Mrs. Latex: Elsa the Cat-Burglar

Hello all,
So another of the survivors got paint on her. This time it is Elsa, who apparently was a cat-burglar in 'normal' life. I was looking forward to painting her, but to be honest I was really disappointed with the quality of the sculpt. The body is a fine latex suit, and her weapons look mean, but the face and hair was a bit of a let-down. Especially on the zombivore version she looks more like a grinning monkey than human. In the end I was sufficently annoyed that she was finished as a rush job. She still looks alright from a distance...:

Perhaps, in time, I'll go back and highlight her latex-suit a bit more carefully and do something about her hair. At least her *primary assets* will probably attract most viewers attention, alleviating your criticisms concerning her facial features :-)

We've tested her once and her beginning skill (Break-in, a free, silent, open doors-action each round), is great at first but at later stages becomes less remarkable.On the other hand, she will become very, very mobile once in the red zone, so she should often be among the surviving survivors.

The official blurp for Elsa:

"Next time, they might as well lock the door with gift wrap. It won’t be more secure, only prettier."

Born a beautiful girl in a poor family, Elsa learned that agility, attractiveness, and subtlety could open all the doors to wealth. Stealing precious goods was her daily adrenalin fix, especially if it involved acrobatics and a real security challenge.
Elsa was running from the cops on the roofs when the zombies came and changed her life. Gold is useless now, but locked doors still shelter precious goods. Smiling and playful amidst the chaos, this kitten enjoys the apocalypse. All social barriers are down, only skill matters. And how skillful Elsa is!

Despite the crappy face, she looks fine from a distance and will add some colour to the survivor-group.
Hope you liked Elsa - more survivors and zombies coming soon(ish).

All the best,
Kasper

Zombie Dogzzzz - Who let the Zombie Dogz out?!?

Hello all,

Another trio of vicious, growling Zombie Dogz have been painted and are ready for being gunned down:

 Don't mind Mr. Scaredy Pants (Mack the Car Salesman) - he is a bit scared of the nice puppies...

These were done very quickly - twenty minutes tops. Chestnut wash, black for the leather, a bit of metal, off-white for the eyes and teeth and then a healthy applicantion of blood. Done. But they look alright on the board.

If you havn't played Zombicide yet, then these beasts are actually some of the nastiest opponents due to their speed. A normal zombie gets one action each turn, runners two, but these beasts get three. Bad news if a large pack appears!
 

Wuf-Wuf!

All the best,
Kasper

Zombicide survivors from Wrath of Kings Kickstarter

Hello all,

Not sure if everyone interested have seen/received these but if not, then they will be available here :-).
This is the two cross-over characters (both survivors and zombivore) from the Wrath of Kings kickstarter which were made into Zombicide characters.
Now I didn't get these - and the completist in me is crying quitly about it - but they look alright. Both are combat beasts according to their skills, and the minis also look nice (although weird for someone like me who knows nothing about the Wrath of Kings-universe), although a bit soft in the detailing?

Anyways here are the pictures and stat cards of Alyana Heska and Union Worker #42:

All the best,
Kasper

Tough Chick: Shannon the Soldier armed and ready for the zombies!

Hello all,

Now, if (*when*...) the zombies come this Irish lady is someone I would appreciate sharing the troubles with. Shannon the Soldier, a survivor from the Zombicide Prison Outbreak set, looks to be tough as nails:

Her Survivor mini carries a set of shotguns, while the zombivore has changed these for some serious guns - 44. Magnums? I must admit I don't mind painting scantily clad ladies, but if I was caught in the zombipocalypse, I would have donned a full set of body armour... perhaps the disease is spread through the air in Guillotine Games' universe?

She is one of the better sculpts - great detail and for once the eyes are the 'correct' size (they seem to be overly small on most survivors, while on others they are far too large). She did get a somewhat frenzied look when I painted her (not sure you can see the eyes that well on these images?) which I kept as it seemed to suit her. Again, I've tried to stay true to the character drawings on the cards, although I did add a wee bit of blood on the survivor...

I had serious troubles painting her stubbles (or what remains of her hair) - trying at first a black diluted wash, but in the end it turned out a diluted grey was the easiest way to achieve the look. I think she turned out all right.

The official description of this hard ass Irish survivor is:

"We all fight for what we lack. What is your war?"

Of Irish descent, Shannon is a woman of action. Gang wars, police, militia, the army, she had it all but never found a fight that could engage her body and soul. Back in civilian life after another accident with her last partner, Shannon was looking for a bouncer job when zombies came and gave her life real meaning. Shannon now has many causes to fight for: survival, protecting untrained people, and exterminating zombies with extreme prejudice. Surrounded by blood and death, she feels right at home and more alive than ever.

 

Her skills (beginning with 'Point-blank', and quickly getting a choice of either ' Lucky' or '+1 free Ranged Action') are superb and I'm sure she is character who will kill her share of zombies!

All the best,
Kasper

AAR: Zombicide Missions The Break-In & The Blueprints: Success!

Hello all,

We enjoyed a nice evening/night playing Zombicide and as usual it was a blast - the game is so well designed that it simply amazes me. And it is dawning on me just how great the reply value is; the random combination of survivors, zombie draws and weapons available makes each mission very unique.

So the first mission was M00, Tutorial: Break-in from the Prison Outbreak rulebook. In short our heroes (Goth Amy, Troy the Traveller, and Ralph the Cowboy) had to secure a violet keyto the prison (why violet?!?). The prison - in true Walking Death-style - had been deemed a secure place.

So we went hunting for the key - unfortunately in the very first room Amy searched, she discovered an Abomination. Now, a bit panicked, but on the other we have gotten quite good at "managing" zombies, so the abomination was herded to and fro, posing little danger, but always a potential threat.

While Amy was busy, Ralph and Troy managed the rest of the zombies and before we knew it the mission was in the bag - an automatic shot gun made short work of the zombies inside the barbed wire squares of the prison while a police car kept running down zombies on the streets.

All in all the mission seemed quite easy (not that we would complain about that :-)) and we managed to stay in the yellow-zone, avoiding too many zombies. It turned out finding the abomination early and the key late was a blessing. The abomination meant that no such being would spawn inside the prison and thus break the barbed wire (we actually drew one the turn after Amy ahd found 'her' abomination) meaning half the zombies were herded into one square were they were easy to kill. Also, the choice of postponing searching for the key until we were in position meant the purple spawn zone didn't activate until we were geared up and ready.

All in all, a great game and a well thought out introduction-mission. Amy is (with her great skills) a brilliant starting character, Ralph and Troy seemed capable but were never really tested.

The second mission we played was M01: the Blueprints. Having secured the entrance to the prison, a new set of heroes were sent out to secure the area and attain some blueprints to make sure each entrance to the prison was nailed shut. This game had Amy (again), Chuck (Momma's Boy), and good ol' Though Nick in it and once the quite difficult rules for the mission had been read, and re-read, we began.

One curious aspect of the mission was the central security gate - not sure if we played it entirely correct (although I think so) but it was possible (through some clever manoeuvring) to capture the starting abomination and several 'innocent' zombies within the room. This meant we could take the long way around. We did have a few close calls due to massive amounts of runners but a combination of Amy's speed, Nicks incredible toughness (coupled with a Police Riot Shield), and Ralph's low profile meant we had the game under control. Well almost, each hero was wounded, but that was only due to a couple of unfortunate extra activation-cards. 

We also, to my surprise, managed the game with quite poor equipment - Amy (the winner on points, who passed red) only had dual pistols and Nick had dual shot guns. both were augmented with re-rolls and similar, but still interesting.

A great mission, interesting possibilities of the security gate and plenty of fun with the sniper towers, cars etc. 

Amy was great as always (that extra speed is a blessing), Ralph's "low Profile" was a game winner, as was the old dependable though Nick.

Two brilliant games, plenty of beer and good laughs - Zombicide rocks!

All the best,
Kasper

Toxic women - Toxic Walker Zombies 2

Hello all,
Two more zombies of the toxic variety - this time painted bright sparkly colours to give the board some colour :-).

Not my favourite sculpt, but they do look like they are doing the classic 'zombie'-shuffle...

All the best,
Kasper

The Fat Lady Singing Her Liebster Song...

Hello all,

So the Liebster thing is circulating like a virus. But a benevolent virus (if that makes any sense?). I received a nomination on my other blog early on but considered it ridiculous. But now, having read and enjoyed numerous responses to the chain letter-thingy, I have reconsidered and find it a brilliant way of getting to know other bloggers better. So it was with great pleasure that Sjeng from http://yeoldeinn-heroquest.blogspot.dk nominated this blog and thus gave me a second chance to divulge my secrets - thanks Sjeng! We both share a love for two of the best boardgames ever produced; Heroquest and Zombicide... wonder if Sjeng ever tried BloodBowl?

So as I understand it I have to let the world know 11 secrets about myself, answer 11 questions posed by Sjeng, and then nominate 11 new blogs. 

In order to keep it interesting (and divert your attention from my crappy "Danglish") I'll also be showing one of the latest zombies I've painted. It is one of the new fatties, a delightful fat lady - quite scary actually and she was a pleasure to paint.

Come and give mommy a kiss!

So eleven secrets?

1: I ponder each and every little detail. Everything. For instance, why eleven questions and not, say ten? In school the psychiatrist diagnosed me as manio-contemplative. I have since found out that he probably made the term up, but it seems fitting :-).

2: I recently finished, and successfully defended, my ph.d.-dissertation. This was the hardest thing I've ever done and it nearly killed me. I love researching (and I think secret #1 is a great asset for this) but spending on average 16 hours at my desk for a year, away from my family and hobbies, was slowly draining me of the will to live. 

3: I've taught seven classes at the University and have loved each and every second of it - but it has also scared the shit out of me. Trying to teach young, brilliant students stuff I hardly understand myself is really, really intimidating. They have been successful courses though - I hold the record for highest grade average and most students passing their exams (also the second place :-)). 

4: I really, really love teaching and the only reason I did my ph.d. was to enable me to get more classes.

5: Better find something not work related :-). I suffer from the heart-"disease" WPW (Wolff-Parkinsons-White). I have always thought the name was cool and had a were-wolfy sound to it :-).

6: I drink coffee by the buckets. I would rather have a gallon of mediocre hot coffee than one cup of fancy-pancy coffee.

7: I'm a really sloppy painter, thus no 'work-in-progress'- pictures from me. I'll paint quickly and without regard for where the paint is going, and then I'll have to spend a long time cleaning up the figures afterwards.

8: I've done more drugs than I care to think about. And more types than I can remember. Haven't done any for years, though.

9: I spent a year after high-school working in a coffee-shop in Amsterdam (see secret #8), squatting a hotel, fighting neo-nazis on the streets, and having a blast.

10: I spent another year in India working as a leather smith producing trinkets for the rich tourists at the Anjuna Market (see secret #8). I was forcefully thrown out of the country by the police for having overstayed my visa and only managed to get a couple of items with me. The best thing I made was a double-bag for a motorcycle, but the thing I really wish I had managed to secure was a backgammon board in leather which folded up into a small bag. I was really happy with how that turned out.

11: I think someone has continually watched over me (see secrets # 2, 8, 9, and 10). Considering what I've been through, I have never been badly hurt nor sick and for that I am really, really grateful today.

12: A bonus secret: I really miss my dad. He passed away very suddenly last year and I think about him everyday. Do me a favour - if your parents are still alive, please give them a call (or a visit) today and tell them you love them.

11 Questions from Sjeng:

1. What was your very first miniature? Did you paint it?

 My cousin got a copy of a Danish roleplaying game called "Drager og Dæmoner" ("Dragons and Demons") - a complete rip off of D&D - which he didn't appreciate. I, on the other hand, had suddenly discovered an entirely new world and loved it. With the game came a handful of really bad miniatures, but I found them brilliant. One of these was a Troll which I "painted" - I still have it somewhere (although it has been repainted several times since) - and the paintjob looked like something done with goo and dirt. I think I used Humbrol paint, but whatever type of paint it was, heavy layers were applied.

2. What's your favourite boardgame?

Difficult question - Zombicide (because I get to play it regularly), Heroquest (because I play it with the family), and Bloodbowl (still the best game ever made and I really love the campaign rules, but I never get to play it).

 

3. What's your favourite videogame?

I used to play numerous games but today I havn't played a real game in years - perhaps Clash of Clans on the Ipad, as I play it sometimes with my sons.

4. How much time do you spend on your hobbies?

There has been a long period of little or no time spent (see secret #2) but today I often use five hours a day painting miniatures, photographing, blogging, and reading other blogs.

5. What do you do for a living, and do you enjoy it?

I teach at a University, although at the moment I'm unemployed, busy applying for post doc.s.

 

6. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Remembering everything I read. I hate how much brilliant knowledge I've forgotten.

 

7. What sort of movies do you watch?

Haven't been to a cinema for a long time - and rarely see anything on the TV. But I enjoy most genres - fantasy, humorous, historical, etc.

8. What sort of music do you listen to?

I've got 45 days worth of music on the computer and this will normally just shuffle all day. I enjoy most types (from classical music to heavy metal), but Johnny Cash holds a special place in my heart.

 

9. What's your favourite food?

Used to be bacon, but I find myself increasingly turning into a vegetarian. I do make a brilliant Stinging-Nettle Pie, that even the kids like - and it gives bragging rights in school that they eat Stinging-Nettles :-).

 

10. What's your greatest ambition?

I would really like to publish a monograph and to have it make a positive impact on the scholarly world. I've got a contract with a German publisher regarding my Ph.D., but I do not really think it will make a great impact on anything - apart from my CV :-). 

11. What your greatest regret?

The people I have mistreated - both in school and in later life. It took me far too long to realise that treating other people kindly is the only thing that matters in life.

So the only remaining thing is to nominate 11 new blogs and so spread the contagion. But I think I will do it a bit different and wait a year or so before doing this. This will allow the Liebster to survive and any new blogs created in the mean time to get nominated.

Thanks for reading - I hope it wasn't too boring!

All the best,

Kasper

Mr. Scaredy Pants - Mack the Car Salesman (painted promo survivor)

Hello all,

I must admit the arrival of 24 new survivors and zombivores made me panic a bit. I really like painting these minis, but I also want to play with painted miniatures and the drastic plastic pile was becoming intimidating.

So I've devoted a couple of days to painting the brilliant minis (well, most are brilliant) from Guillotine Games.

Mack, the Car Salesman, is the first of ten I managed to get finished:

Not a Golden Demon standard but sufficient for the boardgame. For some reason the awkwardly positioned survivor Mack got a really scared look - you might be able to see it in the pictures. I considered redoing his eyes, but figured it was quite appropriate.

Mack is armed with a vicious pair of Kukris - although the travails of becoming a Zombivore has meant he lost one - along with the scared look :-).

Mack is (I think) obviously meant to resemble Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe in Con Air - although I don't think Mr. Cage (not the best actor in my book...) was ever cool enough to employ dual kukris?

His description in Zombicide is as follows:

"Time to test drive these kukris!"

Mack’s story is like most – an ordinary, happy man until the zombies rose, forced to dig deep or die. His peaceful previous life hid his true potential – unfortunately, it took burying his wife and two daughters to bring it out. Taking a car from his lot, he began a cross country zombicide, eventually joining the motley crew of survivors. Mack’s fighting spirit has made him a precious resource for any team, and his manic grin gets even wider the worse the odds are!

All in all, a nice mini and I think he will kill his share of zombies once he is let into the action.

All the best,
Kasper

Ross' Bowling Ball - Rules question...

Hello all,
Two of the new promo survivors came with their own weapons and appropriate weapons cards. Will's Comet Laucher serves as a Molotov Cocktail - and may be the best weapon in game - and Ross' bowling ball is a sure hit, doing 3 damage. Both seem a bit broken, but hey, as long as the zombies are killed who cares?
But one detail of the Bowling Ball-card puzzles me: What is the range of the ball? What does 1-1 mean? If anyone knows I would love to be let into this secret :-). And we have a game this Friday, so I would really appreciate the information - untill then I'll treat it as a range "1" weapon

 

All the best,
Kasper

Aargh! 24 New Survivors and Zombivores arrived today...

Hello all,

Just when I thought the pile of unpainted survivors was becoming manageable, 24 new ones arrive at my doorstep.

A veritable army of 'good guys'!

And with them, my box of unpainted plastic is suddenly quite full...

Oh dear, at least they are brilliant sculpts.

First up are the promo survivors:

 Ross the Manager and Will the Game Designer - both come with their own special equipment cards. I really like that, shows a degree of love for the game from the designers.

Next is Helen the Federal Agent (perhaps one of the best sculpts so far by Guillotine Games!) and Fred the Trader:

Then there is the Moustache Pack - great sculpts and really looking forward to painting not-John Cleese:

 Rob the Security Agent, Don the Civil Servant, and Frank the Repo Man

 Next up are the content of the large "Set #3" survivors and Zombivors pack:

 Mack the Car Salesman, Chuck Momma's Boy (brilliant sculpt) and Gary the Misfit (who seems a bit soft in the details?).

And the last two (as I forgot to snap a picture of Achille the Serial Killer) are Smith Dog of War and Mike the Miniature Sculptor:

 Zombies beware!

 I really need to get painting...

All the best,

Kasper