From StuartL - Challenge Island Safari Tour - 50points

Greetings once again C.I.S.T.ers. You must all be very tired after traipsing up and down mountains, through gulches and over crevasses. Well, it's time to sit down, put your feet up and enjoy a spot of theatre. Here at Benito's Brook, the Challenge Island Players are going to put on a show for you. I'm told that tonight's performance is a tragedy titled "The Death of Napoleon... No, Not That One!"

Most of you are no doubt somewhat familiar with the exploits of one Napoleon Bonaparte and his efforts to unite all of Europe in one glorious, harmonious Empire. After his defeat, his name is absent from history except for notes of his passing. However, he did have a family and they still played some part in French history. His nephew eventually became Napoleon III, Emperor of France until his defeat at the Battle of Sedan and subsequent exile in Great Britain.

Napoleon III died in 1873 leaving one heir, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the Prince Imperial. Born in 1856 he trained with the British army as a soldier, serving with the Royal Artillery. A noted rider and fencer, he was eager for action and used his family's influence in the royal court to secure himself a place in the British reserves sent to South Africa to reinforce Lord Chelmsford after the Isandlwana debacle. Technically assigned as an observer to the relief force, he was reminded not to do anything rash and to remember his family and political party back home in France.

Of course, being a young man desperate for action, he immediately went and did something rash. When on a reconnaissance patrol, he and his party stopped for a rest at a Zulu homestead where they were ambushed by a group of Zulu warriors. The British party made a dash to escape, but the Prince's horse bolted before he could mount, dragging him along for 100 yards before the strap he was clinging to snapped. Alone and unable to escape his pursuers, the Prince turned to fight. When his body was recovered, he had 18 stab wounds, all to his front. A testament to his unwillingness to surrender or to flee.

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When the different locations of the challenge were announced, this was the one that caught my eye the most. I have been meaning to do a vignette along these lines for a while and the challenge presented me with the perfect opportunity to do so. The Anglo-Zulu War is one that I have a deep and enthusiastic interest in, sadly one that isn't shared by my local group, so I am forced to collect both sides of the conflict and have a substantial pile of unpainted minis lying around for it. The Prince Napoleon figure is a limited edition model from Warlord Games and the Zulus are from the plastic set from the same company. The prince should have a spear in his right hand, but sadly I snapped it during assembly and instead attached the optional sword arm that came with the figure.
The Prince's last stand took place near a donga (dried river), so I have placed all of the models inside the river bed and filled it with weeds. The edges of the river have dried grass and a few bits of greenery to differentiate them from the interior section. The rocks are painted pieces of cork bark, which I have used on a few different entries now and am quite taken with.

Points wise, I have 4x 28mm minis for 20 points, plus a further 30 for the location, giving a grand total of 50 points.

From DaveD. Thats a great creation , and fine entry for Benito's Brook. Another 50 pts to the tally 

and I will check out with that and leave you with Dr Cooke to bang the rocks together tomorrow!

EricM- More 28mm Late Romans - 120 points

I have been able to avoid the distractions of the new and shiny things the war-gaming world has thrown at me and completed my 4th unit of Late Roman infantry.  These figures are all by Wargames Foundry.  While they are not as dynamically posed as the earlier units, I appreciated their uniformity after the shield issues I had with the the last bunch.
As with the earlier units I went with two ranks of spearmen supported by a rank of light bowman, cant can also be used as skirmishers.

Here is a close up of the command stand

Total 24-28mm figures   I think that puts the point total for this submission at 120.

Thanks for looking

From DaveD. They are a fine addition with a nice regimented look as well. 

From GregB: WW2 Russian Infantry Scouts (30 Points)

Russian WW2 infantry scouts painted for winter. 28mm figures from Warlord Games.

The clearing of the baffles on my painting table continues, as I prepare to attack the task handed to me by the Snow Lord. That means a couple of ongoing projects need to be finished off, or, I should say, brought to a point where I can pause them, just to clear the mental hobby palette - and some room near the paints!  So I have finished off this squad of WW2 Russian infantry scouts.  I had painted one of the scouts already in order to secure passage on Lady Sarah's Balloon - these are the rest of her colleagues. The figures are 28mm metal castings from Warlord Games' "Bolt Action" range.

NCO on square base, and marksman.  I painted the foliage on his suit brown, to try and make it suitable for winter conditions. I have no idea if Russian troops would have actually done this, but I like how it turned out.

More detail on the gillie-suit-style foiliage on the marksman.

"Hey, how come I didn't get to go to Piper's Peak?"

These figures were part of a promotional winter-themed WW2 package offered by Warlord Games. \I wish I had paid closer attention when I picked that deal, as it turns out a substantial proportion of the figures in the deal were not, in fact, winter figures at all.  Like these scouts. They are usually seen in brown and (bright) green "amoeba" type camouflage suits.  But a bit of creative license would get them to the correct winter look.  After all, surely the Russian infantry would have had white body suits handy for the winter conditions, and certainly would provide their scouts with them.

Scout calling in the details from a prone position...

Hopefully he has good wireless coverage in his part of the battlefield...

Painting the scouts with white coveralls as opposed to cammo was no big deal. But a couple of the figures are wearing foliage...not the most "winter" thing to do, and so were a bit more of a challenge. I decided to paint all of the leaves/foliage on these particular figures in brown or dark yellow - I have no idea if Russian troops actually did this, but in terms of colours it works out nicely.  A snow-covered forest would have as much brown colour in the background as it would white anyway.

The fellow on the right is funny...I assume he is "sssh-ing" one of his fellow scouts...but I don't think that knife is intended for a rabbit...

The scouts are equipped with SMGs, including some MP40s captured from Germans.  One is crawling along with a wire-cutter.  Another is sneaking around, reporting on a radio. They will be the tip of the spear, sneaking around and helping with the necessary preparations for a Russian attack that will continue the drive to liberate the rodina and crush the invaders!

This is another scout with foliage/gillie-suit-type coverings...like the marksman, they are painted in faded brown tones. Have to say...he really blends into the ground...

This fellow is crawling along with a pair of wire-cutters...I think might have blended him into the ground a little too well...

Here is the completed group including the female scout from my last trip on Sarah's Balloon (she is at the left in the photo).

There are six 28mm figures in this submission, so that should be good for 30 points. And yes, the brushes are now turning toward the Snow Lord's work...but there is still one more project to share...stay tuned for more!

From DaveD. Nice job Greg i am sure they will do a sterling job.

From MartinN: Sarah's Balloon - Nun with gun

Surprisingly enough I feel like I'm doing quite well painting wise this challenge. It's just the photographing and editing which seems to take ages, if I can be arsed to do it at all that is.
As I want to take advantage of a ride with Lady Sarah's Balloon to Snow Lord's Peak I needed a 'female' miniature of some kind. Luckily enough there was one in a recent order from Wargames Foundry...

You will notice this particular 'nun' has rather masculine features. An excellent fit for my purposes though as I intend to use this nun as a marker for the German "Nuns with guns" Shabby Nazi Trick in the Blitzkrieg 1940 handbook for Chain of Command.
And honestly, even if the catholic church acts as if they're still stuck in the 13th century, we're living in the 21st century, right? So maybe this 'lady' is just a little undecided as to her gender? Who am I to decide that she is a he or vice versa?

Now with all the gender kibosh out of the way I can finally reward myself with something bubbly... and very tasty ;-) You won't see me drinking champagne or similar stuff, so I hope my humble local tipple is enough to fit the criteria. Cheers!

So without further ado it's on to Snow Lord's Peak with an additional 40 points towards my tally, which should be enough to balloon (see what I did there) me over my initial target of 300 points.

From DaveD.. Well she's very different and every so slightly scary! Up , up and away it is you !

From PeterD 28mm SYW Hanoverians for Sander's Sand Dunes (70 points)

So far my posts have been mostly focused on my odd little naval projects plus other odds and sods.  This time a round I am returning to the project that occupied almost my entire Challenge IX the Seven Years' War. 

For Sander's Sand Dunes the requirement is RED and it think that these 8 Hanoverian infantry men fit the bill.  These guys are from Hanoverian Battalion 4B known by the inhaber's name, which was Marschalk until the end of 1760 and Crashaur after that.  I tend to complete these units in three batches of eight, and this is the third batch stated but the second completed for the regiment.  Batch 1 was posted late in AHPC IX.  Batch 2 was primed in time for that Challenge and started over the summer but languished about 75% done by the start of this year's affair.  Hopefully I'll get them finished once this year's madness is over.

Once again these are 28mm Front Rank SYW figures and very nice to paint up.

That's 8 28mm foot figures @5 points each plus the location bonus for a 70 point total.  Plus I get to update my map...

And my scout badge collection...

From DaveD - Peter , note how I have not deleted anything ...not even that bottom picture! A fine entry for Sander's Sand Dune

From Barks: The stars are right (35 points)

A quick visit to Piper's Peak as I sled downhill. This is Norman Withers, astronomer, from Mansions of Madness. His telescope allows him to 'have a peek'.

I've just received a portable light box from Green Stuff World, and these are the first pics. I used the black cloth backdrop- I think it was Curt who noted that jewellers display their wares on black rather than white settings. I do like my figure shoots in their 'natural setting', however, so took a few with some game tiles. Advice gratefully received!

1x 28mm 5
Piper's Peak 30

From DaveD . I do like that figure - that's a fine beard ! Nice job Barks

Iain W 28mm Renaissance Irish/ Highlanders Millsy's millpond 80 points

In June  my daughter bought me some Perry Irish figures from their War of the Roses  range for my birthday.  I'm planning on using them as Highlanders for Flodden as I appear to have enough renaissance figures for the Italian wars ( never!) and I want to deploy them elsewhere,  if I sort out some Highlanders and use my WOTR figures for the English ( with appropriate early 16th century command ) I can use Swiss for Scots and I'm good to go
This post is if you like a test with one of the Perry figures, a sword wielding ECW  Highlander from Foundry, an Old Glory Irish archer and finally a lightly converted Ral Partha Viking that,wait for it, I bought in 1977 to play basic D&D as a kid,there I've said it!
Well him and his two identical companions, cost the princely sum of 25p for the three of them!
He wasn't much use as a  henchman, chainmail and double handed swords didn't figure that much, he's been knocking around in a box  for over 40 years but finally he has had the horns cut off his helmet (it was the 1970s!) and been painted up as a gallowglass (scots mercenary in Ireland,or better equipped highlander)
Lovely sculpt and I think the disparate figures work well together

 Perry

 Foundry

 Old Glory

 Ral Partha

All together, and there should be more to follow during this challenge. 

So 4 28mm figures for 20 points
30 points for Millsy's millpond
 30 more for the geriatric scandahooligan
So a total of 80 points!
All the best Iain

From DaveD. ooH "Old School" classics. Nice - 80points it is

From LeeH - Spanish Cavalry (36 Points)

Having completed my Classical Indian army I thought I'd revisit one of my existing 6mm collections. I've been giving some thought to enhancing the cavalry forces that formed part of Hannibal's army in the 2nd Punic War. It soon became clear that there was a gap in my army list that needed to be filled in the shape of some Spanish Cavalry. Various estimates suggest that after Hannibal descended the Alps into Italy he had about 6000 cavalry in his army, approximately 2000 of which were Spanish. These troops, along with about 8000 infantry, would have been recruited from areas directly under the control of the Barcids in their territories in the Iberian Peninsular. 

Despite being sometimes described as Heavy Cavalry they were typically fairly lightly armoured, similar to the infantry. The standard 'uniform' for the Spanish was a white tunic sometimes trimmed with red cloth. Most infantry wore sinew caps but these were gradually replaced by bronze Montefortino (conical helmets with cheek plates and neck guards) either taken from defeated Romans or forged by their own blacksmiths. All troops, foot and mounted, were armed with javelins or spears and the curved Falcata sword. Small round shields called caetra completed their equipment.

Polybius does describe some Spanish Cavalry being used as shock troops. These wore scale cuirasses and carried the larger oval Scutum shield and a single long thrusting spear. I have also read about extra men being carried on the horse, who would then dismount and fight on foot. I'm not sure if this sounds like a viable tactic as surely the newly deposited foot troops would be outnumbered by any infantry they engaged and would have run the risk of being trampled by their own cavalry. I'll have to read a bit more about this, although at the moment there are no rules that I am aware of in To the Strongest that would replicate this tactic.

Incidentally, my main reference source for this article is as always the excellent Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars by Duncan Head. I bought this some time ago and it cost a pretty penny but has been an invaluable reference source ever since. I constantly find myself diving into its pages for detailed information and is always a good place to start before widening the search for information.

The sharp-eyed will note I haven't labelled the bases as is my normal practice. No arcane reasoning for this, my printer is just out of colour ink! I'll add the labels when the cartridges arrive. So that's 36 mounted troops for a modest 36 points. I'm hoping to get one more entry in this week then I'm taking a week off from the brushes for a short holiday with the family. Hopefully, by the time I get back, my batteries will be recharged and I can make my final push towards my target and the Snow Lords Peak.

From DaveD - more loveliness from Lee - 36 pts it is.

From JamesM - 15mm GZG Robot Army (Fran's Fjord) - 120 points

Hi folks,

I don’t know how much longer I can hold this… Undertaking another airborne drop from Lady Sarah's Balloon (my third such landing of the campaign, and my fourth location)  - this time to the coastal zone. Thankfully, no damage was sustained other than some missing clothing. I found a local who kindly gave up his clothes, boots and motorcycle. It's a tad cold out, so I told him he's had better come with me if he wanted to live.

This entry consists of 15mm GZG miniatures purchased (fairly) recently on a whim. I've been a big fan of the GZG models and setting for a long time, and seeing the trade stand at Partizan gave me somewhere to spend some hobby money. As I often say to my cash at such events, hasta la vista, baby.

My head canon for this lot is that in the GZG 'Tuffleyverse' the New Anglian Confederation has banned research on 'True AI'. Because every time a 'True AI' is created, for some reason it tries to kill all humans. As such, research is officially confined to limited task specific AI.

Of course, with so many backwater planets and the benefits of a True AI that doesn't want to kill all humans, private corporations and organisations have hidden labs scattered in out of the way places working on this very thing. In order to keep costs down, limited AI security bots are employed. Of course, they use the best off the shelf security that money can buy (budget constraints allowing).

What could possibly go wrong.

Using these troops in this way allows me to then use random starship crew figures, rebellious colonist and military/Police forces as potential opponents.

The bulk of the security force here consists of 24 Bipedal Security Robots (models from GZG). Most of these carry assault weapons with under barrel micro missile/grenade launchers - all capable of mostly non-lethal and very lethal ammunition options. These are more or less obsolete designs. There are far faster, more powerful and more intelligent and efficient killing machines out there.

However two have been upgraded to squad support weapon carriers while another two have been lavishly supplied with Guided Missile launchers - capable warhead reconfiguration for maximum impact on a range of targets and providing a substantial kick.

Heavy support is provided by six automated defensive spider drones. Three with heavy rotary cannon and three with twin squad support weapons.

While mobile fire support and the heavy weapons are provided by two autonomous hunter killer Quad Vane Grav Drones. These are normally twinned with the Wasp Drones features previously.

One is armed with an Autocannon (equipped with a selection of ammunition types capable of fulfilling both anti-personnel and anti-armour functions) while the other mounts two heavy machine guns (with a more limited ammunition selection, but a higher rate of fire). 

As per the Wasp Drones, I've gone for a military esq paint scheme. These are supposed to look like corporate security (and to be menacing), hence the yellow stripes and blue and red sensors. 

Gaming wise, I'm still working out the details! But the models look cool! Don't worry, I'll be back.

Points then:

Location: 30 points

Infantry: 24 x 2 = 48 points

Spider Drones (Crew Served Weapons?): 6 x 4 = 24

Vehicles: 2 x 8 = 16

Total: 118 points

 

From DaveD . What no Sherman's James!! you have been kidnapped! Lovely stuff I look  forward to seeing these on a table near me soon. I have gone for 120 points as the grav drones just look cool!