From Mike W: 15mm Warlord Epic Carthaginians, 28mm Arthurian Cavalry and AWI American Militia (330 Points)

A bit a a scrambled post this week as time has just flown by and getting this batch of little guys ready has been a challenge!

Lybian Heavy Infantry unit, 3 bases each of 20 figures.

Closer view of the Lybians

First up are two units of 15mm Warlord Games Epic Carthaginians,  ech unit of 60 figures. I have completed a unit of Lybian Heavy Infantry and a unit of Scutari.

And the other end of their line

The Lybians are Armoured in chainmail, with helmets, spears and shield. I painted them much the same way as the Romans in my recent post, however  I have given them a range of colours for their shields ( with free hand symbols on some of these) and given them either purple or blue tunics.

Rear view of the Lybians

The Scutari are spear and sword armed, with helmets and shields, their painting is simplified as they all wear cloaks. Again, I gave these guys a range of shield colours, but tried to keep the red, white and black theme going that I had with the Lydia's, albeit that these guys had some blue instead of purple shields and the Lybians had a number of brass shields.

Close up of the Scuari, with a variety of shield designs, all painted free hand

Another shot of the Scutari

And from the rear, note that a number of these guys have what appear to be covers to their helmets, much like teh 19th Century Havlocks, to protect the wearers nect from excessive sun.

Hopefully another two units for next week....

Next I present the overdue Arthurian Cavalry, 6 x Mounted guys, originally due last week, each wears mail and is armed with spear and shield on an Armoured horse. Again I have looked for a unit cohesion by using white & red shields to re-enforce  their identity.

Six Arthurian Heavy Cavaly with armoured horses.

Another shot of these fearsome guys

And a shot to get a better view of the shield designs - all white and red to give unit cohesion

Close up of two of the little guys

Another two horsemen

And the final two mounted guys

Finally, thanks to fellow club member Nigel, for gifting me a frame of Warlord Games 28mm American AWI plastic figures.

Completed group of five militiamen

I have taken five guys from this frame and painted up as Buckskin clad militia, armed with rifles. As with all of these ex Wargames Foundry kits, I find their assembly a bit fiddly but the resulting figures are OK.

Another angle

These figures were undercoated in a cream colour and then painted in a variety of browns to represent their buckskin dress. Skin was done in my usual manner and details of bags, guns, straps etc was added.

Look out for 5 x Continental Infantymen in the near future.

Next Week? Hopefully more 15mm Carthaginians, a small group of 28mm Landsknechts that I didn't finish this week and more Arthurian Infantry....

SQUIRREL                                                                +2 Carthaginians & AWI Infantry

POINTS

120 X 15mm Carthaginian Infantry    @ 2 Pts ea     240 Points

6 x 28mm Arthurian Cavalry    @ 10 Pts ea               60 Points

5 x 28mm AWI American Militia  @ 5 Pts ea             25 Points

TOTAL                                                                      325 Points

A nice varied submission, Mike! The epic figures are really nice, and you have done a great effective paint job on them. It is very impressive to see them drawn up in their serried ranks, ready to teach those pesky Romans a lesson or two. The armoured cavalry are looking good too. I don't know if they really were a feature of Arthurian armies, if such a thing existed, but who cares? They look as if they mean business, and will be a great addition to your army. Finally, I like the militiamen too, the colour combinations work really well and adding a colourful detail here and there brings them to life. Your calculations work out perfefcty, but I'll throw in a couple of bonus points for the hand-painted shields. 330 points added to your tally.

Martijn

From AdamW: Carry on up the Tigris (Fraud) (160 points)

 I'm currently living in chaos with a, long overdue, new kitchen being fitted. This means painting productivity has slowed to a crawl.  

I have managed to build three ships, two 'Fly Class' gunboats and Espiegle, a Cadmus class Sloop.

The 'Fly class' river gunboats are small, well-armed, Royal Navy ships designed to patrol the Tigris river during the Mesopotamian Campaign of WW1.

They were officially called small China gunboats. This was a deliberate act to disguise their real intended use. So for this reason I have chosen them to claim my 'Fraud' bonus (someone or something who claims to be something they are not).

These are designed for 15mm gaming.  I have been generally dissatisfied with the look of 'wargaming' ships.  Due to the problems with making things to scale the way most people have approached it is to make short fat ships that are all out of proportion.

My approach is a little different. 1:100 ships are very big and even on the large table we use it's just too much.  The compromise I have made is to make them at 1:150 scale, BUT, stretch the height of superstructure so that 15mm figures don't look too tall.  This gives the right overall shape to the ship and generally works well.

The first ships I did like this were card models I designed for the ACW. Since getting a 3D printer I am now doing the same process but in a different medium.  This particular model is a free download from Thingyverse. I have tweaked the design to suit my need. The railings are brass etched ones, as I only have a filament printer and it's not quite up to printing them.

Below we have HMS Espiegle, a Cadmus class sloop. A well armed vessel with 6 x QF 4in guns, 4x3-pounder guns (in the hull) and 3 machine guns.

It was used by Townsend as the flagship of the Mespotamia Campaign. It was one of the last British ships to have a figurehead.

In this model I designed the hull from scratch. The other bits were 3D kitbashed from other models and some parts designed by myself.

I find ship painting tricky for a few reasons.  Ships were generally kept in good condition to keep the sailors busy when not in combat, so generally they looked clean and not rusty. As this is a wargaming piece and not a military model I have tried to break up the monotone look with some shading and weathering. Overall I am happy with the result, although as always the close up pictures to me don't look as good as the model looks to my naked eye. The camera picks up the print line that you just don't see and where I have painted for an effect it looks more slapdash.

I also need to work out how to model decking, as the models currently only have a flat surfaces. This is much harder to paint as there are no grooves to run a wash through.

So points???? Well will have to leave that one up to you Martijn. At least you had an idea of what I was doing before I posted this.

The figures were all painted by me a while ago, so just needed a few touch ups. No claim for those. Figures are a mixture of navy chaps from various manufacturers including QRF and Peter Pig. I did head swaps on many of the peter pig ones to get chaps with Pith Helmets,

2 x  10inch 15mm gunboats @ 40 = 80 pts

1 x 18inch 15mm gunboat @60 = 60

Fraud bonus = 20pts

Total 160

Yes, you have given me fair warning, and yet the result surprises me. A great collection of gunboats, Adam, all the more impressive for being produced in  the midst of  that most horrible of  disasters that is a kitchen renovation. Ah well, it has to get worse before it gets better I guess. I love these ships. They are have a good amount of detail, and the brass railings really add to them. The figurehead is really nice! Also, the clever rescaling absolutely works I think. A fabulous job! Now, unique items such as these are always difficult to score adequately. Most often in the past, vehicle equivalents have been used so I will do that here too. Let's score the smaller gunboats as 4 15mm vehicles and the larger sloop as 6. That will give you a base of 32 points for the smaller ships and 48 for the larger one, which seems to give a result that is fairly consistent with earlier (though 28mm) ship entries. However, in recognition of your scratchbuilding and development skills, I will round them off to 40 each for the smaller gunboats and 60 for the larger sloop. So,140 points then, for a total of 160. Well done!

Martijn

From JohnB: Filthy Lucre or Wheres Theres Muck Theres Brass (Greed) (50pts)

So there I was minding my own business painting horse and musket chaps and then the bolt of lightning that is AHPC strikes and I am down in the rubbish bins.......more on that later.

Meanwhile near K2-18b (where a swim may vaporise you - its true!) a couple of nearby unexpectedly earthly planets offer shelter to our three rogue traders - escapees from the AHPC14 programme......

Yep I am back in space for some GREED - in my case I am soooooooooo greedy that rather than pay good money for a proper spaceship I made one out of junk and will be selling it for a few hundred bucks 'cos its unique! well 1 of 36..... At least someone has scrubbed the dirt from the side panel insignia.

To make your own version all you need is lots of red craft paint and some other colours plus PVA and a milk bottle including cap, tomato paste cap, a large liquid soap bottle top, clothes pegs, tooth cleaners including empty boxes, sim card frames, waste mdf building frames, food packaging clear plastic sheet coloured with citadel contrast paint, furniture corner packaging, paper and velux window installation only brackets (this last item might be tricky so go for any scrap that looks like roof level electro-mechanicals).

You can see K2-18b in the background on my latest Painting portrait back drop - also for sale - a pop at only £14 million.

I think seeing lots of bug eyed dragonflies in 2024 drove the cab design on this plucky freighter.

I guess this is my homage to Red Dwarf tv series where the space craft were exact copies of the real thing that flew all those years ago.......... Points calculation 28mm model @20points although the minion might add a 10% bonus for hydraulically opening hatches (sorry the video wouldn't load - you'll have to trust me ;)!). And 20 points for the abyss level of GREED = a total of 40 points in all. The eagle eyed might say - where does the covid tester unit go? It goes on the Police Chase vehicle of course!!!!!!!!!

Wow John, what a thing! I love how you turned "waste" into a very convincing and creative space ship. I am not sure if it's a compliment (it's meant that way!), but it looks every inch as good as a comercially produced model. I also like the red colour, and the battered look you achieved.  And furthermore your backdrop is awesome too. A pity that I am just about 14 million short at the moment. All in all a  great contribution, so I'll bump it up to 50 points. Good job!

Martijn

From LeeH: Mounted Field Officers (30 Points)

This is just a small entry of four officers from me this week. My excuse for not getting more done; three days of gaming instead of painting!! After completing the Opolchenie last week, hot on the heels of the Cossacks the week before I was feeling a little ‘painted out’ so I took a day off before starting to prep my next big entry (a unit of Dragoons). Then the game invites began to come in and before I knew it I had ‘lost’ half a week's painting time. That’s not a complaint, I’ve had some great games over the last week, and focusing on a couple of models has enabled me to gather my strength for the next lot of cavalry. It’s also presenting Ray with a golden opportunity to overtake me in the rankings… let's see if he takes it!

The two mounted officers are from Perry Miniatures and are cast as a single model. These two are not wearing greatcoats unlike pretty much all of the rest of my army. Maybe they are just harder than their men, or maybe they are foolhardy? I did consider copying Ray and adding a greenstuff scarf or cloak, but I decided against that because I knew I didn’t have much time but also because I didn’t want to obscure the details on their uniforms. So for the first (and possibly last) time in this project, I have had a chance to paint dark green jackets, brass buttons and silver braid. I’m rather happy with how these came out. 

Next are a couple of officers on foot. I think these are Foundry figures. One is wrapped in a long greatcoat while the other wears only a frock coat. I think I may have made a mistake with this guy. I copied a picture I had so the whole figure is in grey, but now I think I’ve boo-booed and his frock coat should have been dark green. It’s too late now, he’ll have to do as is. I have a few more officers to paint so I will have plenty of choice when Ray and I finally play a game. 

 

I have started on the next unit of cavalry and hopefully, I’ll have them done for next week… crossed fingers, and a following wind permitting. 

(Scoring: 2x28mm Foot = 10 Points + 2x28mm Mounted = 20 Points - Total 30 Points)

Well, I'd say that gaming is about the only valid excuse to not paint, so I'll give you a pass. Moreover, I think that quality defeats quantity, and these officers are little gems! Nice, crisp painting and subtle highlights and shadows, what's not to like? I can understand that you did not want to go experimenting with green stuff and the like, they are fine models as they are and you have done a fine job with them. And hey, a touch of green has never hurt anybody, no? Well done Lee, 30 points it is. Which means Ray has indeed surpassed you, so time for a sprint? Looking forward to the Dragoons!

Martijn

It's Friday!

 About halfway through the Challenge it's Friday again. Time to look at... more Belgian Beer!

When the Paris mob stormed the Bastille in 1789, sparking the French Revolution, this rapidly turned into an orgy of Violence. The crusade against anti-revolutionaries, reactionaries, and the aristocrats in general, prompted the need for a means to quickly and "humanely" dispose of the enemies  of the People. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814), a  member of the French National Assembly, delivered a speech on Oct. 10, 1789, in favor of reforming the death penalty. Guillotin proposed that all those condemned to death be executed in the same way (until then, the method of execution depended on the state of the condemned person or the nature of the crime), by having them beheaded by a machine. When the Paris executioner Charles-Henri Sanson informed the Assembly that there could be problems if many beheadings with the sword were to take place, the decison was taken to use the guillotine.Thus, the device was introduced to make executions faster and - it was believed - more painless. However, the history of this machine goes back to the 13th century. It was used from the middle ages in France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and some Swiss cantons. Still, it has become the symbol of the French Revolution.

To commemorate the bicentennial of the French Revolution, the Huyghe Brewery in Melle created the occasional beer La Guillotine in 1989.It is a golden-blond tripel with an alcohol content of 8.5%.  The beer caught on very quickly in a dozen countries and won several awards. A fitting beer to symbolize the Violence theme, I'd say.

Enjoy your beer, but don't lose your head!

For your further enjoyment, we have:

- some green officers from Lee;

- John pursueing his very own Trade War;

- Adam taking to the water and looking for Lt. Gruber;

- Mike going epic again;

- and Peter finally leaving the Abyss behind.

And whatever else may turn up. Stay tuned!

Martijn