Sunday 29 July 2012

Vampifan's Views 26 - Monthly Musings 12

Vampirella by Frank Frazetta for her 25th Anniversary
A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Simon/Brummie got in touch with me to let me know that there was a Vampirella statue up for auction on e-Bay. Naturally, I was interested. With five days to go before the auction closed I decided to wait until the last minute before placing a bid. I set myself a limit of £50, as I didn't think it was worth more than that. As the deadline approached the bidding had gone from an initial £20.00 to £46.00. With just one minute to go I put in my bid of £48.00... and got pipped to the post with a bid of £51.00 with seconds to go. That is what I hate about e-Bay. I was gutted.
So, the following day I decided to see if anyone else had this particular statue for sale, or, failing that, any other Vampirella statues. A search on Google revealed that no one else was selling the aforementioned statue. However, I did find a much better Vampirella statue for sale on e-Bay. It was a statue that was commissioned for Vampirella's 25th Anniversary (that was in 1994) and was based on a painting by Frank Frazetta, which I show here.
And here to the left is the statue. It is 1/8th scale, meaning that if Vampirella was standing up she'd be 9" tall or 225mm. When it originally went on sale it retailed for $195.00 (roughly £125.00). Incredibly, the seller was asking £25.00 for it. What I most like about e-Bay was that this item had the Buy Now option. So that is what I did. Two days later, I received a huge parcel in the post. I wasn't expecting the box she was in to be so big. Vampirella herself has been beautifully sculpted by Shawn Nagle and the lizard-type creature is an impressive looking beastie. The statue is a perfect representation of the Frank Frazetta artwork. I am overjoyed at my purchase. To get it at such an incredibly low price was an amazing bargain. I very rarely use e-Bay and my experience over those two days showed the highs and lows of being a buyer.
More good news and another story about the kindness of others. Early in June I received this message from Ernie Huff, a long time follower - "Hello, I have been a follower of your blog for sometime now and recently posted on your site.  I have some models that I would like to send to you that I think you might enjoy for your battle reports.  I would like to game more but have limited time with family, work, and school, but I definitely enjoy the adventures of Team Vampifan! Everything is free with no strings attached.  You can use or not as you see fit." Wow! That came right out of the blue and was most unexpected. I was both delighted at the offer and mystified to see what Ernie would send me.
At the beginning of this month the parcel arrived. In it were these seven Burago 1/43 scale die-cast metal cars. Even though my ATZ campaign is set in America, the car I like most out of this collection is the Mini Cooper - a classic English car. If you don't know which one I'm talking about, it's the one with the red cross on the white roof. My collection of die-cast cars is growing very nicely.
Now, if that was all that was in the parcel I'd have been more than happy with it. But there was more. Ernie very kindly added this set of 28mm scale Victory Force Miniatures armed office workers with gear. This is a set I have been eyeing for quite some time as they make for a fantastic group of survivors to use in ATZ. They are armed with an assortment of assault rifles and all are equipped with backpacks and/or pouches on belts. These guys (and gal) are a well prepared group for dealing with zombies. I certainly want them to become part of Team Vampifan, if Vampifan can recruit them. They'd be an asset to anyone's group.
There was one more surprise in the parcel and that was this figure you see to the right. She is Glimmer, a contestant in The Hunger Games film. This 28mm scale figure is from the Wizkids collectible set of plastic The Hunger Games figures. She's going to need repainting as pre-painted figures tend to be very basic. Plus, I will remove her from the large plinth she stands on. Once I finish with her, I'll have a mighty fine Survivor with bow and arrows. Sorry about the picture quality, but I downloaded the image from the Interweb and it was the best I could find. I'll post much better photos of her once I repaint and rebase her.
So, all in all, a very nice haul. Ernie, I thank you for your kindness and generosity. You are a star! Rest assured, the figures and the cars will see use in my ATZ campaign.
I have managed to get through July without buying a single figure. Yes, result! I'm talking about 28mm scale figures, so my Vampirella statue does not count. I have finished painting 8 Studio Minis zombies, 9 Red Box zombies, a Red Box Chaos demoness and 3 Reaper college students. I'm not saying what I'm painting now. It's a secret but I can't wait to show you them once I finish them! I finished making my Stoelzel's Structures Cottage. I was so impressed with it that I have begun work on a second Stoelzel's Structure model - the Warehouse. I must admit that I have become a huge fan of Carl Stoelzel's work this year; to such an extent, that I now rate his company higher than that of WWG. Since WWG introduced their TLX system, their crown has been slipping, in my opinion. The fact that I haven't made a single TLX building speaks volumes.
A big thank you to everyone who left a comment on my ATZ batrep, "Assault on Precinct 13". It was certainly the most popular batrep I have posted and for me, the most fun to play. The fate of SWAT Sergeant Wayne Connors has been decided. He will survive, and no, he's not going to lose his leg. I have decided that his suit prevented the zombie bite from breaking the skin and it was shock that caused him to go Out Of the Fight.
I'm sure that many of you will now know that THW are working on a new set of rules for All Things Zombie. Final Fade Out will replace the Better Dead Than Zed rulebook. For the most part I think this is a good thing. The BDTZ rules have been in need of an overhaul for quite some time now. Plus, many of the rules in BDTZ have been updated. If you compare them with the likes of After The Horsemen or 5150: New Beginnings, you'll see what I mean. Although FFO will share rules in common with ATH, Ed stresses that FFO is not ATH with zombies. FFO is set now in the modern era, whilst ATH is set many years in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes have been made and hopefully, FFO will become the definitive set of zombie skirmish rules.
The one thing that is causing me some concern is how will this new rulebook affect my ongoing ATZ campaign? Should I carry on as normal or should I start afresh? I can see merit in both options. At the moment I'm 60/40 in favour of starting a new campaign. I'd love to go back to Day One with the knowledge I have now. If I do start a new campaign, how should I end my current campaign? Given what Team Vampifan have gone through so far, there needs to be some sort of closure for them. Maybe they ride off to find a new sanctuary away from Mayhem City. Or on a more downbeat note, they get attacked by a large horde of zombies and are all wiped out. Or perhaps Sunny and the Killer Klowns gain their revenge. I'm not making any firm decision one way or another until I have read FFO. Ed's announcement, earlier this month, about FFO has given me lots of food for thought. I have no idea when FFO will be released, so until then I'll just carry on as normal

27 comments:

  1. Good deal after all!!! Well done mate!

    And my hat is off to Ernie Huff! Fantastic! Looking forward to seeing these get some action on the board.

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    1. It's hard to put into words just how happy I am with my Vampirella statue.

      Ernie just blew me away with his kindness. What a gent!

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  2. Amazing find and deal Bryan, starting again sounds good but still would be a little hesitant myself.......give it a go mate!

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    1. Starting over again is my prefered option, Fran, but I have no idea when it'll happen.

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  3. Congrats on the statue Bryan! That has to be a nice bit for a Vampirella Fa.... wait. I think I see what you did there.

    I'm REALLY excited to see the Red Box Games models painted up. I've pledged on their KickStarter, the appeal of old school, dark fantasy proved to be too great.

    That was an incredibly generous gift you were presented with. I'm impressed, and very excited to see everything on the table! Mini Coopers are not out of place on the streets of the US, I see them pretty regularly. They're often owned by students, or younger professionals, those with a bit of money to put into the purchase. I think I see a correlation between that and your office survivors...

    Speaking of which: Have you considered Team Vampifan doing a couple of community based scenarios? My thought is that perhaps an old, brick wall prison, or apartment building with an enclosed courtyard would work out well for a survivors refuge, peopled by young, armed office workers... under attack by a group of Killer Klowns perhaps?

    Anyway sir, great month! Thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Varangian. Yes, I think you've got why I'm called Vampifan!

      The Red Box zombies were fun to paint but unlike any other zombies I've painted. If I had to describe them in one word I'd say tortured. They look like they're in agony! I've seen the Red Box stuff for sale on Kickstarter, but fantasy figures don't interest me. Having said that, I'd certainly buy some of the Undead figures if they were available for sale separately.

      I'm glad to hear that Mini Coopers are popular in the USA.

      Team Vampifan will be moving base very soon. My plans are for them to move into a junkyard surrounded by high walls and container units to make it a fortress. Your ideas of a prison and a large apartment block are very good but would involve a LOT of construction work. Both are building projects I'd like to tackle but to be honest, they are low down on my to do list.

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  4. Very cool gifts. FFO looks interesting but I have yet to even start an ATZ campaign. To top it off I bought a stack of rules and paper terrain. Interesting to hear your opinion of Stoelzel. Due to your work and Lucky Joe's I've become enamored with playable interiors. Right now I'm toying with the idea of mounting on mat board because foamcore seems to thick for 1/72 scale.

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    1. Sean, I'd advise anyone who hasn't started their ATZ campaign (and I know a few0 to wait until FFO is released. Stoelzel's models rely on foamboard to reinforce them. If you were just making the exteriors then mat board would work. The problem comes if you want to add interior walls and detail. Bear in mind that whilst interior detail undoubtedly looks cool, it does add greatly to your build times.

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  5. Wow, having a blogger send you stuff is really. Getting your statue for half price, and twice the size is also cool. I guess I not the only one who got lucky this year.

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    1. As I mentioned at the beginning, Pixel, sometimes you get lucky on e-Bay and sometimes you get shafted. I'm glad to hear you got lucky as well.

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  6. What a lucky chap you are. Lovely haul. A very enjoyable post. Thankyou. The campaign quandry is an intetesting one. I think I'll dwell on it myself for a while, a very worthwhile diversion.

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    1. It is one to ponder, Irqan, and that's what I shall do.

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  7. Wow.... Thank you Bryan, that's the nicest compliment I've received thus far. :)

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    1. I meant every word, Carl. Honestly, your output is getting better and better. Anyone who hasn't seen Carl's Big Box store ought to check it out now. It was a toss up between that and the Warehouse as to what I made next but I plumped for the Warehouse because it has been around longer.

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  8. No problem sadly you missed out on the item but ended up with something much better. Will Sergeant Connors be keeping his uniform or will we be seeing him in more civilian clothing?

    Its good to start again some times especially with having learnt alot you can change and tweak things a little. Look forward to seeing what ever you do when you make up your mind about it :D

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. I have a lot to thank you for, actually. If you hadn't told me about the original auction, I wouldn't have known about it and I doubt if I'd have made that Google search that secured me my prize.

      I totally agree with you about starting again. With the knowledge of hindsight you can correct your mistakes that you made first time round.

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  9. Glad you like the stuff. I look forward to your painting skill on the figures. I am sort of torn with the new stuff Two Hour Wargames is putting out on whether to buy it or not. I really like ATZ the way it is now. Are you going to have Vampifan wake up and find out all of it was a dream like the Dallas TV series?

    Ernie

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    1. Hi, Ernie. It's good to hear from you. I will certainly enjoy painting the figures you sent me.

      I can assure you that my ATZ campaign so far will not be a dream of Vampifan's or anyone else. I leave that sort of nonsense for scriptwriters who have clearly lost the plot!

      As for the new FFO rules, if you prefer BDTZ, then stick with them. They have served me well over the past few years

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    2. QUOTE: "I leave that sort of nonsense for scriptwriters who have clearly lost the plot"

      LOL, thank you!

      (--> http://www.obviouslyzed.blogspot.de/2010/08/blast-from-past.html)

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  10. Ebay can be a pain, sometimes you get a bargin and a lot of the time you get stiffed!

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  11. Maybe if you where to start a new campaign, you could somehow eventually combine the two stories. You could do all the 1st day stuff with your new characters, followed by a few scenarios to progress their story and allowing some game time to tinker with the new rules, and eventually have the new team set up a base that they can hole up in for a while. Then you could revert back to the original campaign, say Connors over heard a radio transmission from a survivor camp when he was at the police station, and that team Vampifan should check it out. Then you can combine the two groups back into the one campaign, possibly followed by a dangerous/large scenario (base overrun ect.) to thin out the two sets of survivors into one playable group again. From there you can just continue the story with the fun of having a new campaign without abandoning the original one.

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    1. That's an interesting idea, Dave. It has a lot of merit. Vampifan's long term goals are to amass a large enough army to fight back against the zombies and to reclaim Mayhem City. So I wouldn't want to trim the numbers of his team. What i want is just the opposite - expand.

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    2. Vampifan leading an army would be awesome. Another idea for you, if after reading the new rule set you decide you want to play through the new day one stuff (if any) but not want to do a full campaign with a new set of characters, you could always revisit some of the characters Vampifan had previously met. Like where were the Wild Hogs on day one? How did the news crew they encountered cover the initial outbreak? Where the killer clowns always killer clowns?

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    3. More interesting ideas, Dave. Rather than revisit the Wild hogs, I'd much rather explore the background of Team Hale, who briefly joined forces with Team Vampifan to defeat the Wild Hogs. I still have high hopes that Team Vampifan and Team Hale will meet up again in the future and this time permanently join forces. Ditto with the media team Vampifan met. As for the Killer Klowns, let's not go there. They have always been evil and I suspect they arrived on Earth through the Hellmouth that Buffy the Vampire Slayer closed. Obviously, she missed them as they slipped under her radar.

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  12. So you have a month where you don't buy any new figures and yet your lead mountain still grows !
    You've had a great month Bryan by the sound of it, I hope there are many more to come.

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    1. Thanks, Joe. It certainly has been a good month.

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