Grimm Lee Chan

Grimm Lee Chan is my first painted Pulp City mini of 2017, and that means I am happy to have made a start right at the beginning of the year. Even better is the fact he has been hanging around the painting queue for a few months and is now done. I actually finished him a week or so ago, but was waiting to be able to spray varnish him.

The jumpsuit is a colour reversal of the classic Bruce Lee outfit as I am planning to do another model from the range in the classic yellow scheme with black arm stripes.

Grimm Lee Chan is one of the many Grimm available, and a Level 1 Brawler. He can also be used in The Way Teams. In The Way he has great synergy with White Tiger as she boosts his basic Attack die pool to 3 dice, which can help trigger his Power that allows reduced cost Follow Up Attacks. The Attack that this works on is Grimm Chucks which has an impressive Damage 2 as basic Effect (FX), itself pretty unusual for a Level 1 Supreme.

Not sure what will be painted next. Maybe Feartigo, although I have my eye on Scarab too, but really I should get White Tiger and/or Grimmsham done as soon as possible for their respective Factions, so time will tell!

Grimm Lee Chan
Hero/Villain, Brawler, Level 1, Nature
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

Youngblood

The latest addition to my Pulp City Supremes, Youngblood is the 127th mini I have painted from the range for my collection, and a pleasing addition for me, especially as it has been 4 years since I last added to the Blood Watch!

After finishing M.O.D., Amok and the selection of new Grimm before them, it has been nice to get a little renewed momentum for additions to a few different Factions.

Youngblood is a vampire child taken in to the Blood Watch fold. The Team has helped restrain the darker urges he experiences due to the power that lies within him, but even then they are not totally sure if he will stay on the side of good.

I really liked this concept as soon as I saw it, another great idea from Melvin. Part of the problem for us is ensuring that we can translate new concepts to sufficient sales to justify making minis from them all, which was part of the major reason why the first Kickstarter was so beneficial to a small company like Pulp Monsters as it gave us the opportunity to grow the range significantly.

In game terms, Youngblood is an interesting proposition. Like many other Level 1 Supremes he can be taken out by overwhelming Attacks, yet he has a couple of ways of Self/Healing, which opens up the possibility of increased durability, especially coupled with him having Stealth, Flight and a Self/Defend buff. He is an Infiltrator, and one that you can dump into an awkward position, knowing he can generate a few defensive dice and recover small amounts of Damage. Add in his ability to control Enemy Minions and he can offer some disruption to an opponent, while only using up one of your Team Levels.

Youngblood
Hero, Infiltrator, Level 1, Mystery
30 mm

M.O.D.

M.O.D. is the little Heavy Metal droid who could, and also the 126th mini I have painted for my own Pulp City collection!

I was eager to paint M.O.D. as soon as my own spoils from the KS campaign arrived, but settled on tackling a few Grimm first. Then I put a couple of colours on M.O.D. and got side-tracked by painting other minis (including Amok as well as stuff for other games). Once I finally [properly did some work, he was painted in a couple of hours in stages over the course of a day, so it was  nice to get him finished this week. The trickiest part was picking out the wire from his Walkman. I decided against trying any kind of logo on the cap simply as I had no ideas of what I wanted there, so kept it plain.

I had expected to finish Papa Zombie after Amok, but that didn't transpire, although I have made a start on the Coven Leader, and hopefully can get him finished in the next few days.

M.O.D. came into production because of last year's Kickstarter, and underscores that one of the biggest benefits of that campaign for us was to be able to add so many much-needed models to the range.

In game terms, M.O.D. is arguably the quintessential Support Supreme, yet unlike many other Supports in that he has no offensive capability whatsoever (Blood Rose and Virus excepted), which to me is a 'good thing'. Level 1 Supports are more efficient AP generators than Level 2's, but tend to be less hard-hitting. Therefore in lower Level games it is about finding the best fit when faced with a couple of Support options; larger games allow for a couple of Support models to be accommodated and their differences.

What M.O.D. offers is that his lack of attacking Actions is arguably an asset: it allows the player to focus on using him at what he is best at: repairs (Heal), and Attack and Defend buffs. This is boosted by the fact he can Activate immediately after a Friendly Heavy Metal Supreme (in the same Turn), meaning he can raise all important Shields of run a repair without losing the opportunity to attack with the preceding Supreme.

M.O.D.
Hero, Support, Level 1, Science
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!

Grimmancer (2)

Click to enlarge-icate

After the Fall, the Grimm have changed. They have grown more powerful, and increasingly there are new enclaves that have been found under the city’s boroughs.

Not my best work, but this has sat unfinished for months, so I was determined to get him out of the painting queue at the weekend. I actually enjoyed finishing the mini more than the preceding stops and starts which may explain why I was able to finish him quite quickly (I say quickly; that is relative to the months of stagnation on the work!).

In the current edition Grimm are a Minion or Resource option; in the SE version expect them to change and be something more, even though it may be a while before they re-appear fully. Be sure that they are not gone though!

Getting this one done has reignited my enthusiasm so I hope I can finish a few more Pulp City minis in June; I have 3 Terror Cotta Warriors and Night Fright & Leech part painted so they need to be my priorities.

Before they appear though, expect another Pulp City minis post or two in the next few days...

Digger Grimm (2)

Click to embiggenate

There is a hive mind structure to Grimm activities and behavior; some claim that it is actually a human that pulls the strings.

My second Digger Grimm (I qualified for two sets by ordering a ton of stuff when the offer was up way back when...). This was supposed to be finished by last Wednesday, or Friday (28th or 30th), to meet my deadline for Super-November, but therein lies a tale.

My original plan for the 4th and final Super-November mini was Foxxy Blade,  but I dropped her on the floor, breaking off her pinned arm (which never had a strong enough pin in the first place). I glued said arm back, but had to green-stuff it and the job on THAT was bodged as it was rushed. In addition, as her main colour is yellow, that meant multiple layers on the join to get back up to speed, but by then it was clear she needs that arm re-pinning and I had no time. So this Digger Grimm became the back-up plan, but there was not enough time to finish it alas. It was finally finished today.

I will get back to Foxxy Blade soon, but will take time to get things right. In the mean-time I have just one Grimm left to paint at this time (another Elder), and I am creeping ever closer to painting my 100th Pulp City mini, and closer to my 90th unique Pulp City sculpt.

I really must cajole Maciej  into getting other Grimm into production as they are fun sculpts and nice to paint; I want hordes of these guys one day.

Tanuki

Outside of the closed ranks of the Jade Cult, Tanuki’s origin is veiled in secrecy, and even within that terrible society few know the truth. One of the Jade Cult's mysterious spirit-oni’s, Tanuki is probably the least loyal of that kind, even if ultimately he is the only one that recognizes that fact.

My third of a planned four Super-November minis, Tanuki has been a long time in coming, although not so long in painting!

I started this just after the launch of this shared challenge with Rob, and the bulk has been painted in the past few days. I found it quite an enjoyable mini to paint, with nice areas and textures to work on. That said, with my new job (I say new; been in post two months), I do not get much day-time to paint in, so Tanuki has mostly been painted at night, which has played havoc with the dark greens, so if anything looks a bit ropy, I blame the lighting! Ahem...

This is the first Pulp City mini for my own collection for quite some time. In game-play Tanuki is very much a Support Supreme, there to help his Team-mates through his unique Actions; he certainly has his own little niche, and is quite unlike any of the other Jade Cult.

With the Terror Cotta Warriors and Green Emperor on the horizon Jade Cult is near to be able to field a sizable Team.

I do think this is a really fun mini, and one I probably enjoyed painting and that I am happier with than any other this year.

I have veered away from my usual Villain colour motif (good old purple!), but hey, the Team is called the Jade Cult after all!

Next up for Super-November? Well that would be telling...

Harrier (Paint The City Pink)

Okay, Super-November (title subject to change based on better suggestions) is underway for Rob and me; one mini per week as a minimum deadline for the month.

So what to paint first? Well for me it was a case of finishing my contribution to Hendybadger's Paint The City Pink initiative. Harrier is now done and will be headed to Hendybadger pretty soon I hope, with just some varnish needed.

This is the second Harrier (first is here) I have painted and I think it is a nicely sculpted mini, and even though one of the earlier Pulp City sculpts, still a strong concept in my opinion. Finishing the mini was eventually quite nice as I enjoy painting flesh tone like this more and more these days, finding it more straightforwards than I used to.

Sorry that the pictures are a bit grainy - I think I placed the mini much further back than usual when setting up, but sine i needed to post to hit the deadline, I am stuck with the pictures as taken.

I implore readers to look at Hendybadger's Paint The City Pink initiative, and to try and support it if they can - it is in a very good cause.

As for Super-November? Well I have three more minis in various stages of painting and one other in the 'would like to get done' queue. Stay tuned...

Shadow Mask

Chronin still keeps the Shadow Mask’s finely crafted blade. She is fully aware that in the Green Emperor’s court, there is always a Shadow Mask and one day, he or she will come to reclaim the sword along with Yuriko’s life. But she will be more than ready.

In the background of Pulp City there have been many Shadow Mask's, personal agents of the fearsome Green Emperor. The fledgling Hero called Chronin dispatched a previous Shadow Mask, and now another has arisen to take on the mantle. yet this one is possibly deadlier and certainly more feral than his predecessor.

 My painting has been slowed by a combination of working night shifts (never conducive to my painting it seems) and engaging in bits of writing and development work. So even though this is not the best paint-job I have done, I am still quietly pleased that it is finished. I have decided that I will try and include at least a flash of the same green colour across all the Jade Cult that I do, and I may go for a 'black and green' scheme for the whole Team to help tie them together. I have a Ninja Sensei coming up soon that will hopefully help firm up that idea.

In game play Shadow Mask is all about sneaking up on enemy models then bringing some brutal attacks to bear. I need to probably pick up another so I can do a Shadow Double (one of his Exclusive Actions which allows a second self to appear; the double is likely just going to be a dark grey mini with basic highlights).

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.

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!

Moonchild/Moon Coyote

This teenage Native American is a werecoyote, choosing between here human support form and coyote speeder form. She belongs to Blood Watch but thanks to the half of the Moon Amulet, under certain conditions, she may be fielded in The Coven.

The human-coyote hybrid form (Moonchild) was sculpted by James van Schaik, and the animal form (Moon Coyote) by Jarek Smolka. A quick paint-job this on as I painted both minis together and there is little variation of colours on offer on either.

I like to think the paint-jobs are pretty understated, but fitting I feel, and I have pretty much used the official versions as a broad template, even including a magenta half moon motif to help break-up the look of ther tunic as with the studio version.










Just as Moonchild/Moon Coyote allows Loup Garou II to be fielded as a Blood Watch Hero, so the reverse is true: Loup Garou II allows Moonchild/Moon Coyote to be used as a The Coven Villain. Lots of Team-buildings combinations available there then.









In game-play Moonchild/Moon Coyote is a Shapeshifter, with each form having some specialisation, but overall offering a Supreme specialised in Support and mobility.











Further out it hopefully won't be too long before Blood watch can field their own Level 12 Team with at least a couple more Supremes lined up.

Stinger, Scorpio Fencer

Schooled in the mastery of Scorpio armour: a masterpiece of Ulthar craft providing the warrior with deadly blades and good protection.

I finished this one quite quickly which probably shows in some places, although some aspects of the paint-work I am pretty happy with (some of the use of sharp highlights for example). The mini sat with a base coat of dark green for a number of weeks (months?) before my recent move. As I gathered some motivation for painting again I set to work just as I was finishing Sovereign and Stinger ended up being done much more quickly than most of my minis.

I wanted the palette to remain quite tight across the Ulthar minis I have. Therefore the colourchoicess for Stinger, Scorpio Fencer would be limited, although the armour utilized a slightly different approach than that which I employed for Xyllian. I have tended to go for purple robes and cloth and green armour for the Ulthar (classic Marvel villain colours!), although Stinger lacks the same cloth options of many of the rest of the range.

In game terms Stinger is a melee specialist and interceptor – perfect for foiling close combat attacks on your more vulnerable Team-members.