Feartigo

Feartigo is my second Pulp City mini of the year, making for a better start than 2016 (although I had a very good February).

I got inspired to do him when I saw someone else had painted theirs up, helping motivate me. As I had a few days off work (a lot spent assembling terrain), I felt confident I would get him finished without him falling into 'painting queue limbo', and thankfully that proved accurate. With all the browns he was going to have I thought the purple/magenta trousers would make a nice counterpoint while sticking with my colour vocabulary for Villains.

In terms of game-play, Feartigo straddles two Factions, as a Necroplane agent who has infiltrated the Coven ranks through subterfuge, secretly serving Dr. Tenebrous, but whose loyalties may be uncertain for either side. Painting him adds my first new Coven in fifteen months, and my first new Necroplane in three and half years! At least one of those Teams needs to make it to the table this year I think.

Feartigo is a Blaster with added durability, whose Actions all work against Spirit (ideal against A.R.C. or Heavy Metal). His added durablity is due to the fact that he has two defensive Trumps, adds +1 die to Defend when Attacked out of Base to Base, and because he also Damages Attackers who Damage him with Mind or Spirit Actions. Basically, as an overall package he can be a nasty surprise for an unwary opponent, especially as his main Attack will typically generate 4 dice against Living Targets.

Feartigo
Villain, Blaster, Level 2, Mystery
30 mm

100 Voices

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chernobog

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

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

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

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

Chernobog
Villain, Brawler, Level 2, Nature
30 mm

Mr. Kraken

Mr. Kraken is the 130th mini I have painted for my own Pulp City collection, and after losing a lot of painting momentum overall in the past month or so, it has been nice to get another mini finished, especially for Pulp City and more especially for the Forgotten.

The paint job was done pretty quickly simply because I needed to feel as though I had finished something. I struggled with some of the highlighting to be honest, but it is done.

As soon as we devised the concept of Mr. Kraken I knew it was a mini I would look forward to painting - who doesn't like the idea of a Lovecraftian corporate raider!

In game terms, Mr. Kraken is a Blaster whose Actions offer Damage, Mind Control and Suppress as FX. He also excels at targeting models with Trump MIND (who often will also have Trump SPIRIT, the Trait which defends against his Actions). Like all members of the forgotten, Mr. Kraken is a dangerous proposition - their downside as a team is that they are mostly Level 2 Supremes, meaning they will often be outnumbered, and they will often struggle to generate AP without good planning. His biggest weakness will be his low non-Trump AGILITY, making him a ripe target for sniper types who can stand off at good range (such as Gentleman, Ba-Boom and Trojan).

Mr. Kraken
Villain, Blaster, Level 2, Mystery
40 mm

Papa Zombie

Papa Zombie has been in a state of being part-painted for at least a couple of months, probably longer, so finishing him is pleasing to say the least. Over on my Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer blog I am participating in Zomtober, so it felt only apt to try and complete work on Papa Zombie during that time.

I am not sure why I stopped working on Papa Zombie after starting him, except to say that is how it tends to go for me. Colours-wise I had a slight false start on his trousers, but after that knew how I wanted him to look. Finishing him takes me to 129 painetd Pulp City minis in my collection and fills out my painted Coven a little more - at present I still have Feartigo and L.O.A. to go.

In game terms Papa Zombie is not a front line fighter like some other Leaders (for example Dead Eye, V.H., Ra'Leigh, and Dark Solar and others). Instead he offers a number of abilities that don't deal significant direct Damage, but instead enhance the threat of his own Team through Mind Control, additional Minions, and even creating Minion 'bombs'. He also has one of the most devastating Leader Cards which can automatically Stun every Enemy model (barring those who are Immune/Stun of course); time it right and not only do Targets become easier to hit, but suddenly movement bonuses are negated - great against ARC and Necroplane in particular.

I am not sure what is next up for my Pulp City painting; I'd like to get something done for ARC (Red Bella, Ba-Boom or Robo-chimp), and definitely want to finish off the new starter set minis (I still have Anansi, new Nuke, Tekkna and new Ace of Wraiths to do). I set a modest target for the year of 12 Pulp City minis and still have 3 more to do to meet that which should be manageable - anything extra will be a welcome bonus.

Papa Zombie
Villain, Leader, Level 3, Mystery
30 mm

V.H.

V.H. is my second Blood Watch Supreme (after Youngblood) in less than a month, after a spell of not painting any Blood Watch minis for four years - it is funny how these things turn out!

I admit, I am far from the most disciplined of painters, and certainly not an especially productive one, so each time a mini is finished, I am pleased, even if my output is erratic and somewhat sporadic at times. What does help focus me is a deadline for a specific purpose. In this instance the annual Hallowe'en Madness game is coming up, and I want V.H. on the table for that game!

By my standards this was a very quick paint-job, being finished in a couple of hours over around 3-4 sessions in one day, and I am satisfied with the final result even if not my best work. Right now, getting stuff finished is most important for me, as I see painted minis as the means to the end of playing games, and the latter is my favourite part of the hobby. I think finishing the mini so quickly was feeling sufficiently motivated by the deadline necessitated by the upcoming game. It has also helped get me one more painted mini closer to my target of 12 Pulp City minis this year, and is the 128th Pulp City mini I have painted for my collection.

In game terms V.H. can be potentially very hard-hitting if she is used smartly, as she has an Action allowing easier EFX achievement and always rolls at least 3 dice for Action Rolls. Her biggest downside is that her primary Trait for Damage-dealing purposes is Agility 6, which is lower in value than most other Leader's primary Damage-dealing Trait, but should still be sufficient against most Targets. Unlike most Leaders, V.H. does not bring any Minions as a matter of course, so her Team are very much dependent on their own
resources without that extra support available from expendable Minions.

V.H.
Hero, Leader, Level 3, Mystery
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

Amok

Amok is the 125th Pulp City mini I have painted for my collection, and it feels like something of a milestone to have done so - the 125th mini needed to be something big, and Amok certainly is big!

Painting Amok was mostly a nice switch of pace after painting some recent Grimm, contrasting in size especially. Amok is a member of The Way, and stands somewhere between 60-65 mm in height (he is mounted on a 50 mm base), so he is a big mini. Doing the flesh was nice and quick, but after that it felt slow to finish, even though I only started it last week; I forgot how hard work I find it to paint bigger models, even one with a simple scheme like Amok. In all, I have painted a fair number of models in the past couple of months over a few ranges, so it is nice to have a decent level of productivity.

One of the greatest benefits of last year's successful Kickstarter was being able to make Powerhouses for the main Factions that did not yet have them. Melvin de Voor did yet another brilliant job with the concept and James Van Schaik turned in a great sculpting job based on that IMHO. As soon as we all saw where Amok was heading we were very pleased!

Amok's massive form is due to his physical body being infested by a spirit of rage. The peaceful man that he was seeks to contain that mystical anger-fuelled power, but it remains ever-present.

In game terms Amok is one of the strongest Powerhouses there is. He also has Dice+ at the lowest end of Powerhouses. However that is mitigated by accumulating Power Up dice and spending them well - if he adds 3 Power Up dice to an attack, he can add 2 more for free! Basically he is designed to be used more aggressively than most other Powerhouses. This is really emphasised by his Power Takedown and Throw combo; Power Takedown can generate a Grab & Throw EFX to allow Amok to use the Target as a missile, adding another Damage 1 to the Target of the Power Takedown as well as whatever Damage is caused to the Target of the Throw!


Amok
Hero, Powerhouse, Level 3, Mystery
50 mm

Comte Vendredi

Comte Vendredi
Villain, Support, Level 2, Mystery 
40 mm

It has been far too long since my last painted Pulp City mini. I can only apologise!

Comte Vendredi is a minor spirit who has grasped power within the Coven, with particular mastery over the ranks of the Dead Guard. The mini depicts the tiny entity atop the shoulder of a Dead Guard host/platform.

In game terms, Comte Vendredi is a formidable and very durable Level 2 Support, especially when compared to comparable Level 2 Support models in other Factions.

I knew in general terms how I wanted to tackle Comte Vendredi as soon as I saw the mini, however when I started painting it my choice of green felt wrong, and that stalled motivation, until I over-painted the green with a different shade at a much later date, and I knew then how I wanted to proceed.

Comte Vendredi is the 120th Pulp City mini that I have painted. I have just today done a little projection of how many more minis I will need to paint to paint everything currently available now and due with the Kickstarter, plus a couple more duplicates, and it looks like I have a whopping 70 or so minis to go - let alone what future plans we have for further out! I really must start finishing more Pulp City minis much more quickly!

Aurelius (New Villain Starter)

Aurelius
Villain, Tank, Level 2, Mystery
30 mm 

Okay, okay, my last 'welcome' post stated that I planned to paint one of those minis I have not yet finished, but after a painting slump in May I had to go with motivation, and since I felt motivated to paint this, it is what got done!

Aurelius has mastered the art of alchemy and turned that mastery to himself, his body transformed into gold.

When we formulated the Roles for the Supreme Edition, Tanks went through a few changes until we were happy. We wanted as many different Roles as possible in the new Starter sets which meant we wanted a Tank. Unlike a lot of Level 2 Tanks however, Aurelius is a bit different. He is only on a 30mm base, but compensates with better AP generation.

We also wanted straightforward Powers and Actions for the new Starter minis, but that does not stop them having subtleties which will be clear when people get gaming with them.

I love this sculpt by James Van Schaik, and it is unmistakably Pulp City in style. I can definitely see Aurelius being used to bodyguard Mysterious Man in future games. Of course thanks to the new Leader Cards, any team will be able to use pretty much any Supreme, which of course includes Aurelius.

Pulp City Minis Painted: 119

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.

Night Fright & Leech

Click to enlarge-ify

Night Fright gently eased Leech into a turn towards the primary portal. They were both ready to feast on the horrors in the souls of any unfortunates whose paths crossed their own. Yet somewhere deep down, Night Fright could not escape the feeling he had experienced something very much like this once before.

As ever, this has taken a while to finish!

I finally got around to assembling the mini in January (see here for the WiP) when I worked out how I wanted to manage to lift the model up. I did not want to use a transparent strut, and I did not want it to be attached by an object, since more often than not neither is too satisfactory a solution for my liking. I have seen some flying/leaping models lately supported by capes and trailing cloth, and that gave me inspiration when I saw some smoke effects from Tabletop Art.

I had a plan.

And like any plan, and as any regular reader of this blog know, my painting plans rarely survive contact with the enemy; the enemy in this case being my ever-fleeting motivation.

Well motivation returned in the past few weeks and it is finally complete. I am pretty pleased with the outcome and think that this very cool sculpt by Paul Muller will both fit in with and stand out from my Necroplane and wider collection of Villains.

In a nutshell, Night Fright is some kind of unliving remnant, possibly from outside the Necroplane, and he rides atop Leech, the wildest of the Nightmare Engines.

In the upcoming Pulp City SE, Night Fright & Leech is a Level 2 Speeder. Speeders can use more Movement Actions than other Roles. they are much, much faster as a consequence, but generally less hard-hitting. Except when it comes to Night Fright & Leech. This Nonliving partnership has one of the most powerful Overrun Actions in the new rules; an Action Type that allows a model to crash through a number of Targets at once. Arguably the only better Overrun may be Seabolt's, but that should be clear when the new rules are formally unleashed.

For my Necroplane, currently I have Doom Train and the soon to be released Papa Zombie and Comte Vendredi to complete. There are a few other Pulp City minis I have yet to finish so hopefully soon I will have more done to show off. The horror-themed Necroplane could be a cool choice for this year's Hallowe'en Madness, so I must get chatting to Rob about that very soon.

Green Emperor

The Green Emperor twisted his broken sword in the chest of the Phoenix and the fire died in her eyes. Indeed, the times had truly changed. He turned around looking for the Tiger, but she was nowhere to be found. It mattered not, for they were writing a completely new history this time.

Click to embiggen my imperial majesty

Okay, this was a pleasant surprise to myself - started last Saturday and finished within a few days, which does not follow my usual pattern M.O.; that usually means starting a model, blocking stuff out and moving only to return weeks, months, or even occasionally years later...

So Green Emperor is done. I purposefully used a very limited palette: 5 base colours including 3 greens, each highlight in a different way; blue-green (sword), with some thin glazes; and dark grey for the hair.

While not my best work, I am happy with how it turned out, especially given the time I took for turnaround - it has helped stoke my enthusiasm more, so much so that I am determined to finish my 3 Terror Cotta Warriors and maybe my Shadow Double this month.

Green Emperor's game rules for the current edition have been released (here), but suffice to say he comes with the usual plethora of rules that one expects for a Level 3, and one of the cool things is he unlocks the feature to allow up to 3 Terror Cotta Warriors to be taken in a Jade Cult Team.

However, in the upcoming SE I think he comes into his own; Actions that required a lot of text have been translated into our new Action Bar approach. In addition, we have taken a more comprehensive view when revising everything to hopefully make everything have its own relative worth. Well for me Green Emperor will offer not only a Leader, but a very capable front-line combatant, with the opportunity to unleash truly overwhelming attacks in the right circumstances and with the right choices; those choices mean accepting he cannot do as much as could otherwise, but offers him a brutal way of influencing the battle directly.

Anyway, enough words, I hope to post something else quite soon so 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...

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...

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).

Crimson Oni

Wow. I have painted a new mini; it has been a while has it not?

For me this has been a long gestation period. Even before having the mini in hand, I have been 'working' with Crimson Oni for what seems like a long time - 20-21 months ago working from the brief I was given, Crimson Oni took shape in rules terms; and took further shape, and changed again, and again and again. And that is all part of the process I guess.

Anyone remember the 'mysterious stranger in red' from Christmas Madness 2010? Part of Crimson Oni's play-testing!

It has been weird and enjoyable  taking a concept that was sketched out by someone else, but then putting what is inevitably my own stamp on things. While by the end it is not a single voice that creates the rules for these guys - Maciej, Devon and me will all argue things in different ways to make things as good as we can - I will take the rap for anything you are not happy with with Crimson Oni.

In game terms he is a beast in melee; he does not necessarily have the best close combat Traits and Skills, but he has some potent Actions meaning he can deliver a lot of punch, and yes, Five Point Exploding Heart Technique was always intended to be particularly deadly. He can mix it with the best of them so enemies should approach with caution.

I know some may think that the Little Asia guys have come out of nowhere- basically the Jade Cult and Crimson Oni and Foxxy Blade - but the seeds have been around throughout the history of the game's fluff; Chronin faced and killed an earlier incarnation of Shadow Mask in her fluff, and Green Emperor is mentioned there; there has been mention of the Green Army (the original name for what is now Jade Cult) going back that far; in the Guide p. 103 has a couple of paragraphs hinting at what was (and still is!) to come, as well as showing the Crimson Oni and Foxxy Blade concepts.

The coolest thing about Pulp City for me is that the potential is pretty much limitless, and that is in a game with lost of Sub-factions as well as playing from mixed Teams.

Back onto the mini, when I thought I had finished it the other day I realised after taking photographs I had forgotten to paint his lower teeth - that has since been rectified.

Hopefully I will be able to feature him in a new Battle Report soon.

Loup Garou II

Loup Garou II is the second of his name to work for the Coven. Though Hoodoo has slain the orginal Loup Garou this new incarnation is entirely different. His fragment of the Moon Talisman transforms him into half man half beast. A creature of uncontrolled savagery he seeks out his enemies and rips them limb from limb.

Sculpted by Erick Redling - his first foray into Pulp City I believe, this Loup Garou is the second known bearer of the name.

A big brute of a dread-locked werewolf, I was very eager to get painting on this one. Alas a bit of paitence would have helped since I noticed that as I was painting there were parts I did not prep adequately enough.

Loup Garou II is a real combat monster in every sense of the description. Normally a Villain, if Teamed with Moonchild/Moon Coyote, he then becomes Blood Watch and a Hero! Very useful!

Forgive the funny angle on the pictures - I was trying out a new mini tripod and so will need to elevate the minis if using it again in the future.

Red Baron

The ace of the skies.

The Red Baron was very much my ‘grail miniature’ for a long time. Once I set out to paint every single miniature for the Pulp City line, I quickly came across the simple issue that even if I painted every currently available mini, including limited splash availability releases such as June Summers which I was lucky to have, that I would not have a ‘complete collection’ if I did not have a painted Red Baron.

And so began the search.

The search was not so dramatic as I try and make it sound. Basically posting on various fora periodically, saying I was looking to get hold of a copy of this mini. Eventually I got lucky and someone was willing to part with their own undercoated copy. A deal was struck. It arrived shortly thereafter, and I needed to create a minor repair to a foot (the mini is resin) and then of course I decided I needed to finish as many other Pulp City minis as possible before starting it. Well when I realized that I only had 5 minis remaining, including one I could not start yet due to a missing part, and including the 3 Hadrons who I am still trying to work out what to do next with, then I felt it was time to get cracking, and get cracking I did. The mini was painted in a couple of days and I am fairly satisfied with the outcome as it allowed me to work on a couple of techniques (the leather shine/sharp highlight effect on boots and coat), and I like the final colour scheme.

I have not gamed with the Red Baron yet, and he will probably be relegated to specially devised Encounters simply as he is a powerful proposition. When I do game with him, have no doubt a suitable Battle Report will follow!

Sovereign

Sovereign is more of an idea passed down the generations than a real man of flesh and blood.

My first new mini post in almost 2 and half months; moving house had a considerable effect on my output. On the plus side, painting/finishing off this latest batch was 'easier' than painting has felt for a while, probably due to the break I have had.

I picked Sovereign up at Salute 2011; Maciej was determined to get him ready for then and didn't fail. I even used the 'studio' version to run Pulp City demo games with on the day, and so trust me when I say he is one tough hombre.

I knew straight away I wanted a red-white-and-blue primary theme, even if I did not trust myself to accurately render a coloured version of the union flag mounted as part of his body armour - hence that painted as I continue to persevere with hopefully improving my NMM technique. Still a long way to go, however.

Sovereign is one of the first 'Direct Only' minis from pulp City, intended to be available from the Pulp City/Pulp Monsters web store and at some conventions and shows. I love the design even if it isn't to everyone's tastes; to me it strongly echoes typical 2000 AD style characters and so is a nice reflection of the difference between British and American comics characters.