The Rage Sets in ... (A fan-based zombie expansion)

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MERCS – So I've been reading Patient Zero and am really enjoying the book. Basically it involves a secret government agency trying to stop a terrorist plot to release a bio-engineered zombie plague on the world. Reading it got me to thinking about zombies in games and if there was anything that came close to recreating the feeling of the book. Unfortunately there's not really a game that caught my interest that does this in the way I want. There are plenty of good Weird War II games around and you can find zombies in just about every game system, but none of them have that 28 Days Later raging zombie which create a better challenge.

Couple that with the fact that I recently got a great deal on some fantastic zombies from studiominiatures.com as well as some neat modern zombies from the Chronoscope range, I really want a fun game to use them in. 

After thinking about it and trying a few different things, I decided to modify the rules for an existing game to make what I wanted to do work. I chose to go with MERCS because I find the system to be fun and some of the mechanics can be used to represent zombies being shot up but not yet dead.

Using a variation on the Black Ops theme of the FCC I developed two different ways to incorporate zombies into your games of MERCS. The first is to use them as a team vs. another player, and the second is to add a random element to your game.

Zombie Master

Using this variation the zombie player picks (5) zombies for each MERC on their opponent's team. You can only ever have (5) of any type of zombie except Zombie Walkers which are unlimited. The game is played as normal with the zombies having access to their Personal Abilities.

Notes:

• Zombies can never Overwatch

• Zombies can not Snap to Cover

• Not "Dead" Yet – When a zombie loses it's last wound roll a D10 on a 7+ it remains with 1 Blood

• MERCS killed by a zombie return to the game as a Zombie Walker

Zombie Apocalypse

Using this variation the zombies are uncontrolled and lose access to their personal abilities. For every MERC on the table include 2-5 zombies. Zombies roll for initiative just like players. Players alternate activating zombies. Zombies must move towards the closest non-zombie model in LOS, if no model is in LOS roll a D10 and move the zombie in the direction of the tip of the dice.

Notes:

• Everytime a shot is fired move all zombies 1 card towards the shooter

• MERCS killed by a zombie return to the game as a Zombie Walker 

• Not "Dead" Yet – When a zombie loses it's last wound roll a D10 on a 7+ it remains with 1 Blood

I mocked up some card for the variations on zombies that I could think of and they are available here.

merczombie.gif

 

This is in no way endorsed by the makers of MERCS and should be viewed as a parody. MERCS and the MERCS logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owner.

Interview – Brian Shotton, MERCS Miniatures

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I recently had the opportunity to interview Brian Shotton of MERCS Miniatures. In the interview we discuss the future of MERCS and a little bit of how the game came to be, and get some background from the creator. To learn more about the game visit mercsminis.com

 

TE: Could you give a little background about your company, and a little bit of your "gamer cred"?

 

BS: MERCS started as a minis company. Keith and Tom started making minis just to see if they could. People loved them. They won some TGN awards; next thing you know people are clamoring for more: more minis, more background, and a game. Keith and I knew each other from our day jobs; he knew I played all kinds of games. He asked if I would write some background for the website, and if I thought I could design a game.

I obliged. A couple months later, I invited Keith and Tom over to play MERCS. Everyone had a ball.

Keith is relatively new to gaming. I, on the other hand, have been playing games for more than two decades now. I cut my teeth on AD&D, early GW fantasy, old SSI wargames. Moved to 1st edition Space Hulk, Mordheim, Puerto Rico, Advanced Squad Leader, Fortress America, Shogun (Samurai Swords), Tigris and Euphrates.

TE: MERCS is a true skirmish game with only 5 models per side, why did you chose to limit the factions in this manner? 

BS: We wanted to make the game cheap to get into for one. However, with only five models the stakes are pretty high. I liked the tension only five figs. It was also the average number of people in a fireteam when I was in the army.

TE: For those who don't know the story behind the game could you briefly summarize the backstory?

BS: MERCS is our world; it is Earth circa 2170. Corporations have merged with nations to create giant mega-conglomerates, or what we term as MegaCons. These MegaCons have elite trained security forces called MERCS. MERCS do all kinds of jobs, some on the record some not.

TE: With a limited number of models needed to play how do you envision the game growing? Will there be new models for the existing teams or will you be releasing sets of new factions that don't mix with the existing factions?

BS: All of the above. I can't wait for people to see what we have in store for them. Each MegaCon can have multiple MERCS groups. The FCC has a potential of twelve distinct houses. It is our intention to continuously add to the existing MERCS groups, both with regular team members and special limited edition one-offs.

And the MERCS world is a living world, MegaCons can rise and fall . . .

TE: The models for this game are really great sculpts, could you give a bit of background on how you developed the concept?

BS: Thanks! We are very proud of them as well. The process has evolved a bit, but this is the method that we have found to work well:

Once we have determined where a faction is from in the world and their general play style, it goes into the game test phase. Brian, Kenny and eventually the beta team test play and tweak until they function properly and are balanced. During this time, there may be sketches and concepts roughed up. Nothing is super concrete yet though.

After testing is complete we move into the visual concept. At this point I have a list of each characters stats, such as the weapons they wield or equipment they may have, their armor value, movement speed, etc. It’s most important to be faithful to their in game stats, but other elements like their nationality, location in the world, and cultural history can be referenced as well.

I begin by designing a base armor model. Since all the soldiers are humanoid, I differentiate them mainly by their armor and weapons. Important things to consider are their general silhouette (and how this contrasts against the other factions), form and functionality of the armor, color palette, etc. During this time we also talk about poses we like. I do lots and lots of thumbnails of interesting poses. There's a great deal of trail and error involved. Sometime we'll shoot photos of ourselves in crazy poses and I'll draw from them.

Once the armor is designed, the final characters are rendered, with any variations on the armor made to models that need it. I do spot illustrations to show different angles, and design the weapons at this time as well. Then it's all emailed to one our great sculptors!

TE: In the demo games I've seen (and played in) the Kemvar faction seems to be really strong, have you had any complaints about the power level of the different factions?

BS: KemVar isn't stronger or weaker than any other faction. It simply is a very good faction for beginners to play as their Active Camouflage softens mistakes that beginners often make. As players start to figure out MERCS and their own MegaCon's strengths, the edge KemVar appears to have vanishes rapidly.

TE: Do you have plans for releasing mission packs in the future? The missions in the book are fairly robust but gamers always want more options.

BS: Do we ever. We have plans for a pretty large campaign that will be published and tied into the MERCS world in a number of ways.

I am writing the second MERCS book as you read this. It will have many thing in it (new faction portfolios, additional rules, etc.), but it will be in large part a campaign book. This will tie directly into the fiction that Jennifer Sims is writing now as well (she wrote the short story in the MERCS Game Rules). The fiction, in turn, feeds back into the next campaign book, and back and forth we go. In addition, we'll have side-scenarios in a couple gaming magazines throughout the year that tie back into what people have read and done.

It is ambitious, and I hope we can pull it off. The entire campaign is planned out. It actually feed back into my answer for the fourth questions a little.

TE: Digging through your forums I found some pictures of a melee orientated faction, could you give some details on how they'll play?

BS: sefadu! Yes, they are very exciting. I love their look and their play style. They are very cool looking, fast, and play very fun to play. I can't give many details out, but they rely on their Leader more than other MERCS groups. If he is successful, his team has a easier time hitting targets. THey have a lot of tricks but are still easy to use. I think people will really dig them.

TE: What games have you or are you currently playing?

BS: I have played too numerous games to mention, but I am currently playing K2, Notre Dame, Tichu, Here I Stand, Dominant Species, and 7 Wonders. And a couple games of my own design. 

TE: What are the next Megacons up for release? Should we expect them at GenCon?

BS: sefadu and Keizai Waza are the next two factions. Unless something goes horribly wrong with the sculpts or casting they should both be available at GENCON. After that it is Texico and Ios. Texico is almost ready to launch to my beta players now. Ios is in the early stages of Alpha currently.

TE: In the story from the book, KemVar repulsor tags can target buildings, is it to game breaking for them to be able to do so in game?

BS: Yeah, the same with shooting your own guys. It is one of those things that just doesn't work in a game without really complicating the game to such a degree that we lose a good portion of the audience. Creating a list of what it can and can't stick to is not something I wanted to do. I realized in beta testing them that there would always have to be a line drawn somewhere, so why not draw it in such a way that the rule is easy to remember and follow.

TE: You recently announced several accessories that will be available soon, do you have any other details?

BS: Sure. We are very excited to be working with Battle Foam and Gale Force Nine.

Gale Force Nine will be producing counters for MERCS and printing our maps that we have at shows. Everyone always wants the maps and they are something we have tried to manufacture for quite some time. John came over to our booth at GAMA Trade Show and told us he could do the maps if we wanted to try.

The MERCS Battle Foam bag is going to blow people away. Keith and I are pretty creative guys and when Romeo asked what we wanted to do, we told him. I can't give details yet, but MERCS was designed around the philosophy that a players didn't need to own a small moving van to play our game. We have never been a fan of gaming luggage; the bigger the more we hated it. I think our bag will fit our philosophy very well and introduce something very cool and very different in gaming carrying cases.

We are also very close to doing faction specific dice and retail group packaging. Things are very exciting.

 

On the painting table ...

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Malifaux – I started a new commission this week. This time around I'm working on a full Ortega family. This includes the box set and Abuela. 

My client had a very lose idea of what he wanted:

"I want the Ortega clan to look like an actual Hispanic family. So darker skin tones, black or very dark brown hair. For the clothing, please use colors and styles that are realistic for the time and Wild West motif. No wild colors or unrealistic color choices like neon pink for the men's clothing. Purple is my favorite color, but that doesn't really seem to be a realistic color choice for the Ortegas, other than Perdita. I also really like red and blue. I do NOT like yellow. So please use yellow very very sparingly or not at all." 

Following these parameters I began blocking in the basic colors. For the guys I decided to go with blue jeans and brown coats. This is a pretty standard look for the Ortegas and fits with the time period. Painting "hispanic" flesh is a bit trickier and will require some mixing to get the right flesh tone. To tie the models together I decided to use a purple. Perdita is going to be painted up to match the drawing on the box, the guys will have purple patches on their coats and Abuela will have purple tied into the overall pattern on her wrap.

To start I primed the models black and used GW foundation paint to block in the colors. Using the foundation flesh color covers the black in one thin coat and gives a solid base to create the darker flesh color. I washed this with a sepia to begin to develop the overall tone I want. After blocking in the other colors a quickly applied a wash to match the base color.

This time around to do the jeans I'm experimenting with a technique that is similar to watercolor. I started based the model with my highlight color and am applying washes the slowly build up the color. So far it seems to be working really well and is giving a nice look to the model. 

FINISH HIM!

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While I don't play a ton of video games there are a few that I follow pretty closely. I've been a huge fan of Mortal Kombat since the first game came to arcades. I fondly remember waiting my turn at Tilt to have a chance at playing the game. Of course the waiting tended to be more enjoyable for someone like myself who was terrible at the game and promptly got beat down by the "king of the arcade," but the memories are still great. 

I remember picking up the home versions for Genesis and having a blast with those games. When four came out for the playstation I was a little bummed. The changes in the game made it less fun in my opinion. The later versions for the Playstation 2 brought back some on the fun for me and I really liked all the mini games like puzzle fighter. Each new version added more stuff and soon the series was bogged down by it. Having different styles was cool and chaining combos between them was fun, but something just didn't feel right.

A few years ago they released Mortal Kombat vs. DC, which was supposed to be similar to Marvel vs Capcom mashing up super heros with the video game characters. While the game was fun, and introduced some cool mechanics like smashing through walls and arial combat, it didn't really feel like Mortal Kombat. Really you could have shoehorned any characters into the game and had a decent time with it.

Now in 2011, Mortal Kombat is back and has cut out all the extra nonsense to go back to it's roots. A 2D fighting game that has tons of gore and crazy moves. After picking the game up last week and playing through about half of the story mode I 'm really impressed. I liked the Konquest mode from previous versions, so having a story that makes sense in a fighting game is a lot of fun for me.

Going online and getting beat down in king of the hill matches is just like wasting quarters at the arcade. The nice thing about this is you can heckle and interact with the avatars of other players while waiting your turn.

There are also a bunch of hidden items, unlockables and other easter eggs that will eat tons of time trying to find them all. The challenge mode is pretty difficult, but mastering it will only improve your skill level.

If you were ever of a fan of the series this is the perfect spot to jump back in spill some blood.

MERCS Multiplayer – First Impressions

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Most tabletop games are built geared for two players. The rules are balanced and tested in the most typical type of game you as a player will be exposed to and the rules "work." When you introduce multiple players with most games you'll find some type of breakdown of the system. Most of the time the worst breakdown is the guy that goes first/last getting beat on by every other player or you have a "vulture-type" player that hangs back and swoops in to feast on everyone's scraps. In other systems with limited resources (like Malifaux) you run out of steam mid-way through your activations with four or more players and either leave yourself open to attack or have to be miserly with holding your cards until you MUST use them. And of course there are the systems where one player can quickly run away with a lead that's nearly impossible to catch up to (Necromunda mulit-player). 

If games address multi-player at all it is typically shoehorned in late in development or applied after the fact to sell another expansion/optional ruleset. While this is cool that a game takes the time to cater to gamers that like multi-player the adjustments to the rules don't always equate to a balanced game. Most of the time the games are fun, but homes rules become a requirement so there is a lack of consistency when you travel to other places and play multiplayer.

Now that that's out of the way let's get to the point. Earlier this week I had a chance to play a three player game of MERCS. I played KemVar, maverickman played FCC, and breadcrab played USCR. This was really only my second time playing a full game, so I'm still picking up the tactics and learning the ins and outs of the system.  We played 5 man teams and decided to just try and kill each other, last man standing wins.

What impressed me with the game at this level is it truly simulates a firefight (or at least what I imagine one would be like). Getting into a favorable position and overwatching is key to being able to put out a ton of potential damage. Most of the time shooting on your turn is the last thing you want to do, since it's incredibly hard to hit unless you can rack up a bunch of modifiers. Several time we had our heavies in favorable position and triggered each others overwatch to blast away at anything that moves. Because the firing numbers are so high it's not as broken as once might think (unlike Necromunda, where overwatching has the same chance of hitting regardless) because moving targets get bonuses.

The other thing that was interesting was rolling initiative for each guy. Because it's random you have less control over combos with certain models, which means the "last guy going is screwed syndrome" doesn't happen to the same player over and over again (unless you roll terrible). 

To me the multiplayer game of MERCS is more fun than a two-player game because it limits the amount of running and hiding and forces players to get involved in setting up good firing positions. In multiplayer there can be moments of hilarity such as a USCR jumping on a EMP grenade so a Kemvar Sniper can shoot a tag to push someone off a building and other silly things that add another level of fun to the game.

As I said in my initial impression of the game, you need to play a few demos and a few games before it clicks. But once it does I think most players will find this to be a challenging fun game. Not so much if you like lining up hundreds of models and removing them the following turn, but for a sci-fi type skirmish game this is much better than the other systems I've tried and it's fast enough to play between other games.

Product Review – Chessex Custom Dice

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It's no secret I'm a huge fanboy. I love stuff that fits with my faction of choice in games, be it buttons, dice, shirts or pins. Unfortunately it's not easy to come by this stuff for every faction or game system. 

I've used Chessex Custom Dice for several projects and have always been happy with the results. The process is fairly inexpensive and really easy. All you have to do is send them a jpg or eps file of the logo or design you want and they can engrave it on the dice. The catch is the logo has to be one color, as it's not a photographic process.

Also it seems like logos that are more solid show up better than things that are outlined. Important to keep in mind as a few of my friends have ordered dice that just have thin outlines and they're pretty hard to read. 

There is a limited selection of colors but for the most part you can find something to fit your needs. I've used them to create six-sided dice for my 40K army and have found they seem to roll better. Of course when using rending lightening claws it's always great to see a bunch of ravens show up. 

I recently found out that they can also customize ten-sided dice. Having recently got into MERCS I have been looking for dice to match the color scheme of my chosen factions. After doing some research I found that ordering a set of ten customized dice isn't really that much more that buying a good set in an odd color. 

Overall I'm really happy with how they turned out. And having something cool and different that no one else has is well worth the $15 a set they cost. I highly recommend the custom dice service as they have the best quality and price of any manufacturer that I've looked at.

On the painting table ...

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Malifaux – I'm wrapping up a commission. The final part is a Student of Conflict. While I think this is a cool model, I didn't really enjoy painting it. Something about the sandals was giving me issues. Once I got into the scheme I picked out it seemed to flow more naturally. I think part of my problem is I hardly ever see them on the table so the only reference I had was from the packaging. The color scheme on the package is really dark and didn't feel right for the model in my opinion.

For my own collection I finally got around to painting up the Spirit of Lost Love. After having a terrible game with Kirai last week, I decided to assemble and paint the models I'd been proxying since the book was released. Hopefully this will help knock the rust off, as I plan on playing her again until I get better with the model. My preferred master is Seamus and I've been playing tons of games with him as of late, so my other masters are feeling a bit neglected.

To paint the Spirit of Lost Love, I started with a light blue undercoat. I followed that up with a wash of deep blue. After that dried I went back in with my base color and added highlights which were worked up to pure white. I then went back and lightly applied wash to the recesses and any areas that had to much contrast.

Assault Troops

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Warhammer 40K – I've been working on some Assault Troops with out jump packs. These models will serve as troops when I decide to use the Blood Angel Codex as well as when I choose to field Tyberious as he allows tactical squads to swap their bolter for chainswords and pistols.

To give them a hardened veteran feel I'm using the Maxmini steam knight heads. I really like the look of the heads and wish I had picked up more of them. I've been trying to give each marine in my force a unique look so that they stand out as heroic individuals rather that cookie cutter power armor guys.

Using a mix of the available bits I combined some of the Khorne Bezerker torsos that have ammo straps. I also used several parts from the commander sprue. 

Having run out of my GW purple ink I've been experimenting with a suitable replacement. The Leviathan purple wash is nice but I'm having a hard time replicating the deep purple hue the old ink gave. I recently picked up some of the Reaper purple ink and it's closer but not quite the same. I think I'm going to have to use a combination of the two to achieve the desired effect.

Busy like a YellowJacket

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MERCS – I've had some time to work on my second MERCS crew. To me the  CCC are more or less the generic "hero" faction in the game. They're really solid all around and seem to be more forgiving tactically than the other factions. I picked them up at the same time as my KemVar with a special deal on the MERCS site.

I've found that anytime you want to get your playgroup into a new game you have to pick up at least two of the factions. If you don't odds are you're not going to have anybody to play with, unless the game turns out to be a surprise hit that takes off (or has a long standing following). 

I decided to paint my CCC in a scheme close to what it pictured in the book. This is partially because I've always wanted to do a yellow "army", and partially because I really like having "official" schemes with a game that is just starting to gain a following. 

To begin I assembled and cleaned up all the models. The MERCS miniatures don't have terrible mold lines like some models but with this group I did come across quite of bit of flash. Mostly it seems to be from channels on the thinner bits. I than pinned the models to my "Imported from Detroit" base set. Given the home base of the CCC an urban base set seemed to be the best choice. After the glue dried I primed them using Duplacolor Black Primer. I've really grown found of this primer as it comes in several colors and goes on smooth, I've also never had an issue with it fuzzing up.

To block in the color I use Adeptus Battle Gray and Iyanden Darksun foundation paints. I really like the coverage these provide. They do require some thinning as out of the pot I find them to be far to thick. I then used Baal red as a wash on the yellow to bring out the detail. From here it's just a matter of picking out all the details and working up the highlights.

To create the Asphalt on the bases I used a dark gray, dry brushed with a light gray and washed with two coats of black wash. The shells were picked put with copper, washed with Devlan Mud and highlighted with gold. If you'd like to pick up your own set of these bases they're available in the online store.

It's so clear now...

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I've begun experimenting with Crystal Clear casting resin. I was inspired by my friend Dave's (nerdelemental) current ice pillar project and decided to work on something similar. Dave was experimenting with using Envirotex Light to make casts which turned out really cool.

Snatching up his idea I visited the local plastics/SFX supplier to see if there was a material that might work better. They suggested trying Smooth-ons crystal clear series. To be honest looking at the giant red sticker on the box warning about toxic fumes I was a little nervous. The salesperson assured me it wasn't as difficult to work with as it seems, so I picked up a trial size to test out.

According to the box it's best when the material is less than 3" thick. My mold for Ice Pillars is pushing the limit but I figured why not try it out. Worst case I ruin my mold and have to make another one. At the same time I go out the mold I created for my rock bases to see what type of effect I could get.

Mixing isn't quite one to one so it's recommended to use a scale. Also it's important to gently stir the product to prevent bubbles. According to the instructions it takes 16 hours to cure. I found I could pop them out after 10 hours but they are a bit tacky. Lesson learned: put the bases on wax paper or some other nonstick surface the yellow bits are from a cardboard box I set them on ... doh!

The end result is pretty cool and I think I might offer them up on the online store once I work out the kinks in casting. 

Adepticon Adventure

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So last week I decided to make a trek out to Chicago to see what Adepticon is all about in person. I've always heard stories about how amazing the terrain is and what a great con it is, so the time had come to finally go check it out. Because I made the decision so late all the events that I'd be interested in playing were sold out, bummer. The bright side is because Adepticon takes place in a hotel (next to a mall) they let anyone in to look.

So I drove out with my wife friday night and checked into our hotel (the Stay Inn is really nice for the price and has a great breakfast). By the time we arrived it was to late to check out the con and we were both exhausted after a long week of work and a 5 hour drive. 

Saturday morning we got up bright and early, filled up on a free breakfast and headed over to the con. Upon entering the hotel the grand ballroom is off to the right with a large dealer both outside. They had tons of boxes of bits and old models available with masses of gamers sitting on the floor digging through the bins. Walking into the main hall there's a tons of tables all filled with 40K players. Along the wall are some really impressive dioramas and displays, with the Crystal Brush and dealer booths on the other side. Looking at the tables I wasn't overly impressed. The terrain was all of nice quality but nothing spectacular lots of GW plastic kits, foam hills and miscellaneous forests. Each board had a general theme which was nice. Maybe I'm spoiled but it was of similar quality to what I've seen in better game stores across the country.

The dealer booths had plenty on painted models on display as well as special con pricing. I wound up picking up a few minis from the Cool Mini booth even though they weren't discounted not paying shipping is a bonus. Two Black Library authors were on hand signing books (didn't pick one up to get signed as I wasn't a huge fan of the recent work they had available). Black Library also had some pre-release books at the show.

The Forgeworld booth had a ridiculous line and the con mini sold out early. The new models they had on display were very cool and well worth the second mortgage you need to take out to afford them. Armourcast had a nice display with tons of cool bits and pieces, I still love the cinematic effects.

After touring the hall, we had a chance to check out the Crystal Brush competition. The models were all amazing, photographs don't do them a bit of justice. To see this quality of painting is something that has to be experienced in person. I know from experience how difficult it is to get a good picture of a painted mini and even with the best set-up it doesn't quite capture all the nuances of the work. I posted up the photos I snaped of some of my favorites in the gallery under Adepticon 2011. 

I briefly had a chance to meet Nathan Caroland as well as Werid Sketch and Zee of Wyrd Miniatures.

After a few hours of walking around the con, we made a trip to Oak Park to check out Frank Lloyd Wrights home and a few other historic homes in the area (my wife's an architecture geek). Very interesting and inspiring for some future terrain projects.

After diner I headed back to the con to watch some of the open gaming going on. I brought my bag with me but didn't wind up playing (to exhausted). 

Sunday, we swung by the con one last time to check out the gladiator event and gawk at the Crystal Brush entries one last time. From there we headed downtown to visit the Field Museum.

For those who don't know the Field Museum was create during the WPA days. It was also the museum featured in that Ben Stiller movie. For me the coolest part of the museum were the displays. Tons of interesting modeling techniques were used to create realistic models of different eras. I found some great inspiration in several of the displays that I'll probably incorporate into a future project. And of course there's the dinosaur bones which made me feel like a kid again.

Overall it was a great trip and I'll probably get some of my gaming group together to actually participate in the con next year. I think if you're not playing it's fun to check out but you can only wander the halls for so long before it gets old.

Now Available – Rock Bases

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I'm proud to introduce the next set in my line of round lipped bases, creatively titled

Rock Bases. These are great to represent a mountainous region or to add some height to a model. There are several variations in each size with bases available in 30mm, 40mm and 50mm. 

The realistic texture was created using actual rocks. Cast from a urethane resin they're much easier to pin models to than real rocks and much lighter.  

Welcome to the Cause

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MERCS – I recently started assembling and painting my KemVar squad for MERCS. The Miniatures are really nice and easy to assemble. There are very few pieces to glue in place and the parts that do need to be glued are easy to pin. I'm not a huge fan of the dreadlock head as it seems out of place for the look of the rest of the troopers. Luckily the assault trooper comes with two heads, so it was a simple matter of swapping them.

I was amazed at how little flash and mold lines there were on the models I put together. The quality is impressive. My only real issue was a bent gun barrel on the sniper, but that was easily fixable. To base the models I'm using the Rock Bases I recently created. The background info on KemVar lists them as being based in South America, so I'm going to use the Rock Bases to create a jungle feel for them. Which also seems appropriate since they have Predator style stealth suits.

For color choice I chose to stick with something very similar to the scheme pictured in the book. I like the green and white as it stands out on the tabletop and will tie in with the base once it's finished. Since I used black primer I'm working with the GW Foundation paints for the base colors. They offer excellent coverage and a quick wash will get them tabletop ready fairly quickly. From there it will be a matter of painting the highlights and upping the overall quality of the models. 

The nice thing about the game is you only have six models per faction so it's easy to take the extra time to get them right and still get the models on the tabletop quickly. I'll be posting more photos as I progress. The CCC is next on the list as soon as I can finish my "Imported from Detroit" base set (asphault, tires and bullets shells).

Interview – David Freeman, Cipher Studios

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I recently had a chance to talk with Dave Freeman of Cipher Studio. Cipher picked up Hell Dorado and has begun releasing it in English.

TE – For those that don't know what's your role with Cipher Studios? Could you provide some background on the company and your own experience in game development?

DF – I am the COO and Design/Development Manager at Cipher Studios. I spend most of my time doing scheduling, management of remote freelancers, editing, co-ordination of translation, and development of games/rules. I have also done our web design so far, meager as it is. Cipher Studios was founded in January of 2006 with Anima Tactics as its first product. I joined up in 2009 and we have been working to bring great gaming entertainment to the public since. As to my experience in game development, I worked at Sabertooth Games, a division of Games Workshop, for about five years. While there I managed organized play, was the lead developer on the Lord of the Rings Tradeable miniatures game, was the lead designer/developer on the Ultimate Fighting System CCG, made card sets for WarCry, the warhammer fantasy CCG, and the Horus Heresy and Dark Millennium incarnations of the Warhammer 40k CCG, as well as working on other unreleased game products. I have been a gamer since I was in grade school and have played most types of hobby games from RPG's to chit based strategy games. My favorite genre's are CCG's and table top war games.

TE – Hell Dorado seems to be picking up steam, do you have any updates as to when the rules will be released in the US?

DF – The finished layout files for the English book have been sent to the printer in the last few days. I hesitate to name any concrete date that we will have printed copies at this point, but it is off being printed right now!

TE – I've never played the French version of the game, but have oogled the minis for a long time. Are there going to be any significant changes to the ruleset? How comprehensive are the quick start rules, they seem to be a solid starting point for the game?

DF – We haven't made any significant changes to the rules system. The system that was in place is quite good, and I saw no reason to reinvent the wheel. The quick start rules are pretty comprehensive they give the basics of how combat and abilities work, anything that was missing is technical clarification and more complicated special rules. The special abilities section was written to only cover the figures that are in the starters for the game. The quick start rules have worked so far at teaching players the basics of the game, which was their goal. I am planning on making a PDF out of the complete English rules and scenarios sections and posting it at some point so players can easily refer to it as well.

TE – It seems as though the minis are slowly being released with the starter boxes and a few blisters available at the moment. Are there plans to ramp up the release of models, do you have a tentative release schedule?

DF – We are planning to do 5 releases a month for the foreseeable future. We have gotten a little backed up due to technical difficulties and getting some materials printed, but we seem to have most of that straightened out at this point. In the rest of this month and April you should see these figures hitting distribution ...

• Great Damned On of Wrath
• Saurav-Geet
• Blessed Warriors (2 in a blister)
• Sara Zingaresce (With 2 lemures)
• Blade Master, Hybrid
• Infernal Ambassador
• Retiarius
• Thirty Coins
• Dibbukim (2 in a blister)
• Lemure Pack B (3 in a blister)
• Husaym al Din
• Blades for Hire (2 in a blister)
• Damned Rank and File (3 in a blister)
• Arquebusers (2 in a blister)
• Succubus
• Jaws of the Deep
• Pillar of the Faith, Halberd

This is to catch up on the back up that I talked about earlier.

TE – What games do you currently play? How have they influenced your design?

DF – Well of course I play Anima Tactics and Hell Dorado quite a bit. I also play Warhammer 40,000, Space Hulk, Dominion, Dust Tactics, and Acquire fairly regularly. I own lots of games and it can be a challenge to play them all with any kind of regularity. On the professional note, I try and determine what makes any game I play fun, not necessarily just for me, so that I can bring things of that nature into my own work.

TE – What's your favorite model in the Hell Dorado range? Anima Tactics?

DF – Currently my favorite figures are Vincenzo Maculano de Fiorenzuola for Hell Dorado, and Marchosias for Anima Tactics.

TE – Cipher seems to be a fairly small company, do you think that makes thing more challenging or do you feel a leaner company keeps things running smoother?

DF – It really depends. In some situations being small allows you the agility to adapt and address issues. In others it means you only have limited resources and must make and execute realistic and achievable plans.

TE – How much of the original art from the French version of Hell Dorado will be in the new book? Is there much new material?

DF – For the most part we have kept the book almost exactly the same. It hasn't seemed to be a huge priority to develop brand new art when many players have not seen everything that was in the original book. We have started new asset development, but those are to be used in new releases and later books.

TE – Does Cipher have big plans for GenCon this year, if so can you share any details?

DF – We are currently discussing what we will be doing at Gen Con this year, unfortunately our plans aren't concrete yet so I can't share them.

TE – Is there anything else you'd like to share?

DF – Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you and your interest. I hope you, and all of the miniatures enthusiasts out there, enjoy Hell Dorado as much as I have!

Waterfalls ... stick to the lakes you're used to

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Helldorado – Painting is almost wrapped up on my Hell board. I dry brushed the the whole thing with a lighter grey and tan. After that dried I used a water-based wood stain to shade the entire piece. The woodstain is cheaper than using inks or washes and gives a similar effect. To apply the stain I stipple it over the entire board, while it's still wet I take a rag and gently wipe off the stain. Paying particular attention to the edges and areas that would be worn to remove as much of the stain as possible.

Now that that's done, it's time to get started on the water effects. This is going to be the trickiest part of the process as I've never built a waterfall and the techniques I've found online all use different products.

I picked up a Scenarama water kit to see how they recommend building the waterfall. The kit is a bit pricey for what you get but I used a 40% off coupon at the craft store to get it for a more reasonable cost. It comes with some glossy water (which I assume is little more than a thick gloss paint) as well as a thicker paste that dries clear for texturing the water. They include a sheet of wax paper to build the waterfall with the thicker paste. After it dries you peel it off and attach to the area where the fall will go. 

I'm a little leary of this process as I don't think it's going to give me the effect I'm looking for. However since I have it and you create everything separate I'm going to give it a try.

The other option I've found uses clear acrylic caulk. Basically you follow the same process as the Scenarama kit, use wax paper or another nonstick material to build your fall and then attach it after it has dried. It seems like this might be the more durable choice, so I'll also be trying this method.

For the other areas I'll be using Envirotex light. While this is a costly material, I've had plenty of experience using it and feel confident that it will work for what I need it to. I think I'll be doing two pours of the epoxy, one to create a base for the water and a second after I've attached the falls. The tricky part is building up the pools where it will go to prevent them from running and flowing everywhere. To prevent this from happening I've used caulk to build up a lip, hopefully this will keep it where I want it to stay.

Movie Review – Sucker Punch

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Amazing visuals, a great soundtrack tons of action ... what more could you want? Well, the whole movie seems forced and it really seems like large pieces are missing from the film. I imagine this was to get a PG-13 rating as the film pushes the boundaries and rather than modifying the script it seems as though things were just dropped wholesale.

A few portions of the film have awkward scenes that abruptly end, almost mid sentence. I'm not sure if this was intentional or just a hack-job to get the rating the studio wanted. But it makes the movie seem almost unfinished. The basic story is fun and feels like a comic book (which it never was) although the whole "reads like a video game" thing that other critics complain about doesn't bother me. The disjointed nature of the abrupt cuts is more problematic.

If you can get past the flaws this is a really fun movie. The visuals are amazing and the soundtrack really adds to the action scenes. The story is slightly weak, and I think the film within a film within a film thing is getting old and lame. But if you're just looking for a fun film filled with eye candy this is just what the doctor ordered. If you're looking for any depth well maybe a lobotomy is in order.

TNT and dynamite ...

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Malifaux – I've create a few tokens for Malifaux per a clients request. In order we have, (5) dynamite markers, (2) treasure markers, (1) bag of soulstones.

Fairly simple, but having a specific model or token for any of the tasks helps to make every game feel different. However these can also be used for some other things as well, evidence counters maybe?

Caulk ... messy necessity

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Helldorado – After checking a filling any odd gaps I found after putting some primer on my Hell Table, I'm ready to move onto to phase 2. I have a frame that fits around the board and need to create a seal that not only attaches the frame permanently but also creates a seamless seal. I decided to use Alex painters caulk, this is an acrylic product that cleans up with soap and water and is paintable. After attaching the frame I ran a bead of caulk along the seams and smoothed it with a wet rag.

While I had a tube of caulk open I also decided to work on the waterfall. From previous experience with water effects, it's VERY important to seal the area that the water will go on. I like to use caulk as it's cheap, fills the space and is somewhat sculptable. Basically I put the caulk on the table in the area that the water will go, and than take my finger and smooth it out. Once the area is covered I go back and use a tool to create swirls and flow patterns in the caulk. This will limit the amount of water effect you have to pour to fill the area. 

Once the caulk is dry it can be painted just like the rest of the board. To get the best effect out of Envirotex Light you need to create depth by painting the deeper areas darker. By mixing some ink with the water effects you'll be able to create even more depth.

On the painting table ...

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Malifaux/Hell Dorado – To go along with the Executioner and Enslaved Nephilim I've been working on my client requested a Student of Conflict as well as some special tokens. He requested some dynamite counters, treasure counters and a bag of soul stones. He's also requested a double 50mm fire token. 

After re-reading what the tokens are I realized that I could use some of the blocks I've already cast to create a token set for him. I have some crates that fit nicely on a 30mm base as have just enough space to freehand TNT onto them. For the treasure tokens I have some small chests that also fit perfectly.

While working on that project I'm also getting some paint on a Saracen and Westerns box set for Hell Dorado. The Saracens are themed on the Genie from Aladdin. I've always liked that pale blue color and I think it works well with these models. The Westerners are borrowing a green, orange a white scheme that feels very Irish to me. As the board with be very earthy feeling I wanted to be sure the models were bright enough to stand out without looking clownish.

So far I think they're working and I only have a few details and highlights to go on them before I move into the next stage.

Building Hell

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Hell Dorado – I've begun work on a board for Hell Dorado. After looking online for some examples of what the terrain should look like and searching for the terrain rules that should be in the english book if it's ever released, I came up with a plan. Well not really a plan but more of a general idea. This is going to be the first fixed terrain board I've done in a while and I want to be sure it's versatile enough to remain fun to play on while looking cool and incorporating some really dramatic fixed elements.

I had a piece of sintra with a frame that I salvaged from a graphic project that fell through. Luckily for me the piece I have is exactly 3' x 3' with a nice frame that goes around the edge. Also in my box of scrap I had a ton of 3" foam pieces left over from various projects. To begin I just randomly snapped the scraps into chunks and began placing them on the board. Once I had a general shape I used wood glue to secure them into place.

After letting it dry I added a few more pieces to smooth out transitions and create playable space. Once those sections were dry I took a dremel and began sculpting the rocks. This was a time intensive process and I was sure to have a figure on a 30mm and 40mm base on hand to be sure they would fit and be able to stand on the rocky sections. After finishing the carving I realized that the largest peak could accommodate a waterfall. After a bit more sanding I had created the basic shape of the river. 

The next step was to add some more texture to the flat areas. I began by roughly tearing sections of textured wallpaper to fit on the flat sections of the board. I secured these using wood glue. To transition from the wallpaper sections to the rocky crags I applied wood glue and sprinkled a mixture of sand a litter to create a rough texture. The trick to getting this right is to apply thin coats of glue and allow the sand to dry. Repeat until you've built up the desired thickness of debris.

Where the waterfall empties I'm creating a bed of skulls. Nothing says hell more than a river of blood and skulls. Using the mold I created for my bases I cast a whole bunch of skulls. Securing them to the board with tacky glue in all the areas that I plan to coat with water effect.

I've also taken the skulls and placed them in various nooks and cranies through out the board. I think small details like this really bring a piece to life.

I need to double check the bed of the water fall to be sure it's sealed properly so the water doesn't pour all over the place when I apply it. Ideally this needs to be done prior to painting. To paint I'm going to get some house paint mixed to match the grey I've used on the bases of my models. I've found the best paint has primer built into it so it adheres better. Painting on a thick primer and then applying paint causes some of the details to be obscured so I prefer to use an all-in-one.