Thursday 28 October 2010

Stormblades, Libra Sensei

Master Caste - Libra: Monastic order of martial arts specialists.

A true master of the art of combat, Stormblades, Libra Sensei is another of the Ulthar minis. Although not yet on general release, some were available at Gencon in the US in August, and the web store had some available as well.

Stormblades, Libra Sensei is a Level 2 Supreme, and like most of the Ulthar so far is Nature origin, which adds a new dimension to Team-building as so few Nature Supremes were available, relatively speaking.

Observant readers may notice that the colour palettes of both Stormblades and Dr. Tenebrous are very similar, which was due to painting them roughly concurrently, although Stormblades was finished first. I'll be using the same skin colour across most of my Ulthar, except maybe Virgo (sine she is a renegade it will help differentiate her). And the purple and red motif will be used on my other Ulthar minis as it has been here and on Gemini X and Gemini Y, but likely not non-Ulthar species within the Ulthar Sub-faction (for example the Taurus model).

With his mix of Skills and Exclusive Actions, Stormblades is not only pretty mobile, but he has various options to close on his enemies as will as dish out some major Damage in Base to Base.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Dr. Tenebrous

The dark tentacles of Tenebrous' agenda reach beyond Necroplane and its schemes. If the Supremes were ever aware of whom his contacts are among the Supremes and politicians on Earth, they would be afraid to ever fall asleep.

One of my two WAMP entries, Dr. Tenebrous has been in my 'to-do' pile for quite some time. Of course, when one paints at the speed of a comatose snail, that sense of 'some time' is kind of relative.

The mini was sculpted by Paul Muller and has a great spandex villain look in my mind; he has a design that would not look out of place as a threat to the Avengers or the JLA. The base is from the Maxmini range for Pulp City - it is actually the Ace of Wraiths base, but since it so closely echoed the swirling cape effect on Dr. Tenebrous it seemed a perfect choice to me.

Dr. Tenebrous is the big bad leader of the Necroplane Sub-faction. The Supremes of the Necroplane are determined to steal away life force from the Earthly plane for their own nefarious ends, and that is just the kind of thing Tenbrous specialises in. Like any Level 3 Supreme he is formidable enough, but what he does is add some buffs for Necroplane minis, as well as allowing the Necroplane to incorporate Forgotten allies as though they were Necroplane themselves - when more Forgotten appear this will give a very wide array of options for players wanting to focus on these deathly invaders, let alone future possibilities for Necroplane Supremes.

I don't quite know why it took so long for me to start this mini, but I painted it fairly quickly by my standards, and I am reasonably pleased with the results - although the gems are not great, that is an area that I need to practice on. The colour scheme uses a very similar palette to the one I used for my other entry - natural as they were painted at roughly the same time. It is a colour scheme I am pretty happy with and that I think works quite well.

WAMP Pulp City Contest

I finally finished off and photographed both my entries to the contest - Dr Tenebrous and the previously mentioned Libra. I won't post any pictures yet (I don't want to run afoul of the rules again), but here is a link to the gallery of all entries (here).

I'll update the blog with appropriate posts at the right time; in the meantime why not check out all of the entries.

Sunday 24 October 2010

Painting Update

While trying to get my WAMP entries finished, I have finally acquired one of the minis I have sought most of all in the Pulp City range - the Herald. Undercoated at the first chance, this one will probably jump right to the front of the painting queue!

Let me see if I can more minis finished this month than last in my Painting Challenge...

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Latest Mini

I finished painting my latest mini today (Stormblades, Libra Sensei - an Ulthar Supreme), but as I plan to enter it in the WAMP contest I won't be posting about it until after the contest deadline most likely.

I have a couple of others minis I am trying to finish off for the contest (Dr. Tenebrous and a Grimm Elder), but again even if completed I won't be posting pictures for a while it seems.

So in lieu of that, I really need to step up my efforts to complete something I have yet to finish, so I can get to posting pics of minis again here soon. There are a few likely or possible candidates, but the Necro GI's are probably the most likely at this time.

Monday 18 October 2010

WAMP Painting Contest (10 days left)

Just a reminder that the WAMP Pulp City painting contest has 10 days and a few hours remaining for the non-members deadline, and another 3 days for WAMP members(details for the contest here).

I had to scrap my initial entries as I overlooked the small print, and entered previously displayed minis, but I have since been slapping some other models around with the hairy sticks with the intent that I can get another 2 or 3 entries in as replacements.

There are a number of prizes on offer donated by Pulp Monsters and so to anyone interested in entering there is still plenty of time.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Sentinels (vol. 3): Apocalypse Rising

The third in the opening Sentinel's trilogy (the Grand Design), Apocalypse Rising by Van Allen Plexico draws many of the extant story threads to a conclusion, while finally bringing the Sentinels team back together after they became separated in the pages of A Distant Star (link to my mini review here).

I like this series. Despite the lulls I felt were inherent in A Distant Star, Apocalypse Rising marks a return to form and promise shown within the pages of When Strikes the Warlord (volume 1; link here). The series is unabashed super heroic adventure fiction, and I find is on steadiest ground when tackling the the more familiar tropes of superhero comics. The shadow of the 1970's and 1980's Avengers looms ever-present in terms of tone and feel. When Plexico divides his heroes for too prolonged a time the stories have been weakened, so it was pleasing to see the team reunite.

We see are main heroes from volume 1 - Ultraa, Pulsar, Vanadium and Esro Brachis - joined by some new heroes, most of whom debuted in the first two volumes. The new Sentinels include Fury, Heavyweight, Mondrian (the alien Kur Bai star ship officer from volume 2) and Wendy, Pulsar's sister. However all of these newer heroes have divided loyalties, each for their own reasons.

A trio of primary threats that have been present through the earlier volume are faced in the pages of Apocalypse Rising: the sundered Warlord, split into diametrically opposed beings and personas; Randall Nation, manipulative and mysterious puppeteer; and the Xorex - advanced agents of the feared Worldmind. Of course other sub-plots abound - Jameson the government liaison trying to hang onto power (shades of Peter Henry Gyrich from Marvel Comics); the villains on the loose who were previously snatched from an alternate reality; the impending threat of the Kur Bai, and interstellar race first seen in the previous volume, who are determined to banish the threat of Xorex, even if it means destroying the Earth. In all the stakes are high.

I liked this book as much as the first, which was to say more than the second. I felt Plexico neatly drew many exiting threads to a satisfactory conclusion, with resorting to obvious deus ex machina - the groundwork had been laid for some of his set-pieces since volume 1. All the while the author has left himself plenty of strands for future stories, without leaving too much 'dangling' as it were.

As I suggested earlier, I don't classify the Sentinels series as high literary art; it doesn't seek to deconstruct or subvert superheroes, or seek some essential truths. Rather, for me it is effective and more importantly enjoyable genre fiction, so something I would gladly recommend on that basis. And in that vein I found Apocalypse Rising to be a fitting end to the first trilogy.

Friday 15 October 2010

Welcome

Another 'welcome' post, this time to jfreeman2002. It is always a reassuring thing to see a new Follower sign up, so thanks greatly for that.

Guessing jfreeman2002 is a minis fan of many genres, I'll be sure to check on his own blog from time to time.

So thanks again for joining up, and as always to everyone else who has done so or at least stopped by.

Thursday 14 October 2010

Stuff...Continued

Regular readers may recall last week my post (here) in which I mentioned I had received some custom laser-cut markers from Fenris Games (link), well here are the pictures I promised.

The template is designed to be a multi-size 'Blast' template; the template is 6 inches in diameter (3 inch radius) with inner rings marking 2 inch radius and 1 inch radius. I asked for those and the hole in the centre to help lining up. I also asked for the numbers to allow for clock face distribution of models or effects. I am really pleased with it as a gaming aid and a nice 'bit of kit'.

The 'Flight' markers are sized to fit neatly under 30mm or 40mm bases; my plan is to simply stack the requisite number of markers as models ascend or descend while Up, Up and Away!

Ian and Jo at Fenris did a great job, delivering the markers to my specifications, and at a price far below what I anticipated - their service was great value, and turnaround very quick, so I can imagine it won't be long before I get them to whip something else up for me.

And for those with an eye for detail; the font is Impact, the same as used on post and blog titles on Pulp Citizen, and the same font used for names on the Supreme, Minion and Resource cards for Pulp City. Sad but true that I went to that trouble...

Pulp City Blog(s)

Just a moment to make a 'shout out' (or whatever the 'kids' say these days - I'm down with the children!) to a couple of other bloggers.

Pulp City Planet: like Pulp Citizen is a dedicated Pulp City blog, but also covers related tangential stuff of interest. Hopefully D-W will be posting again soon, but well worth a look (link here).

Four Colour Super Minis: not specific to Pulp City, but mainly super-themed, and Pulp City gets mentioned fairly often as it is run by my main gaming buddy Rob (who supplies the better in-game shots that you see here, so thanks Rob!; link here).

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Mighty Silver Ape

Finally (mostly) finished this for gaming today, including touching up the main repairs. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and how quickly I finished it.

It certainly isn't the best paint-job ever, but it is satisfactory for me for gaming with. So without further ado...the Mighty Silver Ape!



The mini (LOL!) is Kabaka K'Wana from Reaper's P-65 range, and as mentioned in previous posts is a big mass o' metal. The original plan had been to do a King Kong-styled dark brown/near-black colour scheme, but I thought there are probably tons of those. So then I thought about Silverager who I painted recently, and thought that colour scheme might be a good template. The is texture is deeper on the bigger apes fur, so they inevitably have a different 'look', but it gave me a useful starting point.

The base was an 80 mm recessed blank from Fenris Games. The texturing was sand for the gravel, and plastic card cut into strips and scored for the paving stones.

I went for a fairly utilitarian basing that hopefully would look okay alongside my Pulp City minis, but would allow the model to do double duty in all sorts of games and genres, including fantasy settings etc.

A comparison shot with some apes and monkeys from ARC just to get a sense of scale and size of the mini - it is truly a Beast!

Some Gaming Today...

Look what turned up on the table today (thanks to Rob for the pictures)...

A stalking Beast







Stop the Beast!









Caged by stone!

Annoying!

I finished painting the big lump of metal that will is the Mighty Silver K'Wana last night. I then sealed it with spray varnish. I then wandered back upstairs to my painting area, and guess what?

The thing fell on the floor.


Annoying is the word I grasp for, even though it doesn't convey the full extent of my frustration.

I have reattached missing parts, and immediately started touching up chipped paintwork, but I am sure that once I photograph it, there will be some obvious problems.

Anyhoo, hopefully I'll get some photographs of play test games today, and I will photograph Mighty Silver K'Wana as well as the promised laser-cut custom markers in the next day or two.

Monday 11 October 2010

Pulp City Rulebook (printed) Imminent

Following an announcement by Maciej/Morf on the Pulp City Forum, I am really pleased to hear that is imminent (link):

Morf said: Hello Citizens, didn't want to talk about before being absolutely sure,
but today I am, so here we go: the book arrival date is 28.10.2010.
Printers confirmed it, I saw initial print outs.

Part why it is 4 weeks after the initial ETA is that we kept on improving it like crazy.
This was probably the furthest thing from a rushed release.
I am putting a lot of trust in the fact, that we won't have to provide a 10 page errata as soon as it is out. Meanwhile, Melvin was taking the opportunity to add even more awesome art
.


I am really pleased to read this, and really look forwards to getting the rule-book, having received the preview pdf and from offering a small amount of help along the way.

Busy, Busy, Busy

On Wednesday I am hoping to get a few initial play test games in with material for Pulp City due (most likely) next year. As a consequence I have been painting something pretty...big. I actually hope to get the mini (or not so mini!) finished tomorrow, and so maybe photographed ahead of the play test games, and I promise some in-game shots as well (technology permitting).

The mini I am painting is from Reaper - the magnificent Kabaka K'Wana - a big lump o' metal that will be renamed the Mighty Silver K'Wana for the upcoming games.

Saturday 9 October 2010

Welcome

The Pulp Citizen blog has another new Follower, and as ever they are welcomed aboard. So this welcome goes to Tecian, who has a blog that I understand will be charting Tecian's entry into the miniatures hobby. I really like the idea of someone blogging their start in the hobby - very interesting and inspirational - so I will be Following Tecian's posts in turn.

Tecian's Miniature World can be found here.

Thursday 7 October 2010

Stuff

I nice little package came in the post today - some custom laser cut markers/counters. I'll photograph them next week (1 piece still outstanding), but what I have had so far is exactly what I wanted.

I ordered some laser cut transparent markers with the word Flight (in 30mm and 40mm diameter). The plan is to stack them under bases to mark how many Flight counters are in use.

The other item is a template marked with a clock face (used for deploying Citizens), and should have concentric rings allowing for multiple blast marker sizes.

The stuff has been produced by Fenris Games, and I cannot recommend them highly enough: fast turnaround, friendly service and willingness to address my specifications. More next week.

Sunday 3 October 2010

September Painting Summary

Okay, not a good month - just two minis completed: Silverager and Jade Hawk. I have a fair few near-complete, but for various reasons (some involving Pulp City related work that will be apparent next year), painting was on the back-burner.

So not satisfactory, then.

On the upside, I have a ton of minis I want to paint for gaming with Pulp City, as well as some play testing, including a Cthluhu mini from RAFM and a Kabaka K'Wana (think King Kong) from Reaper. I am looking forwards to trying out the current play test rules draft that will allow beasts like these to take to the table. More in good time, and expect to see stuff around this next year.

To any painters out there, don't forget about the Pulp City contest from WAMP 9see previous posts); the deadline is near the end of October.
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