New Toys

More new toys in this post. Two jumped off their table into my bag at Salute, which force me to buy them, and the others I got at Valhalla, my local convention.

In a vain attempt to tie this post into my last post, we'll start with a group shot of most of the new toys in front of the Stoelzel's Structures 7ombieTV Cabin that was the subject of my last post. It does give you a good idea of the size of some of these miniatures as well though, and there are a couple of my 28mm figures there as well - the omni-present Van Fampi and Zombie-Me.

Next, in a more convential size indicator shot, they're grouped with a ruler; not sure what happened to the genie ...

And onto individual shots. First is GMB4 Talos "The Man of Bronze" from Steve Barber Models' Greek Mythology range - listed on the website as £11. Clearly derived from the Harryhausen Argonaut movie, this is a really nice figure. The head and sword came as seperate items and were easy to glue onto the model. When I bought this it was with the intention of using with my 40mm Greek skirmish (unfinished!) project, but I'm thinking I might use it as an ornament when not gaming, and maybe even get one for my Dad as a pressie at some point - he loves Harryhausen movies.

Another model from Steve Barber Models, this time their Arabian Nights range, is next - SIN4 The Jinni of the Lamp, priced at £5.50. Another recruit for the Greek 40mm project, I really liked the character of this mini's face, and it was him and Talos that leapt into my bag at Salute.

Now the mini's that I got from Valhalla, first Pontoonier Miniatures' Old West Mythic Creatures range figures that I got from Newline Designs. Here are OWS001 Male Big Foot and OWS002 Male Big Foot II
These are pewter figures; I'm not sure that I have any other pewter figs and they have an 'unusual' feel compared to other figs - not that it detracts from them in any way.  They are nice minis and I'm looking forward to painting them; I'm thinking (atm) of using a normal flesh colour for their non-furry parts to make them look closer to humans ...

I had not planned to get the Bigfoots or the next mini, OWS008 Jersey Devil (from the same range as the Bigfoots), but I liked them a lot and 'ooh-shiny!' attacked at just the right wrong time so I got them. I think I'll get use of them with the Cabin from the last post in some 7TV Creature Feature games. Unfortunately, the Jersey Devil pic below doesn't really show that its head is shaped like a horse's. Follow the link before the Bigfoots pic to see a better pic on the Newline site

Finally for this post are the Hellhounds from Second City Games that were £2 each (that link takes you to the page they're on but there is a lot there!). There are 2 variants of the Hellhound and I got one of each. They're nice figs that remind me a bit of the hound monsters in Ghostbusters ... ok, not much, but a bit! Again, I had no plan to get them, but I've got a bunch of plastic dog-monster things for Witchfinder (28mm ECW supernatural skirmish) that I thought these would make good pack leaders for, so again I got them.

That's it for this post; next time, the post will be about one of the Stoelzel Structure's buildings I'm making - probably whichever I finish first!

Stoelzel’s Structures - 7ombieTV Cabin

Apologies for the delay between posts, but its been hectic at work, and busy at home as well, which has left little time for posting ...

Anyway, enough of the excuses! This post will show the Cabin by Carl Stoelzel - the brain behind Stoelzel's Structures - that is included in the 7ombieTV rulebook released by Crooked Dice.

As with my previous posts on buildings I've made, the omnipresent Van Fampi - internal designer extrordinaire - is present in the pics to give an idea of the model's size, but this time we are joined by a guest reviewer - Zombie-Me! - who, unfortunately, doesn't have a huge vocabulary ...

To the build. It's a good building that went together without any great difficulty and, tbh, now I've finished it, it's surprising just how big the cabin actually is!  So the first pic is an exterior shot with the roof in place. I intend to 'fancy-up' the roof with the ready made roof tiles that I posted a pic of back in this post - shopping-wmms-part-2 - but wanted to show the Cabin as you get it. I think I should have removed the thick black line around the edge of the printed tiles, but leaving it on gave a good overhang for the roof - IMO.

"Here we are again, happy as can be!"
"Urrrggghhhh ..."

The next pic is the same view but with the roof removed and you just see the end of an Ainsty table I put in. 7ombieTV doesn't include any furniture for the Cabin, although the first issue of the fanzine 'Zombieville Post' included some - again by Carl. Also in this pic, you can see that the Cabin has opening doors and holes for the windows!

"Doors - well done!"
"Sssspppplllleeennnn ..

The first photo of the interior is next and you can clearly see how big the Cabin is. Also you can see the Ainsty bed and a bench (that I can't remember where I got) that I added for a bit of decoration.  The model itself is made with 2mm artist board for the walls, roof and floor and 2 layers of cereal box card for the interior walls and exterior doors. Unfortunately, this has caused a bit of warping on the long interior wall, but not enough to matter.

"hmm .. a bit plain ..."
"uhh ... luuuunnnnnggggssss"

Here is another shot of the interior, from the other side of the model to the previous shot. The two small rooms are different sizes - one will be a bedroom, the other a bathroom I think.

"Very spacious!"
"Liiiiivvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrr ..."

Next is a clearer shot of the larger of the small rooms

"Very plain - needs more, I think"
"Whaaattttteeeevvveeeeeerrrrrr ..."

Finally for the Cabin is a shot of the smaller of the small rooms

"Well that's another job finished"
"Wheeerrrrreee'ssss ffoooddd gooonnne?!"

edited: I was asked in a comment how big the building was, and I thought I better add it here. It is just under 22cm by just under 17cm by just under 11cm high (to the roof peak)

Last of all for this post, is a shot of the progress I've made to date on the Stoelzel' Structures Federal House

"ooh, very big!"
"Ffffoooooddddd!!!"

However, expect this model to be substantially different to the designed model when it's finished!

Dave Graffam Models 6 - Clock Tower

So another DGM, this time it's the Clock Tower.  As with all the other DGMs I've posted on (see this page for links to the posts: Buildings), the layers technology in the pdf files from DGM gives a whole world of variations for this building.

Note: I use Foxit as my pdf viewer of choice, but I've had problems when attempting to print layers with it, so use Adobe Reader to print DGM files)

Once more the hurtful critic valued interior designer Van Fampi is appearing in the photos to give a sense of scale and add his own comments.  I went for the 'red brick' option on the outside of the tower, and this time, have cut out both the single door and the windows that I chose to put on the tower (with the layers you can have different windows and doors in different positions). Also, I printed the clock itself a couple of times and mounted it on a piece of board to give it a 3D appearance, but I'm not sure how well it comes across in the pic:

"Wow! An openi door - at bl**dy last!"

As you can see, I put a ruler in the pic to show the height of the tower.

I also 'bashed' the build a bit. As you will be aware if you've read the other DGM posts I've done, you will know that the DGM models have no interior detail supplied with them. However, for 2 reasons, I added some at the top of the tower:

1. It made such a perfect sniper/lookout spot I felt I had to
2. Van Fampi threatened me with physical violence ...

So you see I had to. Anyway, this next pic shows what I added. I put in a floor with a trapdoor and papered the walls with interior detail from Worldworks Games' Mayhem Apartment set: The pic also shows - just how I did the clock:

I do like this build, but I'm really not sure how I will use it. As it is, it is quite top-heavy (especially with a figure in that room!), which means the slightest touch of an arm during a game will send it over. The model does come with a small 'foot print' - which would definitely help - but I have not attached it yet, as it would prevent placing the tower next to a building - something I'm considering.

Anyway, I'll post again on the tower if I have a brainwave and devise a solution!

Response to the Lower Lab - ATZ Game Pt4

At the end of part 3, the pic to the right shows the situation ... as you can see, things were not looking so good for the heroic Supervisor Shelldrake and his team ...

I should have put in at the end of that post that Hugh - the guard in line with the Ragers - passed 1d6 on his In Sight test, snap-fired and missed ... oops ...

Anyway, we pick up the action with Part 4 of Response to the Lower Lab ...

Activation roll: Zeds 6, Humans 2
Barley's panicked firing at the emerging monsters had warned his team of the threat, but Shelldrake's shout, "REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING!!!" was what saved their lives.

Barley took a deep breath and squeezed his trigger - the burst hit the first 2 monsters and knocked them flat onto their backs - before he withdrew to the other side of the room to leave the way clear for his buddies

Barley had his shots ...

Hugh moved as soon as Barley had fired, although his accuracy was good, the shots seemed to have no effect at all on the monsters! He kept his head though and moved to support Barley's new position

Hugh's turn - oops ...

McGrew was next to shoot, although he had moved as soon as his boss's shout had sunk in. His burst at the first standing monster was right on target. His luck must have been running sweet as its head exploded in a burst of gore and its still kicking corpse fell onto its knocked-down fellows.

McGrew shows his team-mates how it should be done

But the Shift Supervisor Shelldrake showed them all why he was the supervisor ... levelling his shotgun at the opening to the corridor, the blast as he pulled the trigger echoed around the room. Perfectly aimed, it removed the head of the first monster as it was clawing itself up again, pushed the knees clear out from under the second as it struggled to rise and neatly blew a hole the size of a fist in the throat of the final standing monster

No - that's the way to do it!

Activation roll: Zeds 2, Humans 3
Even as the final remaining monster tried to get to its feet, Shift Supervisor Shelldrake took careful aim and blew its head apart. The team reformed around him and peppered the unmoving corpses with the remaining content of their magazines before reloading and pausing to check for movement.

And then there were none ...

So, that is where I wrapped up the game. With all the Ragers dead, there was nothing to stop the security team from rescuing the trapped staff, so I ruled they did that with no problems

The end of the game felt anti-climatic to me, but I guess that's what happens when the 'survivors' manage to get a combination of distance, firepower, one turn with no zed activation and the next turn with them activating first!

The security team started with 5, and finished with 4, members:

To finish with this particular game, I thought I'd show a line-up of who was rescued:

And finally, to set up the next game ...

The initial reports had said 8 staff were trapped in the offices, but only seven walked out ...

Hugh, at the back of the group was the first to notice - he'd done a quick headcount as the trapped staff and hurried past him to get to the stairs.  "I'm just going to check something boss," he said to Shelldrake.
"'Kay. Be careful," came the reply as Hugh turned and walked into the offices ....

AWOP

AWOP (Absent WithOut Posting) again I'm afraid ...

This time, though, I have a decent excuse - I've been down with tonsilitis which is a real bummer. Not only does it hurt to swallow, but it leaves you feeling completely washed out.  It started on the jubilee weekend and then got worse. I got anti-biotics last thursday and have been recovering since, although I still managed to sleep for 13 hours last night (went to sleep at 5pm and woke just after 6am) and wake up tired ....  :(

Anyway, during this interruption I was off the internet for 4 whole days - I think the longest time for me since it was invented ;) so posted and browsed nothing.

Nor did I get any further with the 'Response to the Lower Lab' game, although I hope to progress that tonight.

I've posted today to share my miserable excuse, but also to share this link:

http://www.indiegogo.com/zombie-miniatures?c=home

This will take you to a fundraiser page for Studio Miniatures to produce plastic zombie miniatures. I'm certainly going to support it - although I don't know at what level as yet - as Studio Miniatures make the best zombie figures I've seen.

Response to the Lower Lab - ATZ Game Pt3

and now part 3. We left Shelldrake's team running away withdrawing to an alternate route.

Shelldrake opened the door and led his team across the corridor and into the room on the other side, which they found to contain glass tanks - each with a human inside, or something that had once been human anyway ...
Last out, Barley used his card to lock the door to the medical lab; down the corridor the monsters  could easily be heard still banging on the other door.

If at first you don't succeed ...

As Barley entered the tank room, Hugh swiped his card locking the door. 
"Eyes on the job, gents!" Shelldrake said as his team gazed at the tanks. "Same as the lab, round the corner and out the other door. Lock the other one as before."

'Secure' in the tank room, Shelldrake focussed his team

Unknown to Shelldrake and his team, the monsters heard the second door close ...

I gave the Zeds a 1 in 6 chance of hearing doors close ... guess what? yup, they heard the second closing

As the lead monster rounded the corner it saw Barley's boot disappear through the door. Within seconds they were trying to get through that door instead ...

if only they could swipe a card and use a keypad ...

Thankful the monsters were still the other side of a reinforced steel door, Shelldrake led his team round to the other exit, making sure the third door was swiped to a secure lock on the way.

second try ...

Opening the door to nothing but the sound of the monsters banging away 'round the corner, Shelldrake's team headed towards the main lab ...

McGrew led the team toward the main lab ...

... while Hugh brought up the rear.

As Shelldrake rounded the corner to the short corridor entering the main lab, he saw another tech's corpse lying there. "Was it bad that Barley and McGrew hadn't even bothered to mention it?" he thought to himself; but his reverie was interrupted by gunshots ...

another of the 'unaccounted' is found ...

McGrew had seen another monster standing by one of the doors to the offices where the staff were apparently trapped. Without hesitation the SMG already at his shoulder barked out a 3 round burst and the monster's head exploded, the contents splattering against the door in front of it.

McGrew deals with another of the 'subjects' ...

The lab looked like an explosion had wrecked it. The body slabs were knocked over, medical tools all over the floor, but then as Barley leapfrogged McGrew's position another burst roared across the lab, as Barley neatly drilled the remaining monster that had been out of McGrew's line of sight by the other door.

Barley dealt the last 'subject' in the room their final hand ...

Hugh, Pew, Barley, McGrew and Shelldrake were all in the main lab now getting ready to open the door to the offices ...

'Let's get these people and then the fuck outta here!"

But, none of the team had thought that the sound of the gunshots might attract the monsters they had left futilely banging on the tank room door ...

'Where are you? we're coming to get you!'

The first any of Shelldrake's team knew about it was the monsters slavering towards him as his guys formed up around the office entrance ...

oh bugger ...

End of part 3 ...

Response to the Lower Lab - ATZ Game Pt2

When we left part 1, Shelldrake had just blasted the corridor with his shotgun as something had appeared around the corner ahead of him.

Pew remembered his training enough to look where the shot had gone instead of where it came from, so he saw the ... 'thing' charging him. Reflexively he raised his SMG and fired off a burst.

Unfortunately, the Zeds rolled better on the activation - Zeds 2 humans 1 - so they charged Pew. He made one pass on his 'Zed or no Zed' test - should they be taken vs Ragers? - and then passed 2 dice on his Being Charged test.

The 3 bullet burst hit home, knocking down the first two 'things' round the corner - but the third was on him!

Pew killed the first Rager, knocked down the second, but the third reached him. You can see the skull counter I used for the dead Rager in the pic below.

Pew meets a rager - he'd rather not have though ...

Pew managed to get his gun up and in the way as he stood back up just in time to meet the on-rushing 'thing'. As it clawed for Pew's eyes, Shelldrake could see it was a person - or had been once. Whatever humanity this thing had once held was long gone. The raking claws, snarling teeth and blood running from their eyes made that a thing of the past ... fascinated horror rooted him to the spot as he watched while Pew fought a desperate losing battle against the monster

Ragers roll 3 dice in melee - normal zeds roll 1 - so are much tougher to beat ... the successes went like this:
1st rnd: Pew 4 Zed 1; 2nd rnd: Pew 2 Zed 1; 3rd rnd: Pew 1 Zed 1; persistent bugger this zed; why won't he die?
4th rnd: Pew 1 Zed 1; oh dear ... 5th rnd: Pew 0 Zed 1; end of Pew ...
Whereas Zeds feast, a Rager 'rages' for d6 turns. I rolled a 5 and put out the marker - a skeleton with a scythe and space for a dice.

As the monster knelt over the fallen Pew, Shelldrake could barely contain his revulsion as he watched it start to rip him apart. But then his attention was ripped away from Pew as another monster leapt over the first and  started trying to pull Shellie's guts out - through his mouth ...

So the 2nd melee:  Shelldrake 2 Zed 1; Shelldrake 1 Zed 0

The raging hatred in the monster's blank mindless eyes terrified Shelldrake to his very core, but somehow he managed to get his boot up and intersect with its ribs as it leapt at him, turning it crashing into the wall. Before it could recover, the butt of Shelldrake's shotgun squished its skull against the wall and it slid to the floor unmoving.

Shelldrake kills the second monster

"Fall back to the labe!" yelled Shelldrake. He blasted the standing monster in the hall, blowing it off its feet before he moved back to the dissection lab. Pugh jerked reflexively at his trigger, scattering a burst along the corridor, before following his supervisor's example into the lab - not even registering that he had missed completely.

Pew needed to practice his shooting ...

McGrew was left alone outside the lab now. True to his training, he backed toward the lab covering as much as he could with his SMG. When he saw the monster tearing at his buddy, he put a burst straight at its head. That exploded and the burst went on to travel up and hit the monster behind it knocking it off its feet. He smiled to himself grimly as he entered the lab and Barley locked the door behind him; "Score one for Pugh!" he thought to himself.

All Zeds down; steel security door between them, the
team thought they were safe

Activation roll:  Zeds 2 Humans 4
Shelldrake led his team back through the lab to their original entry point. They could all hear the banging begin on the door they had come through. "Shit," thought Shelldrake, "only 2 hours to the end of the shift and this had to happen!"

Activation roll: Zeds 5 Humans 6
His thoughts were interrupted as Hugh shouted, "What about Pew man?! We gotta get him!"
"Fuck that man!" yelled Barley
"Keep it together guys!" yelled Shelldrake. "Shawn, Pew is down and these 'subjects' - what the fuck?! They're monsters man, not people!"
An unknown voice came over his headset, "Shift Supervisor Shelldrake, have you made contact with the staff yet?"
"We saw a corpse - a tech probably from his coat; no-one else yet," Shelldrake replied.

A respite - so they start arguing ...

Activation roll: double 4 re-roll; Zeds 2 Humans 5
As the Rager raging at Pew was killed before it could finish, I decided that a "Harry, Chill Man!" test needed to be made ... which was failed so, Pew stood up and joined the team. However, as he had not seen the others exit back through the door, he milled about on the spot and didn't join them beating on the door.

Plus one to the Ragers; Ragers 1, Security -1 ... oh dear

"Who is this?" Shelldrake asked.
"That's not important," came the reply, "Mr Siwoc has been relieved from this post and I outrank you. Your orders stand - secure the staff on that level. Re-inforcements are on their way."
"Fuck," said Shelldrake under his breath as he switched back to the team's frequency.
"Right guys," he continued, "Get your shit together, we gotta carry on." He looked each man in the face in turn and was rewarded with varying degrees of resolution. 
"We go back through this door and try the other way around to the offices they called from. Those dumb  things are still banging on that door - we keep quiet and they won't know where we've gone."
He hoped that sounded better to them then it did to him ...
He turned back and opened the door into the corridor ...

"suck it up - the man says carry on!"

End of part 2 ...

Response to the Lower Lab - ATZ Game Pt1

And so on to the first part of the batrep for the game I've set up. Is this a good time to tell you it's not normal Zeds, but Ragers they'll be facing?


Taking a deep breath, Shift Supervisor Shelldrake turned and led his men down the stairs to the Lower Laboratory ...

Super' Shelldrake and team enter the lab ...

Initially nothing seemed out of place; the team saw and heard nothing ...

and see a whole load of nuthin ...

At the bottom of the stairs, Shelldrake indicated the first door on the right - a good a place as any to begin their sweep. Barley and McGrew moved up to flank the door, quickly followed by Hugh and Pew bursting through it. As Shelldrake looked through the door he could see it was a medical room of some sort just as he could hear Pew holding back a retch ...

Hugh and Pew could not believe what they were seeing ...

From the corridor the rest of the team heard Pew losing his lunch just as Hugh began retching

From the corridor the retching seemed to echo endlessly ...

The rest of the team entered the lab and were horrified to see three bodies in various stages of dissection. "Don't look," growled Shelldrake, "Keep it together and move on." A few seconds pulling themselves together and the team moved on through the lab. "Lock that door Hugh," Shelldrake said. Hugh swiped his security card in front of the sensor as he passed - now only another security card could open it.

The team move through the dissection lab

Reaching the other exit from the lab, the team formed up and executed another great dispersal on the other side.

Shelldrake was proud of the way his team dispersed through the door

And rapidly found the first of the 'unaccounted' staff ...

'Euwww ' said Pew

Pew knelt beside the body and reached to check for life - "Jees, boss," he began, "This guy's been ripped apart." 

But Shelldrake wasn't paying attention; someone - or was it something?! - had come around the corner ahead of Pew. Whatever it was, screamed and shouted, reaching toward him and Pew. 

"What the hell?!?"

Without hesitation, Shelldrake readied his shotgun and pulled the trigger.

Pew failed his In Sight; but Shelldrake passed 1d6. Unfortunately, his Snap Fire missed. Ooops ...

Part 2 follows soon ...