The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work of miniature painters from around the world. While participants come from every ethnicity, gender, age and nationality, they have three things in common: they love miniatures, they enjoy a supportive community, and they want to set themselves against the Challenge. This site features the current year's event along with the archives of past Painting Challenges. Enjoy your visit and remember to come back soon.

Sunday, 28 February 2021

From NoelW: A Knight to remember: Knights Solar (161 points)

They descend a winding tunnel. Every time Elfbow taps his spear against the floor or an adjacent halfling, magical golden sparks shoot over into the air like inebriated fireflies.

“Do stop doing that, Elfbow.”

“I can’t. It’s fun!”

“That’s absolutely no way to treat a magic – a perfectly ordinary, rather cumbersome and inconveniently dazzling spear,” says Merlissa.

“Oh why don’t you stick your crystal ball up your – “

“Woof!” says Scruff.

“Why, yes, that is a doorway, Scruff. Shall we perchance have a dekko at what obtains beyond?”

But Getrude, Clerihew and Titchy are already through the door and striding down a long hall (yes, they’re all in the adventure for the long hall) at whose far end can be dimly perceived (as you might have guessed) six shiny equestrian statues.

“Wow!” says Elfbow. “They look like solid silver. Real treasure at last!”

“But is it the Greatest Treasure the World Has Never Seen?” asks Titchy.

“Never mind that. Look out behind us.”

Glancing over their shoulders they see a horde of dungeon invaders, a brown-suited regiment, busily unshouldering their nasty little banging sticks.

“They’re going to shoot at us! Do something!”

Clerihew flaps his arms and waddles.

“There's no point ducking. They’ll just aim low. Quick, hide behind the statues!”

As one (one coward, that is) they all scarper behind the row of statues.

“It’s no use. They’re marching round the sides. They’re on both of our flanks. We’re enfiladed.”

“You speak for yourself…”

“Do some magic, Merlissa.”

“I've got nothing. I can only glance into my crystal ball, where I see things that were, things that are, and some things that have not yet come to pass.”

“Well, that’s a fat lot of use.”

"It's great as a plot device for creating jeaopardy."

“Let me borrow your completely unmagical stick, Elfbow.”

“Oh no you don’t. I’m going to need that to fight my way out of here.”

Merlissa scowls.

“I – er – let’s see. Time for a quick scrye after all. Ah, yes, amongst those things that have not yet come to pass, I might’ve seen a little something. Maybe that sparkly stick of yours (to coin a phrase) is not quite as unmagical as we might have thought.”

Bang!

A volley of bullets fly past them. Fortunately Titchy does not understand their peril. It’s all over his head.

“Lower your muskets, fools,” comes the command.

“Hit the statue with your big stick, Elf!”

“This is no time for sparkly games!”

“Now, whilst they reload. Just do it.”

Surprisingly Elfbow does as he’s told. He strikes the rump of the nearest mounted warrior with a firm rap (see Chapter 1). The statue creaks, groans, then whinnies and roars, and the lance armed warrior leaps into life.

“Now the other ones! Quickly!”

As if playing a xylophone made of silver equine rumps, Elfbow runs along the row of statues, so their behinds explode with sparks. As if by magic (coincidentally) six armoured warriors burst into song – no – I mean, burst into life, that’s it – and lunge headlong into the very surprised and not quite fast enough regiment of brown-coated and now brown-trousered warriors.

“Woof!” says Scruff.

“You’re right, Scruff. We need to make like a wolf with a speech impediment counting little pigs. Flee! Let’s get out of here!”

***

Two offerings in this post, both the excellent Perrys' plastics: 6 Agincourt Knights and 16 AWI, so two projects developing at the same time.

Agincourt is a project I’ve been pursuing for years, a few figures at a time. My image of the battle is closer to Olivier’s Hollywood version in Henry V than the reality, so I’m aiming to be as decorative as I can, although I still want to be reasonably realistic. To this end, I’ll probably have more cavalry than current research suggests was the case and they’ll probably be a little more decorated than might actually have been the case. So I’m painting up a number of actual coats of arms from the French knights that fought, with the idea of a glorious, if not entirely accurate, charge. It’d be nice if horses were caparisoned, too, but there’s no real evidence for this at Agincourt, so I’ll have to go back to Crecy if I want that (and the Perrys haven’t produced figures for this period, yet. What's keeping them?)

My first six knights have been chosen because their arms are relatively simple to paint. They are:

Jean, Senechal of Eu

Baudouin, Lord of Epagny

Pons de Saluces, Lord of Chateauneuf (who, interestingly, seems to have the same arms as Robert de Gamaches, Lord of Chauvincourt, which I thought was not meant to happen)

Euguerrand de la Riviere, Lord of Perchin

Hugues d’Auteux

Philipe de Wissocq. Lord of Gapennes

The American Revolutionary unit is painted as the 3^rd Pennsylvania Association, of around 1776. I’ve not chosen them for an particular battle, but simply because I like the uniform, and I wanted a slightly irregular look so they could be used as militia when needed. I’ve not been able to discover anything about a likely flag, so I’ve simply taken one from the very useful guide in the Perry box, which properly belongs to the 2^nd Pennsylvania. The flag is blown up before printing as I prefer oversized flags.