'What a lovely May' -- S.M.H.I.T. goes car-crazy, Mad Max style!

   On Saturday, May 16th, the quiet neighbourhood of Ancaster Ontario became a scene of vehicular chaos as the streets were lit up with four-wheeled death machines sporting after-market firepower! In short... Mad Max: Fury Road came to town.
  
   To celebrate this momentous event S.M.H.I.T. style, Scott Kelly, Rob Rabey, Bill Murphy, and Craig and Chris Alten joined me for a day of gaming and movie!

The Usual Suspects.

  We opened up with a vicious and hilarious game of Road Kill Rally. This is an out-of-print Z-Man game from 2010 that was given to me by that veteran road warrior Jay Griffiths. In essence, this is a boardgame version of the classic 1975 movie Death Race 2000. Each player races to complete a twisting course through city streets and country roads, all the while trying to score points by shooting other racers and running over pedestrians!

Carnage in the corner!

   Here you can see the pack of racers screeching through a tight turn filled with pedestrians potential points! Each segment of the race is designated by a road tile, and each race unfolds differently as the tiles are drawn randomly. My favourite tile is 'Euthanasia Day', where the doctors and nurses at the old folks home wheel out all the geriatrics... Bonus points!

   The race was fierce, but in the end Scott Kelly emerged as the victor!

Victory row!

   After heading over to the Ancaster Silver City to see Mad Max: Fury Road, (in my opinion, the best movie in years!), the boys and I returned to the S.M.H.I.T. Warnasium for a throw-down death match of Dark Future!

  

My Dark Future gang, The NoGo Dogz!

  
   Dark Future is a Games Workshop classic from way back in 1988. My preferred way to play it is with the revised tournament rules featured in White Dwarf magazine. It captures the flavor of the full game, but in a fast, fun-to-play system that can be picked up quickly.

Death race at Donut Alley!

   Squaring off in our death race was Rob and Chris, driving the sooped-up and deadly Sanctioned Operative Interceptors I converted up just for this event. One is a vintage 1969 Matchbox Lamborghini (The Black Knight), and the other is a Hot Wheels Oldsmobile 442, driven by The Kid. Both sport heavy after-market firepower.  

'The Kid' and The Black Knight ready to ride.

   Early on I took my flimsy renegade and played chicken with The Black Knight. This ended in a my fiery death, symbolized by the donut...

Blamm! Icing sugar everywhere!

   The Interceptors continued to dominate the match, until the 442 collided with a wrecked motorcycle, driving The Black Knight into his rear bumper at top speed! A couple of failed rolls later and The Black Knight had crashed and burned!

Tailgating kills!

  Despite this mishap, the renegades couldn't compete with the heavy laser firepower of the 442, and the last survivor fled the track.

   Thanks very much to all the guys for a great day of automotive mayhem and gaming! And thank you for visiting my little corner of the web!

See you soon!
-Andrew

Earth Reborn - Part II

   And now we return to the atomic wastelands of Earth Reborn! This time we will look at the perverted, morally dubious Salemite faction. The Salem city-bunker survived five-hundred years buried under the ruins of America by resorting to horrible, inhuman methods. Now the strongest have emerged, leading legions of mindless zombie slaves. These are, most definitely, the Bad Guys...

The Salemite faction

  
   The Salemites are led by Professor John Kendall Junior. Kendall is the most prominent of the Salemite scientists, and is a descendant of Jason F. Kendall, founder and first leader of Salem Underground.

Professor John Kendall Jr

 
   The professor is determined to push the limits of reanimation technology, at all costs, and regardless of the ethical consequences. He performs horrific experiments on the living as well as the dead, displaying unbound cruelty and a stunning lack of compassion. Kendall is in constant need of test subjects.
 
   Jessica Hollister is in charge of the security of Salem Underground. She is also the Salemites’ chief of police and military leader. She is known for her severity, viciousness, cruelty, and her passion for firearms. Her authority has never been challenged. Soldiers follow her orders unquestioningly, often for fear of reprisal at the mere suggestion of the slightest disagreement with her ideas.
 

Jessica Hollister

  

   Jeff Deeler is a deranged individual. He has spent most of his life surrounded by reanimated cadavers. He has no family. He considers the cadavers his only family, his “brothers.” Some suspect he might have poisoned his parents in order to reanimate them and better control them.

Jeff Deeler

 

   Jack Saw was one of the first of a new breed of enhanced reanimated slaves. His natural aggression and boundless energy have been enhanced with a prototype advanced neuronic helmet, and Jack is now at the forefront of many of the Salemite's missions.

Jack Saw

 

   Zombies are the muscle behind the Salemite operation. These zombies are equipped with a Power Fist and lower body reinforcement. The Salemites often use these zombies as guard dogs or basic infantry soldiers during combat. As soldiers, they cannot use weapons because of their very limited intelligence, but they nonetheless prove useful as defensive walls of “flesh.”

Zombies

   Although Cherokee Bill is a member of the Salemite community, he is consistently mistreated by his superiors, sometimes even regarded as a slave, due to his Test Subject origins. Over time, he has recognized their condescension and resents their contempt. As the years pass, he finds himself hoping for a different life within a different community where he might be better appreciated for who he is.

Cherokee Bill

 

   Finally, we have my favourite, Franck.

   Franck Einstein has been assembled over centuries from various body parts and organs extracted from deceased or, in some cases, live humans. His brain remains that of Franck Einz, a mechanic with an impressive body frame, who had died five-hundred years ago.

Frank Einstein

 

   Franck’s brain is linked directly to a neuronic helmet featuring the best artificial intelligence technology available. Thanks to this electronics marvel, his IQ is almost as high as that of Professor Kendall, although Franck remains under the firm control of Kendall, Deeler, and Hollister. That is the theory, anyway...

   So there they are -- the dramatis personae of this most excellent game. I've only had a chance to play this once since I finished the figures, but I found it to be a very detailed yet smooth flowing game, (once, of course, I figured out the rules!). As I get more games under my belt I'll be sure to post some battle reports.

 

Thanks again for stopping by!

-Andrew

Earth Reborn - Part I

   Today I want to present my figures from the super-cool boardgame EARTH REBORN. This sci-fi skirmish boardgame was released by Z-Man Games in 2010. It is set in post-apocalyptic America, and features the struggles between two very different communities that have survived the nuclear fire. On the one hand is the N.O.R.A.D. faction, who have emerged from their city-bunker to rebuild the glory of ancient America. Opposing them are the twisted survivors of the Salem city-bunker, who have resorted to unspeakable and inhumane methods to remain alive for centuries underground.

   It's G.I. Joe versus Atomic Zombies in the wastelands of America... What's not to like?

The complete set of figures from the game

   This game comes with some very well done soft-plastic miniatures. Using my Army Painter shades and paints I whipped these off in just a couple of days, and I am happy with the results. Let me introduce you to the heroes and villains of Earth Reborn!

   First up we'll look at the N.O.R.A.D. faction, starting with their leader Colonel Nick Bolter.

Colonel Nick Bolter

   Gifted with an unbreakable spirit and unparalleled charisma, Bolter is a living symbol of bravery and strength, inspiring blind faith in his men. He, in turn, believes strongly in his men and makes it an absolute priority to ensure the survival of every member of his team.

Lieutenant Monica Vasquez

   Lieutenant Monica Vasquez was awarded a medal of honor at the early age of 17. During her military training, her target shooting scores shattered all previously held NORAD military records, regardless of gender. She is now NORAD’s elite sniper.

Agent James Woo

   James Woo is a specialist in espionage and stealth. He is nimble, fast, clever, and can move without being detected. His skills and knowledge make him the ideal asset to gather information and retrieve ancient knowledge.

Mammoth MK II combat walker

   Designed initially to enable surface exploration while shielding their pilots from radiation, the Mammoth walkers were later retasked for combat . This new model Mammoth MK II is equipped with weapons and is reinforced with military-grade shielding to be ready for potential skirmishes.

Stay tuned for Earth Reborn Part II!
-Andrew