I just saw these figures and the info on their release date on TMP:
I was just reading my 'breakfast news' on the TGN site and saw a new release from Darkson designs.
Darkson designs are calling it a 'wendigo' but having played Call of Cthulhu for many years, it doesn't fit my image of what a wendigo should look like.
Instead, it looks more like a zombie deer.
I need a good name for the main city where I am basing my zombie campaign.
I have a few ideas, but not sure if they are any good.
So, I have started a poll for the blog (see the top right column of this blog) with where you can vote for the few names I have so far, or vote for 'other' and post your other suggestion in the comments to this post.
I want to buy a 1:43 car and turn it into this situation:
What is something that almost every road or street in the world has? A road sign.
I just did a bit of a 'google' and found some road sign images that I can edit, select the one I want, resize it to the size I need, print and then make a model road sign for my games.
All you need is a thin bit of card to glue the printed sign onto, and a toothpick as the pole, and hey presto, one very easily made road sign.
Here are some images for people to save so they can make their own signs:
I have been playing around with the Model Building Program - and it is very easy to use and a lot of fun to make things.
I have been looking at making a lot more card buildings for my game, but one thing that makes me hesitate is the fact I have to use the designs of what other people make.
This means all my buildings would more or less be the same, and or that I have to use the dimensions of those buildings, making me design my city around those buildings, not the buildings designed around my city.
As I am new to card stock models, I could be totally wrong with these thoughts.
Then there is this option: a program that lets you design your own models.
I like very much the Cargo container program, as it is great fun to use and very simple to create cargo containers.
I did a quick search on the web and found a program called "Model Builder". It is $45USD, and I am trying to save money for my trip to Japan in November, but I really want to design my own buildings!
For those wanting a look at this program, you can see it here: Model Builder
LOL - as I have typed this entry, I have almost sold myself on the idea of buying the program.
There are videos on how to use the program, and it looks fairly easy to use. Why did I have to watch the videos!!!! You can see them here: videos
Arrrgggggh! I can download it from the site rather that have a disc sent to me - it is cheaper, and I don't need to pay for postage!
And with the exchange rate, it is a little bit cheaper still.
Sold!
(This reminds me of when I worked in a game shop. I was so convincing in my sales pitch to a customer asking about Battletech that I actually bought the game myself. Doh!)
I hope to have a building to show off later today: provide every thing works that is.
EDIT: wow - it has been a day of let downs. The bloody thing wont install. It is looking for a C:\ProgramData directory to change, and this is something only found in Vista, not XP. The program is meant to run in XP but I can't get it to work at all.
I have sent an email to the company asking for help, but that will most likely be a 12 - 24 hour reply because of the time zones around the world :-(
EDIT to the EDIT: I have a reply from the company that makes the program - they sent me the previous version of Model Builder and I was able to install this.
A bit of snooping around hints that the installation problem may be related to the need for some Windows updates that allow XP to view the new format of Doc and XML sheets.
Well, Offensive Miniatures wont come to the party, stating the figure is part of a pack, and if they sell one figure from the pack, they wont be able to sell the others.
Hmm - they could sell their figures singularly like many other companies - they might even find they have more sales.
If it was me, I would sell the 12 figures cheaper as a pack, with individual figures slightly higher in price.
I don't have a use for the other 11 figures in the pack, so I wont be getting my archer figure. :-(
Despite all the zombies surrounding him, Jack regains a bit of colour.
I am starting to plan my towns and city for my games, and one of the buildings will be a convenience store that is part of a franchise - that way I can use the same building in any setting.
The logo/sign for the building is only in the design phase at this stage, but I intend to improve on it a lot from it's initial stage.
So without further ado it is great pleasure to unveil the world's next chain of convenience stores, "Loot 'n' Scoot":
Here is a photo of the freshly painted Jack Berton figure:
To celebrate the fact I am actually painting my "Jack Berton" figure I made up some "Pork Chop Express" shipping containers for use in my games.
I have included a sample to show what it looks like, and there are four colours to choose from:
I have this particular RAFM figure that I am using for my Jack Berton character:
John Walker attempts to barricade the front door and does so with blinding success.
Inspired by John's actions, Ned tries the same thing to a rear window and gets no where.
Celina and John barricade two more windows, making up for Ned's panicked state.
Over at the farm, Jack Berton sensing things will go bad for him is he stays where he is makes a tactical move towards the stacked boxes, making sure to keep the wall between him and any zombies close at hand.
My Fenris Games gas bottles turned up today and I am very pleased with them.
I painted one up in next to no time to see what it would look like:
In addition to a few other things I finished my first electronic road sign.
The printed sign area was a bit smaller that I had measured, but I think that may have been the printer being set at "shink to fit" instead of 'print as is".
Regardless, it came out ok:
I painted my first zombie!
I found this picture whilst looking for images to make signs with:
I am getting the hang of making cargo containers now.
This one is for Syntac, a corporation that may or may not be involved in experimenting in the next new thing for the military market.
I had intended to do a bit more for my blog today, like finishing off the batrep, but gale force storms last night caused a lot of damage in my area and the power was out for most of the day.
What I have done is completed my biotek cargo container and here is a image of it:
One thing I am a little disappointed with in "NMRIH" is the fact the character development with campaign play is a bit limited: you can only really purchase new gear between games, and you can increase your stats with a slim chance of a dice roll.
This doesn't really phase me that much. It is the fact that you can't buy any new skills that I am disappointed with. That is if I am reading the rules correctly.
To me experience means new skills. The longer you do something, the better your skills become. The longer you survive the zombie hoards, the better you get at taking them down and, well, surviving.
This simple house rule allows for characters to spend points earned during the game on new skills.
Only characters that participated in a scenario can improve their skills - those that stayed at the safe base to protect your stash of food and fuel can not improve their skills in any way.
Each survivor may only purchase one skill between missions, and Sheeple can only buy skills that cost 5 or 10 points, Back Ups can buy skills that cost 20 or less points, and Shot Callers can buy any skills.
Also, you might have a Sheeple that has survived countless missions. For some reason this survivor just keeps on surviving. Surviving for so long that he or she really shouldn't be thought of as a Sheeple anymore.
So what to do? Spend valuable points to upgrade your character!
By spending 150 points you can upgrade a Sheeple to a Back Up, and for 300 points you can upgrade a Back Up to a Shot Caller.
Players must still use the "Score of a Life Time" chart to increase Guns, Fists and Guts as per the standard rules, but they do gain the extra Survive! point that comes with rising in rank/standing.
One thing I am not a huge fan of the the way zombies are controlled in "No More Room In Hell".
Unless determined by a scenario, the general spawning of zombies can mean you they appear on the table at all directions at once (assuming you have some bad dice rolls that is), and they always do the same thing which leads to little room for manoeuver or, to a degree, tactics.
My house rules for zombie control are as follows:
Spawn Points - unless laid out in a scenario set up I have a random number of spawn points, based on the Zombie Threat Level for the game:
I have 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 random spawn points for low to high level threats respectively. Oddly enough, these also match dice you can get for wargaming.
Thus in NMRIH game terms:
Threat Level 3 = 4 spawn points
Threat Level 4 = 6 spawn points
Threat Level 5 = 8 spawn points
Threat Level 6 = 10 spawn points
Threat Level 7 = 12 spawn points
Rather than place a zombie at each spawn point as per the rule book, roll 1d matching the spawn points to see where all the zombies appear for that turn.
Example: I am playing a game set at Threat Level 5, and have placed 8 spawn points out. I roll the dice in the Dice Grave yard and 3 zombies will appear this turn. Rolling 1d8 I get a result of 7. Those 3 zombies will appear at spawn point 7 for this turn.
Zombie Actions: in NMRIH all zombies react the same way - they move towards the closest survivor or group of survivors. Ho hum. This doesn't allow for tactics - unless you count sacrificing a low level survivor by putting him or her near a spawn point so the zombies leave every one else alone.
By changing the rules a little I think they become a bit more interesting, and bring an element of tactics into the game.
Having played a lot of wild west games using "The Rules With No Name" and WW2/Modern using "Arc of Fire" I really enjoy a card activation system for determining initiative.
The cards can lead to a lot of suspense and tension as you don't know which figure will be activated next, and the turn could end before you get to activate your hero, leaving them in a really bad situation.
The cards add randomness to the game, as well making you think a few turns in advance... just in case the merde hits the fan.
To make the cards you can purchase blank playing cards easily on the net, or print out custom made cards and laminate them in business card size lamination pouches. I prefer this last method, as it keeps the cards in good condition, and you can write on them to make notes if need be.
For each survivor in play I create one card for every point of Survive! that survivor has.
Thus Sheeple will have one card each in the deck, Back Ups two and Shot Callers three... unless of course these survivors have different Survive! points.
I also include one card for the Zombies, an "End Turn" card and what ever other cards I feel will enhance the game, such as random events or even blank cards to stop card counting and to build up tension.
If you are feeling especially brave, you can add extra zombie cards - this way you can represent faster zombie types, like those seen in "28 Days Later".
Every time a card is drawn the survivor who's card it is gets to take one action. All zombies move when their card is drawn and they also get to move when the End Turn card is drawn, provided they have not moved already during the turn. This ensures the zombies will always take an action each turn.
If the turn ends before survivors get to take an action then bad luck. And believe me, it really can be bad luck, and the suspense level increases when it happens.
Also, every time a survivor is wounded (i.e. a point of Survive! is deducted) a card representing that survivor should also be removed from the deck before the next turn starts.
The more wounds you have, the less actions you get.
As I print out my cards, I like to have a logo on the back of the card, and a photo of the miniature(s) on the front.
If needed, I also add text to the front - this helps eliminate the need to look something up, and is a useful reminder of game mechanics.
I don't add names to the survivor cards, that way if they die I can bring them back in to the game as someone else using the same cards.
This is a sample of the "Celina Croise" survivor character card I have made for the game I am currently playing:
I have three sets of zombie wargame rules: All Things Zombie (ATZ), Ambush Z and No More Room In Hell (NMRIH).
The first two I like for the way zombies are controlled, but dislike the actual game mechanics.
I like the general game mechanics of No More Room In Hell, but don't really like the way they handle the zombies, as well as a few niggly points here and there, in particular the complete lack of rules for nighttime encounters, despite mentioning flares, and the fact you can sneak, and this really only effects shooting.
I also dislike the initiative system in all three games, so I have created my own based on a card system as found in 'The Rules With No Name" and "Arc of Fire".
So, what I intend to do over a few posts is "publish" my house rules for NMRIH.
I intend to cover: initiative, zombie deployment, encounter charts, and if time permits (i.e. I get around to doing it), Quick Reference sheets.
I started my campaign game tonight, and played a few turns.
Background story:
"International Gun for Hire" Celina Croise and her body guard/ assistant John Walker are travelling through the boondocks on the way to an important meeting in the city.
As luck would have it, their car breaks down right outside a farm.
The farm is inhabited by Ned Seagun and his cousin Jack Berton.
I spend all of a minute designing my first shipping container - and a bit longer printing it out, gluing it to some card and making it.
Being my first one I have a few finer points to iron out to make them look better, and it helps not splashing Ramem onto the container at lunch time, thus making runny ink spots on the model.
After making two boxes of Mantic Games Zombies I am left with a lot of zombie heads - 60 to be precise.
After a little thought I decided to use some to indicate zombie spawn points for my games.
I glued heads on to 20mm plywood bases I purchased from Fenris Games and numbered the bases:
I finished making my plastic zombies today - all 60 of them.
I am happy with the way they look, and I hope 60 will be enough for my games. It should be...
