From PeteF: Adventurers' Landing - Antifa June1944 (70 points)

The US contributed 73,000 of the 160,000ish troops that landed in Normandy on D-Day. The size and scope of the largest naval/air/land operation in history  is mind boggling. This Bolt Action/Chain of Command Squad represents just a few of the many anti-fascists who took part in Operation Overlord.

For this challenge I tried a different, faster, painting style based on a Pete The Wargamer video for painting GIs. It's a block and wash technique - I usually do layering and add a fair amount of detail. For these I went for something that looks OK from 3 feet away - they aren't going to win any awards!

In the Before Times thanks to Facebook marketplace I scored a large lot of WW2 minis from a guy who was giving up on the hobby. He even threw in his paints and brushes. It made me sad to see someone leave wargaming but happy to restock The Shelf of Shame with WW2 figures after finishing off my Blitzkreig Germans in Challenge X.

The figures are from Warlord and to be honest I don't love them. I threw them together a little too quickly when I was scrambling for something to enter for Adventurer's Landing in the preparation phase of the challenge. Not only did I do a poor job on the gluing and mold line removal, I screwed up the priming. As an experiment I went with a cheap auto primer and it came out very grainy on some of the minis - either wrong temperature or spray distance or both. I'm becoming a fan of brush on primers!

 

However, Pete the Wargamer's guidance is great for getting figures on the table quickly and with desaturated WW2 uniforms it works well. I learned a lot about US uniforms in the process - there's a surprising amount of debate about the variations in the colours. As usual the Osprey has too many pictures of specialists and not enough of the ordinary infantry.

Ten 28mm figures and a room bonus for a total of 70 points.

From SidneyR: "Hatchery" - Turtle Dragon (30 points)

As its nearing the end of January, I thought it was time to post some more of my Challenge Chambers painting over the next few days.  Finally, I've reached the Second Level of Challenge Mountain - long after many of you, Fellow Challengers!!  

Not to worry. Maybe I've been slow because a Turtle Dragon has been blocking my path in the Hatchery.  

To be honest, I've been waiting for years to paint this old Citadel Miniatures Turtle Dragon.  I bought it in 2008 for my fantasy Japanese army which I painted up one summer when I had some time on my hands.  I think he (or she) dates from the 1980s - and quite possibly was meant to be the wee beastie at the bottom of an Albion loch in the "Tragedy of MacDeath" for first edition "Warhammer'.  I wonder what happened to those rules? ;)

I wanted to try painting something distinctive and colourful.  I enjoy making pink, purple and bright scarlet as the colour of magick in my fantasy games (.....go Slaanesh...), and the Turtle Dragon continues that theme.  

It was a lot of fun to paint.  Much of the work was done with Army Painter washes, with some highlighting afterwards.  The base is neutral so that I can use the beast in a dungeon, but could also place it on some terrible ash waste in habited by dragons and cold-drakes.  I added the stone slabs with plasti-card - again trying to reinforce the dungeon theme.

I thought this was a really fun project - as I am sure all of the fantasy-themed Chambers will be on my list of "Challenge XI projects to do".  

For the points - hmmm, I don't think Turtle Dragons are listed in Curt's points chart...  But he/she is a larger-sized beast, so may I suggest 10 points for the Turtle Dragon, and 20 points for "Hatchery".  So, in total, 30 points?

Curt Campbell: Podcasting SuperStar

 

For your listening pleasure - the FAMOUS Curt Campbell is interviewed on the new Little Wars TV Podcast called Little Wars FM.  Curt is interviewed by LWTV personality Tony Morano and some other idiot.

Listen to Curt wax philosophic on our beloved Painting Challenge and all things Canadian.

I think you'll all agree we ended the podcast with a special tribute that celebrates the true essence of Canadian culture and the shining beacon she represents for all civilized nations.

The link takes you to Podbean but the podcast is available on all the standard platforms.

From ScottC: Burial Mound - Tomb submission (50 pts)

I have painted up a 3d printed Burial Mound for my 28mm fantasy gaming.

It pairs perfectly with my previous Myrmourn Banshees.  

 

Points: approximately 11 inches by 4 inches tall = ~30 points

Chamber Challenge bonus: 20

Total 50

From LeeH - The Shrine - Cult Priest

Paint something religious said the brief, so I rummaged through my lead mountain and... ended up buying two figures from eBay instead. But the postal service being what it is (or more specifically Royal Mail being what it is) the models still hadn't arrived when it came time to start on this chamber. So I had another rummage in the lead mountain and found this guy/thing. "He looks fairly religious" I thought, so I give you a cult priest raising the dead. 

The not so sharped eyed will notice that the pages of the book are completely blank. Somehow I managed to overlook that until right now when adding the pictures to this post! I'm going to plead tiredness and the fact I allowed myself to be sidetracked by work projects (something I never normally do). I guess it is one of the hazards of working from home... those lines between work and home life become very blurred. I will add a few arcane letters and symbols at a later date. 

The model is from Grenadier I think, although I'd happily be corrected if I'm wrong. The tab on the base had been filed flat and this is usually where the manufacturer and date are located. I decided to go with a simple but bold red and green colour scheme and I'm happy with the result. 

Oh, and the original religious-themed figures I bought from eBay arrived this afternoon! 

(Scoring: 1x28mm figure + CoC Bonus = 25 points)

From Dallas: Back to the Shrine with a Cleric (25 points)

A little backtrackery on the second level! Heading back to the Shrine to post this great cleric.

This is another model from the Casting Room - out of the "Adventurers" pack.

Casting Room models are great - they really have a legit adventuring/dungeon delving/murder hobo-ing vibe, with all of their backpacks and such. The rest of the pack is in paint and should be ready in the next couple days. I have to say that all this fantasy stuff I'm painting has really inspired me - I even found a copy of the infamous D&D module B3 - Palace of the Silver Princess ("the racy module that almost ruined D&D") tucked away in a corner of the Internet...

Five points for the man of God and 20 for the room - 25 points. NEXT!
 

From DrQ: Glaivewraith Stalkers in the Tomb (40 points)

 A few months back I picked up the Age of Sigmar: Storm Strike box, and for the Tomb I decided to paint up the Nighthaunt Glaivewraith Stalkers in the box. These are simple push-fit models, but good enough for the theme and an attempt at a new paint scheme.

They were painted up using some techniques I found on an old Warhammer TV episode—two coats of Citadel Hexwraith Flame, followed by two coats of Nighthaunt Gloom on the sheets, a quick drybrush with an off white, and then finish the owl. 

Personally, I'm not so sure about the end result. The drybrush feels a bit too imprecise for these fellows. But, the two technical paints were really interesting to use. Nighthaunt Gloom is likewise great for an ethereal grave shroud vibe—especially when used after the Hexwraith. I'll definitely be using this combination again. I might try using the Hexwraith for the glow on my next Kharadron model and see if it works better than my current recipe. 

As for points: four models are 20 points, and then another 20 points for the challenge area.

Additionally, these things models have a lot of skulls—the one on the right having fourteen alone! So, 18 more skulls for the skull throne!

This was the last room to clear out on level two, so from here I'm heading down the stair to the Knights Solar, where I plan on painting up some of the other half of the Storm Strike box...

From StuartL - Altar of the Snow Lord Addendum/Offering to Sarah - 25 points.

Hello again.

After completing my entry for the Altar of the Snow Lord, I find myself deep in the Chambers of Challenge, with a long trek back to the surface. This seems like the perfect time to call on the tireless services of Sarah the Sorceress, so I guess I need a female mini as tribute.

For this offering, I have a mini that was painted up alongside my Naga for the Altar. The model was sculpted for me by my friend who converted the Naga warriors and will be used to represent a specific individual on the gaming table. The mini isn't particularly accurate to the real person in question, but as my friend made it for me as a gift to go with the Naga, I intend to make good use of it.

Ursula Graham Bower MBE was a British Anthropologist who moved out to India in her twenties to live among the Naga tribes. She studied their language, culture and way of life, while staying in one of their villages for several years.
Though the Naga would generally have been considered savages by her peers back home, Ms. Bower said that they always treated her with immense kindness and respect. Due to some local religious beliefs, some of the tribespeople believed she was the reincarnation of a young woman who was thought to be a god. (The young goddess in question wasn't dead, but was languishing in prison for encouraging her followers to perform human sacrifices and to rise up against the British). This misunderstanding probably made it a bit easier for Ms. Bower to be welcomed into the Naga villages.

Ms. Bower was living with the Naga when the Japanese invaded, and volunteered with the British Indian army to organize the Naga to assist with the war effort. I have no idea if she actually saw combat, but she did join some patrols and was on the front lines for quite some time.

Ms. Bower got married to a British army officer who proposed to her rather unexpectedly. He had heard stories of this strange British lady who was living amongst the Naga and decided that she sounded like just the sort of girl he'd like to marry. He took leave from his post, trekked out to the village where she was living and after spending a couple of days together, asked her to marry him.

After Ms. Bower left the Indian border region along with her husband, she moved to Tibet and then lived in Kenya for a while before they returned to the UK, carrying thousands of photographs, reels of film and a collection of items to be displayed in a museum.

There is a two-part interview with Ms. Bower on YouTube, in which she talks about her life in India, it is well worth a watch (though it runs for almost 2 hours). She published a book called the Naga Path about her experiences and there are a couple of books written about her by other historians.

No side duels here, but this model should score me 5 points for the figure and 20 as an offering to Sarah. While some people may have believed Ms. Bower was a goddess, she had no magical powers, and so is ineligible for the extra bonus points. This comes to the total of 25.00 points if my math serves me correctly. I'll be heading back up the Chambers of Challenge to the Aquifer for now I think. 

From AlexS: Soviet vehicles (152 pts)

Hello everybody! My name is Alex, I am from Russia and I really love tanks. They make "vroom-vroom" and "pew-pew", they are fast, beautiful and adamantly dictate our will to our enemies. Let me introduce you to a few tanks and self-propelled guns of the Soviet army during the Great Patriotic War (I am used to saying that, not World War II). All models produced by the already mentioned company of the star in the size of 15mm, they are perfectly assembled, easy to paint and inexpensive. They can also be played according to the "tank duel" rules, for example, according to the "What a tanker!" or in large battles, for example, according to the rules of "flame of war". I painted them using oil and am very happy. What to say? "Vroom-vroom" and "pew-pew"!

 

15mm vehicles 19х8 = 152 pts

DaveS - Good Moaning - French Partisans - 50pts

 Following on from my adventures in Greyscale painting, I was really struck by the character of the Partisan models from Warlord Games.  Mixing that with the serendipity of my FLGS having a ridiculously good deal on the newly released French Partisans from Warlord, and I decided that I would start my first ever Bolt Action army - French Resistance.  I've got WWII armies for Konflikt '47 and Chain of Command, but this will be my first adventure using the basic Bolt Action rules.

I contemplated doing these in greyscale but decided that I would rather just paint them in a more normal style.  To that end, I present the first models.

My Officer Commanding.  One of the particularly characterful models that make up the range, and part of why I went with the force.

Another particularly characterful model, with the missing arm.  I see him as a veteran of some conflict.  He came as a spotter for the anti-tank rifle team, but will probably do service as a liaison officer/spotter.

And the first 8 troops.  The idea is to combine all of my SMG's into one mobile veteran squad, leaping out of a truck to rain death on something.  I have no idea if this is a viable tactic, having never played Bolt Action, but it seems in character to me.

So that is my first 10 models for the force, making 50 points for the challenge.  I've just undercoated the next squad, so expect to see more of these soon.

 

Thursday's minion reporting in and ready for duty.  Remember, I run a tight ship, so all of you people need to either shape up or post on Friday with all the other hipster slackers.

That's right, I expect posting perfection from those of you who think you have what it takes to join the elite who comprise the Old Guard, the Thursday Poster-Grenadiers Regiment.  That standard means:

 - your work is to be signed (put your name on it)

-  your math is to be correct AND have 2 decimal places

- limited spelling or grammar errors (look no one's perfect and I'm a proponent of free-range spelling)

I expect the best for Thursdays and, by gosh, that's what we'll have.   Now get out there and show those other days of the week who is the best - THURSDAYS for the win!

DISMISSED!

From ScottM: The Graveyard Beach - Ghouls (60 points)

We enter the first room on level 3 and its the Graveyard Beach. For this chamber I went with this group of ghouls. These 28mm plastic figs are from Mantic Games.

The flesh didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but oh well they're ghouls. They're not like they're a centrepiece of an army.

Next step into this level will be the Hall of Heroes.

So that should be:

8 - 28mm foot figs + Chamber bonus = 60 points

AndrewB- The Oubliette

 Despite having no idea how to pronounce ‘Oubliette’, I’ve found a group of primed and based(this is what used to pass for basing in my eyes) figures from well over a decade ago, and brought them out to play.  Having just painted a troll that fits well with LoTR figures, these old GW orcs seemed like a logical next step in the painting process.  Again, please excuse the basing, but I wanted to leave them how I found them to remind me that just because a figure has been half painted for a long time, some good things can still come from them.  The bases being this simple will remind me. 

They’re not painted in a purely GW style, but I mainly intend to use them with Fistful of Lead from Wiley Games, and the new fantasy adaptation due to be released very soon.   These 14 figures, especially with the Troll in tow, will be more than enough for two or possibly three players to use in a game.  The system lends itself well to one on one or larger multiplayer games, can function well in nearly any period, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  

These 14 delightful lads should garner 70pts by my calculations, and have certainly inspired me to dig out the 6mm figures I have on bases for use as LoTR armies using Lords and Lands, which you very well may see soon!

Happy Painting!