From MikeW - Warhammer Fantasy Orcs (100 Points)

 Well, this weekend, I have manged to squeeze out a group of 20 Orc Greenskins to go with the guys I posted a few days ago. I have used the same panting techniques as discussed in that post but have moved it on a little based upon a couple of paint gifts I treated myself to at Xmas.

The just completed batch of 20 x Orc Boys

Namely Army Painter 'Orc Skin' Speed Paint and some Games Workshop 'Air' Warboss Green. So for these guys I used the Speed Paint to block in all the green flesh areas - as the name wold suggest - and then used the Warboss Green to highlight all of the muscles on the figures. The Orc Skin paint is very vivid and possibly too much by its self, the Warboss Green, seems to mute this nicely.

I've decided to group these guys for close-ups basis similar poses, Whilst the new GW Orc figures are great - I'm not a fan of the mono-pose figures as they are mch harder to get a variety of different looks - as I'd imagine a mob of Orcs might look!

The result is, in my opinion, petty good, so I'll look to develop this further on this year's pile of shame! For those interested - I have more Orc Boys plus some Savage Orcs waiting to be painted along with a 3D printed group of Swamp Goblins riding Frogs! (Possibly Toads - I don't know the difference, either way they are lovely figures)

That said there are limitations with the mltipose kits as well!

As ever the bases are painted with a brown acrylic paint and PVA glue gloop, dipped in fine sand and when dry electrostaic grass is added using the same brown gloop, dry brushed over the sand. Base rims then painted black!

These guys with shields will be posted to re-enforce some other regiments in my collection, as I get all my Orc figures second hand sually opt to paint them as they are built, saving me that time!

Shockingly there are no skulls on any of these twenty figures! Nearest thing is two severed heads..

Some Boys with big Choppas! Some with better dental care than others...

And a parting shot of all 25 figures I have done since the start of the challenge
Just because I could take such a pictre!

POINTS

20 x 28mm Orcs @ 5 points ea        100 Points

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Great looking mob of Greenskins, Mike! I think you have your Orc flesh recipe nailed - now it's time to go into full production!

Well done!

- Curt

From DallasE - 28mm Ancient Germans! (Overdue and Returns - 110 points)

Hello again Challengers! For my second Challenge entry I'm submitting more progress on my new Early Imperial Romans/Ancient Germans project. How does this make it into "Overdue and Returns" if it's a new project? Well, because these particular models have been sitting unpainted in a Plano case for longer than I can remember! Maybe 10 years...? They are Wargames Foundry Germans of course... but there's more to the story...  

When I first moved to Winnipeg in 1999 and began tabletop historical wargaming in earnest, I was an avid user of websites like Bartertown and TMP. Eager to get into the Imperial Roman period, I spotted a deal on two painted armies offered by a seller - Early Imperial Romans and Ancient Germans. Of course, being the Internet of the '90s, pictures of stuff for sale were hard to come by, so I asked the seller who had made the figures. "Foundry" was the answer so I pulled the trigger and bought the lot. What arrived, though, was decidedly not made by Foundry... maybe "a" foundry, but definitely not Wargames Foundry. So I tuned up the paint the best I could with washes and highlights, we had a game or two of WAB with them, and I moved them on. But I always wanted to have nice armies of Romans and ancient Germans in 28mm.  

Fast forward 25 years or so and here we are! As I said these Germans were obtained in a trade I think and have been sitting in a box for 10 years or more. So it was time to get them painted and get another new insane project further down the road to completion (!)

Unfortunately my models didn't have shields, but these were purchased from Warlord Games along with decals, which (amazingly) fit the metal shields quite well!

(The two models at right were painted pre-Challenge as a test of my "flesh method" so aren't counted in the total). I think these Germans turned out OK and are certainly a great improvement over the lumpen proles (Minifigs maybe?) that I'd bought back in the day.

So I'll count points for this lot as follows:

18 28mm Germans                90 points

Overdue and returns room     20 points

Total                                     110 points 

Here's the project progress so far! Unfortunately there will be a slight delay in resumption as I've run out of 20mm square bases but more are on the way. Ave Imperator!

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Bartertown. Wow. Now, that takes me back - I'm sure I have some figures in my collection that originated from that much-loved site (and I'm sure a few of them are of the same dubious provenance as your first 'Foundry' lot).

Fabulous work on these hirsute Germans, Dallas! You 'flesh method' looks ace and I particularly like the striped and chequed trews of some of the heroes. I look forward to seeing more on this project over the next few months. Well done! 

- Curt

From TeemuL: Amroth of Lorien [Fantasy] (25 points)

For the Fantasy section at the library I chose the old and faithful J.R.R. Tolkien (you might be familiar with recent film flop "Wild Wandering Adventures of Murin and Drar during the time of Lord of the Rings" from the last Challenge). This is again an old metal Mithril Miniature, M208 to be precise from the year 1991. He is called Amroth of Lorien, a former king of Lothlorien and a victim of tragic love story with elf maiden Nimrodel.

I tried to choose simple but elegant colours, fit for a king and chose dark blue and green. The blue cloak was inspired by the high elf cloaks of the Fellowship of the Ring movie.

I am quite happy with the blue cloak, but there are some fine details on the model, that I just couldn't catch before taking photos, so some of the details are "faint"...

Three different shades of blue on the cloak, looks quite good. :)

I had a plan before the Library theme was released and I was certain, that my plan would not survive. So far I have finished 0 models from the plan and 6 outside the plan...

One 28mm model with 20 points from the Fantasy location should give me 25 points. I'm now ready to move on in the Library and guess what - the next minis aren't part of the plan... :D

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I always enjoy seeing your work with these old school LotR minis from Mithril (and they seem to have a figure for every character that Tolkien put pen to paper). I agree, the blue cloak is terrific. Well done! More please. :)

I like that I've messed with your Plan, Teemu. My work here is doing its task. *wipes hands together*

- Curt

From MilesR: 28mm Byzantines for Barrons War and a History Library Submission (510 Points)

 

Wow, I've painted more 28mm figures during the first week of this challenge than I've done in the past 2 years.  For your consideration is a small Byzantion force intended to be used with the Barron's War ruleset (which is the new "hotness" at my club).  I'll also be submitting these as my "historical" library challenge.

These are all 28mm plastic from Fireforge Miniatures and I highly recommend them.

To be honest, I am a little nervous submitting these giving the superb Byzantines presented by both GregB and DarrelH.  I can never approximate their skill level.

First up are 12 Koursores or thematic heavy cavalry, 6 with lances and 6 with swords

Maybe not quite the armored might of a cataphract but they can still hit hard and are a bit more manueverable.

I used Army painter speed paints 2.0 on all my Byzantine figures and have really liked them.

Speaking of Cataphracts, here are 12 of the armored monsters, 6 with lances and 6 with maces.

Not the most nimble of troops but wow do they pack a punch

Some skirmishers and light archers 

Lastly - some heavy infantry (25) and armored Archers (10)

WHile Cataphracts are the showboats, the heart of any Byzantine army is their heavy infantry and archers.

You will see a few more Byzantines added to the mix before this challenge is over.

As for points:

  50 Infantry = 250 points

  24 Cavalry = 240 points

  plus 20 for the Library Challenge

that totals 510 points, so not to bad a haul.

OK, I think that's all for today - it appears my painting partner Gus has some business to take care of outside so I've got to go.  Happy New Year Everyone!

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Thus it begins, right after the Paint Bomb (TM) of the ever-industrious Martin, we have Miles The Machine opening up the throttle on his Paint Engine!

Amazing work Mr. Miles. A full cross-section of Byzantine military power in all it's armoured glory. 510 points worth all at once. Bam! Wowzers that's very impressive. I look forward to seeing more of this project fly off your hobby desk, Mr. R.

Also, give Gus a good skritch for me - he's such a good boy.

- Curt

From MartinC Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (New Acquistions) (453pts)

Here we go again. Another winter chained to a desk painting toy soldiers for the Snowlord. Now I know how Santa's Elves feel.

I've been prepping madly for the last few weeks and have a bit of a stash to paint. So lets get on with it.

Crusader Miniatures (via Northstar, and one of my favorite manufacturers) have a Boxer Rebellion range and they had a sale on (88 figs for £90). Who could resist. The boxers are The Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, and fought to overthrow the Imperial Powers, who had occupied most of China. 

There are loads of them

Riflemen, I kept to simple colours

Another section

And another

Next up some spear and sword armed chaps

All the figures have the boxer character on their backs

And some have the Ying Yang symbol. This figure is actually one of 3 Perry Korean's that I've repurposed

Another one, with a flag, again with the Boxer Chinese character

Erm, another one. Bored yet.

And finally the last group

So this is me, and those of you who know me know that I don't do things normally. I'm about to start a 10mm imagination campaign with 7YW Prussians, Austrians, American AWI, Woodland Indians and Jacobite Scots, set in the Baltic states.

So obviously these aren't going to be Boxers for the rebellion, but another force for my Back of Beyond forces. So they need a leader. I present to you Dr Fu Manchu

Fu Manchu was a arch villain from my youth, created by Sax Rohmer in the 1920s. Usually played by Christopher Lee in the movies. I started to read the books but they are appalling and deeply racist - the Yellow Peril and all that.

Fu Manchu in his palanquin is the Dr Koo figure from Pulp (a cracking figure), with his daughter (Fa Lo Suee) and a diminutive poisoner from the Hasslefree.

I love the dragon on the back of the palanquin and the syringe in the hand of the poisoner

He will lead his forces, and those of a Chinese Warlord (figs to follow later in the challenge) to great victories.

Scores on the doors

80 Boxers = 400

3 flags = 3

For Fu Manchu

4 figures = 20

Palanquin + Fu Manchu = 10

Someting New Bonus = 20

Total = 453

Have a great new year

Martin

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Mr. Cooke! I always enjoy seeing what you have in store during the Challenge, as you often complete entire armies during the three months, and today is no different with this stonking entry. 

I suppose what we see here is a tantalising preview of what is to come: A pulp Imagination featuring such characters as Fu Manchu along with his horde of fanatical minions! I love all the varied figures, together providing a riot AND a riot of colour, and all led by a plotting overlord and his deadly daughter. Fabulous.

This will be a fun project to watch unfold. Great work, Martin!

- Curt

From StuartL - Estonian Legion - History & Sarah's Library Cart - 161 Points

Hello all,

One of the fun things about the challenge is that is encourages you to learn more about the subjects you are painting, and to actively go out and find new things. As my case in point for today, I have ended up researching an area of WW2 that I previously didn't know much about. 

In August 1942, the Wehrmacht created the Estonian Legion, a combat support formation of the Waffen-SS. It was originally formed of volunteers, and later augmented with some 700 men from the police forces. During this period, it was an active participant in many of the Nazi regimes crimes against humanity, particularly in the occupied areas of Belarus and Poland. 

    

As the military situation worsened in the East in 1943, the Germans began to conscript Estonian men into the legion and its numbers swelled up to about 6000. The Legion was moved away from police duties and started to see combat against Soviet forces. As things got even worse, the Germans organized a second round of drafts in '44. This time, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Juri Uluots endorsed the conscription. Seeing the possibility of a German defeat in the near future, Uluots thought that it would be a good idea to get as many guns into the hands of Estonian patriots as possible to help secure their independence once the Nazis were beaten. As a result 38,000 Estonians signed up. 

These minis are all from Warlord Games' old range of metal Waffen-SS figures. The detail on some of them isn't as crisp as it could be, but they're not too bad. The separate heads allow for some different poses and customization.

I bought a bunch of these figures years ago when Bolt Action first came out and still have a load more in my to-do pile. They are equipped with all sorts of gear, from SMG's to Assault Rifles to Panzerfausts. 

In total there are 21 models, but two of them are lying prone, so will only score 2.5 points each.

   

The late war German supply chain was a mess, so I have painted these guys up in a variety of camo patterns. Plane Tree, Oak Leaf and Pea Dot are the names of the patterns I was using. Some of the minis have a mix of patterns on them, which made the process way longer than it could have been. Still, they give a good impression of an army logistics department that is getting by by the skin of its teeth.

So, with the history section finished it is time to move on to Overdue and Returns. Sadly, these models are still Overdue and won't be putting in an appearance until 2024 I think. Still, I can hop onto Sarah's Library Cart and get over to the correct section. 

As is standard, I have a female mini to pay for the trip, a Minotauress, (Minotaurina? Lady Minotaur?). As I was already painting up one model, I grabbed a couple of companion figures for her from my collection and here we have the results. 

As with nearly all of my fantasy submissions, these are Reaper Bones minis. The two male Minotaurs are the older type with softer details, whereas the Minotauress in the centre is the newer type and is a lot higher quality. These models will find a home in the skirmish game I am working on.

The models were all started from a brown undercoat, with the various colours selectively brushed over the top followed by a sepia wash. A final highlight of the skin and cloth finished them off pretty quickly.

The models look quite slender, but they are actually quite large, as you can see from this comparison with the rather scared looking SS Grenadier.

So, the scores should be:

21x 28mm minis (2 prone) = 100 points

3x 40mm minis = 21 points

History Section = 20 points

Sarah's Library Cart = 20 points

TOTAL = 161 Points

For my duels:

Skulls +0 = 32 Skulls

Legions +100 = 140 Points

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Great work on these Estonians, Stuart. They provide an interesting, albeit grim, slice of their national history and an creative take on the 'legion' challenge. I like how you deftly created the mottled sense of their uniforms and kit that would be apparent during the unravelling, late-war period. The Minotaurs are very impressive and I like that Reaper provided a female version as well - not something you often see! Well done!

- Curt