2017 Games Played Overview [draft]

see https://boardgamegeek.com/plays/bygame/user/zorcon/subtype/All/start/2017-01-01/end/2017-12-31

maybe do a 2016 post retroactive or later in january?

d20 Zombie Apocalypse

I am working on a zombie Apocalypse campaign called the M-Virus Incident for my son. This campaign uses the d20 Modern Core Rulebook as its foundation,   additional rules I cherry picked from a variety of other sources, and specific rules I wrote for this campaign. If you are not familiar with the d20 Modern system, it is an offshoot of D&D 3/3.5 and shares the same basic rules set. However, d20 Modern adds more than it subtracts from it predecessor.

Image taken of the interwebs without permission.

The M-Virus Incident is set in your home town during a bleak Zombie themed Post Apocalypse that takes place in the mid 2000's. The players (PCs) are members of a group of survivors. They have been together in a somewhat safe location for about 2 weeks. Some of them knew each other before the 'Incident”, some have joined the group more recently. Supplies are getting low and the survivors have to go out for a scavenging run sooner than later. But wait, someone hear something...

At low levels of the campaign the players should feel like they are in a horror film—A single zombie will fill the players with fear and be very difficult to stop. Then during mid levels, the campaign should feel more like an action thriller—The players begin to chase down zombies and have conflict with other groups as packs of civilization begins to creep up. Finally, at high levels, it is a full apocalypse as hordes of zombies destroy everything in its path and wars break out between different settlements.

The standard d20 Modern occupation/class system is used, but many of the character creation steps are omitted, changed, or added. For example the wealth system is completely overhauled to represent hastily prepared equipment. Some of the big addition that really ad a horror vibe are permanent damage, insanity, and the biggest impact, multiple levels of fatigue (from lack of sleeping, eating, drinking, excessive damage, the environment, and illness).

Zombies are overhauled. They cause fear and they can't be killed by damage alone--Players will need to use called shots to put a zombie down permanently. I am also adding my most favorite thing ever--Tables!! But seriously, yes, there are pages and pages of tables for generating random equipment, food, weapons, occupations, encounters, insanities, traits, flaws, disorders, and injuries.

There is a unique set of features that I think is going to really help set the tone. At character generation, players determine a number of associates. They make note of the following:

Choose d3+3 associates. They can be family, lovers, friends, enemies, co-workers, acquaintances, etc.; They can be on good or bad terms with you. For each associate, provide the GM with their Name, Gender, Age, Occupation, and describe your relation/disposition with you. When the campaign starts, d6-3 of your associates will be with you. The remaining associates are given to the GM where their fate may or may not be discovered as the campaign unfolds.

also...

The player's characters and their associates aren't the only ones in the team. There are d3+3 additional group members. The GM will determine their vital statistics, equipment (d6 random items), and relations with each other.

As the campaign unfolds, players will have their attentions and allegiances split between party members and NPC loved ones. Additionally, when a PC dies that players takes over one of the other group members (either a loved one or on of the additional group members.

This is still very much a work in progress, and I will periodically post updates here.

Fantasy RPG Dungeon Dressing 2

A gallery of my Fantasy Dungeon Dressing collection.

Part 1 of this series was posted a few years ago, and can be found here. These pieces have been acquired over the years. Some are purpose bought, while others were lifted from boardgames. A few of the items date back to the mid 80's, but a large portion of them were collected on the 00's.

RPG's originally ware a game that played out exclusively in players minds. But my group is comprised of mostly wargamers, hobbyists, and creative-types. We have turned our combats into detailed 3D tactical exercises. A direct result, I have collected various pieces to help visually describe/dictate the tabletop.

Spell Effects

These represent a number of spell effects such as Mage Hand, Invisibility, Living Fireball, Turn to Stone, to name a few.

Doors

Dungeon Doors from Advanced Heroquest and Dungeon Bowl.

Columns

Resin and plastic columns. The marble was painted with a sponge stippling technique.

Traps

Various traps from Mage Knight.

Outdoor Scenery

A small collection of resin outdoor scenery.

Fantasy RPG Dungeon Dressing 1

A gallery of my Fantasy Dungeon Dressing collection.

These pieces have been acquired over the years. Some are purpose bought, while others were lifted from boardgames. A few of the items date back to the mid 80's, but a large portion of them were collected on the 00's.

RPG's originally ware a game that played out exclusively in players minds. But my group is comprised of mostly wargamers, hobbyists, and creative-types. We have turned our combats into detailed 3D tactical exercises. A direct result, I have collected various pieces to help visually describe/dictate the tabletop.

Statures, monuments and obelisks

The three grey pieces and the one front-and-center are pre-painted from Mage Knight. I painted the remaining items. The two light colored obelisks in the back row are from Reaper (?). The three dwarf statues in the middle were made from plastic bottle screw-on caps and GW multi-part plastic figures.

My favorite of the bunch are the two brass lions on marble plinths. They are resin models. I am especially proud of the marble technique (see inset, top).

Loot

Most of these are pre-painted sets from Mage Knight and Master Maze. The large groupings (cloth, crates, bags, etc) in the middle and the barrels in the back were painted by me.

Furniture

Only the two sets of tables with solid back chars are pre-painted sets from Mage Knight. Everything else are a combination of resin and metal models that I painted. The mirror on the tiered stand is one my oldest dungeon decor pieces. The rug under the desk is a piece of plasticard with the ends scored (to make the tassels).

Miscellaneous

A menagerie of pieces that didn't fit anywhere else. I painted everything here.

The pot is also one of my oldest figures. It originally had billowing smoke that culminated into the shape of a wizards face. It broke off, so I decided to re-purpose it. I made the campfire out of small gravel and toothpicks.

Thrones and Magic Items

The left throne is a game piece and the right throne is from Mage Knight. The stone work both thrones are on are GW square bases. I used a small file to carve out the stones. The throne on the left sits atop a 60mm, 40mm, and 20mm base.

All of the magic items (except for the two flying swords) are from Master Maze.

Well, that is it for part 1. The next installment will focus on larger pieces and out door items.

I Smell a Rat! | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 12)

Finally wrapping up this series about 3 months late...

I will make the last entry into this series short. Rats (especially Giant Rats) are a staple vermin in any fantasy setting.

As with many of my 'mobs' and generic baddies, these have been basecoated, ink washed, drybrushed with 1-2 layers of highlights, then details added.

Dire Rats/Giant Rats - All of the individual rats are actually sci-fi vermin--Necromunda Mutant Rats. The Giant Rat Swarm (the large base in the back) are from an unknown company.

Rats - All of these figures are from GW. They are originally from Mordheim, Basic Hero Quest and WHFB minis.

To see the previous posts in this series, see the following links:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | 

Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11

Grin and Bear it | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 11)

I love bad puns... and I'm really bad at them!!!  

Today I present a quintet of bears.

1. A plastic toy bear (early 00s)
2. A D&D Miniature Dire Bear (mid 00s)
3. A plastic toy bear (early 00s)
4. A metal bear miniature from "I Don't Remember Co." (late 90s)
5. A WHFB Wood Elf Animal Handlers bear (late 90s)

Short and sweet today. Thant's all today folks. Ta ta!

Motley Crew | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 10)

I think this series is getting a little long in the tooth. I will be ending it shortly and present the remainder of my Fantasy RPG Figure Collection in a different way.

First of we have some felines...

1. A pair of D&D Miniature Guenhwyvar (mid 00s)
2. This is a Saber-tooth Tiger, but I don't remember the foundry that made it (early 00s)

The Saber-tooth is the only one I painted. I don't remember if this was for a generic encounter or painted specifically for a player. The photo does not do the figure justice. All the interim shading steps are lost--There is a dark base coat, an ink wash, followed by 5 successively lighter highlights.

Next we have a variety of small four-legged mammals...

1. A trio of Boars; foundry unknown (late 90s)
2. A D&D Miniature Fiendish Dire Wolverine (early 80s)
3. A D&D Miniature Fiendish Dire Weasel (mid 00s)
4. A quartet  of D&D Miniature Celestial Dire Badgers (late 80s)

In this group, the Boars are the only figures painted by me. Nothing special here... they look in RL pretty much like they do in the image.

To see the previous posts in this series, click below.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

Air Superiority | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 9)

A smorgasbord of flying thingies!

Can't have too many flying pests to annoy an adventuring party with. This installment of my RPG Figure Collections focuses on small flying creatures.

This is a GW Vampire Counts Bat Swarm.

A flock of GW Warmaster Carrion

These are actually sci-fi creatures. I based them of fantasy (square) bases as I wanted to bolster my selection of monsters for D&D. They are fGW Necromunda Ripper Jacks.

Lastly, here is a selection of various familiars--A hawk, cat, owl, and eagle.

All but 2 minis were painted within days of each other about 10-12 years ago. They were speed painted (and based)--Base cote, dry-brush hi-light, and ink wash... done! It took a total of about 2 hours from primer to matte cote for the lot. 

That all this time. To see the previous posts in this series, click below.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Cold Blooded | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 8)

'Ere we gots ssome snakeses and ssome ribbiterz...

A small group of reptiles and amphibians. Although, these don't come into use too often. 

Not much to say about these guys. The only ones I painted are 2, 4, 8, and 9.

1. A D&D Miniature Giant Grog (mid 00s)
2. This is a wood sculpted toy/trinket (early 80s)
3. A D&D Miniature Giant Grog (mid 00s))
4. A GW Talisman Toad (late 80s)
5. A D&D Miniature Displacer Serpent (mid 00s)
6. A D&D Miniature Fiendish Snake(mid 00s)
7. A D&D Miniature Iron Cobra (mid 00s)
8. I no longer remember where this mini came from (early 80s)
9. And #8s partner (early 80s)

Thats all for this post. Hope you come back again!

To see the previous posts in this series, click below.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

Man's Best Friend | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 7)

This is a short one today. Dogs and a beast of burden are up next in my collection series.

Only a few figures to show off this time around. The donkey was included as it seemed to fit here best.

1. A Mordheim Dog from GW (late 90s)
2. 1 of 2 war dogs from a set by Grenedier I think (late 80s)
3. A very old GW donkey. It came with a small cart. I added the green-stuff baggage (late 80s)
4. 2 of 2 war dogs from a set by Grenedier I think (late 80s)
5. This is either a GW or Reaper dog (early 00s)

I wish I had about 10 dogs in total (for RPG purposes) I always seem to need more than I have.

Let me know if you have any question or comments about this series. Any suggestion on how to improve them is welcome too.

If you like this article, see below for the previous articles in this series:
Part 1: Wagons Ho!
Part 2: Constructing Elementals (part 1)
Part 3: Constructing Elementals (part 2)
Part 4: Giants Among Us
Part 5: Have Horse, Will Travel
Part 6: Bark at the Moon

Bark at the Moon | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 6)

Here's the next installment of my RPG figure collection. Going through all these figures in various qualities of paint are beginning to inspire me to re-do some of them.

Unlike the horses in my last Fantasy RPG Figure Collection post, I do know the companies that produced these figures.

1. 1 of 4 wolves, part of a Grenadier Orc Chariot seen in this post (late 80's)
2. 2 of 4 wolves, part of a Grenadier Orc Chariot seen in this post (late 80's)
3. A D&D Miniatures Dire Wolf (mid 00s)
4. Freki, one of Leman Russ' personal wolves from GW (late 80s)
5. A D&D Miniatures Winter Wolf (mid 00s)
6. 3 of 4 wolves, part of a Grenadier Orc Chariot seen in this post (late 80's)
7. A GW Goblin Wolf Rider wolf (early 90s)
8. 4 of 4 wolves, part of a Grenadier Orc Chariot seen in this post (late 80's)
9. Geri, one of Leman Russ' personal wolves from GW (late 80s)
10. A GW Goblin Wolf Rider wolf (early 90s)
11. A GW Goblin Wolf Rider wolf (early 90s)

There have been a few times when I considered re-basing the D&D Miniature figures into my standard basing style. But the main reason I don't is that I have this crazy idea that I will actually play D&D Miniatures!!

That's all for my wolves. Next up are dogs. 

If you like this article, see below for the previous articles in this series:

Part 1: Wagons Ho!

Part 2: Constructing Elementals (part 1)

Part 3: Constructing Elementals (part 2)

Part 4: Giants Among Us

Part 5: Have Horse, Will Travel

Have Horse, Will Travel | Fantasy RPG Figure Collection (part 5)

I have done these kind of posts before, but decided to give them a proper name! Behold the "Fantasy RPG Figure Collection" series!

None of these figures are painted to an exceptional level, and only a few are painted to what I would consider (now) as table top standard. I don't remember the manufacturer of each figure, but they are likely a mix of Grenadier, RAFM and Reaper.

1. Random horse, came with rider (early 00s)
2. My first horse figure, came with rider and standing version (early 80s)
3. My second horse figure, came with rider (mid 80s)
4. Random horse, came with rider (early 00s)
5. One of a pair of "adventurer's horses", came without rider (mid 00s)
6. PC's horse, came with rider and standing version (late 90s)
7. One of a pair of "adventurer's horses", came without rider (mid 00s)
8. Female PC's horse, came with rider and standing version (mid 90s)

The reason these horses do not have riders attatched is because I primarily use (and re-use) them as steeds for PCs and NPCs. I'll either place the character's mini next to the horse, or add a label with the rider's name on the saddle.

Horse number 6 was the only horse that had its rider painted.

Here are the past articles in this series:

Part 1: Wagons Ho!

Part 2: Constructing Elementals (part 1)

Part 3: Constructing Elementals (part 2)

Part 4: Giants Among Us

Giants Among Us

Another post in my Retro series. This one includes minis painted by me and a number from my Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures collection. There is a GW knight in each picture for scale.

This giant skeleton is a Grenadier miniature that I have had for years. I painted it up during my D&D campaign about 8 years ago. I added a downed hero on the base (origin unknown). The base is a little weird--I added a "green slime"  in the middle of the base for some reason.

Here is a trio of Hill Giants and a Rock Giant. The four of them are from different companies and bought many years ago. They were painted around 10 years ago. The bases are my "deluxe" treatment from that era.

Behir and a pair of Fiendish Tyrannosauruses

A pair of Treants

I included a GW Treant in this shot. You can see the other "Treemen" figures in my collection in this post.

A Warforged Titan and a huge Fire Elemental

The mini versions of the titanic creatures are based on 50mm GW monstrous creature bases. Yoiu can find the rest of my Warforged/Iron Golem and my Fire Elemental collection here and here.

A Pit Fiend, a Bluespawn Godslayer, and a Glabrezu

A pair of Nightwalkers and a pair of Bulettes

A pair of Cloud Giants and a Storm Giant

A pair of Fomorians

Fire and Ice

We end the collection with a quartet consisting of: A Frost Giant, King Snurre (a Fire Giant), a Fire Giant Forgepriest, and a plain old Fire Giant. 

I don't know if these kind of posts are of any interest. But I ride the fence between role-player and war-gamer and between hobbyist and collector. In all cases, I like eye candy on the table. These models, figures or toys help to create such a scene.

Constructing Elementals (part 2)

In a brief part 2 of this article, I showcase my constructs, or golems.

This trio represents a clay, wood, and stone golem. I believe all three are Reaper minis. All three are mounted on GW 40mm square bases and have my basic painted sand/ballast/pebble basing.

This quartet of iron golems are from two different sources. The first and third are from the D&D Chainmail line (the one that predated their CMG line) and the second and third are Mage Knight figures. All of them have been based on GW bases (25mm and 40mm) and have a similar basing style.

Constructing Elementals (part 1)

Today is a few pics of figures I painted about 10 years ago. They represent the 4 elements or Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.

You may notice in the following pictures that some of the figures are pre-painted. Yes, I said it! I have no shame in admitting that I bolster my own painted D&D monsters and NPCs with pre-painted figures.

Back when I started our 3e D&D campaign (14 years ago), it was the first time as an adult that I had been GM. One consequence to that was that I had a very limited collection of D&D "bad guy" figures. I had plenty of orcs, goblins and other Warhammer FB creatures, but none of the other standard D&D monster fair.

So I began amassing figures. This created a ton of work-load in the painting department. To offset that, I would incorporate the new at the time D&D Collectible Miniatures Game (CMG). Not only were they already painted, but there were many races and creatures that weren't even available in metal.

Another source I used to make monsters was HeroClix. That was another CMG relatively new at that time. How do super hero figures fit into D&D you ask? Well I will point out a few examples below. There is a skeleton in each of the shots to help show scale.

Fist off, we have my assortment of Earth Elementals specific to the Ent lineage. This collection comprises of 3 GW Treemen, 4 GW Dryads, and 9 WotC Twig Blights (made specifically to coincide with the first 3e module "The Sunless Citadel").

Next we have a trio of more traditional Earth Elementals. The two on the right are Reaper figs (I think). Not sure if it counts as a conversion per se, but I sculpted and painted the bases to look like the creature was made from the ground it is standing on.

The left most figure is a HeroClix Man-Thing re-based and re-painted.

This is the assortment of Air Elementals. The back three are from Reaper. The bases have been sculpted and painted to be part of the figure.

The front row are figures from the D&D CMG line. 

Water Elementals are next. You will likely be surprised to find out where the front two figures came from. They are from a HeroClix Auquaman figure--It is the wave he stood on. I simply snapped him off and glued the "wave" to a new base.

The left and right most figures are from Reaper to my best recollection. They have also had their bases made to match the figure.

The lonely little guy in the back is a D&D CMG mini.

Lastly we have the Fire Elementals. The row of 6 figures in the back are Reaper and double as Wall of Fire or elementals if I am running short--Hey! Can't have too many Fire Elementals!! 

In the middle row we have a Reaper, HeroClix and Reaper fig. As with the other Reaper minis above, the bases have been made to look like part of the creature. The HeroClix figure is a Human Torch. 

The front row comprise two HeroClix and two D&D CMG minis.

Well, that about wraps it up. In part 2 of this article, I will finish off by showing my Golem collection ("Constructing" Elementals... get it? Yeah, really bad).

I can't put my finger on it, but what ever reason is, I am OK with using pre-painted figures for D&D encounters. However, I would never do so (without some sort of converting and re-painting) for a PC or a WHFB/WH40K army.

Wagons Ho!

Here are some pics of Wagons (and a chariot) that were painted for my Dungeons and Dragons campaigns that ran from '99-'08. Some of the models were purchased specifically for the campaign, and others were already owned.

You will notice an old (20-25 years old) GW Skeleton in most of the pics. I'm not really sure why I put him in these shots as these models don't really need it. But I took these pics on the same day as a series of elemental and giant pics, where the skeleton really did help illustrate scale.

---

STAGECOACH

This is a GW Vampire Counts Black Coach that I bought specifically for using as a standard coach. The players started using stagecoaches as their primary mode of long distance travel. We ended up having many encounters in town and on the road centered around coach travel. So I picked up this model. The "conversion" was walling off the back of the coach, swapping skelly driver and horses for health counterparts, adding interior detail by carving passenger seats out of foam, and adding baggage to the roof.

This model was one of my first attempts at modeling a "road", or worn spot in the grassy earth. In hind sight its not very successful. My basing technique at the time was a step up from the previous process, but only a little. Prior to this, I only used one color on the sand covered base (either green or brown). While I am using green and brown, picking out some rocks, and dropping in a bit of flock, it just isn't natural looking.

WAGONS & CARTS

Here we have 3 carts, all from GW. The one on the left was bought for the campaign. No mods on that one!

The middle cart was bought in the late '80. I had a Halfling Merchant in a WHFRP campaign and I needed a pony, so I picked up this mini. The cart had been build on a separate base with a bent wire around the shafts so that the wagon could attach to the horse.  It was great that the pony and cart were separate, but I found it cumbersome to use on the table. Wen I repainted them for this campaign, I also put them on the same base.

The third cart was one I picked up on a special mail order deal, back when the catalog was mailed to you and was a black and white folding poster!! I do not recall if this cart came with horses or if they were repurposed. I used horses I got from an inexpensive farm animal play set.

ORC CHARIOT

This is an old Grenadier Orc Chariot set I bought in the early '80s. I had used this figure in my early WHFB games. It has gone through 3-4 paint jobs over the years and in all the variations, I always kept the wolves separate. In this latest incarnation, I used a movement tray to allow the wolves and chariot to me moved as one piece. you can see the difference in the basing techniques on the wolves compared to the chariot.

The driver came with the original box set, as did the orc in the rear (I think). I do not recall the company or era of the middle orc.

Here is a shot showing the wolves removed. The banner poles lost both the tips over the years. I replaced them with bits from a GW plastic Skeleton sprue.