From AdamC - 28mm Napoleonic French Infantry (155 Points)

After doing the Guard D'Argent earlier I decided I would finish up the French I got form John.  I believe  these are all Perry figures. While very nice figures they have reminded me why I don't like 28mm scale for full size units in the Napoleonic period.  Its just too much fiddly detail no one will see on the table but every one will pick up on in the grab a model.  Love this scale for skirmish games and Dark Ages but I find it frustrating to paint for this period. Any way I won't be stumbling on them each time I go into the dead lead box so that feels good.

So I present to you what I intend to be the final two units of Napoleonic French I plan on doing in this scale. Note I had no Porte Drapeua figures so I had to modify two musketeers to carry the Eagles and colors.

I must confess I cheated a bit using army painters Ultramarine Blue primmer to prep the figures.

Thanks to this I only had to deal with picking out the details and the part of the uniform that are not dark blue

 I varied the trouser colors, brown, gray (I was going for untreated linen) and off-white

 I also had two men firing who will join small cloud of skirmish troops.

All in all I have one unit with 15 figures, one unit with 14 figures and 2 skirmishers.  Since I was using up what was left I wound up with some odd numbers in the unit bu all and all that is 31 figures all 28mm so that 155 Points. Not exactly a point bomb but a nice total when combined with the 33 from the 15mm vehicles. 

From Curt:

Excellent work Adam! Interesting call on using a blue spray as a primer. There is still a lot of white on these figures so I'm not sure if would be a real shortcut for me. I'm thinking the blue primer would work really well on French legere infantry or Portugues line which also had blue trousers to match their jackets. Hmm. I'll have to give it a go myself to see. Nonetheless, they look grand and ready to march to the 'Pas de Charge'.

Wow, this has been a very productive week for you as well. Between your two entries today I think you've shot up five positions in the points standings - well done!

From ClintB - 28mm Harpies (25 Points)

Yes I know, full and partial nudity. No, I was not painting in the nod! Well not this time! I do of course refer to the figures and being honest I don't think much of these Foundry sculpts. I am not saying I could do better, I KNOW I could not. But I am saying these do not seem up to their normal standard. Still enough whining and on to the figures.

5 28mm Harpy figures from Foundy's Greek Myth range. When I checked their range I noticed that they make both feathered wings and more bat like wings. I was not aware of that when I got this pack on eBay but I do now. Not that it would stop me I think I would have gotten the bat wings for choice.

Anatomically they are not like most Greek ladies most noticeable in the legs which definitely have a more avian feel to them. The first 3 are all the same species of Harpies. While the last two are somewhat different. I went for blond hair as they are mythical creatures and gives a good contrast to the purple of the wings.

As you can see the last two are different from the other Harpies. One has human legs (but a contorted face as "She" is eating some flesh. While the last one has "her" wings attached to her arms. In all the other sculpts the wings and the arms are separate, yet all are single piece castings.

While these are done well enough for a game they are only done to a wargames standard. But they are now ready for some "7th Voyage" or "Songs of Blades and Heroes" action, which is something I want a go at this year..... Greek myth wargaming.

From Curt:

You know, I actually quite like them Clint. They are perhaps a bit rough and brutal looking but it seems to fit well for the subject matter. The choice of going with blonde/golden hair was a great one. I also like the background you used in your photos Clint - very 'epic'.

...and what was that witty harpie joke you had? Oh, I can't remember... :)

From BrianB - Dagon and Deep Ones (25 points)

These are the rest of the Khurasan Deep Ones to go with the three that I submitted earlier in the Challenge. There were actually nine more as the it was a pack of twelve not the ten that I had convinced myself. I painted them up pretty much the same as the first with some changes in the green to give them some variety.

To go along with them I also painted up a 28mm Reaper Bones Tiik Champion figure to use as a giant monster fish-man or as a stand in for Dagon, the Deep Ones deity in many of the Mythos stories. Part of the reason I decided to use 15mm figures for my Cthulhu/ VSF collection is that it allows me to use 28mm scaled figures as giant monsters. I thought this Reaper figure would look great with them with his armored head and body reminiscent of a Dunkleosteus.

Since most of my giant monsters are influenced by my misspent youth endlessly re-watching Godzilla movies I tend to paint them to match. In this case I kept close to the colors of the rest of the Deep Ones with the addition of some contrast from the armor plates. I also tried to add some watery glistening across parts of their bases with some gloss varnish , although I'm not sure how well it comes across in the photos.

Cthulhu Fhtagn!


From Curt

Oh wow, these are great! I like your approach of using 15mm as a base scale and going with 28mm for the beasties. Trouble is there is sooo much stuff out in 28mm that I don't think I could keep my resolve to a smaller scale - I tip my hat to you!

That Father Dagon is just brilliant. I love the way you've painted him, especially with the purple and yellow accents. I have to pick one of those up for my collection.

Finally, I like how you photographed this entry. The town setting definitely has that 'Innsmouth Look'. :)

Ok, nine 15mm figures is 18 points, and I'll put Father Dagon at 7 points, who looks to be around 40mm, so 25 points total.

Wonderful work!

From AlanD - 28mm Dark Age Seljuk Cavalry (100 Points)

This week I've added some Seljuk ghulams to my growing Saracen force. The figures are from Perry, and they are what you would expect: stunningly detailed little sculptures that are very realistically proportioned, and thus look a little slight compared to some other ranges.

I managed to get these done during breaks from painting the lounge room and ripping up the carpet. I don't remember ever feeling so totally knackered. It has been a good 10 days of solid graft, made possible by loud music and heroic quantities of beer.

The shields are all hand painted, as is the standard. The inscription on the standard is in kufic text, and is copied from the inscription on an Umayyad coin. I tried to make the flag look a bit tattered, but I'm not sure it worked too well. While we are on the topic, I have found coins and Persian carpets to be particularly good sources of text and designs when painting my Saracens. I have tried to make the Arabic inscriptions at least appear plausible, rather than just painting on a squiggle. If you are doing a squiggle, remember that Arabic is written right to left!

That's 9 mounted 28mm figures, giving me a base of 90 points.

From Curt:

Lovely work Alan. Again, you've done a masterful job on their tunics, shields and horse furniture. The flag is particularly brilliant. Great tip on using Persian carpets and coins as inspiration for their shields and banners (and on the right-to-left squiggling...). 

This entry will allow you to just pip past Tamsin again in your points race. Well done.

From DaveD - Sudan - Gordon Highlanders (216 Points)

Monday comes around quickly again, and here we have another of the larger infantry units for the Desert Column. This time the Gordon Highlanders, castings by Perry. I must say these were horrible to clean up, and I have continued finding little bits I missed almost all through painting , this really puts me off buying them. When other manufacturers can do it so well there really is no excuse. Anyway rant over! Having said that at least they redeem themselves as they do paint up nicely..

36 foot... With complicated kilts ! 

I am really going to have to do a red coated battalion for the collection, after all this was the campaign that the famous red tunic made its last appearance at the battle of Giniss. 

The bit I really miss with the Sudan imperial forces is a large flag!  Well maybe one unit might have snuck their standard on campaign in my little world. Red coated "Devils in Skirts" and a big flag flapping in the breeze what's not to like I ask you. 

Just the one more infantry unit left out of the original target OOB to do. The Yorks and Lancs..they will be along shortly.

From Curt:

Ahh, these do look magnificent Dave! I love the Perry sculpts but I too am somewhat mystified as to why they have such messy castings. You would think that they would have access to the best facilities available. Hmm. Anyway, you've done a cracking job on these jocks. It is too bad about them not having banners - they're just crying out for some bravely flapping flags (I think it was the South Stafforshires that were the last regiment to carry its colours in this theatre? But I might be wrong on that). I'm adding some extra points for the tartans as I know they can be a real headache, especially in large units like this. 

Wonderful stuff Dave!

From BurkhardS: 28mm Warzone Resurrection Imperial Trenchers (125 Points)

It is quite embarrassing... we are over a month into the Challenge and this is my first entry. Part of it is to blame on the fact that we were gone over the holidays, but still I am a bit behind on my schedule. So to catch up... here are the minis I painted since our return about two weeks ago.

These are some Imperial Trenchers for Warzone Resurrection. Some of you may remember some of my entries for last year, which included some Bauhaus  for Warzone. Now I played Warzone back in the 1990´s and one thing that drew me to the game was the strong historical inspiration on some of the minis, most of all Bauhaus and Imperial. Lots of the units with these two factions took their inspiration from World War One Germans and British respectively. And this always made the two my favorites, so I played them in every Edition so far, First, Second and now Resurrection.

Now before I start, showing the minis in detail, I want to go into some info on why I painted them up this way. As most people will recognize, in this edition, these minis still retain their WWI British looks, so I wanted to follow that with my colour choices. British Uniform Brown for the uniforms, lots of tans for the gas masks and puttees and leather webbing. With their Trenchcoats I went for a darker green than would find on historical Brits, simply to enhance the contrast. Same goes for their shoulder pads (yes those are the Trademark in every edition of Warzone ;-)). At first I had gone for the same green as with the helmets and kneepads, but that simply provided too little contrast. So after a try with brown (same result) I went for ochre and that turned out really fine. Especially once the varnish was on these minis, when the colors really popped! The bases were given a trench theme on some of the minis and a mud theme on the rest to give them a trench warfare feel.

What I really underestimated with these minis was the effort, that went into painting all the little details, like the skull shapes on the gas masks, the national insignia or the wrist computer, but I did not want to skip them, so they had to be painted on.

As some with a keen eyes might spot there are small numeral number 42´s on their right shoulder pads. Those are homemade decals. I simply could not resist painting the Black Watch (42nd Highland Infantry) in yet another period.

But now on to the minis. Up first if Brigadier Sir Paul David Rist. In Warzone, your troops need to be led into the fight by a Warlord and he is one of the possible choices. And I really like him. Above par wounds, the ability to guide in Paras and call artillery, an awesome SMG (it keeps generating new shots as long as you do not miss) and the option to have him accompanied by the coolest bodyguards in the game.

Able to fill the same function as Warlords are two Trencher Officers. Now I personally do not like them, since they are too week and lack in offensive power, but my two Starter Boxes contained one each of them, so they had to be painted. ;-)

And to round the group of leaders off. SGT. Benjamin Taylor. He is a bit of a trackhead and gives a force enhancements for their vehicles and the option to repair them. Unfortunately he is a not on the expensive side (pints wise, he cost nearly as much as a cheap Warlord), so right now I do not see myself fielding him, but maybe his price tag will come done with the final Imperial book. A small change with his base here. I added some cogwheels and a road wheel from a blown-up tank buried in the mud on his base to signify his abilities with repairing mechanical objects. 

Oh and as a funny side note... the guys at Prodos Games nicknamed the mini Lenin... wonder if anyone can figure out why! :-P

Up next are the rank and file, four five-men squads of Trenchers. Not much to say about these. Only that each squad consists of four riflemen (including the Corporal) and a Heavy Machine Gun. I apologize if they look a bit boring... it is the same five minis four times, but one needs a certain amount of basic troops in the game, and here they are:

So this is it. 24 minis in total, all 32mm from Prodos Games Warzone Resurrection range.

And I am proud to announce, the next entry is almost finished, so I am positive, I will be back next Monday (and of course Sundays theme round) with more! Thanks for looking!

From Curt:

Ah, I was just beginning to wonder about you Burkhard so I'm delighted to see your arrival within the daily roster of the Challenge - welcome back! 

These figures look wonderful and you've done a great job in conveying that alternate historical reality in their colours and basework (the homemade custom decals are brilliant). It's too bad that the figure designers could not have come up with something like a Future Lewis Gun instead of the rotary cannon (which is becoming a bit of a trope now). Is the terrain custom made yourself? Those bunkers and blasted trees look excellent. 

A few extra points for the custom decals and, again, welcome back to the grind Burkhard!

From AdamC - 15mm WWII US Recon Vehicles (33 Points)

 You saw my I&R platoon earlier in the challenge well I got them some rides.

This fellow was a mistake I thought I had picked up an M20(which I need to work with my Tank Destroyers) not an M8 but making the best of the situation I painted it up.

 Now with this model I can run a cavalry Recon unit (one M8 and two jeeps) in addition or instead of the infantry recon.

The Jeep it just says "America in World War II" these little guys are every where in the US order of battle.

So you can never have too many.  Its one of the few model Battlefront builds with a lot of stowage on the model.

I added the German helmet hood ornament.  The man at the machine gun is actually from Forged in Battle and came out of my dead lead box but he fits nicely.

4 Vehicles and 9 passengers should give me 33 Points.

From Curt:

Great work Adam - these are very nice little models (that standing gunner is excellent)! I also like the addition of the German helmet hood ornament, suitably macabre and probably not beyond the pale amongst these high-risk units. 

From ClintB: A few more Zulus (36 Points)

Yes In an effort to get more Zulus done I have decided to try to do some EVERY week. So here is the next batch. they are mostly "Newline Design" figures but there are a few Pendraken as well.

All the same information about the shields etc. is the same as last time so either don't worry about the details or go back and check. No I would not bother either. It is probably just as boring to check back as it is to paint these. Newline Design only seem to come in 3 different posses so It does get repetitive very quickly.

As you can see 2 single bases each with 3 figures and 5 double sized bases with 6 figures. The horde grows slowly and these should put me along with last weeks at about 1/4 of the total I will be attempting. Very simple bases of plasticard and filler topped with sand for texture and some static grass to finish off.

But there you go another 36 points and ready to take to the table top!

From Curt

I know this project is a bit of a grind but the results are very nice Clint. I find it's the wonderful cowhide shields that really add that touch of character to these bases. Remind me again, what is the final number of Zulus you are aiming for?

Great work!

From Curt - 15mm LRDG Raiders and Afrika Korps Targets of Opportunity (63 Points)

Here is another submission from me this weekend. This time it’s a North African LRDG raiding patrol along with some Stukas, supply dumps and fuel depots to serve as appropriate targets.

When I first saw these 15mm models come out from Battlefront a few years ago I knew I needed to get some to do up some sort of airfield raid scenario. 

I don’t know about you but as soon as I look at a Chevy 30 cwt, festooned with its gear, automatic weapons, and packed with bearded maniacs it just screams for sh*t to blow up. 

'Yoo Halloo! Lock and load the Twin-Ks lads, we're going to partaaay!'

So, with that in mind I’ve been picking up assorted ammo dumps fuel depots, etc from Battlefront and Baueda for the raiders to mess with.  (Thanks to Nick for the tips on crate/drum colours.) I hope to make up around a dozen of these as targets for the LRDG raiders.

The fabulous desert mat is from Alf over at Barrage Miniatures. It’s roughly 8x5 feet and will serve admirably for our future North Africa raiding game (and I imagine for any post apoc games). 

Alf's (from Barrage Miniatures) desert mat

The Stukas are 1:100 scale diecast models I picked up cheap-as-couscous on eBay. I’ve dorked around a bit to dirty them up with some sand erosion and exhaust staining but otherwise they are pretty much stock. Again, they exist purely to sit on the airfield and get blown to smithereens. (I'm on the search for a 1:100 scale Ju-52 to serve as another juicy target...)

I’m thinking of either modifying ‘Formula De’ or ‘Chain of Command’ for the core rules (who knows, maybe I’ll mash them together). It will be a quasi-cooperative game where each player will command a single vehicle along with 2-3 LRDG raiders - the winner being the team who amasses the most damage points, while still managing to stay alive and escape.

I need to find some sort of tents or Quonset huts for the aircrews and airfield staff. If anyone has ideas I’m all ears. I’m also working on some Afrika Korps personnel and assorted vehicles and equipment but that will be covered in a later submission.

As for points, we have 24 for the twelve dismounted raiders, 36 for the six LRDG vehicles and I'm going to give myself 3 points for tarting up the Stukas. So that makes 63 points. 

Next up will probably be some more Russian Civil War stuff in an endeavour to crush Phil in our 'civil war' side challenge (no pressure Phil).  ;P