From EdwinK: Frostgrave Soldiers and Spellcasters (45pts)

It had been my intention to use the Painting Challenge to concentrate on building up a couple of Frostgrave warbands and a compliment of baddies and beasties for them to tackle.  Here were are, near the beginning of the end, and not a Frostgrave figure has been seen!

Well, better late than never.

First up are the spell fodder...

Who would hire this rabble?

As some of you will instantly recognise these are from Northstar's sprue of Frostgrave soldiers (though I can't swear there's not some cultist thrown in there).  As many have already said, this is a very nice pack, with some wonderful detail and character.

I've decided that this jovial chap was a mass murderer before
deciding to chance his luck in Felstad

The spellcasters on the other hand are from Midlam Miniatures.

The rest of the group call the apprentice 'Smiler' when the
spellcasters aren't around.

I haven't attempted to make the wizards school-specific, preferring to have a pool of figures I can choose from when I play.  Equally, I've not been too particular about what arms and equipment the soldiers have - today's Thug might be tomorrow's Thief. 

These were a very pleasant surprise Edwin - a second post this week and a first post in the Frostgrave theme!  There's a lot to like here.  It's a simple but effective paint job and your faces have come out very nicely.  Curt and I were chatting about your posts Friday night, as it would often be nice to see them in better lighting (I also have this problem FYI).  However, the muted light in these pictures gives a sepia tone and really seems to suit the wintery light that we get in the depths of winter.  Also well done with the basing.

From EdwinK: More 28mm Ice Warriors (10points)

A couple of weeks ago I submitted a group of Ice Warriors - Dr Who villains from Mars.  At the time I couldn't face any more green (how do you WWII types manage?!) so left their commanders, the Ice Lords, for another time.

Well here they are.

To be fair to Black Tree Design their monotonous green and lack of features isn't their fault - that's how Martin Baugh designed them for the BBC back in 1967 - fiberglass helmets and green wellies.

I bought these figures second-hand, and it wasn't until I got them unpacked that I realised that the previous owner had done some conversion work to them - the figure above on the right has had new arms and some embellishment to his helmet, whereas the figure on the left has had his belt removed.  For such small mercies, I am grateful. 

Warriors Reunited

More delightful, 60s era sci-fi Edwin.  Your figures are every bit as cheesy as the original.  Also the bath towel (I am assuming here) that you used to pose the figures would also work for BBC vintage production.  I can imagine the prop staff pulling up to an end of the rolls carpeting warehouse and asking for the lot on the most hideous deep pile shag available.   10 points well earned!

AdamC- A mix of Frostgrave Figures (75 points)

Ok this Monday I have a mixed group of figures I plan to use for Frostgrave and Dragon Rampant both. 

 First up we have six giant Rats from Reaper Miniatures. 

 I did half of these in gray and half in brown.  Rats are a common problem in Frostgrave they are aggressive and nasty.  

 They have gown large on the corpses of adventures and the undead themselves. 

 A Frost Giant, these big badies are rare in Frostgrave but if you run into one you’re going to have a bad day. 

  This is Reapers stone Giant and it comes in three pieces that got together quite well. 

He has a lot of great detail and the "Bones" material is excellent for figures like this since he would take a lot of lead to make. 

 This figure is from Blacktree miniatures and I plan to use him as "Crow Master"  a type of soldier that trains the Blood Crows of Frostgrave.   The Figures is called Felix, Wood Elf Falconer, I think a falconer or hawk makes more sense so I went that way.

 I'm not sure about the cloak but I tried to make him and his red-tailed hawk match after a fashion. 

 Here we have some kit bashed Men-at-arms six in all.  Bodies, heads, and shield are Wargames Factory. 

 The arms and weapons are from Fire forge and they went well together. 

  I'm imagining these guys as a band of mercenaries that hire themselves out to wizards venturing into Frosgrave.  I came up with the emblem on the shield, a blue axe head or maybe and arrow head. 

 They will also make a great a unit of soldiers for Dragon Rampant, six is just enough for an elite foot unit.

  OK this last guy doesn't really fit Frostgrave, as they don't have actual oger yet (though with the "Into the Breeding Pits" supplement we'll get Gnolls so maybe ogres will show up some time too. 

For now he'll proxy in as a second Ice troll if I need one. I love the face on his club... that must have come from some strange tree. 

 Again lots of good detail on this harness and belt. The tattoo or ritual scar on his shoulder is one of my favorite bits. 

I've provided this picture to help Peter with the points all figures are 25/28mm scale.  The six Men-at-Arms and the "Crow Master" are 35 points.  Perhaps we'll call the rats 15mm Foot making them 12 points.  The Ogre could be a 28mm mounted figure for 10 points and the Giant might be a 28mm vehicle for 15 points?  If you agree that would be 72 points plus any extra for hand painted shields.

Let's call it 75 points all in Adam.  I like the Reaper rats, they captured some good rodent like poses.  I also really like the Crow Master, especially his crow.  But the killer for me is that giant.  Well done and another 75 points for your Frostgrave side duel.

From Anne O'L-Warlord British Paratroopers (20 points)

One might expect that my continued interest in painting figures for Operation Market Garden is due to the work of Cornelius Ryan in A Bridge Too Far.  Admittedly, it is his work that introduced me to the historical events that took place in an operation that cost so many lives.  However, it is the work of Geoffrey Powell in his book Men At Arnhem, that has moved me the most and has convinced me that I must see this project through.

Because I have no experience in painting cammo, I chose to first complete three test figures  Although I am not entirely pleased with the results, it is a start and I know I can improve with practice.

Figures are 28mm and are from Warlord Games.

I shall paint a few more advancing figures to work out the bugs in my technique before tackling my PIAT and light mortar teams, the only defense these troops had against the might of German tanks.  

Just prior to the onset of the Challenge, I purchased It Never Snows In September by Robert J. Kershaw.  The demands of the brush and real life interrupted me after reading only the first chapter.  Come March 21st I shall pick the book back up and will likely go on a shopping spree for German figures.  Please pity my husband as I have also developed an interest in Frostgrave and have the first figure on the painting table now.

These three figures net me 15 points.  Plus a few for the overall impact.

Wow you have done it again Anne, vibrant paint work on dulled down camo.  These are just fantastic, as usual.  I am particularly impresses with the shading in the creases of the trousers, and of course the iconic red beret.  Great overall impact combined with great fin e detail work, what more can I say?  Please ma'am, I want some more?

Persian Infantry in 6mm IanW MONDAY 54 points

I add a little bit to my Baccus Persian 6mm army by adding the first Levy infantry into the mix. Eventually I will have to have about thirty of these units, possibly a fair few more. All depends on how I grow the Macedonian army.

I have painted up three units of 36 figures, two are all spear armed whilst the third is bow and spear. I wanted another colour fest and used twelve different colours just for the tunics.

The shields are for the vast majority just made up symbols, I gave up looking for what may have been accurate designs, towards the end I stumbled on Persian alphabet images so the odd letter creeps into the mix.

I occasionally allow my humour to get the better of me, here we have happy and sad, I reason that like the other abstract designs these won't really show up at a distance. Really though I can live with it.

Unit two has mostly a blue theme in tunics where the first was red, this is also backed up with the standards showing the key colours. This will help tie units together on the table.

A better view of the tunics and as you can see lots of different colours. Persian Levy infantry as the name suggests are not the type of troops you really want to be facing off against the Pike, I guess I will be having some hard knocks in our games.

The last unit has one rank of spear and two of bow. These will have a reduced effect in close combat but hopefully they will be facing troops they have already weakened on the way in. I hope so or they will be rather easy prey.

These will be part of the blue formation, I actually remembered to put the dice cells on these, that is I JUST remembered to add them! So that makes me 54 points which means I should be able to cruse for the last week or so. I have the final week off work for my Birthday so expect that week to have a few more units done.

Next week may see the Persian cavalry for these and some of the promised ECW 6mm. Infact apart from maybe a couple of cowboys the rest of my submissions will all be 6mm.

More epic scale 6mm goodies here Ian.  Great work on these Persian sarissa fodder units.  The en masse shot at the top his particularly effective.  I love the time put into the shields on the spear armed troops.  And I do enjoy your sense of humour, plus the fun of trying to find them.  I remember hearing of a Byzantine army at a WRG ancients tourney in the early 80s that featured happy faced shields.  Am I allowed to make Surf comparisons on the blue unit?

54 points for these three units, bringing you to within 11 points of your re-upped 1000 point target.  Well done, and I really enjoyed your work this challenge.  Enjoy your coast to the finish line and your birthday celebrations.  I have one upcoming too, but I am hoping to get some painting time in on my day off!

From MilesR: A Ship and a Greyhound 30 Points

 A rather spartan and eclectic mix of submissions this week - a 1/1200 US Third Rate and a 28mm M8 Greyhound.

 The ship is a 1/1200 scale model painted as a US Third Rate from Langton Miniatures.  Langton still are my favorite minis to make.   My effort isn't nearly as good as Byron's ships  but will serve well on the table top.  I've learned that minimal rigging stands up a lot longer.

This model depicts the USS Columbus, which was launched in 1819 after some delayed construction.  She saw service against the Barbary pirates and during the Mexican -American war.

This submission represents my first score in my side duel with PaulG with 1/1200 langton.  I do think we should add Byron to the tally there with his wonderful ships!

 Next up is a resin and metal 28mm scale model of a M8 Greyhound from Warlord miniatures.  The model was so-so  in quality.  Some of the detail part were horrible miscast that they couldn't be used including the headlights and their protective frames.  I tried to cover it up with some very vasty made "sand bags" which look OK.

 The greyhound is a great unit to have in Bolt Action and I've always liked the look of the beast.

 Just how big is a 1/1200 ship?  Here's a shot comparing her to a 28mm scaled figure and a 28MM scaled frigate.   The frigate would have been 2/3's the length of a third rate.

One of the reasons for such limited productivity today was the fact that my paint desk was a mess and needed to be cleaned up before to final "big push" of this year's Challenge - so a few hours of clean up was required.  Also sanded and treated to work top as it was showing some real wear and tear.

Great and varied work this week Miles.  I really envy anyone who can get 1:1200 sailing ships together (and holding together).  I have tried Napoleonic era ships and Armada galleons, but have decided that the skill set required is far beyond what I have in my personal toolbox.  Fortunately, I was able to handle these skills on a 1:1 scale when I owned my 24 foot sloop.  However, I will say that Columbus has badly run out of water and the US Navy needs to cashier the Captain and sailing master.

Bad luck on the quality of the Greyhound kit.  I've not used any Warlord stuff, but from what I have seen they seem to be rather hit or miss on quality.  Your sandbag fix works, what did you use to make the sandbags?  Have you thought of a roll of camo netting on top of the sandbags, it might cover a variety of sins.

And what's this about tidying up mid Challenge.  Empty calories my dear lad!  Skip the  junk food and bring on the steaks!

My scouring of the Challenge Archives found that last March Curt gave you 15 points a piece for your Spanish 74s, so I'm giving 15 points for your Yankee sailing ship.   Perhaps we could upgrade the scoring spreadsheet to include ships next year?

Monday Musings

So we are down to the last two weeks today, and this will be the first  last week of the Minions running the show.  Come next week, our evil genius uberlord  takes the reins back full time for the last sprint to the Challenge Finish line.

What's on Monday's menu?  Teasers on the cover of this week edition, possibly the last issue ever....

At least three of my writers live south of the border.  For them and for any other American citizens considering fleeing the coming political apocalypse , I provide the following link.  

Remember that Canada is always open to refugees but you need to move now before the Emperor Drumpf builds his wall.

I end up with another bunch of Canadian Content, courtesy of the New Pornographers.

Thanks for showing up folks.  I have really enjoyed my Monday gig.