Infecting Mayhem CIty 07 (Reaper Urban Zombies)

Here we are with another update.  Before we get to this week's walkers, I'll give a few updates one where I am at with working on my All Things Zombie project.  First off, despite the name of the the majority of the posts on this blog, I doubt I will be making an actual "Mayhem City".  Instead of using World Works games cardstock terrain, I will probably bite the bullet and pick up the Sarissa Precision City buildings.     They do have a bit more of an initial cost vs World Works terrain, but once you factor in cardstock and many ink cartridges, I don't think it will be that big of a deal.  Plus the amount of time it will save me may allow me to actual get a game in this year.   I will probably use some cardstock terrain as well, especially some of WWGs interior terrain, since I already own multiple sets.

Also, my updates have been rather slow lately and I will put the blame on two major factors.  One, is that for 3 weeks, I have been unable to locate the washers I use as bases.  When I finally asked, the Hardware Store said that the washers are stocked independently by the washer/nut/bolt company.  So I am still waiting on those.  I do however have some miniatures already attached to miniatures, but still I am unable to complete them.  This time, it is due to Games Workshop switching their paint system.  I ran out of Dheneb Stone foundation.  I thought I would just order more online, but due to GW switching the paint line up, they only accept preorders online.  I dropped into the local GW and they were out of the old Dheneb Stone and wouldn't be restocking until this Saturday (tomorrow) with the new paints.  So hopefully I can grab some more tomorrow.
Blah, enough with the excuses, let's look at this week's Zeds.

These are two of Reaper's Urban Zombies.  I will be honest and admit they were not the Zombies I was expecting when I ordered.  Due to an error in ordering, they were what I received when I meant to order a more modern set of Reaper Zombies, including a police officer.  Instead I got a pack of three, armed with weapons and looking from a different era.  I clipped the weapons, and only decided to use two of the three. The third was just two out of place, and will probably get mangled into a corpse marker at some point.

The two zombies I did work with are full of character.  First off, they are both very large.  If the average miniature I have is approximately 6 feet tall, then these two brutes are much closer to 6'10".  I'm okay with that.  Despite liking most of my figure to be in scale, I to like the variation of a few shorter and a few larger to not make things like too uniform.  The thing that can ruin scale creep for me is when equipment like guns seems overly large or small, but that isn't an issue here.
So the Zed on the left looks like he may have been homeless before meeting his end.  He wears an over sized trench coat and dirty, torn jeans.  He also lacks shoes, which result in him leaving a trail of blood when he steps.  I really liked that about this guy.
Zombie on the right however was a young, up and comer in society.   I like to picture him as a sleazy politician or something.  Regardless of where he was going, he didn't end up any better than the homeless fellow.  He looks good in his blood stained suit however.

So as mentioned, these zombies are huge.  I would like to use them in some special circumstances when alot is on the line, like a boss battle.  It would also work very well for a single survivor without firearms had to deal with one of these guys.   The pic above really shows how intense that could feel with the size difference.   These zombies are a great addition to the collection.
Comments are appreciated.

A Small Update

Hey all.  Things have been a bit slow for me in the hobby front.  I spent a week in New York City, and then spent the following week catching up on work and other things (One of which was re-watching Season 1 of Game of Thrones in anticipation of Season 2).

So I don't have anything new to show so far as paintings go, but hopefully, next time I show some miniatures they will look a little better than before, as I have invested in some skill building materials:

The Foundry Painting guide focuses on layering with the Foundry 3 Colour system.   It appears to be a somewhat easier method for achieving much better results.   I don't expect to become some sort of great painter, but the techniques in this book seems easy enough to tackle, and then produce miniatures that should look really good on the table (even if they don't look so good when zoomed in and photographed).     I guess time will tell on how well it pans out for me.

I'd also like to take this chance to promote a friend's blog.  He started it shortly before the end of 2011, and has hit over 130 posts.  The theme of his posts focus on his very expansive toy collection.  So if you have any interest in toys (especially of the 80s and 90s), GI Joe, Transformers and other nerdery, stop in and leave him a comment, I'm sure he'll appreciate it. 

Thanks:

Click here to go to Mike's Collection

Invading Mayhem City? 01

Alright just keeping in the theme of naming my blogs as something to do with Mayhem city.  The following miniatures are actually quite unlikely to be used in any city themed gaming.  But they are among my first ever painted miniatures, and since I haven't had time to do any real painting this week (damn flu) I thought I'd show some old ones.  Here they are, my Space Hulk (3rd Edition) Tyranids.

I don't think they are fantastically painted, but they're not bad considering I had pretty much just jumped into the hobby with both feet.  In retrospect, I wish I had practised on a few models first, but its too late for that now.   I'm particularly proud of the finger nails.  I followed an online tutorial to achieve such an effect.  The official Space Hulk tyranids were of a blue and purple scheme that I was never fond of, so I went with something a little darker (and probably easier, in the long run).   I still like them better than the official colours.   Space Hulk is the only GW product I've ever played or purchases, so I wasn't too versed in the history of the tyranids anyway.   

I won't likely be around to comment or read everyone's blog this week (starting Sunday) as I'll be vacationing in NYC.  I'll try to catch up next week. Hope you enjoyed the Tyranids and when I get back, maybe I'll post the Space Marines.
Comments are always appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 18 (The Assault Group Russian Mafia)

This week I'll be showing off my most recent trio of figures, and they'll be from a bit of a different line of figures.   The Assault Group make a lot of miniatures covering modern and historical warfare, but not many of them have been used in the Zombie Apocalypse setting, so far as I have seen.  I liked the look of a few sets in the Organize Crime line, so I grabbed a set.   They are a little smaller in scale compared to most of my other figures, but not so much that it becomes an issue on the board.  I bought a set of four, but for some reason only primed 3 at once, and so only 3 got painted.  I'm unsure of whether or not the fourth will wind up in the same scheme or not.

These three got painted up in somewhat of a military styling, with camouflage pants, but I picture them as being more of an eccentric militia than official military.   These guys might make great saviours or wind up being just as much a threat as the walking dead.  All three are armed with the sub machinegun version of the AK74.  I really wanted figures armed with AK47s, but there are just not simple to find.  (The Assuault Group does have several, but none with the look I was hoping for.)

 

Each of these three has a nice amount of character, but I have not named any of them (yet).   On the far left is an older militia member.  His grey beard indicates that he's been around a while, and I like to think that he's been in a milita for most of his adult years.   He's been prepared for the communist invasion for as long as he can remember, and probably feels he is well suited to be a leader as the zombie uprising begins.   

Next up with the blond flowing locks is the figure I've been calling Fabio so far.  The name may not stick.  At a first glance this guy looks like he may be too pretty to be in a milita, but the way he holds his machine gun makes up the first glance opinions.   

Last in the line is the headbanded fellow, wearing a long sleeve shirt.  He is in a pretty nice crouched position in order to better target the zombies.     I was a pretty big fan of all three of these sculpts, especially with how aggressively each is posed.  I tend to enjoy figures who are aiming their weapons moreso than those who are just carrying them, and so of course I like this set.  In fact, the reason I picked them up was because I was considering doing a headswap on the Fabio character and using him as my main character for ATZ.    When the time came however, I liked the figure too much to do so.

Hope you enjoyed the trio, all comments are appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 17 (Bobby Jackson Thugs Ladies)

A bit of good news for this update, I've done some rearranging of lights and produced (in my opinion) pictures that are far better than what I had been using lately.   Since that is the case, I will include a few extra pictures of previous updates at the end, just so there are better pictures of older figures.  Now onto this week.

Boomsheeka on the left is actually only about 95% finished, as I still need to add some sort of highlights to here hair, which is just a solid black at this point.  Booksheeka is a big girl, to say the least, but comes unarmed.  I considered adding a weapon slung over her shoulder, but realized that she wasn't likely to become a regular part of any zombie fighting force or ganger, and that I could always use more unarmed civilians, so I left her as such.   She looks tough enough to handle herself without weapons anyway.
Next to Boomsheeka is Blix Moonbeam, local hippy chick.  She may preach the ways of loving your fellow man, and just enjoying some good weed, but that didn't stop her from picking up a gun when the Zombie apocalypse hit.  Fortunately, her gun is so small and tucker behind her back that I could get away with using her as another unarmed civilian if needed.
I'm a pretty big fan of both these figures and how they came out, but I think Blix is just a little bit better.  I also put a little bit more effort into her paint job with the tie dye bandanna and peace logo on her shirt.  I wasn't too happy with how her lips came out (a bit clownish) so I may try to fix that at some point.

Here's another look at the last two week's worth of updates.   The Professional faces off with Aldo and Baldo.   Of course, my camera skills aren't great so I have a bit of the 'focused on one figure and blurring the others' effect going on.  I should have put them in a straight line.  Regardless, this shows them better than the pictures I used last week.

And finally, an updated picture of the zombie horde.  It is not overwhelmingly large yet, but it is getting to the point that would be too much for a small group to survive.  And perhaps, almost enough to game with.   A bit of the same focus issues here, but I think it looks okay for a horde shot.

All comments and criticisms are appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 16 (The Professional - Wargames Foundry)

Just another quick little update with another survivor on the streets of Mayhem City.  He comes from Foundry's set labelled Professionals, and he looks like he is just that.

Dressed in an expensive suit, with a long trenchcoat, this killer for hire comes armed with a high powered assault rifle.   He definitely looks like he is better armed and/or prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse than the average civilian would be.

In actuality, as awesome as this figure is, I can't see myself using him often in an ATZ setting.   He just comes across as too confident, too well armed and too...professional.  As a hired gun in a modern conflict scenario, he would have much more use.   

Sorry again for the lousy pictures.   Got a much better camera, but haven't figure out the settings.  I think alot of the crappyness has to do with poor lighting.  Anyway, I hope you liked this guy, who I did not name, but simpley refer to him as the Foundry pack name: The Professional.  All comments appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 15 (More of Bobby Jackson's Thugz)

Welcome back to those that are still reading, a couple of more thugs have shown up on the street of Mayhem City.  Whether it is to create problems for the police or do their best to survive the Zombie Apocalypse, this duo is prepared to bring the fight to the table.

Today I present the brothers Aldo Prince and Jack "Baldo" Prince, affectionately known as Aldo and Baldo.  Also sports a nice afro, and a machine pistol.  His hand post indicates he may be smoking, though my figure has no cigarette in his hand.   Also is the younger and sportier of the brothers, as he is rocking a basketball jersey and short (for some reason, on top of long pants).  Of course, to dress to impress, he has his share of bling shown off.

Baldo is a bit of a custom figure, as his head is taken from a different Bobby Jackson figure.  What can I say, I liked the original head from this figure better somewhere else.  That will come in a future update.  Baldo also favours the colour red, like his brother.  A little more mature however, hs is satisfied with a regular old pistol to do his talking.  More bling of course, one is never too mature for bling.

The pictures aren't the best.  My wife got a new camera for Christmas, that once I figure out, should produce much better pictures.  However, my biggest problem is lighting.  I need to pick up some better lamps for photos.

As with all Bobby Jackson's thugs I liked these figures a lot, despite modifying one a little bit.  These guys look a little overwhelmingly red as a duo, but they blend in nicely with the rest of the gang.   The full names don't really stick with me, as they are simply called Aldo and Baldo.  That started as Afro and Baldo, but I preferred the rhyming scheme.

As always, comments and advice on the figures is appreciated.

Also wanted to take a moment to point out a new blog/store I stumbled across last night.  Demo's laser cut terrain is looking like a nice cheap way to quickly put together some buildings.  As much as I love worldworkgames' cardstock terrain, the time investment there may keep me from ever getting ATZ on the table.  I will be picking some of Demo's designs up when I get a chance.  Check them out here.