"Often An Inexperienced Foe Will Empty Shot After Shot Into Them..."

"...Doing little more than blowing off small chunks or fingers."

This 28mm metal Zombie Gunfighter can be bought as part of Code OW010 from "Wargames Foundry", and was originally going to be one of my submissions for last month's Zomtober challenge. "Drawn by the shadows gathering across the nation" the undead cowboy will actually play a dual role on my tabletop, proving useful as one of the supernatural creatures who can make an appearance in "Dracula's America" by "Osprey Games", as well as also replacing the softly-sculpted plastic Hungry Dead models in "Shadows Of Brimstone" by "Flying Frog Productions.

Initially undercoated with "Vallejo" White and washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade in order for me to better see the figure's detail, I used "Citadel" Abaddon Black on the walking corpse's boots and belt. The grisly cadaver's trousers were then painted with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and his holster with Heavy Brown, before both areas were washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

"Doctor Who News"

As I wanted this particular 'killer' to appear drenched in the grime and dried blood of death, I washed his tattered shirt in a mixture of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and (even) more Strong Tone Quickshade. The pistol-carrying ghoul's decaying flesh was created by applying some "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green shade over a layer of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand.

The zombie gunfighter's pistol, belt buckle and ammunition belt were painted using a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. Whilst "Vallejo" Heavy Blue was lightly dry-brushed across his "Citadel" Abaddon Black hair, and later washed with Nuln Oil, in order to give it a slightly undead bluish tinge.

Juddon 'Ghost' WIPs - The dead alien has had his axe re-attached and painted

"Warlord Games" recent announcement that more models are finally on the way for their "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" miniatures game has certainly helped reinvigorate my determination to paint some more of the models I already own from this particular range. Indeed, I've actually managed to additionally harness this enthusiasm for the "finely-sculpted scale pewter and plastic" figures by joining the editorial team of the "Doctor Who News" website, and penning for them an ongoing series of reviews based upon the rule-set and its accompanying sculpts. The first of these is already available to read here: "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" - The Miniatures Game.

Sadly, in my excitement I did inadvertently drop my Judoon Fisher King ghost test figure from a significant height, and as a result snapped his plastic "Frostgrave" axe off at the hilt. But with a little patience, filing and pinning, I have re-attached a somewhat shorter version of the hand-weapon back, and finished painting its base colours. Once shaded, I'm hoping the bright red axe-blade will really stand out in stark contrast to the deceased alien's ghostly hue.

Brightshield WIPs - The Stormcast Eternal has been primed, washed and now needs a lot of detailing

Lastly, with my model of Garrek currently submerged within my flocking tin, I have started to progress the first of my Stormcast Eternal figures for "Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire". Like the Bloodreaver chieftain, Angharad Brightshield is one of the four plastic "Games Workshop" miniatures which need to be assembled in order to play the game's introductory quick-start confrontation...

"Joining The Order Grants Your Posse Access To Various Blessed Weapons..."

"...And ammunition with which to vanquish evil."

This 28mm metal Crusader of the Order from "Dracula's America" can be purchased as part of Code DRAC101 - Twilight Order by "North Star Military Figures", and is the second of my submissions for this year's Zomtober challenge. Blessed with "Nerves of Steel" and awarded "a suit of armour (counting as Boilerplate)", the Crusader of "the New World" was "born to fight a particularly insidious evil: the Vampire."

The model was initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Charred Brown and had his shoes 'picked out' using Heavy Sienna. The cowboy was then heavily shaded using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. His 'Holy Land' armour and rifle were given a coat of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, whilst his Saint George's cross chest emblem was treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and some "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. lastly, the "Tireless" Crusader's collar was given a 'touch' of "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey.

Zombie Gunfighter WIPs - The pistol-toting cadaver now just needs some washes to be applied

Alongside my plans to use this member of "The Twilight Order" for "Dracula's America" by "Osprey Games", I also hope to employ this particular miniature as the Rancher in "Shadows Of Brimstone" by "Flying Frog Productions. The plastic 'frontierswoman' figure in "Swamps Of Death" is frankly a bitterly disappointing, softly-sculpted individual. So as the character is meant to be armed with a hunting rifle, I thought such an obvious-looking force for light as the Crusader figure would make a rather good replacement for the male version of the hero.

With both of my planned Zomtober 'survivor' models finished, I have subsequently turned my attention towards painting up the seven (not six as their website advertises) figures found within Code OW010 - Zombie Gunfighters by "Wargames Foundry". This first cowboy cadaver appears very similar to how I'd imagine "Wild Bill" Hickok would have looked after his murder "while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory by Jack McCall", and even carries a disfiguring face wound similar to that caused during the Wild West legend's fatal shooting.

Sea Devils WIPs - The Third Doctor's famous foes still need quite a bit of work to be finished

With "Warlord Games" recently releasing a tease of one of the new Sea Devil faction Adventure Cards for their "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" tabletop skirmish game, I couldn't help but 'dig out' my final box of the Aquatic Silurians and start painting them. The card, "Sonic Summoning", reads "eerie sonic pulses summon additional Sea Devils to the scene" and when discarded allows the player to "return up to three Exterminated Sea Devil characters to the game."

This 'sneak peek' has also coincided with rules writer Roger Gerrish recently stating that he's "tried to aim for a basic faction size of around nine to ten minis", so I figure that my current six-model strong Sea Devil 'warband' simply won't be enough to tackle the Daleks or Cybermen without some additional reinforcements. Fortunately, the miniatures are proving something of a joy to paint, and I've already made some strong progress on the latest trio.

"Standing As A Shield Between The Darkness And The Ignorant..."

"From Ancient Greece and Imperial Rome to the present day, mankind has always been preyed upon..."

This 28mm metal Crusader of the Order can be purchased as part of Code DRAC101 - Twilight Order by "North Star Military Figures", and is the first of my submissions for this year's Zomtober challenge. Bestowed with "Nerves of Steel, a suit of armour (counting as Boilerplate)" and starting each game with all his "weapons fully loaded with Silver Bullets for free" the New World knight is one of two non-Hired Gun models which can be fielded when using The Twilight Order in the rule-set "Dracula's America" by "Osprey Games".  

The figure was initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Charred Brown and had his boots 'picked out' using Heavy Sienna. The model was then somewhat drenched in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. His medieval armour and fire-arms were given a coat of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, whilst his Saint George's cross chest emblem was put in place using a little "Vallejo" Heavy Red and some "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. As a final touch, the collar of the gunfighter's shirt was 'tagged' with a dab of "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey, and his belt buckle treated to a dollop of Brass and some more "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

Boromite Gang Fighter WIPs - The alien is slowly having all his reflex armour 'picked out'

In addition to being lined up for "Dracula's America", I am also planning on using this particular model to represent the Lawman in "Shadows Of Brimstone" by "Flying Frog Productions. The plastic 'policeman' figure in "Swamps Of Death" is frankly a very disappointing, softly-sculpted individual. So as he's meant to be armed with both a Peacekeeper Pistol and a Sheriff's Badge, I thought such an obvious-looking force for justice as the Crusader miniature would make a rather good replacement.

With the first of my two Twilight Order models finished, I have managed to find a little hobby-time to continue progressing the 500 points worth of Boromites I need to paint in order to deploy a Scouting Force on a "Beyond The Gates Of Antares" battlefield. In the past these extra-terrestrial miners produced by "Warlord Games" have caused me a lot of frustration, but currently I'm somehow managing to remain patient enough to slowly 'pigment' all the lumps, bumps and reflex armour of another Gang Fighter.

Mime Monsters WIPs - The "Horrorclix" clowns now just need their white-faces and berets to be painted

As a result of my "Gotham" campaign finally getting underway using "Mutant And Death Ray Guns" by "Gamesha Games", I have also started searching through my collection of "Wizkids" plastic models for any sculpts which would make welcome additions to the tabletop skirmishes. One of the crews I would dearly love to add some character to is the Gotham Heights based Joker Gang, which currently lacks any real thematic feel to its muscle-bound members.

Sadly, having scoured my rather embarrassingly extensive collection of "Heroclix" figures, I wasn't able to source any lackeys which quite captured the spirit of the Clown Prince of Crime. Fortunately however, I was able to find quite a few models from my pile of "Horrorclix" miniatures, and have immediately started finishing off a pair of partially-painted Mime Monsters to use as "Hand-To-Hand Specialists". 

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Zombie Gunfighters" Zomtober 2017

Zombie Gunfighters WIPS - The undead have been primed and washed to help see their detail

This month's randomly themed attempt to try and reduce my overwhelming collection of metal, plastic and resin miniatures has been rather waylaid by PulpCitizen's recent announcement, over on his brilliant blog "Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer", that the next few weeks will once again host the annual "Zomtober" Challenge where fellow wargamers "just paint one Zombie or Survivor (or more!) each week, in any scale you like" and post it to your blog by “that week’s Sunday.”

There's currently a whole host of bloggers already 'setting out their stall' for the annual event, and this year there seems to be more than ever taking part:

"Brummie's Wargaming Blog" - Simon Quinton

"Four Colour Super Minis" - Rob

"Mike's Random Wargaming Meanderings" - Mike C

"Saturday Mornings" - Ivor Evans

"28mm Victorian Warfare" - Michael Awdry

"Miniature Mayhem" - Terry Silverthorn

"Anything But A One!" - Clint

"Cheaphammer!!!" - Kieron

"The Wargame Addict" - Wargame Addict

"Lead Reckoning" - Fred Jackson

"Da Gobbo's Grotto - Wargaming Blog" - Da Gobbo Grotto

"Never Mind The Jankers" - Roy Williamson

"Paintbrush And Superglue" - Matt

"Dizbusters Gaming Ephemera" - Phil Curran

"EndTransmission's Gaming Stuff" - Paul Smith

As a result, I have deferred from choosing a haphazard painting subject for October and instead managed to base, flock, prime and shade a small horde of Zombie Gunfighters recently purchased from "Wargames Foundry"; a characterful collection of undead cowboys which actually numbers seven figures in total, as opposed to the six depicted on the Nottingham-based company’s Old West range website.

Zombie Gunfighters WIPS - The undead have been primed and washed to help see their detail

These 28mm metal models consist of a handful of pistol-welding gunslingers, a union soldier and a shotgun-carrying ruffian, and were originally bought in order to replace the rather disappointing soft-sculpted Hungry Dead plastic miniatures which come in the “Shadows Of Brimstone” by "Flying Frog Productions". Indeed, as the "fast-paced, fully cooperative, dungeon-crawl board game" can require a good dozen or more animated corpses on the tabletop simultaneously, I've already got plans to fork out and procure some additional painless nightmares from "Wargames Foundry". 

Crusaders Of The Order WIPs - The armoured cowboys are having their detail slowly 'picked out'

For now however, I am humbly focusing upon my initial ensemble of Old West cadavers, though I have admittedly, also added a couple of cowboys by "North Star Military Figures" to the mix in an effort to re-galvanise my desire to visit "Dracula's America" sometime soon. I have previously primed these two Crusaders of the Order so as to represent the Lawman and Rancher from the aforementioned "Shadows Of Brimstone" board game, and resultantly hope to use "Zomtober" to get the pair of Weird Wild West survivors finished alongside my horde of hungry cadavers.

"The Cyber-Megatron Bomb Will Be Delivered."

"We must destroy life on earth completely, every living being."

This 40mm tall metal Cyberman miniature is manufactured by “Warlord Games” and form's part of the Nottingham-based company's "Nightmares In Silver" Cybermen Collector's Set 1966-2013. Sculpted to replicate the Doctor's old enemies during Derrick Sherwin's 1968 television serial "The Invasion", this 'Planet 14' version of the silver giants saw the costume department add some "ear muff type shapes to the sides of their helmets and one-piece silver wet suits to their bodies."

Initially undercoated with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, the figure subsequently received two layers of Ironbreaker and a wash of Nuln Oil. It was then dry-brushed with more Ironbreaker, before having its eyes, mouth and central chest unit panels 'picked out' with Abaddon Black.

Zygon Leader & Elite WIPs - The models have all been primed and washed

Sticking with my collection of "Into The Time Vortex" miniatures, I have recently started planning out some significant reinforcements for my "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" Zygon faction. Most notably this involves somehow 'converting' three of the metal models in order to 'earmark' them as the Zygon Leader and two Zygon Elites on the battlefield.

'Catching wind' of this endeavour "Warlord Games" very generously dispatched a quartet of their Zygon models to my doorstop for free, and having spotted some of the Scatter Shrooms sold by "Wargames Terrain Workshop" I hatched a plan which would fortunately no longer require my hack-sawing up any of the figures.

Wendigo WIPs - The "Minor Entity" has been primed, washed and bloodied

Instead, having taken inspiration from the fungi-inspired Zygon technology which captures plenty of screen-time during the 1975 adventure "Doctor Who And The Terror of The Zygons", I have simply super-glued a few of Dave Stone's resin pieces onto the miniatures' bases. Indeed, the leader of the "metamorphic humanoids" is literally surrounded by all manner of mushrooms, in order to generate the impression of the 'warlord' walking through the flora of Zygor.

Finally, I have been progressing the first of my models for "Dracula's America" by "North Star Military Figures". In game-terms, the Wendigo "can be summoned by Skinwalker Tribes Arcanists only", but I actually plan on using him (and perhaps a couple more) to proxy a Night Terror encounter in "Shadows Of Brimstone" by "Flying Frog Productions".

"The Beacon Is Ours."

"Once our landing is detected, the Vogans will attack in force."

This 40mm tall metal Cyberman miniature is made by “Warlord Games” and can be found within their "Nightmares In Silver" Cybermen Collector's Set 1966-2013. Sculpted to resemble one of the silver giants during Gerry Davis's 1975 television serial "Revenge Of The Cybermen", this was first version of the "cybernetically augmented humanoids" to appear in a Cyberman story which didn't "include an appearance by the Second Doctor."

Originally primed with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, the model later received two layers of Ironbreaker and a wash of Nuln Oil. The Cyberman was then dry-brushed with more Ironbreaker, and had its eyes, mouth and central chest unit 'picked out' with Abaddon Black. Unfortunately, I ultimately found the facial details of this miniature a little soft, predominantly because I'd already applied three layers of paint to the area, so really struggled to make a neat job of the Cyberman's eye and mouth slits. 

"Silence. We have not failed. Our computers are assessing an alternative plan."

After several attempts, and becoming increasingly aware that my efforts were only adding more pigment to the troublesome area, I eventually decided to scrape away all the paint from the face, and simply applied a single coat of "Citadel" Ironbreaker to it. Once I had washed this part of the figure with Nuln Oil, as well as dry-brushed it yet again with Ironbreaker, I found the detail far easier to spot with the naked eye and 'pick out' with Abaddon Black.

Initially, I was going to leave the model well enough alone at this stage, and even went so far as to varnish and flock it. Delightfully however, I then received two additional copies of the sculpt from "Warlord Games", in thanks for all my coverage of their "Into the Time Vortex" range, and thus took the opportunity whilst working on them, to turn my first miniature into a Cyber-Leader by painting the "altered handlebars on the helmet" with some "Citadel" Abaddon Black.  

Dracula's America WIPs - A Wendigo, and two Crusaders of the Order

Gordon Richards, famed owner of the "I Have Wrought My Simple Plan..." blog, recently made me aware of the "North Star Military Figures" 'Nickstarter' "Dracula's America", and unable to resist the allure of the Weird Wild West game, I uncontrollably pre-ordered some of its models. To be honest, despite the attraction of a world where "Count Dracula is President of the United States of America", I actually plan on using these miniatures as replacements for the disappointingly poor multi-part plastic characters found in the "Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of Death" boxed set.

As a result I have immediately based and primed two Crusaders of the Order so as to represent the Lawman and Rancher from "Flying Frog Productions" board game. In addition, I have started work on a disconcertingly tall Wendigo, which has proved simply too disturbing a model not to want to paint...