LeeH - Lair of the Spider - Spider Scorpion

The description for this penultimate chamber in the Chambers of Challenge says that the aforementioned spider has been scared off by something worse. Well, I think a Spider Scorpion can definitely be described as worse! This fearsome critter is as creepy as a spider but with an added reason to be wary. Both insects give me the creeps at the best of times, but combined this model was a challenge just painting it.

This is a Ral-Partha figure that I picked up on eBay some time ago. It has been sitting - no, Lurking - in my lead pile ever since just waiting for a chance to pounce. The tail is cast separately and I had to do a bit of work to make the joint fit properly before glueing it together with a strong Epoxy glue to give it some resilience. 

I have a confession to make though, this wasn't my first choice for this room. I have a large Beholder model that I was going to use here and I got as far as priming the figure but I couldn't face it (no pun intended). Despite looking forward to painting it for the last thirteen weeks, when it's time came Eye just couldn't find the motivation (pun definitely intended). Thankfully the Spider Scorpion was waiting in my lead pile to replace it. So there it is, I have battled my way through the Chambers of Challenge and now I stand before the Snowlords alter awaiting instructions. What devilish tribute will be demanded of me I wounder? 

(Scoring: 1x28mm Monster + CoC Bonus = 25 Points)

Adamc: Gunboats and Brig (40 Points)

 

Some more vessels to hopefully bring me across the line. A small brig made from the leftover parts used to build my sloop and six large gunboats.

The Gunboats are more 3D prints courtousy provided by my friend Arofan. I added masts and a sort of lug sail. They will make good gunboats or even French lugers privateers.

Here we have a 14 gun brig (the standard Black Seas brig is an 18 gun brig) I've flagged her as English and named her the HMS Sophie of Master and Commander fame. 

I did her hull in red brown with yellow not the colors described in Master and Commander but it looks good.  She could also work as USS Enterprise in her War of 1812 configuration as a brig.  For points I'll suggest 5 points per gunboat and 10 for the brig. That should give me 40 points carrying me pasty goal for the year (this is the latest I have ever hit my goal and I wasn't sure it was going to happen). All this is subject to review of course. 

From Mike W, 28mm Undead Egyptians (120 Points)

So this is possibly my last Egyptian Undead posting of the current challenge, a group of 24 x Skeleton Spearmen including Standard Bearer, Musician and a Champion.

Finished Unit of 25 Skeleton Spearmen

I said possibly - as I have a unit of skeleton swordsmen to complete but with only two days to go and a Late 17th Century Piedmont Infantry Regiment already on the go and nearing completion, I can't be certain!

Unit form the Left Flank

I ran out of proper GW Tomb Kings Shields after my early postings for this army so I have had to resort to scratch building shields for this unit, that  and the fact that these figures are from the original release of plastic skeleton figures from back in the 1990s and slightly smaller than the more modern Tomb Kings figures, means I am using these to represent the earthly remains of a line unit, rather than guardsmen in my other recent submissions.

And from the Right Flank

The shields are cut from cardboard and then adjusted to give them some character. Some have had studs attached, others have had papyrus scrolls added and a couple have simulated damage added.

Six of the Skeleton Spearmen, with ragged shields
and attached Papyrus scrolls & studs.

Additionally, I added a few papyrus scrolls to about four of the spear staffs to again give the unit a slightly different look and feel to the guardsmen skeletons previously done.

Anther batch of skeletons

The shield finish is not so smooth as the finish as you'd get from the plastic GW shields, this due to the porous nature of the cardboard but after a coat of varnish and wash I have deliberately left them looking more ragged to emphasise their peasant roots.

Third group, the studs are sliced spear staffs, super glued to the shields

The figures were purchased as a bulk lot from eBay some time ago and were a bit of a disappointment at the time, being the older style figures and may undercoated in red and pink for some strange reason. I undercoated all these guts with Citadel Screaming Skull, when dry I washed with Army Painter Strong Tone and then again waited until dry before dry brushing with a mix of light sand and Screaming Skull paints.

The Command group from the unit, the Musician has a drum set
 made out of three hollowed out skulls 

Shields were painted light blue and the backs a Khaki/Earth, spear shafts were painted black, Weapons were finished off with Brass, as were the Standard and Shield studs. Papyrus was painted a Linen colour and then various writings were added.

The bases were finished with fine sand.

POINTS

24 x 28mm Foot Figures @ 5 pts ea   =120 Points

Skullz

24 Figures, plus Drum Set (3) plus Standard (3) = 30 Skullz

BruceR, Sarah the Sorceress, 28mm, 5 pts,

A peasant villager or the evil queen with a basket of apples? 

I'd done this figure in anticipation of using her for teleporting and did not find the right moment.

So here is an offering to Queen Sarah without a request for movement. 

This is a Wargames Foundry figure from a villagers packet.  

I'll use her in SP2 fights as a character to be interacted with or escorted through the Iberian peninsula. 

 

5 pts

Stay Safe.

Hit the finish line.

 

 

Good Morning Challenge-a-nista's Let me be the first to welcome you all to the last Thursday of Challenge XI.  Yes it is a moment of conflicting emotions.  First off, there is overwhelming joy that yet another Challenge will achieve its goals and likely become the high water mark of Human civilization.  But tragically most of you will also be feeling crushing despair at the thought of no more Thursday minion missives.  Fear not! You can also way go over to my blog for my idiotic musings anytime.

Upon firing up my computer, I see you have been very busy.  Really very busy.  There are already 13 posts waiting to be scored - 12 from yesterday (damn you International Date Line, Damn YOU!) and one this morning from that UK National Treasure, Ray.  That's right, we've got 905 points to post and I haven't even finished my first coffee.

I'll probably need to add extra rows to the spreadsheet (again) based on the volume of out put.  

That'll do Painters, that'll do.

from RayR - Haitian Revolution - Rebel Artillery 30pts

  

From what I've read so far, its highly unlikely that the Rebel force had or used any artillery. Some of the Rebels/slaves were very well treated and were highly educated, so I thought that maybe they might have had a little artillery training form the French or Spanish forces on the island. So I thouht it would be a good idea to include 1 artillery piece in their army.

I'm not at all sure what make this gun is? I painted it a a dark red colour to represent a captured Spanish artillery piece, which means if I ever fancy getting some Spanish, I can always use this gun.

How to represent artillerymen for the Rebel Slaves? Was my first question.

All 4 figures are from Front Rank, the first is from their Napoleonic Civilian range. I did consider a head swap but chose to keep him as he is and have him as a Mulatto (a person of mixed racial race). The kneeling figure is from Front Rank's AWI range, with a Trent Miniatures head swap. The chap with the bucket is also from their AWI range, again I painted this figure up with a lighter skin tone as I wanted to keep his hat. The last figure is again from their AWI range with another head swap

Points are easy...

10 for the Gun

5 each for the men

30 pts!

From JonathanO: Mutant Bug - Lair of the Great Beast (28 points)

 My 6th and final post of the day! For the last location on level 3, before descending the stairs to the Altar of the Snowlord, I offer this Mutant Bug.  This is from the Mantic Games Mars Attacks game.

The miniature is more than filling the 50mm base.  For points I suggest 8 plus the location bonus = 28.

So with trepidation I descend the stairs to see what challenge awaits me at the Altar of The Snowlord.

From JonathanO: Enchantress - Sarah the Sorceress (25 points)

 In order to reach the Lair of the Beast, I will need to rack up some more frequent flyer points with Sarah the Sorceress.

This is the mysterious Lady Margaret.  She is a supporter and guide for the Twins in Armour that I painted in an earlier challenge:

http://analogue-hobbies-theme-rounds.blogspot.com/2017/01/armour-from-jonathano-twins-in-armour.html

This figure is from Hasslefree Miniatures (Lenore the Enchantress of Evermore).

25 more points, including the bonus. 

ian S - Dwarven Artillery 28mm - 30pts

 So another odd and sod, this time some home made light bolt throwers for my 28mm dwarven army.

The figures are from a company E4M they do a small range of 28mm fantasy figures 3 orcs and 3 dwarfs.  The sell them in packs of 50 for £10:50, these figures are 20 plus year old sculpts and are hard plastic.  The dwarf figures are a spearman, axeman and crossbow and are easy to convert.

 

First up standard bolt thrower 

Next is a grenade launcher

so thats 2 x 28mm figures at 5pts each - 10pts

artillery 2 x 10 pts - 20pts

total - 30pts

From JonathanO: Steam Knight - Knight's Solar (25 points)

 Another figure from the Empire of the Dead range.  This time it is the Steam Knight.

This comes with separate pieces for arms, claws and chimney.  It is a lovely model and very crisply cast as with all the Westwind miniatures.  I decided to use one of the resin bases instead of the slot base that came with the figure.  

As I mentioned in my last post, I have lots of figures from this range, mostly acquired during the EoTD Requiem Kickstarter.

For points:  5 for the miniature and another 20 for the location bonus.  It all helps!

Cheers,

Jonathan

From MilesR: For the SnowLord's Alter - Teeny Tiny and Really Old ACW Stuff and Minion Salute! (58 Points)

 

My tithe for the Snowlord's Alter required me to delve deep into my lead mountain and unearth one of the first things I started miniature gaming with - 6mm ACW.  I managed to tap into a very old vein of 6mm ACW ore, recovering some 6mm Baccus Zouaves and some ACW buildings from Total Battle Miniatures.  The Zouaves were purchased in 2009 and the building maybe a year later - its so far back the details are a little "foggy".

2 bases of confederate Zouaves - they must be new recruits as the glue on their bases hasn't fully dried.  I use the standard 60x30mm bases recommended by Baccus and use the bases as either regiments for Fire and Fury Brigade or as full Brigades for Altar of Freedom.  Each base has 28 figures, so 56 in total.

Next up are two farm complexes.  These are both from Total Battle miniatures and consist of a flexible base with sabots for full and half length buildings.  The casting on the buildings is superbThe first farm is name Cooke's Homestead

Ans the second is Williams Ranch.  The farms were named in honor of my points rivals for this year challenge, Martin and Noel.

Next up is the humble village of Elevensburg - a typical country town found in 1862 Virginia or Maryland.  This is another set from Total Battle Miniatures.

I think the town and the businesses that make it thrive deserve a closer look.

The first stop any visitor has upon entering Elevensburg is the world famous (really infamous) watering hole known as "Curt's Painting Salon" (and Bawdy house).  Rumors that a young Al Swearington apprenticed in this establishment are entirely true.

Next door to Saloon is Doc Moiterei office where you'd want to go if you're injured.  Dont worry about Doc's office being next to the saloon, he says he does his best 'cutting when "inspired" by the vino.  Try not to get injured.

On the other side of Doc's office is Tamsin Assaying office - you'd better follow all the rules when working with Tamsin or pay the cost.  Tamsin is a new resident of Elevensburg and took up residence after a very glamorous career as an attendant on the Baltimore to Richmond Stage Coach and Painting Carriage.  Elevensburg is surely moving up in the world if it can attract people of Tamsin's character.

Just next door to Tamsin is Reverend Peter Douglas's  Church.  Reverend Pete is loved by the town but his particular Christian Denomination, "the Church of Cyphering for Christ" is struggling to take hold.  To be honest, replacing his sermon with a math quizz has put off a more than a few residents.  Still Reverend Pete teaches the little one statistics in the school so he is well respected in the town.

On the other side of town you can find Burch's Blacksmith shop and the very popular Mudry's Guns 'n Ammo.

What a day we had when the smithy caught fire and it spread to the ammo stockpile.  It's a shame that happened just as the temperance union was parading past.  They will be missed...

Across the street from Reverend Pete's church is Capt'n Pauls Livery and Corral.  Capt'n Paul tells tall tails about some fantastical land "down under" that's only populated by extremely dangerous animals and sharks with lasers.  None of us believe that such a horrific place could exist - especially one that was settle by those lovely and genteel Brits.  No this "down under" fantasy sounds like a place you'd just send criminals to and we all know the Brits are too nice to do that.  We all think old Paul just got kicked in the head one time too many times.  If you do buy a horse from him just don't be too particular about where he got it from.

Right next door to Capt'n Paul is Hawkins hardware (and dry goods) - if it aint in stock at Hawkins you just don't need it.  Old man Hawkins is also rumored to be a Pinkerton agent so watch what you say about around him.

Lastly, behind Capt'n Paul and Hawkins Hardware is JMR's Fertilizer supply whose slogan is "Guaranteed Fresh and likely from the horse you rode in on".  Miles, the proprietor, struggles socially in town from an olfactory perspective but let it be said that there never was a better spreader of fertilizer than good ole Miles.

Well there you have it - my submission for the snow lords Altar and dedication to all of this years minions.  Points wise it's pretty small:

28 Points for the Zouaves, lets say 10 for the buildings and 20 for the room - C'mon Revered Pete help me cypher this one......

58 total points

I dunno who this Cap'n Paul is but he sounds like a grand and exciting person to know. Devastatingly handsome too I hear. That aside, a brilliant homage to the selfless Minion team and a grand offering to the Snowlord. 10 bonus points and a tot of rum for you good Sir!

Cap'n Wednesday