Night Terrors #4: Monarch of Main Street

Returning to our ongoing quest through Night Terrors, the 80's sci-fi horror themed 7TV feature pack, we find ourselves on Main Street in the small New England town of Pilgrim's Bluff, where the covert transfer of a recently apprehended,  frightened and extremely psychic alien has caused all sorts of nightmarish visions to come to life.

I suppose it was just back luck that local celebrity, the prolific horror author Richard Bishop, was having a midnight book signing, and the feverish imaginations of his fans have spewed forth versions of his most famous creations to terrifying the town.

It's down to Sheriff Tucker, who's son Teddy has given her the lowdown on what's really happening, to try to keep the good people of Pilgrim's Bluff safe.

The action takes place in the centre of the town and pits local law enforcement (along with assorted attendees of the book signing) against the main villains of Richard Bishop's most successful works.

The police are trying to reach the bookshop (on the left) to destroy the paperbacks that are spewing forth horrors, whist the creatures are trying to get to the library (on the right) to gain access to the occult tomes stored there (this is New England, remember, it's full of that stuff).

The heroic cast is as follows:

Sheriff Alison Tucker (Star)

Richard Bishop - Author (Co-Star)

Heather Gilmore - No. 1 Fan (Co-Star)

Teddy Tucker - Plucky Kid (Extra)

4 Pilgrim's Bluff Deputies (Extras)

Reporter (Extra)

2 News Crew (Extra)

Whereas the monsters of Main Street are:

Riddles the Clown (Star)

Bloody Mary Carver (Co-Star)

Mr Creak the Scarecrow (Co-Star)

Klaus Barrow the Vampire (Extra)

Guzalu the Demon Hound (Extra)

4 Night Terrors (Extras)

I opted to use Giant Ants as the Night Terrors as not only did the profile seem appropriate, but given that the creatures from the drive-in win the second scenario, so if figured that some of them might have made their way into town via the sewers.

***

As the insects that had scuttled out of the sewers began to advance on the police cordon around the library, Sheriff Tucker ordered her nen to open fire and they blasted away, bullets ripping through several of the chitinous terrors before they got close.

Richard Bishop, deciding that he had to stop his own creations, started to sneak his way to the bookshop, with Heather Gilmore and the sheriff's son in tow.

Meanwhile, the monsters of his imagination began barreling through the square, drawn by the gunfire and the scent of violence.

Despite the success of their initial volleys, the ants just kept coming, and so the PBPD were caught by surprise when the scythe wielding straw-filled maniac, Mr Creak, suddenly appeared in their midst, cutting them down like wheat.

The police were so taken back, and couldn't seem to harm the Scarecrow, that it look like they were about to be overrun when the unlikely figures of Heather Gilmore and Teddy Tucker came charging to their rescue.

Still struggling with Mr Creak, the police looked to be in trouble, but Richard Bishop managed to channel his writer's block and keep Riddles the Clown from joining the fray.

However, the demonically fast Guzalu was able to leap into the fray as the last of the Deputies fell to Creak's bloody sickle.

Confusion abounded until Sheriff Tucker was finally able to put a bullet through the sackcloth head of Mr Creak, knocking the stuffing out of him.

Heather Gilmore's stern told reminded Guzalu that he was a bad dog and he ran off into the distance with his tail between his legs.

However, a surprise attack from an ant brought Bishop low and, with his authorial control lost, Riddles was free to beat down upon the Sheriff.

Somehow Alison Tucker managed to avoid his meaty fists and between her and Miss Gilmore, they came perilously close to bring down the curtain on his act.

But the Clown was hard to kill and kept coming back from death like De Niro on a yacht.

This left Heather vulnerable, and she too was taken down by an unexpected ant.

However, just as thing looked at their bleakest, Richard Bishop reappeared in a plot twist befitting one of his novels (his endings were never very good) and Sheriff Tucker was able to try and fail once again to take down the clown.

Things looked desperate. The demonic clown towered over them, giant ants crawled around their kegs and was that a vampire approaching?

She may be a policewoman, but Alison Tucker was first and foremost a mom. She told Teddy to get away and wait for her at the station as she and Bishop prepared for their last stand.

As the creatures swarmed in, thing looked hopeless. Numerous policemen and civilians were dead, but a good number of monsters has fallen too.

Richard Bishop told Sheriff Tucker to go to her son. He would hold the library doors until sun up. She must find out more from her son and seek to stop this horror from spreading.

***

Another close fought game. The scenario was really challenging. Although the good guys had all the guns, the villains were really tough to kill making a desperate struggle befitting a horror novel.

There were all sorts of status based shenanigans going on in the background as we both used every trick at our disposal.

The final score was 3-2 to the villains as we'd both taken out just one Co-Star, although I did manage to reduce Riddle to zero health only to be saved by SFX and Bishop did come back from the dead thanks to a script card.

The results was decided by the heroic cast being axed. Again, the ant that just wouldn't die thanks to scenario rules prevented me from returning the favour onto the villains.

This feature pack has been consistently balanced and entertaining and we're hoping for more of the same from the final scenario.

The British Are Finally Coming!

Very long time readers of this blog will be aware that eleven years ago I first put paint to miniature on some Native Americans to finally begin my long postponed War of 1812 project.

Two years later I started a United States force for use in Sharp Practice, an army that took another six years to complete.

I have finally turned my attention to their opponents. The British-Canadian army.

After completing my US Scouting Force and their somewhat unlikely artillery support, I thought I'd leave things there.

However, not having enough Native Americans to create an opposition has prevented me from ever getting around to playing a game, and so returning to the War of 1812 has sat in the back of my mind until last year.

Whilst attending one of the two Partizan shows I encountered two very persuasive chaps selling second hand miniatures at a very reasonable price to raise money for veterans.

Money exchanged hands and I walked away with an indeterminate number of Perry Miniatures plastic British Napoleonic infantry.

I immediately regretted my decision as although British Napoleonics have very much been near the top of the list of armies I always wanted (thank you Sean Bean), the concept of actually painting them has terrified me.

However, several months later, the muse has finally taken me and I sat down to work out what I could do with the miniatures I had.

A quick scan of the War of 1812 supplement for Sharp Practice told me that by using some of the Native Americans I already had (an an unpainted mounted Officer), I could put together a Militia Force with 33 infantrymen.

A quick examination of the sprues revealed that I had 34 miniatures to play with. What's more, I had though that I was going to have to use the covered Belgic shakos of the Waterloo campaign, but the sprues also held just enough plumed shakos that were more prevalent during the war.

There were also enough arms with more decorative epaulettes to denote the 12 light infantry were required and I was able to rustle up just enough 20mm round bases.

I was on a roll.

Now I just needed to paint them.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the painting process. I've been much more methodical that I ever usually am, going back and forth to source material to ensure I got them right.

There's less red to paint than you'd think, but there are a lot of white straps and lace to detail on.

These seven are the first section of Light Infantry (hence the fancy epaulettes and green plumes) along with their corporal, and I've painted them with the blue facings of the 1st Battalion of Select Embodied Militia. Conveniently, these were also the colours of the 1st (Royal Scots) Regiment of Foot, which gives me options to deploy these models as British Regulars as well.

I'm really pleased with this first batch and keen to get on with some more.

Whether this enthusiasm holds remains to be seen.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 139

Lead Mountain: 692

When Projects 'Drag On'

I previously mentioned that I wanted to add a little something to my D&D Villains cast for 7TV...I may have lied about the 'little'.

This is Marduk the Tyrant from Archon Studios, a model I picked up from the UK Games Expo in 2024 as it clearly bears a significant resemblance to Tiamat from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon (fun fact: Tiamat and Marduk are both figure from Babylonian mythology).

Obviously, there are a few differences, including the Archon model not having the same body shape as Snarf from Thundercats.

She was a third-party antagonist in the show who was equally an enemy to Venger as to the children. She also had a multi-tonal voice which suggest that she smoked too much.

I built the model almost as soon as I got it back home and the model went together really well, and encouraged me to potentially pick up some more of the Archon models in the future.

I then set about painting, using mainly contrast paints, with a little dry brushing and highlighting for good measure. However, I ran out of steam after getting base coats on as I think I became a bit daunted by the heads.

With hindsight, I should have left all but the central head off the model and painted them separately, as I had a bit of a nightmare getting contrast paint into all the books and crannies around the necks.

If you are picking up this model for yourself, sub-assembly is you friend.

However, having painted up the other Villains, I felt I really out to get back to Tiamat.

I sorted out the red bits of the main body I'd missed before giving the whole model a Mephiston Red dry brush. I then approached each head one at I time, breaking the project into doable chunks until she was done.

Here she is with Venger for scale.

I pleased to have go her done and I'm pretty sure I can put together a decent sized cast to attack Matt's D&D kids with. I'll just have to come up with a very thin excuse for all these Villains who hate each other to have teamed up.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 132

Lead Mountain: 692

Forgotten Foes

In 1983, as Dungeons & Dragons was entering mainstream consciousness (in both positive and bizarrely negative ways), both a cartoon series and a toyline were commissioned to capitalise on the growing success of the game.

Unfortunately, these two franchises didn't really communicate with each other, leading to the confusing (for 7 year old me) situation where what I was watching on TV bore no relation to the toys I was playing with.

The collection of villainous miniatures I've painted this week reflects this somewhat uncoordinated merchandising strategy.

You can tell their villains. They're all dressed in black and red.

The miniatures were kindly printed for me by Matt when he was printing his 7TV cast, the kids from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. He'd picked up the STLs somewhere along the line and he did a whole batch and passed on the villains to me.

I think he'd admit that these sculpts were somewhat problematic to print and there was more than a bit of tidying up to do, particularly with regard to missing fingers, and I believe that Shadow Demon didn't survive at all.

The most recognisable of the bunch is obviously Venger, both foot and mounted. The primary antagonist of the cartoon series, a terrifyingly powerful dark sorcerer with jefions of minions  and perpetually in pursuit of the magic weapons held by...checks notes...six children.

These sculpts frighten me. Not just because it's Venger, but because the wings are incredibly thin and fragile. In fact one of the mounted model's wings broke whilst the supports were being removed and has been fixed with liquid greenstuff and blind hope.

The model on foot just needed a new index finger.

Kelek the Sorcerer has the unique honour of fitting in three separate categories in this group. He was part of the original toyline, he featured in a grand total of one episode of the cartoon series, and he's the only one of the bunch that I owned a toy of (if you're interested, I also had Warduke, Strongheart, Ringlerun, Elkhorn and Melf/Peralay - a pair of Gamorrean Guards served as Kelek's pig-faced Orc minions.

Zarak is an assassin. He's also technically a Half-Orc whose about the size of a Goblin. Apparently, back in the early editions of D&D Half-Orcs were quite short, although given that their average size is 5'6", Zarak is still short.

That's probably what turned him into a villain.

Like Kelek, he was part of the original toyline, but he didn't make it onto TV outside of commercials.

I had to replace his left hand due to the aforementioned finger issues.

Skyllar the Witch is an even more obscure character than Zarak, as she didn't even make it into the action figure range, but did get featured in a smaller scale monopose range of toys from the same time.

She's technically the apprentice of the hood wizard Ringlerun, but was corrupted by a magic item called the Heartstone.

Anyway, I needed to give her a hand swap as well.

Here's the group stood with Warduke, who I painted several years ago. Although Venger is arguably the most famous D&D villain of all time after Hugh Grant, the others did get their time in the sun. They were featured as special characters in The Shady Dragon Inn supplement for D&D and have continued to feature in adventure supplements down the years since.

So it seems I now have a good chunk of a D&D themed 7TV cast. If only there was someone I knew who has an era appropriate cast of magic item hoarding small children I could harass.

There's just one 'small' addition I'll need to make first...

Acquired: 76

Painted: 131*

Lead Mountain: 693*

* Stats watchers might be wondering, but I've also painted three more street tiles for my Carnevale board. They're in the pictures if you look carefully.

Back in the Game

I've not been posting a lot of painting for the past few months. I've had a dearth of motivation brought about by several factors that I won't go into.

However, at the tail end of May I went to the UK Games Expo and whilst there I pick up a handful of individual boardgame pieces that I figured I might be able to use in Carnevale.

I've no idea what games these miniatures come from and they were all single piece sculpts. I picked up 5 models but I didn't notice that one of the models had rather anachronistic trousers and shoes, and so I'm hoping to convert that one.

Although I'm a fan of the official Carnevale miniature range, I'm not massively keen on the city guard models. Therefore, this will serve as the first member of my own take on the subfaction of the Patricians, reflecting their control of the levers of power.

I'm not sure which exact profile I'll use for him, but I suspect, due to his armament, he'll end up being a Guard Captain.

I was unsure of which faction to look in to find a use for this miniature. The ornate robe made me consider some kind of spuellcaster for the Strigoi, but I figured that some of his clothing had an Ottoman feel to it, with a European look to his face.

In Carnevale, the Ottomans are in the pay of the Patricians, and so I thought that a noble envoy affecting Ottoman style suited the character of an Adventuring Noble, which can also cast spells.

The easiest model to assign to a faction was this cultist which will be joining the Rashaar as a Cult Officiant of the Church of Dagon.

My Rashaar forces continue to grow ever more numerous.

The final miniature was this unassuming woman, who could easily have been a Citizen working for the Guild or Household Staff for the Patricians. 

However, I ultimately decided that I wanted to add to my entirely proxied Strigoi force, and the cut of her clothing suggested the idea of her being a Romani.

I'm genuinely quite pleased with the skin tone I've achieved here, and I'm going to look to add a few more Romani style miniatures to the faction over time now that I know how.

I've often found small wins the best way to fight painting slumps, and so you can expect a few more smaller projects to help get me back into gear.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 123

Lead Mountain: 701

Night Terrors #3: The Armoured Class

Not only was there a gap between Matt and I playing episodes 2 and 3 of the Night Terrors feature pack for 7TV, but there's also been a gap between playing episode 3 and me writing this up.

I feel that attending the 7TV day at the weekend, I might have got my mojo back. Yeah baby!

The Story So Far...

The sleepy town of Pilgrim's Bluff is experiencing an extra-terrestrial event, and the government agents of Project Blacklight are intent on covering it up and taking possession of an alien that has crash landed.

However, not only did several witnesses to the crash escape with photographic evidence and pieces of the wreckage, but the psychic emanations of the alien have latched onto the the residents of Pilgrim's Bluff causing a series of strange and disturbing experiences, such as a series of cinematic horrors appearing at the local drive-in movie marathon.

As little Teddy Tucker arrives at his school clutching evidence of an alien landing, intent of showing it to his favourite science teachers, he is followed by a wave of psychic energy that is about to have a serious impact on the school's D&D club weekly game.

It's not exactly clear why the staff and students are at the school so late at night.

The action takes place in the Pilgrim's Bluff middle school which has undergone a fantastical transformation when the psychic wave made contact with the fertile, if derivative, imaginations of the school's roleplaying club, who have now become the characters that they play:

Alice Palmer, the GM - Star

Melvin the Magnificent (Melvin Anderson), Human Wizard - Co-Star

Sir Strannar (Teddy Tucker), Halfling Paladin - Extra

Tilde Nightblade (Andi Cross), Human Rogue - Extra

Miri Rubymace (Regina Davis), Human Fighter - Extra

Bor the Barbarian (Francis Billington III), Human Barbarian - Extra

Realising that her game had got out of control, as a GM, Alice Palmer knows that they must play by the rules of the game and complete a quest to retrieve the five Gems of Fate so that she can get the campaign back on track and put things right.

However, opposing them are the homebrew creations of Alice's imagination, King Grobnag Goblins, who want to continue to exist in the real world.

King Grobnag - Star

Molding the Shaman - Co-Star

3 Grobnag's Goblin Guards - Extras

2 Berserkers (Bugbears) - Extras

And...action!

King Grobnag and the berserkers headed for the Enchanted Library where two transformed cleaners fought off the flying books with bows.

Bamboozled by the battering books. grobnag was delayed on securing the Gem of Fate.

Meanwhile, against the GM's advice, the adventurers immediately decided to split the party.

Bor the Barbarian plunged into the Temple of Ancient Evil (the Principal's Office) and was immediately detained by the powers that lurked there.

No recess for you!

Melvin the Magnificent led Miri Rubymace and Tilde Nightblade to the Janitor's store cupboard which had morphed into a Ghoul's den.

Melvin easily evaded the creature and secured on of the Gems of Fate.

Whilst Moldug plunged into the stinking marsh that had once been the playing fields, a Goblin rushed at the adventurers, but was cut down quickly by Miri Rubymace.

Meanwhile, Alice the GM, sighing at her players' predicability, went on a mission of her own to retrieve a Gem of Fate from between two battling Minotaurs in the weeping grove.

She was accompanied by Teddy, who was somewhat confused about what this 'roleplaying' was, constantly asking where Mr Higgs was and why did everyone keep calling him 'Sir Strannar'.

Alice sighed, "Teddy, you are playing a Paladin, a holy warrior in a game where we use our imaginations to create stories. Despite what you might have heard at church, we don't summon demons," she shifted uncomfortably, taking in what was happening around her, "well, not usually."

A roar of triumph brought Alice back to the matter a hand. She knew that voice. It was hers when she lowered it to speak as King Grobnag. He must have succeeded in grabbing the Gem of Fate in the library. She had to stop him.

At the same time. Bor the Barbarian had finally forced his way through the the Principal's desk to retrieve a second Gem for the party.

He would now be able to bring his massive strength into the fight.

Over on the other side of the school, Moldug's retinue had realised the folly of trying to tangle with the adventurers and had retreated whilst the shaman finally secured the Gem hidden in the swamp.

Moldug now also saw retreat as his best option.

Alice knew she had to fudge the story to prevent the party from losing and rushed into the library to deal with Grobnag and recapture his Gem.

Sir Strannar and Bor came rushing to her aid 

They were followed by a very confused Ms Garcia. She had been waiting for Mr Higgs in a stock cupboard to...erm...go over some marking when the school has been transformed.

However, despite Alice's success in cutting down one of the Berserkers, she was in turn knocked senseless by Grobnag's almighty breaking of wind.

"Why did I think it was funny to give him an area attack?" she thought as the fumes overpowered her.

Just as she was about to be struck down, the cavalry arrived and Sir Strannar interpised himself between Alive and her attackers whilst Bor sent Grobnag flying.

--- It appears that at this point, I forgot to take photos. Grobnag managed to narrowly avoid being slain through the cunning use of the script deck, and both casts ran hell for leather towards the centre of the school to make use of their Gems of Fate. ---

Moldug's magic sent Alice and Ms Harcia sprawling, whilst the newly arrived troll clubbed the mighty Bor into submission.

Sir Strannar had already run off to find his mum, Sherrif Tucker, to tell her everything.

Alice and Ms Garcia were once again rescued, this time by the arrival of Melvin's party, who slew the troll and a Berserker, and forced Moldug to retreat again.

However, this was not before King Grobnag was able to grab the Gem of Fate Bor had dropped. Cackling, he ran towards the Gymnasium.

Alice and her party could only look on as the Goblins used the Gems of Fate to rewrite the rules and allow the goblins to escape into the real world.

"I told you not to split the party," said Alice.

***

This was a hard fought game which came down to a single Gem of Fate being grabbed from the fallen Bor. This minor victory for the villains means Matt will have initiative in the fourth episode.

Unfortunately, the feature pack is unclear what happens to Alice and her friends now. I'd like to think that whilst King Grobnag is free to cause chaos across New England, the adventurers are trapped in a fantasy realm and each week they try and fail to find nd a way home.

Either that or quiet and bookish Francis has to explain to his parents how he is now a hulking barbarian with facial hair.

That's puberty for you.

The action will now move into town and after scenarios evoking the ET, 1950s Horror and the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, we're about to enter the world of the slasher movie.