From JezT: 25 mm Footsore Dark Age Archers and Crusader (25 points)

Hi all 

Jez here and great to be participating again in this years challenge and part of the Thursday crew!

I remember my first ever post to the Challenge a few years ago now was some Goth archers and this first post for this year is again some archers. These are part of the Footsore Welsh range and are very dynamic, I already had some javelin men and wanted to match in the archers. I will use them in several generic Dark Age armies for my preferred Basic Impetus army games using sabot basing. This gives me the option to also use them in skirmish games.

I haven't painted much since the last Challenge so this was a nice group to get back into the flow with. 

Next I also completed another Footsore medieval Bishop Knight character that I painted up as a Teutonic Crusader. This was an odd figure left over from a past project but especially wanted to finish so I have a mounted and unmounted combination.

The mounted figure is from Gripping Beast and aimed to copy uniform

So in all just 5 foot figures to start - 25 points. 

All the best Jez

From TeemuL: Feeling a bit nostalgic, Jez? :) And why not, Challenge is a great way to look back, do some retrospective work and find inspiration for painting and modelling. I have always liked your colour choices, and here again they are very natural and fitting. Let's see what you shall paint next.

From StuartL - A Smattering of Side Duels - Lady Sarah's Limousine - 182 Points

It seems that I have some catching up to do in my various side duels, so hopefully this post will help me catch up after taking an involuntary week off.

First of all, I have some additions for the Turnip28 side duel.

These two models are 'Toadies', the somewhat talentless junior officers in my growing Turnip28 army.  To signify their lofty rank, the duo are sporting the largest headgear they could find. There will be no mistaking them for the rank and file. The two figures are converted from Perrys WotR minis with a few extra growths added. The toady in red has a head from a British Napoleonic Hussar and arms from some Victrix British Infantry. The other model is all from the Perrys WotR kit. To make the growths, I driller a couple of holes in his back and inserted two short bits of wire. I then covered the wire with Vallejo Plastic Putty, adding a small amount to the shoulder of the other toady too.

Every good commander knows that artillery is the king of the battlefield and that is true in Turnip28 too. (I guess). So, I converted what is known as a Stump Gun.

The gun and most of it's carriage comes from a ship's cannon by Firelock games. The wheels and the ammo box were some spares I had in my bits box from some previous project or other. Finally, the crewman is more Victrix parts with some wire and putty growths on his back.

For scoring for the Turnip Side Duel, I have 25 Turnip Points. 

I have previously scored a Squirrel point for Turnip28, so these models don't add anything to that duel.

I am also entered into the Skullz Duel, so time to add some noggins to my tally. 

These terrain pieces are all from Reaper's Bones line. The two columns above stand about 7cm tall and feature small panels at the base packed with skulls and then a ring of skulls up near the top.

There are about 19 skulls on average in each of the inset panels. All of the terrain pieces here were painted in black and then given lighter and lighter drybrushes of grey. I added some brown wash to add some variety. In the case of one of the pillars below, I added some rose bushes to brighten it up a bit.

Of these pieces, the small, square piece in the centre has a skull on each of its 4 sides, while the central pillar has 2 skulls on each of its 3 sides.

So, in total this should add 178 skullz to my tally. Not bad for a days work. Points wise, these are nowhere near being even a small percentage of a challenge terrain cube, so I leave it up to my minion to score them. For scale purposes, the statue holding the shield is the same size as a 28mm figure, plus the plinth.

And that should bring me on to the Squirrel Duel. 

First, a squad of 5 WW2 Japanese infantry from Warlord Games. These will be added to my Bolt Action army for the battles of Imphal and Kohima.

Next we have a brood of 5 Genestealers for Warhammer 40,000. There are rumours that Tyranids will be getting new models in the starter box of the next edition of 40K, so I wanted to get some of my older Nid models done.

Some battle-worn Tau, also for Warhammer 40,000. I quite like the Tau minis, but find their usual bright colours to not really fit the grimdark aesthetic very well. So, I have opted for simple colours and lots of weathering on the armour.

And finally 5 Teutonic crossbowmen for Saga. These models are all from Fireforge Games. They are quite simple figures to build and paint. I still have loads more to do before I have enough for a game though.

So there we have 4 more Squirrels for my scoresheet.

And finally, I need to pay up for another trip in Lady Sarah's Limousine. I intend to head over to the Casting Couch for next week's entry, so I have another model from VOID, this time one of the lovely ladies from the VASA range.

Just noticed that line of paint on her shoulder. I'll have to paint over that.

And that brings me to the end of the post, so it is time to tally up the scores.

24x 28mm minis @5 points = 120 Points

1x 28mm artillery piece @10 points = 10 Points

6 decorative columns = ???? (Help me, oh great and all knowing Minion)

1x Limo ride @20 points = 20 Points

TOTAL = 150 Points + ????

My side duels:

Squirrels - 15

Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Dwarves, Fire Giants, WW2 Polish, Daemons, Viridians, Vasa, Junkers, Turnips, Necrons, Tau, Genestealers, WW2 Japanese, Teutonics

Skullz - 186

Turnips - 85 Points

See you all next week.

That is an extremely eclectic output and the genestealers are fantastic. Still don't understand the turnip thingy but more great scratch building. the columns will score as 28mm figures

From StuartL - The Start of a Teutonic Saga - 45 Points

 Hello again. Having cleared Level 2 of the Chambers of Challenge in my last post, I venture down to the darkness of Level 3. The air seems to grow colder as I get closer to the Alter of the Snowlord, so I need some allies who are familiar with battling in freezing conditions.

The Knights' Solar is the first chamber on level 3, so I have painted up some Teutonic Knights from Fireforge Games. These dauntless fellows will eventually get used for games of Saga, once I get round to painting the rest of the force and some opponents for them. Perhaps in next year's challenge. 

This figure will be my Warlord for Saga, hence the slightly larger base. Historically speaking, I don't think the wings on the helmet are at all accurate, but then again, Saga is only barely an historical game. On top of that, my local gaming group knows next to nothing about real history and will expect to see these odd shaped helmets if I put on a game.

Four brothers of the Teutonic Order will be making up part of the hearthguard for my Saga force. In Saga, hearthguard are the elite troops in a warband, capable of dishing out a load of damage in combat.

And a shot of them all together. The white cloth is actually a very pale grey, only the shields have plain white on them. The black crosses on the shields were drawn on with a marker pen. (The crosses on the robes were painted on though).

5x 28mm figures earns me 25 points, plus the 20 for the chamber, adding another 45 to my total. These also represent another Squirrel for that side duel.

My running Duels totals:

GW Points - 287

Skullz - 143

Squirrels - 7

From Jez Todd - Teutonic 28mm Reinforcements (130 points)

Dear All

My first post to the Tuesday group and delighted to be participating again for the second year. To be honest not done much painting since the last challenge and a steady start but great to post up one complete mini challenge as a first post.

These are reinforcements for 28 mm Teutonic Knights based for use with Impetus rules. My original figures were all cavalry for an army size of around 300 points, based on the famous battle of Lake Peipus against the medieval Russians of Alexander Nevsky. These extras allow more options and also can be fielded for the new Basic Impetus rules armies. Typically here there are 9 to 10 fixed units per army based on a set list. I had to get a few extra units to fit this set list.

All the figures for this army are Gripping Beast. I really like the figures and range.

First up are some Foot Peasants - not going to be a battle winner and did not want to spend too much money so just bought a basic pack and added in a commander sergeant.

There are two new crossbow units.

Next are solid Teutonic Knight sergeants armed with long spear. Again just bought a basic pack of four as had a couple base camp figures already that I planned to add in.  It is a solid unit of Heavy Foot so did not want to be too skimpy with figures. You an see the 4 counting for the challenge. The T on the shield design signifies order "sergeants" as opposed to full Knights who could display a full cross - well that is according to the Osprey books ..........

Also a unit of medium Livonian cavalry. Here had a pack of four figures and as I have the same figures for light cavalry decided to use all four on a base of medium cavalry. The final shot shows a Basic Impetus Teutonic Knights army with the new units joining others. Looking forward to trying this out shortly.

Altogether that is 5 cav and 16 foot so should be 130 points. That should complete my Teutonic Knights as am Ok for Basic Impetus and up to a 450 points full Impetus army, especially if I start using available options such as charismatic generals and such.

All the best Jez

Hoi there Jez, great to see your first Tuesday entry! Those Teutonic knights do look like they mean business. I really like how you've put quite a lot of character in the different bases/ vignettes. Specially the one featuring the serfs is really nice. The snowy basing looks awesome and is of course totally appropriate for the Lake Peipus battle. It is a great looking force so thanks heaps for sharing! 130 points will be added to your total this evening along with the regular update of the summary.