From NoelW for Thursday: The panicked rumble to the finish post 4: (90 points)

(OK - trying to rhyme four post titles was beyond me. I'm not sure whether Iain's going to let this post in under the wire in any case.)

Trying to tidy up loose ends, I've three small groups to offer as my final contribution this week.

First is a small group of hundred year's war pikes. There should be more, but I don't think I'll get them finished. Just six Perry figures, painted in a drab, peasantry style.

Followed by two groups from the Zulu Wars. Here's a couple of zulu commanders and a couple of stragglers who didn't get into my previous submission:

And a shot of each of the commanders on their own. These are actually very nice figures, which my treatment has not really done justice to:

And last, also from the Zulu War, eight members of the Natal Native Contingent. These are a mix of Perry and Warlord figures (some of which, I believe, will be freely available with the next issue of Wargames Illustrated).

Total of 18 figures (6+4+8), so 90 points.

This really is the final Thursday post so it seems apt it should be Noel who has had the most posts and indeed points on any given Thursday!
Nicely painted Zulus and the Natal Native Contingent are good too.
Are your 100 years war pikemen Flemish? I know they were using the pike at that time,I like the drab colours contrasting with the metal of the helmets,as to points, to you a mere 90 points it is (to the rest of us that would be quite a lot!)

All the best Iain

From NoelW for Thursday: The antic tumble to the finish post 3: (225 points)

Close to the start of the Challenge, I began posts for the army which I’d thought was going to be my main thrust (Oooh, missus!) for the Challenge, namely Carthaginian opponents for the Romans. As it turns out (a) this has not quite happened all that much and (b) the Roman army I’ve been concentrating on would’ve had relatively little difficulty with a Punic opponent, seeing as everyone in Carthage was dead by the time they veni-d and vici-d.

Anyway, returning to that original impetus (yes, I do know some big words – I just use them incorrectly – should be “impulse”, really, but tell that to my spellchecker) I decided to complete a squabble of Celts (that’s the correct collective noun, as far as I’m aware) and a punitive Punic – er – punnet of solid, down to earth warriors from the land of Dido and Slim Shady.

Here's the Carthaginians: 

The figures are Victrix. They're nice figures, though slim (i.e. anatomically pretty accurate) which makes them a little fiddly to put together. Well worth the effort, however.

But what really makes these figures (apart from the quite superb quality of painting, of course) is the Little Big Men decals for the shields. Again, they're slightly fiddly to apply but if you follow their instructions with a little care the results are wonderful. These decals are really little works of art, turning a reasonably painted unit into something special. I shall be turning to LBM again. Indeed, I might even create a couple of units just so I can use more of their decals.

As I've said, part of that Punic army will be Celtic allies, so here’s another batch of Celts. I think these are rather more effective than my previous batch - the skin tones in particular seem to have come out well, though that's perhaps not very visible in the photos.

With luck, I'll manage one more post today - though time may be tight, so I hope Iain will be able to fit it in.

21 Carthaginians and 24 Celts = 45 figures: 225 points

 Well these are lovely  Carthaginians ,great sculpts excellently painted and I agree the transfers work really well. The raucous rabble of Celts are super, their shields are also excellent, and the juggernaut of Noel's posts continues! 225 points it is!

All the best Iain

From NoelW for Thursday: The manic fumble to the finish post 2: (180 points)

You will remember, I'm sure, that one of my infinite number of projects is building a force of WOTR orcs. (That's "War of the Ring" orcs, not to be confused with "Wars of the Roses" oiks - or Lancastrians, as they're better known).

“How could I possibly forget?” I hear you cry, enraptured.

Well, seeing as how you loved the previous ones so much (or did you? And, if you did like them so very excessively, why didn’t you add a paragraph of elegant effusions to the Comments? Eh? Eh?) – I say, seeing as you are so desperately keen to see 32 more orcs exactly like those other ones, who am I to object?

Well, when you've seen one ork, you've pretty much seen them all. So here's one:

And here's them all:

And a quick not quite close-up (it doesn't do to get too close to orcs.)

And now, as it's clear you are so keen on them, with the infinite generosity of my heart, here's a bonus, an Orcish scorpio*

Firstly a rubbish photo (the blighters are camera shy):

And now one where you can almost see the subject matter:

That’s 34 orcs and 1 artillery piece: 180 points

*(Scorpios are, astrologically, likely to get wound up, fly off the handle and make pointed, arrowing remarks. Apologies if you're a Scorpio, but you know it's true).**

**(for other notes on scorpios, see previous post).

Nasty orcsis! They've come out rather well, I like the mix of earth colours and the singular scorpio is excellent!

All the best Iain 

Thursday From RossM Late Romans, Early Saxons, Late Crusaders and Undead (90 points)

Last Thursday post here and similar themes from previous post are being carried through.

First up is a command stand for the Late Roman army being rebased for ADLG in 28mm.

The figure painted for the challenge is the horn blower. As this figure was the only Foundry cavalryman I had, I have tried to sell him on several occasions; glad now I didn't.

The other figure, also from Foundry has been rebased here from a unit of light cavalry. Thinking that rebasing should be repurposing as this is really what is being achieved.

Next are four speed painted Curtey Miniatures Early Saxons, painted for a gaming friend who wanted figures to use in a GURPS game he is running. Twenty minutes a figure, block and wash.

The spearhead broke and not for love nor money could I get it to stick back on. Recon it would still smart though.

Not really a fan of dipping or washing for shade on entire figures, that said it looks good and gritty here and will fit in well with the theme of the game they will be used in.

Next are another three stands of Late Crusader infantry from Gladiator Miniatures. These are also painted using block and wash, however this works better on this scale in my opinion.

Some classic Citadel Skeletons to go with the wights from previous post. Still rocking after all these years!

everybody conga!

Last but by no means least are three stands of bats for Hordes of The Things in 15mm. These will probably last longer on the table than on the shelf. Fragile to say the least.

So there ends the last Thursday entry and I calculate the points at

1x 28 mm Cavalry figures = 10 points
10 x 28mm infantry figures = 50 points
12 x 15mm infantry figures = 24 points
3 15mm stands = 6 points

For a total of 90 points

Cheers for now

Love the horn blowing late Roman cavalryman, really excellent work! The Saxons work really well, I can't really tell they've been speed painted,I think they're rather good. Nice to see some additions to your Crusaders,but my favourites are the old school skellies, oh and the bats are mad!
 90 points it is!

All the best Iain

From NoelW for Thursday: The frantic stumble to the finish post 1: (150 points)

I began the Challenge with so many  dreams and fantasies. So many new armies to explore. So many old ones to complete. And the Squirrel challenge played right into my hands, making a virtue of my low boredom threshold and miserable stick-at-it-ability.

And therefore, dear reader, I’ve still about a dozen plans I started since December which are clamouring like neglected children for some sort of parental attention. How many will now get a brush on them and how many the brush off? The tension of not knowing is almost unbearable.

But here’s one that’s made it. Romans!

Are you sick of Romans yet? This is only my fifth post on Romans, after all. However, after today you'll no longer need worry whether it’s safe to log on the Analogue Challenge Painting Competition, as these are the last Romans you’ll see from me.

Probably.

I was lucky enough to stumble across a box of 20 Praetorians already assembled and, unusually, perfectly intact. Sweet! Of all the Warlord Romans I’ve so far tinkered with, these are by far the ones I  like best, and they paint up well.

A close-up of the command trumvirate:

It seems daft to have an elite guard without an Emperor to guard. So here’s Warlord's Marcus Aurelius to give them a raison d’etre (which is, I think, a sort of dried grape with an existential crisis).

And finally. Yes, I did say “finally” - here’s a scorpio*.

And here’s another one.

And now both in conjunction:

*(Scorpio was, I believe, an Al Pacino crime film from the 1970s).

Well, that's it for the Romans. Ave.

However, this is not my last post, not by a long chalk. I've not even picked up the bugle (last post - geddit?) There should be two more today - if you're really unlucky, perhaps three.

And then, the race to the finish, arms full of half full paintpots, a dried up paintbrush behind my ear and the faint sounds of voices in the distance. Someone calling? Someone claiming to be -what? My family? Did I have one? Oh, yes, that's right, I did have a family of some kind when I started this thing three months ago. I even had a couple of friends, if I remember rightly. I'm sure I left them around here somewhere...  

24 foot x 5, 1 mounted fig x 10 and 2 war machines x 10 = 150 points

So just a small post Noel? Lovely Praetorians all ready to sell the Empire to the highest bidder, you could do with some ramparts? Marcus Aurelius is splendid and the pair of scorpios are excellent and I apologise for not knowing the plural of scorpio, Latin classes were such a long time ago!
 Agreed 150 points it is!

All the best Iain