Heresy Miniatures Zombies

This review looks at the range of 28mm scale zombies from Heresy Miniatures. These were sculpted by the talented Andy Foster, an all-round nice guy. Do keep an eye open for John Price's interview with Andy on John's Screaming Alpha blog-site. Heresy make two packs of zombies, each containing four figures. At first glance they would appear to be designed for a fantasy setting with four of them armed with melee weapons and one wearing a horned helmet, which may seem rather anachronistic in a modern day setting. But I have no problem in including them as part of my horde of contemporary zombies. Hopefully, I can persuade you to consider them as well.

From HV027 Zombies pack 1 above, starting at the far left is a crouching zombie, holding a meat cleaver in his left hand. His only wound is a massive one, as his stomach has been ripped open, causing his innards to spill out. Most of these zombies are naked, so I decided to add them to my small group of toxic zombies (see my reviews for the Eureka zombies http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/06/eureka-miniatures-zombies.html and Spinespur zombies http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/08/spinespur-zombies.html ) This of course, meant painting them in shades of green instead of shades of grey.

Next in line is an unarmed zombie with the flesh stripped from his knees. His arms were separate components and are very thin. I thought I'd have problems gluing them in place but I didn't. I used superglue for the initial positioning then I reinforced the joint with a further coating of superglue. The superglue that I use comes with a brush in the nozzle so I can "paint" the glue where it's needed. This is a very thin and emaciated zombie with an incredible amount of detail on him - as indeed, they all have.

Moving on, we see a zombie armed with a scythe. For a contemporary setting I'd have him as a former agricultural worker to explain his choice of weapon. Whether he can use it or whether it's just a prop in his hands will depend on the rule system you use. The same applies to the other three armed zombies. Some rule systems don't allow for zombies to use weapons (ranged and/or melee), whilst others do. This zombie bears no obvious wounds.

Last in line is what I consider to be the sickest zombie out of the range. He carries a sickle in his left hand, which would make him another former agricultural worker. Hmm, I see a theme here.

What makes this figure stand out from the rest is his stomach wound. Look closer at the photo and you can see a huge rat burrowing its way into his stomach. Note how the rat's tail wraps around the zombie's leg. Andy, what were you on when you sculpted this guy?! I love him! He's just so gross!

HV030 Zombies Pack 2 contains more of the same. Three of the figures are simply conversions of those found in pack 1, which may put some of you off but not me. The one original sculpt is the first in line and as you can see he's been ripped in half. I have to admit when I first saw this zombie I thought he was rising from the ground. It was only when I got a closer look that I released he'd lost the lower half of his body. If I have one criticism of him it is that his right arm is just too long. That apart, he is another great sculpt, and as I've said before, zombie draggers are always welcome.

To make the zombie with the out stretched arms different to the one in pack 1, Andy has sculpted some clothes on him - a pair of trousers, a left boot and a horned helmet. Who would wear a horned helmet nowadays? A biker gang member, perhaps. If you really think it looks too out of place in a modern day setting, clip the horns off and paint it up as a beanie hat. Problem solved! This figure also came with separate arms and once again, I had no bother in gluing them in place.

Again, Andy has done a similar trick to the next zombie in line. He's added clothes and long hair and replaced the scythe blade with an axe-type blade. It's enough of a conversion to make him different, so I'm happy to accept him as a part of the group.

The zombie at the far right of the group has had his left arm extended to replace the sickle holding arm of the similarly posed zombie in pack 1. He too has a huge stomach wound but no rat feasting on him. Most of his internal organs are missing as the gaping hole in his stomach reveals his spine. It makes a nice change from seeing intestines dangling from a stomach wound.

Both packs cost £5.00 each, but if you buy more than one of each pack they drop down in price to £4.50 each. Heresy are like Hasslefree in many ways (not surprising as they both form part of the Forum of Doom) in that they send your figures out very quickly (they usually arrive within two days here in the UK) and they include free sweets with your order. I got a lollypop with my last order! I have nothing but praise for Heresy as a company. If you've never dealt with them before, don't hesitate in sending them an order. They are well worth supporting. Have I persuaded you to add these extremely well sculpted zombies to your horde? Only you know the answer to that one but I hope you'll at least consider them.

WWG Mayhem Petrol Station

This was the very first World Works Games model that I built. It is the petrol station from the Bits of Mayhem set. Bits of Mayhem, Mayhem Armoury and Streets of Mayhem were my first purchases from WWG. As soon as I'd downloaded the three sets and had a good look at the contents I was hooked and I couldn't wait to get started. These three sets are ideal for beginners. Armoury contains three fairly easy buildings (armoury, apartment and garage) and a set of 5 pick-up trucks. Streets is essential for your road and rail tiles, as well as some useful pieces of street furniture. Bits contains only one building, the garage, as well as more useful pieces of street furniture and lots of vehicles.

The garage comes with two sets of livery - Golden Shield (shown here) and Mayhem Petroleum. I chose Golden Shield as it sounds more generic and could fit into any town or city, whereas Mayhem Petroleum seems to me, to be restricted to Mayhem City. Having said that, all of my games so far have taken place in Mayhem City. If, or more likely when, I make another petrol station it will be for Mayhem Petroleum. In the photo above, I have left the roof off the kiosk so that you can see inside. Most people will just leave it glued in place, but as you should know by now, I'm not most people!

I don't know why, but the large roof of the central island has started to sag. It was probably those hellcats of St. Trinian's who were to blame! (See my review here http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/06/st-trinians-and-living-dead.html ) Anyway, as you can see my petrol station covers two ground tiles. It is supposed to fit on one but I wanted more room a) to give cars more room to manoeuvre and b) to fit in extra features like the portaloo, the price sign and the propane tank. The additional tarmac tile was the loading bay tile that comes with Mayhem Industrial. I used a strip of grassland from the Bits of Mayhem set to hide the markings on that tile.

The tree is a Games Workshop tree from their trees and hedges scenery pack. Note that I stuck the strip of grassland onto a piece of mounting board and stuck that on top of the mounting board I used for the two tarmac tiles. This gives the grassy area a slight rise above the tarmac, which I think looks more realistic. I use the same technique for sticking pavements to my road tiles. Sticking the two sides of the large price sign to mounting board worked really well as it gave it enough strength to remain upright and to not bend over, which I'm sure must be a problem if you print it out on thin cardstock.

The sides of the propane tank are reinforced with thin card, like that found on cereal boxes. With it being curved, there is no way that you could use mounting board to reinforce it. I did use mounting board for the top and bottom of it, however.

The portaloo is a free download that I found on the Two Hours Wargames website when I first ordered the All Things Zombie rules from them. The relevant web address for the portaloo is http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/files/scenery/Port-o-let.pdf Of course, nowadays you can use the portaloo that comes with the WWG Mayhem Junkyard set. But when I built this model, Mayhem Junkyard was a long way off. If you want to use the THW portaloo you get four of them on an A4-sized sheet, and as I said, they are free and free is good! One thing that I particularly liked about them was that they were painted green, which fitted in perfectly with the livery of Golden Shield.

Here is a better view showing the interior of the kiosk. As part of my philosophy of going the extra mile, I made sure both doors opened and closed. The windows were printed on transparency paper, so that they resembled real glass. I made the counter out of mounting board and although you can't see them, I cut out all of the maps and snacks, etc. and stuck them onto mounting board then stuck them back in place. This gives them a bit of depth and was a technique that I used a lot in my Mayhem Garage model (see review here http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/07/wwg-mayhem-garage.html ).

Outside of the kiosk I added a drinks machine. This particular one came from the same place as I got the THW portaloos. However, when I went to check out the web address for it for this review, I found that it is no longer available. Not that it matters too much, as WWG make a couple of generic drinks machines in their Bits of Mayhem set, either of which would be perfect replacements.

Finally, here is a close up of the petrol pumps and the forecourt. To be honest, there is not much to say about them. The base of the island has a piece of foam board stuck underneath the mounting board to make it a solid item. I used a similar technique for the large roof, although for that the foam board is sandwiched between two pieces of mounting board. This gives them both great strength and durability and means that the holes cut out for the two support pillars should grip the pillars firmly in place.

This is not one of my more spectacular builds and it did not take long to make - less than two weeks. However, it will always have special meaning for me, simply because it was my first WWG model that I made.

Spinespur Zombies 01

This is just a short review - well, not all of them will be as long or as picture heavy as my WWG semi-detached houses review! Today I'm looking at three Spinespur 28mm scale naked zombies. Spinespur is a near future horror game by Comfy Chair Games, who can be found at this website here -

http://www.comfychairgames.com/home.php

This is set CFC0126 - The Torn, who are, according to the Spinespur website - "Enemies of the Dark Faith who fall in battle often find themselves brought back from the dead to serve that which they once fought against. This thought often drives the individual to attempt freeing themselves by ripping apart the prison cell they once called a body." So they're zombies with serious mental problems then!

It was a no-brainer what colour to paint them as they so closely resemble my Eureka Miniatures Toxic Zombies, so that meant green skin. The figure at the far left of the trio has had the flesh of the front of his torso completely removed. Given the description above, can we assume that he has pulled his own flesh off? I don't know the answer to that, but he looks far from healthy. As if that horrendous wound wasn't bad enough, his left arm has been ripped off at the elbow and he has bites to both lower legs, his lower right arm and the side of his head.

In the centre of the group is a female, who has not fared much better. Her legs and arms are covered in cuts and bites. However, her major wound is only revealed when you look at her from behind, as the flesh has been stripped from her back. Surely that couldn't be self-inflicted? I love the way her face has been sculpted. She looks incredibly gaunt and malnourished.

The final figure of the group certainly complies with Spinespur's description of the Torn as he is in the process of ripping the skin away from his face. His arms and his legs especially, are covered in cuts and bite wounds.

These figures were a joy to paint as you can really go to town with the gore effects. I did wonder about how much skull to leave uncovered on the third figure. If I'd completely covered it in TCR (Tamiya Clear Red - possibly the best paint to use for blood) would it still look like a skull and would you be able to tell what he is doing? In the end, I erred on the side of showing more white skull, but only because that was how it was done on the Spinespur website. These three figures are exceptionally well sculpted and, to be honest, put the similar looking Eureka Miniatures to shame! They are quite delicate looking and a lot smaller than I was imagining they'd be. For some reason I thought that the Spinespur range was a lot taller. Maybe the others are, maybe they aren't, as these are the only Spinespur figures I own, but these zombies are perfectly sized 28mm scale figures so you'll have no problem fitting them in with like-sized figure ranges, like Studio Miniatures or Hasslefree, for example. The set of three figures cost $9.99. Just because the Spinespur background has them as mentally unstable undead, there's no reason why they should be in whatever game you play. For me, they're just another group of toxic zombies.

WWG Semi-detached Houses

Of all the WWG buildings that I have made so far this is the one that has attracted the most comments. It first appeared in my Zombie Rescue Mission battle report but did not feature very prominently. People were curious to know what they were. I made two sets of semi-detached houses that are predominantly based on the WWG Shellendrak Manor set. From the outside both sets look identical but on the inside all four houses are very different, although the room layouts remain the same, as you'll see below.

Shellendrak Manor does not come with the sloped roofs that I've used here. However, WWG does sell the sloped roofs as a kitbash for the manor. It was this kitbash that inspired me to make these buildings.

The side doors are a WWG kitbash called appropriately enough Side Doors. They are available for Shellendrak Manor and Return to Shellendrak Manor. I use both sets so that they can match my interiors. Oddly enough, my front doors are also from the Side Doors kitbashes. The difference with my side doors is that I've removed the arched windows above the doors. Outside the side door I've added a dustbin, which comes from the WWG Bits of Mayhem set.

At the back of the houses I trimmed the ivy down so that it didn't obscure the windows, except for house 4. You'll see why below, as house 4 is a bit... special!

I added the paving around three sides for two reasons. First is because of the dormer windows at the front of the houses and second is to give it a 7" by 14" footprint as most Mayhem buildings have a 7" square footprint or some multiple of 7". This makes it easier to fit on my modular gaming boards. The paving came from the WWG Mayhem Police set.

Here we see an overhead view of the ground floor of house 1 (to the right) and house 2 (to the left). The floors and interior walls came from either the Shellendrak Manor set or the Return to Shellendrak Manor expansion set. The stairs are from the Shellendrak Manor set, as is most of the furniture. The front rooms are combination dining room and lounge, whilst the back rooms are kitchens.

The two dining tables are kitbashed from the tables in the Shellendrak Manor set. Those tables were twice as long so I scanned them into my computer and cut and pasted the images to make them seat four people. The posh sofas and all the chairs you see are from the Shellendrak Manor set. In the kitchen, the sink unit and cooker comes from the WWG Mayhem Armoury set. The cupboards above the sink are from the WWG Mayhem Police set, cut so as to make them the same width as the sink unit. In the corner of both kitchens by the external doors is a washing machine. This comes from a very interesting website called Jim's Printable Minis, which can be found at http://www.printmini.com/printables/pq.shtml This website concentrates on doll's house furniture in a variety of scales (1/6, 1/12, 1/24 and 1/48) 1/48 scale is roughly the same scale as used by WWG. The best thing about this site is that all of the downloads are free. I've used it a few times to add extra furniture items and bits and pieces to my interiors. Well worth a browse in my opinion. You have the option for top loader or front loader washing machines. I chose top loaders, as that is what I have at home. The circular kitchen tables are part of the Shellendrak Manor set.

In house 1 against the side wall right at the top of the photo are four pieces of furniture in the lounge. The glass-fronted cabinet and grandfather clock are from the Shellendrak Manor set. The TV comes from the Mayhem Armoury set, although I've changed the picture to show a scene from Doctor Who. The cabinet it sits on is the wall unit from Mayhem Police, cut in half. In the kitchen by the outer door is the fridge from the Mayhem Armoury set.

To the right of the front door in house 2 is another TV atop the same cabinet as in house 1. The wall cabinets that come with the Mayhem Police set are very versatile and don't have to be mounted on the wall. As you can see, they work just as well on the floor. The TV set that comes with the Mayhem Armoury sets shows a totally naff picture of a WWG model. I went into My Pictures folder and took about 20 pictures I liked and scaled them down to use as screen images for the TV set. I'd recommend doing the same thing for your own TV sets. Incidentally, far better TV pictures and more high-tech TV sets can be found in the WWG Mayhem Mega Mall set. That set was not available when I made these houses, otherwise, I'd have probably used some of them instead.

In house 2, which you can see in the top half of this photo, note the two pieces of furniture in the lounge against the side wall at the very top of the photo. First is a light grey chest of drawers that comes from the Mayhem Police set. Next to it is a large bookcase. This is one third of the bookcase that comes with Shellendrak Manor. That particular bookcase is very long and far too big to fit in this house.

And so we move from the ground floor to the upper floor, with an overhead shot showing all eight rooms. Each house contains a landing, bathroom, master bedroom and guest bedroom. Once again, the walls and floors come from either Shellendrak Manor or Return to Shellendrak Manor.

The beds that appear in the two master bedrooms come from the Shellendrak Manor set but have been reduced in size. The double bed in that set is enormous, and in my opinion, far too big. I did a simple kitbash on it by scanning it into my computer. I reduced it in size so that it was 2" in length and I played about with the colour balance to produce four beds of differing colours. The two cupboards were also kitbashes that I made. They are based on the Shellendrak Manor bookcase, with the two sides duplicated to make the front and the door handles cut and pasted from the lower drawers that come with the bookcase. I was able to fit nine of them on an A4 sheet and they were used a lot in all four houses. Next to them is a bedside chest of drawers taken from the Shellendrak Manor set. There is another one in the guest bedroom of house 2 just next to the door.

The master bedroom of house 2 shows a chest by the window that came from Shellendrak Manor. In the guest bedrooms the single beds come from the Mayhem Police set. The guest bedroom in house 1 shows a small bookcase, which also comes from Mayhem Police and a foot locker that is from the Ebbles Ambient Elements - Storeroom set. I made use of quite a few Ebbles pieces in my Armoury building. Here, there is not so many.

Both guest bedrooms feature a desk, chair and laptop computer, all of which come from the Ebbles Ambient Elements - Barracks set.

The bathrooms contain a bath, a sink and a toilet from the Shellendrak Manor set. You could just as easily replace the sink and toilet with those found in the Mayhem Police set.

Now we come to house 3 (to the right above) and house 4 (to the left above). As with my previous two houses all interior walls and floors come from Shellendrak Manor and Return to Shellendrak Manor. House 3 is very similar to house 1 and 2 but for house 4, I decided to have a bit of fun. This property is owned by the neighbours from Hell. First thing you'll notice about it is the dilapidated state of repair it's in. Second thing you'll notice (or maybe it was the first!) is the blood stains on the kitchen floor. These are not good signs, are they?

The main difference in house 3 to houses 1 and 2 is that the two tables come from the WWG Castles and Keeps set. Again, I had to greatly reduce the dining room table in size so that it fit in the dining room/lounge. Houses 3 and 4 make use of the black leather sofa that comes with the Mayhem Armoury set. In house 4, I've taken a second sofa and cut it in half to make a comfy chair. The drinks cabinet in the lounge of house 4 is the liquor cabinet that is supplied with the WWG Pubs and Inns set. What's your poison?

At the top of the photo in the lounge of house 4 are a bookcase, half-size wall cabinet and filing cabinet from the Mayhem Police set and another Mayhem Armoury TV. In the kitchen of house 4, next to the stairs is the "torture" table from the Shellendrak Manor set with a variety of blood stained instruments on its work surface.

The lounge of house 4 contains the blue heater that is part of the garage furniture in the Mayhem Armoury set. In house 3, in the alcove by the three windows, I placed a cabinet, trimmed to fit, that came from the Shellendrak Manor kitchen furniture.

The small table in the lounge of house 4 came from the Castles and Keeps set. On the table in the kitchen of house 3 is a tray of bread and cheese that came from the Pubs and Inns set. The rather creepy picture on the side wall of the lounge of house 4 is a motivational poster that says "Wounded. It ain't a build unless you bleed." Hmm, not a sentiment I share! It can be found on the Mayhem Police Bonus Add-Ons set, which is a free download.

Moving upstairs we see that things are no better in house 4. As before, all walls and floors are from either Shellendrak Manor or Return to Shellendrak Manor. Return was great for the badly kept floors and walls of house 4. It seemed such a shame not to use them and so the idea of a house where psycopaths live was born. Most of what I said about houses 1 and 2 apply here, so I'll just mention the differences.

The big cabinet in the master bedroom of house 3 comes from the master bedroom of the Castles and Keeps set. I suppose you could use that in place of the cupboards that I kitbashed but be aware that it is slightly wider. The guest bedroom of house 4 contains just one piece of furniture - the blood-stained bed from Shellendrak Manor. Or is it an autopsy table?

The master bedroom of house 4 contains the two single beds found in the Mayhem Police set. The bath, sink and toilet of house 4 are all from the Shellendrak Manor set but none of them are the clean versions. The sink is splattered with blood, the bath is rust coloured and let's not talk about the toilet!

In the guest bedroom of house 3, I've placed the TV on a triangular shaped shelf (simply an offcut of mounting board painted light blue). The TV is showing Scooby Doo. Perhaps Scooby and the gang could investigate what's going on next door!

In the guest bedroom of house 3 I used a set of bunk beds from the Ebbles Ambient Elements - Barracks set for that family's kids to sleep in. As you can imagine there was an awful lot of work involved in getting these four houses completed. I made houses 3 and 4 straight after the first two, as I knew what was involved, plus I was keen to get to work on house 4. All told, I reckon there is about three months work here, working at a couple of hours per day. What they do show is the sheer versatility of the Shellendrak Manor set and its expansion, Return to Shellendrak Manor.

Rezolution Zombies

Rezolution is a sci-fi game by Aberrant Games. I haven't played it and don't know much about it but when I saw the two sets of zombies that they've produced for the game I knew that I had to have them. You can view their complete range at their website here at http://www.aberrantgames.com/rez/products.php First up for review is ABG6005 Toxic Zombies Pack 1, which is part of the Mercs range.

The figure at the far left has been painted as one of my toxic zombies. All of my toxic zombies get painted with GW's Rotting Flesh and have a distinct greenish tinge to them. This bald-headed gent has had his throat ripped out and his left hand is missing. His most obvious wound is of course, his stomach, which has been eviscerated. I particularly like the really evil expression on his face. It just screams menace and danger!

In the centre of the group is my favourite figure from this range. Any figure that tells a story is worth having and what a story this guy could tell! You actually get two figures here - the walking zombie SWAT trooper and his colleague whom he is dragging behind him. The set comes in three pieces - main zombie, his left arm and rifle and the zombie victim. When I first saw them in the flesh I was dubious about whether they'd fit on a 25mm diameter slotta-base... but they do! Full marks to the sculptor for getting them to fit so well. The level of detail on the pair is amazing, especially on the victim, whose wounds are just gross! Being near future figures I don't recognise the trooper's rifle but it looks like a souped version of the CAR-15. Whatever it is, it looks good and is well detailed. The walking zombie does not appear to be too badly wounded. He has a few rips and tears in his uniform. However, one look at his face and you couldn't mistake him for a normal human. This guy is definitely a zombie. As for his colleague, I'm not sure if he's still a zombie or just a corpse. A zombie could survive having both legs and his right arm ripped off, as this man has. His head is twisted too far to the left to be natural, but again, that wouldn't kill a zombie. Neither would having your left eye plucked out, as he has. However, what does make me question whether he's undead or truly dead is the hole in the back of his skull. I think it's a bullet hole - and that would kill him outright. If so, why is his colleague still dragging him along? Is it a vestige of loyalty, in that you don't abandon your brothers in arms? I don't know the answer but this set of figures is crying out for a backstory. They are a sublime sculpt!
The final figure out of this group is certainly the least useful to any collector of contemporary zombies as he is part (or perhaps wholly) android. Think Terminator robots and that's what you have here. He has been ripped in half but instead of trailing bloody entrails he shows the lower part of his clearly metallic spine. His left arm has been stripped of all flesh to reveal that it too is metallic. Finally, there is a metal plate atop his skull. It is a well sculpted figure and I will use it in my games. I'm always after zombie draggers, especially as they feature so prominently in the rules I'm playtesting. Let's be honest, if you place this figure in with your zombie horde, most people won't even notice that he's not fully human.

The first thing you notice about the second set, ABG6006 Toxic Zombies Pack 2, is that the figure at the far left is a duplicate of the figure at the far left of the first set. I don't know why Aberrant Games decided on this policy and it is slightly annoying but not an insurmountable problem. The obvious solution is to paint him up differently to the other one and this is what I've done. In addition, I've slightly altered the position of his arms by gently bending them. This figure has been painted up as a "normal" zombie with pale grey skin. Another alternative would be to paint him as a dark-skinned zombie.

The fat zombie in the centre is covered in large blisters that suggest he is some kind of plague carrier, as if being a zombie wasn't bad enough! His right arm has been ripped off just above the elbow and the resulting wound has been impressively sculpted. Once again, I like the way his face has been sculpted. These zombies really do look mean and angry. I've smeared blood around his mouth to suggest that he's recently fed.

Finally, we come to the only female of the group. She appears to be quite tall but look closer at her feet and you'll see she has platforms on the soles of her shoes. That might explain why she appears to be tottering forward as if off balance. I'm all for more female zombies. There aren't enough of them being made. This one, I like a lot. From her costume, I'm guessing she was a cheerleader or perhaps a dancer in her former life. She sports a very unusual hairstyle, which just adds to her uniqueness. As for her wounds, they are suitably gory with bites to the right lower arm, left arm and left thigh and a huge stomach wound from which her intestines are spilling out. Grisly but great fun to paint.

These 28mm scale figures are worth seeking out. Even if you have no use for the android zombie that set is worth buying just for the two SWAT troopers alone. It may well be a small range but it's a darned good range. Prices are $12.99 for pack 1 and $11.99 for pack 2. I ordered mine from an English distributor for roughly £7 per pack. It might pay you to search the Interweb for a local distributor