From SimonM: "Warlord Games" Dalek (35 points) - Curtgeld

This "easy-build plastic" Dalek model is produced by “Warlord Games” and can be assembled from the plastic sprues found within either the "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" "fast-paced tabletop miniatures game" or the “Davros And The New Dalek Empire” Expansion Set. Created by Terry Nation (and Raymond Cusick) in 1963, this particular variant of the Kaled's Mark III travel machine is based upon their Time War shell and first appeared in the April 2005 BBC Television series story "Dalek".

Due to the Kaled mutant not coming with any base, the drone was first super-glued onto a 40mm lipped circular stand, and only then primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, before being treated to a double coat of Brass. The human-sized pepper pot was then washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and given a hearty dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Brass.

With the 'basic' painting phase completed, I decided to slightly convert this particular Dalek by cutting off his control arm, and re-positioning it, courtesy of drilling a small hole in the model. This figure is to be my "Curtgeld" for the "Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge", so I wanted to make it a little different from the other 'off-the-shelf' Dalek's you can buy.

Once the piece was firmly re-attached, I ‘picked out’ the Kaled mutant's eye stalks, 'sink plunger' and multi-range variable power destructor using a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. Finally, I pigmented its audio scanners with a dash of "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey, as well as tidied up the Metaltron's fender with "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

I have also turned my attention to another of the free miniatures “Lucid Eye Publications” have kindly sent me as part of my recent orders with their company. These figures all consist of the self-same wizard sat atop a dice whilst smoking a pipe, and whilst not quite as cartoonish in style as the manufacturer’s other “Toon Realms” sculpts, they certainly seem to still fit the genre quite nicely.

As before I’ve decided to utilise the models as statues/objective markers for my games of “Dragon Rampant”, and paint them so as to represent a variety of materials. For this version I wanted to try my hand at a somewhat waterlogged stone statue, in order to test out a possible palette for a much larger figure I want to enter into the AHPC.

The sedentary wizard was therefore primed in "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and subsequently washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and finally "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green. As a final step he was dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey.

Total - Dalek (5 Points) + Curtgeld (25 Points) + Wizard Statue (5 Points) = 35 Points?

JmilesR: Simon your pointology is, indeed, correct. 

From NoelW: Benito’s Brook: Zulu wars (70 points)

Travelling west we come to an impassable brook. If we could get across we could turn south, where there might be a path taking us closer to the SnowLord’s Peak. But if we can’t cross the brook, we’ll have to carry on our way west, travelling even further from the Peak.

On the opposite bank is a man with a (very) small boat. He doesn’t look happy. Next to his boat are a fox, a duck and a bag of grain.

“I’d come and fetch you,” he shouts, “but my fox wants to eat my duck, and my duck wants to eat my grain, so I can’t leave them unsupervised. If I could bring them over to you, you could look after them for me, and I’d ferry you back here one by one, but I’ve only room in the boat for one item or passenger at a time. If you could figure out a safe way to help me, I’d be happy to ferry you.”

No problem. The solution seems obvious. We could simply – no, that wouldn’t work. How about if he leaves the – no, that wouldn’t work, either. Shaking our heads, we realise the problem is insoluble, at least for our militarily acute brains, so we have to accept it’s impossible, and head once more the wrong way, towards the western coast.

---

The submission is rather obvious for the “impossible odds” requirement: Isandlwana. I’ve had a Rorke’s Drift setup for some while, and last year decided I’d enough Zulus to extend the project to the disaster which preceded it. Conveniently, the Perrys have been producing suitable figures in their Victoria’s Little Wars range, so I’ve been building up the collection, and they’re getting their paint a few figures at a time.

This submission consists of Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony William Durnford, who commanded No 2 column, and a small unit of dismounted Natal Carbineers, of whom there were 28 in No 1 column. All died.

Here’s Durnford:

and the Carbineers:

The blue here is rather brighter than in real life, due to the use of flash. They still look pretty good, I think.

Points: 1 mounted 28mm =10, 6 foot = 30, Benito’s Brook =30: TOTAL 70 pts

From TamsinP: Evil Skulls on Awdry's Atoll (50 points)

Extract from the journal of TamsinP, Time Traveler, Society Girl and Adventuress

!9th January, 1928

Awdry's Atoll comes into view, signalling the imminent end of our lovely flight aboard Lady Sarah's hot air balloon. The champagne and cocktails have been most enjoyable, as have the horses doofers (as my Nan used to call them). But end it must, and we shall soon alight on the atoll and continue our tour.

The balloon touches down and I bid our fair lady aviator farewell for now, but remind her that I will be seeking another flight in due course. My three companions seem to have overindulged on the libations and are passed out on the gondola's floor, atop a pile of blankets and sheepskin coats. "They'll be fine where they are" says Lady Sarah, "But they'll have to work behind the bar to pay off their passage." I don't think that's a good idea; there'll be no alcohol left for other passengers if they are in charge of the bar.

I make my way from the landing site into the village, to find a guide to show me the mysteries of the atoll. A kindly villager points me to the cantina and tells me to ask for Jerome.

In the cantina it is quite obvious which one is Jerome; a tall negro standing with his elbow on the bar, a Thompson gun propped against his stool. I ask him if he would be willing to act as my guide.

"Sure, lady, but dressed like that?"

"Of course, I've explored many parts of Challenge Island dressed like this. Besides, I seem to have left my luggage aboard Lady Sarah's balloon."

"You know the Lady Sarah then? That's good - I'll be able to show you something real weird up the mountain and not worry about you freaking out."

He drinks off the last dregs of rum from his glass and picks up his gun. "Follow me then, lady."

We set off on a trail up the hillside and into the dense forest, reaching a plateau after an hour where the trees give way to tall kunai grass. "Stay close, missy, and don't step off the path" he warns me. Above the top of the grass, in the distance, I see a ghostly purple haze that looks like the tops of boulders or mounds. We are heading straight for them.

Just ahead of me Jerome parts the last of the grass and steps into a clearing. I follow close behind and...

"Good heavens above! Where has everything gone? What is this blackness surrounding us? Why am I standing on a circle of white carpet? Why are you standing on a circle of rough planks? And what the heck are those?"

"Missy, I told you I was going to show you something real weird. I don't know why we're standing on what we're standing on. All I know is that when you step into the clearing this weird shit happens."

"But those statues. I've never seen rock that colour. What are they?"

"I dunno myself. But what the islanders say is that back in their first days, a long, long time ago, maybe thousands of years, three great monkey gods - Ceeano, Heeano and S'Beekano - came to this atoll. They were brothers and they were evil. They enslaved the islanders and demanded sacrifices of the children. The islanders hated them and plotted to destroy them. They lured them to a clearing where a great pit had been dug, then when they fell in, the islanders released rocks and stones onto them which filled the pit, trapping those gods. Only their heads and hands were left uncovered."

"Well, really, that must just be a myth told by adults to scare their children into not being naughty. Those are clearly roughly carved statues, even if the rock is a very strange colour."

"Rock, lady? Go on, have a feel of them if you dare!"

Not one to pass up a dare, I go up and feel the statues. "My God! That feels like bone, not rock!"

"Lady, I dunno. Maybe they are what's left of those gods. Maybe not. But you must admit this is a real weird place."

"It is indeed. Now, shall we get out of here and back to the cantina - I believe I am going to need several strong drinks!"

We depart the clearing and thankfully normal skies return above us. Taking one last look back over my shoulder, I am convinced that I see a glow in the eye of one of the statues...

The two figures are just included to show the size of these skulls, which I found in my local Poundland in the run-up to Halloween last year. They seem to be cast in resin. And as they are for Awdry's Atoll, they are mounted on old CDs.

I shall be availing myself of another trip on Lady Sarah's most excellent and hospitable balloon service in due course, to take me to my fifth island location.

For scoring:
Now this takes a bit of calculation...
12cm diameter CD has an area of 113.1 cm2
x 7.5 cm height  = 848.2 cm3
convert to cubic inches = 848.2/(2.54 x 2.54 x 2.54) = 51.8 ci
Converting to terrain cubes -= 51.8/216 = 0.24 terrain cubes
@ 20 points per terrain cube, each of these pieces scores 0.24 x 20 = 4.8 points

So, let's call that 5 points for each one, giving me 15 points for the skulls.
Add on 30 points for completing Awdry's Atoll

Total = 45 points.

From MilesR: I see you're depicting the Republican Congress in terrain here.  Very nicely done.  I'm adding 5 bonus points for the wonderful story because (i) it was very good, (ii) I'm drunk with the awesome power of minionhood and (iii) you've managed to actually fill in all the needed information which is proving difficult for a lot of other today.

From BenitoM: Obelix Favourite Dish (10 points?)

This is a small diversion in my two main projects this year (the emerging Early Imperial Roman and enemies unit + the core planned early II World War Germans platoon),  having a lot of fun painting it yesterday.

A wild boar family! Despite what you may think, it is not unrelated to the first project. In fact in Infamy! Infamy (the incoming Ancient period rules by Too Fat Lardies), there is a table that triggers unexpected events and one of this is a unit overrun by wild boar hog in the forest.

The models make a nice piece of scenery, a jump off point and of course a funny addition when this unexpected event triggers in the game.

These wild boar family is from Warbases. I just happened to detect it when perusing the website looking for appropriate bases and movement trays for my armies and decided to give them a try.

I strongly recommend taking a look to the Warbases' Animals section, they have a wide and very nice range of models that may go unnoticed to many as we tend to associate the company with the basing stuff.

I'm not sure how to treat them in terms of scoring points for the Challenge. May be 10 points like a mounted figure? I leave it to wisely judge decision of the minion-in-charge today... I'm in your hands.

From MilesR:  MMMMM Bacon.... but I digress.  Love the boars - especially the piglets!

From JonathanO - Curtgeld figure for Challenge 32 Pts

This is my entry fee figure for The AHPC X.  It is for a specific person:  ScottM.
The figure is the "Arise oh restless dead" miniature from Warlord Games.

Scott is already on the way to the summit of The Snow Lord's Peak.  Hopefully, this figure can be used to lead a force of undead in his games of Warlords of Erehwon.

I was not sure how I would get on with painting this model, but I used mainly GW Contrast paints and that helped me a lot.

Photograph a Grand Prix car at speed?  No problem!   Take decent pictures of stationary miniatures?  Not me, sorry!  I will have to experiment some more with lighting etc.

That should be 30 points for me,  5 for a 28mm figure plus 25 for the Curtgeld bonus.

Cheers!

J

From MilesR: Very evocative figure and there seems to be more than one in the mix so I'm giving 2 points. 

From AndrewE - Sanders Sand Dunes - AHPC entry model - Wary dungeon adventurer (30 pts)

The wary adventurer steps off the rickety life boat on the beach and looks around with trepidation.  He does not know what happened to the rest of the crew and passengers from the Eclipse but he was lucky to survive the storm and her sinking.

Looking around for any clue of his wherebouts he spies a faded wooden sign at the edge where the beach meets the forest.  Staggering towards it, his red cloak whipping about in the breeze, he brushes the undergrowth from it revealing "Sanders Sand Dunes".....


This model is my entry for the AHPC.  It is a D&D miniature that I never had a reason to paint.... until now.

The detail on this guy was nice and crisp and made it a dream to paint.

I also tried using some of GW's contrast paints for the red and leather.  This is the first time I have used the contrast paints and they worked quite nicely but really needed to still be highlighted to "pop".

Overall I'm quite happy with how he turned out and hope his recipient will enjoy adding him to their collection.

I am going to have to figure out how to do miniature photography better as that seems to be an art unto itself to really make the mini look great.

From MilesR: A very nice figure for your entry fee - great job!

From PeteF: The Gribbley Horror Project Begins - Nightstalker Spectres and a bad Pun (55 points)

Last year I was introduced to the delights of Kings of War, Second Edition. I fell hard for the game and bought the hard back rulebook, the softback (players) rulebook, the 2019 Clash of Kings (updates to the armies for better game balance), casualty and angle markers and a beaten up Forces of Nature army - which has now been rehabilitated. Then third edition came out in October.

I played a tournament in the summer where I was lucky enough to get a Nightstalker Starter Army as a prize (I didn't win anything in the tournament, quite the opposite, but thankfully the prizes were randomly drawn). The Nightstalkers are Mantic's own faction and very different from the usual fantasy tropes - which are also featured in the game. I don't know what the word "gribbley" really means but it seems to fit Nightstalkers. They are the stuff of nightmares and are invading the world through some kind of interdimensional rent. They have come to terrify and destroy. Muwahahaha.

Along with third edition came the 2 player starter set which included mo' Nightstalkers and some lovely Northern Alliance miniatures (think Wildlings from Game of Thrones). I also succumbed to a couple of unwise, late night E-Bay purchases which included yet more Nightstalkers. On the upside I now have enough Nightstalkers for a good sized army.

The army is going to have a scary/horror/gribbley movie theme - something on each stand will reference some thrill or chill.  Not all of them will be as obvious as this one but I'm hoping my opponents will have fun trying to find all the movies in the army.

These creatures are Spectres. They are "ghostly, skeletal and cowardly". They "lash out with soul sucking mist". I went with a paint job that looks quite similar to the one on the box - using Citadel Wraithbone primer (at HOW MUCH? a can) and contrast Aethermatic Blue. I tried to do some of the tendrils in sparkly Colour Shift green and tried picking out teeth and other features but the contrast paint ended up looking right on its own. So I feel a bit cheeky claiming 5 points for each of these as they took less time to paint than a schutzen's rifle. I'll make up for it by doing some plaid on a future entry.

The base has a couple of pools of blood (Woodland Scenics realistic water) and is meant to look like a burned up and shattered hellscape. This base represents a troop of spectres who are a type of ranged infantry. To be honest they are next to useless in the game in 3rd edition - the power of shooting has been reduced across the board and these guys have less range and less punch than they used to. However, I'll keep them in the army and use them as skirmishers to screen a more valuable unit.

It feels right that this is entry number 13 for this challenge. The spectres were hard to photograph in a way that shows their true colour. Too much reflection from the pale bits or something. Hopefully they look sufficiently spectral and menacing.

11 models for 55 points. Did you guess the movie and spot the terrible pun? My apologies.

From MilesR: Very spooky indeed.  I have yet to sucumb to the siren call of contrast paints but suspect my days are numbered.  They kind of remind of a certain music video, aw those thriller days of yesteryear.

From Paul SS - Froggle Rock for Cook's Crevase 35 points

This was a difficult one, a souring of the lead mountain and bits box yielded nothing suitable for a geology themed round, the nearest possibly being a French Napoleonic Pioneer.

So I set to with some insulation board and my hot wire cutter to carve out an overhanging ledge. When I'd finished with the wire cutter, I looked at it, Victoria looked at it and at the same time said "Looks like a frog!" so Froggle Rock it was to be. 

I stuck it on some board, gave a coat of Poly-filler and let it dry. When it had set I sanded it down, and stuck on some smaller stones and pebbles, sealed with PVA and gave a dark brown primer. 

Once ready I started painting off a basecoat of "Mooring Post" emulsion adding a few highlights as I went along, some patches of lichen were added along with some damp mossy bits under the overhand.

The finishing touches  were some tufts, clumps and static grass. The ACW infantryman is from the batch I painted earlier this week and is only there for an idea scale.

Points wise, it's about a 1/4 cube so should get me 5pts, plus 30pts for completing the location.

From MilesR: It does look like a frog, a petrified one, but a frog non-the-less.  Thats 35 points for you.

JohnP Entry Fee Piece for Sarah's Balloon (to Mudry's Mesa) - 40 pts

I acquired these models a few months ago for a brief foray into the community-run Wyrdwars--a reborn version of Mordheim. Unfortunately, the game didn't take (perhaps forever souring me on community generated rulesets), and I gave up on making use of the figures. But, I've been enamored with the witch model, so I decided to slap some paint on her and use her as my entry fee to the AHPC. Sarah willing, I'd like to use her to ride that balloon off to Mudry's Mesa, upon which I shall paint something brand spanking new (and most glorious). Alas, I'm all out of good bubbly and won't get any extra credit. Perhaps on my return flight I'll procure some.

From MilesR: Superb painting of a very scary looking witch.  I'm sure that will be sufficient fare to get you to Mudry's Mesa.  I'm not sure of the scale - so am assuming its 28mm.  Given the size of the "root system", I'll score this as a cavalry figure which nets you a total of 40 points.  Nicely done.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Well it's Sunday again and that means the awesome marshal's baton of Minionhood is once again in the grip of my sweaty hands.

We've got a lot of great entries coming up today and I will not spoil them for you.

WE've also got more than the usual number of entry's with incomplete information or names that don't match the participant list.  Now don't get me wring, I love a mystery or two, but not more.

Soooo, if you don't see your wonderful draft post that marked as "ready" pop up over the course of today, then I suggest you reflect on the important message from Yoda above.  Bad data isn't something that just harms you, it harms us all, including me and, frankly, that's who I care about.  While the minion manual does allow me wide discretion in meeting out punishment, I'm electing to be magnanimous and provide a grace period.

I'll check back later tonight to see if this generous offer of data amnesty is taken up or if more aggressive measures need to be undertaken.  I warn you, some of those measures may include extremes such as a frowning face, grumbling under my breath (more than usual) and (shudder) slight teasing.   

You've been warned

From PaulSS - Andalusian Jinetes (65 points)

Todays entry is six Andalusian Jinetes from the Gripping Beast range to be added to my El Cid collection.

These fellows have been in the backlog so long they could easily have counted towards Hawkins Hill, but there is plenty of time and old lead for that. One of them is on the very old original Gripping Beast ponies, likely I could have entered that one for Millsy's Millpond.

I painted these in pairs over the last few days, and the 6" of snow we got yesterday evening meant that though my game was cancelled I did get these done ahead of schedule and have already started on some Berbers.

As with all these old Gripping Beast El Cid models they are a delight to paint and as luck would have it there are still a few left in the backlog of shame that I hope to get done over then next few days.

Six 28mm cavalry should net me 60pts towards my total.

***
I know I keep saying this but I love the clean painting style so many of you have.  While I turn out good results, I have a very sloppy back and forth style that provides a very different final result.

I am always so impressed when you guys come up with these awesome clean and bright looks where I can cleanly see that you started from black and never once screwed up and hit the black line dividers....  no idea how you all manage that.

These are simply lovely Paul, awesome work! I am very much jelous of your brushskills on these ones, especially the hand painted shields and patters, for which I am awarding you a bonus 5 points.

- ByronM

From GregB: Another Bunch of 28mm WW2 Winter Germans, Sigh (50 Points)

28mm German late-war infantry from Warlord Games.

More winter WW2 Germans? Yes - sorry everyone, but I'm trying to focus a bit to take a big bite out of this project.  So yes - even more 28mm WW2 Germans in Winter kit.  As with my other entries from this project in this edition of the Challenge, these are metal castings from Warlord Games' "Bolt Action" range. I'm in a "winter" state of mind, and the local conditions in Winnipeg are helping that:

It's January in Winnipeg, after all...

Certainly the winter weather helps inspire to paint these winter-themed figures. This is one of those "something I've always wanted to do projects" so I'm keen to rip through it and get a force big enough for a game sometime soon - certainly before the snow melts.

The Red River, frozen solid behind my house...

The back yard, buried in snow :)

These specific figures are slightly different from the others - these are meant to represent SS troops, hence the adjustment in the winter look.  While there are some white pants and helmets, there are a different assortment of coats and anoraks.  There are also some attempts at German camouflage peaking out from under the winter gear.

The odd cammo pattern peaking out here and there.

View from behind showing assorted kit.

LMG crew trying to get the MG-42 ready for action.

German WW2 cammo is a very intimidating subject, particularly in the context of the Challenge where so many of the participants can paint camouflage so well. Not only was it complex, but German camouflage is the sort of topic that you understand less the more you try to study it. There were so many different types of patterns, spread across so many different types of kit.  Different coats, different cuts, M41 this, M43 that...it makes me nuts.  The Germans apparently had reversible camouflage garbage mittens! This group is like a Mountain Equipment Co-Op with guns - studying up about it makes me a bit mental, and I'm never sure I like the results...but there is only one way to improve, that is to practice, so here we are!

They look glossy in spite of the use of a matte varnish.  Is there any matte varnish out that actually dries matte?

Another view of the riflemen.

For the most part I left the cammouflage mostly underneath - on the odd pant leg or helmet cover. The jackets (M41 or M43 or whatever) were issued in grey and tan (but...not white?) so I used a mix of both on the coats. But I did attempt to copy the so-called "Italian" camouflage for the NCO's coat. This is a pattern referenced in the box - I tried to research it but gave up after web searches surfaced a number of contradictory references.

NCO in the middle - square base - sporting "Italian" camouflage (at least, according to the Warlord box...)

I'm perplexed by how often I see photos/miniatures/colour drawings of German troops mixing white-washed helmets and white coats with some of their fancy camouflage.  Would you still wear the "autumn leaf" pattern (or whatever) with snow on the ground? Maybe...woods and forested areas still have lots of brown, even once the snow starts falling? Whatever, this NCO is wearing the cammo-edition of his coat, snow-be-dammed.

The pose for the LMG team is a bit disappointing. What is it with sculptors and their determination to sculpt LMG teams in odd poses? At least this group sort-of-looks-like they are trying to get the weapon into action.

LMG crew.

One of their comrades seems to be saying - "hey, maybe use that ***ing MG42?"

Quite a few in this bunch are sporting the later-war STG44 assault rifles, and between these and the panzerfaust launchers overall they exude a distinctly late-war vibe to them.  That's OK with me - I like to game the late-war very much, but I'm going to get some more rifle armed figures just to dampen out the number of assault rifles.

Is that guy on the right struggling with the panzerfaust?

The guy on the left looks a little extra-hard-core with the bandaged eye.

One casting is kind of odd - he looks like he is holding the panzerfaust like maybe he is getting ready to use it? The pose is strange...it looks less like he is going to fire it at a tank or hardpoint, and more like he is getting ready to sneak up on one of his buddies and prank him with it...given the power of that warhead, I can see the prank going wrong...

"Group photo" of the 28mm Winter WW2 project to date...

Here is a "group photo" of the project so far - about 37 castings, not bad, but they need to be rounded out with some other bits.  Hopefully that will follow soon, although I can feel the squirrel in my brain straining to chase something new...

For scoring, this is ten different 28mm figures, which should net another 50 points.

***
What a perfect project given our local weather Greg, I know I spent the day trapped at as well in the accumulating snow.  I had a pile of French homework that kept me from getting as much done as you have, but was home painting most of the day as well.

Your accumulation of figures here looks awesome and I am sure they would blend right in outside in the snow.  I have heard you rant on about the insane amount of subtle differences that the German forces had and it sounds to me like the path of insanity to actually worry too much about getting it exactly right.  As long as they look good (and yours look great!) I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I have always loved your painting and these figures are no exception.  I can not wait to get them on the table and get some games in!

- ByronM