From MartinC Some Sci fi Action (155-pts)

 I've continued with the Sci Fi theme for this week (mainly). I'm playing Stargrave in a few weeks but I think I may have too many troops

Squad in tiger stripe, on a dark night!

RPG team and drone pilot

The drone

Another Squad in beige and green!

Another drone pilot and RPG team

2 dinky little drones

I've also made some magic buildings

4Ground Americana brownstones. Fairly boring and would be better with some steps up to one that isn't a shop

But they are magic and collapse (on purpose) for easy storage. They are nice building and very sturdy but quite expensive and quite boring. They come painted but one you have assembled them they pretty much need painting again, all the grey and the bricks needed washing.

So that is 26 x 28mm infantry = 130pts

3 drones = 5pts in total

2 buildings = 1/2 cube each so 20 pts

total = 155pts

Collapsing buildings? Someone needs to have a word with the Planning department. Nice work on the squaddies, drones and brownstones!

Tamsin

From RayR: Wagons Ho! (75 points)

All things Wagon for this post. This I think is a 4Ground model it supposed to be a water wagon, 

but mines a beer wagon instead! I already have one loaded so thought I better get one unloaded.

Do I dare mention the D word???

Its a easy model to put together and no 25mm army should be without one.

Stick the tap in this end and pour.....

The next wagon is from Col Bill's Depot Battalion, you can see them here.

It a heavy ammo wagon so I painted up 4 horses, 2 with riders moulded on.

All can also be found at Col Bills.

Here for the draught horses.

and here for the Riders and horses.

Lastly 3 Wagon drivers, these are Foundry models, purchased gawd knows when!

So onto the points

Although its a 25mm vehicle Its probably a cheek to get 20 pts for the Beer Wagon

so I'll just go with whatever my Minion says, 10 pts perhaps?

For the bigger wagon 20 points

30 points for the horses and riders?

15 points for the drivers?

Making a total of 55 points?

Lovely stuff Ray. Wagons and carts are always useful to have around on the table for games. You're not very good at arithmetic though, are you? 20 + 10 +30 + 15 = 75 points. (Mind you, it is awfully tempting to go with the 55 points you were claiming!)

TamsinP

From Barks: Gaslands terrain (60 points)

I'm having my first game of Gaslands on Saturday, which was an excuse to get some MDF gates from Knights of Dice and paint some other terrain that has been hanging about for ages.

I got four of these cool gates. I could have blinged them up with extra chains, barbed wire, corrugated iron roofing etc., but I need them table ready! I was sold on them by the details of the logos, traffic lights, speakers, and cameras. I enjoyed painting the lights as if the green was 'on'. I could probably add more dirt and dust to the base- is this my chance to try weathering pigments?

Knights of Dice also make these crash barricades, which the Skirt Swisher made for me.

These cacti are from Pegasus and are on 40mm bases.

I'm quite taken with these chain fences from 4Ground. I replaced the printed transparent plastic chain sheet they come with, with some nylon floral lace. The bases are long and thin and prone to warping, but the final effect is really nice. I've got another 3m of this stuff to make... at some point.

Finally, some craters from GW.

The group shot, with a 1:64 car for scale. Beep beep!

I think this is 3x Standard Terrain Cubes, for 60 points.

Late addendum- I raced in Gaslands for the first time today, on this new terrain; it was great fun and will inspire me to build a few cars of my own! Recommended.

JamieM - You've already played a game with them?  I'm impressed!  I do believe there is merit in considering extra points for painted stuff actually being used as that's the point of painting all of this after all and I know I haven't used everything I've ever painted....  Anyway, enough of that and what a smashing set of terrain!  It really decides if a game sticks or fails in my experience as lovely figures on a green sheet only gets you so far.  Those gates are brilliant, well worth the effort and good shout on changing up the fences, anything to make things look better and help with longevity is a good thing in my eyes.

3 standard cubes it is, 60 points for you with which to upgrade your dinky little cars.....

From:PaulS - Terrainbomb (100 Points)

This year I was planning on trying to close off a number of pre-existing projects and, so far, I've managed to do that for a couple... so that is good. But when Curt introduced terrain as a viable entry... well, that was a game changer. This year I've been working on sorting out my office, including setting up a fixed gaming table area. Unfortunately I didn't have any terrain until a couple of kickstarters arrived around the same time. 4Ground provided lots of buildings and another one provided MDF cutting templates to create hex tiles for a nice modular table. My wife is pleased to have been able to contribute to the table. See if you can work out how.

I was intending to hold this back until the last week, but I've not had a chance to paint anything this week... so you can have this early and I'll try to work up another batch over the remaining weeks. At the moment I've just been doing flat tiles to try and bulk things out, but there are cutting templates for shallow hills, steep hills, cliffs and rivers, so this thing is just going to keep on growing. Everything in the picture has been made during the challenge, except assembling the building, which you can see in the pre-repaint version that was assembled in November, but has had a thorough repaint during the challenge.

In the photo above, there are a couple of figures to give a sense of scale, but to put it into context, this covers 19 inches by 24 inches (and half an inch thick) and can be reshuffled to fit whatever story I want. In this one you can see the creepy forest in the bottom left corner, with the altar. A forge has been built nearby, surrounded by some ruins and a standing stone.

So, some closeups might help. The forge is one of the newer 4Ground kits (8x9x8 inches, not including the base tiles) and went together really well. To try and add some character to the buildings, they are being permanently fixed to some tiles, so that I can add some bits of scatter to it and ensure some character. The houses will all be on grassland, with the assumption that whatever scenarios get played are in small villages or on the outskirts of cities where they haven't gone as far as cobbling the streets yet.

The creepy woodland is made using some of the GW plastic trees as I like my gaming to be pulpy. So far there are only three trees (each one is about 5 inches tall and overflow one of the tiles, which are approximately 3x3 inches)

Every dark, creepy forest needs a sacrificial altar covered in blood and skulls (how very GW!).

There is an old standing stone/herdstone for the middle of fields and a well (seen in the full view)

Two statues, one still standing and one that has fallen over. Both of these are made using 28mm figures, so fit quite nicely in terms of scale

I have no idea how you want to total all this up Curt. If I melt your brain with this, I apologise to everyone for derailing the entire challenge and causing terrain to be removed from next year's options ;)

- Each tile is about 4x4x0.5 inches and there are 37 of them, including the ones forming the force base.
- Each tree (3) is approximately 3x3x5 inches
- The forge is approximately 8x9x8 inches, not including the base

...then you have the standing stone, well, 2 statues and the altar to throw in the mix as well.

________________________________________

Great looking terrain setup Paul! That forge is a magnificent piece and I really like the way you've integrated the GW trees, pillars and standing stone into the hex arrangement. Is there a way of doing hills and rivers using this hex system? I look forward to seeing more if you have the time to post them.

As to points, it's actually pretty simple when you base it off of our base core volume. The hexes themselves make up roughly 1.5 6x6 cubes, while the forge is another 2.5. I'll also give another 1 for the trees and other bits. So this makes 5 cubes worth, equaling 100 points. Easy.  

Well done Paul! Thanks for sharing this project with us and enjoy your new gaming space!

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From RossM : A Wagon and some 20mm WWII Vehicles (70 Points)

Here is the third entry to this year's challenge which comprises of a mixed range of vehicles, periods and scales.

First up is a lowly horse drawn cart which is has no horse. This is from 4Ground (?) in 28mm and was a great kit to both build and paint. Painted in a similar manner as the previous cart and perhaps if time allows there will be the opportunity to Paint your Wagon.

Next are five 20mm Allied vehicles from WWII including two jeeps, two MK II Universal Carriers and a MK I Bren Carrier.

One jeep is from Frontline Wargames (Foreground model) and the other from SHQ (Rear model) in the picture above. The SHQ model is far clear and over a better piece to paint; that age old argument of metal versus resin models. Truth be told both are perfectly suitable for their intended use.

Next are the carriers which are three of a total of ten that will be painted in this years challenge.  All shown with divisional markings on for the 11th Armoured Division, which may not be technically true for the MK I. Not sure on that so anyone with the correct information please pass it on.

All of the WW II vehicle started of with a base coat of Humbrol Olive spray. They were then painted in Dark Olive from Coat d'Arms and washed the Nuln Oil. In truth this is too dark for the colour looked for, however, the decision was made to leave these five as is and look to change the others in the next few days.

The final stages of painting involved dry brushing the vehicles with Coat d'Arms Olive and light Olive to the final highlights.

The tracks start of black then painted in Vallejo Flat Brown, wet brushed Vallejo Cavalry Brown and then dry brushed with a dark steel colour.

More transfers in the post.

There are more decals in the post for the other carriers and if there are enough, will go back and add a few extra to the rears of these.

Any comments greatly appreciated.

Cheers for now

ByronM: Great post Ross!  You remind me that I really should build my wagon....  But, back to your figures.  Very nice looking cart there, and even better looking little jeeps and carriers.   The painting looks clean and neat and you did a good job with the decals (no silvering).  Since you asked for comments, the only thing that I would really change or add is that I think they need a little weathering.  You don't need to go nuts with chipping or rust or anything, but just some of that dirt colour from the tracks and wheels up onto the chassis and skirts.  They look too clean to me, but then I always overdo it, so what do I know!

WEDNESDAY - A Beginning from RossM (12 points)

In comparison to some of the first entries seen so far in this year's challenge below is somewhat smaller than others.

The entry has two parts to it, firstly a command stand for ADG or DBA with 6mm Rapier Macedonians.

This is the second command stand that has been recently completed for these games although the other can't be shown here as it was pre-challenge painting.

6mm is a new scale here and still trying to workout the best way of painting the little chaps for me. This stand started off with a white undercoat and then blocked in the main colours before washing with a certain earth coloured wash. On this occasion the mounted character's leg has blended in with the animal skin on the horse, so perhaps less is more on this colour scheme.

From the 6mm specialists on the challenge any hints and tips would be appreciated.

Next is a 28mm water wagon from 4Ground. A good model that was easily assembled - watch the axles as they are bit fragile once out of the frame - and very easy to paint.

The painting involved a base coat of Khemri Brown, followed by washing with that certain earth colour and then dry brushing up to the finish you see here.

Felt that the barrel needed more colour to it hence the coloured barrel lid, no branding intended.

So, there you have it the first entry from here for this year

6mm Infantry x 2 = 1 pt
6mm Cavalry x 1 = 1 pt
28mm limber x 1 = 10 pts

Total for entry: 12 pts

Cheers for now

ByronM:  A really nice first entry into the challenge Ross!  I can sympathize with the new to 6mm scale thing as I only painted my first 6mm figs about 2 years ago (in a previous challenge).  You are completely correct in the "less is more" statement as you really end up painting for effect more than detail. 

Others can voice in, but with 6mm I find the best thing to do is base black then work up, so that you leave really hard shadows that can be seen at that scale, to each their own though.  I tried working from white down and found it didn't have enough contrast.  Your results are really good though, so whatever works!

The water wagon is a wonderful little kit and you really brought it to life with your paint job, excellent work!  It would be a shame to haul water in there though, it really should be beer or whisky!