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

Monday 29 September 2014

Transporter

It must be a truck -it has it written on the side !
I haven't really got much to post about this week for like many others I suspect, I have quite a few projects going on and none finished.
However in one of my recent shopping trips to Poundlandworld (for glue) I came across this transporter, complete with some sort  of bladed tractor.
It may not fill many of you with excitement, but at the very least it is another two cheap vehicles to add to my burgeoning collection.
It's not that far out in scale as far as I can tell, though it is difficult as trucks and tractors can come in all shapes and sizes.
For a £1 though who can complain ? 
Sid alongside for scale comparison


Like many similar models the rear "arm", with shovel is very maneuverable and likewise the  front blade can be elevated somewhat.







Sid alongside for scale



 I can now field quite a large fleet of "corporation" construction-type vehicles (I don't know what the American equivalent is)

In other news, it is seemingly "Zomtober" yet again, wherein bloggers pledge to complete a survivour or Zombie by each Sunday during October. I won't be taking part in this but coincidentally I have started to load up my paint-tray/table with my next batch of figures for my zombie project.
They have been started upon in the last week or so and I guess they will be finished by the end of October, though two of my favourites will be completed very soon.
They are mostly plastics, a combination of Wargame Factory (zombies, male survivours and vixens) with some mantic Zombies parts along with sixteen metal Black-Cat gangstas and Bikers; there is also a military general type whose provenance is unknown (a present from #1 son).

That's it for this week except to give a plug to Stoetzel's (the maker of probably the finest card-models currently available) new forum Stoelzels Structures to replace his previous forum. Photographs of his line of models can be found at Wargame Vault including his free abandoned warehouse.

All that remains to be said is that as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

Monday 22 September 2014

Ammu-Nation

Ammu-Nation
Many of you will no doubt recognise what this model is from the name alone, but just to make things clear this is my rendition of a gun-shop.
It's a card build, built from a WorldWorksGames'  product, namely the old "Mayhem Armoury" set which incorporated three distinct pieces, a shop, a garage and an apartment. I've used all three elements of the original set for this model.

Front
 Unfortunately when they changed their system they also made three sets from the original one, so it's no longer available.
The sign at the front is obviously not part of the original model, but I didn't like either of the ones that were offered,  "Mayhem Armoury" and "Bob's Bullets" were both to bland for my liking and already in use my many others. The notice is backed in a very thin card but is reinforced by coffee stirrers and some thicker craft sticks for support.


The sign on the corner where Bob is standing doesn't come with the set and is one of the many random signs that I've gleaned from the net over the last two or so years.
I've used this sign before, in my construction site build, and I've also used many more random signs throughout this model.










Side wall

Onto the clockwise tour around the outside of the building; the second wall was looking a bit dull so I added another Ammu-Nation sign











Rear wall



The rear of the building has graffiti from the standard wall set and whilst I could have easily removed it from the print with a bit of photo-shopping I thought it looked OK and left it.







rear door

The door by Bob however was a different matter and I added a poster, which I thought fitting for the shop.

It's obviously a new sign as it hasn't been graffiti-ed yet !
(In case you can't read it, it says "Never mind the dog, Beware of Owner"

I left the already present graffiti on the door by choice.



         


The other (boring) side

The roof  - who'd have thought ?
The roof was entirely scratch-built from card and 5mm foam-board.
I've used 5mm foam-board for all the walls throughout this model. The side walls are thicker card glued onto the outside walls and are little deeper than the edges of the roof so that the roof sits onto the model and overlaps slightly,
The roof itself is also foam-board and it too sits inside the building.
I sprayed the roof black and sprinkled a bit of sand on top to give it texture before painting it.
The top of the wall surrounding the roof was first covered in a very thin card (about cereal packet thickness) an the entire roof walls were covered in wall filler before painting and "dirty-ing"  with a dark wash.
The shop bit from above

This top-down view of the shop shows its general layout.
The stairs are made from scrap foam-card and an additional wall was printed and cut to size.
originally there was going to be no alcove under the stairs but the positioning of the door into the garage dictated that I had to have one.
The front of the shop is at the bottom of the photograph, in case you're wondering (but I'm guessing you're not)



Boring back door


Some internal shots, showing signs I've added by the back door. (left), two shelving units I made from the single double-sided one provided, above which is a knife display and lastly one of the two gun display cases provided (below)


Equally boring shelves
Another view (yawn)
The counter was provided by one of the doll's houses I bought and I've added two signs that can be seen in this view. One is a Winchester Rifles signs behind Sid and the other is the sign in the top right (it reads "due to the increased price of Ammunition, no warning shot will be fired)







Overhead view of the garage

The "garage" was meant more as a storage place than as an actual garage, but I did leave enough room to get a vehicle in before I stuffed it with all manner of crap.

Entrance from shop to garage
The photograph below shows the back wall and entrance from the shop .
I've added some posters from various sources other the the set itself.
The boxes are from Ebbles (I think) which I printed off a couple of years ago.




I'm very aware when making buildings of being able to get figures into them, so I tend to have gaps sufficient to allow room for figures to stand.
The boxes of course were placed strategically too, to provide cover.






Corner opposite the shop door


The storage shelves almost certainly came from Ebbles and the oil barrels were a recent addition to my scenic bits supply.
In the corner are some garbage bags from my stock as well as some newspapers which I like to add to models too.
I added a toolbox from goodness knows where and one of the myriad of books I made sits on top of it.
Front corner.
The other corner (fairly boring)
The final corner of the garage is more or less as standard, with just a couple of newspapers I've added on.
The apparent "orangey" square in the centre of the garage floor is a trick of the light (and not due to poor photography - no sirree), it is actually the same colour as the "surrounding" grey-with oil stains floor.






So  swiftly moving on upstairs.
General view
Sid risking life and limb
Continuing with the tour to the first floor (second if you're American), here's Sid standing over the very dangerous stairwell, wondering where the protecting rail is. (Little does he know I forgot about it and had ran out of glue anyway by the time I had realised)
Nothing really interesting here though I did add the welcome mat.

The sitting/living room below shows some of the doll house furniture along with my scratch-built sofa and a couple of extras.

The mess never ends

The other end of the room showing two bits from the doll house  and my home-built chairs, whilst the book was my addition, the newspaper and carpet were integral to the flooring whilst the TV came with the model.










Through the open doorway (I was sick of doors by this stage) is the kitchen, my only addition here being the pizza (left).
Kitchen
Still the kitchen
The various other kitcheny stuff came from sources I've already mentioned.
At the other end the "Fat Dragon" table has a microwave on it. and my own additions of a newspaper (again) and some rubbish bags. The bench seat is deliberately placed askew to allow a figure access to the window.





Unremarkable Bedroom #1
 The first bedroom, nothing remarkable to see, I've added a picture to the wall and my own scratch-built bed.
Unremarkable Bedroom #2
The second bedroom has had a single bit of furniture added from the doll's house with one of my bonks for good measure (in case you hadn't noticed them yet) and another scratch-built bed (from stock). The pictures were also my  additions.













Finally two view of the smallest room utilising the Doll house bits again and with no added bits of my own (for a change - no wonder Sid looks confused.)


That's the five cent tour complete now and whilst this model is no great shakes in comparison to others that I've seen, at least (and at last) I have a gun-shop ! The windows are all see-through and the doors do open, (even though the garage door is merely a "plug" in door) and I'm happy enough that it's usable enough for my purposes. Its footprint is about 7" x 14" (175mm x 350mm) and it's about 8" tall (200mm) to the top of the parapet.
It didn't really take that long to build but did take up a lot of print - about 12 sheets of A3 !

That's it then for this week except of course to say that as always your comments are as ever both welcomed and appreciated.

Monday 15 September 2014

Internals

Probably a fitting title for a zombie orientated blog you may think, but unfortunately it also fits the bill for the few bits and pieces I've been making for my next model . As the model is based on a WorldWorksGames' building, a lot of the features will also be card builds as shown in the photograph.
A few of the bits though are from Tommygun's excellent card model accessories too and possibly others as I printed a lot of bits off a long time ago with the intention of cutting and using them as required.
Fat Dragon ?
The pieces have all been reinforced with a bit of scarp foam-board or card to give them a bit of strength. They'll all be glued in place too, though the boxes/chests may be glued together as a movable piece.
The shelving above is presented as a two sided aisle display, but as I'm going to have it flush with the wall it's been cut to make two shelving units, one large and one small. Normally I'd have scratch built shelves, but as this was meant as an almost pure card build, I've stuck with the card props.
The table on the left is also going to be set against a wall, hence the single supporting beam underneath.


As I'd also bought some cheap houses that had interesting bits inside I've also painted some pieces up and as they've turned out rather well, I'll be using these in my next building too.
Shown are a shop counter on the left, (rather nice till  and some form of sweetie jar (candy); a sideboard type thing and a low table with what I've taken to be a picture frame on it.
(If the cameraman was better you'd be able to see that I have in fact stuck a picture in the frame.)
One of my favourite bits from the doll's house goodies was this bookcase , shown here with a small side table with telephone.

When these are in place in the model, I'll probably add one or two extra bits and pieces for variety.



One of the things that I haven't found at all easy to scratch-build are bath-tubs, so this piece is a welcome addition to the internal detailing, along with the dresser/washbasin .
 Of course the bathroom wouldn't be complete without a toilet and whilst I've have a small stock of scratch-built toilets I thought I'd also utilise the one that came with the other items.







The toilet provided sat far too low for my liking, looking more like a toddler's potty, so I've cut a small plastic tube (about 5mm) and  glued it underneath to raise is  to a more acceptable height.



I'll be using a couple of the beds that I made rather than the card ones available and I won't be using the child sized bed that came with the other things either.







I've also chosen a set of living room furniture from my stock of scratch-built stuff too.





So what was going to be a purely card model has in fact turned into a mix of card, scrach-builds and commercial items, at least for its internals.




The building is now about 90% complete, requiring only all the above to be fitted and glued into place and a rather awkward door to be sorted out !

Other than to welcome my "latest" follower Chimichanga_X (whom, until recently, we knew as MAj. Diz Aster) that's it then for another week and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.


Monday 8 September 2014

Escape from the Burbs


This scenario would continue on from where the last one, "Return to the Burbs" left off. Once more it starred Vampifan in the role of Scott Briand and his small band.
The table was as previously except I rotated it ninety degrees, removing the two houses and adding a bit of rough ground  to the right of the Alldie Superdupermarket, This was to have Scott's band in the centre of the table.

The yellow circle shows the starting position of Scott's band of civilians and the red circles are the starting positions of the seven initial zombies, whilst the purple arrows, on the right-hand side, point to the three PEFs (possible enemy forces). The yellow line shows the route the first responders will use. (they did have the option of going anywhere, but this is the closest they could get to the casualty, who wouldn't be moved until they arrived).
Once more spawn points were arranged clockwise around the table.
After the debacle in the Supermarket, Jack the Manager lay bleeding on the floor (if he didn't get help soon, he would die and would turn into a zombie eventually. Having already called the police and emergency services Dawn, the shop assistant set about looking for the first aid kit, she would need three turns to get and apply first aid, before the manager threw a '6' and died.
The first turn of course saw the arrival of the emergency service, lights flashing but no sirens.
 It also saw the first event of the game


One of the zombies' number would be an obese zombie and with the zombies standing idly by contemplating man's inhumanity to zombies, attention was drawn to the manager who promptly snuffed it ! Like most zombie related things, I'd blame it on Vampifan and  in this instance I'd be truly justified as this would be a taster of his dice throwing to come throughout the game, with some weird and wonderful results such as the first spawn point (number 5) to be immediately depleted.



As the emergency vehicles turned the first corner the zombies stood and wondered about the meaning of death (they failed to activate again) and yet another spawn point (number 1) was depleted.
Thankfully there was no event but at this rate I thought we could be finished by lunchtime.
As the zombies didn't activate they couldn't generate any new zombies from the noise of the vehicles either as these would have had to be active to enter the table (if that makes sense)


 
Whilst the emergency services were wending their way along their route,
two zombies were finally attracted enough by the pretty lights and engine noises to wander up to the vehicles and swipe at thin air as they passed by.
Elsewhere, the PEFs in the forest were having similar motivational issues and for the third turn in a row remained motionless.
 





This wasn't the case for Scott and his homies as they were were already being instructed to  head for the exits, leaving the dead manager in their wake.
 Yet another spawn point (number 3) was depleted, but a single zombie was generated by the vehicle noise.
A few more zombies were generated as the emergency vehicles kept on trucking, one zombie even managing to attempt an attack; of course he was brushed aside and knocked down.
Scott led his group outside to the three approaching PEFs, one of which raised the ER of the area to a '4' whilst both the others turned out to be pairs of unarmed civilians.
The responders just kept going brushing aside resistance
(The white counters are for the noise created)

"Resistance is Futile"
The noise from the vehicles was finally creating  zombies from nearby spawn points (irrespective of the spawn point's status) and even as the emergency vehicles rounded the final corner Scott was explaining how cool and fun it would be if these total strangers joined his band of merry men. To which irresistible offer they couldn't refuse, such was the patter from the velvet tongued Scott.
 A lone zombie took this cue as an invite to join Scott's group too, his moaning of course urged others to follow.





A mere six turns into the game and yet another event was rolled in favour of Scott's band's survival, as noise would no longer be generate zombies providing a '6' was thrown !
The police pulled up to the supermarket and stopped whilst the ambulance slowed  to a similar position and would stop the following turn.












Scott took this opportunity to surround himself with his new found friends maybe thinking of some form of Alamo reenactment or more likely intentionally creating a very useful meat-shield.
The zombies created by the two vehicles' approach were slowly gathering in numbers and heading towards the newly created 'Alamo'.

 I was getting used to Vampifan's perverse dice throwing by now and wasn't surprised by yet another event (events requires a '6' on a d6 to occur each turn). Luckily this event had no immediate consequence but someone in the party would be determined to have some form of disease at the end of the encounter!
Obviously we couldn't have too much excitement in a single turn so Scott's group waited to exchange pleasantries with the newly arrived guests and the zombies obviously exhausted by their exertions of staggering, being knocked aside, getting up and general moaning, once more came to a dead halt (pun intended).
The ambulance had come to a halt and the crew then too the opportunity to leave their vehicle in order to greet Scott and his mob. The cops finished their donuts and exited their vehicles also in no apparent hurry.
As everyone stood around for a cozy chat the  zombies finally remembered what they were meant to do and headed toward the meat (even so, spawn point '6' was depleted - of course).
 The manager also made a not too welcome appearance at the supermarket's employees door in the rear of the party.

As the manager emerged Scott decided to take some decisive action and hurled himself at the zombie manager, quickly becoming embroiled in an unexpected even fight, Mattias however came swiftly to his aid and between the two of the them they knocked the zombie manager to the floor.

The ambulance crew decided they weren't going to hang around, having seen how this scenario had unfolded once before and headed straight back to their ambulance.


The cops however split, one covered the approaching zombies whilst the other walked over to stomp the prone manager to his second (but final) death of the day.










There must have been something in the air for even as the zombies were in position to strike they once more decided to stand around instead, so one cop raced to the back of their crusier to blow away any zombies there whilst the other ran for the drivers seat.
Scott's group made for Dawn's silver car whilst the newcomers were instructed to get in the cops' cruiser, at this stage though, only one of their number managed to do so.


Unable to make an immediate getaway, Dawn waited  until the emergency vehicles had backed up and started  the vehicle as the last civilian jumped into the back seat alongside Scott (the three others had all managed to get into the cruiser with the two cops.
 The passenger in the ambulance fended off the attempts of a single zombie whilst Brendan in the back of Dawn's vehicle did similar, both fights ending in an equal contest, if they'd care to hang about for the next round.

They of course didn't wish to hang around, but would rather not be in the situation of having to fight off the approaching mini-horde of zombies whilst they sat.
 Of course, right on cue another event came to aid them. One of the zombies had been a civilian all along. Realising there was no room for him in any nearby vehicle a dice roll decided that he would do something positive to aid the part's escape so he ran in the opposite direction, away from Dawn's silver car hoping to lure most of them away after him.
Gus luring away zombies









 The cops made good their driving skills and reversed down the road, allowing Dawn out , but even so there were fights around her car.
Mattias was knocked down into the well of the front passenger seat whilst Dawn managed to hold her own in the fight with her antagonist.
 A few more zombies were still attracted by the noise of the vehicles but were unable to add much to the fight .

It seemed that this affair was just about all over.












It turned out that it was all over, for Gus anyway, as on the very next turn the zombies got the drop on him and of course shredded him into neat strips of jerky.







The zombie attack also took Dawn's carload by surprise and as she fought off her zombie opponent Mattias  managed to kill the zombie intent on making him lunch out out of him  before Dawn found first gear and headed off.
The emergency crews were either reluctant to leave or just couldn't find first gear as they fought off the encroaching zombies. Although a passenger in the rear left seat of the cruiser was knocked down before they once more managed to get underway he quickly recovered unharmed.









With the last spawn point depleted,the remaining four turns of the game were played through swiftly and as all the vehicles got to a speed (2) or more the zombies wouldn't be able to catch them.

Dawn's erratic driving however was going to cause a problem as she cut in front of the cops forcing them to come to a stop.
(Please note the lack of a comment inserted here about women drivers )



Once they were all underway again though there would also be no more zombies generated by the noise of the vehicles and it would be smooth ride home as barring any events that prevented them as the zombies would be unable to have any affect.







Vampifan of course was having none of this and he threw for events like a man possessed, some one found an implement suitable as an improvised weapon in the back of dawn's car,
quickly followed by some natural disasters (another two events !).











Even as the three vehclies headed toward the winning post so to speak.










The two events caused the weather to cloud over and worsen whilst all characters wondered how they had survived  the events of the day and what they would have for tea no doubt.








Of course just as they rounded the final corner with the ambulance in the distance and inches away from the game ending, Vampifan managed his piece-de-resistance and threw yet another event !










"Right there" -Vampifan




 


Luckily (?) it didn't have any real effect on the game as a bolt of lightening struck the closest building to the players (a 1 in 6 chance) buy it did make for a dramatic ending, the sort of thing a cheap budget movie would have so all in all it was probably very fitting.





The game had taken four hours (as did this write-up) and was very entertaining from my point of view and thanks have to go to Vampifan for his company at fairly short notice.















That's it then for this week, next week I'll be posting about the in-roads I've made on my latest card model catastrophe and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.