Friday 28 June 2013

Four Colour: Agents of DEFEND

  DEFEND is the Department for the Enforcement of Extraordinary National Defense is a top secret government paramilitary organisation. Their brief is to protect the nation from all treats related to super-humans, super technology, alien and mystical threats.
  Their agents are highly trained, and equipped with cutting edge technology (much of it reverse engineered from tech captured form super villains and aliens). They are skilled at identifying weaknesses and exploiting them, as well as containing captured super-powered individuals. While an individual agent might be no match for a powerful superhuman, their sue of tactics and team work mean they can overwhelm most superhuman threats. 
  They are well funded,  channeling resources from the government 'black-ops' budget. Their existence is not well know, even in the highest circles of power, and many of those who do know about them question who exactly leads them, and who they are accountable to. 


These super-agents are made by crooked Dice for their 7TV game. I painted them for the Lead Painters League. 

Monday 24 June 2013

East End Apocalypse: Moh and Parker

Moh is Alysha's boyfriend, and one of Gary's 'crew'. He was born in Eritrea, and came to the UK as a young boy to escape the conflict in his country. His father had hoped that he would make something of his life, but he fell in with the wrong crown and was always in trouble at school. He is sixteen and short for his age, but that just makes him more determined to prove himself by taking risks, especially when Alysha is around


Parker is a wana-be gangster. He is only twelve, but likes to think he comes across as a lot older. He has started following Gary and the other gang around as they patrol the estate form zombies. The older boys have tried to get rid of him, but he is very persistent and now they have resigned themselves to the fact he is part of their 'crew'. He tends to run errands and act as a look out for the others, and has yet to make his first  zombie kill. 


Parker and Moh are both Hasslefree miniatures. Moh has the same basic body as Lenard from the previous post (the boy with the chainsaw) which is why I used Green Stuff to convert Lenard. The change of posture with him stepping off the curb helps too. 

Saturday 22 June 2013

East End Apocalypse: The Boys

Before the zombie apocalypse Gary had a reputation on the estate as a bad man. At fifteen, he has an ASBO, and had already been excluded from school. He saw himself as a gangster, while most of the other residence of the estate saw him as a menace. 
 The zombie Apocalypse changed everything for Gary. Gary responded to the zombies he met in the only way he knew how: with extreme violence. The neighbors on the council estate who has always avoided him and had been afraid of him now flocked to his side, hoping he could protect them. As the authorities failed to stem the tide of the living dead Gary has found himself the unofficial leader of an armed resistance group striving to protect the estate from the hordes of zombies.  


Lenard is Gary's best mate and right hand man. He is as surprised as Gary to find himself in the role of local hero and defender of the people, but he his starting to relish the role. His preferred weapon is a chainsaw he stole from B+Q. It's noisy, unwieldy and unsubtle, but Lenard says you can't beat the growl of the engine as you saw your way through a zombie. 



Both models are from Hasslefree. Lenard has had a bit of Green Stuff applied to his trouser legs, and the cargo pockets filed off, to make them into shell suit bottoms. He also had hair added with GS.

Thursday 20 June 2013

East End Apocalypse: The Three Sisters

During a zombie apocalypse only the tough, or the lucky, survive for long. These three young sisters would defiantly fit into the 'tough' category. Growing up on a rough, rundown council estate in east London, they are used to looking after themselves. When the zombie apocalypse started, they responded with characteristic family loyalty. Ignoring the authorities, who insisted everything was under control, Alysha 'bunked' school and went to get her sisters. They armed them selves, and prepared to fight!

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Alysha is the oldest of the sister, and the responsibility weighs heavy  on her young shoulders. there is nothing she would not do for her siblings. Her preferred weapon is a hockey stick she stole from school. She is just as than happy to beat the living daylight out of of anyone who looks at her sister funny as she is knocking a zombies brains out. 



Princess is a rock chick (not call her an emo, or she will kick your ass!). She has a large dose of 'lack of respect for authority' and even chaffs when Alysha tells her what to do. Her weapon of choice  a baseball bat!



 Little Minnie is the youngest of the three, and doesn't really understand what is going on. She is very scared most of the time, but hides it well, copying her bigger sisters by making a show of aggressive bravado. She misses home, and her school, and is glad Alysha is here to look after her. Her preferred weapon is a rounders bat, but as she can't do much damage it is mostly for self defense. 

Alysha is by Crooked Dice, while Minnie and Princess are from Hasslefree. I painted them for Lead Painters League  by the photo I took didn't do them justice, so I am posting them here individually with better pictures.  I am going to post the boys soon too. 



Monday 17 June 2013

SAGA: Norman Warriors

Here are some more Normans for my SAGA warband. I painted them for Lead Painters League. These ones are from Black Tree Designs and are very characterful sculpts. In my Saga army they will be counted as Warriors. Norman warriors can be armed with either hand weapons or crossbows. 


Sunday 16 June 2013

News: Empress Miniatures Kick Starter




Here is some exciting news for those of us interested in Modern era wargaming. Empress Miniatures already makes some of the best modern military figures around, and they have just launched a Kickstarter project called Devil Dogs and Dragons to expand their range by doing and entirely new 'what if...' theatre. The idea is a cold war gone hot scenario in the pacific theatre. The range will include US marines, Chinese PLA and (if all things go well) some Aussie army and Special Forces. The Kickstarter has already reached its first goal, after just five days, and if it can raise enough it will include various stretch goals, including frog-men and Chinese special forces. Personally I would love to see Indian or Pakistani army too.

Now the PacWar scenario might not appeal to everyone, especially if you don't do modern era wargaming, but these figures will be useful for other settings too. Take a look at these US marines, and tell me that you aren't tempted to do 'Battle for Los Angeles'...





Saturday 15 June 2013

Lord of the Rings: Mayor of Bree

Bree stands in the ruins of Cardolan, the former kingdom of men. Since the collapse of Cardolan Bree has owed its fidelity to no king, and in effect the major of the town has acted as an autonomous ruler. 

The mayor of Bree is not a brave man, nor especially valiant. The blood of Numenor runs very thin in his veins, and his only connection to the Dunedain is through an ancient ancestor. He is, however, good at the day to day business of keeping his town running. If Bree was threatened by a substantial force, the mayor would be expected to lead his people into battle, but the mayor is wise enough to lead commanding the troops to the captain of the watch, or to the wandering ranger known locally as Strider. 


I am not really sure who makes this figure. It's an old one with an integral base, and I have a feeling it might be Ral Partha. I picked it up on eBay, reasoning that as it was an old figure it might scale well with the Perry Twins Lord of the Rings, which it does very well indeed. 

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Winter Survivors

This was my latest Lead Painters League entry. They are  some survivors from a post-apocalypses zombie filled winter. Initially they will be used for fighting zeds, but eventually I can see they might be useful in my Force on Force games set in Finland. I might need some armed civilians for something? 

Other, more off the wall ideas I have had include a 'The Thing' type scenario, or as a explorers in a Cthulhu-modern game. Perhaps they could even be armed civvies for AE Bounty? Lots of possibilities. 

They are, from left to right, Mojo, Mojo, Hasslfree, Fenris Games and Mojo. 
Mojo Miniatures is a new small company with a nice range of winter survivors  Fenris mostly do resin bases and so on, but they have a small number of investigators for a Cthulhu-modern setting, and Hasslfree are...well Hasslfree is just the place to go for zombie-apocalypse survivors.