New Paint Rack!

Some things arrived in the post this morning, and among them was this paint rack (bottom picture)! Ah, the smell of burnt wood in the post - laser-cut MDF is on the way then, as any hobbyist should agree!

I don't know about other painters, but I have accumulated a sizeable selection of paints over the years. trying to keep them in a manageable order is part of the battle. A few years ago I switched from mainly using GW paints (I still rely on their washes however) to using Vallejo Model Color. A massive range of colours meant a burgeoning array of paints bought over the past few years.

That in turn led me to trying out a couple of different paint racks. I quite like the ones I had from Miniaturicum, for 30 and 80 bottles apiece (seen among my painting table debris in the topmost image), but the banked design means that the more bottle capacity that a rack gives, the greater its 'footprint' on my painting station. I also tried some CNC designs (their 'corner' efforts), but felt that the design and constriction was both flimsy and fiddly so I stopped using those.

Recently I saw that Iron Mammoth (click for blog post link) had created his own paint rack, and the two-tier design looked just the ticket for me, although without the bottle capacity I wanted. So I shot Iron Mammoth an enquiring PM via Lead Adventure Forum, and after an exchange of emails, we agreed a price on a my bespoke 104 dropper bottle rack, which has a smaller footprint on my work area, and less depth meaning that the way I work with stuff in front of the rack is better accommodated.

Very easy assembly and minimal gluing and I am very pleased with what Iron Mammoth delivered. Note that this is not yet a commercially available product, but if you are interested, it may be worth getting in touch with Iron Mammoth.

Breast Cancer Brawl 2011

Something worth promoting:

What is the Breast Cancer Brawl?

The Breast Cancer Brawl is an effort to raise money for breast cancer research, advocacy, education, and support organizations. The event is a fantasy table-top miniatures tournament and… painting competition using the popular WARMACHINE and HORDES game systems.

The above text is from the 'About' section of the Breaster Cancer Brawl 2011 site (here).

My understanding is that the organisers want to spread it beyond the identified games to include games such as Pulp City. It is self-evidently a good cause and so I decided to draw attention through my blogs. Gaming in a good cause - 'nuff said as Stan Lee (maybe once or twice) wrote.

Now maybe I need to paint something pink in honour of this initiative...

Sewers Terraclips (Sewers Of Malifaux - Terraclips 3D Terrain System)

A new buy for me; a new release from Worldworks Games and linked to the Malifaux tabletop minis game.

As usual, click on pics to embiggen them.

I have been planning to run some sewer set Encounters for Pulp City for a while now; I can envisage vigilantes chasing down Villains to secret lairs or stuff being 'lost' down below. I toyed with making my own or buying appropriate components.

Time prevented me building my own, and time, cost and finding exactly what I wanted stopped me looking any further with the pre-cast resin options (some nice stuff out there, just nothing ‘quite right’).

So when I learned of this set (and its companions) from Worldworks Games, I knew it would probably be my best option.

I haven’t bought it as a Malifaux player, but hope it may see some use eventually for generic pulp games, VSF, steampunk etc.

First Impressions
The box felt heavier than I expected after pre-ordering it. On opening the box each sheet looks tightly packed with pieces, so no worries about significant ‘wasted’ space on sheets really – I think they have crammed as much as practically possible in which is good news.

The finish of the card components is nicely matt – I had been worried about seeing a gloss finish to the pieces since that would create possible glare for photographs for Battle Reports.

The parts include floors (in two sizes: 3 inches x 3 inches; 6 inches by 6 inches), walls, archways and doors at 2 inches high and lengths to match the floors; all are double-sided. There are a number of counters also, balcony pieces and stairs for multi-level layouts.

Assembly
I tried a dry fit assembly using the separately available connectors. Popping out the parts was smooth enough for the most part, only some of the very small linking pieces were a minor problem.

Putting a layout together was pretty straightforward, although after doing so I would suggest maybe laying out the whole flat board and planning where you want any walls etc. to save messing around with any need to change connector types. I didn’t try out the stairs at this time or balcony – that will keep.

I found that you need to be careful with arches with narrow wall surrounds – the card would start to bend going into the snug connectors.

All told though, maybe 10 minutes or so needed for a first time layout of 12 x 18 inches, which I imagine will get quicker with familiarity.

The Good
A single pack offers me the minimum I need and a little more to create a useful Pulp City board for sewer-set games. The art is uniform, no parts stand out too much for any of the wrong reasons and I was surprised that as the layout grew, then the connectors appeared less intrusive than I first feared.

It is nice that all parts are double sided offering a lot of variety. It was certainly a great time saver over what I would have needed to commit to create my own sewer layout. For the time-strapped gamer this kind of product is a real boon.

There are a lot of options for multi-level playing areas which for a sewers with the risk of a flat area creates nice tactical options.

The Bad
The price – it isn’t cheap, especially factoring in the cost of connectors which are compulsory to be able to change the layout at all with some solidity of build. It is cheaper than say some of the resin options out there, but probably more expensive than foam and MDF materials to create my own layout. That cost is mitigated by the fact that the only work needed is assembly. However the cost is compounded by the need to buy the connectors.

While for Pulp City this cost is contained since the required playing area can be thankfully small, it looks like one set will only make a 24 inch x 36 inch square (or permutations thereof) at most. Some creativity with negative spaces blocked by walls may increase that a little further, but the point is that larger areas are going to need more sets, such as the standard Malifaux 36 x 36 inches – it seems curious that the packs have been devised in such a way that two are required to play the game they are linked to. For games using 48 inches x 48 inches as a standard playing area (such as Anima Tactics), then with three or four sets needed I think cost looks to be prohibitive.

Also be aware that care needed with linking some of the finer components, both in handling and what to fit where as there are two widths of sewer channels to work with.

Finally, there is a grid-like approach to things on the board pieces; add in knowledge of wall lengths and application of a little mathematics (thank you Pythagoras!) and games that preclude pre-measurement of distances will be hamstrung by using this product. Just an unavoidable fact I guess.

Overall
I feel it is a product suitable for my needs, and I look forwards to getting in some gaming using the set, but I advise caution for anyone needing more than one set as the cost will be a big investment. I am satisfied with this purchase and will be buying a second sewer set, but won’t for instance trade up my current urban board terrain if ever a city-scape type of set was released.

Bases/Basing (2)

After my previous post on the subject of bases and basing (read it here), I wanted to mention a new manufacturer I have recently purchased from.

Model Display Products (link here)are a fairly new company I believe. At this stage they have a limited selection of offerings in round, square and round-lip styles, but based on my first buys I will pick up more from them. The bases I bought were from the rocky terrain range; at £4 GBP for 10 x 30 mm bases; £4 for 5 x 40 mm; and £4 for 2 x 50 mm they are crisply detailed, well-cast and excellent value in my view. There are only 4 ranges in the round-lip style at this time, but hopefully we will see this range expand and if the same quality and value is continued I think Model Display Products will join Fenris and Dragon Forge as my go-to base suppliers.

Salute 2011 - Round-up

First up - apologies for the lack of pics; I had my camera but forgot about using the darned thing (except to take a picture of the massive 'Advance Ticket queue'...), so just a few words instead.

I ran 4 back-to-back demo games after arriving a little later than planned; thanks to Sam and Andres (sp?); John and Johnny; Guy and Jon; Josh and Richard all for taking part and trying the game out. The demo used Sovereign alongside a number of established Supremes so was fun for me to see how different players approach things. Thanks for taking an interest guys. The game between Guy and Jon was recorded for their store site (Heroes & Legends Games of Surrey) so we may see that at some point. Thanks to to Simon and Pickles from the Pulp City Forum for saying hello, and Kenny from the Ancible too.

Later I had a wander around the centre with Maciej, talking about various lines of minis and the perils and tribulations of attending a show such as Salute or the more lengthy and demanding Gencon. We both were umming and aahing over the gorgeous SMOG 1888 stuff and more besides, and Maciej was feeding his rediscovered GW habit. For my own part I was glad to pick up some Croc Games Modern Zombies, a Tablescape stash of crates pack and later a KR case. I dawdled too long alas on thinking about buying a Maxmini monster, so missed out on that. On the Pulp City front I came away with the new release wave (Aquarius & Scorpio; Dark Solar box) as well as Sovereign and Perun. most (except the Ulthars) have been prepped for undercoating this morning. Happy days.

Pulp Monsters had a good day and Maciej plans to come back next year. They sold out of books and had pretty much the whole range except Giant Hadron (I think) on sale, including those Sovereign and Perun minis.

On the future stuff front, well perhaps most importantly for UK fans of Pulp City, they are looking into UK distribution. On the rulebook front, plans are being worked on the get the updated free download rules in place via the website, which itself is being updated. When the site is relaunched with updated features, there will be more background 'fluff' entries available, so that most current Supremes will be covered. On new minis, well there are new Grimms on the way in time - I haven't seen them, but I believe one is the 'Supreme' Grimm we have seen. There is at least 1 Necroplane green completed and a bunch of other greens for various Sub-factions close to readiness whether casting, painting or whatever. Maciej also hopes that Level 3's for most of the remaining Sub-factions will be available before the end of the year 1 one notable exception. He is also very excited about the minis he has ready for a brand new Sub-faction due to appear later in the year...

After the show concluded, I believe Beasts of War conducted a short interview with Maciej, so watch their site for that.

It was a fun day for me; different to last year as I didn't run demo games etc then, and different for Pulp Monsters as they had a firm presence. I'll be back next year I reckon, and hopefully so will Pulp City/Pulp Monsters.

Some Recent Gaming

Rob and I managed 3 games of Pulp City a few days ago. Each time we play, I try to make sure there is something new available. This time it was Xyllian, Master Sagittarius, and he featured in the first game.

We played each game as Encounter Level (EL) 6, meaning 2 Level 1 and 2 Level 2 Supremes per side. This meant we tried some new favourites and some old favourites; Sanguine (Night) (Level 2) is quickly becoming a new favourite as he seems pretty unstoppable (but more on that later). we played using a mix of Plots and Agendas. Judicious use of the latter can turn a scoreline around, so are well worth considering, especially as they can allow for unique victory circumstances in every game.

The first game was an Escape Plot, pitting the fleeing Ulthar against a rag-tag mix of Heroes.

The Heroes won the day, taking down almost all of the Ulthar, while doing their utmost to save as many innocent Citizens as possible.



We decided for the second game that as the Ulthar fled, they dropped something of importance. Heavy Metal and the Necroplane became aware of the item, so a Quest for the dropped item ensued.

Chronin's time-twisting abilities carried the day for Heavy Metal, but not before a last-ditch attack from Mourn.

Sanguine (Night) proved a very capable asset in this game (and the following one!), which makes it time to consider how to counter him. His most effective Action in these games was easily Fangs, followed by Crimson Mist. So how to neutralise his effectiveness?

• Take advantage of the fact that his Actions affecting other models work best or indeed only against Living models. Use Constructs/Mechanical, or Non Living to counter this where possible.

• Look to use models that are Immune/Mind: Vector, Supreme Zed, Red Baron, or C.O.R.E.. All Constructs (Apebot, Herald) are Immune/Mind. Undertaker makes Six Feet Under Immune/Mind until the end of the round.

• Consider screening Supremes with Minions.

• Nullify his option to Activate or make full use of AP using Actions such as Rake (Harrier); King of Torment (Ace of Wraiths); Concussion (Rook); Mind Grip (Gemini Y)

• Protect your models with Actions such as Halo of Souls (Red Riding Hoodoo).

• Move Sanguine out of position using actions such as Wind Blast (Elemental Mastery: Water and Air); Gale (Boreas); Pawns (Trail); Wind Strike (Chimp Chi); Lure (Xyllian, Master Sagittarius); Tipping the Scales (Stormblades, Libra Sensei); Taunting (Xenobi); Go With The Flow (Seabolt)

• Use Held* Actions; basically launching a counter-strike as Sanguine moves in.

The final Encounter was a simple beat-down: a Smackdown! This saw ARC members teaming with Ace of Wraiths trying to stop a rampage of terror organised by Sanguine. In this final game, victory conidtions were even based on the Plot chosen, but scoring from Agendas edged it for the ARC/Ace of Wraiths alliance.

Pulp City Guide Available To Order

This was announced for order today via the Pulp City Forum; some pre-orders were taken at Gencon I understand, but for the rest of us the time is here. I hope to get my hands on my own copy sometime soon, and I have to admit I am pretty excited. There should be tons of material to supplement the game rules sections I have previously seen, and as a sucker for 'fluff'/background material that is what I may be looking forward to most. Well that and the 'new book smell', but then I am strange like that. :)








The quote from Pulp City Forum:

WHAT YOU GET:

144 heavy stock gloss paper perfect bound hard cover beauty of the book.
The book retails for 24.99 Euro and 34.99 USD.
You can purchase the book directly from us [Pulp Monsters] for 24.99 Euro.

HOW TO ORDER: Send an email to maciej (at) pulpmonsters.com with your adress and PayPal address, and I will send you an invoice this week

Custom Cards - Take Two

Regular visitors may remember my disappointment when I received my first attempt at my own custom Resource cards recently. Undeterred, I tried again this time with ArtsCow. The difference in the two can be readily seen in the picture (picture right; ArtsCow deck is to the left, CustomStuff deck to the right).

Now I have ordered from ArtsCow (www.ArtsCow.com) previously, which is what inspired this little project. Larkin Vain, a fellow Pulp City enthusiast, and a moderator/member of the Pulp City Forum, made some cards of his own some time ago and I got a set of those. That in turn inspired me to create this deck for my own gaming.

With the various Minions I have created, I thought it was high time I made my own cards, and you have been seeing the fruits of that labour under the BOOM tag. So this deck has a number of my home brew Minions (using the BOOM rules), as well some other...stuff.

I can highly recommend ArtsCow, and thanks to some kind of offer/discount, I only paid shipping on this deck.

Custom Cards

I created some jpegs of various custom Minions as well as game aids, and had them printed by an online retailer. I am extremely disappointed with both the results and the quality.

The cards have had the content re-sized by the supplier to be about half the expected width, while a couple have thumb-print ink smudges. The supplier is customstuff.co.uk, and I cannot endorse their product at this time. They are not cheap or even inexpensive, they have no contact details on their website (not a good sign, and something I should have checked before ordering), and so there is no easy or obvious means of addressing the issue of receiving goods that are poor in quality and execution.

Victory at last!

Played another game today against Rob, my erstwhile main gaming buddy, having lost my previous two games against him - and this time I won. The photographs didn't come out too well, so the best few show some action on one of the flanks of the battlefield.

It was a close fought game, and we played one of the Plots that we used last time out. If you remember my past comments, I mentioned how Rob kept a closer eye on the objectives that time, and so went on to win convincingly. This time I focused fully on the objectives and took an early march on scoring AGP (Agenda Points), so a close games ended 9 AGP to 11.

In my Team I had taken June Summers, but her AGP contribution (just 1 today) was not what swung the result. In addition I fielded Harrier who did very little, and Six Feet Under who made a big splash and was quickly targeted and taken out. My main successes were through Androida (grabbing AGP); Dr. Mercury as part-'beat stick', part harassment/hit and run (using his Meld* Action) and Starting Roll Supreme; Ace of Wraiths (dealt some big damage taking out Chimp Chi and later Nuke); and Blood Rose (her healing Actions kept a couple of models going).

It seems that reflecting on this game, and the last couple, we used some big Actions that don't often get used. By this I mean those Actions that use up all or almost all of the AP available to a given character. Nuke twice used Radiation with a Power-Up; Blood Rose got to use Blood Roses Bloom (a healing and movement combo); Ace of Wraiths got to use the Ace of Wraiths Action - taking out a Supreme and a couple of Minions and staying out of trouble in the last Round. These Actions are often infrequent due to their inherent cost and restrictions, but when the are used can have a big impact - which I think is a great feature of the game.

Rob used Apebot and Virus and they were fun to see used, facing off mainly against Androida and Dr. Mercury. Howler was also in Rob's Team, but wasn't his usual effective self, but that maybe because I targeted him knowing how dangerous he can be. Harrier is a Supreme I just can't seem to use effectively enough, although she has featured in my Teams on many occasions.

And if you are wondering about the acrylic markers? We use flame and smoke markers of different sizes to track damage on scenery; it saves book-keeping/writing stuff down and adds an extra visual element. Small counts as 1 point of Damage, medium as 5 points and large as 10 points. Works well for us. And the blue one? Rob suggested it would be fun if we had a marker to represent the water spraying out after a fire hydrant is ripped up for a Smash or Throw Action; I remembered I had possibly just the right thing and so voila! No effect on the game, just a little narrative touch to the battlefield.

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.

Salute 2010

I had a great day at Salute 2010. I went with my main gaming buddy Rob and we both found lots to look at and buy.

My highlight was definitely that I had 30 minutes of chat with Maciej (the driving force behind Pulp Monsters/Pulp City) which I hope to get published as an interview article sometime soon - I'll post more when I know what is happening with that. It was great to meet him in person, a friendly guy who was generous with his time. Thanks Maciej.

I also managed to pick up the new release wave of Pulp City minis (see photo above): Sanguine & Draku, Super-Zed, Kitty Cheshire, and Vector. I will try to paint Vector this week, time permitting.

I also took a couple of pics of an as-yet unreleased Pulp City minis: Tritonius (see second and third photos).

As for Salute in general? It was my first and I really enjoyed it, so much so that I would like to go again. Traders and demonstrators were friendly and helpful, and so I got to see and learn about a lot of games that I don't really know.

Things that really caught my eye:
- a Star Wars Lego tabletop battle game: brilliant idea! Forgot to take photos alas.
- Alkemy: there were a lot of things about the rules that sound novel and cool; the feline-race minis really took the eye of Rob and me, and the models on the whole look fantastic.
- Tablescape doing laser-cut wood terrain; cheap and effective looking; nothing really suitable for Pulp City yet, but who knows in time?
- some great tables and scenery sets.
- the difference between Privateer and GW: Privateer looked to have won out in effort, having demo games, a painting area as well as the retail stand; GW seemed to be there just for presence and sales - not the most positive attitude I feel.

Stuff I picked up, besides the PC stuff:
- Maxmini: some pieces (crates and barrels) to throw around the table.
- Hasslefree: Mutants Grant and Joe; they will be used as Minions no doubt.
- the Salute mini: robot and space girl; the robot will be a Minion for sure.
- Heresy: Van Halfling and a not-Orko (from not-MotU I guess); just because they look fun.
- Atenociti's some windows and doors for a cottage building (probably for Confrontation) and the new GoT police officer (male) and Fembot (the latter a certain Minion).
- Black Cat: some minis that will probbaly end up as Minions; but unfortunately one piece is miscast.
- Confrontation: of course I am getting into C3 years after it went away, so bargain bin hunting (Got a Devourers Flesh Eaters box, some Mid Nor packs, some Cynwall, and Aberration Prime and did a swap of some other minis to get Worg and an L.E. Wolfen).

And as for the image at the bottom of this post: That is June Summers in resin, a special Minion for Pulp City, available as part of an offer last year. And I have some plans for at least one of these. Keep watching the blog...

Salute 2010

In just over a week (Saturday 24th April), I am heading to Salute 2010, the first time I will have attended this particular show, and I am really looking forwards to it. There will be lots of manufacturers with minis etc on show, much of it available for the first time at the show. There are a number of items that I would like to pick up, and in addition there will be minis that I will get to see and learn about that otherwise I may not have known about.

For many years my involvement in the minis and tabletop gaming hobby was Games Workshop-centric, and later Superfigs added to that. Moving away from that position has caused me to embrace picking up cool models from all sorts of different manufacturers, and has also caused me to approach and try different things with my minis: before starting my self-imposed Pulp City Painting Challenge, I had not looked at using scenic bases (I love the stuff I have picked up from Dragon Forge and Fenris, two great manufacturers - both offer helpful and friendly service); before the challenge I had not tried Object Source Lighting (OSL; still working on this technique); before the challenge I had not tried to create a non-metallic metallic effect (NMM; also still working on this technique). It has stretched my enjoyment of the minis hobby since it has stretched me as a hobbyist. Going to Salute will maybe offer me some more new things to consider.

A bonus of going to Salute is that hopefully I will be able to catch up the creator and primary driving force behind Pulp City; head to the MaxMini stand to catch up with Morf/Maciej.

So I am going to Salute, along with my long-time gaming buddy, and we have a lot to look forwards to; and of course I will post about it when I get back.

Recent Games

I thought I'd share some pictures taken of a couple of recent Pulp City games by my main gaming opponent. As always we had fun, and we keep mixing things up by swapping over as Heroes and Villains players. That said, I am sure the Villains are doing better on the whole.

We had two games that day - we tend to warm up with a 'smaller' game (Encounter level 6 this time; 2 each of Level 1 and 2 Supremes per side) before we play a bigger one.

In the smaller game we used the Agendas rules, but for the second (Encounter Level 11; 3 Level 1 Supremes and 4 Level 2 Supremes per side) we settled for a straight-up, drag-out, knock-down slug-fest! Both were great fun against a great opponent.

Bases/Basing

Just a quick post (since due to camera problems I still can't put any new pictures up, despite finishing Hellsmith today).

Before starting gaming and focusing on Pulp City I have never used resin (or metal) bases or basing components. Most of my minis were GW for tabletop gaming, or masses of Superfigs (and stuff to sit with the Superfigs). Therefore basing has long been a secondary concern.

When coming to Pulp City minis two factors kicked in to alter this mindset. Firstly, that the minis had set base sizes and they came with round lipped bases. secondly, I wanted the minis to be well presented. To that end I started acquiring resin scenic bases to mount them on, and I am glad I did. There are a number of excellent manufacturers out there, but currently I am primarily using bases from three of them. Click on the names of the suppliers for links.

Dragon Forge: (USA) I think most of my bases (especially the urban ones) are Dragon Forge. The bases are nice and simple, not overly cluttered and therefore work well with many different minis poses without much problem, in other words very gamer-friendly. The casting is superb, and the service is excellent. Another great factor is that international shipping is a cheap flat rate, and there are free items depending on overall spend, so judicious ordering is very helpful.

Fenris Games: (UK) After Dragon Forge, I probably use mostly Fenris' bases for my Pulp City minis. The do a few useful complementary ranges in a variety of sizes. Having an eBay shop means that things are not as well laid out as having a good online store, but that said they provide excellent and very helpful customer service. They also do all sorts of scenic pieces. Outside of Pulp City I will be using the Fenris 'Military Industrial complex' bases for a big (30 to 50+ minis maybe) Zombie project (this won't be specific to Pulp City, but I expect Zombies to pop up in some Pulp City games from time to time).

MaxMini: (Poland) MaxMini offer some bases tailored to specific Pulp City Supremes. They are nicely done, the only downside for me being that each is particularly unique. This may not be a problem for others, in which case I give them a high recommendation, but it means thematic basing tends to be lost. They also do some great little bits for conversions.

There are other suppliers like Micro Art Studio, King and Kerr and PK-Pro and lots of others, who I have yet to try, but with the three I talked about above my basing needs are pretty much covered.

Gaming Locations

The following is not my work but gleaned from various forum posts to give a flavour of what kind of terrain and battlefields can work well for the game.

As others have said, anything super heroic/urban will do. The locations in the printed book are:

Down Town: high-rises, business quarters, a mix of Chicago-architecture with LA climate and vegetation.
Big shiny futuristic building of Heavy Metal HQ, sandy beach and luxurious marina.

Newport: docks, slums, gang wars and crime lords, world of gambling, smuggling and blood sports.

Little Asia: this cozy little tourist district turns into a battlefield when night falls. It is a constant conflict of various ethnicities fighting for supremacy.

Outside the city:
Necroplane: Crooked mirror of our world, big graveyards forming cities, feudal country, blasted landscape with red rocks. Hellrock, the prison-town and the gathering point of military invasions, that's where the harvesting ships dock.

Grimm Undercity: Tunnels under Pulp City ridden with dwarvish Grimm, blind creatures ruled by a human.

Twilight Hills: the desert outside of Pulp City, a burial place of Native Americans where tears in reality happen the most often. HQ of Blood Watch who reside in the underground base built next to the first collapsed gate to Necroplane. These hills don't have eyes but are haunted.

Kodo Island: Several dozen miles of the Pulp City coast, a hidden island that serves as the HQ of the devilish Mysterious Man. The island is shrouded with artificially created clouds and guarded by extinct marine and flying beasts and everything else MM stole from the US military. The island is covered in lush jungle and creations, successful and failed alike, of the genetic manipulations make sure your Supremes will be entertained.

Ulthar Patriaships: Shaped like 12-tipped stars, these invasion ships represent the caste division of the society.

The Ancible Magazine - issue 2

Issue 2 of the Ancible arrived through the Pulp Citizen's letterbox (I am a subscriber now), after a Royal Mail-caused delay. The delay appears solely to lie in the hands of the Royal Mail, so I don't blame the Ancible guys at all for it.

In the previous post I made about the Ancible I commented that it was pleasing to me to see a truly independent tabletop gaming magazine emerge, which is why I have chosen to support the magazine through subscribing and through mentioning it here on the blog. The magazine heralds itself as a "portal to Sci-fi and Fantasy Wargaming", which is something I'll return to when I give my thoughts about issue 2's content.

So my thoughts - overall, both better and worse than the first issue. The cover was an improvement. Both issues featured very well painted models, yet issue two had a better designed cover (issue 1 was simply overwhelmed with blue, which didn't help it stand out). So that was good. Interior page design seems to be improving, another good thing.

On to the articles. I found the Martian Empires and Malifaux reviews to be good, as well as the product review for Filla-Glue. The latter may be a dry subject, but critical review of products is always good. There were two miniatures reviews included, which is of interest to me. My only quibble here is that I would have liked more critical commentary about the sculpting, casting and assembly of the miniatures reviewed, especially the Infinity models which are the more complex of the two ranges discussed. I also enjoyed the Malifaux battle report and the interview with painter Hedley Coppock.

Now on to my dislikes for the issue. The Ancible describes itself as a portal to Sci-fi and Fantasy Wargaming, yet three features (Conan RPG adventure part 1; Space Station Z - a sci-fi RPG; Joel - a prose story) are nothing specifically to do with wargaming. 33% (28 pages) of the content is effectively not what I was buying into. If the magazine was advertised as being RPG/wargaming I'd have no problem with this, however I subscribed to a Sci-fi and Fantasy wargaming magazine so it is not what I want to see included. Add to that an article described as an introduction the Exillis, which was no more than a glorified advert (possibly produced by games manufacturers I suspect), with no critical commentary, then there are a few areas that need to be addressed in my view. I have subscribed, but the next four issues will determine whether that subscription continues.

I want as many people as possible to buy into the Ancible so it can grow and develop into a useful and entertaining wargaming magazine, but in that regard those responsible for the magazine have responsibilities to create a recognisable voice for their publication. I felt issue 2 didn't have that. Nonetheless my support will continue, as it is early in the life of the publication.

As for the forthcoming issue 3, it has an article promised on paper-crafting. I will read that with close interest given my previous post about paper-craft resources.

Cover image copyright © AKR Productions.

Salute 2010

The Pulp Citizen will be attending Salute 2010 with his main gaming buddy (Rob), the first time we have attended this UK show.

Both of us have been miniatures hobbyists for many years, primarily around Games Workshop, but for various reasons both of us are moving away from a GW-centric hobby. Going to Salute seems to me a natural reflection of that. Last year we attended the Games Expo 2009 in Birmingham (UK) for the first time, which we enjoyed a lot, especially talking to some miniatures manufacturers such as Mark Copplestone (if he follows through with his expressed plans to some do supers miniatures the Pulp Citizen would be very pleased - more Minion models please!).

If we get to have a day like that, meeting more manufacturers and checking out their wares we will be very happy, I am sure. More importantly I am hoping that Pulp Monsters will have a presence at Salute 2010, showing off Pulp City. If they do I will try and help out, while stalking around other minis makers' stands to see what they have on show. I'll try and post if and when Pulp Monsters confirm their attendance. I am looking forwards to this show a lot.

The Ancible - magazine

I picked up issue 1 of this new science fiction and fantasy tabletop gaming magzine a few weeks ago and found it a diverting, enjoyable and generally well-constructed read.

The Ancible is an independent gaming magazine aimed at the tabletop miniatures gamer, something which has been sorely lacking for a long time I feel. The first issue does a good job of offering overviews of some tabletop miniatures games. These kind of overviews are the kind of thing I enjoy reading, so I was pleased to see them included.

As the magazine develops and matures, I imagine design and content will change over time, so it will be interesting to see where it goes in terms of direction. The audience represents a broad church of gamers and hobbyists with tremendously varied backgrounds in terms of tastes and experiences, so pitching the magazine to a sufficiently large readership may be tricky - I hope they have every success in this regard.

I have picked up a subscription, having finally dropped my White Dwarf subscription after many years, and recommend the magazine on the basis of that first issue.