From TeemuL: Rest of Marauders (40 points)

A long day, no time or energy to write long tales. :)

So here are the remaining 8 Chaos Marauders for my Slaves to Darkness army. All are metal GW models from the late 1990s.

Whole bunch with the two models painted earlier

ByronM: More old school goodness from Teemu!  You are getting quite the warband going here Teemu good stuff.  I remember getting these figures when they were new, unfortunately I don't believe I ever got around to painting them.  These look good and I like the dark flesh tone you used for them as it suits the marauding hordes of Chaos.

From JohnM: Africans for Congo (50 Points)

It is always nice to have 2 posts for 1 week, these are hot off the press. Finished last night and photographed not 30 minutes ago!

This is the second batch of figures from the White Men Expeditions box from Foundry Miniatures for the game Congo. My first figures were the White Men, now we see their African Escorts. This includes the Kirangozi, pictured below in red shorts. He is one of the major characters in the game, literally the guide of the expedition. We also have the Trained Askaris in their red turbans. The yellow  was a bit of a challenge but I think looks OK. They have been well trained in the use of the rifles with which they are armed. They are for the protection of the explorers.

Next up we have our untrained Askaris, they have been supplied with muskets and seldom have uniforms, minimally trained they are the main element of any expedition. They are there to protect the African members of the expedition.

Well that just leaves the Ruga-Ruga and the Young Warriors and the box will be all done!

Fifty points, I believe.

ByronM: Very nice second post here John.  I like the bright colours contrasting the dark skin here, it really makes everything stand out. I really like the collection you have going so far, it is a very different setting than most of us have played, and sounds interesting.  Now your issue is going to be fitting terrain for jungle expeditions!

From IannickM : A few more Halflings... (25 Points)

Why not, hey? In what is quite possibly my last Halflings of the challenge, I bring to you another batch of 5 of the little fellows, and it includes some of my favourites, as today we have a berserker, a Wizard, a Honey Mage, a General and a Psion.

From left to right : Psion, Berserker, Wizard, General Bilbo Bonaparte, Honey Mage

Yes, we have ourselves our very first Napoleonic Halfling, people! And not any Napoleonic soldier, but the man himself, Emperor of the Halflings, general extraordinaire Bilbo Bonaparte. Funny thing is, and I don't remember who it was,  but someone in a comment asked if there was any Napoleonic Halflings. I smiled at the time, knowing this guy was coming. 

The Berserker is one of my favourite sculpt of the range, and I gave her the fiery orange hair of her fanatic Dwarven cousins, Slayers of Trolls. I'm also very pleased with the wizard, as I'm really happy with my painting on him, especially his flaming hands, which I think I nailed. And one cannot not talk about the Honey Mage! It make so much sense that Halflings would've come up with a school of magic that gives them unlimited honey! I love the bees all over her, and the honey dipper wizard staff is a seriously nice touch.

I had a LOT of fun painting all these Halflings; so often the subjects of our painting is serious, with monsters and wars and such, that this was just a very refreshing little project. However I believe these will my last of the challenge as I'm also working on a side duel due for early March (it's coming Sander, no worries. It's gonna be awesome) and I would like to add a few pts to that 30K duel. I did managed to paint 25 of 'em little fellows, and since my goal was between 20 and 25 I can say "mission accomplie". I have quite enough to create a LeafGrave warband, and I even have the choice between three Wizards! So I gather it is time for a family portrait of the bunch. 

So that's 25 more points. Now if you'll excuse me, second midnight snack is ready...

(I'm in no way affiliated with them, but if you liked this range, go have a look at StoneHaven Miniatures for Elves, Gnomes and more)

ByronM: More halfling goodness and you have saved some of the best for last!  As usual your painting and colour choice is perfect for them.  I absolutely love the Napoleon one, and I am sure our Overlord Curt will as well.  Well you may have met your personal goal for the halflings with this post, I am sure I am not alone in hopeing that we will see more yet.

From ScottM: French Vehicles and Fantasy Adventurers (115 points)

My contribution this week is a composed of two things: French World War 2 vehicles and a group of fantasy adventurers. First up is a set of five 28mm French early-war vehicles. I got them from a Kickstarter that Mad Bob Miniatures ran last year. First up is a Citroen Kegresse P19 Staff Car.

Next up is a Citroen Kegresse P104 armoured halftrack transport.

Next is a Panhard 165/175 armoured car. This one is my favourite of the lot, I'm kind of a sucker for the various Panhard armoured cars.

Next up is a Panhard 179 armoured scout/transport.

And finally is a Somua MCG artillery tractor/troop transport

The other part of my submission this week is a set of fantasy adventurers from a Kickstarter that Red Box Games ran last year.

ByronM: Good looking stuff Scott.  I love all the different looking vehicles here that you just do not see a lot.  You painting and camo on them looks great as well!  It's always interesting to see the lesser known items from war done up as many of them a lot of us will have never seen before.  I am also glad to see that I am not the only one with a Kickstarter illness!

From PaulS: Beware the dark (155 Points)

It has now been a few weeks since the last update and my work air miles have gone up a fair chunk, so it is nice to finally be able to put a few more bits and pieces up on the blog towards the weirdest of weird war.

On the sane end of the spectrum we have a few more german infantry. Most of these are plastics from Warlord's fallschirmjager and Grenadier kits mixed up for a late war/reduced resources look. There is one metal minelayer in there too. I can't remember if he is in this group or in the Fallschirmjagers.

And a nice selection of Fallshirmjager specialists and officers to drop behind enemy lines. These are a combination of the Bolt Action plastics and metals. Much as I like the options available in the plastics, the metal figures have a lot more personality to the sculpts, even if some of the faces are wonky at times.

In the first step towards weirdness is a full squad of Black Sun infantry from Modiphius' Achtung! Cthulhu range. These lot are multipart metals with some very delicate parts. Scale wise they are mych finer than  Black coats, black helmets and black uniforms... dear god. The photo really isn't doing them justice as it is bringing some of the highlights to the surface... but I swear... never again. These may well be going on the repaint pile later and getting a different colour or another three layers of black wash :/

In addition to the Black Sun troops, we've got three Nightgaunts for Black Sun to summon and use to terrorise the poor allies. Again, these are form the Modiphius range and... once again. NEVER AGAIN! Each of these is about 7 parts. Yep, 7 parts for each of those 28mm figures. Each horn and wing is separate as well as some arms and legs... all of which are far too fragile to pin, so it is a frustrating exercise of losing bits to the floor-god, gluing bits to fingers and fingers to each other. After all that frustration, now it turns out that the paint job looks awful on camera too. What is going on this week?

The final addition to the crowd is yet another Modiphius model. This time it is one of their newer one piece resin characters, which is a much nicer sculpt. I can't for the life of me remember who it is supposed to be, or even if it is Axis or Allied. It isn't even up for sale yet, so I can't go and check :/

The last picture for this week doesn't count towards the score as it is a clearer picture of the zombies from last time around. Bits and pieces from the various Warlord plastics combined with some of Mantic's zombie parts.

This week totals to 31 28mm figures to add to the score. Lets hope that the next batch of figures is a little less frustrating and a little quicker in coming.

ByronM: Great collection of models here Paul!  I really enjoy how you mix and match parts from different kits to make some of your figures work for what you want.  All of these are great paint jobs, and I feel your pain about doing black figs, they never turn out as we would like them do they?  They look good from here though, they just lack contrast, but that is part of the point of them, right?  

Keep up the good work and I hope you get some more time around the house to paint rather than gallivanting about for work, I know how that gets old fast.  Anyway, 155 points are added to your total.

From JohnM: Now for Something Completely Different (48 Points)

It is with some hesitation as well as enormous trepidation that I post photos of my next submission. I believe that the subject matter is held very important to at least 4 of my fellow challengers, including our leader Curt and the Wednesday minion Byron. My friend Iannick as well as Greg, one of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, also appear to be deeply immersed in this bizarre (to me anyway) fantasy project. Not only are they all superb painters but they all appear to have a broad knowledge of something called the Horus Heresy.

So why, I ask myself, have I become involved. I had noticed, with only a passing interest, submissions from our western friends over the last few challenges of bases of colourful little figures and vehicles. They looked cool and I had a vague idea that they had something to do with Games Workshop but that was about it. In a recent visit to Iannick's for some gaming, I happened to notice some of these tiny figures in purple in his painting room. Iannick is really quiet an excellent painter, his figures are always carefully and well painted and he really does a superb job on basing. I was immediately taken with the idea of painting some myself. 

I kept quiet hoping it would pass but I could not get the idea out of my head. I then starting emailing Iannick multiple times each day and over a couple of weeks he very patiently explained Epic 30K to me. Now I have to admit, I still have no idea what the whole thing is about, I know it has something to do with a dystopian future. I know it is in the Warhammer 40K world and that it is it. I am unlikely to read any of the books, of which I understand there are several. 

But I have to say despite all this, I really enjoyed researching the army lists, putting together the OB and painting the figures. I have to say an enormous thanks to Iannick who was very patient with my questions; directing me to the source material, correcting my mistakes and instructing me in the basing of the army.

I wanted a red army, and it had to be a Loyalist faction in the Horus Heresy as Iannick's IIIrd Legion, the Emperor's Children is a Traitor faction. A quick flick through the lists and I was left with the IXth Legion, the Blood Angels. So it started, a quick trip to eBay provided me with an adequate number of figures to start things up. Further arduous research through the internet and looking at many photos of epic armies left me with a painting scheme and off I went.

Since this has already been quite a long post I think, I will stop now and just present you with my first line detachment with it's three supports. I will discuss how I painted and based the figures when I present my second detachment. If I have done my calculations correctly, I believe this first grouping is 975 points of a planned 3000+ point core force.

Legion Tactical Detachment

Rhino Transports

I went with a red/brass colour scheme

Eight Tactical Squads, I found these particularly tough to paint and to base. 

First Support: Legion Dreadnought Talon Squadron

If I have it right, these are dead or severely wounded Space Marines who get put in Mechs!

Second Support: Legion Vindicator Squadron

Third Support: Legion Sicaran Battle Squadron

I really enjoyed painting these.

Well, I have to reiterate that this is a fun project and quite a change from painting 28mm figures. I know my efforts are a poor comparison to those of Byron, Curt, Greg and Iannicks' beautiful creations, but I am hoping they will serve me well on the battlefield. More to come......

I should also say that I have used the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts basing standard for Epic 30k with the hope (and I am sure Iannick will second this) that our western friends will come to Montreal sometime in the future for an Epic Encounter.

I believe their point value for the challenge is 24 (vehicles), 4 (mechs), 20 (figures) for a total of 48 points. It was a lot of work.

ByronM: I would not short sell your stuff John, they look excellent, especially for a colour like Red that is hard to work with! There is nothing wrong with them at all!   Your colours and brush work are excellent. 

I think the only thing that could be done to improve is a little harsh edge highlight and chipping.  However at this scale its hard to pull off, but it is one thing that Greg does to his that really make them pop.  I believe he learned the technique to do it from Tacobat (another blogger that obsesses over this stuff and is an amazing painter).  If you wanted to punch them up, I would try that.  Honestly though, they look very good as they stand now, so they do not "need" it, I would be thrilled to play against these any time.