Pulp War 35 Kickstarter - Final 48 Hours!

Kitbash Games has launched a Kickstarter for its new range of 1/35 scale pulp-influenced Weird War II miniatures - Pulp War 35!

Link to the campaign (click for link).

The campaign has now unlocked 5 characters with more 

Pulp War is a digitally sculpted range of 1/35 scale Weird War miniatures which will be cast in high quality resin.

For gamers, there is a free set of alpha version, 'no frills' rules to use if you don't have a preferred set already! You can find the rules here: click for link

Please join us and make yours Pulp War 35!

Supers Unlimited! Kitbash Games Kickstarter!

The Kitbash Games Supers Unlimited Kickstarter is ready for launch on August 22nd.

This is a campaign to put the Supers Unlimited range into production, and all characters will have dual Pulp City and Super Mission Force profiles!

At launch there will be a 72-hour early Bird deal on the main Super War pledge level for 9 miniatures; other pledges will be for Teams of 4 minis or a single mini.

Please join us to help launch this brand new range.

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!

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/

The Cowl (Kitbash Games)

Amid Zomtober outputs, The Cowl adds to my burgeoning development of the Kitbash Games Supers Unlimited range, and even though I love them all, is probably one of my favourites. I hope to launch the range via crowd-funding in January 2019.

The Cowl is the latest in a line of shadowy heroes who have used the power of a mystical cowl in the pursuit of good. The history and experience of each preceding Cowl imprint on the hood, offering guidance to the next wearer until their time finally comes to an end. The current Cowl focuses on street-level super-crime in Louisiana's Rivière Noire, while also serving as  member of the Covenant of Justice. Averse to taking lives unless there is no other option, she primarily relies on special less-than-lethal ammunition for her trusty guns.

In the run-up to the January launch expect to see more detail about rules for the game and range over on the Kitbash Games blog, including this sneak peek here: https://kitbashgames.blogspot.com/2018/10/supers-unlimited-beta-cards.html

Mayhem (Kitbash Games)

Mayhem is another mini for my upcoming range of supers characters from Kitbash Games. Like Granite and Immolator, he was sculpted by Sergio Alonso.

Mayhem is a washed-up pro-wrestler turned supervillain due to the machinations of a trickster god. With newly-acquired super-strength, he and his tag team partner Alpha Male have begun to wreak havoc on Empire City. Mayhem revels in destruction and certainly lives up to his name!

As more minis get ready for the table I will start to reveal more about the game rules for this range. Next in the queue is Alpha Male, then on to The Cowl, Soldier Hex and The Arrow!

Immolator (Kitbash Games)

Immolator is the latest mini I have finished for my upcoming Supers Unlimited range (Kitbash Games. She was sculpted by the uber-talented Sergio Alonso Leon (who also sculpted Granite and Big Brain).

Immolator is an alien marooned on Earth, on the run from her own empire. Her natural selfishness and drive for power has drawn her to the ranks of the Shadow Axis and its leader Tyrant. She bides her time for now, but will soon vie for power against her fellow supervillains.

I decided to try and follow the colour scheme laid out in Immolator's art as far as I could, which offered up a couple of challenges, but overall I am fairly happy with how she turned out. Next up - Mayhem and Alpha Male.

Blackthorn (Kitbash Games)

Blackthorn was finished a couple of days ago and follows hot on the heels of Tox and Big Brain, and marks my third painted Kitbash Games mini this month.

Like Big Brain, Blackthorn is an unethical scientist now turned supervillain after self-experimentation, although his goals are far different than his diminutive ally, as he follows a secret agenda to create a new dominant race of human-plant hybrids!

Blackthorn was a pleasure to paint, especially after going a few months with doing no painting. I opted for a simple colour scheme, with a bit of dry-brushing, a bit of blending here and there, some picking out edge highlights and then washes. He was done a lot more quickly than I really expected. Hopefully the momentum can continue!

Tox (Kitbash Games)

Tox marks the fourth of my Kitbash Games models that I have painted, and my second this month. I hope I am finally breaking the painting inertia that had developed over the past 6 months!

Tox is a former scientist who was disfigured and transformed by sabotage in the lab he shared. His intellect is not what it once was and no he roams Empire City's alleys and sewers, seeking to avoid people as he pieces his memories back together.

I am really happy with the mini, and I think the sculptor did a cracking job picking out the chemical oozes across his hulking body.

Look out for Tox and friends when the range launches later this year!

Big Brain (Kitbash Games)

Apologies for the dearth of posts lately - I have been busy though, I promise!

Big Brain is the first mini I have painted in something like 6 months and he will be part of the launch line-up for my Supers Unlimited range from Kitbash Games!

An over-zealous scientist transformed by an incident he caused, Big Brain has become a super-villain in the ranks of the Shadow Axis, a secret society of fellow super-criminals.

I hope to get back into regular painting now that a lot of the lead-in work for developing the range is taken care of. And please forgive the picture quality, I still need to make changes to my set-up for pictures.

Blackthorn (Kitbash Games sneak peek)

While the first batch of masters are cast up for the Kitbash Games miniatures line launch later this year, work is underway on minis for batch 2 of casts, including this latest Villain - Blackthorn!

This sneak peek of Blackthorn is from the Kitbash Games blog (click for link).

Also, don't forget the Kitbash Games contest post here (click for link)! The Kitbash blog now has 23 Followers, another 2 and the contest will be triggered:

Big Brain (Kitbash Games sneak peak)

The first batch of Supers Unlimited characters have now been sent off to the caster for mastering, and Big Brain is among them. More characters are being sculpted and soon we will get some studio paint-jobs done.

Also, don't forget the Kitbash Games contest post here (click for link)! The Kitbash blog has 20 Followers so far, another 5 and the contest will be triggered!

Soldier Hex Sneak peak (Kitbash Games)

As things continue to gear up for launch later 2018/early 2019, time for a sneak peak of the Soldier Hex green for Supers Unlimited!

Plus don't forget the easy-to-enter blog contest - click for link

Contest Time on Kitbash Games!

Over on the Kitbash Games blog I am running a free-to-enter contest to win something! Or even one of up to three somethings!

Follow this link for details: click for link

Supers Unlimited - Miniatures

Sorry for the silence in the last few months, but I promise it has been with good reason!

I have decided to launch a line of supers minis later this year through Kitbash Games!

You can read more about my plans either on the Kitbash Games blog page here: https://kitbashgames.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/supers-unlimited-miniatures.html

or the Kitbash Games Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/KitbashGames/

Prepping for Squad Wars Play-tests

When play-testing I like to have game materials to make things easier. For Pulp City, this meant facsimiles of game cards where possible, as well as a copy of the rules text to hand.

While developing Supers Unlimited and Squad Wars under the Kitbash Games banner, I have taken things a step further. These projects are obviously deeply personal to me, and so I want to get things as right as possible. Just having a very rough draft copy of the text to look at helps me think about how pages could be laid out, the sequence of things, etc. In the past I would work with pdfs of simple Word layouts. This time, and to help my own personal thought processes, I decided to go a step further and get mini books printed.

In addition, with my G.I. Joe Project underway - and which will be the main vehicle for play-testing Squad Wars - I decided to get cards for the various characters printed up as a motivator to play. That may sound unnecessary, but from my time with Pulp City I saw that testers gave more feedback if they had print outs (from Word) at roughly game card size for characters than a primary Word document not formatted down to game card size. They gave more feedback again if they had draft versions of the final cards. So from that learning, I have developed cards as something to hang games of Squad Wars onto, and will do the same with Supers Unlimited at some point.

Since both games feature 'build your own' rules for Characters (they have some nominal IP, but that is to help give some contextual pointers and supply pretty pictures to look at!), players can just as easily use a roster sheet, whatever takes their fancy, they don't have to use cards like I have developed (although templates will be made available at some point).

Granite

Granite is my first painted non-Pulp City, non-Knight Models Super in almost two and half years - certainly long overdue!

Doing the recent writing on Supers Unlimited triggered me to start work on a bunch of unpainted Supers minis which have been sitting around for years, and hopefully means I can start to get back on track with painting in general after a barren couple of months.

The mini is actually called Rocco and was part of the defunct ComfyChairGames line (makers of Spinespur, who created two Supers minis including Rocco/Granite). Unfortunately the mini has not been picked up by another manufacturer yet (unlike its companion piece John Henry which is now with Rebel Minis).

In my mind, Granite is an Unhuman, living on the same Earth as the members of SHOC Force, Heroes like Targeteer and Villains such as Lady Tiger. I see him as a reluctant Hero and sometime viewed as a Villain by the public at large, and a member of the powerful Elemental Four along with Aquamarina, Airstriker and Firelight. The Elemental Four follow their own path, protecting and preserving the planet even as doing so brings them into conflict with other Teams of super humans.

Shameless Blog Plug!

As mentioned in my last blog post, I have decided to work up some ideas around skirmish minis games systems which I hope to publish eventually (very likely via Wargames Vault), all under the Kitbash Games brand.

The first project is Supers Unlimited - a supers genre game naturally! This will be followed by Squad Wars (think high-octane, Saturday morning pseudo-military 80's cartoons and action figures), Fantasy Wars (small Parties facing off and unleashing world-shaking abilities) and others.

The approach I am taking is to provide 'sandbox' rules which are fast-flowing and allow players to creatively tailor their characters without massive crunch - building a super in Supers Unlimited is something that can be done in a few minutes even on first reading. Essentially you will be able to grab whatever models you want to play with and quickly make them into a playable Team.

If any of this sounds like your cup of tea, please head on over to my Kitbash Games blog to learn more (click for link). Once the blog has a few more Followers I will be announcing a competition to win a copy of the only Kitbash mini so far (Doc Cosmos - seen in concept art and mini forms here), so if nothing else feel free to Follow for that reason alone!

All Quiet on the Eclectic Front?

February was one of those 'life stuff' months, and has been incredibly busy. Consequently, I have not felt up to painting, which puts me behind for the year already, but that is not to say I didn't get some motivation for other 'hobby stuff'. (And hopefully the painting will kick back in soon!).

I decided to dust off a few ideas which have been percolating through my brain for a number of years, and have made significant progress on a set of 'simple supers' rules I am provisionally calling Supers Unlimited. The characters are ideas that have been with me for a long time, while the rules engine is an amalgam of a number of ideas I have been working through in drafts for other games. There will be simple character creation but overall the rules will be light on 'crunch'.

One of the characters I am working into the background for the game has already appeared in the form of a sculpt I had commissioned a few years ago, so this has been a slow-burn to say the least!

I am not wholly sure what I will do with Supers Unlimited yet, but I hope to complete the first (very rough) draft quite soon - watch this space!