Vampifan's Views 78 - Monthly Musings 53

What a busy month April has been for me. I'll start, as usual, with my latest picture of the gorgeous Vampirella as painted by the supremely talented Joe Jusko. Vampire and Zombie in one picture - the perfect combination for my blog.

So what has Vampifan been up to this month? First and foremost was the launch of my new blog - All Things Dungeon Crawl, which is being run on a weekly basis collectively by myself and three very good friends, games designer Stephen Gilbert, his partner Hilary and our latest recruit, Tarot Hunt. Please do check it out. Here's a link to it - http://allthingsdungeoncrawl.blogspot.co.uk/
It has one of the liveliest comments sections of any blog I've read. Feel free to join in. This week's post features our first batrep for the Chibi World game and a link to download the complete Chibi World rules for free.

On the painting front, I'm getting lots done. As well as painting brand new 28mm scale Wild West figures from various sources, I'm also repainting and re-basing many of my old 28mm scale Wild West figures. I now have loads to show you, which is a nice situation to be in. Figures that have gone off the table are 15 Crossover Miniatures Ninjas, painted up as Foot Assassins to use as opponents for my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I also painted a stunningly beautiful Black Scorpion Birthday Girl as a St. Trinian's sixth former. She was such a pleasure to paint - drool! Currently on my painting table are 5 North Star Wild West gunfighters and 6 civilians, 6 Greebo Games not-TMNT allies and villains, 2 Ninja All Stars Ronin and a Super Dungeon Explore Mini-Boss. Quite a mix, I'm sure you'll agree.

Despite my efforts to cut down on spending more money on Kickstarter projects I failed spectacularly this month and backed two within a week or so of each other. First up was the new sci-fi/Western game by Soda Pop Games called Rail Raiders Infinite. This just ticked so many boxes for me - sci-fi, Wild West, Chibi miniatures and simple and fast game play. You can check out my preview of it here.
The other game I backed was Rum and Bones: Second Tide, which was another no-brainer for me, seeing as I loved the first Rum and Bones game so much. Please, no one remind me that I have yet to paint any figures for this game (yes, Simon, I am thinking of you!). I know and I will get round to them... sometime.

One thing that did please me immensely was that I managed to play 3 games a total of 8 times this month. WOOT! All of them were games that arrived this month. First up, I played two games of Thunderbirds by Modiphius Games. This parcel contained the three expansion sets I had ordered when I first backed this Kickstarter project. Expansion set 1 adds three new player characters to the mix - Brains, Parker and Tin-Tin. Expansion set 2 adds 10 new non-International Rescue vehicles to aid in rescues. Expansion set 3, which I haven't played and to be honest, am not too keen on, sees the villainous Hood take a much more active part in the game as a player character in his own right. The two games I played used the first two expansion sets, individually, not together.

The second game that I played was Airfix Battles, which is also produced by Modiphius Games. It is a simple World War 2 boardgame played at squad levels. You do have the option to replace the card counters with your Airfix toy soldiers and model tanks if you so desire. The game is fast, fun and easy to play. In fact, I enjoyed playing it so much I played it five times in three days. The game is designed to be played by 1 to 4 players. Despite the solo play rules, I played all of my games with the rules for a two player game. Funnily enough, all five of my games resulted in resounding victories for either the Allies or the Germans. There was never a closely fought game where the outcome was in doubt. The setting is Normandy in 1944, starting just after the D-Day landings. If there is interest in the game I'll do a full review later. This was not a Kickstarter project. I bought it purely for nostalgic reasons as I used to collect hundreds of Airfix figures and models as a youngster. It costs £24.99.

The third and final game that I played (just the once) was Project Z by Warlord Games. Yes, folks, what we have here is yet another zombie apocalypse game. This was designed primarily as a game for those who collect the former Wargames Factory plastic multi-part zombie and survivor figures. Warlord Games now produce these sets and have added two new sets to the range - bikers and special forces troopers. All of these figure sets are excellent and you can mix and match the parts between the sets giving you so much variety and choices. However, whilst the figures are top notch the game failed to impress me. I will do a full review of the game next time as it is very relevant to this blog but my advice to you would be buy the figures but don't buy the game.

Vampifan's Views 72 - Monthly Musings 48

Miss Vampirella November 2015 - Paula Labaredas

November's Vampirella model is actress, cosplayer and model, Paula Labaredas. Portuguese American beauty Paula started her career on a very promising note by winning her very first acting award, the “Shining Star Award.” She then hit the Big Apple (NYC) landing a starring role as a series regular in an international soap opera, “Mausum.” She has had the honour of working with legendary actor Al Pacino and the renowned producer/director Roger Corman. As a correspondent, Paula's charm, versatility, and doer attitude has given her the opportunity to interview such greats as James Cameron, Morgan Freeman, Patrick Stewart, Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell among others.
A model and an internet sensation, Paula’s modelling pics continuously go viral. She reached 9,000 followers, within two weeks, on Instagram.
Her last name "Labaredas" means flame in Portuguese. Normally, Paula has blonde hair. I'm not sure if she's wearing a wig for her Vampirella photo shoot or if she has dyed her hair. She is not as busty as Vampi but she still looks the part. Although Vampirella rarely uses firearms it does happen occasionally, so I have no problem with Paula holding a pistol in this photo.

It has been an interesting month for me with highs and lows. The low point was my failing health resulting in a short stay in hospital. On the plus side, I am back to normal health now. Moving on to the high points, it was my 58th birthday on the 24th of this month. I received a cheque from my mum for a large amount of money which left me speechless. I knew she was going to give me a cheque but I had no idea she was going to make it so huge. I am thankful beyond belief for having the best mum any son could wish for. God bless her!
My brother bought me two DVDs - the boxed set of "Bones: series 10" and "Mad Max: Fury Road," both of which were much appreciated.
The gift that I bought myself (well, you have to, don't you?) was the "Timber Peak" expansion set for the board-game of "Last Night On Earth." I plan on playing lots of games of LNOE in the new year as it is a game I have shamefully neglected for far too long.

I have only recently started painting figures again after a five week sabbatical whilst I was lacking any energy and just couldn't be bothered. So what's on the painting table? The last 12 Berserker Zombies for Zombicide, 4 Heresy Miniatures Vampires and 4 Studio Miniatures Survivors (the 4 heroes from Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" film). They're all over half way done by now.

I have also managed to play two very different games recently. First up was The Forgotten King expansion for Super Dungeon Explore using the Arcade Mode rules. These differ from the Consul Mode rules in that they are better suited for solo-play, although you can still play with multiple players working co-operatively. Heroes roll dice as normal but the bad guys have fixed stats for offence and defence, so roll no dice and their actions are determined by the draw of cards. Being such a big fan of SDE, I thoroughly enjoyed this new experience. I plan on playing many more games as I become more proficient with the new rules. At some point I'd love to post a batrep of a TFK game, especially one involving the Von Drakk Manor tiles and figures aided by the Stilt Town Zombies set of figures, thus mixing all of my SDE undead figures together.

The other game I have been playing a lot of is the Thunderbirds 50th Anniversary Co-operative board-game. As a child, I grew up with a deep love for Gerry Anderson's iconic puppet series. That love and affection has never faded and when I saw the announcement in February of this year that Modiphus were going to launch a new Thunderbirds board-game on Kickstarter I knew I had to back it. As Kickstarters go this was relatively cheap. £40 got you the board-game on its own or £65 got you the board-game plus all the add-ons. Naturally, I opted to pay £65. I have the board-game but the add-ons are due for release shortly. I don't mind waiting as it gives me time to learn the basics. There is much to admire about this game if you are a fan of the show, not least is the fact that it is designed for 1 to 4 players. Games with the solo play option always appeal to me!

Initial set up for 4 players. Solo players use 3 characters.

This is without doubt the best piece of merchandise released this year for the 50th anniversary of Thunderbirds. This game is a fantastic tribute, and playing it, you really do feel immersed in the show. Players each take on a character from International Rescue (Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon, John or Lady Penelope) and a craft, and work together to perform rescues on Thunderbirds-themed disasters and try to prevent the Hood's three nefarious schemes before it's too late. If too many disasters build up or if the Hood's schemes aren't defeated soon enough, the players lose. If all the Hood's schemes are defeated you win. There is a deep sense of satisfaction as you work together to carry out the rescues and defeat each of the Hood's schemes. The game has adjustable difficulty to make the game harder or easier, depending on how successful you are at completing rescues and foiling the Hood's schemes. Everything has been well designed: the counters, cards, dice and board. Production value is second to none.
Anyone doubting the long-lasting appeal of Thunderbirds should take note of a recent poll commissioned to find the most popular ITV series of all time. Thunderbirds came second behind "Auf Weidersehen, Pet." Not bad for a 50 year old TV series! The board-game is now available to buy from various retail outlets for around £40. It's fast, fun, easy to play and I absolutely love it.