From BruceR - Epic Iron Brigade, Zombie Camels, Chaos Warriors, Limbo, (117 pts)

It’s great to be back for Challenge XV and all the positivity associated with the hobby we share.  

As we all do, I have a number of different ways to go this year and was sitting reading Curt’s first post and I was drawn to a couple of primed epic ACW infantry stands that simply sat on my painting area.  I’d continued from the Challenge last year and completed the Guts and Glory box of epic ACW and the crew here played a couple of Black Powder games with the newly finished forces.  One of our crew had moved away a number of years ago, but manages to return once or twice a year to game.  He played ACW this summer and started painting the Army of North Virginia.  This got my juices going so why not paint the Iron Brigade (Midwest toughs) for the Union.  We, like many others, we have  paired down the number of stands in a regiment to 3 from the Warlord 5.  I was able to find a box on ebay and was surprised when they arrived in this wee box.  20 strips of Iron Brigade ready for the brush.  I had to create a command stand as only 2 are in the box.  I cut up a strip and placed some 10mm Kallistra ACW metals in to make it happen.  The buddy returned two weekends past and we put his new force and my additional troops on the table for a battle.  A long story as to why there were 3 stands sitting unloved.  They were not used or needed and so I return to the Iron Brigade.  Perfect for the first level of hell “Limbo”, returning to a project.  I whipped them out and with only 3 strips I had to dig in the bits box and decided to add some Kallistra officers and a standard to create another base.  So another 2 bases of Iron Brigade lads to the collection. 

Iron Brigade

Continuing Frenzy:

Zombie Camels

Yesterday, the gang came over for the last game of the year as I’m traveling for the holidays.  We have enjoyed The Silver Bayonet, and I had set up the 2^nd scenario from the Egypt book.  We had a blast and when finished one of the boys passed out little Xmas packets to the 3 of us.  These were resin printed “Zombie Camels”.  I had used some nurgle troops to represent them previously as I did  not have Camels of any sort.  So, while the war department watched the Kennedy Center production Sunday night, I painted Zombie Camels.  I kept to the nurgle theme as, well they are zombies.  Used speed paints for most of the work and I actually like how they turned out.  We will have to replay scenario one to get the zombie camels back  on the board. 

Gift Painting:

Chaos Warriors

While putting some gifts together of miniatures for the gaming crew I noticed two original metal chaos warriors/champions sitting on a figure shelf.  Probably been there for 15+ years (actually I have no idea where I would have obtained them from) Perfect, one of the group has an  old chaos warrior army and I had nothing for him.  Well get the brush going and two old school chaos warriors ready for Xmas giving and Mordheim, WHFB, WtOW etc… 

Good to be back

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Bruce! I've always really liked your 12mm ACW efforts and these do not disappoint. Love the undead camels; a terrific addition to your Silver Bayonet collection and definitely a good reason to revisit a scenario. This all being said, I have to admit that my favorites of the crowd are the two Chaos Warriors. Love these guys. They have that wonderful old-school wide-stance look about them. What an awesome gift. Well done!

- Curt 

From PeteB - Hagen-Miniatures Wild West Townsman - 28 mm - Limbo - 25 Points

This figure is a 28mm figure from Hagen-Miniatures which I started long time ago but never finished. And now I did. They have some more of this Wild West townsfolks but I’m not sure if I will get to them this challenge.

Painting this figure was fun, and for the first time I painted eyes on such small figure. Normally I only do this on my bigger 54 mm figures but this time I couldn't resist trying it on this one. And I like the result. He is part of a small project where I'm working on.

I wish you all and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Points: 

1 x 28 mm foot figure        = 05 points

Limbo entry                        = 20 points

Total                                    = 25 points

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Hey Peter. I can see that it's a figure, and probably very well painted, but the lighting is so off that one cannot really discern much of the details. Similar to my advice to Gavin, I suggest you not photograph your work against a white background as the camera will often underexpose the figure. Try using a darker background and good frontal lighting and the contrast balance should correct itself.  

- Curt

From GregB - Loyalist Armour for "Legions Imperialis" (8 points)

A squadron of Imperial Fist Sicaran tanks for GW's "Legions Imperialis" game.

A little palette cleanser of an entry here on Christmas Eve - a unit of Sicaran Tanks for GW's rebooted Epic 30k game "Legions Imperialis". These are multi-part plastic kits from GW, and they are painted in the colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the tiresome (if stoic) Imperial Fists.

Heavy plasma-type cannons in the turret and lascannons on the sponsons - this configuration is ideal for engaging armoured targets, like other vehicles or some of the scary walkers.

GW botched the rollout of this new game quite comically in 2023. While some of the issues relating to supply of models have alleviated since the game launched, you can still sense the impact of the failed release for the game in a lack of enthusiasm among the local 30k community. It would not be accurate to say nobody is playing it, but interest is quite limited and I frequently encounter hobbyists who had been keen to try it, but gave up when they could not obtain it, or subsequently gave up on it due to lack of models. I still haven't found an opponent to give the game a try - even those who have small collections have them put away, or are more focused on the main 30k game etc. 

Yellow armour for hope! You can see some of the different decal options used on the vehicles.

As an old-time fan of the original "Epic" game from GW, I am still working on a collection myself - after all, I find the models remarkable in their quality, if somewhat tricky to assemble owing to their size. But given that there is no game or event pressing me to get moving, my pace of painting these figures has been very, shall we say, "stately" (i.e. laughably slow). 

Autocannons in the turret, and heavy boaters on the sponson - this configuration is primed to take out light vehicles and flyers.

All the same, this slow pace allows for time to enjoy the models. And to swear constantly at the yellow paint! The Imperial Fist colours look striking when you are finished, but wow...what a pain! Even on little tanks like these!

There are scads of different tanks for GW's Horus Heresy setting. The Sicaran tanks fit somewhere in the middle in terms of size and impact. They are pretty fast, have slighter armour, and can pick different weapons load outs to emphasize anti-personnel, anti-tank or a mix of both. One model has a vehicle commander popped out of the hatch, so it can serve as a command tank should such a thing be needed in the game.

Four little tanks equals 8 points - not a whole lot, but like I said...a nice little palette cleanser.

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Lovely work Greg! Your brushwork is so clean and precise. Also the yellow you've chosen (as painful as its been to work with) really makes them pop on the tabletop.  I too have been really disappointed with GW's 'own goal' approach to design, marketing and rollout of this game. This is something you could say is typical of them, but it's not the case as their more boutique 'epic-scaled' game 'Adeptus Titanicus' was/is actually very good and was for the most part well-supported. That being said the minis for Imperialis are it's strong suite with the models being amazing in their intricacy, especially the vehicles (as we can clearly see here). Hopefully if you get enough models painted for both sides you can entice a local gamer to try out the rules with you. 'Stately progress' is still progress!

Again, great work Greg!

- Curt

Ready From TeemuL: Lannister Heroes (44 points) [Limbo]

Bit of slow start this time, I was supposed to have plenty of time during the weekend and Christmas week, but I caught a flu and focusing on minis was out of question. Happily these The Song of Ice and Fire minis have been on my desk since October and needed very little work to complete them. Anyway, they qualify for Limbo and now they are done.

These three are from Lannister Heroes 3 set, which I got from a sale. I don't have the game, but they were cheap and I decided to give them a chance. They are one piece plastic minis and rather large. Robert Strong on the left is 60mm to the feathers and the other two are almost 40mm. So they won't mix with my other minis (mostly 28mm), but may be they find some use. I have other half of the box still to do.

The paint job is not extraordinary, I'm not happy with the faces for example and highlights are bit rough, but they are ok if you look from far enough. Robert and Kevan were quite dull, full armour and red cloak, Qyburn was more interesting. There are heavy washes and heavy highlights, as I mentioned earlier. Some sand and tufts on the base.

Robert Strong

Kevan Lannister

Qyburn

After taking the initial shots, I realized I missed the blacks from they eyes, so back to the painting table. Here the horrible close ups, but the eyes are decent - it kinda helps that the models are quite large!

Regarding the scoring these qualify for Limbo (20 points) and I ask for 7 points for Kevan and Qyburn (40mm minis) and 10 for Robert Strong (54mm). Total should be 49 points, if Curt agrees.

What's next? I have been rather busy and my painting motivation has been low and I haven't prepared any females (or deamons), so I guess I need to paint something for Lust. Outside the themes, expect to see some fantasy or another, may be historical or scifi.

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Welcome back to the Challenge Teemu! I'm sorry to hear that you've not been feeling well but it seems you've managed to move from one Limbo to another that is a bit more fun. I virtually know nothing about the The Song of Ice and Fire miniature game though it seems they've produced a lot of product for it.  That aside, you've done very nice work on these Lannisters. I like the armour, your highligting and especially your efforts on their faces. Kudos to you for the eyes - I almost never do as it seems to be a practice of diminishing return on time invested. 

Your scales are right but your math is off, so 44 points it is - well done!

- Curt

From LeeH: Russian Line Grenadiers 1812 [40 Points]

My first EVER unit of 28mm Napoleonics is completed. Let's be more specific.. my first Napoleonics in any scale! It’s all Ray’s fault. He rang me a few months ago and suggested a collaboration and about five seconds after suggesting The Retreat from Moscow in 1812 I was online and making my first order! My first impression…28mm is waaaay more expensive than my usual 6mm projects! I often paint single 28mm figures for the challenge, but it has probably been three decades since I last painted units of 28’s so I had no idea how long these would take to complete to a standard I was happy with. Fortunately, I had quite a bit of time during the opening weekend of the Challenge and I rocketed through this first unit. 

These are 1812 Russian Grenadiers, but they are wearing slightly out-of-date equipment. They still wear the 1808 pattern ‘stovepipe’ Shako with its enormous plume. From February 1811 regiments started being equipped with the new ‘Kiwer’ style shako with a much thinner Plume. Still, many had not received these before the French invasion in 1812 and some regiments didn’t fully change to the new regulation uniform until 1814. Fortunately for me most of the models I have chosen for my Russian army are wearing Greatcoats making painting them a lot easier. (Ray keeps mentioning this but I don’t feel guilty at all. First, he should have started the conversion by bagsying the Russians first and second he’d just cost me £200 I wasn’t planning on spending!)

One of the reasons I so quickly agreed to this project was that I felt the hand of fate on my shoulder. I have most of the Blandford Colour Series books and just a few weeks earlier I filled a gap in my collection when I found a copy of Uniforms of the Retreat from Moscow in a charity shop for the ridiculous price of one pound. So when Ray suggested the period for our collaboration project I knew I couldn’t ignore the obvious hint from the gods of wargaming. Serendipity had spoken and I had to go with the flow. Besides, being a bit of a butterfly my will was too weak to resist. 

(Scoring: 8x28mm Foot = 40 points)

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First, welcome to 'The Beautiful Game' Lee. Your first unit of Napoleonics... Wow. To me it's like some one announcing the arrival of their first child. Fabulous work my friend. I love that you've done them in the earlier stovepipe brush shako - literally over the top stuff. Good call on the greatcoats and I also like your snowy bases which really highlights the intended setting. Lovely stuff. I look forward to the next installment in this project.

Speaking of which, where is Ray's contribution? You're barely of the gate and he's already shirking his responsibilities.. :)

40 Points to you Lee, well done.