Apophis, the Shadow of Chaos and the Pulp Alley Horror Deck

Apophis, the Shadow of Chaos

Pulp Alley Horror Deck

I've just seen on the Khorosho Productions blog that a new Pulp Alley Horror Deck is up for pre-order along with the rather terrifying Apophis, the Shadow of Chaos miniature.

As well as the rule book, supplements and various decks, I have all the Pulp Alley miniatures...patiently waiting on the lead pile for their turn to grace Matt Slade's paint table! So I have, of course, pre-ordered both of these, too. Now I really do need to dig the books and cards out and actually give Pulp Alley a go!

The Brothers Magnusson - Blood Eagle Warband

The Brothers Magnusson

So I've just finished up a warband to oppose the Troldfolk for our first game of Blood Eagle this weekend...the Magnusson brothers, renowned explorers and fearsome raiders!

	Fate	FV	SV	Speed	AR	Cost	Traits	Equipment
Ulf Magnusson	3(+)	(+)4	(+)2	0	12	79	Leadership +2 Beserk Fanatic Hero (3 Hero Points) Tough	Mail Hauberk and Shield (12) Sword, Long (+3 FV, -1 Fate) Dagger (+1 FV, -1 Fate)
Bjorn Magnusson	3(+)	(+)4	(+)2	0	12	66	Fanatic Hero (2 Hero Points) Tough	Mail Hauberk and Shield (12) Axe, One-Handed (+3 FV, -1 Fate, Sundering) Dagger (+1 FV, -1 Fate)
Rolf Magnusson	3(+)	(+)3	(+)1	(+)1	8	49	Chosen Fanatic Hero (2 Hero Points) Magical Powers (Wyrd) -Shapeshift (Wolf)	Leather (8) Axe, Throwing (+2 FV, -1 Fate)
Warriors	4(+)	(+)3	(+)2	0	9	27/28	Tough Fortitude	Shield (9) Sword, Long (+3 FV, -1 Fate) or Axe, One-Handed (+3 FV, -1 Fate, Sundering)

Ulf Magnusson

Bjorn Magnusson

Rolf Magnusson

The Warband

For those who are interested, I've uploaded a PDF of the warband onto Google Drive here and Dropbox here. Feel free to download a copy.

All figs were painted for me by Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games.

The Warrior and the Priest...for Blood Eagle!

Brodir of Man 

Matt Slade recently finished a couple more figs to go with my Northmen (you can see the rest here and here). First of all, Brodir of Man from Gripping Beast...

This has to be one of my favourite minis ever! Bags of character! And then there is the Pagan Priest...

Another great sculpt with loads of character. I'm looking forward to making up a Blood Eagle warband around these chaps and hopefully getting our first game in next weekend!

New Artizan FOG VSF Sailors

North Star recently posted up a pic on their Facebook page of these wonderful VSF Sailors which will be available from next week as part of Artizan's Midnight Workshop FOG range. Lovely figs that I will certainly be adding to the pile FOG stuff I already have waiting for their turn to be painted!

Steampunk Victoria Latest Giants-in-Miniature from Wargames Illustrated

Just noticed that the latest Giants-in-Miniature offering from Wargames Illustrated is up for pre-order on their website here. Would do very nicely for In Her Majesty's Name. 

Bêlit, Queen of the Black Coast

Bêlit, Queen of the Black Coast

Here are a few more figs that I've recently had back from the inimitable Matt Slade's paint table. These are for our Dragon Rampant, Frostgrave and Open Combat games.

First up is a superb figure from Hasslefree...Xanthia. She's probably a little underdressed for Frostgrave but will do perfectly as Bêlit, Queen of the Black Coast, for Conan games.

Hasslefree - Xanthia

Then there are two Red Box figures that will fit in perfectly with our Northern Tribes warband for Dragon Rampant as well as for our Frostgrave and Open Combat games.

Red Box - Ullr the Red

Red Box - Fearless Hvitarnor

Here they are all together...

Bêlit and her barbarians!

Matt has, as always, done a superb job on these figs!

COUNTERBLAST from Bombshell Miniatures

I'm a lucky chap! Dave Taylor of Dave Taylor Miniatures (thanks, Dave!) suggested to Patrick Keith of Bombshell Miniatures that I might be interested in their Pulp Sci-fi game, COUNTERBLAST. He was right! As a fan of all things Pulp, Bombshell Miniatures' fantastic sculpts had been on my radar for a while. The combination of 1930s Pulp serial vibe and 1970s re-imagining of the genre is my kind of sci-fi. How could it not be? I grew up in the 1970s watching my namesake, Flash Gordon, on Saturday mornings...and then Star Wars came along and changed my 7 year-old life forever!  

Well, yesterday I got (via Wendy Cooper at Westwind Productions, the UK distributor for Bombshell Miniatures) a big box of COUNTERBLAST goodies! Incredibly generous of both Patrick and Wendy. Thank you both! Behold! 

There are enough miniatures in the box for a faction of Lancers (smugglers, traders and mercenaries)...here are some pics from Bombshell Miniatures of them all painted up...

Lancer Captain

Lancer Plugger

Lancer Plugger

Lancer Brute

Lancer Lanceguard

Lancer HOpR Bot

...and a faction from the Neiran Empire (a matriarchal society dominated by a female warrior caste)...here are some pics of them all painted up.

Neiran Jamad

Neiran Clansister

Neiran Scythesister 

Neiran Acolyte

The rule book itself is a pocket-sized paperback with a superbly evocative cover. From the blurb...


"COUNTERBLAST is a setting of classic pulp sci-fi adventure, fast paced action with cinematic thrills, evocative of the serials that captivated the imaginations of the generation before.

So, grab your particle beam cannons, set your puslar rays on disintegrate, and blast off to the ether in your ultonium-powered rocketship. Battle strange creatures with ancient and wicked artifacts bent on destroying all peace-loving species of the galaxy. Explore far flung worlds with undiscovered alien ruins containing hidden secrets of lost civilizations. The COUNTERBLAST Adventure Battle Game takes you there!"

I'm looking forward to giving this a proper read over the next week or so and getting an idea of how the game plays. You can download the Beta version of the rules directly from the Bombshell Miniatures' COUNTERBLAST page here to check it out for yourselves. Patrick also mentioned that there will be a Kickstarter in July for a Deluxe version of the rulebook and some new Faction sets. Can't wait to see the new figs! You can keep up-to-date with all things COUNTERBLAST on the Bombshell Miniatures Facebook page here.

So now I'm all excited about my first foray into Sci-fi wargaming! These will all get sent off to Matt Slade's paint table forthwith so he can give them the paint job they deserve. I'm already planning on picking up some more figures to complement the ones I've been sent...

Skip Westmoreland

Wanda Whitestar

Lancer Clipper

Science Officer Helen Salinger

Betty

Tillie, Fighter Pilot

...and I shall get a game in with the boy soon. I have to say he is even more excited than me at the prospect of some Pulp Sci-fi gaming. He loves the look of the miniatures and, well...ray guns in space! What more can I say!

New Christian Priests from Footsore Miniatures

And some more new releases. This time some superb Christian Priests from Footsore Miniatures. We seem to be spoilt for choice at the moment for Dark Age priests...but then one can never have enough priests for Dark Ages wargaming! These are going on the wishlist, too!

New Artizan FOG Red Planet Releases

Chief Engineer Coombes

Heavy Infantryman Stewart

Marksman Van Cuyper

Artizan have released three new figures in their Midnight Workshop FOG range for the Red Planet. Superb figs! I love the FOG range and have all the figures patiently awaiting their turn to grace Matt Slade's paint table.

Troldfolk Warband for Blood Eagle

Across the northern lands, tales are told of large, blue-skinned creatures of great strength that live hidden away in the remote mountains, hills and hidden valleys of the frozen north. Known as Troldfolk ("troll-folk") or Huldrefolk ("hidden-folk"), there seem to be two distinct types of creature with a common ancestry: the lowland trolls, bigger and stronger than their smaller cousins but more slow-witted, and the highland trolls, smaller (though still much larger and stronger than man), more beast-like and more agile. Both types of troll often wield large clubs made from trees, branches or animal bones and are known for hurling large boulders and rocks. 

	Fate	FV	SV	Speed	AR	Cost	Traits	Equipment
Lowland Troll	3(+)	(+)4	(+)2	0	121	78	Gift of Ice Strong Terrifying Tough	Stone Axe (as Two-Handed Axe) (-2 Fate Mod, +4 Atk Bonus) Large Boulder (as Spear) (9”, -2 Fate Mod, +2 Atk Bonus)
Highland Troll	4(+)	(+)3	(+)2	(+)1	102	43	Gift of Ice Skirmisher Stealthy Strong	Large Club (+2 Atk Bonus) Small Boulder (as Javelin) (9”, -1 Fate Mod, +1 Atk Bonus)

1Natural Troll Hide

2Tough Hide

For those who are interested, I've uploaded a PDF of the above to Google Drive here and Dropbox here. Feel free to download a copy. 

Trolls, Giants and Yeti

I recently got my most recent lot of minis back from Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games. As always he's done a superb job painting these up for me. This month it was a bit of a mixed bag so first of all I thought I'd show off the Copplestone Yetis and North Star Frost Giant.

I intend to use these as Troldfolk for Blood Eagle as well as trolls, giants and yetis for Frostgrave and Dragon Rampant.

Copplestone Yeti, North Star Frost Giant and North Star Snow Troll