From StuartL - A Mausoleum for the Tomb - 33 Points

As I draw closer to the entrance for level 3 of the Chambers of Challenge, the final room before me is The Tomb. Luckily I had the perfect model for this all ready to go even before the Chambers were announced. One of the Reaper Bones 3 Kickstarter rewards was a graveyard themed expansion, which included a small mausoleum, which I had planned to go alongside the Skeleton horde I painted earlier in the challenge.

The building consists of a removable base plate and a removable roof, for ease of access. It's cast in a hard plastic, unlike the usual Reaper Bones material. The front door opens and closes as well.

And I just noticed that I missed a spot in the back corner. I'll have to go and touch that up with a wash later.

The roof is painted in a mix of Vallejo Foul Green and Cold Grey to give the oxidized copper look that seems common on old church buildings. 

There are plenty of skulls on the outside and inside of the building. To give it that creepy tomb feel, I painted the skulls and bones on the interior as if they were real bones embedded in the walls rather than just a carved relief.

The mausoleum is a reasonable size for terrain, measuring 7 inches in length, 5 in width and about 4 high to to spine of the roof. This makes it about 140 cubic inches, which equates to about 13 points based on a Challenge Cube being 216 cubic inches. An additional 20 points for the chamber makes a total of 33 points and opens the way for me to proceed to level 3. There are a grand total of 43 skulls on the interior and exterior of the structure, which will go towards the Skullz side duel.

My running Duels totals:

GW Points - 287

Skullz - 143

Squirrels - 6

From JohnS - Spanish Militia Infantry - Talavera (80 pts)

 The next unit for my Talavera project has made its way on to the painting table. This is the beginning of a Provincial Militia Unit, nominally the 2nd Majorca.

I am somewhat enamoured of the "Round Hats" worn by Spanish soldiers in this period so I have chosen to do this unit all equipped with them. Uniform information for the Peninsular War is scant and contradictory so I have taken a few liberties.

The miniatures are from Offensive Miniatures, a company I have been aware of for years but these are the first of their figures I have painted. I am very impressed. Very clean castings with great detail that is easy to paint. And nice people to deal with too I found. There may be more of their figures coming soon...

The colours chosen for these first four stands (three more to paint inc Command) reflect the diverse uniforms that Militia Units were issued with in this period. The ubiquitous "brown Spanish cloth" predominates but they also received blue, grey and white clothing from Britain and local suppliers meaning the uniformity was non-existent. I have tried to avoid bright colours other than their flashy cuffs and collars.

These wre very enjoyable to put together and I am looking forward to finishing this unit. I may mix a couple of figures with bicornes in as well.

16 figures @ 5 pts each = 80 points

From ByronM - Necron Indomitus box set ( 205 points)

I went into this painting challenge with a plan, really, I did.  Part of that plan was to get my Necron force started, which consists of the Warhammer 40,000 V9 Indomitus box set showcasing a pile of new and cool looking Necron models.  However, it was very low on my priority list as there were other things I wanted to get done first in case I ran out of time.  Well, after doing the one model for the Golems room and seeing how fast they painted up and how easily I could get them out of the queue, I had a squirrel moment and moved them to the top on the list.

Below is an image of the brand new Skorpekh Destroyers squad led by the Skorpekh Lord.  This unit should give the Necrons a much needed boost in hand to hand combat, which illogically is apparently what rules the new edition of 40k.  Seems odd that in the far future melee is better than shooting, but since when has GW ever made sense with their rules (except in almost every NON core ruleset they put out).

 

Next up are the new scarab models, which I really like as they used to be separate models but are not all connected and snap into the base as one piece.  I think it gives more of a swarm look than the old 3-4 individuals on the base.

 Next up are the Necron warriors, which are also new models (about time).  These warriors are pretty close to the old ones in body style but change the guns significantly, gone are the transparent green rods you had to glue in, now the guns are solid, which is much better for assembly and hopefully how long the models hold up (the old ones broke all the time).  I painted up 2 units, but am only showing one here, since they are almost identical.  I did one with purple flowers on the base and the other with blue flowers so that I can easily tell them apart.  When I get more I will boost both squads to 20 man squads, but for now they are each 10 so that I have 2 troop selections.  The one thing I dislike about the new models though is they are on 32mm bases.  I have no idea why everything keeps going to bigger bases, they take up way too much tabletop space.

The image below shows most of the characters and individual models that come in the Indomitus box.  Starting from left to right are: 2x Cryptothralls, a Plasmancer, a Plasmacyte, a Royal Warden, and an Overlord.

Here you can see two of the characters closer up for details.  The lighting sucks a bit so the glows do not show very well, bur are there around each red spot.

As you can see from all of the images, the paint scheme is very simple and basic.  However, I feel that is OK with Necrons as they are mainly metal anyway.  The paint job was essentially painting the silver, bronze, and red then washing with Agrax Earthshade.  Then coming back to repaint the red and shade around each red feature, then highlighting it up to  yellow to make them pop.  Do some basic ground work and call it done.  The whole force was done super quick, but I think it works well due to the colour scheme and basing.  

There are a total of 37 models in the force, 36 being submitted here.  Of those most count as normal 28mm models and the other 5 count as about bike or mounted infantry size.  This means I should end up with 205 points for the submission.  Overall, not a bad haul for about 2 days of work!

from Paul O'G: Shadow Warriors in Greyscale (70 points)

This submission was totally unplanned but became quite an absorbing (and distracting!) experiment.  Recently I have been revisiting Samurai skirmish gaming with the Ronin rules. Back in AHPC VI I painted a small force of unarmored Sword masters and thought I might surprise Reilly but adding some Ninjas (surprise Lad!).  As I saw the greyscale entries for the Chamber of Darkness, I thought it might be a great opportunity to give this very different style of painting a try. Stealthy Ninjas by moonlight would be dark and monochrome anyway, right? How hard could it be? Boy did I learn a lot.

Lets just say it was lucky I had 10 figures in this project so that I had multiple opportunities to improve.  I think trying to keep the figures' dark and sinister look meant that I further reduced the available desaturated palette.  I started with a Grey Seer undercoat and then used the GW Black Templar contrast paint as starting point. 

I was challenged in thinking about light direction while also using highlights to achieve a pseudo metallic finish for weapons glinting in the moonlight - but I'm pleased overall with the effect. I also added a few discrete spot colours through bloodstains and red flowers on the leader’s base, thought the latter doesn't work so well as it distracts the eye from the figure (maybe it is a Ninja stealth technique!). These discrete bloodspots are quite different to the usual messy blood stains on my beastmen's axes!

Along the way I was heavily inspired by Michael Awdry’s fantastic Seven Greyscale Samurai from back in AHPC III (http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/2013/02/from-michaela-seven-samurai-in.html) and Curt’s greyscale WW1 project (where I learned the term ‘chiaroscuro’!).

Overall, I did not fully achieve the look I was after but am happy enough. I appreciated the challenge of trying something new, which I wouldn’t have otherwise done, and I would welcome constructive comments and ideas.  This submission is ten metal 28mm figures from Warlord's "Ninjas of Iga" range.

For a bit of self indulgence, this is what I have painted during 14 days of isolation - the only TV I watched was the news and both seasons of The Mandalorian (how good is that!). Then again the whole ‘working from home’ thing really got in the way :-)

The Ninja look quite at home slinking at the back next to the monchrome wall!

From Dallas: Ghouls in the Larder! (30 points)

I'm not ashamed to say that the Larder has been troubling me... who buys models of food, or of people eating, for wargames??? Then I saw some other posters with a good idea, and shamelessly stole it... 

It took a little while to find these guys in my storage room but here they are...

...and they painted up quite quickly, to match the two others I already had in my Warhammer Fantasy Battle "Vampire Counts" army. As you can see I did I minor conversion to suit the "eating" theme, dremeling out the rock in the ghoul's left hand and replacing it with a severed head that had been hanging around my kitchen in the pen tray (!). Of course a severed human head is a reasonable (and obvious) snack for a flesh-eating ghoul. 

Some "adult themes" here... pretty racy for GW.

I really think this model bears a striking resemblance to a certain US President's personal lawyer! *cough*RUDY*cough*

Here are the two new models with their previously painted comrades.

So with the Larder completed I can leave Level 1 of the dungeon and move on to Level 2... damn you Mike F!!!
 

Pauls: Level 2 sorceress - Princess Leia (25 points)

 Now we have 4 rooms complete on level 2, it is time to summon the Sorceress again to speed us on our way to. It has become *thing* to buy my wife something Princess Leia related, or Space Mom as she is known hereabouts. Given that she has the Pops, action figures, lunchbox and pencil case, this year was the Legion figure of Leia from Endor. This one got painted back at the start of the challenge, but held in reserve for this entry to allow us to teleport on to level 3 and the Knight's Solar

PaulS: The shrine guardians (65 points)

 Fleeing the slavering beasts we stumble into a dark cavern of a different sort... full of jumbled technology and thousands upon thousands of candles. Amongst the candles are ragged individuals praying to a corpse god who they have never met, who sits upon a throne on the other side of the galaxy

The Golden Sons are a Cawdor gang for Necromunda, part of my own personal challenge this year to paint up a starter list for each gang. I wanted some variation from the standard Cawdor, so I've mixed some of the old Empire flagellant bits in here to create some juves and a more... fire-y head for their leader

This adds another 9 figures to the GW side challenge as well as marking the 4th room complete on level 2...

PaulS: Into the Ork's Lair (45 points)

 As we creep further through the dungeon's winding corridors and chambers we enter a cavernous room full of mushrooms, mud huts and stalagmites. The walls are covered with ork glyphs and piles of bones from their feasting, but thankfully the beasts are not currently here. Grunts and squealing comes from the far side of the room near the exit, so unfortunately we need to go past the noise to get out... 

Giant red balls of muscles come bounding across the room towards you, giant teeth glinting in the torchlight...

For my very slow burn Warhammer Quest project I needed some wild squigs to fill out one of the entries for the ork and goblin dungeon schemes. They can also be used as normal squigs in my small gobbo army too. I wanted them to be more furious than the usual squigs, so I used the mounts from the squig rider box and filled in some of the holes left when you don't add the riders. 

This adds another 5 figures to the GW side challenge total

From TeemuL: Valhallan Imperial Guard (50 points)

These fine gentlemen are metal Imperial Guard from the Valhalla, sculpted 20 or so years ago by Perry Twins, if I'm not mistaken. I believe they sculpted all of these guard figures from different planets. For me they are not really Valhallans, they are more or less fine gentlemen from the Imperial Reenactment 7th. For those who don't know, they are like theater act or LARP players in the 40th century, they are used to rise the morale of the citizens, advertise the military for the new recruits and provide some entertainment for the people. Some of them are civilian volunteers, some are actual guardsmen on leave, on punishment, on reward, on commission, retired or misplaced. This nice background allows me to play different games with these, I can fight Armageddon over and over again, fight any enemy anywhere, since it is actually just play.

But it is not all fun, this is the grim dark future. Several time Imperial Reenactment 7th (and others like this) have been incorrectly ordered to real battlezones - the administration of the Imperium is not very clear, efficient or correct in many places. So sometimes they arrive on real warzone, they even might have some live ammunition. Sometimes they have blanks. Sometimes they have live ammunition when performing a play... Since most of the troopers are or were soldiers they can handle the situation quite well - others soon learn or die. This allows me to play real battles and real campaigns, like the Argovon Crusade on the White Dwarf magazines. I can even play against unpainted armies, since they are just poor special effects or holograms on the play. :D

Their reenactment role also explains their rather impractical uniforms, they have very bright colors, the primary colors to be exact, so that the spectators can see them easier. That applies to real enemies, of course, but you can't win every time. They are painted with Contrast paints, except the bases, the eyes and the sword of the sergeant. If you take a closed look at the guns, you will see why I like Black Templar paint - it is perfect for guns. It is not really black, so don't use when you want black, but use it on guns instead, all the guns have just one coat of Black Templar and for the time and effort, they look great. Please steal the idea and use it.

One more thing, this reenactment allows me to use all kinds of different Imperial Guard troopers in my army, Cadian, Catachan, Valhallan, Mordian etc and it is just to show, that Imperial Guard is for everyone and it doesn't matter where you come from and what you like, you are good enough (for cannon fodder) just as you are. While writing this, I'm wondering, should I paint some rainbow flags for them?

Here's a closeup of two fine gentlemen, as you can see they have nice mustaches, which (if I remember correctly from the Challenges past) means they are truly painted and ready for war.

10 28mm troopers, each 5 points, so 50 points in total.

When adding these to my previous Rohans, I have now 125 points total and 125 points total in GW side duel.

Next I'll finish my Entry Fee and start my journey in the dungeons...

From SanderS: Battletech testfigures (15 points)

 Hoi,

On my to-do-pile for this Challenge are quite a lot of Mechs for Battletech. This game remains my go-to wargame since pretty much 18 years ago when I started out seriously gaming. The game has been transferred from producer to producer over the years and has now been into the hands of Catalyst Game Labs and they have recently re-issued the line with some top-notch sets. The new beginners box and basic boxed set both have full plastic figures which are absolutely excellent figures that even have a decent heft to them for those who like their mechs in metal (as I myself do). Even more recently CGL has put up a Clan Invasion Kickstarter and wave 1 of said crowdfunder has arrived to provide me with loads of excellent miniatures. The first of these I have now painted up for some of my factions.

So without further ado here are a trio of testers. 

First up is an Archer painted in the colours of the famous Northwind Highlander Mercenary regiment. I think I will do the base military drab colour a bit lighter to better show off the patches of tartan that are on there. 

 

Second is a Sky Tiger Stable Solaris VII Valkyrie mech. These are not combat units but a "stable" is a sports-team that fights in the Arena's of Solaris as part of the great Mech-gladiatorial games.

 Last is a Clan Jade Falcon Assault Executioner mech. The Jade Falcons are my favourite faction but I am swithcing paint scheme with these new figures by adding the yellow spot colours. For those of you who know the game: my period of interest for the game are 3025 up to 3070 ish. I do not like the Johad era and neither do I like the latest Il-Clan period in which the Falcons are portrayed as the ultimate bad guys. It appears to be my lot in gaming to choose the faction that's must picked upon in many games: Dark Angels for 40K/ CJF for Battletech.

But nevermind that here's the mech.

Now points-wise these chaps are huge robots in 1:285 scale but in real life resemble a 28mm

figure in height so let's say 15 points?

Cheers Sander