(Savage4) Tomb of Serpent 4.5 - The Evil Below

When her only son marched off to fight the king's enemies in Africa, Mama Vinadio was quite proud.  When he returned in a box two years later, she was still proud.  All she could say as they laid him to rest was "He's sleeping with the angels."

The cemetery north of Savigliano is small, walled, and laid out in sensible straight rows. On the surface it appears peaceful and orderly, but madness and chaos lies right below the surface... clawing for the relic! 

After her last dream, Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato compiled her trusted friends and associates and traveled to a Manor House in Scotland to unsuccessfully obtain an artifact.   The night before they departed back to America, Dolores had another dream, cancelled the tickets, and after some research, she and her party were heading to Italy.

Savigliano Cemetary

Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato was already on her third career.  Disgraced nobility, turn rooftop cat burgler, turned South American explorer, she only really trusted her right hand gal, Diana "Dibby" Boyle, a former nightclub singer known to go toe-to-toe with famous boxers who got a bit too frisky after the performance.   "Mango" Tangier was a seaplane pilot who needed to ditch his last plane (and very illegal cargo) into the Carribean, and Aurelio was a former reporter who fell in love with the concept of treasure hunting and adventure, but... just wasn't very good at it. 

"Mango" Tangier, Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato (Wild Card) Diana "Dibby" Boyle (Wild Card) , and Aurelio Farmer

Of, the agents of evil knew their every move, and came in force.

Objective:   Legend had it that the artifact could be found beneath the pedestal of the Wailing Statue.    As the group quickly discovered, the statue was a cursed spirit who moved from pedestal.     The heroes would need to pass two tests in the same turn to capture the statue.  Destroying the other pedestals would limit places the statue could teleport to (it could always stay in the same spot.)

And all in six turns. 

Turn One: While Mango and Dibby snuck through a hole in the wall and dashed to pedestals, El Dobbie and Aurelio quickly hop the wall.   

Dibby swallowed hard and moved to the statue in the center of the cemetery (passed horror check), prepped to seize the entity... and the statue had the audacity to move toward El Dobbie and Aurelio!

Turn Two:  El Dobbie was the target of the Serpent Priest's, but pushed the the troubling thoughts with ease, firing at and killing, one of the cultists.... but unable to focus on the statue.

Aurelio tried to play hero, but was quickly reminded he was just a goon/thug/minion.  The terror of the entity was too much, forcing him to flee, but not so much that he couldn't take a shot at the cultist sneaking around towards Dibby. 

Mango and Dibby quietly pushed over two of the pedestals, but of course, at the of the turn, the statue moved to the farthest pedestal.

Turn Three:  Another cultist killed, another exchange with Dobbie and the Priest.    The statue moves again, still out of touch.

Turn Four:  El Dobbie rushed to the Wailing Statue, in hopes that the others would push over at least one of the remaining pedestals.   They did not, instead getting locked in hand-to-hand combat.  As she looked up from the base of the pedestal she was at, she saw the Wailing Statue disappear, and reform exactly where she had just been at! 

Sonnuva! 

Turn Five:  The rest of the group's stalemate with the cultists seemed to be taking a drastic turn for the worst with the flame-haired Dibby taking a point blank shotgun blast.    With the familiar feeling of the ground rumbling beneath them, El Dobbie knew she needed the Wailing Statue to teleport back the previous pedestal if they had any chance.  

At the end of turn five... The Statue satisfied the her hopes...

Turn Six: And with another cultists killed, and the minions tending to Dibby,  Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato successfully unearthed the artifact, dispatching the tortured spirit.  

In dreams that night, El Dobbie confirmed what they all already knew.

Next destination: Egypt. 

Next: Episode 4.6 - 

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.4 - The Thing in the Well

As Napoleon's armies drew near, the master of the nearby castle fled into the woods and dropped a small bundle into a stone well.  He had hoped to return and retrieve it, but fate was not so kind, and there is remains to this day.

Centuries later, Bethany LePage and her entourage  find themselves in the Netherlands, a stone's throw from Leiden, looking for the stone well that plagued their dreams.  They knew the item was in the dark, cold water, but what they didn't realize was that the Servants of Apophis had been following them the whole way...

The cadre from the Soviet Union had found one of the artifacts of Apophis hiding in the States, the gang of "El Dobbie" Gato failed to find one up in Scotland.  The dreams of the end of the world had led dilettante Bethany LePage to the Netherlands, to that odd well that kept beckoning her in her dreams.

Our Continental Explorers (L-R) Bethany LePage, Suzanne Verlaine, William Scott, and Claire Halloway

I figured that our heroes had an advantage in the scenario.  They were already at the well and needed to spend a turn to go down the well, then achieve three different task successes, one per turn, I figured a decent contingent of cultists when put enough pressure on them, but the heroes would succeed. 

Miss LePage took it upon herself to go down the well....

I did not anticipate a statistical impossibility. 

For this game, my daughter Maja ran the third and final league of heroes for the campaign.  She had picked her figures, giving her leader, Bethany, no weapons, and the only thing bigger than a pistol was William Scott's shotgun, and William was a mook/minion level character with a Shooting die of d6 (Short range is a 4+ to hit and you can roll higher dice for better characters).

Luckily for her (I thought), the appearance of one cultist with a pistol, one Serpent Priest with spells, and the rest being cultists running amok with big swords should be sufficient.  

Early one the cultists attacked William Scott, managing to make him Shaken.  The old man shook that off like a winter chill, knocked the cultist out with the butt of his shotgun, and proceeded to track the others down like it was cultist season and there was no limit.

Oh the cultists tried, but William's shotgun kept hitting, and when they tried to reconnoiter around him, Suzanne would turn a corner and gun them down, with enough damage to take out a three-wound hero, much less a one hit mook.

Even the Serpent Priest, the poor Serpent Priest.... he threw curses at the visible characters.

They all saved...

He threw Eldritch Bolts at Claire, she took no damage.... then promptly shot at the priest and hit!

Damage:   6+6 (+1).   Dice explode in Savage Showdown, so roll the 2d6 again.

6+5

and again for the final raise

3

Twenty-seven points to the priest was three wounds over maximum, and he failed his feeble attempt to try. 

These cultists stood no chance, with none standing turn four, when LePage emerged from the well with the artifact. 

Maja's die rolling might have been the most most impressive thing I've seen someone do over the age of ten.  She made all but one of her rolls, which she used a Benny to re-roll, and each time she hit she rolled close to maximum damage each time.  Meanwhile, the cultists were rolling just below average and couldn't catch a break.  

We don't know William's backstory, but he might think pulp adventuring is a relaxing vacation. 

I had the pleasure of having my daughter over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm proud to say, the first visit as a licensed driver!  Her mother and I did run escort duty for her first visit, she driving behind Maja halfway down, and me taking her the second half of the way.  She shopped, visited friends, and was super excited to drive me down to my college buddies (+25 years) SATLOF.   

Maja completing this episode means her younger sister, Millie, has one, maybe two more scenarios until the campaign moves to Egypt.

After the game, I introduced her to Fishing28 to play while I got ready to go to a get-together with some college friends.  She approves of the system, provided some optional rules, and determined Tropical Fruit Swedish Fish are sub-par. 

Maja knew her drive was consisted of (a) a trip to her grandmothers in Easton, followed by a (b) a drive to the other side of Allentown for SATLOF.  Knowing I needed to do two things around my mother's house, and it's a home of a chronic smoker, I chose a detour to take up extra time. 

The Lehigh and Keystone Model Railroad Club open house in Bethlehem. 

From their website.  It was an all-Steam weekend.

Maja used to be my little train show companion... engineer hat, a million questions, and begging me to do the train races...

From the Allentown Train Show parking lot, 2013

We've only managed one show post-COVID, so I was worried about the weird surprise I was directing her to.  

She might be a teenager, but the second she realized the L&K recreates the Lehigh Valley Railroad (and Reading, and CNJ) and she knew all the locations, it was like she was tiny all over...  

I heartily recommend visiting the club during one of their open houses, it's fantastic.

Finally, after my mom's we headed to SATLOF, and none of my back-up games were necessary, as Steve (the host... Squiggles the Worm in our Gamma World games) had gone to PAX and picked up the complete set of Thunder Road: Vendetta with all the bells and whistles! 

Another hearty recommendation, we had ages 5 to 51 playing it, it was raucous and exciting... even if all three of my cars crashed into rocks! 

Next: Pulp Season 4, Episode 5:

(Painting) Female Armed Civilians by Brigade Games

 There are just certain figures that draw you in.  Although I had no idea of the reference when I purchased Brigade Games' Veteran with Pickaxe and Pistol, I knew I needed to order both sets of Female Armed Civilians.  Having done my due diligence, and enjoying every second of it, the full squad is ready to take on any threat that I put in front of them.

I'll be honest, the prodigious use of Seraphim Sepia ink wash I normally use might have been too perfect, since I want to use these figures in traditional Pulp games far more than they'll be killing Nazis in Lapland

Female Armed Civilians 1

Female Armed Civilians 2

We just started Tomb of the Serpent recently, and with the girls and I forming three new leagues, we exhausted my supply of painted female minis.  This is the stop-gap, just in case we need more, and I've adjusted the queue accordingly.

In the Queue - More Pulp, a few select Gnomes for a special series, and aforementioned female figures... Soviet style.

Project: 350 -  484(283/201) from 488 (281 drafts /207 scheduled).  Most of the next two weeks are already scheduled out, and we're looking at something like 50 out of the next 75 days already have material. I've mentioned it before, the only think keeping me from my goal of 350 blog drafts/scheduled posts is that 113 of those 207 scheduled posts are for holiday filler in 2027 or later! 

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.3 The Haunted Hall

There were more dreamers around the world, who dreamt of Egypt, who dreamt of ancient artifacts.  For one group, their dreams led them to Scottish Borders, through West Linton and Blyth Bridge, past Kirkurd Church and solemn gravestones, then down a narrow, tree-lined path to Fotherington Hall.  They recognized the building immediately.

I know there are some nice set-ups for Tomb of the Serpent, but my kids are more amused by building it out using Jenga blocks. 

Our Heroes

"Mango" Tangier, Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato (Wild Card) Diana "Dibby" Boyle (Wild Card) , and Aurelio Farmer

Dolores "El Dobbie" Gato was already on her third career.  Disgraced nobility, turn rooftop cat burgler, turned South American explorer, she only really trusted her right hand gal, Diana "Dibby" Boyle, a former nightclub singer known to go toe-to-toe with famous boxers who got a bit too frisky after the performance.   "Mango" Tangier was a seaplane pilot who needed to ditch his last plane (and very illegal cargo) into the Carribean, and Aurelio was a former reporter who fell in love with the concept of treasure hunting and adventure, but... just wasn't very good at it. 

TURN ONE:  Of course, the group split up in three directions.   Mango flew up the center hallway, kicking in doors, looking for anything they would help them find the relic.  

What he encountered was a strange robed individual... with no face! 

That person quickly had no pulse as Mango blasted him with his shotgun.  If anyone else was in the hall, they certainly knew they had visitors.

TURN TWO:  Dibby had a single-minded focus to reach the fireplace for some reason, but she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around when Aurelio's rifle went off.  A different dead cultist, with a giant knife, lay dead.

So far, so good.

More trouble was near, as the cultist with a tommy gun starting making too much noise in the darkness, the sound of metal clicking, and ... a dog barking?

Dolores had gone solo, and started to move a painting in the room... too many safes in walls from a past life.  The visage of a ghost appearing did surprise or hurt her all....  The faceless cultist who attacked her drew blood.   She needed to get rid of both of them, fast! 

Dolores drawing a LOT of attention. 

Mango had found a body of the maid at the end of the hall. Searching her uncovered a key that looked very old and important.    

TURN THREE:  

Mango didn't have much of a chance to think about it, as another cultist (with a hood, face status unknown) ran up and pistol-whipped him! 

Meanwhile, Dibby dodged a rain of bullets to get to the fireplace, and Dolores had her hands full with two cultists and a ghost, but held her own. 

TURN FOUR:   Gunfire was exchanged in the main room, the tommy gun finally silenced by Dibby.   Aurelio moved up carefully to investigate the barking.  

TURN FIVE:  Dibby pulled one of the wall sconces and she could hear a secret passage open... somewhere.  Aurelio found the source of the barking: a very scared old dog, properly belonging to the (probably deceased) master of the house.  He couldn't get the dog calmed down.  

TURN SIX:  Dibby wanted to explore more, but the sight of cultists running OUT of the building, rather than attacking signaled something was very wrong.  She starting moving out of the hall, firing at the escaping cultists.  Her shots were matched with Dolores' who had managed to compliment the faceless cultist with a headless one from her machete.  Grabbing her rifle, she was firing back at the cultists and ghost as she headed to the door.  

Mango couldn't take control the dog.  The rumbling floor gave the old canine a reason to run and it made it out okay.    Mango also grabbed the unlucky and unconscious Aurelio, a nice bump on his head.  

The explosion was deafening and the ensuing fire drove everyone out of the hall.  The cultists serving some evil master escape into the night, probably with the relic. 

When asked what to do now, Dolores answered calmly, "I've had other dreams,  I know where to go to next..."

I am converting the Temple of the Serpent campaign for Pulp Alley, into Savage Showdown (Savage World lite), the system, we've been using for our Pulp "Egypt" games for over a decade.  Episode 4.2 was a nail-biter until the end.  This one made me realized that there should be at least one more character in these crews.  I did find it amusing that the leader of each game thus far has been bogged down for most of the game, allowing the others to try and finish the scenario.  

After a decade of playing with the girls, I've learned to let them do their silly things, and I'll tweak things in the write-ups.  I had originally thought we would get Maja's gang up and running, but I was blessed with a lot more Millie time as I ran them back and forth from friends' houses.  Millie showed off her Gen Alpha energy, adding annoying phrases and number combinations in the names, but a simple request in ChatGPT gave us the names used in the scenario, as well as pretty elaborate back stories I toned down.  

Next: Episode 4.4 - The Thing in the Well

(Painting) Random Male Monks of Kawaii

As I mentioned before, I cleaned up the office, which meant reorganizing bins of lead... Some of the lead was rude and not only ended up on the table, but jumped the painting queue!  These monks are part of that results. 

These figures are massive compared to other figures on the bench, yet when I measured them, base-to-eyes?  25mm.  I picked these up at one of the Wally's Basements during the HMGS cons for only a couple dollars, so I have no idea who originally cast them.  They'll probably be part of my color coding process for bad guys in Season 4 of the Egypt game. 

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.2 The Craft Fair of Chaos

While our normal heroes recover from the Attack on Lake's Wharf, some sleep soundly for the first time in years.... others can't close their eyes at all during the night, staring into the darkness of what they can't see... but they know it's everywhere...

It will be other "heroes" who get the dream, like Alexander Mikoyn.  His hair is turning white.  He saw enough of the horrors of war during the Great War and the Russian Civil War.   He's seen thing men... or comrades were not meant to know, and as a high ranking agent of the SV-8, he's kept the Motherland safe, even as the threat of Stalin's purges keep his head on a swivel.

But he's never dreamt of Egypt before.  Doesn't even remember if he's ever seen more than artist's work of the pyramids, but there, in his dream, he's there, in all its vivid glory.   The old gods of Egypt are there... with a message.

He wakes up, wide-eyed.  The message is distorted and hazy, but the meaning is still clear.  A great evil is returning to the world, and he must assemble his trusted cohort and save humanity.

He must go to this... Indiana....

Alexander (Wild Card), Elani (Wild Card), Viktor, and Myshkin

Greystone, Indiana -  Mr John T Rea has always been a respectable businessman.  Scratch that, he's been a shyster and a con since the day he was born.  But the cons aren't as profitable as they once were.    Event the "Sideshow of the Incredible" hasn't been making money for weeks.  They've been forced to join forces with a popular local community craft fair... with just the flair for pranks and spookiness. 

It's the early morning, and Rea is wandering through town, grabbing a cup of coffee from the folks setting up a kitchenette in the back of a truck, before the craft fair... and his failure of a sideshow opens up.  He worries about how he's going to make payroll this week, especially after spending the last of the money on a number of supposed relics some scoundrel pawned off on him.  Egyptian in look, he's quite certain that law enforcement is going to descend on him.  He just has no idea who's coming for him that morning.  

Greystone, Indiana.  The Objectives are numbered with green dice 

Alexander Mikoyn and his associates don't know exactly what they're looking for... and they don't know the Servants of Apophis are in town for the same mission, but a far more nefarious purpose.  

The Serpent Priest, 4 Militant Cultists (guns), 1 Fierce Cultist (sword)

Turn One:  Alexander walks through the graveyard to the first objective, a broad-shouldered man kneeling in front of a gravestone.    Two-Gun Babbitt is an associate of Rea, his marksmanship and feats of daring-do bring in the nickels to the sideshow.  But he's also the whole reason they're in Greystone, wishing to visit his mother's grave, after his own dreams of Egypt trouble his mind.  

It doesn't help that a crazy old man with a thick Russian accent comes stumbling through the cemetery, barking at him with word he doesn't understand.  And what's up that the pick axe?

(Alexander is a grumpy old Russian man who kills monsters for the Soviet Union.  He gets a -2 to interact with people, plus his limp forced him to run to Mr Babbitt... another -2 modifier, and almost a guaranteed failure.  He should be grateful ol' Two Gun wasn't a perilous objective, or he quite certainly would have been shot in the face. )

Babbitt was  going to be a gentleman and start walking away to avoid a confrontation, if the bullets from the cultists didn't start flying... and missing.  A loud man barking in broken English with a Russian accent seems to attract cultists!  Even the priest tried to throw a serpent curse onto Alexander, but he easily shook it off.  

Alas, poor Mishkyn, he was dim-witted, but had survived some skirmishes with Alexander back in the Soviet Union.  We walked with no impetus towards his objective.  A rifle shot over his head made him turn to his left, and a pistol shot behind him struck his back, dropping him. 

Turn Two: Meanwhile, the only cultist who brought a sword to a gun fight rendezvoused with their contact in town.  The relic they were seeking was somewhere in town, just not with him. 

Another agent for the Servants...

The Serpent Priest was getting dispirited.  He was throwing every type of curse and eldritch blasts his dark gods had granted him at the Russian, and there was no effect, save the old man scaring away some cultists, and the other individual wandering away. 

Victor avenged his friend Miskyn's death, trading shots until the cutist's body his the truck and slumped down onto the cobblestone.   Mr Rea, finally coffee in hand, began to look for an escape from this chaos.  

Elani's mission was the snake charmers tent, trading shots with a cultists before diving into booth... full on snakes.  The snakes managed to do what the cultist couldn't:  wound her. 

Turn Three:  With the gunfire and explosion, Two-Gun put some pep in his step, turning around, only to be met with the business end of the cultist's sword. Two objectives secured for the Servants of Apophis!

(Our fierce cultist drew a Joker, allowing him initiative, a +2 to rolls , a +2 to damage and a Bennie [reroll]. His measly minion dice exploded, seizing the objective [Two-Gun].  It just made sense that he killed the gunslinger on the spot.)

Back at the gravesite, things had gone from bad to worse for Alexander.  His mouth agape from watching the outright murder of Two-Gun, the graveyard exploded with a blast, sending the Russian flying, wounded, bleeding, but otherwise intact. 

Alexander Mikoyn might be in trouble.... 

Elani had managed to get the information she need from the snake charmer, then fired a burst from her SMG at the cultist creeping up to the booth.  

Viktor might just be a spy living in the States, an untested asset for Alexander, but he was proving his worth with each moment.  Viktor reached Mr Rea.  Despite the broken English, the gunfire and other fellows wearing robes within eyesight convinced the sideshow owner than Viktor was one of the good guys.   

Soviets: 2 objectives, Servants: 2 objectives. 

Turn Four:   A shot rang out between Viktor and Mr Rea.  Viktor pushed Mr Rea back behind the truck  with his hand to the face, before rolling to the cover of the water fountain and kills the cultist across the square! 

Elani walked towards the chaos in the cemetery, unleashing her SMG on the sword wielding cultists.  

(She needed a single wound to kill them.  She got five!)

Under threats of torture or sacrifice from the Serpent Priest the one cowardly cultists finally got to nerve to hop of the cemetery wall and go after Alexander, shooting him with a pistol  The Russian was in a bad spot, still on the ground, crawling to the far wall from where he came from...

But he wasn't ready to die quite yet.

Meanwhile, the Serpent Priest finally moved, turning the corner to confront Elani! 

Turn Five:  The cultist standing over Alexander's head was covered, but there obviously a smile of sadistic glee on his face as he simply kept pace with the crawling Russian, putting a few more rounds into him as they neared the wall. Alexander had somehow regained some of his composure to futilely swing his pick axed at the cultist's ankles. 

(Alexander had finally recovered from being shaken, but chose to attack from the ground for cinematic purposes.  The same cinematic purposes that made the point-blank shots look painful, but in reality, the minion kept missing!   Let's chalk that up to the world-renowned Soviet seamstresses that made his uniform!)

Viktor dashed across the town square to the booth with the last objective, reaching it but unable to roll for it. The Serpent priest turned all his attention to Elani, casting dark and ancient Egyptian curses at her.  She laughed and spouted off something back at him, her own curse, not in Russian.  Finnish?  Or something older?  

(She needed a 4 to avoid the curse on a d6, with exploding dice with got a 19).  

The priest threw an eldritch bolt at her... she sidestepped it.  

(He used the last of his Bennies to finally get a hit and a wound on her, she used her last Bennie to soak the wound...)

Turn Six:  Viktor spoke with the gentle behemoth inside the booth.   Two objectives, two dead cultists.  Not bad for a mere minion.  Three objectives for the Soviets. 

Elani just lowered her SMG and said... "Minun vuroroni" 

And Alexander, the human target for this encounter?   He finally managed to get up on one knee and swing his pick-axe properly....

And that's how the Soviets acquired The Wand of Destiny from some sideshow barker in Indiana....

I've been playing "The Egypt Game" with my girls on and off for the last ten years.  My plan for "Season Four"  was a big send-off for our original heroes (Episode 4.1) followed by new groups/gangs/leagues, to use Pulp Alley, and run Tomb of the Serpent.

Beside a near lifetime to finally get the Zulus painted up for Episode 4.1, the girls have moved away and I'll be perfectly honest:  I love Pulp Alley, I love the cards, I love the feel... but we've been playing a version of Savage Showdown since my oldest, Maja, was three... and she drives now!    It works, we adapt.  

A lifetime ago... playing TIARA, which I created, but realized it was kid friendly Savage Worlds/Showdown. 

I was also not going to invest in circus tents and sideshow minis for a one-off game, so I made due with what I had.  My only regret is I do have three different types of cultist minis for each type in the scenario, and the proper "fierce" ones were right behind me the entire time.  

Next:  #4.3 - The Hall of Horrors

I got some of the inspiration for the board from a Pulp Alley game at The Land of Counterpane. 

(Painting) Some Women of Pulp

Yesterday I noted a bunch of new figures that magically appeared onto my painting bench.  To further insult the poor figures that are eternally in the queue, only to be pushed back, I got two more of the new ones finished.  

Our eye-patch clad gal is actually a villain, Minvera, from the Pulp Alley line.  The figure is also included in the Pulp Alley Starter Set, which I had happened to pick up through the Kickstarter.  

The other figure, if she was sold individually, would normally go by "Elina."  She's part of the Female Armed Civilians 1 pack from Brigade Games' WW2 line.   I do have all six from both packs, patterned after a certain popular Finnish war movie. This one just happened to be ready for wash and detailing first.  

(Painting) Evil Hooded Minions 2 by Pulp Figures

Is it karma? Is it Kismet?  Is it Serendipity when you're cleaning up the containers and cases in the office, a bin of minis fall over and spill, and the first pack isn't just what you'll need for the weekend, but easy to paint as well? 

That's the uninspiring explanation for a pack of Evil Hooded Minions 2 from Pulp Figures jumping the painting queue.  Great figures to paint up, great spots for shading and highlighting, and a perfect foil, whether it's the Cult of the Hayride God, or a certain group can't wear white after Labor Day. 

This moves my armed cultists up to 15. The only differences between these and my first 10?  I gave the first batch comic-book style white eyeslits for their hoods, and these are heavier shaded with fewer highlights. 

And the best part?  I found another pack of Evil Hooded Minions 1 to paint up last night.  

In the Queue:  I though I had a set list to work on, but cleaning the office activate lead-pile hyperactivity.  I knew I got 146 Star Wars figures from the Fall-In 2024 flea market,  In my cleaning I finally found all the Star Wars blisters I got at the Fall-In 2023 flea market.  Almost everything got reorganized back in the totes, but "somehow" 10 figures for my Soviet Cthulhu game 5 of the Evil Hooded Minions 1,  5 oversized Shaolin Monks, and a few Star Wars core character minis may have filled the space created from the minis I just finished this past month!  Still in the queue from before: The Tiki Islander Gnomes is a mad science experiment in painting and styles.   Rebel Commandos are still right there, so the mounted OG Mouslings may not see the light of day for while longer.

Project: 350 -  We're the same at 479 (285/194) from last week 479 (284 draft/195 scheduled).  I am clearing stuff off the back end of the blog, but.... I'm adding stuff on just as fast.  

Exogenesis from Pulp Figures

 It's been a hot minute since I've needed to order something from Bob Murch at Pulp Figures, probably as I looking for the 2024 Movember figure. 

There's a number of updates to the website, but what caught my eye were the Pulp Sci-Fi Exogenesis figures.

Great Pulp sculpts, plus you can get all seven Exogenesis packs for the price of five!  

In my perusal, I also discovered Melanesian Mud-Men, as well as replacement weapons packs for the other South Seas figures.  

Thankfully, the packs are still a reasonable $18US , plus the awesome free pack/shipping program is still in effect.

Order five packs, and get the sixth pack FREE. Every four packs after that earns you another FREE pack. Surface mail shipping is free for orders of 9+ packs, worldwide.

(Painting) Cultists of the Mystic Shackle

 As I've completed some bigger projects to finally kick off Season 4 of our pulp game, it made sense to stuff on the painting bench that I'll need to future sessions. 

We'll start off with some obvious cultists of some sort:  

I picked these guys up from Alchemist's Cove in Schuylkill Haven, PA two years ago, as well as a same number of zombies.  They're plastic-y, so I'm unsure if they're resin, plastic, 3-D printed, or cast.  I don't see any mention of their miniature lines they carry on the website, but they were super-affordable, and they'll do well as close-combat cultists.  

With no other immediate project, I broke out the Star Wars figures from last years' flea market at Fall-In!    I'm still working on removing pennies and washers off of some of figures.  

There's a few Endor rebels that might just need some touch-up and a rebase, but most are full projects. 

Except the bartender from the Mos Eisley Cantina Boxed Set (WEG 40309) and Mos Eisley Cantina blister (WEG 40451) 

SW-90 Cantina Bartender

For a figure more likely to be used as an objective than anything else, I simply glued the penny base to the 25mm MDF and flocked it, counts as a refurb.  He already made his debut at Historicon as the objective "Drunk Uncle Lars". 

Star Wars Minis:  78 out of the 146 figures from my flea market purchase are painted or refurbished.  More than half! 

Project 350:  Getting this in before the month-long #RPGaDay skews all the number.  I'm extremely happy I'm down to 458 (284 drafts /174 scheduled posts)  from 462 (286/176) before.  August is normally dedicated solely to the projects (Last August I only had 6 posts not related to #RPGaDay, and about 8 days of catch-up posts. I mentioned last time, my backlog only goes up 2-5%, although this year I won't be posting  any scheduled AARs or painted miniatures.  

My Top 25: As Project 350 goes on hiatus for August, it's as good a time as any to gab about my Top Ten for the Year (October 2024 - September 2025).  Obviously, my Historicon post went up this week, and it's already my #1 post for the year, with my initial announcement of the Historicon Even List cracking the Top 25.  With two new popular posts, it's no surprise my other posts dropped in the Top 25, but I am amused the five posts that moved up.

1. Historicon 2025 (Obviously)
2. Event List for Historicon 2025 (As people searched for events)
3. So Many Jawas  (Only 3/4 of my Jawa horde appeared at Historicon, but it was epic)
4. (Gnome Wars) The Great Snail - The snail returned in our Saturday 8pm game. 
5. (Gamma World) Servants of Sirinx - An oddity, until you realize is the AAR of the Fistful of Lead Wasteland Warriors game from Historicon 2024 that uses the Gamma World characters.  

Some statistical anomalies or coincidences?  I'm not sure.