This is Not a Test and a Monster!

My Reaper Bones Intellect Devourer.

This is a really useful critter. I painted it up for Frostgrave (either as
the weirdest apprentice ever, or a monster). But it works great for weird
Post Apocalypse or Sci-Fi as well.

The classic 'brain on legs' look wasn't quite interesting to me, so I went with
an aquatic 'Brain Coral' look instead. A hard shell rather than weak flesh.

A Sawbones for This is Not a test, using an old Tanith GW medic.

Colorwise, I wanted him to be able to fit in with many different
warbands to underline his 'mercenary' status in game.

Right now he may very well be destined for his commissioners starting
Caravan Warband, but could work just as well with his peacekeepers.

A Tanith Plasma-Gunner, I wanted to give his gun the white 'plastic' casing
so often found in the Fallout games.

The Cloaks are used as unifier, as the Caravanners would (in my opinion)
probably lack a unified overall uniform.

A Brother Vinni 'Robo-Brain' esque model. I painted him up in green's, gold's,
and yellow's to really hint at a potential 'military' connection to his chassis.

I'm really happy with the little computer screen on his back. This cyborg
is destined to be a Boss Villain in a Fallout RPG.

A Tanith Musician ready to bring some music to the wasteland.

Gun slung over the shoulder, he won't be needing THAT at the ready...
right?

I admit I need to find a good brown to do some better highlighting on
the flesh to keep it looking natural.

Dynamic Tanith, a Caravan Guard with blue gun and pauldrons- which in keeping
with my theme, would let him fit in with my Commissioner's Preservers if he
wanted a scout or freelancer of some sort.

I love the pose on this guy. Great work from the sculptor's back in the day.

Tanith Sniper. Gun cloth is grey to indicate urban or rocky Camouflage.

I gave him a bionic, cybernetic eye. If anyone would have it, its the
sniper, right?

Ooh, look at that, he blends in. Spooky!

And... finally the whole crew of wastelanders together.

This is Not a Test 4player Match!

 We got in our first game of 'This is Not a Test' a few days ago, and I must say it was an excellent 'starter' scenario for teaching more than a few new players the mechanics of the game.

Scenario Rolled: Pest Control

Complications: Rad Areas [3]




Participants: Purifier Patrol Pyre- Peacekeepers
The Dunmore Throop- Raiders
Brotherhood Outcasts- Preservers
Olde Main Traders- Caravanners




Prelude: Tesla Energy is the lifeblood of the Electric City- its greatest strength, and primary commodity. Dozens of settlements, towns, and even one Vault rely on the energy collected and created within the walled city. Pulsing veins of wireless towers push through the wastes to deliver their important cargo- and its only the craziest of raider groups who will risk the wrath of every organized defense force in the area to attack them.



Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't dangers involved. The high tesla charge is harmful to living creatures nearby, and worse? For some reason they attract feral ghouls. Now, the creatures don't bother the towers- but they make routine maintenance incredibly dangerous. So its no surprise that bounties on the dangerous rad zombies are quite a lucrative (if hazardous) way to make some cash. Of course, sometimes, you aren't the only group looking to collect some ghoul heads...

A nice little infested suburb. Preservers start on the left corner, while the
Traders start on the right near the church.

Other side of the map, we have Purifiers starting on the left near the trees and
the raiders starting on the other side of a old tank.

The infested bunker in the middle. The pylon was an indicator of the 'rad-zones'
while the strange pods showed where zombies would be spawning.

Not all painted (for shame!), but the Traders deploy by the church.

The Raiders rush forwards to get out of their fairly open deployment zone.

Purifiers rush directly towards the shack in front of them, hoping to close it down
quickly so they can move onto other objectives.

Dang it! A grotesque Irradiator crawls right out of that shack!

Two ghouls slid out from hiding to get in the Raider's way.

Old military personnel have joined the Ghoul ranks, crawling from
an old troop truck to get in the way of the Preservers.

A trio of military ghouls crawl from the wreckage of an old
cockpit. It must have been nice and warm in there!

The ghouls charge straight in the big Tom, and learn that messing with
him might be a mistake.

The irradiator dealt with, and shack closed, Purifiers move on towards the downed
cockpit, even as a straggler ghoul takes out Officer Baldwin in the back.

Ghouls assaulting the traders take down one of the unpainted Caravan
Guards- who is luckily saved by a sawbones later on.

The Preservers manage to shut down the truck nest, but lose two acolytes
doing it. The leader and power-armored duo are trapped under a fleshy wave.

Ghouls pulling themselves out of an old, burnt out house. It takes the entire
game, but the Traders eventually do toss a firebomb in the nest.

An irradiator slices down Harriet at the last minute!

End of Game:  What a fight! With six zombie nests (4 + 2 for additional players) and some high rolls, every team was totally busy with shooting Ghouls rather than each other. Not a single shot crossed the table from a player to another player- and that was alright. It made for an excellent first game to learn the rules and try out new warbands. We did make some mistakes (not pushing back enemy models when winning a melee being a particularly punitive mistake), but that's part of the process!

The Purifiers won with 19 points, followed by the Traders with 18, the Brotherhood with 15, and the Raiders with 13.

Stay tuned, and if you have any suggestions for the future, feel free to leave a comment!

Current WIP Projects

I was doing a whole bunch of basing and I figured it would be a good chance to take some pictures of the various miniatures currently 'on the table' and what the may be used for in the future!

The whole haul. We have some Sci-fi/Post Apocalyptic on the left, fantasy on
the right and rear, with the center dominated by my British Commonwealth Starter box.

A trio of objective markers and strange beasts for games such as
'This is Not a Test'. The critters will also do double duty for Frostgrave.

Here on the right we have some heroines in sensible shoes, a reaper bones
barbarian, and a pair of Ageyptus wizards destined for Frostgrave and DnD.

My current frustration. I'm sure I'll figure it out, but this
damnable Anti-tank gun is giving me all sorts of headaches!

Finally we have an old Slaneesh Demon Prince and a Crocodile Games Titan.
I'm hoping to use them eventually for Kings of War- I'm sure I can find a place in
my Varungar army for them. They certainly might appear in Feldghast as well!

This is Not a Test Starting Warband

All of the painting of Wastelanders and Mutants has finally stirred me to actually sit down and write out a warband for 'This is not a Test". Agreeing with some local players for a starting net worth of 420 barter script, I set about building a nice themed list.

Building off of my idea for a 'religious Red Cross', these guys are going to be on the front line. Between patrolling the very edges of Order territory and venturing out into the wastes for salvage these Purifiers are concerned with keeping as many unknown pathogens out of their systems as possible- hence the biohazard gear.

Using the 'Peacekeeper' Warband, I've opted to take a Hanging Judge rather than a Road Marshal. I figure he has a reputation of treating hostiles and intruders very harshly indeed. You have to be a cold son of a bitch to sanction the use fire and gas to contain any potential breach of quarantine. The rest fell into place- the man is scary, has a reputation for his aim, and can get his fellow soldiers motivated through respect as well as fear.

All in all the biohazard suits and gas masks were probably not the most efficient use of barter script, but I wanted them to be equipped like they look. That's part of the fun!

Purifier Exploratory Patrol "Pyre One"

Commander Vincent Pyre-

Gear: Assault Rifle, Stealth Suit, Gas Mask, Sleep Grenade
Skills: Fearsome Reputation, Motivator, Marksman

Warden Daniel Ward-
Gear:Shotgun, Biohazard Suit, Tear Gas Grenade
Skills: Bold

Quartermaster Molly Heart-

Gear: Sniper Rifle, Mesh Armor, Gas Mask
Skills: Gunsmith, Resourceful

Specialist Andre Pierce-

Gear: Flamethrower, Mesh Armor, Gas Mask
Skills: Brave and Up-Armed

 Officer Catherine Baldwin-

Gear: Assault Rifle, Biohazard Suit
Skills: None

Officer Freddy Booker-

Gear: Assault Rifle, Biohazard Suit
Skills: None

Remaining Barter Script: 6 bs

In Order- Booker, Baldwin, Ward, Pyre, Heart, and Pierce

Once again using my favorite piece of terrain, but they need to be careful
about posing so close to a bunch of Super Mutants!

 

Wasteland Survival Guide: Eastern Commonwealth Version [Order of the Red Cross]

".... Out of the bright lights and feuding streets of 'Electric City', the lands begins to rise in elevation towards Poc'nos Mountains. Sparsely populated when the bombs fell, the area avoided much of the nuclear fire that wracked the rest of the state. Thick, warped trees form a forest that has withstood all the depredations imaginable in the wasteland- bark resistant to fire and blade alike.

This is a territory for the Order of the Red Cross. Descended from from the Vault-Dwellers made up of doctors, patients, and immediate family who managed to escape into their emergency shelters beneath the regional Medical Center. Over time the many manuscripts and medical texts saved countless lives. Soon enough these old books became akin to Holy texts, and children were taught from a young age to revere them. Religion met science, and the descendents of doctors slowly became the Holy Order of the Red Cross. The texts were merely the first of their kind- the Order actively seeking out more medical knowledge (from lost records to fascinatingly effective home cures). This hunger for knowledge was what compelled the First Apostle Margaret Cromwell to open the vault nearly one hundred and fifty years after the bombs dropped.

Over time, the Order has spread to lay claim to almost the entire Poc'nos. Now a powerful faction, the Order has had time to crystallize its own internal hierarchy into a series of distinct branches. The Apostles are the heads of the Order, acting as both the religious and bureaucratic heads of the organization. The Inheritors are the non-combat, highly skilled members of the Order. Embracing the white robes and coats of their forebears, these are doctors and researchers that one would expect in such an organization. It is through the work of the Inheritors that the Red Cross's territory happens to be one of the healthiest and cleanest in the known world. Of course the good works would be all undone if not for the Purifiers.

The Purifiers pull their tenants from old CDC and governmental texts. Clad in red, these crusaders fiercely enforce 'Quarantine'. Any wastelander found off the designated check-pointed safe path are potential hazard risks and must be dealt with swiftly to avoid unknown illnesses sweeping through the purification zone. Hard men and women, they are known for their use of gas and fire to subdue and drive off any potential enemies. The Purifiers also have jurisdiction over exploration, sending out small patrols and bands (occasionally with Inheritors or press-ganged laymen) to hunt out new sources of information, technology, and medical supplies.

The Purifiers do not give warnings. If I were you? I'd steer clear of the Poc'nos unless you absolutely need medical attention and if so, stay on the path. Do what they want, follow the rules, or get thrown on a pyre. "

- Frank Wu, Electric City Administrator.

Three Super Mutant Commissions Done!

"You're here....you're heeeere!!! STOP HIDING!!!!"
               -Super Mutant

I don't know how they expect to squeeze into such a small door
without getting shot all to hell by those inside.

Bit of conversion work done on the center Mutant to give a little
ranged support to his thuggish hammer-wielding compatriots.

Drilling out the hands was a nightmare, but overall
a really fun commission.

Wasteland Survival Guide: Louisiana Edition

The Ruined Men: The Bayou's Boogiemen

Next in our litany of monsters and raider groups come perhaps one of the greatest mysteries the great swamp has to offer. There are stories of killers with bodies of men, sporting bare skulls instead of faces who sweep down from the North East, bringing terror to Baton Rouge and the surrounding area. Some think these 'Ruined Men' are the atomic shadows of men who found themselves vaporized by the bombs. Some believe they happen to be a particularly organized group of bloody raiders. Others still think them to potentially be some offshoot of the Enclave or Brotherhood of Steel.

Personally, digging through the old Vaul-Tec regional database, I have a different theory. These 'shadows' are Vault-Dwellers. What they want or why they seem to appear and disappear... well, I can't even guess. All I can do is offer one warning.

Stay clear of Vault 99. Seriously.

The leaders of the Ruined Men expedition patrols. Wonderful sculpts
from Worlds End Publishing.

The Ruined men in slightly better definition.

Hard to see, but that can on the sandbags? Greasy's Pork and Beans.