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Miniatures Adventure => Post-Apocalyptic Tales => Topic started by: cheetor on 10 May 2010, 05:09:37 PM
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I put together eight zombie spawn points recently, all for show below.
Most of them are pretty standard fare but I definitely enjoyed putting a couple of them together a bit more than the others. They are intended as gaming pieces and as such dont have too many fiddly bits and pieces stuck to most of them. In my experience they almost inevitably fall off.
#1 Dr Javad
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/drjavad1.jpg?w=300&h=192)
This is probably my favourite spawn point. It is intended to represent the "big blue phone-booth-sized containers" that terrorists use to transport zombies to strategic locations in the book "Patient Zero".
The plan in the book is that at a prearranged signal the booths open and release "walkers" to contaminate the infidels land with the biologically engineered Sief Al Din (Sword of the Faithful) virus.
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/drjavad2.jpg?w=300&h=289)
I added a Wargames Factory figure that I got in a trade to represent a zombified scientist. I also added a laptop made of plasticard to further thematically tie the scientist to the containment units. There is a little more info about this spawn point on my blog here (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/zombie-of-the-week-28dr-javad/).
#2 Private Molina
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/pvtmolinaspawn2.jpg?w=300&h=210)
Pvt Molina has a slightly more familiar spawn point look, being made from Fenris, Pardulon and Eureka parts. While this type of spawn point isnt particularly inspired, I definitely had fun getting Molina and co finished.
I went very much for a Return of the Living Dead Part II look with all of the green toxic waste, crappy zombie flick fans :)
#3 Doug
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/dougspawn1.jpg?w=300&h=237)
Personally, I like my living impaired to have been rendered that way by pseudo-scientific means. This, in my opinion renders the zombification of buried corpses "unrealistic" lol ;)
On the other hand, a zombie bursting from the grave is a classic zombie image. When an opportunity to make something fun like that comes along I dont like to let "realism" get in the way. When Doug showed up in my Frothers zombie pack last January I put it to one side, knowing that he was destined for a cheesy looking spawn pont.
The gravestone is from the GW zombie sprue. The grave is from a Horrorclix Jason Vs Freddie set plus some balsa scraps, flock and gravel. I had to trim the bottom of it to get it more flush but it still sits a bit proud. While I could have made a little more effort to get it flush with the base I was happy to leave it looking like disturbed earth caused by personal, voluntary exhumation.
I definitely should has taken more time with the "engraved" text areas on the tombstone however. ::)
#4 Private Maberry
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/pvtmayberryspawn1.jpg?w=300&h=211)
Maberry is another off-the-peg spawn point in the same vein as Pvt Molina above and Watford below.
#5 Bud
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/budspawn1.jpg?w=300&h=259)
I have never seen C.H.U.D. (although the DVDs are en route as I type). I am however familiar with the cover of the VHS which I could never get anyone else to rent with me as a child. I figure that this Black Cat Bases manhole-with-hoodie figure was inspired by it.
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/budspawn2.jpg?w=300&h=214)
The warning barriers come from some cheap Pound shop toys that I bought years ago. I hopefully applied enough ink washes to them to remove most of the toy look from them. Those things look so plastic-y in real life that I wasnt sure how far to go.
Naturally I then ladled gore all over them too.
As I have already painted up a pair of hoodies as Left 4 Dead Hunters (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/l4d-hunters-modern-vampires/) I followed the same routine while painting Bud.
#6 Private Watford
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/pvtwatfordspawn1.jpg?w=300&h=243)
Another stalwart making up the numbers.
#7 Cerberus
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/dogspawn.jpg?w=300&h=238)
For the hell of it I stuck a zombie dog on this one, rather than a dead human. I assume that it is marking its territory with cold, dead, bloody dog pee.
#8 It
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/tentaclespawn1.jpg?w=300&h=255)
Tentacles dont tend to suggest zombies to most people. The figure is designed more as a Cthulhu thing really I suspect. Nonetheless I was happy to use a manhole with tentacles coming out of it as a zombie spawn point. I suppose that it goes back to my zombie grounding in the Resident Evil franchise, where mutant animals…
[ comic store guy mode ]
…and not necessarily zombie animals. There is a difference of sorts…
[ /comic store guy mode... well... reduced to normal levels at least ]
…are reasonably common due to reasons related to the zombie outbreak.
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/tentaclespawn2.jpg?w=300&h=215)
The newspaper is an image that I found online a few years ago and held on to. I printed out a sheet of tiny papers back then but always found them just a little too big to fit on most 28mm figure bases. I am pleased with how they look on the spawn base above though.
This was a nice, quick sub-project that I enjoyed. I dont often get around to things like spawn points, objective markers and the like so it was that bit more pleasing for me to finish because of that.
Comments and criticisms all very welcome, as usual :)
EDIT: so that I learn to type good.
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Haha!
Great stuff. Quite imaginative.
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AWESOME! (Yes, I am shouting!) ;D
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Good stuff... really like the colours on the "It" tentacles. What rules are you using that require spawn points btw?
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Good stuff... really like the colours on the "It" tentacles. What rules are you using that require spawn points btw?
Thanks. The tentacles were painted grey and highlghted with a lighter shade. The ends were then washed two or three times with old GW purple glaze at the ends and turquoise glaze where they meet. Its not terribly neat but I do like the effect.
Haha!
...and...
(Yes, I am shouting!)
:D Thanks for the positive feedback guys.
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Nice pallet there! ;)
Lovely spawn points mate well done.
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luvverly.
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What rules are you using that require spawn points btw?
I have played AR:SE a few times and enjoyed that, so I will use the spawn points in that. There arent specific rules for them in AR:SE but its straightforward to include some.
The problem with a gaming zombies (or bug-hunt or anything that involves one-against-many) is that there has to be a time limit of some sort. If there isnt then it becomes feasible that players could slowly and deliberately cure the infection, one bullet at a time. It isnt so much a rules lawyering approach to gaming, more that there isnt really any reason for a player to approach it any other way.
To counter this and to provide a timer of sorts, the spawn points generate a set number of new zeds at certain intervals. That way, regardless of the urgency of the gaming "mission", the characters will have to make progress or they will be swamped. It also means that shot zomibe miniatures get recycled, which is a good thing from the point of view of available models if you are short of zombie miniatures or anything like that.
Nice pallet there! ;)
Lovely spawn points mate well done.
Thanks CV. The other traded pallets will make it to the table eventually in some form or another.
luvverly.
Thanks for the feedback. Im glad that you like them :)
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Nice, Cheetor! Nice, nice, nice! Where in the world did you get the boxes/caskets for the first spawn point? They look fantastic! They remind me a litle bit of the cardboard caskets (made by the Milwaukee Casket Company, believe it or not) that contain the teaching cadavers for the college's human anatomy programme which I pick up from the mortuary in Kansas City twice a year with the human anatomy prof, who is a friend of mine. I don't know why the blue boxes remind me of them, but they do. The spookiest thing about the cardboard caskets? The "recycle" symbol printed on the side!
The Fenris/Pardulon/Eureka bits and bobs have come out really well too. Great work!
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Very cool stuff. I really like these alot.
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I like 'em too. The tentacles actually look like bloated maggots to me, but that's not a bad thing considering the genre.
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These are great, really inspired.
Can't for the life of me understand why/how a zombie would be crawling out of a barrel of toxic waste!
B movie stuff, I guess! :)
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Can't for the life of me understand why/how a zombie would be crawling out of a barrel of toxic waste!
Zombies do the damndest things... =)
Nice work Cheetor, really like them! Especially the C.H.U.D reference, always wanted to rent it but my parents wouldn't have it. Would probably have given me nightmares though - so good call. When I was old enough to rent movies myself, it was long gone from the shelves. Saw it a few years ago, and it's crap. Enjoy it! =)
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Nice, Cheetor! Nice, nice, nice! Where in the world did you get the boxes/caskets for the first spawn point?
Thanks Hawkeye. They are the longest and most coffin-like of the several types of sci-fi crates that Fenris stock.
They look fantastic! They remind me a litle bit of the cardboard caskets (made by the Milwaukee Casket Company, believe it or not) that contain the teaching cadavers for the college's human anatomy programme... I don't know why the blue boxes remind me of them, but they do.
Awesome. You say the nicest things ;) lol
The spookiest thing about the cardboard caskets? The "recycle" symbol printed on the side!
That is creepy! You can consider that recycle symbol idea recycled borrowed for cadaver containers part 2.
Very cool stuff. I really like these alot.
Glad to hear it :)
I like 'em too. The tentacles actually look like bloated maggots to me, but that's not a bad thing considering the genre.
That works too :)
As long as the general impression is that of something pestilent or "wrong" then thats fine. Thanks for the feedback.
These are great, really inspired.
Can't for the life of me understand why/how a zombie would be crawling out of a barrel of toxic waste!
B movie stuff, I guess! :)
I am most familiar with it from Return of the Living Dead Part II. The cause of the outbreak is scientific and military in origin. Naturally, the military keep a few zombies around for research and they store them in alarmingly fragile barrels. Definitely a B-movie thing alright.
Nice work Cheetor, really like them! Especially the C.H.U.D reference, always wanted to rent it but my parents wouldn't have it. Would probably have given me nightmares though - so good call. When I was old enough to rent movies myself, it was long gone from the shelves. Saw it a few years ago, and it's crap. Enjoy it! =)
I was in the same boat, always wanting to rent it but never getting around to it. I am certain that it (and its sequel C.H.U.D. 2: Bud the CHUD) will be nearly unwatchable garbage. I will soldier through it (probably while painting) nonetheless.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
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Fenris? Thanks, Cheetor. I'll have to pick some up, they look excellent.
I like the idea of using the 'recycle' symbol somewhere in the future on more containers - it would, indeed, be very creepy to see on a zombie board!
Keep up the great work!
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Awesome concept, nice paintjob!
:o
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They are excellent! Well played. :D
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Strong work! I love them! :-* Hope mine turn out half a well!
Darkoath
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I like the idea of using the 'recycle' symbol somewhere in the future on more containers - it would, indeed, be very creepy to see on a zombie board!
You heard it here first folks ;) Coming soon...
Keep up the great work!
Its some more Umbrella troopers for me next. The infinite tide of zombies is on temporary hold until those guys get finished.
Awesome concept, nice paintjob!
:o
...and...
They are excellent! Well played. :D
...and...
Strong work! I love them! :-* Hope mine turn out half a well!
Thank you all for the feedback.
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I like them :-*
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You got some kick a$$ spawning points there, Cheetor.
Give the players hell!
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Oh, gawd. Your graveyard spawn point looks exactly like one of mine. The same zombie is bursting out from in front of the same WHF tomb stone and everything! Well, mine's still without paint or primer currently though...
No, I think it's just coincidence. That bloke was out of scale with all my other zombies so the only use I saw for him was a classic theme for a spawn point.
Excellent none the less. Quite awesome!
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No, I think it's just coincidence. That bloke was out of scale with all my other zombies so the only use I saw for him was a classic theme for a spawn point.
Excellent none the less. Quite awesome!
Thanks! Dougs large size and unusual "pose" meant that he was going to be difficult to include with the horde so I came to the same conclusion that you did: spawn point.
The WFB headstone thing is kinda funny. If you put infinite LAF-ers in front of infinite lead mountains then eventually they would all make the same zombie spawn point ;)
You got some kick a$$ spawning points there, Cheetor.
...and...
I like them :-*
Thanks for the feedback guys.
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Sorry for resurrecting this after so long (not that it doesn't deserve being looked at again, though), but who makes that zombie dog, please? Any other dead doggies to be had, or should one just get some dog models and chew them up a bit?
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The zombie dog is from the Zombies!!! Bag O' Dogs!!! (their exclamation marks), on Amazon uk here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Quest-2007-Zombies-Dogs/dp/B000HZTY0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312981302&sr=8-1)
Quite expensive, but there are 100 of them in there.
I'm sure there are others - Reaper (http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/zombie/latest/50069) does one, but it's attached to a zombie (granted, a freakin' huge zombie that's closer to 40mm than 28mm and looks ridiculous). They also do undead hounds (http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/zombie/latest/03432)
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Oh, it's one of those plastic ones, didn't reckognize it.
Thanks.
I remember the Reaper dog-shambler, not the hounds, though.... must remember those...
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Cool stuff.
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Great stuff!
Brian
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Excellent stuff! :-*
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Me likey !
:-*
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missed these the first time around - lovely job mate, just the sort of thing i'd envisaged for spawn points.
8)
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Very nice indeed. :-*
I have played AR:SE a few times and enjoyed that, so I will use the spawn points in that. There arent specific rules for them in AR:SE but its straightforward to include some.
The problem with a gaming zombies (or bug-hunt or anything that involves one-against-many) is that there has to be a time limit of some sort. If there isnt then it becomes feasible that players could slowly and deliberately cure the infection, one bullet at a time. It isnt so much a rules lawyering approach to gaming, more that there isnt really any reason for a player to approach it any other way.
To counter this and to provide a timer of sorts, the spawn points generate a set number of new zeds at certain intervals. That way, regardless of the urgency of the gaming "mission", the characters will have to make progress or they will be swamped. It also means that shot zomibe miniatures get recycled, which is a good thing from the point of view of available models if you are short of zombie miniatures or anything like that.
Revford had a neat mechanic for re-spawning zombies - roll a D6 at the start of every turn for every shot fired or noise made (starting a car, a car alarm going off, breaking open a door/window, ... you get the idea) in the previous turn.
In the next turn Nx D6 zombies arrive at the nearest spawn point to the noise and shambled towards the sound.
It worked pretty well providing a steady stream of zombies who behaved "properly".
It even got a little hectic mid-game as the teams had to fight through raised zombies who had shambled towards them in previous turns.
If I remember things properly Dewbakuk won the game but I got style point. :D
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WOW! :o o_o :-*
I didn't saw this thread before, but OMG!
Those are pretty much the VERY BEST spawning points I've ever seen!
Lots of inspiration here, topped by SPLENDID paint jobs.
Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the second round of positive feedback on these guys everyone. Its a while since I painted them, so I didnt expect to see them around here again :)
...Revford had a neat mechanic for re-spawning zombies...
Thanks for that info. We use in-game factors to influence spawning and movement, but usually as additional effects. A standard procedure for spawning happens each turn.
The last time that we played (batrep here (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/deadlines-hostile-corporate-takeover-of-the-living-dead-pt-1/)and here (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/deadlines-hostile-corporate-takeover-of-the-living-dead-pt-2/)) we used a pretty simple method.
We were using forces of three models each and reasoned that the average number of zombies that each team could bump off in a turn would be three. Therefore we spawned three models per player per turn to ensure that the while paths could be cleared that the numbers never thinned. Actually they got worse with the "Special Infected (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/tag/special-infected/)" type zombies entering via cards inserted in the game action deck in addition to the normal spawns.
We found that method quick and simple. The random determination of where each zombie arrived in addition to the unknown nature of where, when and which of the Special Infecteds arrival kept the tension up. Great fun.
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Nice as ever mate.
My own spawn points are just dice markers generally, next to the hospital, subway, manhole covers etc... this is how I play them (taken from my rules):
The dead are drawn to the living like well… undead bees to a fleshy honeypot.
Gunfire, screaming, chainsaw motors, mobile phone ring tones, motorised vehicles, human scent/blood all draw more zombies onto the table. (This is a simple spawn point rule that would work on both small and large tables).
Mark out your table edges: dice are used at table entry markers, three down each long side of the table, (one in each corner and one in the middle ordered 1-6.).
Gamers note: On a small table this works well, especially when an objective is placed in a corner or near to a table edge spawn point, gives the survivors, (and zombies) something to really get their teeth into! To spice things up a little, (urban sprawl, busy shopping mall etc..). Consider 2d6 for zombie numbers entering the table rather than 1d6.
At the beginning of each zed turn roll 1d6:
1d6 Result:
1-3 Attracted by human activity… more zombies shamble forth!
4-6 Your actions go unnoticed: no additional zombies for this turn…
If more zombies shamble forth this turn:
Roll 1d6:
1-6 = dice entry markers/point of entry.
Roll 1d6 (or 2d6 as discussed above): Dice roll indicates the number of zombies arriving from that spawn point.
Additional Zombie Spawning Points:
Gamers note: Don’t feel restricted to using just table edges as spawning points, this is the real world remember.
When play testing we decided on six spawning points as this worked on a small coffee table, whereas if you’re using a more traditionally sized gaming table you might want to create a little more of a challenge for your survivors!
Want 8 spawning points? Maybe 20 spawning points?
Grab those old redundant D&D dice you KNOW you have lurking around from your RPG days and get creative!
You could also consider the following areas to add a little bit of flavour to your games:
• The abandoned school bus or coach at the crossroads.
• The sewer system: drains and manhole covers.
• Large public buildings: (hospitals, schools, town halls, cinemas, shopping centres etc…).
• The emergency shelter: where everyone was told to head to?
• Multi level spawning points: (apartment buildings, multi-storey car parks, subways, (eat fresh eh? Or the Underground?).
What's next mate?
The Commander
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What's next mate?
Its all Judge Dredd chez Cheetor at the moment. I recently got over a summer painting slump to finish a few more Judges. I am currently working on the Dark Judges (who are kinda zombies, right? Liches maybe)
Proper zombie wise I have loads waiting in the wings. Heaps of Studio figs, some Tengu guys, some "Smoker" conversions, some amateur zombie sculpts that an online buddy sent me, Dr Totenkranz (http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/Chronoscope/sku-down/50145) and Dr Voodoo (http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/Chronoscope/sku-down/50121) to lead the horde... etc. I definitely dont have a shortage ;)
For their Dredd game Mongoose have made a "Zombie Mistress" that is currently waiting for paint. It willl probably jump the queue due to being Dredd related.
Mongoose are also planning a conversion pack of Mega City One zombie heads/limbs/accessories etc that will be compatible with another manufacturers plastics, but they havent revealed which plastics yet. The accessory pack will be cute I imagine (I presume Shane Hoyle will be sculpting) so I am looking forward to that.
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Nice.
Without further derailing of your own thread... who's dark judges, Foundry or citadel or an early release from Mongoose? (You seen the City Def. new metal minis...nice)
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Without further derailing of your own thread...
It has already had a second lease of life as it is :)
who's dark judges, Foundry or citadel or an early release from Mongoose? (You seen the City Def. new metal minis...nice)
Foundry Death, Fire and Mortis. They never made a Fear that went into production (although Kevin Dallimore has one up on his site) so Fear is a Heroclix. They were all sculpted by the same guy (Tim Prow) so its not too jarring.
Mongoose has Dark Judges in the pipeline, but I havent seen any greens or anything. I am picking up all of the Mongoose Dredd stuff this time around as I missed loads of it the last time, so I will grab their Dark Judges whenever they come out.
My Dredd thread is HERE (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=30793.0).