From MartinC: Christmas Bomb (230 Points)

So the 3rd day of the challenge is upon us and it's time for a bomb. I have quite a large Pict army and these figures were waiting to complete it. They are a mix of Gripping Beast, Foundry and I think Newline, I picked them all but in bargain bins in a show or 2.

9 javelin armed skirmishers (there are really 10 of these but I photobombed the wrong regiment

There should be tattoos (they are the painted ones) but I can't do them at all well and they make the figures look worse.

14 (13) spearmen. Although Scots tartan was yet to be invented (thank God for that) and there are no bagpipes (thank every God that was ever worshiped for that). They were partial to a large plaid pattern so most of them are have this pattern

Mix of square and round shields, the round shields will double as Saxons.

10 Pict nobles, the only guys in the whole army with armour 

These Gripping Beast death pairs are unbelievably good, the most dynamic sculpts I think I've ever seen. I expect they are supposed to by casualty markers but I'll just mix them in with my units.

I kept the blood out of the paint jobs, even though 1/2 of them are fully skewered

Standard bearer, I copied the design from a 1st Corps image.

The maths is a little tricky for these.

34 single figures = 170pts

5 double figures = 10x5 = 50

1 guy lying down = 2.5

I standard bearer  with home made standard = 5+

So that's about 227.5+

Not the biggest bomb in the world but a nice early marker. Also my 2nd entry for the SQUIRREL.

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Jeez, we're on Day 3 and we have our first Paint Bomb already - bravo Martin!

I like your large, uniform plaid approach to your Scots. If only the hoary gits kept to that for the rest of their sartorial history we wouldn't be pulling our hair out today trying to paint them.

I agree with you, those 'death pairs' are brutally dynamic - great looking minis. I also really like your hand-painted woad banner. The fellow bearing it seems to be saying, 'Look! Look what I did in craft class today!'

Again, well done on the bomb, Martin. I'm going to round your estimate up to 230 points as I like the groovy banner so much.

BOOM!

From PaulS: March to War (35 Points)

So far I've done a Strawbear and some small(ish) buildings..., but it is time to start on one of the ongoing projects for 2018-19. I signed up to the 40k partwork, Conquest, as it seemed like a good way to get a kick to paint up a load of the figures I already had floating around, unbuilt. Seems like a dumb way of doing things, but it seems to be working...

The first thing that made it to the painting table was the Nurgle Blighthauler. This was a fun model to paint, especially once I found my long lost pot of rust

To accompany the Hauler, the next few models are the chaos lord and his bodyguard from the recent Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress

Once again, I've just realised that I hatehatehate painting black armour. And faces by the looks of that photo. Still, these four models are a nice step towards painting up all the 40k Chaos stuff that I've got floating around. To give you a sense of scale on the Hauler, here they are together

According to the scoring chart, this should be 20 for the Hauler (as a vehicle) and 15 for the three marines, totalling 35 points.

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Wow, these are very impressive Paul. That Blighthauler is superbly nasty. I'm glad you found your pot of rust paint as the effect is absolutely superb on this model. A few of us here have picked up Blackstone Fortress, but I've not had time to open it yet, so now seeing your work here I'm very keen to get tucked into these models. You may hate painting black armour, but it doesn't show in your work - very nice, these.  I also like your red groundwork as it does a great job of setting up the colours of the models. Great work!

JohnSh - Vertically challenged? What?? Take this you lanky git! (30 Points)

My first entry this year are these six goblins of the Shergob Forest Scouts. These hooded scamps are famous for "Robbing the rich, and the poor, and pretty much everyone in between, and giving it to themselves". I believe this gives me 30 points to start the tally and they all meet my self imposed Vertically Challenged rule (and Side Duel).

As a scout unit for Dragon Rampant they are 2 points toward the 24 point warband requirement for the Rampant Side Duel.

Mostly from the Macrocosm KickStarter of a couple of years ago I love the subtle references to hooligan hoodies. And why wouldn't a goblin wear a duffel coat if he could steal one?

As a few of the Challengers are members of Odin's Night Games Club here in Sydney, Australia and we decided to have a Challenge Kick Off/Christmas Lunch Paint In at my place yesterday. A couple of team members couldn't make it because of the atrocious traffic (I live just off the main "holiday traffic" route out of Sydney) but present were myself, AlanD, PaulO'G (Duels Wallah Actual) and former Challenger AledC, who came along for support, advice and to be sledged by us for not having the time to participate this year (I mean, wanting to concentrate on your new career rather than painting toys, wake up to yourself man!).

Aled, PaulO'G, AlanD and myself JohnSh kick off the Challenge together.

Good luck to everyone this year, Merry Christmas and remember the lesson that The Duels Wallah re-learnt yesterday - "The drinking glass is NOT the brush washing glass"

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John, those are some brilliant looking Greenskins - very characterful and old school looking. I especially like the red eyes and snaggly teeth. Thats also a super pic of you guys all lashing away at your various projects. By the glimpse I get with these photos, I think I could spend several happy hours perusing your bookshelves. 

30 points to break your duck and to start your 'Vertically Challenged' gambit. Well done John!

From PaulSS - 28mm Confederate Artillery battery (90 points)

Well here goes for my first ever post on the Painting Challenge, rather a nervy moment for the old chap!

This submission in a battery of Confederate American Civil War artillery from the Perry Miniatures Artillery set. The battery comprises two 12lb Napoleon cannon and a Howitzer and shall be joining my ever-growing ACW collection. This battery allows me to now field both sides for a Longstreet campaign.

I was up at 0500 on Friday morning so that I could get the base-coats and wash on these before I went to work, Friday evening saw the first six crew and the guns highlighted while yesterday I finished off the last six crew members and did the basing yesterday.

An early alarm call this morning meant I could give them a blast of dull-coat and get them photographed for this entry.

If I understand the scoring correctly - please let me know if I made any newbie errors - this is 12 x 28mm foot and 3 x 28mm crew served weapons for 90pts. 

Hopefully, this shall give me points in both the Squirrel and North & South Duels.

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First, welcome to the Painting Challenge Paul! We're delighted to have you in with our happy mob.

Wow, for a newbie, Paul, you've certainly opened with an impressive salvo - with figures to match!

These Rebs and their guns look absolutely terrific. GregB and I both share an irrational aversion to painting artillery, so count me impressed with your entry here. I particularly like your brushwork on the gun carriages - they really look ace.

These three gun crew will give you 90 points. Not a bad way to break into the standings, not bad at all. Again, welcome aboard Paul.

From Curt: 1/300 Scale German E-Boats from 'Cruel Seas' (32 Points)

Oddly, as a born and bred prairie boy, I've always held a great fascination for naval warfare  and being an enthusiast of the large ship games like 'Wooden Ships and Iron Men', 'Fleet Action Imminent' and 'General Quarters III'. So, when I saw the promo ads for Warlord Games' new 'Cruel Seas' I knew I had to jump in with both feet. 

The WWII coastal war setting really hasn't been done in a comprehensive way, meaning with purpose built rules and a full range of miniatures, so I think Warlord may be onto something really exciting here. As soon as I unpacked my copy of the 'Cruel Seas' I quickly assembled the core set miniatures and tried out the introductory scenarios with the chaps from our group, The Friday Night Raconteurs. Thankfully the hype for the game is not misplaced. The rules play very well and give a fast, furious, action-filled game without being too ponderous or 'crunchy'.

This past Friday, the first full day of the Challenge, I hosted another 'Cruel Seas' game for the boys and really wanted to get some of the miniatures properly painted for the tabletop. Thankfully I had the day off so I lashed away and managed to get most of the Motor Torpedo Boats and E Boats completed for the night's fun. So, here are four of the German E-Boats ('Enemy Boats' or as the Kriegsmarine classed them Schnellboots), a brace each of the S-38 class and the later S-100 class.

These are 1/300 scale plastic kits (those in the UK will probably have seen them included with the latest Wargames Illustrated). Very easy to put together and a breeze to paint. I like that Warlord included two sheets of ensigns for both the British and the Germans.

I really like the design aesthetic of these boats, with their menacing low, long silhouettes, exposed torpedoes and decks bristling with all forms of automatic weapons. They look the business.

S-38 Class E-Boats

The two S-100s here have the optional quad 20mm flak gun ('Flakvierling'), which, as you can imagine, would be a pretty ferocious weapon in setting where most of things you were shooting at were constructed of thin wood planking or thin steel.

Later S-100 Class E-Boats with quad 20mm at the stern

The paint scheme I went with is fairly stock to what most vessels in the Kriegsmarine would have sported. I put aside the supplied painting guide and decided instead to keep the colours anachronistically punchy to help them stand out on the tabletop. In the future I'll do up one or two boats in the distinctive (but more rare) splinter pattern camouflage to denote Veteran crews. (BTW, if anyone has a set of the MTBs/EBoats from the recent Wargames Illustrated that they don't want please drop me a note.) 

For points I'm placing these at the equivalent of a 15mm vehicle, so 8 points each for a grand total of 32.

This entry should be enough for my first pip in the Squirrel Challenge and the Naval Challenge.

The British Vosper MTBs will be coming up soon but, you know, ...SQUIRREL!!

Thanks for dropping in folks!

From BenitoM - More British Paratroopers Arriving to the Landing Zone (20 points)

A second “stick” dropping on the landing zone. Continuing with my British Airborne platoon project for this year’s Challenge, I add today two more leaders (another "horn blower)  plus a radio operator and a medic.

The four models are 28mm Warlord metals from the British Airborne Command blister.  They have been painted following the steps of the “how-to” guide published in my blog yesterday.

Note that the medic features a Red Cross armband (not clear in the photo), from the very complete decal set included in the British Airborne plastic box, also from Warlord.  

With this entry I bag another 20 points (4 models x 5 points each) in my personal score.

Now on to prepare my first model for the 'What a Tanker!' contest.

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Two entries in two days? You're on a roll Benito!

I like the nice crisp lines to your brushwork on these figures, Mr. M, especially the running medic and the leader leaning back blowing his hunting horn. Very dynamic and beautifully painted.

Looking forward to seeing your upcoming armour entry for the 'What a Tanker!' contest.

From AlexS: Wild West terrain (80 points)

Hello to all! My name is Alex, and I am from Russia. In childhood, one of the most serious of my aesthetic and emotional upheavals was the film “The Magnificent Seven”. Since then, the cowboys and the Wild West has become a very important topic for me. But in the hobby I came to this topic only this year and very accidentally.

I bought the miniatures and started working on them. Perhaps some of them I will do during this wonderful event. In addition, I began to do and terrain for this period. And that's what I could do.

First, the sign before entering the city - it will be a city founded by Czech miners among the vast expanses of the Wild West. As you can see from the tablet, strange things happen there. Well, the gallows - an important attribute of that era.

Secondly, the cemetery. So far it is small, but there is already a statue of an angel, which the founder of the city has put on his wife’s grave (as I think).

Third, the homes. They are easy to make, easy to paint (especially if you use an airbrush), but in vain I began to make inscriptions with my hand. It will be necessary to find the necessary fonts and print the signs on paper and paste them. Or leave it as it is ...

Trees They fit not only in the Wild West, but also for any other period. I made them from burdock root. As you can see, I was preparing for an event in the summer. :)

General view:

Well, the measurements. I got a rectangular parallelepiped 12 inches wide and 6 inches tall. Total is 80 points, if I calculated everything correctly.

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Welcome back Alex!

Wow, I must say that I'm honoured - you were preparing for the Challenge back in summer? Now, that's planning and dedication!

As usual, I'm in awe of your home-made terrain - it's always so creative and fun. The buildings and scatter terrain is terrific, but I really like how your burdock roots turned out for the dead tree stumps. Amazingly evocative. In addition to your Wild West setting, they would be absolutely fantastic for Cthulhu/Pulp gaming as well. 

80 points is tidy work indeed. Now, I look forward to seeing some of the local personages of the town of 'Praha' - I'm sure they will be as colourful and creative as your terrain.  

From AdamC - Mama Bear and Cub (10 Points)

Greetings I'm thrilled to be taking part in another challenge! My first offering the Christmas Ornament I made for my wife. We have a tradition of exchanging ornaments and I try to make mine each year.

The miniature is from Bad Squiddo and was part of Kickstarter earlier this year.  Annie produces excellent miniatures as I'm sure you all know.

The idea for this ornament came to me as soon as I spotted this piece. I added the cubs's hat for a holiday touch.  I just need to add the string to hang it from the tree (I drilled a hole between the mother and cub).

I think the fur came out well I find fur a challenge but I think I'm getting better at it. For points I think it's fair to call this a 25mm cavalry figure netting me 10 points.

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Awww, that's a great mini Adam. 

Welcome back to the Challenge, sir. It's lovely that you've started with an entry that is perfectly in tune with the season. I really like the colour of the brown fur, especially on mama bear's face and the toque on Jr. really sets the piece off nicely. Well done!

10 points for you Adam. Great to see you in the mix again. 

From PeteF - Girl Power! Viking Bow Women from Bad Squiddo (20 points)

This first post of Challenge IX is a tribute to my weakness for miniatures campaigns on Kickstarter and begins to atone for the total lack of females in my Challenge VIII body of work.

Earlier this year (or was it last year?) Bad Squiddo Games  ran a Shieldmaiden Kickstarter and brought their expertise in sculpting realistically proportioned and somewhat sensibly attired women (*with the possible exception of the berserker ladies to feature in the future) to the miniature painting and gaming communities. I'm a sucker for Kickstarters - currently really suffering from indecision over the Tainted Grail miniatures - and backed the project to the tune of a full selection of Shieldmaidens. Almost enough for an all girl Viking SAGA warband.

If you're unfamiliar with Bad Squiddo I highly recommend their sculpts - great female miniatures from a variety of historical and fantasy settings as well as animals - from cats to farm animals to guinea pigs (some with guns).

I'll need to do at least one more shieldmaiden to give me my first category in the Squirrel! duel (28mm female vikings) but I wanted to get a handful of points on the board before Christmas.

For my Viking faction in SAGA I'm going for a subdued autumnal colour palette. I'll be working on better blonde hair - these ones turned out shinier and streakier than I wanted. Since these are levies bling is dialed down. Gripping Beast delivered the new Book of Battles yesterday so I'm looking forward to getting the Vikings on the game table.

Based on 25mm rounds for SAGA that are magnetised so they can be fixed into larger movement trays for massed battle games. Four 28mm models for 20 points.

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Beautiful brushwork Pete! I'm completely with you with Annie's quest to have a fairer, more sensible presentation of females on the tabletop. I saw these models when they first were promoted for the Kickstarter but missed out on them. Now, after seeing yours, I'm thinking I'd like to pick up a set. I really like how you've painted the textiles and leatherwork, it makes them very distinctive and 'pop' on the tabletop.

A tidy 20 points to start your Challenge this year. Great work!