New gang on the block

I have just finished painting up another pack of Pulp Figures - PHP 08 Safari Into Danger. I was quite happy with the way these came out, so I have created a new Pulp Alley gang, based on these five figures. So here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gang. Left to right: Reggie, Bertie, Milo (hiding), Jim, Jane.

The Leader: Bertie Brook-Smythe
An experienced veteran of many long dangerous expeditions, Bertie now leads his Safari wherever adventure may beckon. His special abilities are all derived from his hunting experience.
Hardboiled - his targets get a -1d dodge penalty
Nerves of Steel - he can discard a card to cancel a -1d penalty on him
Untouchable - he always counts as being in cover





His Sidekick: Reggie Cain
Reggie has traveled with Bertie for many years, and is a veteran and crack shot. Bertie trusts him implicitly, though in dealings with others his moral compass is not always fully accurate. Again, his abilities reflect his long experience hunting in the field.
Veteran - he ignore the multiple combat penalty for shooting combat
Deadeye - he is not limited to shooting the nearest enemy





Ally: Jane Brook-Smythe
Bertie's daughter, Jane has traveled with her father since her mother died when she was a young girl. She was also sent to boarding school and medical college, and now she serves as the medic for the gang, as well as being a key member during a fight.
Doc - she rolls her Cunning (needing one success) to allow her "target" to reroll their next Recovery check





Ally: Milo Milktoast
While he has tagged along with Bertie for many years, Milo's targets are not the mighty and dangerous beasts of the savannah and forest. Milo is a lepidopterist, and is about as dangerous as the butterflies he chases. His special ability reflects this - he may not be a fighter, but being ignored can be very useful at the right moment.
Harmless - can't be targeted or in LoS beyond 6" range. Cannot attack (brawl or shooting).



Follower: Jim Remmington
Jim is the guide, tracker and general all-rounder for Bertie's safari. While he can shoot well, Jim is particularly impressive in hand to hand combat.
Fierce - adds 1d to his Brawl stat.








The gang perk is Call to Arms, which gives them extra Backup resources, depending on a Might roll by Bertie at the start of each scenario.

Tenement Roof

Another building for my Pulp urban setting. This is a terraced tenement, laser-cut mdf from Warbases. Unlike the previous flat-roofed version, this one has a pitched roof, and at this scale the roof is very prominent when viewed from the table-side. So I decided to do a bit more than just painting it or adding a simple paper image, and I also bought some of Warbases' Tiling Sheets. These give you horizontal strips of times which you need to glue down, from bottom to top, to give a nice irregular overlapping effect. The first two pictures show the unpainted tiles after fixing. After that I painted it with various grey shades, base and highlights, then a couple of washes - Sepia and the Antelope Brown (which is actually a deep green). At this point I discovered a small problem. The tiles have narrow cracks between them, which certainly looks effective, but I could not get the paint to flow effectively into the small spaces - surface tension. This means that the pale cream original colour can just be seen through many of the cracks. Next time I will spray the tiles overall dark grey before I glue them down. It is not much of a problem, but I can improve it next time.
Once the roof was done, I added the chimneys - they came with the kit, though I had to make the chimney pots out of dowel. I then added various moss, loose leaves and vegetation from the Lifecolor range, and a base of plastic card with printed paper stone flags.

Armadillo

I renewed a magazine sub (Wargames Illustrated I think) and got a £25 Warlords voucher as an incentive bonus. I wasn't sure how to use it - I don't do a lot of 28mm apart from Pulp and Old West, and in particular I don't much like WW2 in that large scale. The contrast between the scale and the real ranges of the weapons is too great, and that's especially true when you bring on tanks and other vehicles. At this scale tanks should be fighting across the length of a couple of tennis courts, not a six foot table. Also I am unconvinced by the "reinforced platoon" concept, which seems to me just an excuse to field that Tiger alongside thirty infantry.
Anyway, browsing through the Warlords site I happened upon the "Armadillo" improvised armoured car, basically a box on the back of a flatbed truck, with a few bits of armour bolted on. It comes with a couple of British figures and a machine gun to man the fighting compartment. Although it is in the late war section on the website, this looks to me more like an improvised vehicle from the early war era, perhaps pressed into service against a feared German invasion after Dunkirk. It struck me that this would make good transport for a Pulp league, perhaps adventuring in the Back of Beyond.

Ancient Arch

At Fiasco I picked up a model by Renedra, an old stone arch, a plastic model and just £5 as I recall. It went together neatly and painted up well, good detail to take various shades of grey. But the reason I bought it and the fun part was adding all sorts of moss and lichen with the Lifecolor sets. All good stuff, and I added a couple of hanging creepers with thread soaked in glue.

I see you have fallen for my simple ruse

What would any Pulp adventure be without an ancient Oriental mastermind, or a philosopher to give our heroes obscure hints and warnings? I got this guy from eBay, he is Doctor Fang from Statuesque's Pulp Alley range, but for me he is going to be Confu Manchu. A nice model which painted up well.

Ramshackle Barn

One of my purchases from Fiasco last week, the Ramshackle Barn from Renedra, 28mm scale. The kit is fine, nothing dramatic, a basic barn with a lean-to shed beside it, and a few bits of clutter - ladders, pitchforks and an old cartwheel. I did the basic paint job with a variety of browns from Foundry, but the fun was adding the overgrowing vegetation. Most of this is from Lifecolor, using two of their sets - Lichens and Moss, which provides more substantial clumps of greenery, and Algae, which gives you finer layers. I also added some real bits of lichen, and other foliage clumps, to give the impression of nature taking back control.

 

Fiasco 2015

Slightly late, a report on my trip over to Leeds for Fiasco, a show held at the Royal Armoury in the centre of the city. This is a nice middle-sized show, good for a couple of hours or so browsing around the traders and looking at a few of the games being demonstrated. There didn't seem to be a strong common theme this year, so there was a good variety of games to choose from. In terms of traders the show seemed to be well attended - I did not have a particular aim in going around the stands, just looking for various bits and pieces as always. Leven were there with their lovely 6mm castings, and I bought one as usual, even though I am not actively gaming this scale right now. What I am doing is building up a 28mm city collection for Pulp and similar encounters, so I picked up an mdf Tenement building from Warbases, which will fill some space nicely. I also picked up a plastic Ramshackle Barn from Renedra - it won't quite fit into my city but I fancied covering it with weathering and plant growth, and it will serve in quite a few scenarios, Pulp and also Old West. Other than that a few paints and bits and pieces of scenery. A nice quiet day out.