From EvanH: Sun Dome Templar Command (16 points)

Running a little later than I would have liked with these guys - and yes, it's back to Glorantha for a look at the Sun Dome Templars, the elite pikemen of the Cult of Yelmalio, the god of light.

Sun County is an independent principality of farming militiamen in the Valley of Cradles in Prax, It was first covered in detail by Michael O'Brien back in the days of the so-called RuneQuest Renaissance of the early 1990s. His elevator pitch for the project was 'Spartans in the Wild West', which I think describes it perfectly.

The three figures below are Aventine Miniatures Tarentine Phalangites from their Pyrrhic Wars range, lovely sculpts with a wealth of detail. I've pressed them into service as Yelmalio Cultists.

I've taken a leaf from Millsy's book and based them individually to enable them to be used as single figures in a skirmish or roleplaying environment, or ranked up in a sabot base as an entire regiment (and yes, there are a quite few more of these guys in the pipeline!).

The captain of the regiment is resplendent in a blue cloak and bronze muscle cuirass.

The unit musician carries a trumpet, and a shield with a Truth Rune hand-painted on it.

The banner bearer carries a hand-painted standard, emblazoned with the Fire/Sun Rune.

So all up, 15 points, thank you Mr Adjudicator, plus whatever scraps you see fit to allow me for the handpainted shield and banner!

Ev

JamieM - Some proper old school Runequest for a Saturday!  I never really got into Runequest, but these chaps are splendid.  The blue and Bronze go very well together indeed.  15 points plus a pip for the rune of truth and hand painted shield.  I shall look forward to more of them as the pipeline clears.

From Barks: Gaslands terrain (60 points)

I'm having my first game of Gaslands on Saturday, which was an excuse to get some MDF gates from Knights of Dice and paint some other terrain that has been hanging about for ages.

I got four of these cool gates. I could have blinged them up with extra chains, barbed wire, corrugated iron roofing etc., but I need them table ready! I was sold on them by the details of the logos, traffic lights, speakers, and cameras. I enjoyed painting the lights as if the green was 'on'. I could probably add more dirt and dust to the base- is this my chance to try weathering pigments?

Knights of Dice also make these crash barricades, which the Skirt Swisher made for me.

These cacti are from Pegasus and are on 40mm bases.

I'm quite taken with these chain fences from 4Ground. I replaced the printed transparent plastic chain sheet they come with, with some nylon floral lace. The bases are long and thin and prone to warping, but the final effect is really nice. I've got another 3m of this stuff to make... at some point.

Finally, some craters from GW.

The group shot, with a 1:64 car for scale. Beep beep!

I think this is 3x Standard Terrain Cubes, for 60 points.

Late addendum- I raced in Gaslands for the first time today, on this new terrain; it was great fun and will inspire me to build a few cars of my own! Recommended.

JamieM - You've already played a game with them?  I'm impressed!  I do believe there is merit in considering extra points for painted stuff actually being used as that's the point of painting all of this after all and I know I haven't used everything I've ever painted....  Anyway, enough of that and what a smashing set of terrain!  It really decides if a game sticks or fails in my experience as lovely figures on a green sheet only gets you so far.  Those gates are brilliant, well worth the effort and good shout on changing up the fences, anything to make things look better and help with longevity is a good thing in my eyes.

3 standard cubes it is, 60 points for you with which to upgrade your dinky little cars.....

From DaveD - Dornier Do17s 1/200th (16pts)

I have lots of stuff part painted this week , however  its been a hectic week though so it looks like this will be the only finished stuff i can post.

I am running a Wings of Glory Battle of Britain campaign at the moment - we have played out the Battle of France , our next scenario is the attack on the channel convoys. Ares the game manufacture don't currently do a Dornier model  so I have sourced one from Dave at Armaments in Miniature (who covers a lot of the holes in the main game range)  lovely little resin models they are too. The game forum does have a good list of aircraft data and stats so these are now ready for duty next Monday

We will see how they do on Monday, 2 Dorniers, 2 me109 versus 3 Hurricanes  

They have had a hole drilled on the underside to hold a 6mm ball bearing which is used to hold them to the magnetic stand . This also acts nicely as a gimble mount , allowing the plane to placed in the correct attitude! 

I still need to complete the squadron ID numbers , however when i check the decals stash I did not have the correct  sized ones unfortunately  , so they are on order ! 

Anyway at the least the scoreboard has been ticked along a bit ! Millsy will be catching me up no doubt as he' getting through his madcap (but however very cool) heraldic phase!

JamieM - these look absolutely smashing.  I'm not very good at understanding actual camo patterns, but is there a reason why one is sporting the latest fashion of natty yellow accents and the other one is stuck in last seasons accentless paintjob?  Enjoy the game, campaigns are awesome when they keep going.

From PaulO'G: African Hunting Party (50 points)

Having enjoyed an introductory game of Congo a few weeks past, I thought I would pay some attention to some long neglected figures in the lead pile to start my own White Explorer force.  This is my initial Hunting Party, comprising 2 Big Game Hunters, 3 Askari Guards, and 5 Bearers/Servants:

AFter a bunch of my submission have taken much longer to finish than anticipated, I challenged myself to do these rapidly and got them done over an aggregated 3 evenings. Unfortunately, they are a bit grainy - likely it was too hot when I applied the undercoat (its been a stinking hot summer here in Sydney). Still, they are good enough for the Congo methinks

Figures by the lesser known Askari mini: https://askari-minis.com/
Thats ten 28mm figs for 50 points Bwana!

JamieM - now these are very nice indeed.  Congo is one of those games that looks like a bunch of fun and I keep being tempted to get it...... and then I look at all the other rulebooks on my shelf and take it out of my virtual internet basket!

These have come out wonderfully and the natty red hats really set them up nicely - 50 points as you say.

From LeeH - Battle hardened Sturmgeschütz III (8pts)

The Sturmgeschutz series of Assult Guns was based on the proven chassis of the Panzer III and was probably one of the most effective weapons in Germany's armoured divisions. Initially designed as assault artillery its role developed as the war progressed. After encountering Soviet T24's and KV tanks the role of tank destroyer, with it's by now upgraded and powerful forward facing gun, became more important. 

Another factor in the success and utility of the StuG's was probably not something the Nazi regime would have liked to trumpet. They were relatively cheap to build and Germany was increasingly short on resources. 

By 1944 the StuG III had been up-gunned with the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 making it a much more deadly weapon. The final version of the series was the StuG II Aust G and saw service right through the Normandy campaign and beyond. Its superstructure had been widened and it was slightly taller allowing more room in the fighting compartment for the crew, and for ammunition stowage. From May 1943, side hull spaced armour plates (Schürzen) were fitted, initially to protect against Russian anti-tank rifles, but they later also proved effective against hollow-charge ammunition. 

My StuG is battle hardened and covered in camouflage and mud, making it very hard to spot when placed in a good position. This model is by Peter Pig and the Schürzen are bought separately. They fit nicely on the model and I think they make the vehicle look much more intimidating. It'll need to be when it goes up against those Shermans I painted a few weeks ago.

JamieM - I've said it before and I've said it again, the StuG is quite possibly my most favouritest AFV of WW2.  There's something quite workmanlike about it that shows it's just there to do it's job and not mess around with all the silliness of some of later war tanks.  Cracking example of a veteran one here and looks ready to do plenty of damage - 8 points well earned sir.

Saturday, Saturday, SATURDAY!

Ah yes, possibly the best day of the week and it's JamieM here to cover off all the exciting Saturday submissions.  Without further ado, let's get it started right with this challenge Tune....

Whilst I can't promise you an actual Roller Skating Jam, I can promise you some painted miniatures, terrain and all sorts of other nits and pieces.

So whilst you hum away to that, I'm off to wrangle the spreadsheet of scoringosity into submission....

Saturday's Guest Minion is...

JamieM! 

Hi Folks! I'm busy disentangling from work and getting tomorrow's theme round prepared (not to mention trying to finish my own entry), so Jamie has been kind enough to take up the reigns with our Saturday crew. Thanks again Jamie!

While I'm on the topic, if you haven't done so already, remember to get in your 'Water Feature' theme entries by midnight (CST) tonight.

See you tomorrow for the big splash!

Curt