From RossM - Augmented Infantry (54 points)

At long last here is my first entry for this year's Painting Challenge and it is not what was originally planned. The Macedonians stumbled at the start again!

All together now

The figures shown are from Critical Masses ARC Forces range and are 15mm in scale. There are a total of 27 figures: 3 Command and 24 troops - 4 stands of normal Augmented Troops and 4 stands with Plasma cannons. Normal deployment would be command with either of the troop types although there will be a command set in the post shortly to balance this out.

"Normal" Augmented Troops with Command

These figures are great to paint and even though they have never seen action yet other from the same range will continue to be on the painting table for some time.

Basing has been kept in line with previous figures from the same range and collectively produces a good finish to the figures.

Augmented troopers with Laser Cannons

Throughout painting figures for Critical Mass there has been a deliberate decision to have a limited and use warm colours sparingly. The red vambraces here are to indicate an elite unit and obviously to make them go faster.

This concludes this first entry for the Challenge and if my calculation is correct will add 54 points to my total of nil so far.

Hoping to have more from this range very soon.

Cheers for now,

Ross

Welcome to the fray Ross! It's great to have you finally get on the board. I don't think we've had much 15mm sci-fi stuff up til now so you've treated us to something new as well. What rules system are these based for BTW? 

Critical Mass make some seriously nice stuff don't they? Loads of definition that enables you to get a good amount of contrast even at distance as you've demonstrated with these fine fellows. I really like the scheme you've chosen for them with the red flashes on the elite troops giving them a bit of a flourish too. 

This is worth a solid 54 points to kick you off. Got any more in the locker? There's still over two weeks to go so you've loads of time to push your total north. Cheers, Millsy

From Barks - Dracula and foes

These are from the 2015 3rd edition of the boardgame Fury of Dracula. This is a hidden movement game where Dracula records his moves secretly and the hunters travel across Europe tracking him down. The sculpts date back to the 2005 2nd edition, and aren't fantastic. They're true 25mm.

Dracula

Lord Godalming

Mina Harker

van Helsing

Dr Seward

I used a bit of blue to highlight the Count, and gave Mina Harker a red scarf to represent her ties to him. I had a poorly-thought-out attempt at OSL for Lord Godalming, but didn't like it so overpainted it- looks a bit better now, as if I had done it properly!

Something completely different and quite fascinating Mr Barks this week! I've never heard of the Fury of Dracula and I'm more than a little intrigued now I must say. There's a real movement to paint up game pieces these days and I can see why when you're presented with stuff like this.

I really like all five characters in one way or another but I think the stand out for me is the main man Count Dracula. The blue highlight works a charm and depth of shadows on his scarlet lined cape sets his outfit off very nicely indeed.

That's a total of 25 points added to your tally. What's next I wonder? Cheers, Millsy.

From EvanH - A Nice Toad (6 points)

I'm channeling icy thoughts in the hope that I can lower the ambient temperature here in Sydney, aka Satan's Y-Fronts. Trust me, you don't want to know.

So here's my latest attempt at sympathetic weather magic, a Nice Toad an Ice Toad from North Star's Frostgrave range.

I'm feeling cooler already!

This chap was part of my birthday present from Mr Mills, and I hope to get the other half of the blister pack, That's No Leopard that Snow Leopard, finished next.

The snowdrifts were prepared using my usual recipe of bicarbonate of soda and PVA glue, undercoated with a wash of OOP GW Ice Blue and highlighted in white. Gloss varnish was used for the snow and the eyes of the beastie. A princely five points, but every little bit helps, right?

Eww. You might want to get those looked at.

He's the first of my Frostgrave figs to be completed, and I've got several more lurking in the Twilight Zone of undercoat limbo - but can I get any more of them out there before the Challenge ends? Time management has never been my strong suit...

Stay tuned!
Ev

Nice to see the birthday goodies getting some attention Ev! Considering we've both bought into Frostgrave rather heavily and then done bugger all since, this hopefully can kick-start things and make sure we get some gaming in sooner rather than later. 

I must admit until now I was dubious about how this weird little chap would look painted up. As of now I'm a convert. The sallow skin and almost Henson-esqe facial expression are very likeable indeed and the effort you've put into the basing really finishes him off nicely. 

He's worth just five points as you mentioned but I'm throwing in another for the basing. Cheers, Millsy.

From MarkH - 15mm WW2 German big guns (118 points)

Hi everyone, small post for me today. I still have lots on the go but little finished - this week I finished off some more Flames of War figures.

First up a pair of German Luftwaffe 88's. A total of 16 figures and 2 large guns. 

Next we have 4 late war German 10.5cm artillery pieces. A total of 31 infantry and 4 large guns.

Well that's it for now.

Mark :)

I'm not sure I'd class this as a small post Mark, despite the fact it's 15mm. Having painting a fair few WWII artillery myself I can testify to the amount of fiddling required just to get them assembled, never mind the large number of crew and basing as well. 

Both sets are very well executed indeed but for my mind the pick of the two are the 88s. Not only have you gone with the Luftwaffe crew but you've actually got them doing anti-aircraft work. Almost every set you see are set up as anti-tank guns because of their effectiveness in game terms but this neglects their intended role, especially in the late war when Allied bombing was at it's peak. 

Lovely work mate and well worth the 118 points it earns you. Cheers, Millsy

Thursday's Minion

So it's Thursday again, the sun is shining and it's a balmy 29C in the harbour city. What's not to like? We might just get some thunder this arvo. We get lots of them this time of year. It's the sound of Australia...

This week we have a debutante for the year in RossM, along with offerings from Barks and EvanH just to start. Hopefully we'll see some others pop up as well. Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Millsy

From KeithS: War Plan Black, or, Ich Bin ein Idiot (160 points)

Wherein I both educate and entertain...


When I decided to try out this challenge, the first thing that caught my eye was the nautical bonus theme.  Brilliant, I thought!  This was up my alley (retired US Navy and all).  Further, two threads had sort of come together.  Number one, my very first "summer painting project" I'd taken on in my painting renaissance a few years ago was to make a set of miniatures for the old Avalon Hill game Jutland.  I'd bought a digital copy of the game from them and ended up making it all from scratch, though with minis instead of boring cardboard counters.  They turned out great and I was happy.  Number two, I'd been on a World War One reading kick for some time, and had read a book called War Plans of the Great Powers (by Paul Kennedy).  From it, I learned that the U.S. Navy's War Plan Black (of the famous colored series of plans) for war with Germany had the U.S. Atlantic Fleet gathering near the island of Culebra off Puerto Rico.  Ironically, the German war plan for war with America had the High Seas Fleet congregating at the same point.  This was too interesting to pass up, so I decided another version of Jutland with that potential fight was a must.  So that is what I made.


And so I did it -- and forgot to post it this weekend by the deadline, hence the idiot.


Oh well, I finished it too early and lost the bubble (as we submariners say).  So, here it is, better late than never.  The scenario I've worked out is that, after yet another Balkan crisis in the Summer of 1914, where Germany (and Austria-Hungary) have backed down in yet another humiliation, the Kaiser has decided he needs to do...something.  He does not want war in Europe, and he desperately desires colonies.  The most logical place?  The Western Hemisphere.  The Brits, not wanting a fight with Germany, are only too happy to let their two chief naval rivals slug it out (no matter the result, they are relatively stronger in the end).  And so on.  The orders of battle are based on actual ones from late summer 1914 (having friends with PhDs in WW1 naval history is most helpful here!).



First up, the German High Seas Fleet.  The left column are all dreadnought style battleships; second are the pre-dreadnoughts and their four available battlecruisers.  The third column are light cruisers, three armored cruisers, and transports (more on this in moment); fourth up are destroyer/torpedo boat flotillas.  All ships are stated and marked identical to those from the game Jutland by Avalon Hill.  There are a few missing (not built yet) and I added the Braunshcweig class of pre-dreadnoughts to the mix.

The American Atlantic Fleet is smaller and less advanced than the Germans.  It was not until the real war had been raging for a few years that the U.S. actually made a strong press to build "a navy second to none."  Left are the dreadnought battleships; second are older battleships; third are armored cruisers and scout cruisers; and fourth are destroyer flotillas.

 The American main battle line.

The Germans from another angle.

More Germans.

The original game Jutland is a rather straightforward pounding match between a superior British and smaller German fleets.  For my War Plan Black scenario, the Americans are at a big disadvantage.  However, the scenario I have planned is a grab for colonies for Germany, and that means soldiers, which means transports.  So, the game (when finished) will have the Germans trying to slip transports into Central and/or South America to land troops (I have much of this worked out but it is not miniature related, so I am glossing over it).  Anyway, the UK guy who sold me the minis (Mick Yarrow) included a model of the Mauretania, which I have pressed into service as the SS Vaterland, the largest and fastest transport in the world in 1914, property of the US-Hamburg line.  It is now the main transport for the Germans, along with a few other smaller conversions.

Now, I am all about storage.  This is my original Jutland storage set-up, which is going to become the one for War Plan Black (I bought a slightly larger case my Jutland stuff is going into presently, as there are more ships in that scenario).  The case:

Inside, there is storage for rules, cards, tons of misc supplies, and all the play aids (range finders, maneuver aids, etc):

The ships all go on trays, one for each side.  As you can see, my Jutland ships overflowed slightly into a cigarillo case (they are all magnet-based).  These will just fit the War Plan Black fleets, once I can move the Jutland ones to their new case.  The trays fit snugly in the leather case and the whole set up is perfect for travel (I'm bringing Jutland to Gary Con in Lake Geneva, WI this week!)

So, I am an idiot for forgetting to post this, but I am quite pleased with the results nonetheless.  I have two games of Jutland scheduled this weekend.  When I get back I am going to run my War Plan Black Scenario and see how that goes -- it'll probably take some play testing to get right.  The U.S. is at a big disadvantage, so I'm hoping the transports will balance things a bit!  Still, I'd rather get it right historically, game balance be damned!

p.s.  I have my "risk takers" challenge finished, too.  Hopefully I learned my lesson and won't forget that!!

Two posts in a day Keith , grand stuff.  Oh my - battlefleets in a box. Its a cracking entry Keith. Looking at them i think these are 1/3000th  so i classed the capital elements as 2 points and more generic at 1 - for a grand total of 160 - so that might make up for missing your bonus round points! Your target has been upped to 1500 hurrah!!

Wednesday crew - what a grand job you have done today - over 1000 points added to tallies you deserve to  take a short holiday.....

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right did you enjoy that - now get the brushes twirling... well I did say "deserve" 

Right then over to Millsy Minion... and the Downunderbirds who will have some comments about the weather being slightly warm , and being too busy chucking prawns on the barbie...

From AaronH - 20 28mm Orcs from GW (105 points)

This entry is twenty spear Orcs. These are 28mm models from Games Workshop.

These are the classic plastics from 6th edition. They will be used for Kings of War but I still think a unit needs full command, even if they don't have a use in game.

There are some good and bad things about these models. I absolutely love the faces on them; full of character and menace. Their proportions are definitely cartoonish though and the join between the body and the legs can be pretty rough.

They are big and full of menace. They tower completely over mass a Lord of the Rings model.

The banner is a variation of the symbol on the shields. The difference being what an orc would paint on some random cloth and what a dwarf slave would craft for them.

My lighting was bad by the time I got home (after dark) but these models really have a lot of nice detail while not being over the top.

The highlighting on the faces doesn't show up in these pictures, which is a shame because it is my favorite part of the paint job.

So Aaron is back for a second bite of Orc goodnes (that just sounds wrong) today , with a further century worth of troublemakers - cracking Orcs....the details do look good. I am going to top that up to 105 for the whole effect as well.

From MartinC - Operation Warm Puppy ( Points Bomb - 549 points)

Watch out you lot "INCOMING!!!

In the 1980's I played a computer game about modern war in Europe and the code for full nuclear war was Operation Warm Puppy. I hope this counts as a suitable points bomb.
I have finished my Republican Romans, I do love that feeling when you have completed an army. There were 4 units to complete

Hastai - Aventine

Principes - 1st Corps

Principes - 1st Corps

Triari - 1st Corps

So this is my competed army, 2 units of velites and 1 unit of Triari were completed during the last challenge but the rest are all this one. 4 units each of Hastai and Principes, 2 Triari, 1 unit Equites, 2 units Velites, 1 unit of allied Volosci and 3 Generals. All the figs are Aventine, Crusader or 1st Corps

I also completed this unit of 12 Gallic Noble Cavalry all mounted on greys - seemed like a good idea at the time - by Wargames Factory. I really hated painting these and it has taken weeks to do them.

And finally 8 Gaul slingers, again Wargames Factory. Washed in Windsor and Newton peat brown ink, which works very well but leaves them a little shiny but varnishing will cure that.

Now for the maths bit

72 foot, 12 cavalry , and hand painted shelds 

I need rum, a lot of rum. Also a new target - 3.2K as I have a very busy few weeks at work. Also my 19 year old car passed it's MOT today (annual government safety check) - which was nice

Martin lays down his marker for the run the finish...3200 it is then - its seems you have recovered from your birthday festivies with a bang alright - have you been sleeping at all.... It is wonderfully colourful force Martin .... but an army is never really finished is it!

From KeithS: Tavern folk (20 points)

A quick entry.  In between working on my (non) nautical challenge and another larger project, I did these four tavern type people.  They're from Reaper's first Bones kickstarter a few years back.  Unlike most of Reapers stuff, these four scale well to 28mm.  I thought they could be useful as civilians for use with my Viking and Saxon armies in a Saga scenario.


Here's the group, all pretty straightforward.  There's the barkeep, a serving wench, a cleaning lady, and one other young lady who's role is possibly other than the rest.

 'From the reverse.  These were quite easy to paint, though I do not like Reaper's white plastic...it just doesn't seem right somehow.  Also, my primer is super tacky on it.

The young lasses up close.

 

A little side project, but one that should prove useful in a game of Saga I have in mind.  I have a lot of other Bones from the kickstarter to paint, and might knock a few out before the challenge ends.

Always good to see civilians being added in  - some fine and somewhat scary ladies which I dont think will stand any nonsense. Oh and I see you nudging into the top 10 -well with another post lurking for today you will be in it - and your over target - you need to re challenge yourself with a stretch goal ... 1350-1400? more perhaps

From JeremyM - Vikings (18 points)

I have a small addition to the challenge this week my Jomsviking warlord for Saga. Its composed of a mix of figures from gripping beast including their warlord figure and a couple casualties. I also stuck a plast wargames factory viking on there to be his flag bearer. I stuck with the winter theme for these chaps to tie him in with the rest of his unit. I also used him to give some scale to my viking ship entry for the ships theme. He was also recently blooded twice alongside some of heir campbell's stock vikings who I might add faired much worse in both of their encounters. We are running a saga campaign that I'll hopefully be able to piece together some battle reports for, but I'm a bit delayed working on a masters project. And honestly until I'm done that this will likely be my last piece for the challenge.

Nice to have another entry Jeremy. Suitably heroic I think. Now that is what I call a flag! Hope your studies go well and you get time to write up those battle reports. I have added a few minion bonus points again for the whole composion of the piece.