeting computers. Kahler-Tek became damaged on the battlefield and slowly his original personality returned to him. He became aware of what he had become and what Kahler-Jex had done to him. Enraged, he set out to track down Jex and his scientists who had turned him into a killer cyborg, hell-bent on revenge.
Years later, the vengeful Tek tracked down Kahler-Jex to Earth, where he had taken on the role of the Doctor in a town called Mercy. Tek lays siege to the townspeople, and when the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive they face an ultimatum – hand over Kahler-Jex to face his fate or the gunslinger would kill every innocent civilian in town, despite his strong instincts not to harm innocents. When Jex expresses genuine regret for his past crimes, he chooses to commit suicide rather than face his cyborg creation. Kahler-Tek believed he no longer served a purpose: all those who had mistreated him had died, so he decided to self-destruct in the desert. However, the Doctor persuaded him to stay in town to take on the role of protector of the people and keep them all safe from outsiders.
As a massive fan of the Daleks I like this set a lot. The Genesis Ark is made of resin but the two Daleks are made of pewter. As for Kahler-Tek, I barely remember him at all and I doubt if I'll use him in any Doctor Who games. Instead, he looks like he'd be more at home in the Cursed Earth of Judge Dredd or as a villain in Strontium Dogs. The Maximum Extermination set costs £16.00 and Kahler-Tek costs an eye-watering £25.00 if you don't take up the spend £75.00 or more offer.

Warlord Games The Master

In this post I'm reviewing the five figures from the I am the Master boxed set as part of the Warlord Games' Doctor Who  range. These figures represent the Master in five of his incarnations.

At the far left is the first incarnation of the Master (played by Roger Delgado) and he was first encountered by the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee). Charming but deadly and adept in disguise and mind manipulation, this iteration of the Master failed in an attempt to destroy humanity by forging an alliance with the Nestenes. He reappeared several times, striking alliances with the Sea Devils and Daleks amongst others. The Doctor and the Master would often be forced to work together after the Master's allegiances didn't go according to plan.
In The Deadly Assassin, the second version of the Master (played by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beavers) returns, arriving on Gallifrey for a final showdown with the Doctor. After faking his own death, the Master steals the Sash and Rod of Rassilon, which would allow him access to the Eye of Harmony, the centre of a black hole once captured by President Rassilon. He seeks to absorb the power of the Eye to grant him a new regeneration cycle, knowing that this act would result in the destruction of Gallifrey. Although his plan is foiled, he escapes the Time Lord Citadel in his TARDIS disguised as a grandfather clock.
The third Master (played by Anthony Ainley) appears in The Keeper of Traken, where, emaciated, he assimilates the appearance of Nyssa's father, Tremus of Traken, to renew his body without the need for a new regeneration cycle. In Planet of Fire, the Master re-establishes psychic control of his robotic slave, Kamelion, who has been travelling with the Doctor, and the android briefly takes on his appearance. The last appearance of this Master is in Survival, where, after a battle with the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) he is left for dead on the failing Cheetah Planet.

Having had his true identity returned by the Chameleon Arch, a regenerating Master (played by John Simm) steals the Tenth Doctor's (David Tennant) TARDIS and hides away on Earth under the guise of Prime Minister Harold Saxon. His plan to subjugate the human race is foiled when time itself is reversed, creating the year that never was. In The End of Time, the Master once again tries to bring the human race under his control, in an elaborate plan to restore planet Gallifrey, destroyed in the Time war. We last see him on a colony ship where he plots to bring about the genesis of the Cybermen, facing opposition from both the Doctor and Missy, his own future incarnation.
A female incarnation of the Master, Missy (short for "Mistress") (played by Michelle Gomez), first reveals herself to the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) in Dark Water. Having founded the 3W Institute, Missy explains that she has been storing the minds of the recently deceased to the Nethersphere in order to convert them into an army of Cybermen. A Cyber-converted Danny Pink ultimately defeats her army and Missy is seemingly destroyed by a shot from a rogue Cyberman. This end and her next on Skaro are yet more ruses and, after being spared execution at the hands of the Doctor on a faraway world, she is held captive in a vault on Earth, guarded by the Doctor, to whom she has promised she will become a better, good person. Despite some internal conflict, Missy stands with the Doctor against her past self on the colony ship, Mondas, but is ultimately fatally wounded by the former Master.
This is a great set to own. The Master is just as iconic as the Cybermen and Daleks. As you would expect from this range, all of the figures are superbly sculpted and are great likenesses of the actors and actress who played the various incarnations of the Master. My favourite Master is Roger Delgado, closely followed by Michelle Gomez. This boxed set of five figures costs £22.00 from the Warlord Games webstore.

Warlord Games Fourth Doctor & Companions

Here are the Fourth Doctor and some of his companions produced by Warlord Games. I know that Tom Baker is many people's favourite Doctor and I too like him very much.

At the far left is the Doctor (played by Tom Baker) and his faithful robot companion, K9 Mk II. Never without his trademark infeasibly long scarf and a bag of jelly babies, the Fourth Doctor was more distant and alien then his predecessors. His big almost maniacal grin and offbeat humour was often contrasted by a sombre and sometimes aloof personality.Defeating countless enemies old and new, including the Daleks, Cybermen, Zygons and the Black Guardians, he was declared Lord President elect of his home planet, Gallifrey and travelled the universe searching for the Key to Time. Charming, selfless and amoral crusader, the Fourth Doctor was a force to be reckoned with.
Next in line is Romanadvoralundar (Romana for short) (played by Mary Tamm). A fellow Time Lord, she often came across as snooty and authoritative, no doubt to her achieving a "triple first" from the time Lord Academy on Gallifrey. This sometimes led to inevitable personality clashes with the Doctor but she chose to stay with the Doctor and K9 long after their quest was completed.
Seemingly on a whim, Romana decided to regenerate into a new body taking on the appearance of Princess Astra (played by Lalla Ward) whom she had met during the events of The Armageddon Factor. Romana and K9 eventually decide to stay in E Space (a pathway between universes) after the Doctor escapes back into his own universe.

Fourth in line is Leela (played by Louise Jameson), a warrior of the Sevateem, a tribe of regressed primitive humans. Despite being offered the chance to become the leader of her society, her new found friendship with the Doctor led to her jumping aboard the TARDIS to join the initially reluctant Doctor on his travels. She had an understanding of the technologically advanced wonders of the universe, but often resorting to her primitive instincts and violence when faced with something she didn't understand - often with her knife or poisonous Janis thorns - much to the Doctor's distaste. This sometimes led to inevitable personality clashes with the Doctor, but she chose to stay with the Doctor and K9 long after their quest was completed.
Finally is Royal Navy medical officer Harry Sullivan (played by Ian Marter) who was amongst the first to encounter the Doctor shortly after his regeneration at UNIT HQ. This dashing, loyal and sometimes put-upon young man encountered the Wirrn, Cybermen, Daleks and other horrors of the universe, before deciding to depart the TARDIS after a deadly encounter with the shapeshifting Zygons.
I really love these figures. They are beautifully sculpted. I'm not at all surprised that Warlord Games chose the Fourth Doctor for their releases of the Old Doctors. Also, I was pleased to see that there will be a second release of the Fourth Doctor with companions, journalist Sarah Jane Smith, Nyssa of Traken, Australian air hostess Tegan Jovanka and young mathematical genius Adric. This boxed set costs £22 from the Warlord Games web store.

Warlord Games 11th Doctor and his Companions

In this post I'm reviewing the figures from the 11th Doctor and Companions set from the Doctor Who range of 35mm scale pewter figures by Warlord Games.

Youthful in appearance, but centuries old, the 11th Doctor (as played by Matt Smith) loved life but had little time for those who did him wrong. A fondness for hats and Jammie Dodgers, he was adventurous and unpredictable. His main companions included feisty Scot, Amy Pond (as played by Karen Gillen), her husband Rory Williams (as played by Arthur Darvill) and the mysterious Clara Oswald, aka the Impossible Girl (as played by Jenna-Louise Coleman). He also frequently appeared alongside Professor River Song (as played by Alex Kingston), a fellow time traveller, with whom he shared a romantic storyline which resulted in them marrying.

From left to right the figures are the 11th Doctor, River Song, Clara Oswald, Amy Pond and Rory Williams. Note that the figure of Clara is the second to be made by Warlord Games in this range, with the first appearing in the 12th Doctor and Companions set. This makes me very happy as Clara is my favourite companion from all of the series. She had star appeal in abundance! I liked Matt Smith a lot and I was very fond of all of these companions. They were all worthy allies of the Doctor who put in many fine performances.
This boxed set of five figures also includes 12 cards to use in the Exterminate! skirmish game. It costs £22.00 form the Warlord Games webstore.

Warlord Games 9th Doctor and his Companions

I recently bought some more boxed sets of Warlord Games Doctor Who miniatures, which included the 4th Doctor (as played by Tom Baker), the 9th Doctor (as played by Christopher Eccleston), the 11th Doctor (as played by Matt Smith) and their companions. In this post I'm focussing on the 9th Doctor and his four companions.

Battle-scarred, but with a great love of life and adventure, the 9th Doctor invited 19 year old shopgirl Rose Tyler (as played by Billie Piper) aboard the TARDIS for a trip of a lifetime. Later joined by time traveller Captain Jack Harkness from the 51st Century (as played by John Barrowman), and occasionally assisted by Rose's boyfriend, Mickey Smith (as played by Noel Clarke) and Rose's mother, Jackie (as  played by Camille Coduri), their adventures took them from Victorian Cardiff to the end of the world, fighting enemies old and new, including Autons, Daleks and the Slitheen.

From left to right are the 9th Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, Rose Tyler and Jackie Tyler. Note that this is the second figure of Rose that Warlord Games has made. She also appears in the 10th Doctor and his Companions set. The sculpts are all excellent, and have faithfully captured the likenesses of the five characters. They are statically posed but I have no problem with that. The four companions would make excellent generic civilians in any contemporary game. I rather liked Christopher Eccleston's performance as the 9th Doctor but after it was announced that he was leaving after just one series, it came as no surprise to me. I never expected him to be a long serving Doctor. As for his companions, I liked them all immensely, especially Rose and Jackie.
This boxed set of five 35mm scale figures also includes 12 cards to use in the Exterminate! skirmish game. It costs £22.00 form the Warlord Games webstore.

Warlord Games Time Lords

Here are three more figures from the Warlord Games' Doctor Who range of 35mm scale figures - the Time Lords.

Gallifrey, the home planet of the Time Lords, stands in the constellation of Kasterborous. The Time Lords invented space and time travel machines known as TARDISes but closely monitored their use to ensure time was neither abused nor history changed. They had a strict policy of non-interference in other planets and their cultures. Thought destroyed in the Last Great Time War, the Doctor's home planet was actually frozen in time and shifted into another parallel dimension. In the Citadel, a giant structure enclosed within a glass dome in the main city, Lord President Rassilon and the Time Lord Council watch over their home world.

From left to right are a Time Lord General, President Rassilon and a Time Lord Councillor. These are very statically posed, which is appropriate for their characters. I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of these figures but I still like them. This set of three figures, which includes six cards for the Exterminate! skirmish game, costs £13.00.

Warlord Games Emojibots

Continuing my look at my recently purchased figures from Warlord Games' Doctor Who range I move forward in time to review the Emojibots. These appeared in the second episode of the tenth series of the reboot called Smile.

The Emojibots were robots who served as avatar interfaces to the sentient microbots, the Vardy. Their purpose was to ensure the humans on the off-world colony Gliese 581d remained happy at all times. To monitor their moods, everyone wore a badge which reflected the person's mood through the language of emojis. Emojibots viewed unhappiness and grieving as anathema and would enlist the Vardy to kill those showing such negative emotions.

When the TARDIS arrives on the colony, the Twelfth Doctor and his companion, Bill Potts, are greeted by the Emojibots and given badges. After the Doctor comes to the shocking realisation that the colonists are being slaughtered and their bones used as fertiliser for the food supply their resultant upset is picked up by the Emojibots...
These figures are a lot smaller in size to the rest of this range, so would fit in well with 28mm scale figures. I could see them fitting in so well in Mega City One as part of a Judge Dredd game. This set of three figures cost £13.00 and comes with six cards to use in the Exterminate! game.

Warlord Games Movellans

Just prior to Christmas, Warlord Games had a sale on their range of Doctor Who miniatures - buy two sets and get a third one free. This was too good an offer to pass by so I ordered the Movellans, Emojibots and Time Lords set. I finished painting them all last month and in this post I'm going to present the three Movellan figures.

Outwardly resembling humans of different ethnicities, the Movellans are androids from the star system 4X Alpha 4. Sporting long, silver dreadlocks, white uniforms and a conical gun, they are extremely strong. Each Movellan carries an external power pack round their belts; if this unit is damaged or destroyed, the android unit will cease to function. They have a strong code of honour, refusing to allow other species to see them in death. The Movellans are noted adversaries of the Daleks.

I can remember seeing them when they first appeared in the 1979 episode, Destiny of the Daleks and was immediately attracted to them. The white uniforms and metallic coloured hair very much reminded me of the female Moonbase personnel from Gerry Anderson's UFO TV series. Being such a big fan of strong female characters I like these miniatures a lot. I could well see them being useful characters to appear in my The Ace of Spades Campaign. This boxed set of three figures and six Exterminate! cards costs £13.00 from the Warlord Games webstore.

Warlord Games Clockwork Droids & Vashta Nerada

Here are two sets of Doctor Who villains that I recently painted - the Clockwork Droids and the Vashta Nerada, both produced by Warlord Games.

Serving aboard the SS Madame de Pompadour, the Clockwork Droids had harvested the crew's body parts to repair their damaged space ship. Only now needing to repair the broken command circuit, they stalked the original Madame de Pompadour to 18th century France, believing her brain was the missing part they needed. Dressed as French courtiers and wearing ball masks, their true nature was given away by the ticking of their inner workings. The Clockwork Droids had retractable repair tools at their wrists, which could double as weapons. You can see one on the male Droid at the far left.

The Clockwork droids appeared in the fourth episode of series two of the new series back in 2006, and it was called The Girl in the Fireplace. In this episode, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) was accompanied by his companions, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and couldn't find fault with it. These are beautifully sculpted figures but I did reinforce the ankle joints of the two male Droids with a tiny bit of Milliput and a dollop of superglue. The boxed set of these three figures costs £13.00. They do not come with stat cards for the Doctor Who:Exterminate game but you can buy the cards separately for £2.50 for six cards, which is what I did.

Gathering in swarms many thousands strong, the Vashta Nerada are microscopic beings, living mostly in the dark and appearing in the light as a shadow cast by nothing. Their name means "shadows that melt the flesh" - a large swarm of Vashta Nerada can strip the flesh from a creature in milliseconds. Existing on over a billion planets, including Earth, they inspire a fear of the darkness in most species as any shadow could contain a swarm of Vashta Nerada. The Tenth Doctor believed they have no weaknesses and the only defence against them was to stay away from shadows and run away.

The Vashta Nerada appeared in a two-part episode in series four of the new Doctor Who series. In episode eight, Silence in the Library, the Tenth Doctor and his companion, Donna Noble, land in the 51st century to visit the greatest library in the universe, encompassing an entire planet, but are baffled when they find it deserted. The sequel was called Forest of the Dead. As well as introducing a new alien race, these episodes also introduced the endearing River Song, who would become a recurring character in the Doctor's life. Despite being predominantly white, I found these theses three figures to be quite a challenge to paint. If ever I need any zombie astronauts for a game, these will certainly fit the bill. This boxed set of three 32mm scale figures also costs £13.00. Once again, it comes without stat cards, but they can be bought separately at £2.50 for six cards. I'd guess in time the cards will be included with the figures but at an increased cost.

Warlord Games Fisher King & The Woman Who Lived

I recently placed a rather large order with Warlord Games for more of their 32mm scale Doctor Who figures. I tend to wait a while before ordering as I prefer to make one big order instead of lots of smaller orders. Another reason for sending big orders is that if you spend £75.00 or more on Doctor Who products you get a free figure of the Fisher King. To buy him separately would cost you £25.00, which for a single figure, even one as big as he is, is frankly a rip-off.

So, I have two figures of him and I only really needed one. So what to do with my spare? Simon, aka Blaxkleric decided to mount his spare Fisher King (see here) on a plinth to make him into a statue and I thought this was an excellent idea. So I stuck my spare figure onto a resin plinth I had and, hey presto, a neat piece of scenery to use in many a sci-fi game.

The Fisher King was an alien warlord who, in the 20th century, conquered Tivoli, ruling the subservient population for ten years until his apparent death. His body was transported to 1980's Earth by funeral director Albar Prentis, but he was not dead, simply waiting inside a status chamber to be recovered by his people. He turned humanoids into ‘ghosts’ which transmitted co-ordinates to Earth so that he could be tracked and rescued. He was trapped and killed by a flood, the result of the twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) blowing up a nearby dam. The Fisher King appeared in the second of a two-part episode called Before the Flood in the ninth series of the new Doctor Who series. The prequel was called Under the Lake.
As I mentioned in my intro, this is a big figure, standing 50mm tall. He is a one-piece casting. In my opinion, it was definitely worth it spending £75.00+ to get him for free. This offer still applies. I could easily put together another big order for the figures I'm missing from this range but I've no idea what I'd do with a third Fisher King model.

These three figures feature the same character in a variety of her guises - from left to right, Ashildir, the Knightmare and Mayor Me. The Woman Who Lived is the title of the sixth episode in series nine of the new Doctor Who series and was a sequel to the previous episode, The Girl Who Died. An ordinary Viking girl killed after a battle with the alien Mire, Ashildir was resurrected by the Doctor using a Mire repair kit which was able to fix her physiology. Now with a potentially infinite lifespan, she chose aliases such as Lady Sherade, Ash, El Dir, Alys, the Knightmare and Mayor Me, having forgotten her original identity over the centuries.

The last we saw of Ashildir was in the final episode of series nine, Hell Bent, in which she and Clara Oswald (in her final appearance) set off in their own TARDIS, which resembled an American diner. Personally, I would have loved to have seen a spin-off series focussing on Ashildir and Clara together, as they were two of my favourite Doctor Who companions. Clara still remains my all time favourite companion. Maisie Williams played the role of Ashildir, and was a joy to watch in all of her episodes. The boxed set of The Woman Who Lived costs £13.00 but sadly does not contain stat cards for her. I hope that Warlord Games rectifies this oversight soon.

Warlord Games Missy, Professor Yana and Chantho

I could have shown the Warlord Games figure of Missy when I reviewed my plastic Cybermen. After all, she was part of the boxed set that featured the Cybermen reinforcements. But I deliberately held back so that I could showcase her alongside Professor Yana and Chantho. These three characters do share a history as I'll explain.

At the left of these two photos are Chantho and Professor Yana. The kindly Professor Yana worked on the Utopia project at the end of the universe with his assistant, Chantho - a Malmooth whose every sentence started with "Chan" and ended with "Tho". However, Yana was actually the renegade Time Lord, the Master - his biology altered by Time Lord technology, the Chameleon Arch. When the Master discovered his true identity he fatally wounded Chantho with a live electric cable. In her final moments, Chantho managed to shoot the Master, triggering his regeneration as he stole away in the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS. The Master was once again unleashed upon time and space.

The Master makes numerous appearances in the Doctor Who TV series but it was in the 2014 episodes,  Dark Water and Death in Heaven that Missy revealed herself to be the latest regeneration of the Master or rather a female version of him, known as Missy, a shortened version of Mistress. This figure very faithfully captures the likeness of Michelle Gomez, who played Missy to such wonderful effect. Yes, I am a big fan of Missy.
Michelle Gomez maintained John Simm's (the previous Master) portrayal of the character, specifically the psychopathic behaviour and inappropriate emotional responses to certain situations, as well as the original traditions of ruthless, murderous behaviour and grandiose, Machiavellian criminal intelligence that have been consistent throughout all incarnations. However, she also displayed a much more coquettish manner, with her new female identity allowing her to fully express aspects of the Master's ambiguous bond with the Doctor (as previously explored by Simm's incarnation in The Sound of Drums). While determined to torment and corrupt the Doctor with moral temptation while inflicting pain and death to humanity, she frequently referred to him as her "boyfriend" or "friend" and appeared to ultimately desire his acquiescence and company. She is also well aware that she is even more dangerously psychopathic than before, describing herself as "Bananas" to UNIT agent Osgood right before killing her (Death in Heaven). However, when circumstances result in Missy being kept in a vault and monitored by the Doctor after an averted execution, Missy actually comes to show signs of remorse for what she had done in the past, to the point that she prepares to side with the Doctor over her own past self (The Doctor Falls).
The Master and the Doctor are shown to have similar levels of intelligence, and were classmates on Gallifrey, where the Master outperformed the Doctor. A similar connection between the two was also referenced in The End of Time in which the Master reminisces with the Tenth Doctor about his father's estates on Gallifrey and his childhood with the Doctor before saying, "look at us now". In the 2007 episode Utopia, the Tenth Doctor calls the transformed and disguised Master (Professor Yana) a genius and shows admiration for his intellect before discovering his true identity. The Tenth Doctor further expresses admiration for the Master's intellect in The End of Time by calling him "stone cold brilliant" and yet states that the Master could be more if he would just give up his desire for domination. The Twelfth Doctor states that Missy is "the one person almost as smart as me" (The Lie of the Land).

Vampifan's Views 94 - Monthly Musings 67

Once again, it has been another busy month for me, with much accomplished and much to chat about. First up, I present the first of a series of illustrations featuring Vampirella and Batman together. The artist is Bo Hampton and he has depicted Vampirella as she appeared in the 1970's during the Warren Publishing era. Seeing as they both tend to hunt their prey during the night, it might seem an obvious team up but in fact, they have not met before. However, Vampirella did once appear in a crossover comic with Catwoman, so she does have some connection with DC Comics' Gotham City. Somehow, I just can't see Vampi and Batman getting along together very well.

As you will have noted from my recent posts, I have been painting a lot of figures from Warlord Games' Doctor Who: Into the Time Vortex range; in particular, Cybermen and Daleks. There is more Doctor Who goodness still to come real soon. "Cough," Missy, "Cough!" Speaking of Doctor Who, I know that the TV series has a lot of fans from amongst my followers, but no one has said anything about the casting of the new Doctor - Jodie Whittaker. So I'm going to be the first to stick my head above the parapet, so to speak, and offer my opinion.

Personally, I think it is an excellent choice and I am very excited about the new series. I have absolutely no problems with the Doctor regenerating into a woman. After all, a precedent was set when the Master regenerated into Missy, and she was superb. I am also delighted that Jodie was chosen as I have a lot of respect for her and I've enjoyed all of her previous performances that I've seen. I am also glad that the fan speculation that the Thirteenth Doctor might be Kris Marshall or Tilda Swinton was so wide of the mark. Neither of them would have been good choices in my opinion. I am also glad to have seen the last of Bill Potts and Nardole (or Nardull as I often called him), neither of whom I liked. I rated them amongst the worst of the Doctor's companions. I will, however, miss Peter Capaldi, who was, I thought, one of the better Doctors to have appeared in the series. Still, exciting times ahead and I am so very much looking forward to this year's Christmas Day special.

At the start of this month I ran a review of the three Scavengers figures produced by Wargames Terrain Workshop (see here ). I mentioned that I was going to repaint the skin of the very tall female and that I would take another photo, which showed the the three figures alongside a standard 28mm scale figure, so that you could judge just how tall Dave Stone's sculpts are. Here is that photo.

I much prefer the tall female (alien or mutant?) with her blue skin now. My figure of Vampifan (at the far right) by Copplestone Castings is exactly 28mm tall and provides a handy reference point for you to compare sizes with. I did add this photo to the original post but I very much doubt if anyone noticed it.

My big news for this month is that I have started a new blog, called Vampifan's WOIN Blog. Here is the link to it - https://vampifanwoin.blogspot.co.uk/ I won't go into much detail about it here as I'd only be repeating what I've already said in my introductory post. Suffice to say, the blog is dedicated to the What's Old Is New RPG systems by EN Publishing. I have put a lot of work into this new blog and I already have ten posts ready to publish. I'll be alternating my posts between my two blogs, which means that Vampifan's World of the Undead will most likely only be appearing once per week instead of twice. However, I have so much material for both blogs that I may increase my blogging frequency to three times per week. We'll see if I can spare the extra time. I doff my hat to Clint Burnett and Phil Curran, who were eagle-eyed enough to note that I've been advertising my new blog in the sidebar of this blog for over a week now and both are my first two followers.

Here's a teaser photo showing my figures of the crew of The Ace of Spades, who'll be featuring in a truly epic space opera-type campaign I'll be running on the new blog, using the N.E.W. sci-fi RPG rules. Check it out if you're at all interested or feel free to ignore it if it's not your cup of tea.

Warlord Games Cybermen part 02

To accompany the Cybermen from the Exterminate! skirmish game and the Missy and the Cybermen expansion set, Warlord Games released the Nightmares in Silver boxed set, featuring 10 metal Cybermen variants from the Doctor Who TV series from 1966 to 2013. The Cybermen - originally humanoids from Earth's twin planet, Mondas - have been constant adversaries of the Doctor from his first incarnation to the present day. The Mondasians replaced parts of their dying bodies with cybernetic parts and thus were born the first Cybermen. Eventually, they added emotional inhibitor chips to suppress all feelings. Logical and resourceful, no other Doctor Who villain has changed appearance so often as the ever upgrading Cybermen. From their inaugural appearance in 1966 to their current form, they have evolved to reduce their weaknesses and enhance their strengths. The Cybermen are a formidable and persistent foe.

These four Cybermen variants all appeared on Doctor Who during the 1960's. At the far left is what I have termed the Mk.1 Cyberman, and he debuted in a 1966 episode called The Tenth Planet. Although the Doctor defeated them, in doing so he triggered his first regeneration.
A year later, the Cybermen returned to face the Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield, in an episode called The Tomb of the Cybermen set on the planet Telos, where an archaeological team uncover the resting place of an army of Cybermen.

In the 1968 episode, The Wheel in Space, the Second Doctor and Jamie battle the Mk.3 Cybermen on a space station shaped like a wheel. The Doctor uses an X-ray laser to destroy the Cybermen's ship.
Later that year, in The Invasion, the Mk.4 Cybermen unleash a hypnotic beam that paralyses most of the Earth's population. The Second Doctor, with help from UNIT, the RAF and the Russians, destroys the Cybermen spaceship, thus preventing their invasion.

In 1975, in Revenge of the Cybermen, the Fourth Doctor and his companions, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, arrive on Space Station Nerva orbiting Jupiter, where the Mk.5 Cybermen plan to destroy a new planet called Voga, which is nearby. Voga is rich in gold, which is harmful to Cybermen as it damages their breathing apparatus.
After a long absence, the Mk.6 Cybermen appeared in a 1982 episode called Earthshock, to destroy a peace conference on 26th Century Earth. In stopping them, the Fifth Doctor's boy genius companion, Adric, sacrifices himself.

Arriving in England in 1988 in the Silver Nemesis episode, the Seventh Doctor and Ace found the Mk.7 Cybermen, a 17th Century sorceress and the Nazis vying for control of a statue created by Rassilon. The Doctor tricked the Cybermen into thinking they had the artefact, but it was actually a bomb which destroyed their fleet.
Fast forward to 2006, and the Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith are trapped on a parallel Earth in a two part episode, called Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel. A mega-corporation called Cybus Industries, led by megalomaniac John Lumic, plans to convert the population of London into Mk.8 Cybermen with the help of emotional inhibitor sensors.

At the far left is a Mk.2 Cyber Controller, made by Black Tree Designs and gifted to me by Blaxkleric a good while ago. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to showcase him. Being 28mm scale he is clearly smaller than the Warlord Games figures, but that doesn't bother me in the least. Note how his head is very different to the normal Mk. 2 Cyberman. The "helmet" indicates his leadership status.
Next to him is another non-Warlord Games Cyberman. This Cyber Leader is an old plastic 30mm scale figure from the 2007 Doctor Who Micro Universe range of collectable miniatures produced by Character Options. The "C" on his chest identifies him as belonging the Cybus Industries and the black trim on his head indicates he is a Cyber Leader.

Returning back to the Warlord Games Nightmares in Silver set, second from the right is a Mk.9 Cyber Leader from the 2011 episode, Closing Time, in which the Eleventh Doctor and his companion Craig work together to repel another Cybermen invasion of Earth.
Finally, is the Mk.10 Cyber Leader from the appropriately named 2013 episode, Nightmare in Silver.
The Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald discover a whole new Cyber upgrade (a cross between the Cybus Industries Cybermen and the Mondas evolved Cybermen) on a military-controlled extraterrestrial theme park, Hedgewick's World of Wonders. It is this variant of Cybermen that appear in Warlord Games' Exterminate! skirmish game. That is why I have painted this figure as a Cyber Leader as denoted by the black trim on the sides and top of his head. And, no, it does not bother me that he appears to be running. You can see he has clearly been modelled on the Cyberman in this poster for the episode.

These highly detailed metal sculpts are a worthy addition to the plastic Cybermen made by Warlord Games. Whether you prefer old-style Doctor Who to the recent reincarnations, you're sure to find something in this set to suit your tastes. I make no apologies in stating that I much prefer the new series, but each to their own.

Warlord Games Daleks

The Daleks are without doubt, one of the most iconic race of bad guys in the sci-fi universe and one of the most enduring. They first appeared in the Doctor Who TV series in a December 1963 episode called simply, The Daleks. Like the Cybermen, the Daleks have evolved over time and whilst the basic shape and form of a Dalek remains constant there are subtle differences between the many variants. The Daleks shown here, produced by Warlord Games as part of their Exterminate! miniatures skirmish game, are known as the Time War Daleks, who first appeared in the 2005 episode of Doctor Who called Dalek. This is one of my all-time favourite episodes of Doctor Who as it showed the Daleks in a new and terrifying light, making them enemies to be truly afraid of.

Here are the four types of Dalek I have from the Warlord Games range. At the far left is Davros, the supreme leader and creator of the Dalek race. He is the only metal Dalek figure made by Warlord Games at the time of this posting, and he comes in three parts. He is available in the "Davros and the New Dalek Empire" boxed set, which contains him and 12 plastic Daleks.
The Dalek Leader is easily identified as being all black in colour. In the Exterminate! game he is a unique figure. Note that I painted the 52 sensor globes around his lower body and the two waistbands in gloss black paint. He is one of the plastic multi-part models and I gently bent his eyestalk, sucker arm and exterminator weapon to reposition them.
The black headed Dalek is a member of the elite Imperial Guard. Whilst they are also a unique choice in the Exterminate! game, you are allowed to field three of them as a single unit. As you will see below, this is what I have done.
Finally, we come to the standard patrol Dalek and the only limit to how many of them you can field is the points total you have decided on for your force. They are cheap, but very tough and hard to kill. I currently have 20 of them.

For those interested in how I painted them I first primed them with Foundry Black Shade 34A. I then painted the bodies in Citadel Skullcrusher Brass. When dry, I gave them a Citadel Agrax Earthshade ink wash. The 52 sensor globes around the lower body and the two waistbands were painted with Citadel Liberator Gold. The three appendages were painted with Foundry Spearpoint 35C. The two side lights on the head and the middle section of the eye stalk were painted with Foundry Arctic Grey Light 33C (basically, it's white by another name). I used Foundry Black Shade 34A to paint the bulbous end of the eyestalk, the three recessed rings of the head, the plunger end of the right arm, the tip of the exterminator weapon and the lower skirt. I painted the upper half of the skirt with Foundry Stone Shade 57A and finally, I painted the end of the eyestalk with Foundry Vivid Blue Shade 22A. It looks like a lot of work, but really, they were very easy to paint and I was able to plough through them very quickly.

Unlike most of the other figures in the Warlord Games Doctor Who range, the Daleks do not come with separate bases. To be honest, they don't need them but some gamers like to affix them to bases anyway. I haven't, but what I have done is glue a piece of thin card to their undersides, to hide the ugly hole there and to give them a perfectly flat base, which I cut to fit snugly. I painted the card black and as is custom with my figures, I stuck small adhesive stickers to them to identify each one.

Here are all 25 of my Warlord Games Daleks lined up in rank, with Davros and the black Dalek Leader in the front, just ahead of the 3 Imperial Guard Daleks. Behind them is the bulk of my horde, the standard patrol Daleks.

That is quite an impressive sight and a very formidable force. I have to admit to being a huge fan of the Daleks and they are without doubt, my favourite Doctor Who alien race. These figures are just superb, extremely well sculpted and fit together very easily.

Warlord Games Cybermen part 01

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I had bought the Exterminate! skirmish game by Warlord Games along with the "Missy and the Cybermen" and the "Davros and the Daleks" boxed sets to go with it. The Exterminate! games contains 12 plastic 32mm scale Cybermen and 12 plastic 32mm scale Daleks, as multi-part models, that can be snapped together or glued. Mine are all glued. The two expansion sets contain a further 12 Cybermen and Daleks along with their respective leaders, Davros and Missy, who are sculpted in metal. There have been numerous versions of the Cybermen over the years as they have evolved into more efficient machines. These models are the latest version, which first appeared in the 2013 episode of Doctor Who called Nightmares in Silver. The sculpting of them is top notch. I have really taken to the Warlord Games Doctor Who miniatures range and the Exterminate! game is a great little sci-fi skirmish game.

The sprue that the plastic Cybermen comes on contains six Cybermen bodies (two standing still, two advancing with right leg leading and two advancing with left leg leading), six right arms in three different poses, and seven tiny Cybermats (four on bases, three unbased). This gives you a lot of variety in the way you can pose them. On some of mine, I cut off their left arms and repositioned them to add even more variety to my horde.

Painting them was so simple and I was able to paint them all in just over a week. I first covered them with Foundry Gunmetal Light 104C, followed by a Citadel Nuln Oil ink-wash. Then I dry-brushed them with Foundry Gunmetal Light 104C and a second dry-brushing with Foundry Spearpoint 35C for that shiny silvery look. Eyes, mouths and joints were picked out with Foundry Black Shade 34A and the light in the centre of their chests was painted with Foundry Vivid Blue 22B.

Here is my horde of Cybermen and Cybermats. Please note that the Cyber Leader at the centre front is an old plastic 30mm scale figure from the 2007 Doctor Who Micro Universe range of collectable miniatures produced by Character Options. I cut him off his integral base and glued him to a 25mm diameter slottabase. He fits in so well with the Warlord Games figures that I decided to include him as my Cyber Leader.

For those who keep count of such things, there should be four more Cybermats in these two horde photos but I deliberately omitted them, because this formation looks aesthetically pleasing without them to me. If it bothers you, please don't come complaining to me!
I'll be posting my review of Missy in a separate post as well as reviewing the Warlord Games Nightmares in Silver boxed set of 10 versions of Cybermen through the ages. But next time, the spotlight will shine on the Daleks.

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!