Friday, 30 June 2017

Crooked Dice Flamboyant Agents B

This pair of models is the second sculpt finished from the Heroes 2 blister (though two versions of the same figure). The Tough Detective in my previous post being the first.

 The left figure is obviously based on a Avenger and is the original figure as it comes in the Heroes 2 pack. It comes with an additional head and being a fan of King Arthur and his knights had to get me second one to do the alternative version. You have to cut the original head of which was the hardest part especially doing so with minimal damage.

I am still searching for a bald head with glasses to do my version of Merlin I have found the perfect body but am still searching for the head.








Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Crooked Dice Tough Detective

This Tough Detective is from a mixed pack of Heroes. Hero Pack 2 is a varied group containing a Flamboyant Agent, Unearthly Traveller, Military Mind and Tough Detective. I've not done much with the others yet only the Flamboyant agent has been cleaned and base so far. (I picked up an extra as he comes with an alternate head.

Anyway previously I had painted up some Officers from the Force in Manchester this time the Tough Detective is part of the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad and his Detective Sergeant (converted from Lionel from the United Radionics cast).

I experimented a bit with the tough detective's shirt I used Army Painter Blue tone to build up the colour over the Cold Grey basecoat. It has turned out quite good I may have to experiment more with this in future.




 The clothes for the Detective Sergeant were pretty spot on and the hair would pass so in the end I just gave him a shave removing the facial hair with a file. I think he is quite passable if a little rough looking.






Saturday, 24 June 2017

Crooked Dice Detectives

A couple more detectives finished off for my Law and Order cast. This time they are from the Detectives and Low lifes blister (I'll do the other two members when I get around to doing a criminal cast as I need to purchase a fair few figures for it still)

First up is the Beat Detective in my list I have him as an Investigative Academic. 

I tried him out in my first game in a while on Wednesday night vs Pulp Citizen. The IA was very useful to get to the Objective tokens further away early on due to his Spy set up and his The Clue is thing effect allowing a free move towards a token at the cost of a plot point.

I ran a 35 rating list very similar to what I intend to take to the 30 rating 7TV day next weekend. The extra 5 being the marksman so I can try him out and see whether he is needed.

The Cast I picked for Pulp Citizen had a lot of guns and gadgets as this was something I am likely to come up against.

We played the escape and it was a tight game with a 5-4 win to me. My cast was axed in the last but one round losing some more models and I failed to get half of my cast off the table edge. Though I did manage to pick up 4 out of 5 objective tokens.

I enjoyed playing the coppers they were a lot of fun the Marksman achieved very little except damaging Pulp Citizen's car early on but then getting gunned down himself. I will leave him out I think. Pulp Citizen was quite unlucky with his dice rolls when he need to put the hurt on me he rolled a lot of 1s where as I rolled plenty of high dice rolls.

My cast is very quick especially with the coppers in the car and the police dogs. We made a few mistakes mainly forgetting some rules like rear attacks not allowing you to add extra dice and a few others.






Next up is DC Drew Falstaff a old school copper I am again unsure what to cast him as perhaps a bodyguard bruiser to reflect his above the normal sort of extra.




Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Crooked Dice Tough Detectives

To lead my Police Cast I need to get some characters done to lead the bobbies in my previous post. I have painted up the Tough Detective from the aptly named 'Tough Detectives' pack. These characters have an uncanny resemblance to those from Life on Mars. Something that until recently I had never really watched. I am remedying that and thoroughly enjoying it

I really enjoyed painting this figures its an absolutely wonderful sculpt and captures Gene Genie brilliantly. 




I'm not taking this model to the 7TV day but having enjoyed the tough detective so much couldn't resist doing the other models from the same pack. I am not sure what to use this second detective again based on LoM in my cast. 

Profile wise as there are no lower ranking detectives. I am hoping that the Beat is revisited and updated for second edition. There is an Investigative Academic profile but they don't carry a gun which is what this model has in there left hand. Dependable Deputy seems the next profile along that could work.


Final member of this pack is a WPC again not sure what archetype to use her as. Though obviously a normal Bobbie profile would work in a pinch. But I'd like her to be a bit more cleverer as Annie is in the show.



A pic of the whole pack together.

Monday, 19 June 2017

Crooked Dice Police Sergeant and Marksman

This is the other half of the Police specialists blister (Sergeant and Marksman). I finished the Sergeant the other day but included him again just as because they come together in the same pack.

The Police cast lacks much ranged thread with the only guns on the detectives. The Marksman adds a high calibre rifle to the cast giving them a bit of long ranged firepower. The Marksman is expensive though at 5 ratings. I can have 3 normal bobbies for the same amount of ratings (2 each but 3 for 5 ratings).

I'm still torn about whether to take him to the 7TV day or not it reduces my numbers drastically.




 The detail on this sculpt is fab though the Police badge on his his jumper drove me goggle eyed.


Friday, 16 June 2017

Crooked Dice Police Officers (Coppers 1 & 2)

As mentioned in my Emperor Penguin post I am going to the 7TV day at the Wargames Illustrated HQ on 1st July.

I need to make a 30 Rating cast using the 7TV Second Edition releases. I could of just gone with something from my collection but felt it was a good excuse to clear some figures out the todo pile.

Having had a mooch in my drawers I found the Beat detectives and sticking on Life on Mars have decided to do a Law and Order cast.

First up and finished in a mass production line are the ordinary Police Constables. I had picked up two of Coppers 1 and one of Coppers 2 blisters giving me 9 ordinary constables. I also included the Police Sergeant (comes in his own pack with a marksman) as he wears a similar uniform.


 Coppers 1

 Coppers 1 pack 2 heads switched around and not satisfied I bent the arms slightly to make them more different,

 Coppers 2

 Those on the left are as they come and those on the right are the modded versions.

I Love this model its one of my favourites from the entire range. The Marksman is a close second though (being painted up as I type this!)

Wednesday, 14 June 2017

Batman Miniature Game Penguin Lieutenant.

Another addition to my Penguin Crew this time another Large release. The Lieutenant is a henchmen and weighs in at 50 rep which is expensive for a Penguin Henchmen. This guy is an awesome single piece figure. This guy is Large (more obvious in last pic) so comes on a 40mm base.

Stats wise he is upper Henchmen level Willpower 5, Move 2, Attack 4, Defense 3, Endurance 7 and the usual Special 3. Attack 4 is great making him hard to block and potentially dishing out 8 Stun.

Trait wise he has Large (obviously) adding various bonuses and a negative. Large means he can move 12cm basic instead of the normal 10cm. Cannot be pushed, grabbed or knocked down by smaller models, Can reroll endurance and recovery tests. Being large he adds +1 to pings for being big so a 4+ ping becomes a 5+ so more vulnerable to missile attacks.

The Lieutenant has a biker jacket (ignore the sharp rule) making it harder for enemies to wound successfully. Mobster which means he gets a free attack when outnumbering. Take Cover a nice boost to henchmen within 10cm when activated giving them all a Defense Counter for free. Reinforced gloves so his attacks do double stun damage and finally Taunt which allows him to move an opponents counters when within 10cm into attack. Useful for removing defense dice on models who have already activated and for messing with other peoples plans as you can move SC counters preventing flying or activating other abilities.

As a Henchmen he can be given equipment as well and Penguin has plenty of cash for extra gear. I am forming some plans with the original Penguin crew I had but need to think about the equipment a bit more.



The whole crew so far with Emperor Penguin. (Doh I forgot about my Titan Thug!)

The original Penguin and the guys.

Sunday, 11 June 2017

Batman Miniature Game Emperor Penguin

Another batman character finished this week. This time it the Emperor Penguin a new leader character for the Penguin crew. I hadn't heard of him before . After his family was murdered he joined and climbed through the ranks of Penguin's establishment

 Emperor Penguin real name Ignatius Ogilvy or sometimes called Emperor Blackgate was one of the Penguin's right hand men firmly becoming a favourite. When the Joker returned to the city Cobblepot was rounded up to help with his plan at Arkham Asylum. Leaving Ignatius in charge he decided to not just manage but to take over the Penguin's operation for his own ends.

Taking up on a debt owed him by Poison Ivy Ignatius used a combination of Bane's venom, Man bat serum and some of Ivy's own manipulation created turned him into a hulking blue monster of a man with superhuman strength and durability.

In game terms Emperor Penguin is very much a close combat character. Emperor Penguin's stats are very good he cost 111 reputation which is a big chunk but he is worth it. Willpower 7 and Strength 3+ is very good, Movement 3, Attack and Defense 4 are all high end. Endurance 9 is brill he can take some real punishment and the usual 3 special everyone gets.

The only weapon is a chain which has is single stun, has reach (3cm range for melee) and is heavy (increasing his strength to 2+ when using it.)

Traits are as follows, Fast allowing to reroll movement dice, Dirty Money adding $300 funding to equip/recruit people into the crew. Master Fighter gives him +1 to hit with unarmed attacks, Regeneration allowing him to recover 1 damage each turn for the cost of a special counter. Reinforced gloves meaning his unarmed attacks do double stun. Scheming 1 allowing you to hold back a character during the planning phase allowing you to work around your opponents plan. Finally he has tough skin which is -1 to damage rolls against him.

As you can see he is quite a tough package and totally different to the smaller Penguin leaders who require protection and are much slower. Allows you to get stuck in I am going to pickup Sickle the Penguin's bodyguard as he would suit this leader better being able to keep up with him and dish out the hurt in combat as well as potentially absorb some attacks from his bodyguard trait.

I am going to return to playing with a Penguin crew my grasp of the game is much better now and I now understand the idea behind the Penguin play style a bit better. Penguin's crew has weak henchmen in comparison to many other crews but has bonuses for chaining activations. This leader doesn't have it but both the Versions of Penguin (Comic and Arkham Knight) have the mob rule giving +1 to lets go meaning a Henchmen can activate straight after another on a 3+. Utilising radio's or keeping them near Sickle also gives a reroll to this. Most henchmen also have the mobster rule allowing them +1 attack when outnumbering someone. This will require a lot more planning on my part but I have though up some good combo's and as Penguin's crew being larger than most I can get away with activations still. Though my opponent will still get more passes but as there is no way of adding in Informer I can't change that either way.





Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Batman Miniature Game Aaron Cash and Quick Response Team

Been mega busy school holidays, camping and work. Had meant to post these a week ago and only just gotten around to writing up this post.

Anyway this is a Law crew expansion box. Aaron Cash and his Quick Response team (QRT's for short). Aaron Cash is one of the tougher guards of Arkham Asylum he hates Killer Croc who severed his hand. Cash is a Law Sidekick but can also be taken in a Batman crew as a Free Agent if Batman is present (Affiliation). The rest of the QRT who are henchmen rank can be taken by Law, Batman and Green Arrow lists including Organised crime and other lists with characters who have the Corrupt trait.

This set nicely boosts my Law forces with some really good henchmen. There are a lot of guns in which seem to be keep getting added to the game recently. These guys are a lot cheaper funding wise than SWAT guys meaning you still have room for equipment if you make up the rest of your crew the Funding free cops and Sidekicks. The whole pack comes in at a neat 150 rep $1000 funding.


Aaron Cash. 55 rep $150
Cash weighs in at 55 rep $150 funding as he has a standard 3 ammo shotgun (which is very cheap). I take him as my Boss meaning he his free of funding. Cash's stats are about average for his reputation cost he has good strength 4+, Attack 4 (meaning he can roll 4 dice) and a decent endurance of 6.

Cash has got some nice traits he has the claw trait meaning his basic attacks cause a single Blood/Stun damage instead of a single stun and at strength 4+ he has a good chance of wounding. No rerolls mind which is a shame but for his rep this is still good.

Cash and all his QRT's wear Bullet proof vests reducing the power somewhat of firearms. Cash also has Unstoppable meaning for every strike in melee you need to successfully block twice to stop one of his. Meaning some attacks will make it through.

Cash also has the searcher trait reducing your opponents Strategy points by 1. I intend to run him with Batwoman who also has Searcher reducing my enemies points by 2 as it stack. Meaning they can only take the cheaper less effective strategies.

Aaron cash is a single piece (yay!)



QRT 1 L Lawrence. 27 Rep $100
Lawrence carries a Riot gun with 3 ammo for only $100 funding which is a bargain it is RoF 2 (number of dice/shots per ammo) but only does double stun. Its got no range limit so can providing Lawrence can see you he can shoot you and its damage is Mechanical so wounds on 3+ and isn't affected by bullet proof vest either. If you manage to score a critical you stand a good chance of getting a KO as it can potentially put 6 stun damage on someone. The other weapon Lawrence carries is an extendable baton which has reach (melee attacks within 3cm) and heavy increasing his strength to 4+.

Traits wise all the QRT's have bulletproof vest and then come with an individual trait Lawrence's being Arrest allowing him to remove KO models as casualties. Stats wise they have decent Willpower 5 and a defense of 3 and Endurance 5 meaning they stick around that little bit longer compared to cheaper henchmen.

Lawrence comes in 3 pieces both his arms and body.



QRT 2 Salvador. 33 rep $350
This is one of my favourites from the set I love the look and the pose in particular. Salvador has exactly the same stats and traits as Lawrence. Salvador's individual trait is Street Guy meaning he can crouch for saving him a counter and increasing his pings against shooting by +1 to his ping rolls. Salvador's weapon is where he shines. Salvador is armed with a Custom Carbine. Carbines are medium range (40cm providing they can see a target past 30cm due to light restrictions) do less damage at only a single blood but have a RoF of 5 and it has the Assault X rule. Which is Assault 3 on Salvador meaning he can move and still fire off 3 shots. Its also equipped with a silencer meaning models with dodge can't dodge :) so he is good for hunting acrobats. Salvador also has an extendable baton as Lawrence does so adds a bit more combat muscle

Salvador's gun has 2 ammo so I think he is ideal to run forward and camp on ammo. Getting a bonus to his pings from crouching and  able to reload his Carbine from the objective. If he has no ammo left or is not on an ammo objective he can fight across it with the reach from his baton.

Salvador comes in two pieces his body and his weapon with the hands attached to it.



QRT 3 Jenette Vassilli. 35 rep $400

Vassilli is the most expensive of the 3 henchmen in the pack both in rep and funding. As you can tell by the pose the character is very much a sniper. Vassilli has a Precision Rifle with 4 ammo meaning she can shoot 4 out of 6 turns in most games. 2 are standard ammo which has no range cap is RoF 2 and does 2 Blood 1 Stun damage per shot.

Vassilli's second ammo is AP ammo (Armour Piercing). it is one use so can't be reloaded from ammo crates or be increased with equipment but it does 3 blood per shot and had the Anti-tank trait which ignores bullet proof vests and some other armour types. Vassilli must also Aim to use this ammo meaning she can't move at all even after shooting.

The third and final ammo is again one use and is AM Ammo (Anti Material I think?) this is only medium range only causes 2 blood damage but has the effect of Enervating 3 meaning once hit the target loses 3 of its Action Counters. Its not cumulative so I would probably split my shots just to get more of a benefit from it.  The loss of 3 counters can really mess with peoples plans and on most henchmen (usually Willpower 4/5) may even prevent them from activating other than to move as if it damages with its double blood they would lose an additional counter anyway from the double damage. 

For Vassili's stats they remain the same as the others but for personal traits she has bullet proof as the others but has Radio (reroll lets go rolls. useful for a double activation after pinning a model down) and tracking which allows Vassili to place 2 counters into special and move 2d6 in the victory phase hopefully allowing her to line up a shot for the next round.

Vassili was a little bit fiddly to go together she comes in 4 parts body, the left leg, left arm and right arm with rifle. the leg was awkwardly cut and I had to do some filing and fillng to get a good fit and arrange the rifle properly. 




Shot of the whole crew box.

I have a few more Batman miniatures coming up as I have got some reinforcements for my Penguin crew but I also am working on a load of Crooked Dice figures as I am going to there 7TV day at the Wargames Illustrated HQ in July so uber excited for that one.