From SidneyR: Guldensporenstraat, the Street of the Golden Spurs, Laarden 1688 (75 Points)

From the journal of Don Fernando de Torrescusa, Marquess de Girona, Envoy of His Most Catholic Majesty, Carlos the Second, King of Spain, to the Flemish Free City of Laarden in 1688. 

"During my first few weeks in Laarden in the cold winter of 1689, I was almost overwhelmed by the number of civic dinners, town celebrations and council meetings either held in honour of my Master, the King of Spain, or to celebrate the arrival of my small delegation. The discussions at such gatherings ranged widely across politics, trade, the correct terms to address a Spanish plenipotentiary, the status of the current hostilities with France, the rising prices on the Laarden tulip exchange, and the current fashion for the colour yellow which appeared to be taking the town by storm. While Laarden is well known for both its good hospitality and fine food, in truth by deep mid-January my patience and stomach had, respectively, begun to tire of the endless diplomatic pleasantries and the rich fare of Laarden pheasants, Ghent eels, Campine chickens and Flemish oysters that out hosts had placed before us.

A week after New Year, I asked my guide, the young Flemish nobleman Antoine de Gautier, if we could venture one evening from the suffocating banqueting suite of the Hall of Deputies to find a local hostelry. In the process I asked if he might introduce me to some of the heritage and history of the Town. I should have known by the gleam in his eye, which I confess I mistook for civic pride, that I was about to be 'entertained'.

Later that evening, the young Lord of Laarden announced that he would take me through Guldensporenstraat, the street of the Golden Spurs. It was a uniquely colourful name, the provenance of which was the Flemish victory over the French in 1302 in which the Laarden contingent performed most creditably. I had expected a grand avenue, close to the Grote Markt. My expectation was thoroughly misplaced.

Located in the artisan quarter of the city, Guldensporenstraat was not easy to find. I was led, eventually, to a narrow, poorly lit, damp alley-way, with rivulets of foul-smelling black water oozing between the cobblestones. A solitary crippled beggar, clad in filthy brown rags and a tattered hat with the remnants of a feather, sat by the entrance to the street amidst a litter of bottles and broken glass. "Spare a florin for a veteran of Seneffe and the siege of Valenciennes, Senhors?". His voice was like fingers ploughing through a pigs entails, phlegmy, soft and gurgling with an emerging respiratory fever. We stepped over him, Antoine grunting disinterestedly, as the beggar moved his alms bowl swiftly away.

At the other end of the narrow street, I saw a lavishly dressed man bedecked in the latest French fashions. The chevalier's coat, stockings and plumage were Hapsberg scarlet, and clearly of considerable quality. "Jan de Vichet.... one of Laarden's envoys to the French Court, recently returned from Versailles", de Gautier informed me.

"A man of power, and wealth... I wonder why he's here.... Ahhhh....that's why".

From the shadow of a door, cut into the vile alley-way, stepped a young woman, dressed soberly in Laarden grey. Her golden blond hair cascaded out in a wild fashion from the confines of her cap. I heard her say something along the lines of "Nice to see you again, Senhor. The price is the same as last time", before both her and de Vichet vanished into the darkness of Guldensporenstraat.  

I recoiled from the scene, unwilling to spend any more time in the miserable passageway. "Local heritage, my Lord. You did ask...", gurgled de Gautier, a frothy bubble of laughter sounding in the depths of his throat. "Time for 'The Harvest Goose', I think", he added, pointing the way towards a nightwatchman carrying a guttering lantern. As we left Guldensporenstraat, the sound of our footsteps on the cobbles in the poorly lit streets were eventually drowned by a burst of tuneless singing drifting from the open door of a nearby tavern. I tried to disguise my disappointment, resigning myself to an inevitable hangover in the morning."

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De Vichet lingered in the doorway to watch the two noblemen wander off. He could just about make out the all-clear signal from Jean-Louis at the end of Guldensporenstraat, the beggar's bandaged hand waving in the gloom slowly. He looked at Agnes and started passing her the coins.  

"So, which of the regiments were in the Grote Markt this morning and last week? Did you copy down their standards like I asked you? Have you found out when the Lorrainer cavalry are arriving? And the Duc de Luxembourg was most specific that he wanted details of the German and Polish cavalry quartered in Sint Vaalben - you remember, the ones I told you about.....the ones from the Baltic War?". 

Agnes smiled, and rolled one of her stockings down a fraction with a well-practiced gesture, tugging out a small fragment of paper with pencil marks all over it. "Tell His Grace that information like this comes at an additional price". De Vichet's eyes widened as he took the paper, reading the contents greedily. Without another word, his fingers delved deeper into his leather purse.

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So, a very indulgent, fictional background to a submission I never anticipated in preparing for this Challenge. About New Year, I remembered that Sarah's Challenge is a big part of Challenge VIII - thanks for that post, Curt! I was wondering what to do with the Agnes figure when I got the idea for the above scene from the BBC's drama "The Miniaturist", which I watched with my wife and kids over the holidays.

The figures are a real mixture. Jan de Vichet, Laarden envoy to Versailles and thoroughly Francophile spy, is a 25mm Dixon Miniatures officer with a ludicrously large green-stuff wig and cravat.  Agnes, another French spy (although with better justification) is an SHQ figure from their "Tavern" line. I liked her figure a lot, especially the fact that her gesture, fingering her stocking top, could emerge as something very different to what it first seems. I added her cap in green-stuff, and she may yet turn out to be an unlikely heroine. 

Jean-Louis, the sad veteran reduced to a begging bowl, is a Midlam Miniatures beggar with a Redoubt ECW headswap. The member of the Laarden Nachtwatch is a Foundry Thirty Years War sergeant, with his halberd swapped for a Mordheim lantern. Chickens and cockerel are from Warbases, as are the geese. 

The buildings are from the venerable Hovels 25m European range, without conversion (although some of the resin bubbleholes got filled with green-stuff). They're still fun to paint almost 30 years after they first graced wargames shows in the UK.  The wonderful continental paving (which is ruinously expensive brass fret at £8 a sheet) is from Scalelink. I rarely use it, but it looks very nice. It was glued using epoxy resin to the plywood base (more details on my blog to come). It's a shame no-one makes this distinctive cobbled North European paving in plastic sheeting, as I think it sets the scene for the houses very well.

I also painted up a miniature version of a small town from 1688 in 2mm, which was very kindly send to me undercoated by good friend and wargaming chum, Matt Moran. Thanks Matt! I think the buildings are Irregular Miniatures, and Brigade Models. It's possibly not large enough for Laarden (but would do perfectly for one of the smaller sateillite towns of Laarden, such as Sint Vaalben), but it was lots of fun to paint up. I tried painting a 'brick' style on the 2mm buildings, using some 1mm 'snow' (really cotton dustings) to heighten the small town's attraction on the table top for looting parties comprised of French hussars.  By all means let me know if you like the look and I'll try and do some more.

There is a historical background to all this nonsense, but I'll leave that for a post on my blog in due course, including some interesting background on 17th century spies, nightlife (gosh!) and the use of the term "Senhors" for noblemen in Laarden (and Antwerp).

And for points - for the Guldensporenstraat buildings terrain is more than one 'terrain box', but less than 2 full boxes. The buildings' base is a shade over 6 inches, but the height is more than 6 inches. I'd like to claim 40 points (but would be happy with 30 as a compromise!).   I don't feel that I can claim 20 points for my miniature version of Laarden (it's in 2mm), but I'd be more than happy with 6 points (comparable to an infantry base in 2mm). I'll score Jan, Agnes and the Nachtwatch lantern-bearer at 15 points, and 3 points for Jean-Louis (the points reduction as he lost his legs at the Siege of Valenciennes, poor chap). I've taken the liberty to add 2 points for the chickens, geese, and the malevolent cockerel. So in total (and with a favourable wind on the terrain scoring), 66 points of Laarden night-walking and town planning.

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A wonderfully entertaining and sumptuously gilded entry, Sid!

I love the background story of Don Fernando's brief tour of the more colourful streets and back alleys of Laarden (as I mentioned to Sidney when chatting about his post, it has a distinctly Warhammer Fantasy Role Play feel about it). The figures and their modifications are perfect for the fictional Dutch town, with me particularly liking the very architectural wig of De Vichet and the simple, but charmingly demure, bonnet of the efficient intelligence agent, Agnes.

I have several of the venerable Hovels range and heartily agree to their continuing quality and charm. You've done them great service here, Mr. Roundwood.

The 2mm village is charming, all socked in with snow and cozy for the winter. It will be a great addition to your TYW collection.  

This wonderful lot will weigh in at 75 points, including a few extra for the conversions and the great story. Lovely stuff, Sid!

From VictorC: First Two Spanish Battalions for the WSS in 10mm! (120 Points)

I completed the first 2 Spanish battalions for my War of Spanish Succession project. Joining their French allies are the Walloon and Spanish Guard battalions! Only 16 more battalions to go. 

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Ah, excellent! We often see many of the northern European actors in the War of the Spanish Succession that we overlook the Spanish themselves. Great work Victor! I really like how beefy you've made your battalions, they really have a great sense of mass. Are these still Old Glory figures? I quite like the look of the compressed ranks.

These two battalions will give you 120 points - Well done Victor!

From MilesR: 28mm Union Regiment and More Terrain (237 Points)

 This submission will be varied in nature to say the least.  First up is a return to the ACW for me in the form of the 71st PA Volunteers - a 24 figure Union Infantry Regiment.  The figures are from the newish Perry plastic Union set - which is really just the confederate set with the addition four figure sprue for skirmishing units - kind of new, kind of not.

 This represents my 19th regiment for the Union side.  I have 16 for the Confederates so it's a largish collection.

I really like the Perry plastics and you'll see a few more regiments before the Challenge is done

Next up is some more Dungeon terrain - 8 more 4x4 sections and a large 12x12 inch room.  A lot more to build before the Challenge is over.

The terrain set so far.  It's about 1/3 done.  I want to spend sometime working on some LED lighting to jazz up the look. and make a few larger rooms.

 To finish out this rather eclectic submission are three 28mm vehicles.  From left to right, A British Scimitar light Tank, a german half track and a Toyota "Technical" with a twin AA gun mounted in the back.  The two modern vehicles are from Empress Miniatures.

The halftrack is a plastic kit from Rubicon and was a bit difficult to build

We've recently added 2 rescue cats to our household.  The kitten, Izzy, seems to really like me and has now become a constant companion.  You can see her helping me keep up the status of the Challenge.

Next Up: Pirates!

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Lovely work Miles. I know you have been painting ACW for quite awhile, but had not realized just how large your collection had grown. 35 Regiments now, Holy Smokes, that is very impressive!! 

And while we're on the topic, your bespoke dungeon terrain continues to impress. I really like the new well and that large room will come in handy for future epic battles. I look forward to seeing how you mod it with LED lighting. Such a cool project.

The new vehicles are very nice. The weathering on the technical is excellent (I like the replacement door still in its raw primer).

You can get Izzy to check my math, but I'm putting this lot at 237 points, with 12 added for the flags and custom terrain work. A wonderful and varied entry Miles!

From DaveX: 28mm Austrian Napoleonics and WWII Polish Airborne (45 Points)

This week I managed to get 9 miniatures painted.  I am adding to my slowly growing Austrian Napoleonics with these four by Perry Miniatures.  They will be representing the 4th Line Infantry. 

For those that don't know me I am a massive advocate for Poland in WWII, well Polish Forces in General. I am obsessed with their history, their resilience and their sheer determination in times of war.  This was all inspired by a visit to Poland in 2016.  I have a rather large 28mm 1939 Polish Force.   I made Poland "Great Again" in the Australian Bolt Action scene by taking them to the Podium in Australia's largest Bolt Action Tournament and raised awareness for early war forces with rubbish national rules! Continuing with my Polish obsession, I have been working on their airborne for Market Garden.  These are my next 5 offerings from Warlord Games Plastics.

I like to use simple techniques in my painting that gives maximum results.  This week should bring me a handy 45 points.

Dave X.

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Great work Dave! Your Polish paras are excellent. I particularly like the work you put into their faces and muted fleshtones.

Your Napoleonic Austrians are brilliant as well, looking suitably Viennese with the sprigs of edelweiss in the shakos and their oh-so-optimistic white-on-white uniforms. With you being a fan of the Poles have you any Galician troops in your Austrian collection?   If not, it's a great way to get some very stylish (and nasty) Polish uhlans into your force. 

45 points for your growing tally, Dave. Well done!

It's Fridaay, so let's get ready to Partaay!

The work week is almost over so let's savour a few entries from the Friday Follies before we head into the weekend.

Remember, that if you haven't already, please go and visit the Bonus Theme gallery to check out all the amazing brushwork and vote for your favourites entries. I'll be announcing the results of the voting on Sunday.

Have a great day!

Curt - Out

Song: What is Jazz

Artist: Club Des Belugas

Anthony O - Papuans, Germans and some Space Marines - 180 Points

This week has proven to be a good week for me. Being the last week of holidays I put in some hard yards and managed to complete a bunch of miniatures including Papuans and Germans for WW2 and some more Marines for my Wolfspear Chapter of the Space Wolves.

The Papuans are up first, these 20 troops are 28mm from the new Australian range from Warlord Games and join my Australian Commandos on the finished shelf . All of a sudden I have half of a Bolt Action army done in two weeks. I like how they came out and are great miniatures, painting darker skin was a challenge though and I have a bit more to learn here.

Next is some Germans from mostly Warlord Games but also a Panzerschrek team from Artizan. These guys are the mop up from a previous project and will be finding a home with a friend in the next few months.

Finally I have some Games Workshop Pimaris Reavers and an old school Dreadnaught. The colours are my own version of the Space Wolves however, according to the Lore the Primaris Marines with the Space Wolf gene seed were formed into a successor chapter called the Wolfpsear. There is almost no information on them so I am finding my own way. The dreadnaught was a blast to paint it I think really fits in with the new Primaris marine scale.

So that 33 x 28mm equaling 165 points and I consider the dreadnought to be a vehicle so all up that's 180 points towards my 1500.

I do like those Papuans - forgive my ignorance, but what theatres were they involved in?  They look pretty mean and really give the Aussies commandos a run for their money in the tough stakes!  Really pleased to hear you've got virtually a whole new army..... Can I suggest you now need to make the opposing army up, with some scenery, as it would all be more points in the challenge ;)

I'll admit that even as a GW fanboy the primaris marines absolutely baffle me... How would old marines feel about being replaced? Are they a slightly cynical attempt by GW to sell more stuff to space marine fans who already have too many marines?  Or has the new plastic technology finally given them the opportunity to make marines as large and imposing as they always wanted to, but couldn't do so in metal?  Whatever the answer is, these are first rate examples - I absolutely LOVE dreadnoughts and this one is humdinger, he certainly has the look of a Dread who's been round the block!  I've scored the mortar as a 28mm figure too, so 34 figures and I think Dreads are scored as Guns at 10 points, so 180 points scored in a slightly different manner!

From GregB: Cold War Bundeswehr Armour in 15mm

Bundeswehr vehicles in 15mm from Battlefront, ready for "Team Yankee"

It's time switch painting gears! After several submissions focused on my Franco-Prussian War project, the animal spirits which drive my brushwork were keen for something different, a familiar subject which I had not touched for some time.  I dug into my pile of shame (the large amount of figures and models which are assembled and primed but have not seen a paint brush for a year, or more!) and came across these vehicles.  I love tanks, and I love gaming the "Cold-War-Gone-Hot", and so here is an assortment of West German armour for the Bundeswehr in 15mm! The models are all 1/100 scale kits from Battlefront.

We play quite a bit of Battlefront's "Team Yankee" in our gaming group.  The rules certainly have  warts, and playing this particular period in 15mm has issues, but man, is it FUN! I am always foisting tank battles on to my friends from different periods and in different scales (Curt can attest to this) and "Cold-War-Gone-Hot" are some of my absolute favourite, favourite themes for games. "Team Yankee" delivers, with burning equipment all over the table by the end of the second turn.  Thank goodness these encounters are fictional!

I have large collection of Soviet models in this period and scale, and a much, much smaller NATO collection.  I wanted to do up NATO forces, but as my great friend Dallas here in Winnipeg had rapidly painted up a nice force of West German armour not long after the models arrived in 2016, and you don't actually need many NATO tanks for a large game. I settled for painting up the infantry only - these were finished in late 2016, just prior to the start of AHPC VII.  I thought I would paint the armour to accompany them during the last edition of the Challenge, but instead focused on other interests (mostly 30k) as I didn't really "need" the models in the group for "Team Yankee". My only nod to the Cold War in the last Challenge amounted to a single IFV painted in a theme round.

A further delay was a block in my mind that I would use an airbrush to paint these. Byron had helped me use an airbrush to prime them, and I told myself these would be the vehicles where I would finally overcome my airbrush issues and use it to paint them...but I still haven't cracked open my new airbrush.  I will someday but...that's another topic.  The point for this post is that these models have been sitting for over a year! Shame! Time to get them painted...and here you are:

Marder infantry carriers - three vehicles per panzer grenadier platoon

Leaving aside my airbrush issues, I stuck to my plain old paintbrush-brushes to apply my best approximation of the three-colour scheme used by the West Geman forces, and dove into painting up some tanks, my first ones in over a year! I dislike modern camouflage - the worst part is that use of templates would mean it should look broadly similar pattern-wise on each vehicle...tricky to do while painting freehand, but in the end, it turned out OK.

Very nice plastic kits from Battlefront - I hate plastic, and STILL like these very much!

This angle shows a bit more of the access for the grenadiers - ramp on the back and hatches on the top

Up first are the Marder infantry fighting vehicles, the troop carriers for my panzer grenadiers. Sleek and sci-fi-looking, the Marders are great (where the M113 is soooooo lame), and the plastic kits from Battlefront are a real treat - this from someone who absolutely despises plastic kits! That 20mm turret is super-menacing...there are enough Marders here to mount two platoons, plus a separate one for the company commander - so the core of my Bundeswehr panzer grenadier company is ready to roll.

The captain's ride...I left the flaps/bazooka skirts off this one to help make ID on the table easier - also popped a commander out of the hatch, something I like to do to help command vehicles stand out

Up next are Jaguar AT missile carriers.  The Jaguar is the final evolution of the tank-destroyer (don't those silhouettes look a little familiar to us WW2 gamers?) but the mechanics of the gun are all gone, replaced some more amour and the techo-arcana of a 1980s guided anti-tank missile system.  These vehicles provide a relatively armoured and stable, mobile platform for specialized AT purposes in support the panzer grenadiers.

Armoured missiles carriers for the Bundeswehr - Jaguars

Firing spooky missiles in a somewhat-safer armoured environment...you can see some of the gaps on the models caused by crummy quality control from Battlefront...

These models show that Battlefront still has many production weaknesses - these were mixed metal and resin, and the fit was very, very poor - some pretty big seams in spots, but hopefully paint and distance obscure them.  You will also see I used the wrong front plate (there was a slight variant between Jaguar 1 or 2) - this is thanks to an error in the instructions Battlefront includes with the kits - that's on me, though, they are always f***ing that stuff up, I should have double-checked online before I got out the glue...oh well.

Essential protection for any West German forces...the iconic Gepard flakpanzer

Continuing along there are two Gepard flakpanzers.  These are iconic Cold War weapon platforms, and in "Team Yankee" they play a key role in keeping the deadly Soviet helicopters and aircraft away from the panzer grenadiers. Check out the firing sequence in this video...yikes!  I would think of somewhere else to fly too...

Big seam on the track with this model, but overall the quality on these was much better than the Jaguars

These are mixed resin and metal kits from Battlefront, but fortunately the quality was much higher than on the Jaguars.  The only tricky part was getting the gun barrels to attach in a straight way so they align with the base of the cannons, which are cast in resin on the turret - I didn't totally manage it, but didn't totally screw it up either...this is a standard I pretty much consistently strive for when it comes to model assembly :)

Keep watching the skies!

And of course, as a wargamer, I am always wanting to use these against ground targets.  Not many motor rifle companies will stand a chance against these guns...

And last, but not least, a platoon of deadly Leopard 2 tanks.  The penultimate main battle tank design, the Leopard 2 is an incredible machine, an ideal combination of every aspect of the modern battle tank.  Great mobility, armour and incredible firepower, these things can rip out the guts of a Soviet armoured manoeuvre in just one volley!  They will be the mobile, hard-hitting fist of the panzer grenadier company.

A zug of deadly Leopard 2 panzers....

These tanks are also plastic models from Battlefront, and while the quality is excellent, the MG mount on the cupola is hilariously weak and they will break off before long.  As a nod to this, you get two MGs on the sprue, but still...wish Battlefront had through that through a little more...

Once more a commander in the cupola is used to mark out the platoon command tank on the table

Very nice kits, although the MGs on the cupolas are a bit stupidly fiddly...

Love the deadly silhouette of this vehicle...

All that firepower!! As I said, thank goodness this conflict is just fictional...

And I can't resist some propaganda photos! Here are the vehicles together with the infantry painted in 2016.

The full panzer grenadier company, ready for action!

Now that they have  ride to take to battle, they really are "panzer" grenadiers

Infantry AA missile teams go along with the Gepards

That's 14 vehicles in 15mm, so should add another 84 points to my tally.  Let's see how long this little Cold-War-Tank-Painting jag will last...

Now these chaps will show those pesky Prussians who's boss and may turn the tide of the war against the enemies muskets! They'll definitely be the..... wait....... what?  Ahem.  I see.  Almost slipped that past me.....

These are absolutely lovely with your usual attention to detail and crisp style.  I didn't know the modern thing (yes, the 80's still counts as "modern" - at least it does to me!) was to paint the camo on each vehicle in EXACTLY the same pattern.  When I read that I spent a far bit of time staring at how you'd managed to get exactly the same frickin' pattern on each vehicle - I was entranced!  That must have driven you absolutely potty doing that.... my usual approach to camo is just blobbing it on and hoping for the best.  What a delightful array of different vehicles providing all sorts of battlefield roles - The Leopards are soooo dangerous looking too, and I thought the Panther had a menacing silhouette...

Anyway, for doing such excellent (bonkers) work on the camo, I'm wielding the power vested in me by the internet to round your points up to 90 for such dedication - NATO salutes you!