Across the Dead Earth: The Brotherhood

Today's post covers another gang for Across the Dead Earth, The Brotherhood, that I created myself.  It is made up of 'Gas Mask Cultists I', a 5-miniature set from Pulp Figures.  I bought them at Cold Wars in March 2015 and painted them in the same month, which is an unusually quick turnaround for me.  I knew I wanted to paint the masks red, and their robes reminded me of some medieval monks I recently painted for SAGA, so I used a similar color scheme.

The Brotherhood has recently been appearing at pre-war sites across the former UK.  Their motivation and goals are unknown.  What monstrous secret are they hiding under their masks?

The pictures were taken outside with my iPad.  The scenery in the background is a set of large storage tanks which are perfect for AtDE games.  You can view larger pictures by clicking on them.

 

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Across the Dead Earth: The Red Claw

The third faction I painted for Across the Dead Earth is The Red Claw.  They are based on the punks commonly seen in post-apocalyptic movies such as The Road Warrior and Doomsday, forever fated to be the bad guys.  

I painted them with brighter colors for both clothing and hair and added a few patterns.  I've used a different painting style than my normal technique for all the AtDE miniatures so far.  I normally use more washes and drybrushing.  For these, I generally painted a darker color first, then a highlight on the raised areas.  I painted them in late 2014.

The names and classes (listed after each name) are from the AtDE background.  This is the last of the 3 factions released as part of the initial Kickstarter.  Miniatures for 2 more factions have been released in 2015 (The Sisters of Acquisition and the Engineers Guild) and you can read about more player-created factions on the game's Facebook page.

All the pictures were taken with my iPad in natural sunlight in my backyard, so there are some shadows but I don't think they obstruct the view.  Some of the colors look washed-out in the pictures, perhaps an effect of the sunlight.  The background in all the pictures are some stone ruin pieces I had handy.  You can click on the pictures for a closer view.

Ronnie (leader) & Fatboy (heavy):  One thing I like about these miniatures is they are not all the same height.  Fatboy is quite a big fellow and carries an RPG.  Further down, Shrimp lives up to her name and is distinctly smaller.

Shrimp (scout) & Topper (assault):

Pyro (none) & Shay-man (medic): Pyro bears a certain resemblance to a member of British band The Prodigy, who had a song in the late 1990s named "Firestarter".  He is appropriately armed with a flamethrower.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

The full gang.  Fear The Red Claw!

What next for AtDE?  I am working on some ruined terrain and also bought miniatures for 2 more factions at Cold Wars.  There are also the next 2 factions by Dead Earth Games, so I will be quite busy for the near future.  I also plan on playing more games and running some for others once I have enough terrain finished.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Across the Dead Earth: The State

The second faction I painted for Across the Dead Earth was The State.  They represent the remnants of the UK government that are attempting to re-assert their control and have a totalitarian bent.  I used a limited color scheme for them, blue, grey, green and khaki, to give them a more unified, semi-military look.  The names and classes (listed after each name) are from the AtDE background, though you are free to use them otherwise or to use other companies' miniatures for the game.  I used a different painting style than my usual one, partly to experiment and partly because of how they are sculpted.  I painted them in late 2014 and I think they turned out well.  

All the pictures were taken with my iPad in natural sunlight in my backyard, so there are some shadows but I don't think they obstruct the view.  The background in all the pictures are some stone ruin pieces I had handy.  You can click on the pictures for a closer view.

Captain Jester (leader):

 Yoshi (assault) & Skelch (sharpshooter) Skelch is violating uniform regulations with his red bandanna:

 SIWOC (scout) & Squint (medic):

The full squad, ready to enforce the writ of The State across Britain: 

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Across the Dead Earth: Adam's Family

I have once again been neglecting my blog.  In an attempt to catch up, I took advantage of a sunny Sunday afternoon and took pictures of 3 factions for the new post-apocalyptic skirmish game Across the Dead Earth.  All the pictures were taken with my iPad in natural sunlight in my backyard, so there are some shadows but I don't think they obstruct the view.  The background in all the pictures are some stone ruin pieces I had handy.  I used a different painting style than my normal technique, partly to experiment and partly because of how they are sculpted.  I painted them in late 2014.

Across the Dead Earth started life as a Kickstarter in 2014.  Set in the UK several generations after the last war, the rules and 28mm miniatures for the first 3 factions, or gangs, were released on time in late 2014.  Since then, miniatures for 2 more factions have been released, along with some background fiction and an expansion PDF, so they are keeping a good pace.  The rulebook includes profiles for 4 factions, 6 mercenaries and rules to create your own.  There is also a lively Facebook group for the rules.  

The first faction is Adam's Family.  They are the proverbial good guys, and include 5 miniatures.  I have also included a 6th that is officially a mercenary but fits well with them.  After each name I have listed the class of the character.  There are 7 classes in the rules, plus 1 for dogs.  You can click on the pictures for a closer view.

Adam (the leader) & Drexyl (sharpshooter):

Skylar (scout) & Reggie (assault):

Ezra (medic) & Crimson (sharpshooter): Crimson was a Kickstarter exclusive miniature and is technically not a member of the Family but rather a mercenary.

Adam's Family group shot: There appears to be a giant mutated chicken in the background.  Just one of the terrors roaming the Dead Earth!

Thanks for looking!

Jason

28mm Industrial Wreckage

As I mentioned in my Historicon report, I bought 2 pieces of post-apocalyptic industrial wreckage in the flea market.  I plan on using them for the forthcoming game Across the Dead Earth.
http://www.deadearth.co.uk/

I wanted to touch them up a bit for two reasons: all the ground was painted the same rust color as the wreckage and I wanted them to match my basing scheme.

I started by adding some modeling paste to a couple of bare areas, then added some small ballast on top of it.  I also added a few pieces of medium ballast for larger pieces of rubble.  I painted the ground areas with Vallejo Flat Earth.  I then drybrushed a mix of Flat Earth and White.  I painted the areas I wanted to be rubble with Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey, then drybrushed Ceramcoat Hippo Grey and Vallejo Stonewall Grey in succession.  I glued on patches of static grass and a few tufts, then sealed it with 2 coats of matte spray.

Before and after pictures; click to enlarge.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

28mm Bridge

Recently I have been working on 28mm terrain for my Saga games.  The bridge pictured below is made by Acheson Creations out of resin.  I purchased it at Historicon 2013.

I started out by washing it in the dishwasher at the same time as several Acheson buildings to remove the mold release agent.  Next I spray primed it black, then gave it a thin coat of black paint to cover any spots the spray missed.

I gave the wood a heavy drybrush with Vallejo German Camo Medium Brown, then another drybrush of Howard Hues Colonial Khaki.  I finished with a light drybrush of Vallejo Stonewall Gray.

The water areas were painted with Howard Hues Bright Blue.  I then applied a coat of Turquoise Glaze from a very old bottle of Games Workshop paint from when Coat d'Arms manufactured their paints (late 90s?) to deepen the color.  Next I drybrushed Ceramcoat Blue Jay, then a mix of Blue Jay and White.

I painted the dirt at each end, added a few patches of static grass and tufts, then finished it off with 2 coats of Testors Dullcote.

The first few photos are of the bridge alone, then there are some with 4 Foundry Vikings for scale.  The bridge comes in 5 pieces: 2 ends, a center section and 2 supports for the center.  This piece may also show up minus one end as a pier in a Doctor Who or Across the Dead Earth game.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Historicon 2014 Report

I left Columbia, South Carolina Thursday morning at 7 am and arrived at the hotel just after 1 pm.  It was definitely nicer to stay at the Hampton Inn next door; it made short trips to drop things off or take a break possible.  After checking in I made my way over to the convention center, picked up my badge and found my first game, ‘Necronomawhat?’  It was a 28mm skirmish game for 6 players with various dark age Britain warbands (I played Bran Mac Morn and his Picts) searching for the infamous Necronomicon.  We played on the Miniature Building Authority table loaded with great-looking terrain.  The rules worked well, the game flowed quickly and was a lot of fun.  Various Lovecraftian monsters appeared around the table as we searched for the evil book, and once it was found, factions turned on one another in an effort to claim the book and carry it off the table.  My treacherous Picts made a late play for it but didn't manage to capture the dark tome from King Arthur, who ended up it.  Great fun!

View of the table at setup.  My Picts are in the lower left corner.

A nasty surprise awaited us in the church graveyard!  I decided to skirt around the church and enter from the other side to search for our objective.

I've moved up into the wheatfield.  Various monsters are now on the board.

After meeting my friends Mike, Jenny, Keith and Mike upon their arrival from Columbus, Ohio and grabbing a bite to eat, I tagged along with Mike to his game and filled an empty spot.  “A Very British Battle’ was set in the fictional 1930s British Civil War.  I’ve never played a VBCW game before but they seem to be popular.  My Anglican League managed to enter the Catholic church first and discover the gold hidden in the crypt below.  Unfortunately I was being attacked by Fascists on one side and Communists on the other.  My remaining troops sought refuge with another faction that had broken through the front of the church and exchanged gold for protection.

Friday morning I played in the Saga tournament.  It featured 4 rounds, each round using a different scenario from the Saga rulebook.  I played Scots, which are my favorite army and also the first I painted for the game.  I won my first 2 games (Clash of Warlords and Battle at the Ford) and lost the last 2 (Escort and Sacred Ground), ending up in 4^th place.  The 2 players who beat me finished 1^st and 2^nd, and I was the only one to beat the 3^rd place player.  It was an enjoyable, well-run tournament.

First Saga game vs.Vikings after turn 1.  My Scots are on the bottom.  My unit of Warriors in the upper left of the picture have driven off the Viking levies and are about suffer 60% casualties in a fight with Viking hearthguards.  The rest of my force went on to kill the Viking warlord and most of his troops.

Second Saga game vs. Vikings as we approach the river.  My Scots are on the left.  I held off the Vikings at the upper crossing and captured the lower crossing.

Third Saga game vs. Bretons.  My Scots are on the bottom.  I managed to kill the Bretons and baggage on the right and destroy one of the central Breton units, but suffered heavy casualties in the center and couldn't catch the other 2 baggage units before they moved off the board to win.

Fourth Saga game vs. Anglo-Saxons towards the end of the game.  My Scots are on the bottom.  I have captured the right-hand hill but was unable to maintain a presence on the left-hand hill.

Friday night I played in ‘They Used Hitler’s Brain…A Doctor Who Adventure’.  I was interested to see how another GM ran a game with the DWMG rules (http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/).  The scenario featured an unholy alliance between Nazis and Daleks, with the Allies and Renegade Dalek factions both attempting to storm a castle and stop their nefarious experiments.  My other friend Mike also signed up and we had the British Special Forces squads.  It was a fun scenario, with lots of action going on in different parts of the table.  True to form, the Doctor snuck into the castle at the last minute and foiled the villains’ evil plan.  Back at the hotel, we played a game of ‘Seven Wonders’ which I narrowly won for the first time; the 5 of us were all within 10 points at the end.

I spent Saturday morning running a flea market table, selling a fair amount but not everything I brought.  Mike and Jenny brought a bunch of boardgames for the table as well.  I roamed the dealer hall in the afternoon, then played in ‘Fireball – Showdown in the Zombie Apocalypse’.  It was an adaptation of the WWII Fireball Forward rules, which I had read about but never played before.  The scenario featured American Marines in the Horn of Africa trying to locate an IED and clear the road for a convoy.  The Insurgents (including me) were trying to stop them and the Zombies just wanted to eat everyone.  I liked the rules, they were easy to pick up and ran well for a convention game.  The addition of zombies made the scenario less real-world and more enjoyable as a game for me.  I don’t play modern games all that often but this was fun, and the GM and players all had a good time.

View of the whole table.  The Marines entered along the road at top left, while the Insurgents entered from the bottom edge.

The Marines are moving towards the trucks to search for the IED but are in danger of being overrun by Zombies.

A close-up of my Insurgents trying to cover the truck with the IED.

Overall I had a great time at Historicon.  Wegman's provided delicious food as usual and the improvements to the gaming areas (carpet, more dividers, better chairs) reduced the sound and produced a better overall experience.  I look forward to returning to Fredericksburg next year.

Stuff I bought:

2 pieces of post-apocalyptic terrain for use in the upcoming game 'Across the Dead Earth':   http://www.deadearth.co.uk/

A 28mm Sci-fi Porta-potty from Miniature Building Authority, also for AtDE.

Revolt on Antares:  an old TSR mini-game, one of my favorites to play as a kid.

A copy of the 'Guns of Liberty' AWI rules for use in my AWI project.

6 bottles of paint by Iron Wind, Howard Hues and Army Painter.

2 Irregular 28mm Highland Cattle and 2 Pigs for use as scenery in Saga.

2 Civil War coloring books, a Star Wars battle droid and an animated Transformers DVD for my kids.

A 28mm Welsh Chieftain Gripping Beast figure won in the Saga tournament.

A Robocop figure (for my son) and a 28mm Adric (Doctor Who) BTD figure given to me by my friend Cade.  I look forward to Adric dying in a game soon (he was not my favorite companion).

A bunch of assorted Renaissance Ink bases given to me by my friend Jenny.

A 28mm Acheson Creations Large, half timbered and stone barn with thatched roof purchased during their sale earlier this year and delivered by my friend Mike.  It will be used in my Saga games.  I'm waiting for 2 more buildings to arrive so I can paint them all at the same time.

A 15mm Mongol DBA army by Pass of the North.  I received this in the mail the day before and didn't open it until I was in Fredericksburg so I'm listing it here.  I don't play DBA much anymore, but they are fantastic new figures and I've always wanted some Mongols.