Populating Mayhem City 03 - The Doctor (Foundry Proffessional)

Welcome back readers.   Last week we looked at a Foundry Proffessional unit that was used as a Detective rather than the hired killer that Foundry had labelled him.  I mentioned that the next post would be a little more of the same.  So here he is:

The doctor is IN.

Looking at the variety of figures available I figured there would be no shortage of tough looking men, well armed and dressed in trenchcoats.  So rather than paint them all as such, I decided to stray a bit from the beaten path and get a shotgun totting doctor.

Cure for zombies?  Take two shells and a glass of water.

Unlike Detective Talhart, I haven't settled on a name for this guy yet, so he is just referred to as The Doctor.  If he comes up in games, I can create a last name for him, but as of yet, nothing has stuck.  With Talhart, I based it slightly off of his Foundry name.  But this figure's name is Bohunk, which I was unfamiliar with.  A quick google informed me that this is a bit of a derogatory term, so I opted not to use it.

Names aside, I think he'll fit nicely into a variety of situations.  Of course in ATZ he will play a surviving doctor, generally a good person.  But he could easily be a personal caregiver to a crime lord, a psychologist at a mental institute or a research scientist for some government experiment.

Don't get blood on my coat.

Painting so much of the figure white, it left me feeling like it was a little incomplete.   The black lining helped I think, and it was the first time I'd used that technique I think.  For the coat, I started with Space Wolf Grey, and then worked up to Skull White.  I'm satisfied with it.   I also decided to give The Doctor a purple sweater.   I feel that not a lot of tough guys will wear purple sweaters.  The Doctor is not starting out as a tough guy, though he may be one by the end of things.

Intense stare down.

The final item I'd like to bring attention to are the Doctor's eyes.   I was quite proud at how well they came out.  They are a little intense looking, but I think they are possibly the best eyes I have ever painted.  That's not saying much though, because I've mostly painted pretty awful eyes.  Hopefully I can keep this up.

So that is the the Doctor, the second of "The Proffessionals" from Foundry to not wind up as a ganger.  There's five in the set, so at least two will be the thugs they were meant to be.  So until the next update, which will have multiple figures, thanks for reading.

Populating Mayhem City 02 - Detective Talhart (Foundry Proffessional)

Welcome to the latest addition to the Mayhem City Police.

Zombies beware.

Well, I say latest edition, but in actuality I picture this guy as a bit of a grizzled veteran of the force.  A well respected cop that isn't above pistol whipping a suspected murderer in order to get results. I've given him the name Detective Talhart.  This is the first time I've named of my figure and I've done it for a few reasons.   First being, unlike the SWAT Team in my last entry, I actually picture this guy as a potential character I'd like to see join my group in ATZ.  Heck, I could even see him as a starting character as I learn the rules in a few practice plays.     The figure has a lot of character, and I've grown quite attached to it.  I feel he has taken on a life of his own.

"Detective Talhart.  Homicide."

The name Detective Talhart (I haven't settled on a first name, and probably won't) came to me in a few ways. This figure's name according to Wargames Foundry is Tall Boy.  Well that was obviously no good, but I figured I could work with it by keeping the 'Tall" and dropping the "Boy".  In addition to miniatures and gaming, I am a huge nerd for George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (or A Game of Thrones to those who know it as the HBO miniseries).  In that series there is a minor family (minor in comparison to the main few) in the North known as the Tallhearts.  I liked the name, and thought it fit in a modern setting (with a slight spelling change, for no reason).

"I am the law."

Detective Talhart, or Tall Boy as Foundry has labelled him is not even a police figure in reality.   Quite the opposite actually, as Foundry has him in a set labelled The Proffessionals (sic).  The Proffessionals appear to be a set of killers for hire, or at least mobsters of some sort.  I like him better this way, and now I have a figure that can fill the role of a police officer armed with a shotgun.

"The Zombie Apocalypse will only add more grey hairs, I fear."

I hope you guys like the Detective, and I am always open to criticisms.  I am a very novice painter, but I rather satisfied with how this one game out.  His eyes look a little buggy in these close ups, but they are among my better eye paintjobs, and look quite good at a gaming distance, I think. I appreciate all comments.

Until next time, thank you.

"Alright boys, spread out and secure the area."

Populating Mayhem City 01 - SWAT Team Shadow

When the Zombie Apocalypse begins, and people still don't realize what's going on it will just be a matter of time before the local police are overwhelmed, and the SWAT team is called in for the 'situations'.  They probably won't know what they're headed into, but they'll be better equipped than the average cop on the beat.

My first post on populating Mayhem is the made up of SWAT Team Shadow from Foundry Wargames Street Violence line.

These guys will be adding to the violence on the street.

If you're familiar with Foundry's line then you'll realize right away that I painted these guys up more like SWAT Team Takedown rather than SWAT Team Shadow.  On the website, these guys are painted virtually all in black and grey.  I went with this more generic SWAT team colour scheme because I liked this poses best out of all the SWAT Teams offered by Foundry and wanted them to resemble the most common look of SWAT teams

While in my intro I mentioned that these guys would get called in after the local police were overwhelmed, as it stands, they are the only police figures I own at this point.  And for economics sake, I would have no problem fielding these guys everytime a police officer figure is required in All Things Zombie.   Eventually I will likely get some regular cops from Copplestone, but for now, these will fill all policing roles.

These first two make up the lightest armed of my SWAT crew.   To be honest, the fellow on the right has a nice assault rifle slung over his shoulder, but is holding only a lighter pistol.   I will have to assume he is in close quarters, or has already burned through all his ammo.   I'm a pretty big fan of the MP5K style weapon the guy on the left has, even if his pose is rather un-police like.  

These two SWAT members are armed a little better.  They're both still carrying what would be qualified as submachine guns I believe.  But once again, as an economic gamer, I would have no probably calling those assault rifles if needed.  The guy on the right is the only one of the pack actually wearing his goggles.  Not sure if that makes his chances of survival any better.

The last man of the group is the heavy gunner.  I'm not sure I've heaver heard of a SWAT team member armed like this, but I don't mind as it adds some character.  The bullets slung over his shoulder are a nice touch.  None of my SWAT members are armed with a shotgun, a staple in the Zombie defense plan, so if need be, I wouldn't mind pretending that is how this guy is armed until I get more SWAT units.

Well this is my first real post, and I must apologize for the less than stellar pictures.  I'm still learning there.  (I wish I could get all the pics to have come out like the group shot from behind.)  I appreciate all comments, and thanks for listening.

Scratch...

Since hearing of All Things Zombie, and seeing the community of great bloggers (not just of ATZ, but of miniatures and hobbies in general) I have decided to step into the madness myself.  And since I already had one blog follower before having even a blog post (thanks Brummie) I figured it was time.

So here's a quick introduction.  I am Adam, married 32 year old father of two.  I was only relatively recently introduced to the miniature gaming world about 4 years ago when we purchased Heroscape for my eldest son as a Christmas gift.  That is a mini skirmish game with pre painted miniatures, but it opened the doors for me to look for other games, and other minis.  I'm not much of a painter, but I try.

Heroscape: My entrance to this crazy world

So that brings me up to now.  For a long time I'd been tossing around picking up different rulesets.  Unlike most minigamers, I've never played Warhammer or Warhammer 40K.  I prefer cheaper rulesets (and more flexible from what I hear).  Recently I discovered All Things Zombie.  A lot of things about this ruleset appeal to me.  Using any minis I like is good.  And being able to play solo is even better.  I have a good group of people I can play games with, but we already play many games.  Convincing them to play something like this may be hard at first.  And sometimes, you just can't find another gamer.  Being able to play solo is what I'm most excited about playing ATZ.  There's a lot of games out there that let you play both sides, but I'm not familiar with many that have the opposing forces automated by the ruleset.

Too many rules, I'd never know them all, let alone teach someone else.

Well that was my intro.  This blog entry was entitled "Scratch...".  Because that's where I am.  Allow me to explain:  years ago I saw an old (and lousy) Jennifer Lopez movie called Angel Eyes.  

This is a scene from Angel Eyes.  It's probably the best scene.

I don't really recall the premise of the film, but there was a fellow in it who lost his wife, and was struggling with moving on.  Eventually J-lo made her way to his apartment which contained little more than a mattress on the floor.  He had nothing.  He described this as being "scratch" when you start from scratch.  And this is where I am for ATZ.  Upon until a week or so ago, I didn't own a single lead miniature nor have a piece of terrain.  Thanks to World Works Games and a Foundry Wargames sale both of those issues are slowly changing.  So it will be a good long while before you see a battle report on this blog, but hopefuly, I will be able to post regular updates as I build and popular Mayhem City.




Thanks for listening,
Adam