(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! 

(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.  

(Kickstarter) Women of WW2: Resistance

 Thank God for Bad Squiddo.  

In an age of STL and PDF Kickstarter, Bad Squiddo is not just producing figures in pewter, but producing new and engaging figures.  

With Women of WW2: Resistance, they're producing 17 new figures of woman from all over Europe, famous for their fight as the resistance against Axis occupation.    

All the figures are obviously good as resistance fighters, but also can find use as pulp figures, or just general civilians in many cases. 

Wargaming on Rocky Mountain PBS

 Don't know why Rocky Mountain PBS is making a short video on wargaming, but the three minutes with a veteran, and now volunteer for Warlord Games was a welcome sight on YouTube.

(Kickstarter) Ladies That Lunch... and Hate Nazis 28mm White Metal Figures

 Tec Scene has launched a Kickstarter for Ladies That Lunch... and Hate Nazis , a small collection of 28mm White Metal British armed females for the homefront.  

The nine-figure base set is £16 ($21), with an add-on of a Lewis-Gun for £4.

(Painting) Don't Ask About the Luger

 When I left for Historicon this year, I didn't have a look list of "must-haves," but with my final acquisition of the weekend, I made sure to pick up Veteran with Pick and Pistol from Brigade Games.  It had been the first picture on a recent email blast and it was just a cool pose.  

Of course, once I got home and looked him over, I realized, "What nationality is this dude?"

He was advertised as above, and alongside fairly generic armed civilians.

He is wielding a Luger, so that might make him obviously German, but the Wolfman Jack look seemed out of place. 

If he was a veteran of the Great War, filling in the lines from the deep reserves, I could buy that.  

But during my research, a Soviet soldier seemed to fit better.  With a little more research, a Soviet political officer fit the look.  Combine that with Ray Stevenson's character in the first episode of Ahsoka, and I think I have my dude, Alexander Mikoyan. 

And after yesterday's Tabletop Inquirer post, I darkened the eyes, no detail.

Definitely not your normal WW2 figure, rather I'm seeing him as a leader of a deranged Pulp faction of Soviet oddballs and secrets man was not meant to know.  He's been around since the discovery of Lovecraftian Ghouls during the Russian Civil War, he jumped sides and joined SV-8 during the Purge, and he's either so deep into occult research that he's eluded Stalin's purges or Stalin's minions are too afraid to try anymore.  

By the time of this picture, it's the pinnacle of the vicious fighting in Stalingrad.  No man of his pedigree should have been with 300 kilometers of the battle, but reports of agents of the Karotechia moving to the city caused him grave concern.  His fears were realized, as they were able to release some sort of ritual to turn the piles of corpses into re-animated killing machines that no human was able to control.  

One of Alexander's allies is a Deep One he calls Adrik the Rusalki.  A hybrid almost nearing his complete transformation, Adrik was picked up from a remote fishing village on the Pacific coast.  

Part of the three figure "Deep Ones Mutant Fishman" pack from RAFM

Alexander knows that Adrik will either go fully feral and attempt to slaughter him, or simply skulk off into the waters one day, but for now, whatever sliver of its humanity is still willing to help him, especially reading all those infernal books.

I have little use for either figure at this time, so I'll add them to the list of potential inspirations for the #CharacterCreationChallenge in January.

(Edit: I got some responses back, to help connect the dots on the pick guy.   Not only might my observation on German firearms be off, but these and the figures he was announced might be part of a little movie called Sisu.  (Note: Red Band Trailer, NSFW)  It's John Wick killing Nazis, if John Wick was a Finnish gold miner in 1944.  Heck, there's even a dog.)

I'm sticking with an Soviet SV-8 agent for now, and building up his league for Pulp Alley.)

In the Painting Queue - The bench has been a dumping ground for anything and everything over the summer, but five things  catch my eye:

1. Pulp Season 4 - One of two major roadblocks are actually getting completed. Watch out!
2. Mouslings of Yore - The Heritage Dungeon Dweller Mouslings from Reaper in the 90's are staring at me right now, with their big sad eyes.  
3. Gnomish Space Marines - The latest Macrocosm Kickstarter was the last thing I was working on before the bench became overwhelmed.  Gotta dig them out 
4. Zombie Car - No, not animated cars, rather, vehicles that need to be weathered for a zombie/apocalypse game.
5. Inflatable Yard Pirates of Doom - I think I figured out our Halloween game for the year...

Project: 350 -  After surviving #RPGaDay2023 and a month's worth of posts to write, we emerged in decent shape with 461 posts in the queue (308 drafts/153 scheduled) from 464 (312/152) back in July.  Actual plays are very caught up, so it's a bunch of games and painting for the near future.  The horror!

(Kickstarter) Frigid Fathoms by Cthulhu Epics #ZineQuest2023

 More #ZineQuest adjacent stuff slipped into Kickstarter prior to the 2/1 launch date for February.  

Frigid Fathoms, by Cthulhu Epics, is a short system-neutral scenario detailing a WWII submarine with some Lovecraftian madness.

From the Kickstarter:

Frigid Fathoms is a system neutral Cthuluesque adventure set on a US submarine during World War II. While scouting for secret German bases beneath the Antarctic ice shelf, you discover a slumbering beast of great power and frightening visage. Your players take on the roles of the crew of a Balao-class submarine and must figure out a way to escape from this horrific monstrosity without awakening it from its centuries long hibernation.

The thing that caught my eye, before the reasonable pledge levels?  The fact that it will be in a tri-fold format and printed on dense card stock with a glossy finish.  Not exactly a new product for the bookshelf, but a handy bookmark for your rulebook you wish to use to run it!

(Kickstarter) Escape from Stalingrad Z by Raybox Games

 Years ago, when I acted as a Legions of Steel games demonstrator for Global Games, there was always talk of a pet project from the designers to take the LOS rules and use them for the Battle of Stalingrad.  I even managed to acquire a bound copy of the playtest rules (blue cover for anyone keeping score at home).  

Fast forward 25 years later, and the Global Games properties have made a comeback under former Global Games partner/designer Marco Pecota.   The LOS hunks of lead are available,  GRID modular terrain sets out of HDF make our distant dreams a reality, and Marco's Stalingrad project involved into something far, far different than a historical game using Legions of Steel rules.

With the Kickstarter for Escape from Stalingrad Z, the horrors of the Battlefield of Stalingrad are intensified by one of the few words that could make things even worse: Zombies.

Escape from Stalingrad Z is a 1 to 3 player solo/coop/versus narrative campaign game of tactical combat set in the horrific zombie plague of World War II. It has many features that separate it from most miniatures games.

​The game takes just 1 minute to set up, has a very compact play area (basically one open book), takes 20 to 40 minutes to play each scenario and is designed with a story matrix making it a true "Move your own adventure."

Regarding PLAYER count. The game plays true solo with a very good AI that is simple to implement. With two players you can play CO-OP or Versus. In CO-OP each player takes control of one or two characters. In Versus mode second or third player is the Zombie Master, controlling the zombies actions.

The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain started on this day, 71 years ago.

Let's appreciate the dedication of your enemy... and their incompetence. 

Bolt Action Germans as Cobra... and More!

What is the one true untapped market in wargaming?  I'd argue that it's the GI Joe franchise.  You know, the 80s toy-selling cartoon.  Cobra, Destro, Snakes-Eyes, all the wild vehicles and middle-aged recreational cash.  Sure, I'm certain the license from Hasbro would be daunting for most, save WizKids, but I'd much rather have Cobra HISS tanks on the battlefield than some other 40k concoction. 

The whole reason for my thought was a recent post over at Must Contain Minis, where a player simply painted Bolt Action Germans in Cobra Regalia to great effect.

The Cobra player/player, Dave Lamers' other work can be found here on the MCM blog.

Numerous people have made cobbling together GI Joe/Cobra armies one of their missions in life, and the one I follow the most is The Realm of Jinnai.  Their forces are a cobbling together of 3d prints, individual sculpts, and third party work arounds, and with their painting style, its as bold as the four color comics of my youth.  

Of course, children of the 80's who just ripped open the packaging (clipping out the index card GI Joe Files off the card/box) would be able to used their own figures, acquire a few action figure stands to keep them upright, and completely take over the backyard... with wargaming rules.  That was always my distant pipe dream when I threw a buck or two at generic action figure Kickstarters.  I can't imagine storing full-sized toys anymore, but I'd love to see some historical re-enactments straight from the comics.  Heck, with the price of metal figures nowadays, it's not that much more expensive getting action figures on clearance. 

The zaniest GI Joe fun that I've seen wasn't even part of the 80's franchise.   Twenty-plus years ago, when Fall-In was still in Gettysburg, I witnessed the Classic GI Joe sized "dolls" dressed as WW2 Germans and Russians , fighting on a huge city battlefield on the floor of the Expo Center.  That's a level on insanity that only has my undying support and respect.  

(Kickstarter) Women of WW2: Soviet Russia by Bad Squiddo Games

Bad Squiddo Games is renowned for their high quality female miniatures, so it's no surprise that they would want to expand their existing WW2 Soviet range with the Women of WW2: Soviet Russia Kickstarter.

Existing Soviets are also available through the Kickstarter at regular price, as well as their line of scenics.

I'm not a big WW2 fan, and the few figures that interest me are better justified down the road at a con for one of their distributors, say Badger Games.  It is, however, weekend that Cold Wars was supposed to occur, so I might either peruse the rest of the Bad Squiddo website and place an order from the other lines.

(Kickstarter) Able Company by Sally 4th

I know Sally 4th for their buildings and building interiors, but I often forget their classic movie-inspired miniatures.  

In that spirit, they've launched a Kickstarter for Able Company, a collection of eight super 28mm soldier sculpts, with options to order from their Classic Movie Miniature range.  

Only drawback I see is that shipping outside of the UK looks a little crazy, especially when compared to other recent Kickstarters coming from the British Isles.  

I'm not too big on WW2, but these might convince me to pick up some pulp Germans.

(Kickstarter) WW2 Soviet Railroad from Things from the Basement

 In midst of #Zinequest, Things from the Basement launches an ambitious scenery Kickstarter, World War II Soviet Railroad.

From the Kickstarter:
With this set of detailed buildings and rolling stock in 1/56 scale for 28mm figures you get the opportunity to recreate the crucial fighting around the Soviet railroad system.

The kits focus on the major pieces of rolling stock available to the Soviet defenders: box cars, gondola cars and flat cars. And the mighty ALCo RSD-1 Diesel Engine which was made available under the US Lend-Lease Act.

Definitely interested in the station and platforms, although that will force me to push the other TftB products up in the project queue.

We've Been Planning for This Shelter in Place Our Whole Lives

Well before its throw-away mention on the Big Bang Theory, I was quite aware, and in awe of Campaign for North Africa. It may have been the first "new" game I learned about in my first job at a gaming store.  It's the direct inspiration for "The Great War" game that's been set up in the basement of Weird Pete's Games Pit for the last fifteen-plus years in Knights of the Dinner Table.  It's the ultimate guilty pleasure for a wargamer with all the time in the world, and an obsessive-compulsive desire to control the smallest minutiae regarding logistics.

... and if we're going to be trapped indoors for another two weeks, we should be cracking open boxes across the country.   If we start now, we can easily invest two-hundred hours into the game.  That's at least a tenth of the way to completion! (If we skip a few rules...)

(Still A-) Live from Cold Wars

No, I'm not livestreaming from Cold Wars, but I'm having a hoot of a time....

The new Osprey books are getting a bit too particular though...

(Kickstarter) Women of WW2 Miniatures by Bad Squiddo Game

Bad Squiddo Games continues to make good on one or their slogans, "Believable Female Miniatures," by launching the Women of WW2 Miniatures Kickstarter. 

This campaign is an expansion of their existing WW2 range, which is available as add-ons to the Kickstarter.

S&H will be calculated after the Kickstarter is over.  

Some Marvel-ous WW2 Pulp Figures from Sally 4th

Sally 4th has added some new figures from the Classic Movie Miniatures line.

Sir Topham Hatt Expanded Into Weapons Production



(Kickstarter) Disposable Heroes II - 28mm WW2 Minis by Brigade Games

The Kickstarters keep coming in hot and heavy.

Now we have Brigade Games launching a second Kickstarter under their Disposable Heroes line, to produce 28mm WW2 US and German infantry squads. 

Lower pledges average out to $2/figure before S&H, and gets cheaper the more figures you order.  

(Kickstarter) Disposable Heroes 2

Brigade Games has recently launched a Kickstarter for a new edition of Disposable Heroes, under the Iron Ivan Games moniker.

Not a WW2 player, but my only question would be how big a book will this be?  I know eight dollars for US shipping is getting pretty standard, but I want a book with sizable heft for $30 plus S&H.