From PhilH: Boring Boat at Douglas’ Shallows (35 Points)

A shameless points grab for my canter around the island, with a mysterious boat I found fully prepped and undercoated in one of my many ‘in progress’ boxes.

It had a mast with it but no sail. I forgot to photograph the mast, so it can be a rowboat for now.

Pass on the manufacturer or where it came from. I don’t even have a river or coast in my terrain collection as yet, so it can go live in another box for a while.

To be honest, I feel embarrassed to claim this as a 28mm vehicle, as it took me half an hour or so. Shall we call it 5 points? Plus 30 for the location, of course.

Getting there...but is there still time to reach the peak?

From DaveD... I have a few of those lying around - It looks like one of the Ainsty..- ok lets go with that score

AdamC- Bromley's Butte Scotish Hussars (46 Points)

So, I had a plan for this challenge to finally get my Scottish Army finished so I could do games set in the Jacobite rising.  This plan has not survived contact with Black Seas for a lot of reason but now that my ships are mostly done, you'll get to see a little of that project 

Contemporary scetch of a Scotch Hussar

Brumley’s Butte is all about those troops that handle scouting and reconnaissance duties and in the 18th century this was one of the chief rolls of light cavalry. 

For Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 Scotch Hussars: A single troop of 50 men raised in Edinburgh by John Murray of Broughton and officered by a group of Lothian gentry. It is unclear why they were designated as hussars, a role until then unknown in Britain; their clothing included a fur-trimmed hussar cap of obsolete French pattern.[85] As Murray of Broughton served on Charles' staff, the Hussars were led by Captain George Hamilton of Redhouse until his capture at Clifton, and then by an Irish professional, Major John Bagot of the French Regiment Roth. Bagot recognized that the unit would be ineffective in open battle and instead trained them to operate as light cavalry in the continental manner.[90]

It says something for military fashion that the Scottish had troops they call Hussars a troop type that originated in Hungary.  Maybe it was the French influence.

Originally, I had gone a more muted brown and yellow plaid for their jackets but it just looked brown so the yellow became red which gives you a better view of the pattern. 15mm Mounted figures are 4 points each this formation had 4 figures so 16 points. 

Bromley's Butte contributes another 30 to the pile taking me safely past my goal for this challenge. As to the Jacobite project you will see a little more but maybe that will be for my showcase for challenge XI. 

The '45 certainly had its share of odd units, especially on the side of the Rightful Prince of Wales.  As for the name Hussards were all the rage on the Continent and expect Charlie just wanted to keep up with the styles.  Using them as scouts was certainly the way to go, although at times I think that any clod on a nag could see off Hanoverian Dragoons.


Nice work on the subtle plaids in 15mm Adam and yet another Island Location checked off.  You may be in the running for first around the Island.
PeterD

From RossM: Citadel C06 Northern Dwarves 60 points

Second stage on the challenge island at Millsy's Millpond a perfect topic for me being retro figures.

In several if not more previous AHPC I have submitted retro figures from my favourite period of Citadel Miniatures, that is up until circa 1985.

The two Northern Dwarves below are from this period and their back story will follow:

Bought in the Hobbies and Models shòp in my home town at the pricely sum of £0.45 each. (Shudder to think what the finecast versions would cost).

The purchase would have been made midweek after school most likely on route to the library, ironically one of the libraries I worked in later in life as a librarian. This would have been circa October 1984.

Both figures were painted at the time in a mix of enamels and oil paints. Yes, I used oils at this time before purchasing my first set of acrylics early in 1985.

The figures were used to portray two Naugrim brothers in MERP, both Scouts who were members of the Order of the Axe. Conn Sure-shot and Finn Swift-bow.

The Order based in the Blue Mountains actively sought to regain lost treasures of the Dwarves in any form, however Mithril was considered the most precious.

Travelling south through Dunland to Rohan, the brothers and other Order members were beset by many challenges before arriving at the gates of Moria.

Moria proved too big a challenge and the brothers and many others of the Order did not return. The next game different figures from the above range were used.

Now, in 2020 I have collected all of the above, granted not all are yet painted.

So, on to the points

Two 28mm Dwarves : 10 points
Millsy's Mill Challenge: 30 points
Pre 1990 figures: 10 points
Back story: 10 points

Total: 60 points
Running total: 164 points (32.8% of Challenge total)

Hope I have this right.

Cheers for now

Well those are two veteran Dwarves if ever there were.  Great work on the figures and a fine back story.  I can remember those figures from War-games mags in the early 80s and it's great to see that you got the whole clan back together.  
Peter D

From PaulSS - Help us Lady Sarah you are our only hope (68 points)(

Our troops had made base-camp at O'Grady's Gulch ready to ascend the Snowlords Peak when "Her Worshipfulness" arrived on the scene and ordered us to Reidy's Reef.

Time is running short for the rebellion and we need to get back to the Snowlords Peak with utmost haste. Two Rebel ladies and their escort need to deploy on the Snowlords Peak and create a defensive perimeter with utmost haste.

About that defensive perimeter... We do hope that the barricades we are taking along will not incur too much in the way of excess baggage charges.

There are two figures in the Rebel Troopers set that work as ladies, the one with the A-280 blaster rifle in the jacket is definitely a lady, the other one with a MPL-57 is in rather a baggy coat but the features are certainly feminine compared to the other troopers in the box.

Seven 40mm troops, plus three barricades, plus my third balloon trip 'frequent flier' bonus should net me 61 points towards my total.

Nothing like a new project to put everything else on the back burner is there Paul?  Of course you've got your own in house arms race going on and you need the firepower to claim the dining table for your side.  

Nice work on the SW figures. I do like the subtle work on the drabs and earth tones here.  I concur on the gender representations of the two figures in question.  Nice basing too BTW!

My math (always subject to error checking) is 7x7+3x3+10=68 points
PeterD

From Mark B - Diana and Ares (20 points)

For this post I decided to make a move quick sharpish! The target was the Snow Lord’s Peak and I was unsure if I could get there on time? Therefore I called upon the mighty balloon of Sarah once more and painted a female figure as my tribute for the ride.

I have a load of Ancient Greeks and wondered if I could add a mythical element to them. Therefore I painted up a female Amazon figure from Essex miniatures that I found in a whole bunch of other clobber as a rather curvaceous Goddess of the hunt to represent Diana. She is about 35mm tall and based on a 30 x 30mm base. I guess compared to my Greek hoplites she would look an impressive 7-8’! I’ve painted her in relatively natural colours and enjoyed using four shades of flesh colours to get a nice skin tone on her.

The bow string is made from a big paint brush bristle.

Up against her I found another old figure. This time a 54mm hoplite figure time represent Ares the god of war. He is an imposing warrior to dwarf mere mortal hoplites and strike fear into them! He is I think from Irregular Miniatures - although I’m less certain this time as he was purchased or swapped in a big box of junk figures. He is based on a 60mm x 60mm base and his spear is florists wire flattened out and attacked with an electric grinder to get the shape. 

Here he is fighting it out with Diana over some sort of disagreement that the gods will forget in a few dats time! You get an idea of he scale difference!

The part I was most pleased with on Ares was the hand painted shield. No transfers here just a steady hand and a Peter Connelly book as a suitable source material. It was also rather fun to add the extra decoration on his linen armour and under the crest of his helmet. I’ve a rather horrible obsession of making my shields and weapons look grimy with battle. In this case a few rather shocking blood streaks as he used the shield as a bludgeon to cave some mere mortal’s skull in earlier!

Please Sarah take me to the Snow Lord’s Peak in time to get in a final challenge! Please be quick as time is running out! 🤪

So onto points:

I’ve already used the balloon so no points there🙁

Ares: one 54mm figure = 10 points

Diana: big 28mm = 5 points

Total = 15 points

-------

By Paul: 

I do love me some classical Greek goodies, and these really tickle my fancy! LOVE your ARES, the bowstring and the hand painted shield with grimy remnants of some unfortunate. These are the details that makes such figures really pop!  

I have applied some upward adjustment to the points for the 34mm fig and added some bonuses for your great detailing. 

20 points in total Mark- great job. Now get cracking onto that final challenge!

From JohnS - W is for War Party 25 pts

Muskets & Tomahawks II is on the way! There is much excitement here at the outpost. So much so that I thought it was time to get a few more Native Americans ready for the warpath.

These are some of the large quantity of Crusader Miniatures that I picked up last year at a bargain price (yeah, I know you always tell your significant other they were a bargain price) that I am slowly painting for Sharp Practice II and now M&T2.

I have always been fascinated by the Forest Tribes and since I have an ancestor who fought in the FIW and the American Revolution I have long wanted to build some forces to game the period. And I love any figures that I can use for multiple games. I spent a happy hour or so browsing through my bookshelves to come up with authentic war paint schemes.

I am looking forward to adding these to my previously painted tribal warriors and counting some coup on whoever they choose to fight this week.

Moo helps with AHPC9 photos

On a sad note, I lost my longtime painting buddy, The Moo, last week. We had 17 years of me picking her fur out of paint and off my games table. I sure miss her.

These 25 points take me to another AHPC Personal Best. I plan on painting like a demon for the next week. I want that 500 point goal to fall!

That's a very nice war party John, and another letter off of your personal alphabet challenge.  I've done some Crusader First Nations for my 1812 project and they are very nice figures.

Congrats on hitting a PB, but I've think you've got your work cut out for you to get the remaining letters filled in.  Sad to hear of the loss of the Moo - she looks like good company.
PeterD

From DaveD: Sleeping at Hawkins' Hill (35 points)

It’s just a short hop across the trail to Hawkins' Hill to knock off something from the previous challenge prep pile. In this case a Wargames Foundry Old West figure enjoying a little afternoon siesta. This was prepped for  challenge 3 or 4 - I think - when I was doing my Old West collection. So why not do him up for this one eh .

So , it’s 5 points for 28mm figure and 30 for X Marks the spot .

And that sees me land at Snowlords Peak,,, OI ! Big blue ... wakey , wakey ! 

Asleep on the job? Or too much tequiiiiiiiilaaaaaa? Smashing figure Dave.

TamsinP

From EricM: Its All Greek To Me (235 points)

 Those troublemakers over at Footsore Miniatures tempted me with the new Mortal Gods:Mythic kick-starter.  I am sucker for the old Ray Harryhausen style Jason and the Argonauts movies.  So besides backing the kick-starter, I felt compelled to paint some Greeks.

I started by working on some mercenary hoplites.  I have to admit I really like the smaller unit size of many of the modern skirmish games.   These figures are a mix of Wargames Foundry and Black Tree Design.  I have a hard time telling them apart, but if you look close the  Black Tree are bit more angular and well fed than the Foundry.

This unit was a first for me.  I used Little Big Men Studio shield transfers.   I have had them for quite sometime but have been a little worried about using them.  They aren't your traditional water slide transfers. A quick Google search turned up a great video tutorial.   I highly recommend Little Big Men's Transfers.  I used Vallejo Transfer Medium to help blend the edge of the transfers. 

Despite a few mistakes (bonus points to you if you can spot the backwards Sigma.  I am going to claim its not a mistake I am just a big Dale Earnhardt fan) really liked how the transfers turned out and will be using them again.

Next up I decided to paint some Athenian Marines.  These guys are the cream of the crop for the Athenians.  Unfortunately I did not have shield transfers for them or the arrow drape at the bottom of the shield. These figures are a mix of Wargames Foundry and Black Tree Designs.

Here are a few close ups

My final group of Greeks are very lightly armored and extremely self-confidant.  I have tried to position them in the photo to use their modesty shield to maximum effect, but I would not recommend clicking on these pictures at work, just in case

I used LMBS shield transfers on this unit which is comprised of Wargames Foundry and Black Tree Design figures.  I got a little over enthusiastic and painted 10 instead of the required 9 for this small  group.


In total I completed 47-28mm foot for a total of 235 points which I believe pushes me over my 1500 point total!

Thanks for looking




Using transfers on shields? You're lucky it's me minioning this post - if it had been Peter you'd have had points deducted left, right, centre, above, below, in front and behind!

Cracking job on these Greeks!

TamsinP

From Barks: Why did it have to be snakes? (54 points)

I've finished the snake-themed baddies from the latest Mansions of Madness expansion. They're fairly quick to paint, but didn't really capture my interest- they're just not Cthulhu-esque enough for me. I like the splash of colour they have.

Ancient Basilisk

Temple Guardians

Serpent People

Feathered Serpents

I've put in some of the investigators for size comparison. I reckon 5 points for the smaller figures, 7 for the guardians, and 15 for the big chap?

5x small 25

2x medium 14

1x big 15



You might not have enjoyed painting them, but they are cracking paintjobs nonetheless. I think your suggested scoring is quite reasonable, so I've gone with that.

TamsinP