Friday 12 February 2016

From SamuliS: Black Plague survivors (30 points)

A total switch in subject with 6 survivors of the Black Plague from the new Zombicide! I had already promised myself not to get any more Zombicide stuff as I already have one whole shelf full of those darn boxes. However when I saw them come out with a fantasy themed version I was almost immediately sold. Seeing some Monty Python and the Holy Grail characters coming in as well as some of the monsters I just had to go all in on their Kickstarter once again...

All the backers received the core game as a christmas gift and to make up for the rest coming 3-4 months late and only sometime in June. The core mechanics stayed the same, but enough has changed to actually improve the Zombicide experience. At least I find this much better than the original seasons.


The sculpts are quite nice, though the plastic does cause some issues. Weapons weren't exactly straight and while I did manage to fix most of them with treatment in boiling water followed by straightening of weapons and dipping in cold water, the knights sword slowly rolled back to the original rolled position after a few hours. As these will really just be board game figures I wanted to keep the paintjob fast and simple. So limiting myself to size 1 brush at the smallest (except for painting the eyes) and only doing a wash and a single highlight I managed to pull these off in a few hours. Nice and simple, and definitely much better looking on the board. I didn't really do any basing as I'm switching them to clear bases when I get an order in. Just some blood and goo splattered on the ground to break the monotonous grey base.



With the two entries out of the way it's back to painting. Though I won't be having too much time for that this weekend with some heavy terrain work taking all my time. A friend of mine bought a house 500 meters from my place and we are tearing down a few walls and building a new kitchen there. With beer and kebabs on offer I figured I'd lend him a hand.  After that I'll have to see about trying to speed up my painting even more to try and reach the 1000 points. It would be embarrassing to miss my goal for the first time in the four editions of the challenge I've taken part in. Though this time I haven't participated in any themed rounds, and it's unlikely that I will. So I guess I can blame the lack of bonus points then if I don't succeed ;)
Great work Samuli.  "I had promised not to get any more..." is a sentiment I myself have often attempted, but I never seem to stick to it myself, glad to see others breaking it as well.  These figures look really interesting, and the results are excellent. Hilarious combination of genres and settings!  The problems with the plastic must have been a bit frustrating, but they don't show in the results.  As for your points total, I'm sure you'll get there...

24 comments:

  1. Excellent looking paint job on those.

    I can sympathize with the "no more zombicide", I have every set so far, and could not resist on the black plague set either. Of course my set just added to my "pile-o-shame" of unpainted figures, unlike yours which look great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I have all the previous boxes as well. Luckily not all of them have been bought from Kickstarter so I don't have all the freebies taking space :) These are actually the first I ever painted. I never fancied painting the modern ones for some reason. These fantasy models are just so much better detailed that I figured they deserved some paint.

      Delete
    2. If you call it "pending reinforcements" instead of "pile of shame" you'll feel a lot better about it - I do!

      Delete
  2. These look fantastic, especially as they're in such bendy plastic, which can be a right pig to work with.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looking great! I was just able to keep myself away from this KS but man these figures do look great...

    ReplyDelete
  4. These look great Samuli! They sure look like they can hack their way through a multitude of zombies!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely painting. Nice use of coliur Samuli

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really like these, they look great for a fantasy game

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice looking minis Samuli! Any chance of some close ups?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll try to take some when I put them up on my blog :)

      Delete
  8. Sweet looking minis, Samuli! I have the first two seasons, but my wife has banned me from kickstarters! Instead I am allowed to go wild on my birthday. Fair trade! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Zombiecide addiction is very strong. Great "Pending reinforcements" which clearly are no longer pending but now "Coming soon" to a game near you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've recently had a game of Black Plague too and the new additions really help to improve the gaming experience. That said I'm not really fond of the setting nor the figures in particular. You of course managed to make these sculpts look absolutely awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can definitely understand if the minis don't seem to work for some people. The sculpting style is a bit strange sometimes and not for everyone. Works for me though and I figured at least some of the minis could easily be usable for regular fantasy gaming as well

      Delete
  11. We played this very game last night. The figures are cartoon characters but so is the game, and it was great fun. My thief got to flame the abomination.

    Great job on the minis.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The black background for miniature photos seems to be spreading. It really does make your minis pop. How do you do it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it does work rather nicely. I switched to it from a light grey background a few years back. It's just a A3 sized black cardboard that I have curved so that it does a rounded 90 degree turn providing the ground and background for the pics.

      Delete
    2. Thanks!

      What lighting do you use?

      Part of the problem with the challenge is getting good mini photos. I've had a devil of a time doing it.

      Delete
    3. I have a lamp slightly to the side and front of the minis and a larger DSLR flash with a diffuser to spread the light out. Avoids too hard lighting and practically no shadows.

      Something like this helps a lot. A white paper in front of a light helps spread the effect and avoids a lot of shadows. http://amazingminiatures.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/making_lightbox7.jpg

      Delete
  13. Nuns with Guns are cool - but Sisters with Swords are cooler!
    ; )
    Some very characterful figs, Samuli, and finished to the high standard they deserve - well done there!

    ReplyDelete