From MikeW - 28mm Dutch 17th Century Cavalry and whatever I can get done in the next three days! (174 Points)

How time flies, the end of the challenge looms and I have so much to do that I did not get around to even starting! So this is likely the last post that I can make this challenge and this is really a series of items that I have been scrambling to complete over the next few days as the deadline looms.

This weekend I am on Grand parent duty and this unlikely to get time to do anything else. I'd like to take this chance to thank Teemu for his tireless efforts dealing with my posts and also to Curt & all the minions for again making this an enjoyable experience.

So here are my odds and ends and I bid all farewell until next year's challenge?

First of a group of 5 x 28mm Late 17th Century Dutch Cavalry representing Filips Emminghuysen van Eppe's Regiment of Horse, first raised in 1672 and served at the Battle of Seneffe in 1674. Apart from having an extraordinarily long name, they worn grey jackets and trousers, sky Blue cuffs and Horse furniture. I have still to get the officer completed but this is unlikely to be done by the end of the challenge!

Front on view of five troopers,
officer is still being painted at the time the challenge comes to an end!

Side view, I don't usually do casualty figures but the occasional one adds flavour to a unit

And the other side

Next I have managed to complete one of the two remaining 40K Ork Kill Koptas, again it has a scratch built rota blade set but the build and construct are much the same as last week's submission.

Second Kill Kopta completed, with one more to go...

The other side! Extra guns added on the Kopta's front bonnet.

Another view again!

Here are a couple of 15mm project that have been floundering over the last few months, first up is some long overdue American Civil War Coastal Batteries and secondly we have some Russian supplied equipment for the Spanish Civil War Republicans, in the form of tanks and artillery.

On the ACW front we have 7 x Coastal / Siege Batteries, these are in the traditional grey finish with blackened barrels (to protect them form the sea salt). Each is on a fairly elaborate chassis and typically these would be found in long term forts / emplacements. I'm also throwing in 4 x Smoothbore Field guns that I have just completed.

The completed 15mm ACW Coastal Guns

I've had these models for ages, stored in the garage waiting for me to get around to painting and basing them. A potential future game set in the Petersburg Siege lines has prompted me to actually dig them out and get them ready for use.

And four completed ACW Field Guns

These little Field Guns were found along wit the big guns above, so I decided to get them completed at the same time as well. I gave these plain wooden frames, assuming that they would be used as Confederate batteries, I believe these are 6lb Smoothbores. I now need to source crews for each gun.

Close-up on a 8" Columbiad Gun. I have tried to weather the carriage to
represent harsh sea salt air in coastal areas

Another view

This is a close-up of the 10" Columbiad Gun

Again another view

A comparison shot showing just how big these Coastal / Siege
guns were compared to regular Field Artillery

Next we have 3 x T26 tanks and 4 x Artillery pieces all supplied during the Spanish conflict to the Republican army. The equipment is all in traditional Russian Green drab but on the tanks I have added the Republican Tricolour of Nationalist Spanish Flag as these vehicles were prized by both sides.

Three completed T26 tanks, centre & left are Republican vehicles,
right is a captured tank pressed into Nationalist service

I have quite a large SCW Republican Army and a smattering of Nationalists to oppose them, as a club we were heavily into the SCW some time ago and these models were sourced then to 'beef-up' my mostly infantry based forces, they are metal models and I'm afraid I don't remember which company made them.

Another angle on the tanks

I decided to paint one in Nationalist colours, as I saw a nice picture of a Nationalist T26 online recently, I have a fourth T26 model that I'll add to the Republican ranks in due course but at present the model has a missing gun barrel and I have to source one from somewhere.

Four completed Artillery pieces all of Russian origin

Along with the 'lost' tanks, was found some generic Republican Artillery pieces, I believe these are all Russian supplied guns. again I can't remember the manufacturer's name.

Again another view

Following on from the SCW I now switch (almost seamlessly) back to Warhammer 40K and a test Space Marine figure. Last post Iain picked up on a throw away remark that I made about wanting to raise a new 'blue' Space Marine Force but that I was reluctant to commit to Ultra Marines. I just happened to have a marine figure ready build, so I undercoated it in white and decided to use Speed paints to see what type of quick paint job I could do!

So here it is, a Crimson Fist Space Marine with a Heavy Plasma gun, I used Army Painter 'Magic Blue' for the armour with 'Slaughter Red' for the fists. I painted the gun and it's umbilical cord silver and then used 'Graveyard Grey' over the silver to give a rich metallic shading.

The chest eagle was painted with 'Sand Golem' and the various cables were painted in black, or red as I felt appropriate.

The plasma rings on the gun were painted by covering with white paint then putting down a yellow coat alont the spine of the rings before applying a watered down coat of light green paint.

Now 40K purists will note that the figure does not have the correct iconography for a Crimson Fist, but as this is a test figure, I'm not too bothered. That said I'll no doubt be damned as a heretic and sent to some Penal Colony for the rest of my years,...

Next, I managed to finish the Commanding Officer that I had partially painted (and then got distracted from) for the Dutch Regiment Slangenburg - that I posted for this challenge back on the 9th Feb. Fredrik Johan van Baer, Heer van Slangenburg wears a heavily decorated scarlet coat, a cuirass and is mounted upon a sturdy brown horse as he waves his feathered hat!

Fredrik Johan van Baer, Heer van Slangenburg

Another view

The figure is a Front Rank one from their Late 17th Century range and it paints-up really very nicely, in my opinion.

My only regret is not having time to complete a 40k Ork Gargantuan! Well, a McFarlane model substitute for a Gargantuan!

Imagine the size of the finished Ork given the epic scale of his gun next to a regular Ork!

POINTS

5 x 28mm 17th Century Dutch Horse @ 10 Pts Ea     50 Points

1 x 40K Ork Kill Kopta @ 20 Pts                   20 Points

1 x 40K Ork Pilot @ 5 Pts                          5 Points

11 x 15mm ACW Artillery Pieces @ 4 Pts ea         44 Points

4 x 15mm SCW Artillery Pieces @ 4Pts ea           16 Points

3 x 15mm T26 Tanks @ 8Pts ea                      24 Points

1 x Crimson Fist Space Marine                      5 Points

1 x 28mm 17th Century Dutch Officer               10 Points

TOTAL                                            174 Points 

That is a nice mix of models for a final entry, well done. I will overlook your obvious heresy with the space marine as it is just a 'test' model. The Inquisition will be keeping a close eye on all future projects though. Great work on all of these projects. 

-StuartL

From Mike W - 28mm Late 17th Centaury Ottoman Artillery (90 Points, Squirrel)

This group of figures and models are to represent three batteries and crews for Ottoman Artillery positions in a forthcoming Siege of Vienna game, they join a fourth such battery model I completed some time ago. These figures are from various sources mostly plastic Gripping Beast Arab Infantry converted to an Artillery Role.

The three Ottoman Batteries ready now to face the walls of Vienna!

One of the Batteries on the workbench this week
and back by popular demand (?!) a caterpillar by my grand-daughter

There are also a couple of Wargames Atlantic Afghans conversions plus the officers are 3D prints (I think - that or resin castings) that I acquired from eBay. The Ottoman heads were also from the same manufacturer as the officers and these have helped unify the look and feel of these figures in their new role.

One of the Battery positions I have created. The gun models are not fixed to the bases, allowing me to mix and match guns amongst many such bases in my collection

Another view of the same battery, with close-up of the Gabions.
I added fine sand to the top of each and dry-brushed the sides of each gabion brown to give a shaded effect.

As a note the rammers were made by cutting off the spear point and then cutting the top and bottom off one of the tubular quivers in the Gripping Beast Arab set, to represent the sponge.

Another Battery, showing the converted crewmen and resin officers.
Note the gunner to left taking a bead on a potential enemy getting too close to the position.

All figures were undercoated white before appropriate colours were blocked in, a watered down dark tone wash was later used to give shading before matt varnishing the figures.

The final Battery and Crew, the resin officers looked a little wooden in their poses when they arrived,
but separated and in place on the bases they have turned out pretty good.

Anther picture of the battery, all of the crewmen are Gripping Beast Arab Infantry
with resin Ottoman heads added to three of the four figures to give the right look and feel.

The two wooden 'ships' cannon were a recent purchase from Whizkids,com, these were very reasonably priced and painted up well. (The third 'green' cannon in the photos was a gun I painted for last year's challenge!)

The Whizkids.com guns

On the bases I added wooden planks to hold the weight of the guns, gabions (from Rendera) before using my usual techniques of adding fine sand and electrostatic grass with tufts for a completed model.

I am claiming a 6th Squirrel point for thus new wargames period!

POINTS

13 x 28mm Foot Figures   = 65 Points

2 x 28mm Guns                 = 20 Points

TOTAL                              = 85 POINTS

 This is the first of many posts from Mike today and it's a corker.  Lots to love here with the converted GB arabs assorted heads and the repurposed Wizkids cannons.  What make are the Gabions?  I will round this score up to 90 to give some points for conversions and casework.

From SidneyR: The Last Stand of the Regiment de Louvigny for "The Altar of the Snowlord" (66 points)

 

"Sound trumpets!  Let our Bloody colours wave!

And either victory, or else a grave!"

Henry VI, Part 3 (Act 2, scene 2)

And so, after three months, I've finally arrived at the Snowlord's Altar, bearing - as requested by Curt - a submission featuring casualties and a dramatic final stand for Challenge XI.  

To meet that challenge, I've painted the valiant last stand of the French Regiment be Louvigny, from 1688 - a suitably terminal, but hopefully honourable, end to a great Challenge.

Challenge accepted and - I hope - completed, dear Snowlord!

I have to admit, that when I planned out what I wanted to do, I did wonder if it would work.  What I had in mind was a centrepiece for a large skirmish in which the "shipwrack" of a French battalion could (possibly) be rescued from Flemish and Spanish enemy forces by a relieving French brigade.  It would suit an evening's wargaming, or perhaps be a smaller table in a day's gaming.

The small "slots" for two micro-dice are there to record casualties and cohesion.  As the regiment in its battered state is not really functioning as a working formation, there's no need to identify the pike and shot separately in any normal basing formation.  That's the plan, anyway.  

So, rather than just a 'casualty base', I could use the Last Stand as a half-way house between functioning battalion and a mere marker for routed troops.

After deciding on the type of base I wanted, it was really just a case of deciding which figures I wanted.  I chose a blend of of pike and shot, officers and soldiers, a drummer, and a blend of dead, wounded and still-healthy troops.  

I perhaps could have done better in painting the standard, which looks a little too pristine for any 'last stand'.  And maybe the casualties could have been a bit more numerous.  But, on the whole, given a day or so to prepare it, I thought it should hopefully pass muster on most tabletops.  

The perfect is, of course dear friends, the enemy of the tabletop-standard.

The Regiment de Louvingy is for my late seventeenth century 1688 Flanders collection, so I tried to make the figures fit with the other units and formations by adding green-stuff feathers, lace, ribbons and swapping the Officer's right arm from carrying a standard to more nobly raising his sword towards the Flemish and Spanish enemies-of-his-blood.  

I took the uniform of the Regiment de Louvigny from Mark Allen's fine book "Armies & Enemies of Louis XIV: Volume 1 - Western Europe 1688-1714" (published by Helion).  The real Regiment de Louvigny is a rather forgotten, anonymous regiment - so I felt it was time to bring its soldiers back to the grand stage of European warfare on the wargames table.

The figures are a mix of Dixon Miniatures and Wargames Foundry, with a Colonel Bill's casualty figure added at the front.  The splendid, and very versatile, gabions are from Frontline Wargaming.  The base is  a terrain base from Warbases, who also made the micro-dice slots.  The tufts are from WSS Scenics.

No one makes the standard for the Regiment de Louvigny - so I painted it myself.  I wish I had battered it about a little more - ah well, next time, I'll know better!

So for the points - there are eight standing and two prone figures on the base, with the standing being 5 points each (totally 40 points) and the prone figures being half-points (total of 5 points) - totalling 45 points for the figures (and can I maybe add an extra one point for the hand-painted flag?), bringing that to 46 Points.  With adding the 20 for the final "Altar of the Snowlord", that's a total of 66 Points.

And because this is a submission featuring the ludicrousness of my fictional campaign for the Free-City of Laarden, in 1688, here's the Challenge XI Collectible Card for the "Last Stand of the Regiment de Louvigny" - the last of the eleven cards for Challenge XI.  

Did you collect the full set, dear Challengers?

******* 

From Mike W, 28mm Late 17th Century Infantry Regiment (140 Points)

So I'm definitely thinking that this will be my last post for this challenge, and it's getting over the line, just in the nick of time! I'm busy with household jobs tomorrow - so no time for painting...

The completed unit: Regiment Monferrato

I present the Regiment Monferrato, circa 1688 and one of the oldest regiments in the Piedmont Army. Piedmont was one of those European states that were initially allied (some say under duress) to France but later switched sides to join the Grand Alliance and fight against France.

From the left side

I'd found an illustration of the regiment in Helion & Co - Century of the Soldier series - William III's Italian Ally, which centres on the Piedmont army in the War of the League of Augsburg 1683-1697. Having seen eth picture, it inspired me to do a tabletop unit.

And from the Right side. Note NCO extreme end of line with Halberd

As with many armies of the time, the Monferrato Regiment wore grey jackets with blue cuffs, they had red hose and pants and a black hat, trimmed yellow. In 1688 they were issued Flintlock Muskets and still retained their Pikemen, however, these were dropped from their organisation in 1690.

And as they were on the evening of Monday, 15th March!

These figures are probably unrealistically uniform in look, as at the time uniforms were still in development across Europe. 

Central Pike and Command block

The flags are basis this unit being part of a second field battalion of the regiment, each Piedmontese regiment carried an Ordinaza Flag - Blue or Red with a white cross - and a Colonel's Flag, which reflected the Colonel's own livery and / or coat of arms. Second or Third Battalions carried two Ordinaza flags, as here. I do not have any firm information on whet the Colonel's flag would have looked like at this time for the Regiment Monferrato.

Just the Pikemen, this regiment had brass buttons

The flags are not glued to the poles, so when I find more information, I can swap one out for the Colonel's Flag and promote this unit to being eth First Battalion!

Two Musketeer Stands, note the Light Blue Piedmont ribbons.

So there are 28 figures in this Regiment, four bases of four Musketeers plus four half bases of two Pikemen each and a Command base of four figures.

The other two Musketeer stands, I use Barry Hilton's Beneath the Lilly Banner Rules,
but base the figures on 40,40mm stands,
just because that was how my collection was based when I started to use them!

These figures were undercoated in white and then coat, hat and pants colours were blocked in as per my usual method. I opted for a bright blue finish to pikes and pole arms in the unit and officer sashes and unit ribbons reflected the Piedmont army officer preference for sky blue.

Close up of the Command Stands

Figures had a watered down Army Painter Dark Wash applied and when dry were given a coat of matt varnish, before being glued to their bases. Fin sand was added along with electrostatic grass and tufts to taste.

POINTS

28x a 28mm Foot Figures @5 Pts ea    = 140 Points