Mer-Man

Mer-Man was always one of my favourite Masters of the Universe characters when I was a young kid, and I am pleased to have painted him up for tabletop gaming as a much older kid!

Ruler of the undersea realms of Eternia, Mer-Man was forced to serve in the armies of Skeletor after his kingdom was destroyed in a battle with rival ocean clans. His allegiance with Skeletor brings him to the surface world more often then he would like. Lurking deep beneath the Sea of Rakash, Mer-Man awaits the evil call to arms of Skeletor!

The miniature is from Quest Miniatures, from their second wave; it is a lot nicer sculpt than then last one I painted (Moss Man from wave 3), and therefore a more enjoyable painting experience - the sculptor of this and the other wave 1 and 2 minis is Boris Woloszyn and I love his evocation of a MotU style, and think his approach is a wonderful fit to the genre (I suspect design choices of weapons were down to Quest Miniatures rather than the sculptor). The only change i made was replacing the spear haft with brass rod.

Finishing Mer-Man brings me to three painted Evil Warriors so far, along with Skeletor and Beast Man. Hopefully I can get a couple more Evil Warriors done soon before turning my attention back to the Heroic Warriors.

Although Mer-Man is often portrayed as somewhat cowardly he also has a history of being an Ocean Warlord, which I have tried to reflect in the rules I did for my personal MotU skirmish game. I need a few more painted up to get started with gaming so it is certainly time to motivate myself.

Moss Man

Moss Man is the latest in my very sporadic Masters of the Universe (MotU) Project. With much of 2018 focused on developing my own range of minis, painting took something of  back seat to those preparations. I wanted an easy win to get my 2019 painting started (a month late no less!), so this sculpt of Moss Man from Quest Miniatures fit that bill.

Unfortunately Moss Man is not sculpted by the same person who did the first dozen or so MotU minis from Quest, so it looks a little static in comparison as well as having a different sculpting style. In addition, it is possibly half a head short compared to the rest of the line, and I wish it had the action figure's mace.

Nonetheless, tackling Moss Man made for a quick paint job all told as I went for something basic, with some washes, dry-brushing and picked out highlights, and that means I can tick another off the 'to be painted' list.

With my current painting being so sporadic I am not committing to a He-Month like last year as I dismally failed to meet my own expectations; instead I will paint more MotU-related minis as I get the motivation.

Moss Man is an ancient good of nature in MotU lore, so I have tried to reflect that in the rules I have written for my personal rules set. To find out more about the rules, or other fan-made creations, feel free to look me up on Facebook.

Gerbil Fighter (Tooth & Sword)

The Gerbil Fighter from the Tooth & Sword range is the first Chibi Fantasy mini I have painted in a little over a year, and it made a nice change of pace from trying to get the Kitbash Games stuff ready for launch (enjoyable though that is - it creates its own pressure), and more importantly clears a part-painted mini from the dreaded painting queue!

In the past week or so I have been tinkering with some rules ideas for fantasy dungeon-bash skirmish game character progression, and that in turn motivated me to finish the Gerbil Fighter. This marks the twentieth mini for my Chibi Fantasy selection (two Adventurers and eighteen Monsters); the total number surprised me when I looked in the figure cabinet - more than I would have estimated.

I would like to get at least four more minis painted this month to at least exceed my second-worst annual painting total (24 in 2012, better than an estimated 18 in 2009); to that end I have a few other fantasy bits and bobs I may try and tackle such as Treasure Chests and another Mimic, and maybe another Adventurer.

Punchline (Kitbash Games)

Punchline is one of the the Villains for my upcoming Kitbash Games Supers Unlimited launch (January 2019 - stay tuned!), and a sculpt I love.

Punchline was a kids' clown/entertainer whose life was falling apart when he happened upon a pair of super-science gloves in an abandoned secret lair. From that moment on he decided the world would be his punch-bag, not the other way around.

I originally conceived the character around ten years ago, and other than the re-design of his gloves (the originals were very baroque), not a great deal changed when I had more up to date art crafted for him - the core elements all remained the same (clown, power gloved, colour scheme). However, I decided I wasn't brave enough to try the yellow pin-stripes as shown on his updated trousers!

Street Wars NYC Female Gang: The Mollies (Kickstarter)

This Kickstarter from Funky Skull Games is for a new gang for the Street Wars game.

I can see uses not only for the intended game, but they also offer some excellent options to use as thugs etc. in a supers game.

 The campaign has 48-hour early birds available, adding an extra saving for backers over expected rrp. I am very happy to back this latest addition to Street Wars!

Blue Scarab (Kitbash Games)

Blue Scarab is another of the minis I have had sculpted for my upcoming range Supers Unlimited. An out-and-put hero, she is based on a public-domain golden age character of yesteryear, and one I was really happy to bring via update into the twenty-first century.

I [plan to launch the range in January, so I am working to try and make sure I have at least one painted copy of each mini, and Blue Scarab is the latest completed.

I opted for a nice and simple blue-yellow colour scheme in keeping with the source character, accentuated by her blonde hair.

The Blue Scarab was a cop wounded in the line of duty, who survives her grave injuries thanks to the intervention of a scientist friend using an experimental procedure. Wishing to do more than allowed in her job, Dani Garret donned cutting bio-mimetic armour (also developed by her friend under Project: Beetle), incorporating a lucky golden scarab, and a mask and became the super-strong Blue Scarab.

Supers Unlimited Launch 2019 - Kitbash Games

The new Kitbash Games website has information about the Supers Unlimited launch in early 2019!

Link

Kitbash Games is delighted to announce that it will launch the Supers Unlimited miniatures range and game in January 2019.

The crowd-funded launch will feature at least 9 miniatures at the start, with more unlocked depending on success. This launch will represent the start of a range of high-quality supers miniatures released alongside fast-play skirmish rules.

The Supers Unlimited miniatures launch will be backed up by a free to download beta rule set and downloadable game cards for all characters.

That is not all! Kitbash Games is very excited that the miniatures will also have rules for Super Mission Force under agreement with Four Color Studios – with downloadable ready-to-play profile cards for all launch characters. Super Mission Force is a highly-regarded, easy to learn, and fast-paced rules system, and Kitbash Games is very pleased to partner with Four Color Studios on this venture.

To keep up with all the latest Supers Unlimited news Like or Follow the Kitbash Games Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/KitbashGames/