Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to Pulp City fans from everyone at Pulp Monsters!


And a personal wish for blog readers and Pulp City fans to enjoy a great festive period.

Robo-Chimp

Robo-Chimp is my 22nd painted Pulp City mini of the year, and continued my Minion focus. I had a bit of a struggle, possibly because I think I started it around the time when a painting slump hit, but I finally finished it this weekend in a determination to clear something out of the dread painting queue.

The painting is not my best, but it will suffice since I am far from a perfectionist when it comes to slapping minis with the hairy sticks. Finishing Robo-Chimp gives me 14 Levels of painted Minions this year, which has been pretty cool on a personal level to be honest, so no doubt will see some more varied choices whenever I get around to any future Battle Reports. I have a few more part-painted Pulp City minis so I hope to keep some momentum into the start of 2017, even as new releases continue.

An A.R.C.-specific Minion, in game terms, Robo-Chimp typically offers a decent 3-dice pool for its Monkey Rockets Attacks which have Blast 2 as part of their FX. The Action does not deal any EFX (Extra Effects), but can be an effective way of peppering a few models with Damage 1 - try and pick out the lowest Agility Trait in a group of models if possible. In addition, Robo-Chimp also usually rolls 3 dice when defending, which combined with its 3 HP means it can potentially surprise your opponent by sticking around in the face of low to moderate Attacks.

Robo-Chimp
Hero/Villain, Blaster, Level 2 Minions
30 mm

Bramble

Bramble is one of the first Supreme Genesis characters that we have gained capacity to create through running Kickstarter campaigns for Pulp City. She was also a mini I was very much looking forward to tackling as a change of pace from a lot of recent stuff I have finished, especially in terms of colour palette. It has also meant my painting this month has been exclusively for my own Pulp City collection and it has been a long while since I last did that.

I went for a super-simple colour scheme featuring browns and greens for obvious reasons. Once I had laid down base colours I was unable to paint for a couple of weeks, which maybe helped me when it came to finishing her off as I was able to do the main work quite quickly in the end, maybe with fresh eyes.

In game terms Bramble is an Infiltrator affiliated with Settler's Green, and is also a Freelancer. That makes Dead Eye and Dark Solar ideal Leader options for her Team. Her Actions give ranged threat as well as some board control, and I think she will offer some interesting options and surprises for players as they get to grips with her. Hopefully we will be able to add more Supremes to Settler's Green before too long.

Bramble
Hero/Villain, Infiltrator, Level 1, Nature
30 mm

Cyber Dogs

My first Pulp City minis for a while, and back to the Minion focus I have had this year. I have been struggling for painting motivation in general in the last few weeks, so needed a 'quick win', which the Cyber Dogs were perfect for.

We were able to produce the Cyber Dogs due to the great success of the Cold War Kickstarter, and they have a neat rule function in that each Dog brings a separate boost which affects the whole game card of Minions, which can be bought as 2, 4 or 6 Levels (1, 2 or 3 models).

I went for a quick and done approach simply to regain some momentum as mentioned, and I hope it brings me back to some more regular painting. I still hope to finish at least a couple more Pulp City minis before year end, but even if I don't, it has been a much better year after the previous two years' outputs. This also takes past 150 painted Pulp City minis, so high time I did another 'all my painted collection' post!

Pulp City New Releases

The November wave of new Pulp City releases is here! This month we continue new releases as well as putting the first selection of Cold War minis into the web-store (all from the Supreme Alliance).
http://newstore.pulp-city.com/

Twilight (new; Level 2, Coven and The Way) €8.00
Bramble (Level 2, Settler's Green and Freelancer) €8.00
Spybreaker (Level 3, Supreme Alliance) €8.00
Aquanaut (Level 2, Supreme Alliance) €8.00
Battlesuit 7  (Level 2, Supreme Alliance) €8.00
E.C.T.O. (Level 2, Supreme Alliance) €8.00
Sabotage (Level 2, Supreme Alliance) €8.00

With this wave, we are trying something new, recognising that recent changes around the world have affected our fans. Therefore, we are happy to launch this wave of minis at a temporarily reduced price - each at €8.00 instead of the usual €9.95. This offer will last until the next wave is released! :)

BONUS: Pulp City fans can now pick up alt cards for Arquero, Chernobog, Perun  (Cold War), Sister Bedlam and Tangent (Red Republik) through the 'Special Cards' item on the store!

New: ANDROIDA and DR. WARLOCK

Want new releases? Pulp City has got 'em!

New in store this week are a new sculpt for Androida and the Supreme Genesis character called Dr. Warlock. We are really happy to finally resume what will be regular releases for the range, starting with these two great Supremes.

First up is Androida (new) – an updated version of the classic Supreme Hero. Androida was one of the first models sculpted for the Pulp City range, and we are very pleased to be able to give her a new sculpt. Coupled with her new sculpt, Androida's storyline continues to evolve, and the new mini comes with upgraded rules making her a Level 2 Supreme and the first character with the new Field Commander Power (think Leader-lite).

Dr. Warlock joins Androida as the second of our new releases this month. Dr. Warlock is one of the Supreme Genesis characters which were created thanks to our first Kickstarter. Thought-up by the inimitable Drew Wood, this incarnation of his character has inherited mysterious power which he is using to protect Pulp City in its time of need.

Ankle Biters (Minions)

Ankle Biters done! I tackled these now as I was starting to lose some motivation and momentum on the Citizens, so I needed to finish something different to keep myself going. Thankfully the Ankle Biters offered a pretty quick turnaround. On another plus side, painting them is in line with my intention to paint more Minions this year.

I kept the painting scheme pretty simple as the most important thing for me was simply finishing 'something'. That helped them get finished fairly quickly and my renewed motivation has extended to prepping some more minis (Including Voicelings!), which was a nice bonus. These two are my 146th and 147th painted Pulp City minis, taking me a step closer to the 'magic 150'.

Ankle Biters have been appearing in increasing numbers on the streets of Pulp City, and many assume Mysterious Man is responsible for their creation, but rumour has it that he now has a rival in his field.

In game terms Ankle Biters are nice simple Level 1 Brawler Minions. They are best used in tandem, ganging up on a single opposing model, preferably with added Momentum bonus (they can each roll 3 to 4 dice then if attacking the same model). If you can trigger an EFX, they become especially dangerous as one of their EFX options is Fatigue, meaning these lowly Minions can potentially lock even a mighty Supreme in place.

I really need to get a Minion-heavy Mysterious Man Team onto the table soon to use all the wacky options at his disposal!

Ankle Biters
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 1 Minions
30 mm

Citizens pt 1 - Pets

I am long overdue painting up some Citizens, having in the past relied on acrylic token stand-ins - (which are great, but aren't painted minis!).

I have also been in danger of losing painting momentum recently, (that may not be apparent to readers, I am just in one of those phases of finding painting 'hard to do' at times), so a quick win was always going to be a good motivator, which is why I decided to start with the Pets.

In-game, Citizens are used for Agendas, and there a variety of scoring conditions which can be selected from. They are nice a simple to use and manage during games, so are well worth a try.

Welcome

Another 'welcome to the Pulp Citizen blog' post, this time greeting Sander van Straeten, a name familiar to me from certain minis groups. Thanks for Following the blog Sander. :)

On the hobby front I have been too tired for painting this week, but have been assembling and undercoating a few minis: White Tiger, Feartigo and two Ankle Biters. Hopefully i will manage to do some painting before the weekend is concluded. :)

100 Voices

My summer of Pulp City painting continues! 100 Voices proved somewhat of a surprise on the painting front, as I had no plans a week earlier to tackle him! (even though I have loved this mini from the moment James showed us the WiP pictures). I had been prepping a big batch of minis across a few ranges to get ready for later painting and opted to include him. Then I decided to do his base blue colour, and well, he ended up getting finished over a couple of quick sessions in one day which was very pleasing. It was a pleasingly straightforward painting job.

100 Voices is Eric Hanson, a former crooked but successful lawyer who had a sideline as a vicious serial killer, brought to justice by Dead Eye. Empowered by the dark whispers which constantly surround him, he ha been remade as 100 Voices.

In game terms 100 Voices is a Leader, essentially building Villain Teams of Supremes lacking Faction affiliation. Consequently he is something of an alternative to Mysterious Man. Unlike some Leaders, 100 Voices is not a heavy Damage dealer. Instead he brings disruption to his foes though Mind Control and some very effective de-buff Actions, and forcing models to rely on Spirit against him, often a weaker Trait.

Having painted 100 Voices, I really need and want to paint the Voicelings to go with him very soon.

I am really happy to have finished 100 Voices, and have recently finished the pets from the Citizens pack too (look for them soon), so I hope to get most of the Citizens family done this month too - watch this space. 100 Voices is my 143rd Pulp City mini, and if I do finish the Citizens soon that will leave just one mini short of the big 150....

100 Voices
Villain, Support, Level 3, Mystery
30 mm

Welcome

This my first 'welcome to the blog' type post for a while. This time it is for Michał Kucharski, author of the Dwarfcrypt blog (click for link). Go check out his blog - can we hope to see some Pulp City on there eventually Michał?

On my own hobby front, I managed to pretty much complete another Supreme over the weekend (basing, varnishing and final touch-ups to finish it off), as well as doing most of the painting for a couple of very easy to paint Pulp City minis, so expect some blog posts for those starting in the next few days.

Phalanx

Phalanx is my third Pulp City Supreme this month (yay!), and finishing him means I have hit my planned goal for the year (more yay!) with a few months to go. Painting Phalanx also takes me to 142 painted Pulp City minis, which leaves me just 8 more short of the next milestone achievement of 150 painted minis from the range. I will probably have to commit to a big picture of them all when I get to that stage (I did something similar when I went past 100 a few years back).

Phalanx is a member of the Forgotten, forged by Hellsmith to lead the Mecha Spartans. If his body is ever destroyed, he is reborn into a Mecha Spartan shell, transforming it into his traditional form.

In game terms Phalanx is a typical Forgotten, on a 40 mm base as most of them are. He is tough and hard-hitting despite being a Support Supreme, and with cheap (Level 1) Mecha Spartans around, you can keep him in the game a long time.

I cleaned up and prepared Phalanx at the same time as Cro Mag. The painting on this one was super quick by my standards, started and finished on the same day, with a simple palette and use of washes, a bit of dry-brushing and simple highlights. That said, I am pretty pleased with how he turned out despite the fast turnaround. Not sure what my next Pulp City painting will be, although I want to get TINY! and Grimmsham done as soon as I can, and maybe White Tiger and 100 Voices too. If I get 3 more minis painted fro the range before the end of the year, then I will have exceeded my 2014 and 2015 combined output.

Phalanx
Villain, Support, Level 2, Science
40 mm

Cro Mag

Cro Mag smash!

Cro Mag kind of jumped my 'planned painting queue' for Pulp City, and I am glad he did and that I how have him finished! Cro Mag is big, have no doubt, roughly 3 inches to the top of his head piece from the bottom of his base (that base is 50 mm across!). It is always satisfying to be able to put a big guy Powerhouse on the table, and I needed more Villain Powerhouse options painted, so Cro Mag was a perfect option. More importantly, painting Cro Mag leaves me just 1 mini short of the target I set for my own Pulp City painting at the start of the year. The pictures have washed out the highlights a little, but I am happy with the overall outcome (although his left heel needs a touch up).

Cro Mag is prehistoric man come to superhuman life in contemporary Pulp City, a rampaging creature often working for Mysterious Man. Even by Powerhouse standards, he is far from bright, and is pretty much all in all a destructive force of nature.

Powerhouses are beasts in combat, they just take a bit of getting used to since they do not supply AP to the Pool, and because you want to get the best out of their Power Up dice. Two Powerhouses going toe-to-toe with plenty of Objects to Manipulate (either Throw or Smash with) is just great fun, and really evokes the spirit of over-the-top battles we wanted to create with these massive Supremes. Cro Mag is no exception to any of that!

The mini comes in just two parts and is cast in resin, making it very simple to prepare and assemble, and easy to game with. For his colour scheme I generally followed the brown fur/blue skin of the studio version.

It is nice to get another 'big mini' done, and I still have a number of Powerhouses to paint (eight in all right now, although I have started on TINY!). Now he is painted, I am hoping Cro Mag makes it to the table before too long, and it also reminds me I need to paint up 100 Voices as another Leader option for him!

Cro Mag
Villain, Powerhouse, Level 3, Mystery
50 mm

Chernobog

Another Supreme finished (my 140th painted Pulp City mini!), and this one has taken much longer than planned. I started painting this alt-Perun as Chernobog during the Cold war Kickstarter campaign, but then he got sidelined unfortunately. With some renewed painting resolve in July I finally managed to tackle him properly and that gives my first Supreme in readiness for the arrival of the Red Republik. Even better, the alt-card for Chernobog (which we unlocked as a special Stretch Goal during the campaign) allows him to work as a Forgotten as well, giving this mighty godling somewhat divided allegiances.

Chernobog returned to the mortal realm when he heeded a summons from the Red Republik using an imprisoned Perun. Chernobog answered the call, freeing his ‘brother’ as he arrived, while he listened to another voice, whispering he should bide his time with the Red Republik until the time was right to claim his rightful place in the Forgotten.

Just as Perun can be to Hero, Nature and Supreme Alliance Teams, Chernobog can be a very powerful model for Villain, Forgotten and Red Republik Teams bringing hard-hitting close combat, decent ranged attack at standard AP and an area effect ability all in one package, all backed up by bonuses from Flight and his Fire and Darkness Elements. He is vulnerable on Agility, so is ripe pickings for long-range types like Gentleman.

Painting Chernobog gets me a step closer to this year's planned goal, which I still hope to exceed. A couple more painted minis and I will match what I wanted, so hopefully I will get there sooner than later!

Chernobog
Villain, Brawler, Level 2, Nature
30 mm

Sneak Peak: The Master

Pulp City SE fans will have been wondering about The Master for The Way Faction - we recently showed off the concept art for him and here he is in all his glory!

The Master won't be the next new release (look for new releases to resume once Cold War fulfilment is done), but work on him is underway so watch out for him in the future!

Anansi

Anansi is finished, finally! Phew!

I started painting Anansi late last year, possibly around October or even earlier, and the mini sat part-painted for ages with main colours blocked out, but unfinished as the colour scheme didn't quite work - even though I had largely opted for my go-to Villain colour combo of green and purple (hey, it served Marvel well in the 1960's!). I made a very minor change on that and was able to complete it in an hour or two today, which was very pleasing. Not my best painting I will admit, but there are parts I am pretty happy with.

Anansi is the 139th Pulp City mini I have painted for my own collection, and puts me to 9 for the year, so I am well on course for my target. She is the first non-Grimm Supreme I have painted since Mr. Kraken back in December, so hopefully that can be addressed in the coming months!

Transformed into a Supreme by a mysterious force, Anansi is a one time petty thief later turned circus performer. She later came to Mysterious Man's attention, who used his outlandish science to add to her array of gifts.

In game terms, Anansi is a Level 2 Infiltrator who can cause a lot of disruption on flanks with a Pulse that Shifts models. He Powers give her boosted defensive capabilities and she gets a steady stream of Power Up dice through the game. As a Level 2 model, she has inherent durability that Level 1 Infiltrators lack. The important thing is to keep her in Base to Base with terrain to benefit from High Ground as much as possibly (which helps offensively and defensively). Anansi is not going to win a toe to to battle against Level 2 Brawlers, Tanks or Powerhouses, but she is more than capable of picking other models off or weakening them, so is ideal against level 1 Supports, Infiltrators and Speeders.

Anansi
Villain, Infiltrator, Level 2, Nature
30 mm

Hovercats (MInions)

Hover! Hover! Hover! Hovercats! Ho!

My focus this year on painting up as many unfinished Minions as possible continues, and the Hovercats are the latest minis I have completed for my Pulp City collection. A brilliant translation of Melvin's fantastic idea for these flying ferocious felines, they are, naturally, armed with Catling Cannons as they deliver a heck of a punch.

With Flying, their Blaster bonus, and if both Hovercats from a card shoot at the same model, they can each throw out 4 dice. With only 2 HP each and low to mid-range defensive Traits, they are fragile (although Flight adds the High Ground Combat Bonus), but if used smartly against the right kind of target (ideally with Agility no greater than 4), they can deliver a decent threat.

Finishing these little guys puts me up to around 15-17 Levels of Hero/Villain Minions, so a lot of choice on top of other things like Vigilantes, Grimminions, Necro G.I.'s etc.. I hope to add Robo-Chimp, Mutant Mobsters and/or Ankle Biters before the end of the year. Painting-wise I have to finish at least 4 more Pulp City minis to hit my minimum target of 12 for the year, which I feel I am on course for, maybe more if I can keep my sporadic momentum.

Hovercats
Hero/Villain, Blaster, Level 2 Minions
30 mm

Grimminions (4-5)

My final Grimminions are done! I started all five Grimminions at the same time, then focused on the three I thought would be easiest to finish first, with every intention of finishing the other two a week or so later. That was a couple of months ago....

Anyway, the little guy with the traffic cone on his head got some work done while waiting for paint to dry on another mini, and so made some quick progress. That just left the limited edition Kickstarter exclusive Grimminion on its mono-wheel, the most complex of the bunch due to the different 'bits' of the model, and which I finished today. That now takes me to a 'full' card of Grimminions, which can be surprisingly formidable to an unsuspecting opponent; the more there are, the higher value their key Traits of Strength, Defense and Agility become; in effect the Grimminions are treated as one model in terms of making an Attack, but with the option of which model it comes from, and as noted, with high Trait values backing it up.

Finishing the Grimminions is pleasing both in terms of having more painted Grimm (yay!) and finishing more Minions (also yay!). This takes me to 136 painted Pulp City minis, and halfway to the modest target of 12 Pulp City minis for the year which I set at the outset. I'd like to get a couple more Powerhouses done soon, including TINY!

Grimminions
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 2+ Minions
30 mm

NEW RELEASES FOR PULP CITY: Bigfoot & Pixels

NEW RELEASES 

Great news for Pulp Citizens – we have just added six new packs to the web-store. This sees Pulp City return to a more regular release schedule, and we will announce the planned calendar for further new releases soon – there will be some surprises, including the return of some familiar faces!



Bigfoot (click for link)

Bigfoot is a very hard-hitting Infiltrator; mounted on a 40 mm base and packing Trump Strength 6, he can wreak havoc with your foes and is an ideal addition to a Hero Team.

Pixels

Pixels (which come as a pack of 3 Pixels and a Mega Pixel!) come in 5 different colours and are Exclusive Minions which start the game in play with Vector, who can then Summon extra Pixels if needed, replacing them almost as quickly as they are lost! They give bonuses depending on whether they are attached to a Friendly model (defensive bonus) or Enemy model (offensive bonus). In addition, 3 small Pixels can be combined to a single Mega Pixel, allowing Vector to then Summon up to two more Pixels!

Pixels are available in the following colours (shown in blue above; all minis in the pack are the same colour)

Blue (link)
Neon Green (link)
Orange (link)
Red (link)
Yellow (link)

Spotlights on the Web-site

Just a heads up to say that we have started posting weekly 'Spotlight' articles to the web-site (currently every Friday).

Each Spotlight is a taster intro which looks at a specific Supreme or pair such as the upcoming Father Oak and Acorn, giving a brief taste of who they are or how they came to be, and a tactical overview of their capabilities as well as synergies that may be useful including less obvious ones.

Jade Hawk has been the most recent example, but be sure to check them out!

Welcome

A warm welcome aboard post going out to flags_of_war and Choong Li - thanks very much for taking he time to look at the blog, it is really appreciated. :)

On the hobby front, I have not finished anything for Pulp City since the Grimminions, but this month I hope to add a least a couple more painted minis to the collection, and have started work on Chernobog (alternative-Perun), Robo-Chimp and the two remaining Grimmions, so hopefully from among them something should be finished soon. I am also itching to round of both Jade Cult and The Way soon, so I hope to get some momentum under way.

Pulp City Reviews On Brummie's Wargaming Blog

The excellent Brummie's Wargaming Blog has been running reviews of a few core Pulp City products this week.

Brummie's reviews (click headings for links):

• Pulp City Supreme Edition rulebook
• Hero Starter Set
• Villain Starter Set

They are a great introduction and overview of the 3 products, and are worth checking out if you would like to find out more!

Grimminions (1-3)

Some more Pulp City painting is done! This year I am determined to paint more Pulp City minis than last year, and within that get a few more Minions done for variety. The Grimminions are a nice easy win on both counts, being small and simple to paint.

Grimmionions are the smallest Grimm morphotypes commonly seen, with each as varied in its fixations as the larger Grimm. A card of Grimminions comprises 2-5 Grimminion models, and becomes more powerful as the number included is increased. On the downside, each card may only make one Attack Action per Activation, but with a potential Strength 6 Strike from a card of 5, plus likley Mobbing bonus from the group, then they can be a significant threat even against Tanks until the number of Grimminions is whittled down.

After these 3 minis, I have 2 more Grimminions to finish which are both slightly more complex than these, either due to colours, or in the case of the mono-wheel due to 'extras' on the mini. I am building up Grimm options ahead of a battle report planned for the end of the year. After the Grimminions, I really need to tackle Grimmsham and TINY!

Grimminions
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 2+ Minions
30 mm

Welcome

Another 'welcome' post to a Follower, this time to kitrok, thanks for signing up! It is reassuring to know that someone may take time to peruse the blog.

This year I hope to get more painted for Pulp City, and I would love to hit the 150 minis mark in total from the range. After the past couple of years output, that may not seem viable in 2016, but I hope to get off to a strong start and get some Minions painted up this month - I have started work on my Grimminions! If I can get those done in February I will be very pleased. I have also started work on Robo-chimp, so I certainly hope to add a few more Minion options very soon, and maybe another half-dozen painted minis in the next month or two.

From Pulp Monsters, Scarab and Bigfoot should appear in-store very soon after a number of hurdles had to be overcome, but are now surmounted!

Anyhoo, stay tuned!

Grimmbiote

My first Pulp City mini of the year! Painting Grimmbiote was nice and quick which was pleasant after losing some momentum late in 2015. Gripped by some impetus I decided to see this through which took a little over an hour or so.

This is the second Grimmbiote I have painted, the first was my contribution to a minis exchange last year and was done in red and black to evoke the colours of a certain symbiote-villain. I eschewed the obvious colour scheme to go for something that would look 'right' (to me!) alongside the rest of my Grimm. It also meant I could make a head-start on a few other Grimm models at the same time. The recent Grimm focus has reason for a battle report game Rob and I have planned for later in the year....

In game terms, Grimmbiote can be a surprising threat as far as Infiltrator's go: he has Rending Slash which has Damage 2 as its basic FX. He adds +1 die to Strength Actions. Ideally, leave Grimmbiote in Base to Base with terrain and use Grimmbiotic Webbing to Pull a Target model closer, benefiting from the bonus die from Wall-crawler, hitting them with Rending Slash in the same Activation!

Grimmbiote
Hero/Villain, Infiltrator, Level 1, Nature
30 mm

Welcome

A quick welcome to the blog post: welcome aboard Jan Ferris! Thanks for following and taking time to check things out.

On the hobby front, I have just finished my first Pulp City mini of the year and have a few others with their main skin colour blocked out, so I expect to get a few things done in the next few weeks.

Behind scenes for the Pulp Monsters team, we have been doing proof-reads for all the Cold War Kickstarter cards, we have allocated the first artists for some of the Cold War Supreme Genesis characters, and on the web-site we have started a weekly series of Spotlight articles (click for link).

Pulp Citizen In 2015

Another year over and a few more minis added to the collection!

I didn't paint as many Pulp City minis in 2015 as I hoped (I aimed for 12 and managed 10), but on the up-side I did add a couple of Leaders, another Powerhouse and a number of Grimm.

In 2016 I am setting the same goal, but I hope it will feel more achievable since in 2015 all of those minis were painted in the second half of the year.

2015 also saw the second Pulp City Kickstarter campaign, which was a very nice success, adding two new whole Factions to the range. If anyone has the belief that running a Kickstarter campaign is easy, I would say it is anything but, and that was with four of us contributing (well done to all of us - Maciej, Devon and Melvin).

So, time to look forward to the year ahead!