"My Mommy Always Said There Were No Monsters."

"No real ones. But there are."

These 10mm scale metal Xenomorphs are produced by “Pendraken Miniatures” as code SFC2 Medium Creature Type 2 from their Alien Creatures range, and come in a pack of five single-pose sculpts. Intriguing however, the sculpts are probably closer to 15mm scale (from head to tail-tip), so surprisingly sit down on the tabletop with my old collection of aliens by "Ground Zero Games" rather nicely.

I also thought these deadly extra-terrestrials would fit in rather nicely with the Monster May(hem) Challenge currently being held over on the "Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging" blog, as its rules specifically state that the entries needn't be limited to fantasy-based beasties. And frankly, I think there's only a few people who wouldn't think of H.R. Giger's creature from the 1979 film "Alien", if they were asked to name the most famous science-fiction monster of all time.

The models themselves were pretty simple to pigment, largely thanks to a double coat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black doing most of the work. The miniatures were then dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, drowned in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and later had their domed-heads touched up with a little (more) Abaddon Black, so as to make them slightly stand out from the rest of their horrifying horde. 

The Russians and British approach a revenant infested ruined chapel

Alongside my painting, I have also managed to play another game of "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games". Having previously tackled a couple of the rule-book's PvP (Player verses Player) Scenarios, this time around we thought we'd try a co-operative game of "The Ruined Chapel", and set up a disconcertingly small 30" x 30" board accordingly. In addition, I dug through my collection of scenery and placed a ruin, six gravestones, four clue markers, half a dozen (straw bear) Revenants and plenty of trees as the set-up instructions directed.

As I wanted to use some of my Russians by "Wargames Foundry" for this battle, I selected a sword-wielding Officer, a pair of (recently pigmented) Moscow Militiamen as Irregulars and a lone Infantryman. Whilst my ally went with an assortment of British soldiers from so many different manufacturers as to almost set off my OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder). Fortunately, they were being led by a certain Major Richard Sharpe, so I had high hopes that the quartet would at least do a sterling job on the tabletop, even if their different physical sizes was rather jarring to me.

Just as soon as a Vampire appears the British flee from their position

Sadly, things went wrong straight from the start as my Officer bravely marched up to the closest Revenant emerging from behind its gravestone, and was savaged to death. To make matters worse, my British compatriots - having deployed in a corner opposite my own forces - realised that they were too close to one another and couldn't manoeuvre as they had hoped. This caused Wellington's men to waste some actions rejigging their respective positions, and set them up perfectly for the Vampire which appeared right behind them at the end of Turn One.

Disappointingly, things did not get any better for Major Sharpe's contingent in the subsequent fighting, as his soldiers failed to cause any damage whatsoever to the deadly blood-drinker in their midst. Admittedly, some musket fire did start to take its toil upon a pair of Revenants that were closing in upon them from the ruin. But both Richard and his fellow Rifleman took some significant damage themselves in return. Indeed, it eventually became clear that the surviving members of the group needed to head south away from the Vampire as fast as their mud-splattered boots would allow them.

***** 'Bravely ran away, away! When danger reared its ugly head, He bravely turned his tail and fled. Yes, brave Major Sharpe turned about. And gallantly he chickened out. Bravely taking to his feet. He beat a very brave retreat, Bravest of the brave, Major Sharpe!' *****

The brave Russians attempt to hold line against the Undead, as the British flee for their lives

Happily however, despite losing my Officer early on, the rest of my plucky Russians got busy bagging plenty of Revenants with their withering gun-fire. This eventually allowed my Infantryman to head into the ruin unmolested, and discover a bag of Silver Shot for his musket. In addition, the top fellow then uncovered a Small Icon, which would soon be needed to save him from the foul jaws of a Revenant.

Outside, an already dire situation was worsening for the remaining British, as a second Vampire emerged from the surrounding woodland to join his fellow Nosferatu in stalking Major Sharpe. Setting up a firing line along the southern-most edge of the map, both forces combined their musketry in a last ditch effort to keep the Undead horde approaching them at bay. This did momentarily appear to be working as one of the blood-drinkers was finally wounded. But in the end Richard and my Russian in the ruin fell, and this caused the rest of our fighters to understandably retreat back into the forest...