67. Stylish Survivors

If you must survive the Zombie Apocalypse, you might as well do so with style and flair.

I've  just finished painting up some Survivors, or at least some hot chicks with guns.  Whether they're surviving or forcing others to survive is still open for debate.

I also painted up a token dude and a dog.  Dogs are great for getting hot chicks to notice you.  So's the bright red hair, but they may not notice you the way you want them to!

Click the pics for a larger view.  These are all 28mm scale figures.  The manufacturer is listed under each picture.  Links to the manufacturer's webpages are at the end of this blog.

Smile for the camera.  The post-apocalyptic camera!

Why, yes, those are nice paper buildings.  Thank you!

These are Copplestone's "Corporate Babes 2," Pack FW46.

I like the rear view.  Perhaps a little too much to be healthy....

This is my favorite figure of the group.  I'm really not that into the whole "schoolgirl uniform" thing, I just like the pose.  She exudes a confidence well beyond her (assumed) schoolgirl years.

Plus I really like the plaid paint job.  I'm a touch proud of that.  It's the first plaid I've ever painted.  Could it be better?  Sure, but I still like it.

I thought about adding blood to the sword, but in general I stay away from overt evidence of the fighting the figures do.  I simply like the clean look better.

This lady is somewhat mature, dressed more for a night on the town, I think, than a business meeting (the fur-trimmed jacket tells me that).  I added the "Morticia" white stripes as an afterthought; just felt she needed a little "extra" something.

I'm not sure where she is going to put that gun when she's finished with it.  The dress doesn't leave much room for a concealed-carry holster....

This is a New Age kind o' gal.  Bright colors, hot pink hair, not afraid to show her midriff.  Anyone who's brave enough to wear, not just a mini-skirt but, a micro-mini-skirt deserves hot pink hair and bright yellow boots!

At least she's got somewhere to put her pistol when she gets tired of carrying it.  She's also the only lefty in the group.

Here's another gal dressed for a night on the town.  She's slightly more elegant in terms of what she's wearing:  but then again, you're always dressed appropriately for the occasion when you bring a machine gun with you.

All in all, she's relatively unadorned.  No gaudy necklace.  No superfluous handbag.  Just a gun and white pumps.

She does have a cute little white bow on her left hip, which is pretty well hidden by the pose.  Oh, and her dress is slit waaaay up.  That probably counts for something.

Here's the last of the Corporate Babes.  She looks all business to me, for sure.  Grey suit, prim hairstyle, no-nonsense facial expression.

She does have makeup on, but that would seem to be the last concession to her femininity she'll make.  "Glass ceiling, my @ss!"

She's high-class.  Notice that those are actual silk stockings, as evidenced by the seam line....

 

Here are the last of the lovely ladies:  two seriously hardcore damsels.  The one on the left is "Dionne (b)" (HFA021) from Hasslefree Miniatures.  The one on the right is "Girl Werewolf Hunter" (WH1) from Copplestone Castings.  They both have two handguns.  They both look totally prepared to kick @ss:  yours, mine, and anyone else who gets in the way!

I've only ever seen either of them painted all in black.  And while black is totally appropriate, I didn't want them BOTH in black.  So I opted for a little photo-negativity, so to speak.  Not only in the clothing but in the hair too.

In other words, I painted one with black hair and white clothes, and the other with white hair and black clothes.  Personally, while the Copplestone girl is a more dynamic pose, I always think she's about to fall over backwards.  Is she running forwards, or diving backwards out of the way, firing as she falls?  Dunno.  I DO know that the Hasslefree girl is much more menacing and composed:  she's coming for you and you ain't a-gonna be able to stop her.

This view isn't nearly as interesting as the view of the other girls, but I include it for completeness' sake.

At last we come to the token male.  I know you've all been awaiting his arrival breathlessly.  This is "Ray" (HFA007) from Hasslefree Miniatures.  Yes, he's wielding a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, and a cricket bat.  Yeah, that's what I though too.

Ray has had rather a bad day, I think.  He's a bit stressed out.  While on the one hand he's dressed pretty conservatively in khakis and a nice Oxford dress shirt, on the other hand he's wearing a piano tie (circa 1985) and has dyed his hair bright flaming red!  "I've taken about as much of this as I can stand!"  It's obvious he's a little unhinged.  I mean, who wears a piano tie anymore?  ;-)

Here's a rear-view shot, just to prove that I'm fair to the ladies as well.  Enjoy, ladies!

Well, that's all, folks.  I'm afraid I forgot to take a separate picture of the dog.  For all you dog-lovers out there:  my apologies.  However, it is just a dog.  Plus, I have absolutely no idea of where I got it, so I can't link to it.  (It is very odd for me to not know where I acquired a miniature.  I can usually tell you exactly where I was, what time of day it was, and how long it's been in my closet.  Alas that I can't say the same thing about my kids' birthdays!  [I kid, I kid, I almost never forget their birthdays.])

Two more thoughts about the miniatures:  first, I suppose technically these are not purely Survivors; they're really just girls with guns, exactly as the advertising suggests:  "Corporate Babes" with guns.  Second, I painted the bases grass-green to match almost the entirety of my collection, as opposed to the pavement-grey I painted on my zombies' bases.  I really didn't even stop to think about it, as it's practically muscle memory to paint the bases green.  I do think, now, that grey might have worked out better on the whole, but as green is a natural color I think it is acceptable.  Plus, the sand I use to texture the bases doesn't really lend itself well to looking like concrete.

Lastly, I would like to point out that while I generally don't like to add blood (as I mentioned under the girl with the katana), I did add it to Ray's cricket bat.  This was a color palette choice:  I wanted a darker red to help both offset and draw the eye to his hair.  You'll notice that the bat's handle is dark red too, for that same reason.

The Corporate Babes 2 are from Copplestone Casting's "Future Wars/Civilians" line, as is the Girl Werewolf Hunter.

http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/range.php?range=FW

Ray and Dionne are from Hasslefree Miniatures' "Modern Adventurers" line.

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=miniatures~modern-adventurers

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to look at my little corner of the web!

66. A Dungeon Foray

Sitting in my hotel room, I decided to play a Two Hour Wargames game of Warrior Heroes:  Legends solo dungeon attempt.  I had previously printed out some cardstock figures (free from the inter-web-tubes) and stuck them into some spare scrap foamcore so they stood up.  I threw a deck of cards and some dice into my suitcase, and with the rules on my tablet I was set to play.

I had previously played Warrior Heroes:  Armies and Adventures in a similar solo dungeon attempt, but was not totally happy with the results.  I felt the dungeon was a bit too random; and while I want a random dungeon, there is a limit.

I invested half an hour ahead of time and created my Star (as yet un-named) and his band of dangerous(?) grunts.  I rolled them straight off the lists; the only thing I ignored was their alignment.  A test roll caused 2 of the 5 to be the opposite alignment and that's not what I wanted.  "Just play the game," as Ed says, so I figured my Star wouldn't have even tried to recruit such malignant entities.  For test drive purposes, I took one of each type:  a Noble Star, and one each of Caster, Healer, Missile, Soldier and Warrior.

So, the stats:  All are of the Red Sun.
Star:  Noble, REP 5, PEP 5, SAV 4, 1HW, AC 4.  Attributes:  Swordsman, Charismatic (rolled randomly), Resilient (chosen).  8 items, 2 empty "slots."  Young.
Caster:  REP 2, PEP 1, SAV 2, 1HW, AC 2.  Attributes:  Arcane Knowledge.  Male, Old.  Food 1, Talos 1.
Healer:  REP 3, PEP 3, SAV 2, 1HW, AC 2.  Attributes:  Healing.  Female, Teen.  Food 2, Talos 1.
Missile:  REP 4, PEP 3, SAV 4, Crossbow, AC 4.  Attributes:  none.  Male, Teen.  Food 2, Talos 2.
Soldier:  REP 3, PEP 3, SAV 2, 1HW, AC 4.  Attributes:  Resolute.  Male, Youth.  Food 1, Talos 2.
Warrior:  REP 3, PEP 3, SAV 2, 2HW, AC 4.  Attributes:  Resilient.  Male, Teen.  Food 1, Talos 4.

"Dungeon on!"

I was starting in a Capalan province, so the Big Bad = an Ogre!  Oooo, scary!  I determined that the Dungeon Encounter Rating (DER) was 4.  I therefore drew 8 cards to represent the Dungeon.  I laid the first card down:  a black 5 of Spades.  This is higher than the DER so no Random Event.  However, a PEF has been encountered.  I roll 2d6 vs the DER, passing 1d6 (not doubles, so no Trap), increasing the DER by 1 to a total of 5, and I added 2 cards to the Dungeon deck.

I then mistakenly rolled on the Dungeon Denizens Table (technically I should not have, but oh well).  I rolled under Capalan and scored a 6 + 3 = 9 = Elves.  I checked their Alignment from page 7 and scored:  6 = Black Moon.  Next, to determine if they were Enemies or Not? I rolled on the Enemies or Not? Table on page 98 and scored:  5, Enemy.  Seemed a bit redundant so I figured either counted.  Next, How Many?  There were five of us (I chose not to take the Healer into the Dungeon; left her in the kitchen cooking...up Healing Potions, of course!).  I rolled 1d6 = 5, an odd number so subtract 3 = 2 Elves.

I then rolled them up from the Elves list.  Both were Male.  The first was an Archer (longbow), Missile QRS, REP 5, AC 4.  The second was a Soldier (1HW), Soldier QRS, REP 5, AC 4.

I set everyone up on a piece of highly elaborate Dungeon Terrain, ie a piece of notebook paper.

From top to bottom, left to right:  Elf Soldier, Elf Archer; Warrior, Star, Soldier, Caster, Missile.

I originally rolled the In Sight test for each character, which is the optional way and the way I normally play.  However, I admit to being a trifle confused with the order of In Sight actions that way since the rules are written assuming you will only roll once for the Leader.  It says that "all figures in the acting group that want to fire" do so, but if you roll each figure individually then it erases the "acting group" aspect.  In order to conform to the rules, I elected to use only the group's Leader's roll.  In this case, my Star rolled 5 successes(!) and the Elf leader rolled 3 successes.  My group would act first.
 

The Missile shot his crossbow at the Elf Archer.  1d6 + REP 4 = 5 = MISS.

The Caster wanted to cast a Damage spell, but since that spell's Spell Target Number (STN) = 9 and the highest a REP 2 Caster can roll unaided is 8, I decided not to cast this turn.  In retrospect, I should have cast a Defend spell instead....

Finally, the three fighters wanted to Charge.  I (perhaps mistakenly) added the Outnumber bonus to the chargers (I counted my whole group, not simply those charging; right?  wrong?).

My Star rolled 3d6 vs REP 5 (+1d6 Outnumber) = Pass 3d6.  The Soldier rolled 4d6 vs REP 3 (+1d6 Resolute, +1d6 Outnumber) = Pass 2d6.  The Warrior rolled 3d6 vs REP 3 (+1d6 Outnumber) = Pass 0d6.

Then the Elf Soldier rolled 2d6 vs REP 5 = Pass 2d6.  The Elf Archer rolled 2d6 vs REP 5 = Pass 1d6.
 

I admit that I forgot to nominate my Targets before charging.  I allocated the Hero against the Elf Soldier, and the Soldier + Warrior against the Elf Archer.  This gave the Elf Archer a "Pass more than opponent" result versus the Warrior; the Archer shot his bow, scoring a 10 = HIT!  For damage, the Archer rolled 2d6 (for the Marksman ability; keep the best result) = 1, 6.  The 1 = an OBVIOUSLY DEAD Warrior!  Then the Soldier moved into contact.

An Obviously Dead Warrior.

I moved to Melee.  My Star Hero rolled 6d6 (1HW + REP 5) = 4 successes.  The Elf Soldier rolled 6d6 = 3 successes.  I scored one success more (so an Impact of 1).  For Damage, I rolled 1d6 (twice, for the Swordsman attribute) versus the Impact of 1 (the Elf is Slippery, but Impact can't be less than 1).  I rolled 1 twice.  The Elf Soldier was OBVIOUSLY DEAD too!

Hoody hoo!
 

Next melee:  my Soldier against the Elf Archer.  Soldier rolled 4d6 = 2 successes.  The Elf Archer rolled 5d6 = 3 successes, for 1 more success (Impact of 1).  For Damage, the Elf rolled 1d6 versus Impact of 1 = 5, so greater than Impact but not a 6.  The Soldier was Knocked Down.  He immediately took a Recover from Knock Down Test from his QRS:  2d6 vs REP 3 = Pass 1d6 = OUT OF THE FIGHT.

The Elf Soldier is OD, and my Warrior is OoF.

Wow, glass jaw.
 

I then rolled Activation Dice.  First roll:  Us 3, Them 3.  Doubles.  I don't think Activation doubles actually count when you're in a Dungeon, so I ignored them.  Second roll:  Us 4, Them 4.  Doubles again.  Ignore.  Third roll:  Us 5, Them 6.
  

We Activate.  No In Sights are taken.  Technically, we are in two groups:  my Star (REP 5) and the Caster and Missile (REP 4).  Technically, the Star should go first being the highest REP, but also technically the Caster and Missile wouldn't get to go (too low a REP).

However, I totally forgot that they were in two groups, and just went with the same order of events as for an In Sight resolution:  Shoot/Cast first, then charge.  I had the Caster cast a Defend spell on the Star, successfully.  He cast at 3 higher than the STN!
 

Next, Mr. Missile succesfully reloaded his crossbow, and shot at the Elf Archer.  1d6 + REP 4 = 10, HIT!  Damage equals 1d6 vs Impact 3 (crossbow) = 5, greater than Impact.  The Elf Archer is Knocked Down, and immediately takes a Recover from Knock Down Test from his QRS:  2d6 vs REP 5 = Pass 2d6 = STUNNED.

There seem to be more horizontal bodies than vertical bodies.

The Noble-Hero-Star-White-Knight-Red-Sun-Good-Guy then unceremoniously moved next to the Elf Archer and put him out of his misery.  Permanently.
 

Three of the items the Star carries are Healing Potions purchased previously.  He forced one down the throat of the Soldier.  He passed 1d6 for the Potion + passed 1d6 for his REP for a total of Pass 2d6 Healing.  The Soldier returns to "life" at -1 REP and Skills until after the Encounter.

The end of the Encounter.  The dead Warrior has mysteriously vanished....

This was only the first card of the Dungeon!  Granted, I should not have had a PEF on it, but still...that's some deadly stuff.  REP 5 opponents are tough.
 

I had my Star stick his nose into the next section.  I turned over the next card:  a King of Spades; a face card!  This is a set of stairs leading down to the next level.  Already?  Yikes!  Six cards remained in the Dungeon Deck, so I would add four more cards, equalling ten cards total (or twice the DER).
 

So, one man dead, the other a temporary REP 2 wuss.  And a REP 2 Caster.  I think discretion is the better part of valor, and we'll come back for that Ogre another day.
 

Before we leave, I loot the bodies.  2d6 vs the REP 5 of the Elf Soldier = 1, 3.  Nothing.  Next, the Elf Archer = 1, 2.  Nothing.  Losers.
 

I then roll for the recovering Soldier.  2d6 vs normal REP 3 = 2, 2 = Pass 2d6.  He heals up nicely and returns at normal REP.  Sadly, the Warrior is still dead.
 

Does anyone else improve?  That would be "no."  Since one of the requirements for increasing REP is for the Encounter to be a success, and since I scarpered after the first room, I would have to say that no one gets to improve.
 

And since this was an unsuccessful Encounter we have to see if everyone agrees to stay. 

My Star is REP 5 = 5d6 = 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 = 4 successes.  Caster is REP 2 + 1d6 (Grunt went OOF) = 3d6 = 1, 4, 4 = 1 success.  He loves me and won't take this test after the next Encounter.  Healer is REP 3 + 1d6 = 4d6 = 3, 3, 6, 6 = 2 success.  Same result.  Soldier is REP 3 + 1d6 = 4d6 = 1, 2, 2, 5 = 3 successes.  Hm, he remains in my group, but might have to test if the next Encounter is unsuccessful.  I guess that's fair; he did almost die.  (But I did spend a Healing Potion on him, too.)
 

====================================

All in all, a lot of fun.  One thing about THW games, there's a lot of tables.  The hardest part, and the slowest part, is knowing which table to use next.  Many of the THW titles have a "recipe" that you can follow, but oddly not WH:L.
 

Hopefully, next time I'll have better success, as well as having it go quicker.  Naturally, it took far longer because I was taking detailed notes for this write-up, and the write-up took far longer than the game, but I enjoy both.  It was kind of neat being able to take pictures with my tablet, so that I could write it up.  Unfortunately, the Blogger app for Android didn't work all that well (very limited functionality), and logging in to Blogger from my tablet wasn't a whole lot better.  I had difficulty getting the pictures to upload, and formatting is a pain.  However, I was able to transfer the pictures to the home computer and finish this exciting and thrilling narrative from there!

Thanks for reading.  I promise that future reports will be more fluff and less number-y.