Delving back into Deadzone

31st January 2023

Just a quick mini update.

I’m hoping to run some demo games at a local club this weekend (all being well) using the 3rd ed starter layout.

I have the terrain ready for it, but not the minis.

The minis were built on a previous ‘terrain interlude’, so now it was on to painting. I knew the rough colours I wanted for the Veer Myn, but not for the GCPS – so I started with the Veer Myn.

Wraithbone prime, then liberal use of contrast paints, and finished off with normal paints. They aren’t amazing, but they do the job (and with my eyesight they seem ok ? )

For the GCPS I was tempted by the green Mantic scheme. However, the green paint I bought (Castellan Green) just seemed too dark when on the model. Next I tried a heavy drybrush with ivory followed by Militarum green contrast.

This looked ok, but just didn’t grab me.

As such, I decided to try an ‘urban camo’ scheme on another test model. A blue grey, followed by horizontal stripes and forks in black then ivory. Initially it too seemed a bit dark, but I rolled out the camo onto the helm, added a very non camo spot colour to a shoulder pad, and picked out some of the webbing in a tan colour. Reasonably happy with how it came out – but it is a lot more work than drybrush and contrast ?

4th February 2023

Finished off the three GCPS minis for the starter demo set, so good to go for the weekend ?

I had also done a little work on some acrylic signs I picked up a while back. The existing colour of the resin bases worked pretty well with my overall scheme, so instead of repainting I went with it, and used the paint pen (again – making good use of the investment ? ) to pick out the edges and give them some more scale definition.

Plus I cracked on with some more of the signage from the starter box terrain. Pretty happy with how they came out – and the octo dude looks really happy!

Finally there were some of the engine / pump type industrial features. For these I just went with a spot colour for the ‘pressure chamber’ (or whatever its meant to be) on top, picked out some of the piping with copper, and attempted to paint in some control panels. My brush control isn’t great for small writing, so I just went with some squiggles and fake graphs on one, an alert ‘!’ on another, and left the third blank.

Plus pipes…. Not glued together yet. I think I will glue short sections, so that I can maintain my planned versatility with the terrain.

6th February 2023

On Saturday (4th) evening I took my starter demo set over to a local club, and ran through some small games there.

The players seemed to have fun with it, and learned the core concepts of the rules really quickly.

It was interesting to see how quickly they got into it. One of them even got the ‘eight train’ rolling ?

I got some positive feedback, and there were discussions about different factions etc.

So now I need to create some larger strike teams and hopefully go back and run some 150pt games soon.

10th February 2023

Thought I’d test out some of the accessory parts that came with the new starter, so added the awning (not happy with the finish, but it will do for now) sign and small serving bar onto a 3×1 building I made, alongside the street food shack.

Then it was onto building up the strike teams for potential larger demo games.

I already had the GCPS side built, so they got a black undercoat. However, I found picking out the details on them a bit awkward at first, so gave them a quick drybrush with a grey to hopefully make things a little clearer.

To save my eyes a bit, I went on to building up the Veer Myn side. I had a little trouble with the tail attachments for the Nightmares (ogre sized Veer Myn), being a little ‘vague’, but cracked on.

Then it was a wraithbone spray, and getting some basic colours on with contrast.

13th February 2023

As well as a little more progress on the Veer Myn over the weekend (but not as much as I had hoped) I decided to layout my terrain again, and assess where I was with it.

So,I cleared the table and laid things out.

Then I went ahead and put together a test layout. I stacked some 2×1’s on top of ‘L’ shaped buildings, with 1×1’s on top of some of these for more height. Added in some walkways and steps.

However, as I was doing this a friend arrived early for our Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion game – so I didn’t have time to add all the scatter pieces and signs (maybe next time)

These parts were not used on the layout

I think I have enough for two reasonably well covered Deadzone tables. Plus I still have the large and small pipe runs, and a conveyor system to add….. somewhere…. ?

14th February 2023

Last night I took my demo gear to another club and ran through some demo games again.

Not a great uptake overall, but the players that did get involved seemed to have fun, picked up the rules really quickly and asked pertinent questions – so worthwhile in the end I’d say (don’t want to get disheartened)

I only took a few pictures again, due to running things and engaging with the players.

The very first shot of the first game saw the Veer Myn player getting four 8’s, and a total of 6 successes – taking out the GCPS Marine veteran straight away ?

At the other club (Camborne) the games seemed to revolve more around shooting, but at the club last night (Truro) there was an awful lot more close combat going on.

Its good to see that a small demo set up like this, with just three minis per side can still generate quite different feeling games in the short time that they play for.

Next up it is back to building up the strike teams to then hopefully run some larger demo games in the future.

18th February 2023

Keen to get some 150pt teams ready for upcoming larger demos I cracked on with the Veer Myn through the week.

I really like the result from the Ironjawz yellow contrast with some minor shading and occasional highlights. It gives a nice pop to the minis and is quite quick to achieve – the other bits are what take the time for me ?

Quite pleased with the grey fur on one of them.

For the nigthmares the yellow was a bit too dominant, so I picked out some panels in blue to contrast against the yellow.

I also did a bit of magnetising on the bases – another (pretty basic) thing I have not done before.

I haven’t finished the Pack Leader yet though….

Conscious of needing two strike teams for the demo games I then went back into the GCPS. With a bit brighter weather my eyes coped with the dark undercoat a little better, and I laid out the blue grey base for the camo on the minis I needed for the demo

Then it was laying in the rough stripes of the camo pattern, and giving them all a single red shoulder pad. They weren’t finished in time for the demo, but at least they were all ‘3 colours up’ ?

19th February 2023

Last night I ran some more demo games at a local club (Camborne, Cornwall).

Among others I ran a couple of new players through the basic starter demo layout a couple of times (swapping sides), which they seemed to enjoy.

One player made a very bold first move, rushing a Veer Myn directly onto the objective! It survived a shot, getting wounded, was assaulted by the follow up and survived that. However it did get killed later in the round by the Ranger assaulting it with support (bonus dice for charge, friendly model and target being wounded). Eights were rolled all around through the games, and all seemed to pick up the core rules really quickly.

Later on I set up a larger demo game, using the full sized mat and a lot more terrain. 150pts per side built equivalent to what can be made from the starter box.

Ran through the full game set up, laying out objectives, items, using the recon roll and the command dice

The players again picked up the majority of it really quickly, with judicious use of the command dice throughout.

Due to the later start, and slightly slower pace with me teaching things (and checking things as well ) along the way, they didn’t get to finish the game.

However, some of the highlights were things like the very first item token being a booby trap, but actually blowing a veer myn back into the safety of cover. A bold ranger rushing for an objective early, but getting picked off by an AP shot from a Chem spitter. Plus a goodly amount of grenades being launched around the battlefield.

Some take aways for me – I think I will use a bit less scenery for the next one. It looked nice overall, but for an intro level play I think it was a little too much. It also made physically moving models in the tight confines a little more awkward (I may dig out my old GW ‘whippy sticks’ to use as mini pushers). I would possibly use 100pts rather than 150 too, and start a touch earlier.

Good things – the players picked it up well and seemed to have fun. The stat cards I printed out (from the Deadzone FB page pinned posts) were very beneficial, and the keyword notes I made for myself pre session helped speed things up too.

26^th February 2023

The past week has seen less hobby time overall unfortunately, but has still seen the completion of the GCPS strike team.

I did try to paint in eyes on some of these, but failed in that, so flooded the sockets with Nuln oil to try to get around it.

Next up I rolled out the magnetizing to all of the minis. I used A4 ‘Really useful’ boxes and self-adhesive ferrous rubber sheets.

Because I am using ferrous rubber sheet the pull strength of the magnets is reduced a little so I had to add some 6mm magnets alongside the 3mm ones on a number of the minis, then used 6mm as default after that. For the larger minis I used two or three magnets, just to be extra safe with them.

Then it was back to the Veer Myn Pack Leader to finish them all off.

Initially I went with a contrast green on the trousers, but wasn’t happy with that – so instead I went with a darker green normal paint and layered it up in a few stages. Happier with how that came out. Followed by picking out the metal parts and details, applying some blue to armour panels, flesh tone etc. I was going to leave the claws yellow, but it didn’t feel right, so went ahead and painted the main part of the claws in metal – Captain Slicey Fingers was ready to go!

27th February 2023

I am approaching the end of the project now, but unlike with the Warcry project, I am not quite sure where the finishing line lies….

With Warcry it was just a case of completing everything that was in the box. But for this Deadzone project it doesn’t really work that way.

I have completed all of the major terrain pieces, and also completed two 150pt strike teams, so in essence that is the core of the project complete.

However, I still have a good chunk of the industrial terrain pack (the small pipes and the conveyors), a number of small terrain add ons (lights, computer panels etc) and a lot more minis to do.

But, I feel there does need to be a cut off point for this project log though.

I will set that as the completion of the small terrain add ons, with a view to return at a later time and build up the other strike teams (perhaps between other projects, if anyone would like to see any more projects from me).

Then I will play a full 150pt game with my wife, put up a small bat rep (for you Gerry) and sum up how I feel the project went overall.

28th February 2023

A couple of the players from the Truro club asked for a larger game of Deadzone, so I took my terrain and two strike teams along to the club last night.

Run them through the set up procedure, laying out the items and suchlike.

The first turn was quite tense, with angles being carefully checked and such, and ended with the GCPS taking a narrow lead 3vp to 2 vp.

It could have been more, but a grenade shot into a cube containing three Veer Myn just missed….

The second turn was somewhat more brutal, the Veer Myn being thrown into combats, killing GCPS, then being picked off themselves while left open in their cube. A grenade launcher landed this round, hitting two veer myn, killing one of them.

The exchanges went back and forth, then the Veer Myn took the upper hand – taking out the GCPS leader, grabbing an intel. The Claw Pack Leader rushed out of hiding, took out a Grenade Launcher, then swiping out and killing another trooper that tried to get away.

With the tide turning towards them, the Veer Myn were able to jump on all four objectives and hold them to the end (despite some being on fire at the time ? ), taking the game 16 vp to 8 vp.

The GCPS player did get a little down hearted by the turn of events, but both players expressed that they did enjoy the game, and they were picking up the rules really well.

The one who played GCPS this week is now thinking of getting some Forge Fathers…..

Just a quick one…..

Just a quick one…..

** Apologies – system generated a duplicate and I don’t appear to be able to delete **

4th March 2023

Over the last few days I have been finishing off the last of the terrain for this project.

I still have a few other bits to work on at some point (including the starship scenery set), but as I mentioned before I just needed to set an end point for this.

So, as you may have seen in the post that got duplicated, I spent a bit of time on the computer panels.

For these I went online and found some suitable images (Sundancer already identified them in his comments on the previous post ? ). Because I didn’t have the terrain to hand I simply copy and pasted multiple images, reducing the size each time.

Then when it came to use them, I found the best size, and after painting the edge of the screens black I glued them down. This was followed by several coats of gloss varnish to make them look a bit like real screens.

I also painted up some guns, rubble piles, wall lights (using multiple thin coats of green followed by gloss varnish) and the cash machine. On the cash machine I made a mistake on the side of it – so painted a fresh rectangle of white and tried to make it look like a poster that had been stuck on.

The conveyor belts and small pipes were a little awkward. I had to construct them in such a way that they could be used in multiple layouts (since the rest of the terrain is meant to be modular). In a permanent terrain layout you could have them running across buildings, or down the sides etc. But for mine I opted to build the conveyor in a sort of spiral, dropping down in height as it went. I kept it in three main pieces, for ease of storage.

The pipes I made into two pretty tight pieces, to take up a small footprint, but still have some semblance of ‘reality’. The main section is something like a small pumping unit (although I would have like some pieces with vales on – may add some in the future if it niggles me) and the smaller is just some pipes that come up then back underground.

They all received a black undercoat. The conveyor parts were masked off to keep them black (curving masking tape is fun…), then all sprayed dark silver. A bit of tidying, addition of some copper colours and some mock gauges on the side of the ‘pump’ and they were done.

When I pick up somegood rust effect paint I will use it for these pieces to weather them in a bit.

With that, I am now calling the project terrain complete.

5th March 2023

This one is for you Gerry ?

My wife and I set up the board for a 150pt battle, as a conclusion to the project.

I had the Veer Myn, and she had the GCPS.

The GCPS landed their drop troopers in high spots, but quite advanced. The Veer Myn pounced on this, moving up one of their Chem Spitters and taking out a Ranger!

The GCPS moved up in the middle under cover. The GCPS Leader took a shot from a chem spitter but survived, and moved back onto the 1pt objective (thinking she was safe).

Veer Myn stalker moved up towards the middle building, taking a shot at the ranger in cover there, causing a wound.

Late in the turn the Claw Pack leader used a move dice followed by a full move to assault the GCPS Lt. Thanks to size, charge and prey the odds were stacked in the Veer Myn favour. 5 successes from VM, and the GCPS only rolled one – but it was an 8. Followed by another 8 – it could be on! But luck didn’t hold out, even with a third success and armour, the 5 and AP1 were enough for the Claw Leader to kill the GCPS lt. Another 3 VP!

A brave Veer Myn from the right rushed a 2pt objective, and was then blasted apart by a Grenade Launcher shot….

(Imagine some animations for the next pics… that would look good. Sadly there aren’t any)

With an intel grab (2pts thanks to hacker) and some objectives the first turn ended 12VP to 1 vp in favour of the Veer Myn.

Early in the second turn a Veer Myn with flamer advanced into cover on the GCPS side (after taking the objective late last turn) and flamed two GCPS that were hiding behind a building. Both survived (only one wounded), but were on fire……. Which may be relevant later ?

Back in the middle the Ranger failed to hurt the Nightmare, who subsequently assaulted it on top of the building. Size, prey, charge and the Ranger being wounded meant it was heavily in the nightmare’s favour – and it didn’t disappoint. 7 success to 1 meant the Ranger was definitely shuffling off its mortal coil.

(The first time I tried to post this it vanished, so apologies in advanced if a second version shows up)

Continuation of the battle report:

Back on the GCPS side of the board, a marine moved up and wounded the VM flamer. Soon after one of the on fire GCPS activated (the injured one) – and succumbed to the flames

The Veer Myn failed to hurt another marine, then the next on fire marine activated – with it too falling to the flames!

Further shots were exchanged, one lucky stalker surviving two attacks (the second by rolling four 8’s and two 7’s in total!) and the flamer Veer myn being finished off by another marine.

The battle ended at the end of this second round, with the Veer Myn taking it 21 vp to 3vp.

It wasn’t close, but my wife (and I) still enjoyed it – and wanted to play again swapping sides.

6th March 2023

Well, it has taken just over four months but I have created plenty of painted terrain, and now have three strike teams painted (had a small Forge Father group painted before).

I am happy with most aspects of the project overall.

During the terrain painting phase I tried out several techniques that I hadn’t done before – sponge weathering, paint pen highlighting, large area mixed washes. Personally I feel they worked pretty well, giving some scale realism to the terrain.

For the minis I magnetized bases for the first time, and sorted out small storage boxes for them. Pretty happy with how the camo pattern came out for the GCPS, and I feel the yellow of the Veer myn ‘pops’ nicely on the table.

The terrain is pretty modular, with the scatter pieces and signs really making a positive difference in bringing things ‘to life’.

The addition of the colour stripes, banding and panels (with the yellows and blues) helped prevent the core buildings looking too dull – aided by a few buildings fully in ‘industrial yellow’.

I think I could do with getting a red desert coloured Deadzone Mat, so that the light colours of my terrain stand out better (but they don’t seem to be available anymore).

Some negatives have been the sheer length of time it has taken to complete, and the fact that since I wanted to keep things modular I couldn’t add or fix too much specific detail to most of the pieces. A more bespoke fixed layout would be able to have more detail added all across it. I could also do with making a 2×2 building, but have no tiles left ?

Gerry – I have seen on a couple of the ‘Unofficial Hobby hangout’ shows that you have said about sending me your terrain for working on. Just want to let you know that I’m happy to receive it….. but I’m not saying you would ever get it back! ?

Thanks to you and Sundancer for taking the time to look at my project a few times on your show – it has really helped keep my motivation levels up.

And thanks to Ben for awarding the project a Golden Button (I must get around to adding it to the image….. but I will need to add an ‘r’ to the February on it first ?)

Up next will be a few small painting jobs – some ninjas, a wizard and a Lumineth Underworlds warband. Not sure if I will do a project log for those tbh.

After that it will probably be a Star wars Legion faction, which I may do a project to cover (should be a lot shorter though – more minis, but very little in the way of terrain).

Thanks to all those who have read or commented along the way, I hope that you may have found something of use or interest within it.

Draconis (Rob) signing off.