Tuesday 15 March 2022

From SimonM: "Brigade Models" Land Ironclads (10 Points)

These 1/1200th (or as “near-as-makes-no-odds the same as 2mm”) scale Land Ironclads are by “Brigade Models” and are from their Great Britain Range. They consist of two VLI-104 Warlord class Ironclads, two VLI-103 Britannic class Ironclads and a whopping VLI-101 Sovereign class Ironclad.


Rather embarrassingly, all of these metal models were found buried away in a drawer having been left neglected for over a decade. So, having re-primed them, all the Royal Mechanised Corps vehicles were given a generous double-helping of “Vallejo” Earth as an undercoat, and shaded using a combination of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.


All the Ironclads were then dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Earth. Probably due to their scale, the sculpts are actually a little flat-looking, so in order to more easily distinguish them on the tabletop, I ‘picked out’ any turrets and wheelhouses “Vallejo” Heavy Green. These areas were later washed with “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green, and carefully dry-brushed using a little (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Green.


Lastly, I applied some “Vallejo” Gunmetal to all their cannons, darkened these down with “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and gave any funnels a lick of “Citadel” Abaddon Black. I pigmented all their bases using my usual recipe of “Citadel” Doombull Brown, Rakarth Flesh and Agrax Earthshade.


I actually seem to have based the Ironclads back when I first bought them, presumably on the stand sizes recommended inside my long-lost copy of the rules. However, for scoring purposes I’ve applied the self-same logic concerning their painting time and actual size as I’ve done previously when submitting 2mm scale stuff to my weekly minion – i.e. a 5mm x 10mm equals 0.5 points.

Hopefully this latest AHPC entry will therefore provide:

2 x Warlord class Ironclads (10mm x 20mm) = 2 points..?

2 x Britannic class Ironclads (13mm x 25mm) = 4 points..?

Sovereign class Ironclad (23mm x 40mm) = 4 Points..?

Total = 10 Points..?


Small, but sweet! Nice work on these tiny land ironclads, Simon! I'll go with your suggested points for these.

Tamsin

From AlexK: Fantasy football and more superheros......and some traffic lights (91 points)

 I have been painting I promise, just not quick enough so it seems! Although it looks like I will fall short of my target this year it feels like it has been a very productive couple of months. My biggest problem has been painting very low points cost miniatures but taking quite a while to get them done (it's almost like I'm my own worst enemy sometimes), but with that said I've found real enjoyment with the figures I have painted and points total aside, this is just what I needed.

The biggest offenders in the low points time sink I find myself in are the Marvel Crisis Protocol miniatures. They are such nice figures it always seems a shame to rush them......so I haven't. For this post I give you some of the more recognisable characters from Marvel in Doctor Strange, Black Widow and Ultron. 




I also found time to do a spot of terrain painting, again for Marvel Crisis Protocol. Hopefully I will never have to paint anymore traffic lights ever again, for anything. Bright yellow can just get in the bin! Points wise I'd say it's a cube or there about.


Finally I have an attempt of mixing 2 of my hobbies, wargames and The NFL. This manifests itself in the form of Blood Bowl. So far I have the first 10 miniatures out of 12 painted. I'm hoping to have the rest done for the end of the challenge along with a few other pieces. These figures were really good fun to paint and it would seem rotten flesh is my ideal painting subject, which is slightly worrying.





So points wise I think I'm good for 10 x 28mm infantry, 3 x 40mm infantry and a couple of hand fulls of 40mm terrain, 71 points plus whatever the terrain is deemed to be worth? (I could do with it being worth about 305 points if that possible, hahaha).

Cheers,
AlexK



Wow! Two Black Widows in one day? And in opposing colour schemes! That's a great set of minis, Alex, and a great set of terrain. I'll go with a cube for the terrain, so that's 91 points for this submission!

Tamsin

From KenR - 28mm Garibaldi Red Shirts Battalion 5 (120 pts)

 

As I limp towards the end of the Challenge I've managed to scrape together another unit for my Garibaldi Project by finishing off a fifth Battalion of Red Shirts. A few quick snaps before I packed my bags for a week away with work and a few spare minutes in a hotel to get the post together.

No surprises for anyone who has followed this project, a 24 figure unit of 28mm Gringo 40s at 5 points a piece to give me 120 points so I can just get over 1,000 points, well short of my 1500 target. I've done this unit with linen trousers and used some Coat d'Arms paint I've had lying around for years to get a different effect to the other units. I've also done blue kepis with red piping which was used by some early units in Garibaldis Armies.

Back on the battlefield of Mentana the Papal Forces were some distance ahead of their French allies. General Kanzler commanding the army sent 3 companies of Papal Zouaves on a flanking march around the town of Mentana whilst the remaining Zouaves, the Carabineri Esteri and Legion d'Antibes formed up and after some brisk fighting the drove off the initial front line of the Garibaldi.

The Papal Artillery set up on the Monte Guarneri and with the French still not on the field the Papal Forces pushed on towards the main Garibaldi Infantry who were deployed in and around the walls of Mentana.

A ferocious battle began with both sides charging and counter charging each other and with the main Papal line engaged, Garibaldi tried to use his greater numbers to envelop the Papal forces.

With the French arriving and beginning to deploy the battle was in the balance.

So there we go, I hope to get one final post in before the end of the Challenge, it will just be a couple of figures on a Command Base but it will enable me to finish the story of the Battle and lay out the plans for the remainder of the Project.



Woohoo! I get to minion one of Ken's posts! I've been really enjoying watching this project progress. It's not a conflict I know a great deal about, so your history accompanying the posts has been very interesting.

Tamsin

From PeterB: Bad Squiddo Action Heroes. (10 points)

A couple of years ago now, I think it was 2019 (I'm not sure, lockdown frazzled my sense of time passing) I was happily perusing the Internet looking at blogs similar to my own and I happened upon the work of that chap we all know as Ray. An open invitation was made to meet fellow bloggers at the Salute wargame show and uncharacteristically of myself, I decided I would make a brave face and go say hello.

The time came and I went to the designated meet up point and saw the group that I subsequently found out included Tamsin, Lee and Ray among others. At first I was unsure of myself and so just walked past, chickening out as it were. But then I turned around and walked back over and introduced myself. At that meet up Ray talked about the Hobby Challenge and suggested I join in. I didn't that year, but have since heard Jasper and Guy and the chaps from WSS also discuss the challenge and I was intrigued. Again at Salute last year I met up with the bloggers group (it was a strange September show, we were all a bit dazed from finally being allowed out to play.) and the challenge was mentioned again. I decided there and then I would bite the bullet once more and said yes, challenge accepted.

So here I am. You are all lovely people, I have never had such sweet comments online about my efforts in the hobby. Thank you to Curt, Sarah and all the Minions for your hard work. (Especially Millsy the Saturday minion who has said such kind words on my posts.) These three months have flown by. I am concerned I am not going to have anything left to paint next year, although I am sure by then the leadpile will be huge again.

Here is most likely my last entry for this year.

Two wonderful action heroes (or heroines?) from Bad Squiddo Miniatures.

Of course one had to have the customary red leather jacket.

I was going to do a big photo of everything I have painted, but I couldn't actually fit it all in a photo (and I couldn't find some of it either, it'll turn up I'm sure.)

So, I shall definitely be back next year. This hobby is a great distraction and you all do it so well. If anyone asks why you spend all your time painting toy soldiers, I shall leave you with a quote from the late great Jim Henson:

No time is wasted time.


A great pair of lady adventurers, Peter! I'm so glad that we did manage to convince you to join in this year. I'm quite sure, based on personal experience, that your lead pile will be magically replenished in good time for next year!

Tamsin

From GaryA: Third Submission - 15mm ACW Confederate Infantry: "Arresting, breathtaking, awesome" Thrilled of Tunbridge Wells. (308pts)

 

Despite rumours to the contrary, I haven't been abducted by aliens or the FSB, nor have I been detained at Her Majesty's pleasure. Instead, I've been beavering away at Peter Pig ACW infantry. All painted as Confederate, but drawn from both the Union and Confederate listings to give more variety because churning out infantry is frequently less than exciting.


They represent about a quarter of the number of bases I'll need for Early's Division and are deliberately generic as they'll be used for both 'Pickett's Charge' and 'Fire and Fury' rules, but I think I've already mentioned that.


While I've got the chance, I ought to make a few comments about the Peter Pig ACW range. It's a pretty complete catalogue and just about all the figures are great, but I admit they might not be to everybody's taste. They're 15mm, not the more fashionable 18mm, which makes them difficult to mix with other manufacturers' figures. So, you can mix units, but not figures within a unit.


There are four shortcomings from my point of view:


  • the horses aren't the best I've seen, although you can make a decent job of them;

  • the available artillery models are fairly restricted – the usual Parrotts and 3” Rifles and the Napoleon, but then only a 6 pdr smoothbore and a James Rifle (which rapidly fell out of favour and ceased production in 1862). Not the end of the world, but 12 and 24 pounder howitzers would be useful. This sort of thing is only for aesthetics, I suppose, but it'd be nice;

  • the staffs on the standard bearers are generally too short. They're OK for the cavalry and Confederate infantry standards/battle flags, but anything else will require either an undersize flag or a replacement staff;

  • the range of zouaves is pretty poor and you're going to need to put up with the limited choice, use another range or get stuck in to head swaps.


That said, I still like the range very much: they're robust wargame figures (even I haven't managed to break one) yet with bags of character and detail. Now the sexy bit: a couple of shock and awe piccies so Tamsin can count the figures and then some examples of the bases for the units.














So, the scores on the doors:

2 x mounted figures @ 4pts=      8pts

150 x infantry figures @ 2pts= 300pts

Total                                       308pts

 


Thank goodness - the first proper points-bomb of the day! I was getting rather worried.

That's a great collection of Rebs, Gary - nice work!

Tamsin


Thanks Tamsin. They're easy to paint and it's strangely relaxing. After the infantry it's the cavalry and the artillery teams. I'll see if I'm relaxed then! 😬

From MartinC: Saxon Horde(ish) (135pts)

 So I'm still suffering the after effects of covid. I'm never more than 10 minutes away from having a nap. I've done some more painting, but not a lot, by my standards. Also I'm towards the very end of the planned painting for the challenge but I'm out of bases and the delivery is late.


Saxon skirmishers, not sure of the make they were 2nd hand

some random spearmen


16 of the figures had the same pose so I made them a Huscarl regiment. The shield is the Northumbria flag

Scores on the doors - 27 x 28mm inf = 135pts.

There may be 1 more post before the end, but right now I need a nap



Sorry to hear that you're still suffering the (after?)effects of Covid. Hopefully you'll be back to full fitness very soon.

You've run out of bases? That's bad planning. Still, the figures look good! 

Tamsin

From RayR - Femme Fatale (10pts)

 



Tamsin usually finds herself  blessed being my Minion each year during the Challenge, but it wasn't to be this year. So, as she's minioning today I thought I stick a small post on for her as a pressie. Here we have 2 x Femme Fatale's


I've had these figures for many moons and painted them up just in case I needed any more lifts on Sarah's Star Yacht. That ship has now sailed. So these luvvly ladies are going spare.


The lady on the left is the Governor's Daughter and is a resin model, I can't for the life of me remember the manufacturer??? The hatted lady on the right is another of the civvies from North Star's 1672 range.

I still working on other figures, hopefully I'll have more posts to sneak in??

10 point please Tamsin? Unless you wanna give me any bonus points which I know you won't?

😏



Awww, you're so kind! Ermm, this is Ray! OK, so what dastardly scheme is it you're plotting that you feel the need to butter me up? 😏

Those two ladies look very nice, and neither is a bear that you're trying to claim as female for Sarah's Choice! 

No bonus points though!

Tamsin

From SanderS: Noel's Comet: A Soldiers Farewell! (50 points)

 Hoi,

Here we are at Noel's Comet and for me that's the end of my regular Challenge posts. For quite some time I have been contemplating what to use as entry for this planet and it took me a while to put it all together in a, to me at least, satisfactory way.  

Let me show you the figures first and as this is a Laarden 1702 post let me put up the Laarden Logo down below and tell you how it came to be. An uncle of mine is a retired woodworker who has had a shop repairing antique furniture for ages. He can track down his family-line through 400 years of woodworkers (no lie, really true) and he has repaired the desk I sit at now as well as one of the large wardrobes standing in my hobby-room. He also had to learn wood-carving and thus drawing designs for it. Well the guirlande or mirror making up the Laarden 1702 logo is one of his old designs I found accidentally and had a coworker of mine put into computer graphic for digital use.

As far as the post goes here we go:

The vignette is made up of figures from Colonel Bill's own line and aptly named "A Soldier's Farewell". 









This vignette is supposed to represent my 1702 (here still 1688) equivalent joining the Sun King's army and that is the miniatures for this post settled. They should net me 3 foot figures in 28mm is 15 points, one mounted figure 10 points and the comet's bonus of 20 points for a total of 45 points.

Yet there's also a story that should go along with a Noel's Comet post and what is more fitting than a story about Noel himself?

Let me take you back in time a few years, it's December 29th 2017 and I am about to start my one and only Tour of Duty as a Minion. One of the new Challengers that season happened to be a kind gentleman named Noel Williams. I would like to take some time to talk about dear Noel as he has left us all last year for the Big Typewriter in the Heaven. For those of you who didn't know Noel, or who have just joined the Challenge, I will let him introduce himself:

 "I'm a retired academic living in Sheffield, UK. Like many wargamers, I began with Airfix figures in childhood, and still have the same passion for new figures that I had in 1960 when I'd run to the local toyshop with 2 shillings in hand (that's 10p, for you youngsters). So I’ve amassed a large amount of unpainted lead and plastic, which seems to grow every year, despite my best efforts with the paintbrush. I'm interested in most periods up to WW2 – anything more recent unsettles me somewhat – but the battlefields I keep coming back to are Napoleonic. I like the spectacle of uniforms and flags, so tend to go for smaller units so I can get more variety on the tabletop. I’m also a writer (poet and occasional fiction) so I write the odd piece for the wargames press, too. Luckily, all my family are gamers, so we’ve a dedicated wargames room, and figures of various kinds scattered around the house. I used to be a very good painter – won some prizes etc – but these days various infirmities, particularly eyesight, make it more difficult to get a decent job done. The Challenge is a great incentive for me, and I’m hoping to get many more figures done than the 500 points I set as my target."

Noel wrote this introduction because I thought it would be nice to have all the Tuesday crew of that Challenge introduce themselves and so I am pretty sure he wouldn't mind me sharing this with you. During my Tour of Duty I had quite an animated mail exchange with Noel and even after the Challenge ended we sporadically spoke through mail. In December 2020 I read some of Noel's articles in Wargames Illustrated and Miniature Wargames and mailed him with a few questions and some thoughts about his writings, he seemed to like to get that kind of feedback and in one of his replies he mentioned he was writing an article for WI concerning the Challenge itself. 

Noel asked whether I would mind if the article included a photograph of Arthur and me, of course I was honoured and agreed, that was the last time I heard of Noel. Shortly afterwards I read some posts on Noels Facebook page that seemed to indicate he had passed on. The latter turned to be the case sadly and so I was mightily surprised and touched to find that January's issue of WI included a posthumously published article about the Challenge featuring the bespoke photo as well as some heartwarming words concerning my son. 

In his last mail to me, Noel wrote what Curt and the Challenge meant to him and again I think he wouldn't mind me sharing that with you all:

"Your notes on Curt and Sarah do not fall on deaf ears. It is already in my plan to be as positive as I can be about not only the whole experience of the Challenge, but also those two generous beings who enable it to happen. It's not going to be difficult to think of praiseworthy things to say, though obviously I shan't turn it simply into a puff piece about them. I will, as always, aim to be as honest as I can be, but also to ensure that what I write up is accurate and thorough (and, hopefully, interesting) - and inevitably it will be impossible to document the Challenge without implied or explicit praise for Curt (and, indeed, the minions) in pretty much every paragraph. 

Unlike you, I don't have the honour of meeting them f-t-f, nor am I ever likely to. However, it's obvious from the way they communicate with us, as well as Curt's occasional private emails (as well as the enthusiasm with which he agreed to the article) that he's definitely one of the Good Guys. More than that, by the way he offers feedback on so many posts (always positively, always helpfully where needed) he creates an environment where everyone else can see what it is to "behave well" in the context of the Challenge. This is the sort of behaviour of good leaders, where his example in painting (how does he do it?), in organising the various scurrying contributors and in good manners creates a situation where everyone taking part wants to do the same. 

You can see I've already initial thoughts on what might be said about Curt! I simply won't be able to describe my experience of the Challenge - which has been hugely rewarding - without expressing how inspiring it can be, and that inspiration is very much down to the man and woman who run it. 

So I don't think you need to worry that the piece will be in any way understated about him or the success he's created. Of course, my experience of the Minions - now, that could be a different matter...!"

 From the short pieces I have quoted above and his articles in WI and MW you can see his talent in writing for yourselves. I miss Noel and his glorious posts a lot especially his humour but I am sure he would want us all to enjoy the Challenge, be inspired and inspiring by it, and to each other.

Rest easy Noel...

There's a soldier in the vignette that I really couldn't think up a good role in my Laarden tale for and so I pondered whether to include it or not. Then inspiration hit me and I thought that it would be fitting to let the figure represent Noel, who is surely still with us on this great voyage that is the Challenge and celebration of our joined hobby.

That's it for me folks see you all in the "End of Challenge posts"! 

Cheers Sander



What a great tribute to a sorely missed Challenger - Noel was truly one of a kind. I'm sure he'd approve of his "spirit" being included in that wonderful vignette.

I'm adding some points for the terrain of the vignette.

Tamsin

From Phil: T’Challa’s Ambush at Caprica (27 Points)

We land at Caprica, where I’m back to my new Marvel Crisis Protocol project with another Avenger: T’Challa aka Black Panther. And one who got a way better film, a fun romp with some great afrofuturist design and in my view one of the best of the MCU.



I tried out a new method on the black, using a ‘chromatic black’ technique from mixing Liquitex artist’s inks to make a heavily pigmented black-purple and airbrushing over a zenithal base. I picked this up from the ‘NotJustMecha’ YouTube channel and wanted to give it a try. I thought the purple as a royal colour would be great for this King of Wakanda.


The detailing on the bodysuit was a bit soft, and something of a pain to pick out. It’s also my first real try at non-metallic metal, a choice I might regret if I keep it up over the range (looking at you, Ironman). 

That’s another 27 Points to my tally and I’ve nearly finished my trip around the Outer Ring. 


That's a great looking super, Phil. The airbrushed inks over zenithal priming is a handy technique and I think you've nailed it with this figure.

Tamsin