From JonathanO: Slitheen (21 Points)

May I present another set of monsters, who were enemies of Doctor Who, as my final post in this challenge?  The Slitheen:

These 3 figures are from Warlord Games.  They are 40mm high.

The Slitheen are a family of criminal Raxacoricofallapatorians.  They are large, powerful aliens who first appeared in the 2005 episode "Aliens of London".  Using stolen technology they were able to create compression fields and disguise themselves using the skins of their victims.  As part of their plan to take over Earth for use in their family business ventures, they impersonated the Prime Minister, other politicians and figures of authority.

Scary though it can be, Doctor Who is of course pure fiction.  Can you imagine what would happen of aliens were really able to impersonate political leaders and create chaos, division and uncertainty among the population and businesses?

It is a matter of personal regret that I was again unable to deliver on my deal and fell short of my points target by a significant margin.

The clock is ticking and the deadline is almost here.  So it is just about time for all participants to set down their BRushes and EXIT from this edition of the Painting Challenge.  That is unless President Curt and the Painting Challenge Commission will allow a short extension?

________________________________

Sorry mate, you and your Slitheen overlords will have to revoke article 50 to rejoin the Challenge Union. (The whole Farage/Johnson/May thing makes SO much sense now...) ;)

Great work Jonathan, but these guys seriously creep me out with their non-eyes and icky tri-fingers. I'm just going to give you the 21 points and wish you a fond farewell - until the next time they let us out of the asylum. 

- Curt

From RossM: Final post for AHPC IX (160 Points)

So, we draw near the end of yet another fantastic Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and this is the eighth I have participated in.  Before I introduce the entrants for this post; just want to say a huge thanks to the minions, fellow painters and of course the Snow Lord himself - Curt. The challenge makes the dark months of the early year fly and is a highlight the hobby year.

This figure is this year's Curtgeld and his brethren have been used in past games of MERP as Black Numenoreans. Given the theme of Fellowship and the request for enemies, I looked for something just that little bit different to pass on and a pre slotta Citadel C09Dark Elf was just the ticket. 

Now I have a confession to make; the figure is based on a 25mm hex base and has been since undercoating. Normally there would be nothing wrong with this, however the Curtgeld figure would sit on a 25mm round base. The dilemma that I faced as I continued to base and flock this figure on a hex base rather than rebase it. Hope that is ok, Curt?

More retro figures from Citadel and more of their classic Skeletons, another six to be precise. Not much more needs to be said about these to be honest.

No kilts to lift here

Yet more 15mm Late Crusaders from Gladiator Miniatures, this time the cavalry arm of a Late Crusader DBA army. Following suit from the earlier figures from this army there are both Brother Knights in red surcoats and Brother Sergeants in black surcoats.

More infantry for the same army and two additional command stands for the same army in ADLG, have the figures and enjoy the game so might as well.

All of the Crusaders as a group shot.

Two stands of Arab swordsmen to oppose the above. Don't know who makes these, probably Minifigs or similar. The undercoat has gone a bit grainy on these and unfortunately this has effected the final wash on the figures. Too old to try and strip them so grainy they will remain.

Another stand of Late Romans that required three figures to be matched in to painting from approx 15 years ago. The figures are front left as seen in front rank and the first and second figures from the left in the rear rank.

The figures are from Wargames Foundry and are still some of my favourite for this period, if perhaps a bit small in comparison to the likes of Gripping Beast and Footsore.

I cut the spears to the wrong length and didn't notice until the figures where glued in place in the unit.  Oh well, its only a couple of mm.

Shown with their fellows who are waiting on basing

Shown below is the entirety of this year's challenge from me and this year I have learnt a couple things for next year:

• Don't change your mind 3 weeks into the challenge and start prepping other figures

and

• Never, ever start rebasing the largest ancients army you have in 28mm, or any scale for that matter 

In terms of points I make this

1 x 28mm figure (Curtgeld) - 25 points
6 x 28mm skeletons - 30 points
15 x 15mm cavalry - 60 points
15 x 15mm infantry - 30 points
3 x 28mm infantry - 15 points

For a total this entry of 160 points.

This will take my overall total to 354 points out of 500 planned for (see comments above)

Thanks again to everyone and I am looking forward to Challenge X later this year.

Cheers, Ross

______________________________

First, thanks so much for the wonderful Curtgeld figure Ross. I love these old school Citadel models and this guy's an absolute corker (don't sweat the base, it looks wonderful).  

Wow, what a great assortment you have for us as your closing entry. Skeletons, crusaders, arab swordsmen... this has all the makings of a fabulous adventure movie! I have to admit that my favourite of the lot are the Late Romans, bravely holding the line in their matching shields and Imperial standard - wonderful stuff.

Great work Ross and I look forward to you being with us for Challenge X.

- Curt

From HerrRobert: Frostgrave - The Captain's Hot Press (25 points)

Pomponia ponders her recruiting options

Pomponia Valeria Exuperantia sighed, as best a skeleton could, anyway. The necromancer and his apprentice were preparing for another delve into the ruins of Felstad and the Captain's warband was a bit . . . sparse. No archers, no knights, barbarians, no markskellies, no templars, no infantry, just five skeletons-at-arms. Hardly suitable for a delve into the Frozen City, even with the necromancer's very generous health plan and afterlife benefits. Nor did the necromancer have much in the way of gold to spread around the taverns and brothels of the villages surrounding Felstad. 

Nothing for it but a hot press. Pick a promising tavern, stage a quick raid, and recruit those promising into the Company. Just like they'd done during her tour in the Royal Navy . . .  

My fifth entry to Painting Challenge IX is the expansion of another warband for Frostgrave. I'd already submitted a test skellie as my first entry to the challenge. This entry sees the rest of the sprue.

My first Frostgrave game was at my first California con: ConQuest 2016. I played a necromancer in two games, leading an army in HoTT, and then a warband in Frostgrave. The rest of the warband were skeletons. The idea stuck. It would make a good theme - bringing the dead back as undead, should they be lost in the campaign.

First up is the captain of the necromancer's warband, Pomponia Valeria Exuperantia. The red I chose for the uniform rags and the chainmail said Roman Legionnaire, and the purple plume fit with the theme. I decided she was female based on the Roman name generator hitting on Pomponia. Hey, Felstad is equal opportunity!

The miniature is a metal Games Workshop armored skeleton champion, I think, purchased off Ebay. I did my usual conversion work on the slotta base, cutting it off, filing it down, and gluing it to the Renedra cobblestone base. 

I'd originally done her in the glossy Game Color Blood Red, but then overpainted that with Delta Ceramicoat's Burgundy after some of the darker reds seen here in the Challenge. I like it much better. The only bit not washed with Army Painter Strong Tone is the purple plume.

Next up are four skellies-at-arms. All four are from the Games Workshop plastic skeleton pack as the test skellie. Frostgrave says a skellie-at-arms is armed with a hand weapon, shield and leather armor. Close enough. I did the usual bone mix (Delta Ceramicoat Bamboo, then Apple Barrel Toasted Marshmallow, then Delta Ceramicoat Antique White), and the same shield details as the test skellie. Somehow, the wash on my pallate got mixed in with woodgrain, so the one skellie is darker and earthier. Eh, it works. I also did glowing read eyes on the one skellie.

Ready for recruiting poster duty, ma'am!

Here's the two sentry skellies with the necromancer and apprentice painted sometime in 2016:

They look pretty similar. And here's the whole band:

So that's 5 28mm infantry for 25 points, putting me right at 299, 1 point shy of my upped total of 300. My next post should kick me over.

________________________________

Very noice Robert, very noice indeed. I love the name of the boss: Pomponia Valeria Exuperantia. As odd as it seems, it kinda rolls of the tongue. :)

Nasty looking crew HerrRobert, and I mean that in the best way possible. I really like the cobbled bases and the single nefarious red eye on that one chap is an ace touch - it's all very Harryhausen. Well done!

- Curt

From HerrRobert: Constantinus Prodromus (5 points)

My last entry for Painting Challenge IX is a mini for an NPC I used in a Pathfinder campaign: Constantinus Prodromus, a gnome fighter.

The build was based entirely around the armament of the mini, which I found entirely by accident. He's armed with a spear, carries a tower shield, and wears a breastplate and helmet. He's very much a tank, with Armor Class 23, despite his small stature (3'4" tall, weighting 42 pounds). 

He was a major player in a party of wizards clearing out the mines at Rashtan, and is usually seen in the company of a gnome illusionist/thief, amusingly called Bubbles the Executioner.

The mini itself is from Stonehaven Miniatures, and goes for a very hefty $11.99 on Amazon. I splurged a year ago, purchasing a gnome thief, two halfling barbarians, a halfling cleric and a half orc bard. Paint is on several of them, but only Constantius will be finished when the Snowlord calls brushes down. I'd partially thought they'd be my fellowship entry, but instead they languish in paint table purgatory.

He's been done since almost the challenge began, but has been waiting to post. I, personally, found this to be a very difficult mini to paint. Partially because of how small it is, and partially because some elements just did not flow well at all. I went more Macedonian than Greek in my palate, trying to echo the Companion cavalry or the phalangites.

The armored skirt, frankly, was a nightmare. I tried white on black, which failed. I tried the top color white, which failed. Finally, I had to paint the whole thing Reaper Leather White, then Vallejo Offwhite, then hit it with Vallejo's pale gray wash. I'm still not satisfied, but it's done. 

I also wanted the cloak and the crest to be purple from the get go. Purple and white is a combination I have found goes well together on a mini. This was my first experience using Army Painter's Purple Wash, so I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out. As you saw with my previous posts, I've gotten better at painting purple.

The bronze of his cuirass, helmet and shield was pretty easy, but the ears and many crevasses made everything fiddly.

I deliberately kept the base simple, since most Pathfinder mats are usually just sketched out grids.

So, another five points, which should push me over the top to my raised challenge target of 300, and a personal Best Ever for the five challenges I participated in.

Huzzah, or whatever gnomes shout before bashing you with their shield.

_______________________________

Haha, great work Robert. Gnomes often get a short shrift (excuse the pun) in fantasy games, so it's nice to see one claiming a bit of the spotlight here. I also like that he's working the whole hoplite/tank angle. AC 23 and in the front rank taking the hits. That's a tough nut indeed - a very cool mini for a very cool character. Well done. 

- Curt

KenR : 15mm Kursk Russians (262 Points)

Well I have only just managed to sneak this one in, I popped down the local gaming club to blood the Italian Wars Project and come back only to find Fran has knocked off 500 points in a day and knicked 6th spot !

Sadly my little secret side Project won't be enough to steal it back.

Whilst churning out the fancy Dan Gendarme I needed a palette cleanser on the side for when I got bored of shiny armour and livery emblazoned with family crests. I refuse to do the same period in different scales however I have been known to break down longer conflicts like WWII into different areas. So I have a 28mm Early Desert Collection and a 6mm late war Western Front collection. What I haven't done is the Eastern Front and I fancy a go at Kursk as the forces are fairly even.

I have liked the look of the Plastic Soldier Company models for a while so I have picked up a few boxes to see how I get on with them. Above is a 1:1  platoon of Rifles 36 figures at 2 pts a piece for 72.

A second selection of 27 figures for 54 points.

5 x T 34s for 40 points

5 x T 70s for another 40 points

And finally 2 x 76mm Field Guns and 2 x 57mm Anti Tank Guns. These are 5 crew and 1 piece per base = 14 or 56 points for the lot. Giving a grand total for my final entry of Challenge IX of 262 points.

I'll put together a group shot and final thanks in a couple of days, all the best Ken

_______________________________

Wow, what a great final closing to your Challenge, Ken and a wonderfully shocking change of tack from your Great Italian Wars project.  I can't say I'm on board with the whole idea of not wanting to do a period in more than one scale (ie. WWII and Naps in four scales, right Greg?!), but do I admire your gymnastics of rationalisation of doing different scales for different theatres. 

With these Soviets serving as your opening volley on this new project, will be be treated to the opposing Germans during the next edition of the Challenge? I hope so as your brushwork and composition is always top drawer stuff. I'm looking forward to it.

- Curt

From IannickM : A Liche and a Curtgeld (30pts)

One last post, at the last minute as is my tradition! 

First off we have Nathum Crane, a Liche and the general of my Oldhammer undead army. I've always been a fan of Liches as ultimate evil vilain, ever since my early days of D&D (I lost a wizard to one of them bastard in 1992). The immortal undead wizard, rotting in the depth of his dungeon, just speaks to me! They are now my go to guy when I *really* want to scare the living shit of my RPG players, and it works everytime! Plus there's no emo or sentimental vibe going on here, just pure malicious evil, which is not something than be said about his his famous undead sibling, the Vampire!

The figure I used is once again an old figure from the late 80s, this time from Marauder Miniatures. It's a classic really and I'm sure most of the challenge's old timers recognize it. I went with a deep red to tie him with the rest of the army, adding details in a classic "poison green". He's going to look good commanding my hordes of bones! I also have a duel with Robert for the "sexiest undead painting in the challenge" or something like that, and I believe he will be my chosen hunk! I mean look at him, he's sexy AF!

And to finish my challenge in style I submit my Curtgeld. I really didn't know what to paint this year, until I read Curt's February post about his current Dark Heresy campaign. When I read about the debauched aristocrat I knew I had the perfect figure!

Look at this guy?! Doesn't he
scream debauched aristocrat?

The figure is from a small Kickstarter started by a fellow Oldhammerer. The goal of the KS was to create civilians for Rogue Trader skirmish games, which is a definite blind spot in GW's 40K offerings. The figures are lovely and have a definite Dune vibe, as well as Rogue Trader. There's also a debauched Lady to go along with him, which I will include unpainted in the package (Curt you are going to love her, trust me).

I painted him in the livery of yellow and red, as described by Curt. I figure the aristocrat would have a golden yellow coat rather than mustard, you know being the 1% sort! Apologies Curt, I just couldn't bring myself to chase his coat in white! I didn't do the base so that you may match the style with the rest of his troops.

Hopefully the aristocrat is not yet dead in your campaign, Curt, and will return later on in the campaign, so that you may use the figure! 

So...Curtgeld still worth 50pts? If so, then that's a 60pts to close my challenge. 

Once again, thanks for hosting this event! I didn't reach my objective but I had a lot of fun as usual. My other challenge keeps me busy, but I think I managed much better than last year to balance my time between two challenges. Cheers, and congrats to all the challengers!

________________________________

Oooh, what a brilliant brace of figures Iannick. That Liche truly is as sexy AF! (You know, I think it's the creepy staff. It's very slimming.) I LOVE the debauched atristo (and I NEED that link to this Kickstarter). Thanks so much! The fellow I wrote about has been duly ventilated BUT there are his family that the players have to contend with so this fellow will have a honoured place in the unfolding adventure. Thanks again Iannick.

As to points, I'm afraid Curtgeld is 20 bonus points, plus figure, so this entry will still log you in for tidy 30 points. 

- Curt