From AdamC- Green and White Knights (93 points)

 These are Mounted Sergeants from Fireforge Games.  A friend of mine and I split them as part of a trade.  He only need three so I got nine or them.

 I gave each of these guys a different cloak. They could make one large unit or three units of three figures each. I have them based with six on two horse bases and three on single bases for easy of marking casualties

 I did the shields in green and white with gold to tie them together as a unit and with the rest of the army that I am building for Dragon Rampant.

 I made most of the horses dapple gray to indicate the guys in charge of this unit tried for uniformity.. but we have a few alternative colouring horses to simulate remounts

 This group of three has all hand weapons, you can see the flail and Sword you get lots of weapon option for your sergeants and to restock your bits box with this set.  Looks like I need to touch up that bridal. (opus)

 The third fellow has a mace.

 The command group lances including one with the unit banner a gold St. Andrews cross with white "stars" in the quarters and white lace on the edges

 Our commander with his Mace held high to encourage the troops or to bring it down on a foe.

The figures have great facial details my limited skill doesn't show what you could to with them.  There was a circlet around his head that I made into a bit of crown, the sort a prince of the blood might wear to highlight his importance. 28mm horsemen are 10 points there 9 hear so that's 90 points the hand painted banner and shields have traditionally been an extra point each (at the judges discretion) for a total of 100 points.  Editor's note:   You're a bit to hasty on this one Adam!  My understandings is 1 point for a flag and a few bonus bonus points for shields as a whole.  Consider than Ian just dropped 48 Hoplites with hand painted shields!

Great unit of Horsemen Adam.  I've not had hands-on experience with the Fireforge plastics but I like what I see.  I do have a hard time with anyone using a two headed morning star flail on horseback, it sounds like a receipt for disaster.  It is great that you can trade figures and share box sets with a fellow gamer, Curt and I have been trading shields, figures and various body parts with our Italian Wars projects.  Your idea of the unit favouring a certain colour of horse certainly has historical precedents in the Horse and Musket era so why not in the Medieval era!  

Nice work of the shields and basing.  And I beg to differ on the facial close up, I  think that's one of your best faces - you've captured the shading and beard nicely.

So points wise I make it 90 for the figures, 1 for the flag and 2 for the shields for the unit. 

From MilesR: Fallschirmjager Heavy Mortars in 15mm Scale (70 Points)

 Another quick unit as I only had a few hours to paint on Saturday.  A German Fallschirmjager heavy mortar unit plus a Panzer IV/70 tank.  All of the miniatures are from Battlefront and are 15mm scale metals.

 This pretty much clears out the 15mm German FOW lead pile save for a few vehicles.  I really like to use mortars in FOW of games - very accurate and can switch from indirect to direct firing.

The Panzer IV/70 is a lone model that I can't even remember picking up.  I'll need to add at least two more before being able to field the tank but it was fun and easy to paint up.

Lets see there are 24 crew/command figures for 48 points plus 4 guns for 16 and the tank for 6 which yields a total of 70 points

I leave tomorrow morning for my companies annual offsite and will not be back until late Thursday night - so not a lot of painting this week either.

I'd feel sorry for you Miles, except that your slow weeks out do my good weeks. Anyway a solid FoW entry.  Good work on the basing and the camo on the vehicle.  Speaking of the vehicle, can I get a price check on this one?  It looks to me to be a Panzerjager or similar tank destroyer, not a turreted Panzer IV.  But my late war armour can be sketchy, and it's hard to tell from the photo.  And I say no need to wait to get 2 more of them, that's army list rules lawyer talk Miles.  Eff the lists and go with what feels right, and to me late war Germans should be able to dole out their limited armour support as they like, and a singleton AFV supporting infantry works for me.

Diversion from PeterD

IanW had me going back to my college days with his lovely hoplite unit.  He reminded me of this link which I thought I would share.  The Linothorax project was the brainchild of some Classicists who wanted to test the effectiveness of ancient linen armour.  They did this by recreated the armour, and shooting arrows at each other while wearing the armour.

Academic research at its best.  This also illustrates the correct way to treat one's grad students!

We saw the book from this in a bookstore a few years back and I still kick myself for not buying it at the time.  My wife is a quilter and I think I could convince her to make me one!

From IanW 6mm Hoplites To Peninsular Brits 71 Points

I have leapt back into 6mm for this weeks post and will probably continue as I have received 700 more 6mm figures from Baccus, mostly Persians.

These are to go against my Macedonian army and originally the Hoplites below were for them but I will have them defect over to the Persians, well they are mercenaries. 

I painted the one base in last years Challenge so I finally finish off the pack. These are Baccus and needed little work to get them ready for painting,  The rear shields are a sod to get at as they are on strips four deep. The pack I received for the Persians are the more traditional four wide making the shields easy to get at.

As with my ancients it's a basic paint job with the mass effect being the main effect. What detail painting there is I did as simple as possible so it would not become a time sucker.

I went with brown leather armour and this makes them look quite a bit darker than I originally had in mind but the end result works for me so no complaints.

Three Battalions of Peninsular British for my sons army, again these came out darker as I was aiming for faded uniforms, I will have to go a few shades lighter next time. This gives him five British line infantry battalions and two rifle battalions. He gets to pick what's painted next for these guys.

We have the 9th East Norfolk, the 10th North Lincolnshire and 11th North Devonshire the first battalion of each regiment. Next time I do some of his infantry I will go deeper into the list to spread them out a bit. The flags should have been Baccus but I have used up two flag sheets worth of the light yellow ones so have had to use some of a bunch I got off e-bay way back. They are very nice but a little bit bigger than the Baccus ones.

I like to have my flags look like they have a bit of wind in them so tweezers in hand they get a bit of a wave thing going on. It's a bit fiddly but once you have done a few it gets a lot easier. I am no fan of the bed sheet look that others favour. Last thing to do is to paint the edges of the flags to cover up the white edges, oh I am so glad I have the Union flag to edge, what fun.

So 48 hoplites and 84 scum of the earth earns me a respectable 66 points, with 44 going to the Ancients side challenge and the lot to our 6mm challenge, I bet Tamsin responds double quick ;-)

Wow Ian, you've done it again.  My first army was that of the Spartan King Agesilaus and I'm a sucker for rows of bronze hoplons and crested Corinthian helmets.    And these lads look like they are all set to loot the cities of Ionia!  I agree that the brown armour might be a little dark but the end effect works well. next time why not try the brilliant white linothorax to see how that works.  

I am afraid that I am going to be the annoying War-games Fashion Police and point out a problem with your planned use of these figures.  The Lambda shield   blazon (which you've aced) was the state symbol for Sparta and thus wouldn't be worn by a unit of mercenaries unless serving in a Spartan army.  So I suggest that you build a Spartan army that can fight either your Persians or your Macedonians, and then build units of Hoplites with varied shield designs who can serve under any of the three armies.  Honest it's a win-win situation, at least for those of us fortunate to watch it unfold!

And those Redcoats are wonderful I do hope that your son appreciates them.  The way you turn the bases into battalion sized vignettes really sells me on 6mm as a scale.  I've added 5 points to your score for the hand painted shields on the hoplites and the basing on the whole bunch

Ian mentions the 6mm Side Duel, and it's a three way battle between Ian, Tamsin and MarkO with 34 points between them at start of play today. 

From AdamC 4 Barrow-wights/Frostwraiths Frosgrave (20 Points)

 These Four came from the same box as Tom and Goldbrerry

 They are truly scary and cool looking Wights in antique armour.  They will make great  Frotswraiths for litch king scenarios in Frostgrave.

 I think that they have the great detail we expect from Games Workshop and these weren't as pricey as some.

There are enough hear that I can get double use out of them in Dragon Rampant as a unit of undead.

It wouldn't be a Monday without a Frostgrave post from AdamC, and it's a damn fine one to start Monday.  There is some very good movement on these figures which you've nicely captured Adam.  And I like the way that the bronze scale armour came out.   

I've been looking at the Side Duel scores and there is a terrific scrap going on between Adam and PaulS with less than 50 points between them at daybreak, now just shy of 70pts.    Something tells me that Adam's not done for the day either.

Monday Morning

Well it's Monday morning after the bonus theme round, and we're in the mid-Challenge doldrums.  I am certainly suffered from this syndrome.  I didn't have a regular post set to go for Saturday and I've had two epic failures in a row on the bonus themes.  I got the wrong type of foam for the Rock of Gibraltar (Defensive Terrain) and had a primer fail on my Mouslings (L'amour).

Fortunately we have some good stuff in this week's instalments from Team Monday as shown below.

My iPod gets in themes at times, and lately its been on a bit of an Alt-Country roll. So we'll end off with this bit of Can-Con from Kathleen Edwards.

The 'L'amour' Theme Round is Now Online!

Happy Valentine's Day Folks!

Sorry for the delay with posting the theme round, but Lady Sarah and I were enjoying a nice, lazy day off together.

To celebrate Valentines we have 'L'amour' as our bonus theme this week. I think you'll get a chuckle when you view the gallery as we have many great interpretations of the topic of 'Love'. I'll say no more, so you can enjoy without any spoilers.

As to myself, it was a tad rushed but I give you 'Prendre la Température / To Test the Waters' (I think). 

It's 1795, and we see a French Chasseur a Cheval watering some of his troop's horses in a small village. He is knocking out his pipe on his boot, admiring the local scenery. A fetching young lady, who is washing some of the regiment's laundry, has caught his eye and he thinks he might test the waters.

Nonetheless, the young miss has two chaperons nearby who are definitely wise to the scenario. One is an old crone, smoking a pipe and keeping an eye on the dashing cavalryman. In fact, she can clearly remember that warm spring day in 1745, when those handsome hussars came swaggering into town (where do you think she got the pipe?). She know's what's afoot...

The other overseer is the girl's faithful dog, who can smell trouble a mile away, and is letting everyone know it (those who know our 'Felix' will see a certain resemblance).

This charming 28mm vignette is offered by Eureka Miniatures (minus the pooch who is from Westfalia).

Okay, as with all of our theme rounds, please remember to cast your votes for your favorite entries. Voting will be open until next 11:45 pm next Saturday. 

Enjoy the gallery and have a great week everyone!

From GregB - Curtgeld - Trooper Cally Samstag, Activated 26, Orestean PDF (60 Points)

Cally Samstag (centre), Golla Uldana (left) and Janny Wirmac (right)

Unlike prior Painting Challenges, this year I wanted to actually be on top of my Curtgeld obligations.  The Curtgeld theme this years is a figure characterized as a "risk-taker, daredevil or gambler." I spent a while trying to come up with something Curt might find interesting, and I settled on these three figures.  They are meant to represent Cally Samstag, member of Activated 26, from the Tertiary Reserve of the Oreastean Planetary Defence Force.  She is joined by two fellow members of Activated 26 - Golla Uldana, and Janny Wirmac. Who are these folks? Why would Curt care?  Here is the background...sorry about all the blather...

If you enjoy 40k, you need to read this book

These are all characters from Dan Abnett's novel "Titanicus".  This is one of my favourite novels, and I think Curt really enjoys it as well. To understand why I thought these characters would be good Curtgeld, I need to share a bit about the novel and its story.

I imagine this figure as Cally Samstag

She is equipped with basic kit, and a MK2 lasrifle.  Use against enemy titans? Zero.

"Titanicus" is set in Games Workshop's 40k universe, and features an "engine war", an invasion of the Forge World of Orestes by the forces of the Archenemy - a traitor Titan Legion. In GW's 40k setting, Forge Worlds are planets given over almost completely to the manufacture of arms and equipment to supply the Imperium's never-ending wars.

The Forge Worlds are run by the Mechanicum, a sort of dark, dystopian sect of machine-worshipping types. Imagine the worst facets of every IT department you have heard of or experienced, combine them with the post-human fantasies of the douchebag entrepreneurs who dominate Silicon Valley, and put them in charge of a whole planet, and you pretty much have the Mechanicum and a Forge World...   

Golla Uldana, a delivery nurse from Orestes, called out to join the fighting as a member of the reserves

Anyway, in "Titanicus", the Forge World of Orestes comes under assault.  Normally, such worlds are well-defended - Forges have their own Titan Legions, and Titans kick ass. Who worries about invasion when a huge force of 100-foot walkers, 200-foot walkers and 300-foot walkers, together with assorted support elements, are handy. But in "Titanicus", most of the Orestean Titan Legion has been sent elsewhere, and the skeleton force left behind is falling rapidly in battle.  The Imperium has messed up, and Orestes is vulnerable. The situation is so desperate the Imperial Governor calls out the tertiary reserves of the Oresetean Planetary Defence Force.

Janny Wirmac, young daughter of a high-born family in Orestes

The Victoria Lamb sculpts are incredible

An "engine war" in 40k is the worst kind of battle - Titans vs. Titans, laying waste to everything in sight.  The scale of destruction is enormous, and victory in this context is pyrrhic at best. In such a war, even elite heavy infantry can do little but pray to survive.  The tertiary reserves, the very last line of defence, have even less of a chance.  Cally Samstag, Golla Uldana and Janny Wirmac are members of that reserve, and they go to battle in "Titanicus"...

For a 40k setting fan like me, this "engine war" as related by Abnett is, of course, the coolest! Big machines! The Mechanicum! The Archenemy! Massive Titans beating each other to bits! Entire hive cities in ruins! Awesome! But what Dan Abnett does so well as an author, in my opinion, is that he calibrates the context properly.  Through the eyes of Cally Samstag, you see the Titan war not as a fan boy of the genre and setting, but as a real "civilian" might.  Not the vista of heroic, genetically modified soldier, or configured mechanicum engine god, but a regular person, who had been living a regular life, called forth to face terrors you mostly read and heard about, but never thought were real.  It is terrifying - and so well done in the hands and mind of a gifted writer like Abnett.

So why is Cally a "risk-taker, a daredevil or gambler"? Cally and her husband Stefan had relocated to Orestes from a different Imperial world in the hopes of a better life.  Stefan is a skilled labourer, in high demand on Orestes, but Cally is a junior clerk.  To get the permission needed for relocation from the Imperium's Maoist-style government, Cally had to agree to serve with the Tertiary Reserve of the Orestean PDF.

"No," he whispered.
"It was always a possiblity."
"I can't believe it."
"It was always a possibility Stef." she repeated

Cally Samstag took a risk of agreeing to join the PDF so she and her husband might have a better life.  When war found them, the gamble catches up with Cally and other members of the reserve...

Three members of "Activated 26"

These figures are 28mm female Arcadian Guard from the excellent Victoria Lamb.  I have to say I was a little disappointed at the amount of flash on the figures - lots and lots of prep needed - but overall, they are just tremendous sculpts, and it is great to see a line of figures which includes female sci-fi troops without having them appear to be complete dork fantasies or BDSM play acting rejects.  The Victoria Lamb sculpts are everything the plastic GW Imperial Guardsmen might have been, and her range of figures affords Imperial Guard fans a whole new outlet to collect for the setting without having to use the roid-addled and overly round plastic Cadians from GW's current line of figures.

I used a colour scheme that would match my other, older, GW Imperial Guard collection.  I don't recall any specifics about colours of the Orestean PDF in the "Titanicus" book, so I thought the colours would work OK...hope you like them dude! 

Ahh, Greg, this is just brilliant! As you know I'm a huge fan of Abnett and loved 'Titanicus'. He has that wonderful talent to be able to communicate the 40K universe beyond the 'pew, pew' dorkfest to a manner that adults may actually appreciate. The Cally storyline was one of my favourites from the book as it brought the 'mega-ness' of the situation down to a human level.  Anyway, these are brilliant and I'm very keen to see examples of Victoria Lamb sculpts as I hear that they are magnificent.

Thanks so much Greg!!

From TamsinP - 15mm Korean Commanders (42 points)

Time for my 15th entry in the main part of the Challenge. I wasn't sure if I'd manage to get one in before the deadline, but I seem to have squeaked it just!

This entry is another set of additions for my swelling Choson Korean army, another 5 command stands for the "regulars". The figures are from Old Glory 15s as before.

I haven't added flags yet as I'd forgotten to print out another set of command standards. I've now got more than enough command stands to field two armies in FoG (three if I field the Righteous Army separately). I just need to add some more infantry and cavalry to be able to play out the civil war which may well have broken out in the Japanese hadn't invaded in 1592. That could make for an interesting campaign as the Chinese, Japanese and the horse nomads to the North could also get involved. Oh dear, i think that means acquiring even more armies...

Points-wise, there are 9 mounted and 3 foot figures, which should be 42 points.

Lovely work Tamsin. I really like the wide range of colour you've used for their uniforms and horse furniture. Those poor flunkies with the standards must be in great shape running along side these guys.

'Hey, Kwan, did you win that last battle?' 

'Nah, but me and the boss managed the 20K retreat in well under 2 hours!'

Three separate armies, huh? You know, you could now probably field an entire army of officers! I'm sure the North Korean army of today could do this, that is if they could first avoid getting executed by their benign and beneficent leader. You just need to get the 16th century equivalent of an anti-aircraft gun to keep them motivated. :)

42 points for you Ms. P. Well done and have a great week!

From GregB - Viet-Cron "Targets" (10 Points)

Two Valkyrie crewman walk away from a rough landing in...my kitchen...

A few weeks ago Sylvain dropped a points bomb into the Challenge in the form of his whacky "Viet Cron", Necrons from GW's 40k setting he had crafted and converted into pseudo-Viet-Cong-style insurgents.  It was a wonderful and bonkers tribute to GW's juvenile ethnic pandering among its factions.  In his posting, he named some Valkyries I had painted years ago and posted on our blog as part of the inspiration for his project. Well, I wanted to acknowledge and honour that little shout-out in Sylvain's hilarious and well-done submission with a little tribute of my own, and that is the inspiration behind this submission.

I thought perhaps the Viet-Cron could use some "targets", so I dug through my lead pile and found these two 28mm downed pilot figures.  I painted them with crew fatigues in a colour to match my Valkyrie models Sylvain had cited in his post.

These two figures are actually from the long-lost line of 28mm modern figures from Mongrel Miniatures.  They had a fantastic range covering the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and these two are actually Soviet helicopter crewmen.  Change the colours, and I think they make fine Valkyrie pilots for the 40k setting!

Sore shoulder from a rough landing on my counter-top

It's too bad the Mongrel figures are gone, as they were wonderful, wonderful sculpts, and I'm glad to have a sizeable collection. That's part of the reason I always buy way too many figures when I see some I like, as you just never know when they will disappear...

Some Imperial Guard storm troopers escort the pilots....

The recovery of downed pilots always makes for a good game background, particularly one with a (warped) hint of Viet-Cong-style insurgent flavour. So I thought these two figures would make ideal objective markers for when Sylvain and I manage to connect some time for a battle with the "Viet-Cron".  In the actual Vietnam war US forces often went to great lengths to recover pilots, and the knowledge in general among troops that their brothers- and sisters-in-arms will go to almost any length to recover fallen and trapped comrades seems, to my lazy civilian can, to be a prime instrument of motivation and camaraderie among the troops. So I thought these two would work for a themed game with the "Viet-Cron".

Of course, this is 40k, so it would need a dystopian twist.  The Imperials wouldn't just be out to rescue the pilots.  They would want to rescue them to ensure they didn't know too much, and then execute them properly, not trusting the Viet-Cron to do it. The pilots are rescued (killing many more Imperial troops in the process), interrogated and then shot by the Inquisition..happy ending for The Emperor, and something pyrrhic for the grim darkness of the far future...

"This way guys - what could go wrong?"

These two 28mm figures toss a paltry 10 points toward my score.  Strictly speaking, they are not "sci-fi" sculpts, so I will leave it to the judges-that-be as to whether they can be counted toward the sci-fi side-duel. 

I look forward to seeing Sylvain's bonkers Viet-Cron trying to hunt these hapless fellows down on the gaming table sometime this year!

This is awesome Greg. I love this bit of 40K escalation you're having with Sylvain and his whacky Viet-Cron (though you may want to take into account that he may retaliate). I think these Mongrel pilots fit the bill very nicely as Imperial pilots (the green lens flare effect is brilliant). I hope I can be around when the two of you tangle with your respective collections. As a suggestion, you may want to consider building the equivalent of a brown-water riverboat for some 'Heart of Cronness' action.

'The horror. The horror...'