From Ross M: 28mm Skeleton Archers (60 points)

 These figures were not meant to be a part of this challenge or anything at present however, plans are made to be changed and changed they were. 

There is a mixture of old and new in this so starting with the new, well nearly all of the new at eleven Oathmark skeleton based as a regiment for Kings of War. There is a twelfth figure on another base that will be here shortly. 

When I say new, I should say newly painted as the figures have been in the pile of shame for several years now. The colour scheme was painted to match the previously painted figures as best as possible and there is one of the rear right hand group that does just that. 

Here are both groups together, with the newly painted to the right of screen as viewed and the previously painted to the left. Same figures, paints, painting methods and varnishing; the difference between left and right has been a different primer. The newly painted were primed with grey car primer the previously painted skeletons had been primed with Army Painter Skeleton Bone....just goes to show how a little change can make a difference.

Basing these has been interesting and very similar to basing Impetus armies about a decade or so ago. The multi-figure base allows more use of flocks, tufts and foliage to create a theme on the basing and as a result across the army. 

Hope that you like these and that I'll be able to sneak a post in before the end of the week. In terms of points I make this to be:

12 x 28mm infantry at 5 each = 60 points

12 skulls at 1 each = 12 points

Total for this entry being 72 points

Thanks for looking and if I am unable to post for the 20th, its been great being part of this in 2024/25. 

Cheers for now.

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The best plans are those that incorporate agility to shift with our ever changing whims Ross! And I'm thrilled that these bony lads made the cut. They really come together well en mass and the purple wildflowers on the basing give a great splash of colour to bring them together. Good stuff!

60 points for the figs (skulls don't get extra points that I'm tracking, sorry)

- Paul

From RhysH - Abyssal Dwarfs and Taun Taun Riders

 This week Rhys was working on cavalry for two different games. His first entry is Abyssal Dwarf Halfbreeds from Mantic Games for Kings of War.

Five devastating cavalry for your fantasy table tops.

Next up is four more. Rhys tried to slide a half painted one past me but I pulled it out, so expect to see it next week. 

These tiger striped halfbreeds can either fill out the first unit or be a second unit.

Last up is three Taun taun riders for the Rebels in Star Wars Legion. These are 3D prints from Squamous miniatures, who I can't recommend highly enough.

These come in units of two. He has three more to paint to finish them all up.

This week is a total of 12 x 28mm Cavalry x 10pts = 120pts

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Good Morning Rhys

Great looking Taun Taun riders ... they would have been right at home in Saskatchewan last week! Surviving -50C is only for the very appropriatly dressed!

Terrific colour choices on the tiger striped Half Breeds. I'm looking forward to what we see on your next post :)

- Sarah

From RhysH - Basileans and Werewolves

 Rhys' entry this week is more troops for his Mantic Basileans and two Wargames Atlantic Werewolves.

First up are three Elohi, monstrous infantry for the Basileans.

These are big models, 54mm. That's a 28mm Wargames Atlantic werewolf next to him.

Kings of War has a lot of options for unit sizes but three is a normal size for these guys.

Their wings are quite nice, even if the rest of them is a little bit bendy.

Next up are two battle cats for the Basileans. It's really one and a mount with no rider, but who's really counting.

The one on the right is from Vanguard and is noticeably better than the older one.

You can really see the armor from this angle.

They are both very dynamic poses.

Continuing the theme are nine panther riders. In the Basilean army the light troops are female and their fast cavalry are riding these big cats.

Lances and shields, but light armor.

Rhys followed the colors of the studio army with blue and white tabards.

Again, you can see the dynamism of the poses of these models. They are soft PVC plastic, but if they get re-done in hard plastic they will be pretty amazing.

The last entry is two Wargames Atlantic werewolves. I bought this box for Silver Bayonet and Rhys managed to talk me out of two of them for LotR/MESBG.

These are a new release, perfectly timed for The Silver Bayonet. They are a very nice modular kit with lots of options for posing.

Rhys went for a darker, grassier base on these than he normally chooses.

These stand the same height as a 28mm figure. Many werewolves are significantly bigger than the humans they turned out of. Rhys and I like the size on these.

This entry is: 

Two 28mm infantry x 5pts = 10pts

Two 28mm cats x 5pts = 10pts

Nine 28mm cavalry x 10pts = 90pts

Three 54mm Infantry x 10pts = 30pts

Total = 140pts

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Oh what a bunch of nasty beasties! Well done!

You must have had alot of fun with these bad boyz ... I particularly like the wings on the Elohi Infantry. and werewolves are always scary, especially giant ones!

I'm looking forward to seeing what you next paint

Cheers

Sarah

From JamieM - Kings Of War Salamanders (150 points)

 Nice and simple this week, two regiments (or one horde if I stick them together) of salamanders for Kings of War, along with two salamander heroes.

These will go into my Forces of Nature army with the elementals I’ve already painted as part of the challenge.

Not my most inspired or detailed paintwork, but they’re certainly functional as a unit and I’m going for them as a whole look instead of being super detailed individually.

I like to take the opportunity to multi base for Kings of War as I think it looks great and should allow me to set up and play nice and quickly when I start getting games in.

Simple maths this week, 30 x 28mm figures for 150 points this week.

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Have to say Jamie that when I first saw the title of this post, I was thinking "oh great, he's back at some 30k stuff!". These were not the "Salamanders" I was expecting...

But they look cool all the same, and "Kings of War" is a fine game. Rather distressing to think of "nature" amassing such armoured forces, but they look great, particularly in the big mass/horde as you have them here. That is a fine 150-point bomb for you!

GregB

From RhysH - Basileans for Kings of War Vanguard (100 Points)

 This week's entry from Rhys is 19 Basileans from Mantic Games. Rhys doesn't like/remember that name and just calls them "The Paladins" He has recently become enamored of the skirmish level Vanguard rules, having already been a fan of Kings of War.

This first entry is three heroes and an Elohi, without wings.

 These are the heroes for Rhys' warband. The large fellow is 50mm tall but the rest are standard 28mm.

The guy second from the right is a spell caster of some sort.

It's easier to see just how big the angel is in this shot.

Next up are several Men-at-Arms.

Three crossbows and two melee dudes. The Sergeant with the sword doesn't actually have special rules, Rhys just wanted a leader.

These guys are hard plastic and meet all the normal standards. Many of Mantic's legacy models are PVC and are pretty terrible to assemble.

Next up are two of the Sisters. These are the light troops for Basilea. They provide light shock infantry, rangers and panther riding light cavalry.

Shock infantry with a flail on the left and ranger on the right.

Last up are eight of the standard rank and file troops for Basilea. They are the terrible PVC plastic and were both no fun to assemble and lack the finer detail of the newer Mantic hard plastic sculpts. I got these as part of a mystery box or kickstarter, or something. They sat in a bin until Rhys unearthed them, at which point I gifted them to him.

Soft faces, weird poses. They're just bad models.

Back when I still painted Rhys' models for him I used his school colors for his Abyssal Dwarfs (Chaos Dwarfs). He's continuing that on these models. I'm not sure the Paladins would approve of sharing their insignia with creatures from the Abyss.

This entry is:

18 x 28mm x 5pts = 90 pts

1 x 50mm x 10 pts (9?) = 10 pts

Total = 100 pts

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More fantasy models for us to enjoy! The heroes look the stuff (I especially like the crossbowmen) but I can understand the struggle with the PVC figures. I've only ran across a few of them myself and agree that they are often quite a struggle to work with. I like you use your school colours for the agents of Chaos (seems perfectly fitting really). Good work Rhys!

- Curt

From JamieM - Aliens, Elementals and Weird Monsters (158 points)

Something of a selection box today, starting with some more Grey aliens (even though some of them aren’t grey) to go alongside the starting war and I painted a few weeks ago.

These are once again from the Watchers faction for the Wild West Exodus game. Not sure I’ll get around to playing them in that game, but my plan to use them as invaders against some post apocalyptic humans is intact, probably using the Xenos Rampant rules. No idea why there is a human in the box, but in the box she was and so she got painted.

The same paint scheme as my last ones.

Next up are some tree elementals/dryads for Kings of War for the, perhaps unsurprisingly, Forces of Nature army. They’ll go alongside the water and fire elementals I painted last week as an army mainly made up of big fellas who go “Smash” instead of pesky small infantry is really rather appealing.

There’s also a Tree Herder with them, who is the big Ent looking fella at the back. He will most definitely go Smash.

Nice and simple painting with dry brushing doing most of the heavy lifting and I thought I’d add some basing flock and underbrush to their tops to give them some foliage.

Last up are a couple of big monsters and a little fella. In order to finish my Conquest Spires army, I needed to finish a standard bearer and two monsters, delightfully known as “Abominations”

They’re too big for my Photo Booth so I had to improvise! The little fella is 40mm, which shows how huge these lads are…..

Contrast paint doing some heavy lifting as there’s plenty of surface detail and it was great for the flesh.

As you can see, they’re a little bit disturbing… horrible to build though as the leg joints were all ball and socket, which sounds great in theory, but trying to hold four ball and socket joints together simultaneously was an absolute nightmare.

So, for scores then:

Aliens are 2 x 40mm and 5 x 28mm for 39 points.

Wood dryads are 6 x 40mm and 1 x 28mm vehicle for 62 points.

Conquest miniatures are 1 x 40mm infantry and 2 x 40mm vehicles for 57 points

Which I make 158 points in total.

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Well now Jamie, 158 points WITHOUT resorting to any sort of Naval Nonsense (TM) - that's more like it!

This is a tremendous assortment you have gathered here. Remember, even if all of the aliens are not grey in look, they are probably grey in motive, so "grey alien" is the perfect term to apply to all of them. The Ents look smashing - as well as able to smash. And as for the "Abomninations" well...they sure seem to do what it says on the tin! And I expect all those ball socket joints were quite the nightmare to assemble...

158 points well-earned! We look forward to your further progress on multiple fronts!

GregB