Thanksgiving Blessings

Surely this was a blessed year.  God never failed to provide.  I am most thankful for the sacrifice of my lord Jesus Christ and the cleansing of my sins. I've been blessed with my Beautiful Bride, Honorable Sons #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and my three daughters-in-law.

Give thanks to the Lord!

Psalm 138

Of David.

¹ I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
² I will bow down toward your holy temple
    and will praise your name
    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
    that it surpasses your fame.
³ When I called, you answered me;
    you greatly emboldened me.

⁴ May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
    when they hear what you have decreed.
⁵ May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for the glory of the Lord is great.

⁶ Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
    though lofty, he sees them from afar.
⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
    with your right hand you save me.
⁸ The Lord will vindicate me;
    your love, Lord, endures forever—
    do not abandon the works of your hands.

Happy Tanksgiving!

As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving in the USA I thought I would share some tanks that myself and my Honorable Sons have painted:

The Creature: Monster or Man?

“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.” 

I purchased the Pulp Alley miniatures Zdenko Cerny and Rook mainly because Zdenko is the splitting image of Professor Calculus. Rook, on the other hand, seems to be your typical street brawler. As always, they came with cards for the game Pulp Alley. I already had some street brawlers for my skirmish games so I decided to do something different: Use Rook as the Creature from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Most Hollywood and TV versions of the Creature or Monster have little resemblance to the description Miss Shelley described Frankenstein's monster as an 8 foot tall (2.4 m) creature of hideous contrasts:

His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

 Not the best looking guy on the block.

 I decided to go with a mix of the two, to have my Creature more human looking but use the "traditional" green tint to the skin. Needless to say, this figure is not in proportion as an 8 foot tall monster, but he looks tough enough.

For the game In Her Majesty's Name I am using the game stats provided by their Gothic supplement with the addition of the Talent Numb for a point cost of 61.

 The Creature takes on the minions of Professor Moriarty.

"Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred."

For In Her Majesty's Name I may just use the Creature as a wild card - showing up and being the hero or villain depending on the circumstances.

 Werewolf? There wolf.

The Tambling-Goggin Expedition

"Poopsey?"

"Yes Buttercup?"

"Where's the map?"

"Map? I thought you had the map."

I had some odds and ends, mostly Wargames FoundryColonial figures hanging around unpainted and decided to through together an "Explorer's Club" company together. One of the beauties of In Her Majesty's Name is the flexibility of created what you want! Of course these can be used for other popular games such as Congo, etc.

Lord Laurence Luckinbill Tambling-Goggin: Dashing, handsome, a crack shot, a Queen's commission - but not the brightest gas lamp on the street.

 Lady Fionnula Tambling-Goggin: Beautiful, intelligent, responsible for the death of the villainous REDACTED, and the real brains of the marriage.

Teal'c and the Musket Lions of Death. Need some protection for your explorers? 

The Azande. You want tribal warriors and ferocity? We are just the guys you need!

The Complete Company

Pulp Alley miniatures Yinying and Shadow

Another nice figure set from Pulp Alley is Yingyin and Shadow, which like all Pulp Alley miniatures, come with character cards for the Pulp Alley game. In the Pulp Alley canon, I believe Yingyin is the daughter of the notorious Dr. Fang, who looks remarkably like my own miniature Evil Genius who wants to take over the world, Dr. Fu Manchu. So until I start playing Pulp Alley, for In Her Majesty's Name, she is going to be Fah Lo Suee, the evil daughter of Fu Manchu.

 Never painted a tiger before. The paint job is not great, but it will do for my purposes.

Fah Lo Suee, is a devious mastermind in her own right, frequently plotting to usurp her father's position in the Si-Fan and aiding his enemies both within and outside of the organization. Her real name is unknown; Fah Lo Suee was a childhood term of endearment. She was known for a time as Koreani after being brainwashed by her father (such a loving parent), but her memory was later restored. She is infamous for taking on false identities, like her father, among them Madame Ingomar, Queen Mamaloi and Mrs. van Roorden.

 Fah Lo Suee

Fah Lo Suee is hypnotically seductive, and possesses powers of hynopsis enhanced by the ruby eyes of the Golden Beetle and mimosa gas, as well as longevity, due to the Elixer Vitae. Her voice and movements command attention, and her eyes can entrance a man in moments.

Name: Fah Lo Suee

Pluck: 3+ 

Leadership: +1

Speed: 2

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +1

Talents: Martial Arts, Meticulous Planning, Unearthly Beauty
Mystical Powers: Dragon Talons, Mesmerism
Basic Equipment: Poisoned Fighting Knife

Armor: Chained lined Qipao Dress (10)

Cost: 86

Fah Lo Suee can also purchase the following talents: Antivenom, Master of Disguise, Immortal (Campaigns)

Fah Lo Suee Special Rule: Treacherous! Any company that Fah Lo Suee is a member of can be betrayed. If the Leader is removed from the game, she will immediately switch sides (that was her plan all along!) taking her tiger with her if the tiger is in the game. If she is with Fu Manchu and he is removed from the game her leadership increases to +2 and she takes over her father's company. If any leader in a company fails a pluck roll, Fah Lo Suee must also roll pluck; if she fails she switches sides along with her tiger if the tiger is in the game.

Game statistics for tigers can be found in Heroes, Villains and Fiends.

 Family Photo: The Pet, Dad and Daughter (brrrrrr!)

Pulp Alley Miniatures

As I have expanded my gaming interests into skirmish and large skirmish games, I have been reliving the thrilling adventures of my youth in lost worlds, other planets, and most of all, defeating the sinister bad guys. I first started skirmish/large skirmish gaming with Games Workshops Lord of the Rings series of games and fell in love with the concept with the games published by Daniel Mersey including Dragon Rampant, The Men Who Would be Kings and Rebels and Patriots.

For skirmish games I love In Her Majesty's Name which is set in the year 1895 allowing players to incorporate Jules Vernes, H. G. Wells and play with iconic characters like Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Allan Quartermain. What I love most about the rules is the character generation system and to be honest, I have allowed a bit of time travel to bring some of my favorite Pulp characters into the late 19th Century.

"Pulp Girl" from Pulp Alley Miniatures.

A game I will be trying soon is Pulp Alley, a game designed for adventures from about 1900 to the start of and through World War II (Think Raiders of the Lost Ark.) They have their own line of miniatures that are fascinating; beautifully sculpted, animated and nicely proportioned. They come in packs of two with 20mm bases included and character cards for the game. My only complaint (very minor) is that the from the descriptions of their characters, they don't have the characters that are associated with each other in the same packs. For example it is described that "Pulp Girl" and Mak O'Reilly are associates, put they come in different packs with another figure that is an associate of another figure, etc. Oh well . . . good marketing to buy more figures!

 Another view of "Pulp Girl". A female figure that actually looks realistic and I love the gauntlet! 

I did not use the 20mm bases that came with the figures but mounted them instead on 25mm bases for the simple reason that all of my man-sized skirmish figures are mounted on 25mm bases. I look forward to purchasing the game Pulp Alley and I have a feeling that the first figures I have purchased will first show up as part of the aerial contingent of the US Navy.

 "Mak O'Reilly."

 "Phantom Ace."

 "Gauge." This is Phantom Ace's trusty mechanic and based on the figure description, quite the inventor. One of my favorites so far.

I added an upside down screw and washer to give the appearance of a machine or engine she is working on.

This is "Zdenko Cerny" who I am using as Professor Calculus. 

Since I easily succumb to the "Shiny new object" syndrom, there will be some more heroes - and villains, appearing over the next few month. 

 "Now where did Pulp Girl run off too?