From MartijnN: More ASOIAF and more Arabs (140 points)

 We're in the middle of the Challenge Doldrums, and somehow I seem to have been stuck there for some time. However, I have not been completely idle and I finally managed to finish some units. 

First up are some more Gripping Beast metal Arabs for Saga. These are four hearthguard heavy cavalry. I'm not too fond of painting horses, so it was perhaps not a brilliant idea to choose a warband that consists mostly of horsemen, but I think these came out okay. I tried to use some varied (speedpaint) colours, and went easy on the Agrax Earthshade for a change. 

They are nice figures, with quite some detail on them, and painted up nicely. Only 13 more horses to go!

Next, I have been working further on the A Song Of Ice And Fire Starter set. I painted a unit of Stark outriders. They have a fairly Anglo-Saxon feel, and I tried to achieve some uniformity while keeping them as varied as possible.

I am actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of the figures. They are made from a sturdy hard plastic and have a considerable level of detail. The poses and the proportions look very natural to me, and arrayed on their movement trays they look fairly impressive.

Finally, I painted another Stark infantry unit, the Umber Berserkers. They look pretty cool with their two axes and the fur coats draped across their shoulders. They were fun to paint, and took less time than I feared.

Now, let's just hope I'll actually like the game... If not, I can always play Saga with them ;-)

Anyway, there we have it.

8 x 28mm cavalry @ 10 = 80

12x 28mm infantry @ 5 = 60

For a total of 140 points. One month to go, I might yet make it to my total!

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Hello Martijn!

Glad you are finding your way out of the mid-challenge doldrums ... February has been a tough month for a lot of folks!

I do like your Arabs .. I like that all four cavalry figures have a bit of yellow - really ties them together as a unit. I have never painted a horse but I do think yours are nicely done with good colour variation.

The Stark Clan look awesomely fierce and ready to do battle. Interesting sidenote, I read an interview with the costume designer for Game of Thrones and she said that when trying to figure out out to dress the Starks, they decided to dye/distress/age Ikea fur rugs to use for cloaks!

140 points to you and Im cheering you on to meet your total goal! 

Cheers

- Sarah

Sarah 

From MartijnN: Württembergers, Saracens and Lannisters (140 points)

I have been far less productive than I would have liked this Challenge. However, I have not been completely idle. I finally had the opportunity to finish some models and, equally importantly, take some photographs.

First up are some Saracen infantry. These are from a Saga Warband set from Gripping Beast. They are metal, and the only infantry unit in the warband. I have had these for ages, and finally prepped them for this Challenge.

They came out okay, although they will not win any prizes. I used Quickshade Darktone on them, and as a result they are a bit... well, dark. But they will do. I will probably give them another coat of varnish when the weather improves, because the matt varnish I used (AK ultra matt) is very matt indeed (duh), and for these troops I am not too fond of that. Most of the shields are LBM transfers, but I didn't have enough of those so I painted some by hand. I am sure you won't be able to tell the difference. The rest of the warband are all cavalry, I will try to finish some of those before the end of the Challenge.

Next, the final company of my Württemberg infantry regiment for Sharp Practice. I have put off painting these for a long time, and I am glad they are done. Actually, they are rather a joy to paint. I mostly used contrast paints, like on their comrades done earlier. They are Piano Wargames miniatures that I 3d printed myself, and they are lovely sculpts. I think I have overcured them though, for they are rather brittle. And of course, when I took one of the NCOs off off the painting handle when it was completely finished, I broke off the bayonet...  It went flying through the room and for the life of me I could not find it. By now, it will have vanished into the vacuum cleaner I presume. I may try to replace it with another bayonet, but that is a very fiddly process. At least it broke off rather cleanly, so with a little imagination he is now simply carrying his musket without the bayonet. But a frustrating experience it was!

Finally, I have a regiment of Lannister Guardsmen from the A Song of Ice and Fire starter set. These are rather nice figures. I kept the uniforms "traditional", with lots of red and gold. I spent a little more time on these, using coloured washes and some drybrushing and minor highlighting over mostly contrast paints again, and I am fairly happy with these. 

I have prepared more ASOIAF figures, most of the remainder of the starter set, so I hope to get some of those done as well. We'll see how it goes.

So there we are. Scoring is simple:

28x 28mm foot @5 = 140 points

And 3 squirrels, if I remember to fill out the form!

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Martijn you may have been taking your time but you've done a fabulous job on all three of these sets. Your Saracens look the business (and who doesn't love good old metal minis) - I especially appreciate your freehand work on the shields. I'm often lazy and resort to decals so I applaud your great job! The Wurttembergers are very fine as well and I'm sure a welcome addition to your Sharpe Practice force. The fellow who is sans bayonette is simply a little slow in getting his extracted from his rusted scabbard, nothing to note here, carry on! :) Finally, those nasty Lannisters look wonderfully ostentatious in their red and gold livery. The extra time you put into them really has paid off I think. Very well done my friend!

- Curt & Huck

From MartijnN: A Song of Ice and Fire (65 points)

Like many others, I loved the series Game of Thrones (except for the final season's finale of course, just like many others too...). When CMON produced a miniature game set in the world of Westeros, I was immediately intrigued. However, the game was rather pricey, so I held off for a bit. Eventually, however, of course, I caved in and bought the two player starter set. And then a bunch of additional boxes with miniatures. However, just as inevitably, I failed to paint any of them and they sat on a shelf unloved. The Challenge provided the perfect opportunity to finally start painting some of them, so I prepared a lot of miniatures from the starter set to paint in Challenge XV. I have no idea how far I am going to get before boredom sets in, but here is my first unit.

It is a unit of 12 Stark Sworn Swords. Being gaming pieces, and realizing there are a lot  of them, I decide to paint them as quickly and simply as possible. Actually, they are quite nice miniatiures. They are about 28mm tall, made of a sturdy plastic, and have enough detail on them to make them interesting without getting to GW level madness. Also, I find them very well proportioned. I painted the movement tray supplied with the game in the same style.

I am fairly happy with the result. I used Citadel contrast paints, and the Army Painter speedpaint metallics, and applied a wash of Agrax Earthshade over the whole unit to finish it. Although they came out a bit dark, I think that nicely reflects the grim and stern nature of the Northern Starks.

Finally, I painted some 3d printed rats. This was really a very simple paint job. I do not really have any use for them other than as scenic pieces, but who knows when they might come in handy. I think these were designed by Evan Carothers, but I am not entirely sure. They are nice enough sculpts.

So that's it for me this week. As to scoring, I would like to count the sworn swords as 28mm figures, and perhaps 1 point for each of the five bases with rodents? Or whatever Sarah sees fit.

Which means:

12x 28mm foot @ 5 = 60

5 bases x 28mm rats @ 1 = 5

For a possible total of 65 points. And a squirrel for the Starks!

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Hi Martijn

I think EVERYONE had issues with last season GOTR, which in my opinion is 100 percent due to  GRRMartins ego/hubris in thinking he's sooo clever with killing off everyone in Red Wedding and then found himself stuck in a corner and couldn't write himself out of it and no one else really could either! But, that tangent is for another day!

Well done points-wise and another 65points added to your scoreboard

From PeteF ASOIAF Lannister Halberds (65 points)

Our local wargaming convention Enfilade! has an awesome Bring & Buy.  This year someone brought their A Song Of Ice And Fire (ASOIAF) Miniatures Game Kickstarter that they finally decided wasn't for them.  I've been eyeing up this game for a long time.  I generally prefer miniatures on the sprue rather than limited poses but I do love me some Game of Thrones and rank & flank soo - I bought the lot and now it's time to start chipping away at this new addition to the Pile of Potential.

The core set is Stark vs Lannister and I'll be mainly concentrating on getting my Lannisters painted - first unit on the table are these Halberdiers.  There are 12 footsoldiers - 3 basic poses and a banner bearer - plus an Assault Veteran.  In the game you can spice up your units by adding various leader types by spending some additional points.

The miniatures for this game are a collaboration between Dark Sword - who have the ASOIAF license and have produced a beautiful and expensive line of metals - and CMON.

I've played the game once and it has some interesting mechanics - there's figure removal (and sometimes replacement as a unit heals) and as the number of ranks diminishes it's fighting stats change.  There are also some non combatant slots that can have a great deal of influence on the battlefield.

To prevent the figures getting jostled in the movement tray and for ease of transport I've magnetized them and glued a metal base underneath the plastic movement tray.  

Behold Magnets! (and loose flock)

The non combatants include many of the main characters in  Game of Thrones - who incidentally reflect the vices and virtues of the Divine Comedy - so I'm planning to use them to complete many circles and spheres on route to this Challenge's target.

One of the things I don't like about ASOIAF Miniatures is that they typically come 13 to a box - plays havoc with my triskaidekaphobia. 

13 x 5 = 65 points.

I'm scoring these as 28mm minis - they are 35mm foot to eye (heroic 32mm?)

Wishing Challenges a Happy New Year and all the best for 2025 - see you next year!

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Lovely work on these Lannisters Pete! The red and gold livery is very sharp and besides, who doesn't like a good pike? The fact that you have finished these puts you miles ahead of that tw@t GRR Martin who seems incapable of completing the core storyline. I look forward to see your efforts with the opposing Stark faction.

- Curt