Contemporary Witches 01

As a complete change of pace I thought I'd show you three contemporary witches, two of which were recent purchases and one, which I've had for quite  awhile now. They are all made by different companies to varying standards.

First up is my favourite figure out of this trio - the limited edition version of Jill Lucas by Silver Fox Productions for the RAFM Miniatures range of USX Modern Day Heroes. Jill is available in two versions - normal and limited edition. The limited edition versions differs from the normal version in that it comes with the spell effect rising from the pages of her spell book. Only 300 of these figures have been produced and mine is number 117. They all come with a small certificate. Jill is obviously a Goth Girl. The sculpting of her is just exquisite. I love her coffin shaped backpack and her red plastic horned tiara. The spell effect of the ghostly skeletal head is such a cool touch. Limited edition Jill Lucas is RAF09001 priced at $10.95. If you want the normal version, she is RAF02838 priced at $5.95.
In the centre is Witch Hazel, sculpted by Kevin White as part of the Hasslefree Miniatures range of Modern Day Adventurers. She is obviously based on the character of Willow Rosenberg from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, specifically series 6, when Willow turned bad and almost destroyed the world. I'm using her as an evil Goth Girl rather than bad Willow, and keeping the name Witch Hazel. I should mention that Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel, still remain two of my all-time favourite TV series and I would love for someone to do a full range of figures from both series. Witch Hazel has cast a levitate spell on herself. Once again, the sculpting of her is sublime. She is listed as HFA041 Witch Hazel on the Hasslefree webstore and she costs £4.00.

Third in line is Anastasia Tenebris, sculpted by Dave Stone of Wargames Terrain Workshop. She is actually described as a female necromancer but that just makes her an evil witch in my book. I must admit to having mixed feelings about this figure. On the plus side, I like the concept of her raising the dead so spectacularly. What is cool is that her base, with the two rising skeletons has been cast in transparent green resin. Most of this has been obscured by my painting but the ghostly flame effects do show some of the green resin beneath my dry-brushing. The necromancer is a separate casting and could, if you wanted, be glued to a different base. She'd fit well on any 25mm diameter base. What lets this figure down is the sculpting of the necromancer. Compared to the other two on display here, she looks rather crude. Now don't get me wrong, Dave is a very talented sculptor. His scenery pieces and monsters are just superb. However, when it comes to sculpting humans, he still has a long way to go to match the work done by the likes of Kevin White and B. Van Schaik, who sculpted Jill Lucas. The female necromancer is not named, so I gave her the name of Anastasia Tenebris. She does not appear in the WTW webstore's online sales section, but you can see her in the News and New Releases section as part of the September 2017 new stuff. I'm sure if you sent Dave an e-mail he'd be able to give you a quote for her price. I can't remember what I paid for mine.
I bought the figure of Jill very recently, and Anastasia a couple of months ago. Witch Hazel was bought a few years ago as soon as she was released. I could have called this post, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, but decided not to. I do like all three of these figures but I haven't decided how to use them yet. My thoughts at the moment are to wait for the release of N.O.W. by EN Publishing to use them in that contemporary setting RPG. Oddly enough, Anastasia is the one who has the most gaming potential. She is such a generic sculpt that she would fit in well in almost any genre from fantasy to sci-fi. I am pondering about whether to make her an ally of Malexica in my JDMG campaign. Does Malexica need an ally? We'll see. And no, I haven't forgotten about that campaign. A new batrep will be coming soon.

Assorted Men in Black

Today I present the first of three posts looking at the mysterious Men in Black. To some they are a force of good, defending earth from alien threats (see the popular Men in Black films), whilst to others they are a sinister and evil organisation (see White Wolf's Mage: the Ascension role-playing game). One thing that is not in doubt is that they belong to a highly secretive organisation and that they wield considerable power. They can arrest people with impunity and most worryingly of all, make people just disappear, never to be seen again.

At the far left of my two photos is the commander of my force of Men in Black and he was produced by Wizkids as part of their OOP Horrorclix range, where he was known simply as Man in Black. Like a lot of Horrorclix figures, he is over-scale when compared with most ranges of 28mm scale figures. However, in his case, I don't think that matters too much. He appears to be unarmed but who can tell? I think he is quite a sinister-looking figure, which has a lot to do with his skull-like face. One other feature makes him stand out from the rest of my Men in Black figures and that is he is the only one wearing a hat. I would not want to cross his path!
Next in line is a standard field agent. He is another OOP figure and he was originally made by RAFM. He is slim but well proportioned and he holds a 9mm pistol in a two-handed grip. In addition to his trademark black suit, white shirt and black tie he also wears a pair of regulation black-lensed sunglasses. 

The next two figures are also OOP and they were made by Target Games as part of their Mutant Chronicles range. Although they are 28mm scale they are very chunky and bulky. Their weapons do have a sci-fi feel to them, although in ATZ terms I'd class them as a Big Ass Pistol and a Big Ass Machine Pistol. The figure third in line has blotted his copybook, in my opinion, by wearing his hair in a ponytail. I have nothing against woman who wear their hair like this but on men it just looks silly!
The figure at the far right of the group is a Vampifan sculpt. I made him over twenty years ago for my White Wolf Vampire: the Masquerade role-playing game campaign. He was part of a covert vampire hunting organisation. He is armed with a 5.56mm Colt M16A1 Assault Rifle which came from my spare parts box.
These figures can be used in a variety of ways. Yes, as Men in Black, that is the obvious choice. But they will work just as well as US Secret Service agents or as corporate security agents. They can be good guys or bad guys. Indeed you could ask the question - are they even human? They could be aliens or robots. Anything is possible.

Assorted African/American Civilians 01

I was going to post this review last month to go with my reviews of African/American Gangstas, Pimps and Prostitutes, but I got sidetracked by Laurel and Hardy. Here are four civilian figures of African/American origin. The one at the far left is an old out of production figure by RAFM. The other three figures were all made by Killer B Games from their 1970's "Geezers! Shut It!" range of 28mm scale figures.

The dude at the far left carries a ghetto-blaster and has the look of a stoned junkie. I named him Pookie Appleton.. His T-shirt bears the slogan, "Rave on." It might just as well have said, "Victim!" as that is exactly what he looks like to me.
Next up is Montell Cole, who looks like he can take care of himself. He stands in an aggressive pose with his fists clenched and he looks like he is threatening someone. His denim waistcoat is festooned with badges. He is one of the three figures shown here from Killer B Games. He is known as Curly Haired Thug on their website and costs £1.80.

Third in line is the martial artist, Bobby Rowland. He studies kung fu at his local gym. His hero is Jim Kelly, who appeared as Williams alongside Bruce Lee in the film Enter the Dragon. He is an above average fighter, fit and healthy and doing his best to earn an honest living. He is known as Kung Fu Brother on the Killer B Games website, and he too, costs £1.80.
Finally, is Foxy Statton, a prostitute who works for the pimp, Dwayne Dubois. Foxy is a high class hooker and she earns good money, which she spends on luxury items like clothes and jewelery. She does not do drugs, other than tobacco. Note her gold-plated cigarette holder. She is described as a Street Walker on the Killer B Games webstore and she also costs £1.80.
The three Killer B Games figures definitely have a 1970's vibe about them, with their huge Afro hairstyles and clothes. They also look like they could possibly survive in a zombie apocalypse. Pookie, however, is fated to die on Day One or soon after.

Zombicide Figures Size Comparison

When I was photographing my Zombicide figures I knew that I'd be asked for a size comparison photo. So I took one with the four zombie types from the Zombicide board-game alongside survivor types from an assortment of figure companies. If you are wondering about the Zombicide survivors, they are the same size as the zombie Walker. Do bear in mind that the Zombicide figures are not mounted on circular plastic slottabases so they appear to be a couple of millimetres smaller than the others.

Moving from left to right we have -
Copplestone Castings Dark Future Militia Trooper, or as we all know him - Vampifan.
Zombicide zombie Walker.
Foundry Figures Wrecking Crew gang member with crowbar.
Zombicide zombie Fattie.
Hasslefree Adventurer - Grant
Zombicide zombie Runner.
RAFM USX Survivor - Hanna, or as I call her, Hannah Vaughn.
Zombicide zombie Abomination.
Studio Miniatures Survivor - Ohio.
I think you'll agree that they match up well with all of the figures I've featured. This photo also gives you a good indication of just how tall the Abomination is.
What I did not anticipate were requests for a group shot of all of my Zombicide figures. The best I can do is show you this in game shot from one of the (many) scenarios that Mathyoo and I played.

Five of the six survivors are grouped together in the road square with the black and yellow triangular Noise Marker. Doug is on his own in the room at the top right hand corner, collecting one of the objectives for the scenario. At this point it looks pretty grim for the heroes but most of them made it to the end. Wendy was their only casualty, swarmed by zombies when the Walkers got an extra turn.

RAFM Terrorist Cell

Today, I'm going to review three sets of 28mm scale figures from the RAFM USX Modern Day Heroes range - set RAF02809 Decius the Terrorist Cell leader, RAF02810 Terrorist Cell (4 figures) and RAF02811 Karl H. Unger the Terrorist Cell Enforcer.

At the far left of my two photos is Karl H. Unger, the terrorist cell enforcer. He is the only terrorist not to be wearing a balaclava, a jacket and body armour. So, he stands out from the rest of the team as either a hardass or as someone with a deathwish. Or, perhaps both! He is armed with the ubiquitous terrorist weapon of choice - the 7.62mm AK47 Assault Rifle. He also has a BA Pistol holstered on his left hip, a couple of grenades hooked onto his shoulder straps and he wields a vicious-looking Bowie Knife in his left hand. He is not a man to be messed with!
Next in line is the cell leader known as Decius. Is that his real name or an alias? Who knows? He holds a 12 gauge Franchi SPAS12 Automatic Shotgun aloft and has a BA Pistol in a holster on his left hip. The mouth of his balaclava has been left open, so he can shout out orders without sounding muffled. I decided to paint this group in an urban camouflage pattern made up of a mid grey background with black and white streaks on top. It has come out very well in my opinion.
The next four figures are unnamed mooks from the Terrorist Cell set. The one standing next to Decius is a one-piece casting armed with a 7.62mm AK47 Assault Rifle and a BA Pistol. I have added one of the spare rocket clusters for the RPG7 rocket launcher to him. This set comes with two lots of spare rocket clusters and it's up to you who gets them.
The next two figures in line are identical sculpts but come with their arms and rifle as a separate piece. By gluing the arms on in different positions they look slightly different. One appears to be firing his AK47 and the other is holding his rifle in a more relaxed pose.
The final figure in the group is the heavy weapon member of the group. His arms and RPG7 Rocket Launcher were a separate piece, as were the spare rockets hanging from his belt. He also has a BA Pistol in a holster as a back-up weapon.

As a terrorist cell, these fall under the category of Gangers if used in ATZ, although you could get away with using them as a militia Survivor group. The inclusion of the RPG7 gives them some real punch in a firefight but if you were going to use them in ATZ you'd need to come up with your own stats for it.
As ever with RAFM figures I must give a word of warning about their size. These are closer to 35mm in height than 28mm, which makes a mockery of RAFM's assertion that they are 28mm scale figures. I'll still use them in my games but for some of you they may be too large. Karl and Decius cost $5.95 each, whilst the set of four terrorists costs $12.95. Pricey, I know, but they are a nicely sculpted group of figures and they fill a niche that few other companies cover.

Assorted Media Figures 01

The media have a tough time reporting the news at the best of times, but in a zombie apocalypse their job becomes a whole lot harder. I thought I'd showcase my media figures in this post. In ATZ, there are three media types that you can meet - the Anchor, the Reporter and the Cameraman. All three are reperesented below.

The woman at the far left of my photo above and below has appeared twice before on my blog. The first time was when I reviewed my Frothers UK set of zombie hunters way back in February 2010. The second time was when Team Vampifan met her in an ATZ scenario called, appropriately enough, Meeting the Media. She was called Jenny Tyrell and she was a Rep:3 Reporter. I really like this figure but sadly, she is no longer available for sale. You can tell from her size when compared with the other figures in the line up just how small she is. That's not a bad thing in my opinion, as females tend to be shorter than males.
The rest of the figures shown above could also be Reporters but I think they work better as Anchors, given how smartly dressed they are. The woman in the grey dress and jacket is from EM4 Miniatures. She was originally a Grenadier figure sculpted by Mark Copplestone, but when Grenadier folded, EM4 acquired a lot of Mark's sculpts. Her beautifully coiffeured hair is outstanding.
Mark rescupted a lot of his old Grenadier figures for his Copplestone Castings' Future Wars range and you can see many similarities between the third figure in line and the second. The heads are the obvious differences. To accentuate the difference even further, I decided to paint her as an African/American. Both figures are much bigger than 28mm.

The fourth figure in line was a Ral Partha Shadowrun adventurer. I say was, because she is now long out of production. Originally, she was holding a flashlight in her left hand but I cut the head off it and with a piece of modelling putty, I converted it into a microphone. Now I use her as Lucille Carter, anchor woman for Channel 5 News.
At the far right of the group is a unique figure. Yes, she is one of my sculpts. She is based on a reporter found in the Cyber Rogues supplement of the Cyber Space RPG. I never played Cyber Space, but I did use it to cadge ideas from for my Cyberpunk 2020 campaign that I ran in the early 1990s. I liked Tanith, but a few of my players positively hated her, due to her cropping up at the most inappropriate of moments - usually at the end of a gunfight that my players had been involved in! Tanith is definitely a Reporter. In my Cyberpunk 2020 campaign she was fitted with state of the art recording implants in her eyes and ears. Nowadays, she'd just be a gutsy woman relying on her wits and street smarts. What I like most about my sculpt are her hair and her smile. What I least like about her is she is too wide. She should be slimmer.

Moving on, we come to the Cameramen and women. Once again, we start of with an OOP Frothers cameraman. He appeared alongside Jenny Tyrell in my Meeting the Media scenario for my ATZ campaign and he was a Rep:4 Cameraman called Simon McQuarrie. It is such a shame that no one has picked up the moulds for Simon and Jenny as they truly deserve to be appreciated by a wider audience.
Next to Simon is an EM4 Miniatures' Handycam Operator. He is another ex-Grenadier figure sculpted by Mark Copplestone. The logo on his back shows that he works for Channel 54.
Looking very similar to him is a Copplestone Castings' News Team member. It is basically the same figure but with a different head. Note his spectacular quiff! He works for WNS - World News Service.

The female, fourth from the left, is a RAFM figure - Paige Fox, reporter of note. Although she holds a compact camera in her hands, RAFM have got it right, she is a reporter not a camera-woman. She is the tallest figure in this group and makes a mockery of RAFM's claim that she is a 28mm scale miniature. Even so, she is nicely sculpted and I quite like her.
To the left of Paige is a figure that I converted from a Horrorclix Runaway from the basic set. I cut off her right arm holding a severed head, the knife in her left hand and her beanie hat. I resculpted her right arm and added a camera, which is slung around her neck. I also resculpted her hair. She is called Sarah Barstow and she is based on an NPC from the GURPS Illuminati supplement. She is a freelance camera-woman.
Last in line is another unique Vampifan sculpt. Meet Andy Halloran, an NPC who appeared in the GURPS Autoduel Characters supplement. He is just one of many characters that I made from that supplement. He is also a freelancer. I think he should be slightly slimmer, but other than that, I'm happy with how he's turned out, especially his video camera.
I should point out that anyone who wants to use a media team in ATZ should check out the ATZ Supplement, Haven on pages 28 and 29 for full rules on how to play them. You can even play them as part of your team, although their conditions for advancing their Rep differs from the main rules. For them, getting interviews and video footage is more important than killing zombies.
It is rather sad that out of these 11 figures only 5 are currently available for sale. You'll find the Copplestone Castings Anchor woman and Camera-man in the Future Wars set FW3 News Team and Minders, which contains five figures in total for £8.50. The EM4 pair, 0036 Female Reporter and 0037 Handycam Operator, are available separately for just £1.50 each. Finally, RAF02819 Paige Fox costs $4.95 from the RAFM webstore.

RAFM SWAT Troopers

I'm still sticking with the theme of SWAT Troopers for my figures reviews and this time I turn the spotlight on RAFM's output from their 28mm scale USX range. Also in this review is an old Horrorclix figure, who seemed to fit in so well with these figures that I've included him here.

At the far left of the two photos above is RAF02806 "The Man" - SWAT Team Leader. He is talking into his headset radio and is armed with a 5.56mm Colt M4A1 Assault Carbine. Holstered on his right hip is a 9mm Glock 19 Pistol. "The Man" is quite an imposing figure and stands 35mm tall, measured from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.
Standing next to him is RAF02807 Flanagan - SWAT Team Sergeant. Flanagan is armed and equipped in an identical manner to "The Man" but his carbine has a scopesight fitted to it. I can only assume that Flanagan and "The Man" are bare-headed to make them stand out as team leaders. It makes little sense for them not to wear some form of head protection.
Next in line is RAF02837 SWAT Sniper. His arms and rifle were separate castings and had to be glued in place. His sniper rifle is the 7.62mm Robar SR-60, which is built on the Remington 700 Sniper Rifle. He wears his baseball cap back to front so that the peak doesn't interfere with the scopesight.
The last figure in line is a Horrorclix Field Agent from the original set. This is the Experienced version armed with a disposable rocket launcher. I really ought to replace it with an MP5A SMG or a CAR15 Assault Carbine. He is a very tall and slim figure and scalewise he fit in so well with this range that I keep him as part of my RAFM SWAT crew. Note the five grenades strung across his back. They're probably smoke or tear gas grenades.

These next four figures come from set RAF02808 SWAT Grunts. At the far left is a trooper with a 12 gauge Benelli M1 Pump-Action Shotgun. Note the pistol grip under the slide. His 9mm Glock 19 Pistol is holstered high on his right hip.

Next to him, in a very similar pose is a trooper armed with a 9mm Heckler and Kock MP5A Sub-Machine Gun. Unlike his partner to his right, he does not wear a gasmask. I painted his flesh areas slightly darker than normal to represent a hispanic male... or maybe he's just well tanned.

Third in line is the second trooper to be armed with the 9mm MP5A SMG. He is in a more dramatic pose and is firing his weapon from the shoulder.

Last of all is a trooper firing his 9mm Glock 19 Pistol in a two-handed grip for extra stability. He has his MP5A SMG slung over his back. He wears a Nomex hood but no gasmask.

These are nicely sculpted figures but there are two things that might put some of you off purchasing them. First up is their height. Although RAFM describe this range as being 28mm scale, the reality is that they are closer to 35mm scale. This means that they stand head and shoulders above true 28mm scale figures. I couldn't care less about a few millimetres difference in heights but I know that it is an issue that concerns some of you, so be warned.

The second point that may be a stickler for some of you is their price. These figures are not the cheapest on the market. The SWAT Leader, Sergeant and Sniper cost $4.95 each. The SWAT Grunts are better value at $11.95 for all four figures. The Horrorclix Field Agent is, sadly, long out of production but can still be found on various on-line auction sites like e-Bay.
EDIT: Shortly after posting this I removed the Horrorclix figures rocket launcher and replaced it with an MP5A SMG. He looks much more like a SWAT Trooper now.

Hasslefree and RAFM Elvis Impersonators

This is another set of figures that I've been meaning to review for months now. I'm glad I held back because when I was recently looking at the RAFM website, I saw that they had added an Elvis with a katana to the range. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Team Elvis!

 

Leading this group of Elvis impersonators is a Hasslefree Miniatures 28mm scale adventurer - HFA038 Bubba. Bubba is a lot fatter than the other guys in the group, so he's obviously basing his looks on Elvis in his latter years. The figure comes in three parts with the two arms separate castings. According to the Hasslefree website he is armed with a .357 Magnum revolver and a deadly guitar! Well, I suppose he could smash the guitar over someone's head! As always, Kevin White has done a superb job in sculpting this figure. I decided to paint him in a white suit with blue suede shoes. There is a lot of detail on his shirt and guitar. Even though the RAFM figures are well sculpted, I think Bubba just edges them for quality and that is why I've made him the leader of this group.
Next in line is the first of the four RAFM 28mm scale Elvis impersonators from their Modern Day Heroes USX range. This is RAF02831 the Pretender 3. He is armed with a Colt .45 pistol. His blue suit is adorned with gold patterns and he wears a gold belt, white silk scarf and white shoes. He's not a great figure but he helps make the numbers up.
I mentioned last time that I'd bought five new figures from RAFM. This is the figure that I didn't show you. He has only just been added to the range and he is RAF02861 Samurai Elvis. I'm not too sure about the samurai bit but he is armed with a samurai sword aka a katana. I just had to have this figure to complete my collection of Elvis impersonators. At first, I thought he was a conversion of the next figure in line but upon closer inspection I saw that he is an original sculpt. He's an Elvis impersonator with a katana - what more can I say?
Fourth in line is RAF02830 the Pretender 2. This red-suited gent is armed with a 5.56mm M16 assault rifle, giving the group some serious firepower. There is some writing on the back of his cape, which are probably the lines from one of Elvis's songs, although they are far too small to read in this scale. I don't know enough about the work of Elvis to hazard a guess at what song might be portrayed here.
Finally, is RAF02827 the Pretender, whom I would have made the leader if I didn't own the Hasslefree Bubba figure. He is armed with a pair of 9mm TEC-9 machine pistols with the 30-round ammo clips. I thought that painting his cape gold would make a nice contrast to his white suit. Like all of the other figures, his belt is gold-plated and his suit is very ornate with gold designs on the top and trousers.
These would make for a very interesting group of Gangers or Survivors in a game of ATZ. I have a scenario in mind that I'd love to try out sometime. Cold War Minis make a zombie Elvis. See my review here - http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/11/cold-war-miniatures-zombies-06.html I was thinking, what if the zombie Elvis was the real Elvis? This group of Elvis impersonators may have heard that "the King" has returned and are on a quest to find him. Perhaps they enlist the help of your group of heroes to find him. I thought I'd call the scenario "The Return of the King!" If anyone else wants to run this scenario, please feel free to do so. I'd love to read about it.
Just for the record, I am not a fan of Elvis or his music. However, I can see a lot of fun to be had from this group and I'm sure it is only a matter of time before Team Vampifan encounters them. Prices of the figures are £4.50 for Hasslefree's Bubba and $4.95 for each of the RAFM Elvis impersonators.

RAFM Survivors 02

In January of this year I reviewed four RAFM 28mm scale survivor figures from their Modern Day Heroes USX range. Since then I have ordered another five figures from them and here, I showcase four of them. The fifth one will be reviewed next time, and when you see him you'll know why I kept him separate from this lot.

At the far left is RAF02860 Action Jackson. I can remember watching a movie called Action Jackson in the 1980's that starred Carl Weathers in the title role. This figure looks nothing like Carl's character but he is still one cool looking dude. I gave him a powder blue suit, white, open-necked shirt and white shoes. He is armed with a Big Ass Pistol, which seems appropriate. He could work as a pimp, or as a private detective. I see him as a heroic character and he should be more than capable of holding his own in a zombie apocalypse. It's always nice to see an African/American hero figure, as there aren't many about.
Next up is RAF02847 Kali, my favourite figure from the entire Modern Day Heroes USX range. As soon as I saw her, I knew I wanted her and she was the sole reason for my latest order to RAFM. She is one sexy looking female, with her tiny shorts and severely cropped top exposing a lot of flesh. She does, however, wear sensible combat boots and leather gloves. She has a pistol in a holster on her left hip but it is her sniper's rifle that really impresses me. This is a Barrett .50 M82A1 "light Fifty" sniper rifle. This is a truly formidable firearm, designed to take out soft-skinned vehicles. A fifty calibre bullet will make a bloody mess of any human target! Kali is also equipped with night sight goggles on her head, so she can operate at any time of day. She is top of the list of figures that I want to recruit to Team Vampifan. I think she is an awesome figure. By the way, Kali was the name of the Hindu god of destruction. Appropriate, huh?
Third in line is RAF02835 Gloria with Uzis. RAFM also do a Gloria with kukri knives, which I don't have. RAFM may call her Gloria but we all know she is Alice, as played by Milla Jovovich, from the Resident Evil: Extinction film. In fact, this figure looks like it has been directly copied from the front cover of the DVD as she is in the exact same pose and costume. Studio Miniatures also make a not-Alice figure (she's armed with a pair of kukris bur wears a long overcoat) and I'm undecided which version I like best. If using her in a game of ATZ then the RAFM version with the Uzis would be the best choice. You are far better off shooting zombies than fighting them in melee combat, even if you are as adept as Alice. This figure comes in three parts, with the arms holding the Uzis separate castings.
Finally, is RAF02852 Fallout Girl. From her name, she is clearly a post-apocalyptic survivor. She is extremely well-armed and totes twin pistols in holsters on her hips, a machine pistol in her right hand, a single-barrelled sawn-off shotgun in her left hand and a sword slung on her back. The machine pistol, shotgun and sword are moulded separately and have to be glued in place. She appears to be wearing a flak jacket, so she's well protected from small arms fire. She is one tough cookie and when I showed her to Gap, he said that she looks slightly deranged. That may explain why she's a survivor. I think she'd make an excellent Star or Grunt in ATZ and she's someone else that Team Vampifan would like to recruit.
All four figures are beautifully sculpted but I don't think the same person sculpted them all. Kali, for example, is a lot slimmer than Gloria and Action Jackson is a rather chunky figure. I like these a lot and would very happily recruit all four to Team Vampifan.
Each figure costs $4.95 from the RAFM website. Be aware if you are ordering from the UK or Europe, this package of five figures took between five and six weeks to arrive. RAFM are notoriously slow in sending out figures, which in this day and age is inexcusable. The previous time I ordered from them, I had to wait six weeks and I got stung with customs charges. This time I deliberately kept my order small so customs didn't bother me. I'd be grateful if anyone in America has ordered from RAFM could let me know how they got on with them. Is it just us European customers who suffer or does everyone have to wait for their order to arrive?

RAFM Survivors 01

A very happy new year to you all. I hope you had a great time over the holiday period and that Santa was kind to you. He was to me, although I didn't get much gaming related stuff. My dad bought me a beautiful card model of the Tower Bridge, London, but sadly it's too small in scale to use in my batreps. I ordered 16 Recreational Conflict 28mm scale zombies from the states a couple of weeks before Christmas, hoping I'd receive them before the 25th but I'm still waiting for them. A couple of days ago I stocked up on Citadel paints to beat the VAT increase, which comes into play on Tuesday. A curse on our government! I foresee troubled times ahead for this country as Dodgy Dave's and his fag, Nick the Liar's austerity package kicks in.
Anyway, I don't want to get on my soapbox about politics so I'll resume normal service. I was asked if I could do more reviews of survivors so I'm going to kick the new year off with just such a review. I plan on doing lots of reviews of figures that may be useful for survivor types, as well as more reviews of cops, gangers and the military. But first, here's a look at four very usable survivor figures from Canadian company, RAFM.

 

These are part of RAFM's range of 28mm scale USX Modern Day Heroes. At the far left of the photo is RAF02816 Harold Smith, white collar survivalist. This figure is clearly based on Michael Douglas's character William "D-Fens" Foster from the film Falling Down. But to us followers of zombie blogs, he's Mr. Whiteface, alter ego of Oliver/Whiteface who runs the wonderful Obviously Zed blog. I can see the attraction in wanting to choose this particular figure as a hero player character. The pump-action shotgun is a nice weapon to have but the way the figure is holding it makes it very easy to replace with something different. Best of all, the figure is carrying a big sports bag, which could contain any amount of weapons and/or equipment. If you wear glasses, as I do, this a great figure to use, as very few figures wear glasses. If you don't wear glasses ( I believe Oliver said he doesn't) then paint them as sunglasses for that added cool factor. I'd say this is possibly the best figure on the market to use as a player character.

Next up is RAF02803 Hanna the survivor. What I particularly like about this female is that she's left handed, which is something you rarely see on weapon carrying figures. Her weapon of choice appears to be a .44 Magnum, which I'd class as a BA Pistol in ATZ. She kind of reminds me of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from The Terminator films. She looks like she could take care of herself in a fight and I do like her choice of pistol. Dirty Harry meets Dirty Hanna!

Third in line is RAF02802 Desiree Dark the mercenary. She's dressed to thrill in a leather basque showing an impressive cleavage, skintight leather pants, long leather boots and a leather duster. Yep, she's a real heartbreaker! She's armed with twin pistols, but it is the big combat knife slung across her lower back that I particularly like. She is a beautiful figure whom I see in the LTL Mom mode, i.e. do not mess with her!

Lastly, is RAF02804 Briggs the rogue cop. He certainly looks like a rogue, with his crewcut hair, designer shades (well, they'd have to be. He wouldn't wear cheap tat!) and chomping on a cigar. Moreover, he's armed for maximum overkill with a minigun! The closest equivalent in ATZ is the Squad Automatic Weapon or SAW. This is another figure with oodles of star quality who'd make an ideal group leader for any party of survivors.

Harold, Desiree and Briggs would be more suited as Stars in ATZ, whereas Hanna seems more appropriate as a Grunt. Each figure costs $4.95 from RAFM's website. When I ordered these in 2009, they were only part of my order. When the package arrived in the UK our Customs and Excise chaps slapped on a £16 fee! Unbelievable! I paid up but I was not a happy bunny. I've ordered figures from abroad many times but this order to Canada was the only time our Customs Office intervened. In hindsight, I should have sent two small orders instead of one big order. So I'd caution you if you're thinking of ordering direct from RAFM. I have since found a few companies in the UK who sell their figures but sadly none of them have the complete range. I will order from RAFM again, I'm sure, but it won't be a big order like last time. I've learnt my lesson.

RAFM Zombies

RAFM are a company based in Canada who have been going for many years. This pack of four 30mm+ scale figures that I'm going to review come from set RAF02822 - Zombies. These figures have been available for a long time and come from the USX Modern Day Heroes range who can be found here - http://www.rafm.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=RAF&Category_Code=USXMin

I only got round to buying them two months ago and as it is my mission to review every undead figure I own I thought I'd feature them now in my latest review.

First in line is the only female of the group. She is dressed in a skimpy slip and is bare-footed. The first thing I noticed about her was she had an enormous backside ("Does my bum look big in this?" "Oh, yes!") and her boobs are threatening to spill out if she bends forward any more. She has more curves than a Formula One race track! She might have been a beautiful woman in life but not now. Her right eye appears to have popped out of its socket. A bite has been made to her left thigh and the flesh has been stripped from her right knee, revealing bone. She holds the arm of a victim in her left hand and is chewing away at the fingers. This could have been a very good figure but it is let down by the right arm, which appears to be too long and far too muscular. It is way out of proportion for the rest of the body.
Next to her, is what appears to be a constuction worker and he is huge! He measures 36mm from base of feet to the top of his head. This does not bother me as it seems fitting that he should be the tallest of the group and I don't like to see every miniature the same size, so I'm happy to mix and match scales as long as they are roughly equal in height. The way his head is bent at an angle hints that his neck has been broken. Likewise with his left arm, which isn't hanging naturally. A large piece of his lower right arm has been chewed off, revealing the radius and ulna bones. Look carefully at the fingers of his right hand and you can see that some have been bent out of place.

Shuffling along next to him is the old man of the group. I like the way his head protrudes from his body and his baseball cap has been knocked off centre, which is a nice touch. The left side of his face has been torn apart. Note the tongue sticking out of his mouth. His most obvious wound is the right arm, which has been pulled off at the shoulder and which he carries in his left hand. The right hand still grips a stop sign. The word "STOP" is actually sculpted onto the sign. He has been bitten in the calves of both legs. I really like this figure, although there is something dangling between his legs that I'm not sure of. Oi, you at the back, stop sniggering! It looks like a backpack or a bag of some sort but what is it doing there? And how is it there, as I can't see what's keeping it in place. Whatever it is, he isn't holding it in either of his hands and it doesn't appear to have a strap to attach it to his belt, for example. Curious!

The final figure of the group is the little boy zombie. I've noticed that a lot of sculptors don't depict many (or indeed, any) wounds on children. It's as if it is bad enough to have zombie kids but to show wounds on them is step too far. Well, not in this case. This poor lad has had his stomach ripped open and his intestines are dribbling down his left leg. In the fight with whoever killed him he lost his right shoe and sock. Because of his diminutive size he will fit in with any zombie horde. The sculptor has cleverly captured the vacant expression of his face. He's an absolute gem of figure.

There is an amazing amount of detail on these four figures and I'm very pleased to have them in my collection. From a size point of view, they'd fit in well alongside the Griffin Miniatures zombies and the slightly taller Horrorclix range. The pack of four figures costs $9.95 on the RAFM website. If you live outside of Canada it may pay you to look for a local distributor to buy them from. I wish I had, as I was unfortunate in that I had to pay customs charges for my set - the only time this has ever happened to me when ordering figures from abroad.