Valkeeri Engineer - Color Shift Paints & Hydra Minis

    My first experiment with 'color shift paints' - which is the sparkly purple-blue of the uniform here

This single figure represents two "firsts" for me. The figure is from Hydra Miniatures "Retro Raygun" line of figures. It was sent to me as a freebie gift along with an order of their Valkeeri female soldiers I picked up for use with Xenos Rampant. It is the Astro Angel Engineer figure, which being female, fits well with the all-female Valkeeri force. I intend to paint them up as my next Xenos Rampant detachment...eventually. I did this one first because I found after I had painted my crew for Five Parsecs from Home that I was supposed to start with six (not five) characters. Serendipity, I guess!

    This was also the first Hydra Miniatures fig I painted - Astro Angel Enginner from 'Retro Raygun'

The other first is my first real use of color shift paints. This is a relatively new concept (I first heard about from John Leahy at Cincycon 2024 in March, though I'm sure they'd been out longer). The paint is essentially a glaze that reflects the light shining on the figure in a prismatic effect. The bottle I bought was from Folk Art, and advertised itself as having a Violet-Blue-Red shift. When I look at the miniature under my painting lamp, it looks mostly blue. However, when you change the lighting (as I hope you can see in some of the photos), it looks more purple. I think you really have to work with some strange lighting (or lack of?) to get any red out of it, though.

    The uniform's blue is what I see under my paint lamp. The purple comes out in other light

I had a color scheme in mind for my Valkeeri detachment, so figured this was a great opportunity to test and see if it worked. Ostensibly, I don't need this figure for my 24-point detachment, so it is a great test subject. I went back and look at how one of my favorite miniature painters, Dr. Matthias from the Lead Adventure Forum, painted it. Click on the link above where it says "Astro Angel Engineer" to see how much better a painter he is than me! Anyway, I decided to paint the unitard that goes from the boots to neck and gloves with the color shifting paints. I shook up the paint a little extra and then opened it up to see milky white. I figured that I hadn't shaken it up enough, so did it some more. When it was still milky white, I put an old brush in the bottle, stirred it up, and pulled it out. It was all the same color -- the paint was shaken up enough. It was then I noticed the tiny glitter-like flecks.

    I love the very retro 1950s Sci-Fi look of the rocket packs, raygun pistol sand helmets on these figs!

Okay, I thought, here goes! I researched beforehand how to prep the surface for a color shift paint. You are supposed to prime it black and then do a clear gloss on the black. As I brushed it on, I was thinking, "This isn't working." It looked the same milky white (and didn't appear to be covering the black at all). I came back about an hour later and said, "Wow!" It did indeed dry opaque, but what a color that was! It was very sparkly -- think of a gold lame dress. That's how I felt it sparkled. As I said, though, it looked blue under my paint lamp. I was planning on a purple and black color scheme -- which I felt would look cool with the light green skin I was going to give my Valkeeri. Now what to do for the rest of the figure?

    Is the uniform blue? Purple? Both? This prismatic effect is an interesting feature of color shift paint

I decided to give her purple boots and gloves, and make the flexible joints in the uniform black to see how that turned out. The helmet and metallic portions of the uniform I painted with a steel base coat and bright bronze highlights (also a Folk Art color). I thought this almost coppery tone would be a good accent and make it look suitably retro. I had decided my Valkeeri skin would be light green -- think of the Orion slave dancing girl that Capt. Kirk in Star Trek goes gaga over. Dr. Matthias paints his in a normal skin tone, but he is a master painter. I need something to make mine stand out...ha, ha!

    A final look at my sixth crew member for my Five Parsecs from Home - a very cool & unique fig!

So, how do I like my experiment? I do like it. I may change up the other uniform colors when I get around to doing my entire Xenos Rampant force of Valkeeri, though. In the meantime, the engineer will be my sixth crew for Five Parsecs from Home. Yes, yes, I know I haven't said anything about the game since my first post awhile back. That's because I've been so busy working on the Beldolor Studies Gatorfolk (which will be my next post -- if the confounded Columbus humidity ever lets me spray seal any figures!). This figure was actually painted after the Gatorfolk, but completed while I was waiting to be able to spray (still waiting, by the way...). Important note: my research says NOT to spray seal color shift paints. They are a sealant, in addition to a paint, glaze, and first-time use by me...! Hope you like it!!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 96

Zombie RV - Into the Compound!

    Jackie, left, eludes mobs of zombies by skirting a muddy area, which would slow them down

It was time to give the Zombie RV rules from Grey Area Games another try. Our survivor's first foray onto the zombie-infested streets had been less than successful. We had lost Mophius and picked up only a couple supplies before being forced to flee (see "First Playtest of Zombie RV"). Now that we knew the system and what to expect, surely this outing would go better for Jackie and the boys? 

    Woody (near his noise marker) is first out of the van and quickly opens up one of the quonset huts

I picked one of the scenarios from the basic rules, "Into the Compound." I used my quonset huts and barbed wire fences to create the compound, which had been meant to keep people safe. From the looks of the zombies roaming the interior, though, it was clear that idea had failed as spectacularly as our last mission! We had picked up a new survivor named Quon. When he told Jackie and the crew he was a good shot with a pistol, Woody handed him the pistol he'd scavenged last game. "After what happened to Mophius, I don't trust the damn things!" He hefted his crowbar. "This hasn't failed me yet...!"

    At the other quonset hut, Coop forces open the door, releasing a zombie which shambles towards him

For Quon, I chose "Shooter" and "Sprinter" as his two skills. I figured being a little quicker on the tabletop might come in handy when you're trying to track down resource markers and outrun zombies. I didn't quite realize how key "Springer" would be to the survival of the crew this game! In short, Quon more than proved his worthiness and was doubtless the star of the game.

    More zombies emerge from Woody's hut to shamble towards he and Quon

We pulled through the open gate in our van, and slowly braked to a stop in front of the main part of the compound. We were braving this zombie-infested military compound in the hopes of finding some weapons and spare ammo. All of our firearms were running low, which didn't seem to be a problem with numbers of zombies. Jackie made a quiet, chopping motion and whispered, "Let's go. Quietly, if possible..."

    3 more zombies spawn in the center of the compound while those wandering shamble forward

Woody was the first out of the van and sprinted towards the closest quonset hut on the left. The door appeared to be jammed, but he passed his Might check and was able to force it open. Seeing the shambling movement within and the hearing the moaning of the zombies, he backed out of the doorway so he wouldn't block his teammates' line of fire. Meanwhile, Jackie slipped noiselessly out of the driver's seat and crept quickly and quietly towards the quonset hut on the right. She fiddled with the door, but it appeared locked. Throwing her shoulder into it had no effect. As always, Coop was at her side and whispered, "Let me try..." The door ground open noisily. A quick scan showed what appeared to be only one zombie lingering near what looked like a crate of ammunition. Coop also backed away, as Woody had done.

    Quon quickly proves his usefulness, splattering the two zombies in the hut with head shots

The sequence of play for Zombie RV has the survivors move, one by one, in whatever order the players choose. Next, the zombies move and attack, if in contact. Finally, noise markers are removed (survivors get them for moving, shooting, melee, etc.), and a roll is made to "spawn" more zombies -- typically in the center of the table. I had placed the center long quonset hut so it's doorway was at the spawn point, so new zombies were emerging from it. That seemed to make the most sense. Our goal would be to collect supplies from each of the four smaller huts (and a key to the larger one), and then enter it and collect any weapons or ammo we found. Would we be able to get supplies from all four AND survive entering a building whose entrance was the spawn point?? We would see...

    More zombies close in, most heading towards Quon as his two pistol shots made the most noise

Woody and Coop's backing off tactics worked. The zombies spent both of their actions moving into contact. On the next turn, Quon splattered both of their zombies with head shots from the pistol, and Coop crushed his zombie's skull with his rifle butt. Woody then dashed in and as my "Prepper," was quickly able to find some supplies -- a cache of food which he tossed in his backpack.  Jackie also darted in, but had to search around a bit before finding some ammunition on the next turn. Meanwhile, the newly-spawned zombies and those wandering the compound began to close in. Even though they move only 3" per action, they seemed to be closing fast!

    Jackie and Woody had to put off their 'end runs' to rescue their partners -- teamwork paid off!

The survivors hatched a plan to send Woody and Jackie to the far quonset huts, while Quon and Coop would attract the zombies with their rapid gunfire. Dangerous plan -- especially for those two! And it became even more dangerous when Quon missed one of his shots and Coop ran out of ammunition. Yikes! The zombies closed in quickly, and by the end of turn 3, three zombies (including a 'Runner') had him surrounded in melee.

    At the end of the next turn, Quon is in a tight spot - surrounded by zombies, including a Runner!

Somehow, both Quon and Coop survived to fight off the zombies clustered around them. At this point, Quon had an idea. He would use the muddy areas throughout the compound to slow the zombies down. What's more, as the fastest of the crew, he would try to draw as many of the zombies towards him as possible. He would lead them away from his companions, and hopefully whittle down their numbers some while maintaining his distance and keep from being swarmed. With that, Jackie and Woody were freed up to head towards the back of the compound. 

    Jackie & Coop are also in a tight spot near the van -- was this mission going to end like the last one?

The zombie "A.I." for movement dictates a zombie not in contact will move towards the closest survivor -- unless there is one within 9" that made more noise. Quon's challenge was to keep as many of the zombies within 9", but use the mud to make it so none ended their turn in contact with him. He would be unable to fire at them with his pistol if that happened (his specialty). The effect of this was that about three quarters of the zombies piled after Quon while those furthest from him would shamble towards Coop or Jackie. Meanwhile, Woody was careful to keep his noise down so that they zombies would be drawn towards Quon and would not notice him sneaking into the other quonset huts.

    Quick on his feet, Quon is able to keep the zombies j-u-s-t out of reach as they slog through mud

 

Jackie had to go back and help Coop once, so she had not gotten very far towards the back of the compound. Woody opened the door of one of the quonset huts and was relieved to see just one zombie. He backed off again, letting it emerge through the doorway before crushing its skull with his crowbar. He darted in and quickly found more supplies inside. They'd finally be able to fill their bellies tonight -- if they survived.

   Cooly, Quon contines to use one action to splatter the nearest zombie and then back off out of reach

As Quon continued to back up, a collection of barrels behind him caught his eye. The words "Flammable" were visible and it gave him an idea. Why not draw all of the zombies towards this collection of barrels? And then when they are close enough, fire into them? Even if there was only a little gas left inside, the fumes should be highly explosive. When he saw Woody emerge from the quonset hut, tightening his backpack with whatever he'd found inside, Quon set the plan in motion. He warned Woody to back up further, out of what he hoped would be the blast radius. He sprinted there and joined him. Waiting till the zombies shambled closer, Quon eyed the barrels and fired.

    BOOM!! The zombies following Quon are vaporized in the resulting explosion!

 Meanwhile, Jackie was sprinting towards the final quonset hut. However, as Quon disappeared from the spawning zombies' view, the newest arriving of them began to key in on her. Having finally dispatched the zombies near the first set of huts, Coop picked a few of the spawned zombies off with his rifle. However, things were looking dire for Jackie, so he jogged around the hut and began to move to assist her.

    The zombies begin to focus on Jackie, hear the fence at right, as Quon has disappeared from view

Meanwhile, Woody took advantage of zombies being distracted and headed towards the final, smaller quonset hut. He forced the door open with a metallic groan. Quickly, he recoiled as three zombies staggered towards him. He called to Quon for help as he hefted his crowbar and waited for them to come nearer.

    Finally in the clear, Coop begins skirts around the quonset hut to help Jackie

Just as the zombies began to corner Jackie, Coop appeared holding his rifle like a club. "That new ammo you gave me jammed my rifle," he explained to Jackie, who looked relieved and confused at the same time. "I'll keep them off of you -- just start picking off the ones coming out of the mud."

    Loyal as ever, Coop jumps in front of the zombies shambling towards Jackie

While gunshots and thuds of a crowbar signaled that their companions were taking care of the zombies emerging from the hut, Coop and Jackie began to struggle. Coop missed on two attacks, as did Jackie. Last game, Jenny and I joked how my dice rolling was awful and was a big part of our failure. This time, it was Jenny whose luck had run dry. And specifically, Coop's luck. The burly marksman and brawler was surrounded by zombies and knocked down, wounded. Coop struggled to his feet while Jackie looked on in horror. More zombies closed in on her friend as she fired desperately. "Get out of here, Jackie!" Coop shouted.

    Quon bravely rushes in to draw the attention of the zombies from Coop, who has been knocked own

Frozen in indecision, She saw a blur of green as Quon sprinted into the midst of the zombies clustering around Coop, firing as he ran. "Jackie, go!" he shouted. I will draw them off - they can't move fast enough to catch me.!" Reluctantly, Jackie turned and ran for the back fence of the compound and began to follow in the tracks of Woody, who was similarly moving away along the barbed wire fence. "God damn it!" she hissed under her breath, tears starting in her eyes.

    The survivors exfiltrate from the compound with Quon luring the zombies away from his friends

Quon was in a tight spot -- no question. He began his turn with three zombies in contact. He smashed one's skull with the pistol butt and then ducked and sloshed his way out of the mud. The remaining two grabbed for him. Zombie RV rules allow a survivor to leave combat with a zombie, but the creature gets a "free hack" as he goes. Jenny picked up two dice to roll their attacks. Early on, we decided to roll the attacks of the zombies on each other. Snake eyes! Both missed!! Quon avoided the arms of both zombies and surged through the mud onto firmer ground. With a 7" move, and the zombies needing both actions to go 6", Quon was essentially in the clear at this point. Our spawn rolls brought no "Nasty Zombies" and only two "Runners," which we'd dealt with previously. 

    Woody and Jackie hoofing it towards the van as the closest zombies peel away to follow them

Unfortunately, the zombies in contact with Coop did not miss. Jenny rolled to see the effects of the hit and rolled a "6" -- Coop was dead. What's more, he would transform into a Nasty Zombie next turn. It was time to get out of the compound. Forget about the firearms that may be in the central hut! Time to run and live for another day! Quon was first to the van, and started it up. He threw it into reverse, slowing down as Woody and then Jackie came running up. Both piled in and they peeled out, exhilarated to be alive, but still in shock from the loss of Coop.

    Time to burn rubber and get the heck out of there! The three survivors speed off in the van

Well, how did we do? We searched all four resource tokens successfully, this time. Last time, we grabbed only two before having to flee off board. We also made it back to our van to escape, which was somewhat questionable last time. However, we did not complete the mission. The scenario rules dictate that we don't get the "key" for the last hut until we search the last smaller one. So, we had to do them in the order we chose. Nevertheless, I would count it as a "mission failure," according to the campaign rules I've been brainstorming. What's more, we lost Coop, who had the skills Shooter and Brawler. AND our only rifle! So, in two games, we'd lost our shotgun and rifle, and were left with only two pistols. So, at best, this was a partial success -- even though it felt MUCH more successful than last time.

Most importantly, we had a blast. The more I play Zombie RV, the more I like it. I like the modifications I've made to it, as well. I am looking for a fast-moving game that I can take to conventions and play with up to eight players. I'm beginning to think that this might be it. Jenny and I seem to be having fun controlling just two survivors each. So, if I pair up the players, I could have two per vehicle containing four survivors and have multiple vehicles entering at different points on a much larger board. Maybe the next test is to try it out on the Sunday night guys? We shall see. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the report. Feel free to download the rules from Wargame Vault -- they are a bargain at the $1 suggested price (though feel free to pay more, like I did!). 

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 95

Historicon 2024 Purchases

    My haul from Bad Goblin Games at Historicon 2024 -- some amazing 3D printed trailers and more!

For the first time in a long time, I was attending a major convention and NOT running a game. I have attended a few here and there when I was just playing in a Saga tournament, but I honestly think it has been nearly a decade since I went to a big con just to play games. Why? Well, maybe my recent retirement from teaching got me in that relaxation frame of mind! Either way, I would have plenty of time in the vendor area this visit. And what's even better, I also had some "mad money" burning a hole in my pocket so to speak, with possibly more on the way.

    I bid adieu to my 15mm SYW armies in the Historicon flea market, gaining a nice influx of cash

The first influx of finances to spend in the dealer area came from my friend Dave W, who gave me a $100 Visa gift card at my retirement party. This was incredibly unexpected and generous! I immediately earmarked it for hobby purchases. Since I like to support the local vendors as much as possible, I used about 2/3 of it to buy the Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps board game. We had played Keith's copy a few weeks back, and I really liked how it worked. I envisioned it being a good game to pull out when Jenny and I want to play a game some evening. Being cooperative (and possible to play in campaign mode), made it all the better! The second influx to my finances was another $100 gift card that came in the mail the day before we left as a rebate for my annual contact lens prescription. SCORE!

    A closeup of the two fortified trailers that I purchased -- out of more the dozen or so styles they sell

The "possibly more on the way" refers to the fact that I was taking stuff to sell in Wally's Basement -- the Historicon flea market. It had been more than a decade since I gamed with my 15mm Seven Years War collection. I figured it was time to get something out of it. I went with my usual price -- $1 for a painted foot figure, $2 for painted cavalry (or cannons). Then I took 25% off if the purchaser bought the entire army (my preference). Thus, the smallest army, the British, would go for $100. I would accept $175 for the Prussian and $165 for the Austrian army. The night before I left, I found my ziplock bags of unpainted 15mm Ancients and Seven Years War figures. I tossed those in a bag to take, as well.

    Flickering LEDs come with these scatter pieces -- a dumpster fire, barrel, and pit fire

My friend Jason M from South Carolina usually books a couple sessions of flea market tables, and usually lets me put some of my stuff on his table. I decided to sit alongside him during his Friday 10am-1pm session. In the end, I sold everything -- ALL OF IT! I credit Jason for selling the unpainted lead (for a lot more than I was asking). I was at the table and sold the painted armies, also for more than I expected. In the end, I made more than $400 off the flea market. Tossing in the gift cards, it meant that it would pay for all my purchases in the Exhibit Hall and my share of the hotel room. I was definitely feeling like a thrifty retiree after realizing that...ha, ha!

So, let's get on to the purchases! After all, that's probably why you're reading this blog entry -- not to listen to me rub my hands together in greed. My biggest purchases were from a new company to me: Bad Goblin Games. I played in their Saturday running of Trailer Park Warlords of the Apocalypse. This slightly tongue-in-cheek game is set in a world of hillbilly gangs battling it out with mutated animals and plants for control of a post-apocalyptic world. I enjoyed the game quite a bit. In fact, it was my favorite of the four games that I played over the weekend. We each controlled four figures and were shooting it out with each other to gain control of a monster truck stalled in the middle of the table. The key to gaining control was an ornery pig who had a "kill switch" implanted inside him by the former owner that would allow the truck to be started. It was a blast and I may likely pick up the rules when they are published.

Anyway, what drew my eye towards their table in the vendor area was the amazing selection of 3-D printed terrain and scatter. My favorites were the dozen varieties of trailers, most designed in a "ruined" or "fortified" state. For only $25 a trailer, I knew I simply could not pass them up. I picked up two varieties of the fortified trailers on Friday (before I'd played in the game), as well as a very cool porch to place alongside the one Sarissa Precision MDF trailer I have yet to build. After playing in their game Saturday, I made another visit to their booth to buy more! The GM told us our game tickets would be $5 off any purchases. Jenny handed me her ticket, so I added even more to my haul from Bad Goblin Games.

    Water tower & large porch I also purchased from Bad Goblin Games -- wonderful pieces of terrain!

One of their signature pieces, besides the trailers, were the huge, 28mm scale water towers. At only $25 ($15 with the two $5 off tickets), I couldn't pass it up. I have a 15mm water tower already, but this would be an amazing piece of eye candy for the tabletop. And speaking of eye candy, they also had a number of pieces of scatter terrain with built-in LEDs, batteries, and translucent material to look like flames. I picked up a dumpster fire, pit fire, and barrel fire. Afterwards, my friends and I were marveling at their prices and how incredibly affordable they were. In all, I spent about $100 at Bad Goblin. We agreed that at many other places, these terrain and scatter pieces would have cost much, much more.

    I wanted smaller zombies to match my 3D prints, and Lon of Brigade Games found these for me

My first actual stop in the Exhibit Hall was at Brigade Games, owned by Lon Weiss. He was inducted this year into the Historicon Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement. He carries most of our First Command Wargames rules and is always friendly and helpful with finding poses or specific miniatures. And that was exactly the quest I sent him on! I wanted a post-apocalyptic survivor armed with a crossbow. He walked me immediately to a box and quickly found a pack of four survivors, one of which was armed with a crossbow. When I mentioned I was looking for some smaller zombies to match my 3D printed zombies, he picked out a pack from his Drug War Z line of figures. It was two children zombies, but they looked like they'd match my current zombies perfectly. 

    

Finally, I picked up a set of rules on whimsy. Yes, I know that Jenny will tell you that I am the antithesis of "whimsy." Don't listen to her. My friend Keith F of OrcaFinn's Basement has run a number of "hunt" games for us in the past. Usually they are dino hunts, but we have done cavemen hunting mammoths and other fun games with him, too. Once, we even did dinosaurs hunting Nazis! Anyway, I saw this set of rules, "Mexican Jack Squint Presents the Lion East Tonight" by Howard Whitehouse and immediately thought of him. Hopefully, he'll find that they make for a good game and entertain us with them at some Sunday evening gaming session.

    These plastic zombies seemed to be smaller scale and will hopefully fit with the ones I've painted

And as long as we are talking about zombies, I may as well show you my only purchase from Wally's Basement (Historicon flea market). In general, I thought items in the flea market this year were priced WAY higher than I expected. I did a walk through on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and found many a table with the exact same stuff on all three days. Little seemed to be selling -- at least on what I considered the higher priced tables. That's why I discount everything I am selling. I don't want to take it home. I'm not looking for "what it is worth," but instead the highest price that guarantees it will be sold. It's a fine line, and I'm thinking some folks missed high when aiming for that line this year. Anyway, I found a gentleman selling this box of 30 plastic zombies from Wargames Factory. They definitely seemed to be smaller sized for 28mm -- like my ones I purchased from JS Wargamer Printing. I talked him down from $25 to $15 and now I have to figure out a way to glue them together! Some come with separate upper and lower torsos, left arm, right arm, and head! KEEIITTHH! Maybe my friend Keith, who is much handier with gluing things, will do them for me...

    'Refugee Car' from Miniature Building Authority -- some of the scatter I picked up at Historicon

Speaking of favorite vendors, it was great to talk to Kirk from Miniature Building Authority. We compared notes on retirement, as he has recently retired from all but MBA. He said he WOULD be coming to Advance the Colors 2024 as a vendor, which made me happy. He did really well at our show in 2022, but then not as well last year when an estate sale masquerading as a flea market sucked the hall dry of the cash many people had brought to the show to spend. I promised last year's vendors that I would do my best to keep that from happening this year. Anyway, MBA's buildings and scatter terrain are phenomenal and an industry standard. Since I still have some of his buildings left to build, I focused on picking up scatter from him that I could use. I couldn't resist the "Refugee Car" this time around, and snatched one up off of his rack. I also picked up some other miscellaneous scatter that I am hoping I can use to create "noise markers" for my zombie games. His displays at conventions are always so inspirational. I'm sure when he comes to ATC this October 11-12, I'll be picking up even more of his buildings!

    Two more 28mm 3D printed vehicles I picked up from Diabolical Terrain, and a Sci-Fi building

I also always enjoy talking to Ron from Diabolical Terrain at conventions. I had just seen him at DayCon 2024 when he regaled me with the results of his Atlantic cruise that was supposed to include stops in Greenland and other places. Nearly every shore excursion was canceled because of dense fog, he said. I had been looking forward to his travel notes from one of the places I haven't visited and want to go, but felt awful when hearing about his and his wife's experiences. I had picked up some 28mm 3D printed vehicles from him at DayCon, but couldn't resist getting some more at Historicon. I want to take the large ambulance and see if I can use it as a core to convert into a recreation vehicle/camper. Jenny encouraged me to pick up the vintage VW bus, too, which I will have fun decorating up in a suitably stoner way! I also grabbed a large 28mm Sci-Fi building for either Xenos Rampant or Five Parsecs from Home. Ron will also be at ATC this October, so doubtless I will snatch up more of his amazingly smooth, 3D prints.

    This 'NYC Terrain' box was at 40% off and was a deal that I couldn't pass up

I have forgotten the name of the vendor, but I had one final "can't resist" purchase. At many visits to our local Guardtower East game store, I had ogled the terrain for the Marcel Crisis Protocal game. I even picked up one box of four wrecked cars, which painted up nicely. There is much other very nice stuff, but I feel it is way too expensive of a line. However, it was 40% off, and with it containing two buildings, two dumpsters, two cars, and two street lights, I felt I had to get it. I am actually trying to find a way to do street lights for my urban set ups, so I look forward to seeing if I can duplicate these pieces using craft store materials.

    Bag of "fool's gold" from Pastimes on the Square makes excellent concrete rubble when painted

Oops - I forgot! There was one final purchase (my cheapest, actually). I have bought scatter terrain from Pastimes on the Square at conventions for many years. They make many of the small shrubs and bushes that I place hear and there across my battlefields to give it a more realistic and irregular look. Well, for my zombie figures, I've been putting small pieces of what look like concrete rubble on the bases. My tiny bag of "fools gold" I was given years ago was about empty. What did I see at their booth but another massive bag for only $5? So, my final purchase was made, and I was ready to call my shopping at Historicon a success. The visa gift cards were all used up and some of my flea market money, as well. However -- as mentioned earlier -- I still had enough left over from my sales to pay for my share of the room. So, not only was my visit to the Exhibit Hall at Historicon 2024 a success, it was a bargain, too!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 95

Crew for Five Parsecs from Home

    My crew for games of 'Five Parsecs from Home', a Sci-Fi adventure wargaming set of rules

After reading many blog entries and message board posts about the Sci-Fi solo/co-op game, Five Parsecs from Home, I ordered the rulebook sometime last year. I read through it and was intrigued, but was busy with other stuff. So, I never got around to painting anything up for it or giving it a go. Now that I am retired (which enabled me to chip away at the projects considered "more urgent"), perhaps it is time to officially give the game a try. Step one of that, of course, is painting up some figures for my crew! Doesn't step one always involve painting things (unless it involves buying things...!)?

    My hope is I can convert these Sci-Fi rules into a campaign I can run for the Sunday night gang

The ostensible reason for purchasing the rules was to convert it from a solo game to something we could play as a running campaign on Sunday evenings. Each player could control a couple members of what would have to be a much larger crew, of course. Nothing wrong with that, though, as the tabletop fights with these rules are supposed to be fairly fast and fluid. We have played Galactic Heroes, from Wiley Games, and enjoyed them. However, Five Parsecs' strength is supposed to be how it threads everything together into a fun and interesting campaign narrative. Players make choices between games that affect what happens. They gain skills, improve their perhaps impoverished financial situation, gain clients, make enemies, and so on. The best idea to develop something like that for my friends is to test out a solo campaign myself, first. And now that I am retired, I should have time to do that!

The five figures that I chose as my starting crew were sourced from almost as many different places. Two, the captain Alistair Valentine and Cephvarx Hul, are from the Wiley Games line of 3D printed figures. Alistair is "Allister" and Cephvarx is "Varx Blaxx." The Wiley line is fairly tall, but I've found it is hefty and strong enough that you don't have to worry about limbs or weapons snapping like other 3D printed figures. Gunny MacBride is a Reaper plastic figures, aka IMEF Nick Stone. Doc Mecrosus is a listed as a Bounty Hunter from Battle Valor Games and their post-apocalyptic line. Finally, observant readers of my blog will recognize SAS B61 as a retro-looking 3-D printed robot from Thingiverse printed by my friend Joe.

    Every needs a captain: Alistair Valentine is mine, and he's on a mission to recoup his lost 'nest egg'

As of writing this blog post, I have not "rolled up" these characters with the extensive background creation system in Five Parsecs. However, here's what I am thinking. The captain, Alistair Valentine, is a former commercial star pilot who put in his decades of service with the company. In a cost-cutting move, the bean counters in the corporation have found a way to cheat him out of his retirement pension. Unable to kick back and enjoy his old age in a pleasant, touristy star system, Alistair is thrown back into working for himself. It takes most of his savings to purchase his ship, and he's looking to make money quick and hopefully get to that retirement goal.

    I used a retro-looking robot 3D print for SAS B61 (same model as in my post-apoc games)

Alistair pulled a few favors with colleagues to get his trusty security droid, SAS B61 retired from company service and have it sold to him for use as his personal bodyguard. Doubtless, the life of a hardscrabble star pilot will involve dangers, and the droid has proved dependable and a surprisingly humorous companion over the years. As a prank, decades ago a friend in the IT department had a comedy program inserted into SAS B61's system. Now, the droid starts every conversation off with a joke from his extensive library. It has learned to analyze human conversations and what provokes laughter, so is attempting its best to be a witty companion.

    The captain's old college buddy had retired from the military & volunteered to accompany his old pal

Alistair's college friend, Gunny MacBride was also retiring from his career in the military when Alistair was forced from the starliner's rolls. Very sympathetic to his old friend's situation, he has volunteered to go along and watch Alistair's back on these potentially dangerous adventures. Gunny's military experience and familiarity with weapons will likely be useful in keeping Alistair and his crew alive. 

    I really liked this 3D print from Wiley Games and immediately drafted him into my Five Parsecs crew

When word got out that Alistair was looking for a crew, one of the first applications he received was from Cephvarx Hul. The tall, purple-skinned alien comes from a race known for their engineering skills. Alistair had flown routes in their system for decades, and had met many of them over the years. Perhaps it is a sign of respect, or perhaps Cephvarx Hul needed to change his career, but the alien was very persistent and would not relent contacting him and following up until Alistair agreed to hire him. He signed on for what Alistair would consider a very low salary for someone of Cephvarx Hul's skills. The captain was intrigued and a little worried that he might be a plant for someone with nefarious plans, so had asked Gunny to keep an eye on the alien and monitor his actions and communications whenever possible.

    I have been waiting for an opportunity to use this post-apocalyptic plague doctor figure for years

The final member of the crew was the medic, Doc Mecrosus. The first thing anyone notices about the doctor is his sealed, beak-like mask which he wears over his head. He will explain through speakers hidden along the mask that he suffers from an extreme sensitivity to viruses and other airborne organisms. The mask filters all of these out and delivers scrubbed air to his mouth and nose. His dark outfit covers every inch of his body and is also designed to shield his skin from any germs or organisms that might overcome his fragile immune system. Many shake their head at the irony of someone with his condition going into the medical field, but Doc Mecrosus explains that the more he knows about the diseases that could overwhelm his system and kill him, the better prepared he is to deal with it. He also has a peculiar way of looking at life he encounters. Since so much of his energy is devoted to eliminating microscopic organisms, he feels little compunction with killing larger ones, as well. An avid hunter, Doc Mecrosus is no pacifist, and as such, Alistair felt he'd be a great one to take along. Not only would he help the crew stay healthy, he also had the ability to keep the safe!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 95

First Playtest of 'Zombie RV' rules

    Zombies prowling the streets in our play test of the rules, Zombie RV, from Grey Area Games

As I have been gearing up, painting figures for the release of the County Road Z rules, I noticed a post on Lead Adventure Forum about a quick, simple rules set called Zombie RV. Written by David Bezio of Grey Area Games, they are a 10-page rules set downloadable on Wargame Vault. When I read through them, I was very intrigued.

    The rules are available for as little as $1 to download on Wargame Vault

Although the mechanics on County Road Z are simple, these were even simpler. They also seemed easy to modify into a series of ongoing games, with survivors progressing and gaining new skills or experience. The rules author was very receptive to my ideas and sent me an unfinished update with some of the same goals in mind. He gave me a thumbs up to testing out additions to Zombie RV. I aligned what I was coming up with to his work in progress. When I felt it was ready, Jenny and I sat down on a Saturday evening to play test the game with my expansions.

    Our survivors deploy at the edge of the table at left, ready to scavenge for some supplies

We split the four survivors between us. I took a shotgun-armed survivor that I named Mophius because the miniature looks vaguely like Morpheus from The Matrix. I gave him 'Shooter' -- +1 to shoot rolls -- and 'Vigorous', one of my new skills that I created that modifies a roll on the wound table. My second survivor was Woody, one of my newest painted miniatures in a red hoodie and black 'Woody Hayes' hat. In Zombie RV, you get to divide amongst your four survivors a rifle, shotgun, pistol, 3 melee weapons, and a clip of extra ammo. Woody got last pick and ended up armed with a tire iron. I also gave him 'Prepper,' which modifies his chance at scavenging items from resource tokens on the board.

    Mophius has a GREAT idea -- line up all these zombies for a shotgun blast...

Jenny took rifle-armed Coop, a figure from my Bucknuts post-apocalyptic campaign. She also chose his teammate Jackie, a pistol armed woman who would prove to be our deadliest survivor of the four. Jenny chose 'Shooter' for Coop, like I did with Mophius, but also 'Brawler' to give him a +1 in melee if any zombies made it in to contact. She gave Jackie 'Medic' and 'Stealth.' After all that careful thought setting up our survivors with appropriate bonuses to rolls, wouldn't you know it but we often forgot to apply those bonuses when the situation arose! I forgot the +1 on the wound roll chart for Mophius, as you will see, and Jenny did the same for melee when zombies came into contact with Coop. Sigh. I guess we were learning a new system, so it is easier to lose track of things in that situation.

    Guess what I rolled for Mophius? On a roll of "1", you are out of ammunition

Zombie RV uses a 2'x2' board, so I pulled out four of my gray acrylic floor tiles. I placed an asphalt road slightly off-center crossing the board. The zombie "spawn point" is dead center on the table, so I placed the front door of an apartment building next to that. We could rationalize the people in the apartment had all been infected and were piling out to attack our survivors when we pulled up in our van (since I don't have an RV model). There were other apartment buildings along the road to either side of the center one, and a playground and small, stone building behind one of them. Across the road was Silent Slumbers motel and Swingle's Shawarma and Smith's Smoke Shack. The table size is fairly small and compact, so it was hard to fit too many of my 28mm buildings on it.

    Meanwhile, Coop took a position between two vehicle wrecks and successfully shoots one, leading the others to have to circle around the wrecks to get at him

Search tokens are placed in each quadrant of the board, as the rules say "somewhere challenging." So, I placed one in the balcony of the hotel, another on the second floor of an apartment, the third in the small stone building, and the final one in the Smoke Shack. I let Jenny number the board edges and roll for our starting location. We would begin on the road edge in between the Smoke Shack and one of the apartment buildings. The road itself was blocked by numerous wrecked or burnt out vehicles. Our four survivors deployed next to our van that we'd arrived in, and five zombies were placed in the center of the table.

    One zombie shambled over to Mophius while three new zombies spawn from the apartment

And here's where things started to go wrong...ha, ha! So soon, you ask? How? Survivors move first in the game, and Jenny indicated she wanted me to move one of my survivors first. Mophius saw the five zombies group together and decided they were lined up perfectly for a shotgun blast. In Zombie RV, a shotgun shoots a blast in a cone 8" long by 2" wide at its end. He confidently moved to a narrow spot between a wreck and apartment doorway, aimed his shotgun, and "click." If you roll a natural one when shooting in Zombie RV, your survivor is out of ammo. Really? My first shot?? We rationalized no noise from a shot took place, so put only one noise token next to him for moving.

    You can't see Jackie searching the Smoke Shack, but Coop's noise attracts most of the zombies

Jenny laughed at my famed bad dice rolling and then moved Coop up to a "V" between two wrecked vehicles, where there was no gap for the zombies to get at him. He fired at one of the zombies and splattered it. That's how it is supposed to be done! Jackie followed up and was the only character to roll a "6" at the start of her turn to receive a free action the entire game. This enabled her to move to the Smoke Shack, clamber over the counter, and find the medical kit that the previous owner left under the counter. Score -- our first resource token! Not to be outdone in scavenging, Woody slipped behind Mophius and into the apartment -- essentially planning to cut through it on the way to the resource token in the stone building behind.

    Meanwhile, Woody is on the lookout for more supplies, deciding to search behind this door

I felt there was one thing I think needs to be better defined in the game -- especially with my modifications. Should the characters know exactly where each resource token is before the game starts? As the rules are currently written, they do. However, the author is in the process of adding "attributes" to the game. Each survivor will have a statistic between 1 and 3 for Brains, Might, and Quickness. They assign a "1" to one score, "2" to another, and "3" to be their best attribute. Or they can be "gifted" and have "2's" across the board (like Jenny chose for Jackie). 

The author, David Bezio, had asked me to find ways to incorporate these skill checks into the game. My first thought was that survivors have to make a Brains check (roll 1d6 and add your attribute seeking a 6+) to spot the resource token. As the rules are written, that didn't prevent us from heading directly towards them, though. The rules also have players make a search roll once they are adjacent to the resource token. I created the "Prepper" skill for survivors who are better at scavenging resources to receive bonuses.

   Mophius proves unready for melee, too, missing both attacks - now he is swarmed by four zombies!

It seemed odd to have to roll to see it, then roll again to search it. Maybe it would work better to instead mark several potential locations of search tokens in each quadrant. If a character passes their Brains check once in line of sight of where it is located, then it is really there. If they fail, it isn't. If they're having bad luck (like Mophius), and are down to the final potential spot, they can keep trying on each action to spot the resource token as it will really be there. I'm not 100% sure this is how I want to do it or not, so will definitely welcome feedback from the author.

   Coop steps over to get a shot at the line of zombies and "Click!" Out of ammo, too!

After the survivors move, it is the zombie turn to do two actions each as well. The rules have an AI which makes sense for their movement so that you don't need a GM. Zombies in contact with a survivor attack with their actions. If a zombie is in line of sight of a survivor, they move to the one with the most noise tokens. We made a mistake here. Since Mophius had gone "click" rather than shoot, ALL of the zombies should have moved towards Coop, as he had made more noise moving and firing. Instead, we had the three closest to Coop move towards him, while the one closest to Mophius moved into contact with him with both its actions. We then rolled to spawn three new zombies that came stumbling out of the center apartment building.

    With Mophius down and his rifle jammed, Coop splatters the closest zombie and runs back to the van

Yikes - Mophius was in bad shape already. I had chosen the extra ammo for him, but to use it he had to kill the zombie in front of him, and then reload. I rolled a melee attack first and got a "3" -- miss! Next, I rolled a "2". Wow, this survivor's luck was really bad. Things got worse, though. Coop stepped around the wrecked car to get a bead on the conga line of three zombies shambling towards him. He rolled a "1" -- out of ammo, too! Jackie shook her head at the incompetence of the male survivors and rolled two attacks with her pistol. The first one was a "4" forcing the zombie back, while the second roll was a head shot and splattered it. Girl power! Woody exited the apartment building and made it around to the building containing the search token, passing his Brains check to spot it.

    Jackie does the same, splattering her zombie in melee and then sprinting to join Coop at the van

On the zombie turn, the one in contact with Mophius missed...woo-hoo! But all three of the newly spawned zombies moved towards him. Should they have? We may have done that wrong, again. Things were getting worse for my "Shooter"! He had chosen his position well, where only two zombies could get at him at a time. However, he was definitely attracting a crowd and was rolling subpar. The zombies near Jenny moved into contact with both Coop and Jackie. When we rolled for spawning, a "Nasty Zombie" showed up, in addition to three ordinary ones. 

It was now our turn three. Our rolling had better improve soon, or we would no longer be "survivors"! Mophius attacked one of the zombies and killed it. He missed the second one with his next roll. Five rolls, and all except one were a three or below. That won't going to cut it during the zombie apocalypse! Woody successfully searched and found a loaded pistol in the building. Coop did a melee attack on the zombie in contact and forgot to add his +1 for 'Brawler." He missed. On action two, hes splattered it -- still not adding his +1.  Jackie continued to fire at zombies and splatter them. Girl power, indeed!

    Also available for $1 (unless you donate more like I did) is this 4 scenario mini-campaign

Then it was the zombie's turn. The remaining zombie in contact with Mophius missed on its first roll, then hit on the second. When a survivor is hit, there are two steps. First, he can try to tough it out and roll a "6" on 1d6 with a Grit check. Mophius failed, of course. Next, the player rolls on the Survivor Kill Table. Jenny rolled a "6" -- which equals "dead." A "4-5" would have been wounded and knocked down, while a "1-3" is wounded. Wounded survivors get only one action per turn instead of two. Remember the skill Mophius chose, "Vigorous?" The one that gives him a -1 to the die roll on the kill table? No, we didn't remember it either! So, Mophius was dead and would turn into another Nasty Zombie at the end of the turn. Grreeaatt!

The rest of the zombies moved back into contact with Coop and Jackie, while the other ones trampled over Mophius' body to try to cut off Jenny's survivors. Turn Four - time to get the heck out of here! Coop splattered the zombie in front of him and then bolted towards the van. Jackie did the same with the one who'd climbed into the Smoke Shack with her. She also bolted off table. Hearing all of the shouting going on and no more gunfire, Woody crept off table to, clutching his new pistol and hoping to get back to the van before his friends took off!

    Mophius in the center, back in his happier days when he was alive...ha, ha!

Well, our first game of Zombie RV was over. We had made a mess of it with our dice rolls, for sure! Technically, this would be considered a "Failed Mission" under the ideas I'd scribbled down before the game. We'd lost one of our survivors, the shotgun and extra ammo he was carrying, but had gained a pistol. Will we continue the saga of the "And then there were three..."? We shall see. I will be curious to see how the author responds. My modifications, which I was worried might make the survivors too tough, obviously did nothing of the sort. Perhaps there are more things we did wrong? It was fun to get the zombies and survivors out on the table, though. Zombie RV plays very quickly. It is available for download on Wargame Vault. David asks for a $1 minimum price, but I gave him $5 for it, knowing how rules writing isn't easy. There's also a follow up, four part scenario campaign called, "A Place to Chillax." Pick them both up and see what you think!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 90