Contest Time

In honor of me starting a new project and Blog (Starbase Alpha Romeo Charlie). I will be holding a contest. My first one.

The contest will be open to all my Blogs followers, and the owners of the Blogs I follow.

For the contest you will get to vote on the name of my new projects primary faction. This contest will run for two (2) weeks from now to 02JUNE2013.


The Primary Faction while headquartered on Earth is made up of about 30 other charter races.

Here are the names to chose from, to vote post a comment with the name you are voting for.


 1) United Earth Star Navy (the current working faction name)

2) United Star Forces (or United Star Navy)

3) The Alliance of Planets (also known simply as the Alliance)

4) Planetary Confederation (also known simply as the Confederation)

5) A write in Faction name, if I like your name better then the above ones may will use it or add it to the voting poll. If I dont use it as the main faction I may just use it as one of the other races/factions.

The winning faction name will have all the names of the people who voted for it put into a hat, at which time one name will be drawn randomly as the winner. The winner will receive his choice of a Miniature ($10USD or about £7 price limit) from Reaper, Zombiesmith, Irregular Miniatures (Spaceships), Ground Zero Games, Studio Bergstrom or or Brigade Models, in addition I will name a Starship (or Starship class), star system/planet or a Starbase after them in my campaign universe. I will also draw out a Second and a Third Place name, these individuals will receive Honorary mention on the new Blog, and also have a Starship or Starbase named after them (they get to chose).

The 6 Mini manufacturers should give the winner a decent choice between Starships or regular (25/28mm) miniatures., as Reaper, GZGs, Zombiesmith and Irregular all have 25/28mm minis, where as Irregular, GZGs Bergstrom and Brigade all have Starship minis.


Update: If you suggest a name keep it clean, ie when abbreviated it cant spell out words like C.R.A.P. or D.A.M.N. or S.H.I.T., etc...

Zabadak- I may still use your initial suggestion as the name for a faction of bad guys. If I do you will be getting honorary mention and one of their ships named ofter you, along with maybe one of thier planets.

Never play against Females and update on Possible new Project

Well I learned a lesson the other night, never play against a group of females when you are the only male.

I went over to a friends house for some gaming, well her BF and another guy decided to play on the XBox, while my friend and one of her female friends gamed with me over at the dinner table. We started off with Zombies!!! The Game, I was doing alright about halfway through the game with 13 zombies in my pile, where as the other two players had about 8 each, at this point Kim, my friend, looked over to Stacy, the other female, and said we cant let him win. From that point they did everything in their power to kill me off. I luckily won the game by making it to the Helicopter, they each had to kill only 1 more zombie for the win.

We then played Munchkin, this time right from the start they ganged up on me. Needless to say I lost, miserably, was only lvl 1 with a +3 bonus, while they were Lvls 10 (Stacy) and 8, each having over +20 bonus from their items. We then played Munchkin Impossible, this time while I still lost it was at lvl 8 instead of lvl 1.

Now Kim and her BF are the ones I normally game with, Kim being the friend that currently had my printed (from THW) copy of ATZ Final Fade out to go over the rules, and also the one I painted the Not-Amy Pond for. Stacy was a newbie to gaming (other then classics like Monopoly, Clue, Poker, Uno, Yahtzee, etc...and some video games),  she had a blast and stated she would love to get together with Kim, Ron, her BF and myself sometime to game again. Now if she is over again when I am there to game, I will not, I repeat, I WILL NOT, game with just her and Kim, they will try to humiliate me again like the first game of Munchkin.


Now as for the Space/Starship Project, it looks like it will be a go. I downloaded Full Thrust Rules from Ground Zero Games and I just bought a copy of 5150 Star Navy (printed + PDF) from THW, and am now getting ready to place an order from Silver Eagle Wargame Supplies for some of the Irregular Miniature Spaceships. Silver Eagle is a US supplier of the IM products. Starting off I am planning on ordering some of the Imperials (Not-Federation) and the Confederates (Not-Kzinti/Hydrans) along with a couple of the ships in the "Other" listing such as the Independent Merchant Ship and Cargo Freighter (Generic), Dornier Class. Before I do place this order I am waiting to hear back from them on if they offer the Fleet Deals that IM offers, if they don;e I will just go ahead and order from IM directly and suffer the wait and possible customs fees.

I am also thinking of ordering some cheap plastic spaceships

These I can purchase at about $12 (shipping included in price) for 144 of the ships. These ships will be used, if they scale up good to the IM, Ground Zero Games, Bergstrom, etc... ships, as generic non faction specific ships. I can also give the ones I wont use (the round UFO and one that is has an open cockpit iirc) to my nephew to play with.

I will also be starting up a secondary blog (already have it created, just need to add content) to follow the Space/Starship project, Starbase Alpha Romeo Charlie (Starbase ARC). I am currently writing up some background fluff for it, I have a Welcome Letter for an Academy Recruits and part of the Recruit Orientation Speech. I am currently calling the main faction the United Earth Star Navy, though I am thinking of changing it to either United Star Forces, Alliance of Planets or Planetary Confederation. The HQ will be set on Earth. Starbase ARC will be located in the Apideas System, approx. 6 Light Years from Earth. ARC is orbiting the Planet of Apideas Prime, It will have the Academy for the Star Navy (or what ever I call the main faction) on the Station along with planet side on Apideas Prime. I also want to have about 60 different races existing in the game universe, though a majority of them will be part of the Star Navy, with about a dozen or so neutral trader races, and 3 bad guy races, not to count pirate groups that can be made up of any race.


I am thinking of running a small contest on picking the name for the Primary faction. Right now the choices are:
1) United earth Star Navy
2) United Star Forces (or United Star Navy)
3) The Alliance of Plannets (also known simply as the Alliance)
4) Planetary Confederation (alswo known simply as the Confederation)
5) A write in Faction name, if I like your name better then the above ones may will use it or add it to the voting poll. If I dont use it as the main faction I may just use it as one of the other races/factions.

Right now there will be no Prize other then Recognition on my Blog(s), but I am thinking that I may offer one. If I do it will go to one person who suggested the winning Faction name, every one who votes for the faction will get their name put in a hat and the name will be randomly drawn. If I do a prize most likely it will be a miniature (and no it wont be one of the cheap plastic ships pictured above, I am not that mean)

Thinking of a New Project

Well I have been thinking of starting a new gaming project, that isn't Zombies.

What I am thinking of getting into is Starship (Space) Combat gaming. Now right now I do not know what rule system I will use if I do start this project up. I have narrowed it down to 3 different games,

1) Wormhole by World Works Games- Like other WWG products this is a Print, Assemble and Play product. You get the rules along with two opposing fleets with 6 different ships each, there is an expansion introducing a new faction.

2) Full Thrust- available as a Free Download from Ground Zero Games

3) 5150: Star Navy- A Two Hour Wargames space combat game.

Now as for the minis I am planning on following Hugh (Colgar6) and getting some Irregular Miniatures Not-Star Trek ships for those times where I want to do Not-Star Trek games, then I am also looking at possibly some of Brigade Models starships, Ground Zero Games and Studio Bergstrom ships (both the Not-Star Trek and the others) for use as generic space fleets that aren't neccessarily part of an existing sci-fi universe.

Now I may not even go ahead with this project, right now it is just a thought. If I do go ahead with this Project I might start up a second blog just for it, then again I might not.

Still Hanging Around

I am still hanging around, with the weather improving here been spending more time outside, and evening with some friends gaming.

Most my time out side has been spent in the backyard in the shade reading on my Kindle, As previously mentioned in my last post (the updated edit) I am currently reading a non-zombie book series, The Song of Ice and Fire series, though one could argue that it could be considered a quasi-zombie book due to the Wrights that the Others have created. I bought all 5 books available in one collection (on the Kindle they are basically one large book since they are all grouped together).

Once I finally finish all 5 Ice and Fire books, I will probably get back to reading Rhiannon Frater, still have The Last Bastion of the Living to read.


As mentioned above I have also been busy gaming with a couple of friends. Unfortunately it hasn't been ATZ. What we have mostly been playing is Munchkin (Zombie, Munchkin, Bites, Star, Apocalypse and The Good, The Bad, & The Munchkin) and Fluxx (Zombie, Pirate, Monty Python) Chrononauts (both the core and the Early American expansion/Standalone) and Back to the Future the Card Game. I have also  pulled out my copy of Zombies!!! the Game too and we have played that a few times with the core game and Expansions 1-6, we did play one game with 7: Send the Clowns. We do have some characters created for Atomic Highway by Radioactive Ape Designs, and are planning on getting a coupel games going once I finish creating a couple adventures or a campaign.

On the ATZ front we do have our Stars and Grunts created (we will be using the Vampifan Character rosters and some of his house rules when we start to play ATZ), and currently the friend I painted the Not-Amy Pond for has my good copy of ATZ: Final Fadeout (the one I ordered from Ed) in order to learn the rules, once she lets me know that she thinks she has a grasp of the rules thast when I will be pulling out all my minis and we will get a game going. For scenery we will be using a combination of the Ebbles/Genet Models Folding Unit Structures, small boxes, etc... for buildings, The various Ebbles/Genet Models vehicles and the various diecasts that I have for vehicles, as for roads we will use the WWG road tiles I have printed off, other scenery will be a combination of WWG and some model railroad scenery. I will try to get pics if possible, though I will be more focused on teaching the rules to my friends.

As the World Dies Trilogy a Great Read- Updated

As mentioned in my last post I now have an Amazon Kindel Fire HD. Been doing a lot of reading on it.

Just finished up the entire As the World Dies trilogy by Rhiannon Frater. I am not going to post reviews but links to an outstanding reviews of the books that Bryan (Vampifan) has already done and I don't think I could say much that he hasn't already stated in his reviews.

The First Days Review
Fighting to Survive Review
Seige Review

Now Rhiannon also has two more As the World Dies books out with a third one on the way, they are the Untold Tales. These two books (Untold Tales 1 and Untold Tales 2) provide some background other characters in the books. I won't really be reviewing the Untold Tales since a review of some of the tales in them will give away too much.

Untold Tales 1 Starts of during "Day 1" and reveals how Lydia (Katie's wife) met her end as one of the living, this all takes place before book 1: The First Days starts. Next we meet Monica, Jaun's cousin, find out what happened to her before she arrived at the Fort. Both Monica and Lydia's stories are short, only a handful of pages long. Finally the bulk if Untold Tales 1 is Eric's story and how he met Stacy and arrived at the Fort. This book is a great companion to the As the World Dies trilogy, letting us know about some of the other important Survivors (or in Lydia's case, a major characters loved one), and some of the struggles they had to endure before reaching the Fort.

Untold Tales 2 starts off with Katrina's story, then The Unknown's Story, a story about a family that didn't survive to make it to the Fort. Finally we have the story of Ken and Lenore's struggles on thier way to the Fort. I haven't read thsi book yet, just finished Untold Tales 1, and if its anything like the Trilogy and Untold Tales 1 it is a must have for the As the World Dies collection.

Untold Tales 3 hasn't been released yet but from what I have been able to gather it will tell us Rune the Bikers story, Senator Bitch Queen Paige Brightman's story after she abandons the Mall and tries to reach Central Government. Finally the third story will be about the after math of the Seige and one unknown (as of this time) woman's struggle on the decision whether to give up and die or to keep on living. As soon as this book is available for the Kindle I fully intend on purchasing it, as I have enjoyed the first 4 books so far and am already looking forward to reading Untold Tales 2.

I also currently have cued up to read Last Bastion of the Living and
The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters (this is actually a young adult novel by Rhiannon), along with some of the other Zombie books I have downloaded through Amazon.

I also have for the As The World Dies trilogy and Untold Tales 1 and Last Bastion of the Living signed kindlegraphs. A Kindlegraph is basically the way the author can sign a digital copy of thier books, It is a pdf file of the books inside title page with the authors signature and any personalization they may include. I opted for the basic personalization and didnt request anything special.


Well I am off to start As the World Dies Untold Tales 2.


Edit 2APRIL2013- Finished Untold Tales 2 and it was a perfect companion to the As the World Dies Trilogy. Am putting Living Dead Boy the Young Adult book by Rhiannon Frateron hold in order to read a non-zombie book series that I have heard great things about, and has a pretty good TV series based on the series, the Song of  Ice and Fire series (aka the Game of Thrones series) by George R. R. Martin. Bought a bundle with all 5 (currently released) books for the Kindle. So far I am about  6 chapters into The Game of Thrones (Book 1) and it is pretty good. Will probably be reading the Song of Ice and Fire series for at least the next month or so, while watching Game of Thrones from the beginning.

Sweet New Toy

Well last week I decided to waste a couple bucks on one of those No Chance in Hell Arcade games were you can win cool stuff like GPS units, Nintendo 3DS's, etc.... The one I was playing had an Amazon Kindle Fire HD, barely hanging on. Ended up hitting the string just right (not with the blade that cuts it) and the Kindle dropped, I am guessing that due to the weight of the Kindle and the shock of hitting the string created just the right combination of force to cause the already weakened string to finally fail.

Currently have all my ATZ rule books on it, along with some Kindle books I bought, most based off of Vampifans reviews, and of course a copy of Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide & World War Z (already have the hard copies of both).  Now I do have some classics such as HP Lovecrafts complete works, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's complete works of Sherlock Holmes, and some Jules Verne (currently rereading Mysterious Island by Verne, last time I read it was about 15 years ago in school).


Books Currently purchased that are Zombie related:

Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse by Max Brallier
As The World Dies Trilogy by Rhiannon Fater
As the World Dies Untold Tales Trilogy by Rhiannon Fater
The Last Bastion of the Living by Rhiannon Fater
LZR-1143 Perspective and LZR-1143: Within by Brian James (both were free zombie books so thought I would check them out)
World War Z and Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
Dead and Moaning in Las Vegas by  Brandon Meyers and Bryan Pedas (was a free kindle book)

I also bought (some such as the Jules Verne books were free)
The Mysterious Island, Around the World in 80 Days, From the Earth to the Moon: and Round the Moon all by Jules Verne
Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Complete Collection of HP Lovecraft
The complete collection of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The games I currently have on it are
Disney's Wheres my Perry (had a free download code for it so dont judge me)
a couple hidden object adventure games
and paper toss (you throw a wad of paper at the waste basket, though you have a fan that blows at different speeds each throw that will affect your aim)

I will be downloading the various rules for the Munchkin card games that I own (Zombies, Apocalypse, Star Munchkin and regular Munchkin), along with Zombie Fluxx, Zombies!!! the Game, etc...

Order Updates

Well last Friday as I previously posted I ordered some Hero/Horrorclix figures from Troll and Toad, they shipped Monday and arrived yesterday when I was out of the house. Excellent shipping service. Now one one of the figures (Harley Quinn) isnt in the best shape (the fuse on her bomb is cracked where it looks like it could easily break off), though I did order her as a Damaged/Repaired figure so this isnt a complaint. I have started to pop these off the clix bases for mounting to the 25mm round slotted bases (when they arrive) along with starting the repainting of one or two of the figures.

My Order for the 25mm round slotted bases from Hong Kong shipped on the 3rd (the 4th there in Hong Kong, was processed and left the Hong Kong Post for its trip here to the US on the 6th (7th there in  HK). Depending on the US side of everything I could have the bases anytime from Monday on.

Now as an edit to my last post I mentioned I purchased Munchkin Zombies (and the two expansions), well I ended up picking up yesterday the Munchkin Deluxe (regular Munchkin that also comes with 6 plastic munchkin pawns/miniatures (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple and Orange, though the orange one looks more like a dark yellow), 6 additional cards (one for each munchkin pawn in corresponding color with the Male Munchkin on one side and the Female Munchkin on the other to show your characters sex), and a game board for keeping track of your levels, which also has a spot for the door deck, door discard pile, treasure deck and treasure discard pile. In addition I picked up the 3 currently in print Munchkin Holiday boosters of 15 cards each, the Penny Arcade booster, the Skullkickers booster and The Guild booster (Felicia Day who plays Cyd Sherman/Codex is hawt, hey I have a think for geeky redhead babes what can I say, LOL). Last night about 12am I ordered from the Warhouse23 (Steve Jackson Games online store) the Warehouse 23 2011 and 2012 exclusive booster packs that contain an assortment of cards for the various munchkin sets, along with two of the munchkin pins (Black with Blue and Black with Red). Email from SJGs at 0923 this morning said the order has been shipped, must say that was a fast fill and ship if it is true.

I have found that be it the Zombie version of the non-zombie versions, I really enjoy playing Munchkin, especially since it lets me stab my friends in the back and be a complete @sshole, and they cant get pissed at me since its how you play the game. I am planning on getting the Munchkin Apocalypse version along with Munchkin 2-8 expansions, and Munchkin Chthulu (and its expansions) over the next couple months as the funds allow.