Plasticville O Scale Buildings with 28mm Gaming

For any table top game to work, you have to have terrain that works. I am a stickler for scale, I want things to look perfect and to look as realistic as possible. I enjoy looking for and creating terrain and miniatures that work. For zombie wargaming there are lots of options. Some of the best I have seen after searching a lot are (in no particular order);

1. Printed Terrain; My favourites for printable terrain are Stoelzel's Structures and World Works Games. Print onto paper, glue to foam board and cut and construct. Each building takes me 8 hours or so. For this reason I have created 2 and a half.

2. Plasticville Buildings; A lot of cheap plastic "O Scale" railroad buildings will work, but Plasticville works especially well because it is slightly underscaled. It was intended to be 1:64 with 1:48 windows and doors (according to Wikipedia at least). I find that even small buildings can look overly large on the table. Either way, I love these buildings, and they may be my new favourite way to create modern buildings. On that note, there is a new Fallout miniatures game coming I may play and be creating scenery for. My new "go to" is Plasticville. If you buy used lots on Ebay they are very cheap. I just purchased 7 houses, 1 garage, 1 shed, 3 stores, 1 garage and an apartment building for about $82. If you want interiors (which I do), plasticard is your best option. They do of course need to be painted. I am toying with the ideas of using printable interiors on cardstock. Still working on it. At this point this seems like the best option for cheap, labour free buildings. You can get bulk amounts of furniture on eBay for fairly cheap too. I estimate that for 30 to 40 bucks I will have all of my buildings furnished. At the bottom of this section you can see some of the furniture I'm talking about.

3. 28mm Building Manufacturers; Sarissa, and I'm sure dozens of others. They vary in price but work very well too. These take a lot to create overall, but usually look awesome. For price and effort though, I tend not to get these ones very often.

The Walking Dead All Out War Miniatures Game Review

I got the Walking Dead Miniatures game for Christmas as well as the scenery pack. Here is a review of the game.

Here is the situation after several turns. We have found most of the loot markers, and I have shot and killed Carl. Rick is off to the left about to take some shots at my group leader. Rick has great stats, so I was trying to get a gun for each of my 3 players before I took him on. We have cleared the board of zombies, but there is a car alarm going off from the truck with a marker.

Here you can see each character card and the items they have, as well as the threat tracker (the round circle with the pointer). As the game progresses zombies spawn at an increasingly fast rate. 

The player playing as Rick and Carl also had this guy with his hand up. He tried to attack the leader of my gang, but did not do enough to take him out.

In the next turn or two my leader killed the guy with his hand up, and both me and the other player drew more zombies in our event cards. Plus both dead characters came back as zombies. I had hoped to have a gunfight with Rick, but now there are 6 zombies between us with more coming. In the next turn or two, my characters just moved to the edge of the board evading the zombies.

Overall impressions of "The Walking Dead: All Out War"

Fantastic miniatures, great scenery. The character cards work very well, as do the event cards, counters etc. The game forces you to end quickly however, the threat meter means, you can't stick around and just relax. You have to get supplies and get out.

The Walking Dead: All Out War

The Miniatures: 9.5/10 

The poses are fantastic, as is the detail. These are amongst the nicest survivor and zombie miniatures that exist in my opinion. The only reason that they are not a "10" is because I find the heads and limbs a little big. Every model, including zombies is different. The only pack with duplicates is the pack of extra zombies. The cars are between 1:48 and 1:50, while the people and zombies are 1:55 or 1:56.

Ease of Play: 9/10 

Great skirmish rules for small scenarios. I would be interested to see what Mantic does with larger sized skirmishes. I could see adding house rules, to weaken the "threat meter" to make it more playable for longer games. Very easy to play, but also replayable.

The Game Contents and Counters: 10/10

Fantastic mechanics. I like that you get more with every pack you buy.

Price: 8/10

The core game is very well priced. If you want all of the other packs may add up quickly ($300 Canadian to get the ones out now). Personally, I plan on picking up the two rules expansions with miniatures and the pack of extra zombies. I had created the characters from the Walking Dead with the Warlord Games box sets already. 

Mantic Games "The Walking Dead" Miniatures Game; First Impressions

My wife bought me the new Walking Dead Miniatures game for Christmas as well as the scenery pack. Both look awesome, and I may end up picking up the other packs as well.

Here are some stock photos of the packs. I will be including some comparison photos of my own later on.

The miniatures are as nice as any I have seen. They are made of high quality plastic. The game components are decent, though the cards are a bit bendy. Rules wise they seem good for small skirmish sized games. These rules are longer than the Warlord Games rules, but both look short and simple. I bought 2 of the Warlord Games box set to get more of the miniatures. That won't be the case here, as the miniatures are one piece castings. Still, I love the miniatures so much, that I think I'm going to get all of the expansions. The Warlord Games miniatures are also fantastic, but of course are multi-part. My only fault I can find with either set of miniatures is that the Warlord Games female survivors are mostly wearing skirts and heels. They are all good, but I want old zombies (heels would have fallen off), and more females with pants. Mantic Games zombies are all unique, though I would happily have 2 or 3 of each if I could!

Here are stock photos of the scenery packs I picked up. They were around $50.00 Canadian. A bit pricy, but the cars are nice. The cars are around 1:49 or 1:50. Which matches a lot of the cars I have, they are the same size as my "O Scale" plastic train screnery cars, but would certainly be too big to put beside a 1:55 Jada or Siku. I have a lot of cars already, but I thought these would be good to make into burned out cars. I will make 3 burned out, and paint up one truck normally.

So far Mantic Games Has the Following Releases;

1. All Out War; Main Rules, spinner, dice, weapon cards, character cards, event cards, 6 survivors (including Rick and Carl) and 12 zombies. ($60 Canadian)

2. The Prelude to Woodbury; Solitary Rules. Governor miniature, 5 zombies, weapon cards, character cards, event cards, dice. ($40 to $50 Canadian)

3. Days Gone By; 4 Survivors (including Dale), 2 zombies, weapon cards, character cards, event cards. *this one looks like an add on to All Out War ($40 to $50 Canadian)

4. Scenery Pack; 2 trucks, 2 cars, 6 barriers, 10 loot piles (all can be used to replace the ones in the main game) ($50 Canadian)

5 Character Packs; These are a main character, with 2 other miniatures (could be characters of zombies). These are $25 each. A little pricy but very nice.

-Shane, Reggie and a zombie

-Lori and two zombies

-Carol, Sophia and a zombie

-Andrea, Amy and a zombie 

-Morgan, Duane and a zombie (Morgan's wife)

-Rick on Horse and a zombie

So altogether that's 21 survivors and around 26 zombies. To get all these sets, you are looking at about $360 plus tax.

Modern Gaming in 28mm; Scale and Scenery

I have received all of my recent orders of cars and was overall very happy with the cars. Though I now have a collection of cars between 1:50 and 1:60.  

Since I have such a variety in scale not all the cars look good beside each other. I am using mainly Wargames Factory figures with a few Cold War and Last Night on Earth. I will be getting Hassefree and Studio Miniatures later on. 

Average Male Height North America; 

69 inches (5 foot 9) or 1753mm

Figure Height; 31mm with base; 32mm

Actual Scale 1:56.5 with base; 1:54.7

But figures are never standing up straight so a half or 1mm could be added. 

Standing Straight; 32mm with base; 33mm

Actual Scale; 1:54.8 with base; 1:53.1

With Cold War or LNOE Base; 1:49 (Height Only)

Average Female Height in North America

64 inches (5 foot 4) or 1626mm

Figure Height; 30mm with base; 31mm

Actual Scale; 1:54.2 with base; 1:52.4

Standing Straight; 31mm with base; 32mm

Actual Scale; 1:52.4 with base; 1:50.8

What does this actually mean?

Every mm on the model corresponds to 2.22 inches 

Overall, the scale without a base is 1:55 for these figures, but an argument could be made for up to 1:53. 

So now side by side comparisons with the vehicles. 

Here is beardy Rick Grimes beside a 1:64 Fiat and a Ferrari. Both are actually exactly 1:55. The same as Rick. 

Here he is beside a Jada "Too Fast Too Furious" car. Advertised as 1:55 they are exactly that. 

Here he is beside a Menard's "Denver Diecast" van. The vans from Menard's I received were all 1:56. The Volkswagen Van is 1:52. 

I did not purchase their cars, but they appear to be 1:48 to 1:50. 

Here is a size comparison of a Jada 1:64 (actually 1:60) police car, the 1:56 SWAT van and a 1:53 police car by FastLane (scale not listed). 

1:60 sounds way too small, and this car does not work well beside my larger scale vehicles but...

Is it just me or does that look exactly right? The cops heads and shoulders are over the top of the cruiser. 

Here is Rick beside a laughably large 1:43 car. Though only slightly longer it probably has double the volume of a properly scaled car. Rick's head is level with the roof of the car. To me these don't work at all. They are enormous. 

Here is a 1:53 police car, another Crown Victoria. Almost the exact right scale. 

Here is Rick with the 1:43, 1:53, 1:55 and 1:60. The black 1:55 is not a police car but is around the same proportions. The 1:43 car is probably 3 times the volume of the 1:55. 

Here is one of the "o gauge" train scenery cars. They are all between 1:50 and 1:51. I have a large number of different coloured trucks made by Welly that are 1:51. I really like these cars but they don't mix well with most of my Siku. Siku does not make very many modern sedans in normal colours but these plastic train cars are about $3 each Canadian. They are a little large but passable. They also have compact cars but the interiors are white. 

Here is Rick beside a 1:56 Toyota LandCruiser by Siku. Probably the largest  Siku at "1:55".

Here is a 1:56 truck by Maisto. 

Here is a Welly 1:51 Silverado, it is a little big, but it matches exactly with the OGuage cars. They are available in multiple colours at every "Chapters". It would also make a good Ford 250 at 1:55. 

I have not purchased larger vehicles yet but a lot of 1:43 transport trucks, buses and construction equipment are actually 1:50 or even 1:55. Realtoy vehicles seem to at least some of the time, actually be 1:55. Tonkin and First Gear are 1:53 and 1:54 but seem very expensive. 

28mm Modern Vehicle Manufacturers

This is my second post on vehicles for 28mm modern gaming. 28mm is the same as 1:55 or 1:56. I am basing my vehicles on my Warlord Games / Wargames Factory miniatures which have normal (not oversized) features. I have based them on washers which gives them a small footprint and adds only 1mm to their height. As previously stated, I am going with cars between 1:50 and 1:56; which I realize is still a big range. Because of availability I'm going to have larger vehicles apart from smaller on the table. 

Here are the manufacturers I have found so far;

Siku; 1:55

Siku has large vehicles that are suitable as well as compact cars. Other vehicles are mostly too small but have to be looked at case by case. 

Large Vehicles; 1:55 or 1:50

Full Sized Cars and Trucks; 1:56 to 1:60

Compact Vehicles; 1:55 or 1:56

Denver Diecast; 1:48 (o scale)

They make a tonne of buildings with exteriors as well. The cars would be great for anyone aiming for 1:48 vehicles, but like all manufacturers there is a wide range of sizes between cars. 

Large Vehicles; 1:50 to 1:56

*I purchased the swat and police vans plus cube vans, they are 1:56. The VW van is 1:52. 

Full Sized Cars; 1:48

Compact Cars; 1:43?

Construction Vehicles; 1:43 to 1:48

Jada; 1:55

Sporty Cars; 1:55

These are really nice cars but there range is small and very flashy. I bought the set below, one of them will be Madmax's car. 

Maisto; No Scale Stated

Full Sized and Bigfoot Trucks; From 1:50 or 1:56

I picked up a several Silverados at Chapters, they are 1:50. I have another truck that is around 1:53. They may have other suitable vehicles as well. 

Hotwheels / Matchbox / Majorette; 1:64

Compact Cars; often are 1:55 to 1:56

I have found quite few cars that fit. Usually they are 3 inches or just under. 

No Name / Chinese Pastic; 1:48 (o Guage from eBay)

Full Sized Cars; 1:50 to 1:51

Project Z The Zombie Miniature Game

I picked up the new Project Z game today. Being a big fan of Warlord Games and Wargames Factory miniatures, I was excited to check it out. It is a fantastic deal!

At $60 for the box set you get; the rules, cards, markers etc. Plus a lot of fantastic miniatures. 23 zombies, 8 bikers, 10 civilians. The male zombies have been greatly improved from the old version by Wargames Factory (the old ones are awesome too though). 

My first impressions are the rules are simple to learn and has awesome miniatures. Buy it. I may buy a second copy of the main box set just to get the cheaper price on all those miniatures. 

http://www.warlordgames.com/pre-order-project-zombie-skirmish-game/

I am still going to publish my own rules as well. I know a lot of gamers may want a larger experience with zombies. Multiple sets of survivors, and / or larger sets of zombies. The Wargames Factory / Warlord Games zombies are hands down the best deal on zombies there is.  

 I am looking forward to checking Project Z. 

Find Supplies Zombie Wargame Scenario

This was an earlier Walking Dead scenario we played after the Escape the Farm Scenario. The two groups were to find food and water in the vehicles and buildings then escape the their side of the map.