You're in the Army Now!

Introduction

So you're in a zombie apocalypse.  The neighbourhood is overrun, the vigilantes have run away and the cops can't cope.  What to do?  Send in the army; it's bound to work!

Troops

For fighting off zombies, evacuating civilians and guarding base perimeters, you need foot soldiers.  These squaddies are basic plastic troopers from EM-4.  With a little bit of filler, these are decent figures, though their guns are a bit crude.  Still, they are some of the cheapest 28mm figures around, so I'm not complaining!

Here's a close-up of the lieutenant, radio operator and a rifleman.

For support weapons, we're spoiled for choice.  Again, these models are from EM-4, but this time the standard plastic bodies have the cunning metal heavy weapons parts fitted.  From the left: chain gunner, missile launcher, recoilless rifle, flamethrower and autocannon!  Truly the zombies don't stand a chance!  Neither do the houses, gardens, parked cars or lost kittens...

Transport

No self-respecting modern soldier is going to walk to the zombie apocalypse!  In any case, they'll need buses, trucks or other such vehicles to be able to evacuate the civilians.

These may look like Hummers, but they are really General Purpose Vehicles (GPVs) from Ebbles Miniatures, now sold by Genet Models.  Compared with many civilian cars, these are quite big.  I don't mind that in a military vehicle; it makes them feel a bit more intimidating!

The GPV kit comes with a choice of 6 colour schemes.  As I mentioned in a recent post here, I forgot which scheme I had used for my first two models when I printed off the second two.  Consequently, they're not quite the same colour.  Bother.  The lead vehicle has been armed with a .50 calibre machine gun, but TOW and grenade launcher options are also available.

A word of caution: I've made several of these GPVs now.  I consider myself to be quite experienced, but the combination of wheel arches and the slopes where the sides meet the underside make it quite the most tricky card model I've ever assembled.  Don't get me wrong; when completed it's a fine model of a very versatile subject.  Possibly not one for the raw beginner, though.

The Armoured Patrol Vehicle (APV) is a lot bigger than the GPV.  It also comes from Genet Models and so has the same look and feel.  It looks as if it could easily carry an entire squad of 10 or more troops and all their equipment (good luck getting that missile launcher or recoilless rifle into a GPV!).   The same weapons kit fits both models; I will probably arm this vehicle before using it on the games table.

If you thought that the APV was big then this military truck is huge!  Again the kit comes with a range of colour schemes, but this time it also has a number of different backs that can fit on the same chassis.  I've made this one up as an open cargo truck, but covered trucks and tanker versions are also possible.  It's a nice, easy model to make, but I think I'll scale down further printouts rather than making them at the default size.  It's just too big; easily 2 or 2.5 times the height of a man!

Comparison of truck, GPV and APV, with a trooper for scale

Finally

With a few more grunts and some trucks, this lot should be able to rescue any embattled citizens from the rampaging hordes of zombies.  Whether the civilians wish to be rescued and taken to a refugee camp or not...

Claymore 2012

Introduction

So, yesterday we went to Claymore 2012.  What is "Claymore"?  It's Scotland's largest wargaming show, held in early August each year in Edinburgh.  I've not always managed to go to this show, but this year the timing worked out quite well.  This year I took just my younger son (10) with me.  My older boy preferred to visit friends and my daughter is still a bit young for that sort of thing.  Also, (along with my wife) she's probably not interested.

This is not an attempt to document the entire show.  Others have done that very effectively in their own ways (for example, on the Wappinshaw blog).  Rather, it's a very personal account of our day out.

Travel

It takes us just short of 2 hours to drive from Helensburgh to Telford College, Edinburgh.  This is quite tedious, of course, but since #2 son is very interested in music we listened to CDs in the car.  On the way out it was a recording by "Canadian Brass" - my son is learning trombone and was interested to hear the sorts of things that a small ensemble could play.

1st Game

After a quick wander round to get a feel for the number and types of tables & traders (lots of both!), we were given a quick demonstration of the Urban War sci-fi rules.  #2 son took a squad of Viridians (regular troopers with assault rifles) and the demonstrator took a squad of Gladiators (close combat specialists with less formal organisation, equipment and uniforms).  The Gladiators charged towards the troopers, but without making much use of cover.  #2 son gleefully gunned down half of them and unexpectedly killed a further one in melee, at which point the remainder were deemed to have fled.  On that showing, I'd say that Urban War is merely a copy of Warhammer 40K, but using d10s rather than d6s.  However it's hardly a fair or comprehensive review!  Still, I don't think that this is the set of rules for me...

2nd Game

We didn't get very much further round the hall when we stopped to look at a table run by Bathgate Wargames Club.  Before we knew it, we were roped in to the game and had become highwaymen, intent on looting a pay chest in a nearby coaching inn!

 

 There were 4 teams; each had 3 ruffians intent on mischief.  In the picture above, you can see the inn, plus 2 of my gang who had just attacked a party who were on the way to a duel.  I killed one of the duellists and knocked out the other, along with the doctor who was accompanying them.  My 2 men then headed off the table with their captives, intending to hold them to ransom.  I also had a fine pair of pistols to sell on the black market!

My 3rd man followed #2 son's gang into the inn courtyard from one side, just as another 3 highwaymen (played by another young lad) entered from the far side.  There was chaos in the courtyard as everyone shot at or charged everyone else.  Guests at the inn also fired out of the windows, adding considerably to the carnage.  Finally we each had one man left standing.  #2 son's rogue was bleeding badly so he mounted up and tried to escape, but ran straight into a group of approaching soldiers.  It'll be the gallows for him, I think.  My thief managed to pry open the pay chest in the wagon, but was then stabbed in the back by the other young boy's last ruffian.  However, he got his just deserts not long after as soldiers surrounded the inn and forced him to surrender.  Another one for the hangman's noose!

So, did I win?  Not quite - the 4th player was a canny woman whose party of highwaymen had managed to stay away from all trouble and had captured (and ransomed) a lady on horseback.  Seems that this lady and her horse were worth more than the duelist that I had caught, so I lost on a technicality.  Still, I collected 54 guineas and 2 pence (!) and was given a card describing my achievements, which was a nice touch:

Victory card back

Victory card front

 Lunch

Lunch was a quick and uninspired affair, involving chips and cola.  Not my favourite food, but at least it kept us going for a while.

We walked around for a bit after eating, mostly looking at the tables in more detail.  One in particular caught my eye; there was a gorgeous setup depicting a Viking raid.  This was a diorama rather than a game in progress, in the sense that the models had been set up and were left in place.  The owner (or rather, the owner's daughter and wife, I think!) offered us a quiz to do.  This had questions along the lines of "how many sheep are there?" and "what's happening to the monk?".  The table was loaded with little vignettes and we spent some time looking at it from all angles trying to spot all these amazing details.  We must have done something right, for we answered all of the quiz correctly (though we needed a little help to find the rabbit - I really think that was a bit of a trick question!).

Shopping

We spent part of the afternoon wandering around the traders so that I could indulge myself.  As you can see from the picture, I bought quite a bit.  Firstly, I found 5 Sharpe novels for £1 each.  I already have some Sharpe novels, but I couldn't remember which.  However at £1 each I was prepared to take the chance that I was doubling up on some of them.  If so then it would have been Oxfam's gain, but after checking it seems that I didn't have any of these after all!

I bought a number of things to help my Saga project along.  There are some shield decals and flags with which to finish off my Scots warband.  Also I bought some wattle-and-daube fences by Renedra and some Pictish dwellings from Sheltrum Miniatures' "Once and Future" range.  Finally, some Dark Age pigs/swine to act as an objective or just to get in the way.  Incidentally, the Saga dice that have been unavailable for so long will supposedly be back in stock within a week or so.  I was told that each new production run was twice the size of the previous one, so let's hope that they don't run out quite as quickly this time!

I've been promising myself some more zombies for a while and so I obtained one of the Blue Moon box sets.  It's not that I really need the numbers, but I like the variety!  These are not as cheap as plastic zombies, though they're not a bad price for metal.  Ah, just wait until the Studio Miniatures plastic zombies and the recently-announced Wargames Factory vixens come out; that'll give me even more variety!

To my surprise, #2 son also found a number of items to buy.  We scored some Lego minifigures at the bring-and-buy as well as buying some new 1:72nd modern US troops (I'm not sure what he plans to use these for; they don't fit in with any scale or period that I use myself).  He also bought a blank dice and a few cheap 2nd-hand Heroclix miniatures.  One happy boy...

Return Journey

Traveling home was pretty much the same as the outward journey, except that we played a different music album.  I even found that I still had some money left, so I'm quite pleased with that!

Army Showcase: Viridians (part 1)

The Viridians

Part 1: Mounted Troops

These 28mm models originally came from the now-defunct i-Kore and were made for their "Void" game.  I was never much interested in the Void rules, though I liked the models and collected a large number of them.  Most are still unpainted, of course, but here are some of the completed ones.  I've used some of them in a game of FUBAR occasionally; otherwise they just sit in boxes on the shelf.  That's not really fair, so occasionally they get taken out to be shown to people.  Now it's your chance...

According to the Void fluff, the Viridians are medium/high-tech militant ecologists.  As such, they mostly use dinosaur-like creatures instead of (pollution-producing) vehicles.  I can't quite bring myself to believe that such a force would be militarily effective under most circumstances; I don't think there's the remotest chance that any animal, even if genetically engineered, would ever come close to a wheeled or tracked vehicle for speed, protection or load-carrying capacity.  However, perhaps they come from a planet that has extremely difficult terrain - so bad that vehicles are at a significant disadvantage.  Anyway, they look cool...

Fire Support Behemoth

This is an enormous beast!  On its back is a howdah which contains the primary weapon: a large cannon of some sort.  There are also a couple of "platforms" at ground level that mount chain guns.  These platforms are so low as to appear virtually useless, especially if the monster is in close terrain.  However, there are pistons mounted on the "arms" that hold the platforms; perhaps they can be raised and lowered as required.

Here's a view into the howdah, showing some of the stowage and other items that I've added.  I also replaced the shell that the loader is carrying, since the original was huge.  I don't care how big the guy's muscles are; no-one could have lifted such an item!

Assault Behemoth

This is another very large creature; it has an armoured command and power centre on its back.  The weapons are a pair of twinned gauss cannons, which have significant anti-tank capability as well as being devastating against infantry.  Again, the placement of the armament only makes sense to me if the fighting platforms can be raised and lowered at will. I think that it's possible that the protection for the model comes from a force-field generator rather than just armour plate.  Otherwise the load would be immense and the animal itself would be vulnerable, even if the command centre was not.

It's not often that you see a tank that can bite!

Mounted Infantry

Here's a squad of infantry mounted on the somewhat smaller terrasaurs.  The sergeant has a small howdah that contains radio and other command & control equipment, while the rest of the troops just have saddles on their beasts.  I don't know whether they always dismount to fight, or if they practice fighting on the move.  Certainly some of the figures are aiming at something; perhaps their advanced gauss rifles have gyroscopic stabilisers built in!

Scouts

Finally, we have a small squad of lightly-armed troops mounted on small, fast dinosaurs.  These scouts are tracking some litter louts; at least 2 of the models have found discarded fuel cans or food and drink tins.  I wouldn't want to be the offender when they catch up!

A closer look at the first half-squad

The second half-squad

Conclusion

So there you have it.  A bunch of fervent sci-fi ecologists mounted on various dinosaur-like creatures.  At least, the ones I have painted so far.  I also have a number of other behemoths, terrasaurs and some flying critters still to paint, if I ever get the time.

The Viridians have many plain foot soldiers too; I'll post the ones I've done so far in Part 2 (some time).

Incidentally, the miniatures (including these ones) and the rules for Void 1.1 are still available from Scotia Grendel.  i-Kore morphed into Urban Mammoth, who produce a follow-on set of rules and miniatures called Urban War.

[Update: here is Part 2: Light Infantry]

What I did on my holiday...

Traveling Light

Every summer, we try to take our young family away for one or two week's holiday.  There have been one or two times where this didn't happen, typically because of great uncertainty over job security and the consequent reluctance to spend any money.  However, this wasn't such a year and we've just returned from 2 excellent weeks vacation in Dumfries and Galloway.

I've always tried to take some model-making stuff with me on long holidays.  There's always some quiet time at some point in the day - maybe after the children are in bed in the evening or perhaps after breakfast but before going out for the day.  I like to make use of these interludes to keep up my hobby.

In the past, I've taken primed miniatures and paints, but this hasn't worked very well.  The long(ish) drying times mean that the setup cannot be moved quickly, the models are difficult to pack safely and taking a small range of paints means that I always find I'm missing one that I really need.  Instead, I've taken to building card vehicles for ATZ or similar games.

The Model Pack

So, here's my holiday model-making travel setup.  It all fits in an A4 box that was designed for scrapbooking.  Actually, I use a lot of these boxes (and their A5, A6 and "peel off sticker box" cousins) for storing models as well, but that's not really relevant right now.

On the way out, the kit holds the tools I'll need.  Most important are the knife, steel ruler, scribe and glue.  A few clamps can be useful and a black marker or felt pen for edging is pretty much essential too.  I've also included some offcuts of foamcore, to use as stiffeners for vehicles with large, flat sides or underbellies.

Finally, I include a number of card sheets with the desired models printed on them.  Obviously these need to be prepared before leaving on holiday, but that's not too onerous a task.

The Models

This year I thought that I'd build some military vehicles from the Ebbles' "Convoy" and "Patrol" sets (the contents of the latter now appear to be sold separately as the APV and GPV).  These have been on my wish list for some time as they would be useful for playing any of the military scenarios from ATZ: Haven.  I also took a small assortment of models from the old Mayhem vehicle collection and other WorldWorks kits.

So, how did it go?  I started by carefully cutting out the first sheet for one of the Convoy trucks.  Immediately I discovered that I hadn't measured the foamcore offcuts I had with me; all were too narrow for this big boy.  Argh!  Bang goes my idea for building all the transport vehicles I had intended...

Next up was a sheet with 3 motorcycles on it.  These are large touring bikes, I think, rather than trail bikes or mopeds.  The builds were surprisingly straightforward, if a little tedious due to the number of pieces for each bike and the small size of the components.  A bonus was that the chassis is exactly the right size to be wrapped around a small piece of 5mm foamcore for extra rigidity.  Surely this is just fortuitous; WorldWorks would never have thought to design it that way - or would they?  My respect for those guys is always growing.

The custom-painted compact car was an easy model to make.  I've done a number of the same shape before in different colours and the only real trick is to cut the front of the vehicle from the body and glue it on separately (otherwise it doesn't fit as well as it might).  Perfect for the aspiring boy racer.

The van is one of the easiest WorldWorks vehicles to make (only the bus is simpler, I think), although the finished model looks a bit small when compared with the WWG cars.  This one is in the livery of some touring troupe of do-gooders called the "B team".  Anyone ever heard of them?

Last year (or maybe the year before that) I printed a sheet containing a black and a white sedan, but never got round to building them.  This year I thought I should do so.  Now, the WorldWorks sedans are a bit pidgeon-toed if built "out of the box", as the wheels align with the slopes at the front and rear of the bodywork.  In all apart from my first 2 or 3 builds of this kit, I've made some adaptations to allow all the wheels to sit parallel with each other.

This modification does require the use of fully-round wheels rather than the half-round ones that come by default.  Somewhere I have an entire A4 sheet of such wheels, edited from the original by doubling the length of the tread on the tyre and adding a full second side.  This sheet should supply more sedan wheels than I'm ever likely to need - but I forgot to include it in the holiday pack.  So for now, these cars have no wheels.

Finally, here are a couple of the Ebbles' GPVs.  These are very frustrating models.  They mostly fit together very well, but I hate the wheel arches!  The first GPV I made from the bottom up; the wheel arches were fitted into the body shell before the front and back of the vehicle were attached.  This was a bit fiddly and I wasn't entirely happy with it.

For the second GPV, I changed my approach and fitted the wheel arches, the front and the back panels to the upper body before attaching the underside.  Big mistake!  It proved impossible to glue the bottom of this model neatly and the whole construction is warped considerably (one corner of the underside is maybe 2 or 3mm higher than the other three).  Careful placement of the wheels means that an observer probably won't be able to tell, unless they turn the model over and look at its belly.  Still, I know - and now so do you.

Returning Home

The model box was padded with some spare socks to stop everything rattling about for the return journey, so it all arrived safely.  I'm not sure that I'd want to take my travel pack with me if I was flying, though.  Even if the constructed kits didn't get damaged with rough handling, the sharp knife and bottle of liquid might just make airport security a bit too interested.  Still, for a car journey this works just fine and I made up some useful models for which I wouldn't have found time otherwise.

There's another part to the sorry tale of the military vehicles.  On my return home, I compared my 2 new GPVs against the 2 I had already made.  As you can see from the picture above, the earlier one is in a different colour scheme from the recently-built model.  Which means that my existing 2 GPVs and 1 APV are not the same as all the Convoy and Patrol stuff I printed out just before my holiday.  I should have checked first.  Bother.

What's in the Box? Cargoes for Starships.

Introduction

The Free Trader "Peregrine"

A few months ago, I described someone else's idea for adding colour to Full Thrust or similar games that involve miniature starships: Damage Control to the Disco Lounge.  The table presented there adds "non-critical" damage to spacecraft and this gives the players something of a feel for the lifestyles of the crews under their command, if somewhat tongue-in-cheek!
This is all very well for military ships, but it doesn't work for civilian vessels; too many of the non-critical hits aren't really appropriate.  In most of the games of Full Thrust I have played, freighters have been simple targets without any real sense of personality.  This article attempts to redress the balance.

Cargoes

Every freighter or passenger ship will have space - probably a lot of space - allocated to its cargo.  By the way, I'm not intending to suggest anything pejorative by describing passengers as "cargo"; it's just a convenient term to cover all things that are transported from one place to another.  In Full Thrust, this cargo space is typically divided into 4 or fewer holds ("H" in the Ship Status Display above) or passenger areas ("P").
If the game scenario dictates what the freighter or starliner is carrying then that's simple and the rest of this article will be irrelevant.  However in most games this will not be the case, especially if your playing style is anything like mine.  So what is the merchantman carrying?  Just roll on the appropriate table below to find out!
Firstly, a few notes:

• It would be tedious to dice for cargoes before a game if there are many vessels involved (convoy, anyone?).  Instead, I roll for the cargo type when/if each hold is destroyed.
• How do I roll on a table with 17 choices?  Just use a d20 and re-roll any result of 18 or more.  Or pick numbered chits from a cup.  Or invent some more cargoes of your own until the number matches a dice that you do have!
• I generally assume that a freighter is fully loaded and therefore every hold or passenger deck is occupied.  After all, the owners won't like the idea of the ship traveling empty or partially laden; it's not cost-effective!  If you believe differently then it's easy enough to assign a probability to each hold that it does indeed contain stuff, rather than being empty.
• A large starship (especially a bulk freighter!) may be carrying the same cargo in all of its holds.  Smaller ships are perhaps more likely to have mixed cargoes, with a different load in each hold.  Again, you'll have to decide for yourself how to model this.

 General Freight

The medium freighter "Lady Godiva"

1. Agricultural machinery
2. Soft toys for orphans
3. Counterfeit Romulan ale
4. Recreational robots
5. Wallpaper
6. Lawnmowers
7. Desk lamps
8. Prefab buildings
9. Tennis balls
10. Luxury foods
11. Live square-pigs
12. Antique books
13. Tropical survival kits
14. Rope
15. Domestic cleaning products
16. Personal grooming equipment
17. Medicines
18. Self-sealing stem bolts

Bulk Freight

The Bulk Freighter: "Empress of Orion"

1. Ore
2. Petrochemicals
3. Refined metal
4. Grain
5. Water
6. Chemicals
7. Fruit juice
8. Flour
9. Coal
10. Dilithium ore
11. Wood chips
12. Cement
13. Scrap metal
14. Soy beans
15. Fertiliser
16. Gravel

Passengers

The Starliner "Pride of the Orient"

1. Tourists
2. Troops
3. Convicts
4. Refugees
5. Migrants
6. Political delegation
7. Businessmen
8. Theatre troupe
9. Pilgrims
10. Slaves/Indentured Workers

Conclusion

Knowing what cargo was destroyed doesn't alter the balance of a game in any way.  However, it certainly helps to flesh out the story.  So, a convoy is attacked - but why are the merchantmen carrying luxury foods?  Is this part of a regular trade run to a well-off world?  Or is it a perk for the despotic warders on a grim prison moon?
If you wish to take this further then you could assign values to each type of cargo, to see how significant the loss is to the owner (beyond the cost of the ships themselves, of course).  Of course, you'll have to decide whether that Political Delegation is a group of corrupt senators on a jaunt (low value?) or whether it's a commission of inquiry sent to investigate wrongdoing in a remote colony (high value?).  Good luck!

Army Showcase: Egyptologists

Introduction

If you're looking for Pulp entertainment at the movies, there are few films of the genre better known or more entertaining than Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy (1999 version) or their assorted sequels.  There are a number of very nice miniatures available with which to represent this type of action; this article documents my collection.

 

Heroes

The Adventurers

These figures are all from Blue Moon Manufacturing's "Things that go bump in the night" range (specifically BMM103 BOX 4 "I JUST DON'T FEEL MY AGE").  They are clearly tomb robbers archaeologists from the 1920s or 1930s.  From left to right:

• Marion Allen has a torch and a revolver; perfect for exploring monster-infested tombs.
• Idaho Smith also has a torch and revolver.  No bullwhip, mind - that would be a bit too derivative, wouldn't it now?
• Henry Orme holds a compass in one hand and a rifle in the other.  Perhaps he's surveying the ground for hidden tombs?  Or looking for lost diamond mines?
• Evie Grant has a lantern and a book (presumably a tome of forbidden knowledge of some sort.  Or a tourist guide).

The Hunters

A slightly different trio now:

• Rupert is obviously posh, but it's unclear whether he's another tomb raider or whether he's just in Africa to amuse himself by hunting.  This is another figure from Blue Moon's BMM103 set.
• Henry Morton and Lady Constance are both dressed in clothes that are faded and torn.  I suspect they set off touring and became stranded at some remote oasis, where they've been living since.  These two miniatures are from Brigade Games (the U.S. company, not to be confused with the U.K's Brigade Models).

 

Neutrals

 The Diggers

 

What would an Egyptian adventure be without a bunch of labourers, either to help the bad guys unearth some evil artifact or to die horribly whilst serving the good guys?  Here is my crew: most of them are from Westwind Production's "Gothic Horror" range, though the one 4th from the left (with the odd base) is also from the same Blue Moon BMM103 set as before.

The Bystanders

As you may have gathered by now, the BMM103 boxed set has much of what one needs to run a scenario based on "The Mummy".  Here are another 3 figures from it: a shifty passer-by (thief? spy? pedlar?), a policeman and a terrified, fleeing citizen.

 

Bad Guys

Cultists

This is a bunch of ruffians, if ever I saw!  They are obviously not nice guys, but they are versatile enough to play the part of cultists, slavers, hired muscle or just a generic band of brigands as needed.  They recently appeared in this role in day 3 of the Klingon holiday!  The models are mostly from West Wind Productions, though once again there's an interloper.  The 1st figure is from Blue Moon Manufacturing instead...

 

Conclusion

There's something missing from the above, isn't there?  Ah, I know!  There's no Mummy!  Or Nazis!  I really need a bit more opposition for the good guys; it's all very well to have the minions, but where are the bosses?  Now I'm feeling that this is all incomplete and I'll need to buy and paint some more figures.  As if I didn't have enough to do already!  Bah!
To top it all, I managed to drop this box of miniatures as I was returning them to storage after taking the above photographs.  There are few things more heartbreaking than to see models over which you have spent a lot of effort just piled in a heap on the floor.  I estimate that 2/3 of them had at least some minor paint chips that needed touching up.  At least none were damaged further than that!

    Hugh

ATZ Event Cards: Part 3

What's Gone Before

Original card style

Just under a month ago, I outlined a project of mine: to create a deck of 54 random event cards for All Things Zombie (ATZ) here.

I posted a brief update a few days later here.  Since then I've done some more work and even though the project is still far from complete, I thought you might like a further progress report.  I'd be most interested in any feedback on either the content or the style of the cards I've designed so far!

Current card style

The Plan

So, here's what I intend to do: if I can design 54 different cards then I can have them made by Artscow or a similar service.  Professionally-printed cards are far better quality than the ones I've made for myself on a home printer!  Why 54?  A standard deck of playing cards is made up of 4 suits of 13 cards and 2 jokers.  (4 * 13) + 2 = 54.

There are several elements to this plan; all need to be completed in order for me to receive a nice, new deck of ATZ event cards:

1. Create a template design for the cards.  After my earlier posts, there were some good suggestions and examples of several styles for character cards.  These were often based on "Magic: the Gathering" (MtG); indeed I soon discovered that there is a minor industry in producing card editors for this game!  However, although the design templates were a great deal better than my version-1 cards, none of the editors I tried had the flexibility I needed.
   So as to have complete control over the process, I've created a PowerPoint file for my cards.  This document has a master layout that describes a blank slide; all I need to do when creating a card is to add a new slide and fill in the blanks.  When I'm done, the whole document can be "saved as" PNG files in a single action.
2. Collect 54 random events for ATZ!  As you can see if you download the PowerPoint file (here, if I've not made a mistake), I have 44 cards so far, plus a possible back for the deck.  Of these cards, 18 are lifted from the original ATZ rules, though there are a few changes to the wording.  Some of the remaining cards are complete and most of the remainder just want a picture.  One or two of the latest cards are simple titles at the moment; I haven't yet come up with game rules for them.
   Note that most of the cards I am proposing have not been tried in a real game of ATZ; it is entirely possible that some of them are confusing or even unworkable!
3. Upload all the cards to Artscow and pay them to print the deck.  This shouldn't be a problem; I've used them before to print my Fate deck for The Rules with No Name (see The Shootout at Big Whiskey for a picture of some of those cards).  As long as the images uploaded are at least 750x1050 pixels in size (and in that exact proportion of 1:1.4) then it's a relatively simple matter to create such a project.  If the image proportions are different then it's more complicated - but I knew that already and ensured that my PowerPoint template has the correct aspect ratio.

Status

Right now, I'm working on Part 2; it's more than 50% complete.   I still need 10 more complete unique random events, plus the descriptions for one or two more and the pictures for 20 or so partially-complete cards.  But I'm getting there...

For anyone who would like to review my work so far (please do!), the PowerPoint document can be downloaded here.

Before anyone asks: yes, I have thought about whether my deck could be made available for others to purchase from Artscow.  In principle I would be very happy to permit this, but it might depend on the copyright holders.  I'm not a lawyer, but both the original ATZ event descriptions and the various images I'm using are not my own creations.  Is anyone reading this an expert on copyright law and able to advise?