The 'L'amour' Theme Round is Now Online!

Happy Valentine's Day Folks!

Sorry for the delay with posting the theme round, but Lady Sarah and I were enjoying a nice, lazy day off together.

To celebrate Valentines we have 'L'amour' as our bonus theme this week. I think you'll get a chuckle when you view the gallery as we have many great interpretations of the topic of 'Love'. I'll say no more, so you can enjoy without any spoilers.

As to myself, it was a tad rushed but I give you 'Prendre la Température / To Test the Waters' (I think). 

It's 1795, and we see a French Chasseur a Cheval watering some of his troop's horses in a small village. He is knocking out his pipe on his boot, admiring the local scenery. A fetching young lady, who is washing some of the regiment's laundry, has caught his eye and he thinks he might test the waters.

Nonetheless, the young miss has two chaperons nearby who are definitely wise to the scenario. One is an old crone, smoking a pipe and keeping an eye on the dashing cavalryman. In fact, she can clearly remember that warm spring day in 1745, when those handsome hussars came swaggering into town (where do you think she got the pipe?). She know's what's afoot...

The other overseer is the girl's faithful dog, who can smell trouble a mile away, and is letting everyone know it (those who know our 'Felix' will see a certain resemblance).

This charming 28mm vignette is offered by Eureka Miniatures (minus the pooch who is from Westfalia).

Okay, as with all of our theme rounds, please remember to cast your votes for your favorite entries. Voting will be open until next 11:45 pm next Saturday. 

Enjoy the gallery and have a great week everyone!

From GregB - Curtgeld - Trooper Cally Samstag, Activated 26, Orestean PDF (60 Points)

Cally Samstag (centre), Golla Uldana (left) and Janny Wirmac (right)

Unlike prior Painting Challenges, this year I wanted to actually be on top of my Curtgeld obligations.  The Curtgeld theme this years is a figure characterized as a "risk-taker, daredevil or gambler." I spent a while trying to come up with something Curt might find interesting, and I settled on these three figures.  They are meant to represent Cally Samstag, member of Activated 26, from the Tertiary Reserve of the Oreastean Planetary Defence Force.  She is joined by two fellow members of Activated 26 - Golla Uldana, and Janny Wirmac. Who are these folks? Why would Curt care?  Here is the background...sorry about all the blather...

If you enjoy 40k, you need to read this book

These are all characters from Dan Abnett's novel "Titanicus".  This is one of my favourite novels, and I think Curt really enjoys it as well. To understand why I thought these characters would be good Curtgeld, I need to share a bit about the novel and its story.

I imagine this figure as Cally Samstag

She is equipped with basic kit, and a MK2 lasrifle.  Use against enemy titans? Zero.

"Titanicus" is set in Games Workshop's 40k universe, and features an "engine war", an invasion of the Forge World of Orestes by the forces of the Archenemy - a traitor Titan Legion. In GW's 40k setting, Forge Worlds are planets given over almost completely to the manufacture of arms and equipment to supply the Imperium's never-ending wars.

The Forge Worlds are run by the Mechanicum, a sort of dark, dystopian sect of machine-worshipping types. Imagine the worst facets of every IT department you have heard of or experienced, combine them with the post-human fantasies of the douchebag entrepreneurs who dominate Silicon Valley, and put them in charge of a whole planet, and you pretty much have the Mechanicum and a Forge World...   

Golla Uldana, a delivery nurse from Orestes, called out to join the fighting as a member of the reserves

Anyway, in "Titanicus", the Forge World of Orestes comes under assault.  Normally, such worlds are well-defended - Forges have their own Titan Legions, and Titans kick ass. Who worries about invasion when a huge force of 100-foot walkers, 200-foot walkers and 300-foot walkers, together with assorted support elements, are handy. But in "Titanicus", most of the Orestean Titan Legion has been sent elsewhere, and the skeleton force left behind is falling rapidly in battle.  The Imperium has messed up, and Orestes is vulnerable. The situation is so desperate the Imperial Governor calls out the tertiary reserves of the Oresetean Planetary Defence Force.

Janny Wirmac, young daughter of a high-born family in Orestes

The Victoria Lamb sculpts are incredible

An "engine war" in 40k is the worst kind of battle - Titans vs. Titans, laying waste to everything in sight.  The scale of destruction is enormous, and victory in this context is pyrrhic at best. In such a war, even elite heavy infantry can do little but pray to survive.  The tertiary reserves, the very last line of defence, have even less of a chance.  Cally Samstag, Golla Uldana and Janny Wirmac are members of that reserve, and they go to battle in "Titanicus"...

For a 40k setting fan like me, this "engine war" as related by Abnett is, of course, the coolest! Big machines! The Mechanicum! The Archenemy! Massive Titans beating each other to bits! Entire hive cities in ruins! Awesome! But what Dan Abnett does so well as an author, in my opinion, is that he calibrates the context properly.  Through the eyes of Cally Samstag, you see the Titan war not as a fan boy of the genre and setting, but as a real "civilian" might.  Not the vista of heroic, genetically modified soldier, or configured mechanicum engine god, but a regular person, who had been living a regular life, called forth to face terrors you mostly read and heard about, but never thought were real.  It is terrifying - and so well done in the hands and mind of a gifted writer like Abnett.

So why is Cally a "risk-taker, a daredevil or gambler"? Cally and her husband Stefan had relocated to Orestes from a different Imperial world in the hopes of a better life.  Stefan is a skilled labourer, in high demand on Orestes, but Cally is a junior clerk.  To get the permission needed for relocation from the Imperium's Maoist-style government, Cally had to agree to serve with the Tertiary Reserve of the Orestean PDF.

"No," he whispered.
"It was always a possiblity."
"I can't believe it."
"It was always a possibility Stef." she repeated

Cally Samstag took a risk of agreeing to join the PDF so she and her husband might have a better life.  When war found them, the gamble catches up with Cally and other members of the reserve...

Three members of "Activated 26"

These figures are 28mm female Arcadian Guard from the excellent Victoria Lamb.  I have to say I was a little disappointed at the amount of flash on the figures - lots and lots of prep needed - but overall, they are just tremendous sculpts, and it is great to see a line of figures which includes female sci-fi troops without having them appear to be complete dork fantasies or BDSM play acting rejects.  The Victoria Lamb sculpts are everything the plastic GW Imperial Guardsmen might have been, and her range of figures affords Imperial Guard fans a whole new outlet to collect for the setting without having to use the roid-addled and overly round plastic Cadians from GW's current line of figures.

I used a colour scheme that would match my other, older, GW Imperial Guard collection.  I don't recall any specifics about colours of the Orestean PDF in the "Titanicus" book, so I thought the colours would work OK...hope you like them dude! 

Ahh, Greg, this is just brilliant! As you know I'm a huge fan of Abnett and loved 'Titanicus'. He has that wonderful talent to be able to communicate the 40K universe beyond the 'pew, pew' dorkfest to a manner that adults may actually appreciate. The Cally storyline was one of my favourites from the book as it brought the 'mega-ness' of the situation down to a human level.  Anyway, these are brilliant and I'm very keen to see examples of Victoria Lamb sculpts as I hear that they are magnificent.

Thanks so much Greg!!

From TamsinP - 15mm Korean Commanders (42 points)

Time for my 15th entry in the main part of the Challenge. I wasn't sure if I'd manage to get one in before the deadline, but I seem to have squeaked it just!

This entry is another set of additions for my swelling Choson Korean army, another 5 command stands for the "regulars". The figures are from Old Glory 15s as before.

I haven't added flags yet as I'd forgotten to print out another set of command standards. I've now got more than enough command stands to field two armies in FoG (three if I field the Righteous Army separately). I just need to add some more infantry and cavalry to be able to play out the civil war which may well have broken out in the Japanese hadn't invaded in 1592. That could make for an interesting campaign as the Chinese, Japanese and the horse nomads to the North could also get involved. Oh dear, i think that means acquiring even more armies...

Points-wise, there are 9 mounted and 3 foot figures, which should be 42 points.

Lovely work Tamsin. I really like the wide range of colour you've used for their uniforms and horse furniture. Those poor flunkies with the standards must be in great shape running along side these guys.

'Hey, Kwan, did you win that last battle?' 

'Nah, but me and the boss managed the 20K retreat in well under 2 hours!'

Three separate armies, huh? You know, you could now probably field an entire army of officers! I'm sure the North Korean army of today could do this, that is if they could first avoid getting executed by their benign and beneficent leader. You just need to get the 16th century equivalent of an anti-aircraft gun to keep them motivated. :)

42 points for you Ms. P. Well done and have a great week!

From GregB - Viet-Cron "Targets" (10 Points)

Two Valkyrie crewman walk away from a rough landing in...my kitchen...

A few weeks ago Sylvain dropped a points bomb into the Challenge in the form of his whacky "Viet Cron", Necrons from GW's 40k setting he had crafted and converted into pseudo-Viet-Cong-style insurgents.  It was a wonderful and bonkers tribute to GW's juvenile ethnic pandering among its factions.  In his posting, he named some Valkyries I had painted years ago and posted on our blog as part of the inspiration for his project. Well, I wanted to acknowledge and honour that little shout-out in Sylvain's hilarious and well-done submission with a little tribute of my own, and that is the inspiration behind this submission.

I thought perhaps the Viet-Cron could use some "targets", so I dug through my lead pile and found these two 28mm downed pilot figures.  I painted them with crew fatigues in a colour to match my Valkyrie models Sylvain had cited in his post.

These two figures are actually from the long-lost line of 28mm modern figures from Mongrel Miniatures.  They had a fantastic range covering the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and these two are actually Soviet helicopter crewmen.  Change the colours, and I think they make fine Valkyrie pilots for the 40k setting!

Sore shoulder from a rough landing on my counter-top

It's too bad the Mongrel figures are gone, as they were wonderful, wonderful sculpts, and I'm glad to have a sizeable collection. That's part of the reason I always buy way too many figures when I see some I like, as you just never know when they will disappear...

Some Imperial Guard storm troopers escort the pilots....

The recovery of downed pilots always makes for a good game background, particularly one with a (warped) hint of Viet-Cong-style insurgent flavour. So I thought these two figures would make ideal objective markers for when Sylvain and I manage to connect some time for a battle with the "Viet-Cron".  In the actual Vietnam war US forces often went to great lengths to recover pilots, and the knowledge in general among troops that their brothers- and sisters-in-arms will go to almost any length to recover fallen and trapped comrades seems, to my lazy civilian can, to be a prime instrument of motivation and camaraderie among the troops. So I thought these two would work for a themed game with the "Viet-Cron".

Of course, this is 40k, so it would need a dystopian twist.  The Imperials wouldn't just be out to rescue the pilots.  They would want to rescue them to ensure they didn't know too much, and then execute them properly, not trusting the Viet-Cron to do it. The pilots are rescued (killing many more Imperial troops in the process), interrogated and then shot by the Inquisition..happy ending for The Emperor, and something pyrrhic for the grim darkness of the far future...

"This way guys - what could go wrong?"

These two 28mm figures toss a paltry 10 points toward my score.  Strictly speaking, they are not "sci-fi" sculpts, so I will leave it to the judges-that-be as to whether they can be counted toward the sci-fi side-duel. 

I look forward to seeing Sylvain's bonkers Viet-Cron trying to hunt these hapless fellows down on the gaming table sometime this year!

This is awesome Greg. I love this bit of 40K escalation you're having with Sylvain and his whacky Viet-Cron (though you may want to take into account that he may retaliate). I think these Mongrel pilots fit the bill very nicely as Imperial pilots (the green lens flare effect is brilliant). I hope I can be around when the two of you tangle with your respective collections. As a suggestion, you may want to consider building the equivalent of a brown-water riverboat for some 'Heart of Cronness' action.

'The horror. The horror...'

From DavidB - The Tanith First and Only (105 points)

Sequoia scouts from earlier in the competition to show how much fun I've been having with DG kit.

This will be an experience, as I am not currently home. I WAS supposed to be on vacation, but some details due to weather and employment has me elsewhere this evening. Since everyone else who had vacation did huge point bombs...I had to at least get one in for the week!

I took these Wed when we were getting pasted with snow and they seemed to be yellowed a touch. But since home is across the state, they will do for now! ;)

These fellows are a security force from the water logged world Aleutia. It is mostly water and boggy land with a climate similar to the Pacific Northwest. With volcanic activity and an otter-like indigenous population, it has little value save for rare earth minerals. The fellows above are charged with protecting employees and equipment of the mining corporation exploiting the mineral rights. With the native population, environmental radicals, foreign intrigue,  shoddy equipment, and substandard wages...it gets a little rough at times.

These are the latest fireteam for the Scifi skirmish I play with my kids. I used Games Workshop, Warlord Games and other bits to alter the original Defiance Games kit. I rather like the hard hat vibe of the Bretonian helmets to reinforce they are miners...we'll at least the security for!

I also painted up my modest collection of the Tanith "First and Only"! I don't read much beyond current affairs and history anymore, but I still make time for Dan Abnett and his scifi military fiction. The Tanith were being raised as their first Imperial Guard Regiment when Chaos forces destroyed their forest world.

Col-Commissar Gaunt was only able to save the light infantry and the rest perished with their world. They are expert light infantry and never quit. The are filled with sneaky stalkers and crack marksman who are always ready to go to " Straight Silver" as last resort. 

Doctor Dorden fills the command squad and will have a better bedside manner than the Catachan medic! 

Colm Corbec is the XO of the Tanith Ghosts. He helped Gaunt find his way with the men, most of whom blamed him for the fall of Tanith.

Milo is the troops mascot and survived Tanith by being assigned to play the Tanith Pipes for Gaunt. The men think of him as a good luck token. Besides the plasma gunner, Mad Larkin the sniper fills the squad. Larkin is quite mad and only believes what he can see through his rifle scope. He has ended many enemies with his long-Las rifle.

I like the mixture of troops, but GW didn't see fit to include a flamer nor tread fether with the Tanith. Feth and Gakking are two favorite epitaphs of the Tanith. I also can't seem to find Gaunt anywhere...perhaps he is lurking with the rest of Tanith someplace.

PS: The Grass Snakes are presently 1-0 as Orks didn't really do that good in the jungle. It went pretty bad for the Orks. The Badger, the Lurker, and Lt Millsy all survived, with Lt Millsy being responsibile for the new clearing left by a vortex grenade which took out a mega-nobz squad.  I'm told they must now defend an Urban Jungle from Orks next...

Well David, even with travel and weather, you still find another 105 points to toss on the pile! Very impressive.  Again, your conversions are entertaining and very well done.  A wide variety of parts that I would have never considered combining myself.  I can imagine them unloading all available ordnance on the radicals and foreign trouble-makers.  Well done!

And it's very neat to see some Tanith First and Only painted up.  I have never read those particular books, but I am a huge fan of Dan Abnett and the way he brings the 40k setting alive.  Very cool to see these Tanith troops, and I hope they can join the Catachans in their purging efforts against the Orks!

From SamuliS: Regiment Prinz Maximillian (72 points)

Yet more Saxons, this time the first battalion of Regiment Prinz Maximillian in their yellow facings. Easily distinguishable from the previous Regiment Rechten as they have brass buttons, when the good folk at Rechten have white metal buttons! Definitely easy to spot from an arms length away when playing ;)

So another 18 miniatures finished. But what is it that I hear, AB miniatures being worth the points of 20mm's now! Bloody hell, might actually make reaching my target possible! So it seems I have netted 104 more points from my previous entries than I had thought! I'll leave it to the point gods to decide my faith and alter the results as needed :)

This one is the last of the yellow faced units that I have to do so I'm finally done with my most hated colour to paint! Hooray! After this it's only struggling with one shade that doesn't seem to cover even itself. White and yellow just seem so horrible to paint up always. I received some reinforcements which included casualty figures, too bad most of the sculpts weren't really usable in a unit and I'll just leave them for casualty markers.  The blood splatter didn't turn out very well though so I might just have to go back and cover it up if I don't start liking it soon.

Next Saxon unit on the line is Regiment von Steindel with two battalions. That will be the last of the line infantry from the 1st Saxon Division. Unfortunately Fighting 15s can't supply Light and Grenadiers until sometime in March so I'll have to wait until then to order more. At least I have enough minis for all the 12 line battalions so I'll be painting them until other minis are available.

Great to see more Napoleonics marching in to the Challenge.  The sculpts from AB do set the bar, and your painting skills definitely bring out the best in them.  I hope you celebrate your liberation from painting white and yellow - although I suspect, the hobby gods being what they are, you will suddenly end up with a project where you will end up once again with these exact colours...

As for the back scoring, I'll see if my ace spreadsheet colleagues can help me figure that out, but in the interim, here are another 72 points for your efforts!

From SanderS - More khaki drill...(296 points)

Hoi - Let me start by saying I think this post is my best shot at something we have come to describe a "points bomb" in this hallowed campaign that is the Challenge. Anyone who reads the rankings can see I am still miles away from my point target of 1500 points and will need to push it down to the floor to make this mark before the Challenges End.

So with no small amount of glee I can now present most of what is my Khaki Project for this years painting. All these figures are 1:72 Great War figures,most of them from HäT the exceptions I will call out. Let's start with my Emhar Mark IV male tank. A model that has stood assembled and primed in my cabinet for YEARS and now I have found an excuse to paint him up, gaining me 12pts.

Next up is a platoon of ANZACS or Diggers. They are HäT early war/ Gallipoli ANZACS and I have given them the white over red patches of the 8th Battalion. Why this unit? Well this is due to the brilliant ANZACS series. An Australian  TV series available on DVD and on YouTube, and it follows some of the 8th Battalion's troops from the very beginning of the War, through training, Gallipoli and the West Front. I did some head-swaps to include some regular army soft caps and some sun helmets just to liven them up a bit. These 20 soldiers are good for 80 points.

Next up are some support stands. An 8th Battalion mortar and two 2nd Machine Gun company Vickers HMG's. Six soldiers are worth 24 points

On to some ALH, I have a small unit of the 4th Australian Light Horse and these dismounted troopers and horse holders will be added to them. Another 10 trooper squad is prepped and based but will not be in time for this post. These 8 troopers are worth another 32 points, I am not counting the horses since they do not have riders.

The pride and joy of this batch of figures are 3 bases of Late War Artillery. I have intentionally left any unit markings off, so I can use them as any  Commonwealth Nation's artillery. there are two artillery pieces (White Metal from Early War Miniatures) and 12 crewmen. Two of those (the tank-crew carrying the box of ammo) are from Emhar the others are all HäT figures. 12 crewmen and 2 guns should earn me 64 points.

The last supplement to my Allied Great War armies are these 21 Late War Highlanders. The colour scheme is that of the London Scottish Regiment or something, which I have first seen in the Warhammer Historical Great War rulebook. Adding another 84 points, these Highland laddies bring the grand total to a whopping 296 points in total unless I am mistaken.

At the moment I am painting Napoleonic units for the next entry but I am not sure it will be finished next Friday. I am also pretty sure I am not entering the next Bonus round since I could not come up with a good idea. Oh BTW: Millsy all Antipodean personnel are wearing brown footwear in the colour Valejo Germ. Cam. Black Brown 822 from our catalogue ;-) 

Cheers Sander

Great work Sander! I would indeed say this is a "points bomb", and a very impressive one at that. Usually I am a sucker for the WW1 tanks, but in this case my favourite is the artillery, particularly the piles of shells - great work marking them up. And this batch overall is fantastic, I'm sure they will look great on the table. Well done - and 296 points for you!