Gerry Anderson Died Aged 83

Gerry Anderson, (14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) the creator of Thunderbirds, has died aged 83.

His son, Jamie Anderson announced on his website that his father had suffered with mixed dementia "for the past few years" and died in his sleep at mid-day on Boxing Day.
"Having already decided with his family on a care home for himself earlier this year, he moved in there in October," he said.

Nick Williams, the chair of his fan club Fanderson has paid tribute to the film and television producer saying: "To those who met him Gerry was a quiet, unassuming but determined man. His desire to make the best films he could drove him and his talented teams to innovate, take risks, and do everything necessary to produce quite inspirational works.

Gerry Anderson's legacy is that he inspired so many people and continues to bring so much joy to so many millions of people around the world.

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer’s Society said: "Gerry Anderson has been an outstanding supporter of Alzheimer’s Society and campaigner on behalf of people with dementia.
"He was determined, despite his own recent diagnosis, to spend the last year of his life speaking out for others living with dementia to ensure their voices were heard and their lives improved.
"With the support of his family, Gerry tirelessly attended events around the country to raise awareness of the condition and to raise funds for a cure.

Gerry Anderson will be missed by all worldwide fans of his TV shows.

I believe anyone who is touched by this wonderful characters passing could donate what they can to the Altzheimers Society here: Donations

I grew up watching and being mesmerised by Anderson's creations and I am a huge fan of Captian Scarlet and UFO. I remember cringing as a child at the hideous Zelda in Terrahawks and gasped everytime I saw the Moon blasted out of Earths orbit in Space 1999. I really hope that in rememberance of Gerry that these series can be repeated on TV, to give a new generation the fantasy and wonder that I had.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

Well its my first Christmas as a Blogger and I only started in April, since then I have gained 37 followers and nearly 8000 hits.

Considering how new I was to all this and my infrequent posts, arse photography etc... I am actually quite pleased. Plus its thanks to all of you who have supported my Blog, posted comments, became followers etc..

so heres to a great Christmas and everyone who will be gaming over Christmas! see you all in the New Year.

Mongoose Publishing - Judge Dredd Skirmish Games

I visited Peterborough Wargames Club recently and met up with Chaos Child (on the Mongoose Forums) to indulge in a few games of Mongoose Publishing new Judge Dredd skirmish game.

After the recent success of their Kickstarter and being a huge 2000AD fan I was really looking forward to playing this and I had lots of the old Citadel Judge Dredd miniatures ready to use, until I get round to painting up the new pile of lead I am expecting in the New Year.

There were 3 of us in the end and we played three, 3 sided games. I used Don Uggies Ape gang for the first game, then Mega-City 1 Judges for the next two.

Rob (Chaos Child) used Brit Cit Judges for the first game, then used Ape's whist Dan used his Robot gang for the whole three games.

We managed to get 3 game sin mainly due to the fact that every game was over by Turn 4 and they were all a complete slaughterfest. The Robots managed to win every game!!!

The First game was set up and my Apes used their agility to skip around the hover vehicles, ready to take out the Brit Cit Judges whilst the Robots slowly advance down the main street from the Podtell on the right hand side.

The Brit Cit Judges, slightly outnumbered split up with the Para (Psi) Judge moving into the building and getting a bead on the Apes after they had miserably failed trying to take him out. The other Judge and the Detective advanced on the Robots.

The Para Judge systematically began taking out Apes with ease until he was finally taken out with a knife to the back and the other Judges were slowly picked off by the Robots, with the Combat Droid making good use of its inbuilt Long Rifle.

So Robots win as the Apes were decimated and the Judges were all taken out.

Game two and we all moved round the board into new starting positions. My Judges now set up in the same place as the Brits had previously. Robs Apes were in the Robots old deployment area and the Bots moved into Don Uggies old territory.

My Judges obviously had only just qualified from the Academy of Law and were not as Street Wise as they should be. Both the Apes and the Robots took them out quickly with ease, even with my Psi Judges psychic defences up! and then the Bots went to town, again with the Combat Droid on the Apes, forcing the Apes to fail their Will to Fight - so they ran.

Again both other forces were either taken out or legged it, so the Robots won. That Combat Droid needed seriously dismantling.

Game three and we played move around the table again. My Judges ended up deployed in the Podtell (I thought the height advantage would help - WRONG!!) the Robots were in the old Apetown and the Apes were just off to the left of them.

So my brilliant deployent! too high, too far away and couldnt get in range quickly enough so had to let the Bots and Ape's slug it out a few turns whislt I redeployed. Only problem.....yep that bloody Comabt Droid again. Aimed, Long Rifle shot took out my main Judge in one shot, then my Psi Judge tried to jump from the Podtell to a neigbouring rooftop, only to fail the Agility check and went plummeting to her death.

The Droids again slowly advanced but the Ape's made it a bit harder this game and managed to take out the Junk Bot, only to see it was just a useless piece of scrap that had been blown off and the Junk Bot rose to its feet! it took the concerted efforts of 3 Ape's to finally Scrap that walking Junk pile. But the Robots had the advantage and managed to gain a hat-trick for the night.

All in all great fun, one-off games. Hopefully in the New Year a full campaign will be put together.

You can download the FREE rule book and Block War Expansion (being updated, not finished article yet) here: Judge Dredd Rule Book and Expansion

Tor Gaming - Relics - Britanan Force

Tor Gaming recently started a paint along with Gav thread on their forums. This was to be set over four months and each month anyone who signed up, was to paint 100pts worth of models for their chosen faction.

I chose the Britanan's which are basically Stitchpunk Puppet Soldiers styled along the lines of the 18th Century (ish) British Solider. If you wish for more background/fluff on the world of Relics and the different factions, use the link at the very beginning of this post (you can download the rules for free!)

So my chosen force for the month of December:

1 x Arcanum Royal Guard (Command figure and spell caster) - 50pts
2 x Light Dragoons (Mounted Unit) - 12pts each
6 x Puppet Troopers - 7pts each

Total - 116pts (I know just a tadge over)

Arcanum Royal Guard

Light Dragoons

Puppet Troopers

For King Jorge and the Realm!!



 For January I am going to do:

2 x Light Dragoons (Mounted Unit) - 12pts each
3 x Grenadiers - 22pts each

Total: 90pts

Running Total: 206pts (still slightly over but hey whats 6pts!)

Bloodbowl Match Atrocity Exhibition vs Nachtafen Nightlords

Atrocity Exhibition are nearly at the end of their season, only a few more matches to go before the play-offs and the Final. Before that though the Undead wrecking crew had to go up against a fledgling Vampire team.

Now dont get me wrong, beginner Vamps are not supposed to be difficult to beat, but Adrian who plays them is (and I dont want to sound too over modest) as just a good a coach as I am. Most of our games end up a draw as we seem to cancel each other out - but cause alot of mayhem on the way.

Again Atrocity had the advantage in fans and the weather was nice, the Vamps wanted to play at night, but instead had to rely heavily on rays-u-bloc, so they didnt explode in the sun!

The Nightlords won the toss, but with an all knowing evil smirk opted to kick to Atrocity instead - the players lined up, the ball was kicked and landed slap bang on Atrocitys side right next to the line, then the Nightlords BLITZED!!! the ref was no where to be seen. The Thralls covered the ball and a Vampire deftly ran in and collected it whilst the Zombies of Atrocity stood in a daze!

The Nightlords then proceeded to pull off some fantastic moves, keeping the Vampires bloodlust at bay with what could only be considered "extra influence" and finally scored TOUCHDOWN 0-1

The Nightlords thought that they had not left enough time for Atrocity to try and equalise before the end of the half but the Undead went to town, smacking Thralls left, right and centre into the KO box and Badly Hurting a Vampire, only for him to regenerate back into the reserves.

With a diminished Nightlords team, Atrocitys Ghoul with his extra training in speed managed to run in and score TOUNCHDOWN 1-1

During the break a few Bloodwesier Babes that the Nightlords had hired were drained by the Vampires and the power infused in them was able to allow the majority of the KO'd Thralls to return to the game.

The Second half kicked off and the sun belted down making the stadium swelteringly hot. The Vampires sluggishly collected the kicked ball and made their way slowly down the pitch. Matched doggedly by Atrocitys defence they had no space to move, then a Mummy got carried away with the Thrall in front. After knocking him down the Thrall made a vulgar gesture so the Mummy piled on ending his miserable existance, no new Zombie was raised by this rather gruesome killing|!

With the Mummy slow to rise a gap had formed and a Vampire made his move and shortly scored TOUCHDOWN 1-2

Atrocity had 3 turns to avoid their first defeat of the season. Both Ghouls now took the field and they made a play down the right flank. The Nightlords however managed to bog them down with Thralls and a Vampire made a risky Blitz on the Ghoul carrying the ball, he passed his bloodlust, he passed two dodges, he passed the first GFI then failed his second GFI, with a miserable look at the re-roll track as none were left the Vamp smacked into the deck whilst the Ghoul nimbly skipped across his prone form and sprinted into the endzone to score TOUCHDOWN 2-2

So the game ended a draw thanks to the rather lucky first turn kick and Blitz that could almost have been planned!!

Next up depending on fixtures are either Skaven or Highelves - I might stuggle against their higher mobility but hope to keep causing the HURT!!

Bushido - Ito Clan Faction

I recently received my shipment of the "Ito" which is the fifth faction for GCT Studios brilliant skirmish game - Bushido. These were the result of a very successful Indiegogo campaign a few months ago which you can view here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/bushido

Dice & Cards

Normally in Bushido starters you get ten black and white dice and a red die (defence and attack). This is GCT's first venture into Faction dice. They are a good size and contain five green and five green/black dice. The six on the dice is the Ito faction logo. These are 16mm in size.

The Profile cards look great and are in the "New Dawn"* rules format. The top set of starter set cards are in a special Ito design. These are an Indiegogo campaign backer thing only. The bottom 4 cards are the everyday normal profile card version. As you can see in the pic the full art cards are extreamly nice.

* New Dawn, is the revised rule set for Bushido and there are considerable differences in profile cards from the original rules version.

Starter Set

Kenzo Ito

 

This guy is the main Samurai Naga. He is on a 50mm base and looks easy to put together, although the middle body part will probably require some extra pinning to hold it securely to the tail peice. Both arms glue onto the body holding the spear in front with the dual swords going onto the right side of the body. Well armoured with a good CP, First Strike and very useful fighting feats making him excellant in close combat.

Naoko

 

Another 50mm mounted model with an awesome tail. It will be quite long when assembled. The head is easy to attach, the arms fit on quite nicely and I hope won't require a pin. I will possibly pin the tail to give it extra strength. This monster can blind his opponent on the way into fighting them, he's fast, slippery and fear causing too!

Sakura

 

A 30mm base, a little bit of filing may be possible to make the insert of the arm onto the body a bit deeper. The fan has a small nodule for extra security on the back of the head. In game she has a nasty ability to dump poison counters on the enemy from afar!

                                                                  Temple Bushi/Chiyo

These two models are either standard Temple Bushi with a joint profile card, or the fellow on the bottom can be used as Chiyo, who is more expensive (in terms of rice), but has a few different traits and a special defence which gives you additional force building options.

 

A 30mm base, the front arm is pulling his sword out of the sheath so two points on contact. The back of the scabbard though extends from the rear of the model but it is very small!

 

30mm base, His left arm is holding the sword out though so I will also try to pin this for added strength while playing/transporting. These two guys are fairly standard foot soldiers in game with armour, six wounds and a healthy CP. Chiryo has leap and jump up making him a bit more agile than the Temple Bushi.

The Indigogo Extras

These models will be available over the next few months to normal customers and give some rather good alternative options.

Satoshi

 

30mm with two contact points for the spear. The Kabuto horns are very small and the extra swords will be easy to attach on the side/front. Very good armour and hes tough with a Ki feat to give extra toughness! He can gain the order ability as well, but only six wounds. A modest CP but it only costs 2 Ki to increase it.

Akimoto

 

An easy to attach arm on this 30mm model. He is a cheap in game character and can make himself fear and terror causing. A low CP, but brings 2 to the Blood of Orochi pool! (Ito Poison)

Itsunagi Ito

 

30mm base and an incredible Samurai warrior. The scabbards attach in his middle which will be easy enough. The most expensive in-game model for the Ito. A high CP, low wound count but has ranged defense. Can give himself armour peircing and his Ki feats focus on improving his close combat.

Ayaka Ito

30mm base and a beautiful figure. Look on GCT Studios Facebook for the studio paint job.  Expensive in game, but like other Shisai can channel Ki. Can dish out poison from afar, suck ki from a target and remote worsen models conditions! 

An absolutele stunning set of miniatures with a fabulous running flavour to the faction.

7TV - SPECTRUM Black and White

Another couple of miniatures to go along with my expanding number of Spectrum agents.

This time we have Colonel White and the Mysteronised Captain Black.

Again apologies for the fact that my camera-fu is so weak its almost non-existant.

Bloodbowl Match Atrocity Exhibition vs Gitz & Shiggles

I finally got to play my match against the Goblins last night and was feeling fairly confident due to the Awesome nastiness that is my Undead steamroller !!

Then I remembered how many inducements I would be giving away. These Goblins would end up with two Chainsaws, two Looneys a Bomber and a Pogo'er as well as enough bribes to keep them around for most of the match!

The weather was a fine day and even though hordes of screaming little greenskins had turned up, the zombified remains that make up Atrocity's supporters just gave them the edge.

The teams set up with Atrocity ready to receive. Hoping to score quick and get the weapon handlers sent off or at least use up some of the influence that they knew the Gobbos had over the ref.

Nobbla and Fungus giggled excitedly with the expected carnage they could reek and the very skilled Trolls lumbered upto the line, covering the Zombies and shielding their Goblin team-mates.

The kick went up and a gentle breeze wafted it towards the waiting Ghoul. The Mummies put the hurt on the Trolls and managed to knock them over and a few Goblins were smacked about. A Wight slammed into the Bomber and as he crunched into the ground a bomb went of and blew him into the air, depositing him in the Injuries section of the Gitz dugout.

Fungus whirled around the pitch and Nobbla ran up and chainsawed a Ghoul. Fortunately, although injured, its thick skin saved it from being nothing more than badly hurt.

The Zombies and Mummies again shambled into the Goblin lines but couldnt make their savage presence really felt. A Wight Blitzed into Nobbla but didnt catch him right and just bounced of his armour.

The Ghoul with the ball ran to the left flank and launched a long pass towards the other Wight, who deftly caught it and with a bit of stretching reached the End Zone to score. TOUCHDOWN 1-0

The crowd went wild and Atrocity gave a rictus grin, only to see that grin turn to grimace as the suitably bought ref failed to send of any of the Goblins weapons and even reset the clock back to give them nearly a whole half to grind into Atrocity.

The Undead set up and steeled themselves for 7 turns of hurt. With some deft defending and the Zombies stretching their movement everytime, it still was not enough. Fungus seem to have a spell on his ball and chain as it never failed to connect against an Atrocity player, sending numerous players to the KO box. With a depleted team Atrocity could not contain the small, dodging, sneaky Gobbos, although they had injured a few, and they managed right at the end to score. TOUCHDOWN 1-1.

Second Half and although Fungus and Nobbla had been sent off, the Gitz still had their original chainsaw and Looney players and they would be receiving the ball again. Atrocity fans were frustrated and chucked a rock at the nearest Troll stunning him and the Gitz fans thought this was fun so threw a rock and hit a Zombie and KO'd him.

Again Atrocity were on the back foot as the little green homing missile that was the ball and chain connected every time, crunching Zombies and Wights alike, the chainsaw was targeted by every available Atrocity player and although he was constantly put on the deck, proceded to get back up and stick two green fingers up at the disbelieving Undead!

Finally after some frantic defending, a Gitz Goblin smug with the ball and his dodgy skill managed to miss the trailing bandages of an adjacent Mummy and went smack into the turf!! Atrocity surged towards the loose ball. The remaining Ghoul scooped it up and charged into the rear free of Gitz players and the rest of Atrocity tied up the remaining Gitz members. After being Blitzed to the ground the Gitz Pogo'er, the only player with a realistic chance of gaining on the Ghoul was suddenly fouled by a Zombie. The Zombie was sent off but the damage had been done, the Pogo'er was carried from the field with a Smashed ankle.

With no chance of being caught, the Ghoul danced about for a few turns whilst the rest of Atrocity tried to decimate the Gitz out of pure undead malice before the Ghoul finally skipped into the end zone to score. TOUCHDOWN 2-1

Atrocity win and considerable relieved after what could have been an embarrising loss by GOBLINS!!

James who played the Goblins is a very good Bloodbowl coach and with all those secret weapons/star players and bribes caused me considerable difficulty. Plus the fact that the bloody Looneys seemed to have zombie attacting missile ball and chains!!