From HerrRobert (Robert H): Portugal the Man (35 Points)

As you may or may not know, when not creating stunning miniatures, my day job is a public health epidemiologist and disaster response guy. So while many of you have been able to spend the last few weeks chained to your painting tables churning out challenge points, I've been extremely busy. While the overtime will contribute nicely to expanding the lead pile and assorted plastics, it's made painting rather difficult.

Having requested relief since I was beginning to see things, I have put my 48hrs into P&P, or painting and posting. With Tamsin having affirmed free-fire mode has removed the speed limits on Challenge Island, you're going to get a whirlwind tour of the most painting in 48hrs I've ever done.

My last post was booking fare on Lady Sarah's balloon ride to establish an airhead at Roundwood's Tower:

In this location, you will need to paint or create one or more figures or vehicles, item of terrain or aircraft, which are based on an alternative view of history or based on changing the story in your chosen work of fiction. So you might be painting figures from the Roman invasion of Ireland, or an ‘imagi-nation’ which fought Frederick the Great in India, or Black Numenoreans chasing Frodo across The Dead Marshes…. Its a chance to tweak history, weave through time, change the past to fit your imagination - and, please, feel free to add your backstory!

Lately, I have been playing a lot of Spectre Operations; those of you who are fans of the Tabletop CP channel can see the last two games here and here. The second video, rescuing Oliver from somewhere in Dubalah, inspired this entry. I was hoping to get him done before the game, but ran out of time.

Esteban "Portugal the Man" Portugal is a seasoned operator for the British private security firm Risk Intelligence and Defense International Control, Ltd. or RIDICL. They're eager to cash in on the prospect of operations in Dubalah, especially the lucrative client the Sheikh, and had been courting Oliver from Shadowspear. When he went missing on the most recent Shadowspear mission to extract the Sheikh, RIDICL had to step in.

Infiltrating OTP, Portugal quickly became a trusted commander of one of their militia units. Under his direction, OTP militia were able to locate Oliver's hiding place in Dubalah, prevent him falling into the hands of either Free Dubalah forces or Shadowspear themselves, and return him to the OTP militia headquarters. All that remains is to extract him, play on his sympathies to join RIDICL, and cash the checks.

Portugal is a Spectre Miniatures figure, MENA Militia Squad Leader Alpha, at 3.50 pounds, plus shipping. He was the first Spectre Operations figure I bought, as a bit of a Christmas present when I bought the rules.

So, five points for a 25/28mm figure, and 30 for capturing/infiltrating Roundwood's Tower, or 35 total!

Next stop, proceeding rapidly and maintaining social distancing, Piper's PEak!

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It's great to have you back so you can make this last evening blitz of Challenge Island, Robert!

I really enjoy Spectre Operations and am totally addicted to their miniatures so I know where you're coming from. I quite like the sound of your ongoing campaign and will be checking out the links when the dust settles. 'Portugal' is a great looking mini. In particular, you did a great job on his face and eyes - he looks the part of a hardened operator.

Now, let's see what else you have for us.

-Curt

From TeemuL: Lost in Time (and Space) in Roundwood's Tower (55 points)

"Thank you Lady Sarah for the ride!"

"Winter is NOT coming! Winter is going!"

"We need to find the Snowlord before the winter is gone."

"Not having a decent map and getting lost doesn't help. While looking around, we might be lost in time as well..."

"What is this place? Monkey Island? Planet of the Apes?"

"Now! Up that hill and on the double!"

This might not be exactly what was requested for this map lot, but on the other hand it is spot on. The entry is about messing the history, or history of fictional future, which was basically 1960s, so it is history...

These are Simian Minions from Crooked Dice and although they are not licensed, it is not hard to guess what they are supposed to be. I bought these some time ago and now I found a reason to paint them.

I added Hugo Solomon from Crooked Dice as well, should be enough messing with history now, if it was not before. :) I tried to paint him in the 1960s style, at least he is colorful. After these, I have no unpainted Crooked Dice miniatures left. They seem to have moved from Sales approach to Kickstarter approach, and I'm not much into that. Anyway, they have mounted Simians as well, so I guess I need to do some shopping.

This is my fifth location on the island, so now I'm going to the Peak. Wish me luck, I have my lucky squirrel with me...

Twisting of history at Roundwood's Tower

Points wise, 5 metal 28 miniatures for 25 points and 30 points for location is 55 points. That should get me above my 500 point target, which is quite modest (even for me), but I have been quite busy with renovation of our home and my son's football practices etc. Total of 3 miniature games this year and it is March, so I have been really busy with other stuff!




*checks pocket* "Hmm, no, my time travel device is still here. I haven't a clue where they got hold of one from."

Nice Simians and adventurer Teemu! Good luck with your ascent of Snowlord's Peak!

TamsinP

From martinC: The AAA Girls (Roundwoods Tower) (80pts)

The Archaeans looked on from afar and Martin moved off  down the Snowlords Peak following the path to Roundwoods Tower.
I have a very large imagination force for a Very British Civil War. For those that don't know what it is, where have you been and what hobby do you do. Basically it is the Spanish Civil War in 1930's disUnited Kingdom. There are dozens of factions, all poorly armed and comprised of, in my case, monks, cricket teams, football teams and the Women's institute (my most terrifying unit).
In this alternative universe Lord Percy is trying to reform the Kingdom of Northumbria and is fighting against various communist and socialist factions.
Into this world I present The Byker Air Defence unit.

This female only unit and ready to protect Newcastle for all forms of air attack

with their 40mm Bofors gun

All the best AAA needs an emplacement. This was a prize from a previous challenge that I painted ages ago. it now has a proper use

But it's a tight fit

The figures are from Bad Squiddo and it's a lovely resin model but very expensive

Byker girls are famous with the Southern tabloid press for these types of images

So that is 6 crew and 1 28mm gun = 50pts plus 30pts for roundwoods tower

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By Paul:
Thats a cracking addition to your table! While your immediate intention is VBCW, I am reminded about how many ladies stood too in emplacements such as that, night after night, around the world to help defend their homes.  To them I say thank you - a great tribute Martin

Roundwood's Tower From PeteF: Ghar Tectorists in Trailblazers' Red White & Black (50 Points)

This is the twelfth location I have visited on Challenge Island and it seemed like a good reason to take on one of the projects that needs to be finished: a Ghar Army for Beyond The Gates of Antares.

The original army was the result of an unfortunate butt dial that caused an EBay purchase of the Ghar Starter Army for Beyond the Gates of Antares. Later I found yet more Ghar (and the rules) at a very tempting price so I added to the sci-fi section of the shelf of shame with no real plan as to how and when they'd be assembled and painted.

Thanks to Challenge VIII I got started on the Ghar and in Challenge IX I picked the Trailblazers color scheme as my submission for the Sport theme.  I've done a few more of the Battle suits in the interim but had yet to complete any of the infantry Ghar Outcast support models. The color scheme is my alternative view on the Antares universe - my mother in law is a Portland Trailblazers season ticket holder and I get to a few games each season.

The Tectorists are scouts whose proximity makes attacks on enemy units more effective. In the Antares Universe the outcasts are poorly armoured and weak types used mainly as laser cannon fodder.

These proved quite tricky to paint - black primer was probably not a good idea with so much white in the color scheme. Notes to self: grey primer, thinner paints. I also made the mistake of removing them from their integral bases after painting them... and it took a while to figure out the best way to do it. We live and learn. The final result will do for wargaming and I'm looking forward to seeing the whole Red, White & Black army out on the table.

4x28mm infantry and a new area explored for a total of 50 points.

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Nice work here Pete! I particularly enjoy the idea of the accidental-butt-dial purchase leading to this collection, and the tie-in colour-wise to various sports franchises.  On top of it all, the miniatures and paint work looks great too! Well done. 

I look forward to using this excuse to start a new collection...

That will be 50 points for you sir! 

GregB

From Barks: Napoleon back from the dead (35 points)

"My Lord Wellington! The devil is back from St Helena!"

"What? Who? Old Boney? But he's dead, man!"

Waterloo wasn't the end, as Napoleon Bonaparte raises his dead soldiers and aims to conquer Europe again.

I don't think Lord Sidney knew what he was getting into with his alternative history location. This figure is Napoleon Blownapart from Eureka Miniatures. I do think he could have had his hand in his innards.

1x 28mm figure 5
Roundwood's Tower 30

Skull-o-meter™: 1
Cumulative Skullz: 13

By Paul:
What a fantastic model - Boney old Boney ! Looks alike a roundshot from a 12 pounder went right into his guts too. Nasty...  Thats a pretty weak reading on the Skull-o-meter, but I'll allow it :-)

35 points Sir! 

From ByronM - A visit to Roundwood's Tower (44 points)

Well, it has been a little while since my last post and that is for a few reason, one of which being that I had no clue where to go next on the map, or what to do for it.  After some thought I decided to climb down from the peaks along the path of imagination and visit Roundwood's Tower.

To score points for the map space I had to do something alternate history based, and I had just the model for it that I have been wanted to paint up, a female Roman centurion.  This is a big model measuring in at just about 45mm tall and is pretty beefy as well.  It is supposedly 35mm scale (heroic scale) but is larger than that, and will fit in nicely with either my Arena Rex figures or as a Kingdom Death hero in a pinch.

 

The thought here was, what if women were allowed to fight in the Legions?  I for one would not want to face off against her, as she looks suitably intimidating!

I painted her up in much the same manor as I painted my Greeks, using vallejo steel and bronze washed with earthshade for her armour, and deep reds washed with dark browns for her red fabric.

Overall I am super happy with how she came out, even though I have to go back and redo her face once I get to picking up new glasses (getting older sucks and my focus is changing and I need new prescription reader / painting glasses so that I can paint fine details again).  She still looks ok, but it is very annoying when your eyes won't focus like they used to!

Oh, and did I mention, this is a 3d printed figure? I picked up a whole set of great files by a very talented sculpter "Francesca Musumeci" from a kickstarter she ran earlier this year (Amazons) which despite the name came with a ton of other themed figures as well, amazing value for the money.

Also in this post is another monster from Kingdom Death, that has sat too long with only primer on him.  I was just never sure what to do with him colour-wise.  He is the Hand of the King and is a royal pain in the @$$ in game.

The fight against him is essentially trying to prove your worth to him by hurting him enough that you earn his respect and he leaves you alone, or surviving long enough that he gets bored with you.  In typical Kingdom Death style, neither outcome is good for the settlement, although one is less bad than the other.

My biggest issue trying to come up with colours for him was that he has an open brain at the top of his skull and therefore I could not do a red cloak, and a royal purple one didn't work either. So he sat...

Then recently I saw a picture where someone did his cloak yellow and it just looked right, so it was time to paint him up.

With these two 40mm+ figures I should rack up 14 points plus the 30 points for the visit the Roundwood's Tower.

***

Fine brushwork once again Byron. It's always great to see new and cool miniatures arrive from your 3D printer. The female centurion looks great - in particular the Vallejo colours seem perfect for armour plates, very nice work. Whatever state your glasses are in, rest assured the output is still impressive.

And yet another unsettling Kingdom Death creature...though perhaps not so unsettling as the last one...at any rate, it's good to see there is one fellow in the setting with an open mind *cough*. 

44 points for you, keep up the great work!

GregB

AdamC: Roundwood Tower the Turtle Service (31 Points)

So this location is based on alternative views of history I was trying to come up with something and since I've been doing a lot of reading about the Early American Navy the Story of the Turtle came my mind. 

The Turtle invented by David Bushnell was the the great grandparent of all submarines.  You probably won't be surprised to hear that it was a failure:

At 11:00pm on September 6, 1776, Sgt. Lee piloted the submersible toward Admiral Richard Howe's flagship, Eagle, then moored off Governors Island.

On that night, Lee maneuvered the small craft out to the anchorage. It took two hours to reach his destination, as it was hard work manipulating the hand-operated controls and foot pedals to propel the submersible into position. Adding to his difficulties was a fairly strong current and the darkness creeping overhead, which made visibility difficult.

The plan failed. Lee began his mission with only twenty minutes of air, not to mention the complications of operating the craft. The darkness, the speed of the currents, and the added complexities all combined to thwart Lee's plan. Once surfaced, Lee lit the fuse on the explosive and tried multiple times to stab the device into the underside of the ship. Unfortunately, after several attempts Lee was not able to pierce Eagle's hull and abandoned the operation as the timer on the explosive was due to go off and he feared getting caught at dawn.

Replica of the Turtle

At least one historian claims the above was an invention of American propaganda to frighten the British fleet. I choose to believe the attack was attempted though it certainly failed... Now imagine if Lee had managed to attach his bomb. The Royal navy would have lost the Eagle (damaged or sunk) a great propaganda victory. Probably not enough to change the course of the war but enough to create a legacy of American grit and ingenuity and give any enemy captain within hail of the American shore ulcers.

Years latter when Thomas Jefferson was looking for a defencive naval force (he considered a deep water navy to be expensive and dangerous) he established the US Navy Turtle Service to supplement the gunboat service as a coastal defence force.

The Men of the Turtle Service using an updated version each with a two men crew a pilot and a coxswain (the original Turtle had a one man crew) of the original ship are ready to carry out attacks on any dare to violate the shores of the United states.  They are armed with a torpedo activated by a timer fuse  that they endeavour to attach to enemy ships before making good their escape.  Death in training accidents are common and the members of the corps are viewed as somewhat unstable by their fellow in the conventional navy.

My Turtle is made form a 25mm scale buckler shield as the part of the ship that floated above the water and its barrel torpedo made from a piece of sprue.

Points I'll claim 1 point for the Turtle and then 30 for the map point I hope you like this silly little project.


That is a very smart use of a buckler shield and a great bit of history.

Martin