From AndrewB - Rabbits and Martians! Science fiction! (425 points)

Hello!   This week we’ve got some fun projects that I pushed hard to complete big pieces of this week, and I’m really excited to show them to you!  

First, some stellar rabbits from Thomas Foss over at Skull and Crown!  I’ve placed several orders for these, and they’re so simple to paint, yet incredibly characterful, so I keep finding myself drawn to acquiring and painting more and more of them!  This week, I have a group of rabbits, with some dogs as well, and two incredibly unfortunate monks who seem to have fallen afoul of the furry beasts! 

Interestingly enough, Thomas bases all of his figures on illustrations from the margins of illuminated manuscripts, which were transcribed by monks, so maybe there was some internal frustration going on in whatever monastery produced the source material!  

I particularly enjoy the rabbit priest with a censer, and my mounted commander, ready to lead his forces into battle upon his hound.  I have no idea if these gents will be taking over Peter cottontail’s place, or fighting to defend Watership Down with some new technology!  Maybe they’ll just beat up monks, who knows?   In any case, they’re some of my favorite minis, and I’ll work on getting they and the rest of the collection together for a group picture amongst the DIY terrain I made a few weeks ago, which should be pretty fun!  

Next up- coming soon to March to Victory, a fantastic convention in Kansas City next month(more on that later), this project fell perfectly into the Sci Fi section!  Fresh from the mind of Frank Chadwick, a small horde of Martians for the Space 1889 setting, as originally published by GDW, with miniatures still available from RAFM.  Quite possibly my favorite strain of Victorian Sci-Fi, the setting’s support died out fairly quickly, and it’s mostly fan-driven nowadays, so what better entry for the sci-fi room!  These are a split between the more civilized, advanced Canal Martians, and the more primitive, but flying Kraag Martians!  

 

These Canal Martians are the more civilized of Martian inhabitants, clinging to the former glory of the red planet.  There’s a good mix of firearms, and they tend to perform rather like humans.  The gashant-mounted leader and bards to find leader with his polearm and sword on the far right are two of my favorites! 

 

These ‘Kraag’ Martians are the more primitive cousins of the Canal Martians, and have lost the ability to produce firearms, but can curiously take to the skies in flight, so they shouldn’t have any problem presenting real troubles to the humans they’re fighting.  

Lastly, a group photo of the week’s progress!  That was a push!

As for points, we have 30 28mm Rabbits and company, as well as a single mounted figure, for 160pts!  The 47 Martians and single mounted figure brings me to 245, plus the 20 for the Science Fiction section, for a whopping total of 425!  You’ll have to forgive me if this next week is a bit light on the figures, this week was a real push. 

With 12 sections completed, I’ve emailed Curt, and we’re working on getting my Rare and Antique section hammered out, so I can get started!

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An unusual assortment indeed. I had no idea Thomas Foss was doing these sorts of figures, although I am sure all Challengers can relate to the sentiment of enjoying a particular figure or sculptor so much that one keeps acquiring more of it...certainly my basement would not be the absolute mess it is without that feeling! It would be interesting to actually get a look at these rabbit miniatures...perhaps you can take some close ups next time?

Between the rabbits and tide of VSF Martians, that is 425 points. Best of luck with your Rare and Antique Challenge.

GregB