Saturday, 29 October 2022

Fallout Wasteland Warfare - first kick on the battle table

Howdy folks,
 
I hope all is well in your respective corners of the internets. If you've been following for any length of time or checked out any of my 'Fallout' or 'Modiphius' labels you will see that I've tried my hand at painting up some of this gaming line. I've completed the starter box, a few expansions, and created some scratchbuilt terrain for when the time is right (the scratch terrain could probably work in any post-apocalyptic setting).
 
This past week I finally had the chance to move from having 'painted' Fallout to now having gamed Fallout...on the tabletop. I met up with Mike and Duncan and we ended up trying a couple of scenarios from the latest pack...and if I'm totally honest...
 
I presently SUCK at Fallout...I mean...damn! I took a thumping, lol. As usual, Mike has beaten me to the punch on posting (Mike's version of events), and I think he is much kinder on my performance in his report than I...but yeah, the quality of my play enabled us to get in 3 rounds of Fallout over 2 different scenarios.

First kick impressions up front...there is alot to the game. I think the mechanics are pretty straight forward and move well, but there is an awful lot of 'paperwork' (insert appropriate Hot Fuzz mental image) to keep track of, and if you go 'full' Fallout, there is a lot to choose from. So while there is a steep learning curve, and it can feel like you're drinking from the firehose, I think you can take a scaled approach to this as well. Cause afterall, as much as I sucked, I really like the setting, the flow, I even like all of the extras...I just need to better prep myself and I think trying out the core scenarios (in order) will help me alot. So yeah, I see more Fallout in my future and am looking forward to it.

Okay, now the pics and random commentary...hope you enjoy.
 
The table setup for all rounds...building ruins and scatter terrain of barriers and ruined wall sections. In hindsight, given the first scenario, I would probably have tried to put up alot more walls and objects to block line of sight...

I ended up playing as Nora (the survivor) and first scenario was all about getting out of the vault and start foraging for equipment. The scenario setup was to have 6 possible items with 5 searchable locations/crates. The items were a mix of weapons, wearables, and uselessness.
 
For the first round, I started at the left side of the table, nearer the large wrecked building on the 'south' edge looking at the above picture. I get to make 2 actions and in this case I use both for movement and get squared away behind a barrier with a searchable not too far away.

A bit of a larger overview of the field...you can see the large ruined building on the right of the picture.

Venturing out from the barrier after I searched the location (netted me a very cool vault suit...I think it boosted my radiation and electricity protection) and started to make my way to the next location. At this time Mike deploys one of his Raiders...the scenario dictated a phased intro of forces for Mike, so 1 figure per turn...his Psycho moves pretty fast, much faster than Nora, so in no time is able to close the gap.

As you can see, 3 turns have passed by this point, so Mike has all Raiders on table, and Nora is in contact with his Psycho after Nora searches the area and pulls up a fairly cool melee weapon...some sort of machete if I recall.
I ended up getting caught up in melee combat with Mike's Psycho, and one of his other Raiders just kept firing into the mix...if I recall, at one point I end up killing his Psycho but his ranged Raider ended up taking me before I could do anything with that victory.

Round #2, same scenario...this time I end up starting at the 'south' end of the table (first picture) and in the large bit of ruined terrain...artsy type pic...fairly decent Fallout feel taking the picture through the window of the ruin.

Nora pushes to the barrier and the first searchable...again pulling the vault suit...which in this case (again) is not necessarily helpful against armor cracking Raiders.

Nora pushes back and to the left to get to another searchable...in this case I think I got a combat shotgun and you can see there are 3 Raiders on the table...so 3 turns have passed until this point.

Another artsy photo moment...and you can see a well equipped Raider in view...a turn event provided a random figure with an upgrade in armour and capability. In this case, the Raider that was on the second floor of the building received some snazzy power armour...Nora is very happy...and proceeds to die fairly quickly from ranged attacks.

Round 3, second scenario...and we have a Heroic version of one of the original scenarios...but this time, Dogmeat is already free from the trap and we have some serious looking Super Mutants milling about the area.

If I recall correctly, the intent of this scenario was to get to a couple of searchables, try to not die (at all...), and maybe try to take a mutant or 2 down. Without looking at their capability, I elected to move Nora as my first go, leaving Dogmeat in place...Mike moved his sledgehammer Super Mutant who literally pummeled Dogmeat to death and that results in failure (mine) and victory condition for Mike. 

At this point, I called it out of respect for the dead...we had played 3 rounds in pretty quick fashion. Again my main takeaway from this, the age old "time on recce is never wasted"...I was fighting a pretty steep learning curve and was moving blind without considering the abilities of the Raiders or Sup Mutants on the table. I do look forward to my next turn at the wasteland...and I am painting up some wasteland vermin to help me get primed.

So with the Vermin, that means:

Painted

15mm           30
28mm+         66

Bought          34, +9 (wasteland vermin)

Progress      +62

Wednesday, 19 October 2022

Painting Update - More Empress Minis

Howdy folks,
 
I hope all is well on your respective sides of the people-space. I am finding myself currently trying to maintain some degree of momentum on my posts and get past my no-post September. It has been a hell of a go for the past month or so, not as much painting time, not as much posting, and trying to catch up on painting that I finished over the summer period.

With that minimal crisis afflicting me, I guess it ain't all that bad.

As the subject says, my latest post is all about more figures from Empress...more from their Modern/Ultra Modern line and their Chechnya line specifically. You may recall that I completed an order earlier this year (sometime around June and started working on them in July) and was able to compete them in August just before heading out on holiday. I had purchased a pack of Chechen's and Russians to paint up in a post-apoc or Zona Alfa type setting, as well as a single or 2...in reality they should work in a variety of settings. But that's my main excuse for buying them.

Overall, great looking figures, they took the paint well and were alot of fun to paintup. I ended up adapting paint schemes and camo patterns from what I saw online...and really the challenge was trying to make the 2 packs 'work' together as a collective force that you could field in a scenario.

I hope you enjoy the pics. Cheers.
 
First, a couple of inspirational pics that helped guide me...the first one I've used before (from Rare Historic Photos on Instagram...I think) when I painted up my first pack from Empress. I really like the weathered winter camo, and just adapted it.
 
And then after watching the latest season of Stranger Things, I thought I’d paint up one of the figures in the same awesome 80’s pattern of a jacket that Hopper was wearing.
 
I found this last pic after a google search for this fellow...seeing him as the inspiration for the Empress figure, I wanted to get a sense of who this fighter was and to do the figure(s) justice.

So with my research complete, I put paint to brush and brush to figures...group picture first of course.

Pack of Chechen fighters suitable for a variety of settings. I figure they will mix nicely with my previous work…they'll be great as bandits, Zona Alfa crew hitting the zone, or any modern insurgent setting.

I thought these figures would be equally fitting and mix well…I’ve been curious to trying out Empress’s Danger Close rules.

Painted

15mm           30
28mm+         66, +10  

Bought          25

Progress      +71

Monday, 10 October 2022

Movie Icon and Highly Notable Supporting Character

Howdy everyone,
 
I hope all is well in your respective areas of operation. Fall is certainly upon us and I hope Thanksgiving past and to come see you well. As I mentioned in my last post, September was certainly a month that flew by...and to be honest this October has certainly felt some of that momentum.
 
Nonetheless, the brush must continue to wave to and fro...wave? Sure...
 
For this post, I thought I'd share a couple of unique characters from Spectre Miniatures and Wargames Illustrated respectively. They are certainly movie character inspirations and I would easily say at least at the icon level and for our WI sculpt, at the very least a highly notable supporting character.
 
I give you 'the Hunter' from the Predator/Alien franchise by Spectre and Captain K from Jo-Jo Rabbit by Wargames Illustrated. Both figures were a lot of fun to paint up..and I have to admit I was slow to approach them because I wanted to make sure I got my painting spot on for these two. 
 
I've been a fan of 'the Hunter' for as long as I can remember...you know, back when he had his own start to the genre, lol. I do enjoy the mashup with Alien that we've seen in the past while. As for Capt K, I truly enjoyed JoJo Rabbit...a very clever movie with a great amount of satire with some pretty intense emotion. I'm a definite fan of Sam Rockwell and his performance...like many in the film...was simply outstanding. If you haven't seen it yet, for the love of god, get some popcorn and strap in, its a great film...highly recommended.
 
For the Hunter I played a considerable degree of liberty with paintscheme and armour colour. For Capt K, he was pretty straight forward and just a lot of fun to add the splashes of colour to his customized uniform that you don't normally get to with historicals, especially WW2.

I hope you enjoy the pics. Cheers.














Painted

15mm           30
28mm+         56, +2   

Bought          25

Progress      +61

Friday, 7 October 2022

Painting Update - Scatter Terrain

Howdy folk,

I hope all is well on your end, happy Fall to you all. To say the least, the past month or so has been a little on the insane side with regards to tempo and time away from any hobby work. I managed to get to the Maritimes for some holiday and then over the pond to jolly ole England for a week of work. Definitely felt odd being out and about in the real world, living like it was practically 2019, lol.

Before and between all that business I did my best to keep up the painting. So, with that I thought I’d share a quick post with a few pieces of scatter terrain for a variety of settings and ‘verses. Thanks as always to my buddy Duncan for the 3d printing support.

Anyways, enjoy the pics.

You can see all the pieces here...the rocket looking scatter pieces are Citadel and Warhammer markers, the rest are STL 3D printed pieces.




Painted

15mm            30
28mm+          54, +11

Bought           25
Progress       +59