Batrep: Scooby Doo and the Death Knight

Introduction

Recently, I wrote an article about introducing plot points (as used by the "Pulp Alley" ruleset) into the "Fear and Faith" rules so that we could play a Scooby Doo game.  My deliberations on the subject can be found here.  "Fear and Faith" is a set of rules that is specifically designed for horror games (including comedy-horror!); it's derived from the ever-popular "Song of Blades and Heroes" fantasy skirmish set and therefore should produce a tense and exciting game.

In that previous article, I promised a report as soon as we played our first game.  This has now happened, so here's the article...

The Scenario

We decided that we'd play a variant of Pulp Alley's "Trail of Clues" scenario.  In this, 2 plot points are placed on the board, with others placed later as/when the first ones are solved.

Time Limit

The game would start at dawn.  Each time the good player rolled a turnover [i.e. 2 or more failures on an activation roll], the clock would advance through the following stages:
Dawn [game start] ->dawn2 ->daytime ->daytime2 ->evening ->evening2 ->night [game ends]

In other words, the game would be over once the good side had rolled a total of 6 turnovers.

Victory

• Each minor plot point solved by the good side would be worth 1VP.
• The major plot point would be worth 3VP to the good side, if solved.
• The evil side would start the game with 2VP.  Hopefully this would give the good side some sense of urgency, since they couldn't just sit back and claim a draw for doing nothing!
• The evil side would also gain 1VP for each good character that was eliminated.

This gave the good side a maximum possible of 7VP (if every plot point was solved) and the evil side a mutually-exclusive maximum possible of 7VP (if all the good characters were knocked out).  Seems fair to me.

The Forces

Good

• The 5 members of "Mystery Inc" (aka the "Scooby Doo gang").  See here for details.

Evil

• The "Death Knight".  A scary, powerful skeletal knight.  Who knows if it's really a man in a rubber mask, though?
• 3 Spectres.  These are immaterial and have the haunt characteristic, which means that they are both unable to move outside of a preset area and are impossible to defeat with conventional melee.  However, they are vulnerable to a character with conviction, such as Fred or Velma.
• Crazy Joe.  Q5+, C2, Morose.  A cheap "extra"; his morose ability will lower activation rolls for friend and foe who are near him.
• Farmer Benton.  Q5+, C2.  A cheap extra with no particularly interesting abilities.
• Rex (Benton's dog).  Q5+, C2.  Ditto.
• 3 college students (Maxwell, Judy and Brad).  Q5+, C1, whatever!  More cheap fillers, though the whatever! effect has the potential to shock and stun nearly good guys.

Note that most of the evil side are not monsters.  Indeed, I view them more as bystanders and distractions rather than as agents of the bad guy.  They're not present to fight with Mystery Inc, though in game terms melee is a viable choice.  Any such contests represent argument, misdirection (intentional or not) and just general obstruction rather than physical punch ups.

The Setting

To the north-west of the table, there's a ruined tower (not a genuine medieval castle, but perhaps a deliberate folly constructed by some American magnate during the last century).  Nearby is a campsite for a summer study group of some type.  Across the river there is a slightly seedy farmer's cottage and in the foreground there is a wooded valley between 2 hills.

The initial 2 plot points have been deployed, one in the campsite and one in the valley.  The evil forces have also been placed; they're fairly well scattered around the table but with a spectre near each of the current plot points.

The Game

The Camp

Fred was in something of a daze as Mystery Inc disembarked from their van, so Shaggy, Daphne and Scooby pressed on to investigate the seemingly-deserted campsite.  Velma was a little way behind the lead group.

The campsite wasn't empty, though: a hideous apparition promptly floated across the meadow and through the group.  "Yoinks!" exclaimed Shaggy as he ran away.  Daphne stumbled backwards and tripped over a guy rope (or her high heels?); she fell over.

Shaggy stopped backing away from the spectre.  He had an uneasy feeling, so he took a quick look behind him.  There stood a hideous, black, skeletal knight, making awful wheezing sounds (the "Death Knight" had just run half the length of the table to get to this point)!

Meanwhile, a young student (Judy) approached Scooby and started to coo over him.  "What a cute puppy!" she said.  Let's see, you must be a poodle cross of some kind, I think".

"Ruppy?  Roodle?" gasped a shocked Scooby "Grr, rowf, rowf, rowf, ROWF!"  The college girl fled, crying loudly, just as Velma approached.  At the same time, the phantasm vanished [in game terms, Scooby scored a "gruesome kill" on poor Judy.  This then caused a fear test for all the evil side who were in range - and an immaterial model that fails a fear test is removed.  As the evil player, this effect was not something I had anticipated!].  The Death Knight also slunk away and hid in the morning shadows, though only temporarily.

Whilst Daphne stood up and dusted herself off, Scooby and Velma rooted around the campsite, looking for clues.  "This cable looks as if it goes to a projector of some type" said Velma, as she uncovered something in the grass.  "I wonder if it's high or low voltage?".  There was a flash and a bang as she discovered the answer the hard way - by being zapped [Velma and Scooby attempted the challenge for the plot point; it turned out to be a C3 physical attack.  Scooby shrugged it off, but poor Velma was "killed"].

"A crue!" exclaimed Scooby triumphantly as he dragged out some packaging from the edge of the campfire.  It was some packaging with a return label giving the address for the "Acme Halloween Costume" company.  Daphne took one look and said "Oh, great!  Another maniac in a rubber mask, right?"  [The reward for the plot point was indeed "It's a rubber mask", which would penalise the evil side in combat for the next turn].

"Um, guys" said Velma, looking pale and unsteady after her electric shock.  "I don't feel too good.  You go on without me; I'll just rest here for a while."

The Valley

With Fred still in his own dream world, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby started to make their way towards the next plot point, in the wooded valley [after the solution of the first plot point, a 3rd one had been deployed on the bridge across the river, but it seems that they weren't interested in that].

Although they had some close calls, all of the heroes managed to avoid the clutches of the Death Knight as they crossed the field.

Fred, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.  He thought that he had seen a monster and consequently wasn't watching his feet.  When he tripped and landed flat on his back, an obnoxious college student (Brad) was right there to "help" him up again.  This obstruction cost him quite a bit of time.

Reaching the wooded valley first, Daphne and Scooby tried to skirt round the hill to approach the hill.  Once again, a waiting spectre charged at them from out of the undergrowth.  Daphne fell over in surprise [not again!], whilst Scooby fled a short distance.

Recovering from their initial fright, the pair tried to climb the mound again.  this time, they were accosted by Crazy Joe, the ruined tower's custodian.  His foul mutterings and shouts scared Daphne so much that she turned and fled, whilst Scooby lost his footing, rolled down the hill and lay at the bottom, stunned.  [Joe's 'morose' attribute made it difficult for anyone near him to avoid him or do anything else that was useful - including the spectre!  When he did attack Scooby and Velma, he was outnumbered and should have been at some disadvantage.  However, in a major upset, he scored a "gruesome kill" against Daphne and this sent Scooby reeling in fright].

Crazy Joe ran down the hill to finish off Scooby Doo.  His swearing and thrashing of the undergrowth with a stick was too much for the poor hound; Scooby bolted away through the trees and wasn't seen again, at least during this game.

Meanwhile, Fred (who had finally shaken off the attentions of both Brad and the Death Knight) had caught up with Shaggy.  Together they approached the area from the other side.

However, it was Shaggy alone who completed the plot point.  He reached down a rabbit hole and drew out an item wrapped in waterproof cloth.  "Ouch, that hurts!" he exclaimed, as the rabbit scolded him for the intrusion by nipping at his fingers [once again, the challenge was a C3 attack - but this time Shaggy wasn't "injured" by it and could carry on].

"Look out!" called Fred, as an oblivious Shaggy scratched his head and wondered what he had found.  He had seen the spectre approaching Shaggy from one side and Crazy Joe from the other.  Fred ran up the hill towards the apparition, but slowed as he drew near.  "It's just a projection!" he exclaimed.  The projector device was hidden, but not so well that Fred couldn't find and disable it within moments [normally, a character wouldn't be able to melee an 'immaterial' model.  However, Fred had the 'conviction' trait, which permitted him to disregard superstitious explanations and instead look for a physical solution.  His combat rating of C3 made short work of the C0 spectre - and his easy victory caused a daunted Crazy Joe to step back a few paces as well!].

The End

Buoyed by his last success, Shaggy called out "I got this!" and ran through the woods and up the next hill.  There, he found the 4th minor plot point and attempted to solve it.  No-one was there to see what happened, but Shaggy ran away, screaming in terror [I can't remember what the plot challenge was for this one, but I think it might have been the 'scary' one.  Either that or yet another C3 attack.  Either way, Shaggy failed the challenge miserably and fled for his life, never to return].

On his own now, Fred was being pursued closely by the Death Knight, who had finally caught up, almost.  Fred ran and ran...

...until the villain trapped him amongst the trees.  Fred's conviction was of no help now, as the all-too-real physical foe beat him senseless!  As evening fell, the last hope for Mystery Inc to solve the case of the Death Knight faded into nothing...

Conclusion

This game was a bit frustrating for both sides, I think.  Although the adaptations and scenario we used are in the right direction, there's something still not quite right about it all and it didn't really work as we'd have liked.  Ok, let's see if I can figure out what are the problems:

1. Fear tests.  Every time a monster charges one of the good models, that figure takes a fear test.  Unless the target either passes 3 dice against their quality stat (or fails all 3!) then the overwhelmingly likely result is that they will either recoil a base depth or flee a short distance.  Either way, the monster has failed to make contact.  So, assuming that the good side doesn't want to rumble and charge the monster themselves, just how does anything from the evil side ever fight a melee, let alone win one?  I think we must have interpreted something in the Fear and Faith rules incorrectly here, but I can't see what.  I'll need to make inquiries.
2. Time Limits.  The idea of having a time-limited scenario with multiple objectives was spot on, I think.  It was intended to encourage the good side to "split up and look for clues".  However, basing the time limit on turnovers didn't lead to the desired result.  Indeed, it had exactly the opposite effect, as the good player moved extremely cautiously so as to avoid double-activation-failures (i.e. turnovers).  Indeed, it's a strange artifact of the Song of Blades and Heroes activation mechanism that the more you try to do in a turn, the less you're typically able to accomplish.  Do a few things reliably, or take a chance on doing more or doing nothing.  So, perhaps a more traditional "number of turns" mechanism would have worked better?  I'm not sure...

Finally, here are some other thoughts.  I'm not sure if these are problems that need addressing or not, though:

• "Crazy Joe", the morose character, had an effect out of all proportion to his cost.  His morose trait acted as a huge and unexpected drag on all characters near him, but especially on the good side because there were more of them.  And then, his combat abilities seemed nothing short of amazing, though it has to be recognised that he saw off Daphne and Scooby through luck as much as anything else.  "Gerroff moi land!  And don't come back, you young whippersnappers!"
• The house rules for the "Trail of Clues" adaptation didn't work too well.  Since only the good side could solve plot points (see my previous article), they could always place the next plot point fairly close to their current position.  This made it virtually impossible for the lesser "evil" characters to be in the right place to interfere as the game went on.  Remember the farmer and his dog from the force list, or the 3rd spectre?  They never got anywhere close to the action.
• The challenges for the plot points seemed to be quite tough.  Out of 3 plot points attempted, 2 characters were lost.  Again, how much of that was just bad luck as opposed to unreasonably hard challenges, though?  I'm not sure...
• I like the idea of having the "civilians" (or at least a large part of them) controlled by the evil player and used to distract, confuse and hinder the good guys.  However, it seems a little odd that the loss of such a "civilian" should cause a morale test for the monsters.  Similarly, the letter of the rules would have a civilian cause a fear test when he or she charges, just because they're part of the evil team.
  Perhaps we should have played them as a separate "faction", still controlled by the evil player in his/her turn, but acting as if they were good models otherwise [i.e. not causing fear tests when they charge, but being affected by fear of the monsters just as the heroic side's models would be].  Indeed, here's a thought: could the evil player have one of his monsters attack one of his "civilians", in order to cause a fear test in nearby heroes when they see a "friend" lost?  Hmm...

So, will we play Scooby Doo again?  Yes, I think so, probably.  However, I think there will need to be changes to some of the house rules first.  It's close, but not quite there yet...

Playing Scooby Doo games with "Fear and Faith"

Introduction

There is a great set of miniatures rules called Song of Blades and Heroes (hereafter "SoBH") that is designed for fantasy skirmishes.  I've used it before in Robin Hood and Witch-Hunting scenarios and have had some great games with both settings.

Andrea Sfiligoi (owner of Ganesha Games and author of SoBH) has written many other sets of rules that use roughly the same mechanics for different genres.  Of interest to this article is Fear and Faith ("FaF"), which is designed for horror battles.  FaF covers an enormous range of possible battles, whether a classic Gothic vampire confronted by Victorian gentlemen or modern heroes fighting off werewolves.  Or mad slashers, poltergeists, zombies, chupacabras and many other things!

To go even further down this route, there is a supplement for FaF called Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters ("KTMH").  KTMH covers most modern "teen" horror settings (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight &c); it even has profiles for a "cowardly canine detective" and a set of 4 "teenage mystery reporters".  So that's it - why do I even need to come up with my own house rules?  After all, FaF and KTMH have all the necessary profiles and scenarios between them - surely that's enough!

Detective Stories

It all comes down to the type of scenario.  Most wargames scenarios are written with the fighting uppermost in the author's mind, I think.  Victory conditions are set so that conflict plays a major part of the game, with other activities being either relegated to second best or being dropped altogether.  Perhaps some victory points will be given for having control of an arbitrary piece of landscape at the conclusion, but there's little connection between this condition and the developing narrative throughout the game.

I postulate that there is a category of games where the journey is more important than the fighting.  This might be clearer if I label the concept as "Detective Stories".  I believe that the bulk of such a story is essentially the hunt for clues.  Conflict may well exist (almost certainly!) as opposing interests compete for these clues or even as neutrals or natural forces react to trespassing investigators, but it's not the focus of the tale.

Examples?  There are many, I think, but here are just a few:

• Sherlock Holmes.  Or Philip Marlowe.  Or even The Sweeney, Starsky and Hutch and other "cop" shows.  Fist-fights or shoot-outs may well occur in a story, especially towards the climax, but aren't the real point.
• Doctor Who.  The good doctor meets many varied and dangerous creatures, but is famous for not fighting.  Instead, he tries to solve the problems in peaceful ways.
• and, of course, Scooby Doo!  The story is always about solving the mystery, not about dispatching enemies.  And here's the problem: as written, too many wargames rules have plenty of detail on how to fight, but little else.

Pulp Alley

I know of one set of games rules that does take investigation seriously.  That's Pulp Alley, which has an extensive section on "plot points".  A game will have 4 minor and 1 major plot point; the scenario dictates where (and when) they will appear.

Roughly, a plot point can be regarded as a victory condition but with a twist.  In broad terms, they have the following characteristics:

• A name or description.  Instead of just being a generic "plot point", it might be a "Jade Amulet", a "Power Regulator", a "Lost Shipment" or a "Clever Child".
• Victory points.  OK, this is fairly traditional.
• To recover a plot point, a model doesn't just pick it up.  Instead the model must overcome a challenge.  There are many different types of challenge in Pulp Alley, but basically they all involve passing a roll against some statistic and suffering a consequence on failure.
• The side that takes control of a plot point gets a reward, which confers immediate in-game benefits.  You don't have to wait until the end of the game to get the benefits!

Scooby Doo

So, how does this work for Scooby Doo, as played with Fear and Faith?  I propose to take the plot point mechanism from Pulp Alley and adjust it a little.  Also, there will be a few other house rules to suit the genre a bit better:

1. It's a family show: no-one is killed, especially not in a gruesome manner!  The game effects will still remain the same, but the character or monster will be deemed to have "run away" instead of being killed, or "run away, screaming loudly" instead of being killed gruesomely.  Similarly, "combat" may represent posturing or arguing with another model, not necessarily wrestling with them or using weapons.
2. The detectives: only the good side may attempt the plot points.  The evil side is trying to impede detection of their nefarious plans and this will be best served by interfering with the good side rather than racing them to uncover the mystery.  To compensate the evil side for this handicap, they will start with a victory point advantage and the scenario will be time-limited.  The good guys therefore will have to solve the mystery to win and will have to do it in a timely manner!
3. Cowards!  Scooby and Shaggy may not intentionally enter a combat with anyone or anything that has a combat rating higher than 1.  If they do become involved in such a fight then they may strike back as normal; the restriction is purely on initiating the melee.
4. Plot points: the attempt:
   
   Attempting to solve a plot point will require 2 actions to be spent in the same turn (3 actions for a major plot point).  These actions may come from multiple characters - as long as they're controlled by a single player and all actions are spent in the same turn.
5. Plot points: the challenge:
   
   When a plot point is attempted, all the models that are part of the attempt will be subject to the same challenge, chosen randomly from this list:
   1. Scary!  Take a standard Fear Test (with a -1 modifier for a major plot point).
   2. Entangled!  The model(s) must resist a "transfix spell" as if cast with 2 successes (3 for a major plot point).
   3. Damaged!  Each model is the target of a C3 attack (C4 for a major plot point).  Resolve each combat separately, with no bonuses for multiple participants in the melee.
   4. Lost!  Make a 3-dice quality check.  On 2 failures (1 for a major plot point), the opponent may relocate the model anywhere within M.  On 3 failures, the opponent may relocate the model anywhere on the board.  Such relocation may be into contact with an enemy model, but not anywhere that results in certain death such as a blast furnace, bottomless pit, outer space...
   5. Cursed!  The model(s) must resist a "curse spell" as if cast with 2 successes (3 for a major plot point).
   Should at least 1 of the attempting models survive the challenge without being transfixed, knocked down, lost or running away then the reward may be claimed.
   If the reward cannot be claimed on this occasion, the plot point may be attempted again in future turns (keep the same challenge, though!)
6. Plot points: the reward:
   
   On successfully withstanding a challenge, the reward for the plot point is then be claimed.  There will be victory points to won; these will depend on the scenario.  Additionally, an in-game effect will be chosen randomly from the following list:
1. There you are!  A previously-lost (i.e. "dead" or run away) character is rescued and reappears at the plot point's location.
2. Scooby Snacks!  For the next turn only, all the good side's models may pass 1 dice automatically during any quality check.  Note that this stacks with the Hero attribute; a model with hero would then have 2 automatic successes for that turn.
   Also while this reward is in effect, the Cowards! rule is suspended.  Scooby and/or Shaggy may charge into combat if desired!
3. It's a rubber mask!  For the next turn only, opponents suffer a -2 to their rolls in melee.
4. Relentless!  For the next turn only, the good side may carry on after rolling 2 failures in an activation test.  This bonus only applies to the first such occasion where 2 failures are rolled; after that such an even will cause a turnover as normal.

Conclusion

My apologies if this all seems to be a bit rambling.  I've been mulling over ideas like these for some time now, but without coming to any clear conclusions.  Perhaps writing them down and making my thoughts public will help to crystallise them?  I suppose we'll not really know how successful they are until after we've played a game or two.

Your thoughts and carefully-reasoned criticisms would be most welcome!

[UPDATE: The first game we've played under this system can be viewed here: Scooby Doo and the Death Knight]

28mm College Kids

Introduction

Have I mentioned recently that I intend to put on a 28mm Scooby Doo-themed game sometime soon?  I may just have said this before?

I'm trying to round up some figures that I can use either as bystanders or as suspicious members of the public.  Some of my zombie survivors can be re-used for this of course, but generally only the ones that don't have any weapons and aren't splashed with blood!  So, I searched through my lead pile for suitable models and picked out a few; here are the first of the group to be painted.

College Stereotypes

Reaper make a huge and varied selection of miniatures, only spoilt (for me, at least) by the somewhat uneven scale of their models.  Many of their Chronoscope range are reasonably close to 28mm, but a few are huge!  It's not possible to tell from their website, so you have to either buy the models and hope or you have to find reviews from other internet users.  Anyway, this is a digression...

These 3 figures come from Reaper pack 50090: Townsfolk: Jock, Chick, Nerd.  You'll have to work out for yourselves which is the jock, the chick and the nerd; I'm sure I can't tell!  They're comparable in scale to most other 28mm models and so the will fit into my collection nicely.  Of course, they also match my requirements for the Scooby Doo game nicely: they're modern, unarmed civilians.  The fact that they are caricatures helps as well; cartoons such as Scooby Doo are full of such stereotypes!

As you can see from the back, I've named these models Maxwell, Brad and Judy.  I put them on urban, street bases because I couldn't think what else to do.  I certainly didn't want to model the bases as dirt and grass, though in hindsight I could have done indoors instead.

By the way, I know that Judy is holding a book but this is just so that other people will take her seriously.  However I don't think she's as smart as she thinks she is: she's holding the book upside down!  If you look very closely then you might just be able to make this out.

Conclusion

This is quite a popular set of models and I'm by no means the first person to blog about painting them.  I found at least 3 or 4 other sets with a simple Google search.  If you're a keen painter then it's quite interesting to compare the different painting styles and colour palettes.  In no particular order, here are a few different ones:

• http://carmensminiaturepainting.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/ghostbusters-paranormal-investigator_27.html
• http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/reaper-civilians-students.html
• http://miniatures-painting.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_01_archive.html
• http://jerry-bigpicture.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/zombie-chow.html

Spectres and Spooks

Introduction

Last time, I showed some models that I had prepared with a white undercoat.  Well, I've now completed the apparitions that I plan to use in Fear and Faith.  These will be opposition for Mystery Incorporated and should, I think, strike terror into the hearts of Scooby Doo and company (not that that's very hard, mind you!).  I've also painted up their boss, so read on...

The Skeleton Knight

The big baddie for my planned game is the Skeleton Knight.  He's from a pack of Black Tree Design undead knights that I obtained a long time ago, though I cannot remember why I bought these.  Perhaps they came in some bulk eBay purchase rather than direct from the manufacturer?  I'm not sure, but it doesn't really matter now.

He's quite a big model, though if anything I think that just increases his suitability to be a Scooby Doo villain.  After all, if it is just a costume then there needs to be room inside for the operator.  In any case the teenagers wouldn't be as frightened of something smaller, I think!

This was a very easy model to paint.  I undercoated in grey, then touched up the plate armour with steel.  All of the metal parts were then given a wash of metallic black (this is my favourite way of painting chainmail - just undercoat and wash!).  The bone was painted with a pale tan and then given a darker brown wash.  That just left the gauntlets, the belt and the horns on the helmet, which were all painted individually.  Oh, and the base, but that's pretty simple too.

In the game, he'll be mobile and quite terrifying, at least to start with.  However, if Mystery Inc. can find some clues before a final confrontation then his stats might just melt away!

The Spectres

As I mentioned in the previous article, these models are also from Black Tree Design.  Again, they're quite big (they are on 25mm bases), but that's OK since I want them to tower over the humans.  I'll give them the Haunt trait from the Fear and Faith rules - that will tie each to a single location and prevent all the evil forces from just ganging up on Shaggy and Scooby!  This also fits my intended background for such apparitions: they're really just film projections onto white walls or clouds of dry ice.  Maybe!

The spectres were undercoated in white.  After that, I applied a brown wash over the bony bits, followed by a bright green wash over the lower parts.  I deliberately extended the green wash a little way over parts of the ribcages and also over the dirt on the bases.  The scythes were done with further washes and finally the eye sockets were painted in solid black and topped off with red spots.  Very simple!

Conclusion

Right, now I need an assortment of innocent and suspicious-looking bystanders (I'm working on some!) and a suitable setting.  Then I'll be able to put on a small game with Scooby Doo and company in it - awesome!

White Out!

Introduction

I'm going to be doing 2 things in this post that are somewhat unusual, for me.

• Firstly, I don't normally show pictures of models that aren't finished.  It would be all too easy to fill the Internet with images of my started-but-on-hold model mountain.  However if I did that regularly then I would lose all credibility as someone who can actually complete anything.
• Next, I normally undercoat models in grey.  I've tried black before and it's really difficult to lay down pale colours on top of this.  White undercoat, in my experience, doesn't coat too well.  Unless a model is to be predominantly black or white, I compromise and use grey.

Strangely, this week I've found myself undercoating a number of models in white, though..,

The Apparitions

I'm trying to collect some figures that I can use in games of Fear and Faith.  Last week, I posted details of Mystery Incorporated (better known as "the Scooby Doo gang") and I can probably come up with some suitably suspicious civilians to use as allies, bystanders and low-level enemies.  However, I wanted some monsters as well.

These spectre models come from Black Tree Design, though they only seem to be available in a regiment-sized pack.  I've had a large bag of them sitting in the lead pile for many years and now seemed like a good time to paint a few.  They'll be used as haunts in Fear and Faith - but in the best traditions of Scooby Doo they may turn out not to be real ghosts.  Instead, they could be just images projected onto clouds of smoke by the demented janitor.  Or maybe not!

I plan to paint these spectres to be as pale and ethereal as possible.  This might be a challenge, since they're quite solid models and I don't have any transparent paint.  Still, I'll give it a go...

The Angels

It came as quite a surprise to me recently to discover that I had not one but two packs of the Daredevil Sisters from Crooked Dice.  I don't normally forget a purchase so completely that I buy another copy of the same thing!

Now, as anyone with an interest in Marionation knows, the Daredevil sisters are based very closely on the Angels from the Captain Scarlet TV series (gosh, is it really almost 50 years?).  The Angels were the 5 female pilots of Spectrum's fleet of fighter and passenger aircraft; they were young, international and glamorous!  As with the other members of the organisation, they all had code names, in this case Destiny, Harmony, Rhapsody, Melody and Symphony.

Since the Angels wore white uniforms, I've decided to undercoat these models in white (well, obviously!).  I bought a separate pack of helmeted heads to customise them a bit, so at least I won't have 2 sets of 3 identical figures.

Actually, I went a bit further than this and also changed around the equipment the Angels were holding or wearing as well as their heads.  This gives me 6 models that are all unique, though it's easy enough to spot the duplicate bodies.

Of course, there were only 5 Angels in the Captain Scarlet show.  I've decided that in my universe there is another Angel who isn't quite as well known.  Perhaps she's been on leave, or on special assignment somewhere.  I'm thinking of naming her Serenity; I had to abandon the musical theme when the only name in that area which I could find was Cacophony!

So, there you are - some of the recent works from my "White" period!

Mystery Incorporated

Introduction

I've mentioned Fear and Faith a few times recently, either in one of my own articles or in a comment on someone else's blog.This has reminded me how much I want to get out some figures and play this game.

So, what is Fear and Faith?  It's a set of rules for skirmish wargaming, based on Ganesha Games' very successful Song of Blades and Heroes fantasy offering, but with an emphasis on horror.  In particular, it's really aimed at Gothic through to modern horror, so any time in the last 3 centuries or so.

In addition to the main Fear and Faith rules, I have purchased a supplement called (sic!) Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters!  It expands on the main rules by providing profiles and scenarios aimed at the modern, American, urban monster genre.  Think Buffy, Twilight and the like and you won't be far wrong!

However, there's one set of profiles in KTMG that I've just got to play!  I've made up some quick reference cards for this band; let's see if anyone can recognise them.  Note that I've changed the names from those given in the booklet; I think that my names work much better.

Without further ado, I present my band "Mystery Incorporated":

Conclusion

I am a little puzzled by some of the traits that have been assigned to these characters; they're not always what I would have done myself.  Still, I can always change them if I want, can't I?

Of course, I'll need to get them some transport (maybe the Crooked Dice van with Company B decals?)  More importantly, I'll need some adversaries and some special scenario rules.  I have a feeling that dog treats might be important...