Rumbleslam Referees

Currently, the newest supplement and set of figures for TT Combat's Rumbleslam are the Referees. This supplement offers optional rules to include referees in your games. Referees is the second expansion for Rumbleslam, introducing two all new attacks, tripping and pinning. Use a trip attack to get your opponent onto the ground, then pin them to evict them from the ring! Referees are only in a Rumbleslam ring to monitor the match, not participate in it, but that doesn't stop most of them from interfering!

First up is the human referee who comes with two stat cards - Good Referee and Dirty Referee. In both cases his special ability is very similar. As a good ref if a friendly wrestler makes a No Class action or an action with the Dirty special rule, the ref can force the player to re-roll the Crowd dice. As a dirty ref if an enemy wrestler makes a No Class action or an action with the Dirty special rule, the ref can force the opponent to re-roll the Crowd dice. Note that this figure is not part of the Referees set - he was a limited edition figure that I was lucky enough to but earlier. His stat card can be downloaded from the Rumbleslam website.

The Goblin ref has identical stats to the Dirty ref with the addition of the Put the Boot In special ability. If the ref ends its activation in base contact with any wrestler with Knockdown counters, those wrestlers lose 2 STA.

Death is unique in that he has no stats other than Move 3. This is due to his Beyond Time Itself ability which means wrestlers cannot interact with Death in any way. Death may move through squares occupied by other wrestlers but may not end its activation in an occupied square. Its second ability is Dicing with Death. If Death ends its activation in base contact with any wrestlers, the controlling player must choose one. Both players roll 1G - these rolls cannot be re-rolled. If Death rolls higher, remove the opposing wrestler from the game. If the opposing wrestler wins, it gains +1 to its ATT, DEF, GRP and DEX until the end of of the game and cannot be chosen for this rule again.

The Dwarf referee is a good ref. His first ability is Got My Eye On You. Any wrestler within 2 squares of this ref is affected by No Class after the second identical action in its activation. His second ability is Keep It Clean. Any wrestler that attacks a wrestler with a Knockdown counter gains the DIRTY special rule for the attack.

Moving on is Jittery Ref, whose only ability is Crescent Moon. Every time he takes damage, roll a Crowd dice. On a Cheer result, replace the Jittery ref with Were-Ref. Note that once Jittery Ref transforms into Were-Ref he remains in that form for the rest of the game.

Were-Ref is a real brute with awesome stats. He has two abilities, the first of which is Full Moon. If Were-Ref ends its activation in base contact with any wrestlers, it will make a Brawl attack against each one. His second ability is Claws and Teeth, which means his Brawl attacks deal 2DMG.

Finally, is Big Ref, a female Ogre. She has only one ability - Break It Up. If Big Ref ends her activation in base contact with any wrestlers, she will attempt to Lift and Throw each one for 0AP. Any wrestlers Lifted must be Thrown as far as possible into an empty square but not on a turnbuckle. She has a Throw range of 5.

Referees are used in much the same way as any other wrestler and are always counted as their own team. Refs cannot be attacked as normal. They cannot gain any counters, but other special rules affect them as normal. The player that placed the first wrestler in the ring also places the referee as close to the centre of the ring as possible. A referee activates at the end of the round after all other wrestlers. Each player rolls 1G. The player that rolls higher controls the referee for that round. Alternatively, pick a third player to play as the ref all game.

This boxed set of six resin cast figures and rules cost £30.00 from the TT Combat webstore. I do like these figures and whilst I haven't used them in a game yet, I am looking forward to trying them out.

Rumbleslam Free Agents 01

Over the Christmas holidays I added to my collection of Rumbleslam figures with a few new purchases from TT Combat. These three characters are all Free Agents, which means they are not affiliated to any one casino and thus can be hired by any team without affecting their important sponsorship bonuses.

 First up is Big Andy, who is clearly inspired by the dearly departed Andre the Giant.
"Contrary to his kind’s scary and angry nature, he has been known to play with his fans, carrying them on his shoulders as he walks about! Children love Andy and aspire to be as strong and tall as him when they grow up! But it is not wise to prod this slumbering titan. Even the calmest can lose their cool at times, but most don’t have punches that can break stone and arms thick as tree trunks!”
Big Andy is a great all-rounder superstar. He's not quite as dangerous as some (Trihorn, I'm looking at you), but his Dosh cost is barely higher than a regular Weight 3 wrestler. For that little bit more Dosh you get some incredible special abilities like Underhook Suplex and Body Slam which cause the all-powerful Knockdown. And because of his Walking Stupor passive ability, Big Andy is immune to the Dazed special rule, meaning he's very hard to take down.
Big Andy costs £8.00 and comes in three parts - body and two arms. I'm not a fan of the clear bases that come with these figures , so I have stuck all of my Rumbleslam figures on MDF bases.

In the centre of this trio is Granite. He could team up very well with the Golem from a Runic Thunder team (double the Stoneskin!), or could join in with The Cold Bloods for a little one-man flexibility that can hold his own without relying too heavily on the rest of the lizards for support. 
"This resilient superstar has it all: power, toughness, size, charisma... There are few wrestlers in the ring that can match a natural charm and presence which have enthralled and captivated the hearts of countless viewers. He's even been known to break the rules to deliver a better show for his adoring fans. If he sees that the crowd is getting bored, he'll perform a dirty move, or kick an opponent when they're down. Cheers or boos, he only wants to entertain, as that's the only way to fill the seats of an arena.
With one of the best Defence stats in the game, you know Granite is tough to deal with. Combined with his Stoneskin Passive Ability he's almost entirely impervious to Brawl attacks.
His real draw is the Face Heel Turn Passive Ability though. Granite can choose each turn to be a face or a heel, gaining a stat boost to go along with it. That gives him a lot of flexibility, starting off as a face and getting extra attack power, then finishing the match as a Heel when it's time to throw the opponent out. Or you can go for a Crowd Pleaser to have your cake an eat it too! If successful in wooing the crowd, Granite may choose both choices, gaining extra attack and grapple, and getting the HEEL special rule too! Now that's a walking mountain with flexibility!
Granite costs £10.00 and comes in five parts, body, arms and legs. His legs were incredibly fiddly to fix to his body and in the end I had to use Milliput to secure them in place.

Finally, is Ice. So what teams is he best in? The Raging Beasts and The Green Bruisers benefit a huge amount from his presence, as he counters their low defence stats.
"A slippery superstar possessing a cool demeanour, Ice has chilled the hearts of his opponents for many years. Men and women can't help but shiver as he makes his glacial way towards the stage where his powerful figure gleams in the limelight. Try as they might to grapple or lift his monstrous mass, his glassy exterior seldom allows opponents to find purchase, whilst his hard as steel hide deflects all but the strongest of blows."
What Ice may lack in grappling and dodging, he more than makes up for in Defence. And defending himself isn't all he's good for! His Glacial Skin Passive Ability makes him extremely hard to grapple, and The Wall is a Passive Ability that allows him to share his Defence value with any wrestler in base contact. Just think on that for a second. You can take high offensive wrestlers or great grapplers, then just hug up to Ice and be extremely difficult to take out.
Ice costs £10.00 and he comes in four parts - body, head and two arms. 

Rumbleslam Deluxe 3D Arena

When I bought the boxed starter set for Rumbleslam by TT Combat I also bought the 3D arena kit made of MDF at the same time. The kit was very easy to build but rather complicated to paint. Still, I took my time and it ended up just as I wanted. There was just one problem and that was what to do with the ropes? I should say that the kit does not come with ropes, so you must come up with your own solution. I dismissed using thread, because I thought that would snap too easily. My brother suggested using plastic wire, which he had used to hang a spaceship model from his bedroom ceiling. This seemed like a good idea but proved very difficult to tie knots in so I abandoned this idea. After much thinking, I eventually hit upon a solution that really appealed to me - brass rods. I use these for the stands of my miniature spaceships. I thought if I glued them in place at each corner with superglue, that would give me a solid bond and ropes that would look good and be very sturdy. Once glued in place and left to dry overnight, I painted them in red, white and blue.

Here is my arena set up for a four team match between the four teams I currently own - the Green Bruisers (orcs and goblins), the Twisted Shadows (dark elves, shadowlings and gorgons), the Heavy Pounders (humans, halflings and ogres) and the Cryptborn Nightmares (undead and werewolves).

The ropes look really good, especially when painted. The arena itself came unpainted. I left the central area its natural wood colour and very carefully painted the surrounding area and the signs and logos. This was painstakingly slow work and required a very steady hand but I never once made a mistake.

In addition to the arena, you get four stands to position over the four corner turnbuckles to allow any of the larger based characters to stand on top of the turnbuckles. These are useful additions that come with the three legs each - the fourth leg being the turnbuckle itself, which they partially rest on. Here I show all four in use at the same time.

In the centre of the arena is the referee. This is a limited edition figure that I was lucky enough to purchase. Stats are provided for him as a good ref or as an evil ref. He is a bald-headed human. I'll showcase him in a later post so you can get a closer look at him.

In this particularly memorable match, the huge creatures all leapt from the turnbuckles to surround the ref and...

...each one grabbed a limb and played "wishbone" with him, pulling him apart! The troll got an arm and the body, the others just got a limb. So, victory for the Green Bruisers. Referees? Who needs them anyway?
The Rumbleslam Deluxe Ring is available for purchase from the TT Combat webstore for £14.95. With the exact measurements as the flat play mat, this ring makes an excellent upgrade to your Rumbleslam matches. Now that I have it made and painted I hope to showcase some Rumbleslam batreps in the near future.

Rumbleslam Twisted Shadows

At the same time as I ordered my Cryptborn Nightmares team for Rumbleslam, I also bought this team - the Twisted Shadows. What particularly drew me to this team were the two Witch Elves. When it comes to fantasy I have a particular fondness for Dark Elves. Way back when I played Warhammer regularly my two biggest armies were Vampire Counts (obviously!) and Dark Elves. Of all of the Dark Elf units, the Witch Elves were my favourite. Those ladies were vicious!

From left to right, the Twisted Shadows team is made up of Lysintra the Witch Elf Brawler, Zeeriel the Witch Elf Grappler, Madame Medusa the Gorgon, Blink the Shadowling Brawler and Switch the Shadowling Grappler.
The Twisted Shadows team is agile, fast, hard-hitting, and very tough to face. But they're also extremely weak when punched back, so watch out! Twisted players of Gomorrah will love a little extra power in their teams.
Dark Elf Brawlers and Dark Elf Grapplers can take a bit more punishment, and are very good at their respective roles. Their Art of Seduction ability turns an already good attack into an even better one by incapacitating the opponent's ability to defend properly.

Shadowling Brawlers and Shadowling Grapplers are best used to sneak in, do a devastating special attack, and then Shadow Jump away again before the enemy even notices they were there!
Finally, the massive Gorgons are out and out damage dealers. Their special abilities are very powerful, but its their grapples and Crowd Pleasers that really make them a mainstay in any Gomorrah team.

As well as buying the Twisted Shadows team, I also bought a couple of Superstars for them - Comet and Phage. 
“Comet is an enigma wrapped in mystery and perversion. Known by many as the strangest wrestler to enter the ring, this painted elf has exhibited some very strange tendencies over the years. Whether it is admiring himself in the ring, or tracing out the blackened lines of his skin-tight suit, he has surprised and chilled many a wrestler and viewer. In interviews, he has shown a definite lack of personal space and social norms. His face is meticulously painted each day, and the ritual of brushing his hair sixteen times before a match is never missed. Comet seems to love his body and appearance more than anything, and should his opponent smear his paint, they had better be ready for pain.”
Wow! Just look at that stat card. Seriously. Umm... I don't know what else to say. So. Much. Gold. Comet is a great Superstar for... well... anyone really. Seriously. Wow!

"In nature it is sometimes the most beautiful of flowers that contain the most poison. The same can be said for this Dark Elf. A wrestler of nearly unparalleled beauty, Phage has enjoyed the adulation of her peers for years. Her seemingly shy and modest appearance however is merely a facade she wears to lull her opponents into a false sense of security. Behind her sweet and charming mask is a soul as black as pitch. This sadistic superstar takes great pleasure in inflicting serious and debilitating injuries on her foes. Several promising careers have ended early due to Phage crippling or maiming the superstar but nothing has been done to stop her. She pretends they are all accidents and even apologises openly to her victims, but it is all an act."
When is a Dark Elf better than a Dark Elf? When she's Phage. Increasing on a Dark Elf's already decent stat line, Phage really does have it all. With great attacks on top, she's a formidable opponent. That said, she costs a lot of Dosh! If you fancy adding her to a Gomorrah team, she pairs perfectly with the Twisted Shadows, who make her even more mobile!
I must admit that I just fell in love with the three Witch Elf figures for this team. 😍 They are as gorgeous as they are deadly. The other team members aren't bad either and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how they perform in the ring. There are a lot of parts to the Gorgon, but she went together very well without the need of any drilling and pinning. When I glued the tails onto the two Shadowlings I had to slightly widen and lengthen the holes for them to slot into but that was a simple job. Note that as with all of my Rumbleslam figures, I have glued them to MDF bases instead of the clear plastic bases that they are supplied with. And in case you're wondering, all of their clothing items were painted with Humbrol Gloss Black acrylic paint.
The Twisted Shadows Team costs £22.00 from the TT Combat webstore and Comet and Phage costs £7.00 each.

Rumbleslam Cryptborn Nightmares

Given my love of all things undead, it was inevitable that I would want the Cryptborn Nightmares team for TT Combat's Rumbleslam game. Let's take a closer look at them.

The Cryptborn Nightmares are a team made up predominantly of undead types. From left to right are the Mummy - Namhophar the Celebrated, Zed the Zombie, Wolffang the Werewolf, Crashnukh the Orc Skeleton and Boney Bonaparte the Human Skeleton. I gave them those names.
The Cryptborn Nightmares are a team of extremes. On one extreme are the skeletons: dime a dozen, but prone to collapsing into piles of bones. Whilst on the other extreme are the mummies: rock hard opponents that don't ever stay down for long – if you even manage to get them down in the first place! Teams from the Rolling Bones will find great longevity in these undead monsters.
Zombies and Mummies are some of the most reliable wrestlers in Rumbleslam. They have lots of power, and Rise From The Grave helps them to just keep going and going. Make sure to use those Crowd Pleasers!

The Werewolf is probably the best all round WEIGHT 3 wrestler in the game. Werewolves are quick and extremely efficient at throwing the opposing team out of the ring.
Finally, Skeletons and Ork Skeletons aren't too worrying on the face of it, but their special abilities hit extremely hard. Just be careful not to put them against far superior opponents, or Brittle Bones will make them explode from a particularly savage beating!

In addition to buying the standard team as shown above, I also bought two Superstars for the Cryptborn Nightmares - Fang and the Grave Digger.
“A vampire older than record books, this dark denizen of the night has plagued the land for millennium. For a while, that was enough to entertain the ancient entity. But like all things, the shine soon left the apple. He would sleep, and hope that the next century would be of more interest. One hundred years passed before his eyes opened once more. Awake, thirsty and eager to see what new delights the world had to offer, Fang ventured out into realm to find the city streets alight with life! The sound of cheers met his ears, and he grew curious enough to venture inside a building. What greeted him was Rumbleslam! For the first time in hundreds of years, the wicked man smiled.”
Fang has entered the ring! He's a fantastic all-rounder superstar, with decent stats and a couple of +1s on his card. He's fast and vicious! Superhuman Spinebreaker is a Grapple Ability you'll be using lots and lots. It's easy to do, and thanks to Fang's Vampirism Passive Ability, replenishes his Stamina at the same time. But that's not all, because if you pass a Crowd Pleaser, the whole team gain the same benefit!
Fang obviously fits in perfectly with The Cryptborn Nightmares, boosting their already decent regenerative capabilities and their reliance on grapple attacks. But he's also a great choice for any team with lower Stamina – The Deadly Divas and The Twisted Shadows come to mind – as his constant replenishing can make up for their main weakness!
Some of the Superstars are clearly based on WWE wrestlers from real life (see the Grave Digger below). But Fang appears to be modelled on Blade as portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the films of the same name. I'm cool with that.

"Little is known about The Grave Digger. He has declined all interviews and questions to date. Who was he before his death? How did he come to be undead? Many have asked and yet none have received more than a chilling glare from the towering giant of a superstar. An enigma both in and out of the ring, The undead superstar has amassed a cult following who worship his every match and claim he is the chosen one."
Want to play one of the most recognised wrestlers in all of Rumbleslam? Grave Digger is strong, tough, and surprisingly quick. Get a Crowd Pleaser off and he can do quite a lot of attacks in one turn, and his Deadeye ability stops enemy wrestlers from moving!
Grave Digger is a Rolling Bones superstar, and fits perfectly alongside The Cryptborn Nightmares.
I just had to buy this figure. He is based on one of my favourite WWE characters - the Undertaker. What I particularly like about this model is that he comes with a choice of two heads - bareheaded or with his hat. I had to choose the hat version as that was very much a trademark of the Undertaker. Please beware that the Cryptborn Nightmares team are made up of a lot of parts. The Werewolf comes in seven pieces not including his base. Also take care when handling the skeletons. They have very fragile limbs which I reinforced with a tiny amount of Milliput, Fortunately, I didn't have any breakages.
The Cryptborn Nightmares team costs £22.00 for all five figures and Fang and Grave Digger cost £7.00 each.

Vampifans Views 99 - Monthly Musings 71

November is always a special month for me - it's when my birthday is. More on that later. But first, my Vampirella portrait is by Bo Hampton, whom I recently showcased with his three illustrations of Vampirella and Batman. This black and white picture of Vampi shows her in a pensive mood as she is about to wipe away a dribble of blood from her chin. It is beautifully rendered and I like it a lot. What I particularly like about it is that she has been portrayed with realistic proportions, something that some comic artists fail to achieve.

I'll keep my birthday news until last. So what have I been up to this month? On the painting front I have mainly been painting undead - YAY! I have finished painting roughly two dozen Weird West zombies from three different companies and I'll show them all next month. I have also painted the undead wrestling team for Rumbleslam. They are the Cryptborn Nightmares. In addition, I have also painted the Twisted Shadows team for Rumbleslam. Both of them will be shown very soon. I have also made and painted my MDF wrestling ring that I ordered from TT Combat. This just takes the game to a whole new level and visually looks stunning.
Currently I'm working on some more figures to use in Dracula's America or any Wild West setting. I'm also painting some more figures for Judge Dredd, after Foundry Miniatures finally stopped selling their 2000AD range of figures. I already had most of the range but was missing just a few. Fortunately, I was able to get them just before the final day of their sale. I'm not sure if this decision to stop selling them has anything to do with Warlord Games acquiring the rights to make figures for all of the 2000AD series. Whatever the reason, I was sad to see this much loved and long running range bite the dust.
My brother has been printing out lots of 3D models for my gaming needs. He has a 3D printer and it is something I'd like to own but not just yet. The stuff he's been doing for me came from a few Kickstarters run by Hayland Terrain that I backed. I have terrain and furniture items for fantasy, Wild West, contemporary and sci-fi settings. Once they get painted up, they look fantastic. A post showcasing what I've painted so far is definitely on the cards. At the moment I'm mainly asking him to print out furniture items for me.

Speaking of Kickstarters, the latest one I've backed is Core Space produced by Battle Systems Ltd. As you know, I am a huge fan of their products. Core Space is a follow up to their superb Sci-fi 2 terrain sets which I recently acquired. It is fully compatible with that setting but has more of a gritty cyberpunk feel to it. But the biggest change is that it is also a skirmish game with miniature figures. For the first time Battle Systems are producing miniature figures in 32mm scale. They do look superb! Just check out these photos of the new scenery and figures.

 A game in progress as the Purge robots close in on the heroes.

 The crew of the Ion Hope - Roykirk, Arianna and Gak.

The crew of the Black Maria - Renton, Jace and Lars.
I must admit that I fell in love with this project as soon as I saw the photos for it. The scenery will fit in well for my JDMG and N.E.W. games and so will the figures. Having watched a couple of play-throughs of the game on YouTube I must admit to liking the game very much. The project is fully funded and I've already increased my pledge once. There is just so much great stuff being added to this project as more people back it. Sadly, it won't be released until November 2018, but that'll be a lovely birthday present for me.

So, birthdays. On the 24th of this month it was my birthday. So I decided to treat myself to something special and with the money my mum gave me, I ordered the new Necromunda: Underhive boxed set and the Necromunda: Gang War supplement. Now, those who know me well will know of my deep hatred of Games Workshop - they have done so much wrong that has hurt the hobby and the people who once supported them. But I do acknowledge they are trying to make amends nowadays. That said, I still won't buy anything from them other than a few of their ink-wash paints. So I ordered these two gifts to myself from Wayland Games, who were selling them for 20% cheaper than GW. That works for me! Better the money in my pocket than GW's!
In my mind, Necromunda was the best game that GW ever produced, and so I was very pleased to see it return. I ran a hugely successful Necromunda campaign in the mid-1990's which is still remembered fondly to this day. In it, I played two gangs - one from House Escher and one from House Goliath. And look at which two gangs are featured in the new boxed set - House Escher and House Goliath! 😍 That was incentive enough for me to want this new game. Plus, just look at how cool these new sculpts are. Note that the photos are from Games Workshop.

The brand new House Escher gangers, looking ultra-cool and awesome. These are my favourite gang in Necromunda.

The gangers from House Goliath - just as muscle-bound as I fondly remember them. Big brutes with big weapons!
There have been changes made to the game, which is inevitable, and in my opinion, the changes are all for the best. The biggest change is that with Necromunda: Underhive, the game is played on flat boards, rather like Zombicide. 3D doors, barricades and other items are provided but it is essentially a boardgame with miniatures. Those of you who remember the original game will recall that it was played on 3D terrain on different levels, which added an interesting dynamic to the games. Fear not, that element is still here, but the rules for using 3D terrain are presented in the Necromunda: Gang War supplement along with the campaign rules.
This is the first time in many a year that I've been excited by a GW release. I look forward to making and painting the gangs. I will be playing the game using the new rules - both sets. But in addition, I can see me using the scenery and gangs in my Judge Dredd Miniatures Game. I remember when I first saw Necromunda way back in 1995 my first thought was that is so like Mega City One! Welcome back Necromunda! You have been missed.

Rumbleslam Green Bruisers & Heavy Pounders

The two teams that you get in the starter boxed set of Rumbleslam are the Green Bruisers and the Heavy Pounders. I'm going to take a closer look at them here, along with a couple of their superstars. Note that in the game only the superstars are named. The basic team wrestlers are unnamed but I decided to name all of my wrestlers, just to give them more character and personality.

The Green Bruisers are made up of Orcs, Goblins and Trolls. From left to right are Trolgar the Troll, Wurgoth the Orc Brawler, Grabda the Orc Grappler, Brik the Goblin Brawler and Grok the Goblin Grappler.
The Green Bruisers are some of the biggest stars of the Rumbleslam arena. They're fast, they hit hard, and they don't let up! If you want a team that likes getting stuck in, regardless of what danger it poses to them, these greenskins are for you, and make an excellent choice for The Rolling Bones.
Trolls are big, blue, and mean. They have absolutely devastating special attacks, so make sure they're in the right place because they don't move fast. Their Regeneration ability helps them to stay in the fight long past most other wrestlers.

Orc Brawlers and Orc Grapplers are the ones you want to be getting into combat! Hit first, and make it count. And if you can't reach the enemy, use their Da Boss ability to pick up goblins and throw them instead!
Goblin Brawlers and Goblin Grapplers do not hit hard. But getting them into a fair fight is not what they're for! They're quick and can do lots of actions a turn, meaning their special abilities will get lots of use. Of particular note is their Antagonise ability, which makes opponents slower and angrier!

The Heavy Pounders are made up of Humans, Halflings and Ogres. From left to right are Dragark the Dark Destroyer, an Ogre, Vyctor Fistpike the Human Brawler, Stafford "Furious" Titangrip the Human Grappler, Bertram Goodbody the Halfling Brawler and Turpin Oakbottom the Halfling Grappler.
The Heavy Pounders fill that ideal space between speed, strength, and defence. They're reliable and even the smallest member can be extremely useful. They're easy to learn, but tricky to master. The crowd loves them though, multiplying their already solid stat lines even further. Kaiser's Palace teams needing some stability should look no further.
Ogres are big. Ogres are strong. Ogres are hard to throw out. What more could you want? It would be tempting to just brawl away with an Ogre, but that means that you're not using their many useful special attacks. A Choke Slam does wonders when paired with the Halfling Brawler, and a Belly Bomb Bonanza hits every opponent in base contact, if you're brave enough to climb the turnbuckle to do it!

Human Brawlers and Human Grapplers do what they say, and do it well. Don't go getting their roles confused though, as they won't be nearly as effective. Brawlers first do the damage, and then grapplers move in and throw the opponents out of the ring. A tried and tested formula that works match after match.
Halfling Brawlers and Halfling Grapplers get a lot of actions per turn, and their special abilities are cheap to use, meaning they'll be mainstays in your team.

Next we come to the superstars and I have two for each team - Statesman and Triple D for the Heavy Pounders and Gun and Gobba for the Green Bruisers.
“The Statesman is as much a fan of wrestling as he is a superstar. Growing up watching the heroes of old in the ring, the young wrestler trained his body with painful tenacity. He was soon the picture of perfection. Joining the ring at eighteen, his selflessness and devotion to the sport fast became a shining example that inspired countless fans.”
With a stat card like that, it's obvious that Statesman is a great all-rounder. He makes a great centre-piece for any team, his unassuming look hiding a solid line up of skills. With a regenerative ability on all KO'd wrestlers for his Crowd Pleaser, and his Shield Passive Ability giving close friendly wrestlers his awesome Defence, Statesman is at his best when helping out team mates. With a great all-round stat line and hailing from Kaiser's Palace, he's the perfect companion to The Heavy Pounders, or any team with low Defence and low Stamina WEIGHT 1 wrestlers.

“The bad girl of wrestling, Triple D is synonymous with rule breaking. A powerful wrestler who has held numerous titles in her time, Diana will take on anyone who threatens her reign at the top. Using all the methods at her disposal, she has been known to cripple opponents that might one day rise to challenge her. She has dubbed herself the Queen of the Ring, a title her fans cheer with extreme diligence and fervour.”
Triple D is a fan favourite, and for good reason. If you feel like your team is lacking a wrestler that can pick up and throw any other wrestler fairly easily, go for Triple D. Although you might struggle to even lift other wrestlers with the amount of great special abilities she has. Her biggest problem is that she doesn't have 10 AP to do everything you want! As a Heel character she rolls Crowd Pleasers differently, so if you feel like your Heavy Pounders need to take a walk on the wild side, she's the perfect wrestler for it.

So we all know who Gun is based on... yes, he's an Orc Hulk Hogan. If you want a great Rolling Bones wrestler who may Hulk Out when he's down on his luck then look no further.
 “They say you’ve never seen a show until you’ve seen Gun fight. An Orc of a different kind, Gun is far different to the rest of his race in the ring. Unlike his bloodthirsty brethren this charismatic Orc is there to entertain. A master of ceremony he thrives under attention and can often be seen pleasing the crowd with poses, chants and shows of power! This superstar is adored by his followers who go time and time again to see his exploits.”

Gobba the Goblin has some weird stats. His Dexterity is the highest in the game, and he uses it as his Defence too, meaning he's extremely hard to damage at all. He's fast too, so good luck catching him! Although with such a low Defence, Grapple, and Stamina, he's delicate too.
Gobba is the ultimate support Superstar. There Is No Try is an Active Ability that allows you to move an enemy wrestler 3 squares in any direction, putting them in the best place for you and the worst place for them! And his Crowd Pleaser removes all negative counters from friendly wrestlers. Considering the all-out attack nature of the Green Bruisers, Gobba complements them perfectly, giving them some much needed defensive stability.
"Wrestling is a sport for the physically gifted. Or so everyone thought until this mysterious goblin entered the ring. Wielding a special power alongside his seemingly inhuman dexterity, he joined the Rolling Bones casino and waited for his debut. It was a match to remember, though only a handful of fans remained to watch the small superstar battle. Assuming his team would lose easily, many missed him pushing and pulling his opponents around the ring with nothing but a wave of his tiny hand. Despite his clear superiority, Gobba didn’t mock or belittle his adversaries at all. It was almost unheard of to watch a wrestler wait for his opponent to stand before striking again.”

TRIVIA FACT - Gobba is rumoured to be the younger brother of Gobbo who appears in this blog here - http://dagobbosgrotto.blogspot.co.uk/

Although you get the Green Bruisers and the Heavy Pounders in the starter boxed set, you can also purchase them separately. They cost £22.00 per team, which is a reasonable price, I think. The four superstars I showed here cost £7.00 each, which is pricey. All of the figures are made of resin and most are single piece castings. They are expertly sculpted and so full of character. I like them all.

Rumbleslam - a Review

The contents of the starter boxed set shown straight from the box.

Rumbleslam is the game of fantasy wrestling produced by TT Combat. I begin my review of the basic boxed set with the blurb about the basic starter set taken from the webstore -

Welcome to the ring! The spotlights are on, the confetti cannons are loaded, and the mages have had their staffs taken away. The world of Rumbleslam awaits!

The original game of fantasy wrestling is coming to a table top near you. Join in on fast paced high action gaming as goblins jump off the turnbuckles, dark elves bounce from the ropes, and dwarfs pick up werewolves to throw out of the ring!

This boxed game contains everything a budding sponsor needs to start their Rumbleslam career.

Two teams are included – the stalwart Heavy Pounders consist of a Halfling Brawler, Halfling Grappler, Human Brawler, Human Grappler, and a mighty Ogre. Meanwhile in the other corner are the unrelenting Green Bruisers – a Goblin Brawler, Goblin Grappler, Orc Brawler, Orc Grappler, and unshakable Troll. Each wrestler comes with its own character profile card. These cards show each wrestler's innate abilities, and moves they can perform, from basic clotheslines to the formidable Blue Thunder. All miniatures are supplied unpainted and unassembled with a clear acrylic base. Note that clear acrylic bases may have a coloured peelable protective film.

The box contains a 12”x12” soft mat ring with 104 squares for wreaking mayhem, ropes to bounce off and turnbuckles to leap from.

With 5 Copper dice, 5 Silver dice, and 4 Gold dice, wrestlers can brawl their way to victory, and 2 Crowd dice allow your wrestlers to rally the crowd behind them to perform mind-blowing special moves. Note that because the dice are screen printed the symbols may wear with frequent use. To protect against this, a light spray coat of varnish will stop any fading of the symbols.

The box also includes 40 acrylic counters for each special status in the game, as well as 16 acrylic Crowd Pleaser tokens to help keep track of your wrestlers' attempts at wooing the audience.

And of course the box includes the 64-page Rumbleslam rulebook. Containing all the information needed to play the game, including background information, team building rules, and a miniatures gallery.

What are you waiting for? There's no better time to jump in the ring and start your path to superstardom!

The box contents shown on my dining room table with the two teams fully painted.

I wasn't aware of this game until recently when I was browsing the TT Combat webstore but as soon as I saw it, I was intrigued by it. I was a big fan of what used to be the WWF (World Wrestling Federation), which later became the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). I am not a sports fan at all, (some may argue that wrestling isn't a sport but show business) but I found this a whole load of cheesy fun and the idea of adopting the wrestling format so that fantasy races could take part was, I thought, inspired.

The rules are easy to learn and a game usually lasts for five turns that can take from 30 to 90 minutes depending on the number of fighters involved. In Rumbleslam, teams are owned by casinos, paid for with cold hard Dosh, paid for by you, the sponsor. When hiring your team, you and your opponent have to spend the same amount of Dosh. The casinos and their wrestling teams are -

1. Kaiser's Palace. The Heavy Pounders (Humans, Halflings and Ogres) and Runic Thunder (Dwarves).
2. Gomorrah. The Deadly Divas (Female Humans and Female Ogres) and the Twisted Shadows (Female Dark Elves, Shadowlings and Gorgons).
3. Rolling Bones. The Cryptborn Nightmares (Undead) and the Green Bruisers (Orcs, Goblins and Trolls).
4. The Forest Soul. The Cold Bloods (Lizardmen) and the Timber Fists (Amazonians, Sprites and Treemen).
5. The Feral Den. The Furry Fury (Ratlings) and the Raging Beasts (Barbarians, Goatmen and Minotaurs).

In addition are the Free Agents, individual superstars who can be hired by any team, although they often favour one team over the others. Rather than explain how the rules work here I'll explain them when I run through a batrep between the two starter teams very soon.

 Here are the Green Bruisers ...

...and their opponents, the Heavy Pounders.
Please note that the figures are huge. A human stands roughly 40mm tall! Now this may be a problem to those of you who moan about scale-creep. But my argument is, if the figures are only ever going to be used in Rumbleslam, as mine most likely will, then does it matter how tall they are? I felt the same way about the figures for Rum and Bones. With the figures being so tall, the detail on them is exceptional. They are cast in resin and some come in multiple parts. They also come with clear plastic circular bases either 25mm or 50mm in diameter. I do not like these at all. I am not a fan of these transparent acrylic bases. I stuck my figures on MDF bases appropriate to the size of the figure. So the Goblins and Halflings are on 20mm diameter bases, the humans on 25mm diameter bases, the Orcs on 30mm diameter bases, the Ogre on a 40mm diameter base and the Troll on a 50mm diameter base.

The MDF ring in its unpainted form. Mine will be painted.

At present, I only have the two starter box teams but I have bought a couple of superstars for each of them, and I'll show them next time. The teams I am most interested in playing are the Cryptborn Nightmares, simply because of my love of all things undead, and the Twisted Shadows (sexy Dark Elves). I have placed an order for both teams, and I'll showcase them as soon as I paint them. They'll be going straight to the front of my painting queue. To be honest, I like all of the teams and the Free Agents. In time, I'd like to get all of the figures available for this game.
I have also ordered the Rumbleslam Deluxe Ring, which is a laser-cut MDF board of the ring and which looks most impressive. See the picture to the right.

I do realise that this is very much a niche game and it certainly won't appeal to those of you who don't like wrestling. But for me, it is a guilty pleasure and one I look forward to playing many times. The Rumbleslam starter boxed set costs £45.00 from the TT Combat webstore, see here - https://ttcombat.com/collections/rumbleslam/products/rumbleslam-starter-box
But if you shop around, you can find it cheaper on other webstores. For example, Element Games are only charging £40.50 for it. See here - http://elementgames.co.uk/wargames-and-miniatures/cult-steampunk-other-miniatures-games/rumbleslam/2-player-starter-box

Vampifans Views 97 - Monthly Musings 70

Welcome to another of my Monthly Musings and once again it has been a very busy month hobby-wise for me. But first I start as always, with my picture of Vampirella. This offering is by comic artist, David Rodriguez, whose work I am not familiar with. I do like the cartoony look of Vampi here and I think the gold glasses are a cool touch. The orange moon and sky put me in mind of pumpkins, which is appropriate seeing as Halloween is only just around the corner. I love Halloween and I already have my bag of goodies ready for the trick or treaters.

I'll start with some news about the RPG I am most excited about seeing and that is Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 AD. Previews of some of the pages of the book are now available for viewing (see https://www.worldsof2000adrpg.com/news-previews/) and we have been given a release date of this winter. Yes, I know, that could mean late this year or early next year but it gives me something to look forward to. I'll be covering this game in great detail on my WOIN blog.

Speaking of my WOIN blog, have you checked out my The Ace of Spades Campaign there? Playing and writing about it is a total labour of love. The scenario I'm running my PCs through is very long (I'm currently up to part 08), full of atmosphere and detail, and the way I'm writing it up, makes it feel more like reading a sci-fi novel than a batrep. The PCs are people you want to know about and spend time with. Please check it out if you haven't already. You may just be pleasantly surprised. 😉

I showed this picture of the main NPCs who were appearing in my current scenario on my WOIN blog. The female in the centre attracted the most comments. She was produced by Asgard Miniatures as part of their sci-fi range of 28mm scale figures way back in the early 1980's. I thought that this range was long out of production but to my great surprise I have only just discovered that Alternative Armies have revived it. You can check it out here - https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/space-marines-and-adventurers The female whom I named as Sheas Danelish is HA6 Adventuress with Laser Pistol and she costs £2.00. I can't tell you how happy I am to see them all available again even though I have them all.

Work continues on the painting of my figures for Dracula's America and Shadows of Brimstone. In addition, I have started painting the four figures I ordered for the Frazetta Miniatures Kickstarter - 2 versions of Vampirella, a werewolf and a chaos knight on horseback. Photos will appear as soon as they're finished. Suffice to say, these are incredibly detailed resin cast miniatures. The chaos knight came in 12 parts, including his base! I'm pulling out all the stops on the painting of these figures. They deserve time and care being lavished on them.
I have also been painting some of my growing collection of micro-scale starships for my The Ace of Spades Campaign. For someone who was never interested in starship combat gaming I have fully embraced this genre of the hobby. My primary source for the starships I have been buying is Brigade Models (see here - http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceships/index.html) Their range is very extensive and they have just what I'm looking for. I haven't decided whether to showcase them on this blog or on my WOIN blog.
Finally, I have also painted all of the figures that came with and which I added to for a brand new game that has tickled my fancy. It is called Rumbleslam, the game of fantasy wrestling and it is produced by TT Combat. Expect a full review very soon.

It is a really fun game but I realise it won't be to everyone's taste. That's okay. I don't mind.

Kickstarters - love 'em or loathe 'em? Personally, I love Kickstarters and I've backed many over the years. This month I've backed two. One was for the Resident Evil 2 game by Steamforged Games. Backing this was a no-brainer. It features zombies, so of course, I'm going to be interested in it. Plus, I'm a big fan of the Resident Evil films and books. Oddly enough, I have never played any of the computer games, but that's simply because I'm just not into computer games at all. I have far too much to do anyway without having to find time to play computer games. My brother, however, is heavily into computer games, so he keeps me up to date with them.
The other Kickstarter I backed this month was for the Starfinder Masterclass Miniatures by Paizo Inc. and Ninja Division. My reasons for backing this project are not so obvious. The Starfinder RPG was only released very recently and it certainly intrigued me. However, at roughly £70.00 for the rulebook, I was in no rush to buy it. My patience paid off because a month or so after its launch, Amazon UK were selling it for £40.00, so I bought it at this bargain price. Running at 528 pages, it is a massive book. I've started reading it but I'm only half way through it. As I read it I keep making comparisons to the N.E.W. RPG by EN Publishing, which I absolutely adore. The two systems have much in common but of the two, I much prefer N.E.W. It is a lot simpler to play and more importantly, it does not have a fixed setting, which Starfinder does. I pretty much knew that I'd prefer N.E.W. before I bought Starfinder so why buy it? That's easy - to pinch stuff from it to use in my The Ace of Spades Campaign. It has cool new races, weapons, equipment, vehicles and settings I can use. This also explains why I decided to back the Kickstarter campaign. The resin cast 28mm scale figures are just a joy to behold. The level of detail on them is incredible. And they also make starships as well, although not in 28mm scale! So, I'm looking forward to getting some ultra-high quality figures to use in N.E.W. instead of Starfinder. Just check out these five figures from the range. I was wondering why they looked so familiar to me and then the penny dropped - they're the five characters who appear on the front cover of the Starfinder rulebook. I really love that purple-haired female. She reminds me of Lieutenant Gay Ellis from Gerry Anderson's UFO TV series. 😍

Next month, Battle Systems are going to launch their first sci-fi game, which will come with new card terrain and 28mm scale figures - a first for them. I'm immensely looking forward to that one.

That's all for now. Take care and have fun - that's what the hobby is all about!