From AnthonyO: First Week - Mixed units of Pulp, Chaos and Zweihanders (115 points)

This is the first time I have been a part of the challenge and I am eagerly looking forward to seeing it through. I have a number of forces I am currently painting so this gives some an opportunity to add to them or finish them off. I am heavily involved with the game of Bolt Action and have a number of forces for Kings of War in progress so most of my choices will be 28mm. If I get the time I will also have a crack at completing a Flames of War 15mm force.

French Foreign Legion - 28mm by Pulp Miniatures

These 10 miniatures are from the Pulp Miniatures range and form the third squad and another command unit for my Vichy FFL force for Bolt Action. The intention for this force is to mix them with a squad or two of German DAK to add some character and run them as a different looking force under German rules.

Large Chaos Warriors - 28mm (Large) by Scibor


I inherited these guys (as well as all of my Chaos type force) in exchange for painting a Bolt Action army for a friend and have undertaken to make a playable force. These guys can be Ogres or other large warrior types and I wanted them to look like they are full of pestilence and plague.

Human Two-Handed Swordsman - 28mm by Games Workshop

Forming a 10 man unit these two-handed swordsman will form a small aggressive attack unit in a Forces of Man army for Kings of War. Again I obtained these guys under a trade and have completed about 70% of the force so far and was looking at adding some extra units to allow some flexibility.

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Absolutely lovely work Anthony. Bob Murch of Pulp Figures is a fellow Canadian and I'm a great fan of his work. His sculpts always have that quintessential 50's 'Boys' Adventure' feel about them. You've done a lovely job on this crew - I particularly like the blue robbed Berber. 

Great work on the Scibor models. I like the mottled green armour on these chaos warriors. Very nasty looking fellows indeed.

I love seeing the GW 'Zweihanders' getting some love. These look terrific. Great work on the striped pattern on their uniforms and their coulourful plumage. I've heard that Kings of War offers a good refuge for all those Warhammer players who felt left in the cold after the implosion of their IP with their 'Age of Sigmar'.

Great work Anthony and welcome to the asylum!
 

From IanW: 6mm Macedonian Phalanx (200 Points)

This is going to be the biggest single submission I will be submitting points wise. It's the first time I have tried to paint up four 96 figure blocks and it went better than I expected though gluing the pikes into their hands was a bit of a strain but was finally finished at 6am Christmas day!

Followers of previous challengers will have seen these guys before. Last year I think I painted up possibly 5 units over two different posts. They are Baccus miniatures and I always go for the open handed option rather than cast pikes.

The star design on the shields is created via Micron watercolour pens, mine are the 0.25mm ones. Unfortunately the black one packed in part way through one of the blocks and I had to switch first to paint and brush then onto a thicker pen so not the best finish. Not that the stars look any good close up but from a distance they look fine.

One unit is in red tunics, another blue and two in green. I am using these colours to define which formation they belong to. Or can mix them depending on how we play them. 

The pikes are brush bristles cut down to size. They are really springy and tend to survive contact when they get caught. Better still they don't get all bent and curly. They are not the perfect solution but I can put up with the mixed thickness that you get and whilst it takes 45 minutes per block to attach them it's worth it.

My aim is to have twenty of these blocks done at some point. I now have fourteen with four new shinny ones from Santa that I will try and get done before the challenge ends. That will be just under 2000 figures and 1.2 meters long one unit deep. I guess I will have to take them over to Lee's to use them! We actually plan a game at Joy of Six once we have both sides all painted up.

Points wise that's 384 upright figures for 192 points with 13 infantry casualty figures and two mounted for an extra  7.5 points! Not the biggest points bomb dropped but it's probably the biggest little bomb LOL 

Next up will probably be more Prussian 15mm before I head back to yet more 6mm but not Macedonian. 

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A briefcase paint nuke!

Wow, I'm always struck by how impressive these look, Ian. I just love 'em. I can't imagine the patience it takes to get all those pikes put into place - but the payoff is amazing. And the inclusion of a few casualties and command just adds to the spectacle.

I'm going to, of course, round this off to an even 200 points. Brilliant work Ian!

From ByronM: Epic 30k Death Guard Army - Part 1 (90 Points)

Well, it only look a few days to go off track from my plan, but that was due to some issues with my Dropfleet Commander stuff where I am trying a ship using painted highlights and one airbrushed highlights and trying to figure out which is a better look/time spent and having some issues with either one doing edge highlighting that small.

So, instead of staying frustrated I moved on to something else, that while not high on my priority list, was something I was REALLY looking forward to painting, some of the Epic 30k stuff that I got last year and has been waiting for the Challenge.

I tried doing everything to match my current 28mm Death Guard 30k army.  I figured out early on though that I can not do the same weathering as on my 28mm models as in 6mm the models just become sepia / rust coloured blobs. So I went with a much harder light / dark look.

The infantry and rhinos are the old school original plastics, but I think they still hold up just fine (and I have a ton of them still on sprue) so I am just using them for most infantry, instead of the real 30k metal ones.

Also from the old plastics (and metals) are the original dreadnoughts and predators.  The wife thinks I am insane for painting things this small, and even more insane for painting XIV on each shoulder pad for the infantry and dreadnoughts and crossed scythes on the other shoulders.  She knows me well :-)

Now onto some of the figures that I have really wanted to paint for a long while!  A squad of three Sicarans and Sicaran Venators!  These are amazing models in 28mm and the 6mm versions are just as clean, every single panel line and cable from the full size version is there on the 6mm version. 

These two versions of the Sicaran are my favourite tanks in 30k as I feel they are one of the best looking sci-fi tank hulls out there in any game or fiction.  They have huge guns, an aggressive sloped stance that just scream speed and aggression, what more could you want.

Lastly, 3 super heavy tanks, because why just kill something when you can kill it, then vaporize it, then annihilate any dust left from it.  When you want something dead, overkill is the only way to go.  Besides, all 3 of these vehicles are just stunning.

The whole force was painted very quickly (as you can tell from the images) but I think came out very well for anything 6mm and have a suitable dirty used look for me, but not too dirty that you can't tell what they are. 

The painting was super simple.  Prime black, quick drybrush bleached bone, heavy ink with earth shade,  paint "white" panels with palid wychflesh and green panels with camo green, light wash of sypia, then paint black bits light grey and wash twice with blank ink. Add in the logos and numbers and add come basing tufts and all done.
 
Oh and not done yet, but a work in progress of an Arena Rex gladiator.  I only show it as I have started the NMM on the blade (very rough as you can see), and it may just get regular metallic paint in the end, so just something to remember the NMM by.

Overall while there are a lot of models here, it doesn't total up to a lot of points due to the scale.  I have more epic 30k to paint, but it will come later on as they are still on their way here.

Hope everyone likes the look of these, and also has a Merry Christmas!  See you again in a few days.

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Oh wow, those 30K Deathguard look absolutely terrific Byron. You are a bit touched to be painting XIV on the Dreadnoughts shoulder armour but it looks awesome (BTW we're scoring Dreds as 'guns', just in case you're wondering). Speaking of looking awesome, that WIP Arena Rex gladiator is coming along very, very nicely. Looking forward to playing some of that when we get together next.

A tidy 90 points for you Mr. M!

From StephenS - The Hogfather (5 points)

It's great to be back as part of the challenge and considering the season, it's perhaps fitting to kick off with this figure. I present Death as the Hogfather, from the book Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.

I fell in love with Terry Pratchett's books over 20 years ago, but this is the first time I've managed to drag any of his characters into my hobby.



















The figure is from Micro Art Studio in Poland, and the casting was superb. It is in 28 mm scale but definitely on the larger, heroic side. This miniature was painted up as a gift, but I will definitely be getting some more from them in the near future. The resin base it sits on is also from Micro Arts Studio.

You will have to excuse the quality of the photos, but it's almost time for Santa to visit!

It's good to get off the mark!

Cheers,

Steve


"Some things are fairly obvious when it's a seven-foot skeleton with a scythe telling you them"

- Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

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Lovely figure Steve and very apropos for the day.  I've not read the book but this figure oozes character. I especially like the red of his cloak, his rather goulish skintone and his unsettling blue eyes. Not somebody I'd want to be coming down my chimney!

Welcome back Steve!

From MilesR: Frostgrave Gnolls (140 Points)

Some Frostgrave related minis in the form of 20 plastic and 8 metal figures from Northstar.  These are in 28mm scale.  The plastics were very easy to put together and the whole lot was fun to paint.

 I'll be using these as one of the groups of "treasure guarders" in next years Historicon game and they'll see a lot of duty on the table for Frostgrave

 I find painting fantasy themed figures a bit liberating from historicals.

 You can also do silly things like make one of the Gnoll's a Champion from Dalmatian stock.  The spots were a last minute thought but I kind of like them.

 This "Dire Dalmatian" will prove to be a tough nut to crack in the game (that's a spoiler).  Cruella DeVille be damned!

Lets see there are 28 figures so that adds 140 points to the tally.

This will likely be my last submission until after Christmas.  There might be one of two on boxing day.

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families - I hope you all have a wonderful day however you choose to celebrate it.

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Great work Miles, but you need to give us some better close-ups so we can see these chaps.

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As you wish, Mr C, more close ups but they show had bad a painter I am - remember I prefer to use Stalin's definition of quality in terms of painting...

 The Gnoll Chieftain and his loyal hound

 A Gnoll barbarian and Shaman - I think I'll use the Shaman in a medic role for the game - a sip from the blood cup and your fixed up,

 General purpose plastics

A plastic on the left and a metal on the right - Dohhh! I forgot to paint the eye patch!

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Good man Miles! These Gnolls/Dalmatians ('Gnollmations'?) are awesome. I remember encountering them in our AD&D games when I was a teen and being really creeped-out by how they were portrayed in the artwork - these guys look very similar. That grey one, which is stooped over with the staff, is particularly excellent. 

Hmm, 28 figures... Now, you just need 73 more Gnollmations to make it 101, then they can curb-stomp Ms. DeVille in style. ;)

From SamuliS: Panzergrenadiere, vorwärts zum Siege voran! (62 points)

Time to get myself on the scoreboard as well. And probably in the highest position I will ever be in the Challenge after this point!

Being a clever man I'd decided to start my Christmas holiday early to have some painting time when the Challenge started. However the missus caught wind of this cunning plan and my calender was immediately booked full of Christmas shopping and visits to various Kitchen renovation companies, so getting these done took a bit longer than I expected. I'd hoped to be able to use the whole starting day to paint these then and grab the lead for just a fleeting moment, but alas that was not to be as I only got in a few hours of painting with all the tasks bestowed upon me.

This is my fifth time taking part in the challenge and going back to 2012 I started my first challenge with Flames of War German Grenadiers, which were actually the first 15mm infantry I ever painted. So as a homage  to those humble beginnings I decided to paint up some more German infantry. Luckily my work has improved quite a bit during the time.

The old Grenadiers have gotten pushed to the back of the storage space, with most of my other German LW troops a few years ago as the paint job isn't really up to the standard I want on my table nowadays so I haven't been playing German lists for a while outside of Early War which I've painted later on. With a tournament coming up in the end of January where we are bringing a list from both sides and can switch up to allow for Red vs. Blue games at all times. So perfect excuse to paint up some new troops and restart my LW German force. I'm starting of with a single platoon of Panzergrenadiers with Panzerfausts and a Panzerschrek team coming in at 31 miniatures which should give me 62 points. All Battlefront minis. Mostly quite good, but there are a few with slight casting problems that do show on the minis even after my cleaning efforts.

One reason I haven't gotten around to painting Germans too much is that I find painting camouflage on 15mm infantry a massive pain. It never really seems to look correct on that scale. Single colour uniforms are just so much nicer to paint up. Still Grenadiers in camouflage smocks are iconic to the German Late War look so I had to man up and get these painted. Definitely not a faithful representation of the Splittermuster, but looks good enough from a regular gaming distance. After these it's time for some FlaK and then I can get to the tanks, which really are the main thing for the list I'm building!

With these out of the way it's time to leave for Christmas celebrations. A busy weekend ahead as we are spending Christmas at our relatives and traveling between a few places so no painting time until next week I'm afraid. At least I've got a few books with me with suitable hobby subjects.

With that I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May your gift sacks be full of lead and plastic! With a Secret Santa gift in my pile from another mysterious gamer, I can't wait until it's evening ;)

Here in Finland using Reindeer isn't the sole right of Santa Claus. There are even Police Reindeer!

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Okay, I'll bite Samuli, why on earth does that Reindeer have a police 'waistband'? And perhaps the other, more pressing question: Is the Reindeer firearm certified? I love the whole idea of wildlife being able to shoot back. 'Gee, nice red hat Mr. Hunter. Thanks for standing out so well. BLAMM!!'

Anyhoo. Lovely work on these figures Samuli. I remember your first foray into this scale four years ago and so it's great to see you back at them again. I agree, camo in 15mm is a bit of a grind, but you've done a brilliant job with these lads. I look forward to seeing the upcoming flack and armoured units.

62 points for you sir! Enjoy your Christmas break Samuli!

From AlanD: German Revolution, 1918 (225 points)

To the barricades!
 

For my first submission this year, here are a bunch of Spartacist revolutionaries from Berlin in 1918-1919. The figures are all from Tsuba Miniatures, available through Empress Miniatures, and are sculpted by Paul Hicks. I would probably write more about them, but I am currently sitting just out of the rain outside my brother's house so I can connect to his email, as my internet at home has completely died, just in time for the Challenge.

43 figures and a heavy MG by my calculations should net me 225 points. Rote Fahne voran!

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I must say I'm a bit envious of this post as I have a load of German Revolution figures awaiting paint and Alan had handily beat me to the punch - and in what a terrific way. Absolutely fabulous work Alan.  These figures just shout character. I love the flagstone bases with the political posters and the card buildings really set the scene. Will there be Friekorps to face them and perhaps an armoured car or two clearing the streets? I very much look forward to seeing this project develop (once you get your internet connection sorted out).

If you want further inspiration please check out Jonathan Rabb's 'Rosa: A Novel'. It's a detective novel set during the 1918 revolution. It centers around the death of Rosa Luxemburg and a series of related murders. Very good read.

 

225 Points for your first assault on the roster. Great work.

From BenF: Aaaaand we're off and painting... (48 Points)

Any of you who frequented my blog (littletinmen.blogspot.com) will know that over the past year I've been... well, shall we say less than prolific - with my online presence of late.
Real life has taken hold, but while I've not been posting much online (apart from twitter), I've been busily painting away, and particularly working on speeding up my methods so that I can get some armies painted. I must say, it's been working well for me, as over the past 12 months i've completed I've a 15mm Roman army, a 20mm Chain of Command Waffen SS platoon, a load of 6mm Cold War Soviets, as well as 28mm French and British Peninsular War forces for Sharp Practice 2.

So, this challenge is just perfect for me to try to push myself a little. My goals for this are to get a shed-load of 15mm Forged in Battle ancients painted up for Sword and Spear/Impetus/To The Strongest. I'll start with some bits and pieces to complete my Republican Romans, then on to Alexandrian Macedonians, Carthaginians, Achaemenid Persians, and possibly some 3rd century Romans and Sassanid Persians.. I've also got some WW2 20mm odds and ends that I need for my Chain of command forces, some of the lovely 28mm Fantasy Flight Star Wars figures, and will also be starting on some 28mm AWI forces for Sharp Practice 2.

My goal is 400 points, which i'm relatively confident I should be able to meet. As a teacher, I've just begun 5 and a half weeks of holidays, and other than some work around the house and a week away, I don't have much planned, sop should have heaps of time for painting.

First off, here are three elements (12 mounted figures) of 15mm Numidian light horse. I used to paint everything in the 'Dallimore' style, layering up. Looks great, but takes ages, particularly if you actually want to get an army completed. These are base/wash/highlight, which to my eye looks quite similar, and takes much, much, much, less time to complete.

While the Numidians can serve with my S&S Romans, I've based them to tie in with my planned Carthaginian army, so have gone for a southern Mediterranean feel. These are the gorgeous Forged in Battle figures. Next off the bat for my 15mm ancients are some war elephants and Italian allies.

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First, welcome aboard Ben! It's great that ypu're using the Challenge to get a project off the table - many (including myself) have done amazing things during this three months of madness.

These Numidians look wonderful - very neat and tidy. I really like the decorated hide shields and the chunky bases. Very, very nice work.

I look forward to seeing your upcoming nellies and Italians.  I have a suspicion you will get a LOT done in the next five weeks.

From MartinC: At last, I've started (75 points)

I had such grand plans for a nice early points bomb, but I've had a streaming cold for the last 3 days and kept sneezing on the figures. Much better now, it was only a cold. I have managed to finish these 15 figures.

The are Perry Plastic Colonial British and are fantastic figures that were sent to me as a secret Santa present, organised by Ian and Cath .  I opened it in error (I was slightly drunk - OK quite drunk) so I made them once I'd sobered up and the plan was to paint them all by Christmas. I'll have to make do with 15 for now.

I changed my painting style a little. Normally I start with flesh and work out but this time I painted the uniforms and then added a shade wash and then dry brushed the highlights before painting the rest. This has worked OK but needed a slightly darker shade. 

Good to have started before Christmas. Happy Christmas one and all.

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Martin, you sound a mess. First drunk and then a head cold? Well, at least you're sober and healthy now. Well, healthy anyway. :)

These are very nice, Mr. Cooke. You did quite well with the flesh. Like you normally do, I paint the flesh first, so I know how difficult it can be to go in later, especially with cowled or armoured figures. Nonetheless you've done a great job with these lads.  How many do you have left of these to do? Is this a part of a larger project?

75 points to get you on the roster Martin - Well done!