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! 

From JamesB: Blood Bowl Orc Team (70 Points)

So here I am starting my third winter challenge, it seemed fitting that this forms my return to the hobby when it was into the first month of the forth challenge when I fell out of love with painting and gaming. I am already staggered with the output of (to me) new challengers and I look forward to getting to know the people behind this talent.

In the spirit of returning my first entry throws back to a young James who in 1989 was all about the GW and Warhammer, I had been one of the kids who watch the channel four NFL show so when GW released a game based on football but set in the Warhammer world I was sold.

I played Blood bowl with a human team for a good year or two and if exams had not got in the way I would probably have been one of those who kept the game alive as a cult classic since. But while I did not play BB again I did keep the passion so after a commission opened my eyes to the vast collection of BB miniatures from other companies I started to collect them with a view to one day restarting. 

Then 2016 saw GW re-release the game and I asked Santa for a copy for my Christmas present so out from the lead pile came all my BB figures and you will see many as the winter continues. These Orc players are a bit special as not only are they Old school GW figures (some of their best IMO) but this team is to form my Dad’s Christmas present.

The Whole team

Giving yourself only 5 days to complete your Dad’s Christmas present with no plan B might seem mad to some but anyone who watched my output in my first Winter challenge will know I work best with tight a schedule.

Linesmen

I love the character in these figures the faces are the real star of the sculpts, the team consists of 2 throwers 2 blitzers 2 Black Orc Blockers and 8 linemen. All the numbers are free hand and the base has colour mark so to indicate the position.

Blitzers

Black Orc Blockers

Throwers

Sorry about the photographs still working out the kink's on my set up (need a bit more light, dam you English winter). I have a few more figures on the go which will form my second entry in the new year.
Peace James

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It's great to have you back with us James -  Welcome! 

These old skool Blood Bowl orcs look terrific! You've done a wonderful job on the classic, punchy greenskin paintjob. Also, that is some very neat brushwork on the numbers and the coloured base markings - bravo!

I'm sure you're dad will be delighted with the gift. I hope you get in a game with him soon!