Giant Rat Swarm

These guys were assembled primarily for Necromunda games back in 1998, but I didnt get around to painting them until 2009.  I finally went back to them to add just a little bit of detail and take some photos this year.

As all Electric Six fans living in the current pre-apocalyptic era know, only robots, cockroaches (and probably Lidl) will survive the upcoming Armageddon.   Before you ask, zombies dont count as “surviving”.

My own in depth research has also revealed that there is a good possibility that mutant, dog-sized rodents will live on in the undercities and eventually spill in huge swarms onto the irradiated plains above.  Probably.

In Necromunda the tribal native human “Ratskin” faction (which I will eventually get around to painting) survive in harmony with their destroyed environment.  Part of this involves their nomadic lifestyle, with the Ratskin braves following the migrating swarms through the ruined industrial landscape.

Hi-freakin-larious in other words and way too good a gaming opportunity to miss.  Cue the theme from “Rawhide”.

Denim clad Foundry punk Nancy objects to being used to demonstrate scale...

I put together the swarm from the rather cool mutant rats from Necromunda, a load of eighties giant rats from GW, a few of the plastic giant rats that were first seen in Warhammer Quest and a handful of the titchy rats that sat on the Heroquest furniture making a total of 31.

The best figures are easily the Necromunda guys visible in the first photo, although a couple of the larger metal Warhammer guys are cool too.

I have yet to get around to playing my “Rathide” cattle rustling scenario in the depth that I would like.  I did run a prototype Rathide game of “Mutants and Death Ray Guns” testing the idea with MT back in 2009 though.

More post apocalyptic rat related miniatures are available at Megaminis HERE (post apoc ratmen) and at Black Cat Bases HERE (mounted post apoc ratmen).  Those guys are on my (gigantic) shopping list…

Zombie of the Week #58: Basil

Basil

Basil makes his home in the rad-wastes, twitching back and forth searching for prey across the sulphur dunes while insensibly shrugging off the razor hail.

Strapped

Basil is another zombie made from spare parts.  I find that despite the screwy bearded head and the ‘roided out physique and the obviously-not-modern leathery straps that I like the figure anyway.

Part of the reason is probably his pose.  I am a big fan of the pigeon toed zombie look (which Basil doesnt have with those Catachan legs) and also of its cousin the twitchy, palsied arm look (which Basil definitely has).

Far from a prize winning figure, but Basil is another stalwart in my games.

Zombie of the Week #57: Gene

Gene

Watching his partners face being ripped off while she performed CPR stunned Gene.  Just long enough in fact for him to be taken unawares by a pair of infected who began to devour his back.  After bleeding out Gene rose again in under five minutes with any notions of helping the wounded erased.

Gene is a companion piece to Barbara.  Both are Kingzombie figures and as such are a little crude, with banana hands and big heads and yet, I quite like them.  Their big features made them easy, fast and fun to paint.  Also the idea of zombie first responders is a good one that not enough manufacturers have cottoned on to.

Customers have a vast number of civilian zombies to choose from now, more than any one person could need.  Some more interesting vignette sets or duo sets like doctor and patient or cop and prisoner would be cool with me as they are a break from painting the more generic zombie that is now plentiful.  Despite their faults, Gene and Barbara fit that bill very well.

Zombie of the Week #56: Knopfler

Knopfler

Knopfler ended up in dire straits after a run in with the infected.  Now the walking dead are his only brothers in arms.

Knopfler was put together from leftover kit parts in 2003.  Unlike most of the zombies that I made up in that batch he is passable as a modern zombie (well, if 80′s style headband wearing still counts as “modern”).

Zombie of the Week #55: Tabitha

Tabitha

Tabitha never made it home after bingo.  Months later she still wanders through the ruined city looking for her next brain filled jackpot.

Androgynous

Tabitha is an old gender neutral GW zombie that I painted in 1998 or so, with a minor tweak and facelift in 2009.  The figure has seen a lot of action over the years.

Zombie of the Week #54: Peter

Peter

 

Something has pounded Peter like he was yesterdays beef (which he sort of is actually).

Messy Eater

 

Peter is yet another 2002 zombie made from spare parts that was given quick paintjob back then.  He was also part of the group of figures that had a lot of gore slopped all over him in 2009.  In fact, Peter probably had more gore slopped on him than any of the other figures in that batch.

The sheer size of the bloody area is a bit puerile, like something that a teenage boy might think was a cool thing to put on his figures, over the top and unnecessarily splatter movie-esque.  And despite that fact and the somewhat unflattering photo, I get a kick out of seeing Peter on the table in the games that I play.  Something about that drowned in viscera look fits with my notion of how some zombies should appear, even though I am aware of how cheesy it is.

Zombie of the Week #51: Eoin

Eoin

Unrecognisable as the accounting technician that he once was, Eoin came to his bathrobed end when he was bitten at the health spa.

 

 

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Eoin is another eighties GW zombie painted in 1998 or so that has seen a lot of action.  I heavy handedly ladled a whole load of gore on in 2009 to help the figure to fit in a little better with more recently painted zombies.

Zombie of the Week #49: Clayton

Clayton

Clayton never has to worry about keeping up with the Joneses again.  She ate the three of them a couple of months back.

Faded Catwalk Chic

One week later than planned todays ZotW is a gender indeterminate 1980s metal GW figure.  The skin was drybrushed and the crude but functional layering of the raggedy clothing was done back in the late 90s.  The gorier areas were made to look like that in a revamp of my older figures performed last year.

Clayton was deliberately bought because s/he was a generic enough looking figue to fit in with almost any setting that I might game in , fantasy, modern or sci-fi.

Zombie of the Week #48: James

James

James fell foul of the same neurone plague that beset the ship that André served upon.  James had to be forced to follow Andre off the plank out of the airlock and into the depths.   Spacegoing pirate or not he and his cursed kind would not be tolerated on any vessel o’ that type.

Scurvy

More or less everything that was said about André last week could be said about about James this time around, so I will direct you there for further details.

Zombie of the Week #47: André

André

André was happy to leave the dull agri-world that he grew up on and to become an amoral space pirate when the opportunity presented itself.  He spent many a cycle lootin’ an’ pillagin an’ drinkin an’ fightin’ until he picked a fight with a carrier of the Gargleflarkian Neurone Plague.

Soon after he lost his leg he lost his mind and attacked his fellow swabs until the bilge rats subsequently threw him overboard.  Arrr!

Bandana

André is another one of the zombies that I put together essentially from leftover parts in 2003.  It was an attempt to pad out the ranks of my zombies so that sufficient number would be avilable to stress a large number of Heroclix players trying to rescue a scientist from the middle of a mall.  I ran the scenario about ten times in total over a few years and it got better as I tweaked it.

Anyway, at the time I was spectacularly broke so there wasnt a hope that I would be able to buy any new zombie figures.  While making big piles of plastic components and simply sticking them together was kinda fun, it did mean that some… unconvincing zombies emerged, like André.  Who is of course only unconvincing when it isnt International Talk Like a Pirate day.  Which is a relief, because its International Talk Like a Pirate Day today.