From PhilH: A Witch, A Witch....a Mutant? (27 Points)

Hot on the heels of my first Witch, I'll have to take a second to skip that nasty-looking Orc's Pit. Yep, it's endgame and we're getting desperate here at my paint table. A quick hop back to a project I've been slowly adding to the past few years, Marvel X-Men superheroes, from the now long-dead Marvel Universe Miniatures Game by Knight Models. Yes, so long-dead that a Marvel minis game has been re-licensed to someone that'll actually use it effectively to shovel product: Marvel Crisis Protocol is the new hotness among such circles. Still having my now-vintage Supers in the pile of shame, I've resisted.

Running out of recognisable X-Men now, this is Emma Frost aka White Queen. Appearing in an early storyline as a member of the "Hellfire Club" and baddie, she was clearly a fan-favourite so has some total change of heart and joins our Mutant heroes, becoming the co-headmaster of Professor Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters. Of course, much mistrust and tension ensues.

She's another telepath, and can turn her body into diamond, which is an oddly niche power, but convenient for not getting squished by the likes of Juggernaut.

I've got quite a lot of these done now, here's our heroic band together:

One 35mm model, plus a Witch travel adds 27 points to my tally. Will I make it to my target though?

From PhilH: Witchcraft, "Royalty" at the Guardroom (75 Points)

Deeper into Level 2 of the Chambers, and I'm running out of steam. Time to call upon my first Witch to transport me to my next destination. For Sarah's Boon, the Sith Inquisitor, enigmatically named Second Sister. Not really her cup of tea, I imagine, sorry about Mi'Lady, I once again found myself short on Empress-Josephine-in-the-rosegarden's this year. Kindly whisk me over the Gallery, to The Guardroom, please.

The Second Sister is one of seven (?) "Inquisitors" introduced to the canon in recent years, working to Darth Vader to hunt down the remnants of the Jedi. It's almost like someone realised George Lucas' 'rule of two' Sith had written them into a corner regards cool villains. Anyway, I'm not actually that hot on the Second Sister background, though she features in the recent PS4 game Fallen Order, that I played a few hours of before being drawn back to the brushes.

She's a nice resin 3D print by Skullfoge Studios. She came with some lightsaber blades, comedically bent and useless. I dared nott try to get a pin into her lightsaber handle, so left it unlit. I think it makes her look arrogant and aloof, particularly with her pose. And helpfully on theme to bundle into the same post, my Guardroom entry is also from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

I didn't really want to pick up this set for Legion, I find it a bit daft that Emperor Palpatine and his Royal* Guard would yomping around after Rebel squads. The lore's important, right?

*classic misnomer there

Well, turns out I had to set asid my convictions, and stump up for the Royal Guard. Reason is, the game desingers, in the interests of such nonsense such as "balance", moves across the table like he's using a zimmerframe, all the while being inevitably blasted to heck by every gone in the opposing force. He rarely makes it to get his chance to carve his way through squads (and once he carves his way through the first, he gets shot a bit more...)

Yes, FFG in all their wisdon made Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, not very scary at all. He needs to bring the emperor's mooks with him, to act as highly effective shiny red meatshields, to deliver him into combat. 'tis a silly game.

I'm not fond of the gloss red helmets think I'll matte those down.

From Barks: Descent monsters (84 points)

 I have almost finished the Descent 'core' boardgame set. Here's some more monsters:

The Shadow Dragons were a bit of a pain to paint, being too featureless to work with Contrast (and I don'y have purple Contrast anyway). I think the mouth nicely distracts from flaws elsewhere. I was aiming for a bit more of any ashy grey colour, but will settle for painted.

Similarly, the Merriods' skin was challenging and the mouths are a nice distraction. Gloss varnished.

The Ettins are two-headed ogres, all Contrast except the metalwork. The various brown Contrast tones are rather handy.

Why have one element when you can have all four? The Elementals were a bit odd to paint, but I felt sorry for the sculptor.

Flesh Moulders- quick and nasty.

4x 28mm figures: 20 points

8x 28mm monsters: 64 points

Skullz: +6

From ChrisF - Knights Solar 25mm mounted Rohan Standard Bearer(30 pts)

 This is a Heritage casting done for Elan Merch in 1980. It is listed as part of a diorama set " On to Helm's Deep" #1713 - d for the Lord of the Rings line.

He is listed as Guthlaf, Standard bearer to the King, and perished at his King's side in the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

I studied back a bit on previous posters that painted horses as I don't do a lot of mounted figures. I think I need to consider contrast when painting a miniature like this. A few areas come out good, but the right side in particular really muddled together. 

I'm off to paint my last witch.

From DaveV: Hopolomachius (The Pit of the Pendulum)

I have been wanting to set up another Zoom game for the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts. I dug out Timothy Peterson’s Roman ‘Arena Combat’ rules, which were themselves a variant of Steve Jackson’s ‘Melee’. Being hex based, it is fairly easy to see how to move around the arena, and how to attack and defend the front, sides, and rear of each other’s models. The models I have available are mostly pre-painted gladiators from em4 Miniatures. This past weekend I also assembled and painted up a Hopolomachius, a heavily armoured swordsman kitted out like a Greek hoplite, with helmet, breastplate, greaves. aspis (large round shield with bronze facing over a wooden core), and gladius.

The figure was assembled from parts from both the Greek Hoplite Infantry and Command sprues, both available from Warlord (ex Immortal Miniatures). For a multi-part figure, there's some nice anatomy in the pose and some good detailing like the suspension rig of the aspis.

I was working fast, so I primed it with Chaos Black, and did a rough spray bomb zenithal highlight with Corax White. I laid the base colours in with various acrylics, using Vallejo's Non Metallic Metal set for the browns, yellows, and white. Finished off with some oils for quick blending and highlighting. The amphora is a decal, applied with decal solvent and setting solutions, and suitably distressed. The front three hex sides of the base are painted dark grey, since facing is a very important feature of the Melee rules.

Below, some other em4 Miniatures gladiators on a Melee mousepad style game mat.

Below, the Hopolomachius seen facing off against a common pairing, a Myrmillus.

Do the Pit of the Pendulum rules apply?

In Tim's Arena Combat rules, the Hopolomachius is the most heavily armoured of the fighters. Indeed, the average blow from a gladius will be ignored by this bronze juggernaut. Many of the fighters in last night's game were armed with light javelins and daggers, which would not discommode the Hopolomachius at all, barring a very lucky shot. Sounds pretty terrifying.

25 points

From GuyB: [The Golem] The Dwarven Golem (30 points)

Long ago, the now-abandoned mine was a hub of activity and wealth. The Dwarves had dug deep into the mountain and been rewarded with the great riches they had found. Gold, silver and gemstones - yet this was still not enough. Their true aim, to find adamantine, still eluded them. Nevertheless, they ventured ever deeper.

Envious eyes from other races saw rich picking to be had and soon raids began to rob the Dwarves of their hard work. So an engineer (whose name is lost to history) built the Golem to protect the mine. Wary of losing control of his creation, only he knew the command word to stop the machine. 

The Golem was a marvel. Not only did it defend the mine but could aid with the construction with its powerful arms. When the next attack came, the enemies were routed in panic, with no Dwarven losses.

However, fate can be cruel. The engineer soon after died of a mysterious malady. Without a master, the machine roamed the mine, attacking anyone with ferocity. Maybe some brave adventurers will one day able to defeat or outwit the golem. Until then, it waits, ever patient in the darkness.
(Miniature by Conqueror Models. I reckon this is a 54mm equivalent so 10 points plus 20 for the challenge. The story you get for free!).   

For Teemu: The Altar of the SnowLord

Altar of the SnowLord (brought to you by the kids of Kinsmen Park South)

 

Alright Teemu! Kudos to you in making it to the SnowLord's Altar. I'm feeling rather nostalgic today, so let's see some wonderful OldHammer come from your unpainted stocks of minis. How about some Empire? Now that would just be Hammertastic. Show us what you got and you get your prize!

Teemu's Prize: Martijn's wonderful Tijl Uilenspiegel

KenR : A Nice Safe Bank Job - 20 points

In between painting Italian Allied Legion and waiting for bases to dry I have been chipping away at another building for my 28mm Sweeney Project. A essential piece of terrain for any Cops and Robbers setting is a bank, it appears in so many scenarios.

The kit is made from printed heavy card and is a real trial to put together, each piece needs cutting out with a craft knife and the edges painted, the door for example is 7 layers thick.

Points wise I think its around 20 using the cube calculation, the building is 11" long, 3" wide and 8" high. After working on this for 8 weeks this is definitely the hardest 20 points I've ever earned 😁

The building is for an O Gauge Railway and comes in whats called half relief, I definitely think gamers have a lot to learn from Railway modelling when it comes to terrain.

So I'm off to finish my Legion, you slaaaaags 😎

From GregB: Bavarian Content For Nick (85 Points)

Watch out! Here come the Bavarians! 28mm figures from "Eagles of Empire".

Challengers and regular blog visitors will surely have noted my interest in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. I enjoy it so much, I paint figures in different scales. In one of my recent 10mm submissions of FPW work, Nick - our friendly Friday Minion - noted the "obvious lack of Bavarians" in my recent FPW painting output. I duly promised I would redress that oversight before this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was finished. Well, the end of AHPC XI is looming, and with this in mind I present these 28mm Bavarian infantry. The castings - and flag - are all from the excellent "Eagles of Empire" figure range.

"Eagles of Empire" have some beautiful sculpts, just lovely.

Nice mix of poses.

A look at some of the kit the soldiers carried.

There are so many cool uniforms in the Franco-Prussian War. While those of the French often steal the show, the uniforms of the Bavarian army from the period are very cool, with their unique "cornflower blue" and Napoleonic-throwback helmets. Trying to get this share of blue done properly - or, I should say, in a shade that I subjectively believe to be done "properly" - was a struggle, and you don't need to look too closely to see there is variation here and there as I experimented. Some were too bright, and some were too dark. I used many colour references for inspiration, including photos of these figures that Nick himself has painted for the Eagles of Empire web site. While that is a standard I cannot match, I am still really pleased with them, and even with the variations, in a group, I think they look pretty good overall, ready to take on the French!

I must also credit "Eagles of Empire" for beautiful sculpts. They are taller and thinner, but oh man, are they nice! So much animation and character, with nice proportions. I just love painting their stuff.

NCO encouraging the lads!

The Bavarian army made a major contribution to the fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, both in the early battles in and around Alsace, and in the later fighting against the dogged resistance of the French Republican regime. 

Another view of the base with the NCO. These three-figure bases are 40mm rounds.

These figures are based for skirmish gaming with the "Eagles of Empire" rules. I am generally wary of group basing in 28mm when crewed weapons are not involved (one of many odd hobby hangups which afflict my brain), but I thought I would finally try the specific basing suggested in EoE rules. That is what you see here - a command base (with the officer, flag and musician) and two "squads", each of seven models. Each "squad" contains one base with three figures, and two bases with two figures each.  

These guys are on 30mm bases.

I just love these sculpts - who wouldn't follow that standard bearer forward???

The drummer looks a little blurry (sorry), but again, great character in the sculpt - he looks like he is playing the hell out of that drum! Charge!!

I should note the EoE rules are agnostic when it comes to basing - this approach is recommended, but hardly mandatory, and the rules themselves are fairly light and fun, so just about any basing approach will legitimately work. That said, now that I have tried it, I really like the look, and will probably be doing several more units in this way.

My kitchen is stormed by Bavarian infantry - I had better secure the beer!

So, for scoring purposes, we have 17 figures in 28mm size - should be good for 85 points. I hope you enjoy them Nick! Thanks for reading everyone - go enjoy some good Bavarian food, beer and contemplate that complex shade of "cornflower" blue...

From NoelW: The Last Sorceress: (some points)

 “There’s more sand coming in under the door. And through the keyhole.”

“Another minute and there’ll be an Undead Assembly in here. We need that sorceress.”

“Okay. Okay. Don’t confumble me. How did Merlissa’s spell go?  Er – ‘Sorceress’. ‘Can you guess?’ ‘In a mess’. ‘Under duress’. ‘Atishoo! Bless.’ Will that do?”

In a puff of half-eaten Wensleydale sandwiches, a halfling sorceress appears before them.

“Hey!” she says. “Brunchtime, gents. Give a halfling a break!”

“You’re not Sarah the Sorceress,” complains Elfbow. “She’s twice the woman you are.”

“I take it you don’t want any transport, elf,” says the halfling, recovering lumps of cheese from the floor.

Titchy is mesmerised.  

“Wow!!” he says. “A last. We’ve truly found it. Her. You. You must be the Greatest Treasure the World has Never Known!”

“You can give him a slap, if you like,” says Elfbow.

“No time for flirtation,” urges Getrude, “We need help and now!”

The half-sorceress sighs.

“As you appear to be in dire need, at your wits end (“Not far to travel,” says Getrude.), desperate for help and about to be overwhelmed by your undead little friends, I’m guessing you’d like to make best speed to the Altar of the Snowlord?”

“Can we just go?”

***

I know that technically I don’t need to call on another Sorceress to get to the Altar, as I’ve now covered the entire dungeon so could backtrack, but if you’re trapped in a Treasury with undead filtering through the door, I think a sorceress is definitely in order. In any case, I’d painted up this rather nice, if coy, Mithril halfling maiden, so I thought I might has well recruit her for the rescue. Unusually for me, the colours are rather subdued, though not quite drab. An accidentally pleasing outcome, in fact.

She’s obviously not really a sorceress figure, though, so I don’t think I can claim that bonus. Does that mean 5 (as I didn’t actually need to call her), 20 (for calling her nevertheless) or 25 points (for both the calling and the figure)? You decide!