November Painting Summary

I gave it my best shot, and it may not be enough, but November was still my best Challenge month bar none. I painted 7 Pulp City minis that I had not painted before, and 3 others that I don't count against the Challenge.

I almost finished Skyline yesterday, but time and light got away from me, so hopefully today for him.

For November:
- Necro GI's (x2)
- Herald
- Gorgoroth, Taurus Captain
- Iron Train
- Grimm Digger
- Grimm Elder

That leaves 12 minis for December; unlikely, but we shall see how I get on.

Ziterdes Factory & Bank

I have ordered some more new buildings from Ziterdes to help grow my own urban cityscape. I have a few of the Ziterdes Apartment buildings, as well as the Victorian Townhouse (both seen in my Battle Reports) already, and as I soon as I learned of the new products I wanted to add them to the collection. The products are in this part of the Ziterdes web store.

Ziterdes Factory

Ziterdes Bank (3 floors)

As soon as I get hold of them I need to think of some re-paints; but that said I'll try a little summary review of the products on arrival.



Images copyright © Ziterdes.

From Beneath The Streets!

Just a picture of all of my Grimm so far, and something I may repeat as my collection of the little blighters grows.

What will be interesting is that when more Grimm are available, as Minions they may be mixed and matched to provide different ability combos; pretty nifty I reckon.

Grimmancer

Grimm seem to be evolving much faster than other species. Creatures are able to adapt themselves to specialized functions within their society.

As with the Hulking Grimm and Grimm Digger, the Grimmancer was sculpted by Christian Danckworth. I think he did a great job on all three and I hope that future Grimm are sculpted by him. Looking at the concept art for as-yet-unreleased Grimm in the Guide, there could be some fun minis forthcoming in the future.

Grimm Digger

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

Sculpted by Christian Danckworth, this is another of the first set of Grimm. These characterful little under-dwellers make frequent forays to the surface world under the bidding of their master.

The (currently available) Grimm can be fielded in a couple of ways: they can be used as Minions to be taken by any Faction; or they can be used as a Resource that provides some kind of boost, however this requires the presence of a Grimm Master or Superior Grimm Master in the same Team (Guide; Errata p. 137).

The Grimm Digger adds Immunity to Difficult Terrain and Ram to the abilities of a card of Grimm Minions.

Gorgoroth, Taurus Captain

Slave caste - Taurus: Enslaved natives of Ergo planet, blind creatures that resemble Earth's mythological minotaurs. They form spearhead units of ground invasions.

Gorgoroth, Taurus Captain, by Israel Gonzalez Mojarro (who also sculpted some of the other Ulthar) if the fourth of this growing Extra-Terrestrial Team that I have finished.

Initially I had tried to tie in the mini with the other Ulthar by attempting a very dark purple (near to black) hue on the fabric, but that looked rubbish, so I settled for a straight 'black' look. I have been using a red and purple colour theme, as well as the matching skin tone, on my Ulthar minis, and wanted that reflected in Gorgoroth, even though he is of a different species. It didn't work out so I may have another crack at it further down the line. In the mean-time he looks okay with the other Ulthar, so no rush to do another yet.

I mention 'okay' because that is my general feeling about the results. I like the mini, I think it is nicely sculpted and fitting in what it represents. I like my choice of basing, I just wish I had done a better job with the execution of the paint-job. It isn't terrible, but it is not very exciting either. Couple that with the dissatisfying way the metallic bits turned out, and I simply wish it was 'better'.

In game terms this guy is pretty tough; not so much due to his Traits, but based on a combination of Invincible 2 (reduce all Damage by 2) and 16 Damage. Thanks to needing to scent his prey (Gorgoroth is sightless), he is a little trickier to use than most bruising/brick types, but has some excellent Damaging Actions.

Iron Train

Tony was a simple man, working on the railroad before he became a Supreme. Iron Train is the iconic defender of Pulp City, loved by crowds and his colleagues in the Heavy Metal team. Relying on his supernatural resilience granted by the armor, Tony can withstand almost anything Villains bring to the battlefield.

I promised some new pictures, and here is the first. Iron Train (sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski - Degra) was one of the earliest Pulp City minis, yet it has taken me until only the past week or so to actually finish it. It has been in the 'part-painted' queue for quite some time, and this was my second attempt (the first was dunked in the stripping bath).

I am glad that the mini is finished, and although the paint-job is not brilliant, I am quietly pleased with how it turned out. Certainly not a professional standard, but good enough for me. And of course it helps to build up my Heavy Metal forces further. I liked this mini from the outset, but when I started slapping it with one of my old 'standby' paints (GW Bolt Gun Metal) it just looked a horrible mess. That was the turning point for me to try NMM, and while I have a long way to go, hopefully I am improving here and there.

On the gaming table Iron Train is a bit of a beast. While he has a lower than average AP Allowance, this is more than made up by his Trump Traits and Skills. Basically the guy is tough as nails and only really vulnerable when his Mind or Spirit is called on.

Iron Train can dish out a lot of hurt and can take it too; he can do well standing toe to toe even against a couple of other Strength Trump foes as I recently found out to my satisfaction. In that regard Iron Train is fairly forgiving, but don't get overconfident - Gemini Y can shut him down for the Round quite easily for as little as 2 AP (3 AP if trying to make it count with a Power-Up).

One of his greatest assets is shielding his Team-mates - don't overlook his capabilities in that area; he can take the Damage - most of the time.