Apebot

The current Apebot programming is still faulty as the hulk freezes every time it fails to complete a pattern. As long as Virus is close behind Apebot, able to override the programming manually, the steel gorilla performs wonderfully. It is able to process more advanced commands and make simple tactical decisions.

What’s even more important and absolutely unexplainable through the basics of Pong programming, the bond between Apebot and Virus is much more than one would expect from 3 tons of steel and 15 pounds of a spider monkey.

Apebot took a long time in finishing, from application of base colour to varnishing - not from work and time invested, but simply that I started the mini and put it to one side. This was purely from setting out with this line to try some new techniques, the NMM (Non-Metallic Metallics) included. It is still a technique that I am working to learnt to execute better, but trying it out is the only way that will happen. What it meant was that Apebot probably turned out less successfully than hoped for, but it has been a learning experience trying this technique on relatively large surfaces. More depth of shading/washes across those large surfaces would probably help, but as I say, I am still very much learning.

I am not wholly dissatisfied with the results, but it wasn't the most enjoyment I have had in painting this line, which is not down to the model, but rather just down to myself. It is finished now, which I am happy about, even if not overly satisfied with the results - and I currently only have 11 more minis to paint in my Pulp City Painting Challenge.

I haven't gamed with Apebot and Virus yet, since I will really need to think carefully about their usage given the need to play both in conjunction.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters

This post was provoked by news of a new series coming out later in the year from DC Comics, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. An ongoing series, it is set to be a continuation of two previous limited series, so I decided to re-read both.

The Freedom Fighters is a DC concept that has a history stretching back over 35 years, built on a stable of characters acquired form another publisher (Quality Comics), and in recent DC fashion, has been used as fodder in various reimaginings and worse, 'big events'. As readers may know from my previous posts, I am not a fan of the current focus on 'big events'. One of the reasons is that the top tier characters are kept safe by and large (even if temporarily this does not appear to be the case), whilst the second and their tier characters are often mangled and disposed of, frequently for shock value alone it seems; and such has been the fate of the Freedom Fighters at various times.

The first iteration lasted for more than a decade, largely as a background concept set on one of DC's many Earths of their multiverse. Crisis on Infinite Earths took away their raison d'etre, thus they fell by the wayside. Cut to 2000 and a team comprising old members and new iterations of others surfaced, only to be summarily dispatched a few years later in Infinite Crisis. A year or so later and the next version arrived - Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, spinning on from the arguable mess of a series that was Battle for Bludhaven, which was part of the bigger mess (in my opinion) that was Infinite Crisis.

So cut to the recent history of the team: Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (USatFF) (written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; art by Daniel Acuna) was spun out of a DC special called Brave New World, a kind of post-Infinite Crisis restart for a lot of characters, and ran for 8 issues from 2006-7. USatFF is an interesting book for me, taking as it does a very political stance to it's plots and sub-plots, not something I have normally associated with DC as a publisher. It is a story that is primarily focused on the efforts of USatFF to oppose a threat within the US government, as well as within homeland security. Themes touched on are politics, celebrity, freedom, necessity of actions for the greater good, and more besides. What we get is a book of a type that DC doesn't often publish.

The central plot is all about trying to stop specific machinations at the highest levels of power, an attempt to subjugate the American people, and the political themes are ever-present. The political angles may lack nuance and subtlety, but then this book was never intended as the superhero equivalent of the West Wing, and so that is a harsh criticism held by some in my view. The political stances are adequate to the story at hand in my opinion. The dialogue is often in service of the various stances that the individual characters hold, but again this felt right to me, suitable for the overall tone of the book.

I loved this series when it came out, and it is one that has borne several re-readings for me. I have read mixed reviews, most praising the art and many attacking the writing, but it is a story I found to be enjoyable, although there are weaknesses (for example, Sam eschews fatal violence against his foes, yet there are frequent such actions by his team-mates). On the whole a story I found to be engagingly-written and nicely rendered by Daniel Acuna who uses a type of computer painted art.

The cast is varied and each character has a distinct role and voice. My favourite is probably Firebrand, arguably one of the weakest in terms of raw power, yet determined nonetheless. And Uncle Sam is just great, basically the kindly straight-talkin' uncle-figure with vast power and a great set of values. The villain of the piece - Father Time - is a classic character who I really want to see more of in the DCU.

In the story we get introduced and reintroduced to a new cast with a lot of legacy code-names (numbers in parenthesis indicate what iteration of a given character we are dealing with:
Uncle Sam (I) - the spirit of the American people, reborn in the healing waters of the Mississippi River.
Firebrand (IV) - libertarian, agitator and Sam's 'herald'.
Human Bomb (II) - unfortunate scientists co-opted by SHADE, who joins Uncle Sam.
Doll Man (II) - miniature super-soldier, SHADE operative who joins Uncle Sam.
Phantom Lady (III) - addiction-influenced media starlet and superheroine, SHADE operative who joins Uncle Sam.
Red Bee (II) - young scientist who yearns to be a heroine.
The Ray (II & III) one is a self-serving SHADE operative who joins Uncle Sam, his predecessor a hero with a few years under his own belt and part of the previous incarnation of the team.
Black Condor (III) - an avatar of the elements of earth and sky, a man serious in his duty as protector.
Invisible Hood (II) a somewhat reluctant legacy hero.
Miss America (I) a golden age heroine returned when her country needs her most.

It was reported that the writers (Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti) wrote the story loosely based on notes by Grant Morrison - this is something I can see, that there are faint echoes of his work on JLA, which in my view is no bad thing: mainstream superheroics meets 'big ideas', something Morrison and Mark Millar seem to have cornered a market on, and territory that I feel Gray and Palmiotti succeeded in. The Morrison influence extends further with concepts from his own title Frankenstein appearing in the form of SHADE and it's leader Father Time.


Characters and images are © 2010 DC Comics.

Virus

Subject 046 appears to be highly interested and proficient with hand-held electronic games.

A long time before the shuttle crash, Virus mastered all the primitive electronic games the 80’s could muster.

Virus is really intended to be used as a partner to his companion Apebot. Since I procrastinated for a long time in finishing Apebot, that had the knock-on effect that Virus was left only undercoated for quite some time.

I wanted to step away from my usual Pulp City palette, so the green shirt made sense, with light brown/buff coloured cargo pants. What I am doing with the ARC minis is to include some black on each of them as a unifying motif (Chimp Chi has black garb; Howler a black shirt; etc).

In the end it was quite a quick paint job that I ma reasonably pleased with. That said, I don't know when i will game with him, since I only tend to use Chimp Chi if playing with an ARC, but I may try an all-ARC Team soon.

Pulp Citizen - Widescreen Edition

Yeah, I thought I'd get 'down with the kids' and accept a new design for the blog. I like nice, clean appearances to things, but being lazy I have taken an 'off the shelf' template (again), and then applied some tweaks, so this may be subject to further change.

Magic Markers (2)

A few more Tokens. I have these four that I recently finished, as well as another 8 that are assembled and undercoated.

There are another 2 Manholes (this time simply painted up Dragon Forge bases) and two safes (from Copplestone Castings) that can count as as Vaults, Loot or Agenda Tokens (objectives).

After that I need to make myself some Tokens to represent Stoner Hawk's stone columns that he creates with Stoneshapes. Now while this Action can be represented only using 30 mm bases, I thought stone columns of suitable height would be cool.

I also need to figure out how to represent Sirens (per the Resource) on a 30 mm base. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

Double Trouble/Deadly Duos

Just some pictures of minis that are very much intended to work together. They don't have to be fielded as duos, but in each pair not doing so limits the effectiveness of whichever models are used.

Father Oak and Acorn - Acorn has an Action intended to buff Father Oak's attacks (Hurray For The Trees), while Father Oak and Acorn are both Immune to the restraining effects of his Green Curtain Action. Thus, it is arguable that Father Oak is more usable without Acorn than vice versa.

Apebot and Virus - these two are probably even more closely entwined thatn Father Oak and Acorn. Virus has only Actions intended to boost/buff Apebot's capablities. Take The Glove (Device) and Virus gains a limited form of attack capablity (only against Mechanical), as well as a better version of one of his Actions (allowing him to reactivate an Incapacitated Apebot using the Fix: Repair Action). Like Father Oak without Acorn, Apebot can probably manage better alone than with his natural partner, but due to the boosts Virus offers, it really only makes sense to take both.

Of course what this means is that much more than most cases of Team-building, the paired Supremes need some good thought about how to get the best out of them when co-ordinating their Actions.

June Summers

Channel 4 news reporter, specializing exclusively in Supreme affairs.

The object of the recent contest I ran, this is my version of a painted June Summers (sculpted by Wotjek Flis). June has yet to be generally released, and was a mini I picked up a few copies of through a promotion Pulp Monsters ran last year.

June is a Character Minion, meaning that she can be Activated like a Supreme. She brings certain bonuses to games that will be even more welcome when the revised rulebook hits, since she can add to your Agenda Point score (basically victory score), and she also adds to the Starting Roll which is nice.

This is one of the first minis I have tried photographing with a new lighting set-up, so it may take a while for me to get it right.

Another Micro Update

I was hoping to get some photographs done today, but I was waiting to finish my own June Summers before doing so, and unfortunately have only just done so - too late for photographing really.

I have some new kit to use for my photographs which I want to try out properly to see if it helps me, so I guess Thursday or Friday I will sit down to take pictures of June Summers, Apebot, and Virus (and maybe I will try a couple of duo shots as well), and maybe the latest 4 Tokens I have finished.

So far it will be one of the less productive months as things stand, but then I do have a few days off in the coming week or so, so it will be interesting to see if I get a quick finish on some other minis.

Welcome

I am always pleased to welcome another follower to the blog, and this one goes out to cjtwine50 who looks to be starting to follow blogs with a supers theme. There are some great supers blogs that I follow myself and so hopefully cjtwine50 can find some inspiration from those of us that are blogging away.

I'd also like to issue a last reminder about the contest I am running (link here); the deadline is 23:59 GMT tonight, so please get your entries in for a chance to win a June Summers mini.

Hearts and Minds - scenario/encounter

This latest Encounter outline pits A.R.C. against Heavy Metal in a battle that is played out both on the streets of Pulp City and in the perceptions of it's residents.

I wrote this as a means of pitting idealism versus heroism, with a media angle by including June Summers in a slightly different way.

Click on the link here to access the freely downloadable pdf.

Tactica: Sanguine (night; Level 2)

NAME: Sanguine (night) Level 2
SUBFACTION: Necroplane/unaligned
FUNCTION: Battlefield control.

BRIEF: Classic comic book vampire, Sanguine (night) is represents the big bad vampire, using many of the famous vampiric abilities including mental domination.

POWERS: Sanguine (night) offers a nice breadth of abilities. As with his day incarnation, he does not possess devastating direct attack Actions, needing to work some combinations of actions and synergies to deal high Damage. Instead he primarily offers some very effective control actions. While Crimson Mist and Fangs are a natural combo, it can become costly using likely up to 5 + target’s Action AP cost in AP’s – pretty much most of his AP Allowance.

Fangs is a useful battlefield control action and when used at the right time may be able to turn the tide of momentum. Since each Action can only be used once per round, using an enemy's Exclusive Actions against their allies also stops them from using that same Action against your models. Ideally use the Action that will both disrupt the enemy and leave the targeted model exposed/vulnerable; even a simple Move* from Base to Base to trigger Free Strikes may be worth a thought. Note also that you can still use Fangs after going Spectral using Crimson Mist (below). This allows Sanguine some leeway when facing Close Combat heavy melee hitters. Even if you lose initiative you can recover up to 3 of the damage sustained (using Crimson Mist), use Fangs in a following Activation (perhaps with a Move*), and then have an AP or two left over.

Crimson Mist is a particularly useful defensive ability. This Action will let Sanguine (night) move through models/terrain and escape melee without free strikes if that threat is in place. Use to evade front-line or mid-field models if you'd rather hunt one of their rear support models. Add to that the benefit of self-healing up to 3 Damage per Round without penalty (any more is too restrictive on balance) other than AP cost, and Sanguine (night) can be more durable than his Traits, Skills or Damage may at first indicate. Obviously beware the risks of ENERGY-using enemies when in Spectral form – it does not offer complete invulnerability, especially as AGILITY is reduced by X; don’t forget his Trump and other available buffs at such times. And of course being Spectral may allow Sanguine (night) to occupy an objective with a degree of safety.

Horror is potentially very powerful, applying -2 to all opposed rolls. In the right circumstances this is a really big penalty (and so a bonus for Sanguine’s Team). Don’t forget that SBl 4 can cover a large amount of the board (basically just over 9” in diameter circle). Try not to use Horror on enemy models you wish to use Fangs on, otherwise their efficacy will be compromised.

Bloodlust* allows Sanguine (night) and Draku to boost their STRENGTH as enemies are damaged within the Aura. The downside is that STRENGTH is not a Trump Trait and it is naturally incompatible with Crimson Mist. Because of this, I see Bloodlust as a back-up power that will be very situation-specific (groups of Minions and Citizens come to mind); the area affected may stack nicely with Horror (use Horror first), but the AP outlay is quite a lot (4 AP) so would really restrict use of Sanguine (night)’s other Actions. One option is to possibly use Bloodlust* with Fangs to generate a Free Strike against a model in Base to Base, but this will rarely be especially useful. With sequential Activations, Bloodlust could combine and stack with Horror to be followed up by a Charge and Strike for a healthy Damage output, but that is going to take at least 2 Activations (allowing a target to move away maybe) and around 6 AP to manage, plus maybe another 2 AP for Draku joining him.

Team Power – Deceiver: allows Sanguine (night) to stay in the game. If you want to make use of it keep a disposable friendly Supreme near to Sanguine (night) to allow Sanguine to stay in the game when Incapacitated/Eliminated. Models that are near to being taken out themselves are obvious candidates; Mourn is probably the ideal companion in this. You will likely need to follow up with Crimson Mist.

Skills – Freelancer is more a Team-building skill, deciding for you what kind of Team you want to build, and really influencing use in EL 12 games.

Draku – don’t leave home without him! He is cute, a vampire dog, Regenerates, heals through Bite, and best of all you opponent suffers if he or she takes him out. What isn’t there to like in all of that? Don’t forget that Draku can Strike as well as use his Bite.

Mobility – with his AP 7, a Run* action is not too costly for Sanguine (night), so he can be pretty mobile despite his lack of movement skills or actions.

WEAKNESSES: Sanguine (night) has a few key weaknesses. Firstly is that he doesn’t bring a single major damaging attack to bear, he needs to be used with models that can benefit from his Actions. Also, bear in mind that Bloodlust* is Sanguine (night)’s only * Action, meaning some planning is required to use his actions successfully. And remember that Crimson Mist can leave him very vulnerable to ENERGY attacks (use his Trump and other possible buffs if necessary).

SYNERGIES: Keep a ‘disposable’ friendly Supreme near to Sanguine (night) to allow Sanguine to stay in the game when Incapacitated/Eliminated – Mourn is the current best choice. Any friendly models can benefit from attacking models affected by Horror, meaning Sanguine (night) works well with anyone.

June Summers Contest Reminder

Around 3 and a half days remaining to get entries in. Only a small number of entries so far.

If you don't enter you don't get a chance to win; so go ahead, write something down - be 'in it to win it'!

Entries should be sent to pulpcitizen@hotmail.co.uk and subject marked ‘June Summers Contest’.

Contest Rules
- Prize: an unpainted June Summers miniature.
- The judging panel will judge the entries blind, and I will only be involved in case of a tie (or possibly a nominated other in my place).
- The contest is open to any member of the (Pulp Citizen) blog or Forum; entries must include blog Follower name or Forum member name. Entries without at least one of these will be disqualified and rejected - no exceptions.
- Judges are not permitted to enter the contest, and Heralds have been discouraged from entering.
- Entries should be an original text piece describing or featuring a location or non-Supreme character in Pulp City: a diner or coffee shop, haunted street corner, famous nightclub, etc...; or a non-Supreme Celebrity or person of interest: like June Summers, famous snitch, fortune teller or the like. The focus of the entry can be an existing feature or character, or something brand-new. Entries using Intellectual Property belonging to any entity other than Pulp Monsters will be disqualified and rejected. Descriptive and narrative entries are both welcome.
- Entries must be between 100 and 500 words in length, excluding a title. Any entries outside of these lengths will be penalized.
- Only one entry per person.
- In entering the contest entrants are agreeing that their entries may be published with full authority on the Pulp City Forum and/or the Pulp Citizen blog.
- Entries published outside of the contest before the results are determined will be disqualified and rejected.
- Entries should be sent to pulpcitizen@hotmail.co.uk and subject marked ‘June Summers Contest’; emails without this subject will be ignored.
- I may add a runner-up prize if more entries than expected are received.
- The final deadline for entries is 23:59 GMT on June 21st. Entries received after this will be disqualified and rejected.

Couple of Games Today

I played two games of Pulp City today, against my main gaming buddy Rob. We played according to victory conditions that will be in the new rulebook when it appears, and I have to say I was thoroughly and truly beaten in both games!

Rob kept his eye on the victory conditions and so played effectively and efficiently. In the first game Rob seized the initiative by claiming the objective first, meaning I was on the back foot, since to win I had to grab it back and move it (picture above features a brave Vigilante facing off against Sanguine and Draku; photograph courtesy of Rob).

I became too focused with trying to take out one of his key models out in the second game (photo right, courtesy of Rob), only to lose most of my own Team in short order. I'll do a Battle Report in the next couple of weeks about that one. Rob played well and to the objectives in both games, and that is why he won so comprehensively. I'll get him next time!

On the upside, I had a postal delivery arrive between games: see the picture to the right for examples of my new 'Pulp City' themed custom-dice. They were made by EM 4, and I had them done after seeking permission from Pulp Monsters to do so. I am chuffed to have them.

Mid-month Update Of Sorts

Slow painting month this month so far, with only 2 minis finished for the challenge (Apebot has been joined by his 'handler' Virus - I will photograph them on Friday I hope). And of course I have been painting markers (Tokens) for gaming purposes - I finished another 4 yesterday. That said, I started blocking out colours on June Summers (and an alternative 'counts as' mini) last night and got all of the main areas blocked out, as well as highlighting and washes on three of the main areas of the actual June Summers, so pretty quick (for me) in fading light.

Yesterday on the Pulp City Forums, Morf (the Pulp City head guy) revealed pictures of the Grimm, strange humanoid creatures dwelling beneath the city. They look great fun, and I look forwards to them being added to my painting pile. As things stand I have 11 minis left to paint (although one of those I have yet to pick up), so as I get closer to achieving my goal with the Painting Challenge the options I have about what to paint narrows also. And since I am very much led by inspiration in my painting, then it gets harder as I get closer to conclusion.

Today I should be getting a couple of Pulp City games in; I am hoping that one will turn into a battle report as Rob (as ever give his blog a glance, I really enjoy it) and me use a couple of cameras and notes to construct a record of the second game we play. There was something cool I hoped to have in time to play, but alas it/they has not arrived, but pictures when I have it/them.

Welcome

This welcome goes to inrepose who has recently added Pulp Citizen to his (or her; but I guess his) blog list. As always, thanks to anyone who stops by and extra thanks go out to anyone who adds their name to the Followers list.

I guess that inrepose is a fan of eclectic tastes, and I have to admit that after years of my personally GW-centric hobby, it has been pretty liberating to look at what other stuff is available and going on.

I am a gamer first and foremost, always have been and likely always will be, but in my painting challenge I have stretched my (limited) skills in enjoyable ways. I am often dissatisfied with the outcome, but I am determined to keep trying, and I hope in some small way the blog offers at least a touch of inspiration for others.

On another note, there are just 6 days remaining for the June Summers competition (link to post here), so don't delay on my account. I want this currently hard to get mini to get into the hands of someone who hasn't got one, and this contest was intended to be a fun way to do just that.

Tactica: Sanguine (day; Level 1)

NAME: Sanguine (day); Level 1
SUBFACTION: Necroplane
FUNCTION: attack synergy (Horror), Minion Elimination, support.

BRIEF: Classic comic book vampire, Sanguine (Day) is great in games in which you expect to face a lot of ‘grunt’ Minions – the faceless Non-Exclusive types.

POWERS: Sanguine lacks truly devastating one-shot attacks, instead offering Actions that are about Team work (read: Game Round planning) and Minion domination and Elimination.

Bloodarang is a great ranged attack for its AP cost; with luck (or at least favorable circumstances) multiple models can be affected. Given Sanguine’s STRENGTH, that may be the only real weakness of the ability, meaning it is best targeted at weakened Supremes (Knocked Down or subject to Horror below), those with low AGILITY (a lot of bricks qualify) or Minions. And of course Minions count as models for gaining Night Points…

Blood Favor is a nifty support ability – healing for Necroplane models (useful for keeping Mourn in the game when he is off on his own, or topping up Supreme Zed’s first Damage track to avoid his effective Elimination if counting win conditions on Supreme Levels. Therefore, some end-game planning can be useful for the final Round with this ability if Sanguine is still in play.

Whisper can be used to turn opposing Minions; it can also be used for cheap Night Points gain if directed at Sanguine’s own Minions. Look at Corrupt Cops, Hired Guns or ‘weak’ BOOM Minions in good numbers to exploit this. You will need to cluster around Sanguine and you will limit the effectiveness of those Minions, but if you are determined that you need the shift to Level 2 Sanguine, this is possibly the quickest route.

Horror is potentially very powerful, applying -2 to all opposed rolls. In the right circumstances this is a really big penalty (and so a bonus for Sanguine’s Team). And don’t forget that SBl 4 can cover a large amount of the board (basically just over 9” in diameter circle). Follow it up with Bloodarang and you can hopefully add some more Night Points; using the Horror itself is not often likely to yield extra Night Points, but it can create favorable circumstances to do so.

Team Power – Night Beckons: not much to consider here really, except to not overlook that with Fury 1 there are a couple of other options for Sanguine to take out Minions for cheap Night Points.

Skills – with his STRENGTH 3 Fury 1 is really for weak DEFENSE Supremes and especially Minions. Freelancer is more a Team-building skill, deciding for you what kind of Team you want to build, and really influencing use in EL 12 games.

Draku – don’t leave home without him! He is cute, a vampire dog, Regenerates and best of all your opponent suffers if he or she takes him out. What isn’t there to like in all of that?

WEAKNESSES: While well-rounded, Sanguine (day) offers no immediate devastating Trump-based attacks, instead offering attack synergies. Therefore, to use him effectively requires fore-thought and planning – Horror stacks well with anything that follows, including Sanguine’s own attacks, so it is worth using as early as possible in the Round.

SYNERGIES: With Horror, all of Sanguine’s Team can benefit from its use, and so Sanguine works well alongside anyone. Blood Favor requires that Sanguine is working with Necroplane Supremes, so at less than EL 12 you are specifically looking at Mourn to be able to fully utilize it.

Sludge (Ultraverse)

Sludge was a title in Malibu Comics Ultraverse line, hence my previous posting about that imprint.

There was a lot about the earlier Ultraverse work that I enjoy, with some great runs of stories, marred only by very changeable art styles through those runs. Sludge is my favourite book of the imprint as a Dead Universe reader, one I didn’t pick up when it came out, and having read it in the past and re-reading it recently I feel it holds up pretty well and I wish I had been able to enjoy it when it came out. Of course my sensibilities were different then, so I may have dismissed it, but it is a comic-book I regard fondly.

Sludge centres on a man-monster, formerly Detective Hoag, a corrupt cop and a man transformed by a horrible accident. In this a tradition is continued, dating back to the Heap, and later characters such as Man-Thing (notable for a run written by Sludge co-creator and primary writer Steve Gerber) and Swamp Thing.

Hoag-as-Sludge is desperate. His mind has become addled by the process that has turned him into a monster, his thoughts incoherent. A grotesque figure, he possesses superhuman strength and resilience, tremendous regenerative capability and a touch that causes hyper-accelerated cellular growth – fatal to most he encounters through the series. Sludge becomes desperate to end his own nightmarishly-transformed life, and it is into this context that the series unfolds.

The scene is quickly set for the man-creature, an existence of sorts in the alleyways and sewers, where he encounters those on the periphery of society and vile creatures haunting those locations. Sludge soon gets drawn into a three-way battle between New York mobs, one of which is tied into his transformation. In this Sludge is manipulated by my favourite Ultraverse villain – Lord Pumpkin, the otherworldly interloper who sets out to create his own criminal empire aided by the child-criminal Pistol. Further tales cross paths with Prime, revealing more about the origin of the chemicals that transformed Hoag into the man-monster Sludge.

The series is very much the brainchild of two creative forces: Steve Gerber as writer and Aaron Lopresti as artist. It seems strange that for parts of the run Gerber takes a back seat to Lopresti’s creative influence. For whatever reasons he chose to do so, the book benefitted from the work that the artist delivered, which echoed past greats of the medium including Steranko, Frazetta, Basil Wolverton, Mike Ploog, the EC artists and many more. Sludge is visually a treat in my view, and holds up well today thanks to Malibu’s pioneering use of computer colouring techniques. Lopresti did not draw every issue, but his style is across the series through his covers and the design of Sludge he depicts in the early issues.

The series lasted only 12 full issues, a several page continuation in Ultraverse Premiere (UP 8 flipped onto the back of Sludge 12, and continuing the story from Sludge 12), and a one-shot – Sludge: Red X-Mas. Despite that I would argue it is one of the strongest books that the Ultraverse imprint spawned, and well worth tracking down since Marvel are at this time and for the foreseeable future very unlikely to reprint the title as a collected edition.


Characters and images are ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Tactica: Nuclear Jones

NAME: Nuclear Jones
SUBFACTION: Heavy Metal
FUNCTION: Blaster/Support.

BRIEF: Heavy Metal’s premier blaster and radiation-fuelled powerhouse.

POWERS: Nuclear Jones is very attack focused, having 3 combat Exclusive Actions at his disposal. All of these actions play of one of his Trump Traits and have decent range or area of effect; in short he is a real combat powerhouse.

Nuclear Missile is nice and straight-forwards as a mid-range attack; combine with Move* for a 12 inch threat range. To take best advantage of the Action’s special rule to be used again, try to use Nuclear Missile during Nuclear Jones’ first activation each Game Round. With the Trump and Power-Up, this is probably one of the most devastating single-target attacks that any level 2 has.

Atom Heart is what qualifies Nuclear Jones as a support model. Since one of Nuclear Jones’ Exclusive Actions (Nuclear Leak) is very destructive to friend and foe alike, that may be more an end-of-game option, as is Detonation (also below), meaning that Atom Heart is best used in the early stages of a game before your forces disperse, or at least in conjunction with Nuclear Missile. A nice option, to best use this Action encourages a team to be built around Heavy Metal to maximize benefits. At EL 12 this is obvious, but at lower EL’s it means a quite specific line-up selection; Science Origins have a slight advantage in the meta-game right now, so an all Heavy Metal team is no bad thing. Of course strategy should not be based on one Action alone, but the upshot is that Nuclear Jones and Dr. Mercury both have very Heavy Metal-specific abilities in their repertoires, so there is real value in considering an all-Heavy Metal Team even at lower EL’s.

Nuclear Leak – very destructive, especially against targets with high/Trumped defenses (:AGL against Nuclear Missile for example); even the toughest target is going to suffer that Aftershocks Damage. Nuclear Leak is naturally fairly inimical to Atom Heart since it means keeping friendly models at a safe distance. Most Minions will be vaporized by Nuclear Leak, so it can be especially useful for thinning out hordes of Necro GI’s, Zombies or Mysterious Man-created Minions. If the Nuclear Jones player wants to create an area of temporary deterrence, useful against Minions and Supremes alike, then using the damage-inducing Action-payment option gives a 16.66% extra chance of succeeding in staying in place. I would suggest that a cost of 2 Damage from a starting pool of only 11 is too costly for such a precious model like Nuclear Jones unless there are no obvious alternatives. To get to Aftershocks 4+ there is a chance of that happening each round; to get to Aftershocks 7 for example, there is a 2.77% to 11.11% chance of that happening without using Damage to pay the cost of the Action (which will take the course of 4 Rounds; the first in which the Action is used, the second with first Aftershocks, and then two more rounds of increase); if using Damage the best this goes to in order to get to Aftershocks 6 is around 50%, but at that cost of 2 Damage, and of course the need to get the enemy into the right area. So the odds are not dead-on that it will get to massive damage potential. Of course Aftershocks 7, 6 or 5 is plenty, but so is Aftershocks 3 in my view. It is a great Action, I just feel it is just uncommon that it will get to the massive damage thresholds if your opponent knows what to look out for. Also, don’t forget that a Self Blast affects the range from the model, so a Nuclear Leak that stays in place has an effective diameter of just over 7 inches.

Detonation – Nuclear Jones’ ‘pre-emptive revenge’ Action. Keep in mind that while Heavy Metal models (friend or foe, by the way; Heroes can of course fight Heroes…) are Immune/Detonation, Nuclear Jones is still removed on using this action. In games not counting Agenda Points for lost Supremes this is not too costly, except for the loss of the model, but unless Nuclear Jones is on the verge of being taken out then it is wasteful to use this Action too early since in the following Game Round his AP contribution will be lost. If he is down to his last few Damage, then this an attractive and viable option.

Skills: not much to comment on except that Levitate offers some freedom of Movement; his Hatred is very narrow meaning you can forget about it until playing against Mysterious Man. It is Instability and Leave No Trace that are the ones to pay attention to: the more Damage he is exposed to, the more Instability rolls are needed. Thus, lots of low-yield Damage results could still run the risk of triggering that Instability.

Team Power – Weird Affinity: basically Nuke and Nuclear Jones cancel each other out. Neither a disadvantage nor an advantage really, very much a neutral and low-key Team Power.

WEAKNESSES: Nuclear Jones possesses decent defensive Traits, but a mediocre Damage track as far as Level 2 Supremes go. This means he can hold his own, but still needs to be used mindfully, especially if he falls victim to an unlucky Instability roll. Consider equipping Nuclear Jones with a First Aid Kit to mitigate his limited Damage pool. Another weakness is his suite of Exclusive Actions; Detonation is one-use only meaning that in game management terms he is largely limited to 3 Exclusive Actions as well as Universal Actions.

SYNERGIES: Heavy Metal – it should go without saying, but Nuclear Jones can help his team-mates with Atom Heart and they are Immune/Detonation, and so the more Heavy Metal Supremes that are near him the better. Dr. Mercury’s Mercurial Matrix makes Nuclear Jones even tougher for a round so he is a good companion. Chronin can maximize Nuclear Jones’ Nuclear Missile (especially if Trump has already been used) and Detonation attacks with Rewind. Outside of Heavy Metal, Blood Rose may be useful for placing Nuclear Jones in the best place for Nuclear Leak and/or Detonation, Trail can use A Second Ahead to allow Nuclear Jones to unleash a devastating torrent of attacks, and Stoner Hawk can be used to mitigate the limited Damage track that Nuclear Jones has due to his own Team Power, or Vector can do something similar with his Pixels. That said, on balance an all-Heavy Metal Team makes the most sense.

Malibu - Ultraverse

Another bout of Dead Universe comic book re-reading, and so some more musings. A little context first, however, about Malibu Comics and especially its Ultraverse imprint. This is no accurate historical record of events, but simply my thoughts and opinion on a defunct comic-book imprint that I happen to like.

Malibu Comics was founded in the late 80’s and was a modest publisher that grew to encompass other small-press comic book publishers like Aircel and Eternity. It was also the original publisher-of-record on behalf of Image Comics.

The Ultraverse line launched in 1993, conceptualized as a shared universe built on tight continuity, an ethos shared with the VALIANT, Milestone (published by DC Comics, owned by Milestone Media) and Comics Greatest World (Dark Horse) lines. These lines either launched during (Milestone, Ultraverse, CGW) or benefited from (VALIANT) the speculator boom of the early 1990’s and none are now in regular publication (although the Milestone characters are currently licensed to be used in the DCU). There were of course lots of other small publishers that attempted to capitalize on the boom. So a heady time, and a time of change.

The Ultraverse is today owned by Marvel Comics, who have resisted revisiting the properties due to claims by them (Marvel) that it is too costly to do so due to the contracts that were in place with the various creators of the Ultraverse stable.

Joe Quesada (Marvel’s publisher) was quoted by Newsarama in June 2005:

Let's just say that I wanted to bring these characters back in a very big way, but the way that the deal was initially structured, it's next to impossible to go back and publish these books.

There are rumors out there that it has to do with a certain percentage of sales that has to be doled out to the creative teams. While this is a logistical nightmare because of the way the initial deal was structured, it's not the reason why we have chosen not to go near these characters, there is a bigger one, but I really don't feel like it’s my place to make that dirty laundry public.

I picked up a handful of Ultraverse books at the time of their publication, like Ultraforce (second image, right). They seemed a little flashy and gaudy and not like my main favorites of the time (Milestone and DC), so I didn’t pay too much attention. Years later I started picking up as much as I could, completing most of the runs of the various titles. I enjoyed the first phase of the publisher’s offerings, less-so the transition to Marvel (which I see as the second phase) and hate what the normally excellent Warren Ellis appeared to do by tearing everything up with the Black September reboot.

The tone of the early work (the ‘good stuff’ in my opinion) was based on the concepts laid down by the Ultraverse ‘founding fathers, a truly diverse bunch: Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, James D. Hudnall, Gerard Jones, James Robinson, Len Strazewski and Larry Niven (yes, the sci-fi prose author). There are tight and clear threads woven amongst the books that reward re-reading. With the departure of the lead creators the quality of the line visibly worsens, to the extent that Malibu probably published the worst comic book that I own – a piece of bad-girl wannabe tat called Witch Hunter; it is truly awful rubbish of the worst kind that I was embarrassed to read. Unfortunately I am a completist (hence the Painting Challenge), so in my collection it stays for good or ill. Mostly the latter.

I think that is such a shame that these characters may never see the light of day again. There have been rumors of a Prime movie for a number of years (see cover image right), which could be a great idea. There was a Night Man T.V. series that I believe ran for two seasons and 44 episodes, but I cannot comment on its quality. I liked the short-lived Ultraforce cartoon which I enjoyed the little I saw, but it is not commercially available (at least legally). There were of course various video games while the line was in publication. This all suggests to me that there is value in other media exploitation of these characters, even if Marvel chooses not to pursue comic-book publication.


Characters and images are ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Quick Update

I finally finished painting Apebot, but I will probably wait to photograph the mini until I have a couple of others to take pictures of; I recently tried to photograph Father Oak and Acorn together but the latter was out of focus in the pictures, so I need to try again.

I am not overly happy with how Apebot turned out. Parts of the paint job are 'okay', but the overall result is a little less than pleasing. I think that may be due to the size of the mini and the large surfaces without much detail, something I really need to work on (especially as I have ordered some SMOG 1888 models and they are big by comparison at 54mm scale; a future project then). Even though I am not overly happy with Apebot, it is a case of accepting it as 'done' for the time being.

This leaves me with currently 41 done and 13 models left to complete in my self-imposed Painting Challenge. Of those remaining, Virus, Gentleman Sniper, Iron Train and Chronin all have some paint on them. It took 9 days of this month to finish a Pulp City model, which of course was partly due to making and painting the Tokens, more of which will be on the way, so this may be a 'lean' month in the Painting Challenge.

Tactica: Mourn

I love Mourn, I really do – he was one of the first Pulp City minis I finished painting; so I enjoyed trying to construct a tactica for him.

NAME: Mourn
SUBFACTION: Necroplane
FUNCTION: harassment, anti-Science, battlefield control.

BRIEF: Mourn has some expensive Actions relative to his AP Allowance. This means he has to be used judiciously to be effective. If used without care his mediocre Damage and lack of defensive Trumps or Skills (except for Flight) mean he is not going to stay around for long if targeted.

POWERS: Mourn has a nice variety of combat abilities, offering a degree of attack utility not all Level 1’s have. All of his Exclusive Actions play off his Trump (MIND), which compensates for his fairly average-at-best Traits.

Screams of the Dead is a limited-range basic Ray attack. It isn’t cheap (using half his AP), so be mindful of Mourn’s positioning after the Action, because if he Moves* then uses the Action, he will be vulnerable to counter-charge from any survivors. However, given that it targets SPIRIT, then undoubtedly a good potential victim will present themselves from time to time. Be careful about using it with Power-Up as that may ensure Mourn is left exposed for the remainder of the Game Round.

Ssshred Them!* is the real anti-Science option that Mourn has, but it needs to be used carefully. Mourn has to combine it with another Action (Screams will work, but leaves Mourn just as exposed as using Strike), which means he needs to be in the right place at the right time – plan ahead. Because of his AP Allowance Mourn will either need to be moved by another model or in the previous Round, or need to have a target come near to him if using the Ssshred Them!*/ Screams of the Dead combo. Successfully stack it with Screams of the Dead and suddenly Mourn has a devastating attack (effectively 9+d6 result) against the right target – Heavy Metal beware, as well as the likes of Apebot. Only Science Supremes like Dead Eye are likely to weather the Ssshred Them!*/ Screams of the Dead combo.

Banshee Wail is great for battlefield control, if timed right. To use it effectively it arguably should deny more AP Allowance than it costs, or should prevent use of specific Actions, so it will need to be used against low SPIRIT models or a sufficiently clustered group of enemies without too high SPIRIT. Since friendly models are affected, Mourn needs to be moved away from allies, meaning he will probably be vulnerable unless he can combine it with a Move*.

Sssuffer! is Mourn’s pre-emptive revenge tactic; use it when it looks like he would go down imminently to maximize his removal. If it would be likely that he would be taken out by a forthcoming action, then there is no loss in leaving him without actions and on 1 damage if he has enough enemies around him. Ideally used against clustered enemies of course.

Team Power – The Laughter of the Dead: like Sssuffer! this is basically another ‘revenge’ power, enhancing his battlefield control capability. The Team Power mitigates to a degree the fact that Mourn’s actions will often leave him exposed and therefore vulnerable; if he is taken out he will damage Living models within 4 inches.

Soul Trap – Mourn’s non-exclusive Resource offers a neat solution to those few durable models with Regeneration and/or First Aid Kits. Tempting to use against Six Feet Under, but don’t forget the latter has SPIRIT as a Trump also.

WEAKNESSES: Mourn has a few key weaknesses. Firstly some of his abilities are best suited to operating at least 4 inches from friendly models, or away from Living friendly models at any rate. His Traits are fairly average, and his Damage is mediocre, and lacking defensive skills means he is not going to hang around long if used effectively. Also, don’t forget Mourn cannot be used for Starting Rolls despite his encouraging MIND Trait. Due to his AP Allowance and the high cost of his actions, Mourn is unlikely to Power-Up often, so most of the time players will need to use his attacks basing their decisions on expected results of 5-10, or 10-15 for the Ssshred Them!*/ Screams of the Dead combo (which uses his full AP Allowance). Trump can mitigate this to an extent of course.

SYNERGIES: Mourn has some unique synergy requirements. He works best alongside Non-Living models, but is arguably best operating alone. Level 2 Sanguine could accompany him fairly safely (think about overlapping Horror from Sanguine with a follow-up Sssuffer!), and Boreas could use Wind Blast (from Elemental Mastery) to ‘push’ Mourn into a useful position to manage Mourn’s AP limits.

Welcome

As ever, I like to welcome new Followers to the blog, and this time around there are 3 new names - so a big 'welcome aboard' to Haakon, Crudeboy and William Beck.

Having a quick check and only rusty French at my disposal, I guess Haakon is a miniatures fan, and I note we have some similar interests. Similarly I recognise that Crudeboy follows many blogs that I do - underscoring that there is an audience for these things 'out there'. While W. Beck looks to be following some things Pulp City - hopefully the Pulp Citizen and the newly-founded Pulp City Planet (check it out, lots of interesting stuff, very nicely painted minis, and also great reviews of superheroes in moving picture serials through to T.V. and beyond, especially).

Thanks for joining guys, it gives me encouragement to keep posting that people do join up. I hope you can get some reward from the blog and its content for doing so, and also thanks to all the others who have come and added themselves to the list, and stuck around.

And to new and old Followers alike - don't forget the June Summers contest I started recently, the deadline is ticking by.

Sentry Bots (2) - Villains

Some more Sentry Bots, this time in a colour scheme intended to complement my Villains - I don't think you can go too far wrong using purple on some nefarious Supreme or one of their Minions. The paint-jobs were fairly quickly done, much as the other Sentry Bots I painted. Nonetheless I am reasonably happy with the results.

As my collection grows, so does the need for Minions. Mysterious Man especially needs Minion models available to be able to fully utilise his abilities. Compound that with the fact that not all Supremes have exclusive Resources, and only (at present) a handful of generic Resources, then Minions are vital to spend those Resource Levels.

I am looking forwards to seeing more 'official' Minions appear in time. In the mean-time the option to use the BOOM rules to create Minions is in place, but I like that my games can make use of minis like the Sentry Bots. I just wish that along with the head and arm options, there were two bodies in the box set to maximise variety, but despite that i am pretty pleased with the results.

Tactica: Vector

I have published a few tactics summaries on the Pulp City Forum, but thought they may be useful posted here as well. I will group them under the umbrella label of 'Tactica' (a nod to my past in the hobby being very WH40K-centric).

NAME: Vector
SUBFACTION: unaligned Hero/Villain (great for either Dead Eye or Mysterious Man teams)
FUNCTION: Support; limited effect sniper.

BRIEF: Vector requires some thought to use; he is no ‘fire and forget’ Supreme, instead his abilities are all about team-working, and move and fire activations.

POWERS: Equipped with a couple of offensive Actions, a Defensive Action and another Action intended to manage his unique Resource(s), Vector arguably lacks some of the breadth that a few other Supremes can bring to bear.

Digital Blasters is a nice and cheap ranged attack, which can be boosted by combining multiple Digital Blasters. The default condition is two available per round, for a combined RNG 12 attack. Combined Digital Blasters and a Blink Move* give a ENERGY 5 attack, with the option of Power-Up and most importantly a threat range of 16 inches – nothing to be dismissed lightly.

Digital Shield is a limited defense and buff, forcing Vector to use a Pixel to benefit from only minor gains. Since Pixels should be used as effectively as possible, I don’t see this as the most beneficial use of a Pixel, except when Vector is isolated.

Pixels, Combine! allows Vector to replace pixels with Megapixel, at only the cost of an activation and no AP. So if you like using Mega Pixel, not a bad option.

Digital Knife is effectively an ENERGY-based Strike, with a useful boost. A cheap Base to Base attack option, especially if hanging in base to base until the next round (effectively the cost of Digital Knife can be seen to be balanced by the 1 point AP allowance gain). Rolling that 6 means a more vulnerable enemy for friendly models to attack (consider the net benefit if that enemy model is stacked with Pixels).

Skills – Blink and Annoying mean Vector is hard to pin down and thankfully has reduced vulnerability to charges, since he can quickly and freely move away from Base to Base with sufficient AP and actions available; try not to do this until after the calculation of the AP pool, so therefore in Vector’s first activation of the following round where it is not too dangerous to wait to do so. Cyberhead means he can be a cheap option for Mechanical Minion control (Sentry Bots, Advanced Sentry Bots, BOOM Mechanical Minions), since he can manage them from anywhere on the battlefield. Obviously Immune/MIND offers some limited protection against certain actions.

Team Power - Glitch: is largely about hindrance for Vector, basically changing the way he plays compared to most other Supremes in small ways. Thus players need to get used to the lack of STRENGTH and Strikes, as well as not worrying too much when in Base to Base with enemy models (but recognizing he only has 9 damage points and fairly mediocre-to-average defensive traits, and no defensive Trumps).

Pixels are great – a renewable Resource that only costs AP. They are useful for stacking bonuses to target specific enemies (my preferred use), as well as having the option to be burned up to negate some Damage if attached to a friendly Supreme (think about the vulnerable guys you want to keep around longer, or the bricks/tanks being dropped among enemies; the Six Feet Under bomb could be made more durable with Pixels attached to Six Feet Under). Unless equipped with Self Blasts or non-Friendly affecting Blasts or similar options, enemies swamped with Pixels will waste AP and activations to get rid of the Pixels stacked on them. Follow that up with a Powered-Up attack against the same enemy and some devastating attacks can be unleashed. Vector needs to be within 6 inches of enemies to target them with Pixels, so care needs to be used that he isn’t left too exposed as a result. Since gaining the bonus to Opposed Rolls against enemy models doesn’t burn up Pixels (and therefore Vector’s future AP), then that is my favored mode of use.
Mega Pixel – offers an attack or AP allowance drain against targets with weak-to-average DEFENSE. Since Energy Harvest Eliminates the Mega Pixel (and the 3 AP invested previously), and the Energy Strike is at ENERGY 5, and requires an activation by Vector to bring it into play, then I favor keeping Pixels rather than going for their ‘big brother’. Of course if one enemy model is too much to handle otherwise, then Energy Harvest may be a viable option to limit their utility, but consider that unless the target has a particularly low DEFENSE, then the AP reduction is probably going to be limited.

WEAKNESSES: Vector has a few key weaknesses. Firstly he has no STRENGTH Trait, so cannot make Strikes (although this is balanced by his Digital Blasters and Digital Knife abilities). Secondly he has one of the smallest AP allowances in the game, except when he is in base to base with an enemy – a balanced weakness of sorts, since his actions are all either very cheap or in fact free. To gain the AP boost requires being in base to base with an enemy, which means surviving charges (easier thanks to Annoying) based on fairly average DEFENSE and Damage. Thirdly, Digital Shield requires a friendly Model to be in Base to Base to work effectively, meaning bunched models for enemy Blast, Ray and Self Blast attacks.


SYNERGIES: Vector is all about synergies and buffs – both providing them, and benefiting from them also. Any friendly model can benefit from attacking enemies beset by Pixels. Ace of Wraiths Jack of Shadows action is ideal for Vector; he gains Spectral without losing anything since he has no STRENGTH actions to use. C.O.R.E.’s Omnipotent combines with Digital Blasters to create an attack that can both damage at long range (16 inches threat range) as well as reducing AP allowance. Iron Train can use Free Ride to place Vector in a more favorable position; for example Vector can be placed in cover from Iron Train, especially if due to his limited AP Vector would be vulnerable. Twilight makes a useful close companion as both Supremes have the Annoying and Blink combination of skills, and Vector would benefit from the +1 to all Opposed Rolls from Shadowzone.

Magic Markers (1)

With the build-up to the release of the Pulp City rulebook, I thought it was high time I got around to making sure I had some nice objective markers to go with my minis and terrain. I am happy that I have enough Supremes and scenery for them to game in and around for the time being, so I need to work on more Minions and especially objective markers (Tokens). They are not really magical, of course...(I just love a pun, good or bad)...

The first Tokens I have completed represent goals for Agendas and Resource markers. The first selection of completed Tokens are (click on the pictures for larger images):

Manholes – 2 Tokens; one of the Tokens is from a bunch of resin bits kindly supplied by Pulp Monsters as a sales promotion last year if I remember correctly, the other is the Solar base from MaxMini, with a little removal of extraneous details.

Weapons Crate (A.R.C. only) – made using a Fenris crate mounted on a Dragon Forge base, and needed as my main opponent loves using Howler; Dragon Forge and Fenris - two of my favourite manufacturers working in harmony!

Teleport Anchor – this was another of the resin bits from Pulp Monsters. It may double up as a simple objective Token.

Loot – 2 Tokens; again, resin bits from Pulp Monsters, previously painted but newly mounted on bases; mounted on each of a Dragon Forge and Fenris base.

Crate – probably an objective Token; painted a while ago and then based as I was doing the others, the crate was a freebie when I placed an online minis order, so I don’t know the source of it; base by Fenris.

Altar/Place of Power – this will probably serve as an objective Token; from Ral Partha Europe (from a pack of 3 pieces), the item was painted a while ago to serve for anything from Conan to fantasy to superhero games, so I based it this week (Fenris base) to serve as a Token.


There are more Tokens I am working on, and I will post them as and when they are finished. The 30mm bases I have used are ‘Concrete’ (Dragon Forge) and ‘DS Military Industrial Complex’ (Fenris Games), as well as the ‘Solar’ base (MaxMini).

Welcome

Another hearty 'welcome' goes out, this to Weird Chris. As ever when someone comes aboard, I have a quick look at their profile, their links and their blogs. This is really useful for me, and i think one of the cool things about blogging - finding a site/blog of interest that you may not have otherwise have seen.

Chris looks to be a budding writer (sounds familiar!) and a board game fan. I enjoy some board games on an irregular basis; lately my gaming group and me have been taken with 'Race For The Galaxy' which features some great little game-play elements. I picked up the second supplement (Rebel vs. Imperium) last week and hope to have a couple of games of RFTG tonight. I also love Power Grid (a near-perfect board game in my view), and my group has gone through phases with Settlers of Catan, Zombies!!!, Munchkin (not a board game, I know), and much more.

There haven't been too many supers board games over the years outside of the licensed ones, but I have been looking at Super Powers from Joe Magic Games. I may pick it up soon, but if anyone has any experience with that or games like Heroes Incorporated, please feel free to comment on your opinions.

Blog Content?

With a few visitors coming and going, and a few Followers (and thanks to any who are following), I was wondering: what kind of content would you like to see more of on here?

Feel free to comment on what you would like to see, thanks.

Welcome

Another welcome - this time to Nick Whittock, who is a painter, gamer and listed as an editor of Ragnarok - The Journal of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargaming. Glad to have you aboard Nick.

Now if Nick hadn't joined, I wouldn't be aware of this particular journal; so Nick joining here has opened my eyes to something there - so thank you indeed! Especially as i have now taken out a society membership to allow me to pick up the journal.

So I do hope I can reward the privilege I have of another person following this humble blog - much appreciated.