The (White) Russians Are Coming!

 Inspired by Balkan Dave's recent post about a Russian Civil War book, I finally took the plunge on a box of WW1 Russians from Wargames Atlantic.

Ever since I got a Count Casimir variant sculpt from Pulp Figures, I've been thinking I should make a White Russian emigre faction for him to lead. As mentioned in the blog post above, the anti-Communist side of the Russian Civil War was politically and temperamentally very much in the same ballpark as the silver shirted and white robed factions I've already assembled. Historically, after losing to the Bolsheviks these jerks mostly relocated to the future Axis powers, and would participate in WW2 in both the German and Japanese armies. But some did end up in the US, including Boris Brasol who became buddies with Henry (*spits in disdain*) Ford, so this is a plausible faction for my interwar US setting even if it's not strictly a historical one. "Cossacks" also make an appearance as henchmen in an early Batman comic, so there's some "authenticity" from the fiction side as well.

Thusly untethered from the iron grip of historicity, I decided to have fun with the uniforms. I've got the RCW White Armies book by Osprey, so I basically painted a sampler of those uniforms. I guess the idea is that when Brasol or Bermont-Avalov or Vonsyatsky calls up them to join the big reactionary alliance, each one just gets his old uniform and Mosin-Nagant out of storage and reports for duty.

 

In both Pulp Alley and my homebrew system, antagonists can be single miniatures or groups of five. So in addition to "fire teams" of four rifleman and one sword-wielding officer each, I have also assembled a few "specialists": a sniper and spotter, a mad bomber, a submachine gunner and a melee expert, to provide some tactical variety and pulpy feel. The Pulp Figures guy is here too, in the white jacket.

 

 

The minis are mostly the aforementioned WW1 Russians, but I mixed in some partisan bits from the same manufacturer, some Gripping Beast hairy heads, and a handful of Warlord Games WW2 bits (eg the katana arms, and both binoculars). Finally, there are a couple German and a couple US bodies, reflecting how the Whites were often supplied by foreign powers.

 

A pretty intimidating bunch, all told! I'm still trying to decide what to call them in my game. The Russian All-Military Union (RAMU) and the Russian Imperial Union-Order (RIUO) are both appropriately sinister-sounding real orgs, and there were also a couple of explicitly Fascist Russian emigre groups if I want to be especially on-the-nose with it. But I can always make something up instead.

International Women's Day

Apparently International Women's Day was founded by socialists in the early 20th century, so its even more relevant to this blog than I'd realized.

Here are some women in my pulp/super collection, some have been posted before but not all.

Agent Carter from the MCU, from Pulp Figures with added plastic hat from Warlord.

Sheena, from Heroclix with a pet from... Reaper? Her animal buddy is supposed to be a normal chimp, which is already pretty scary, but this is the only ape miniature I currently own.

The Phantom Lady, from Heroclix. This obscure Golden Age Superhero can blind enemies or turn invisible with that doodad on her wrist, which seems somewhat redundant but at least she's not just a sidekick or girlfriend.

Lady Domino, an unaltered Pulp Figures mini. I haven't found out much about her, seems to be the standard Sneaky And Clever Rich Person With A Gun type of pulp hero.

Etta and Wonder Woman, both Clix. I recently converted a Steve Trevor, and almost posted him since he's *her* sidekick/person to rescue, but decided not to.

Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman, also Clix. Hate this pose.

A Pulp Figures lady I've designated as Margo Lane, the Shadow's fiancee.

And another Pulp Figure, this one representing Jenny Blake, the Rocketeer's girlfriend.

I think my next attempt at actually gaming this project will use the Pulp Alley ruleset, I've never tried it before but I own it and it looks fun.

Minions and Molds

 A couple of months ago, I bought a silicone and plastic mold-making kit, so I could sculpt and cast my own miniatures. Since I'm not that great of a sculptor at this point, and also new to casting, I started with some casualty figures for my 1600s wargaming. That way I could do a simple one-piece pour mold, and also avoid sculpting a face. Those were successful, so I wanted to do a standing figure for the next step. But ideally, a simple figure, and maybe not one with a face if possible.

So it occurred to me, I have some Pulp Figures evil minions, but they could use some back-up. So I sculpted a generic minion, without a right hand because I have tons extra from various sprues.

I definitely learned lessons to apply to future molds and casts, but I'm really pretty pleased with how these assholes turned out.

Because, as you can probably tell from the paint jobs, I have in mind for these to represent a very specific sort of evil minion. I'm not gonna name them because I don't want to even risk that kind of traffic, but Superman famously fought them in his radio show, and they work well with my 1930s setting, and my theme that superheroes don't need to go overseas to punch right-wing extremists. This had the added project bonus where I wasn't too emotionally invested in the figures turning out well, or even in the original surviving the process at all.

 

I think they mix well with the Pulp Figures, and also the kitbashed ones I made from medieval Arabs and whatever else. It helps that my goon-level painting isn't very precise!

Happy Pride!

 

It's Pride Month! I went through my collection, and with the help of some googling, found some LGBT+ superheroes. Not a lot, since most of them fall outside of my golden age theme, but some.

Wonder Woman and Catwoman are both pretty fundamental golden age figures, and both now officially bisexual. Wonder Woman has always been at least subtextually queer, so it's no surprise that it would be confirmed once society caught up, but it was slightly unexpected to learn about Catwoman since she's so often used as a romantic foil for Batman. 

Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis were not created during the actual Golden Age of Comics, but their story is set in that era, Hooded Justice being the original "costumed vigilante" of the Watchmen timeline. Their gay relationship was canon from the beginning, though it was basically a side note in the original graphic novel. The recent HBO show fleshed their relationship a bit more, and gave Hooded Justice in particular a lot more depth.

My final Pride superhero is Shining Knight. New to me, the original Shining Knight was a legit pre-war Golden Age creation. It was a couple of reboots in the 2000s that made him intersex and/or trans. 

While the Pride riot/celebration itself postdates the 1930s setting of my game, the core themes of "being yourself", "solidarity with the oppressed", "aggressively resisting fascist violence", and "dressing flamboyantly" are all extremely relevant to *any* decent exploration of the superhero genre, so expect to see at least one more Pride post here before the month is out.

All of these are heroclix except Shining Knight, who is a "half-elf Xhorhas paladin" from WizKids, with a Perry Miniatures head and old-school GW horns.

More Of (and More About) The Silver Legion

 I've finished painting all my Silver Shirts - as with the two test minis previously shared, they are a mix of Pulp Figures US Marines, and GEG + Warlord plastic mashups, mostly the former. Additionally, I've painted up Warlord's Oswald Mosley as William Dudley Pelley, the Silver Legion's founder and leader.

I really do wish the Silver Legion was more widely known; Pelley's background as a reasonably successful artist, his devotion to the aesthetic of nostalgia and sentimentalist moralizing, his embrace of nontraditional religious views, his willingness to criticize aspects of Capitalism, all of these are common (though by no means universal) features of modern fascism, which can nonetheless be baffling to people whose awareness of the movement is limited to mainstream depictions of Hitler and his Nazis.

One might argue that the Silver Legion's lack of long-term success explains its modern obscurity. But while the Legion never filled Madison Square Garden, and Pelley never reached Lindberg's fame or recruited anyone who had, certainly 15,000 members nationwide is nothing to sniff at. If nothing else, we are fortunate that Pelley was a remarkably bad judge of character who constantly delegated his finances to opportunistic embezzlers instead of "true believers", and also fortunate that his organization's sketchiest activities happened to occur within the vanishingly brief period of American history where law enforcement and the House Un-American Activities Committee actually cared more about stopping right-wing extremism than harassing unions and activists.

There are also interesting conversations to be had about how his occult interests put him at odds with potential allies elsewhere on the far right, but I will save that for a future post about how my game will handle factions.

Bringing it back to my tabletop gaming project: as part of his off-brand Theosophical belief system, William Dudley Pelley claimed possession of various psychic powers. Since my game is set in a pulp/superhero world of magic and super-science, he can actually have those powers so as to be a worthwhile antagonist for the players, in which case his administrative problems are solved. And since the central premise of my campaign is either a breakdown or hijacking of the Federal government's  authority, he has nothing to fear from HUAC. It will be entirely up to the Superheroes to stop him!

For more on William Dudley Pelley and the Silver Shirts, I highly recommend Scott Beekman's book on the subject.

Malicious Militiamen Minions

 Painted up some test figures for the different antagonist factions. One of my core notions for this game is that, in the 1930s just as much as the 2020s, Americans do not need to go overseas to punch fascists. So I've got three different flavors of historical American fascist for our heroes to beat up.

The Silver Legion (Silver Shirts) are probably the most interesting of the bunch; a brownshirts copy, but founded by a former Hollywood screenwriter who believed himself blessed with occult knowledge and magical powers. Largely due to the organizational incompetence of their leadership, they never posed much of a material threat in real life, but in a world where their founder actually has the supernatural abilities he claimed? We'll see.

One of the Silver Shirts is a Pulp Figures US Marine with a gs mustache, the other is converted from Warlord Games Anglo-Zulu War body, WW2 arms, and a Great Escape Games gunslinger head.

Being America's default white supremacists, The Klan needs no explanation. Although Superman was beating them up as early as 1946 on his radio show.

Pulp Figures cultist, and Gripping Beast Arab body w GEG arms.

The War of Independence reenactor-looking guys have a bit more artistic license in them... to the best of my knowledge, 1930s' nostalgia-flavored reactionaries never actually played dress-up like this, but since groups like the Order of '76 and the Paul Reveres were basically their era's Tea Partiers, I think it fits. The Bioshock Infinite villains are also an influence.

Warlord Games AWI with WW2 weapons.

Really looking forward to seeing these losers, and more like them, get their asses kicked by all manner of costumed adventurers!

Battle Report - Super Villains Attack!

This is the fifth playtest I have done, but the first one I've taken sufficient notes for to present any kind of after-action summary. The scenario is a combat-focused one, with the villains trying to abscond with three pieces of mysterious technology, while the US Army, aided by a couple of heroes and some local law enforcement, attempt to stop them.

The villains (nominally the Player Characters although this is a solo game) are pretty straightforward, with Solomon Grundy and Namor as heavies, Catwoman as a more mobile operative, and Dr. Sivana with a potentially wide array of useful gadgets. They are aided by NPCs: two mercenary fire teams, and a truck-mounted machine gun (anachronistically, a technical).

They are opposed by a squad of US Infantry, some snipers, a pair of policemen, an officer, a machine-gun team, The Guardian and Nick Fury, with the potential for more reinforcements. If the villains cause enough mayhem (property damage or profoundly excessive violence), they will eventually attract the attention of Superman himself.

One characteristic of the system I am using is that PCs can avoid any negative consequence (anything from damage to enemy reinforcements arriving), but in doing so, they accumulate an unpredictable amount of stress depending on the result of their resistance test. This allows the heroes (or here, villains) to act in as hypercompetent or even superhuman a manner as one might see in a comic book or summer blockbuster.

Round 1: Solomon Grundy opens the battle by charging headlong into the military firing line, hoping to destroy the Browning .50 cal dominating the main approach. Assisted by covering fire from the mercenaries and pushing himself to extra effort, he is able to nearly close the distance without taking any physical damage or even stress.

Namor follows up to confront the police that Grundy bypassed, knocking one out with no return damage. While the two bullet-resistant villains are brute-forcing the direct route, Catwoman scampers across the rooftops while Dr Sivana accompanies a second team of mercenaries up the alley, although the later hesitates involuntarily, and another pair of police enter the area ahead of his path.

 

On the authorities' side, the two snipers target Catwoman, who is able to dodge but accrues one stress. The officer devotes his action to calling for reinforcements, and the remaining feds shoot at Grundy, but to no effect. Finally, the villain NPCs take potshots at the cops and solders, dealing scattered damage.

Round 2: Grundy makes it to the machine gunners and starts stomping! They take damage but aren't done yet. Namor lashes out with his full super strength, easily destroying the remaining policeman and damaging his surroundings as well.

Catwoman bounds further along the rooftops, effortlessly dodging the sniper fire directed her way. For his part, Dr. Sivana pulls out a ray gun, and supported by his mercenaries, finishes off the police blocking his exit from the alley.

Nick Fury heads towards the super-science threat emerging from the alley, while The Guardian and one fire team charges Grundy, and the remaining fire team and both snipers fire upon Namor. Grundy only takes one stress resisting the damage, Namor takes none. Wrapping up the turn, the technical damages a fire team and the mercs near Sivana wound Nick Fury.

Round 3: Grundy and Namor defeat their respective foes, suffering no consequence but an excess of property damage sending the mayhem counter up another tick.

Catwoman moves forward, very nearly in position to hijack the truck with an objective on it

Sivana moves up to blast Fury with the ray gun, exposing himself to return fire in order to get the clearest shot. He injures Nick Fury but his blaster very nearly malfunctions, costing him two stress to prevent the loss of his weapon.

Grundy takes one stress brawling with the Guardian and soldiers, while Catwoman is able to take cover behind the truck to avoid the snipers.

Not confident of his chances against a supervillain, the officer moves to the edge of the battlefield, still radioing for help.

Sivana's mercs gun down Fury, while the other band of mercenaries advance in search of a target.

Round 4:

Catwoman hotwires the flatbed and immediately guns it back towards the lair, weaving between her mighty compatriots in their swirling melees, crouching in the seat to avoid the potshots of the snipers. Sivana orders his mercenaries to join the battle in the center, but they (rather sensibly!) balk. The other mercs, however, join of their own accord.

While the other soldiers' efforts come more or less to naught, the officer's profanity-filled radio diatribe finally bears fruit -  a tank rolls onto the battlefield to even the odds.

Round 5: Namor finishes off the soldiers he is fighting, while Grundy seems to be struggling against the Guardian. 

Catwoman swerves the truck onto the sidewalk, knocking a fire hydrant loose and showering the street in water. 

Sivana, calling in support from the technical, manages to deal some damage to the nearest sniper. The other sniper and the tank both shoot at Namor; even his Atlantean physique is at risk from the big gun, he takes stress to avoid the damage.

Round 6: Grundy keeps trading blows with the Guardian, while Namor charges the officer, but the military man is tougher than he looks, and Namor takes a hit while dealing no damage.

Catwoman escapes with an objective, driving off the battlefield and on to the villainous base!

Dr Sivana finally outguns the sniper, but faces a major consequence and takes four stress to prevent the arrival of serious reinforcements. 

Round 7: At long last, Solomon Grundy defeats his shield-bearing foe, albeit at the cost of an arm!

Namor, on the other hand, seems to have entered his own stalemate, unable to harm or be harmed by the officer.

Sivana shoots at the tank, but its aim is better than his. Diving out of the way to avoid the blast, the doctor maxes out his stress, and is out of the battlefield.

At this point, I call it. With one Villain PC out, and one objective claimed, I think it's a pretty convincing draw. I played the PCs pretty uncreatively, but this was probably roughly compensated for by my uncharacteristic luck with the resistance tests.