From EricM - More WWII Germans (300 points)

Its more Germans for me this week.   Thanks for all the advice you guys gave me on my post last week.  Your advice was very helpful and the references you pointed me to were outstanding.  Thanks again!

To answer a few questions that came up.  I am planning on using these guys for Bolt Action and Chain of Command.  The main reason for the foray in to WWII is to try to pull some of the local Warhammer 40K gamers to the true faith, historical wargaming. My guess is the Bolt Action dice mechanic for activating troops would appeal to them.    But before I can give it a shot I need to get some more troops done.

Originally I had planned to paint American and Germans for Italy but it looks like the Germans I have may be too late war for that.  I may come back to the Italy campaign since its so diverse and interesting but for now I am going to forge ahead with generic troops.

This week I was able to complete 4 large squads, some support weapons and an officer with radio operator.

The first two squads are from Artisan.  Nice figures with good detail and easy to paint.  There are some small proportion issues but nothing major.

The next two squads are from Warlord games.   I should start by saying I am not a fan of plastics but these are really pretty nice.  There were some assembly issues, but I'm sure that was user error.  Its been a long time since I have put together plastic models.

The last subgroup are some two man support groups of LMG and a Panzerschreck..  All of these figures are by Artisan.

Last but not least is the Hauptmann and his radio operator. These are also by Artisan

Here is a group photo for the week.  Next week moving on to the GI's

60-28mm Germans should be 300 points.

Gosh Eric, I wish I had the time to paint 60 miniatures within a week and so well at that! This truly has turned into a labour of love it seems as you have done miracles on these mini's. The basing is very nice and ties the figures together. A whopping 300 points will be added to your tally tonight. 

From JeremyM - A Bunch 'o Stormtroopers (95 points)

Hi All,

So I've actually had these done for a bit but just haven't photographed them. I've been away from the hobby for the past two years finishing up a Masters and then getting Married. It surprised me when I picked up a brush again how much I had forgotten (or thought I knew).

I followed a youtube channel, Sorastor's Painting Guide, to help ease me into the process. Its a really helpful guide for the minis from Imperial Assault and I painted the first three pretty much exactly like he did but found it taking a ton of time. I modified the process when I realized I shouldn't just glop the black wash all over the mini, and applied it more selectively. Even better I recalled having a lighter coloured black from Seperate Weapon Minis, soft-body black. I found things improved and it was taking me a more reasonable amount of time right around when I was done the two scout troopers at the end.

Why on earth I chose to start back into the hobby by painting a whole wack of white mini's I'll never know. But I'm glad they are done and it inspired me to paint a whole lot of grey, and black minis (god star wars has some boring painting options). But I told myself this year my goal was to try and get Imperial Assault done and I'll stick with it. 

19 x 28mm Star Wars Imperial Assault minis

Cheers,

JeremyM

Jeremy, everyone who has ever tried to paint a stormtrooper knows it is not that easy as it looks. It is not just a load of white armor there's a lot of detail there and you've done a brilliant job of them! You can now move onto the more juicy characters of the SW universe, I for one can't waitnwhat you will make of them!

From MartinC - No Interesting Title - Just some Painting What I did (130pts)

Painting is plodding along at a nice pace, work keeps getting in the way but I need itto fund my hobby.
We played Team Yankee this weekend in 6mm and it's a great game. I needed to complete my forces and so the following was painted

2 Armoured Infantry Platoons

Most of a Chieftan Squadron

APCs and couple of scorpions (could be scimitars, always mix them up)

4 combat engineering vehicles

I recieved, and have ordered more, some Numidian figs. Want to build an army or at least a significant allied force for the Romans or Carthaginians. I picked up some Nubian figures that will work as commanders

Really love the boss with the cheetah

I was part of the Death in the Dark Continent starter and picked up some really nice figures, the elephant was seen last week.

Cape buffalo and a couple of lions

African civilian - more of these later

Onwards and upwards

Points Tally

6mm infantry = 48 figs = 24pts

6mm vehicles = 33 = 66pts

28mm figs = 4 = 20 pts

28mm animals = 4 = 20pts

total = 130pts

You know Martin, I would really like to see your excellent armour on manoeuvres someday soon. You have painted so many brilliant little tankies lately that I do think you must have an entire division by now and they must look absolutely awesome together. The African themed figures are inspiring too, but I must say I like the lions and buffalo best they really capture that African veld atmosphere very well.

130 of well earned Challenge credits will be added to your total later today!

From RussG - If you go down to the woods today (15points)

It has been a busy time in the attic this weekend, so a few items have been painted.

This first entry for the week was going to be kept back for the 'monstrous bonus round' but I finished it earlier than planned, so here it is.

This model is the Witchwood from the Grymkin range by Privateer Press, for the game Hordes.

It is used in the game to lure enemy models to their doom.

I have wanted to paint this model ever since I bought it but the push to do so was not coming.

Thankfully the challenge has brought it back, and i am back in love with painting.

For judges decision of points the tree is 65mm tall, and the alluring witch is a standard 28mm miniature.

Thank you for looking.

Another lovely entry for today Russel. The bark on the tree as well as the base are very well executed. The lady showing off here ...erm..roots..limbs that's the word, is truly lovely too. I like how you've painted her in subdued, yet  clearly visible colours. All in all this must be a great addition to your games of Hordes. I am going to score the tree as a 54mm foot figure which will net you 10 points, resulting in 15 points being added to your total tonight.

From Jez Todd - Teutonic 28mm Reinforcements (130 points)

Dear All

My first post to the Tuesday group and delighted to be participating again for the second year. To be honest not done much painting since the last challenge and a steady start but great to post up one complete mini challenge as a first post.

These are reinforcements for 28 mm Teutonic Knights based for use with Impetus rules. My original figures were all cavalry for an army size of around 300 points, based on the famous battle of Lake Peipus against the medieval Russians of Alexander Nevsky. These extras allow more options and also can be fielded for the new Basic Impetus rules armies. Typically here there are 9 to 10 fixed units per army based on a set list. I had to get a few extra units to fit this set list.

All the figures for this army are Gripping Beast. I really like the figures and range.

First up are some Foot Peasants - not going to be a battle winner and did not want to spend too much money so just bought a basic pack and added in a commander sergeant.

There are two new crossbow units.

Next are solid Teutonic Knight sergeants armed with long spear. Again just bought a basic pack of four as had a couple base camp figures already that I planned to add in.  It is a solid unit of Heavy Foot so did not want to be too skimpy with figures. You an see the 4 counting for the challenge. The T on the shield design signifies order "sergeants" as opposed to full Knights who could display a full cross - well that is according to the Osprey books ..........

Also a unit of medium Livonian cavalry. Here had a pack of four figures and as I have the same figures for light cavalry decided to use all four on a base of medium cavalry. The final shot shows a Basic Impetus Teutonic Knights army with the new units joining others. Looking forward to trying this out shortly.

Altogether that is 5 cav and 16 foot so should be 130 points. That should complete my Teutonic Knights as am Ok for Basic Impetus and up to a 450 points full Impetus army, especially if I start using available options such as charismatic generals and such.

All the best Jez

Hoi there Jez, great to see your first Tuesday entry! Those Teutonic knights do look like they mean business. I really like how you've put quite a lot of character in the different bases/ vignettes. Specially the one featuring the serfs is really nice. The snowy basing looks awesome and is of course totally appropriate for the Lake Peipus battle. It is a great looking force so thanks heaps for sharing! 130 points will be added to your total this evening along with the regular update of the summary.

From Brettm - Blood Bowl Elves, (65 points)

Finally got these guys done. I hate painting yellow as it usually turns out like crap for me. However since I didn't do to many highlights on the yellow seems to not be to bad.

Ended up just painting them the way games workshop went with.

Didn't do much detail on the faces. Haven't quite mastered the painting of the eyes yet. Without making them look freaking/terrible.

Wasn't sure if tokens counted as well for painting or not. They came with the models and are counters when you play the game. Figured at most maybe count as one extra mini if anything at all. All together counting just minis we have 12 Elves ready to hit the field. 

12 X 28mm, Games Workshop 60 points

Brett, I do think you are being too hard on yourself! I would gladly take these figures onto the pitch and be right content about them, nothing wrong with their paintjob. Yellow is a devil to get right, I usually use a yellow ochre (Valejo Model Colour) as a base and when highlighting I mix in a broken white (like pale sand) rather then white to lighten the base colour. This makes for less harsh colour changes. As for the eyes, in my opinion if you want to get figures done fast and onto the table it's enough to let the wash or ink do the business. But if you do want to go a bit further, I found the following quite handy: instead of painting the entire eye white and try to get a decent round blob in for the iris, reverse the process it's far easier. Make the eyes black and put a very tiny dot of white in each corner. 

Anyway, I am pretty particular about yellow-and-purple schemes so well done here! As far as the tokens go, I think the hands with the balls on are looking like half a figure on themselves so I will be giving you the benefit of the doubt and score the tokens as 2 figures and give you 10 points for them making the total 65. 

From NoelW - ECW, fantasy and the Alamo (320 points)

Luckily for me, I’ve been ill this week. So I’ve not had enough energy for much, other than sitting in front of the painting desk. Consequently, I’ve managed to finish a mass of figures that I thought would take me much longer. I’ve also made a first foray into the backlog of terrain. Apologies, though, for the quality of photos here. I've not figured out a decent setup yet and some are horribly dark.

First then is the Perry/ Renedra shack. This model is simple to build, and easy to paint – you can get a very effective job with relatively little effort (which I’m all in favour of!) Should be useful in multiple periods and theatres. I'm not sure what its points score should be, though. It’s roughly 4 inches * 4 inches * 5 inches, so perhaps worth 10 points? 

Next are seven more EMP figures I've painted for the display cabinet at Wargames Emporium. These are Texians from the Alamo, including Bowie and Crockett (sounds like a duo of TV detectives). They’re larger and chunkier than your average 28mm figure, and full of character. I enjoyed painting these, especially as they made a change from what I'm mainly doing.

Which is English Civil War. I’m pleased to making such good progress with these. As a result of this week’s work, I’m a good distance along the way to having an army completed well ahead of schedule. As I posted before, I’m trying to hold back on quality in order to push on with as many figs as possible, so there are quite a few weaknesses in this collection, but I think they pass muster in the mass, which is the aim. Firstly there’s the six missing musketeers from the green regiment, previously posted.

Then a Blue regiment of 18 figures.

Then a Grey regiment, also 18 figures.

Then four more cavalry 

and a couple of spare command figures.

You’ll notice that there’s currently no ensign in the grey regiment. I’m basing all the figures on individual bases, and using sabots. This way figures can readily be reconfigured for different purposes, such as changing the proportion of pike to musket, or creating deeper formations (e.g. if I stray into the Thirty Years War). It also means regiments can be used either as Parliamentarian or Royalist, merely by switching command figures. So my plan is eventually to paint up a selection of ensigns who can be used in different units as needed. Obviously, there may be some regiments limited in this way – I plan the King’s Lifeguard to be distinctive in some way, for example. But the aim is to get the maximum flexibility from the minimum array of figures.

All the ECW are a mix of Warlord and Perry figures.

Next, in order to give myself a bit of variety, here’s an invisible woman. Perhaps an adventurer under a spell. Or possibly a spirit or demon of some kind. Either way, she goes into the Frostgrave/Archipelago box. I was really pleased with the red shading, but this was muted a bit by the varnish, and even more so in photographing. I've no idea who makes this figure - possibly Reaper.

And last in this week’s offering, especially for Curt, is a boardgame figure: Shyla Varad, from Imperial Assault. My eldest son is running these campaigns for a group of us within the family. He paints up the dastardly Imperials (and does a brilliant job of it) whilst I paint the occasional heroic Rebel character (huzzah!) I was pleased with the core figure, especially the silver-blue metal, which perhaps doesn’t show up as well as it might in the photos. But I couldn’t get the cloak right – it looks too plastic-y to me. (There’s a reason for that, of course).

If I’ve got my maths right, that’s more than enough to now take me well over my target of 500 points, so everything from this point is a bonus! I make it:

4 * 28mm cavalry @ 10pts, 53 * 28mm inf  @ 5 points and 1 shack @ 10(?) pts = 315 points

After all that lot, I need a lie down...

Oh wow, Noel that is worth a lie down or two ;-) I do hope, however, that you are well on the mend by now. This entry of yours does contain quite an eclectic spread of subjects. If I really had to choose a favourite I would say either the ECW cavalry or the invisible woman. All your ECW troops are ace, but these troopers really look the part, great work. The invisible woman is a rare figure indeed, it makes you wonder what use it is to be invisible if you're going to wear highly visible red clothing anyway, but that said, the figure has turned out wonderfully well. 
Your Texians (Texans?) are very nice too by the way as is the Imperial Assault figure which must tickle Curt's fancy no end for sure. 

I just did a card mock up of the shed with the dimensions you've mentioned and I think it rather comes to 2/3 of the 6x6x6" box and thus I will award you 15 points. That makes your total 320 points.