AlanD - More from Dacia! (60 points)

I have some eclectic entries on the way this week, but the first is the latest batch of 12 Victrix Dacians for Infamy. Not too much to say about these that I haven't already said about previous entries, but I hope you enjoy the eye candy. Oh, and the shield decals are from Little Big Men Studios, and I think they look so nice that I am no longer feeling ashamed about not painting the shields.

AlanD - Yep, More Dacians...(75 points)

 

Here's another 15 Dacians for my growing Infamy force. I am enjoying painting these Victrix figures a lot.

I almost always paint shields, and have been recorded (literally, thanks Paul) saying uncharitable things about decals. However, Dacian shield designs are so complex and symmetrical and my need to get these on the table to smash some Romans are such that I sent off an order to Victrix for some decals. As a result, expect to see fewer archers and blokes with falxes, and more spearmen with shields now that they have arrived.

And with another 75 points I plod a little further towards my goal!

I'm with you, Dux, on hand-painting shields under normal conditions but with groups like the Dacians  you really do need to use decals. I think these chaps should do a smashing job of clobbering Romans.

Tamsin

AlanD - Terrifying Descending Blades Wielded by Big Hairy Men (60 points)

 Hello everyone, and ahoy, Cap'n Wednesday.

Despite the fact that any minute I'm about to become obsessed with the Russian Civil War, I've been chugging along painting up more Victrix Dacians for Infamy! Infamy! There are eight in this entry - an archer and seven armed with the murderous Dacian falx.

A lot has been written about the scary Dacian battle scythe. The falx probably evolved from what was originally an agricultural implement into a curved or hooked two-handed weapon, sharp on the inside of its curved blade. It has similarities with the Hellenistic Thracian rhomphaia, but seems to have really scared the heck out of the Romans at the beginning of the second century AD during Trajan's Dacian Wars. Indeed, it is interesting that the image of a single or double-handed curved weapon often appears in Roman art as a characteristic of the Dacians; on coins, on Trajan's Column, and on the Adamclisi Monument in modern Romania. The falx really seems to have lodged itself in Roman minds (geddit?), as well as forcing some changes to Roman armour design, such as extra reinforcement on the tops of helmets and the use of manicae, or arm protection. 

Perhaps cheekily, I also present these as my entry for the the Pit of the Pendulum in the Chambers of Challenge. I give you swishy descending blades that terrified the Romans. If the good Cap'n agrees, that should give me 40 points for the figures and another 20 for hacking my way through the challenge room.

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The Cap'n likes a good blade and while a cutlass or boarding pike is more my style, I can appreciate these dirty big choppers. Coming at you at speed would appear to be the pendulum of doom indeed! 60 points it is then.

Cap'n Wednesday

AlanD - The first of many Dacians.... (50 points)

My plan for AHPC XI has been to focus on projects related to Rome and her enemies. This entry sees the start of a new Infamy! Infamy! warband of one of Rome's most challenging enemies - the Dacians.

Infamy does not yet actually have rules for Dacians, but I believe in my heart that they will be along at some point....in any case, I really just wanted an excuse to paint some of the truly gorgeous new Victrix figures.

Dacian shield designs are pretty tricky, and I'm not going to attempt to paint them. Hence this entry is all shieldless warriors with bows and the dreaded falx, while I wait for shield decals to arrive.

Dadazi's friends always knew he would get ahead....

So, ten Dacians should give me 50 points. These are great figures to paint - I'm looking forward to doing more!

From JamesL: The final Dacians and a tank (160 points)

In the dash for the finish line I finally finished my 28mm Dacian army for DBA 3.0. These lads are the final push from their brethren with whom I started this challenge. Completing them means I have managed to complete 3 forces for three different game systems this Challenge, which is one of the great things about the Challenge I really enjoy. There are 24 figures and 3 horses in this final batch; 5 Fast Warband stands, a Psioli stand, a Knights stand and the command stand.

The more observant amongst you may have noticed that the warlord has only one arm....now I only noticed this as I was painting him, and thought I would leave him as is, Decibila the One Handed Warlord, truly feared for his ability to wield his faulx with one hand as well as normal men wield it with two.

And the final piece of the puzzle for my 28mm DAK force for both Bolt Action and Chain of Command is this Warlord games Pz 111.

So that would be 24 figures, 3 horses and a tank all of 28mm , which I believe to be the 150pts to carry me over my target of 750 :-) . Thanks for an awesome challenge everyone, and especially Curt and the Tuesday Minions for arranging it all and keeping us on track !


Tamsin: Lovely Dacians and a spiffing tank James :)

I'm assuming that the shields are hand-painted to avoid incurring the Wrath of Dux, so I'm going to add a few bonus points for those.

From JamesL: First entry, Dacian 28mm DBA3.0 element and Sd.Kfz.7 Tow (30 points)

Finally the holiday festivities are over and I can start the challenge. My first very modest entry is the first element for a DBA 3.0 slow grow league, a Dacian Blade element from Warlord, and a German Sd.Kfz.7 halftrack tow for my developing Late war German Bolt Action army.

The Dacians are painted with a combination of Vallejo and GW paints, with the blood effect on the signature falx being GW Blood for the Blood God technical paint.

The halftrack will be joined shortly by its towee, an 88mm Flak/ATG which will be the central focus of my BA force.

The grass tufts on the Dacians are actually hand made by a mutual friend of mine and PaulOG, who very generously donated a veritable horde of different coloured and sized tufts completely free of charge. As thanks I will be incorporating the tufts in as many projects as I possibly can, as they look amazing and work exceptionally well on any base surface.

I think this is a modest 30pts to get me on the scoreboard.....

Paul and Alan: Good to see you get some runs on the board mate - it was like watching England bat in an Ashes test match...

Lovely Dacians and they are certainly in action packed poses.  The tractor is nice too but I fear what it might be towing in future games! That is indeed 30 points lodged.

Paul & Alan