From AlanD: Late Reinforcements (26 points)

Phew! Just managed to get three more vehicles finished for the Fall of the Reich project to meet the Monday deadline. These were a rush, and the filthy Sydney humidity stuffed up the spray varnish, making it look a bit chalky, but we'll call it rubble dust coating the vehicles, ok?

So, a Maultier from PSC, a Jagdpanther from Battlefront and a Skytrex Jagdpanzer IV in snazzy camo. From memory, this grey used on some vehicles at the end of the war was from naval stocks of paint. Maybe I could enter this in the naval side duel? :) Chuck in a couple of half figures, and that should be 25 points.

A Double Dux day today! Some lovely late war pieces here. The Jagdpanther is quite possibly the sexiest AFV of all time- fight me. I like the camo on the Jagdpanzer IV. And I'm always happy to see logistics vehicles- logistics drives maneoeuvre! Two half figures is 2 points, so that's 26 points to you.

Barks

From ScottM: Counterblast Assortment (76 points)

Continuing on from last week's Counterblast submission, I have a bunch more figs for that line done up. All of the following figs are from the Bombshell Miniatures Counterblast line. First up is some figs from the Edofleini faction, or Edo for short. First fig is an Edo Undermind ( a commander).

The next set of four (left to right) is an Edo Underling, a character named Destroys Nulls and two Edokin Eyespies.

Next from the Galactic Defense Force (GDF) faction (left to right) is a GDF Psifer, a character named Sally Starfield and a GDF Commander.

Also from the GDF is a Heavy Combot.

From the Mekkus faction this is a Cyren.

And the final pics are of various robots. These two robots are called HOpR Bots.

And the robots in this final pic are a pair of HLpR Bots and six MInE Bots. GDF Commander for size comparison.

That should be 12 28mm figs @ 5 a piece for 60 points and 8 small bots at 2 (?) a piece for 16 points for a grand total of 76 points.

I'm really enjoying the retro pulp mad science raygun aesthetic of these Counterblast figures. I think the Edo are my favourites!

Barks

From AlanD: WWII Bits (169 points)

After missing a week of the challenge due to doing some extensive research into the appearance of snow basing in Serbia, I'm back this week with some WWII submissions.

Intimidated by Paul O'G's growing DAK force, I've added some Grants to my desert force. These are Forged in Battle models, and I really like the variations in stowage moulded on to the resin hulls.

Then it's back to a different type of desert to continue with my Berlin 1945 project. 

Firstly, some terrain. Two more boards of ruins from Terrains4Games, 11x8 inches each.

To help defend the ruins, here are a couple of Pantherturms. The first is a bunker with Panther turret, from Battlefront. I'm not sure if these were actually used in Berlin - there appears to be some debate.

What were certainly used, however, were half-buried Panther hulls. This is a great use of the spare turret and hull top that you get with the Battlefront plastic kit if you use the rest of the components to build a Jagdpanther. Judging from photos, the engine deck of the Panther hulls were covered over with a single flat plate of steel, so I had to do some hacking with a fairly blunt craft knife to remove the engine deck.

And then we have the attackers. This platoon of Soviet riflemen and Maxim gun is made up from the Battlefront plastic box, although I think the radio operator was a metal Skytrex figure.

Hmm. Points. Assuming the Pantherturms are counted as vehicles, and assuming the terrain boards are 20 point each, then the scoring should go like this:

• 39 x 15mm figures = 78
• 3 x half figures = 3 
• 6 x 15mm vehicles = 48
• 2x terrain boards of 11x8 inches = 40

That makes 169 points, I think, but happy to bow to the wisdom of the minion!

Der Motor des Panzers ist ebenso seine Waffe wie die Kanone*.

Generaloberst 'Achtung Panzer' Heinz Guderian

I can imagine there were more than a few unhappy panzer commanders when they were told to drive into a hole and stay there forever!

Nice work on these Axis and Allied figures and tanks, Dux. I'm enjoying the scenery- I'm curious if your 11x8" base size is for storage purposes. I've found that for me now, storing and transport of terrain is as much of a consideration as the design, details, and playability.

Barks

*The engine of the Panzer is a weapon just as the main-gun.

From Shaun M: Stressed Noob (25 points)

As I'm sure you'll be probably be able to tell when you see the pictures below, I'm new to the world of miniature painting and now that I've tried my hand at it, it's cleat to me that there's a long way to go before I reach the standards seen in the other posts.

When I stumbled on the challenge, I'd hadn't long decided to start painting the minis in some of my board games, such as the D&D Adventure Board Games and Mansions of Madness. I'd picked up a couple Games Workshop 'easy build' kits to practice on and was browsing the internet for pictures and tips etc. At that point, I'd never heard of dry-brushing and shades, had never assembled anything on a sprue, and had no idea there were would ever be a need for 25 different shades of blue! (thanks GW)

Assembling and priming has gone more or less okay (tho did have some strange 'bobbling' on a couple figures), but as soon as I started applying paint, stress levels jumped up. My first minis were three Space Marines which, them being mainly blue, I thought would be fairly easy. Unfortunately, my attempts are dry-brushing have not gone well, so I think I'll probably end up either re-painting (hoping not to loss too much detail) or stripping and starting again.

So I decided to leave those for now and had a go at some Ur-Ghuls from the copy of Blackstone Fortress I received at Christmas. These have also had problems, with my first attempt at shading going totally wrong, so I stripped that figure and started again (I also bought another set of 4 just in case I really messed them up). While far from perfect, I'm pretty sure they're the wrong colour, the paint hasn't been applied consistently, there's no dry-brushing or highlighting, and there are some mould lines visible, I think I've now got them to an okay table-top standard so I'm calling them done.

With some practice I'll (hopefully) build my confidence, learn new techniques (def dry-brushing!), then see about making a better job with the backup set of Ur-Ghuls before tackling more detailed figures.

I realise this post may seem a bit negative, but I have actually enjoyed my first dip into the painting hobby and will continue! 

We can all cast our mind back to our first miniatures, and look at how far we've come. You're starting at a high level- very well done! There is so much inspiration and advice available now through the internet- it is a blessing and a curse, since I can watch someone show me a technique or a new approach, whilst at the same time I know that my efforts will never get me close to a top level painter.

The key thing is to enjoy it, and to keep practicing by doing. You'll develop your own style, and there is a great satisfaction to playing with your own painted figures.

I'm ploughing through Blackstone Fortress myself, and it is tough going.

Congratulations on joining the Challenge, you couldn't have picked a more supportive group. Have a bonus five points!

Barks

From MartyH: My First Submission SDKFZ233

Hi all.

My first ever submission to the AHPC, and on the last day before the cutoff! Cutting it fine as always :)

Anyway this is a kit I have had in the cupboard for while, an all metal 1/56 SDKFZ233 (8RAD) open topped with a short 75mm. This vehicle will go great in support of my existing Panzer Grenadier Platoon with numerous halftracks. The kit did not come with crew, and I would like to rectify that in the future.

This thing quite literally weighs a tonne compared to the normal resin/plastic kits and was great fun painting!

Thanks Marty

_________________________________________________________

Welcome aboard, Marty, a great first entry! I've always like the 8-rads ever since I had a Matchbox Puma. Is that airbrushed? The camo, shading, etc. is excellent. I'd love to see some crew to bring it to life.



Barks

From DaveX: Cruel Seas Japanese Sampans (46 points)

Continuing the theme of Japanuary I present my most Honabru Sampans for Warlord Games' Cruel Seas.

These were a joy to paint however I must admit the teeny weeny crew were tricky at times to paint but really bring the models to life.

These things are quite large and much more of a surface area to paint compared to a MTB.

These Sampans are decked out with a MMG on the Bow and a 20mm AA amidships!

Bumboats (some will get this reference) off the Starboard Bow Sir!

There are 4 of these Models in Total Painted.  2 x White Sail, 2 x Red Sail. Each Sampan has 7 Crew. Chalk up 4 more boats for the Side Duel please Sir!

I have semaphored the Duels Wallah to recognise your sail-powered entry! I'll score these unusual vessels at 8 points each; plus the crew comes to exactly 46 points! I'd be interested in seeing the history or photographs of the Real Thing as I hadn't appreciated sail was in conventional military use in the mid-20th century.

Barks

From JohnM: A Panoply of Terrain (150 points)

This has been a very slow start for me and I am fearful that it will be difficult to hit my 500 point goal for this year's Challenge. I do have some figures in the queue but have not been drawn to them yet. What I always need is terrain, so my second submission has focussed on clearing off the terrain pile. This is for my WWII and ACW gaming.

Linear Obstacles

Stone Walls

75"x1" of 1/72 scale Italeri

Snake Rail Fence

60"x1/2" of 1/100 scale Battle Terrain Concepts

Every little stick was individually glued!

Sandbags 

24"x1/2" of 1/100 scale Novus Design Studio

Roads/Bridges

Dirt Roads

110"x2.5"  Novus Design Studio

Three layers of paint were on each of the 3 elements

Stone Bridge

12"x2.5"x3.5" 1/100 scale from Novus Design Studio

Using two different colours for the stones may look odd but I like the effect

Buildings etc.

Stone Fountain

4" diameter, 2" high 1/100 scale Novus Design

I may eventually use 2 part epoxy in the fountain but here I used polyurethane with green  ink

Stalingrad Nail Factory

12"8"x3" 1/100 scale Novus Design

Copper galvanised panels are wrong but wanted to try verdigris

Stalingrad Railroad Station

13"x10"x4" 1/100 scale Novus Design

Top roof is removable

So I am hoping that is it for my Stalingrad, just have to do up the mat

Well it is a relief to get all that off the terrain queue. I still have 47 tree bases, 2 more houses and another 5' of snake railing to do but this was a good start.

Some new found land from Terre Neuve! I almost gave myself an aneurysm trying to calculate the points, but I think I can settle on 150 points including a bonus for the lovely railway engine and truck. Generic terrain like your walls and roads are so useful, but I think every table needs a bit of scenery to anchor it to a time and place. My philosophy is that ideally, someone should be able to look at a table without any troops on it and be able to recognise when and where it is.

Barks