Core Space - Galactic Corps & Security Wardens

The Galactic Corps are a combined militia and police force; neither heroes nor villains but sometimes both. They're controlled by an elite of human politicians who have little but self-interest at heart. They're happy to let the Corps do good work such as rescuing disaster victims but only if it does not conflict with their own interests.
The Corps are basically the best and worst of humanity - striving for a better world but only for their masters. The Corps view Traders with disdain and will often treat them as criminals, using any excuse to engage. Towards the more affluent areas the Corps are better trained and equipped, whereas discipline out in the sticks tends to depend entirely on the local director; a lazy corrupt director will lead an inefficient band of bullies rather than a well-oiled machine.
The origins of the Galactic Corps are hazy but most likely it started as a private security firm with military leanings. Over time the general populace has accepted that the Corps are the galaxy's army ans police rolled into one, but in fact the Corps has no true official standing. The GCC tolerates the Corps rather than condones it, understanding that it is too large an organisation to take head on. The Corps does help maintain order, particularly against the Purge, although its rough edges anger civil rights activists and often draw bad publicity.
Squads going into action tend to be small and tightly ordered, consisting of a team of Guards, a Juggernaut and a Director, although the numbers of each are often bolstered for certain situations.

At the far left is Director Zool. Master strategists and relentlessly ambitious, directors are often intelligent but with a cold, unsympathetic eye. Although they are usually from privileged backgrounds the officers are drilled to obey the chain of command and are, at the end of the day, political cannon fodder alongside their men. Director Zool is a hard-edged man with a dry humour and a soft tone. He prefers to get things done amicably and without fuss but will not hesitate to utterly destroy any who don't agree. His principle aim is peace; for there to be no outside disruption or civil disturbance whatever the cost, and he therefore rules his sector with a rod of iron.
Juggernauts are powerful and heavily armed; the hammer of the Corps used to bludgeon and punish any disobedient populace. They are often large men who have been chemically enhanced or have a mutation, normally in favour of size and aggression at the expense of intellect.

At the far right are two Security Wardens. They are hired by the local authorities to keep the peace, essentially civilians with good training and body armour who can be a thorn in your side or a welcome distraction. Security Wardens can be lazy, and lack the discipline of the Galactic Corps. Their actions will depend on how they feel at the time and can be unpredictable. If a Security Warden is not within short range and LoS of the Purge, but they are within medium range and LoS of one or more Galactic Corps characters they will be commandeered by the Corps. They will follow the rules for the Galactic Corps this turn, using both of their actions, targetting and attacking enemies, and apprehending defeated traders if necessary.

Highly trained, often brutal, the Galactic Guards are often recruited from poor backgrounds and from  areas with a lot of racial conflict, making them easier to control. They're not encouraged to think for themselves but to obey commands without question.

The Galactic Corps will target the Purge first then either Gangers or Traders, whichever is closest. They will not attack Security Wardens, Civilians or each other and do not consider these groups as enemies. Some situations require the best of the best and you will notice that the Galactic Corps have alternative "elite" statistics on the reverse of their character boards.

Resident Evil 2 Heroes 01

Last month I finished painting the four Hero characters from the Resident Evil 2 game by Steamforged Games. Each character comes with multiple figures. Made of hard plastic, they are 32mm scale and are realistically proportioned, meaning they do look slimmer than many other 32mm scale figures like those from Mantic's The Walking Dead range.

First up is Claire Redfield, a college student who is looking for her missing brother, Chris. The figure at the far left is the one you get with the starter boxed set. She is armed with a pistol and a knife. The figure in the centre was a Kickstarter exclusive and has Claire armed with a grenade launcher. The third figure in line was a Kickstarter stretch goal and has Claire armed with a revolver.

In the game, her special ability is Made in Heaven. Once per scenario, Claire can spend an action to heal another character on the same tile by two levels.

Next up is Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer who arrives in the doomed Raccoon City late for his first day on the job only to confront a zombie outbreak first hand. As the main protagonist of the video game, he comes with four figures. The one at the far left comes with the starter boxed set and has him armed with a pistol and knife. Next in line is a bandaged version of Leon carrying a custom pistol. He was a Kickstarter exclusive. As was the third figure in line, which is a more stripped down version of the first figure in line. Finally is another Kickstarter exclusive which has Leon armed with a shotgun and in civilian clothing.

In the game, Leon's special ability is Cool Under Fire. Once per activation, Leon may use an item while one or more enemies are in his square without making an evade roll. Note, this includes any weapon he is carrying.

Next up is Ada Wong, a spy for an unnamed rival company who is sent to recover a sample of the deadly G-virus from Umbrella's lab in the zombie-infested Raccoon City. The figure of her at the far left is the one you get with the starter boxed set and she is carrying a pistol in one hand and a key in the other hand. The alternative version was a Kickstarter exclusive with her armed with a bow gun. In the game she has two special abilities. First is Reckless. At the end of any character's activation (including her own), Ada may take an out of sequence activation. After doing so, she must forfeit her following activation. Secondly, she has Intrigue. Once per scenario, Ada may discard a card drawn from the tension deck without resolving the effects.

Finally, is Robert Kendo, the owner of a gun store in Raccoon City. The figure of Robert armed with the shotgun is the one that comes with the starter boxed set. The other version was a Kickstarter exclusive that has him armed with a high calibre Magnum pistol. His special ability is Marksman. Once per activation, Robert may re-roll all of the dice from an attack roll, providing the weapon used was not a knife. He must keep the results of the second roll.
I do like these figures. They are well sculpted and posed and I do like having multiple figures of a character. Being realistically proportioned, their facial details are a bit soft. Rather unusually, they all come on 20mm diameter bases, which makes a change from the usual 25mm diameter bases. I knew Claire, Leon and Ada from the Resident Evil films but had never heard of Robert before. I had to check up his background on Wikipedia to find out who he was. The four work well as a team and I was delighted that all four survived my first play-through of the short campaign from the starter box.

Zomtober 2018 part 5 - The Walking Dead Survivors

Here are another seven assorted survivors and gangers from the wave 1 boxed set of The Walking Dead skirmish game by Mantic Games. As usual, these are hard plastic 32mm scale figures.

 I start off with the Harrison sisters, Amy and Andrea at the far left. These were part of the group of Atlanta survivors that Lori and Carl Grimes joined when the zombie apocalypse kicked off. Amy, who is unarmed, did not survive long as she got bitten by a zombie that was part of a horde that attacked their camp. Andrea had to kill her once Amy reanimated as a zombie.
Andrea then went on to be a superb sniper and was one of the longest lasting survivors in the comic series. Inexplicably, she was killed off at the end of series 3 of the TV series, a decision that rankled a lot of fans, including me. This pose of Andrea has her firing a 9mm pistol, which she sensibly holds in a two-handed grip. I should mention that Andrea is my favourite character in the comic series.

Two more of the Atlanta group of survivors are Carol Peletier and her daughter, Sophia. In the comic series, Carol becomes increasingly unstable and eventually commits suicide. However, in the TV series, she becomes a hardened survivor and to date, she is still going strong. She is shown here armed with a knife.
As for Sophia, she would appear to have victim written all over her. She becomes close friends with Rick's son, Carl, and in the comic series, when Carol dies, she is looked after by Maggie and Glenn. She is the longest surviving female member of the comic series. In the TV series, Sophia gets separated from the rest of the group in series 2 and is killed by a wandering zombie. Note that Mantic's game is based on the comic series, not the TV series, so the events portrayed within them should be regarded as canon.

Moving on, at the far left is Deputy Sheriff Shane Walsh, who was the partner of Rick Grimes, before Rick was shot and hospitalised. Believing Rick to be dead, Shane and Lori begin a romantic relationship, resulting in Lori becoming pregnant. When Rick showed up, there was much friction between the two cops and when Shane attempted to murder Rick it was Rick who prevailed and he killed the psychotic Shane. The figure of Shane is armed with a 9mm pistol.

Finally are a pair of gangers who are part of the crew led by Derek, whom I showed in a previous post. Mantic Games have called them Craig and Reggie respectively, but I added their surnames. Craig Gehring is a thug armed with a knife, not the best weapon to use when fighting zombies but better than nothing.
Reggie Sobel is much better armed, carrying a pump-action shotgun, making him, by far, the most dangerous member of Derek's gang.

Zomtober 2018 part 3 - The Grimes Family

For week 3 of the Zomtober 2018 challenge I present the heroes of The Walking Dead stories in both the comics and the TV series - the Grimes family. Here are three more 32mm scale survivor figures from The Walking Dead skirmish game wave 1 starter boxed set, produced by Mantic Games.

At the far left is Rick Grimes, a deputy sheriff who, at the start of the story, is shot whilst attempting to arrest a fleeing criminal. He wakes up from a coma to find a world very different to what he remembered. The zombie apocalypse has begun and nothing will ever be the same again. He seeks out his wife and son and finds them with a group  of other survivors on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia. His figure is armed with a hand axe and a police issue 9mm pistol. He can be used as either a Marksman or a Tactician in the game and he is the leader of any group he is in.

In the centre of the group is Rick's wife, Lori, who was forced to flee when the zombie outbreak began, believing her husband to be lost or dead. Lori is not armed and is classed as a Support member of any group she is in.
At the far right is Rick and Lori's son, Carl. Although his figure is shown armed with a 9mm pistol, he is also classed as a Support member of his group.
As the story progressed new figures for Rick, Lori and Carl were introduced but these are the three figures starting players of the game will use the most, especially Rick. As with all of this range, they are superbly well sculpted, full of detail and an absolute joy to paint.

Assorted Sheriff and Deputies

I have shown a lot of police figures in the past, both American and British. They have almost all been of the kind you'd find in urban or suburban environments. Today, I'm concentrating on a small unit of police you'd find in the rural areas of America - the sheriff and his deputies.

These are from a variety of sources. At the left are two figures produced by Reaper as part of their 28mm scale Chronoscope range. At the far left is Sheriff Joe Don Mitchell and next to him is Deputy Wayne Tisdale. These are the names Reaper have assigned to them and I saw no reason to change them. The sheriff is a metal figure but Wayne is one of the plastic figures I got with one of my Reaper Bones Kickstarter sets (I think it was Bones 1). They are both in very similar poses but I think they are full of character. They are just how I'd imagine a sheriff and his deputy to look like.

The next two figures are very old 25mm scale Citadel figures. The fat deputy is called Hoyt Axlebury and his partner is Carl Whiteley (both named by me). Hoyt was designed for the old Paranoia range and Carl is even older as he was part of the 1920's Gangster range, both produced by Games Workshop in the 1980's. Who remembers either of them? The fact that they are 25mm scale doesn't bother me in the least because as I keep on saying, in real life people come in all shapes and sizes. These guys just happen to be on the small size. Hoyt is a fantastic sculpt but Carl is a bit bland.
The final figure is Deputy Jennifer Lewis. I named her and sculpted her. When I made her, way back in the 1980's, female cop figures were unheard of. She was always meant to be a deputy. I made her to partner Carl. I did debate about whether to sculpt her with the Mountie-style hat the other deputies are wearing or give her the more traditional peaked cap. In the end, I went with the peaked cap. She's not a brilliant sculpt but she's not bad either and she serves her purpose well.
Probably the most obvious use for these figures is in All Things Zombies as the cops of a rural setting. But I also think they'd work extremely well in 7TV2e, especially in a Scooby Doo scenario.

7TV2e Batrep 01 - Burger Bar Bust-Up

I have been promising this batrep for quite a while and at last, here it is. Using the 7TV2e tabletop skirmish rules, this scenario is set in the early 1980's starring the main cast from the BBC TV series, Ashes to Ashes. 
The Cast - Heroes.

VEHICLE. Flash Motor (used to transport the four detectives). Rating = 4
STAR. DCI Gene Hunt (Tough Detective). No changes to stats. Rating = 10
CO-STAR. DI Alex Drake (Investigative Academic). Adjust Mind from 4 to 5, Replace Torch Dazzle +9 with Pistol +8. Rating = 6
CO-STAR. DS Ray Carling (Strongarm). Lose Lucky effect. Add Pistol +6. Rating = 5
CO-STAR. DC Chris Skelton (Plucky Assistant). Lose Screamer effect. Rating = 4 

VEHICLE. Police Car (used to transport the four policemen). Rating = 3
EXTRA. Sgt. Tony Sykes (Police Sergeant). No changes to stats. Rating = 3
3 x EXTRAS. PCs Anderson, Barnes and Campbell (Police Constables). No changes to stats. Rating - 3 models for 5
Total Rating of Heroes = 40

The Cast - Villains

VEHICLE. Van (used to transport seven villains. I know the stat card says it has a capacity of 6 but mine has a capacity of 8.) Rating = 4
STAR. Charlie Slater (Underworld Boss). No changes to stats. Rating = 10
CO-STAR. Micky Neville (Faithful Lackey). Swap SMG  +7 for Sawn-Off Shotgun +8. Rating = 6

EXTRA. George Houseman (Thug Bruiser). No changes to stats. Rating = 4
EXTRA. Tom Kilgour (Thug Bruiser). Swap Pistol +7 for Sawn-Off Shotgun +8. Rating = 4
EXTRA. Dougie Wetherall (Thug Bruiser). Swap Pistol +7 for Sawn-Off Shotgun +8. Rating = 4
EXTRA. Colin Briggs (Thug Bruiser). Swap Brawl +8 for Club +9. Rating = 4
EXTRA. Paddy McDee (Thug Bruiser), Swap Pistol +7 for Shotgun +8. Rating = 4
Total Rating of Villains = 40

The Cast - Neutrals

EXTRA. Mr. S. M. Quinton (Administrator). No changes to stats. Rating = 2
3 x EXTRAS. Gerald, Beryl and Jimmy (Bystanders). No changes to stats. Rating - 3 models for 2
Total Rating of Neutrals = 4

Rules Changes. No Gadgets were used. No Maguffin was used. Both teams set up within 8" of the two longest sides of the board. The Neutrals would always act last and so never rolled for initiative, nor did they use any cards from the Countdown Deck. The Heroes were the attackers and so automatically won initiative. Due to the restrictions of this particular scenario the defenders could not use Leader or Unit Leader special effects during their first turn. Because of the small size of my board (2' by 2.5') I ignored the rules for the placement of the five objective tokens and simply dotted them around the restaurant interior as I saw fit. The small board size also meant I would be using the smallest Countdown Deck size, i.e. five each of Act One, Act Two and Finale cards for 15 in total.

The Synopsis. DCI Gene Hunt of the London Metropolitan Police has received a tip-off that the notorious Slater Gang, led by the vicious Charlie Slater, were planning a robbery at a newly opened fast food restaurant, Brummie's Burgers, when the owner, Mr. S. Quinton, arrived to collect the week's takings. Hunt led a team of plain clothes detectives and uniformed policemen as they lay in wait to ambush the villains. This scenario is based on The Ambush feature found on p.24 of the 7TV2e Producer's Guide.

Set Up. The Heroes set up at the left (west) side of the board with Gene, Ray and Chris just inside the restaurant making use of the tables and chairs for hard cover. Alex, who has the Spy effect, set up last after everyone else and she stood guard outside the storeroom, where the four staff members were hiding (out of sight in this photo). The four policeman stayed in the police car. They were needed elsewhere once the action kicked off. Six of the villains were placed just inside the restaurant at the right (east) side of the board. One (McDee) remained outside, keeping an eye on their van. He was their designated getaway driver.

TURN 1

HEROES' COUNTDOWN PHASE

Advance the Countdown. I drew the Hogging the Limelight card for the Heroes. This allowed one model to make an additional fight or shoot action this turn. I simply had to give this to Gene Hunt. Because a pistol can fire twice per shoot action, this meant that he could fire four times this turn.

HEROES' ACTION PHASE

Gain Plot Points. The Heroes gained 12 Plot Points. They got 2 for having a Star, 3 for having 3 Co-Stars, 2 for having 4 Extras and 5 for the use of Gene's Homework effect. This effect allowed him to roll 2d6 before the first initiative roll, gaining Plot Points equal to the highest single die roll. I rolled a 5 and a 2, so the Heroes gained an extra 5 Plot Points. Cool!

DCI Gene Hunt. "Drop your weapons or suffer the consequences!" Gene shouted menacingly. He spent 1 Plot Point to activate (11 left). His first Action was to shoot twice, using 1 Plot Point for each shot (9 left). His targets were George Houseman and Colin Briggs, both with Defence 9 and behind hard cover for a total Defence of 11 each. Gene had a Pistol Strike score of 8. He rolled a 6 and a 1 for his first shot (the 1 was ignored) to give him a total Attack of 14. Houseman dropped down, severely wounded. For Gene's second shot he rolled a 5 and a 3 for a total of 13. (The 3 was once again ignored). Briggs took a bullet to his right shoulder and was also out of the fight.
Gene used his free shoot action for Hogging the Limelight to fire at two more targets - Dougie Wetherall and Tom Kilgour. They also had Defence totals of 11 each. Gene was determined to put these scum down and so spent two more Plot Points, one on each of them (7 left). Against Wetherall he rolled 4 and 3 for an Attack total of 12. Wetherall was hit in the centre chest, requiring urgent medical attention. Three down, one more to go. Could Gene score four out four? You bet he could! He rolled a double 5 which gave him an Attack total of 14 (5 for the first roll and +1 for the second roll, because it was a 4 or higher). Kilgour crumpled to the ground screaming that his ear has been shot off!

"I thought I said drop the weapons, you morons!" Gene said angrily. "Are you bloody deaf as well as stupid?" For his final action he moved 4" forward to take cover behind a waste disposal unit.

DI Alex Drake. Alex spent 1 Plot Point to activate (6 left). For her first Action, she moved into the kitchen to stand next to the objective token. Next, she used a Special Action to take the objective token. That would come in handy at the end of the game. Note that you can just see the owner, Mr. Quinton, in the top right corner of this photo.

DS Ray Carling. Ray made use of Gene's Leader 1 effect to activate for free. He moved 4" to take cover behind a table next to Micky Neville. For his second action he shot twice at Neville and used 1 Plot Point on each shot (4 left). Neville had a defence of 9 which was increased to 11 for being behind hard cover. Ray only had a Pistol Strike score of 6, which was not so good. However, he rolled very well with a 5 and a 3 for his first shot, giving him an Attack total of 11. Tied results always go in favour of the attacker. Neville had two wounds, so he lost one. For Ray's second shot he rolled a 5 and a 4 for an Attack total of 12. The 4 added a +1 to the 5. No problem! Neville took another wound and was incapacitated.
"Bloody scum!" Ray scowled, feeling no sympathy for the man he'd just shot.

DC Chris Skelton. "Slater! Don't move! You're under arrest!" the young detective shouted as he moved a full 6" forward after spending 1 Plot Point to activate (3 left). Slater snarled back at him derisively, and said, "Come on, copper. Do you really think you can take me?"

Chris used his second action to charge at Slater, thus giving him a free fight attack. Slater had a Defence of 10. Chris had a Brawl Strike of 6. He didn't fancy his odds so he spent 2 Plot Points to boost his chances of hitting (1 left). He rolled 3d6 scoring 5, 4 and 1, to give him an Attack total of 12 (the 1 was ignored and the 4 added +1 to the 5 he rolled). The punch did no damage but it did give Slater the Weakened status (he may only take one action when activated instead of two).

Sgt. Tony Sykes. He spent the Heroes' final Plot Point to activate and used two move actions to drive the police car in front of the villains' van to block their escape. The other three policemen remained in the police car and did not activate.

HEROES' END PHASE

None of their cast were axed, no one was on fire and they couldn't steal the scene so this concluded the first Turn for the Heroes. 

VILLAINS' COUNTDOWN PHASE

Advance the Countdown. I drew the Out of Frame card for the Villains. This allowed them to move up to three models up to 3" each if these moves ended with them in base contact with hard or soft cover or an obstacle. So, Paddy McDee moved indoors to take cover behind a table and chairs just inside the restaurant near to where Charlie Slater was standing.

VILLAINS' ACTION PHASE

Gain Plot Points. The Slater Gang gained a measly 3 Plot Points. That was 2 for having one Star, and a half, rounded up to one, for having one Extra. Oh dear!

Charlie Slater. He spent 1 Plot Point to activate and another Plot Point to remove his Weakened status (1 left). He could have used his first action to fight back against Chris but being a vicious bastard he decided to shoot him twice instead. Chris had a Defence score of 9. Slater had a Pistol Strike of 7. He rolled a 4 and then a 3, giving him two hits with results of 11 and 10 respectively. Being a Co-Star, Chris had two wounds but that was not enough to save him. He fell to the ground, very badly wounded and clearly out of the fight.
Slater used his second action to beat a hasty retreat out of the restaurant. He knew he had lost this fight and the only sensible option left was to retreat.

Paddy McDee. He used the last of the Villains' Plot Points to activate. He fired his Shotgun at Gene Hunt but totally missed thanks to Gene having the Hide special effect. This states that if this model is in hard or soft cover or behind an obstacle, any model making a shoot attack against them automatically misses if the distance to the target is more than half the attack's range. A Shotgun has a range of 8" and Gene was 5" away from McDee. This was good news for Gene but bad news for McDee! McDee used his second action to follow his boss out of the restaurant.

VILLAIN'S END PHASE

Axed Cast. If a cast is reduced to less than half their starting total they are considered to be axed. The Slater Gang had lost 5 of its 7 cast in this Turn so were clearly axed. In game terms this meant that any remaining Star or Co-Star had to make a successful Spirit test for his side to carry on. Failure would result in the remaining cast losing 1d6 more models immediately. Charlie Slater had a Spirit score of 4, which meant he had to roll 4+ on 1d6 to succeed. Sadly for him, he rolled a 3 and it was game over as he was forced to roll 1d6 to see how many more men he lost. He rolled a 4 which was more than the 2 he had left. It was defeat for the Villains. They were all arrested.

NEUTRALS' ACTION PHASE

Brummie's Burgers Staff. They had 2 Plot Points to spend but decided to play it safe by remaining hidden in the storeroom. After all, why risk their lives unnecessarily? Being unable to see outside of their little room, they had no idea how the conflict had gone and had no inclination to find out until the police told them it was safe to come out.

VICTORY POINTS

It was quite obvious that the Heroes had won but how decisive was their victory?
The Heroes gained the following Victory Points.
If the enemy has no models in play. +2
For each objective token held. +1
For each enemy Star or Co-Star removed (per Health of model). +5
Total = 8
The Villains gained the following Victory Points.
For each enemy Star or Co-Star removed (per Health of model). +2
Total = 2
So the Heroes won by 8 to 2. A 6 point margin resulted in a Crushing Victory.

FINAL THOUGHTS

First up, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this scenario. I thought the rules worked well and certainly captured the cinematic feel of the genre. Be assured, more games will certainly follow. In any ambush type scenario the advantage always lies with the ambushers, so it was no surprise that the Heroes won. What was surprising was just how easy it was for them. The game was effectively won and lost on the draw of the first Countdown card. With Gene Hunt Hogging the Limelight, getting to shoot four times in a Turn and hitting with every shot, the Villains never stood a chance. The Heroes also had another ace up their sleeve. Gene's Homework effect allowed the Heroes to rack up a huge amount of Plot Points, which they used very effectively. It was great fun to play but it most definitely did not go the way I thought it would. It was all over before the first advert break! I'm sure if I was to replay it things would go a lot differently. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed playing it.

Killer B Games UK Policemen with Caps

I reach the end of my batch of reviews of Detectives and UK Policemen from the 1970's and 1980's to use in my games of 7TV2e. This time I'm showcasing six Killer B Games 28mm scale Policemen wearing caps. When I saw these figures my first thought was to use them as members of the Special Patrol Group (SPG). The SPG was active from 1961 to 12 January 1987, being replaced by the Territorial Support Group.

The SPG recruited experienced officers capable of working as disciplined teams, either in uniform or in plain clothes preventing public disorder, targeting areas of serious crime, carrying out stop and searches or providing a response to terrorist threats. It also conducted its own surveillance and was tasked with reducing the problem of burglaries. During the time it was active it had a dedicated radio channel and a fleet of vans to allow it to work independently of routine divisions.
The SPG originally consisted of four units based throughout London. This was increased to six and finally to eight. Each unit was made up of an inspector, three sergeants and thirty constables. Its position within the Metropolitan Police was unusual; whereas the Flying Squad became the symbol of the Criminal Investigation Department in London, the SPG became recognised as a unit that efficient uniformed officers could aspire to join. As such it had an exceptionally high level of esprit de corps. Other police forces outside London created their own versions of the Special Patrol Group. The Greater Manchester Police created the Tactical Aid Group (TAG) in 1977. The Merseyside Police formed the Task Force in 1974 which was later disbanded in 1978 and replaced with the Operational Support Division (OSD).

In the two photos above are KB012 Police Officer in Cap Standing, KB010 Police Office in Cap Tapping Truncheon and KB028 Police Officer in Cap Swinging Truncheon. The Officer at the far left of this group is Inspector Steven Dyson, leader of this group and the only one I have named so far. The other figures are all unnamed constables.

Next up are three more constables who appear of the Killer B Games webstore as KB011 Police Officer in Cap Advancing, KB026 Police Officer in Cap with Pistol and KB027 Police Officer in Cap Firing Pistol. All six figures can be bought for just £2.00 each.

In 7TV2e I would use Inspector Dyson as a Strongarm Co-star and the five constables as Riot Police Constable Extras, due to their superior training in dealing with violent crimes. I'm not sure when I'll get round to using them in a game but they are good to have, especially if I want a small group of cops that are better equipped to dealing with trouble than my ordinary Police Constable Extras.

BLOG NEWS
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7TV2e UK Policemen with Helmets and WPCs

I have more UK-based policemen in helmets to show you and a small selection of Women Police Constables (WPCs). Once again, these are a mix of 28mm scale figures from Crooked Dice Games and Killer B Games.

The three Police Constables shown directly above and below are from Crooked Dice Games' range of Heroes and Allies - Coppers sets 1 and 2. All are wielding their truncheons in an aggressive manner. The figure at the far left is from set 1 and is Copper with Truncheon.

The other two figures are from Coppers set 2. The one in the centre is Copper Running and the one at far right is Copper Kicking. All three figures cost £3.25 each. As with the other CDG police constables I showed last time these come with separate helmeted heads, which you can replace with other heads from the CDG webstore.

Next, are the Women Police Constables. At the far left is WPC Cathy Black, one of three figures found in CDG's Tough Detectives set. If you want to buy her individually, she costs £3.50. She is a one-piece casting.

The other two WPCs are made by Killer B Games. In the centre is KB040 WPC Standing. I have named her Annie Cartwright as she looks remarkably like this character from the Life on Mars TV series. Annie was played by Liz White and she became the girlfriend of DS Sam Tyler. Annie was far more intelligent than she was given credit for by her male colleagues. Only Sam saw her true potential and it was he who helped her gain eventual promotion to Detective Constable.
At the far right is KB041 WPC Walking, whom I have named Juliet "Bravo" Bartley. She gained her nickname from the 1980's TV series, Juliet Bravo, a cop drama that starred Stephanie Turner in series 1 to 3 and Anna Carteret in series 4 to 6. Note that Juliet Bravo was not a character but a radio call sign for the Police Inspector played by the two leading actresses.
I'm sure that CDG's Cathy Black was meant to represent Annie Cartwright but I think the Killer B Games version is a much better likeness. The two Killer B Games WPCs cost £2.00 each.

7TV2e UK Policemen with Helmets 01

Having previously looked at a few 1970's and 1980's style police detectives I'm now switching my focus to the beat patrolmen from the United Kingdom, or as DCI Gene Hunt so delicately calls them, "the plods!"

At the far left of the two photos directly above and below here is an unnamed Police Constable from Crooked Dice Games. He is one of three figures from the Coppers set 1. He is holding a torch in his right hand. He comes with a separate helmeted head but you have the option of using alternative heads for him, the most obvious choice being the peaked cap version. I was quite happy to leave him with his helmeted head. On the CDG webstore he is available to buy with a police dog for £4.50 for them both. I've painted the dog but I'll show it later.

The other two Police Constables are made by Killer B Games. In the centre is KB-032 British Bobby Advancing and at far right is KB-031 British Bobby Tapping Truncheon. Unlike the CDG coppers, these are all one-piece castings. They cost £2.00 each.

Moving on, at the far left is another Police Constable made by Killer B Games. He is KB-033 British Bobby Standing. He also costs £2.00. I haven't named any of my Police Constables yet, but I'm sure I will once I get round to using them in a batrep.
The two remaining policemen are from Crooked Dice Games. In the centre is Police Sergeant Tony Sykes (I figured he deserved a name because of his rank). He is easily identifiable by his bushy beard and, of course, by his sergeant's stripes. He is part of the Coppers set 2 and he costs £3.25. He comes with the separate bearded, helmeted head.

Finally, is a Police Constable from CDG's Coppers set 1 and he is known as Copper with Whistle. The whistle is held in his right hand. He also costs £3.25.
All of these will be used as Extras in upcoming games of 7TV2e. All are very nicely sculpted and are worth having if you want to use UK bobbies on the beat in any of your games. Next time I'll be reviewing yet more bobbies on the beat from Crooked Dice Games and Killer B Games.

Killer B Games Detectives

Killer B Games produces a 1970's inspired and themed game called Geezers! "Shut it!" which I own but have never played. It is a niche genre of gaming that fascinates me as I grew up watching and enjoying these types of cop shows when they first aired. Now that Crooked Dice Games have brought out 7TV2e, a similar kind of game, and in my opinion, better produced, I can recreate on the table top scenarios starring some of my favourite TV characters of old.

My favourite TV cop show of all time was The Sweeney, which ran from 1975 to 1978. It spawned three feature-length films, one of which was an updated version made in 2012. The programme's title derives from Sweeney Todd, which is Cockney rhyming slang for the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It was a fast-paced edge-of-your-seat action series, depicting the Squad's relentless battle against armed robbery; but it nevertheless included a substantial degree of humour. For the time, it had a high degree of graphic on-screen violence and the episodes had many character deaths.
At the far left of the two photos directly above and below is Detective Inspector Jack Regan (played by John Thaw. John "Jack" Regan is the Flying Squad's chief "thief-taker". He is a tough police officer, often frustrated by Scotland Yard's red tape. Originally from Manchester (like Thaw himself), he has been in London for several years, so his accent has modified somewhat, but traces of his northern origins are still evident. He also refers to his northern roots every now and again (his poor upbringing, his father's work on the Manchester Ship Canal), which brings mild ridicule from George Carter, a Londoner, such as humming "The Red Flag". A heavy drinker and smoker (comically, he is sometimes seen stealing other people's cigarettes), Regan has some success with the ladies – although not as much as Carter. He can be seen as quick with his fists. He has an ex-wife, Kate, and a daughter, Susie. On the Killer B Games webstore, Regan is shown as KB-001 Flying Squad Guvnor, where he costs £2.00.

Next in line is Detective Sergeant George Carter (played by Dennis Waterman) who comes from South London. Regan seeks him out in the pilot episode, Regan, because of his knowledge of the South London area. We learn that George had previously been in the Squad, but had quit for family reasons. George was married to Alison Carter, a schoolteacher, but is widowed in the series 2 episode Hit and Run when Alison is murdered by mistake by a gang of diamond smugglers. He's a former amateur boxer, as we see from the pilot episode, and is described as having professional boxing potential. Like his superior, he's fond of drinking, football, and after the death of his wife - womanising. Carter isn't as violent or aggressive as Regan and usually plays the good cop.
Moving on is Detective Sergeant Tom Daniels (played by John Alkin) who is the most prominent member of the supporting Squad. He is a solid and reliable copper.
Last in line is Detective Constable Jerry Burtonshaw (played by Nick Brimble) who is softly spoken but a good scrapper. Note that all four detectives are armed with .38 Revolvers, a snub-nosed version for Regan and longer-barrelled versions for the others.
These characters can be found on the Killer B Games webstore as KB-002 Flying Squad Skipper for Carter, KB-008 US Lone Wolf Detective, who was actually meant to represent Inspector "Dirty Harry" Callahan but I already had a better figure for him so I used him as Tom Daniels, and KB-024 Geezer in Shoulder Holster for Burtonshaw. All three figures cost £2.00 each.

The next four figures represent the main characters from two more 1970's drama series - The Professionals, which ran from 1977 to 1981 and Starsky and Hutch, which ran from 1975 to 1979.
The Professionals feature a team working for CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), a fictional British law enforcement department, instructed by the home secretary to use any means to deal with crimes of a serious nature that go beyond the capacity of the police, but are not tasks for the security service or military. The choice of name CI5 is possibly inspired by Criminal Investigation Department and MI5. The premise allowed the programme-makers to involve a wide variety of villains including terrorists, hit-men, racist groups and espionage suspects, with plots sometimes relating to the "Cold War." Led by the formidable George Cowley (played by Gordon Jackson), CI5 is known for using unconventional and sometimes illegal methods to beat criminals, or as Cowley put it "Fight fire with fire!"
Cowley's two best agents are William Bodie (played by Lewis Collins) and Ray Doyle (played by Martin Shaw). Bodie (shown at far left in my photos directly above and below) is an ex-paratrooper, mercenary and SAS (Special Air Service) sergeant while Doyle (the figure shown armed with a 5.56mm Steyr-Aug Assault Rifle) is an ex-detective constable who has worked the seedier parts of London. Of the two, Doyle is the softer, compassionate and more thoughtful character, while Bodie is ruthless and more willing to take on criminals on their own terms. That said, Doyle is more hot-headed and tended to rush in, while Bodie waits for the shooting to start. While polar opposites, Bodie and Doyle have a deep and enduring friendship, and are almost inseparable. Although their loyalty to Cowley is beyond question, they have no qualms about disobeying orders if it means getting the right result, either for the case or themselves.
Bodie and Doyle can be found on the Killer B Games webstore as KB-021 Police Agent with Pistol and KB-020 Police Agent with Steyr-Aug. They cost £2.00 each.

Finally, are the eponymous heroes of U.S. cop drama series, Starsky and Hutch. The series' protagonists were two Southern California police detectives; David Michael Starsky (played by Paul Michael Glaser), the dark-haired, Brooklyn transplant and U.S. Army veteran, with a street-wise manner and intense, sometimes childlike moodiness; and Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson (played by David Soul), the blond, Duluth, Minnesota native with a more reserved and intellectual approach. Under the radio call sign "Zebra Three", they were known for usually tearing around the streets of fictional "Bay City, California". The vehicle of choice was Starsky's two-door Ford Gran Torino, which was bright red, with a large white vector stripe on both sides.
Starsky is shown second from right wearing his trademark chunky patterned cardigan. He is armed with a 9mm Colt M1911A1 Pistol. Hutch, at far right, wears a baseball jacket and is armed with a .357 Colt Python Magnum Revolver.
On the Killer B Games webstore this pair are identified as KB-013 U.S. Detective in Fleece Cardigan and KB-014 U.S. Detective in Baseball Jacket. Once again, they cost £2.00 each.
I liked all three shows but I'd place them in order of preference as The Sweeney, The Professionals and Starsky and Hutch. The importance of The Sweeney cannot be overstated. At its time it was ground-breaking TV and without it series such as Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes would never have been made.

BLOG NEWS 
I have just launched my new blog, All Things Dungeon Crawl, which can be found here - http://allthingsdungeoncrawl.blogspot.co.uk/
The plan is to post Vampifan's World of the Undead every Monday and Friday and All Things Dungeon Crawl every Wednesday. Note that while ATDC will initially be concentrating on the Chibi games of Chibi World and Super Dungeon Explore it will expand to cover other types of dungeon crawl games that have nothing to do with Chibis.