Not-cromorphs

I have wanted some necromorph models for ages and I think that started when I got my copy of Sedition Wars. I guess I was hoping that some day, a company would get the license to make an official Dead Space game and then I wouldn't have to make something myself.

However, with Quarrantine 37 due for release in a couple of weeks, I realised I was going to need some space zombies.. and while I already have a bunch of the Mantic plague zombies and the Virus-inspired Strain from Sedition Wars, I figured now was as good a time as any to cross another project off the list.

Made from a mixture of Deadzone plague zombies, Kings of War zombies and Kings of War Nightstalker Reapers, these are neither well converted nor well painted.. but in a first for me, when I sat back and looked at them, I decided "Eh, they'll do". I guess it was because I didn't plan to do anything else with the kits so it didn't feel like I was wasting or devaluing them by cutting them up and covering them with paint. 

Also included is a KoW objective marker and a Xenomoth from Zombicide Invader (boy I wish you could buy those separately). 

Now I just need to make a Bloater or two and I should have everything I need for Quarantine 37. Well, perhaps I need I new Engineer-themed crew as well.. 

Roh-butts

While I have not enjoyed painting miniatures over the last five years (coinciding with my declining ability to do the same), the recent Stargrave launch created the usual skirmish game dilemma for me; maybe this will be the game where I can get a basic roster of minis done before the first expansion drops and I fall too far behind. 

Of course, it has failed to happen dozens of times before and there was no reason to think Stargrave would really be the exception. Except.. well, this game has robots. And when a simple black primer and a heavy drybrush of GW Leadbelcher gets you 80% of the way there, I figured that even I could push a few 3D printed minis (from Anvil) over the finish line.

So here we have two Sentrabots (black primer, GW Leadbelcher drybrush, GW Agrax wash, deliberately thin coat of Vallejo Insignia White and P3 Khador Red Highlight).. 

..plus two "Gunner" droids for my actual crew, R1C0 and M0X1. Primer, drybrush, P3 Coal Black / GW Mephiston Red, GW Nuln oil wash and a single highlight. Really pushing the boat out! 

..and finally a Warbot. It gets up to three shots. This gun has three barrels. That works for me. I also went a bit crazy with this one and came dangerously close to proper painting. And then I had to have a cup of tea and a lie down.

Primer, drybrush, P3 Greatcoat Grey, nuln oil.. and then I thought I'd try out one of those Army Painter makeup style drybrushes and I was mightily impressed with the results on the big armour plates. 50% Greatcoat Grey and AP Fog Grey, then pure Fog Grey, then 50% Fog Grey and Vallejo Insignia White. The chest area got an extra helping of the off-white drybrush to prepare it for the yellow, which was just GW Iyanden Yellow contrast straight over the pale blue.

The rust effect was me painting on pure Vallejo Mahogany, panicking and dabbing on some random black and dark brown to tone down the red! 

Terrain Snob

I've had some Infinity card buildings sitting in my office cupboard for the longest time. Since.. the USAriadna pack came out, which was in the heady pre-pandemic days that seem like a distant memory. I got a second set with the Ariadna vs Aleph box, though it languished alongside the first.

It's not that I hate pre-coloured scenery in general or cardboard terrain in particular (I have plenty of Battlesystems stuff and what you get in those Infinity boxes is an excellent way of getting started) but.. the lack of geometric detail, the concerns about stability, the concerns about durability.. not to mention the fact that I have dozens of 'normal' MDF and hard plastic terrain kits (some even painted) meant that I always had a "better" option. I was a terrain snob!

Until tonight.

I've been meaning to have a go at the Dead or Alive supplement for Stargrave since it came out; I have more than enough minis assembled and this evening I had the opportunity to play it.. but ferrying boxes of fragile terrain to and from storage just to try it out seemed like a chore. Besides, I didn't have enough pieces finished in a consistent style to fill a 3x3 board and I knew it would bug me if I mixed and matched the styles (plus that would mean even more boxes).

(A store photo for one of the Precinct Sigma kits from MAS. Looks perfect for Judge Dredd, Realities Edge / Hardwired.. or Infinity, of course) 

Even so, I might not have considered the cardboard Infinity stuff if it hadn't been for the recent videos I watched showing off pre-coloured MDF terrain from Micro Art Studios (I particularly like the graffiti-strewn Precinct Sigma stuff) as well as the previews from Multiverse with their upcoming pre-coloured MDF products. It had warmed up to the idea of simpler, more robust buildings and there was no denying that the finish was far more detailed that I would ever achieve in paint.

(Preview from the Multiverse FB page. I'm getting a Fallout vibe from this!) 

So I opened up both packs, filled a 3x3 with rectangular buildings and shipping containers.. and since the art style fitted the mat, it all looked really good and played well enough. I'm certainly considering the hard card terrain sets from CB now and I might even pick up a few of the pre-printed MDF kits to see how I feel about phasing out my TTCombat sci-fi terrain..

(A humble card building from the Aplekton scenery pack. Humble, but useful. And 100% more painted than the robot)