Happy New Year 2K16!

My New Year's resolution is to post more often... twice a month is my minimum goal.

So to start off 2K16 here is what I've been putzing with:

base: Hot Wheels Mid-Scale (1/50) 1959 Chevrolet Impala.

rear wheels: the front axle from a Fastlane haul truck (those giant mining dump trucks).
front wheels: axel from a "Mars Attacks" truck from Mantic.

scale mini: Wargames Foundry

The haul truck wheels are hollow, so there will be some filling or plating with plasticard. I'd like to do a bladed front bumper, and a pintle mount or turret. Windows will be armored over, and I'm leaning toward a rusty rat-rod type paint scheme. The back bumper is also pretty high, so I might sling two oil drums under the boot.

Post-Apocalyptic Rides

I have collected a formidable array of 1/50 scale automobiles. I started collecting Hot Wheels G Machines line about 5 years ago for use in a Marvel Super Heroes campaign I ran using HeroClix for miniatures.  The broadness of the 1/50 scale cars combined with the low suspension and chopped roofs made them an attractive size for use with most 28mm minis. 1/43 scale diecasts are far too tall for most minis, and 1/55 are the right height but look too narrow beside the exaggerated wideness of gaming minis.  1/50s make a nice compromise – slightly too tall but wide enough. I should note that like other cars sold as 1/43 and 1/64, 1/50s can vary in actual scale… basically they are designed to fit a package size and average to be about 4″ long.
Of course the 1/50 scale Hot Wheels line was doomed to failure – as it was quite useful.  While they aren’t made anymore I still manage to pick up a few here and there, and I’ve even found some other diecast models that scale nicely with them, including a Jada diecast that is nearly 1/47 actual scale yet labeled “1/64.” Go figure.
My thoughts are to trick out a few of these for the post apocalyptic game Atomic Highway… I’m not sure I want to do all of them, as I might want normal cars for something in the future…. Anyway these are the models I have collected and can find:

• 1969 Dodge Charger
• 1970 Plymouth GTX
• 1970 Plymouth Barracuda
• 1930 Chevy Corvette Stingray
• 1957 Chevy Bel Air
• 1971 Dodge Challenger
• 1968 Chevy Camaro
• 1966 Imperial Crown
• 1967 Pontiac GTO
• 1970 Chevy Chevelle
• 1970 Chevy Nova
• 1977 Pontiac Trans Am
• 1970 Chevy Camaro
• 1956 Ford F100 Pickup
• 1965 Buick Riviera
• 1966 Ford Mustang
• 1968 Ford Mustang
• 1962 Volkswagen Karman Ghia
• 2008 Nissan 350Z
• 2008 Dodge Challenger
• 1973 Ford Bronco
• 1995 Range Rover
• 1972 Bedford CF Van

State of DisUnion

So visitors to this blog (admittedly a very small group as I don’t think even my players pop in – so basically that means “me”) will notice that I really suck at keeping a blogging schedule.  I’m full of intention – “blog posts every Tuesday from now on” but always fall behind.  This was originally compounded by the fact that I would make separate blogs for different RPG projects… when a project was shelved the blog would go months (or years) without an update.  In my general effort to degooglfy my existence (screw your privacy agreement Google) I decided to combine the archives of my 6-7 Blogger blogs into this blog about a month or so ago.
And then I didn’t post anything for a while… I fixed some tags and reuploaded some pics that got lost in the transfer (though there is still more to fix) but that was it.
So what has been going on… well I have more interviews that don’t result in full-time employment. My son had his first birthday.  I’ve run a few Daring Tales of the Sprawl (Savage Worlds cyberpunk) games and played in a couple Marvel Super Heroes games. Been painting and collecting minis and vehicles.  Planning on a big life change in the next 6 months or so… big move back to the JPN.
At paint night I continue to start projects more than finish them – though 5 Copplestone scavengers and 7 Artizan/Foundry/Unknown western figs are waiting merely burnt grass flock. And a platoon of 12 Dust Tactics US Infantry are nearly finished painting close behind.  I still need to work on coming up with a paint scheme before I start laying color – the Copplestone troopers have been Simple Greened 3 or 4 times already as I start over – however I think I have their scheme figured now.
Purchases have been a lot of vehicles – several 1/50 Hotwheels G Machines as well as a few 1/50 diecasts from Solido, Jada and other manufactures to go with bigger scale minis I have.  I also got a number of Siku, Lledo, Jada and Majorette 1/55-ish pieces to complement my collection of more true-scale vehicles for 28mm.  Vehicle scale continues to be a multi approach deal – I pick up 1/55s as I see them and 1/50s as well.  50s I think look best with larger minis like Reapers and Victory Force, but the 55s are much better suited to most of my 28s – Foundry, Copplestone, EM4/Grenadier, Artizan, TAG etc.  I have abandoned 1/43 though – going so far as to sell of a number of my grossly large 1/43 Russian trucks and such.  Since Honorable Lead Boiler Suit has pulled the 40mm UltraModern line I really have no use for the 43s anymore. Of course Eric and Tony think 1/43 is right on – ’cause of course the average man’s chin should come up to the window sill of a VW Beetle…  Sorry guys – most cars roofs are between sternum and nipple height compared to me… my Jeep is chin height and even my wife can see over the roof of the Fit.  1/55 is the stuff.
Played the 4th episode of the SW cyberpunk game last night – it’s finally gelled into a cohesive setting of general cyberpunk rather than any specific adaptation. And up on the horizon may be a post-apocalyptic game.  With limited time left to game in the US, and other friends looking to play, a second project for off weeks seems a reasonable idea.  PA gaming has been a draw to me for a while and recently it seems that many of my friends are interested in it too.  Currently I’m thinking about game systems/setting…

1. D20 Modern: Post Apocalypse – love the setting rules – find D20 too rules heavy given the rather unrealistic feel (yeah I’m looking at you levels and hit points).
2. The Day After Ragnarok (Savage Worlds) – ’bout as cinematic (read: not-gritty) as D20 but way less rules dense.  The setting is interesting – Nazi conjure up a Norse Apocalypse that is only averted with a nuke.  It’s post apocalyptic 1940s by way of Robert E. Howard.  Pulp world torn asunder by the non-Euclidean corpse of the Midgard serpent draped over Europe and Africa, leaking chaos. Sadly most of my minis and cars are post period.
3. Hell on Earth Reloaded (Savage Worlds) – also easy to run.  Basically Deadlands moved into the future.  The Weird West has been turned into the Wasted West by supernatural/nuclear/mad science apocalypse.  Mutants, cultists, gunslingers, zombies – basically all you need in a world where the Civil War ended in a cold war between the Union and CSA. Andrew wants to play a Fist of the Northstar type and this setting seems best for that…
4. Gamma World (7e) – briefly considered but really not appropriate for campaign play – as your character will have different abilities based on the cards dealt you from game to game… also GW is rather silly.
5. Atomic Highway – Newer system based on a d6 mechanic. Rules lite, with a customizable setting that can be as gritty as Book of Eli or include mutants and monsters ala Night of the Comet. Seems to have the best vehicle rules for a good Twisted Metal/Mad Max feel.

Must say that I lean currently toward Atomic Highway or Ragnarok currently – but I’m not decided yet…
So there – a post. Maybe the next one will come in a week… or whatever. Deal with it.

Scotland Police, Fine Young Cannibals

I picked up a Heller 1/43 scale plastic model of a Leyland Rover SD1 3500. The Rover SD1 was the archetypal British police car of the 1980s, and was one of the vehicles featured in the climactic chase scene in Doomsday, one of my very favorite movies.

The Doomsday car was actually a ’78 Rover SDX 2600, a smaller engined South African version that is visually almost identical to the Heller model. It was decked out with a yellow and red “jam sandwich” stripe with a dull yellow heptagram insignia centered on the door. A number of viewings and copious frame advancing lead to the digital recreation seen below. The center featured the typical Scottish police crest of the thistle topped with a crown in a wreath with a scroll at the bottom. Around this was a band of text that was very difficult to decipher. It was three words, one at top separated from the two on the bottom by two dots. I’m very confident that the last word is “POLICE” and rather sure that “SCOTLAND” rounded out the bottom… the top word however was rather tricky. At first I assumed it was “CENTRAL”, the Central Scotland Police being a real police force. However some digging proved the heptagram to be unlike any insignia used by any Scottish police. I returned to the frame advance and was able to determine that there were eight characters in the word in question – something like “CANNIBAL.” I have no idea if this is really what the crest reads – but it makes for a rather good in-joke by the production crew, so I whipped up a graphic in GIMP to make into a decal. The idea here is for a Doomsday inspired Combat Zone force…

♫Good thing, where have you gone?♫