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

Primate Of Science

It has been a while since I last painted a Pulp City mini, over three months in fact - I need to rectify that!

I think the reason that this has sat waiting to be finished for a while is that it is so...yellow. (I thought I would point that out for anyone who hasn't noticed!). I ended up using Army Painter yellow spray for the undercoat and touched up with the matching colour, and once I properly started it was not too onerous.

The Primate of Science's main function is to buff certain Science ARC Supremes and an ARC Team in general. Therefore to maximize his value, he is ideal in a Team including Dr. Red, Silverager, Howler and even Virus (but where Virus goes, Apebot should always follow...).

It is always nice to get another mini in the range painted, and this makes 117 painted Pulp City minis for me! I have Red Bella underway and did a little more work on her last night. Time to get to work on some other Pulp City stuff methinks.

Of course the next month is going to be pretty busy I guess for the Pulp Monsters team...

Primate of Mystery (Primate of Power)

Click to enlarge

My second Primate of Power, this time the Primate of Mystery, a primal avatar of the great power of the Ape Spirit, and guides for the ARC.

The Primates of Power will play differently than other Leaders, since for the most part other Leaders are Level 3 models more than capable of holding their own in a battle. The Primates of Power are much more about focusing the individual and Team capabilities of an ARC force.

I would have liked to have worked more red into this one to evoke the Mystery aspect (since that is the associated colour for mystery in the game), but I found the difficult to do, so it is what it is. Also, a big thing this year is working through my backlog of minis, to ensure i have gaming pieces I am happy to play with (prerequisite is painted!). This also marks my 114th mini for Pulp City, so things continue to progress! Albeit more slowly than in previous years on the Pulp City front...although this is my 43rd mini for the year across the various ranges I am tackling, which  means I am now ahead of target by around a month. I was hoping to paint at least 48 or 50 minis this year, which right now looks well within reach.

I have a few more Pulp City minis in the painting queue: Terror Cotta Warriors (stalled); Foxxy Blade; 2 more Jade Cult Ninjas. Other stuff yet to be assembled.

I expect one of the Primates of Power is likely to make an appearance in this year's Hallowe'en Madness, so keep an eye peeled at the end of October to see what kind of ARC Team turns out for that.

Primate of Nature (Primate of Power)

Click to make me look bigger! "Raar!"

The earthly avatars of the great Ape Spirit, Primates of Power are primal beings who are inextricably linked with the fate of the Ape Revolutionary Committee.

The Primate of Nature is attuned to Supremes such as Guerilla, those particularly aligned to nature's fury.

In Pulp City SE terms, the Primate of Nature is an unusual deviation from the usual Leader type; normally they are a Level 3 character, yet for the A.R.C. we decided that the Leaders would be the Primates of Power, who in turn can boost the capabilities of key Supremes.

What you end up with in regards to the Primate of Nature is a tough little monkey who can buff one model, or a whole A.R.C. Team depending on which Action he uses, as well as packing some punch himself.

The Primates of Power are due for imminent release, along with Red Bella. I decided to get mine painted as I was worried about losing the momentum for painting I had built over the first few months of the year; I needed to 'get something finished' which is how I have resisted or overcome previous painting slumps, as regular readers may recognise.

So I set out to start the Primate of Nature with a quick paint-job, and after about and hour or so work (not non-stop, but around bits and pieces of other painting), the mini was done. For such a quick-to-finish piece, I am happy with the outcome. It is just as I want it and has some semblance of momentum restored for me. This is the 35th mini I have finished this year (after painting only 24 in all of 2012), so if I am to hit my target of 48-50-plus minis for 2013, I felt I could not risk a new painting slump, and this was the perfect mini at the perfect time. Especially with the upcoming Minion Month Painting Challenge....

The Primate of Nature is my 109th discrete Pulp City miniature including individual Supremes and Minions and duplicates. I would like to add at least four more this month, maybe as many as ten. How I get on with that is another matter...

Anyhoo, watch this space!

ARC (Sub-faction)

Click on the picture to make embiggenified.

Despite finally finishing Guerilla in July, I have yet to post my ARC minis collectively, so being long-overdue, here you are.

The ARC are freedom fighters to some, militant paramilitaries to others. Opertaing out of the abandoned Pulp City Zoo they have been known to work alongside both Heroes and Villains around the city, all the while pursuing their own agendas. Their leadership is currently formed by the sometimes-conflicting ideologies of Guerilla and Dr. Red - will a third prominent ARC member rise to destabilise that unsteady status quo?

The ARC (rear row, left to right):

• Apebot: inspired creation of ARC, Apebot has forged a close bond with Virus beyond the limits of its basic programming; a real engine of destruction.
• Dr. Red: tactical and strategic mastermind; rival to Guerilla; wild bomb-throwing enhanced primate.
• Guerilla: ferocious leader of the revolution; an able fighter at range and close quarters.
• Silverager: ARC's truest dichotomy - brilliant engineer on the one hand, while within the venerable ape rages a veritable furious beast.

(front row, left to right):

• Virus: master of electronics, and Apebot's most able handler.
• Chimp Chi: master of secret Eastern martial Arts; Chimp Chi has rumoured affiliations with the fabled Way of the Fist & Blade.
• Howler: the most human-culture assimilated member of ARC, Howler spends time away from his team enjoying the opportunities available; gun-wielding action hero.
• Le Murtiple: arrived in Pulp City from the jungles and cities he terrorised in South America; stealthy self-replicating saboteur.

Guerilla

Guerilla works for both Villains and Heroes, the apes side with anybody who is either eager to promise them enough money or enough recognition in the Pulp City media.

Guerilla has taken a long, long time in finishing. I would start doing bits of the mini and then it would be shoved back into the back of the working shelf or area until the next time, each abandonment simply due to lack of clear idea of how I was tackling it. It has been a source of frustration that I was not able to finish this in both a timely and fully satisfactory manner, but such is the peril of a creative hobby I guess.

Now, while it looks like a very basic model in some ways, the large 'metallic' surfaces with varying textures really threw me off, as did simple things like trying to work out how I wanted to highlight bits like his boots etc. The upshot is that it has taken me months from originally applying the first base colours to recently finishing it. While I am not 100% happy, it has turned out better than it was looking just a couple of weeks ago, so it is done.

I find it ironic that Guerilla is one of the earliest minis for Pulp City, and one that really grabbed me when I saw the first previews (2007?), yet it took so long in the completion. In fact it was completed alongside some of the newest minis, and it represents the last of the Starter Set minis I had to do. What that means is that I no longer feel burdened by a back-log that included stuff that had been waiting for a long time to be painted or finished. Hopefully that will help mitigate future painter’s block – time will tell!

In game terms Guerilla is one of ARC’s revolutionary leaders; he able to work well in close combat and at range, and so can be pretty devastating. When the options to upgrade a Level 2 ARC mini to Level 3, expect Guerilla to become an even bigger threat!

Dr Red

Some beings are born to be leaders. The problem of Ape Revolution Committee is they have a few too many alphas in their ranks.

When Channel 4 mentions the bravado actions of A.R.C., Guerilla is usually the one mentioned. But only a few outsiders are aware that most of the progress made by the primates in the last years was sparked by the twisted mind of the alpha orangutan, the self proclaimed Dr. Red. Although his first attempt to take over the group while still in the space ended up with Guerilla beating him to a bloody pulp, Red mastered the art of patience.

Took a long time this one, it really did. Base colours were splashed about with hairy stick abandon when I was gripped with some great momentum, and as is always the way with momentum, it petered out...

Work on Dr. Red started many months ago, when I saw a short-lived resurgence of focus, and then he essentially got pushed further down the painting queue, generally in favour if some minis that were simple, or perceived to be simpler, to paint. I finally knuckled down slowly over the past week or so to occasionally dab some acrylics to the thing, and I have to say I am moderately pleased with how he turned out. Yes his power glove device could have benefited from a free-hand red star or some such, but lacking the confidence to pull of a weathered look to such an option as I would choose, I instead shied away from doing so. There are some parts that have or will be touched up a bit further before varnishing.

Dr. Red offers some useful Team-building options: Tactician 1 (adding AP) and a couple of Actions specifically intended to aid or buff other ARC members, and his Team Power can also offer help. He offers some ranged attack options with Throw Then Think, and Weapons Crate - if taking this Resource, seriously consider also taking Guerilla, Howler and/or Gentleman (with an ARC majority) to maximise benefits. Lastly, he can even stand up to moderate close combat attacks fairly well, so he is a good all-rounder.

Le Murtiple

Le Murtiple was never a part of the apes in space project. A.R.C. came across him deep in the South American jungle while overthrowing one of the local dictators. And boy, Le Murtiple was not happy about it. For years he hid his special powers and intelligence, pretending to be a trophy pet creature caught in the world of the celebrity-like lifestyles of corrupted politicians and bloodshed. And he thrived, using his ability to multiply to wreak havoc and turn hotheaded machos against each other.
In the end, who would have blamed the innocent lemure?

A unique Supreme this one: three minis simultaneously representing one character. Take one or two out and Le Murtiple still has a chance of creating further copies of himself.

Le Murtiple is a saboteur par excellence; master of knives, bombs and chemical weapons in pursuit of his goals. Able to create Mirror Images of himself, if all 3 Mirror Images are in play, then enemy models caught in the area they define are better targets for Le Murtiple.

It took me a while to settle down to paint Le Murtiple, mainly because I didn't have any specific ideas for the models. Consequently I used the 'official' versions as a vague guide in terms of colour scheme. Still they are done, and I am reasonably happy with them.

Silverager

Silverager is a skilled technician, self-taught rocket science genius and a very calm individual, always the voice of reason when Guerilla's ego flies.

BUT....

If you ever, ever step on his toes, he'll make sure those two extra arms are not wasting time as he will chase you down and present the ape fury in all its glory.

Finished this today, and I enjoyed painting it - quite a lot. Which is funny, because many of the models I have enjoyed painting most from the range belong to ARC, yet it isn't my favourite Sub-faction by any stretch; go figure that one out.

I actually started Silverager and Guerilla at the same time, blocking out areas of similar colour on the two, yet carried on with Silverager as I was caught by that ever elusive painting muse.

Silverager was sculpted by Jarek Smolka, who is probably one of the most prolific contributors to the sculpting Pulp City's Supremes, and no stranger to the ARC Team, having sculpted Apebot & Virus, and Chimp Chi amongst others.

In game terms Silverager is a close combat master who can get scarier (and less controlled) as he gets more enraged. He has a pretty devastating Action in Spinebreaker (Charge* with it, sacrifice a Strike to boost it, Power-Up and voila: a result of 12 to 19 is possible), and he also has an Action that repairs Mechanical models - very useful.

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.

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.

Howler

You would probably call Howler the "early adopter" since when his mates just started appreciating the convenience of wearing clothing, using guns and explosives, Howler is truly enjoying life as it comes.

Crime is a disease. Meet the cure. The tag line for the 1986 Sylvester Stallone movie, Cobra, seems very fitting to apply to a mini sculpted with that movie character in mind. Howler was a mini that I wasn't too enamoured with when I first saw it, although I don't know why. When it came to painting it however, that all changed. I really enjoyed painting the model, and finished it quite quickly, basing the colour scheme on the classic 'Cobra' image.

In game play Howler offers good mobile fire support, which can be exploited by Hero or Villain teams. He can also offer battlefield control through two of his exclusive actions - Howls and Stare Down. At heart though, Howler remains a quintessential 80's action hero, which means he works best alone in some ways.

In my view this is a great fun sculpt by Paul Muller, that confounded my initial reservations, so much so that it is one of the most enjoyable models to paint that I can recall in years.

Chimp Chi

Chimp Chi is a member of Ape Revolution Committee (ARC). He is possibly the sneakiest character in Pulp City and capable of dealing some serious hurt.

The sculpt comes from Jarek Smolka, and was a mini painted quickly, in just a few hours (off and on - spread over a couple of days). I wanted something 'done quickly' because it helps me feel my painting is moving along.

There are times I feel bogged down by painting, so I find it satisfying to try to do something quickly that hopefully looks reasonably effective. To that end I chose a vaguely ninja-esque look for the colour scheme, with some red and brown to break up the dark grey-'black' costume. I am still working on my NMM, so the blade didn't quite work as well as hoped. Time and persistence will hopefully improve that particular skill.


Being a Hero/Villain, Chimp Chi can be used by either side since at present there are only two sides (factions) in the Pulp City games - heroes and Villains. Each of these comprises smaller sub-factions (allegiances), and ARC is just one of those.