From PaulOG: Russians of the Crimean War! (345 points)

Presenting my first two Russian battalions for my 28mm Crimean War project. While the Russian Army of the time was renowned for having largest cavalry contingent on the continent, Infantry still made up the bulk of the Army. These are typical Line Infantry battalions of a Regiment, each of which fielded 4.

Two Battalions with Regimental officers advancing in Attack columns 

I used different shades across the greatcoats to show varying wear and quality in pre dye-fast colours, and gave the units some identity with one unit sporting a mix of helmets and forage caps (mutzes) which became more common as the war progressed, and another with more strict NCOs ensuring all the troops wear their issued helmets! 

1st Battalion - all in helmets

I enjoyed a good dose of the inevitable "basing dilemma", badly overthinking it before deciding to go with groups of poorly drilled troops with intermingled casualties, representing both bad training and a stoic intent to get to grips with the invaders regardless of cost! Groups of 8 figs make a line unit in Sharp Practice and I figured that four units per Battalion would give some good 'visual heft' as the attack columns advance.

2nd Battalion with mixed helmets and forage caps

Figures are mostly plastic Warlord figs with some metal models by Great War Miniatures mixed in. The former are relatively monopose, but the seperate heads let you impart some great character with modest turns. The latter are wonderful sculpts and mixing them in gives a more dynamic look. Colours by Battle-Flag.com

Normally I hate doing faces but these were very satisfying to do

This project was to be a full Regiment of 4 Battalions plus an artillery battery and a troop of Cossack cavalry...but when real life got in the way I opted to not sacrifice quality just to 'get it done'. I really enjoyed building them and the rest will follow post Challenge. Pity I have no nice mat or terrain in this country to pose them on!

The army grows: this submission plus the skirmishers from Bonus round 3

These units and the two Regimental Officers tally 67 x 28mm foot plus 1 mounted, totalling 345 points: my biggest submission of this Challenge to take me across my 500 point target line. Just in time!

Now feverishly working on a last minute 'something else'...

From Millsy:

I'm pinching this from fellow minion Sylvain so I apologise in advance mate!
We've been talking about these on and off at out paint and chat sessions so I couldn't resist when I saw the title of the post.

I have to say I am NOT disappointed and I 100% endorse your decision to stick with the quality vs. quantity approach Paul. You've done a smashing job and the mix of bulk plastic miniatures with metal command and casualties mixed in really looks the business.

Cracking work buddy and a stonking 345 points added to your tally.

Cheers,
Millsy

From GeoffT: Germans in triplicate (235 points)

 Hello Challengers,

In this post I have batch painted a big pile of Germans.  They are from three eras, there is some WWI trench raiders and special weapons, some WWII Germans on bikes, and some undead Germans, one vampire and three zombies.  The WWI figs are from great war miniatures, and very nice miniatures they are indeed.   The other stuff is second hand and I do not know the providence.  The bikes seemed a bargain until I discovered they had been assembled incorrectly, and also assembled with two part epoxy resin.  Therefore they took some effort in chipping away the glue and reassembling.  Unfortunately one sidecar was not repairable.

In total there are:

15 x 28 mm full figures on foot = 75 points

10 x full figures riding the bikes = 50 points

4 x half figures in side cars = 10 points

5 x 28mm vehicles = 100 points.

Total is 235 points.  Seems like a lot, hopefully have calculated to correct protocol.

Kind Regards

Geoff.

From Millsy:

These are excellent work Geoff. The uniform colour has so much depth and the skins tones, especially on the vampire, are spot on. Great War make some amazing sculpts and you've certainly done them justice.

The motorcycle and sidecar combos are my favourite and immediately made me think of Where Eagles Dare. Is there a reason you have five? Sounds like there were a bargain, at least in theory, but wondered if you had a specific scenario in mind.

Cheers,
Millsy

From MartijnN: Walking through Belgium and a limo ride (Sarah's Limousine/Historical Drama)(122 points)

Last week found us at Under Construction. Although I could easily spend the rest of the Challenge there, that would obviously not do at all.  However, as Western is now a blue pass area, I did not have a clue for Black & White and was not yet ready for High Adventure  (then again, who ever really is?), I had to call on Lady Sarah's excellent Limousine Service to bring me to my home ground, Historical Drama. As my fee I offer this 3D printed 40mm figure. It's from a Kickstarter by the very talented Iain Lovecraft, Desert Adventures, although I painted her more in European style. I used Contrast paints for her, striving for a ton-sur-ton effect. She looks better in real life then on my very amateur photos.

Thus we arrive in the Historical Drama studios. A few months ago I visited my former club in Holland, and one of my friends told me about Blood and Valour, an American rules set for the Great War. They had had great fun with it, and it didn't require masses of models. Fired by his enthusiasm I of course bought the rules, and having leafed through them I thought them worth having a go at. Now I am primarily interested in the early war period, and although the rules are focused on the later phases of the war there are rules for 1914. So, after looking online for suitable models, I ordered some figures from North Star's Great War Miniatures series and from Wargames Foundry. Unfortunately, they don't really match, the Wargames Foundry being more accurately 25mm and the GWM figures decidedly largish 28mm. On the table, though, I think they can be used together if not in the same unit. North Star have a far greater range and more variant poses, but the WF are definitely better figures. I think I will stick with GWM, if I need more (what do I mean, if? Though there are enough in my lead pile for a decent game, I should think). I decided to paint some of them in the Challenge, and thought they fit this theme neatly, what with the new Netflix version of All Quiet on the Western Front hitting the screens recently (though I have not yet seen it). For these fellows nothing was quiet though, stomping their way through Belgium and northern France in the August heat of 1914. Two squads and a command group, 15 in all.

The obligatory group shot for the post-war reunion

An officer and two gentlemen

Great War Miniatures: six different poses

Wargames Foundry: three different poses

The two side by side, GMW in the middle

They were again mostly done in Contrast over a black undercoat and an airbrushed white ink zenithal. After much dithering and tribulation (and with some trepidation) I decided on Gryph-Charger Grey (yes, I know, but GW, you know) for the uniforms. For the leather I used Army Painter Speedpaint Hardened Leather (duh). Agrax Eartshade, a few highlights on the skin and a light drybrush did the rest. Even though correcting mistakes is a nightmare with most Contrast and similar paints, and even though I managed to throw a pot of Blood Angels Red over the nearly finished officer at some point, I'm quite happy how they turned out.

So here we are:

Scores:

1x 40mm @ 7points = 7

Sarah's Limo= 20

15x 25/28mm @ 5 = 75

Historical Drama = 20

Grand total 122

And a squirrel!

Fantastic looking Germans, Martijn, though I would suspect that a post-war reunion will have a very low attendance. The mixing of makers is a common question for a lot of hobbyists, but in real life people aren't all to scale either. I applaud your decision to paint up both sets of minis, they look good in the group shot. 

Tribute to Byron: Robert Combe, VC in Greyscale

For my Tribute for Byron I decided to do a figure for him that also marks the upcoming centenary of the Canadian Corps' attack on Vimy Ridge. 

My work has had me and my team creating a series of five documentary videos featuring Saskatchewan's involvement in the Great War. It showcases our archival collections and allows us to provide a focused perspective on the war as seen from the Canadian prairies.

We started out back in 2014 to mark the outbreak of the war, and next month, on April 12th, we will be screening the fourth video, focusing on 1917, at a gala event here in Regina. The work (and politics) surrounding this project is is one of the reasons why I've not been as active during this Challenge, but it's been very worthwhile and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the work. If you're interested in seeing them, here is a link to the first three in the series.

One of the historical figures in our 1917 documentary is Lt. Robert Grierson Combe of the 27th (City of Winnipeg) Battalion. Combe was a pharmacist from Melville Saskatchewan who volunteered as part of the first Canadian Contingent to go to France. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant, served in the 2nd Division, and saw action at St. Elois, Mount Sorrel, The Somme,  and the battle of Vimy Ridge. He was killed leading his men near Acheville in an action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. 

From the London Gazette:

On 3 May 1917, south of Acheville, France, Lieutenant Combe steadied his company under intense fire and leading them through the enemy barrage reached the objective with only five men. He proceeded to bomb the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties and then, collecting small groups of men, succeeded in capturing the objective, together with 80 prisoners. He repeatedly charged the enemy, driving them before him, but while personally leading his bombers he was killed by a sniper.

The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan holds Robert Combe's personal papers along with his Victoria Cross.

For this figure I eschewed using colour entirely and returned to the familiar ground of my WWI greyscale project.

This 28mm figure is from the excellent Great War miniatures range. It's of a Commonwealth officer firing a signal flare. He is wearing an officers' cut uniform, but with covered steel helmet. I dug out my old recipe of greyscale paints, painting him in a variety of warm and cool greys.

It was nice to come back and tuck into the old technique again, and it made me look wistfully at the stacks of WWI figures I still have to complete for this project.  Ah well, that's why we call it a hobby, eh? ;)

There you go Byron, I hope you like him. Thanks so much for all your help with the Wednesday crew and for all the wonderful figures you treated us with during the Challenge.

ByronM: Thank you very much Curt!  Not really sure what to say beyond that, I never expected anything for helping, I just wanted to help out in this cool event you started.  Thank you for having me and thank you again for the very cool figure it will go with my WW1 collection nicely.  It is very nice to have a grey scale figure from the person who started me painting grey scale.

From AlanD - Freikorps 1918-1920 (145 Points)

Following on from my Spartacists for the German Revolution, here are 29 Freikorps figures to ruthlessly suppress them. Figures are from Great War Miniatures, and I thoroughly enjoyed painting them. The details on some figures aren't really right for Berlin in 1918-1920 (there shouldn't be any gas masks, for a start), but the figures with grenade bags and entrenching tools really look the biz. And I did carve the gas mask containers off some of the figures before cutting my thumb and giving up.



Just for the eye candy, I have included a wonderfully ugly Ehrhardt EV/4 armoured car, but this was painted before the Challenge.



So that's 29 figures and 145 points, and about 1/6 of the way to my absurdly optimistic target. 

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Fabulous work Dux! The late war Germans form Great War Miniatures look great in this role. You did a great job freehanding the ghoulish skull and crossbones on their coal scuttle helmets. Sorry to hear about your thumb, but it was in service of your muse so hopefully it heals up well. Love the Ehrhardt! If anyone else wants one of these I suggest you go over to Alf at Barrage Miniatures - he has a wonderful casting of this brute.

Historically footnote: In a perverse way it's too bad the German revolutionaries didn't have better success in whittling down the Freikorps before they were stamped out. Several members of the Freikorps (Röhm, Himmler and Höß to name a few) became some of the most heinous personalities of the soon-to-emerge Nazi party.

KenR : 28mm WWI British Signallers (30 Points)

Entry number 2 this year for me is this little collection of 28mm Great War Miniatures British Signallers. It's a gorgeous pack of 5 figures and a equipment piece. My WWI collection is for the Middle East, Mesopotamia and Palestine so these guys are a bit "Western Front" for me but I just couldn't resist.

Our intrepid group of gamers use the Toofatlardies rules "If the Lord Spares Us" for our games and these allow you to extend your command radius with the use of Signal bases, for years we have used plastic Meeples but I thought these would be much more pleasing on the eye.

5 points a piece for these 28mm which will give me another 30 (if the equipment piece counts as 1). I had a bit of fun with the 6th base putting a map on the ground sheet and turning one of the supply boxes into a a cache of "Yarkshire Tea".

Yarkshire Regiments go nowhere without Yarkshire Tea !

A good map is always handy

I'm already over halfway through the next unit of 28mm Indian Infantry so stand by for further incoming !

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Lovely work Ken! I've always liked this set of figures as they are so characterful (I especially like the fellow releasing the pigeon) and you've taken them to the next level with your additions of the map, signaling equipment and the Yarkshire tea! Infinitely better than Meeples. :)

30 points for your tally. Bring on the Indian infantry! 

From EricMc - 28mm WWI Germans, Part II (130 Points)

Sorry for the second entry being back to back with the first.   I was able to finish this group of Germans pretty quickly.  I promise only one more boring group of Germans then on to something more fun.  

I did experiment a bit with the basing. I think I like the basing color of the groups in the first post better.

 The flammenwerfer teams were fun to paint. I think I like the Great War Miniature version better where the weapon is held low. The Old Glory over the shoulder version may be accurate but you would have to be crazy to use it that way. 

Thanks for looking.
26 28mm figures at 5pts each is 130 points 

These infantry look great Eric!  To be honest, I perhaps like the basing on these fellows a bit more. I find the larger chunks of grey rocks/debris more visually interesting than the smaller talus, but that's just me. :) Nice work!

From EricMc - 28mm WWI Germans---Finally on the board! (100 Points)

Like most things, I am running a little behind.  Here is my first entry for the Painting Challenge. This is to adding to my WWI collection.   These are 1916-18 German Stosstruppen.  There is a mix of riflemen with a few trench raider types scattered in. 

The figures are a mix of Old Glory and Great War Miniatures.  I am a long time Old Glory fan but this is not the strongest range they make.  Great War make some beautiful figures. They are a bit taller and much more well fed than the Old Glory.  

  

I love the Gas Mask look.  One of my favorite figures is the guy in a gas mask carrying the Spandau. Its a little Hollywood in my opinion but its so fun.

  

I am still struggling with what the basing should look like.  I would love it to be dark and muddy but that really dulls down the already dull figures.   Its a work in progress and I would love any suggestions you have. 

 

20 total 28mm figures = 100points.   I think.  More to come very shortly!

 

Fantastic stuff Eric! I love seeing some WWI stuff in the Challenge. I really like your trench raiders. Which manufacturer makes the figure of the MG08/15 gunner? I need one of those. In regards to your basing, frankly I think its very good - evocative without overpowering the figure (and I can attest to the hex base for the officers - I use it as well - it makes them easy to spot on the tabletop).  

Well done Eric and welcome to the Challenge!

From ByronM - Back to the Great War and My Painting Desk (95 Points)

Wow, it has been a while since my last post, other than the fortnight challenge pieces.  Sorry for the lack of output during the Challenge, work has been extremely busy and stressful, and its been hard to get motivated for more than the challenge pieces (which I have been having a lot of fun with).

Anyway, last year I started working on some Great War 28mm figures for both Canadian and German forces.  I finally got back on track and got 2 more rifle sections completed for the 10th Battalion force that I am working on.  Just 1 more section to go on them, hopefully to be done before the end of this Challenge.

Here they are, 2 sections each of 8 riflemen and a Big Man.  Also included is another command figure that I found sitting around for my 16th battalion, you can see him in the background with his glengarry hat.  The colours and uniforms are the same so I included him in this batch of painting, making a total of 19 models. 

Most of the figures are either Great War or Musketeer/Footsore, both of which are excellent quality, and almost exact matches for scale.

I haven't had time to create cards (or even research names for the officers) just yet, but will sometime soon so that they can be used in the Through the Mud and the Blood game.  These 19 figures should give me 95 points, and bring me a little closer to my goal, which I have been slacking on.

Also, since everyone has been showing off their painting areas, and asking others about them, I figured I would include mine here.

To try and keep everything organized, I initially made shelves for my paints, however over time I collected too many and they were 2-3 layers deep and I could never find anything.  So when I got the laser cutter last year, I decided to make some paint organizers that fit into the shelves and allowed me to see the paints and grab them easily.  Some are different sizes, as I was playing with the design a bit, but I just kept the test cuts anyway as I like the little space at the end of each row for other shaped bottles.

Also on the table is a pair of miniature stands I did up, to mount figures to instead of holding them by the base while painting them.  For years I have used dowel, but just rested them on the table, and a few times have had them fall over and chip figures.  Problem solved.

I also have a pair of oak drawer units that my dad made for me. They hold all my tools, decals, flocking, magnets, and more.  I even have two more tucked away in my miniature closet to keep other bits and pieces in that are not used that often.  They help keep everything organized and appeases my OCD.  He has even made a few for friends in the past.

And for Curt, who likes seeing whats coming up... This was taken while my Satan figure was in progress, as well as these Canadians.  However, if you look on the painting rack, there are a bunch of 28mm French Napoleonic figures in progress (although they haven't progressed much further).

Anyway, hope you all like the figures, and my painting space.


From Curt:

Wonderful stuff Byron! Those Great War Canadians look absolutely brilliant. Such clean lines and great shading - your typically excellent brushwork. I really look forward to seeing these fellows on the tabletop when I come out to visit next. 

Your painting desk is a thing of wonder as well. I have the same lights (Costco rocks) and can attest to their brilliance (literally). I also like your various organizational drawers and dowel holders. And I may have to get you to make me some of those paint dropper slot thingys - they're the absolute dog's dangles.