Saturday 14 January 2017

From PaulOG - Wasteland Raiders and Red Devil Jeeps (130 Points)

Two contributions from me this week, for different projects underway:

Wasteland Raiders

No, these are NOT Chaos Warriors (though the figs are indeed the venerable 2004 GW sculpts).  You can easily tell by the way their shields have been meticulously scraped clean of the characteristic 8 pointed star icons and most of the skulls, right? Right!


These are the beginnings of my first ever Fantasy army: a  Conan-esque "Riders of Doom" / Game of Thrones Wildling inspired raider force.  These rather ominous looking chaps deliver two 6 Heavy Foot units for Dragon Rampant; one with 2 handed weapons and one with Shields (and led my a Sub-Leader with a Standard Bearer and a musical/signalling Horn blowing chap).

Yes that shield/banner device is indeed the Yellow Sign of Cthulhu mythos fame.
No, they aren't wearing yellow.
Behold: the colourblind Knights of the Yellow Sign!

Painting wise, they were undercoated black and then I fell into the pitfall of enjoying painting all the lovely details and spending far too long on them - not good time economy from a points perspective, but I am pleased with their "just in from the wastelands" appearance.


Banner and shields are of course hand painted to avoid the unpleasantness than Alan unleashes on those who utilise shield decals, which are (and I quote verbatim) "evil and the work of the Devil" (as he is fond of exclaiming loudly into perpetrators' ears...)

Red Devil Jeeps


Another of my hobby objectives this year is to add to my 28mm Brit Para force, which I completed as part of my first challenge back in AHPC IV.  I really love this army (but JamesL's Germans generally don't) and am keen to add some some force options that I didn't do the first time around.


First up is a pair of Para Jeeps which come from the Brigade's Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, but can also be used to tow the Para's Light Howitzers and 6pdr antitank guns.  Fitted with Lewis guns, they can be very useful for a flanking movements and to throw some suppressing fire about in rear areas and cause havoc generally.  Jeeps are by Warlord Games, crews are by Artisan Designs and I've added a bunch of other stowage and gibbons from my bits box.  LMGs are modelled in a "stowed but ready" configuration for playing/storage longevity.  Yes, one of the Paras is toting a captured MG42 - to offset the captured Brit weapons that some of Alan's new Fallschirmjäger are carrying (which will also be posted today) and because its such a cool weapon!




Tip for Commonwealth types (standfast Canuks): note that the Jeep is an American designed vehicle.  Thus, the driver is on the Left hand side. Don't go into automatic and superglue your drivers into your more usual right hand side driver's position.  Yes I felt sufficiently purist (or sufficiently pressured by one called Alan) to remove said drivers, fix the paintwork and then re-glue them onto the designed -as opposed to proper! - side.


Overall, that should be 60 points for the 12 Raiders, while the Para jeeps are 2 x vehicles + 6 full crew figures for another 60 points: adding a modest but pleasing 120 points to the pot.

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Wow, what a wonderful set of contrasting miniatures!

Those raider chaps are very imposing fellows. I love their dark brooding armour and the 'King in Yellow', er, Purple shield device. I had know idea that Alan was such a free-hand fascist - he would be in good company with our PeterD. Honestly, I hate working with decals, but I can't deny their usefulness, especially if you're not talented with fine detail brushwork.

That is an excellent brace of Airborne jeeps. I really like the muddy undercarriage and the various stowage. (The trooper with the MG42 is brilliant.) Historical note: These vehicles were not armed with Lewis guns, but rather Vickers K LMGs. It is a common misconception due to them both having drum magazines, but the Vickers K had a tremendous rate-of-fire (similar to the MG42) which their crews loved.

Also a small correction on your assumption about Canadian vehicles/driving: except for a few small municipalities in the early 20th century, Canadians have always had our steering on the left hand side of our vehicles and we drive on the right - like the Americans (and, well, most of the sensible world). ;)

130 points for you (including a few for your Cthonian shields and flag), Paul. Terrific work, Mate!

24 comments:

  1. Great entry Paul. I love the colours you have used on the raiders, and all the details on the jeeps. I'm very happy to see that I've had such a good influence on you with my mean-spirited pedantry.

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  2. Great entry Paul. I love the colours you have used on the raiders, and all the details on the jeeps. I'm very happy to see that I've had such a good influence on you with my mean-spirited pedantry.

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  3. Great minds clearly think alike - one of my current projects for the Challenge is Frostgrave-related; and guess what sign was going to go on the Cultists' shields...?

    I think there must be some sinister forces at work... It's almost as though we both ended up getting inspiration from the same source (somewhere in the Hyades?). Spooky!

    These are excellent Similar-To-But-Legally-Distinguishable-From-Chaos-Warriors, and the paras are top shelf. Well done Paul - NOW GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!
    ; )

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  4. Great stuff, really like both entries which are polls apart on all but quality

    Ian

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  5. Nicely done mate, I'm being drawn to DR, my Orc refugees from The Game Formerly Known As Warhammer are looking for a new adventure...and yes, my Jerries are not fond of your Red Decils...but are keen to meet them again ! Lovely paint work, time well spent

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  6. Cracking stuff Paul.. at this rate you will be a GIMP , if not of course THE GIMP.

    Of course if the splitters actually drove on the correct side of the road .......

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  7. Lovely work all around. Kudos on the purple and the shields. But shoukdnt these guys be sporting evil and God Devils design. Great looking Jeeps too.

    As my my so called shield fascism, I beg to differ. Applying decals or transfers requires a degree of precision that is well beyond my capabilities, and as an exercise ranks somewhere close to root canals and colonoscopies on the pleasure index. Free handing shields is a highly pleasant reward, best enjoyed with a glass of Rioja.

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  8. Really nice work Paul. I especially like those Wasteland Raiders.

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  9. Very well done on the raiders but my favourites definitely are the Airborne!
    I only recently had the pleasure of a visit to the UK and very enjoyable it was too... except for the rather disconcerting experience of everyone driving on the wrong side of the road. So you see, it's just a matter of viewpoint ;-)

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  10. Great work, love the Jeeps. Especially the PIAT on the back seat!

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  11. Love the raiders, really excellent work on those. Jeeps are great too

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  12. Fantastic entry - love the shields and the jeeps!

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  13. Lovely work, Paul! I think it must be time for some Bolt Action down at the club with all this new WW2 goodness...

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  14. Conan style Riders of Doom so much better than Chaos warriors, The Para Jeeps are also good but I am quite taken with the Dragon Rampant riders of Doom idea!

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  15. another impressive entry love the jeeps and always like to see old style GW

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  16. Beautiful work on the Riders of Doom, I'm in awe of that freehand work.

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  17. Your "not Chaos Warriors" are simply fantastic mate! I had no idea you were interested in this stuff. I'm sure my Orcs could easily be re-purposed for Dragon Rampant so we can see whose savage horde is top dog.

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  18. Nice warriors indeed, classic sculpts, well realised.

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  19. Have you seen the yellow sign?

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  20. Great work Paul - notice how removal of the excess skulls and other drivel actually makes them BETTER as Chaos (if you wish) as well as suitable for other things? If only the Klown Kollege at GW would take note...

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  21. Your riders of doom are quite fine. I like the texturing on the helmet horns and fur (feather?)mantles and the shading of the banner. Be sure, once they get horses, to ride them into jumbled ruins where they can be ambushed easily ... very Conanesque.
    The paras are terrific.

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