From ScottC: Spiders - Pit of the Pendulum submission (180 points)

 Our lonely hobbits stumble into the Pit of the Pendulum and trigger the attention of a multitude of spiders!

These ants and spiders are a dollar store pickup around halloween. They came in little baggies of 50 a piece and I knew would make excellent minions for a rangers of shadow deep spider force. These are based on 25mm bases and are 28mm scale.

These gems are the GW Goblin wolf rider miniatures from the old battle for skull pass starter set. I have had these spiders sitting in a bin for about 10 years and finally had a reason to bring them to life. I wanted to base my colours on a more realistic colour palette with some hints of fantasy. The spider webs for all of these spiders are used dryer sheets and while they appear a little dense, I believe they turned out great! These are on 40mm bases and are 28mm scale.

These spiders are meant to represent GW mirkwood spiders, they are in fact dollar store spiders that came in a bag with several other different bugs. These big guys are on 60mm bases and are 28mm scale.

These little guys are reaper miniature spider swarms. Big momma has yet to be painted but they look well enough to fit the part. These little guys are on 25mm bases and are 28mm scale.

It has been an excellent challenge painting some more earthy toned fantasy creatures. I actually have a Chilean rose hair tarantula so I was a least mentally prepared before I had done my research. These figures are all 28mm in scale.

Points:

10 Ants - likely half of a 28mm figure = 25 points

10 Little spiders - same points as the ants = 25 points

4 spider hatchlings - same points as previous = 10 points

3 mirkwood spiders = Likely 54mm foot figure @ 10 points a piece = 30 points

10 giant spiders = 40mm foot figures @ 7pts ea = 70 points

20 bonus pts for challenge submission

Total: 180 points

From ByronM - 15mm 30 years war Holy Roman Empire (136 points)

One of the goals I set for myself for this years challenge was to try and reduce the pile-o-shame (models that have not yet been painted) that has accumulated over the years at my place.  So I created a large list of projects that have started over the years, but never finished.  Once such project was last years foray into the 30 years war in 15mm.  While I finished quite a few bases of figures during last years challenge, I barely touched the stock pile of them that I bought, and have yet to play a game with them due to not having enough completed.  Therefore I thought it would be a good thing to get cracking on them over the Christmas holiday.

Here is the batch that I got done over the last week: 18 cavalry, 18 muskateers, and 14 pikemen.

All of these were painted using a very quick and messy method.  Essentially, all I did was apply base coats of the basic colours, then washed everything with the one GW paint I use (Agrax Earthshade), and then highlighted them with the base colours again, and in some cases 1 shade higher to get some highlights.

While this basic method produces tabletop ready miniatures quickly, they are nothing special.  Which means I get frustrated painting them quickly as well, as it feels like cheating to not put your best effort into something you are painting, BUT with something like 500+ more models to do to complete them all, I simply can not put much more effort into each model than this or I will never finish them!

Overall though, at tabletop level they look ok, and that's all that counts for these.  My plan is to use the "By Fire and Sword" rule set with them for small skirmish games (a great rule set that's super detailed and in depth) and then to use "By Pike & Shot" for bigger games (another great rule set, essentially GW's old Warmaster rules).  I look forward to getting them on Curt's table for a game with the Regina crew sometime this year.

As for points, this batch should net me 136 points as per:

- 18 Cav @ 4 pts each = 72
- 18 Muskateers @ 2 pts each = 36
-14 Pikemen @ 2 pts each = 28

From ScottM: Angel of Death (25 point)

Happy New Year all! My next foray deeper into the Chambers of Challenge is the Chamber of Darkness. I dug around in the unpainted pile and came up with the Angel of Death. This metal 28mm fig is from Reaper Miniatures.

Simple enough fig and quick and easy to paint.

So that should be:

1- 28mm foot fig + Chamber Bonus = 25 points

From PeteF: Turnip 28 invades the Golem's Haunt (25 points)

Post Apocalyptic Napoleonics. With Root Vegetables?

At one of the few in person wargames I played in 2020 one of my friends introduced me to world of Turnip 28. It's a mad idea - the brainchild of artist Max Fitzgerald that involves kitbashing spare Napoleonics and men-at-arms - or putting muskets in the hands of knights.  Just messing around with sprue and glue. This is how Max described it in an interview:

"It’s about turnips, that’s the line. That’s the answer to every single question… but really it’s a post-apocalyptic Napoleonic root-vegetable themed wargame slash universe slash community weird project thing."

Rusty helmet

Since it's a fantasy world you don't have to worry about getting the buttons right and since it's post apocalyptic everything can be a bit dark and muddy. I've gone for making things rusty and decayed. There are some nice bits of artwork (see Max Fitzgerald Art Facebook page) and something about musket toting knights appeals to me.

Back Pack ... with roots

Even before finding out about the dungeon theme of Challenge XI I wanted to try a Turnip28 mini this winter - the stitching together things from the bits box makes him work for Golem's Haunt.  On the one hand I have a box of assorted Napoleonics and on the other I have sprues full of men-at-arms and knights heads. A few bits of moss and weed have been added as the roots spilling out from the veggies he's storing in his backpack. As far as I can tell - there are no rules for Turnip28 as yet - Dragon Rampant would work fine. You have free reign as far as factions are concerned - I think I'll call this one a Swede.

Happy New Year to everyone on the Challenge or following PCXI!

  One 28mm figure mainly from Perry parts and a room bonus for 25 points.

From MartinN: Schaeffer's Last Chancers finished [50 points]

Having painted Scope for my last entry I thought I might just as well crack on and finish the remaining five Chancers. So after almost five years the whole gang is finally reunited.

To mark the occasion I also took a group shot with all 12 of them. My painting style has evolved over the intervening year but they work together well enough. In fact the Chancers were the first figures I painted using a wet palette instead of painting straight from the pot.

And while I was at it anyway I also dug up a (luckily poor) picture of their previous paint job... I thought them rather smashing back then at the start of the 21st century. 20 years on and I'm not that convinced anymore. Probably all down to the nicer background for my photo shoots ;-)

OK, that's it for today. Hope you all had a good start into the new year!

From SidneyR: The Book Golem (25 points)

***

For everyone, there's always that book. The one you saw as a child, which was possibly "a bit old for you", or was in that awkward place on the bookshelf which was difficult for your hands to reach. Maybe you didn't read all of the book - maybe you only read a few pages.  But however much you read, your imagination was never the same again. The book opened new worlds, introduced you to characters from myth and legend, heroes and villains, and led you to cities of golden spires or ruins which were salted with ashes and dust. 

Something magical was happening while you read that book. And nothing would ever be quite the same again.

If that ever happened to you, maybe you had received a visit from a book golem.  These magical spirits inhabit old books and young imaginations, waiting to seep from the pages into the mind of an impressionable reader.  They can assume any form, both female and male, and can be benign or.... mischievous.  

And being magical, they are spectral in nature and dazzlingly coloured - often in pink, or purple.  Something to catch a young reader's eye.

Number Appearing: One per favourite book

Armour class: Varies, according to book description

Intelligence:  Exponentially increased with the number of pages read

Number of Attacks: Varies, but can be as many as one per book chapter (additional attacks for any Horus Heresy book chapter)

Predominant colour:  Magical, changeable and frequently pink

*****

So here's my submission for "The Golem's Haunt".  I was going to try and sculpt my own green-stuff Golem, but I've had two Games Workshop 'daemonettes', from the 1990s, hanging around the lead mountain box for the best part of a couple of decades.  These are very politically incorrect - the sculpts being explicable only by being magical in nature.  One found its way to the classical statute in my "Hall of Traps" entry (minus its demonic horns), and here's the other one.  

The Book Golem is resting besides a pile of books from Midlam Miniatures, the pages of which are illustrated by some arcane knowledge.  One of the daemons depicted seems to bear more than a passing resemblance to the Level Three magical spirit in the Chambers of Challenge XI map....

Like so many of you, fellow Challengers, I've loved books all my life.  In addition to enjoying the hobby of painting miniature figures and wargaming (or rolepaying) with them, one thing all hobbyists seem to share is a love of reading.  And, as I've mentioned, there's always one book which sparks things off...

The first photo in this post is my book golem on a page from a classical dictionary, which my Mum rescued from a rubbish bin when she worked in a library.  Broken spined, with tattered and foxed pages, it sat on a bookshelf of my childhood home.  It looked out of place.  But to a young, impressionable, eager reader (me!) it was something unbelievably different.  I used to turn the pages, trying to understand the entries, sometimes picking out the classical names and legends.  

Something magical happened when I read the pages of that book.  And I'm sure you have your own books, fellow Challengers, from which your own book golems drifted into your impressionable minds!

Happy New Year, Challengers!

So, for the points, I'd suggest just 3 for the Book Golem (minus 2 for being small - its about 20mm) and a couple for the Midlam Miniatures books - so 5 points in total, and 20 for completing "The Golem's Haunt".

From GeorgeS - 1:32 German Afriks Korps

       Happy New Year to everyone!! Let's leave 2020 behind and keep only the knowledge we gain through all this adventure.  This next year must be the most creative and productive for all of us!

     An assortment of Airfix and Matchbox 1:32 figures of "Afrika Korps" issue. Classic sets from the 70s and 80s in my favourite scale of 54mm. No more comments needed for these famous figures and poses!

       No chamber of challenge for this post. Just some points..( 10 X 7 =70pts).

 

 

Cheer up everybody! This is 2021!!

Keep Up The Brushes!!

 

 

SebastianR: Ho Ho Ho-all of ancestors (45pts?)

Happy New Year fellow challengers and casual blog readers, in order to clear the Hall of Ancestors and to and to justify this (rather pricey in retrospect) impulse buy.

 

"But wait! I" hear you cry. "What does this super deformed santa tank have to do with ancestors Sebastian?"

Well, amongst the last collection of miniatures I painted were a trio of M1 Abrams and this super deformed (chibi?) Sherman tank is clearly an ancestor to them as the OG US tank.*

Honestly, I was very surprised by the quality of the kit. The bits came of the sprue easily and with no threat of snapping, and parts even had odd shaped guide-holes to ensure parts were going in the right places. I also usually hate decalling, but these ones were a dream to work with. Battlefront has some lessons to learn.

What also surprised me was the lack of quality in the Tamiya spray I originally tried to coat this in. It ran, it took ages to dry and it gave the figure a shellacked quality which I really didn't like. I *was* surprised that the GW red spray I went and bought to replace it, gave a smooth Santa red coat, with only one application. You win this one gee dubs.

I deliberately kept the scheme incredibly simple, as well, it's a cartoon santa tank, and it'll probably never see the the table top. Maybe if I ever play What a Tanker.

Anyway, Santa's here to close out the holiday season and crush the enemies of capitalism with all the might his disposal. Now drink your coca-cola you filthy commie!

20 points for the challenge, 5 points for an oversized 28mm mini and 20 points for an undersized 28mm tank.

Note for Curt/his fiendish minions - tank is roughly 28mm, but happy to accept 20mm points due to tininess/simplicity of paint job.

 

*Tell me in the comments how the M1 Combat Car was the OG US tank.

From DrQ: The Shrine of Tzeentch (40 points)

All is quiet on New Years Day. A world in white gets underway.

Moving from the Adventures' Landing to the Shrine, we are greeted not by holy devotes dedicated to celestials powers of goodness or law, but rather by two acolytes of the incomprehensible and unpronounceable force Lord of Change: Tzeentch!

Here for you all today we have two Kairic Acolytes accompanied by two demons. If you are unfamiliar with these clerics of the infernal, the most recent battletome describes them as such:

In the end, only those who wholly commit can attempt the Kairic Test of Nine. Each cult has its own variations on these rites, but all end with the walk through warpfire. Those that emerge unharmed become Kairic Acolytes. Chanting arcane phrases that hurt the ears of the uninitiated, a scrawny scribe or frail council elder transforms. Flesh ripples and from nothing appear a curseblade and shearbeak helm, gleaming greaves and an Arcanite shield. Thus can a cultist, with mere words, transform themselves from ailing scholar or lanky apprentice to a muscular ideal of the human form and back again. With such arcane disguises, the Kairic Acolytes can infiltrate and subvert the very forces of those who hunt them (Disciples of Tzeentch Battletome, p. 39).

Not fun guys to bring to parties! These models are half of a team for the Warhammer Underworlds game and are known collectively as the Eyes of the Nine. I picked the up on an internet sale for $10USD, which makes we wonder if they are at all competitive for play in the game. 

There are two acolytes in the team. The male above and the female below. 

I painted both of these figures primarily using colour shift paints from Turbo Dork called "Prism Power" and "Twin Sons." These are metallic paints that behave differently on white or black undercoats. They also have a slight oil-slick sheen to them as well. The hope was to mimic the shifting colours and patterns of the demonic lord they follow.

I also painted up the two demons that are in the set as well. The larger one worked well for the colour shift paints, but the shorter flame demons needed a more traditional paint job.

It's hard to convey the paint's effects in static images, but this last one does a pretty good job with the larger demon on the right. The blue areas were those that were undercoated white, while the green sheen is where there is black. The paints are tricky to use—basically acting like even more temperamental holographic colour-shift paints—but I think they might have edge applications for models where you want to invoke something eldritch and incomprehensible.

So, as far as points this is about 40: 20 for the Shrine challenge and another 20 for four 28mm figures. 

Also, as a matter of record, I've totaled about 130 (120 if you don't count the two modded holiday models) towards the GW side duel. 

From here I'm heading to the Ork (sic!) Pit. I'm sure no one can guess what I'll be painting up for there...