Zomtober: The Time of Terror

It's that time of year that people who massively overplay the significance of Halloween annoyingly refer to as 'Spooky Season' which the rest of us call October.

It's also the time of Zomtober, a small annual event involving a few miniature gaming blogger (blogger who focus on miniature gaming, not gaming blogger who are very small) painting something zombie related each week.

I've not participated since 2019 (not sure why) and the event has dwindled a bit, however, long time Zomtoberer Blax Kleric has decided to... er...reanimate the event and I thought I'd go along for the ride.

Okay, I know, they're not zombies, well one of them could be, possibly, or is at least zombie-adjacent.

However, I only saw the post about Zomtober yesterday and these were what I'd finished. Also, long time readers will know that I have a habit of stretching the boundaries of what counts as a zombie somewhat.

So let's start there...

This is the Hessian, a Supers Unlimited miniature from Kitbash Games that I picked up from a small Kickstarter last year (?). It was actually the only miniature I got from the Kickstarter as I wanted to support the company but couldn't see an immediate use for the rest of the releases.

However, should I change my mind, Kitbash Games have an Esty site where their range can be bought.

It's a really cool miniature with a really nice sculpt that only required a minimal amount of cleaning up. The hands come separately and interestingly mine came with two left hands holding swords, which I assume is insurance against such a thing piece snapping in transit.

Does the Hessian count as a zombie? Possibly. The model clearly draws influence from the legend of Sleepy Hollow (although he's more horseless than headless), but this puts him in ghost territory which is arguably in the right ball park.

As to how I'll use the Hessian, there are a number of options. Firstly, all Supers Unlimited models come with game cards for both Super Mission Force and Pulp City. Unfortunately he isn't aligned to any of my villain teams for Pulp City, but I can still use him.

Alternatively, the Hessian joins my surprisingly large collection of miniature scarecrows, and although he won't be hitting the streets of Gotham, he could definitely join the Children of the Fields for folk horror games of 7TV.

Also in terms of 7TV, he also makes for an ideal villain for Scooby Doo and chums to unmask as a disgruntled janitor, although this certainly takes him out of zombie territory.

This is not a zombie.

It's Dr Red, orangutan and chief scientist of the Ape Revolutionary Committee, a primate socialist collective determined to work for better treatment of simians in Pulp City. And when I say 'work for' I mean 'blow things up until they get it.

Dr Red has sat part painted in my queue for about three years. He's part of an ARC job lot I bought off eBay. He was missing his bionic arm and so I've replace it with the spare arm I got with my Trapjaw miniature.

I'm not sure why I stopped painting him half way through, but I suspect it had something to do with the white coat and the fact that the more you look at orangutans, the more you realise that they aren't the colour you think they are.

Fortunately the recent Kickstarter I backed from Kitbash Games took my head into Pulp City (via Freedom Force) and in the search for something to do I finally got the urge to finish him off.

I definitely have enough members of the ARC to play a game but the original models from Pulp City aren't easy to get your hands on at the moment (although there are rumblings that this could change fairly soon) and so I'm unlike to expand the Revolution in the immediate future.

However, I might use another manufacturer to add some minions to the force (as at least two of these give should get minions for free) as most of the game cards are available to download on the Citizens of Pulp City Facebook group (or at least they were the last time I checked.

A SCAREcrow and a TERRORist. How very Spooky-Seasonal.

Acquired: 83 

Painted: 231

Lead Mountain: 454

Vlad's Army

Continuing my theme of only painting plastic models as I'm currently out of superglue, I've turned my attention to the 7TV feature pack Vlad's Army, in which a supernatural strike team of Nazi undead take on the stalwart Home Guard of Walsingham-on-sea.

Although there are some official models from Crooked Dice, I've taken the opportunity to raid my bitz box and lead pile for this project. I have bought the model for Hauptmann Kurtz (the vampiric second-in-command), but he's metal and so has to wait.

I've been really quick and dirty in terms of painting. If I don't mention it, just assume I've gone for a straightforward contrast-drybrush-wash approach.

Major Schreck is the vampiric leader of the invasion force and star of the villainous cast. He was built from a German Winter Infantry sprue for Bolt Action that I got free with Wargames Illustrated some time back.

His pale skin, red eyes and blood trails on his chin mean he's unlikely to ever line up alongside my Fallschirmjäger army any time soon.

The Nachtjagerkommandos are lesser vampires who act as elite troops for Schreck. Despite the wings, these guys can't actually fly.

All three are different Heroclix Man-Bat sculpts I'd collected over the years. Their uniform trousers and the addition of some German equipment to their belts (which you can't actually see) are my only concession to their military service.

The scenarios require a host of Totgangers (zombies) and so my first four are made from the rest of the German Winter Infantry sprue.

Fortunately, these models are all in motion and so I was able to pose them as staggering forwards. Open hands from a range of sources, a couple of lost limbs and a liberal dollop of Blood for the Blood God complete their transformation into the undead.

The zombie skin is my usual recipe: Kislev Flesh, green wash, drybrush Ushabti Bone, Agrax Earthshade wash.

The rest of the Totgangers are made from a Fallschirmjäger sprue I had spare. Unfortunately, some of the poses were not very zombie-like and so I took more time to use spare zombie bits from old Studio Miniatures and Wargames Factory sprues to get them looking right.

This also led to a more gruesome appearance meaning that the fictional Vlad's Army TV show would be almost certain to draw the ire of Mary Whitehouse.

As a historical note, at this point in the war the Fallschirmjäger shouldn't have camouflage smocks. However, I'm not sure I'm massively worried about the historical accuracy of my zombies...

The final model is not actually for Vlad's Army but fit the theme and was easy to do. There are Wolves in tje feature pack, but they are smaller than this beast.

This is a Fenrisian Wolf from 40k. It's likely to pop up in different games when I need a Dire Wolf, Warg Chieftain or other monstrous dog. Despite having two eyes I can certainly work as Black Schuck, the spectral hound from the Children of the Fields programme guide.

As mentioned, I still have Hauptmann Kurtz to paint and some bats to rebase as swarms, and I have some undead wolves from Descent I can use to complete the cast.

After that, I need to move on to the Walsingham-on-sea Home Guard. I had intended to just use my Operation Sealion/VBCW models to represent them, but after being given a set of Warlord Games Dad's Army Miniatures at the last 7TV day, it would seem churlish not to use them as Captain Mainwaring and company are the obvious source material for Captain Bannerman's command in Vlad's Army.

A good chunk of progress only slightly undermined by the arrival of more Space Marines this week. With them being plastic and the Dad's Army miniature being metal, I'm likely to return to the 31st Millennium before completing the Home Guard cast.

Acquired: 130

Painted: 141

Holy Cow!

I recieved the kind gift from a friend of some 40mm bases which has enabled me to finish off my Children of the Fields starter cast with some Mast Beasts.

These are mystical constructs of bones and robes made by the Crow King to harvest the lives of those that threaten Winterly. They also imply that the Crow King is a fan of The Time Bandits.

It seems odd that the Mast Beasts are treated as large creatures in 7TV (hence the need for 40mm bases), given that they are not particularly bigger than any other 28mm. I've explained this to myself by assuming that when they a spinning around with their sickles, they take up more space.

They are one of the easiest paint jobs I've ever done. I went with red robes, rather than the more conventional black, because I thought this might form a visual link with my cultists, which aren't based in the same madder as the rest of the Children of the Fields.

So that's everything I go from the Children of the Fields Kickstarter painted. I'm going to raid the bits box to add a few things to this cast before I spend more money.

However, I did receive four Crooked Dice miniatures as a birthday gift as the beginning of another small project which will see me revisiting a different Saturday morning cartoon of my youth.

Acquired: 116

Painted: 123

Market Day

I'm waiting on some 40mm bases before I can continue with my Children of the Fields cast, and so I thought I'd add some themed scenery: Winterly Market.

This is the Market Mantic Terrain Crate that I got for Christmas. Just like the Treasury set, it's made from a soft plastic, but unlike the treasury it has some quite thin elements like the stall awnings and the cart wheels. These have resisted the hot water trick and refuse to be straightened, which would put me off getting other Terrain Crates with thin parts.

However, the solid bits, like the stalls and the piles of goods (like the pieces from the Treasury, are great.

Moan out the way, despite the slight bend, I had fun with the stalls. I've even sorted my orange issue with a light coverage of the dry paint Ryza Rust to the carrots. It wouldn't work for large areas, but I've gone back and highlighted the pumpkin in the last post.

I can see these being used in 7TV (obviously), possibly Rangers of Shadow Deep, and even Lord of the Rings (although I might need to make The Shire to use them).

The piles of goods are my favourite bits in the set, and I can see them cluttering up all sorts of game boards as scatter terrain.

The barrels aren't from Mantic, but are some leftover Renedra barrels, which have their own issues with the halves not matching up correctly. Sticking them together as a clump reduces how noticeable this issue is.

The horse and cart is probably the most useful piece in the set, once you get past the wonky wheels. Again suitable for all kinds of fantasy and historical settings, I could even potentially use it to tow artillery in Bolt Action.

I suspect that I might need to fashion a range of potential drivers for it.

I've kept the cart separate so that it can also be used as terrain when needed, and can be filled with any of the goods piles, or even mounds of gold.

All in all, it's a cool little set, marred only slightly with the bending issue. However, as scenery, it's not too much of a worry.

I'm counting this as six models (even though the stalls came in several pieces) painted, as the bigger pieces are countered by the smaller ones. There is still a pile of cloth bolts to do, but I wasn't particularly inspired to do them. I've got a little pile of Mantic leftovers I'll add it to.

Acquired: 112

Painted: 115

Yes, I have noticed, but I'm not going to get too excited as my birthday is next week...

Counting Crows

Folloqung the scarecrows, here's some crows to scare...or perhaps not, as they're led by the Crow King.

The Crow King is a mysterious, ragged adviser to Lady Winterly, who can summon the crows to do his bidding and is the one who constructs the Corn Dolls and Mast Beasts that protect the village.

He also looks a bit like Slash from Guns N Roses.

Obviously, there's no a lot to go on colour wise and so it's not the most exciting paint job, although I am fairly pleased that the dry brushing picked up details well.

I'm less pleased with the crows, as I've struggled to get the detail right on them, so they've ended up a bit scruffy looking.

I am, however, pleased with the arrangement on the bases. Some people have gone for one crow per base, but as the profile is for a Murder of Crows, I definitely wanted more than one per base.

I tried to get a mix of flying and grounded crows, and variety the heights their flying at. The pumpkin was a touch I added to balance out only having two crows on the base. I don't have a proper orange paint at the moment, and my attempt at mixing ended up a bit drab, so I may highlight it when I'm able to get some orange paint from the shops.

When it comes to the tally, I counted the crows as eight when they came in, so I'm counting them as eight going out, with the Crow King making it nine painted today.

Acquired: 112

Painted: 109

Get Arf Moy Laaaand!

This is the first batch of my actial Children of the Fields miniatures, and they take the concept of fields somewhat literally: Mister Mangel and the Corn Dolls (sounds like a dodgy West Country band).

The Corn Dolls are scarecrows animated by the sinister Crow King to guard the borders of the Winterley Estate, keeping away those that aren't local.

The models were fun to do, as I wanted to have them all different, despite the fact there are only two sculpts. The arms are separate, allowing for some pose variation, and if I'd been thinking straight, I would have swapped the arms on the second pair.

Despite being specifically for Children of the Fields, the Corn Dolls are potentially quite versatile. Not only would they suit games where they were pitted against the Scooby Gang, but they're also perfect for representing the scarecrows that appeared in the Doctor Who episode Family of Blood.

Mister Mangel is the guardian and protector of Little Lord Winterly, the heir to the estate. Although this sounds somewhat paternal, it appears he's being protected so that he can meet a gruesome fate in the future.

The model was an absolute doddle to paint as the details are so crisp, the wah did almost all the work. It's a fairly unconventional sculpt for a character model, however, I've also seen this used as a piece of scenery.

I decided to go with cornfield bases and not match the cultists for a few reasons. Firstly, cornfields suit scarecrows. Secondly, the cultists are generic, for use in a variety of settings, whereas these aren't. Finally, I'd bought the tufts fir something else and decided not to use them, so I wanted to get some use out of them.

I'm really pleased with how these five have turned out, I'm also really pleased to have hit triple figures on models painted this year.

Acquired: 112

Painted: 100

Next up: some crows for them to scare.

Equal Rites

As I move on to pastures new, I've set myself the eminently achievable goal of completing my 7TV Children of the Fields cast, most of which I picked up during Crooked Dice's first Kickstarter campaign.

First up are these two female cultists.

I actually picked these up only a few weeks ago, using the voucher I won at Board in Brum. I wanted to add some 'man' power to my occult cast and I'm never overly keen on using duplicate models.

 

I've painted them in exactly the same way I did the original cultists, that is, very simply. I think I commented when I first painted the occult starter set that I really like the simplicity of these models.

The other thing I like, and this is true across the Crooked Dice range, is that these are female miniatures which avoid the somewhat cringeworthy tendency in our hobby to over-sexualise the female form. These two are simply going about their nefarious business without feeling the need to bend over suggestively or wear significantly less clothes than the men.

Cultists are an extremely useful resource for a wargame, as they fit in all sorts of settings, from modern and pulp, through Call of Cthulhu and Victoriana to medieval fantasy. In fact, in my cult there's only the two with guns that wouldn't fit in all those genres.

In terms of Children of the Fields, the community of Winterly is some sort of nature cult, with a touch Satanism thrown in (think The Wicker Man meets The Devil Rides Out), and as such almost all of my cultists fit right in. The only ones I wouldn't use for this cast are the one with the SMG and the High Priest, as the cult leader, Yvonne de Vries, is female, and in my version is played by Sigourney Weaver (back right of the photo).

I'm planning to get all of my Children of the Fields painted over the coming days, including the characters Mr Mangel and the Crow King, four scarecrows (or 'Corn Dolls'), two Mast Beasts, a murder of crows, and the ferocious one-eyed beast, Old Shuck. I'm tempted to also do a little pastoral terrain to go with them.

For now, however, that's two done.

Acquired: 112

Painted: 95