Off The Shelf: Mythic Japan

Four or five years ago I ran some skirmish games set in Mythic Japan using the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules.

I painted about a dozen or more figures for it, and here are two of my favorites.













The Ogre is from Reaper and the human is from the old Legend of the Five Rings line.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Marvel Villain Mission Force #1

Last night I ran the first issue of my BASH Villain Mission Force RPG. The player characters were recruited by the mysterious Facilitator to rescue a very special individual from Arcade's Murder World.

Set in 1985, Kim Jong-il had not yet come to power in the North Korea, but he was already a villainous sort by this point, so a group of North Korean expatriates and others pooled their resources to have him kidnapped and slain in Arcade's Murder World! So I needed a Kim Jon-il figure in 28mm, but where do you get that?

I had a spare Murch Pulp Figures Chinese gangster in my bits bin, so added some hair and sunglasses, and I had a decent facsimile of the future "dear leader."

Here he is!









In the end he was successfully rescued, and the VMF enjoyed a riotous victory on their inaugural mission. The team consisted of The Owl, Scorpion, Mr. Hyde, Ghost, and Hydro-Man, who was brimming with fun facts about water!

Rolling on the tables I'd made turned out to be a blast as well. I plan to run another session in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I'll show off more figures as I get them done. Here's the Scorpion:





Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF: More Models

I got three more models done for the VMF game. Two player character models and one NPC.

Whirlwind will make an excellent VMF member, I just need to stat him up and work him into the chart.





His super-speed spinning and whirling blades will make him formidable at 25 pts.

Ghost is already on the table and statted up. Here he is:





His suit allows him to either turn invisible or intangible, but not both at the same time!

Now for an NPC, Arclight, a big, tough mutant suitable for crunching some VMF heads!





She actually points out pretty well at 25 pts., so she could be included as a PC, but I think I will leave her as an NPC for now.

Here are all three of the new characters side by side:



Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF: Hydro-Man and the Tables

I did a quick and easy re-paint on Hydro-Man the other night. He needed very little as I loved his translucent blue plastic body and appendages. As you can see here, I just re-did his flesh, hair, and shirt.









Now, onto the tables I am using for the first issue of my BASH Villain Mission Force game featuring bad Marvel villains in the starring role.

Villain Mission Force (VMF)
The year is 1985--the Bronze Age of the Marvel Universe, and the world needs villains to complete sometimes unsavory missions.

The Villain Pool
Players choose (or roll randomly) the villain they want to play from the table below.

Roll 2D6:

2 = Anaconda
3 = Blizzard
4 = Boomerang
5 = Constrictor
6 = The Ghost
7 = Harpoon
8 = Hydro-Man
9 = Mr. Hyde
10 = The Scorpion
11 = Vertigo
12 = Wild Child

Incarceration Tables
Once a player selects his villain from the available pool, he or she should roll on the following tables to determine what the character’s most recent misdeeds were that ended in them being incarcerated. Players may also choose from the tables, but the GM should point out that choosing isn’t very fun!

Crime (roll 2D6)

2 = Assault (roll again on the Victim table below)
3 - 4 = Racketeering
5 - 6 = Kidnapping (roll again on the Victim table below)
7 - 9 = Bank Job
10 - 11 Grand Theft Auto
12 = Attempted Murder (roll again on the Victim table below)

Victim Table (roll 2D6)

2 - 3 = Rich Heiress
4 - 5 = The Mayor
6 - 7 = Famous Actor
8 - 9 = Famous Scientist
10 - 11 = Famous Religious Figure
12 = Subduing Hero’s Family Member/Significant Other



Subduing Hero or Team

2 = Speedball
3 = Daredevil
4 = Captain America
5 = Spider-Woman
6 = Iron Man
7 = Hulk
8 = Spider-Man
9 = The Defenders
10 = The X-Men
11 = The Fantastic Four
12 = The Avengers

Place of Apprehension

2 = The Sewers
3 = Main Street
4 = The Suburbs
5 = Rooftop of a Skyscraper
6 = The Docks
7 = The Wilderness
8 = Underground Lair
9 = Naval Base
10 = Mountain Stronghold
11 = Space Station
12 = Blue Area of the Moon

Accomplice

2 = White Rabbit
3 = The Mandrill
4 = Purple Man
5 = Circus of Crime
6 = Nitro
7 = Klaw
8 = Kraven
9 = MODOK
10 = Super-Skrull
11 = Baron Zemo
12 = Dr. Doom (roll again on the Doc Doom Accomplice Table)

If you happen to roll yourself, roll 2D6 again:

Result
2 - 11 = Roll again until you get an accomplice other than yourself!
12 = You were working with a clone of yourself!

Doc Doom Accomplice Table
Result
2 - 11 = It was just a Doombot! The real Dr. Doom would never work with you!
12 = It was Doc Doom! Gain +1 Hero Point to begin the session!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF: The Ladies

Did up two female characters as possible VMF (Villain Mission Force) members: Anaconda and Vertigo.









Ever since I first picked up Marvel Two-in-One #64, I've loved Anaconda! A super-strong, female ex-steel worker from Pittsburgh? What's not to love?

Next post I'll share my re-paint of Hydro-Man, and a few of the cool charts I'll be using to get players into the game.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

WH40K: Crimson Fists Dreadnought

I painted the plastic Dreadnought from the Black Reach boxed set for Mr. B., one of my best merc painting customers. This was a Christmas gift, and I am happy to report that Mr. B. seemed to really enjoy it!

Anyway, on to the pics!









Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF: Hawkeye?

Hawkeye has long been one of my favorite Avengers, but throughout his long career as a professional adventurer, he's had several stints as a villain. Or at least a "perceived" villain. Heck, he began his career as an Iron Man foe during an era where a loser like the Melter (man, I have to recruit him for the VMF too!) could actually threaten 'ole Shellhead.

Anyway, Hawkeye will work as either a VMF member, or a foe. One of the ideas I'd like to try out with this role-play concept is to have all of the figures and their BASH character sheets out, along with RPG cards or notes giving players clues as to what the characters' core motivations are. So a character like Hawkeye might have something like "Hero on the run" or "Rogue Avenger"--he'd still make an ideal leader for a VMF strike team.

As to the Heroclix figure itself, well, this is an old one that I never had much regard for. When I'd seen it in the past, it was always so caked with paint that I thought there was no saving it. The other day I found a really clean version and snatched him up. Once I cleaned off his mold lines and hit him with some Dull Cote, he took paint quite well!









And here's a shot of him with Wild Child and Wolfsbane:



Next up, a couple of more ladies will join the VMF!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Pig Iron Trooper Number Two

Got a second one done, and I had an idea that my old Starship Troopers plastic APE walker might be a good match for these guys.

I'd need to match the paint, but I am liking the scale match between them!









Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Imperial Science Fiction: Thousand Suns, et. al.

The concept of Imperial Science Fiction began in the 1950's and featured tales of vast galactic empires battling over whole planetary systems. My favorites of this brand include the works of Jerry Pournelle and Frank Herbert.

Over the weekend I received the copy of Thousand Suns 2nd ed. I ordered from RPGNow. It's Imperial Sci-Fi at its best, and got me inspired to paint up one of my Pig Iron sci-fi troopers that had been languishing in my backlog. Here he is:









I really feel that this very simple paint job really brings out the hard-sci-fi feel of these excellent models.

I need to move forward and finish the rest of the force in this scheme!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF: Harpoon

I've always liked the Marauder named Harpoon. He possesses the power to energize his harpoons and throw them at foes, or use them in melee. He was responsible for much mayhem against the Morlocks during the Mutant Massacre storyline.

Anyway, he's got a great Clix figure, and I was quite happy with my re-paint on him.














Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF Foe: Sabertooth

Whether you like Sabertooth or not, he's kind of grown into the roles of big-time bad-guy/anti-hero in the Marvel Universe. He might be too big to us as a member of the Villain Mission Force, but he would be a great foe!

I did simple re-paint on one of the earlier versions of Sabertooth, and this one features one of his 1990's costumes.



Here he is with his erstwhile partner, Constrictor:



And here he is in battle with an overmatched Wofsbane (another recent re-paint):



Thanks for visiting, and Happy New Year!

--Scott