LIVING INSIDE! A Preview of UNDEAD States of America

.
UNDEAD STATES OF AMERICA: The Zombie War Miniature Game from the unlikely sounding UBER GOOBER GAMES is simply outstanding!

You, yes You! are responsible for leading the surviving living from the cities. You must feed them, arm them and fight off the Zombie hordes.

UNDEAD STATES OF AMERICA is different to other Zombie games in that this not 1-to-1 skirmish, it's a full blown tabletop wargame.

If Zombies are your thang, and even if they are not, buy these rules! Whilst I love the premise behind the game itself, I have to admit, it's the campaign games that blow me away!

You feel like some kind of John Connor, mapping the spread of infection, organising the survivors and leading the fight back against the undead.

John Connor? Yes, can you see where I'm going! The day I received my set of the rules, I was so wired with inspiration that I was still pouring over them at 2a.m. in the morning, at which time I fired off a congratualtory note to author Steve Metze. Here in my hands was not just an awesome Zombie game, but the perfect vehicle to organise the resistance against Skynet, to fight back against the Alien Grey Tripods or make my stand against the Commies in Red Dawn.

UNDEAD STATES OF AMERICA includes 40 pages of content divided into Game Rules, Short Campaign, Continental Campaign and cut-out Zombie/Living unit counters for $20. Check out the webpage for sample pages and more information.

WWW.UNDEADSTATESOFAMERICA.COM

Cheers
Mark

July 20th, 1969

.
I just want to take a small moment to pay tribute to the men and women of every nation, who in whatever capacity, made it possible for humanity to break free of the fragile seal that is our atmosphere and place that first terrific footstep on the Moon.

Tonight I'm sure people all over the globe will be paying a well deserved tribute to the crew of Apollo 11 who took that "first step for man".


My first true memory of the 'Space Race', one that has vividly remained with me throughout my life, was the tragic death of the crew of Apollo 1 (Apollo/Saturn 204), January 27, 1967.

Edward White, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Roger Chaffee

So, here's to all the men and women who lost their lives in the endeavour to make that 'giant leap for mankind', and those who followed to ensure we could dream of one day walking amongst the stars.

Cheers!
Mark

Earth Force Marines - Painted HOTT Army

.

I'm currently prepping a couple of platoons of Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines in anticipation of painting them in the evenings this week, ready for an asteroid assault game next weekend.

Mike at Rebel Minis must be reading my mind, as he coincidentally sent me photos of a painted and based Earth Force Marine force, created to meet customer requests for an army that's suitable for Hordes of the Things.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that both the individual miniatures and the army as a whole looks superb! I believe they are "dipped" with minwax polyshades and I for one like the finished effect.

Rebel Minis 15mm Sci Fi: 6 bases MAEF1, 2 bases MAEF3

Rebel Minis 15mm Sci Fi: MAEFV1 APC and MAEF5 Cannon

Rebel Minis 15mm Sci Fi: Sniper team from MAEF2

Rebel Minis 15mm Sci Fi Gratuitous Close-Up of MAEF1

Go to WWW.REBELMINIS.COM for more details

That camo scheme is very tempting. Something very Traveller about it. In fact, even unpainted, these minis just say Traveller to me. Now the pressure is on to ensure mine look this good! Thanks Mike! LOL!

Cheers
Mark

Critical Mass Games - ARC Fleet WIP

.

Craig of Critical Mass Games has sent me concept artwork and work in progress (WIP) photos of the human ARC Fleet troopers to share with you.

Click on the pciture for a bigger image and you will see the basic human trooper types. L-R: Light Recon, Rifle Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Augmented Drop Trooper and Augmented Foot Trooper.

Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi 'Greens'

These greens, mid-sculpt, clearly shows the level of detail we can expect from these miniatures. Below is the concept art for the ARC Fleet troopers smallarms.


The sculptor appears to have done a great job interpreting the concept pictures into 15mm scale weapons. I particularly like that Heavy Gauss Carbine.

Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi 'weapons WIP

If I picked it up correctly, the figure ranges will be released in waves. The first being the Human ARC Fleet. Initially the figures will be available in packs with 8 minis of 3 different sculpts - 'Peter Pig style'. Don't worry about there only being a 'boring' number of poses - there are more than 20 different ARC Fleet sculpts.

Craig will confirm pack details and codes over the coming days and I'll keep you updated on the first and any future releases. Together with photos of WIP and cast miniatures as they become available.

Cheers
Mark

Games Workshop W40K Craters

.
I really enjoyed painting my 'lava' bases this week. Completing several each night. The first took around 20 minutes as I played with colours and techniques but the rest took no time at all.

I tended to wait till Heather had gone to bed. Then retired to the study to paint for 45 minutes or so, managing three bases in that time using four layers of different paints and a quick orange wash.

Thursday lunchtime I dropped into Games Workshop and picked up some Citadel W40K Craters. If you have wondered about their suitability for 15mm Sci Fi then be assured they are superb and at under a tenner for 5 substantial, well moulded craters - excellent value for money and instant terrain to boot!


I hope this photo gives you an idea of scale with 15mm figs. You can see the small GZG recon Grav APC is completely hidden within the middle crater. And there's still room for 3-4 bases of infantry!

There's been quite a bit of negative comment about the recently released Citadel 'Blastscape' on TMP and DakkaDakka forums (read here). Don't let this dissuade you from buying their Craters pack. The plastic is sturdy and the definition is excellent - click on the photo above for a larger image and see for yourself. I was certainly impressed far more than I expected to be.


If you find yourself without inspiration for Sci Fi scenery or feel you lack the talent to create your own - these Citadel Craters are perfect - whether for a moon, asteroid, savannah wastes or red planet, they will provide you with instant, quality, versatile Sci Fi or post apocalyptic terrain.

Cheers
Mark

It's All Going A Bit Critical!

.
Imagine. It's been a frakkin tough week with demands flying in from every part of the organisation like shrapnel. On the way home on Wednesday, I wound down by watching a superb HALO fan flick downloaded from YOUTUBE. This is an excerpt:

The full 8 minute movie can be seen here -
HALO MOVIE: First 8 Minutes

I thought that this would be awesome recreated in 15mm. In my head I can see it being played out on the table with the yet to be released FORCE ON FORCE: Sci Fi rules. Only, no figures on the market currently match the power and dynamism of the combatants on the screen, with the possible exception of GZG's all new NAC Marines.

CRITICAL MASS GAMES:
15mm Sci Fi ARC Fleet Trooper

You can guess how my jaw hit the floor when I opened up my mailbox once home to find the photo above from Craig of CRITICAL MASS GAMES. Stunning, simply bloody stunning. I was bouyed up through the last two exhausting days by the 'promise' of games yet to be played represented by this miniature. In fact, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on them just to paint and have been scouring the galleries and painting/modelling threads in the DakkaDakka forum for ideas.

And if that photo wasn't enough, Craig has sent me this concept artwork of CMG's first batch of releases. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce, the grunts of Humanity's Arc Fleet.....

"Aaarrrrr, absolutely badassess!"

Apone: Aliens (1986)

Cheers
Mark