Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 31 March 2014

Pirates versus Zombies?

Le Dauphin d'Or
As commented upon in my last blog setting up a game of Pirates versus Zombies can't be ruled out, there is after all the zombie/undead types in Pirates of the Caribbean. Whilst I doubt though that I'll ever go down that path I nevertheless came across a miniature in my last batch of zombies from Zombiesmith that would fit in perfectly as some form of zombie Pirate.
You can just about see him on the deck of the first pirate ship I attempted (and very nearly finished). The ship is made almost entirely from scrap: plastic, card, filler, dowels, embroidery threads, cotton, bbq skewers, matchsticks,  plastic canvas and of course tapers/spills (nowadays I'd use coffee stirrers of course). The original cannon was scratch built in wood (barrels), thick card (carriage) and dowel (wheels). I then cast then all in a lead/tin mix.Up close they're fairly ropey, but they do the job.
Here's the pirate looking type with another two randoms. The girl I've just found out from Colgar6's blog is a heresy miniature whilst the Schwartzenegger wannabe's origins are still a mystery to me.
The "pirate" zombie could just as easily have been painted as a survivor, although his clothing would suggest he has no modern dress sense and is very tattered - he'd make a good tramp though!
The blunt end of the ship has a lift off deck above (where the steering wheel is (see - I know all the right naval terms) and is really nothing spectacular, but you can see the plastic canvas windows, so this is probably the captain's room.
On the rear mast base you can also see a collar around the mast, this gave a little more support to the mast (which is embedded in the deck) and a little more glueing surface.
 The front end upper deck is also removable, but it's just an empty space inside.




 The figures here, survivors and their zombie counterparts, are like the majority of this batch are Zombiesmith minis.
The woman could obviously be used in a pirate scenario whilst the guy would just need his hat filing off as the rifle he carries could easily be taken for a flintlock type weapon.


The Zombiesmith clergyman may just get away with being used in a piratical setting though I'd be happier using him if the bottom part of his trousers were filed to breeches' length.
The other two are a "Zombie me" finally based up (a present) and a Mega Mini "zombie" child hockey player, though I'm going to use him as a child survivor as there's so little obvious damage to him.
The bottom deck back end rooms and guns.
(I haven't a clue now why I split it into two areas)
The tube in the centre of the photograph is a piece of plastic and the mast in the deck above slots nicely into it making the deck above much more stable.
For such a large model I determined that as my Pirates were all based on 20mm squares I needed sufficient space to get at least one crewman on either side of the cannon and one at the rear and I still had to leave a gap for another figure to get between the two rows of guns.
There are a lot of zombie firues that could easily pass as pirates, with or without a little filing and creative painting. Two out the five shown here are probably beyond redemption but the other three could be easily used. The chap wielding the spade originally had a road sign, which  didn't fit any USA sign I could find (it was to all intents upside down).
The steering wheel at the back was the only bit I bought specifically for this model from those very nice chaps Ian and Ron at Irregular miniatures (I think I bought several of these along with many of their pirates).
The railings are all bbq skewers for the uprights but the tops may well be garden canes.The steps/ladders are scraps of plastic.
This may be the biggest of the three ships I started on, but not by very much .
It has an overall length from back to front of about 24" ans the biggest mast in the middle is about 24".
The fighting/lookout platform has a lip around it to give figures a little more security from their inevitable accidental plunge to the table in play. I think about 5 figures could fit on it .


Above are some more zombies from the Zombiesmith horde set who to one degree or another could be utilised on board.


 Finally, a group shot of the Zombiesmith horde and the ship.

Argghh, we be zombies
Whilst I'm sure that out there are already many gamers playing Pirates versus Zombie games and there are probably a shed-load of figures too for suitable zombie pirate figures, but I'll not be looking for them.


That's it then for another week and as always your comments are welcome and much appreciated.







34 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Irqan, everyone like pirates - right ?

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  2. Arrr!!! great looing pirate ship

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    1. Thanks HW, much better than yet more boring zombies.

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  3. Nice one, Joe. That's a mighty fine pirate vessel. All the more impressive for being scratchbuilt.
    Incidentally, the three figures shown in the second picture down are are by Heresy, Heresy and Zombiesmith. The Zombiesmith figure is none other than film director, Rob Zombie. I see no reason not to use him as a pirate or even a tramp.

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    1. Thanks for all that Bryan, I did know the Zombiesmith guy, but didn't know it's meant to be Rob Zombie and I had an inkling that the other chap was another Heresy figure. Still don't know where I got the two heresy figures from

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  4. What could be cooler that zombies and pirates except of odours zombies and dinosaurs or even zombies dinosaurs!

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    1. Hmm, zombie dinosaurs, now that disturbing.

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  5. A fantastic pirate ship - great detail and plenty of cannons.

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    1. Thanks Dannoc, much appreciated and even with minimal detail it's the cannons that make it

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  6. I love this ship!

    You know...BIO SYNDROME has some rules for pirates and zombies. They could work nicely!

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    1. Thanks LS , I actually didn't know about Bio Syndrome's piratical connection, I collected a great many pirate rules but was never happy with any of them.

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  7. That's a great looking ship! Figs look pretty cool too! Nice and bloody!

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    1. Thanks Ray, zombies wouldn't be zombies without a splash of colour would they ?

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  8. Very cool ship! Great modeling. This would be a fun game. Very characterful.

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    1. Thanks Ironmonk, I'd have loved to have finihsed all thee ships and had a game with them.

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  9. Nice ship Joe, all scratch built. Kudos sir. Is it Zombies vs Pirates or Zombie Pirates?

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    1. Thanks Bob, I can't really answer but both are feasible but I've found that Scorpon Miniatures do Zombie Pirates, so maybe that's the answer ?

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  10. Lovely model,
    Some fine work Joe

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    1. Thanks Dave, much appreciated but it was really tedious - rigging aaaaaahhh!

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  11. That's a lovely ship! And to think it all came out of a thin air! :D
    I like the cannons the most :P.

    As for zombie you, that's a horrible miniature. And I'm pretty sure you told me back then you had no beard...it's completely wrong :(

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    1. Thanks for the ship compliment, but it didn't exactly come out of thin air, I did have to pay for some glue !
      As for zombie me, I deny everything

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  12. Zombies vs pirates - hmm. Could be a voodoo curse, or a manifestation of the plague?

    Throw in some dinosaurs, Nazis and cowboys and you've got them all :-) !

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    1. I think you missed out ninja's and clowns Colgar, but I get the sentiment

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  13. All you need now are some "Scooby snacks" and you are all ready to go. But you know it's gonna be a trick by "ol' Man Creedy" the janitor! Ok maybe a "serious" pirate zombie game..... can you have a serious zombie Pirate game?

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    1. Finally someone with a sensible idea, I have the Mystery Bus ready too !
      I've a feeling though I couldn't take either of your options seriously,

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  14. Sweet Pirate ship Joe, and scratch built, Amazing

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  15. Yaarrrrrr. That is a superb model me hearty! Well done Joe, it's ace!

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    1. Thanks ZA, I'm pleased that it's been sowell received.

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  16. Lovely scratch build! With three ships, that'd be quite the game! Even if you never get to game pirate vs zombie, you could always use the ship as a museum/ park attraction in a "regular" zombie game. With a gang plank for entry/exit it'd be a secure survivor hideout!

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    1. Thanks David, I've actually got four, but the fourth is abought resin model. (it may be the old Fiddlers Green.I'd actually thought of a simila idea as your's to as the ship from the film "Pirates" was used as a tourist attraction in Cannes.

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  17. That ship is amazing! Talented git aren't we! Seriously though Joe its is really impressive. The zombies and survivor/zombie counterparts look great and zombie pirates or not they will be quite suitable. I know have visions of some sort amusement park with the ship as an historical attraction in it survivors surrounded by a horde.

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    1. Thanks Brummie, much appreciated, all the pirate ships I've made (and nearly finished) don't bear close inspection, but are good enough for a game.

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