From StephenS: Fraud and Treachery! (66 points)

G'day,

I am clearing the final circles of Hell with an entry for Fraud and Treachery.

First, for fraud, I present Count Dooku of Star Wars fame. Deceiving everyone as the Leader of the Separatist forces, while secretly being a Sith, and fraudulently ordering an army of clones and charging it to the Republic earn him the title of Fraudster. This Count Dooku is a 40mm plastic model from Atomic Mass Games from their Star Wars: Shatterpoint line. He is accompanied by two 40mm B2 - Super Battle Droids, also in plastic.

My entry for treachery is a 25mm plastic Skaven model from Games Workshop. Skaven is almost a by-word for treachery in the Old World (presumably in AOS too), and was a nice quick paint job. My 8 year-old son picked up two Skaven for free from our local GW as part of their model of the month program, and decided we should paint one each. Unfortunately, at time of printing, what would have been his second painted mini ever was not quite ready to be shown off.

Here are the finished models together for a nice group shot.

Points:

3 x 40mm figures for 21 points, 5 points for the Skaven and 40 points for two locations should net me 66 points and put me 2 points over my target.

I doubt anything else on the painting table will make the finish line, so I want to sign off with a big thank you to Curt, Sarah and the Minions (especially my Monday Minion, Millsy), for another brilliant Painting Challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this community once again.

Best wishes,

Steve

A fine finale, Steve! The Skaven is really nice, suitably dark and dirty, and fitting for the theme too. It's a pity we don't get to see your son's Skaven, but it is great that he is joining you in your hobby! Cou nty Dooku is a fantastic figure, I like the painted huim up. Very crisp and neat painting, resulting in a very vivid figure. Great job! And to top it all off the battle droids. The metal is very good, and putting them together on one base is a great idea! Thanks for your participation in this year's Challenge and showing us your fantastic work.  And of course, congratulations on reaching your target. Well done!

Martijn

From MartijnN: 10mm ACW and the Four Circles of Hell (Wrath, Heresy, Fraud, Violence) (149 points)

Quite surprisingly, I have painted more or less only 28mm figures during this Challenge, apart from the one 6mm Blucher base of Napoleonic French last week. Obviously, that would not do, so here are some 10mm ACW. I have painted almost all my infantry, but I still have lots of artillery and cavalry lying around. So, I decided to paint up some dismounted skirmishing cavalry for both sides, and some horse holders. I really don’t know why I got those, for they are not necessary for Altar of Freedom, but they look cool anyway I think. I don’t think I will paint up all of them though 😉.

The skirmishing cavalrymen are Perrin figures, the horse holders Magister Militum (basically also Perrin, I think).

Then, this must be almost my last chance to grab some bonus points. I know it is preferable to do separate posts for each location, but in order to ease the workload of Curt and the Minions a bit during the mad dash to the finish I thought I’d better combine them this time.  Last week we were at Greed, so now it is time for Wrath. I present to you the unfortunate but very wrathful Gunnar Dingemansson.

 

He has been confined to a wheelchair ever since a sneaky orc shot him in the backside at the Battle of Grubenhavnor-in-the-Fields-on-the-Garf when he was a wee lad. His brother, who is something of a do-it-yourself guy, made this wheelchair for him. He is still working on a self-propelled version, but has not really got the hang of steam power yet, so in order to keep his remaining limbs intact, Gunnar has to make do with his arms to get up to speed for the time being. As you can see, he is quite capable of doing so, charging filled with wrath and at full speed at any orc that comes into sight. He is, unsurprisingly, a Lovecraft figure, 3d printed.

Next stage is Heresy. This is personified by Brother Johann. Johann was a boy tending his father’s sheep when one night he received a vision. It was revealed to him that the only True God was Baa, the chief sheep. It was his duty to go out in the world with his woolly  Disciples to spread the Word of Baa. Here you see hem reading from the Book of Baa to his flock. 

What is good enough for his sheep, is good enough for Johann. Thus, he dresses in shades of black and grey. 

Johann is again a 3d Lovecraft figure. I think the sheep are from Great Escape Games for Dead Man’s Hand.

Next, we arrive at Violence. According to the famous dictum of the British bard, Hell has no fury than a woman scorned. I do not know if this lady was scorned, but she is clearly prepared to dole out some violence and I would rather stay behind her.

 

She is also a 3d printed figure, this time by Join or Die. She is part of a ladies’ warband for Dead Man’s Hand, but the others will have to wait a while yet.

Finally, we arrive at Fraud with another 3d printed Lovecraft figure. In one of his projects, Iain Lovecraft did a bunch of figures “inspired” by Terry Pratchett characters. This his Cut-my-own-Throat Dibbler, accompanied by the only one who really appreciates his sausages:

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say of him:

Claude Maximillian Overton Transpire Dibbler — usually known by the epithet "Cut-Me-Own-Throat", CMOT Dibbler, or simply Dibbler, or even sometimes as just "Throat" — might be described as the Discworld's most enterprisingly successful unsuccessful entrepreneur, no-one has failed at success more times than Dibbler. A 'merchant venturer' of Ankh-Morpork, and the master of selling the 'sizzle' over the steak, Dibbler is most famous for selling meat by-products to unsuspecting passers-by, and also suspecting passers-by who have gotten sick from his sausages before, thus demonstrating that he is indeed a very good salesman.

So that’s that for now. I hope to finish some 6mm Napoleonics before the Challenge ends, but we will have to wait and see if I succeed in that. As to scoring, I am going to a be a little cheeky here and score the six horse holders as 10mm cavalry @3 points. However, if the Minion of the Moment decides that’s shaving it too closely and scores them as 12 foot figures @1, I think I can survive. I’ll score the sheep and the little dog as 10mm figures to, so 1 point each.

We have then:

24 10mm foot @1 = 24

6 10mm cavalry @3= 18

7 animals as 10mm foot @1=7

4 28mm foot @5= 20

4 Challenge locations @20= 80

For a total of 149 points.

Which sees me shooting past my target after all!

_____________________________________________

Geez, you present to us to a tremendous potpourri of wonderful miniatures Martijn. The 10mm dismounted skirmishers, with their attendant mounts and minders, look excellent. I also really like Gunnar who makes it very clear that it takes all types to make a successful adventuring party (I look forward to the steam-powered version in a future Challenge). I've never been a Terry Pratchett fan, I but like the background story (and hopeful pup). I think my favourite is the sheep and the Prophet of the Book of Baa. Excellent work (and I love the 'Sound of Music' background you used). Well done sir, and congratulations on exceeding your Points Target!

- Curt

 

 

From FrederickC: Reinforcements for the 4th Indian Division and the 8th Circle of Hell [Fraud] (315 points)

During last year's painting challenge I painted up several units of the 4th Indian Division in North Africa. However I felt that they needed some additional troops. For this week's submission I  have added another six-man section of the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment, two Sikh Vickers machine gun teams, two Sikh 3" mortar teams, two Sikh two-man forward observer teams, and four Indian Pattern wheeled armoured carriers, each with a three-man crew inside. The final figure is a bit of a conundrum - an Italian NCO lost somewhere in the desert.

The section of Punjabis are from an 8th Army multipart sprue by Warlord Games. All the Sikhs and the armoured carriers are 3D prints using STL files from MyMiniFactory. Some of those figures were also multipart. While I liked the general animation and sculpting of the 3D prints, the designer got a number of the small details wrong such as buckles were there shouldn't be any, and missing buckles where they should be. Also the Bren guns are a little stubby, and the 'Lee-Enfields' look more like a Mauser than the SMLE used in North Africa. These complaints are just my OCD for historical accuracy kicking in, but most people probably won't notice when the figures are deployed on the tabletop. 

All the single figures were assembled and mounted on 25mm bases, and some fine sand was added using PVA glue. In the case of the support weapons and their crews, and the crews of the carriers, they were glued onto a popsicle stick with a small dab of PVA glue to give me something to handle while priming and painting. In the case of the carriers, only the wheels were separate pieces, and these were glued on after painting, but before any washes were applied.

All the figures and vehicle were primed with Vallejo Desert Tan Surface Primer using an airbrush, expect the wheels which were primed with Vallejo Black Surface Primer. This made painting the tires so much easier than trying to do it with a paintbrush. The soldiers' uniforms were left the base colour of Desert Tan. I then painted the rest primarily with Vallejo acrylics as follows: faces, arms and legs - Cork Brown; webbing - Iraqi Sand; canteen covers and ground sheets - US Field Drab; rifle stocks - Beige Brown; boots, beards, bayonet scabbards, and metal weapons parts - German Grey; socks - Khaki; gas mask bag - Tan Yellow; turbans - Dark Sand; machine gun water jackets and tripods - Camo Olive Green; mortar tubes - Tan Yellow, bayonets - Gungrey. Once completed, everything got the ol' "Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade" treatment. When that was dry, the support weapons and crews were glued to their bases using Super Glue. Here's the final result.

Reinforcements for the 4th Indian Division

 

Section of the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment

Vickers machine gun teams (front)

Vickers machine gun teams (back)

3" mortar teams (front)

3" mortar teams (back)

Forward Observer teams

One of the more interesting items in this submission are the four Armoured Carrier, Wheeled, Indian Pattern (ACV-IP), known also as the Indian Pattern Carrier or other similar names. It was an armoured car produced in India during the Second World War based on the Canadian Military Pattern truck chassis. It was typically armed with a Boys anti-tank rifle and a Bren light machine gun. Those produced by Tata Locomotives were called "Tatanagars" after the location of the works. A total of 4,655 were produced, and used by Indian units in the Far East and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres, typically in the divisional reconnaissance regiments. My friend who did the printing for me only produced five storage bins for the back of the vehicles, so I filled in the space on three of them with various tarps and fuel cans I had in my bits box. I also had to do some trimming off the back corner of the seats of the driver and anti-tank gunner in order to get them into their slot inside the vehicle without breaking something. These were painted using the Caunter camouflage scheme similar to the vehicles I did last year. The Vallejo colours used, going from lightest to darkest, are Ivory, Stone Grey, and German Field Grey. The vehicles then got a wash consisting of a mixture of 3 parts Citadel Seraphim Sepia, 3 parts Citadel Agrax Earthshade, and 4 parts water. When that was dry, they got a liberal application of Vallejo Wash FX Desert Dust.

IWM photo of an Indian Pattern carrier with Caunter camo dated April 1942

 

The last figure in this submission is one I was gifted by fellow Fawcett Avenue Conscript, DallasE. It is an old Battle Honours mini he acquired two decades ago from either Bartertown or eBay with the purchase of a mixed bag of what was advertised as British 8th Army and German DAK, of which an Italian NCO is neither. You would have to be well into your cups in order to mistake one for either of the other two. If you buy North Africa Brits or Germans, you don't expect to get Italians. A bit of fraud being perpetrated by the seller, if you ask me. So, I am going to claim this figure for the 8th Circle of Hell - Fraud - as it is clearly 'something claimed to be something it is not'. When I got him, he was still shiny metal. He has now been 'redeemed', and will join my North Africa Italians from last year's challenge.

An Italian NCO in North Africa passed off as part of the 8th Army or DAK

'Ciampolo the Barrator Tormented by the Devils - Fraud' by William Blake

The points being claimed are as follows:

 

35 x 28mm foot figure @ 5 points =  175 points

 

4 x 28mm crew served weapons @ 10 points = 40 points 

4 x 28mm vehicles @ 20 points = 80 points

1 x Circle of Hell - Fraud = 20 points 

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Sylvain: I know I will repeat myself, but your descriptions are top notch. It shows your love for the subject you are painting and it makes your whole posting even more interesting. Your vehicles especially, got my attention with the perfectly lined up camouflage pattern. Another remarkable submission!

From BrianC: Zombicide, Halfling Wrestlers, Werewolves, Chicks and cloaks, and a BIG Baddie! (Heresy, Violence, Fraud, Treachery) (130pts)

 Hello all! There's still hope of making my goal! Ha! Awesome painted minis from everyone! Keep at it! Well, more of this and that again. Let's begin with the Dante's circles. 

The 6th Circle: Heresy

It was considered heresy to believe in witches and werewolves because only God can be the source of supernatural powers. So, this resin werewolf miniature from Next Level Miniatures will fit perfectly in this circle.

Next, my entry for the Seventh Circle: Violence is the Dungeons and Dragons 54mm miniature, Grey Render. I can't wait to add this Big Baddy to my fantasy tabletop miniature games!

The Eighth Circle: Fraud. Well, can't go wrong with the Reaper Metal Miniature Big Bad Wolf of Little Red Riding Hood story. "Grandma, my what big teeth you have."

The Ninth Circle: Treachery. One of my favorite backstabbers of all time is Walter White of the TV series, Breaking Bad! This is a Zombicide Promo Survivor miniature.

That will complete my Dante's The Abyss entries. Now, I must figure out what minis to paint for Dante's Paradise entries. Hmm. Ok, next are a couple of pesky Halfling wrestlers from the game, Rumbleslam.

Ok, I only painted one more Zombicide Black Plague Fattie/Brute. Ugh. I'm hoping to have more zombies soon!

Next, are some old plastic Reaper Bones Miniatures. Oof! 

Here is Nightslip:

Human Ranger, Mi-Sher

That wraps this turn-in up.

8 x 28mm = 40pts.

1 x 54mm = 10pts.

4 Circles   = 80pts.

TOTAL     = 130pts.

Why, hello Brian! That's quite a run through the Circles of Hell! You have chosen your entries well. The werewolf is great, I love his blood-stained paws, and the Big Bad Wolf hiding the head of its victim behind its back is rather hilarious, in a funny sort of way. I had never heard of halfling wrestlers before, but you have done a fine job with them. My favourite is the ranger though, I like the colour palette you have chosen and the dynamic pose. All these goodies bring you 130 points further towards your total, which I am sure you will achieve before the Challenge ends. Good luck!

Martijn