From Mike W - [Graveyard Beach] 37 Egyptian Skeletons and Mummy (205 Points)

Third and final post for the day, a couple of units of Undead Egyptian Skeletons accompanied by anoter couple of  character models to lead the rapidly growing army.

I'm taking a liberty here as I'm claiming that the Sahara Desert is in fact a very wide beach! Fact is Egypt does have beaches and I'm sure you can find skeletons there!

The units are from old Games Workshop Skelton figures in my plastic pile, that has been in th eloft since we moved here 14 years ago, some are undercoated (black or white and even a few in grey), some are bare plastic, all very old and increasingly fragile! 

I know there is such a thing as plastic rot and some of these guys are suffering from it - noticeablely - I guess - due to the thin limbs that these models have. they snap off very easily!

Unit of 10 Egyptian Skeleton Archers

The first unit is of 10 archers, all where given a new white undercoat and then washed in a watered down Army Painter Strong Wash. I then dry brushed these with Light Sand and then Skull white to get the effect I was looking for.

Bows and quivers were painted light blue and straps and any head / arm bands dark blue. All metal work including jewellery was painted 'Greedy Gold' and then highlighted where needed with Brass.

Slightly different view, I've added a hint of green to the bases
here to acknowledge that here was water in Egypt!

Another  light brown wash and figures were based with fine sand and dried grass tufts. I maintained the light blue shield theme, used on my previous submission and ensured shield backs were an aged wood effect.

What I forgot was that the spear shafts on the first unit were black, on these I have gone for light blue...

The second unit of 15 Skeletons was painted in exactly the same manner, the first two ranks wee mostly spearmen and the third rank was made of axemen. I concentrated on the musician, standard bearer and champion to give the unit some focus

15 figure unit of Spearmen and Axe men. Highlighting the Standard Bearer

And from the front

The Command row from the unit

Second Rank Spearmen

Third rank Axemen, I'm not sure own historically accurate it is for
Egyptians to have axes, but its what I had to hand.

The down side is that I'm now down to my last 10 or so plastic Egyptian shields, these Games Workshop items ae very distinctive looking and help tie all three of the units together.

Unit Champion

I have dozens of plastic skeleton figures waiting to be painted but all with the Old World / Vampire themed shields - I need to source a supply of ancient Egyptian shields from somewhere - if anyone has any ideas on where I can get these relatively cheaply please let me know.

Standard Bearer

One thought I've had is to use these units as the Guard units and then simply get hold of metal or plastic shields from non GW sources and call these future units the Rank & File Units in the Army...

Unit Musician

The two Character figures are also old Warhammer metal figures, one is a skeleton, the other another Mummy. I gave these two a splash of red, the skeleton on his loin cloth, the mummy on the staff that he carries...

Skeleton Lord, I forgot to matt varnish this guy - now done!

From behind...

... just to be a little different but still with the underlying dark / light blue themes. I'm happy wit the loin cloth but I might go back and change the staff to dark blue if I find time.

Mummy Figure, looking suitably dynamic

And again form behind...

POINTS

37 x 28mm Foot Figures @ 5 Pts ea   = 185 Points

Graveyard beach Bonus                      = 20 Points

TOTAL                                                = 205 Points

From JasperO - Winter Americans (30 points)

When the Chambers of Challenge were first revealed, I really tried to mentally go through them (or at least the ones I thought I was likely to get to!) and figure out what could fit where. It's a simple fact that not everything I wanted to paint would fit. I'll just have to work harder to reach my puny goals.

So here's part of a cold-weather-ready section of American infantry for WW2. They're wonderful Artizan Designs figures. Quite different from the Empress engineers I finished last week, but very satisfying to paint. For the rest of the squad, I plan to try a browner hue to the OD overcoats. We'll see if I can manage that.

Points-wise, I think this is very straightforward with six 28mm figures for 30 points. When I complete the section, I'll give myself a pat on the back and will be able to field a Chain of Command platoon in varying weather (or just have an extra section handy as a support choice). 

From PaulSS: [Curtgeld] Fervent Mullah (25pts)

I was going to enter this figure for "The Shrine" but instead decided to submit the Druids for that entry so this chap is probably my "smallest points entry" ever.

The figure was included in a give-away bag at a recent show and was from Badger Games and is part of the Afghanistan Personalities pack.

I do have some lovely Empress Miniatures insurgents buried in the lead mountain, maybe they will be painted to join him one day.

A 28mm figure will add 5 points to my total.

Edited by TamsinP on 08 March:

Paul has now made this his Curtgeld entry, so that's +20 points for him.

From Mike W - [Lady Sarah] Ancient Egyptian Priestess (25 Points)

This is my second post of the day and is a submission to move me from Level Two of the dungeon to Level Three, at the grace of Lady Sarah! If this works I'll be placed at the Graveyard Beach. 

Now, I've never really got my head around the traditional logic that when the Egyptian undead rise the guys are grim looking all Mummies and Skeletons but the women remain beautiful princesses or priestesses! Still I can only work with the figures that are available!

The Egyptian Priestess

This is a Reaper Miniatures, Egyptian Priestess with he pet Baboon, mounted on a 2p piece.

I undercoated then figure in white and then applied a basic flesh colour, after drying I gave it a Flesh Wash and again when dry, I applied a lighter flesh colour as a highlight. The robe and bandage on the staff were done in a 'Linen' colour before applying a watered down brown wash and dry brushing linen again to give highlights.

I hesitate to say it, but here's the rear view...

The staff was painted blue and the Baboon 'Monster Brown', these were again given appropriate washes and then highlighted again. 

Final view, a slightly different angle

Gold jewellery was added and dark & light blue features added to finish off the figure.

POINTS

28mm Figure    5 Points

Bonus               20 Points

TOTAL             25 Points

From Mike W - [The Orc's Pit] The Red Gobbo and his Crew (100 Points)

Many, many years ago when I played Warhammer 40K, a lot more than I do now, I remember a theme that was developed by the Games Workshop team, where a semi legendary Goblin, known as 'The Red Gobbo'  fought to free his Goblin brethren from Orc persecution and domination....

Completed unit with Champion out front

Another view of the unit, highlighting the Champion's Bow Bearer,
a freed Snotling that has grown after getting better rations

Since then I had thought it would be fun to transpose this theme into the Warhammer Fantasy / Oldhammer Realm, so here I present The Red Gobbo and his raggerty band of Goblin followers.

This motley crew of goblins have been saved from various Orc bands, no two are dressed alike (are any Goblins?) but they follow the Red Star Flag and most wear a red star badge to show their allegiance to The Red Gobbo.

The reality is that these figures are from the dregs of my plastic pile and all have seen better days, but that is likely to be a good start to represent this band of Greenskin reprobates.

Five of the rebellious 'Free' Goblins

So most of these were undercoated in black, although a number of limbs and other parts had to be added / replaced by unpainted parts, I went over everything with a grey undercoat.

The command line, Standard Bearer, Champion and his Bow Bearer
and a heavy with an Orc's head trophy

Then I blocked in the green skin and decided to have weapons coloured a flat red, mostly bows but a few spears etc to give the unit some cohesive look. I added leather colouration where needed and then when all was dry I started with ink washes to give definition and highlights.

Three more of the unit's Gobbos.

I used trusty old 'Nuln Oil' to put a black wash over the clothing and this made the roles and cloth look like a shaded black, Army Painter Strong wash was used over everything else except the skin which was washed in green ink.

Three more! 

I then went back to add details such as a red mouth and white teeth, gold ear-rings and bangles etc. To add the Red Gobbo feel the models wee given a red star on most of the robes, hand painted but this adds to feel of the goblin crudity .

Two feature highlights were the hand painted Red Star banner, carried by all of Red Gobbo's troops and the prize orc's head held aloft by one of the goblins.

A final view of the unit

I like to think of the Red Gobbo organisation being as badly organised as the 'Peoples Front of Judea' in the Life of Bran film! 

The downside of doing this unit is that he figure I had earmarked as 'The Red Gobbo' is now not dramatic enough for my liking, he's been relegated to being a unit Champion. I will need to find and paint a suitable Red Gobbo figure sometime.

POINTS

16 x 28mm figures @ 5 Pts ea   = 80 Points

Orc's Pit Bonus                           = 20 Points

TOTAL                                        = 100 Points

From PaulSS: [Shrine] Druids doing unspeakable things to goats (40pts)

I've been a bit slack on the painting front of late, so I thought that a religious ceremony may help me get my mojo back.

Shrine: Dearly beloved Challengers, let us bow our heads, and create … a religious-themed entry in this chamber. A model which is worshipping, praying, genuflecting, preaching, pilgrimaging, scourging, crusading, venerating … or maybe just visiting parishioners for tea. Clerics welcome!

As Terry Pratchett said, "you can tell it's for religious purposes as there is a channel to carry the blood away."

I picked up this piece in the sale at my local game store and think that it will fit nicely into my Age of Arthur collection that has been long neglected.

The figures are from Westwind and are from the "Druids Making a Sacrifice (SHS) with rock & goat" set.

This year, I managed to sneak in to my challenge entries ducks, chickens, dogs, horses and now a goat is added to the ensemble, maybe a side duel for next year could be undertaken.

If we count the goat on a rock as the same as a 28mm figure then with the location bonus this will add 40 points to my total.

From DrQ: Stormcast Eternals in the Knights Solar (40 points)

For the Knights Solar I've painted up the most knightly and solar models I can find. Here are a few Stormcast Sequitors and a gryph-hound from the Storm Strike box. 

These are push-to-fit models with no modularity. But the Sequitor Prime is pretty good regardless.

I tried to paint these all with a makeshift nonmetallic scheme using contrast paints for the heavy lifting of the gradients. My Kharadron Overlords have a true metallic scheme, and I want these models to look distinct. I also used Citadel's Nighthaunt Gloom Technical on the base. I'm not sure if the scheme worked entirely, but they're good enough for tabletop. 

Apparently, the gryph-hound is supposed to go with the other Stormcast unit in the box—the Castigators. However, I just felt like painting him (her? them?) up right now.  

As far as points, four 28mm models is 20 points plus the challenge are bonus of 20 points is 40 points total. Oh, and two more skulls for my meager skull throne. 

AndrewB-The Tomb

 Long work week made me push pause on posting for a moment, but we’re back!   For the Tomb, I’ve painted another delightful figure from Old Glory.  This mummy is resting quite comfortably in his sarcophagus, with a modest exterior.

 This little fella is perfect for a terrain accent piece which can at a moment’s notice become something far more interesting! Just to be on the safe side, I took a picture of his more interesting and athletic representation beside him for comparison, and I can’t be happier with Old Glory’s work with these figures.   

These should be a delightful pair to surprise some players in a game or two of Fistful of Lead, using the Tales of Horror expansion.  

My calculations have me at a modest 5 points for a 28mm figure, and 20 points for the challenge, for 25 total.  We’ll be back soon with level three!

Happy Painting!

From ScottM: Tank Girl for Teleportation (25 points)

Having completed the Hall of Heroes, our trusty adventurer needs to relocate to the Knights Solar. To carry out the relocation, Tammy the Tank Girl steps up. This 28mm metal fig is from Bombshell Miniatures and their Babes line.

Not sure what I'll use this figure for, maybe the upcoming Stargrave? Fun, little figure to paint.

So that should be:

1 - 28mm foot fig + relocation bonus = 25 points

The Return of Cap'n Wednesday and his Desert Island survey!

Aye, its Wednesday again me Hearties, and this week the Cap'n returns with the answers to his Desert Island survey. Last week we posed this question:

Scenario: If you were marooned on a desert island (with other wargamers, if you so choose), what THREE games would you want to have with you? There is only room for three in your sea chest, but you can take whatever minis/accessories you might need to play them.

Some erudite Challengers stepped up to the mark and nailed their colours to the mast, good job!*  Those that didn't now get to take NO games to the island and spend their time painting everyone else's models.  Thats what a Black Spot gets you these days...

Anyhow, the Inner Counsel convened to consider this weighty matter and have declared the following to be the one true answer to the dilemma:

1. SAGA. With its myriad supplements from Fantasy through Dark Ages to Crusades, and its battle board system providing great replay-ability. This was the first game selected for the Sea Trunk.

2. Battlegroup. Playable from Platoon to Battalion level, with models ranging from 6 to 28mm, and with supplements covering most of the theatres and period of WW2, this was selected as the WW2 game of choice. Plus we really like it, so thats that.

3. Players' Choice. This one was a three way tie between Sharp Practice and Warhammer Fantasy Battles - so its player's choice for this one! We recommend arm wresting t settle a tie.

So there you have it Challengers, the first (and probably last) of Cap'n Wednesday irrelevant surveys! 

Now lets post some submissions...

* see here: https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2021/01/capn-wednesdays-desert-island-games.html

From StuartL - Naughty-cal Types for the Aquifer (55 Points)

Hello again.

Having left an offering at the Altar of the Snow Lord, I thought that I would head back through the Chambers of Challenge and finish up the ones that I had passed by on my mad descent into the lower depths. Starting from the 1st level, that left me with the goal of painting up something nautical for the Aquifer.

With that in mind, I dug out 5 pirates figures and did my best to get them all shipshape for this post.

First up we have a couple of character minis, a dangerous buccaneer and a smartly dressed captain. The captain is from Reaper minis, so he's pretty large compared to the other minis here. The buccaneer and the crew below are all from Black Scorpion Miniatures. (Note the skull on the buccaneer's belt and the skull shaped belt buckle on the captain's right shoulder). I do like the Black Scorpion minis, they have a fair amount of detail and paint up easily. Sadly BS switched over to resin a while back, which has really put me off buying more. (That's not to say anything bad about BS's minis, I just hate resin).

Of course, no pirate captain would get very far without his trusty crew. Here we have 3 scruffy looking seamen intent on loot and plunder. I have so far used the Cutlass rules from Black Scorpion for pirate related games, but they are designed for small skirmishes with only a handful of minis a side and require a few house rules to make them playable. On the plus side, they are a lot of fun and also include options for more fantastical crews should you want to use them. I'm thinking of scaling up a bit to have full sized pirate crews on the table along with some royal navy types. Due to one challenger's constant promotion of them, I am looking at maybe trying out Donnybrook as that seems to allow for slightly larger games, includes rules for muskets and the like, and I want to see what all the fuss is about.

Rather than make a separate post, I have also included a non-pirate mini here. I painted up a Necron Cryptek mini between other batches of figures, and finished it off alongside the pirates. This figure came in a big boxed set, though I think it is available by itself now. The Crypteks are the mad scientist/engineer caste among the Necron forces and often have access to strange and incomprehensible technologies. This one has attached himself via his spine to a spider-shaped, hovering roomba. I guess those old space tombs get very dusty. 

If today's minion agrees, as a 28mm figure mounted on another mini, I have scored him as a cavalry figure. The precedent has been set that Necron heads count as skullz, so I will add one to my tally. (The spider thing probably shouldn't count, right).

So, that comes to 5x28mm infantry, 1x28mm cavalry and 1 chamber bonus for a total of 55 Points.

The pirates add one Squirrel point to my tally, the Necron adds 10 to my GW duel and there are 3 skullz for that side duel.

My running Duels totals:

GW Points - 676

Skullz - 374

Squirrels - 13

Well, you managed to sneak this one in just before I logged off, so I guess I have to minion it. What a rotten crew of reprobates. No, no, no - I'm talking about this year's minions, not those nicely painted rascals of the high seas!

55 points for you to close out my shift,

Tamsin

From DaveS - 'Allo 'Allo - French Partisans

 I have continued to work on the French Partisans that I plan on using for Bolt Action.  This time, I have the start of a second squad, and a pre-war 75mm Howitzer for support.

First we have the body of the squad, 6 troops with rifles, one with a Panzerfaust.  These are a mix of Warlord's French Partisans, and their Russian ones. Their leader has a sash, which I have attempted to paint as a French flag.  There is also the Partisan in a Trenchcoat that someone was wishing for.

As part of this squad, I also have the light machine gun and loader.  These were real pigs to photograph at all well.  I also noticed during painting that the gunner has no bipod for his machine gun.  The plan is to either make one in the future, or to balance the gun barrel on something else (maybe sandbags) when I manufacture some.  For now, he will just have to be wildly inaccurate instead.

Finally, we have an artillery option, in the form of the 75mm Howitzer.  This caused me some issues, as I was torn as to what colour to paint it.  Eventually, I went with an artillery blue, figuring that this was an older gun that had not been repainted, and small enough caliber to have never been painted in camo.  However, since I know almost nothing about French guns, I could be completely wrong.  It does, however, look good with the rest of the forces.

So that should be 12 28mm models at 5pts each, plus a crewed gun at 10pts, for a total of 70 points.

" 'Allo London, zees ees Missus Nighthawk calling..."

These are obviously the Communist resistance - the de Gaullists were all in berets, brown raincoats and wearing white ankle socks...

I'm sure you already have a certain cafe owner and his staff from Artizan's "Thrilling Tales" range (and if not, maybe you'll be ordering them now I've made the suggestion).

Tamsin