From SanderS - Spyrers (27 points)

Hoi,

For my second post today I would like to follow in the footsteps of DaveD who has shown us some really nice Necromunda figures and I had wanted to paint these excellent OOP figures far sooner but his post just gave me the final push I needed.

While most of the figures used in Necromunda are low life scum, i.e. the poor from down in the Underhive these figures depict "Spyrers", rich man and women from the upper parts of the gigantic Hive (the Spire) cities of the 40K world who come down to the Underhive in their Spyrer-suits each with their own specialism. What's their business in the Underhive, well that kind of depends; most are in the employ of the Great Houses and Clans and function like strike teams or bounty hunters, some are there just for the kick of it.

 The first one is the female called a Jakara spyrer.

Next up the Malcadon

Each spyrer came in two poses, I was just lucky to get both of the Yeld poses. They have winged jetpacks: how cool is that?!

The Orrus is a heavy weapons specialist. 

I tried to get the bases like the ones of my other Necromunda figures.

Anyway I want my Necromunda games to take place in Vervunhive before the Choas incursion that brings the Tanith First (Gaunt's Ghosts) into the City. Therefore I have painted the Spyrers here as part of the House Chass security forces. Perhaps it's needless to say but I really had a blast painting them and am very happy with the result!   

5 x 28mm figures is another 25 points making my total for today 75 if I am not mistaken.

---

Very nice brushwork on these figures Sander. Your precision and highlighting really make these figures 'zing'. I've not played Necromunda but with quality figures like these I'm sure I'm not the only one who's tempted! 

I'm throwing in an extra point for the attention you have given to the bases and an other point for the quality of the paintwork. 

Lee

From SanderS - Guess what? More HQ... (50 points)

Hoi,

Honestly I am truly sorry you guys, but I want to get as many Heroquest figures done this Challenge for the schoolclub and because they're cluttering the unpainted pile.

So today I bring you the figures out the "Frozen Horror" expansion set. Oh and Merida, the girl from the movie "Brave".

Let's start with the Frozen Horror miniatures, this campaign is also called "The Barbarian Quest" mostly since it includes a figure of a female barbarian. The set also includes mercenaries but I have painted them earlier in the Challenge already. Before I show you the figures I do have to say that most of the poses of these monsters are ugly, hunched over and therefore really chunky. The set consists of:

2 Yeti's

2 Polar Warbears

3 Ice Gremlins, these are my favourites from the monsters in the set. They are mostly depicted as green (a sort of Polar Gobbo's) but I liked them better in the same blue used for most of the other figures. This kinda ties them in together I suppose.

The Frozen Horror itself, I suppose it's a different version of the familiar Gargoyle level boss.

Last but not least is the Female Barbarian. Now if you google her, you'll probably find a lot of versions painted using lots of flesh coloured paints. Since this is supposed to be a quest in the Frozen Wastes, I really think scarcely clad Barbarians is not what we need and what's logical.

I did some more shots of the inevitable fight between the Lady and the Horror.

Now then why did I add Merida? Well there were 9 figures in the lot above and that's an ugly number so I needed a 10th figure and Merida was just there on the table waiting for me. I've seen the movie on TV for the first time a few years back and I liked it immediately. It had humour, a well thought out story, magic and a strong female main character that's smart, can shoot a bow and arrow and goes to hell and back to save the ones she loves (and no it's not Katniss Everdeen!) . With all the music videos and commercials showing scantily clad females around I am convinced girls (and boys who need to respect women) are in need of role models like Merida. So I jumped at buying this figure when it became available. But what's strange is that she's a Hasslefree figure, strange because well we all know for what kinda figures they're mostly known. Perhaps the Female Barbarian and Merida warrant a mention for Sarah's Choice?

Anyway 10 x 28mm figures equals 50 points, some Necromunda is up later on today.

---

Lovely work Sander, your colour scheme works really well with these figures. I especially like the two female figures, you've done an excellent job with these. As someone who grew up with D&D I know what you mean about the stereotyped portrail of women in fantasy games. The scantily clad barbarian and the infamous chainmail bikini being prime examples! Fifty points well earned sir.

Lee

From TamsinP - 15mm WW2 Soviets (236 points)

Sticking to WW2 for my second post this week (please don't mess up the order Lee!) [Lee-Whatever are you suggesting young lady?!?], but a change of scale and nationality, here is the start of my 15mm Soviets for Chain of Command. This week I am presenting two rifle platoons and some anti-tank guns.

For the infantry, rather than basing them all singly I have done some as twos and threes, with enough singles to allow casualty removal. Junior leaders are on 20mm squares, senior leaders on 20mm hexes.

The Rifle Platoons

In case you are wondering, I've painted the base rims a different colour for each platoon so that they can be easily identified on the table.

Not sure why it focused on the troops behind instead of the officer!

I also added white marks on the rear of the bases to identify squads.

The Anti-Tank Guns

M1937 45mm AT Guns

The double dice cells are for recording shock and crew casualties. As with the infantry, I've used colour markings on the rear of the bases to help identify which gun is which if more than one of the same type is deployed.


M1942 45mm AT Gun and M1943 76mm Infantry Gun

Zis 2 57mm AT Guns

Zis 3 76mm AT Guns

All the figures and gun models are from the Plastic Soldier Company.

For scoring:

96 x 15mm foot @2 points = 192 points
6 x 15mm prone foot @ 1 point = 6 points
8 x 15mm crew-served weapon @ 4 points = 32 points
Total = 230 points

As Noel has established a lead in the Squirrel Duel that I can't catch, I will probably continue with this project next week - I have some infantry support weapons, a tank rider platoon, some scout sections, and some "spare" figures to paint up. After that I will probably return to finish up my Kra'Vak and early war Aussies. With a generous leavening of pulp of course.

Oh, just a quick heads-up - there might possibly be another post from me this week. [Lee - Three! Goodness gracious, I can't count to three how will I keep em in order?!☺ ]

---

I like the idea of the base edges painted a different colour to identify the platoons. I may have to use that idea myself at some point. The infantry are wonderful, but I guess I have a thing for big guns and I really like the Anti-Tank pieces you have painted here. 

Incidentally, I've scored the Prone infantry as normal figures, its what I have been doing thus far for other entries and I ought to try and be consistent (for a change)! So that adds an extra six points to your tally for these bringing the total to 236. 

Lee

From AlexS - Church, Stable and Arabs (120 points)

Hello to all! My name is Alex, I'm from Russia. And recently I ran out of a cartridge in the printer. And I bought a new one. I still have a box. And I took the masking tape, glue gun and made the church on the dark ages.

Then I smeared it with texture paste and designed a stand. It turned out crooked, ugly and very similar to the dark ages. Well, I think so.

Then I put my favourite felt on the roof and painted it. At the same time, I made a stable. Probably, they keep a mule in it, on which the priest rides.

And I made some abstract Arabs for SAGA. Fire throwers, Mullah, both on foot and horseback, a beautiful Oriental woman with a jug and a small unit of warriors. I gathered the warriors from the legs of the Celts from the Warlord Games and the torsos from the light Arab cavalry from the Grippin beast. It turned out that the Arab pirates are more likely than ordinary warriors. I like, and you?

points:

14  28mm inf x 5 = 70
1   28mm cav x 10 = 10
2   6x6 inch cubes filled with terrain = 40

total of 120 points

---

Great to see you back in the fray this week Alex. I love the Church, you've done an excellent job on that. I always enjoy seeing scratch built terrain and buildings, it gives me lots of ideas for projects I'll probably never get around to! 

Lee

From TamsinP - 28mm Early WW2 Aussies (152 points)

This should be my first submission for this week (Hint to Lee - "Make it so!") and sees a return to my early WW2 Australians. To bulk out the Warlord and Artizan metal figures for the AIF force, I bought a pack of warlords plastic 8th Army figures, so these chaps all have helmets. Of course, they have since released their Commonwealth pack which has heads with slouch hats - I do have a sprue which came with the recent Wargames Illustrated and they will be assembled and painted after the Challenge.

My big issue with the figures was that some of the both-arms parts don't seem to fit properly on all the torsos. This led to some gaps appearing after they'd been glued. Me rushing through the assembly probably didn't help.

Anyway, here are some slightly closer pictures of each 10-man section:

I'm not sure why, but I didn't enjoy painting these as much as I did the metals. I also made a bit of a boo-boo this morning - I forgot to matte varnish them before adding tufts to the bases! I clearly wasn't fully awake.

For scoring, that's 30 x 28mm foot = 150 points.

---

These are gorgeous, despite the problems you had with them. Not every build goes to plan and thus we learn...usually to drink more coffee! Most of my most notable 'varnishing mistakes' have been the result of sleep deprivation. Trust me, caffeine fixes everything! Although that being said, it can't make up for the satisfying heft of a metal figure over a plastic. 

I'm adding a couple of bonus points simply because I like these, despite your tribulations. Nice work Tamsin. 

Lee

Team Tuesday are having a Brew

The end of the Challenge is starting to come into view and we are all entering the home stretch, so it’s time to have a nice cuppa and get cracking with the last few projects. Whether you prefer Tea or a Cup of Joe just make sure you keep your mug well away from your water jar... I doubt if I am the only one to have inadvertently taken a glug of paint water instead of coffee?!

It's good to see the Challenge Roster on the right has so many people on it that have already hit their target. But even if you haven't, rest assured there is still time for one last effort. I've lit some fires under the feet of Team Tuesday and they have responded admirably with another batch of wonderful entries. Tamsin is kicking us off today with some stunning 28mm Aussies; Alex has built himself a Church; Tamsin is back a second time with some 15mm Russians;  Sander is back with a more Heroquest and Necromunda; Martin treats us to Bolsheviks in the Jungle; Christopher presents a stunning AT gun; Ray gives us an unusually coloured unit of Horse for Tangiers; next James has some Crusader AA Tanks and later in the day some Quad Tractors; and finally Ken reveals some Italaian....ships!

There is still space for more and at least two team members have hinted they may have another entry before the day is out. Put the kettle on and keep your eye's peeled.