From StuartL: Under Construction (120 Points)

Hello all,

It is good to be back in the Challenge, and this year I am hitting the ground running. As this is my first year as a minion, I want to get as much done as possible before I have to start spending my brush time checking posts. For me, the challenge starts at 3pm and luckily I had the afternoon off, so I was able to jump straight in with the painting and get to work. I had also made sure that dinner was ready to go (just a quick zap in the microwave), so when my better half got home I didn't need to take an extended break from the workbench. 

I opted for the Under Construction part of the studios as all of the minis I painted up today seem to fit the bill quite nicely.

First up, ten Anglo-Saxons from Gripping Beast miniatures.

I bought a huge pile of GB plastics way back in 2017 as part of a group project to recreate the battles of 1066, starting with The Battle of Fulford. We managed to get that battle played, but due to the easily distracted nature of wargamers that was it. Members of the project then moved to other countries, or downsized their collections, leaving me the only person in my local club still interested. So I have been slowly plugging away at a vast stash of figures and the above are part of that ongoing war of attrition.

Which leads me to these five Vikings, also from Gripping Beast. Originally I was only going to paint up the Saxon force for 1066 (plus maybe a few dozen Normans), but the player doing the bulk of the Vikings sailed off for distant shores, rather fitting I suppose. So, nothing else for me to do but collect them too. 

Since most dark age/early medieval figures tend to look somewhat similar, I try to make my two forces easy to tell apart. The Saxons tend to be in very simple colours, with a cross or quartered pattern on their shields. For the Vikings, I go for brighter clothing and a half patterned shield. This should make gameplay a bit less confusing when models get swallowed up in a melee. Eventually I will have enough minis for the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and these five will help me reach that goal.

My final set of minis for this post are five Northstar/Oathmark Dwarves. In the last challenge I painted up what I thought was all of the minis for my Dwarf army. (HERE) However, as it transpired, I had actually missed a bunch. When AHPC 12 was announced, I considered joining the Squirrel duel and so set 5 minis to one side for that. When I came to paint up the bulk of my army, I forgot to include the Squirrel group. These guys have been sat waiting to join their brethren all year.

 

So, with those out of the way, my Dwarf army is finally complete. Until I buy more minis that is.

So, that should be 10 Anglo-Saxons, 5 Vikings and 5 dwarves for a total of 20x 28mm minis. That plus the location bonus should bring me to 120 points as my opening score. 

These 3 entries are all Squirrel points as well, giving me a nice hat-trick on my first post. Yay.

My Side Duels:

Squirrels - 3

Anglo-Saxons

Vikings

Dwarves

Skullz - 0

Turnips - 0

So, now to wait for a minion to come along and confirm things.

Wow, you call that an entry? Those shields look a bit rushed, and the rims on the dwarves' shields don't match the ones you did last year. You didn't even bother to paint the eyes. Go back and try again.

-Stuart

Wait, why am I being so mean?

You are your own worst critic. Be thankful you are getting any points at all.

Um.... I don't think I can actually minion myself.

Why not, Curt does it?

Yeah, but he's the Snow Lord and is all-powerful and all-knowing. Maybe I should wait for him or one of the more experienced minions to come along.

Oh, I see how it is. Fine, we'll wait for someone else then!

Fine!

________________________

Stuart, buddy, you're talking to yourself. You need to stop drinking your paint water and take a bit of a break. Take if from the 'all-powerful, all-knowing Snow Lord' (who is both a bit manic, and has a great affinity for paint water). :)

Seriously, great work Stuart! As we're not even a full day into the Challenge I think this counts as our first Paint Bomb. Well done! Your Anglo Saxons and Vikings look right proper for a Dark Age dust-up, but I have to say my favourites here are your doughty Dwarves, especially their spiffing shields. Well done! 

- Curt