ZOMBTOBER Zombies

So a friend of mine invited me to join a challenge for the month of October called ZOMBTOBER. It's not a contest or competition, just a challenge to see how many zombies I can get painted up before November.

So for y'all's pleasure...here is my progress.

                                                         

Enjoy! Comments and critique welcome!

So After a Long Hiatus...

I'm back. Kind of, sort of haha.

It's been a long (I can't even remember how long) time since I last updated/posted anything on here, and to my few followers I do sincerely apologize.  Speaking of followers, I'd like to shout out to Andy, over at http://littleleadheroes.blogspot.com/ Welcome buddy!

So what have I been up to...hmmm where to start? Okay, so on the home front, I'm no longer in WV.  I accepted a substantially better job in KS, which is where I am from, and have moved my base of operations back to the midwest. Life, school, and my son have taken up almost all my time, hence the lack of blogging.  I do believe though that that is going to change dramatically as things calm down.

On the hobby front, I have been slowly discovering bits and pieces, planning, learning a lot about painting, and actually painting some figures (shocking, yes!).  This move halfway across country and the packing and sorting and unpacking that it has required brought home a couple of things as I was packing away the mass of unpainted plastic and lead I have:

1.  I am WOEFULLY scatterbrained
2. I don't have enough time
3. I get (not bored) but tired of big projects at times (Lets call it "Hobby ADD")
4. I'm a mediocre painter 
5. I do not have the money to do everything I'd like to do

So, to solve all these "problems", I've actually been putting quite a bit of thought into each one.

I'm going to talk about #'s 1, 2, and 5 first.  Being scatterbrained, not having enough time, and not having enough money can all be solved by some simple steps: Discipline in purchasing, planning things (to an extent), and carefully choosing scale.  

For instance - I have American Civil War figures in 6mm, 15mm, 20mm, and 1/32.  How in bloody hell does that make any sense, either monetarily or time-wise? Especially considering I have zero desire to do any sort of skirmish gaming for ACW.  So I sat down and had to decide how to solve this problem.  

Solution: I REALLY like Baccus 6mm figures, and the Polemos rules that go with them, AND the fact that for the price of maybe 50-100 larger minis, I can buy almost 1,000 6mm lads. So, I'm going with 6mm for ACW gaming, which allows me to PLAN my purchases or acquisitions, saves me TIME in that I'm not jacking around with a bunch of projects in different scales, and saves me MONEY by downscaling.  Now, what to do with all those other figures in the other scales...that'll be the subject of another blog post.

Problem #3 - I've decided that since I have sooo many projects and armies started but nowhere near finished, and because I have "Hobby ADD" that I'm not really going to force myself to finish specific projects.  In my mind that would ruin the fun of painting and creating.  So, my whole plan now is to map out what I want to do with each project, and then as the whim or lack there of hits me...work on bits and pieces.

Problem #4 - Solution is simple. Paint more. I'm slowly improving which y'all will have evidence of soon.

So what can you valiant followers of my ramblings expect to see coming up - 

• Future Plans
• Current WIP's
• Some figure, rules, and book reviews.
• ZOMBTOBER project update
• A whole helluva lot more pictures!

Stay tuned and as always, comments are more than welcome!   

Works in Progress - Celtic Warband and Zombie Survivors

Celtic Warband
20mm Soft Plastic

Dark Brown Undercoat

 First Flesh Wash

Second Flesh Wash

Starting on basecoats on tunics, pants, and shields

Washes on basecoats going well!

Basecoat on weapons done. Ready for highlighting and detail work!!!

Zombie Survivors:

28mm Reaper minis

All the survivors I have so far, undercoated white.

(L)WV State Police Officer, (R)Some Guy with a Shotgun lol.

I've also just ordered and am awaiting with baited breath, "Muskets & Tomahawks" from StudioTomahawk, and the "SAGA" Core Rulebook from Gripping Beast...well, theoretically I ordered them from their U.S. distributors, but you get my drift.  I'm going to have to be very disciplined and not rush and buy a bunch of 28mm Dark Ages and French & Indian War figures!  I'm just going to be happy to be able to read through the rules, as I've been trying to get ahold of copies of these for several weeks now, and the three shops that I've been able to stop by have all been sold out of "SAGA" and didn't even carry "Muskets & Tomahawks".

Combating Scatter-Brainedness!

After spending entirely too much money on this addicting hobby of ours this month, I had to sit back and do some serious thinking and evaluation of everything.

If you've been paying any attention at all to my stats over on the right side of the blog, you've probably noticed that the "unpainted" and "purchased" numbers have been steadily growing...and that the "painted" and all the "games played" numbers haven't moved at all.  This is a problem!  To rectify this problem I've committed myself to: Not buying anything else except - paint, modelling supplies, and brushes until this damn veritable mountain of metal and plastic has been either surmounted, or, at least turned into a much smaller hill. 

I've discovered a couple "problems" that I think some, if not most people that are into wargaming have: One being that there are soooo many periods, genres, game systems etc. that I'd absolutely like to get into.  While on the one hand this can be a good thing most of the time...when it causes you to be tempted to spend too much money...'tis bad.

The other problem I've found is that working on the same big (for me) project for awhile gets either a little boring, or, overwhelming. So to solve this issue, my workbench now has quite a few seperate projects along side the Ancient British and Imperial Romans.  What I'd like to do now is list those projects, and show some of the aquisitions of this month.

Project #1: Ancient British Army
I've covered this before, but I do have a couple additions - "Hail Caesar" Rulebook, and HaT's "Gaulic Chariot with Warrior Queen" set #8140. I'm probably going to be doing some conversions because I don't think I need three Boudicca's!

 

As you can see in the background is the majority of the rest of the army undercoated and waiting for paint.

 

 

 

Project #2: Zombie Apocalypse

I'm a huge fan of the zombie genre.  I own quite a few zombie related video games for both PS3 and XBox and I also have several of the "Zombies!!!" games, but I've always wanted to play a full on miniatures game about zombies.  So, I picked up Wargames Factory "Zombies" and a whole bunch of Reaper Miniatures Zombies and Zombie Survivors.  There will be more detailed pics coming soon of the painting process for 'em, especially the likes of "Zombie Strippers" lol.

 

For a ruleset, I ordered "All Things Zombie" from Two Hour Wargames.  Let me just note here, the communication and shipping speed from them was fantastic!  Highly recommend Two Hour Wargames!

Project #3: Force On Force
I ordered a copy of "Force On Force" off of Amazon, and that has spawned a couple of projects -

Project #3.1: Vietnam
I've got a couple squads worth of U.S. Infantry (or Marines) and a couple of squads worth of NVA regulars to be painted up.  The really cool thing about FoF is that it's scope is based on a fire team up to a couple of platoons at most, so on the bottom end, you could have 4 figures per side and you've got a game.

 NVA Regulars

 



 

US Army/Marines

 

 

Project 3.2: Don't Tread On Me

This may be a little controversial, but I'm working on the figures/forces/units, and also the backstory for a 2nd American Revolution set in either the 1990's or 2000's.  It will involve guerrillas, regular military and national guard, local police forces, civilians, foreign intervention, etc. etc. etc.

 

Project #4: The Interwar Years

I got the Osprey rulebook "A World Aflame: Interwar Wargame Rules 1918-39", and while I don't have many figures for use with it, I do have these what I think are Matchbox Miliatry Police or some form of German Polizie.  If anybody has any info on them I'd be interested in hearing it.  Anyways, I've got enough of them to paint up two styles - Some to see action in Palestine in the 1920's and '30s, and some for use in Ireland in the 19 teens or '20s, or for use in A Very British Civil War.  Should be fun!

 

 

 

These are the main projects ATM.  I've got misc ideas, patterns, and plans for terrain and buildings...and digging through my collection brings more and more ideas to the forefront...it's just finding the time!

 

 

Comments, thoughts, ideas, critisism etc. are always welcome.  

 

 

Busy Busy Busy

So, in the last month I've accomplished a whole bunch of nothing substantial. Lol. Life has been crazy, as has work, and now I'm considering relocating back to the midwest...so job hunting out there has kind of started.  On a side note, compared to the period of approx 6 months I was unemployed a couple years ago, this job search is much more relaxed seeing as how I have a good job atm.

Now, I have prepped all of the Ancient British forces, and have undercoated roughly half of them in about two hours worth of steady work. I also have picked up a copy of "Hail Caeser" off Amazon, and I must say...I like it alot after playing a quick run through with some cut up strips of paper as units.  While I plan on using it for awhile, rules systems and how they are written intrigue me so I'm sure I'll be keeping my eye out for more in the future.

My (actually quite clean) Workbench at the moment.

 

Christmas (or late birthday) is coming for me in March!  Ordered a bunch of stuff that has been on my wishlist for the better part of a year:

"All Things Zombie" by Two Hour Wargames

"All Things Zombie Boardgame" by Lock N Load Publishing

2x Zombie Survivor Figures by Reaper Miniatures

Zombie Horde Miniatures by Wargames Factory

1/72nd Scale Roman Cavalry by Italeri

 

Pretty darn excited...even though that adds roughly 48 more figures to my already massive mountain of lead and plastic needing attention.  

 

Anyways, I'll post some thoughts, pictures, and further progress reports shortly.  For now, goodnight all. 

The Start of An Army

So this morning I dug out all my Roman/Carthaginian/Gaulic/Celtic forces and divided them up into the different armies they'll be representing.  I've got enough figure for a sizable Republican Roman Army vs Carthaginian Army, and a sizable Imperial Roman Army vs a Celtic/Gaulic Army.  One of my reasons for choosing Ancient Period gaming is because I can use some of these forces interchangably, i.e.Gauls/Celts can be attached to either Carthaginian or Roman forces for playing allies/irregulars. 

I did a quick scrub with Dawn dishsoap and then soaked for 5-10 minutes in vineger of the Gaulic/Celtic forces.

The beginging forces for my gaulic/celtic army are starting from:

Revell Gauls

Italeri Celtic Cavalry

ESCI Barbarians

Airfix Ancient Britons

HaT Carthaginian Allies

 

 

My plan for today is to get them divided up into the figures I want on each base, clean them up, and probably go ahead and glue the cavalry figures to their respective horses and then if I have time I'll maybe primer them.

 

More to come later...........hopefully.

Home!

More to come later, just wanted to pop in and say hello.  My son's surgery went well and we're home about three days early so hopefully I'll be able to get some work done.

Some Thoughts and Plans

Hello All,
This will be my last post for about a week and a half due to my leaving Sunday to take my 3 year old to Tennessee for surgery, and on that note, thoughts and prayers for him, his mother and I would be greatly appreciated.

Alright, firstly a quick thank you to Nick Grant over at 20mm Gamer Blog for answering some questions I had, as well as suggesting a ruleset for playing Ancients games.  While at some point I do want to pick up a copy of DBA, I was introduced to Ancients wargaming back in 2004 or '05 with the WarHammer Ancients rules and greatly enjoyed them so I'm leaning towards those atm because I've had a copy for a long time, and my budget is rather tight.  Eventually (as money and time allow) there are a bunch of rules I'd like to try...but again, money is an issue.

Now, my budget the last 2 weeks has been aimed primarily at gathering the equipment and reference works for painting up the figures I already have.  My next post when I return from TN will be a detailed description with some pics, of my future forces for both my Early-Mid Imperial Roman Army, and my Celtic/Gaulic/Barbarian Army[s].  Some of the reference works I picked up were:

Photo 1

Photo 2

and

Photo 3

Now, a quick heads up.  The book, "Rome and Her Enemies" is actually published by Osprey as well, but I didn't know that.  Almost all of the text and pictures from the three obviously Osprey books in Photo 1 are in  "Rome and Her Enemies" just covered in more depth.  The good thing about this situation is that I don't have to buy any other Osprey books relating to Rome or any of their opponents...it's all in there!  Also, the artwork plates in the wee little Osprey books are larger than in "Rome and Her Enemies", so I'll use them as my inspiration pics for painting, and then probably sell or trade them off.

Photo 3 was an impulse grab at my local bookstore.  They had a sale on for buy 2 get 1 free and "The Atlas of World War II" was my free book.  It's excellent. Loaded with maps, photos, and great historical data, on not only the battles and situations, but also the terrain etc.  I think it was a great grab.

I've decided that also as time and money allow, I want to look into 6mm gaming.  Listening to back issues of The Meeples and Miniatures Podcast I heard a couple interviews with the owner of Baccus Miniatures and I went and had a look and I have to say, 6mm looks fun as all get out.  I think that'll be my way of getting into Napoleonics gaming...which is something I've always thought would be fun but didn't want to spend a ton of money on.

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Some other things I've been thinking quite a bit about is getting really into and going with "Zombicanus".  I know, I know, I've only put up one little tiny post with it...but I have a ton of ideas both for it as a story and also potentially an interesting little game. We'll see.  Nobody can say that I don't jump in with both feet when I start up a new (sort of) hobby!

Anyways, thanks for reading my rambling and I'll see y'all in a week or so.  Comments, criticism, and ideas are always welcome.

Goals For 2013 -

So, this is my first blog post here in awhile, and definitely my first wargaming post, so I decided to launch 2013 with a list of my goals.  Keep in mind that I am a beginner to table top gaming, though I've been playing board wargames (Avalon Hill, SPI, Axis and Allies and others) for a long time - read that as over 10 years, so I'm now launching myself into tabletop gaming.

I'm a huge military history enthusiast  so my wide range of interests in different periods could probably lead to a very expensive hobby...that being said, I've had a TON of 20mm plastic figures since I was a kid, covering a wide range of conflicts and time periods so I'm going to start with them.

Ok, here are my:

Goals for 2013:

• Organize and inventory all figures/models
• Research Roman and Barbarian forces and create army lists
• Organize, Paint, and Base Roman Army
• Organize, Paint, and Base Barbarian Army
• Start fleshing out my FoW German Early War Army
• Work on Short Stories
• Blog More
• Expand my Zombies! Board Game Collection
• Look into Pike and Shot Gaming
• Paint up my WW2 1/35th Scale figs for Skirmish Gaming
• Aquire figs for post-apocalyptic/zombie gaming
• Go to at least one show
• Play more games
• Find more opponents
• Add to my terrain tables

Its a long list but I'll be attacking it in chuncks.