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

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!

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

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

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

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

Spartagrimm

Painted Pulp City mini #124 is done! It has been nice getting a bit of Pulp City painting momentum back after such a barren spell. In that regard, the Grimm are perfect for a painter like me.

What I mean by that is that I am someone who naturally struggles to be productive in my painting, and struggles with the cat of painting; yet when it comes to the Grimm, I find it more pleasurable than with pretty much any other models. They are simple yet full of character, and make a nice little project because of that. In my opinion Melvin de Voor has done a brilliant job with the array of Grimm designs, and that is just those that have been produced so far!

In game terms, like most Grimm Spartagrimm is a Level 1 model, in this case a Brawler, and a pretty potent. one. One of the key things for mastering the Grimm is that they are plentiful because they are mostly Level 1, but can be taken out quickly with well timed Attacks loaded with dice. Despite that they can pack a surprising punch so can catch an unprepared foe unaware. As a Brawler, Spartagrimm has quite a lot of competition from other Brawlers as well as the Tanks that are abundant in the Faction.

After painting the four recent Grimm I may try and get some other Faction's minis done, although more Grimm are beckoning, and I have just started prepping TINY!....

Spartagrimm
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 1, Nature
30 mm

Grimmrock

Painted Pulp City mini in my collection number 123 all present and correct! Grimmrock was started at the same time as Toxic Grimmvenger and Supreme Grimm. I blocked out the skin-tone on Supreme Grimm, Grimmrock and Spartagrimm all at the same time, then focused on finishing Toxic Grimmvenger, before moving on to each of the others in turn. It has proven productive to do that, with 3 minis that were finished in 8 days (the dates of posting does not reflect when they were finished). After Spartagrimm (to be finished soon I hope) I plan to tackle TINY!, John Grimmsham and maybe the Grimmbiote soon, and maybe The Big Grimmowski, which would give me a painted Grimm force of 17 or 18 Levels, so basically plenty to choose from!

It feels nice to be getting caught up on my Pulp City painting at last.

In game terms Grimmrock is a Tank, like Hooligrimm. That is where the similarities end. While both pretty tough and hard-hitting for lowly level 1 Supremes, Grimmrock is more defensively orientated, while Hooligrimm is definitely more offensively orientated. What that underlines I think, is the sheer wealth of variety the Grimm have to offer as a Team.

Grimmrock
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 1, Nature
30 mm

Supreme Grimm

My second Pulp City mini this year! Another Grimm joins the gribbly ranks of the under-dwelling empire. Like every other Grimm, Supreme Grimm is influenced by what he saw in human popular culture, and in his case he adopted a mask and cape to accompany his Supreme powers.

This was a lovely little model to paint, as it was quick and simple which is a contrast to some other minis I have tackled this year. Being able to finish a couple of models within a few days of each other was a real pleasure. As a consequence I have more Grimm ready for painting on the horizon, so hopefully their ranks will start to fill out pretty soon.

Supreme Grimm is a Speeder, and potentially a surprising one for opponents as he has an Overrun that works off his AGL Trump. He can also provide Power Up dice for an ally in BtB each Round, so he is a mix of team support, objective grabber, and attacker; he is not brilliant at any of those functions, but is a good all-rounder. He is also well worth considering in a Dark Solar all-Nature team: offering extra Power Up dice to Dark Solar, Perun or Father Oak is a frightening proposition.

In game terms Grimm are an unusual proposition. They have two available Level 3 Supremes, and all the rest, like Supreme Grimm, are Level 1. That means they are more fragile individually than the usual mix of Level 1 and Level 2 Supremes, and given they can appear in strong numbers, they can be prone to falling in groups to Rays, Pulses and Overruns. Rob and I hope to do a battle report with them later in the year - we even have a title ready!

Supreme Grimm
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 1, Nature
30 mm

Toxic Grimmvenger

My first Pulp City mini of the year - Toxic Grimmvenger - and my first finished Pulp City mini in almost seven months. Wow - far too long (how often do I end up typing variations on those words?). However, he is the 121st Pulp City mini I have painted, so at least the total has grown. Hopefully the next few weeks will see a few more additions to the painted minis selection!

After some months of inertia a package of new stuff finally arrived with ye Citizen, and yesterday I prepped 6 Supremes and 2 Minions. Among those Supremes were 4 of the new Grimm unleashed from the Kickstarter, and I saw them as a way to kick-start my Pulp City painting. The first finished was Toxic Grimmvenger, mainly because I intentionally focused more on him while doing base colours on the others, and also because he had a very simple paint scheme. I could have used more variety of colours on the various objects embedded into his body, but I wanted to complete the painting quickly and satisfactorily, and I am pretty pleased with how he turned out given that it was a quick turnaround for me.

In game terms Toxic Grimmvenger is an interesting proposition; he is one of currently three Brawlers for the Grimm, and each is functionally different. Of the three, Toxic Grimmvenger is probably the hardest hitting simply because he can easily generate 3 dice, or 4 dice with TINY! in play, without considering extra dice from situational Combat Bonuses. Couple that with a range of Attacks from a cheap and basic Damaging close combat Action to a ranged option to a Damage 2 close combat Action, and he offers real threat against other Supremes, even those of Level 2 or 3.

Toxic Grimmvenger
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 1, Science
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!

Stalker (Version 2)

I have of course painted one Stalker already, that one done in a kind of black jaguar scheme. Thinking that it would be cool to do another, so that the opposing aspects of Solar/Avatar of the Jaguar could each have a companion, I thought the obvious thing to do was a white-furred variation. Who knows - maybe I will do a more 'naturalistic' one eventually?

This has been finished for a week or two now (I think), but was awaiting time to actually photograph it. Click on the pictures as usual to make them bigger.

I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and at least I managed to get something painted in January amid the disruption of my night shifts.

I wish I could claim credit for the basing idea, using the mail box (by Megaminis I think), but I shamelessly stole it from another Pulp City fan; Tea Urn from Gog Online is the painter who deserves all credit (link here), and a great idea it was in my opinion - kudos to Tea Urn.

Riposte

Click to embiggenify.

I am glad this one is done. It has been a pain in the behind for me to be sure. Firstly my planned colour scheme just did not look right, and secondly I dropped it (maybe a couple of times), which necessitated repairs to re-fixing the sword arm and the mini to the base.

I like the model, and my end result is okay, maybe, but this particular painting experience has been frustrating at times - mainly due to my own clumsiness. I really like this sculpt by James Van Schaik, but it has nonetheless been an awkward process.

Oh well, done now. The original colour scheme had been intended to be a deep purple (which I kept) contrasting with a paler lilac or similar. the colour choice was influenced by Marvel Comics' the Swordsman, a former Avenger (so a complement to the Hawkeye them for Arquero). I just could not get a satisfactory colour for the lighter tone, so ended up with the blue-grey type colour here which works better I feel.

In game terms Riposte is no combat monster. Instead she is very much a finesse Supreme with Actions that benefit from considered use and planning - maximising benefits can require a little forethought and calculation by the player using her.

Arquero

So after a painting slump lasting maybe six or seven weeks (maybe a little more?), I have finally finished something. A pleasing turn of events for me.

Click to embiggen.

I loved this one from seeing the initial concept (as seen in the Pulp City Guide, p. 141), and when I got to see the green I was blown away.

It was awhile before it was then released and when I got hold of mine I was filled with enthusiasm, having a fairly clear plan for the paint schemes for Arquero and Riposte (the latter changing pretty quickly BTW), which was influenced by Marvel's Avengers (past and present) Hawkeye (Arquero, naturally) and Swordsman (Riposte, but subsequently changed).

However, my original enthusiasm waned with my most recent painting slump, which in turn was precipitated by painting so many Zombies in September I think, as well as other distractions. My painting tends to go in peaks and troughs.

So after posting about my slump, that seemed enough of a kick-start to return to Arquero yesterday who had a lot of work already done, and so finishing was fairly straight-forwards.

In game terms Arquero is useful in unaligned Teams and so is a good Supreme to consider for those Level 3's that build those kind of Teams, such as Dead Eye and Mysterious Man. Being part of a Super-Duo, Arquero is certainly more effective alongside Riposte. Finally, with his Melee Shot and Defensive Fire Actions his is an adept model when it comes to covering/protecting allied models, as well as having decent Ranged Combat Actions of course.

I am glad this is done - comments and criticism welcome.

I am still working at my photography, so I am fairly pleased with how sharp this one looks; still, more practice, practice and practice needed I think!

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!

Dark Solar/Solar

He took the mantle of Solar to wash the guilt off of his soul. Promising he’d never take another human life, Solar patrols the streets of Pulp City day and night, a loner constantly brooding over what might have been and will never be

The original 'spandex Supreme' has had a makeover (see Solar here), and what a makeover! The original divided opinion in some quarters I know, due to the cape (I have read comments elsewhere from posters who struggled with it, even though I thought it was a great solution to creating the appearance of Levitation), but I really liked the first iteration. This new one is probably even stronger in overall execution and the fact that it is single-piece makes assembly very simple. It is easy to see the evolution in the creation at the hands of a different sculptor.

I actually finished this a lot sooner than anticipated, starting it only as an afterthought along with Sovereign (and later Perun - all with a similar root palette), so it was pleasing for me to see it finished. I elected to continue my previous Solar colour scheme this time around. I decided against trying a free-hand version of the chest emblem as my confidence to do so is not sufficient - may next time when I try a different colour scheme.

In gaming terms Level 2 Solar (Hero) has had a bit of a makeover; nothing drastic, just some tweaks to better reflect how the game works now with more than 50 Supremes available, and the fact that he should have been able to fly all along!

Level 3 Dark Solar is a very powerful proposition; a Hero/Villain, he unites Nature Supremes as a very formidable force. His all-Nature Team Power generates an additional Power-Up die per Round; not to be taken lightly. Just as the Level 2 Solar is a fairly formidable option even as a Level 2, so too is Dark Solar relative to his Level 3 peers, armed with some powerful Damaging Actions (Tactica here). Along with Dead Eye he may be my current favourite Level 3 available.

Stalker

Recently Solar and his only long time companion, Stalker, are on the heels of the cultists that help Stygian to wake up the Forgotten.

A long time coming this one; the arrival of Stalker was heralded with the original appearance of Solar, both in his background and his rules. So when I was able to get my hands on one, I wanted to paint it straight-away, especially as Solar has been one of my favourite Supremes.

I painted this mini and another (to be seen very soon...) at the same time to try a slightly different approach to my normal 'black' technique, and I was quite pleased with the results, even if the photograph does not show the mini as well as I would like.

The 'new' technique involved using a dark blue-green as base colour rather than dark grey that I usually choose. That was highlighted up by mixing in greys and shaded with black and brown washes.

I enjoyed painting stalker and look forwards to getting him into a battle report sooner rather than later. It was nice to get some minis finished this week, so the next few days should see some more posts.