Ironclad Ladies Arrive + 20 Questions

Yay!* My first order from Ironclad Miniatures arrived today. As I've previously mentioned, these Victorian ladies will be the core of my warband for West Wind's Empire of the Dead, the Ladies Auxiliary.

My Ironclad ladies that just arrived:
From left, Mina Murray Harker, Irene Adler and Constance

Special thanks to John at Ironclad for enduring my emails. I think the ladies wanted to stop and see some of the Olympics before crossing the pond to get to my house. I must say these minis look even better in person than they did on the website. There are minor mold lines evident, nothing that can't be remedied with a moment's work with a needle file, and no flash that I saw. Mina's sword and Irene's pistol both bent somewhat during shipping, but I got them mostly straightened by hand here at my desk, and I'll get after them with some pliers once I get home. More once I get them dressed in some paint!

* Because "yeah" looks like a simple affirmative and "yea" looks archaic to me, so I'm going phonetically, "yay!"

Additionally, this questionnaire has been making the rounds on many of the wargaming blogs I read. Looks like it was crafted by Ray at "Don't Throw a One" and Fran at The Angry Lurker in a fit of ennui and animosity. So here are my answers. The questions are repeated below if you want to copy them for your own blog.
1.  Favourite Wargaming period and why? 
Modern, because I love to play Zombie games
2.  Next period, money no object? 
Weird World War II
3.  Favourite 5 films?
"Eat Drink Man Woman," "City of Lost Children," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Creepshow," "Duck Soup"4.  Favourite 5 TV series? 
Revenge, Project Runway, Dr. Who, Warehouse 13, Lost Girl5.  Favourite book and author?
"Armor" by John Steakley6.  Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
Saladin
7.  Favourite Wargames rules?
All Things Zombie from Two-Hour Wargames8.  Favourite Sport and team?
Sorry, I don't follow sports.9.  If you had a one-use time machine, when and where would you go?
I would go back to get a chance to meet my paternal grandfather, who died several years before I was born.10. Last meal on Death Row?
Fried chicken, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and 247 Cadbury Creme Eggs11. Fantasy relationship and why?
I'm already in my fantasy relationship, with my lovely wife, Tracey12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
Ben Affleck, or maybe Bruce Vilanch13. Favourite Comic Superhero?
Rorschach for "Watchmen"14. Favourite Military quote?
From Murphy's Laws of Combat: "If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush." 
15. Historical destination to visit? 
Stonehenge16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
Selling my old Grey Knight Terminators17. Favourite Fantasy job?
Like Dave Attell said, "Manager of a chocolate factory run by big-breasted hookers." Unfortunately, like Dave, I ain't got the training for that. 
18. Favourite Song Top 5?
"All the Madmen" by David Bowie, "Ogdru Jahad" by Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, "Better. Faster. Stronger" by Kanye West and Daft Punk, "Better" by Jonathan Coulton, "Whistling in the Dark" by They Might Be Giants
19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
It wasn't good for me, but I just loved the way it turned out. I was teaching an opponent to pay Battletech and we were having a 1-on-1 mech duel with the bendy plastics that came with the box set. I dropped into a pool to speed my cooling and my opponent walked up and kicked at me, crushing my mech's head. Priceless.20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
I work very hard to keep things from upsetting me (I have a heart condition). That said, I hate prejudice, racism and homophobia. 

The questions:



1.  Favourite Wargaming period and why?
2.  Next period, money no object?
3.  Favourite 5 films? 
4.  Favourite 5 TV series?
5.  Favourite book and author?
6.  Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
7.  Favourite Wargames rules?
8.  Favourite Sport and team?
9.  If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
10. Last meal on Death Row?
11. Fantasy relationship and why?
12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
13. Favourite Comic  Superhero?
14. Favourite Military quote?
15. Historical destination to visit?
16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
17. Favourite Fantasy job?
18. Favourite Song Top 5?
19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?

Put my order in

I'm following up with something I mentioned earlier, planning to do a Ladies Auxiliary to run by Gentlemen's Club rules. Several people on one of the forums (maybe Lead Adventure, but I'm not sure) talked about the Mina Harker figure from Ironclad. I really fell in love with it, so I ordered her and Irene Adler and Constance as well. I'll be back for Ironclad Man and probably some others, but I've got to work out this warband first.

Mina will always be Mina Murray to me, after the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. I love that this figure has the prominent scarf Mina wore in that series to cover her scars. This won't represent Mina per se, but in the backstory I'm preparing, somewhere there is a central organization to all the Ladies Auxiliary chapters with Mina Murray at its head. In her honor, the Presidents of the local organizations wear the red scarf (once they've killed a vampire!). Irene will be the Vice President of the organization, acting as its spymaster. Constance, with her steampunky gear, is the Secretary, of course. Of course, the L.A. will have their own distinct titles, such as Chairwoman, which I will work out more fully later.

Another figure I ordered was from Reaper, the beautiful and mysterious Xiufang. If West Wind releases Chinese Tong rules, which I'm certain they will at some point, I'll include her there as well, but I have an inkling she's working both sides of the docks, so to speak, using her contacts in Cheapside to funnel information to the Auxiliary. Maybe she's really the spymaster, not Irene! I'll have to see.

Seeing the teaser images of the Railroad Crew that Wyrd is putting out for Malifaux, I think I'll have some use for them in EOTD. (image from Alliance Game Distributor's Facebook Page).

I know I need some regular membership, too. I have some Victorian ladies from Foundry floating around somewhere, but the only other one I'm thinking about ordering right now is a long rifle-wielding steampunk goddess from Ramshackle Games. What warband doesn't need a sniper? And that name! Fidelia St.John-Smythe. Oh, I am truly enraptured.

I promise to post some of my own pics once things arrive. Hopefully I'll have my painting and modelling area set up by then! TTFN