Sunday 6 May 2012

Studio Miniatures' Zombies 13 - Left4Dead 1

Here are another four zombies from my favourite maker of zombie figures - Studio Miniatures. These 28mm scale figures are from their "Only The Dead Are Left" set, an obvious reference to the Left 4 Dead (herafter abbreviated to L4D) computer games. Fans of the game should have no difficulty in identifying the different types of zombies in this set.
From left to right are the Tank, the Boomer, the Smoker and the Hunter, giving them their L4D names.
The Tank is L4D's zombified version of the Incredible Hulk. He has super strength and resiliance and is fully capapble of wiping out a party of survivors on his own. Painting him in Foundry Cadaverous Green 46 was my nod to the Incredible Hulk. He has a few cuts to his left arm and a bullet wound to the left side of his chest, but I doubt if he has even noticed them. Note that I have based him on a 30mm diameter slottabase as I thought he looked way oversized on a 25mm diameter slottabase, even though he would fit on it.
The Boomer has two very nasty abilities. First of all, it can projectile vomit on opponents. The bile will attract any nearby zombies to the victim. His second ability comes into play if the Boomer is killed. At that point he'll explode, covering any one too close to him with more bile that will attract more zombies to them. The way this figure has been sculpted gives you a sense that he is just about to explode. He's my favourite figure out of this set, simply because I like obese zombies and there aren't enough of them on the market.
When you first see the Smoker you'd be forgiven for thinking he's just a normal zombie and he's wearing a pink tie. Big mistake! That's not a tie - it's his tongue. He can use it as a weapon to drag victims close to him. If an opponent does cut the Smoker's tongue off, he will grow another one. Smokers don't moan like other zombies do, instead they cough. So, why is he called a Smoker? Well, when he is killed his body emits a cloud of smoke, which will impair the vision of any human close by, temporarily stunning them.
The Hunter is the most human-looking figure in this set, and is not so much a zombie as an infected person, similar to the infected flesh-eaters in the films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. He is very fast and agile and he uses his hands to rip his victims apart rather than his teeth. In ATZ terms, he is a Rager. However, in L4D, Hunters are a lot easier to kill than ATZ's Ragers. Also, in L4D, Hunters can remain absolutely silent, making them very good ambushers.
I have included this picture taken from one of the L4D websites, showing the concept art for the four types of Infected, and you can see that Studio's sculptor has obviously used these pictures for reference when he was sculpting them.
ATZ does not cater for these types of mutated zombies, although, as I said, the Hunter could double up as a Rager. I may use the Tank as another Rager, and keep the Boomer and the Smoker as normal zombies. For those of you playing No More Room In Hell, there are rules for using all four of these figures under the section, Generating Special Zombies. So, the Tank becomes the Brute, the Boomer becomes the Bloat, the Smoker becomes Dr. Tongue and the Hunter becomes Infected Runner. It looks like the author of NMRIH, Bryan Miley, was a fan of L4D. By the way, in case you're wondering how come I know so much about NMRIH, I recently bought the rulebook. A review of it will appear soon.
This set of four figures retails for £14.99 from the Studio Minis website. I should point out that Studio have just released "Only The Dead are Left II," which contains four more special Infected types from L4D - the Charger, the Jockey, the Spitter and the Witch. I sent away for them a couple of days ago and once I receive them I will paint them up as soon as possible. Look out for a review of them in the very near future, probably sometime next month.

26 comments:

  1. Gruesome!

    Never played the game but know of these guys as some of my mates play it.

    And again a very nice paintjob Bryan. Most of all I love the tank! BRUTAL!!!!

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    1. I don't play any computer games, Johnny, as I just don't have the time, especially with all of my other commitments. Despite that, I still like the figures. Yes, the Tank is brutal!

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  2. I love the boomer, he is really good. I'd get him if I could buy them separately, without the question. Don't like the concept of the tank myself, none of those super strenght creatures never appealed to me. But he represents them good, so if I'd need one for the games, I'd look into it. The tongue is nice, but I've made my own and the runner is just awesome. What I dont like, personaly, is, that those are just copied L4D minies, I prefer unique sculpts.

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    1. Boomer is my favourite as well, Mathyoo. I'm in two minds about the Tank. I like the figure but I'm unsure about how or even if I want to include him in my campaign.

      I disagree with your comment about these not being unique sculpts. So what if the sculptor has copied the concept art for them? At least that makes them instantly recognisable to fans of L4D. Just my opinion, of course - no offence meant!

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    2. Ah, none taken! It'd be a boring place if we'd all think the same ;). I might put it wrong, I wanted to say, I prefer sculpts that are someone's own idea. But that might as well only be in this particular case, as I've never played the game. I wouldn't mind having "not" Indiana Jones, as I've grown with the movies :D

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    3. I kind of figured you'd be okay with my comment, Mathyoo, but I just wanted to be sure. I've seen some folk take great offence to perfectly innocent remarks on some of the forums I frequent.

      I have about half a dozen not-Indiana Jones figures from various figure companies. Some are long out of production but others are still available. Copplestone Castings and Mirliton certainly do not-Indiana Jones figures in their High Adventure and Nightmares ranges respectively. There could well be other companies who make him, given that he is such an iconic hero.

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    4. Heh, thats a plus at being part of such a tight knit comunity ;)

      Will check Mirliton, and saw Copplestone. I am holing myself back, getting indiana means starting pulp, and then you know how it snowballs! :D

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    5. Oh, I know only too well, Mathyoo! Shiny new toy syndrome is a hazard we all face. And it is soooooooooooooo easy to succumb to!

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  3. Very nice Bryan really like them all. They are such a great likeness of there computer game alter ego. (Had to really think what to put then) I've never played the game either so look forward to seeing the next batch of specials that you have

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    1. Once I get the next batch, Simon, they will jump to the front of the queue of my unpainted minis, so you shouldn't have too long to wait.

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  4. Those are great paint jobs, Bryan. Studio Minis did a great job on the sculpts and captured them perfectly. You did an especially nice job on the highlighting on the Boomer's belly. He really does look ready to blow.

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    1. I thought the same thing about the Boomer, Joe. Take cover!

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  5. Wonderfully gruesome and beautifully done Sir! I've got to say I'm a sucker for 'not' sculpts of characters or movie stars.

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    1. In that case, these should be right up your street, Michael.

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  6. Great work Bryan! You've really done a GREAT painting job with these guys. I purchased the set about a month ago, and they're in the Big-Pile-Of-Minis-That-Need-Painting. Now I have your pictures, along with the concept art, to use as a guide.

    I'd like to come up with some ATZ rules to apply to these guys and throw them in a game now and then. I used to play Left-4-Dead a LOT, and I enjoyed it for what it was. It's still a good way to blow off steam now and then.

    I actually like the idea of unleashing a Tank on my hapless group of survivors. There might be some dinosaur stats from Lost Lands that could be modified. Not sure, have to ponder this.

    Anyway nice work!

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    1. Thanks, Mike. If you did come up with your own house rules for using L4D Infected types like the Tank, would you post them on your blog, please? I'm sure there'll be folk interested in using them.

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  7. Great zombies, and having a little experience with the games, I instantly recognized them. I don't think I'd play any rules that would need the L$D zombies, but they are still pretty cool to have.

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    1. I have to agree, Adam, they are pretty cool to have. They just ooze quality.

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  8. They're very good representations of their computer alter egos and as akways Bryan you've donean excellent paintjob on them - L4D is amusing but very repetitive and not a game I've played for any length of time.

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    1. Thanks, as always, Joe. However long you may have played L4D, it's longer then me.

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  9. Arhh yes I know these guys, played the first game for ages on and off in Multiplayer, you did a good job on the painting bryan, I don't know that I would have painted the tank like a Hulk, but all look sweet nonetheless, nice mins might have to acquire these, Bryan do you know If they did the survivors aswell?

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    1. Studio have just released the second set of Infected but there is no news on whether they'll release a set of L4D Survivors. It would be nice if they did.

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  10. Great job on the minis. I think the paint schemes are perfect for them. You can almost hear the bubbling on Boomer. I have all the Studio minis survivors/zombies but just haven't had the time to paint any of them. You want the paint them for me =P.
    Keep up the great work.

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    1. Thanks, Morbius. I barely have enough time to paint my own figures, so with respect, I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer.

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  11. No problem, I was jk. I did manage to finally make a couple buildings for my ATZ board. The first was "The Market" from Stoelzel's and the second was "The Club" from Warm Acre's. I'm going to change the name to the "Badda Bing". I have the zombie strippers from Reaper that will be hanging around it. These were my first paper builds as I was always a bit sceptical on how they would look but I must say I'm very pleased with them and will be creating a lot more. Thanks to you and Lucky Joe (/shake's his fist) I am now obsessed with ATZ lol. You have both inspired me tremendously.

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    1. I have the Market and the Club but they're on my things to make list (along with way too many other things!). It's great to hear that you've made a start and I'm really pleased that Lucky Joe and I have inspired you to try card modelling. It is a cheap way of filling a gaming board but depending on the level of detail you want it can be time consuming, especially if you decide to make interiors and furniture. I wish you all the best with your campaign. If you decide to start a gaming blog give me a heads up, please.

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