Populating Mayhem City 13 (Bobby Jackson's Gangsta Thugs)

Welcome back to the hood of Mayhem, where we will introduce a few more of it's inhabitants.   They are more great figures from Bobby Jackson's line.  They need little enough introduction, so let's go.

Now there's a tough looking crew you don't want to cross, zombie apocalypse or not.  Starting on the far left we have Heavy C.  He may be gangsta, and he may have two pistols, but his too small t-shirt and belly showing make me view this character as almost comedy fodder.   Even his pose makes him look like he's about one step away from falling on his face.  Next up is Shades.   He's advancing with a pistol drawn, and always wears his sunglasses, day or night.   Under his jacket he's got a hockey jersey on (probably Boston, but could be a retro Pittsburgh).  His pants are an urban blue camouflage style that I didn't really plan on doing.  After starting with a blue base, the highlight I choose was far too bright.  So I decided to really over do it with the blue, and then added some black marks as well.  I'm really happy with it, and pretty sure it came out better than it would had I planned to do camo from the beginning.

Next up is Jimmy Money, with his gun lined up for the deadly kill shot.   He's got a dollar sign charm around his neck for his namesake.  For some reason I picture Shades and Money as brothers (no pun intended), and will treat them as such in scenarios.  Last of the crew is Cliff.  He's a lot less flashy than his cohorts.   Perhaps he is a little bit older, and a little more experienced than his fellow gangers, but this is less of a game to him.   It's not about dancing around and posing with your gun sideways.  It's life or death on the street, and for that reason he carries a big gun, the only in his crew to carry more than a pistol.   Cliffs shotgun will probably make him fair better than the others in both modern/urban combat and a zombie apocalypse.  

All in all, these are great figures.  I have a harder time picking a favourite out of this crew.  Jimmy Money and Cliff are probably my favourite.  If I had to choose one, it would probably be Cliff, just for his uniqueness in weapon choice.

The gang is growing into quite a force.   I'm really satisfied with what they bring to the table.   Here is a picture of them so far:

Thanks for reading, all comments are appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 12 (Bobby Jackson's Gangsta Thugs)

Welcome back, and it's time to introduce a few miniatures from a great line:  Bobby Jackson's Thugs.  This crew is a set of great sculpts, totally nailing the gangsta feel.  Let's look at what I have painted so far.

On the far right you have my favourite of the entire line, who I have named Tyrone.   Tyrone fits to role perfectly.  He is intimidating, muscled, draped in gold and holding his pistol in the dreaded 'kill shot' angle.   Once again I made a small attempt at checkered/plaid clothing as this lad's boxer shorts are exposed.  
Second in line is the duo of Sammy and Little Walter (names stolen from a book I just read).   Now while most of this line is clearly meant to be made up of mean thugs, I like to view this figure a little differently.  Sure, it is possible that the sculptor intended this figure to be a trashy mom bringing her baby along to a gun fight, but I prefer to view it more as a desperate mother fighting to keep her child alive.  Perfect for the zombie apocalypse, where I am certain this figure will find many uses.  I tried painting her up in a motherly colours rather than a tough girl set (where I probably would have used some black colouring).  The yellow shoes look a little goofy, so I may try to add some blue there as well.  Clearly her base needs to be touched up as well, but that is a simple task.

Last in line, and wielding dual pistols is Billy Z.  Veteran street thug in his early 20s, he's been in enough shootouts to recognize the benefit of some kevlar body armour.  Dressed all in black because he is certain it makes him look tougher, Billy Z is a perfect addition for street gang games or zombie apocalypse.

There's nothing not to like about this set of figures, and would be a must have set for anyone in a modern, urban setting (whether there are zombies or not). Every figure in the set has a dynamic pose that looks like it comes right out of a rap video.   I plan on using most of these figures as rival gangers in ATZ, but some can fit the role as a survivor as well.   All will also work as a gang in any modern conflict, such as could be used with the Flying Lead ruleset.

That's all for this week, all comments are appreciated.

Infecting Mayhem City 04 - Victory Force Zombies

Hello again.  This will be a shorter blog update because most of the things that cna be said were already said in the last post.  These zombies are more of the same, from the great Victory Force Zombie 50 for $50 deal.  Let's look at what we have this time.

A crew of five undead walkers.   You may notice that compared to last week, these zombies haven't been feeding as well.  In fact, only the right most zombie has any blood or gore in his mouth area.   That zombie also is severely lacking in wounds, so much that I considered passing him off as a living citizen. In the end though, I gave his face some blood and more on his hand, and he'll pass as a zombie just fine.
Second zombie is in rough shape.  He is missing his right hand, entire left arm and the skin around his left shin.  He is appropriately the most blood covered of this group.
The third and fourth zombies are both showing multiple wounds, and are leaking a lot of blood.

The backs of these guys made out a bit better, but that's not much to be happy about when you join the zombie infected.

And just a profile shot to show some of the wounds from the side.  I like this little set of zombies, and I think they'll fit into my horde just nicely.  I forgot to take a horde shot for this post, but will either edit one in here tonight, or make sure to have one for next time.
Thanks for reading, even though this was a bit repetitive.  I should have a good set of Bobby Jackon's Thugs or maybe some or Juno's Crew from Foundry completed for the next update.

All comments are appreciated.

Infecting Mayhem City 03 (Victory Force Zombies)

The infection is spreading.  More undead are walking.   With the Victory Force Zombies Special it is easy to bolster your undead, and fast.  I picked up the deal over the summer, but in the theme of Halloween they are running it again until October 31st.   Their blog says this will be the last time the special is offered at this price (I predict they continue to offer it at 50 zombies for $60 in the future).   In my opinion you can't get a jump start on a quality zombie horde faster than this offer.
On to the walkers.   This is just 5 of the 50, and featured a few of my preferred zombies from the group.   The guy on the left walks forward with a dull expression, wanting on the flesh of the living.  Judging by his mouth and neck area, he has had his share of it.  The sculpt for this fellow was probably meant to represent a suit, but I wanted to use the opportunity to attempt a plaid coat.  I'm not overly satisfied, but this is something I'll tackle again in the future.
Zombie #2 has a mouth ful of gore, and a blood stained hand, but he is not as stained as zombie #1.  His colour scheme is kind of bland, but I like the sculpt.
Zombie #3 has also feasted recently, and juding by the blood locations, I'd say she was shoveling human remains into her mouth with her left hand.  She also has a wounded leg, predating her infected days.  Other than her flesh, eyes and blood, this zombie was painted completely with Citadel Washes.

Zombie #4 is my least favourite of the group.  Her pants just didn't seem sculpted in a realistic manner and her extended arms, while a common zombie pose, seemed to capture the angle all wrong.   Her hands are bloodied up, but she has not been eating.  I added some gore to her head and hair; likely the wound the ended her normal life.
Zombie#5 may be my favourite of the group.  He is chubby, and missing an arm.  With a missing arm, I figured white would be a good colour for his shirt, to really display the blood at a distance.  He has also fed recently, which at this point is a feature I over use in my zombie painting, but I love it!

So this is just 10% of what I received in the zombie deal from Victory Force Miniatures.  At $1 per zombie, I would suggest this deal to anyone, but particularly for people trying to get a quick but reasonably costed horde.  As awesome as Studio Miniature Zombies are, if you were just starting off and wanted to grab 50 of their zombies, it would cost you a lot more than $50.   Granted Studio Miniatures have a higher quality sculpt, I think the VF zombies are good for what you pay.

The horde is expanding.   Starting to look like something that would really set back a single zombie survivor, but still, a well prepared group should be able to take them down...if they don't expand....

Thanks for reading, and comments are always appreciate.

Infecting Mayhem City 02 - Zombie Strippers (Reaper Miniatures)

Hey again, welcome to the infection of Mayhem City once again.  Now when the infection first begins, many people will be caught in their line of work.  We see this in many lines of miniatures featuring firefighters, police officers or doctors.  Well in the seedier blocks of the city, Mayhem's hardest working single moms are performing their duties, and not even a zombie apocalypse will stop them.  I give you, Zombie Strippers.

Starting on the far left is Blondie.  She has clearly taken quite a wound to the head that has covered her eye and stained her platinum blond hair.    She also has a wound down her side but the blond staining her hand is not likely her own.   Her mouth looks like a particularly anguished zombie.  She must be hungry, as there is no evidence to suggest she has fed lately.
Pinky in the middle is my favour of the the three.  From the front, she is drenched in blood, but none of it is from wounds of her own.  She has obviously feast well, with the amount of blood covering her mouth and neck area.  Her hands have also recently torn someone inside out.
One the end we have the dark haired girl.  Donning black colours in general, she still clutches the severed arm of a former patron.  She is showing multiple wounds from the legs, and a mouthful of blood (though not her own, I assume).

And the girls from the back.   Each of them shows some sort of wound.  Blondie just has a few areas of seeping flesh, while Pink had a large wound that was likely the result of her zombification.   The dark haired girl did not actually have a sculpted wound on the back, but I noticed I had accidentally left a black mark their during painting, so a little blood fixed that up nicely.  This is my favourite thing about painting zombies.

A profile shot, showing that even as zombies these girls are all about the dollar bills.   These Reaper Zombies are quite tall compared to most models.  It doesn't bother me, but it is worth noticing if you do not want your zombies to outsize your heroes.   I believe Reaper miniatures in general tend to be larger, but for now these are the only ones I have.

And with the addition of the Zombie Strippers, my horde more than doubles in size.  It's not too impressive yet, but I'll keep updating this picture.  The zombies I have so far have been full of character, but I'm going to have to fatten this horde up with some filler zombies I received from Victory Forces during their last big sale.   Right not it might not be much of a challenge for a group of survivors, but give it time.  The infection spreads.

Thanks for reading, and as always, comments are greatly appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 10 - Young Plugs (Wargames Foundry)

Hello again, today I'll be showing two of my latest completed figures, Denny and Les of the Young Plugs, from Wargames Foundry.

I like that Denny is wearing a jacket, and then a heavy checkered shirt underneath, and then a T-Shirt.  If gives him a sense of being over dressed, but appropriately so if he is living as a survivor in desperate time.   Len on the other hand has a sporty sweater that fits in any setting.

Denny comes armed with  scoped rifle, a great weapon for the zombie apocalypse.  Les is more heavily armed with an assault rifle.  My limited gun knowledge would have me label this rifle and M16, but I do recall Vampifan calling it an H&K model when he did his review of the plugs.   Either way, Len is not one to be taken lightly.

With both of them having long brown hair, I like to think of these two as brothers.   They are versatile figures that could easily be used as either survivors or gangers.  With the long hair and goatees, both of them were considered as a star character for my ATZ campaign, as they could pass as 28mm versions of myself from my early 20s.   But I think I have something else lined up.

I'm a pretty big fan of these two, by far the best figures out of the Young Plugs.  Ronnie the Worm was previously presented, and the two females from the group, unfortunately were sacrificed in my efforts to practice conversions (Iwasn't a big fan of either of them anyway).

Well thats all for this week, I hope you like Denny and Les (Foundry's names).  Comments are appreciated.

Populating Mayhem City 09 - The Flamer (Foundry Street Thugs)

Hi everyone, another quick update here with the latest citizen of Mayhem.  It's the Flamer from Foundry.

This guy has his face concealed with a bandanna and is prepared to light a Molotov cocktail.  He has quite a long mass of hair that I painted with greying streaks.  I like to think of this guy as a bit of a mentally unstable drunk problem causer.  He's great for riots, and I'd even allow him to pass for unarmed in ATZ.  He could probably even fit in as an addition to a biker gang.

I'm from Canada, and it seems just about everyone owns a neon orange toque, so I decided to provide Flamer with one.  They're great for being seen in the woods, so maybe this guy is a bit of a hermit on the outskirts of town.  

Not a lot else to say about this figure.  He's a typically well sculpted figure from Foundry, but I'm not sure he's the most useful.  I'm not sure how often ATZ will call for someone who is unarmed except for grenades, which is virtually what this guy is.  That's part of the reason I'm okay with using him as an unarmed civ as well.

That also rounds out my entire pack of Street Thugs at this point.  It was a good set, and I'm glad to have it. I'd recommend it for anyone playing ATZ, or even any other modern era table top gang.

The whole gang.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to have more updates next week.