From GregB: GW Fantasy Empire Engineers (10 points)

Two Engineers of the Empire from GW's now-defunct Warhammer Fantasy Battler

My submissions to this edition of the AHPC have been rather focused in their theme - ll 30k, all the time. The means I have been able to get a fair bit of 30k stuff completed.  This level of focus is rare for me, bordering on unhealthy, but I do genuinely love that setting and the Challenge is always a great spur to get models finished.  The side duel helps as well! Two of my fellow side-duellists in the 30k race, however, have taken a more varied approach to the Challenge, submitting some fantasy models as well - Iannick with some neat halflings, and Jamie with some menacing dark elves as a couple of examples. 

Trying to set up that perfect shot...

This figure was a ton of fun to paint...

One great aspect of the Challenge is the opportunity to connect with fellow painters and hobby folk elsewhere, and to be inspired by their work.  The fantasy submissions from Iannick and Jamie got me to thinking back to when we used to play Warhammer Fantasy ourselves around here - quite a bit in fact - but not so much recently.  I have an Empire army stored away somewhere in my place (not even out on display, for shame!), and the last record I could find of it seeing any action is the summer of 2014...which is just like...almost four years ago? Wow.

Handy instruction book on hand - engineers are always prepared...

I'm not sure exactly what happened to the interest in Warhammer Fantasy in our group. The rules got more difficult (or seemed to be so), the sculpts were getting goofier, and then "Age of Sigmar" happened...we haven't tried it yet.  Some folks seem to really enjoy it, so maybe we will give it a go at some point...

Love this poor little guy "assisting" with the firing process - what a fun sculpt!

Bottom line, though, is that Fantasy was a lot of fun, and no reason it still can't be!  The fantasy stuff from Iannick and Jamie inspired me to turn my brushes to some GW fantasy figures and take a bit of a respite from my mad 30k painting tear.  I went rooting through my hobby horde and found these two figures - Empire Engineers, the subject of my first submission today.

Loved this model - has a bit of an "explorer" look to him!

These figures don't seem quite so old to me, but they are proper metal figures, so are probably older than I want to admit!  The Engineers are fun figures to have in an Empire army, injecting some unique character to the force, helping with artillery, and using some funky-looking firearms.  The long rifle, with the hapless little assistant "helping" to support the gun looks particularly fun.  I hope to use the model one day to pick off some obnoxious elf wizard or evil skaven...I always had a particular, immature joy in seeing powerful magic users and game-owning monsters crushed by Empire artillery or shot apart by Empire firearms...and then crushed under the hooves of Reiksgaurd Knights!

Nice multi-barrel firearm on the back - love some of the goofy firearms circulating in the Empire...

A fine-looking mustache to bring it all together!

These two 28mm figures should net me ten more points for the pile, but I'm not finished yet, so stay tuned for more today! And a special thanks to Iannick and Jamie for inspiring a fun diversion - because these two figures were not the only GW fantasy bits I found in the horde...

Alan and Paul: What great little figures! These are GW sculpts I really 'get' - full of character and clearly fantasy, but anchored enough in a reality we can recognise to be believable. The engineer reminds me a bit of The Dude from 'The Big Lebowski' for some reason. I really like your colour choices, and your highlighting is just lovely. Can't wait to see more of these!