From EvanH: The Admiral, The Ettin, and The Ruined Tower (60 points)

Greetings Challengers, we're back in hot and humid Old Sydney Town, aka Satan's Armpit.

This week, ladies and gentlemen, I've managed to pull together a small selection of figures and terrain for your enjoyment. I trust that they will meet with your approval.

First up, I've revisited an old friend of sorts from back in AHPC VI; Chaos Dwarf Admiral Thadrak Krakenbane, last seen enjoying a well-earned rest at the Happy Acres Twilight Home for Retired Warriors.

Well, here he is in his heyday, the commanding officer of a fleet of demonic ironclads which is the terror of the deep. He's a 28mm Scibor Miniatures Moscal Lord, a very characterful sculpt.

I decided to give him some suitably sea-green armour to reflect his nautical heritage, working up from a dark gunmetal to silver with successive layering to a final drybrush, before applying a coat of green glaze, Citadel's Waywatcher Green. I'm quite pleased with the final effect, as the highlights are still visible through the glaze, giving the figure an eerie, eldritch look.

Is it just me or does he bear a slight resemblance to Sir Laurence Olivier?

The face has a look of grim determination, appropriate for this character.

The blade is battered but serviceable, perfectly suited to its purpose.

He stands atop a forbidding stone head, perhaps on a rocky promontory, viewing the last of his foes sinking beneath the waves...

Next up, a monster who shows that two heads aren't necessarily better than one, a Reaper Bones Ettin. This is an old D&D fave, the two-headed cannibalistic ogre of fairytales. He's ostensibly a 28mm figure, though he comes in at around 54mm tall. In line with similarly-sized '28mm' figs, I've put him down for a tentative 10 points.

His base is a Warbases 60mm round, built up with cork scraps, pumice paste, and slate chips. Some skulls have been strewn about to give the impression of a maneater's lair, and Tajima1 tufts finish off the basing.

Lastly but not leastly, a piece of terrain, Citadel's 'Dreadstone Blight', a ruined wizard's tower. I've had this kit stashed away in the garage (aka Hot Narnia) for about six years, and the new terrain submission rules seemed like the ideal opportunity to put it together and paint it up. 

The bulk of the model is finished in a conventional drybrushed grey, but there are some smaller courses of stone which look as though the wall has been patched up with different materials, so I painted them up in the same red sandstone scheme I used for the Pictish chapel and standing stones earlier in the Challenge.

Now this is a Games Workshop product, so the decorative motifs tend to follow a certain anatomical theme...

Skulls! Quelle surprise!

I tried building one of Professor Barks' patented Skull-O-Meters™ to determine the skullosity of the piece, but it inexplicably burst into flames when I ran it over the model. 

The lowest level of the building has a roundel in the floor depicting the eight symbols of the Colleges of Magic, each with its appropriate colour. The centre of the roundel is filled with a corroded bronze mechanism of an unknown nature. The bricked-up doorway suggests that someone has tried (not altogether successfully) to seal off a symbol of the chaotic powers...

And... more skulls! Fancy that!

The model is based on a Warbases terrain base, with a mix of sand and assorted gravel to dress it up a bit, finished off with the ever-popular Tajima1 tufts.

The whole piece is 10 inches by 7.5 inches by 7 inches, so I reckon that translates to two cubesworth (a cubesworth being the internationally-recognised basic unit for terrain volume measurement), or 40 points. Add the 10 points for the Ettin, and a further 5 points for the Admiral, and this submission comes to a princely 55 points (assuming that our moderator, the estimable Mr Roundwood, approves!). 

What's next? Not certain, but it's the last week of my holidays, so I'd better use what hobby time I have wisely and make it count! 

Stay tuned... 

Ev

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What a fantastic collection of miniatures and terrain, Ev!!  I have to say, I have long been looking forward to meeting Admiral Thadrak Krakenbane again since his appearance in his robotic yellow duck in Challenge VI's "Nautical" themed round.  I am delighted that he has retained his nautical, sea-faring theme.  It is also good to see his best thespian - even Shakespearean - facial expression, daring his troops to laugh at him this time...   Well..... maybe that will work, but my hopes are not high.

The bi-headed monster is wonderfully suitable for Challenge "Ate", and I love the groundwork you've produced.  Certainly its up there with the best being seen in this wonderful Challenge so far.

And well done for producing the most skull-filled, kaleidoscopic entry of the Challenge so far in Dreadstone Blight!  As much as I love the look at the hypnotic College of Magic Roundel, I can't help but thinking of the children's game "Simon Says" ...

Perhaps the Changer of the Ways has introduced a new fun way for transporting contestants with the wrong answers to a different plane of existence.  "OK.....feet on the buzzers..... oooops.... whoosh.....  Is there another contestant please?"

Wonderful work in all three submissions, Ev.  Certainly 55 points, but I'm going to add 3 for the excellent basing overall, and another 2 for the sheer pleasure in seeing Admiral Krakenbane again.  Give him my best regards when you next visit The Happy Acres Twilight Home for Retired Warriors....