From AaronH: Sharku on foot and mounted (15 points)

 This is my first entry of the 15th Challenge. Rhys picked this model out for me as my first. I've wanted Sharku for years but could never find him in metal; only fine-crap (Finecast, a misnomer if there's ever been one). Last December ('22) I was in the UK and made it to Warhammer World and they had Sharku in metal. Problem solved.

Sharku, Champion of Orcthanc.

The metal model is nice and chunky, though a little nose heavy on the wharg.

It's nice that the rules for LotR require you to have a foot mounted version of each mounted model. Two for one!

This big knife is not really to my taste but I guess it's movie accurate.

You can see a bit of the nose lean-i-ness of the mounted model here.

I based him the same as my Mordor army even though he's Isengard, just because he's an orc and I'll use him as a mounted orc hero in my Mordor army. (Also, apropos of nothing, spell check knows that Mordor should be capitalized). There are six wharg riders right behind him in the queue, so we're starting to make progress.

This entry is two models:

Sharku mounted x 1 x 10 points

Sharku on foot x 1 x 5 points

Total = 15 points

Sylvain: Your brush does great justice to the mounted and foot miniatures of Sharku. Great job! I admire your patience in sourcing a metal model. I'll be looking forward for your next batch of LotR minis.

 

 

 

From QuinnM: Winged golden boy (Stormcast) and Elves (55 points)

For this week I have another batch of High Elves spearmen and a lone prosecutor. 

9x28mm footman = 45 points 

For this batch I got a little faster painting them by changing what order I painted the colors and made a few alterations to the washes I used to get a little more color variation from them. I am happy with the final result. 

As for the prosecutor I wanted something other then the elves for this post so I painted this guy. They are one of my favourite models in the Age of Sigmar line despite the tactical rock. they are a little hard for me to paint with the very small trim on there wings but it is worth the time to do. I am never happy with the "Flames' on there wings and fell like it is missing something any recommendations for the rest of the unit.  

 Sylvain: Good work on these models! The High Elves look neatly painted. I like the charm of old static Warhammer models. The Prosecutor looks impressive and you did the model justice with the wide palette of colors you used on him. You forgot to claim points for the latter, and I will give him 10 points, considering the wings are worth a mount. Nicely done!

Just a quick note: please don't forget to enter your labels. 

From BrianC: Zombicide Survivors, Cultist, Naughty Nurses? Oh My! (87 points)

 Well, Hello! I'm thrilled to return for my second go-around! Ok. Right off the bat, I am not much of a mini painter, but I try to paint the minis "decent" enough to get on the tabletop as quickly as possible. Hey, I love to game! For this paint challenge, I will focus on getting those old, old Reaper Miniature Bones minis painted. The plastic is a challenge to paint. Also, I have begun painting 15mm miniatures and loving it! So I will start off with some Alternative Armies 15mm Cultist miniatures. 

Yup, I painted the cultist the typical red outfits..

Yeah, that's an old dude on a "speeder bike"?

I am a BIG Zombicide fan. Therefore, I will be painting a lot of Zombicide Survivors. For example, Here are two of them, Audrey(aka Amy from Big Bang Theory) and Doud.

These Zombicide miniatures are Special Promo survivors. I use Army Painter Speedpaints on all my minis.

Next, I have some resin 3D-printed naughty nurses. These two girls will be great for the special horror tabletop game.

The next mini is another Alternative Armies, Jack Frost. The minis is metal and I truly enjoy painting the metal minis. I tried my best to give him a "icy" look.

Now we have the old Reaper Miniature minis. Although, one is metal and was a treat to paint! I will begin with the spy, Agatha Fox.

What is she pulling out of her purse? Hmm?

Next, we have a Callie, The Rogue. I may use her for Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadow Deep.

We have Zombie Hunter, Bonnie blasting her way through the undead!

Lastly, I like to introduce to you Gang Boss Phat Clark. This Reaper metal miniature was fun to paint! I think he can be used for Victorian Sci-Fi or Steampunk miniature game. 

Well, there ya go. My first entry for the 2025 Paint Challenge. Again, I am using this challenge to get a lot of older minis painted. I will have some Romans, Vikings, and Saxons for this challenge, too. I am very excited to be back again! Love it! Get after it! 

Ok, now for the points...

9 x 28/32mm = 45pts.

19 x 15mm = 38pts,

1 x 15mm mounted = 4pts.

Possible total = 87pts.

Sylvain: A very colorful entry covering different genres and scales. Your cultists look the business, and your survivors will increase the fun when playing Zombicide. When patients at the hospital see your nurses entering their room with crowbar and knife, I am sure they will instantly "heal" and start running...

Great job!

From FrederickC: Behind the Rolling Barrage - The Victors of Vimy (150 points)

 

The Taking of Vimy Ridge, Easter Monday 1917 by Richard Jack

My second submission for AHPC XV is a group of 28mm First World War Canadian infantry from Renegade Miniatures that I bought on a Christmas visit to my family in Calgary at least fifteen years ago. It consists of two Vickers machine gun teams ready to lay down suppressive fire, plus four sections of six soldiers. Each section contains four men armed with rifle and bayonet, a Lewis gunner, and his No, 2, the last heavily laden with extra drum magazines. The sculpts are a bit on the chunky side compared to other First World War miniatures, but the faces have real character. They look like they were inspired by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather's cartoons of 'Old Bill' from the pages of 'Fragments from France'. Alas, they now seem to be out of production.

After cleaning up the mold lines, etc. the figures were glued to 1 inch fender washers, and then sand was glued down with PVA. I primed them using a rattle can of Army Painter Fur Brown primer. The figures were then painted using Vallejo Acrylics as follows: skin - Flat Flesh, uniform - English Uniform, boots - German Camo Black Brown, helmet chin strap and pistol holster - Flat Earth, P08 webbing - Iraqi Sand, SBR pouch and helmet cover - Tan Yellow, helmet and rain cape - Camo Olive Green, rifle stock and entrenching tool handle - Beige Brown, metal rifle parts - German Grey, bayonet - Steel, buttons, buckles, and snaps - Brass.

Once all the painting was completed, the figures got my usual treatment with Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade. This worked very well on these figures as the detail is quite pronounced, so the quick shade flows readily into any grooves or corners.

Shock Troops of the British Empire

Vickers Machine Gun Teams

No. 1 Section

No. 2 Section

No. 3 Section

No. 4 Section

Perhaps Bairnsfather's best know cartoon

The points being claimed are as follows:

 

30 x 28mm foot figures @ 5 points each = 150 points

Thanks for stopping by. 

 

Sylvain: Happy New Year Frederick, it's good to know that you are participating in the Challenge this year again. These WW1 Canadian soldiers look fabulous. Nothing fancy about their bases, since they are advancing in mud, but the scenery bits you used in the background of your pictures really enhances their realism. All in all, a great entry.

 

 

 

 

 

LES COPAINS DU SAMEDI AU CAFÉ CANADIEN-FRANÇAIS

 

This title translates into: "Saturday buddies at the French-Canadian Café". Inspired by TeemuL, who every week generously opens the door of Finland to us, I thought that I could offer some small glimpses into French-Canadian culture using songs. Every week, I will play a song in the café and offer some historical background.

Chanson de voyageurs.

The voyageurs were mostly of French-Canadian ascent and were hired to paddle canoes roughly from Montréal in the East to Winnipeg in the West, between 1784 and 1880, going through the Great Lakes and rivers of Manitoba. To help them keep the pace, they would sing songs known as "chanson de voyageurs". 

"C'est l'aviron qui nous mène" [It's the paddle that leads us] is probably the best known voyageurs song. Imagine you have been paddling a fully loaded canoe for 8 hours, your arms are really tired, your shoulders are aching and the only thing that keeps you moving is a song... You will note that in the first few lines there is a reference to "La Rochelle", a town in France, where the voyageurs probably never have been to. Many of these songs were originally from France and were adapted by the voyageurs.

From Curt: Paris of Troy (Lust) (45 Points)

Hi there!

For my entry for 'Lust', the 2nd Circle of the Abyss, I give you Paris of Troy. 

As the myth goes, Zeus (aka 'The Big Horny Coward') had Paris choose the most beautiful amongst Athena, Hera and Helen of Sparta (the proxy for Aphrodite). He chose Helen.  Not being able to master himself, Paris stole Helen from her husband Menelaus. As if this situation wasn't bad enough, Menelaus was also the king of Sparta, which made matters exponentially worse for Paris and the Trojan people.

The abduction of Helen instigated the Trojan War which lasted 10 years, cost thousands of lives, and the destruction of Troy itself. In Dante's 'Divine Comedy' Paris' lust for Helen sees him committed to the Second Circle of Hell. 

Oh well, on the bright side at least he has Helen there to keep him company.

I chose to depict Paris mounted in a chariot armed with his trusty (some ancient chroniclers would say cowardly) bow.

This is a stl purchase from Wargames Atlantic. A really nice kit. I scaled it down to 20mm for printing so it would fit in with the rest of my Trojan War collection (some of those previous lads are seen here legging it alongside Paris). 

In the last pic we see Paris speeding away as he and his bow have an upcoming date with Achilles...

Chariots in the Challenge are a bit of a points grab as they have numerous component parts. 8 points for Paris and his driver, 8 for the horse team and another 15 points for the chassis. Hmm, that seems like a lot. Let's dial it back to 25 total. Okay, then add an additional 20 points for the Second Circle (Lust). That should give me 45 points as a grand total (and one Squirrel Point).

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

Thanks for dropping by, Curt, and what an exquistite submission! You might have saved it for Greed and claimed the full points. As it is, your modesty gains you 45 points for Lust. This gives an entirely new meaning to visiting Paris, and it truly is a visit in style. A perfect companion to your other Trojan War figures! Excellent work as always.

MartijnN

From LeeH: Russian Jӓgers & Officer 1812 [95 Points]

Originally I was only going to do two of these units but when I looked at the packs of models I had I realised I had enough ‘spares’ to make a third unit. So here I present three units of Russian Jӓgers in skirmish formation with an officer to lead them.

Russian Jägers were light infantry known for being superior marksmen and agile fighters. They could form line units (indeed I intend to add a Jäger Line unit to my force later) but their primary use was skirmishing in open order. In many ways, their uniform was very similar to that of regular line/musketeer units. The main visible differences were black leather belts rather than the white of musketeers and grenadiers, and dark green breeches rather than white. These models all wear the soft forage cap which was used, as far as I can tell, by most branches of infantry. Indeed North Star (who make these figures) describe them as Musketeers/Jägers so they could be used for either type, just with different colour belts showing the difference.

Next on my desk are more infantry but I have already started to assemble and prime a 12pdr artillery piece and crew from Perry Miniatures. Lovely looking models and I’m looking forward to working on that in a week or two.

(Scoring: 19x28mm Foot = 95 Points)

Again, some excellent work on these Napoleonic Russians, Lee! The project seems to trundle along quite happily. I really like these North Star figures, and you have done them proud. Well done, and 95 points it is.

MartijnN

Just another Friday

Well. No more champagne, and the fireworks are through. Here we are, me and you, feeling lost and feeling blue. After one of the gloomiest December months since the beginnings of recordings here in Belgium, with all of 17 hours of sunshine for the whole month, I am happy to be able to report that January seems to have begun slightly better. Which is just as well, as my personal Challenge seems to have started off on the wrong foot too. 

However, there will be a ray of sunshine, as it is the 133th birthday of the Professor today, so we can all join Tolkien fans throughout the world in the traditional birthday toast at 20:00 this evening. Can I suggest raising a glass of Tripel Karmeliet?

Of course, Belgium is justly famous for its beers, and this is a fine blond triple with a healthy percentage of alcohol. As a matter of fact, when the Snowlord visited my humble abode this last September we enjoyed one together.

It is just as good that the Snowlord has been planning to drop the Friday crew a visit today too, as we seem to be off to a rather slow start.

Lee will be talking of retreat again, and Curt will be visiting Paris. For now, that seems to be it. Perhaps more will show up during the day, and if not, I’d better be getting some painting done myself. So, once more into the breach!

Enjoy!