From SimonM: "Atomic Mass Games" Blank Panther (7 Points)

This 40mm scale plastic figure of King T'Challa is produced by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be bought as part of  the company's Black Panther & Killmonger expansion set for "Marvel Crisis Protocol". Assembled using eight separate pieces, not including its base, the model depicts the leader of Wakanda having already connected "to the panther god Bast by eating a special heart-shaped herb."

The miniature was initially primed using two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and thoroughly dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. I then shaded the Avenger with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before picking out his eyes with a couple of dabs of "Vallejo" White. I also 'picked out' all his metalwork with a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil.

T'Challa's circular base, modelled to seemingly represent some street pavement, was undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and later washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. It was subsequently dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey using a make-up brush. 

Well here’s a trip down memory lane for me.  Simon was one of the bloggers allocated to my day of minion work way back in the day (Team Wednesday?) and I’ve always enjoyed the eclectic mix of figures that he brings to the challenge.  

And he does not disappoint here.  Eclectic check, excellent work check, something I didn’t know existed check.  All in all it checks all of the boxes and nets Simon 7 points if I am reading the points sheet correctly.  And if Miles ever gives me access to his baby I’ll make sure that this gets recorded.

From BenitoM: Imperial Roman Auxilia Command (20 points)

I had a good painting week end and was able to finish the Early Imperial Roman command of my Auxilia unit for Infamy! Infamy!.

These models are a Centurio on foot, a Cornicen or Musician, a Vexillarius or Standard Bearer and an Optio. 

All these models can perform special tasks in the incoming Too Fat Lardies rules, some of them could even be critical for a game. For example, the Optio acting as assistant commander to the Centurio can negate a retreat result in combat and instead force the unit to hold positions.

The Standard Bearer can be used to inspire the men and reinforce the number of dice rolled in a combat. The Cornicem will double the command range of any leader.

These models are all included in the Victrix plastic Auxilia box (or plastic bag, to be more accurate).  As mentioned when I painted the Auxilia unit a few weeks ago, the level of sculpting and details is outstanding, being extremely pleasent to paint. 

The Centurio and the Optio shileds are transfers from Little Big Men

I had some problems to paint the fur of the Cornicen and the Standard Bearer, because I attempted several schemes. 

Finally I decided to replicate a wolf skin, with a brownish colour in the upper part of the animal's back, gradually turning grey and almost white in the lower part of the body.

 

With this post I add another 20 points (4 @28 mm models x 5 points each) to my Challenge scoring. Next model (almost finished) will buy me a ticket in Sarah's balloon.

Those are excellent Early Romans Benito, they should provide plenty of inspiration for your Legions. Wonderful details on the furs, feathers and chain mail.  Love the ribbons on the standard, great colour there.  Four figures nets you 20 points.

From what I've seen the Victoria plastic Romans have great sculpts - how are the figures to fit together?  I'm a bit waffly on the plastic kits - I love the value and have had great fun swapping bits between figures and kits.  But at the same time, I'm not patient about gluing and miss the heft of metals.

From LeeH - Classical Indian Elephants - (120 Points)

I have been looking forward to painting these for a long time. The massed elephants of Poros' army is such an evocative image, I couldn't resist buying this army. Everything I have painted up to now has effectively been painted to justify painting these beasts of war.

The Elephant could perform a number of useful military functions (clearing obstacles, fording rivers and battering down the walls of strongpoints) but it was its prowess and the phycological impact of these massive animals that saw them favoured as beasts of war. In Ancient India the army was divided into four types; Infantry, Cavalry, Chariots and Elephants. As I mentioned in my post about the Chariots these had once been the prestige weapon of war but had started to be replaced by the Elephant as the dominant wing of most armies. Magadha (mid-4th century BCE - 321 BCE) had about 3,000 elephants while the Mauryan and Gupta empires with figures of anything up to 9,000 animals in its command. King Poros, at the Battle of Hydaspes (326 BCE) faced Alexander with a mere 200 Elephants but this still sounds like a terrifying sight. It's possible that facing these animals, and knowing that larger armies lay ahead, was partly responsible for the army eventually refusing to continue with Alexanders invasion of India.

The Arthashastra of Kautilya (c. 4th century BCE), gives a lot of information on different kinds of elephants, their training, and their conduct in war. Their main use in battle was their ability to crush enemy foot soldiers, scare away horses, and trample chariots. The psychological impact of these creatures cannot be underestimated, however, their practical success has been hotly debated for centuries. Wounded or dying elephants could as easily trample their own troops as enemies. And an elephant running amok is as uncontrollable as it is unpredictable. Royal elephants were specially trained and prized for control but if the beast decided to run away it's riders - including any commanders - would be carried away with them, come what may. Despite these risks, the Elephant was still a prized weapon of war and at the Hydaspes, King Poros fought bravely from the back of his mount, even after the defeat of his army was inevitable.

Elephants could be provided with armour but by the 4th Century BC they were often covered in massive rugs called hatthatthara which would provide quite effective protection from arrows. As Poros would find, these were less effective against 18 foot Sarisa pikes and well-disciplined troops. From about this period the Mauryan kingdoms used three riders, all archers, with two shooting.

Points wise these should net me about a hundred and six points - 26 Elephants, 77 Crew and 32 foot troops as escorts. With the Elephants finished I have completed everything I had planned for this army, so I guess a picture of the whole lot is in order? Here's my Army of Poros at the Hydaspes. They don't currently have anyone to fight as I haven't started collecting the figures I need for the corresponding Macedonian army... maybe something to consider for Challenge XI ?!?

It seems a shame to put these away in a drawer so I think I'll buy myself a special display case and get these fella's out where I can enjoy them.

Holy heck that's a lot of Heffalumps Lee, excellently painted.  This Classical Indian Army and been a favourite of mine through the challenge and I'm thrilled to minion this post.  Excellent work again, love the bright colours and the painted shields on the accompanying infantry.  And the close ups show just how tiny and delicately done the details are, especially  on the pachyderm riders

Your full army looks the bomb all lined up, far too good to lock away in a drawer.  My eyes are too old to do a head count on this horde Lee, so I'll go with your figures.  But I'm rounding it up to 120 for all the details.

From TeemuL: Lady for Ballon Ride (115 points)

"Lady Sarah, Lady Wonger"

"Get us and this lady somewhere out of this atoll, somewhere with no ships."

"That Mesa looks good, there please."

"Oh those? Lady needs some peasants with her, there's room for everyone."

"Come on, aboard please!"

"We should have our own drinks? Oh well, may be next time..."

From ScottM: Samurai arrive at Snow Lord's Peak (145 Points)

For my climb onto Snow Lord's Peak, I went with a submission of some samurai figs. I've been working on this samurai project for a number of years. I pretty much have one army complete, and these figs will go towards the second army. At the rate I'm going I should be done somewhere around 2030.

These figs are all 28mm metal. All the infantry are from Steel Fist Miniatures and the cavalry is from TAG (The Assault Group). I've base up my figs so they could be used for Impetus and eventually when it comes out Command and Colors: Samurai. This first base is a group of Ashigaru with yari.

I was originally planning on doing two bases of Teppo instead of the yari troops, but the Steel Fist Teppo I had were actually really crappy casts. They're sitting on my shelf right now and I'm debating whether just to grind through them painfully or just pitch them. Argh!

Next up is a base of Steel Fist Samurai. These guys' armour tends to vary all over the place when it comes to style.

And finally is a base of mounted warrior monks. These figs are actually the first miniatures from TAG I've ever painted and I really enjoyed painting them. They're nice and clean and not loaded down with crap.

And here is the lot all together.

And that completes Snow Lord's Peak! From here I think I'm going to wander down the Path of the New Shiny.

So that should be:
15 28mm foot figs + 3 28mm cavalry figs = 105 +30 (location bonus) = 135 points.

___________________________

Oooh, these look fabulous Scott. Steel Fist and TAG? Awesome quality minis here, though I'm sorry you've had some quality issues with the Steel Fist offerings. It's terrific that you've given us the 'greatest hits', ashirgaru, warrior monks and samurai. The mon and heraldic devices are superb (I'm especially taken by the fellow with the butterfly). I usually go with low-profile bases, but I have to say I really like the look of your more chunky approach. 

I'm going to give another 10 points for all the flags and fiddly banners/devices. 

As to your prize, I award you with JonathanO's Necromancer.

Well done Scott!

-Curt

From SamuliS: I love the smell of warpfire in the morning! (50points)

Moving on from Sander's Sand Dunes I head of towards Millsy's Millpond with an offering of old(hammer) Skaven. I'm pretty sure these warpfire throwers came out during the 4th edition of Warhammer Fantasy so somewhere during the mid-90s.

I actually haven't had these minis for that long as I only really had a couple of old models left from when I was a kid and started Warhammer Fantasy. Most of the minis for my Oldhammer Skaven army have been bought from ebay and various facebook sales groups and these warpfire throwers are no exception. They were actually bought last March from ebay alongside some other older models. Like a lot of my purchases this was done while on a business trip and sitting in a hotel lobby bar browsing ebay and online stores while drinking beer and trying to pass the time.

The whole project was kicked of a bit over two years back with Total War Warhammer 2 coming out and with Skaven being a playable race it instantly rekindled my interest in the little ratmen. I dug out what was left of my old minis and started planning an army. Originally I was just going to paint the couple of older metal minis for nostalgia's sake and then have the rest of the army be the newest plastics, but it turned into a full on Oldhammer project quite fast. The first mini I painted for the army was actually my entry for the Childhood bonus round of the eighth challenge. After that there wasn't much progress for a while before I really kicked things forward late last spring and now I have most of the core already done and have lately started painting some of the special units like these warpfire throwers.

As the skaven are a horde army I've kept my paint scheme fairly simple. Most colours are just a basecoat and a wash so a lot of different brownish shades as they work pretty nicely with just a wash and no highlights. The skin gets highlighted to add a some detail to the minis and to draw the eye there and hopefully making the whole force seem like it's painted to a better standard than it really is. The main army colour of green is also highlighted as it doesn't really work that great with washes.

With these crazy warpfire wielding rats I should get another 50 points to my tally. 30 from the next step on the challenge island and then 20 for the 4 28mm figures on show. Three tasks completed and now time to think which one I should tackle next. I'll probably take another balloon ride as I don't think I have any suitable subjects for Benito's Brook. Maybe I can find something by digging around the stash for random miniatures.

Lovely work on these rat-men Samuli, it's great to see these old projects come back to life.  These warp-fire thingies look like a match for mister handful-of-potato-masher-grenades and the lets-open-up-with-the-flamethrower-while-prone team. 

I like your technique using a base browns plus washes with highlights on key areas.  It works a charm on these lads.  I agree on points.  Now lets see if I can hack past Miles security system to rack them up properly.

From MartinC - 28mm Late Romans (170 pts)

Why are the Romans never punctual, I have early Romans and I now have Late Romans (see below) but I've never seen just in time Romans.

1st up some armoured infantry. As usual I handpainted the shields and there are loads of early Christian symbols I can use. It has just struck me that the Romans have Christian Shields and Pagan Dragon Pendants - weird. The figures are from Ebor Miniatures, more famous for floppy hat chaps, and a complete bargain at £24 for the regiment with all the spears. There was no swarf and all the bases came pre-sanded

The figures are a nice height but a little skinny, think Perry, but do fit with Footsore

To go with these I have 8 Footsore archers

These will go with my few cavalry so far and form the backbone of my burgeoning Late Roman army but I do need to buy some more, I nearly won some on a ebay auction but the prices get too close to full price. Luckily its Hammerhead in a month, the 1st outing of the For Joshua battle and loads of opportunities to buy stuff - I've nearly run out (2 months of painting left then I'm out of toys!!!!!!)

Scores on the Doors

32 x 28mm infantry = 160 plus lovely shield and flag bonus

Nice bunch of Fashionably Late Romans Martin.  I'll agree I've never seen the Bang on Time Romans but am familiar with the Early Imperial Romans (crap  what are they doing arriving now- finish setting the table and get dressed).  Fine work indeed. 

Heavens out of toys to paint - best get out the MonsterCard.  Isn't there a show somewhere up North this Sunday?

I'm in a generous mood given my recent promotion to Minion and I always like to encourage hand painted shields.  Therefore I'll bump you up 10 points for some nice shields and a draco standard (is this really a flag technically?)

Groundhog Day and its Deja Vu All Over Again

Miles has had to step back from his minoring duties, so Curt's asked me to pinch hit on the Sunday minion duties for the rest of the way.  Fear not Miles assures me that miniature production will continue if not perhaps at his regular warp factor nine.

Long time Challengers will remember that  this is not my first trip to the Minion rodeo, but I may be a bit rusty.   I'm not sure if my Banana Splits Secret Decoder Ring will let me access Miles dreaded spreadsheet, but let's try and see how it works.  

So far there's not much on the radar screen but I'll check back over the day.  You can always shoot me an email or comment below if you've got something ready to go. 

Have a good Sunday and happy painting.  Oh and Ray, I'd suggest making sure that you've got backups of everything!

From Curt: Amanda Sharpe 'The Student' from 'Mansions of Madness' (15 Points)

Hi All!

As I need to book balloon fare to Awdry's Atoll, I present to you another resolute heroine from 'Mansions of Madness'.

This is Amanda Sharpe, 'The Student'. 

Amanda's a bit of a miss in MoM as her special ability is focused purely on solving puzzles. This is not bad per se, in fact it can be quite handy at times, but unfortunately it's an activity that only plays a very small part of the game so she often ends up not pulling her weight. 

Like many of the MoM characters, Amanda is also featured in other Cthulhuesque games from Fantasy Flight, and her other renditions are often far more powerful (in 'Elder Sign' she is perhaps one of the most kickass characters in that game). Oh well, you can't be the belle of the ball all the time. 

This all being said, here she is, bespectacled, fresh-faced, in a green jacket and grey skirt. Clutched to her chest is a red-bound book - maybe a university textbook, a novel perchance? But perhaps it is something entirely more significant and sinister...

Amanda should give me 5 points, and with this being my sixth trip on Sarah's Balloon she'll provide me another 10. 

It can easily be deduced that I am irredeemably slothful as I've not yet traveled a step on any of the island roads! This is probably for the best, as with Lady Sarah's in-flight stores of champagne I'd be too smashed to attempt to stagger down any of these foreboding paths. :)

-Curt