From GillesW - They are back on the field - 15mm Carthaginians (172 points)

Here is my submission for this week. This year I am painting, or I should I say "repainting", the early Carthaginian army I had for the DBM rules, and the new model army for Field of Glory ruleset.

I will explain why and what I do on the figures on my blog to update them.  Here are the commanders:

Here are some  lybio-phoneician hoplites:

The figures are a mix of different ranges from the various 15mm manufacturers noted in the labels below. The Schythian figures are  from Xyston Miniatures, I also have a project for them this year.

This submission is a total of 73 footmen, 5 horsemen, 1 chariot with 3 crew.

Be seeing you;-)

Gilles - bon travail! These are wonderful figures.  I would love to see some more closeups of those hoplites - they definitely look the business! The detail on the horsemen and chariots is also impressive.  I'm a pretty rusty fellow when it comes to ancients, but I expect the Romans would be a little nervous to come up against this lot on the battlefield - well done!  And I'm sure the many Challengers who game ancients will chime in with some more useful feedback that I can offer..

Not only do these looks great, they net you 172 points for the Challenge - great work!

From SamuliS: Zastrow Kürassiere (67 points)

Back from the holidays and some more Saxons, this time in the form of the Zastrow Kürassiere Regiment forming the second unit of heavy cavalry in addition to the Garde du Corps. Again 18mm minis from AB that were really a joy to paint as the details are very brisk and quite easy to pick out. A simple paint job with block painted colours and a black wash followed by a highlight.

Quite a fast project to paint as they were done in just a couple of short evening painting sessions. However they took quite long to finish up as hobby time was quite limited during the holidays as we were visiting quite a few relatives, going out hunting for a few days and watching the Ice Hockey U-20 World Championships that were played in my home town here in Finland. Still I guess it was time well spent as we shot a couple of moose down and Finland ended up winning the world championships after a thriller game against Russia!

Even with the temperature dropping to roughly minus 25 degrees Celsius it didn't stop us Finns from celebrating the victory in traditional way by going for a swim in a fountain in the city center. Though swimming was a bit harder this year around... I guess it goes without saying that we can get a bit crazy over hockey (though I guess we are still pretty far behind Canada in our obsession)

Swimming in the fountain can be a bit tricky in the time of victory

With the temperatures bordering on the classic frozen hell levels it's finally time to get back to painting in earnest. I'm not looking forward to hanging outside more than needed so it's a great excuse to finally put some hours in with the brushes!

Oh wow - this post is a real laugher, and painful all at once! We'll start with the cavalry - they look fabulous, and your brushwork does those marvellous AB castings justice.  As I mentioned in Alex's post earlier today, heavy cavalry is the belle of any tabletop ball, and these fellows look the part.  Great work.  

And on to the hockey - while in Canada we like to assume we are the only ones who are bonkers about it, the passion is in fact shared widely around the world, as you so amply demonstrate in this post.   

Let's see now...Finland knocked out the Canadian juniors, during which you painted some great cavalry figures, then you shot a moose (another facet of our state-endorsed Canadian identity), and then ran around outside in the buff because you beat Russia in a gold medal game (something we in Canada wish we were doing ourselves)...did you happen to burn down a maple syrup factory while you were at it? This would hurt, if that last celebratory photo was not so hilarious. I will rate that a few extra points, although hopefully we are not starting a new Challenge "scoring trend" (ahem)...35 points and great job! And Suomi for the gold!! We'll be out for revenge next year... 

Edit by Minion Tamsin - points adjusted as AB figures are being scored as 20mm 

From Alex S - More 28mm Venetians for Italian Wars (313 points)

All this week on the street was a bit cold (- 25), so I almost did not come out of the house, doing household chores and painting instead. (-25 - sounds warm to me - GB)

So I made one squad of 20 swordsmen. Again, I used a set of brothers Perry but different, and some miniatures archaic look that symbolizes what are mercenaries of the small states, which are not so developed military.

The banner looks like a dirty rag. I can say, "Oh, this is to 'support' the image of the army, carried through a long time on the battlefield!" But to be honest: "I simply did not get it done."

Next detachment - a mercenary knights (10 men). They were the backbone of the army condottieri. Again I used the Perry Miniatures, and used an airbrush to paint the armor. I liked the result. Do you like it?

Next detachment (yes, yes, you know who the authors of these wonderful miniatures) - a unit of mercenary handgunners (20 men). Chances are, if judged by the flag - Swiss. Why not? "No money - no Swiss, but there is money - there is the Swiss".

Next work - colonello, a junior officer in the army condottieri. This miniature is already done, Peter, and I hope that I was able to even be a little bit as well as he.

Finally, you can see I made this week for the Venetian army in a single photo. I did some Napoleonics miniatures, but they are not quite finished, and I hope to introduce them to you next Friday.

Total for today 11 horsemen and 40 infantry miniatures, for 310 points.

Well, a points bomb to start things off today. Great works on these fellows Alex - this period is one I am really interested in, but when I see the work (airbrushing!) that it seems to demand, I get intimidated for sure.  My favourite in this bunch is certainly the heavy cavalry - always impressive, and when gaming I hope to send lads like these straight down the throats of my opponents...of course, they always seem to have pikes, but I digress... 

And the banners look fine as far as I'm concerned - an "experienced" looking banner is a quality banner.  Worth a few extra points to this (now very cold) minion. Great work! Your initial points goal is already in sight...can't wait to see the Napoleonics next week!

Your Friday Minion Will Be Slightly Delayed

A rendition of my plans for today...

Greeting to all Challengers!  I have the honour of serving as your designated minion today and for the Fridays throughout this year's edition of Challenge. I beg your patience while I attempt this work, as there is a spreadsheet involved. I am among the enlightened who recognize such things as witchcraft, and use of them may, in fact, bring on the apocalypse.  My first concern is that I have assured several times it's "easy"...the first dark uttering of any shaman of IT, as far as I'm concerned. So I beg your patience and forgiveness of any initial points errors which, for example, might reduce Millsy's score to "0".

And much as I look forward to my minion tasks, I further regret to inform you there will be a slight delay to some postings today as I am en route back from a lovely holiday in Hawaii. I should be able to finalize several of your posts via the wifi at the 24/7 clown show we in Canada recognize as  "Vancouver Airport", but the rest will be attended to through the afternoon and evening back in my cozy home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

It takes a lot to get me to stop painting...but this will do it - sunset over the Pacific Ocean...aloha!

One note - since my ambient temperature is changing from +27 degrees celsius to -23 degrees celsius, any winter-themed entries submitted today will be docked 100% of eligible points...you have been warned...

Thanks folks!

From Millsy - VBCW Militia and Armour (170 points)

My second entry is a "clearing the decks" type of effort and pretty much finishes every unpainted VBCW miniature in my collection [woot!]. My ongoing Port Sunlight 1938 project is focused around the Lever Brothers Soap Works in the Wirral. Today's entry represents some civilian militia, supporting armour and a few top-ups for the "forces of evil".

First up we have "Hector", a Warlord Games resin/metal kit which I've painted up as an import from the Spanish Civil War. He's deliberately faction-neutral in terms of markings so he can fight for different sides each week.

Fighting alongside Hector we have a mix of Musketeer/Footsore Miniatures VBCW and Artizan Designs pulp figures.

The Infamous Five: Bomber Brown, Capt Arbuthnot, Weird Uncle Cyril,
Mrs Graham's Little Boy Eric and Bomber Tomkins

Mrs Graham's little boy Eric is really too young to go on raids but his mum lets him out as long as he stays well rugged up (even if it is his horrid ugly Christmas jumper). Weird Uncle Cyril goes along to see if he can find more Jerries in the bushes. He hasn't taken that balaclava off since 1918...

My entry in Sarah's Choice this year is Margaret Graham...

Margaret Graham is Manageress of Lever Brothers Dining Room and something of a local hero. Back on 13 November 1919 she extinguished a chip pan that had set light to the clothing of a young staff member. For her efforts she was awarded the first ever Gallant Conduct Award of the British Industrial Safety First Association. She was also awarded the Port Sunlight Order of Conspicuous Merit. This is an absolutely true story - see p52 of Yesterday's Wirral: Port Sunlight a Pictorial History if you want to read more :-)

Lastly we have a couple of extras for my other factions, a BUF light mortar and a Yeomanry Heavy Mortar and crews. Again Musketeer/Footsore/Artizan and the heavy mortar is "borrowed" from 40K.

In total that's one tank, three crew served weapons and twenty-five infantry for a total of 170 points.

Happy New Year everyone...

Beeeutiful work Mr. Millsy. 'Hector' is a wonderful (if imposing) addition to your VBCW collection, and I love all the little back-stories you've created for all your various factions. The floral print on Margaret's dress is fantastic and I'm sure Sarah will love it when she see's it later today (the woman, bless her heart, works like a Trojan to keep me in the style I've become accustomed).  

170 points is a very respectable addition to your running total. Well done and a Happy New Year to you Millsy!

From MarkH - Hummels and Decimators (36 points)

Not sure if I've got this in too late or not. Been a rough week and got almost nothing finished. [You're in luck mate, evil never sleeps! No, really, I'm an insomniac... Millsy]

I managed to finish off 2 x 15mm FOW Hummels and I did my very first (probably of many) X-wing miniatures repaint the mighty flying tank of the Empire the VT-49 Decimator. (not sure how you will point this one Curt??). [He won't but Millsy will! :-)]

With the Hummels I added some wear and tear as I often do and plan on them having some form of leafy coverage at some point. So 2 vehicles and 6 crew painted.

The repainting of the VT-49 Decimator came about simply from the fact that the basic model straight out of the box is grey with a really average ink over the top.  Most of the x-wing models I have are far better painted (even the tie fighters). I wanted to make the model look like it had seen some action and also give it a big of colour and interest so after a spray of Black paint I proceeded to use half a dozen different grey paints for the panels and along with a nice red stripe and a big of a blue engine effect, a few washes to blend it all together you get this:

Painting the Decimator was a lot of fun and i think its a good improvement over the one that comes out of the box.. The x-wing models are great and take paint perfectly.

Sorry its not much for this week - hopefully a lot more next week.

Wow, two very, very attractive submissions in one post Mark! I'm struggling to decide which I like more... The camo on the Hummels is spot on and well worth the 24 points for vehicles and crew. That X-Wing repaint is just lovely though and given the effort I'm going to call it a 20mm vehicle. Apparently X-Wing is 1/270 so [ahem] close enough. Another 12 points in that case for a total of 36. Awesome work sir. Cheers, Millsy.

From BrendonW - 28mm Wars of the Roses light Horsemen (40 points)

4 x Perry Plastic 28mm horsemen. 2 with Crossbows and two with big spears. Constructing the Crossbow figures is a little tricky. Arm position and location of the bolt holster needs a little thought for it to work. The bolt pouch needs to avoid conflict with the high back saddle. The arms (and crossbow) for the shooter are from the Perry foot mercenary set. Plain horses again. Leaders and next batch I aim to have a few extra bits of pattern detail. This is the last post until my next are due. Been a busy day to get these ready for posting and thank you to our down under analogue agent when you get this far. Cheers from Brendon.

Aha, I see what you're doing now! Quality in quantity (of posts just for starters). I'm struggling for adequate superlatives now without sounding like a git so I'll just go with an Aussie "Bloody nice work mate" and add a Kiwi "Choice bro, you deserve a chocolate fish!" to balance it out. 

40 points for these and in total 300(!) for the day. That's the equivalent of sneaking all the parts for a points bomb through airport customs one at a time. Just my luck I was on duty and didn't spot the thing til it went off in my face. :-)

PS. Curt, I think I understand it all now. I'm SO sorry mate. ;-)

From BrendonW - 28mm Light Horsemen with Bows (50 points)

5 x Plastic Perry 28mm Wars of the Roses reinforcements for the Red and Black. Really nice kits with plenty of options so good I thought that I purchased two sets so more here later. The arms for the mounted bowmen shooting are from another Perry kit of foot men. I kept these horses basic and will add a few with head stripes etc at a later stage. Perhaps for the more bossy looking leader types. Cheers for now.

I'm a little concerned now Brendon. Are you sleeping at all mate? Whatever it is you are doing (or not doing!) it is certainly working for you. Lovely horses again and the riders are really quite special. 50 more points in the bank! Cheers, Millsy.

From BrendonW - 28mm Mounted Arab Bowmen (60 points)

6 x Gripping Beast 28mm Plastic Mounted Arabs. Getting into the swing of painting lots and lots of horses means lots and lots of straps to paint (a lot more to go). These figures have one more choice that needs to be made when you reach for the colours and that is what colours and pattern to paint a blanket under the saddle. Hard to see in my photos but the flash dude in the middle has a pattern on his horse blanket. It's another detail that adds time to completion but it's a nice unique part that will set them apart from other forces. The bows are of a different design than the ones that come in the Foot set curiously.

As you can see I have not gone with a typical yellow desert basing style on these. Arid perhaps but not desert. The way I see it, it's probably more important to fight for the slightly greener parts of the globe than the extremely drier bits. Especially when it comes to those mad Mongol invasions or pesky crazy Crusaders.

Very nice indeed Brendon! Many gamers brush over (pun intended) horses and saddle furniture when painting mounted units and I always feel it's an opportunity lost. It's a large part of the whole and really sets a rider off the same way a well painted base does. You've certainly made my day with these horses sir! Ka-ching! Another 60 points... Cheers, Millsy.

From BrendonW - 28mm Arab Foot Bowmen (40 points)

My first submission to this glorious paint challenge. 8 x 28mm Plastic Grippng Beast Arab Archers. Part of a larger force that we all shall see grow and grow in time much like The Red and Black did this time last year.

After a long absence from all things paint brushy it took me a while to find a groove. I think I have found it now so stay tuned for more from my painting table here in Australia. Cheers everyone.

Hmmm... So many posts from you in one day Brendon it seems I've gotten them slightly out of order! No matter, it certainly doesn't diminish the quality of the work. The muted colours and low key decoration of the clothing really sets these apart mate. I love 'em! Cheers, Millsy.

From BrendonW - Return of the Red and Black (52 points)

Greetings. The Red and the Black forces have returned to uphold the values of Bacon and Beer. This submission sees 28mm Perry Plastics x 10. I converted these from the Foot Knight set and used Pikes from the mercenary set to create these heavy pikemen. Not as easy to do as it is to type that sentence. Some new heads in this range from the light horsemen set in the same series. More on that set later.

Been a while since I did any miniature photography so a few trial and errors gets it done. Happy painting everyone. Cheers, Brendon.

Good to see the red and the black forces continuing to grow Brendon. These are every bit as good as what we've seen before and I like the way you've mixed and matched boxes to get the desired look. If plastics are good for anything then that's certainly it. Another 50 points in troops plus a couple for conversions adding to a growing tally sir! Cheers, Millsy.

From BrendonW - 28mm Arab Infantry with shields (58 points)

Gripping Beast plastic Arabs 28mm x 11. Only 4 of the Shields below are LBM decals. Hand painting the unfamiliar text is great challenge for a painter and can be very satisfying. The LBM decals and the box art provide plenty of inspiration to imitate.

The photos don't show some of the subtle shading on these figures. I will work on my technique to hopefully improve on that. The shadows went very black. Skin tone took a while for me to come to terms with on these ones and future Arabs may appear less bright than some of these ones appear.

As an army painter actually having a standard uniform colour can make choices simpler but it can be very enjoyable to suspend a cohesive look and start getting random. In some ways it makes the progress take a little longer but its going to be interesting to see how they look together once I have a warband/army. Cheers from Brendon W.

An absolutely gorgeous entry Brendon, especially the shields. I've not seen the GB plastic Arabs in detail until now and I'm already a fan although your brushwork might have played a small part. 55 points worth of troops and a few bonus points for the hand painting is a great start on what looks like a busy day for you! Cheers, Millsy.