Battle Systems Urban Apocalypse Terrain part 1

This post originally appeared in The Gamer's Cupboard blog, which has now died and is lying in the morgue awaiting either burial or cremation. I used to be an editor of that blog and whilst I'm not that bothered that most of my posts for it will be lost forever, there were two, featuring my reviews of the Battle Systems Urban Apocalypse Terrain sets that I wanted to keep, hence my decision to repost them here. The text has been slightly modified to bring it more up to date. I know that some of you will have already seen this post before. Please bear with me. But most of you won't have seen this post before, as the Gamer's Cupboard only had a very small following.
As soon as I saw the notice that Battle Systems were planning to launch an Urban Apocalypse Terrain set project on Kickstarter in September 2015 I knew I had to back it. Of all of the Kickstarter projects I have backed, this was the one that excited me the most. As each new stretch goal and add-on was announced I knew that a) I wanted it, and b) this was going to cost me a fortune. In short, I wanted everything that Battle Systems produced for this project. At first, it was just the city scenery, but one pack would never satisfy my needs. So I ended up ordering four full sets. It was cheaper buying the four together than four sets separately. This was enough to cover an area 4 feet square. Then the Shanty Town sets were announced and I saw even more possibilities. I ordered two full Shanty Town sets.  Just as the project was drawing to a close, Battle Systems added suburban houses and of course, I wanted them. Combined with other add-ons like the fire station, police station, art deco buildings, diner/casino and loads of other scenery items I ended up ordering a whole load of goods. This was something I REALLY, REALLY wanted. I could see my gaming hobby being transformed by these amazing sets.
Building card terrain and buildings is something I have always been interested in. Indeed it first started in the late 1970's when I began scratch-building 54mm scale Wild West buildings. I learned a lot from making them and that experience stood me in good stead when it came to making 28mm scale buildings and scenery for my zombie apocalypse games. I began making 28mm buildings in the early 2000's and started off by making contemporary buildings and scenery produced by World Work Games. I then moved on to the catalogue of card models from Stoelzel's Structures. I made loads of card buildings for my zombie apocalypse games but in recent years I have slowed down considerably. These new sets by Battle Systems were like a breath of fresh air to me. They had everything I loved about card terrain - interior details, detachable floors and roofs, made of thick card for strength and durability, incredibly detailed textures and of course, furniture and other scenery items to help bring a gaming board to life. Plus, these had the added bonus of being quick to assemble with no gluing required (although I do glue small items like furniture and street items). And when you've finished your game you can un-clip them and store everything away flat. Absolutely perfect!

Shown in the photo above is one of the boxes that the Urban Apocalypse Terrain sets came in. The Shanty Town sets have a different cover.

Inside the box are some of the items you get with this set. Shown here are the floors, roofs, ruined walls and hidden under those walls are the rooftop railings. I'm using the boxes to store all of my large flat items.

In this box are all of the undamaged walls from this set. This box, like the one above, contains the pieces from four boxed sets. It includes three types of exterior walls. All of the interior walls are identically coloured. The doors that come with the walls are kept in a separate box, which I haven't shown.

This plastic compartment box of mine (I have loads of these, which I buy online from Amazon UK, and they are very versatile) contains all of the grey plastic pegs (shown in the top two rows) used to clip the parts together. You will need a lot of them and although you get enough in each boxed set to make all of the contents of that box I ordered some extras just to be on the safe side, in case I ever make a massive town set. The other two rows contain counters to show the placement of stairs, manhole covers, lots of signs, computer monitors, wooden pallets and an assortment of scatter items.

 So, let me show you what I came up with for my very first build. First of all, this set up uses one of the gaming mats, which I must say are superb. The colours on them are so rich and vibrant but more importantly, very realistic. The mats are made up of strong neoprene plastic that can be folded up after use but still retains its shape when laid out flat. I love them!

Here is a different wide angle shot. Note, that with these sets, you need not be limited by the space you have on your gaming table. One obvious solution if you're strapped for space is to build upwards. I have tried to show this by showing what a five-storey apartment can look like. Oh, and how cool are those fire escapes? I have placed my 28mm scale figure of Vampifan in all of these photos to give you a sense of scale. That apartment is 600mm wide (approximately two feet).

From the front, the apartment looks like one big building but it is actually made up of three separate buildings. To be fair, by placing internal walls with doors there is nothing stopping you from making it one big building or even numerous smaller buildings all combined into one block.

Here is a closer view of Vampifan on the roof of the fifth storey. In case you're wondering, it took me just under three hours to build this cityscape.

 Here we have an overhead view of this set-up.

Finally, here is a shot showing the main street from closer to ground level. You get two types of awnings for your buildings - wide (shown to the right) and narrow (shown to the left) in red or blue. I have made loads of street furniture and interior furniture but I have only shown a few of them. In the foreground you can see a dumpster. The lid comes off but if you prefer you can glue it in place. I have glued the sides of it but left the lid detachable. I wonder if the BS-Mart sign stands for Bryan Scott's Mart? Probably not, but it's nice to think so.

Let us have a closer look at the three buildings starting with the ruined store. Actually, the lowest two floors are intact but the top floor has suffered major damage. This explains why this city set is called Urban Apocalypse Terrain. It is specifically designed for a post-apocalypse setting. You don't have to make every building a ruin. Check out the supermarket shown in greater detail below.

Here, Vampifan has dropped down a level. I have added a few internal walls to these buildings but I have not added any back walls. Normally, I would include back walls. They are useful for photography purposes if they'd be seen in a photo but for gaming purposes they can be left off to make it easier to place figures inside. Of course, all of the floors and roofs are detachable. They are just lightly clipped in place, making it easier to remove a floor or roof to gain access to the interior.

This is the two-storey supermarket. The walls are meant to represent glass and metal. They do work but I am used to making all of my windows for my card buildings out of transparent plastic. Given the restraints of the designs I know this would not be a feasible option. Still, I do miss my transparent windows, but hey, this only a very minor complaint, so it's no big deal. The billboard on the roof is one of two designs you can use, but I guess you could always use your own poster, suitably cut to size to use instead. It's something I'm planning on doing. In the centre of the roof is an air-conditioning unit.

Here I show the ground floor of the supermarket with the upper floor removed. Note the door to the small room Vampifan is in comes with a small stand. It is up to you whether you want your doors open or closed. This one is partially open. The double doors at the front of the store are closed.  Once I add my furniture items these buildings will really come to life.

Vampifan has moved across the road to the large apartment building. The Stop barrier is one of the many street furniture items I have made. One thing to point out about it is that I painted the edges of it. This is very important. Trust me on this ! You can use felt-tip pens if you want. I have a thick black magic marker that I use on the edges of any items that are black, like the fire escapes. The beauty of edging is that it brings an item to life and makes it look like it should and not an obvious cardboard cut-out with jarring light grey edges. I prefer edging with paints because I can get a much closer match to the surrounding colours but my god, it is slow and tedious work. Still, just look at that Stop sign and appreciate how realistic it looks.

Vampifan is now moving up the fire escapes. I have to admit, these are one of my favourite building accessory items. They really bring this building to life. Plus, just imagine the fun you can have on them in a game. So many possibilities!

Moving inside, Vampifan wonders what happened to all of the furniture and all of the people? Is he the "Last Man on Earth"? And where's that mournful wailing sound coming from?
This is just meant as a small insight into what can be done with a few of these boxed sets. There were far more walls and floors that I didn't use than those I did use. Plus you can combine these sets with any of the other sets in this range. I have just concentrated on a few pieces from one of the Urban Apocalypse sets. Still to come will be reviews of the Shanty Town sets, the fire station, police station, art deco mansion, suburban houses and lots more, including mixing and matching sets.
My god, I am in gaming heaven! My mind is filled with ideas of what I can do with these sets in future games. Yes, I will be starting up a new All Things Zombie campaign, starring Vampifan once again, but most likely with new supporting characters. But before then, I will begin my long awaited (well, for me anyway) Judge Dredd Miniatures Game campaign. I have played many games of Judge Dredd using various rules sets including a couple I designed myself. But they all used flat 2-D maps for gaming on. It was always a dream of mine to play Judge Dredd using 3D terrain. Now that dream can come true. Recently, Mega City one suffered catastrophic damage, so much of it lies in ruins. This makes these sets ideal for gaming in the "Big Meg". Even better, Battle Systems recently announced that their next Kickstarter project will be sci-fi terrain. It's due to start later in 2016. Oh joy! By combining the urban terrain sets with the sci-fi terrain sets I can make a superb looking Mega city One. I can't wait.
But, just think of what else you can do with these sets. Just off the top of my head I'm thinking Heroclix and/or Horrorclix, World War 2 city fighting, pulp fiction, 7TV2e style games, cyberpunk gaming, like Shadowrun, for example. So many choices, so many ideas. You'll be seeing a lot more of these sets on my blog, particularly in upcoming batreps.
Good news for those of you who missed out on the Kickstarter project, Battle Systems now have all of the Urban Apocalypse Terrain sets up for sale on their webstore. Here's the link to it - http://shop.battlesystems.co.uk/urban-apocalypse-terrain-8-c.asp

JDMG Scenario 01 - The Barko Brothers

I promised that I'd post my first Judge Dredd Miniatures Game early in January 2017 and I do like to keep my promises, so here it is. For my JDMG batreps I wanted to do something very different to my usual batreps. Judge Dredd is primarily a comic strip and this is how I wanted to present my batreps. The program I'm using is called Comic Life 3 as it fits my needs perfectly. First, I needed a name for my comic strips. Judge Dredd was out because he will hardly ever appear in my campaign. My campaign is centred around a team of Judges operating out of Sector 13, led by my alter ego, Street Judge Scott. The team will be made up of other Judges named after fellow bloggers and friends. So, I decided to call the strip, Judges of Mega City One.
The first game I played was based on the introductory scenario found in the JDMG rulebook entitled, The Barko Brothers. The premise is that Judge Scott has received a tip from one of his informants that the Barko Brothers are looking to ambush him next time he enters the shanty town territory of the Howlin' Wolves, a street gang from Chester Burnett Bock. He rushes to the area in order to catch the perps unaware, before they can set their trap, and to bring them to justice.
THE FORCES - MEGA CITY ONE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Street Judge Scott - Level:1 Infantry Hero with 0 Experience Points and worth 150 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +2, Shoot +2, Melee +1, Melee Dice 2D, Will +2, Armour +5, Hits 2.
Equipment - Boot Knife, Daystick, Lawgiver Mk II Pistol, Stumm Gas Grenades and Standard Issue Armour.
Talents - Academy Star and Voice of Command.
THE FORCES - THE BARKO BROTHERS
Rex Barko - Level:1 Punk Infantry Hero with 1 Experience Point and worth 90 Credits. 
Stats - Move 5", Agility +1, Shoot +1, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 2.
Equipment - 2x Sawed Off Stump Gun Rifles.
Talents - Brave and Drokk the Law!

Butch Barko - Level:0 Punk Infantry Minion with 0 Experience Points and worth 35 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 1.
Equipment - Stump Gun Rifle and Knife.

Bailey Barko - Level:0 Punk Infantry Minion with 0 Experience Points and worth 30 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 1.
Equipment - Hand Gun Pistol.

Bob Barko - Level:0 Punk Infantry Minion with 0 Experience Points and worth 30 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 1.
Equipment - Hand Gun Pistol.

Benji Barko - Level:0 Punk Infantry Minion with 0 Experience Points and worth 30 Credits.
Stats - Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot +0, Melee +0, Melee Dice 2D, Will +0, Armour +0, Hits 1.
Equipment - Antique Revolver and Knife.

This gave the Barko Brothers a Credits score of 215 compared to the Justice Department's Credits score of 150. Ideally, both forces should be of roughly equal value but that is not a rule I will be rigidly adhering to. Despite the big difference in the scores, I still felt that the advantage lay with Judge Scott. His stats are far superior to any of the Barko Brothers.
SET UP
I played my fight on a four feet by two feet battlefield using gaming mats, buildings and scenery items from my Battle Systems Urban Apocalypse Shanty Town sets. The board was split into six sections, each measuring 16" by 12". The Barko Brothers have been caught by surprise and are spread out. In addition, they are placed in separate sections of the battlefield at least 5" from the edge of their sections. Judge Scott enters the central unoccupied section within 5" of the edge of the battlefield. He has the initiative and will act first in each Turn.

 SPECIAL RULES
In the confusion of the fight, none of the brothers, except for Rex (who may move freely), may leave their section. If Rex ends a phase in the same section as one of his brothers, they can move without restriction across the whole battlefield for the rest of the game.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
The fight continues until all of the models in one of the forces have been removed from the battlefield. The remaining force is the victor.

AFTERMATH
All that remained to do was work out what happened to the Barko Brothers and to calculate the Experience Points that Judge Scott earned. Both Rex and Benji were killed in the explosion from Judge Scott's Hi-Ex round. Bailey was injured in the body and suffered a -1 penalty to his Agility and Melee stats. He served a full term in the iso-cubes. Bob also served a full term in the iso-cubes. Butch was sent to the cubes but during an escape attempt he was shot and suffered a crippling injury to his left leg, resulting in a -1 penalty to his Move and Agility stats. His sentence was increased.
Judge Scott earned the following Experience Points:
+1 for surviving the battle.
+2 for arresting two Minions.
+2 for slaying two Minions.
+1 for slaying a Level:1 Hero.
This earned Judge Scott 6 Experience Points, enough to raise him to Level:3. However, a model cannot go up more than one level per battle. If a model should gain enough Experience Points to do so, it will stop 1 point short of that required to go up the second level, with any excess lost. 4 points was required for him to reach Level:3 but he was capped at 3 Experience Points on Level:2. He added +1 to his Will stat, giving him a score of +3 and added +1 to his Hits, bringing them up to 3. He also acquired a new Talent, Voice of Justice, which allows him to re-roll any failed Arrest check. Finally, his Credits score increased by +25 to 175.
CONCLUSION
That was just so much fun. The rules were very simple to learn and easy to play. I'd printed out some Quick Reference Sheets for the rules as well as Character Record Sheets for all of the primary characters in the game, but hardly referred to them at all during the game. For me, what really made that game come alive was the stunning scenery from Battle Systems. It worked perfectly for a slum part of Mega City One but would work just as well in any post apocalypse setting. I added a couple of resin cast wrecked cars to add to the run down feel of the area as well as a smattering of civilian bystanders, some of whom ended up with speaking parts.
I have to say that I am very impressed with Comic Life 3. I got to grips with it very quickly as I had a few practice attempts at creating a comic before I played this scenario. I could have included a detailed rundown of what exactly happened in the game, including dice rolls and modifiers but really, is that necessary? What counts the most is the story and I found this the perfect format for recounting this batrep. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed playing it. There'll be another Judges of Mega City One story very soon, featuring some of the rest of Judge Scott's team.
NOTE
If you find the pictures and captions are too small to see or read don't worry. There is a simple solution. First, left click on any of the pics. This will take you to a new screen showing all of the pics without the text. Next, right click on any of the pics, say for example page 1 of the comic. This will give you a menu of options. Left click on the top one, View Image. If you hover your mouse over the picture, you'll see a plus sign in a white circle. Left click it and the picture will double in size, making it very easy to read. If you press the arrow key at the top left corner of your screen that will take you back to the blog. Sadly, you'll have to go through this procedure for every picture you want to magnify but it's only a few clicks so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Into the Time Vortex 10th and 12th Doctors and Companions

Happy New Year everyone! I thought I'd start the year off with something non-Judge Dredd related as you'll be seeing a lot more Judge Dredd Miniatures Games stuff very soon. Late last year, Warlord Games brought out a few sets of figures from the Doctor Who TV series, having acquired the rights to produce figures and a game based on this considerably large property. These initial figure sets included Judoon, the Silence, Zygons and the Tenth and Twelfth Doctors with some of their respective companions. The Doctors and their companions interested me far more than the aliens and so I bought both sets. I'm sure that most of you are very familiar with who these characters are but for those of you who aren't, I'm supplying brief backgrounds taken from the boxed sets themselves.

Charismatic, witty and full of the joys of life on one hand, the Tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant) was equally capable of righteous fury in the blink of an eye. Arguably the most ruthless of the Doctor's incarnations, the Tenth Doctor was deeply aware of his dark, dangerous capabilities and uncompromising character, fully understanding the need for a companion to ground him. Whether facing Daleks, Weeping Angels, Sontarans or Cybermen, the Tenth Doctor does so with a ready quip, steely determination and great hair!
Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper) started her adventure with the Ninth Doctor as he saved her from the Nestene Consciousness's Auton attack. During her time in the TARDIS, Rose was instrumental in making Captain Jack Harkness immortal and the inception of the Torchwood Institute. Rose will most fondly be remembered for her heart-wrenching separation from the Tenth Doctor in the new series 2 finale, Doomsday.

The Doctor first encountered medical student Martha Jones (played by Freema Agyeman) in Smith and Jones when the Judoon pursuing an alien criminal transported the Royal Hope Hospital to the Moon! Intelligent and independent, Martha would save both the Doctor and the human race from the clutches of the Master (Last of the Time Lords). She would go on to work for both UNIT and Torchwood after leaving the Doctor's side.
Outspoken and strong-willed, Donna Noble (played by Catherine Tate) would bond with the Doctor's spare hand to become part Time Lord - the "Doctor Donna" as the Ood had predicted. To save her mind from being consumed by the Time Lord/human meta-crisis, the Doctor wiped her memories of their adventures before returning her home to Chiswick.
Donna Noble's grandfather, Wilfred Mott (played by Bernard Cribbins) was unusually open-minded about the extraterrestrial. The strongly patriotic former soldier encouraged Donna to travel with the Doctor and then eventually joined them himself. Wilf had an almost paternal relationship with the Doctor, even willing to sacrifice himself in a radiation-soaked booth during The End of Time, although ultimately the Doctor takes his place.

With a face taken from the Roman Caecilius during the Fires of Pompeii episode to remind himself that the Doctor saves people, he is, like many previous Doctors, young at heart. Often to be found playing his electric guitar, the Twelfth Doctor (played by Peter Capaldi) aimed for a more minimalist look this time but is worried he now looks like a magician. The renegade Time Lord's twelfth metamorphosis is older than recent regenerations and his abrupt manner coupled with what he refers to as "angry" eyebrows conceals a troubled identity as he comes to grips with whether he is a good man or not. With Clara a distant memory after she wiped his mind of recent events the Doctor needs a new companion to keep him safe from himself.
Clara Oswald (brilliantly played by Jenna Coleman) is "The Impossible Girl". After all, how could she exist in several different points in time and space? Her modern day iteration developed a strong bond with the Eleventh Doctor - so much so that she sacrificed herself into the Doctor's time stream determined to save him in his past. Initially finding it difficult to accept the Twelfth Doctor's transformation after regeneration, the two would warm to his brusque character, once describing herself as his "carer".

Finally, are the Paternoster Gang, made up of Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax. Awoken from thousands of years of hibernation, Vastra (played by Neve McIntosh) went on a rampage to avenge her kin killed during the construction of the London Underground, before the Doctor persuaded the Silurian to instead integrate into Victorian society. Eventually earning the title "Madame", Vastra would also become known as "the Great Detective" as she aided Scotland Yard in many cases. Madame Vastra cannot shake her Silurian heritage and has been known to eat humans - albeit unpleasant ones like Jack the Ripper!
Madame Vastra's wife, Jenny Flint, (played by Catrin Stewart) works as her maid to conceal their relationship from Victorian society. Equally capable in unarmed combat and swordsmanship, Jenny is a formidable opponent, facing such foes as The Great Intelligence, The Headless Monks and the Crimson Horror. The Eleventh Doctor called Jenny "everyone's favourite lock-picking chambermaid".
To preserve the honour of his clone batch, Commander Strax (played by Dan Starkey) served as a nurse as a punishment for being defeated by the Doctor during the Sontaran invasion of Earth. Strax now serves Madame Vastra as a butler in Victorian London. Strax has a hard time differentiating genders and is prone to lapsing back into Sontaran warrior ways to solve problems with brute force and a typical Sontaran willingness to die in battle. On his day off, Strax would travel to Glasgow to pick fights with the "pleasant primitives."

It is fair to say that these figures have come in for a bit of criticism from some gamers. Some thought they were too tall and/or too static and others were not happy with Warlord Games issuing "cease and desist" orders to companies such as Crooked Dice Games and Heresy Miniatures for making unofficial figures from the Doctor Who series. My view is that I dismiss all of these criticisms. I have nothing but the highest praise for this new range. The figures are roughly 35mm tall, but they come with very thin bases, which puts them level with a 28mm tall figure mounted on a slottabase. Also, being slightly larger than normal I have to say that made them easier to paint and I thoroughly enjoyed painting all ten of them. As for them being too static, I don't see that as being a problem. Doctor Who is more about solving problems with his brain than fighting. As for the three companions who are more used to violent solutions, Vastra, Jenny and Strax, they all look ready for a fight as Vastra prepares to draw her katana, Jenny holds her dagger menacingly and Strax raises his right hand in a clenched fist. None of the other companions were noted for their fighting prowess so their poses capture them perfectly. As for the "cease and desist" notices I can't blame Warlord Games for wanting to protect their property. I have most of the non-Doctor Who figures and I must say, they are not as well sculpted as these ten I'm showing here. Others may disagree and they are perfectly entitled to their opinions. I have no problem with that. But the bottom line is that I love this new range and I can see me buying a lot more as and when they are produced. I am particularly looking forward to getting the plastic Cybermen and Daleks sets, as well as the Into the Time Vortex rulebook later this year.
I should mention that I was particularly pleased that Warlord Games chose to release figures for the Tenth and Twelfth Doctors. David Tennant is my favourite Doctor and Peter Capaldi my second favourite. Yes, I do prefer the new series to the old series. Also, I was especially thrilled to get a near perfect figure of Clara Oswald, my favourite companion of all time. In every episode she appeared in she was, in my opinion, the star of the show. My love for Clara is surpassed only by my love for Vampirella, which is my highest praise possible.

Vampifan's Views 86 - Monthly Musings 60

My main Christmas present of 2016.

As 2016 draws to a close I want to take this opportunity to look back on the year and to tell you of my plans for 2017. I'll start off by telling you about some of the presents I received this Christmas. As is usual my mum gave me a big cheque so that I could buy whatever I wanted for myself. Each year I like to buy a large scale statue of Vampirella and so when I saw the statue pictured to the left of here being advertised about six months ago I immediately ordered it. Fortunately for me, I placed my order to America just before the referendum for the UK to stay in or leave the European Union took place. As a consequence I got a good deal with the exchange rate with the pound against the dollar. The statue cost $190 and I paid about £125 for it. If I'd ordered it today it would cost me £155 at the current exchange rate. It is produced by Dynamite, who are also the producers of the Vampirella monthly comic, as part of their series of statues honouring the Women of Dynamite. Here's what the blurb about the statue says, "Based on the work of comics sensation J. Scott Campbell and sculpted by the ever-talented Jason Smith, the debut statue in the brand-new "Women of Dynamite" line brings Vampirella, the iconic horror hostess and heroine, to life in all her glory! Hand-painted on cold-cast porcelain, the Vampirella statue stands approximately 12" in height with a 6" base, with each individually numbered as part of a Limited Edition run of 1969 statues (celebrating the year that Vampirella first appeared). The Women of Dynamite: Vampirella statue comes packaged in a four-colour box with a hand-numbered Certificate of Authenticity. The ravishing, raven-tressed vampire has never been so beautifully represented in three dimensions, the perfect addition to every hardcore fan's collection!" I received my statue in October but kept it boxed until Christmas day. Naturally, I'm delighted with it and it brings my number of Vampirella statues to six. Directly below are a lot more photos of my newest Vampirella statue.

That wasn't the only piece of Vampirella memorabilia I received. In mid-December a small parcel arrived for me containing a rather delightful Vampirella bottle opener. You can see it to the right of here. It is such an unusual item and I knew I wanted it as soon as I saw it. I keep it as a decorative ornament on my painting desk. Being teetotal, it is unlikely I will ever use it as a bottle opener - I only ever drink water. But as a fanatical Vampirella fanboy I am really thrilled with it. It brings a smile to my face whenever I look at it.

I also bought myself a new boardgame and its one expansion set. What, another boardgame? I hear you say. Yes, but this is very different to all of my other boardgames. For a start it does not include any miniature figures. First though, a bit of background history. From childhood I have always been fascinated with castles. This came from my father's love of castles. He was always photographing them whenever we went away on holiday. My brother and I followed in his footsteps and developed a passion for architecture. My brother actually works as an architect. I have visited many castles throughout the UK but my favourite castle of all time is situated in Bavaria, Germany. It is Neuschwanstein Castle, built by King Ludwig II in the late 19th century.

This impressive castle perched on a mountain top was the inspiration for Walt Disney's fairytale castle in Disney World. So, when  I saw the boardgame called Castles of Mad King Ludwig with a picture of Neuschwanstein on the front cover I became very interested. I read numerous reviews of it and watched a lot of reviews and how to play videos on YouTube and liked what I saw. It is a game for 1 to 4 players and each player takes on the role of the King's architect and must build a castle using tiles of various sizes and monetary value. Bonus points can be awarded by building certain types of tiles. The player who builds the most expensive castle after the deck of cards has run out is the winner. The rules are quite simple but there is a lot of strategy and decision making involved. I showed my brother the game and he was very enthusiastic about playing it. This was unusual as he is a computer gamer and he has never shown any interest in wanting to play any of my other boardgames. Finally, I have found a boardgame that he wants to play. Result! I mentioned that the game has rules for solo play, which was a big reason for me buying it. I've played a few solo games of it and found it a lot of fun. This is a game that really appeals to me but is unlikely to ever feature on my blog again.

I'd like to thank the following people for their kindness, for being such good friends and for sending me some amazing Christmas presents.
To Steve from The Gamers Cupboard for gifting me the Z Nation series 1 DVD boxed set. I know very little about this series but I am certain I will enjoy it, after all, it has zombies in it! 😊
To Roger from Rantings from under the Wargames Table for sending me an assortment of five very different comics and a copy of Ragnarok fanzine. I especially liked the GOMC1 scenario in the fanzine.
To Dave from Wargames Terrain Workshop for proving once again that you get the best customer service from the little companies. His enthusiasm for Judge Dredd matches my own and I truly value his friendship. He very kindly sent me a couple of unique gifts when I placed a big order with him early in December - a beautiful 28mm scale figure of Tweak the alien from the Judge Dredd The Cursed Earth Saga and an alternative version of Warlord Games' Oz Judge on Trike, which I consider far superior to the official version. I'll show both of these figures early next year. Indeed, you'll be seeing a lot of Dave's figures from WTW on my blog throughout 2017.

To Andy from Da Gobbos Grotto for making me a member of his illustrious "Nerd Herd" and for sending me my own personalised dice bag, as shown in the photo above. I will use it to store my Warlord Games 10-sided dice, which I'll be using for my Judge Dredd Miniatures Game campaign. Great timing, Andy!
To Christine, my next door neighbour, who is well aware of my love of Vampirella and all things Gothic horror. She bought me this wonderfully sculpted purple dragon perched atop a giant skull (see the photo above). I was totally gob-smacked when I unwrapped it. She knows me well and correctly surmised it would be right up my street, so to speak. It was such a surprise to receive it but I couldn't be happier. It has great gaming potential.
To my brother, Mikie, who bought me the Bones series 11 DVD boxed set. He was on safe ground as I did ask him to get it for me.
Finally, to my mum for the exceedingly generous cheque and also for the huge bar of Cadbury's chocolate, which I used as a backdrop in the photo above. Yes, that's an 850gm bar of chocolate. I didn't think it too much!

Looking back on 2016 there were lots of highs and very few lows. From a gaming perspective, for me, the best thing to happen was when I received my massive amount of Battle Systems Urban Apocalypse Terrain sets. These will feature very prominently in my zombie games such as All Things Zombie and The Walking Dead, as well as my Judge Dredd Miniatures Game campaign. I have yet to showcase them in a batrep but that will change very, very soon. These sets will have the biggest impact on how I game in the future. I have always loved making card buildings and scenery but the big drawback to making them is that they are very time consuming and labour intensive. Battle Systems has created terrain that can be assembled and disassembled in a matter of minutes. And best of all, it looks AMAZING!

This neatly brings me on to my plans for 2017. Followers of my blog will know that I have spent the past two months showcasing some of my extensive collection of Judge Dredd miniatures. These are just the prelude to what will be a huge ongoing campaign based on the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game rules by Mongoose Publishing. My first JDMG batrep will appear in early January 2017, so you won't have long to wait for it. I am thinking of presenting my JDMG batreps in a very different format to all of my previous batreps. As you all know, Judge Dredd is based on a long-running strip in the the 2000AD comic. I'm planning on doing my JDMG batreps as a comic strip as well. I recently bought and downloaded the Comic Life 3 program, which is perfect for creating your own online comics. I'm keen to see how it turns out and what kind of response it receives. I expect the JDMG campaign will tie up a lot of my time in the foreseeable future. However, I won't be neglecting my other games and projects but I'm not sure how many of them will receive coverage on my blog. For example, this past month I have been playing loads of games of The Walking Dead by Mantic Games, but because I've been playing with unpainted figures I don't want to show any of them on my blog.

2017 will see me taking delivery of a few Kickstarter projects I backed in 2016, with the Battle Systems Sci-Fi 2 terrain sets being the one I am most eagerly awaiting. That is due in August, which feels like a long way off.

I am not going to make any New Year's resolutions. As long as my health stays good and I carry on enjoying my painting, model making and gaming I'll be happy. To all of my friends and followers I'd like to wish you a very happy New Year. I hope it is all you want it be and more!

JDMG MC1 Perps - The Angel Gang

Probably the most infamous of the street gangs seen in the Judge Dredd series are the Angel Gang, who made their first appearance in Prog #160 (published in April 1980) when Judge Dredd was involved in the Judge Child Quest in the year 2102. Although four of them were killed in that story, (Fink did not appear in this story) three of them, Pa, Junior and Mean Machine were resurrected. To date, Mean Machine has fought Dredd more times than any other perp, such is his popularity with the strip's readers and writers.
Originally based in the Texas City Badlands, the Angel Gang were the terror of muties and norms alike, raiding settlements for fun and profit. Their exploits are legendary and it has taken the skills of Judge Dredd himself (more than once) to put an end to their reign of terror. Whether in the wilderness of the Cursed Earth or in Mega City One itself, the Angel Gang are downright the nastiest, orneriest and most sadistic family you are likely to find.
All of these 32mm scale figures shown below were produced by Wargames Foundry and are still available. From left to right are Pa Angel, Link Angel, Junior Angel, two Mean Machine Angels and Fink Angel with Ratty.

Hailing from Texas City, Elmer Angel (or "Pa" to his boys) was the leader of the infamous Angel Gang. He married and brought up four sons to form his criminal family, although his wife died while giving birth to the last Angel, Junior. He is the inventor of the "Pa Angel Mark One Super-Scream Torture Machine" - a unique torture device. He was ultimately captured by Dredd and confined in Iso-Block 666. In JDMG Pa is a Level:5 Punk Infantry Hero armed with a Handgun Pistol and Knife. He wears Leather Armour and has the following Talents - Brave, Close Combat Shooter, Crackshot, Drokk the Law, Fixer and Voice of Command. He is worth 205 Credits.
Link, the second eldest son, is fiercely loyal to his family. Though often eclipsed by the abilities, reputations and exploits of his brothers, Link is a solid member of the Angel Gang and can always be relied upon to continue the solid traditions of cruelty and brutal efficiency his Pa raised him to respect. Such are his rages and appetite for destruction that Pa is often forced to chain Link up to a pole outside the family home. He was killed in 2102 in an explosion accidentally caused by Mean Angel during the Judge Child quest. In JDMG Link is a Level:3 Punk Infantry Hero armed with a Handgun Pistol, Hand Bombs, Knife and Stump Gun Rifle. He wears Leather Armour and has the following Talents - Accurate, Below the Belt, Crackshot, Deadly Strike and Dirty Fighting. He is worth 195 Credits.
Junior is the youngest of the Angel Gang and some reckon, his Pa's favourite. Of all the Angels, it is Junior who tries to follow closely in his Pa's footsteps and he is ever eager to torture or maim any innocent who crosses his path. His Pa always looks on in fond glee, happy he has raised a near mirror image of his earlier self.  He was ultimately captured by Dredd and confined in Iso-Block 666. In JDMG Junior is a Level:2 Punk Infantry Hero armed with two Handgun Pistols, Hand Bombs and a Knife. He does not wear Armour and has the following Talents - Dual Shooter, Dual Pistol Master and Luck of Grud. He is worth 165 Credits.

I have two figures for Mean Machine Angel - one before he met Judge Dredd and one where he lost his left arm after unsuccessfully trying to ambush Dredd during the Judge Child Quest. As a boy, Mean was not bad at all, and he developed a love of flowers, birds and all the cute creatures found in the Badlands. Even when Link killed his pet rabbit, Mean could not find it in himself to hate anyone or anything, something which caused his Pa no end of consternation! In the end, Pa took his gang to Texas City to kidnap a doctor who performed radical surgery upon Mean in order to to make him the baddest, orneriest Angel of the whole family. His work was an unqualified success. Given an armoured body, a cybernetic claw and a "mood" dial, Mean was to forever be kept in a constant state of anger and aggression. He was ultimately killed in 2134-2135 while heroically assisting an uprising by slaves in the Cursed Earth, although it has been suggested that he may once again revive.
In JDMG Mean Machine is a Level:6 Punk Infantry Hero armed with a Cybernetic Claw, Handgun Pistol and Knife. He has Cyber Armour and has the following Talents - Below the Belt, Brave, Careless Charge, Deadly Strike, Dirty Fighting and Just Plain Lethal. Note, he appears to be missing a Talent as he only has 6 and he should have 7 for being at Level:6. I'll probably add an extra one to him when I do his Character Record Sheet. He is worth 325 Credits. His "mood" dial has four official settings - on 1 he is Surly, on 2 he is Mean, on 3 he is Vicious and on 4 he is Brutal. These settings affect his stats in different ways. If he is on 1 or 2 he may perform any action but on a 3+ he may only perform Move or Melee actions. If Mean suffers a Hit while on 4 or a Critical Hit any other time roll a die. On a 6+ he gets locked onto 4.5 and he'll stay there for the rest of the game. When mean is on 4.5, he is in an unstoppable rage, almost oblivious to his surroundings. On the start of each turn, roll a die. On a 1-3, the Angel Gang player's opponent will choose Mean's actions and move him, as he goes completely out of control. When Mean is on 4.5 he will automatically pass any Will to Fight checks. Mean starts each game on setting 1, but he, or another Angel gang member in base to base contact with him, can spend a Special Action to change his setting.
Fink is the eldest son of Pa Angel and probably the most intelligent by far. He wandered the Cursed Earth where he learnt his incredible skill with poisons, which allowed him to prey on any unfortunate he met on his travels. Despite his natural resilience, he soon succumbed to the constant background radiation of the wasteland and slowly transformed into a terrifying mutant - a downright Fink! Fink and Ratty were killed by Judge Dredd in the year 2104. In JDMG Fink is a Level:8 Punk Infantry Hero armed with a Pizzen Stick and Ratty. He wears no Armour and has the following Talents - Below the Belt, Deadly Strike, Dirty Fighting, Infiltrator, Just Plain Lethal, Martial Artist, Silent Action, Silent Killer and Stealthy. He is worth 285 Credits. Ratty, his pet mutant rat, grants him a +1D bonus to his Melee Dice. His Pizzen Stick is both a melee and ranged weapon with Range 12", 1D Shooting Dice, AP -1 and Damage D5.
It is doubtful if I'll use any of these characters in my JDMG campaign, but like the Dark Judges, they are such an integral part of Judge Dredd's history that any serious fan will want them in his collection.