From KyleC: Bloodbowl Averland Avengers! (66 Points)

So last week I hit the painting hard with some easy to do pieces that took no time at all to get done. Mostly cause they were full RnF, or were for someone else that wanted cheap, dirty and done.

But then I started in on these guys.. and knowing that they are for me, and for the upcoming league, and also knowing that I would be facing off against some other great painters perhaps in 2017.. I needed to step up my game and do a much better paint job!

So some research was made on some likely colors that could be used for it. I had a few in mind; Dallas Cowboys.. Oakland Raiders.. and then it hit me.. the flashiest team out there.. the Miami Dolphins! Mostly cause I wanted to paint Orange for some reason, and they are the only team to have Orange. And this was decided before the rest of the Canuckalheads here suggested their local teams in the Prairies ( wish I had waited.. a Green team could have been interesting! ).

I had done one test model first, and then jumped into the batch painting. But I can say that it was a slog to get through this batch of models knowing that I needed to be doing a better job with them than I normally would do for gaming pieces. And there are still a few places I probably wouldn't mind going over and fixing, but for now they are considered finished.

I did not see any number transfers in the box ( though to be fair I haven't looked too closely after taking the models out ) so I am not sure if there are any to go with them to make it easier. But as it was I wanted to do all the team and number markings myself on them as a challenge to see if I could do it. I think for the most part they came out OK. I realised at parts that I was too thick or heavy handed for them, but overall I got through them. Same with the lines on the pads. Some are thicker than others, but overall the effect sits well on them.

I tried to make the back portions of them look the best, and clearly visible for numbers as I suspect that is what I will see more of.

The line markings on the grass were a last minute thinking idea.. not sure they fully work, but they do well for now. I am in-between if they should have a bit more to the bases or not. Maybe grass clumps, dirt, or even some blood? I know Roman did a short tutorial on his he did his for a showcase version of a Skaven, but not sure how well that would translate for gaming figures that will get a lot of punishment over the coming calendar year!

So yeah.. 12 models that are in a more heroic 28mm scale.. and a lot of Bolt Action models to be tackled now. Which means hopefully a huge sandbag worth of points to come! And another army or 2 ready for the new BA season to come! Some of which you can see in the background of the above photos!

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Fabulous stuff Kyle! Miami Dolphins, eh? Well, the blue and orange you used really makes these guys look terrific, and the hand-painted numbers are ace. I'm also taken by the diffused field markings on the grass bases - very, very nice touch (I say leave them as-is). 

66 points to you, sir (including a bit extra for the team numbering)!
 

From SamuliS: Dropfleet Commander PHR (54 Points)

With Christmas over and the tour of relatives done it's time to get back into painting. About 700 years into the future from my last entry with a set of PHR starships from Hawk's new Dropfleet Commander game.

Spaceships have always facinated me and I did love Battlefleet Gothic back in the day and have been playing X-Wing and Armada in the last few years. So when Hawk announced their Dropfleet Commander Kickstarter I immediately had to put in a pledge for a couple of fleets. With the Kickstarter being massively popular (around 550k gathered just from the Kickstarter and a lot more from late backers) I wasn't too surprised when they didn't make their original June/July goal. With packages starting to ship out in late September I was hoping to get in early, but apparently Finland wasn't too high on the list and I only got my package a few days before Christmas as did most other guys here that I know who participated.

I'd caved in already in November after seeing painted ships popping up everywhere and ordered two PHR starter fleets as I was only getting a small force of them from the Kickstarter. I finished those a few weeks ago and now that I have my Kickstarter loot it was time to paint up some reinforcements to allow me to play full sized games.

What we have here is the Kickstarter exclusive Battlecruiser Leonidas alongside one starter sets worth of ships, 3 Cruisers and 4 Frigates. They are pretty darn massive with even the small frigates being slightly larger than 28mm infantry and the Battlecruiser being the size of a smaller 28mm tank and clocking in at about 15 cm length. No idea what points they should yield, I'll leave that to our gracious Snowlord Mr. Campbell.

 

These ships are pretty darn big!

PHR seems to have two different playing styles available to them. Most of their ships have enormous broadsides and fight a bit like sailing ships did. On the other hand they also have the best launch assets in the game with very powerful bombers. Originally I felt drawn towards the broadside way of fighting, but after a few test games it seems very tricky getting it right, so I ended up building a few more carriers for the force from this third set of ships.

Leonidas class Battlecruiser and Bellerophon class Heavy Cruiser

Paint scheme wise I tested out multiple different ones trying out different camo schemes, hexagon effects etc. before finally just settling for a clean airbrushed blue surface with light modulation with lighter blue towards the front and back ends of the ships. With large clean surfaces it just seemed to work much better for me. I might still try some decals on them, but have yet to find nice looking ones. Tau decals from GW seem pretty nice, but I still need to source some to try them out.

 Ikarus class Vanguard Carrier alongside a Theseus class Light Cruiser

They take surprisingly long to paint up. The airbrush phase is actually pretty fast only taking a few minutes per ship, but boy is it hard to get metallic paint into every nook and cranny as there's just so much small raised detail everywhere. Even now from the close ups I've noticed I actually missed a couple of spots on the Battlecruiser that I have to go and fix. And with the metal parts done picking out the tens of 'Gravity nullifiers' on those positioning wings is a pain in the a**. Still it's definitely worth the extra effort to make them pop out, even if it meant that most of the painting time on these goes into such a small thing.

 Two Europa class Frigates and two Medea class Strike Carriers

With these out of the way  it's back to Flames of War. The missus is out of town for a few days with our little warhound so I have the house all to myself and some quality painting time ahead of me. No interruptions outside of a Dropfleet game scheduled  for tomorrow so I'm hoping to be able to crank out a couple of more entries this week.

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Terrific work Samuli!  Your airbrushing really did a lovely job on these ships - That blue that you've used is very sharp. I'm a Star Wars: Armada man myself, but I'm quite taken by the sweeping elegance of these ships. I particularly like the long fins that you've highlighted with the orange running lights. 

I'm going to score the smaller frigates and strike carriers as 5 each, the Vanguard Carrier and Light Cuiser as 7s and the larger ships as 10s. So that comes to 54 points. Well done!

From AlanD - Freikorps 1918-1920 (145 Points)

Following on from my Spartacists for the German Revolution, here are 29 Freikorps figures to ruthlessly suppress them. Figures are from Great War Miniatures, and I thoroughly enjoyed painting them. The details on some figures aren't really right for Berlin in 1918-1920 (there shouldn't be any gas masks, for a start), but the figures with grenade bags and entrenching tools really look the biz. And I did carve the gas mask containers off some of the figures before cutting my thumb and giving up.



Just for the eye candy, I have included a wonderfully ugly Ehrhardt EV/4 armoured car, but this was painted before the Challenge.



So that's 29 figures and 145 points, and about 1/6 of the way to my absurdly optimistic target. 

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Fabulous work Dux! The late war Germans form Great War Miniatures look great in this role. You did a great job freehanding the ghoulish skull and crossbones on their coal scuttle helmets. Sorry to hear about your thumb, but it was in service of your muse so hopefully it heals up well. Love the Ehrhardt! If anyone else wants one of these I suggest you go over to Alf at Barrage Miniatures - he has a wonderful casting of this brute.

Historically footnote: In a perverse way it's too bad the German revolutionaries didn't have better success in whittling down the Freikorps before they were stamped out. Several members of the Freikorps (Röhm, Himmler and Höß to name a few) became some of the most heinous personalities of the soon-to-emerge Nazi party.

From SimonM - "Heroclix" Charcoal (7 Points)

"Put me down... So I can reform myself..."

This 28mm pre-painted plastic model of Charcoal is by “Wizkids” and can be bought as number 089 from their Marvel “Heroclix” Sinister range. Created to be a "Marvel Worldwide" comic book antagonist by Wallace and Kroja Frost, as part of a Wizard magazine "Create-A-Villain" contest, Charcoal would actually go on and join the Thunderbolts super-team, having initially been their enemy. The Burning Man made his first appearance in the November 1998 issue of "Thunderbolts", and was subsequently "killed in battle with Graviton" after the competition winner attempted to legally claim the copyright of the character from Marvel. 

Charcoal WIPS - From Initial wash and dry-brush, through to his diamond growths being picked out

Initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal so as to eradicate the 44mm tall figure's disagreeable pre-paint, Charles Burlingame's alter-ego was washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and subsequently dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. I then 'picked out his rock-hard diamond growths using a combination of "Vallejo" White and "Citadel" Asurmen Blue. Finally his eyes were painted using "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

Charcoal as seen in the "Marvel Worldwide" comic books


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Great to have you with us again this year Simon. I always enjoy your posts as I learn so much about comic book lore. 

I see you are still toiling away, perfecting your 'Black Period' paint style. :) I find these constants in life to be calming and reassuring, so I thank you. I'm definitely going to have to pick up a bottle of that 'Heavy Charcoal' as, we see here, it provides a wonderful highlight to black. I also like how the black and charcoal is contrasted against his blue diamond bits. A very striking figure.

I'm going to assume that Charcoal is on the heroic side of 28mm so I'll score him as a 40mm. Great job and welcome back Simon!

From Millsy: Christmas Allsorts (73 points)

Hello All!

My first post to this year's Challenge is something of a pick-n-mix of various items I've been collecting recently to finish off several projects.

First up is a set of three universal carriers for Flames of War. I have a large Australian force that can do either 9th Division infantry or Divisional Cavalry so these will fit in nicely with either. You can never have enough tracked pie tins! 18 points of Aussie goodness.

Next up is a set of five Ratling Snipers for my Warhammer 40K Catachan Imperial Guard force. I've always liked the 95th Rifles vibe these guys have got and couldn't resist the green-jacket paint scheme. The detail on these was quite soft so they're not the best paint job but they'll do. 25 points for these guys.

Lastly we have a bunch of additions to my stupidly large (i.e. 9,000 point) Epic Armageddon Squat force, composed of some Gorgon transports and a Land Train, the iconic Squat war engine. All up worth a total of 26 points.

These are the first edition Gorgons and I really like the models. The one thing I am never 100% sure of is which is the front! I suspect it is the dozer blade end but I'm more than happy to be corrected.

The Land Train is one of the coolest Epic models ever produced in my humble opinion. There's just something so very "Epic" about it. The vast majority of my Squats are based on rounds and it works really well for the Land Train as it can snake it's way across the board.

So that's a small but welcome 69 points to kick me off. There should probably have been more but I've been distracted by a combination of this...

Anyone remember this? Kudos if you can...

And this...

Another Christmas search and rescue. Fingers crossed we get a good outcome!

Cheers,
Millsy

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Ahh, the irrepressible Millsy has emerged from his antipodean mancave to make his presence be known. Hooray!!  The game is on, like Donkey Kong!

Great looking Bren carriers Mr. Mills - the crew peeking over the top of these jam cans are great, I imagine they are holding on like mad, hoping for the best. 

Your Ratlings are awesome (I'm a big fan of the abhumans in 40K) and, you sly dog, I quite appreciate the rifleman uniforms (and done without a mullet or seven-barrelled gun in sight, god bless you).

The Epic Squats vehicles are, well, epic - that Land Train is the absolute bomb (and mortar, and missile, and...). Also, I looked on the Forge World site and it seems the Gorgon carrier has the door/blade thingy at the front. Maybe that bit at the back is an incline stabilizer, or an ejector for beard trimmings and empty beer kegs. You need to give us an army shot of this force nearing the end of the Challenge. 

Finally, I have absolutely no idea on the computer game (it looks like it should be played on an Amiga or TRS80), but I hope your S&R had a happy resolution and you can get back to the brushes soon.

BTW, I've added a few points for the partial crew figures in the Bren...

From MilesR: US Rangers & Somali Pirates plus Some Frostgrave Soldiers (165 Points)

A somewhat eclectic submission of 33 28mm scale figures in the form of 16 Modern US army rangers and Delta's, 12 Somali Pirates and 5 Frostgrave Soldiers .

The Rangers and Pirates are produced by the people who wrote the Skirmish Sanguin ruleset and were part of the Maalinti Rangers Kickstarter.  The Somali's weren't intended to be Pirates but they'll do just fine in the role.  The companies name is Radio Dish Dash.  I have yet to play the rules but they seem very comprehensive and are based on a percentile die role.

 In the back row you can see the four Deltas

The first three rows are.  I went with a generic desert cammo which is "close enough".  The miniatures are superb but a bit on the delicate side.

 5 plastic Frostgrave soldiers that I never got around to painting last year.  These are very nice generic figures and can serve a lot of roles in any medieval skirmish or RPG game.

 Next up are the Somali's - I only got 12 with the kickstarter which is disappointing because I don't see them listed for retail sale.

 A close up of 6 of the pirates with their leader sporting a very nice new set of Communist bloc cammo fatigues.

 And the other six.  These were a lot of fun to assemble and paint and I would really like to get some more.

That's it for painting today - Perhaps I'll get some more in later this week.

Both the rangers and the pirates will be part of the SOCOM and Sorcery game at Historicon - each will be a player faction.  More on that as the Challenge progresses.

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Great work Miles. Modern figures, eh? This seems like a new twist for you. I really like the Radio Dish Dash models, especially the Somalis. Their wiry physiques seem quite realistic and the skirmishers have wonderful animation. Now you need a Blackhawk and a couple Little Birds to set the scene. 

And Mr. Miles moves back to the front of the points roster...

From MartinN: Spanish Civil War Nationalist Colour Sergeant (6 Points)

In the run up to this years challenge (the 4th I'm allowed to take part in btw.) my good friend and gaming buddy ChrisS and I came up with the idea to challenge each other to paint as much Spanish Civil War related stuff as possible. Chris and I are both quite interested in the SCW and were talking about getting into the period for as long as we know each other. Thus to finally get that pet project of ours off the ground we decided in order to score in our side duel the painted total of each participant had to be a legally playable in games of Bolt Action. This means each participant needs at least two sections of a minimum of 5 miniatures, a support weapon with crew of choice as well as at least two command models.

When our beloved torrero and designated SCW aficionado Mr. Campbell heard as to what we're up to, he decided to throw his and PhilH's hat in the ring as well. So in order to get our little side duel going here's my first figure for this years challenge, a Colour Sergeant of the Spanish Foreign Legion also known as the 'Tercio de Extranjeros' or just Tercio.

The Spanish Foreign Legion together with the Moroccan Regulares formed the backbone of Generallissimo Francos forces during the Spanish Civil War. La Legion was formed in 1920 as part of the Army of Africa and took part in the Rif War from 19020 to 1926. It was intended to be the Spanish equivalent of the French Foreign Legion but apart from a few foreigners mostly from Spanish speaking nations, mostly Spaniards were recruited. Thus the Legion was soon to be renamed in 'Tercio de Marruecos' (Tercio of Morocco).

The miniature is from Empress Miniature's rather excellent Spanish Civil War range and was sculpted by Paul Hicks. The flag is by Flags of War and I've to praise Iains excellent customer service. Due to some issues with Royal Fail it took a while for the order to arrive and during all that time Iain was quick to answer any questions and also sent replacement on its way as soon as it was obvious the first order didn't get through.

The Colour Sergeant should net me a staggering total of 5 points and the satisfaction to be on the roster.

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Tremendous work Nick! You've really brought this colour-bearer to life with your fine brushwork. Your blending is at its usual high standard, and I really like what you did with the striped motif on the flagstaff. Lovely stuff. I'm going to add a pip for the flag as I think it always adds a nice finishing touch to a unit.

Now I need to respond to this provocation so as you don't steal a march on me!

From RodF: Whompers of the 1st Royal Rgt. of Hoppers (20 Points)

Greetings all.  This will be my first ever post to the Challenge.  I've been avid watcher for years, but wasn't sure I would have enough free time to give much participation.  This year I finally decided I'd give it a shot.  My main goal in participating was not to purchase any miniatures, but to make a dent in my current lead pile... and hopefully revive some stagnant projects.  So I've been digging through my lead pile and finding all kinds of forgotten projects.  The miniatures below are from one of those projects.

The Eureka Miniature's US rep showed up at one of the conventions I went to a few years back and I saw these frog warriors from the "Pond Wars" line.  I just knew I had to have some!  And they sat and sat.  Now finally, they are on the paint bench!  These particular frogs are holding mallets, but the whole time I was painting them I kept thinking "whompers" would be my name for them.  These are painted to look like a Tree Frog color patterns.  Hope you enjoy!

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Ahh, these are just fabulous, Rod! I love the vibrant colours you chose for them. I'm not a big fan of painted eyes on small-scale figures, but the bulbous peepers on these little fellas really demand attention any you've bring them to life. Wonderful work.

 

KenR : 28mm WWI British Signallers (30 Points)

Entry number 2 this year for me is this little collection of 28mm Great War Miniatures British Signallers. It's a gorgeous pack of 5 figures and a equipment piece. My WWI collection is for the Middle East, Mesopotamia and Palestine so these guys are a bit "Western Front" for me but I just couldn't resist.

Our intrepid group of gamers use the Toofatlardies rules "If the Lord Spares Us" for our games and these allow you to extend your command radius with the use of Signal bases, for years we have used plastic Meeples but I thought these would be much more pleasing on the eye.

5 points a piece for these 28mm which will give me another 30 (if the equipment piece counts as 1). I had a bit of fun with the 6th base putting a map on the ground sheet and turning one of the supply boxes into a a cache of "Yarkshire Tea".

Yarkshire Regiments go nowhere without Yarkshire Tea !

A good map is always handy

I'm already over halfway through the next unit of 28mm Indian Infantry so stand by for further incoming !

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Lovely work Ken! I've always liked this set of figures as they are so characterful (I especially like the fellow releasing the pigeon) and you've taken them to the next level with your additions of the map, signaling equipment and the Yarkshire tea! Infinitely better than Meeples. :)

30 points for your tally. Bring on the Indian infantry!