US NATIONAL GUARD

So the good guys are finally here ! put your hand on your chest and sing with me 'The Star-Spangled Banner' ... "Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light....." The US National Guard are on the scene fully decked out in 1980 / 90's kit and the old faithful Woodland Camo, most of the Guard are carrying M16 assualt rifles, except for two of the Guardsman off who one is sporting an M60 LMG affectionally known as 'The Pig', the other guardsman is carrying an M4 carbine with an M203 grenade launcher attachment, another Guardsman worthy of a mention is the Corpsman (Medic), if you look closely you will see him carrying a medic bag, which is the only distingushing sign, otherwise you would struggle to pick him out, because as far as looks go, he looks just like anyone of the other Guardsman.

These miniatures are Mongrol Minis (Now sold through Newline designs) and I must say are really well sculputed with loads of character depicting that 1980 / 90's US Army feel, the type you see in a lot of the Zed films, I ended up purchasing the whole line, they are great minis with little to no prep work required, If I had to pick a fault, it would be a couple of minor things, the guns could have been sculpted a little bit crisper, and there were one or two minis with awkward stances, outside of these two minor issues, this is a great range. 

DOG SOLDIERS

I remember watching this movie few years ago with my brother, and I remember having a blast watching it, so the next time I was near a dvd libary I borrowed it and rewatched it, watching this movie the second time around was a real blast also, everything from the plot to the acting to the special effects was of a good quality standing, there was plenty of action and even some key funny moments, my favourite being when one of the human survivors were barring up or repairing the front door (cant remember which) with a hammer, when suddenly a werewolf hand reaches in through the top glass panel on that door, trying to grab him, he just starts to frantically hammer bash that doggy hand with the hammer..... thats funny shit right there, I laughed for like ages, loved it, so If you want a good solid movie with plenty of action, a touch of humour and your into these types of movies then definately give this one a try, after writing all this I have realised that I have actually told you nothing about the movie's plot, hahahah, so here is the basic premise, a british army unit is dropped into an english forest for the weekend (which happens to coincide with a fullmoon) on a routine training excersize, unbeknownst to them they are not the only ones in that forrest with a bad attitude.

Now on the miniatures side of things, I so enjoyed this movie that I decided that I wanted to game this, yes... you guessed it, by this time impulse has taken over and I'm online ordering werewolves and some modern british troops, talk about an impulse buy ! so, you can all expect too see in future posts, modern brits and werewolves all painted up.

I just got news that they are doing a Dog soldiers 2.... very cool, here is the IMDB movie insert:

In the highland forest, Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham) and his Special Forces Unit, which includes Sergeant Walker, are spying on the squad of British Soldiers who have been set up as bait for a family of bloodthirsty werewolves. However, the werewolves attack the Special Forces Unit first. Ryan is badly injured and watches helplessly as his men are dragged screaming into the surrounding trees. Walker manages to escape the apparent slaughter, but unknown to him his unit’s distress signal is picked up by a U.S. Command HQ on a nearby Isle. A small U.S. Unit, led by Sgt Martinez, are immediately sent in to discover what has happened to Ryan’s Unit. They quickly find Ryan’s demolished base camp and the apparent only survivor, Walker; but there are no signs of any dead bodies! What has happened to Ryan and the rest of his men? Now the Unit hear a distant gun-battle. Walker leads Martinez and her men on a race across the moonlit forest to rescue the original British Squad who are trapped in the remote farmhouse. However, a second pack of savage werewolves are in pursuit. The new pack is in fact the surviving members of Captain Ryan’s SAS team now transformed into werewolves, but they have retained trace memories of their commando training. The new werewolves are faster, deadlier and smarter then the original Highland werewolves. These are true Dog Soldiers – and they are hungry for fresh meat

VENDING MACHINES

I managed to pick up some Vending machines this week, these should make for some good terrain clutter, they will help to make the terrain homely and give it that lived in feeling, I think there is nothing worse than playing on empty unrealistic looking terrain, they should also serve well as something you can push over in front of a door to lock out the invading zombie hordes. 

These vending machines are from K-line, they are actually illuminated vending machines, but I dont think I will go that far(hooking them up to electricity), there is no assembly required they pretty much come straight out of the packet and straight onto your terrain, gotta love that.