Prep for Cangames 2024 the Shakespeare Code - Doctor Who

This years Cangames game (May 19, 2024) will be another Doctor Who game, based on the TV episode the Shakespeare Code.   The game will be set in London England in 1599 with the Tenth Doctor, Martha and a variety of Elizabethan characters attempting to foil or expedite the scheme of six witch-like Carrionites to rewrite the ending Shakespeare’s play Love's Labour's Won rewording it to cast a spell to free the rest of the Carrionite race from imprisonment bring destruction to the world. The scenario is based on  a two player scenario created for the Doctor Who the Miniature Games Rules (DWMG).

Unlike previous years when I used the DWMG rules, this time I plan to use Pulp Alley rules as I think these rules are better suited to represent this multi-player scenario.  Those of you who have read some of my earlier blogs will know I have used these rules for other genres in the past. A short introductory video on the rules by the author Dave, can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBraL7mwXgM

Those of you who just watched the video will have heard Dave say that the rules are designed for up to four players and I will likely have 5 to 7 players, so some adjustments will have to be made. This includes drawing coloured tiles to determine who moves to speed up the game. Additionally I have kept the leagues small, 3 figures per player.  

This will be an "evergreen" post as it will get updated as I progress preparing.

Promo picture from TV episode the Shakespeare Code.

Some of the potential figures I may use in the game from my existing collection as of  March 1, 2024.

Happy New Year

 Happy New Year Everyone, all the best in 2024

Making slow but steady progress getting my 28mm sailors in white tropical / Pacific uniforms painted, including two versions of Vera Lynn, all for Menelduir's the Pulp Alley China Station campaign.  Along with them some RN sailors in blue (Atlantic) uniforms and a Humber Scout Car, all for Bolt Action.

Figures by Warlord, Pulp Figures and Bad Squido

 

A list of games to play in 2020

New Years is a time for lists so here is my wish list of 16 games to play in 2020 plus a long term plans for a siege game (#17). Some of the games are hold-overs from last year.  As usual I suspect I will be lucky to get half of them done, but at least I have something to strive for.  There is also  the possibility of a new game being added to the list (like SAGA Age of Magic) got added to my 2019 list) or an older game making a comeback like Sharpe Practice, War of 1812 or a Superhero game (#18).

1. SAGA Age of Magic and SAGA Historical 28mm

Part of an Undead Legion Warband

SAGA Trojan versus Greek game

Figures Painted for Halloween 2019

Halloween 2019

I am a bit late in posting this but I am within 30 days of Halloween 😼. Here are my 28mm  figures that were painted for this Halloween.

Ragged Jack Pumpkin headed horseman by Blue Moon
 and the Headless Horseman with Pumpkin by RAFM

Pulp Alley II Kick Starter

My Pulp Alley Kick Starter package finally arrived.  It contained the new Pulp Alley II (PA II) rules, a scenario books and some additional cards.  I look forward to trying the new edition of the rules.

The new PA II rules, scenario and cards.

PA II Kick Starter set guarded by 
my highly trained Watch Cat!

Unidentified 28mm Computer type machinery?

I got the resin item in the picture below about 5 years ago in an eBay lot of computer related items (main frames, consoles etc.)  that were made by Scotia Grendel and Armorcast.  However I can't find this one in the Scotia Grendel, Armorcast or Ainsty catalogue.  It is about 1 inch long and Kkind of looks like it could be a  hard drive or a memory bank, any ideas what it is or who made it?

?

Things I purchased at Cangames 2019

This year at Cangames 2019, I bought some 28mm scale diecast vehicles at reasonable prices:

Centurion tank by Dinky

Set of three 1939 British Army transport vehicles by Ledo.

Recent finds: King Kong

A couple of items I found on a recent trip to the Merrickville Street Sale: King Kong and a suitable evil temple for 28mm scale.

 The ape was a plastic toy, the temple a Terrarium decoration.

The temple & Kong, houses in background are 15mm

Giant Frogs - Updated

I found this giant painted plastic frog in my favorite Dollar store.

Side view of frog versus 28mm hunter by Antediluvian Miniatures

Casablanca Lockheed Electra

LOCKHEED 10 ELECTRA

One of the latest miniatures / models added to my collection is the aircraft from the 1943 film Casablanca - the  Lockheed 10 Electra.  This is an old 1:53 scale Williams Brothers kit that works perfectly for heroic 28mm scale and will feature in one of my upcoming Pulp Alley games.

My new Lockheed 10 Electra kit, picture by John Clearwater

Read on to see are some more images of the aircraft including some with the characters from Casablanca and the story of the building of the kit.

Leprechaun

I have been working on this Reaper Leprechaun figure on and off for some time.

March 2018 Reaper Leprechaun

Lemuria Characters

Some of the figures I have prepared for the Lemuria Pulp Alley Campaign.

 

Classic Story Book Witches 2016 updated in 2019

Bought these 4 classic 28mm Storybook Witches from West Wind's Vampire Wars range in October 2016.

Picture below is not my paint job, but it is sort of what I am aiming for.

Classic  Story Book Witches 
painted by Chal

These witches above were painted by Chal and are part of his collection.  You can see more about them on his blog Miniatures of Wrath

https://miniwrath.blogspot.com/search?q=witches
 
Thanks for the inspiration Chal, and the idea of using Payne's Grey (being a very dark bluish grey) as the base coat.  Read on to see how my witches turned out.

The 2019-20 Games To Play List and Highlights of past games 2004-2018

 A List of Games to be played from 2019 to 2029

New Years is a time for reflection of things past and future as well as a time for  lists.  So I started to write a list of many of the games I would like to run or play in 2019-20, it is very ambitious and I will be lucky to get through half of them!  I think it might better be described as a list of what I hope to play in the next decade (so I changed the title)!   Other than the first three they are not in any order of priority.  I have included pictures of work in progress or previous games for each listing.  The inclusion of the previous games have turned this list into a history of the games I have played since 2004, when I first bought a digital camera.  As a result it has become very lengthy with lots of pictures and it spawned a few separate blogs for some of the games.   I have added the approximate date in brackets when I last played the rule system or genre.  Those with no dates have yet to be played.

1.    Doctor Who Miniatures Games (DWMG) by Graeme Dawson in 28mm: a Christmas game planned for January 2019. Read on for pictures of  "Terror at Devil’s Bay" planned for May 2019 (Test game May 2018), plus pictures from some of my early DWMG game dating back to 2006 including the games I have run at Cangames.

Santa with AK47 by WSD  in 28mm, for a Holiday themed game in 2019

Bargain priced 28mm scale vintage tanks

Yesterday I bought this LS Laboratory kit of a Type 1 Japanese Medium Tank (aka Type 1 Chi-He tank) at a local Hobby shop for $1 on the discount table.  The kit was first released in 1964 and appears to have an oversized gun  that can fire a projectile.  At 1/50 scale it will work with 28mm figures, maybe for a pulp game or a skirmish level Second World War game. It will be a challenging build as the instructions are missing.

Japanese 1/50 Type 1 Chi-He Tank by LS Laboratory from 1964

Read further to see pictures of some other discount tank kits I found

New Purchase: Plast Craft Post Apocalyptic New Haven state prison

Just purchased the Plast Craft Games Post Apocalyptic New Haven state prison (28mm to 32mm). It requires assembly but comes per-painted.  I think it will work well for a number of potential genres: Pulp, Superhero, Walking Dead/ zombie and a Doctor Who. It would be ideal for a Doctor Who prison escape scenario involving villains like: Davros, the original Master, or Harold Saxon and Lucy Saxon.  Alternatively for a Super hero game the prisoner could be the: Joker, Penguin, King Pin, Electro or any number of other Comic villains.

Easter themed figure

Painted this 28mm Pulp Rabbit figure for Easter 2017.

Pulp Alley: City of the Serpent

Introduction

 This scenario can be found in the September 2017 issue of Wargames Illustrated (#359).  The objective is to retrieve a valuable ancient relic, a jewel known as"The Eye of the Serpent". Most want it for its great monetary value but the Serpent Cultists desire it for its mystical powers.  The Eye of the Serpent has been traced to a small relic shop in Casablanca, Morocco but before it can be obtained the shopkeeper was murdered  and his store ransacked.  There is a good chance the thief is still in Casablanca, but time is of the essence as many are looking for the relic, and once the curfew falls this evening there will be no more time to search until the next day, which will likely be too late.





Overview of the City of the Serpent / Casablanca

Batman Pulp Alley

Diamond Heist in Gotham City

The scene outside the First National Bank
on a seemingly peaceful day in Gotham City

It is a  seemingly peaceful day in Gotham City and all looks well outside the First National Bank.  But appearances can be deceiving, as the bank has recently received a valuable collection of diamonds for safekeeping from the Maharishi of Bengal which has whetted the appetites of some of Gotham Cities most notorious criminals. As part of Warden Creighton's criminal rehabilitation program the bank has hired the Black Cat to safeguard the diamond safe.


Converting Heroclix Figures for Pulp Alley

I have been working on remounting some Heroclix figures on clear bases for Pulp Alley.  For some reason the Heroclix Penguin was all in white, which just seems wrong. So I repainted him.

Penguin: Before



Penguin: After