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 MartijnN: 32mm Pirates, Beer and Music [Art](70 points)

Who does not like pirates, or buccaneers?  I know I do, as a child I read lots of books from the library about famous pirates in the mysterious Carribbean. So when Iain Lovecraft ran a pirate Kickstarter I of course had to back it. I actually printed these 32mm "heroic scale" figures for the previous Challenge, but you know. This time, however, I managed to paint some up.

First, we have some very elegant but very dangerous lady pirates:

I really love the lady pointing her sword quite imperiously.

Then, there are three gentlemen:

I really like these figures, they are full of character, some quite over the top and others very businesslike.

Now all I need is a suitable pirate game rules set. I do have the one by Osprey, but haven't played it yet. I must organize some appropriate terrain too, but that will first have to be printed or bought. We'll see.

Pirating makes thirsty, so here is the cafe staff, also from Iain Lovecraft. 

Finally, I should move along in the Library, and I enter the Art section. For this, I have two art forms; poetry and music.

Here is a lute player or minstrel, again from Iain Lovecraft. I think he is from the The Frost series. He is more of a medieval type, but I am sure he can be made to sing the praise of some doughty privateers.

And finally, a poet designed by Evan Carothers. This is more of a 28mm figure, but I love him posing with his book in his hand and some rolls of paper in his quiver. Some "Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them" as an ode to an intrepid Captain Hook is certainly in order I should think. 

Which brings us to the map:

I have a bit of a lame book recommendation, because although I read many books about pirates as a child I actually have none myself, not even in Dutch, apart from the Pirate book in the Osprey Elite Series which many of you will know very well. So we'll turn to art instead, and to be precise to the Art of War. I won't recommend Jomini's  Précis de l'Art de la Guerre so as not to seem too pretentious, but Rory Muir's Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of  Napoleon covers the subject nicely:

This a great book covering just about what it says on the tin. Published by Yale University Press, so not really for the general reader, but still very accessible. Chapters on the various branches of the army, command and control, before and after the battle, various types of combat, it is all in there, illustrated by many contemporary sources from men who had to experience war and battle during the period. Well-written, well researched, a very good book I thought. No illustrations, that would have been a boon, but nevertheless much recommended.

So there we have it. Scoring is simple again:

10x 28mm/32mm foot @ 5 = 50

Art section bonus = 20

For a total of 70 points.

TeemuL: The cafe staff looks great, you have done a great job painting the foam! Makes me thirsty!  And I'm quite sure the pirates don't care if the lute player performs songs from incorrect era. In general I really like the bit faded look on the bar staff compared to brightier pirate crew. I do hope you manage to find some rules to play with these jolly fellows! Waiting eagerly for the possible second post of the day...

From MartijnN: Finally some Enlightenment [Sarah's Library Cart, Maritime] (81 points)

I really am a sucker for sales. And a hobby butterfly. So when, some time ago, one of our local online shops ran a sale on the VSF game Dystopian Wars from Warcradle I could once again not resist the temptation and simply had to get the Hunt for Prometheus Starter Set. I really had planned to start working on this sooner, but I was put off a little bit by the fact that a) the models had to be built, which I am not a great fan of, and b) I had no idea on how to paint them. However, a few months ago I visited the open day of a fairly local wargames club, and there was a very enthusiastic player demonstrating the game. I had watched several Youtube videos, but seeing the game played out before me made me decide I really had to start building my fleets. For now, they are still fairly manageable, and knowing myself I may well be having a far too large unpainted collection before long. So here are the first of  the Enlightenment Fleet.

These are six Meridian class frigates. Three more, as well as three cruisers and two battleships, are to follow, but I could not get those ready in time for this week. I still struggled a bit to get them right. I primed them in black, then a zenithal spray from above because I wanted to use Contrast paints. I then base-coated them in Apothecary White, but white remains a problem with contrast(-like) paints, at least for me. They turned out a light grey. I then painted on the camo, and applied a wash of Nuln Oil, which of course brought out the details (they are really nice models), but left them even darker. Then I painted all the brassy bits and washed those with Reikland Fleshshade. I then painted all the laser cannon thingies and finished with an overall light drybrush of necron compound. I am fairly happy with the end result, but I am not sure that a very similar effect could not have been reached with much less effort by simply coating them in Leadbelcher or light grey and then drybrush. Oh well, we live and learn.

Now these are fitting for the Maritime section of the Library, but once again I discovered that there is no direct route there from Famous Person. So I will have to call on the Lady Sarah again with the help of this 3D printed Evan Carothers figure of an elven lady:

Not much else to tell about her really.

Back to business. I am hard pressed to come up with a Victorian Sci-Fi book recommendation, so a general maritime title will have to do. Inspired by one of the comments on a recent post in this Challenge, it is Robert K. Massie's Dreadnought. Britain, Germany and the coming of the Great War.

This is a brilliant book on the Naval Arms race at the beginning of the twentieth century, although Massie takes the story back deep into the Victorian era. It is very well written. I know I say that all the time, but I would not soon recommend a book that isn't, and I really like narrative history. This one is a bit traditional, in that it focuses very much on individuals and their stories, but as someone once said "biography is the purest from of history", and Massie does it very well. Did I already say I really like narrative history? It is a massive volume, clocking in at more than 1,000 pages, but well worth the read. It put me on the road (or down the river rather) to WWI naval wargaming long ago (it's from 1992).

Then, the map:

Scoring: 

When submitted previously in the Challenge, I see that Dystopian Wars frigates were scored at 5 points each, so I propose to apply that to these as well. If the minion agrees, we have:

- 6 Dystopian Wars frigates @5 = 30

- 1 28mm foot @ 5 = 5

- Sarah's Library Cart Bonus = 20

- Maritime Section Bonus = 20

For a total of 75 points, which quite surprisingly takes me past my target. I'll take that up to 900.

TeemuL: Very sneaky to use an old entry minioned by the minion and claim points based on that, very sneaky. However, times change, just like the spreadsheet and my memory. There is no clear category for the Dystopian War ships, the common problem with huge spaceships, but I have scored them as 10mm vehicles, 6 points a piece, so you get a bit more than you asked for. I really like the colours on the elven lady, but I do wonder, if you have only painted the frontside? :)

From MartijnN: Matilda and Marcus [Children's books, Sarah's Cart] (50 points)

As I will be visiting two sections of the Library there will be two (small) contributions this week.

As usual, the Challenge locations sends me off looking for figures that might fit a certain theme, but that I probably would not have painted in any other circumstance. These two 3d printed figures from Evan Carothers are a prime example. As soon as I saw the woman figure I was reminded of Miss Trunchbull from Roald Dahl's 1988 novel Matilda. Next I had to find a figure of a little girl, and came up with this one. As soon as I started painting her up, I found that she is really dressed like a little princess, but I think she can stand in for Matilda anyway in this little scene.

The figures are quite fine, as is anything from Evan Carothers really, and supportless which is always a boon. They painted up easily and were fun to do. I used mostly contrast paints on them and kept the bases (which are cast on) as simple as possible. The school yard, perhaps?

I just realized that I have access to Section 2 but not necessarily directly to the Statue of a Famous Person, for which I have painted my second contribution today. So, I'll use the little princess to hop on Sarah's Cart to move to the Famous Persons department in Section 2.

Now I am not going to recommend any children's books (read anything by Roald Dahl if you still want a recommendation), but I am going to tell you about a children's book that at least helped pushing me towards this hobby. You may skip directly to the end for the points total now.

Ok, for those still with us: this is not going to do you any good, as it is a Dutch book by a Dutch writer, and I doubt whether it is available in English; Marcus Napoleon by Hans Werner. It is the story of the boy Marcus, who discovers a secret entrance to a manor house where a baron is held captive by his evil servants. The baron has a massive collection of toy soldiers, and he plays with them with Marcus. Each time the baron blows a little trumpet, one of Marcus's soldiers has fallen. As Marcus has no trumpet, he will always loose. However, one day, by sending the dog through the baron's lines, he secures a total victory, and the baron names him Marcus Napoleon in recognition of his talents. Of course, together they defeat the evil servants in the end. As a young boy, I was fascinated by the tale and have read it umpteen time. Mainly because there were toy soldiers in it, obviously.

Well then, down to more serious business: the map.

And, the points:

2x 28mm foot @ 5 = 10

Children's Books Bonus = 20

Sarah's Cart Bonus = 20

Total of 50 points

TeemuL: I have read some Roald Dahl books, but not this one. Nor the Marcus Napoleon. That is very efficient 50 points for you, Martijn. The Contrast paints work well on these minis and you are making a good process through the Library. See you later at the "Famous Person!"

From Martijn N: Arabian Nights on Arrakis (69 points)

That's a first for me, two posts on one day. We end today's journey on Arrakis, after a smooth ride aboard lady Sarah's Star Yacht. Now no Challenge can be complete without camels in it, I have gathered, so it is just as good that we immediately encounter this charming little market scene. We have a dwarf merchant showing his fine merchandise to some rather suspicious Arabs, while his camel train stands behind his stall.

Here is the dwarf merchant, a 3d printed figure from Iain Lovecraft. The stall is a 3d print as well but I really cannot remember where I got it.

These lanky Arabs are from Evan Carothers's Empire of the Scorching Sands.

As are these great pack camels.

There is also a little village on Arrakis, it seems. Designed by Evan Carothers too. These houses were printed at 75% of their designed scale, so more or less 20mm I guess. The well is not really Arabian but is a nice little model. Can't remember where I got it I'm afraid.

The houses are once again FDM prints and they suffered a bit from stringing and layer lines. Still, they were too good to toss them in the bin and I think they look sort of ok. 

So, Arrakis should net me 65 points:

- the terrain, the houses, the stall and the well, will fill about half a cube, so 10 points?

- 4 camels and three foot figures (counting them as 28/32mm, although they actually are more like 40mm) for 7x5 = 35 points;

- Arrakis planet bonus for 20 points

- and an Arabian Squirrel!

Middle Ring complete, let's see if there is time for a stop in the Inner Ring!

From DaveD 

Book ending the day with camels - most excellent! I will give an extra bonus for the camels 

From MartijnN: Houses on Vogsphere (57 points)

After our second visit to Coruscant we move on to Vogsphere. Now I really struggled to find a figure to match its theme of bureaucracy until I remembered this 40mm 3D printed figure from Iain Lovecraft's The Frost. She is labelled as a Sigilist, but besides the fact that I cannot really grasp what that is supposed to mean, anyone wielding an impressively oversized quill pen and a large book must be a bureaucrat. So here she is:

I must say that I quite like painting larger figures once more and I am happy how she came out. I mostly used Contrast paints again.

Next there are some 3d printed terrain items. Now some of these were printed on my FLM printer some time ago. I printed quite a large number of terrain items in one go, mostly scaled down to 10mm scale. However, as soon as I started painting them I discovered that my printer was not really properly dialed in. In hindsight, I should have tried different settings, as layer lines are really visible and not all prints have come out well. In many cases, the shapes and details are not sufficiently defined, which means that paints will flow everywhere. However, it seemed a shame to toss them all in the bin, and from a proper distance, like say, three feet, they still look sort of OK. The town houses are from the Leichheim Kickstarter and in 10mm scale, while the desert house is from Evan Carother's Empire of Scorching Sands and is printed in 28mm scale. The well is also 3d printed, but I can't remember where I got the model from.

Leichheim Blacksmith

This is actually a resin print

Leichheim Scholar's House

Leichheim Watchtower

All in all, I guess that the terrain items will more or less fill 1.5  6" cubes, so I propose 30 points for them. The sigilist is 40mm so 7 points, and the Vogsphere planet bonus adds another 20 points. 

So 57 points to take me to the brink of  my target! And another squirrel!

Very nice buildings, Martijn. As you asked, a sigilist is a wizard whose magical power uses symbols.

Tamsin