Counterblast has touched down

Counterblast has touched down in a cloud of pulpy scifi goodness. My kickstarter rewards arrived the other day, and they are, as I expected of anything sculpted by Patrick Keith, things of beauty and of exquisite quality. (Kevin Williams also svulpted figures for the line, and they, too, are wonderful.)

I opted for the starter sets for the Lancers faction and the Neiran Empire. The Lancers are your typical ragtag space mercs, while the Neiran forces are beautiful, two-toed, extremely tall alien female warriors. Think Zoe Saldana's Na'vi character from "Avatar" crossed with a Klingon.

Plus

The minis for the Neirans stand about a head taller than standard humanoids. Here's the size comparison photo Patrick and Vicky posted on the kickstarter project page.

The rulebook is finely produced as well, with the cover art by Matt Dixon recalling all those great pulp magazines of yesteryear. If you have old copies of Amazing or Astounding on your shelves, this book will fit right in.

The only tiny complaint I have is the grey screen behind the text and art on every page of the rulebook. It's not excessively dark, but as my eyes get older (seemingly faster than the rest of me) it adds a degree of difficulty to reading the rulebook that dampens my enjoyment. But realize I'm picking nits here. I love this product and am looking forward to picking up more Neirans and Lancers as they become available.

On to the pictures, I hear you cry. Well here they are, and may God have mercy on your souls. I took these with my new Android tablet in unsuitable lighting. I hope like hell you can see anything at all of these wonderful minis.

A Neiran Acolyte, top left, two Scythe Sisters and,
bottom row, two Clan Sisters and a Jamad.

The Lancers faction. Top left are the gun arms and jump packs of the two HOpR bots,
whose heads and bodies are top center. Second row are an Illyrian Plugger, the Shrinaar Captain, and an Alanti Lanceguard with a Gamma Ray rifle. Bottom row from left are the human Brute, another Illyrian Plugger, and a human plugger. Then two sets of alternate arms for the HOpR bots, which are actually supposed to go with the upcoming HLpR Bot designs.

A pleasant surprise! A bronze Bombardier pin in thanks for supporting Bombshell.
I'm proud to display it now on my Bag of Holding.

These are the arms for those oh-so-sexy Neiran ladies.

OK, I need to tell you about something Bombshell does with their kickstarters that I wish more companies did. Once they've collected for the kickstarter, rather than run a pledge manager, they issue you credit in their webstore in the amount you pledged. Then you can choose from the various rewards or, if you want, pick up other things they make, like the wonderful Bombshell Babes. This is a recent addition to that line, Blake Russell, a Rule 63 version of Snake Plissken from "Escape from New York."

I supported Counterblast at Pulsar level, which would normally be for three factions. Instead, I chose two factions and then picked up other items from the store, like these MiniBots, who will be painted with yellow upper bodies and blue lower bodies, naturally. Oh, I'm despicable! Then there's a Rottweiler. I always need more dogs.

Another Bombshell Babe, Andrea, the Vampire Hunter.
I'll be finding a place for her in Brass and Blood, you can be sure of that.

OK, that's it for now, cats and kittens. Back to the boards, everyone, and I'll see you across the table soon.