Forgotten Heroes 2018 - Chastity Marks

Here I present my entry for the Forgotten Heroes 2018 challenge - another favourite vampire of mine, Chastity Marks.

Before I show my finished entry I thought you'd like to see just how I converted this Copplestone Castings Bodyguard in Bikini into Chastity. Working down from head to feet, I had to restyle her hair. This wasn't too difficult as it just involved adding Milliput with no filing or cutting required. I added a bit of Milliput to her upper arms to represent her long gloves. I turned her bikini top into a bustier top by adding more Milliput below her breasts and to the middle of her back. In the first picture of  Chastity that I showed you in my introduction, she was holding two katanas, so I added a second katana to her left hand. I had to remodel her left thumb to fit around the hilt of the katana. Next I added the tops of her thigh-length boots. Finally, I added a bit of Milliput to cover up her toes. All in all, it wasn't too difficult a conversion.

And here she is completely finished and ready for action. I did wonder about whether to paint her clothing in satin black or gloss black. Either would work. In the first picture I showed last time her clothing was satin black but in the second picture it was clearly gloss black. Ultimately, I thought gloss black looked better and so that is what I went with.

With so many other projects on the go, I knew I didn't have that much spare time to devote to this project but I knew that converting one figure was easily achievable, and I'm delighted with the result. Roll on Forgotten Heroes 2019!

High Moon Scenario 01 - High Moon at Stillwater

Here I present my first scenario using the High Moon rules by Two Hours Wargames, a supplement of their Six Gun Sound rules, which adds supernatural elements like vampires, werewolves, witches and zombies to the setting. For my High Moon games, I'll mostly be using the background history used in Dracula's America as I like that setting a lot. Plus, it fits in so well for this introductory scenario. This encounter takes place shortly after midnight on 13th of June 1875 in the town of Stillwater, New Mexico. This is the same town that I used in my first Six Gun Sound scenario - Gunfight at Stillwater, but it is set in an alternative dimension wherein Count Dracula has taken over the presidency of the USA. As such, there is no need for me to describe the game board set up. If you want to know more about it see here - http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2018/06/six-gun-sound-scenario-01-gunfight-at.html
This batrep will be very rules heavy as it mainly concentrates on melee combat, which was not covered at all in my first Six Gun Sound batrep. I'm using a combination of the Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory, Six Gun Sound 2nd Edition and High Moon rules with a few house rules of my own. The main rules come from Blaze of Glory, Melee Combat and Reaction tests from 2nd Edition and the Supernatural rules from High Moon. I've also added some narrative parts to this batrep and hopefully in future the narrative parts will increase as the rules explanations decrease.

"Sheriff, get out here now!" 
The voice was loud in the quiet of the night and was spoken with the confident authority of a man who demanded instant obedience.
Sheriff Frank Bonner was 32 years old, fit, healthy and good at his job. He stepped out of his office, in no great hurry, accompanied by his young deputy, Luke Simms, who was ten years his junior and shaping up to be a reliable officer of the law.
"What the hell do you want, stranger?" Bonner demanded gruffly.
"I'm here to take over this town," the tall, pale-skinned stranger replied with an arrogant sneer. He was dressed in expensive clothing, mainly in black, apart from his crimson waistcoat. "From now on, you'll serve me."
"Like hell!" Bonner angrily fumed. "Over my dead body."
"Oh, good. I was hoping you'd say something like that," the stranger smiled cruelly as his right hand hovered over the butt of his holstered Colt .45 Cavalry revolver.

The encounter would begin with a Gunfight, just as it did in my previous Six Gun Sound batrep. The strangers in town were from left to right, Radu Cazacu, a Rep:4 Cowboy Mountain Man and a Human Bodyguard Grunt. He was armed with a Colt .44 Army Revolver and an Axe. He had the Attributes Brawler and True Grit. Next in line was Amelia, a Rep:4 Vampire Grunt who was unarmed and had the Attributes Precognition and Nerves of Steel. The stranger who had spoke to the sheriff was Tristan Duran de Cuevas Rubias, a Vampire Leader and a Rep:5 Star. He was armed with a Colt .45 Cavalry Revolver and a Sword. He had the Attributes Precognition (all Vampires receive this attribute and it allows them to roll twice for activation if they want to, and choose which result to use), Fast and Initiative. Finally, was Raoul, another Rep:4 Vampire Grunt. He was armed with a Colt .36 Navy Revolver and his Attributes were Precognition and Agile.

Facing them were from left to right, Luke Simms, a Cowboy Deputy and Rep:4 Grunt, armed with a Colt .44 Army Revolver. His two Attributes were Brawler and Marksman. In the centre was Frank Bonner, a Gunman Sheriff and a Rep:4 Grunt. He was armed with a Colt .45 Peacemaker Revolver and his Attributes were Marksman and Nerves of Steel. Joining them, was a concerned citizen, Moose Ackley, a Cowboy Homesteader and a Rep:3 Grunt. He was armed with a .58 Trapdoor Springfield Rifle and had the Attributes Brawler and Coward. God knows what he was thinking when he decided to join in!

I set up the two sides 6" apart and had everyone roll on the Flinch Test table. This was taken against a character's Sand stat with 2d6. Tristan automatically passed 2d6 because he was a Star. Raoul also passed 2d6. Radu, Bonner, Simms and Ackley all passed 1d6, so they'd suffer a -1d6 penalty on the Draw Test. I didn't roll for Amelia as she wouldn't be taking part in this Gunfight.
Next up, everyone rolled their Rep scores, with appropriate modifiers, looking for successes (usually a 1-3 per 1d6) to see in what order the Draws would take place. From highest to lowest, it went Tristan, scoring 4 successes out of 5d6.
Ramon was second with 3 successes out of 4d6.
Radu scored 2 successes out of 3d6 (he suffered a -1d6 penalty for Flinching).
Simms scored 1 success from 2d6 (he suffered a -1d6 penalty for Flinching and a -1d6 penalty for being Terrified. Vampires cause Dread in their opponents unless they are a Vampire, a Werewolf, a Zombie or have the Nerves of Steel Attribute.)
Bonner scored 1 success out of 3d6 (he also suffered a -1d6 penalty for Flinching, but because he had the Nerves of Steel Attribute he was not Terrified). He should have done better because being a Gunman, he scored successes on a 1-4 instead of  a 1-3.
Ackley scored 0 successes out of 0d6! He started with 3d6 for his Rep but suffered penalties of -1d6 for Flinching, -1d6 for being Terrified and -1d6 for drawing a Rifle. Oh dear!
I did roll for Amelia and she scored 1 success out of 4d6, but I have no idea why I rolled for her as she was unarmed!

It was obvious that Tristan would target the sheriff, and so he fired his Pistol twice, rolling a 5 and a 2. Adding his Rep of 5 gave him results of 10 and 7 - a hit and a miss. Rolling 2d6 on the Shooting Damage table he scored a 3 - target is hit in the Head and must roll on the I'm Hit table. Bonner rolled 2d6 against his Toughness of 4 and passed 1d6, which caused him to go Out Of Fight. First blood to the Vampires.

Raoul fired twice at Deputy Simms rolling a 6 and a 5, which when added to his Rep of 4 gave him results of 10 and 9 - both hits. He rolled twice on the Shooting Damage table and got results of a 9, hit in the Gut and OOF, and a 4, hit in the Leg and I'm Hit. There was no point rolling on the Recovery From I'm Hit table for his Leg wound because he was already OOF.

With only one target left standing, Radu fired twice at Ackley but with poor rolls of 2 and 1, giving him results of 6 and 5, he missed with both shots. It looked like it might be Moose's lucky day.
Or maybe not! He could only fire his Rifle once. He had to target Radu but he rolled a 1 and because he was using a one-shot weapon, he was out of ammo! The darned fool brought his Rifle to the gunfight but forgot to load it! Well, I never saw that one coming!

With all the shooting being done, it was time for Reaction Tests. Only Ackley had to roll and he had to roll 2d6 verses his Sand of 3 on both the Being Shot At and Man Down tables. He only rolled once but applied whatever was the worst result. Rolling a 4 and a 1, he passed 1d6. For being Shot At, this counted as Duck Back because he couldn't return fire. However, the result for Man Down was if twice more friends are Out Of Fight or Obviously Dead he must Leave the Table. He was doomed to Leave the Table because by having the Coward Attribute, all results of Duck Back counted as Leave the Table instead. Bye bye, Moose!

Tristan, Amelia and Raoul advanced on the fallen bodies of Bonner and Simms in anticipation of feeding on their blood. However, they were stopped in their tracks when a female voice cried out from behind them.
"Halt now! Turn around and step away from those bodies. You will not feed on innocent blood this night."
Two strangers, an elderly, white-haired man and a beautiful young woman with long, lustrous black hair approached them, clearly unafraid.
"Who dares command Tristan Duran de Cuevas Rubias?" the cruelly handsome Vampire leader demanded indignantly.
"Allow me to introduce ourselves," the elderly gentleman spoke softly and calmly, "I am Mordecai Pendragon and this charming young lady is my assistant, Miss Ella Normandy. I strongly urge you to do as she says... if you value your lives!"
"You presumptuous fool!" Tristan's eyes flashed red and he bared his fangs. "I will make you suffer in ways you cannot imagine!"
"No! It is you and your lackeys who will suffer this night!" Ella spoke with a voice dripping with menace. 
Then she charged at all three Vampires.

Who are this pair of strangers? If you know who Pendragon is, you can probably guess the true identity of "Ella". I rolled for Initiative for both sides. I first rolled a 2 for Ella's side and a 4 for Tristan's but Ella used her Precognition Attribute to roll again and scored a 6. Tristan believed that Ella would fail to activate with that score, as a 6 usually means a failed Activation, so he chose not to roll again with his Precognition Attribute. It would have made no difference what he rolled. He could never beat a 6, and yes, Ella did Activate with a 6! At this point, Tristan and his followers had no idea they were facing another Vampire.
Ella automatically passed 2d6 verses her Sand of 6 on the Charge Into Melee table. Tristan also passed 2d6 and so could fire once at Ella before she reached him but it would count as a Rush Shot. He rolled a 4 for a result of 9 by adding his Rep of 5. Normally this would have been a hit but because it was a Rush Shot it counted as a miss. Raoul also passed 2d6 and like Tristan he could shoot once but it would count as a Rush Shot. He rolled a 2 for a result of 6 - a clear miss. Amelia only passed 1d6 and because she was unarmed, she couldn't fire. She just had to take the charge.

When fighting multiple opponents, the outnumbered person fights each opponent once in turn. The fights can take place in any order but usually the player controlling the multiple fighters decides who goes first. I decided to go from least powerful to most powerful against Ella, hoping to wear her down before she faced Tristan.
Amelia rolled 7d6 in the Melee Combat, looking for successes on dice rolls of 1-3. She received 4d6 for her Rep, +2d6 for being a Vampire and +1d6 for Outnumbering Ella. She scored 4 successes. Not bad!
However, Ella rolled 9d6 - 7d6 for her Rep (gulp!) and +2d6 for being a Vampire. She scored 5 successes. She rolled 1d6 on the Melee Damage table, and added her success of 1 over Amelia to her roll of 4 for a total score of 5. This was more than Amelia's Rep but was not a 6+ so Amelia was Out Of Fight. However, Vampires count OOF results as -1 to Rep instead. Note this is only a temporary loss of Rep. It is fully restored once the Melee is over.
So they carried on fighting but this time Ella rolled 9d6 to Amelia's 6d6. Ella rolled well with 6 successes and Amelia rolled bad with just 2 successes. Ella added +4 to her roll of 3 on the Melee Damage table for a score of 7. Any roll of 6+ counted as Obviously Dead if it can cause lethal damage, otherwise it counted as Out Of Fight.
According to High Moon, Vampires can only be killed by silver weapons, and any other Obviously Dead result is classed as -1 to Rep, but I disagreed and used my house rule which allowed other Vampires, Werewolves or a Witch's Damage spell to cause lethal damage to a Vampire. I've seen this happen so often in fiction, film and TV not to want to use it. Note that this Encounter is a very rare occasion in which Vampires are fighting one another. Usually, the weaker one will back down when they meet. Vampires of equal Rep would roll off with 1d6 to see who is the more dominant. But Ella is not an ordinary Vampire by any means! She doesn't follow the normal rules for Vampires.
Ella grabbed hold of Amelia's head, gave it a twist and ripped it off her body with consummate ease, killing her instantly.
"I told you that you'd suffer!" she snarled. 
She threw the head at Tristan but he batted it aside with his sword.

Next up was Raoul. He rolled 7d6 on the Melee Combat table, exactly as Amelia had. He scored 4 successes, just like Amelia had. But this time Ella rolled 6 successes. She added her 2 extra successes to her 1d6 roll of 4 on the Melee Damage table for a score of 6, which counted as Obviously Dead.
Ella's punch was so powerful it went right through Raoul's body to emerge between his shoulder blades. As she withdrew her hand, she pulled out his heart and licked it before throwing it away in disgust.

At this point, Tristan realised that Ella was far more dangerous than she looked and a brief flicker of doubt entered his brain that she might be even more powerful than he was. He shook his head and instantly dismissed the thought. She'd just got lucky, that was all. He was the master here and he'd prove it.
Ella and Tristan were evenly matched with 9d6 each. Tristan's 9d6 came from his Rep of 5, +2d6 for being a Vampire, +1d6 for Outnumbering Ella (Ella was still classed as being Outnumbered at this point) and +1d6 for attacking with a Sword. Both combatants scored 5 successes so they both suffered a temporary -1 to their Reps. 

The fight continued with both Vampires rolling 8d6 for Melee Combat. This time Ella scored 5 successes whilst Tristan rolled 4 successes. She rolled a 5 on the Melee Damage table and adding +1 for her 1 success margin scored a total of 6. This was an Obviously Dead result. Under my house rules this would have killed Tristan but remember he is a Star. He rolled 5d6 for his Star Power Advantage to try and reduce the damage. Any roll of 1-3 would be a success and reduce the damage by one level, rolls of 4-5 would be a failure and a roll of 6 would be a failure and reduce his Star Power dice pool by -1. Tristan rolled 1, 3, 4, 6 and 6. The two successes reduced his damage to OOF, then to -1 to Rep, giving him Rep:3, but the two 6's would reduce his Star Power dice pool to 3d6. He was still in the fight but Ella now had the upper hand. Could she capitalise on it?

The third round of Melee Combat began with Ella rolling 8d6 and Tristan reduced to 6d6 (3d6 for his reduced Rep, +2d6 for being a Vampire and +1d6 for his Sword. By now, he no longer Outnumbered Ella so he lost that advantage). Ella scored 4 successes, whilst Tristan scored 2 successes. Rolling on the Melee Damage table, Ella rolled a 3 and added +2 for her margin of success. This gave her an OOF result which was reduced to -1 to Rep for Tristan's vampiric Advantage.

In round 4 of the fight, Ella rolled 8d6 and Tristan rolled 5d6. Ella scored an impressive 6 successes to Tristan's 3 successes. She rolled a 4 on the Melee Damage table and adding +3 for her margin of success gave her a total of 7 - another Obviously Dead result. Tristan used his 3d6 Star Power dice to reduce this damage and rolled 1, 2 and 6. This reduced the damage to -1 to his Rep (now he was just Rep:2) and his Star Power dice pool to 2d6.

The fight moved on to its fifth round with Ella still on 8d6 and Tristan reduced to 4d6. The result was never in any doubt. Ella scored 5 successes to Tristan's 2 successes. Adding +3 to her die roll of 5 on the Melee damage table gave Ella a result of 8 for Obviously Dead again. Tristan only had 2 Star Power dice left. Could he survive again? Not this time. He rolled 4 and 5. The Obviously Dead result would stand.

However, Stars have another Advantage, called Cheating Death. A Star can be killed by anyone with an equal or higher Reputation. When this occurs, the Star may declare that he is Cheating Death. He is immediately removed from the table and whisked to safety. However, his Rep is automatically reduced by one level until he is eligible for a Rep increase.

Tristan fled Stillwater to live again but now he was a Rep:4 Star. Ella Normandy had not only defeated him but humiliated him and wiped out his coterie. He had to get to Washington DC as swiftly as possible to inform Count Dracula of this new threat.

Meanwhile, Pendragon revealed that he was more than just an elderly citizen. He was also a Warlock and he attempted to cast a Damage spell on Radu Cazacu. He rolled 2d6 against his Rep of 3 and added +1 to his Rep for using a casting tool (his wand). He scored 1 success, which meant the spell was cast but it could only target one person (half his Rep, rounded down). This was immaterial as he only wanted to target one person. He rolled 2d6 on the Shooting Damage table and scored a 6 for a result of a hit in the Gut and I'm Hit. Radu rolled 2d6 on the Recovery From I'm Hit table to determine the extent of his wound and scored 1 success. He was Out of Fight.

With the bad guys defeated, Ella and Pendragon helped Bonner and Simms recover.
"Your town is safe now, Sheriff," Ella informed Bonner. "I suggest you get in contact with the Twilight Order to let them know what happened here. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to take your prisoner away with them."
She turned to indicate the unconscious form of Radu who still lay where he'd fell.
"I'm mighty obliged, ma'am," Bonner said sincerely. "Say, I didn't catch your names?"
"Mordecai Pendragon and Miss Ella Normandy, at your service, sir," Pendragon proffered.
"But you can call me Vampirella," Ella added with a warm smile.

CONCLUSION
I can't even begin to tell you how much fun that was! Ever since I began blogging way back in 2009 I have wanted to run an adventure that starred Vampirella. I certainly could never have imagined that her debut would be in a Weird West scenario, but it all made sense to me. I designed this scenario with her in mind. As a Rep:7 Star, Vampirella is the most powerful character I've created for a THW game. She has all of the Advantages of being a Vampire but none of the Disadvantages because she is truly unique.
Regarding her alias of Ella Normandy, that is canon. Way back in September 1972, Vampirella appeared in a story in Vampirella Magazine #19 by Warren Publications called The Shadow of Dracula, in which she went back in time to the 19th Century to accompany Abraham Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker and Mina Harker on a quest against Count Dracula. This was the first time that she used the name, Ella Normandy. Note that this story took place after the events told in Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula.
She still used this alias in further stories, which is why I adopted it for this tale. The beauty of being a gamer is that we can play games of "what if?" limited only by our imaginations. So I decided wouldn't it be fun if I sent Vampirella back in time to the world of Dracula's America to throw a spanner in the works of this Count Dracula?
Congratulations if you guessed the true identity of Ella Normandy early on. The clues were there but I know not everyone will have picked up on them.
I have shown the figure of Pendragon on my blog before but this is the first time that Ella Normandy has been seen. She is a conversion of the Black Tree Design Doctor Who assistant DW219 Victoria Waterfield. I lengthened her hair to match that of Vampirella's. She is true 28mm scale, so looks a bit small against some of my other Wild West figures, but I don't mind that at all, as it appears she is far less of a threat than she actually is. At the time of writing BTD have her on sale for £2.25.

I hope you enjoyed reading this batrep as much as I enjoyed playing it. Thanks, folks.

Forgotten Heroes Challenge 2018 - Intro

It's July and that means it is time for the Forgotten Heroes Challenge 2018. I have participated in this challenge twice before in 2016 and 2017. The challenge is to create or convert a 28-32mm scale superhero/supervillain character who is not commercially available. In 2016 I converted standard and Chibi versions of two of my favourite comic book vampires - Vampirella and Purgatori. Last year I surpassed my expectations and both created and converted the six heroes known collectively as the Bug Hunters. This year I'm going much simpler and I'm going to convert a single figure to create another one of my favourite comic book vampires - Chastity Marks.

In 1976, teenager Chastity Marks was an American runaway living in London. Punk rock was all the rage, and Chastity was soon running errands for a local band. One night while on the job she was attacked by a vampire. She escaped, but not with her life: Chastity was now a vampire, but with a twist. To the rest of the vampire world, she was completely undetectable.
Today, Chastity works freelance for the Cabal, a secret society of vampires, werewolves, and witches who rule over the monster underworld. As strong as ten men and a master martial artist, Chastity serves (on her terms) as the Cabal's most efficient and merciless assassin, all the while trying to live a normal life.
Chastity's last appearance in comics was in 2015, when she appeared in the epic crossover event - The Swords of Sorrow produced by Dynamite Entertainment. Here, she threw in her lot with the bad guys and in a related four part mini-series, she led the forces of darkness against Jennifer Blood and Vampirella. Bad move on her part. Vampirella kicked her ass but refrained from killing her, in order to teach her a lesson that Vampi was far more powerful than she could ever imagine or aspire to be. This made Chastity question her decision to side with the bad guys.

The figure I'm using for the basis of Chastity is this one to the right and is one of the Copplestone Castings Future Wars Civilian figures from set FW45 Bodyguards in Bikinis. This should be a simple conversion so I'm very confident of completing her in time.
I'm looking forward to this challenge and to all the other contestants taking part, I wish you the very best of luck and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Dracula's America Red Hand Coven Faction

In the wake of the American Civil War, with the country struggling to regain its balance, Dracula seized power. The Count's thralls assassinated President Lincoln and his entire administration in a single night and, in the ensuing chaos, their master made his move. Dominating the Senate, he declared himself President for Life, and now rules the Union with fear and an iron fist. His vampire progeny, the Coven of the Red Hand, infest every strata of society and enforce Dracula's will with ruthless efficiency.
In this post I'm going to review my figures for the Red Hand Coven, my favourite faction for the Dracula's America: Shadows of the West game. This is currently my largest faction because I have combined the official North Star figures with a set of vampires from Pontoonier Miniatures. The two ranges complement each other rather well, in my opinion.

At the far left of this group of male vampires is a Brood Sire, the Boss of a Red Hand Coven faction. He, and the two figures to the right of him, are official Dracula's America figures produced by North Star. This ugly-looking creature looks just like one of the vampires of Clan Nosferatu from Vampire: the Masquerade.
The next two figures in line are both Broodkin. A Red Hand Coven faction may have two Broodkin in its posse. Like the Brood Sire, they are Supernatural, have a Move rate of 6", are Hard to Kill and they have the Transfix Arcane Power (even though they are not Arcanists). Note that they are both wearing red-tinted glasses. I have painted all of the other figures here with red eyes just to reinforce their supernatural aspect.

The two vampires at the far right were produced by Pontoonier Miniatures. The chap with the sabre is a lot taller than the other one. He is clearly 28mm scale and the other appears to be 25mm scale, unless he is meant to be so short. Curious! I had to stick the smaller one on a slottabase just to raise his height a bit to make him not look too under-scaled. The vampire with the sabre could be a Brood Sire or a Broodkin, whilst the smaller one is most likely a Broodkin.

Moving on, we have the female vampires. The one at the far left is my second favourite figure out of the official North Star Dracula's America range to date. My favourite is the Seraphim, whom I showed here. Sadly for me, she is classed as a Vampire Fledgling, a creature who appears as an Unwelcome Guest on the Supernatural Events table. These feral creatures, still clad in ragged clothing, were once ordinary folks but are now in the first throes of vampiric infection. They are little more than ravenous animals, driven only by the urge to feed. Vampire Fledglings are Supernatural and Mean. Given my love of female vampires, I will most likely use her as a Brood Sire, despite what the rulebook says.

The remaining three female vampires are all from the Pontoonier Miniatures Old West Vampire Cabal set of five figures. Again, these all appear to be 25mm scale, but I still find them usable. These would also be classed as Vampire Fledglings. I have given them all blood-smeared mouths to emphasise their feral natures. Note that all of my figures, apart from the Nosferatu, are wearing items of red clothing, as a nod to them being members of the Red Hand Coven.
The five Pontoonier Miniatures are set OWS010 Old West Vampire Cabal and they cost £12.50 from the Newline Designs webstore - http://newlinedesigns.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=490_508&zenid=64duvcck1kl1si82heufcl9203
The Nosferatu Brood Sire and two Broodkins are set DRAC104 Red Hand Coven and they cost £7.50 on the North Star webstore - http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10754
You can get the female Vampire Fledgling as one of three figures from DRAC118 Dracula's America Characters (the other two are a Preacher and a Dark Confederate Revenant) also costing £7.50 from the North Star webstore - http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10769
I am looking forward to pitting this faction against the Twilight Order in my first Dracula's America batrep. 

Forgotten Heroes - Purgatori & Vampirella 02

Here I present my four finished conversions for the Forgotten Heroes project. As I explained last time, the heroes I wanted to create were the vampire characters of Purgatori and Vampirella, who both appear in comics produced by Dynamite Entertainment. I mentioned that I'd be making two versions of each of them - a normal 28mm scale version and a 28mm scale Chibi version. Here they are.

For my normal version of Purgatori, I decided to base her on an old Citadel Dark Elf Harpie (typical of Games Workshop, she is now out of production). A copy of the Harpie I used is at the far left of my two photos. I remodelled her hair, and added plastic horns taken from a GW Skeletons sprue to her head. I added bone shoulder pads and gave her long fingerless gloves and a bra made of Milliput. I added thigh length boots and remodelled her feet. The Harpie had longer legs and feet, so I hid her taloned feet by surrounding them with a pile of decapitated heads from my spare parts box. She stands on a 25mm diameter MDF base, which is textured with sand. Overall, I'm very pleased with my conversion. There are no official or unofficial versions of Purgatori, which makes my figure unique.

For my figure of Vampirella I chose a Marvel Heroclix figure of a Con Artist from the old Xplosion expansion set as the basis for my conversion. The Heroclix Con Artist appears at the far right of my two photos. It was probably not the most obvious figure to choose but I thought she had potential. Her arms and legs were almost perfect. I remodelled her two bracelets and added extra upper arm bracelets as well. Her body needed extensive reworking and her hair obviously needed lengthening. Cutting off her clothes was not an easy task but a very sharp craft knife helped and I knew if I cut too deeply I could always repair her with modelling putty. Once I had removed all of the extraneous plastic (working with plastic made my life a lot easier!) I then went to work with the modelling putty and remade her bum and boobs and added her iconic costume. Finally, I added her long length hair, based her and textured the base. I'm reasonably happy with her. I think it's a decent effort but I'll be the first to admit that some of the unofficial versions of Vampirella are a lot better than my version. Still, once again, I have a unique figure to add to my collection.

Moving onto the two Chibi versions of Purgatori and Vampirella I must admit that these were a lot easier to convert and more fun to do. Both conversions are based on the same figure - Succubus Vandella from Soda Pop Miniatures' game Super Dungeon Explore. She's at the far left of these two photos. Vandella can be either an evil Mini-Boss or a Hero, depending upon which version you choose for her. She was also the perfect figure for me to convert into Purgatori and Vampirella.
For Purgatori, I first cut off Vandella's pigtails and tail. I snipped the ends off a wooden cocktail stick to use as her horns and glued them to the front of her head. I know they should be curved but this was the best solution I could come up with. I added her left eye with modelling putty as I wanted her to have both eyes open. Then I remodelled her hair and costume with Milliput. All in all, a relatively simple conversion.

For my conversion of Vampirella the first thing I did was to cut her head off (!). This was to make it easier to remove Vandella's wings. It is a fact that Vampirella can fly. In the original black and white Warren series she used to transform into a bat but more recently she spouts wings from her back when she wants to fly. However, because she rarely ever flies I decided to model her without the wings. Once again, I cut off Vandella's pigtails and tail and also her two wings. I cut away the flame from her candle. I repainted the candle so that it is now a scroll holder. I added Vampirella's white collar to her neck, which was made from Milliput. Then I drilled and pinned her head back in place and added her left eye and remodelled her long hair. She was a slightly more complex conversion than Purgatori but in no way a difficult conversion for me.
I have to admit that I absolutely love my Chibi conversions of Purgatori and Vampirella. I think I have captured the look and personality of them both just perfectly. I am now working on ideas on how to incorporate them in a game. Do I stick with Super Dungeon Explore or shall I try out Chibi World? Do I have them in an unlikely team up (with superheroes any team up is possible) or do I have them on opposing sides? I have lots of ideas spinning in my head.
I'd just like to end by saying this project was great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed taking part. A big thank you to Jez and Roger for bringing it to fruition and for allowing me to participate. Here's hoping the project continues next year.

Forgotten Heroes - Purgatori & Vampirella 01

A number of bloggers run painting and/or modelling contests, sometimes for fun and sometimes for prizes. I rarely ever take part. More often than not it's because I'm not interested in the theme of the contest but sometimes when someone announces for example, it's "Zombie Painting Month" I think, well for me every month is "Zombie Painting Month!" Recently, however, bloggers Jeremy "Jez" Winstanley and Roger Webb announced a new challenge called Forgotten Heroes. The brief was simple - convert or create a figure into a costumed superhero of your choice from any source. The rules were -

1. The character you create must not yet have had an official or unofficial miniature made for it*.
2. The figure must be in 28mm scale.
3. The figure must be completed during the month of June.
4. In your first post, you should provide a bit of detail on the character you’ve chosen and why.

*In a slight change to the original rules, you can create a character who has had an official or unofficial figure made for them, as long as you don’t use the original figure to make YOUR version. This was requested by someone who wants to make a ‘proper’ version of the character, as the official figure was not very good.

At last, here was a contest I was very keen to enter. My first choice of who to create should come as no surprise to anyone. It had to be my all time favourite superheroine - Vampirella. Not for nothing am I known as Vampifan. Whilst no one has made an official 28mm scale figure of Vampirella there are a lot of unofficial figures of her available. Vampirella lookalikes abound! I have most of them in my collection but even so, I still wanted to make my own version of her.
Vampirella was created by writer Forrest J. Ackerman and artist Trinna Robbins for Warren Publishings black and white horror magazine comic Vampirella #1 in September 1969. Her origins have changed over the years but it is now acknowledged that she is the daughter of Lilith, wife of Adam who was cast out of Eden by God. Lilith spawned numbers of demons and vampires but they made her weaker, so she created Vampirella to hunt down and destroy them. Vampirella is a vampire, and needs blood to survive and has many of the typical vampiric powers, including superhuman physical abilities, shape-shifting into a bat, immortality and a mesmeric stare. She is not prone to the race's traditional weaknesses, such as daylight, holy water, garlic or crosses. She does not attack people to drink their blood, except occasionally when she herself is attacked or desires to kill. She is almost always scantily clad in her signature red sling suit with a white collar and wearing shiny black knee-high boots.

My second choice of figure to make was another female vampire. I do love female vampires! This one would be another of my favourites, Purgatori, who originally appeared in her own series produced by Chaos Comics. After Chaos Comics folded the rights to her usage passed over to Dynamite Entertainment, who are also the current publishers of the Vampirella comics. Whereas Vampirella is a good vampire who fights the forces of darkness, Purgatori is an evil bitch, through and through. Vampirella and Purgatori have fought each other in the past, most recently in the epic crossover series, Swords of Sorrow, which I reviewed here.
Purgatori was created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Stephen Hughes for Chaos Comics and made her first appearance in Evil Ernie: Revenge #1 in October 1994. Purgatori was born in Egypt around 1390 BC, and raised in the city of Alexandria. Her parentage is unknown, save that she had the blood of the Fallen Angels in her veins. Her human name was Sakkara, and she was part of the team of slaves that built the burial tomb for Queen Ostraca. Sakkara's job was to grind corn all day under the desert sun, and she was constantly whipped by the brutish male guards. Amongst the slaves was a foreigner, an old man of Celtic origin, who told Sakkara he knew a way to escape slavery and achieve immortality. Sakkara was enlisted into Ostraca's harem and soon the two married. A year later, rebellion in the city caused Sakkara to flee and seek out the old man. She found him as he was being attacked by guards. She killed them and he lived long enough to direct her across the desert to a cave set into a mountain peak. There she met Rath, an ancient Celtic vampire. She wanted to gain immortality for her revenge; he wanted a weapon to help him turn man from the civilized path to the wild ways that Rath advocated. Rath drank Sakkara's blood and fed her some of his own, turning her into a vampire. As Rath's blood mixed with her own, it combined with the strange blood of the Fallen Angels within her, transforming her into a creature with blood red skin, horns, glowing white eyes, and bat-like wings. She soon attracted the attention of Lucifer, who brought her to Hell, where he named her Purgatori. She spent millennia there and has only recently arrived on contemporary Earth to cause chaos and mayhem.

The picture to the left shows Vampirella and Purgatori slugging it out. My plans for this project are to make two versions of both characters. First up will be normal 28mm scale figures of them. I say "normal" so as to distinguish them from my second versions. My second versions will see me creating Chibi versions of them. Yes, that means small bodies and big heads. For this, I blame Jez. A while ago he asked me if I had ever thought of making a Chibi version of Vampirella? I hadn't but once he mentioned it, the idea just wouldn't go away. Soon after that, he announced his plans for the Forgotten Heroes contest and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
I'm pleased to say that all four figures have been completed and I'm ready to show them off. Please tune in to my next post and you can see what I've done with these two favourite characters of mine. I have a question for you. Do you want to see all four figures next time or shall I split them into two separate posts - normal figures first then the Chibi figures?

Bryan aka Vampifan. 2016.

Ainsty Castings Assorted Weird West Figures

I have mentioned on my blog before that I am keen to get into Wild West skirmish gaming and to that end I already have the two Shadows of Brimstone (SoB) board-game starter sets and the THW Weird West rules supplement, High Moon, both of which I reviewed on my blog earlier. See here for SoB and here for High Moon. Obviously, I got a bunch of figures with the two SoB sets but what else do I have in the way of Weird or Wild West figures? The answer to that is loads of figures, but sadly most need re-basing and re-painting. They were bought many years ago. Some are over 40 years old! However, I have started to actively collect more modern manufactured miniatures, starting with these two sets from Ainsty Castings Weird West range, which I bought earlier this year.

 

These three figures shown directly above and below are from set WW01 The Good Guys 1 and consist of a gunfighter, a townsman and an Indian princess. The gunfighter is armed with twin Colt .45 revolvers and could just as easily be used as an outlaw. Indeed, Ainsty have named him as Billy the Kid, but I won't be using him as such. My preferred choice is as a generic gunfighter. I do wonder why Ainsty would class such a notorious outlaw as a "good guy?"

The townsman is named Abe on Ainsty's webstore, after Abraham Lincoln, whom students of the occult will know was secretly a vampire hunter! What? Have you never seen the film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? I'm more likely to use him as a townsman, possibly a doctor, which is why my version doesn't really look like the former U.S, president. He is armed with a hefty axe.
The title "Indian Princess" does not sit well with me. I see her more of a squaw, warrior or scout. SoB features an Indian Scout character as one of the heroes and provides a figure for the male version but not the female version. She'd fit that role admirably. She is armed with a hunting knife.

The next set, WW02 Bad Guys 1, shows why these are described as Weird West as opposed to Wild West figures. They contain a Victorian vampire, a werewolf and a zombie (mislabelled a mummy on Ainsty's webstore). Rules for all three types of villains appear in the High Moon supplement, making these a "must have" buy if you own this set of rules.

All six figures are very well sculpted and were a lot of fun to paint. I can use all of them in High Moon, but only the good guys and the zombie in SoB. Rules for vampires and werewolves in SoB don't exist for this game at the time of writing.
Sets WW01 and WW02 cost £7.50 each or you can do what I did and order set WW03 Good Guys and Bad Guys which contains both sets for the reduced price of £14.00, saving you a quid. Expect to see more Weird West and Wild West posts on my blog in the future.

Heresy Miniatures Vampires 01

Last month I finally got round to painting four Heresy Miniatures 28mm scale Vampire figures that I bought years ago. I think the only reason they lay unpainted for so long is that they all required some assembly and I was just too lazy to glue them together. My interest in vampires (which has never wavered, although you wouldn't tell from my blog posts) was reignited when I recently painted my Castle Ravenloft figures. That prompted me to dig out my Heresy Vampires and show them some love.

At the far left of my two photos is a Vampire in a long coat. He came with a choice of three heads and I chose the head wearing the top hat to make him look like a Victorian Vampire. I wouldn't mind buying another copy of him and giving him the traditional Nosferatu head, all bald with long pointed ears and prominent fangs. As is, he has an air of mystery and arrogance about him. Most befitting for a Vampire!
Next up is Lord Von Blutgericht, who is a multi-part model. His head, right hand and left leg and skull are separate pieces. You can choose between an open right hand or a hand holding a long sword. I felt he'd look more dramatic with the long sword. Actually, it just occurs to me that he'd make a good substitute for the awful plastic figure of Count Strahd Von Zarovich that you get in the Castle Ravenloft game.

Third in line is Lady Von Blutgericht, wife of the aforementioned Lord. She is also a multi-part model with separate head and a choice of right and left hands. Her right hand is open-handed but you can choose between a hand holding a large goblet or a long sword for her left hand. I see her as being every bit as vicious as her husband, so gave her the long sword. Together, they make a fearsome pair.
Finally, is a Vampire in Man-Bat Form. He was the figure I was least looking forward to making as his bat wings were separate pieces. Fortunately, I was able to drill and pin them at the arm joints and glued them in place with super-glue. In the end, he went together a lot easier than I thought he would. I had to glue him to a 30mm diameter slotta-base, because his wings made him unbalanced when I tried him on a 25mm diameter slotta-base. I decided to paint him in a dry bone colour (Foundry Boneyard 9, with a Citadel Seraphim Sepia ink wash). He was the easiest of the four to paint. Note that all four vampires have glowing red eyes, a sure sign that they aren't human!
I do like this quartet of Vampires and it's nice to start the New Year off with a post of some Vampire figures. I don't showcase nearly enough of them, which is odd as I still have loads left to review. I've just checked on the Heresy website for the prices of these and sadly, the Lord and Lady Von Blutgericht are no longer available. Bummer! The Victorian Vampire is listed as Posing Vampire and he costs £4.00, whilst the Vampire in Man-Bat Form costs £7.00.

Castle Ravenloft Vampires 01

Having shown you the heroes of the Castle Ravenloft board-game last time it is now time to start my reviews of the game's monsters and villains. Villains are unique and powerful opponents, whilst monsters are low level and can appear in groups. I simply had to start at the top with the ruler of Castle Ravenloft - the vampire count, Strahd Von Zarovich. Also shown here is an unnamed Young Vampire.

Wizards of the Coast, who produce this game, included the figure shown at the left of my two photos to use as both a Young Vampire and Strahd Von Zarovich, a decision which did not sit well with me. Why? Of all the figures in the game, Strahd should be the most impressive. To me, their vampire is the worst-looking figure in the set. He looks like a young policeman directing traffic and nothing at all like the mighty Strahd. So I found a replacement figure to use as Strahd (see below for full details). I'm perfectly happy to use the WotC figure as Strahd's Young Vampire lackey, but no way will I use him as Strahd.
The Young Vampire is a Level 5 villain. Villains and monsters only have two stats - Armour Class (AC) and Hit Points (HP). The Young Vampire has AC16 and 8HP. Villains and monsters move and attack according to one of a number of tactics listed on their cards. Each possible maneuver for a monster or villain starts with a statement. If the statement is true follow the tactics listed. Otherwise, go on to the next statement. The final entry in the list will be the default action if nothing else is true.
To show this in more detail here are the tactics for the Young Vampire.
The Young Vampire activates at the start of each Villain Phase.
If the Young Vampire is adjacent to a Hero, it attacks that Hero with Fangs.
If the Young Vampire is within 1 tile of two or more Heroes, it attacks each hero within 1 tile of it with a hypnotic Gaze.
If the Young Vampire is on a Start tile, the active Hero takes 1 damage.
Otherwise, the Young vampire moves 1 tile in the direction of the tile's arrow.
A Fangs attack gives the Young Vampire a +8 bonus to hit on 1d20 and causes 2 damage. In addition, the Young Vampire regains 1HP and moves 1 tile in the direction of the tile's arrow.
A hypnotic Gaze attack gives the Young Vampire a +6 bonus to hit and causes 2 damage. In addition, place the Hero attacked 1 tile deeper into the dungeon.

The figure of Strahd Von Zarovich that I chose is an old Ral Partha 28mm scale figure of Strahd himself from the boxed set of Castle Ravenloft figures that were produced for the Castle Ravenloft role-playing game way back in the early 1990's. I was a big fan of that game and I collected nearly all of the figures that Ral Partha produced for it. This figure looks exactly like Strahd and so is far more appropriate for use than the uninspiring Young Vampire figure.
A man of noble birth, Strahd spent much of his life serving causes of goodness and law, most notably as a warrior and leader of armies. Years of such service took their toll upon him however, and by the time he reached middle age, Strahd came to believe he had squandered his life and his youth. With this dark mood upon him, he came to conquer the region known as Barovia, and assumed lord-ship there, taking as his residence the pre-existing castle known as Ravenloft. From this position of power and security, he called for members of his family "long unseated from their ancestral thrones" to join him, including a younger brother named Sergei.
Some time after this reunion, the Count himself fell in love with a young Barovian woman, Tatyana, though she rejected his affections in favour of the younger Sergei. Filled with despair and jealousy, and brooding a growing hatred for Sergei, Strahd sought magical means to restore his youth. In a moment of desperate frustration, he "made a pact with death - a pact of blood." On the day of Sergei and Tatyana's wedding, Strahd murdered his brother and pursued the grieving Tatyana until she flung herself from the walls of Ravenloft. Strahd himself was shot down by the arrows of the castle guard. Even so, he did not die, but went on to rule the land of Barovia as a vampire. The master of Castle Ravenloft is known as "the Devil" to the villagers of Barovia.
Strahd is one of the two most powerful villains in this game (the other being Gravestorm the Dracolich) and his stats reflect this. He is a Level 6 villain with AC19 and 12HP. In D&D terms he is classed as being an Ancient Vampire, having lived as a vampire for 400-499 years. As well as being a skilled warrior he is also a master necromancer. As you would expect from so powerful a villain, he has more tactics to choose from (five in all) than any other villain. I shan't list them all but he has two possible attacks - Bite and Magical Ball of Fire. Bite grants him a +8 bonus to hit and does 2 damage. In addition, Strahd regains 1HP. Magical Ball of Fire also grants him a +8 bonus to hit and does 2 damage if it hits or 1 damage if it misses.

This painting of Strahd by Clyde Caldwell for the Castle Ravenloft RPG clearly influenced the sculptor of the Ral Partha figure I'm using. THAT is how Strahd Von Zarovich should look like! Sadly, the figure is long out of production.

SDE Monsters 09 - Von Drakk and Nocturne

And so I come to the last of my reviews of the figures from the Von Drakk Manor expansion set. I have saved the best (in my opinion) and most powerful until last.

Von Drakk has despoiled his homeland like an eternal plague. Once teeming with life the Glauerdoom moorlands are now a haven for witches' covens, foul swamp creatures and the unquiet dead. Von Drakk cares not, so long as his manor retains its splendour and his dark appetites are sated.
As you would expect, Von Drakk is an Undead Vampire Boss. Consequently, his stats are extremely powerful. He can move 8 squares, making him incredibly fast. He has 6 Wounds - most heroes only have 5. He can perform 4 actions per Turn - most Heroes can only perform 3. His Attributes are most impressive - Attack is 2 automatic successes plus 4 blue dice, Armour is 2 red dice, Willpower is 1 automatic success plus 2 red dice and his Dexterity is 3 red dice.

Von Drakk has 2 Abilities - Blood Drinker and Dodge. When a model with Blood Drinker rolls a Heart they gain 1 Heart in exactly the same way as a Hero. What this means is that Von Drakk can heal his wounds. A model with Dodge may use their Dexterity when making defence rolls unless they are suffering from Immobile, Knockdown or Slow.
The vampire lord has 3 Special Abilities - Shapeshift, Ghostly Vigour and Tide of Bones. Shapeshift costs 1 Action and allows Von Drakk to transform into Nocturne (see below). Ghostly Vigour is an Augment ability (it only affects friendly figures) with a range of 3 squares surrounding Von Drakk. All Undead gain a +1 blue die bonus to their Attack rolls. Tide of Bones has Wave:2 (a cone that reaches out for 2 squares). This affects Bone Pile counters. The counter is removed from play and is replaced with a model with the Risen Ability (that means Rattle Bones at present). If a model is in the same square as the target square Tide of Bones has no effect.

Those who meet the gaze of Von Drakk say it is like staring into the soul of the beast. None realise how correct they are. When in the full throes of bloodlust Von Drakk is overtaken by a hideous transformation; his new form ideally suited to bringing carnage and ruin to his foes.
Nocturne is the Shapeshift form of Von Drakk and he is one extremely frightening and powerful foe. His Wounds, Movement and Actions per Turn are the same as Von Drakk's. His Attack is 2 automatic successes plus 2 blue dice plus 2 red dice (gulp!). Armour is 2 blue dice and 2 red dice, Willpower is 3 red dice and Dexterity is 2 red dice.

Nocturne has 3 Abilities - Berserk, Blood Drinker and Fly. During its activation a model with Berserk may make a single melee attack costing no action points. That's 5 attacks per Turn he can make and with his Attack stats that can prove lethal for most Heroes (yikes!). Blood Drinker is described above for Von Drakk and Fly is self-explanatory.
He has 1 Special Ability - Shapeshift, which allows him to transform back to Von Drakk. He also has 1 Special Attack, which costs him 2 Actions - Terrifying Screech. This has Wave:3 and will Stun all enemies in that cone. A model suffering from Stun discards the highest result rolled any time it makes a roll using its Will attribute. This will prove most inconvenient against magic using Heroes.
Okay, what are my thoughts on these two figures? First of all, I was blown away by how well they were sculpted. Von Drakk may appear a bit too comical but I say, so what? I still think he is a great figure. Note how he is hovering above the ground. I like that! Nocturne is one of my favourite sculpts for SDE. There is nothing Chibi-esque about him. He looks scary and powerful... and he is.
Von Drakk is incredibly difficult to defeat. His ability to heal wounds is a huge bonus to his survival chances. His stats are truly frightening and in four games using this set the Heroes have only defeated him once. However, Nocturne is even worse if you're playing the Heroes. I like playing Von Drakk but I much prefer him as Nocturne. Nocturne is a party killer supreme and some may think he is over-powered but not me. He can be killed but it is no easy feat to vanquish him, which is exactly how it should be when facing a Dungeon Boss.

As promised, here is my group shot of all the villains from Von Drakk Manor. I really like this expansion set. This was the set that convinced me to buy Super Dungeon Explore due to my obsession with all things undead. You can clearly see just how large the Crypt Spider, Nocturne and the Death Spectre are. Those three are very frightening figures, both in appearance and in abilities. This expansion set is very different to the base set and a truly welcome addition. It is currently out of production but you can still buy it on e-Bay if you don't mind paying over £100 for it! However, the good news is that it will return after the new expansion set, The Forgotten King, goes on sale in a few weeks time. If you really want it I'd advise waiting a while until it is re-released. Blax, that's for your benefit.