'Blue Angels' - Next Pulp Sci-Fi Team Finished

    My next batch of 28mm metal Hydra Miniatures for my 'City in the Clouds' Pulp Sci-Fi game

You gotta feel for the girls -- pushed to the side by two separate groups of minis after being started on. They almost got their revenge and beat the batch of Viet Cong from Gringo 40s to the finish line, but I decided that I need to brush seal them first. The clear bases I'm putting things on for this project certainly switch things up a bit! 

    Hydra's 'Retro Raygun' line of 28mm (32mm?) figs are well-sculpted and very characterful!

First off, I need to trim the figures from their integral metal bases. I think folks are calling these "puddle bases" now? Not sure why -- they look nothing like puddles to me! I use wire cutters to snip off most of the base and then a X-acto knife to get as much of the excess metal around their boots as I can. Yes, it is every bit the pain that it sounds like. So, if anyone knows of a better way, I'd be happy to hear! I glue the figures to cardboard for painting, propping them up so they're reasonably upright while it dries. Once I'm done, I have to cut them off that cardboard as neatly as I can. Then I have to scrape off the glue from the underside, so bare metal is exposed again. I use 2-part Epoxy to attach them to their bases, once again propping them up so they stand up straight while the epoxy cures. I've heard superglue can "fog" clear plastic, so I stick with my tried and trusty epoxy. I have to do any matte coating on the figure as a brush on instead of spray, so that I don't fog the clear base. I suppose that I could spray them while on their cardboard, before trimming them off. That's what I did with the first batch of Valkeeri. Finally, I use clear gloss on the top of the base to mask the ring of epoxy around the boots. Yeah...LOTS of steps!

    I like how the girls look on their clear bases, but boy is it a LOT of extra steps...!

The first step in painting them was to do their blue skin. I used a Sky Blue base coat, and then watered down some Vallejo dark blue as a wash to give their faces some definition. The Hydra Miniatures castings are super-high quality with good details and very little flash to trim off. Later in the process, I finish their faces with a very dark blue in the eye socket instead of black. I use a very light colored bluish-white for the eyeball, and a medium blue eyes (of course!) for their eyes. I paint their lips a medium blue, too, and I think their faces came out great.

    Sorry for the blurrier frontal view of the leader - love the pose! She looks very...imperious?

Next, I painted their one-piece leotards a pale yellow, dry-brushing them with white. I did their gloves and boots in white. Next up, was painting all of the metallic parts -- helmet, gun, and belts -- in Iron Wind Steel. This was going to be just the base coat, with only an outline left after I'd applied the Metallic Blue craft paint to each metal part. For the belt buckle and the ridges on the helmets, I used a Bright Gold. I added a few tiny dabs of turquoise metallic in the highest spots of the metallic blue on the helmet to make it look as if light was reflecting off of them. And then I sat back and said, "Uh-oh...damn it!" I had just given the Blue Angels helmets that evoke the football helmets of the hated Michigan Wolverines! "Noooooooo...!"

    Looking down from above you can see their unfortunate 'Michigan Wolverines' style helmets....sigh

At that point, I decided the Blue Angels needed a little more decoration. I painted a thin stripe of metallic blue at the end of their boots and gloves. It was a nice contrast and break between the two pale, light colors. I grabbed one of my dark blue micron pens and added three buttons on the outer side of their boots, too. All that was left now, was their guns. I had painted them previously with my dark metallic Iron Wind Metals Steel. I added two rings of coppery-gold accent near the muzzle of their rayguns, and a golden line on the side. The handles and and ventral fin of the gun I painted a color called Chocolate Brown Metallic that I really like using in my Sci-Fi figures. The last step was to paint the nozzle of the gun red metallic with a metallic rose pink tip.

Chick fight! The two batches painted for the project so far square off inside a space station    

I sat back and was surprised at how easily and quickly I'd finished this squad. I pondered if I should add some more decoration -- maybe a wing-like symbol on their lower backs to go with the Blue Angel name? In the end, I decided not to do so. These were cool looking figures and I didn't need to do a lot of detail work to make them shine. So, I called them done, and began the process of removing them from the cardboard they were glued to and epoxying them onto their clear bases. 

I'm happy with how they turned out -- despite the whole Wolverines vibe...ha, ha! Well, I can always make them the bad guys (er, gals), right? So, what's next? Well, since these were a batch of "old" figures (bought before 2026), it is time for a new one. I decided to paint up my contingent of seven Trojan War Achaeans -- Diomedes' contingent. I believe all seven miniatures are from Wargames Foundry, but since I bought them unpainted (and out of their bags) from my friend Keith, I'm not sure. Otherwise, I plan to work on a couple medieval town buildings at the same time. It might end up being a tall order -- one is four story and the other two (not counting their roofs). We shall see how long it take!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 217
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 198

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

Reinforcements for the Viet Cong from Gringo40s

    More excellently sculpted 28mm metal Viet Cong for my Surviving 'Nam games from Gringo40s

I finished my second batch of Gringo40s Viet Cong, this week. All of them are armed with assault rifles and will be more reinforcements for the V.C. forces my players of Surviving 'Nam might will face. I noticed that in larger games, I've come close to running out of Foes a few times. So, these eight will help with that. I've will also begin a second solo campaign to be published on my new YouTube channel as "play through" videos at the request of numerous people online. I'm balling the channel Lead Legionaries on YouTube in honor of this blog! I created the first "Getting Started" video and published it on Sept. 9.

    I painted these V.C. in a mix of their trademark black pajamas, khaki, gray, & faded olive drab

This is the second of three batches I'll paint from the figures a friend brought back with him from a visit to the U.K. earlier this year. The final batch all have arms holding their rifle that must be glued in place. Naturally, I deferred those to a later day! I also have a few more specialty figures from the purchase to paint up, but I'll likely save those for last. To get these ready for paint, I based them up first and brush primed them with Liquitex White Gesso.

    For this batch, I picked out a mix of kneeling, advancing, & standing poses

I decided to paint these in a hodgepodge of black, khaki, gray, and faded olive. I always feel that the more variety there is in an irregular force, the more accurate it likely looks. I decided the ones with the helmets would be most likely to have access to cast-off uniforms, so I did those in khaki. The bareheaded ones were more likely to be in the trademark "black pajamas." I wasn't completely random in choosing colors. I also intentionally mixed up the equipment colors -- the web gear, bags, and straps -- in both tan and faded olive. The goal was to have no two figures completely alike among the eight. It was interesting that all eight of these miniatures had the grenade pouches strapped to their back. Fewer than half of the Crucible Crush ones from my first five batches had those. In fact, at first I was confused what the heck they were until I went back and referred to my sources, again!

    These minis probably had the least amount of flash of any metal figures I've ever painted!

These painted up fairly quickly as there weren't really that many things to paint up differently. Skin was first, then their uniform color I selected, then equipment, rifle, and sandals. The equipment was all the same color except that grenades inside the pouches required a color for the handle and the metallic "potato masher" part. In fact, when I finished the grenades protruding from their pouches, I sat back and was surprised it was time to paint the eyes next. Wow, that seemed to go quick! The eyes on these V.C. were SO much easier than my Wood Elves inside their helmets...ha, ha! They came out fairly well, I thought, and there were none I was particularly unhappy with.

    Gringo 40s lets you pick out individual poses from their line when ordering, & their prices are great!

Once that was done, it was time to do their wash. I decided to do my dark brown vehicle wash on all of the colors except for the black, which I left alone. I did use a black wash on the assault rifles -- I like the effect it gives on guns. Once that was finished, it was on to flocking. I added the 3-D printed resin vegetation to the bases of these, as well. I considered the experiment with them on the bases of the V.C. female fighters a success, and will continue doing this. I may even buy more varieties next time I see Green Stuff World products to add them to my "normal" (as opposed to jungle) basing scheme.

    Last look at this batch of 8 V.C. that will be reinforcements for the enemy in my games

What else is on my painting desk? Well, the twice-delayed Pulp Sci-Fi ladies are coming along nicely, and will be completed shortly. I even decided on a name for their unit -- the Blue Angels! I have to come up with a name for their race, though, after I stole the "Valkeeri" name from Hydra Miniatures. Oh, and you may have noticed that both my "Miniatures Acquired" and "Painted" went up with this batch. I succumbed to temptation and bought seven unpainted Mycenaeans to use as my contingent in games of Ilium. Thanks, Keith! I plan on working those in right after the Blue Angels are done.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 217
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 193

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

'City in the Clouds' Project Begins - the Valkeeri Faction

    My first squad for a new Pulp Sci-Fi project and convention game -- the Valkeeri from Hydra Minis

Over the last couple years, I picked up some Pulp Sci-Fi figures from Hydra Miniatures. These are amazing looking 28mm metal sculpts that needed to get onto the tabletop. One of them had became part of my crew in my solo Five Parsecs from Home campaign. Another became a member of the Rebel Alliance in my Star Wars skirmish campaign. However, I had many more of the figures sitting unpainted, waiting for me to find a use for. At one point, I thought I could use them for games of Xenos Rampant, but we haven't really been playing that much, lately.

    Actually only 1 of the 5 (with cloak) is a 'Valkeeri' model - the rest are Hydra Minis 'Astro Angels'

One possibility was that they could be small, 4-5 man (er, woman) factions for games of Space Weirdos. I had purchased them in groups of roughly 4-5, so that would work the figures I had on hand. One evening, almost unbidden, an idea for a convention game sprang into my head. I envisioned a 4'x4' table whose ground level was clouds of various colored smoke, representing the upper surface of a gas giant. Rising out of the clouds would be clear acrylic rods, supporting a City in the Clouds. There would have to be a good support network anchoring those rods into place to support the terrain and figures atop them and keep them from being tipped over. I could work that out, though!

    I love these miniatures from the 'Retro Raygun' line - so much Pulpy character in them!

The game part would use Space Weirdos and have factions of 4-5 figures flying around on jet packs to achieve some mission -- steal a vital component from the city, kidnap an ambassador, free a prisoner -- you name it! I would base figures on clear bases and players would move them from one acrylic platform to another -- "flying" above the surface. In my mind, it sounds amazing -- at least if it ends up looking like I see it in my head! The first step -- before building the city -- is to paint up the factions themselves. I looked at my list of unpainted miniatures that I keep on my phone. I already own enough Hydra Miniatures for three of the six factions. So, here we go -- we are off and running on another project!

    To look more alien, I decided that MY Valkeeri would have green skin instead of Caucasian

Hydra Miniatures Retro Raygun line has a number of factions, one of which is the Valkeeri. Their website has painted models on display of all the packs. You really should check them out, as they were painted by my favorite miniature painter of them all, Dr. Matthias from the Lead Adventure Forum. Back in my Five Parsecs days, I stole the name of one of their factions, Valkeeri, for my crew member's race. My Valkeeri would be green skinned, rather than Caucasian, though. I painted my Star Wars rebel also with green skin. So, these green skinned ladies would be my first faction. Here's where it gets a little complex, though. For my "Valkeeri" miniatures, I used figures from another of their factions, the Astro Angels. They're another group of "hot chicks in leotards." However, for their leader, I used one of the actual Valkeeri models (Leader B). So, yeah, I'm taking Hydra Miniatures' ideas and changing their Pulp factions into my own. And I will likely use the other Valkeeri models I own as a second, as yet unnamed, faction -- keep up with me here! 

    And here she is, the leader and lone figure actually from the Valkeeri line - very sinister looking, eh?

Once I had the "Valkeeri" of my first faction assembled -- you had to glue their jet packs on -- I primed them white with Liquitex Gesso. I did their faces first, even though with their gloves and boots, that is the only part of the model showing any skin. I painted them a very bright "Parsley" green, and did a wash of a darker green to give some shading to their faces. Next, I did their one piece, skin tight leotards in a dusty purple. I dry brushed it a lighter shade and then moved on to the black. This consisted of their gloves, boots, and the leader's cloak. This got a gray dry brush to give some definition.

The most time consuming part of the figure is the metal. Their helmets, collars, guns, armor and knee joints, and their belts were all painted first in my favorite metallic, a very dark one from Iron Wind called Steel. Details were then picked out in a bright bronze with an ever brighter shade of it as highlights on the bronze. The jet packs were done in a subsequent session, identically to my previously painted Valkeeri, as were the guns, using a variety of bright metallic colors. 

    The 'girls' check out the control room of an enemy facility, looking for a secret device to steal

For their faces, I painted the eyes with a dark, bluish-green socket first, then a bright yellow for their "whites" (Hey, they're aliens!), followed by a very dark blue for their iris. I gave them medium green lips, and much to my surprise, was suddenly done. Those went much faster than I expected! I went back and forth on whether to do any kind of dark wash, finally decided to do a half strength of my normal black vehicle wash. This was mainly because I feel metallics look better with a dark black wash over them. Perhaps I thinned it down too much, as it didn't seem to make a lot of difference -- just a very small one.

I wanted to base these on clear bases -- since they'll be zooming across the sky. The only problem was that I didn't have any! Plus, in my impetuousness to get started, I failed to trim them off their metal bases first. Oops! In the end, they trimmed off pretty easy with wire cutters and an X-acto knife. A friend lent me some 1" round clear bases, so I was able to get these based up before ordering more from Litko. I'd heard that using superglue to attach figures to clear bases is problematic, as it may sometimes "fog" the plastic. So, I stuck with my tried and trusted two-part, 5-minute epoxy. I thought about drilling the bottom of their feet and inserting pins to "peg" them and get them to stay even better. Instead, I decided that I could do that on subsequent batches IF I am having problems with them popping off. So, here they are -- the first five figures for my City in the Clouds project! Hope you like them!! Note that this also brings down the gap between my Acquired vs. Painted in miniatures down to less than 40. As long as I stay disciplined and don't run off and buy stuff for a new project, I would say getting ahead is within sight.

    My prototype 'Valkeeri' (yes, another Astro Angel!) figure from my Star Wars skirmishes

What else is on my painting desk? For miniatures, I have finally begun painting up some of the Gringo 40s 28mm metal Vietnam figures I bought. First up is a batch of six V.C. female fighters. Also on the desk is loads of more scatter terrain and also a very tall minaret for my medieval town. I thought about cutting off the crescent so it wouldn't so obviously be a minaret, but figured that painting it in the same basic color scheme as my other buildings would be good enough to allow it to not look out of place. So, stay tuned for more updates soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 171

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 71

Crispy Critter Control in Downtown 'Chilly'

    Two members of 'Critter Control', my alien-hunting team in solo games of Majestic 13, on the roofs

Team leader Boone MacDonald, couldn't believe it when the call came through from Agricultural League HQ of Majestic 13. Critter Control was needed to respond to a nearby priority mission. Boone asked, "Can Waylon be released to respond with us? We're down one man!" Unlikely, his superior replied, but he'd see what he could do to get them some help. Shaking his head in disbelief, Boone hurried to collect Mabel, Buck, and Silas. While they drove at high speed towards downtown Chillicothe, OH, he shared what little he know about the alien they'd likely encounter on the way. "Mabel, what do you know about a Helion Beam Chaser, since your daddy told you so much...?" 

    The Helion Beam Chaser in the smouldering woods behind a VW bug that it torched earlier

She whistled and pulled off her sunglasses to catch Boone's eyes in the rear view mirror. "Y'all know what plasma is?" Some heads nodded yes, others shook no. "Think of the coals in your grill about 10 times hotter. Well, this nasty space polecat is made of that stuff. And he can shoot it towards you in twin jets with both arms!" She sat back in the seat as they bumped along rural Ohio's less-than-well-maintained roads. "Daddy had a scar all along his back that looked like his flesh was just melted like wax. He said it was from one of them Beam Chasers." She shook her head. "Boone, if you want to just pull this SUV over to the berm, the four of us can say we got a flat tire. Let a full-strength team handle this one..."

    Critter Control's deployment, mostly on the rooftops with good lines of sight, and the alien's location

Boone kept driving, relaying his instructions. They would infiltrate quietly and quickly. Go to the rooftops nearest the smoke -- that was where the Beam Chaser should be. "Take the elevator or stairs, then find positions along the parapets. Report back to me on comms when you're in position. We will open fire on it until it runs away or goes down." He met each of the other's eyes briefly, while driving. "It likes to do a Heat Wave attack when multiple enemies are close. Always keep a wall or something that absorbs heat between you and it." He sighed and took a breath. "Mabel, I know how you feel about the team being under strength. But we can't let our neighbors in town down. We signed up with Majestic 13 to defend the Earth from aliens. And though it may not always seems that way, Chillicothe is part of Earth...!" The others chuckled and nodded, then sat back, alone with their thoughts.

    Beam Chaser preparing to launch jets of plasma at Mable in the top left of the picture

It had been since February since I played my first game of Majestic 13. I've been busy in the intervening months with other projects. Reading about the exploits of my friend Bill's solo, Majestic 13 campaign on his Dice, Doubloons, and Random Musings site has kept me wanting to do a mission. I just never seemed to find the time. With Origins concluded last week, and Surviving 'Nam just about ready for print, I finally had a free evening. I'd previously rolled up Mission 02, knowing our foe would be a Helion Beam Chaser. I even picked up a 3-D printed fire elemental for $3 at Origins to paint up as it. I set up the terrain for the mission and rolled randomly to see which edge Critter Control deployed on. 

    Taking damage, the fiery (and newly painted!) Beam Chaser advances towards the team members 

Since Critter Control's defeat in the last game, I had done some thinking. With a five turn limit, and only five characters, you will get only a limited number of shots at the alien. You need to minimize turns spent moving around and not shooting. So, I placed Buck, Silas, and Mabel on the rooftops of the highest buildings on our side of the table. I left team leader Boone in cover near a flaming wreck of a car that the alien had doubtless torched before our arrival. He would be our quick reaction force, able to move to get line of sight if the alien momentarily moved out of the other's field of view.  With the Beam Chaser having 110 hit points, we needed to average 22 per round. Our weapons inflicted 2d6 or 3d6 per shot. Perhaps attainable on the first turn with four shooters on the table, it would become harder and harder if it took some of team members out.

    Long ago, her daddy was wounded by a Beam Chaser, now Mabel falls to its fiery attack

The other key aspect in Majestic 13 is cover. If the target is in cover, you have to roll 2d20 for your attack and take the worst roll. The goal would be to always be in cover and to use our height and various positions to make it so the Beam Chaser was not. Turn 1 opened with the Beam Chaser firing at Mabel in her rooftop sniper position twice, but missing both times. Figures activate in Acuity Order. The Beam Chaser would activate first and third, while Buck Smithers (our Iraqi War vet) would activate second. After that, it would go Boone, Mabel, and Silas. The Beam Chaser would get a bonus activation if anyone fired at it and missed. So, our shots had to count or this would be a very short game!

    Silas lines up a shot, but misses the alien as it scampers down the street towards Boone

After the Beam Chaser's miss, Buck let loose with a burst from his light machine gun, striking the alien in the upper part of its fiery torso. Rolling 3d6+1, he did only 9 damage. We had a long way to go if we kept rolling below average on damage! The Beam Chaser seemed strangely drawn to fire at Mabel, and shifted his position so he was out of Buck's line of sight and fired again at Mabel. Once again, she ducked behind the brick parapet in time. Still, the hot June evening got even hotter as the side of the wall began smoking. Team leader Boone shifted positions from one car wreck to the next and let loose a burst with his assault rifle. A better damage roll -- 11 points with 2d6+1! Mabel popped up and aimed with her sniper rifle. The heat from the seared building made her sunglasses fog up a bit and she missed. The Beam Chaser fired back with its special ability and Mabel screamed and went down, her clothes smoking.

    The creature proves it's clever & moves so that Boone no longer has cover behind the smoking wreck

Silas switched positions to have better line of sight. He fired his light machine gun and missed. Thankfully, this alien could activate a maximum of three times in a turn, so couldn't return fire on him. Turn one was over, and we were down from four to only three figures! With black smoke rising all over downtown Chillicothe, things were NOT looking good for Critter Control. The Beam Chaser shifted his focus to the team leader, moving to where Boone was no longer in cover of the flaming vehicle. Thankfully, he missed at least once on both his pair of d20 rolls. Buck squeezed off another long burst at it, but once again, a low roll, doing only 8 points damage on 3d6+1. Where did Critter Control get its ammo from? The local Walmart?? The Beam Chaser didn't seem to notice the hit and fired again at Boone. This time, the team leader wasn't so lucky and he was burned badly -- down to a single hit point! Boone returned fire and then darted for cover behind the closest apartment building. Luckily, he struck the alien, but once again the damage roll was below average.

Reeling from the pain of his burns, Boone returns fire & scurries for cover behind a building

Silas, knowing the alien would get cover from his vantage point, decided to call HQ for aid instead. He rolled well, and sooner than expected, the sound of an approaching chopper drew near. Silas looked up at it hovering over the neighboring building and blinked and shook his head in disbelief. The dust kicked up by the rotor blades must be making him see things. His ears confirmed it, though, as with a loud "Geronimooooo!" Waylon -- their missing team member -- leapt from the hovering chopper and landed on the roof next to Mabel. The craziest and bravest member of the team was back! In Majestic 13, one of the options on a successful call for aid is to receive a "robot"version of a team member. I thought it made more story line sense that Waylon convinced the Agricultural League that he was fit for duty and flew him out to be ready if the team requested assistance.  

    Help arrives as Waylon (top of photo) drops from a helicopter to assist his friends against the alien

Waylon immediately opened up with his assault rifle on the alien in the street below, inflicting 8 points of damage. "That one's for Mabel, you sonofabitch!" The alien moved towards the sound of Waylon's voice, positioning itself just below Waylon and Silas. It turned to face Silas, raised both its arms, and sent a massive jet of flame that engulfed the parapet where Silas was standing. There was a cry and he fell backwards and out of sight. Waylon called over, "Silas...you okay?" There was no reply. "DaYUM! Two of us down," he said, glancing over at the unmoving Mabel. He shouted the information out to Boone and Buck, since he did not have a communication device linked with the rest of the team. 

    Silas goes down as the alien accurately times his plasma jets, catching him lining up a shot

Buck had seen the chopper deposit Waylon and also saw Silas go down. The alien was clever and had moved in close to the buildings, cutting off his line of sight. He looked down at the roof of the Quickie Mart one story below him. "Aww, Hell! My knees are getting too old for this shee-yit!" With a running jump, he cleared the parapet, landed on the Quikie Mart roof, rolling forward to reduce the impact. He got up immediately and sprinted along the ledge eyeing the gaps between the buildings until he saw the Beam Chaser. "There you are...got you!" He fired again, the bullets impacting across it flaming body. Despite his heroics, the damage roll was -- yes again -- below average! The alien seemed confused where the shots came from, and looked up at Waylon, who was lining up another shot at him. He sent a wall of flame up at the moonshine distiller and made him fall to the ground, only 3 hit points left.

    Buck continues to fire at the alien from the rooftops, this shot passing over Boone's head in the alley

Boone, hearing the screams from Waylon, lowered his head. That pain was intense. He was clinging to consciousness, and knew the heat from a near miss might finish him off. He took a deep breath, and ran down the alley way towards the alien. He stopped at the corner of the building, poked his assault rifle around and fired, striking it solidly. The alien raised its fiery arms above its head and Boone ducked just in time to be missed by an almost-solid wall of heat billowing out from its body. Above him, he heard Waylon cursing, so he too must have avoided the Beam Chaser's attack. Boone heard the snap of Buck's rounds passing over his head as the veteran continued to hammer away at the alien. Their bullets seemed to be having little effect on it, though (yes, another way below average roll...sigh).  

    Despite being down to 1 hit point, Boone continues to pursue the alien and shoot it up

"Dammit!" he ducked back around the corner and emptied the clip into the creature. Waylon was also firing at it from above. For the first time in the battle, the creature made a crackling, roaring sound. "Extremis!" Boone thought. "We're finally getting through to the creature!" He didn't see the jets of plasma shooting from its arms in time, though. The world turned red, he heard someone screaming in what sounded like his voice, and then he felt himself falling and things going from red to black. 

    Boone watches in despair as his friend and team leader is engulfed in flame and goes down

"BOONE!" both Buck and Waylon yelled as one. They fired off a volley, and the creature turned and sprinted away, across the street, vaulting the park wall, and disappearing through the trees. It was gone, but they had failed to kill the alien. Again. And this time, three of their team lay senseless and possibly dead.

    Team Leader & heart and soul of Critter Control, Boone MacDonald goes down

On the final turn, I had an opportunity to kill the Beam Chaser, but once again, incredibly poor damage rolls kept me from achieving victory. Waylon rolled a "3" on 2d6, the alien suffered only 6 points from being in "Extremis", and Buck -- despite hitting every turn -- never rolled average or higher on his five damage rolls. Whew! Maybe this game wasn't meant for my bad die rolling...ha, ha! My Sunday evening gaming friends would NOT be surprised, that's for sure. With the game over, I consoled myself with a beer and rolled on the tables to see what happened to my fallen team members. Mabel got away "all clear." Silas suffered permanent damage, which intriguingly would give him Psionic powers. However, he would be out for the next mission. Boone also would be out, his wounds being "Questionable."

    Waylon curses as he looks around, seeing the alien disappear into the woods & 3 friends down

Am I really supposed to do a mission with three team members? I may just skip a mission for them. I had my doubts about how I could be successful with four characters, and my worries proved true. Three is just simply suicide! Continuing the post-game process, my characters received only 1 experience point apiece, since we did not complete either our primary objective (killing the Beam Chaser) or our secondary one (coming into contact with all the terrain pieces -- not likely, starting on the rooftops and with 11 separate pieces!). Still, +1 point each was enough for one of my characters to raise a stat, so that was good. I requested the same equipment as last time, a Medkit and Stimulus Kit. I was successful on the MedKit, so gave that to Silas. Even better, I got the Emergency Medical Facilities upgrade (are you seeing a trend here?). So, next time I will be able to re-roll an unfavorable result after a character is out of action.

    Another look at the 3'x3' tabletop for my latest Majestic 13 game

What's next for Critter Control? We are definitely skipping Mission 03! So, next game, we will be back to full strength. Maybe this time we'll get our elusive first "successful mission!"

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 134

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59

Big Alien Monsters for Majestic 13

    Four of the 'big alien monsters' I picked up at Cincycon for my Majestic 13 games

When I decided to give Snarling Badger Studios' rules Majestic 13 a try, the only thing holding me back was the lack of figures for the enemy. In this solo or coop game, you control a team of alien hunters (think a slightly less tongue-in-cheek version of the Men in Black movies). The foe for each game would be a different, large alien creature which I essentially had none of...ha, ha! That was quickly rectified at Cincycon a month or so ago, where I picked up a half dozen miniatures. These four are the first I've painted up.

    This is one of the old, old Star Wars pre-painteds that I touched up...nice flea market find!

Well, in the case of the first two, I should specify "touched up" rather than painted from scratch. These were picked up in the flea market and are from the Star Wars Miniatures plastic figures produced back in 2005 by Wizards of the Coast. The preying mantis looking creature is called an Acklay that appeared in episode II The Attack of the Clones. The other, more rhinocerous looking beast, is called a Reek and was in the same episode. If you remember, Obi-Wan and Anakin had to fight them in a gladiator type arena. 

    These were EXACTLY what I was hoping to find for alien monsters - this is a 'Reek,' apparently

Some of the paint was a little dull colored or needed highlighting, which is chiefly what I did on these creatures. Essentially, I tricked them out a big and brightened them up some. I also added a black wash to try to give them more depth. I briefly thought about adding putty or something to cover up the obvious joins where the various pieces of the Reek were glued together in China. However, I was afraid that might make it stand out even more if I didn't match the paint colors well. So, I decided to go with a quick touch up and chock these two alien creatures off as done.

    This was likely a fantasy monsters (stone giant? earth elemental?), but he will sub in as an alien

The next ogre or giant-looking figure I picked up from BV Traders in their clearance bin at Cincycon. It is made from a soft plastic, but I have no idea where it is from. I liked the rock-like protrusions on his back, arms, and legs. That certainly looked alien enough for me, though I could easily see using this figure as some kind of earth elemental or stone giant. I painted his skin a terra cotta color, while his bumps, lumps, and protrusions were in a medium brown. I added in a dark brown towards the tops, and then gave it a red brown dry brush. I wanted to stick with that orange-brown-red color scheme, so did his loin cloth in dun yellow and his long nails on hands and toes I painted tan. I gave him pale yellow eyes and teeth and did a brown wash (of course) over him. I like how he turned out, though I admit he is the most Fantasy and least Sci-Fi looking of the four.

    Headless, alien monstrosity to terrify and battle against my 'Critter Control' alien hunter team

The final one I also picked up from BV Traders. It was another soft plastic monster, but was obviously missing its head. Why somebody would try to sell a miniature missing its head, I don't know. But hey -- I bought it! I felt that the cavity where the head would be glued in looked like a perfect maw of some bizarre, headless creature. I added pieces of brass wire around the "mouth" to give it a kind of Venus Fly Trap look. Thing of them as feelers, sensing when something very unfortunate is being guided into the waiting maw. The pose of the figure adds to its hideous look, like it has actively sensed something and is getting ready to snatch and swallow it hole. I decided to go with a pale blue flesh with salmon and pink colored mouth. The inner maw showing was painted in a darker, pinkish red. I decided not to paint the bumps on its skin, hoping that the bluish-white dry brush and the dark wash at the end would be enough to make them stand out. He definitely looks like some alien critter for my team of hunters to "control!"

    Last look at this batch of 'new figures' -- all purchased at Cincycon at a nice discount

Speaking of Critter Control, it is past time for me to get another Majestic 13 game on the table! I would really like to get it done before I leave for vacation in a few days, but we shall see if that happens. Meanwhile, I am hurrying to get as much on my painting desk done as possible before my trip. If you're curious where I'm going, keep an eye on my travel blog, Worldwidemike for reports and pictures from abroad. Most Americans will have been completely unaware of this country or at least where it is! Now you have two blogs to "stay tuned" on...ha, ha!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 83

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

ABC Robot Warriors NOT as Simple as A-B-C

 

    4 of the Warlord Games 'ABC Robot Warriors' that I painted up as alien monsters for Majestic 13

Earlier this year, I made a list of things in my unpainted lead pile that I'd like to get finished. One of those was a collection of three boxes I won at the Advance the Colors raffle (I believe) back in 2024. They're called ABC Robot Warriors and made by Warlord Games, and I thought perhaps some of them might make good alien enemies for Critter Control in my Majestic 13 games. When I opened the box, I was immediately disappointed. They are made of soft plastic and some come in a number of parts that need to be assembled. As I mentioned on an previous post, their soft plastic bodies, arms, etc., was difficult to glue together. Neither superglue nor modeling glue nor epoxy really held the pieces together well.

I persevered, though, and eventually got them assembled. My favorite was the one that was hardest to put together, a bizarre robotic creature with a metallic sphere for a lower body and four sets of limbs or arms protruding from his shoulder area. He wears a long, flowing cloak which is actually the base. On the box, he was named "Raz-Putin." How they ever expected the bottom of the cloak to stand up on its own, I don't know. Still, I eventually epoxied all of them onto their bases. A different one that I liked had a weird lean to it which was most likely from either poor design or production. Like Mr. Four-armed Globe-body (Raz-Putin), he was armed with two swords. These swords were obviously designed to look like they were on fire. He was called Genghiz on his box. The remaining two were flying robot alien thingies each holding a Sci-Fi-looking gun. They were named Volgan Yaks. The last one, well, we won't talk about him. I eventually decided not to paint him because it was one of the most stupid designs I'd ever seen (even though he was the sole one that I didn't have to glue together). The best I can describe him is as a tall, humanoid robot wearing a Fascist-style military dress uniform with huge epaulettes and a peaked dress uniform cap. Hunh? What's the point of THAT?? If you're intrigued, Warlord Games called him General Blackblood.

    For being a pain to assemble and paint, some of these were actually very cool looking miniatures!

I decided to start working on those remaining four ABC Robot Warriors while finishing up my first batch of Elven spear (actually, there are two more robot warriors that I didn't take out of the pack because they looked too like Battletech Mechs -- which I have no interest in). Because they were very complicated figures, I further chose to do them one by one, rather than all together. I base coated all four in Iron Win Metals Steel -- a very dark metallic that I like to use (which I restocked up on at Cincycon 2026). First to be painted was Mr. Four-armed Globe-body. I decided the metallic sphere that was his lower body would be done in a green metallic paint I think looks particularly "Sci-Fi-y." I picked out various plates in that color, leaving recesses in Steel. I then did some accents in one of my bright bronze metallic craft paints. I then extended this scheme to his four arms, his torso, and head. I had to admit that it really is a cool looking figure. His giant cloak thingy I painted in a newly-purchased dark bluish green (because I needed more varieties of dark green for my elves!). I dry brushed the cloak, painted up the two swords, did his eyes in metallic red, and was very happy with my first completed ABC Robot Warrior!

    I thought the yellowish armor & flaming sword effect came out fairly well on Mr. Leaning Robot

Next up, was the good old Leaning Robot with the flaming swords. Hmm...what metallic color to do HIS robotic body in? I hadn't used my color shift paints in awhile, so grabbed the one that is called Black Flash or something like that. It is a very dark yellowish metallic that doesn't shift color noticeably. Once again, I left some portions in the dark Steel color -- mainly the recesses. The plates you could see more clearly (and paint more easily) were done in the Black Flash. I liked how he was was looking, so far. He also had a number of horns projecting from his robot helmet head, because, you know, all designers of mechanical soldiers know the value of horns, right? I did these in a bright gold and bronze metallic combo. His eyes were small and round and reminded me of C3PO from Star Wars. So...why not? I gave him C3PO eyes. I felt a dark red cloak (because robots always wear cloaks!) would set off the yellowish metallic even more. I did it in Blood Red as a base, highlighted with a craft paint red. I went back and forth about how to do the two flaming swords (because he has two arms, why not two swords? All robots...uhm, never mind -- you get the drift!).  I ended choosing a copper/bronze color for the blade and for the flames, I chose a fluorescent orange accented with yellow on the uppermost portion of the flames. I was surprised how nice the flame effect looked. Wow, after all my complaining, I was really very happy with my second ABC Robot Warrior!

    I probably should have chosen a less busy background for these smaller flying robots

I did a "redo" on the final two -- the smallest flying robots, or Volgan Yaks. I began painting one of them with my Violet-Blue-Red color shift craft paint. It was looking okay, but as I kept zooming in on it under my lighted magnifying glass, I kept thinking how it looked like a flying version of a xenomorph from the Alien movies. Then I remembered how easily I painted up my 3-D printed Alien xenomorphs. To this day, they are still the easiest models I've painted up. The color shift paint was going on okay, but it was very fiddly work. In the end, I wanted easy. So, I set the half-completed color shift alien aside and picked up the second one. I dry brushed him in silver, like I had done with the Aliens, then began picking out wires, knobs, panels, and bits of his body in Copper metallic. I gave him red eyes and a metallic dark red trim on his weird Victorian Sci-Fi looking jet pack wings. Heyy, he actually turned out pretty good, too!

    Another look at the 4 minis that I probably complained more about than I should have in this post!

Once finished, I picked up the half-painted, color shift alien. Sorry, buddy! Your sparkles have to go!! I re-base coated him with Iron Wind Steel again. The next day, after it had dried, I essentially copied what I did with his flying companion, using a different metallic and a different trim color. I had been complaining to Jenny about how much I hated painting this batch of figures, but when I was mostly done with them I actually took them upstairs to show her that they didn't turn out half bad. So, after multiple struggles early on, I actually feel fairly successful with this group of Sci-Fi monsters. To be sure, they were NOT as simple as A-B-C! They were more of a P.I.T.A., if you know what I mean!

    A Crystal Spider that is 3-D printed with colored filament from A Critical Hit - no work required!

I based them up as I did with many of my Sci-Fi models, with a dark, rocky look. I honestly don't know when -- or even if -- I will use them in a game. The most likely time would be if an alien's description in Majestic 13 evokes "Mr. Four-armed Globe Body" or "Leaning Flaming Sword Guy." The two little flyers could be a Sci-Fi aerial drone in any game, possibly. But hey! These four completed figures will be sitting there waiting in the box for that moment. Unlike "Mr. Fascist Robot Jack Boots," who will be permanently ensconced in my unpainted drawer...haha! Speaking of the drawer, I rescued one of my purchases from A Critical Hit from there because it required no painting, as far as I could tell. It is printed in several colors of 3-D printer filament and looks fine all on its own, I think. I'm calling it a Crystal Spider and may also make a good monster for Majestic 13.

    Another look at the spider -- the attachment of his legs to his body is flexible, so they actually move

What else is on my painting desk? I have begun work on the next batch of elves, of course. More archers this time. For terrain, I've started working on one of the medieval buildings I got from RRB Minis & More at Cincycon -- the Catrine House. So, stay tuned for that. I promise no robotic rants about them...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 65

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48