From RobH (HerrRobert/RobertH): Señor Oliverios' Retainers (50 points)

Señor Oliveros crouched down in the scrub, waiting. El Borracho sat nearby, drinking straight from a green bottle with one hand, checking the cylinder of his revolver with the other. In all the years he'd known El Borracho, Oliverios had never seen the man without either whiskey or weapons to hand. His pet iguana, El Guapo, crouched on his shoulder. Men from his hacienda dotted the rough ground nearby, ready for the signal.

Señor Oliverios' Retainers

So begins my second entry into the 15th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Señor Teodoro Oliveros leads the men from around his hacienda to confront someone, be they the French, the Yankees, banditos, Villistas, Federales or perhaps even Spaniards or Cuban revolutionaries:

• Teodoro Guerra, Raúl Luna, Luis Aguirre and Loco Sanchez (remember him?) have armed themselves with machetes
• Martin Reyes carries a large scattergun or blunderbuss
• Octavio Montoya and Luciano Peña have muskets
• Javier Solis carries a repeating rifle, perhaps a Winchester
• El Borracho and El Guapo have a six gun

Señor Oliverios leads from the front

Eight of the ten figures (all but Solis and El Borracho) are Wargames Foundry figures from the Old West pack OW161 - Mexican Peons. I'd bought them years ago off ebay, and they'd been sitting cleaned, washed and ready to paint for at least two years now. After our last Legends of the Old West game of the exchange, they called out to paint.

El Borracho is a Reaper Chronoscape figure marketed as Lobo Sanchez, Bandito. My figure's package came with a smudged label which read more "Loco Sanchez." Since I already had Loco Sanchez, I needed a new name. Given that the figure is carrying a hefty bottle of something alcoholic, El Borracho, The Drunkard, seemed appropriate.

The figures weren't too bad to paint up, although the sandals and El Borracho's serape and inner thigh had some trouble spots, as did his hair and Señor Oliverios' cummerbund - the red kept bleeing onto his white shirt.

Three of the figures were painted to test a khaki color combination for the Spanish-American War: Delta Ceramcoat Terretorial Beige for shadow, Khaki for main, and then a wash down with Army Painter Soft Tone. It works for rough cloth, but is too dark for a khaki. I will probably try using a pale gray wash next time, and see if that is lighter.

Rear view of the party

The rest of the figures had the same white I did for Loco Sanchez as a prisoner in my previous entry. Señor Oliverios' pants and hat, along with El Borracho's hat and serape, were both done with Territorial Beige as main and Vallejo Cork Brown as a highlight, then washed down with Strong Tone. It makes for a good medium brown. I switched up my straw hat mixture, highlighting with Reaper Buckskin Pale after the Soft Tone wash, instead of before. It worked much better than doing the Soft Tone wash last, so I went back and touched up the prisoner's straw hat from my last entry.

Before and after capture, showing the touchup on the hat

I label all of my 19th Century colonial figures on the bases, with the yellow, green, blue, red or black of the label indicating skill. It's something I picked up playing a homebrew set of rules for gaming the Indian Wars in my teens/early twenties, and since I started basing my figures for that rule set, it has persisted. Figure names are written in with either white gel pen (0.3mm tip, brand new for the challenge) or 0.005mm artist marker.

The band from overhead, showing the labels

I'm a little more satisfied with the photos this go around. I got a slightly better camera app for my phone, which allows me to control the focus point, exposure and light balance better than the usual point and click of an iPhone. I also bought an attachment for my tripod, so I can use it with the phone. They're not as crisp as the black background photos Curt shoots, but they look better. I may switch to a white background though.

Springing the ambush on some French invaders (the French I bought at a con and need to rebase)

Scoring this entry is:

• 10 28mm foot figures @ 5 points per figure = 50 points.

That's also my first Squirrel Point, and 50 more points in the Colonials duel.

 

 

Sylvain: Not only are your miniatures very colorful, the characters you depict are also very colorful. I like how you add stories to your post,as it makes looking at your figurines a lot more interesting. I also find inspiring the way you coded your bases. All in all a great entry. Excellent work!

 

 

From Rob H (HerrRobert): The Border Exchange (5 points)

April 1898: The Trans-Pecos of Texas is a land of extremes, hot days, cold nights, desolate terrain, sparse population and barely suppressed lawlessness far from everywhere. American and Mexican garrisons soak in the beaching sun, attempting to maintain order as bandidos and Comanches cross the border as suits their own nefarious purposes. Those caught on the wrong, side of the border may yet still face what passed for justice in these parts - or be used as coin to trade for those caught on the other side. 

The prisoner waiting to be exchanged

So begins the setting for today's game of (heavily) modified Legends of the Old West. When I first began wargaming, about thirty years ago in the late 1990s, blogging was the province of self-created websites. Ian Croxhall's The Amazing Adventures of the Red Shadow was one of the sites I had bookmarked and routinely read through for new games featuring the Algerian Goumiere scout and the various misadventures of the French, Germans and Italians across the North African littoral. One of my favorite scenarios was The Red Shadow and the Salami Exchange, which featured the French and Italians attempting to exchange prisoners and the Mujahidine crash the party. Hilarity ensues, naturally.

Side profile, perhaps as a mug shot?

I've always wanted to adapt that to a setting that suits my collections, and the US/Mexico border was the best fit. However, the setting required an unarmed figure to serve as one of the prisoners being exchanged. Fortunately, I had just the figure, already mounted on the base and just needing primed, flocked and painted.

He's a 28mm Wargames Foundry figure from the Old West pack OW166 - Mexican Villagers (2nd from the right above), painted in about 2 hours Friday night after work. I went a bit lighter for his clothes, using Delta Ceramcoat Antique White and then Reaper Linen White, washed with grey and then rehighlighted. His straw hat was a Reaper triad (Chestnut Gold, Palomino Gold and Buckskin Pale), which I washed with Army Painter Soft Tone to bring out the details. He was the first figure I had painted since the last Challenge, and having caught Bargain Bob's Basement Bunker version of the various diseases circulating around California for Christmas and New Years, getting started painting anything was a real effort. It's not efficient by any means, but it was fun just working on a single figure.

I love how sullen his expression came out

Despite lint-rolling my photobooth to remove all stray flock and static grass and making sure my miniatures were well lit, the photos turned out rather disappointing, especially compared to shots from today's game. They have a yellow tone and colors are washed out, which does not usually happen when taking gaming photos using the exact same iPhone. The edge of the base in the photo above should be jet black, and so should his hair. Upon reflection, I suspect the problem may be that the black background and high lighting overwhelm the iPhone camera at standard settings and wash things out. 

F Troop, 7th Cavalry escorting the prisoner to the exchange on the bridge over the Rio Grande

For those interested in his fate, Loco Sanchez was duly handed over to the Mexicans, put in the prisoner wagon, and taken to the jail in El Paso del Norte. However, when negotiating the narrow streets, the wagon bucked dodging a small child. Gunfire from the Mexican garrison killed the wagon driver guarding the prisoner, probably by mistake. Sanchez jumped down from the wagon, made a run for it, and was then shot while attempting escape, bleeding out in a dark alley. 

He's making a run for it!

Life is cheap in the Trans-Pecos.

Scoring:

• 1 28mm foot figure @ 5 points per figure = 5 points

And 5 points on my side for the Colonials duel with DaveD! Yes, Mexico and the Old West counts as colonial, especially Mexico because of the Maximillian Adventure.

On the plus side, this is probably the earliest I've posted anything for the Challenge, so every modest bit helps. And we had a wild, freewheeling 6-player, 5-sided game, which is always good!

Sylvain: Great figurine! White clothes are always tricky to paint and you nailed it. The background story adds a lot of character to a humble model, he's not just a villager, he's "Loco Sanchez who was shot during a prisoner exchange". Thanks for the pictures of your game, it looks great with the scenery and people typical of the old Far West.

From RobH - 3rd Post - Double Feature, Fantasy (40 Points)

My annual contribution for my LOTR collection. I present Shadowfax with some wizard hanging onto his mane.

Early in January I purchased a Briton/Romano-British Warband locally. It came with the following Character figures (Merlin, Guinevere, Bishop, Arthur, Nimue). 

The seller wrote that the warband consisted mostly of Footsore and Gripping Beast miniatures. I have not been able to identify the figure on their websites. 

I think this is Guinevere in disguise. Guinevere stands waiting within some ruins.

The ruins were a plastic bombed out building by Italeri Plastic Models. I filled in the wall with putty and texture paint for the interior, and added the secondary stone wall, all on a 60mm x 80mm base. (3.1" L  x 2.3" W x 2.3" H = 16.4 cubic inches)

Guinevere will allow Shadowfax a trip upon Lady Sarah's Star Yacht to the planet Arda: Fantasy; Tolkienesque 

Scoring -  38 Points

1 - 28mm mounted figure @ 10 points = 10 Points

1 - 28mm Figures @ 5 points each = 5 Points

1 - Terrain Piece @ 3 Points (I figure it is worth a 1/6 of a cube)

1 way ticket aboard Lady Sarah's Star Yacht to Arda @ 20 points

***

Nice work on your double feature here Rob. I love that Gandalf Shadowfax figured - I actually need to track one of those down for my own collection! In terms of scoring, when I work up the spreadsheet magic, it actually comes up to 40 points - so a couple of extra bonus for you :)

GregB

From RobH - 2nd Post - Double Feature, Science Fiction (65 Points)

I have a quick follow-up with some more Pulp Figures by Bob Murch. The first is Dr. Promethius & his Death Ray (PWM -13) as part of his Weird Menace line. 

Next are a group of figures I have dubbed, the Yellow Venom Society, who will be making an appearance in a Daredevils RPG (FGU) game I am running. 

They are listed as Evil Hooded Minions 1 (PWM-4) and Evil Hooded Minions 2 (PWM-5). As Bob writes in his catalogue, "Nefarious members of a criminal cult, the hooded minion was a staple of Pulp Era fiction." So are mad scientists with their death rays. 

As the leader of this nefarious I have chosen the Crimson Scorpion from Weird Villains 1 (PWM - 1). I however was inspired by Lord Byron and The Destruction of Sennacherib and painted him, gleaming in purple and gold.

Scoring - 65 Points

11 - 28mm Figures @ 5 points each = 55 Points

1 - 28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon @ 10 points = 10 Points

***

Well done Rob. Looking out at the Park across the street this morning, things seem nice and clear. But that said, a Death Ray might be a useful way to keep things quiet around here. At least the Yellow Venom Society have the decency to pay for the proper permits and clean up after their events. 

GregB

From RobH - First Post - Double Feature, Science Fiction (75 Points)

Do you remember the Republic Picture serials such as Zombies of the Stratosphere? 

 

Before cable TV they were a staple of  the local 5:30 children's TV show in the mid 1960s on CTV in Halifax. Those images have been brought to life by the Pulp Figures creations of  Robert Murch.

My first submission to this season's edition of the challenge is a homage to those childhood memories. Late last year I placed an order from both his Weird Menace and Mystery and Horror lines. I hope to get them all painted this challenge.

 

 

First up is a female Martian crew member (I cannot find a film credit) in charge of a phalanx of Robots (I don't remember what film these are from, if any).  I do find them somewhat reminiscent of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Better late then never, I included the street Santa that was a bonus figure from Bob, for orders placed in December. I didn't get it painted in time to go with the Christmas tableau in my living room. 

Happy New Year to all

Scoring

11 - 28mm Figures @ 5 points each

A trip in the Outer Ring to Skaro: Strange Doctors; Weird Robots - 20 Points

 

***

Hi Rob - a happy 2022 to you as well. Thank you for this science fiction double-post. I know the Bob Murch sculpts have captured the imagination and heart of many Challengers, and seeing these will no doubt inspire further admiration and painting efforts. 75 points for you. 

Greg

From RobH: Six Assorted Fantasy Foot Figures and Curtgeld - (55 Points)

My First entry into this winter's painting challenge is ready. The first three weeks of the challenge was spend mostly in bed due to a nasty cold and flu combination. A great way to spend the Christmas holidays. Otherwise a belated Happy New Year to all.

1) One Leprechaun and a pot of gold. My Curtgeld for this year. There are so many miniatures in my pile of lead, that I have lost track of where they came from. The source of this figure is a mystery to me.

2) Two mushroom men. More mystery figures. My thoughts are that Ming the Merciless has to harvest the spores for the Purple Death from somewhere, and they would be a fine source. Future allies of Flash Gordon.

3) Three Nazgûl on foot, in the middle of the night. They will correspond to the three mounted ring-wraiths, which  I entered in previous editions.

The sun was low on the horizon when I went to take the photos, and I found that my tablet was not charged. The images are from my iPhone, which isn't as good as my tablet for this task.

Scoring six 25mm foot figures @ 5 points each plus 25 points for my Curtgeld.

***

Hello again Rob, and welcome to Challenge Edition X.  The flu sounds like it was pretty awful, so good to see you are back at things, and that your brushes are back in action! Quite a variety here - including a mystery leprechaun! But I like the Nazgul most...so chilling and ominous, such a great part of the incredible LOTR story.

I sympathize with your challenges when it comes to getting photos done, always a bit of a pain, no matter how much they advance the cameras on our assorted iPhones etc. 

55 points for you, welcome to the fray!

GregB

From RobH -15mm Egyptian Infantry - 84 Points

Not much to write about. A total of 42 x 15mm Old Glory figures. Six mounted as Light troops and nine 4 man stands of Infantry.

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Nice one, Rob (or should I say, Robesses the Great?)! A bit of Bronze Age action at last! Egyptians at the ready, eager to crush the enemies of the Pharaoh!

For this tribute to the might of the Kingdom of the Nile, you are granted 84 points! So Let It Be Written! So Let It be Done!

Evhotep

From Rob Hingley - At midnight, on the twelfth of August, (25 Points)

"a huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars and sped towards Earth. Across two hundred million miles of void, invisibly hurtling towards us, came the first of the missiles that were to bring so much calamity to Earth. " was my planned entry for the Recce Bonus round.

Death of the Thunderchild

However on Friday I knew that the bases would not be ready in time for photos. The sun sets far too early for my liking in winter.  Fortunately, I had a Plan B (not from outer space). The above intro is taken from Jeff Wayne's, The War of the Worlds.  The narration brilliantly preformed by Richard Burton.

From the time I first ventured into the realm of Sci-Fi wargaming I desired to own a trio of Martian Tripods.  When the Kickstarter campaign for All Quiet on the Martian Front commenced I hemmed and hawed. As I was underemployed at the time I dawdled until it was too late. Most likely that was a good thing for me.

Last year I was lucky to find a set for sale on eBay and I happily made my purchase from a gentleman in Denmark. The price was very reasonable. One model was missing a body part that I was able to construct from green stuff. Next to duct tape, green stuff surely is one of the great forces that helps bind the universe together.

I'm unlikely to acquire any more materials for which to play All Quiet on the Martian Front, but I wouldn't be surprised if the tripods made it onto my gaming table in a tabletop game of Future War Commander.

3 x 15mm Vehicles = 24 Points

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Always good to see some Victorian SF in the Challenge, Rob, and these are great little figures. Pity about missing the Recce deadline, that's happened to me too many times to count!

24 points plus an extra point for nostalgia value (I owned the album, back in the day - you never know what will prompt extra points, so surprise me!).

Ev