MikeF - Some Big Guns! - 45 points

This will be my last post for the challenge. I managed to complete two more vehicles for my Imperial Guard army. Both of these kits are from the new Solar Auxilia line and consist of a Medusa and Malcador battle tank. The Medusa for the Solar Auxilia, is a large siege tank built on the Leman Russ chassis. For imperial guard, it was built on a Chimera, which could be given an armoured crew compartment. I think the new kit represents that pretty well.

The Malcador is a great kit when compared to the old forge world one (I own two). It comes with a few weapon options, but I wanted a tank killer, so I went with the Vanquisher. This vehicle is actually for my 30k Imperial Militia force which I collect parallel to my guard. I’ve added a few eye of Horus insignia on it to signify that it is loyal to Horus and therefore part of the traitor faction. Greg would say they’ve merely seen the light and want to help make the imperium great again. They certainly won’t be used as cannon fodder! 

I was looking back through my previous post and discovered that I shorted myself five points early in the challenge. I completed a set of 11 droid warriors for my Exploit Zero project, but I listed it as only 50 points when it should’ve been 55 points. I’ve included the photo of one of the models that I completed and included additional five points to this post. 

I managed to move past my goal for this year‘s challenge and completed an entire project. Hopefully I maintain this momentum until next year‘s challenge!

2 x 28mm vehicles and 1 28mm figure for 45 points.

Thanks for visiting!

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Cracking additions to your force Mike - thats quite the armoured column you've build yourself over the challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing them all together. 

Again your splashes of colour and lovely blue lens effects really break all that Soviet-esque green and bring them to life. Good stuff!

- Paul 

From JOHN B: ABYSS VIOLENCE: Oi their ours! (75pts)

Some more progress this week sees the culmination of AHPC14 (the idea of spaceships was born and the parts gathered in time to miss the 2023/24 painting window!!!) and AHPC15 actual homebuilds and more miscreants - of the small peoples this time round. It goes something like this...........the Surf Raiders scooted along the beach.

Suddenly they spotted some objects in the sands - LOOT!

Having landed Unbeknownst to them as they scoured the site for said LOOT they were not alone.

The Customs Militia Patrol Unit 404 (geddit!) skimmed the beach hunting for the miscreants better known as Surf Raiders. Finally they catch them.......

Caught red handed.

The Surf Raiders have no idea.........

Then out of the blue (actually - weird sunset) A Deep Mountain Bounty Unit appears - "Oi their ours" declare the DBM Unit.

There is a mutual stand off untill the Customs team agree to take the Bounty guys and the Surf Raiders to the local "Pen" for processing.

The Surf Raiders safely locked up in 404 the enforcement officials and bounty hunters pose for a "success shot".

It appears the Surf Raiders (from AHPC14) had not paid their dues on some dodgey acquisitions whilst having a price on their heads for various thefts. So ends the AHPC15 space adventures. Thats it for SciFi this year Folks! Over to the details. The Space vessel was conceived back during AHPC14! while this years figures have been acquired from magazine covers. One big blue space vehicle - a "Divoc" class unit for patrolling the extensive shorelines of Eraweb - an earthly planet orbiting the giant K2-18b (see the backdrop + see my previous spaceship post).

Needless to say, like the red vessel previously featured, this one started life as a milk bottle until covid spares and some transparent chocolate packaging joined up. Undercarriage are ubiquitous wooden clothes pegs. Lots of Blue Craft quality acrylics in various shades plus window wash of Citadel Nazdreg Contrast Colour.

The Customs Militia are a freebie of hobbits from Miniature Wargames while I think the Dwarves were free with Wargames Illustrated. I opted for bright clothing on the hobbits and used a mix of traditional and contrast painting. I had a bad moment with my current waterbased matt varnish. But then discovered Warhammer stock brush on water based varnish. So they got a coat of that. Still not happy though. I left the dwarves unvarnished and will need to investigate my varnish options again. With the Dwarves painting wise it was a wash of one of my many brown contrasts but diluted over a vallejo yellow ochre, then various odd mixes of which the pinky version I quite like but have no idea how I created it - hilarious. Basing are 1p UK coins with a 20 year batch of GW desert stones dressing. One last shot of the two freebie sets and the homebuilt space patrol vessel!

So although they are all squat they are technically 28mm scale.  Points tally is therefore:

Customs Divoc Class ship = 20pts 

Customs Militia = 4 x 5pts = 20pts 

Deep Mountain Bounty Hunters = 3 x 5pts = 15pts 

Lots of potential violence here - one careless trigger and its a three way blast! ABYSS Violence = 20pts Grand Total = 20+20+15+20pts = 75pts.  

 And still no steamy angles...... sorry Martijn.

I think we can forgive you the lack of steam power, John. These vessels are once again fabulous! I love your creativity in creating great models from "waste". It's been great to see your contributions throughout the Challenge, and I'll give you some scratch-building bonus points to bring you up to 80 points for this post. I hope we will perhaps see even more in the final week!

Martijn

From SylvainR: 28mm "Tao" Bikes for Grim Dark (50 points)

 

 

The D&D cleric went through some sort of warp gate and ended up in a grim dark world, far in the future, where there is only war... The truth is that I ran out of prepared and primed D&D figurines to work on and it's still too cold outside to spray primer. But I found in my "to do" boxes these nice "Tao" bikes lying around that JeremyM gifted me some time ago and I thought it was time to finish them.

These 3D printed minis are from cults3d and I don't recall there was ever an "official" speed bike model for the faction of the "Greater Good". So these are not canon but their look contributes to the "greater cool" (1.5 on the DJS (Dad Joke Scale)).

I can't wait for JeremyM to organize another Grim Dark game in his garage. I will send these bikes zipping around the battlefield and watch them die too soon in a fiery ball of fire traveling way above the speed limit...

I used the same color pattern that I adopted for my Tau army 9 years ago. I thought that the Citadel "Liche Purple" I used back then was supposed to be the exact same color, but somehow the purple on these newly painted models turned out a lot darker. A different batch? The effect of time? Anyway, they look similar enough and they will all be firing at a same enemies.

There are two patterns of speed bikes. The one below looks more in line with the design of models currently offered by GW(tm). However, I prefer the pattern above with a big gun at the front and the head of the rider barely showing above the "hood". It says: "speed"  all over the design.

Points claimed:

5 x 28mm "mounted" figurines at 10 points each = 50 points

Total = 50 points

Thanks for reading!

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Brilliant stuff Sylvain. I hear you on GW's paints...I have experienced on a number of occasions how the same paint looks different when coming out of different bottles. I have often wished I could kick the GW paints to the curb for many reasons, but the fact remains they are the simplest and easiest to access in terms of supply...and my OCD compels me to consistency, even though some @sshole accountant at GW will surely tell them to slightly alter any paint formula if it can save five cents...

I have had occasion to try "Grim Dark" and it is indeed great(er good) fun! I am sure these fellows will zoom into some manner of entertaining oblivion on the table for you! Good hunting!

GregB 

From MikeF - Imperial Guard Vehicles (40 Points)

Moving on for my cyberpunk project, I completed two vehicles for my imperial guard army. This army is a constant work in progress and over the years I’ve continued to add new units and models to it. The new additions for this challenge include a Hellhound tank and a Chimera transport. The Hellhound is actually a resin model from Models and Minis which specialized in 40k equivalent, resin vehicles. Unfortunately, the company appears to no longer be in business. They had some very nice models, and I was fortunate enough to pick up a few of them when they were still trading. I magnetized the three different weapon options for the Hellhound which include the classic flame tank, the chemical tank and the melta version of the vehicle. The Chimera is the standard 40K kit. Both vehicles are painted in the classic Russian olive green colour scheme. It’s simple, looks good and is easily replicable for new units being added years later.

2 x 28mm vehicles for 20 points each for 40 points.

Thanks for visiting!

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Always good additions to any Guard army Mike! The double-Flammenwerfer looks particularly nasty but I'm sure in true GW fashion it manages to explode fiery death onto your own troops almost as often as the enemy! :-) All the extra details and colours you've added really help break up all that green well. Nice!

- Paul

From MikeF - Project Complete - 18 Points

 I finished the last two agents for exploit zero. They consist of the ranged agent known as a ronin and the close combat agent known as the razor. The razor is a 3-D print while the ronin is from Seb-games. The ronin has extensive cybernetics attached including a mini gun for an arm and massive ammo drum attached to his back. I painted his skin blue to give the impression he’s been bio- engineered as well. Not sure what his backstory is, but it can’t be a happy one! 

The razor also has significant cybernetics which include his arm, some sort of spinal attachment and possibly his head, though I suppose it could just be a helmet. These two complete the agent group for the game.

The last items I have for my cyberpunk project are 2 sentry guns from Northstar. They serve as an additional obstacle for the agents, but a skilled hacker could possibly enlist them to their cause.

That’s it for Exploit Zero! It’s always nice to complete these small projects in between the large army projects I have going on.

For the rest of the challenge I’ll be trying to complete a bunch of vehicles for my Imperial Guard and 30k Militia. They’ll likely take me to the end of the challenge, so I’ll probably only make one more post before the challenge ends.

Two 28mm models for 10 points. I scored the sentry guns at 4 points each as they’re a bit smaller than a full 28mm figure. 18 points total.

Thanks for visiting!

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Its always very rewarding to complete a project isn't it! And these are some great characters to wrap it up too. No self respecting SF skirmish game is complete without some kind of street ninja! And the sentry guns are great too (WHY were they cut from the cinema release of ALIENS? Criminal!)

- Paul

From JamesM: Necromunda assortment (79 points)

Hey folks,

Some more models for my Necromunda collection, taken from my painting shelf, where they've been 'resting' for over a year. 

First up, a small group of Goliath gangers. The two larger ones are Goliath Stimmers, gang champions, while the more diminutive guy is a Forgeborn - the Goliath version of a 'prospect' - almost like a juve champion.

Histerically, I hadn't written down how I'd painted the rest of this gang. Thankfully I used Vallejo Xpress paints, so the options were limited. 

So far in our ongoing campaign, the Goliaths have done well. They have above-average strength and toughness and decent armour. Some of these chaps will be added to my gang once they've enough credits to buy them. 

Next up, some Hive Scum and Bounty Hunters. The chap in yellow is a 3d print proxy, the beastman is a Forgeworld model and the other two are plastic hive scum models. 

I'm sure the guy in yellow and black armour has nothing to do with the fact that the Imperial Fist Space Marine chapter has a fortress on the planet, and recruits from the underhive...

Next, a random model. A conversion I made from an Age of Sigmar figure that came free with a magazine (because #everymodelisanecromundamodel). I've painted her as an Imperial official - maybe she's an Enforcer Judge or Sister of Battle. Or maybe just a senior bodyguard from some Sisters of Battle order. 

She still has some gloss, as I'm awaiting appropriate 40k decals (which may or may not include Ordo Hereticus markings). 

Lastly, a small herd (coven?) of cultists:

Useful for a whole range of scenarios. 

13 x 28mm models = 65pts

2 x 40mm models (for the big Goliaths) = 14pts

Total = 79pts

TeemuL: Nice to see your well rested models so well painted, James! A nice and varied entry, but still everything is for Necromunda. I was wondering, if you can finish this entry in time and if I wake up early enough to post this in Canadian Thursday, but it all sorted out! Good work, and don't worry too much about the paint recipes, it is unlikely that Necromunda gangs would be uniformally dressed anyway?

From MikeF - Shiver, Splicer, Cyborg Exo-Suit - 20 Points

 I completed three more models for exploit zero. These include a psychic character called a ‘shiver’, a hacker character called a ‘splicer’, and a character in a cyborg war suit. The shiver is from Northstar Military Figures Stargrave range. The splicer is a 3-D print and is wearing a special bodysuit covered in wires, allowing him to hack into computer systems and control a variety of drones. The cyborg exo-suit doesn’t contain much biological material anymore, other than the head, and everything else has been replaced with a heavy war suit armed with a large machine gun and a power saw. It seems odd that the figures head is sticking out from the torso without a helmet, but I’m fairly certain the brain is nowhere inside that skull and is merely there to allow for a more “human” interface. The brain is likely contained in the armoured cylinder on the back of the model. This figure is from Seb games in their Void line of miniatures.

A Shiver demonstrating intense concentration 

Splicer 3d print

What does it really mean to be “human”?

3 x 28mm figures for 20 points.

Thanks for visiting!

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Great additions! But I wonder if Shiver is really doing a psyker thing, or just trying to remember where he left his car keys (that pose looks rather familiar to me...)

I've counted the chunky Exo-Suit as Cavalry for 10 points, the others are 5pts each for a 28mm fig

- Paul