I just thought I'd give you an idea of how I got drawn into the strange, and eclectic hobby of 'Wargaming';

1970's - It all begin for me at a young age with an interest in old war films (such as Von Ryan's Express, The Dambusters, etc), and heroic epics (such as Waterloo, Spartacus, El Cid, etc), which led me to collect huge numbers of old Airfix, and Matchbox 1/72 scale figures. At this point I'd never heard of Wargaming, or Role-playing, and my gaming was limited to fighting out imaginary battles (with my own added sound effects) in the flower beds of my parents garden.

Early 1980's - Things changed for me when a neighbour introduced me to role-playing via a battered copy of 'Tunnels & Trolls'. I remember that several of my friends and I would meet up in my neighbours shed, where we would spend hours trying to complete the home-made adventures he'd created. This opened up a whole new world to me, bringing such old RPG's as Dungeons & Dragons, Aftermath, Runequest, and Traveller to my attention. I loved the escapism that these games enabled in my mind, and I designed many new adventures for these games myself. It was at this time that I first discovered Games Workshop, in the form of a tiny little shop they had in 'The Shambles' of the ancient city of York. Back in the day GW was a wonderful place to visit, having a huge mixture of stuff (RPG's, Wargames, Boardgames, Cardgames, and they even stocked novels) crammed onto rickety old shelves, by a myriad of companies. A real Aladdin's Cave of fun and ideas, not the sterile corporate monstrosity it is now. Whenever I pass the old premises I still get a wistful heart-aching nostalgia for days gone by. If you want to get an idea of what they sold, just take a look at one of the low numbered issues of White Dwarf. It was here I bought my first metal miniatures; four pre-slotta figures - an evil fighter, a monk, a wizard, and a thief. Sadly these have long since disappeared from my collection, but every now and then I see one of these figures on Ebay, and contemplate buying them, but I never do.

Mid 1980's - It was around about this time that I first discovered Wargaming, strangely enough through the local public library. I don't remember the title of the book, but it had a comprehensive history of the Napoleonic Wars, with a set of rules in the back. At long last I had a use for the hundreds of Airfix figures from this period in my collection, and soon I was fighting battles with badly painted plastic figures. My collection of GW fantasy figures was steadily growing, but still small in number, as even back then their prices were high compared to most other manufacturers, and the figures I had were used for RPG's rather than wargaming. I delved into other periods and backgrounds, having 15mm Macedonian and Roman armies, 1/300 modern Israeli and Arab forces, and 20mm World War Two forces. All of these were sold when the 3rd edition of Warhammer appeared, to enable me to purchase two 15mm fantasy armies - a Wood Elf Army, and a Chaos Army, both of which were mainly composed of historic ancient/medieval substitute figures.

Late 1980's - I stopped roleplaying during this period, as most of my friends had outgrown this juvenile (to them) hobby, and I sold off my huge collection to a trader who badly ripped me off in terms of price (£50 for a collection which had probably cost me over £700 to amass). It was at this time that I began to play Warhammer 40,000, again using substitute figures, in this case Esci Vietnam, and Airfix WW2 figures. At the end of the 80's I went off to University, and lost any interest in the hobby (due to an epiphany I had regards alchohol, girls, and a general embarassment at having such a nerdy hobby).

1990's - A decade spent wandering in the wilderness of hobby-less-ness.

1999 - I eventually found my way back when I picked up a copy of White Dwarf, began drooling over the gorgeously painted figures within, and went to spend lots of money. Since then I've gamed many periods, and had many different armies, most of which have come and gone. Here is a condensed version;

1) Warhammer in 28mm using mainly GW figures - Wood Elf (120 figures with about 10 painted, now sold), Dwarf (100 figures perhaps 20 painted, sold), Orc & Goblin (200+ figures with about 20 painted, now sold), and Empire (120 figures with perhaps 40 painted, stuck in a cupboard).
2) WH40K in 28mm using GW figures - Imperial Guard (80 or so figures with perhaps a third painted, either in my bits box, or sold), Daemonhunters (50 or so figures with 10 painted, a 3 year on-going project), and Marines (bought, very little done, sold).
3) 15mm Stargrunt using Peter Pig Ak47 stuff - 250+ figures and vehicles, with maybe a quarter painted (sold).
4) 15mm Napoleonic - French (around 300 figures with perhaps 30 painted, sold), and Allied Force (150 figures, none painted, sold).
5) Necromunda - A force from each House, most now sold, but two gangs painted and kept.
6) 15mm Ancients - Macedonian using Xyston figures (120 or so figures, none painted, sold).
7) Mordheim - 20 or so gangs, both official and unofficial, 50 or so painted, most sold.
8) 10mm Flames of War - German Panzergrenadier force, 4 vehicles painted, now in a box as a 2 year ongoing project.

Have you noticed the pattern? I tend to get interested in a subject, buy loads of stuff, paint bugger all, rarely actually play the game, and end up selling it all at a huge loss! Once I realised this I decided to cut down and stop attempting to collect and play games which required large expenditure on lots of figures. I began playing skirmish level games, with Mordheim being the first. I now have very little interest in army level games at all, with four skirmish projects ongoing;

1)Zombies - An adaption of the Pulp Friction rules, which are in the primary development stage. I have a collection of 120+ figures which need to be painted for this.
2) Old West, using Warhammer Historicals 'Legends of the Old West' - I've had these rules for a while, but not played them yet, even though I've now amassed 50+ cowboys.
3) Pulp - the rules this blog is about. I have a huge collection of figures for this subject, though I'm proud to say I do have 50 0r so painted (some kind of record for me there!).
4) Gladiators - I bought a Foundry Collection, with the intention of painting and selling most on Ebay, whilst keeping a few for myself. So far, I've painted zero, and the rules currently occupy 3 sides of A4.

That's enough for now, my finger aches.

Update

Well, it's been three days since I put the play-test rules on the Yahoo Group, and already more than 50 people have joined the Group. Presumably they've all downloaded the rules, though comments have been a bit thin on the ground. The few who have posted all seem to like the look of the rules, which is an encouraging sign. As the weekend is almost here perhaps some of the people who've downloaded the rules will get a chance to have a go, and maybe there'll be a few more posts.
On the development front I'm going to work on the Gang lists, adding more Heroes, and Lackey Groups, as well as adding the Points costs, which I forgot in the original document.
I'll also see if I can find the rules for Moving Silently, which I also forgot to include, though these are only intended for one-off special scenarios.

Pulp Friction Playtest Available For Download

Check out my Yahoo Group for a playtest copy of my rules called 'Pulp Friction'.

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/frictionalheroes/

Let me know what you think.

Artizan Designs Thrilling Tales.

Artizan Designs started producing a new figure range several months ago, called "Thrilling Tales", aimed at those people who were fans of the Pulp genre, and wanted to game it. It has slowly expanded since that initial release, so that it now numbers forty different figures, with more in the pipeline. It contains models suitable for heroes and villains, as well as their sidekicks. In this initial review I'll be covering the first four figures in this range. I'll be giving each figure reviewed a mark out of ten, with ten being the best.

PLP001 Kentucky Davies (£2.00).
Dur-Dur-Durrr, Dur-Dur-Durrr, Dur-Du-Dur, du-du-du-Durr-Durrr. I think it's pretty obvious who this is meant to be, the only thing he's missing is a bullwhip. Every Pulp gamer needs a little metal version of one of the most recognisible movie characters of all time, and this is one of the best available. Do you know who it is yet? Well you won't get any points for getting it right, and if you don't know, then what the hell are you doing reading a blog about Pulps for? Oh, ok, if you're THAT stupid - It's Indiana Jones (did you see what they did with the name, clever eh?).
This figure measures approximately 29mm high, from the soles of his shoes, to the top of his hat. There was very little flash on the model when it arrived, and only a slight mold line, both of which were easily removed with a file. As you can see in the photo, the model is wearing loose baggy trousers, an open necked shirt, a short jacket, and a Fedora (or is it a Panama?) hat. He is also wielding a revolver in his right hand. The detail on the figure is well sculpted, the folds and creases on the clothing being just right, not over-emphazised like some manufacturers are prone to doing (hide your head in shame Games Workshop). The model is stood in an action pose, he seems to me to be pivoting on his right foot, just becoming aware of a threat to that side. This leads me to the only problem I have with this figure, I think his head should be turned a touch further to the right, bringing his sight more into line with the revolver, but this is a very minor gripe. His face is characterful, with a grim, how the hell am I going to get out of this? expression upon it. Overall I really like this figure, and once I've painted it he'll be seeing plenty of action. It's a versatile figure too, being able to represent either a good or a bad guy, and be either a hero, or a sidekick.
Ronnie says: It's a Good 'un - 7/10.




PLP002 Rashid (£2.00).

This figure is my favourite of the bunch, and seems to be a gentlemen of middle eastern extraction. He's wearing a suit, shirt and tie, boots, tasselled fez, and is carrying a tommy-gun. He is stood with both hands holding the weapon, one leg slightly bent, and would appear to be deciding on his next course of action. The face on this figure is excellent, it's thin, almost gaunt, with a large roman nose, and a thick bushy moustache, and as the fez doesn't impede access to the face, the eyes should be easy to paint (the part of a figure I always find hardest to paint properly). The details of the figure are nice and crisp, just like the previous figure.
Again, it's versatile figure, easily representing a good or bad guy, hero, or sidekick, and it reminds me of the leader of the protectors of the Grail, in the third Indiana Jones movie, though he was armed with a Bergmann, rather than a Thompson SMG.

Ronnie says: It's a Good 'un - 8/10.



PLP003 Osman (£2.00).
Again, this figure represents a middle eastern gentleman, dressed in a suit, shirt (though no tie this time, but he does have a hanky in a breast pocket), fez, and boots, and is carrying a revolver in his right hand. He is stood with one hand on his hip, and the other holding his revolver down by his side. He appears to be a little plump, as his suit is stretched tight over his stomach (either that or his suit is too small for him). The face is well sculpted, he has a small nose, and beard/moustache combo. As before the figure is nice and crisp, with no flash, and an extremely faint mold line.
This is yet another versatile figure, and I think it would make an excellent Professor of Egyptology, or other academic type.
Ronnie days: It's a Good 'un - 7/10.


PLP004 Yusuf (£2.00).

This is the third middle eastern figure to be reviewed. He's wearing a suit, open necked shirt, boots, fez, and is carrying a pistol in his right hand. He's a bit more animated than Osman, pointing to his left, but he's not really looking in that direction, as if he's speaking to someone in front of him, whilst giving directions. His face is well sculpted, with a grumpy expression, and wearing a goatee. Yet again the figure is crisp, well detailed, with very little flash, and a faint mould line.
The figure, like the previous ones, is versatile, though I think it would best be employed as a Sidekick, he doesn't really stand out enough to be a hero.
Ronnie says: It's a Good 'un - 7/10.

What's it all about?

I've started this blog to allow me to keep people informed as to the progress of my Pulp Fiction era Skirmish Wargames Rules, tentatively titled "Pulp Friction". They are currently in the draft phase, and so far have recieved minimal play testing. Once I have finished the write-up of the draft phase, I will be posting them on-line, probably via a Yahoo Group, as a Pdf, so that gamers can download them and help me play test them. I'm hoping that people will be able to help me develop these rules into something that is playable.
I will also be posting photo's of my Pulp era figure, and terrain collection, once I get some photo's taken, and also reviewing the figures I have.

So what is Pulp Friction (PF for short)? Well it's a skirmish level wargame where each player controls a group of models representing the various characters in their Gang, with a gang having somewhere between 10 and 20 models.
The game is set in the late 1930's, with the main protagonists being the Nazi backed Thule-Gesellschaft, and the defenders of democracy - the Illuminati. I'm also working on other groups to be included in the game.
Initially the game will be set in Egypt, simply because most gamers are familiar with this ancient land, but I'm looking at bringing in other regions of interest to pulp gaming- India & the NW Frontier is one I'm interested in developing, as are certain parts of South America.