Last "Best Day of the Week" of this Challenge!

 

OK folks, it's official: Today is the last Friday of this years Challenge. I quite enjoyed the ride with all you fine people. Thanks for making Friday such a fun day to minion!

So instead of becoming all sentimental let's crack out the plastic glue a final time, take a deep sniff and smash through those last few half painted figures on your work benches.

From RobP: 8 28mm Dark Ages Irish- 40 pts

 My final entry of my rookie season in the AHPC is 8 Irish warriors from Crusader Miniatures.

I bought 4 pts of painted Irishmen a few years ago for Saga- never used them. The batch was a mx of Footsore and Crusader figures; I really liked the Crusader figures for warriors so I bought 8 more this past fall.

Great figures to paint; the faces and hair are really well done; very little prep involved.

Some of the eyes are a bit 'squinty' and the javelins I have a are a little light to fit in the hands so I had fill in around the palms with putty so they weren't to loose. Consequently, they look a bit like they are wearing oven mitts.

There are only 4 poses available so I ended up with doubles; not a huge deal as far as I am concerned.

This is my final entry for the AHPC this year, and at 40 pts this takes me over my rather shallow bar of 300 pts with 20 to spare. Thank you everyone for all your encouragement and kind comments over the past 3 months and, of course, thanks especially to Curt and the Minions for keeping this show on the road.

From Guy B: [Orc's Pit] Token the Goblin Archer [25 points]

My last one for tonight, my goal of reaching the Knight's Solar is almost in reach... But I need a Greenskin! Behold, a plastic Oathmark goblin!

Introducing 'Token', the Toklienesque goblin! He does have many other fellows, but alas, they can't make it tonight. He will be fielded in my Gob-Lun Empire army - Goblins made using Imperial Roman bodies!

Token here is one of the 'loyal' cohorts of auxiliary troops for the Gob-Lun legions. As a shootiarii, if he serves a full term of service (most die in battle or of disease), he stands to gain full citizenship. Good luck, Token! So that's a quick 25 points! Ave Gobbo!

From Guy B: [The Shrine] Come all ye faithful... [35 points]

A quick one now. Here are three holy gentlemen I decided to paint up. Each is relevant to an army I'm currently collecting (I was determined not to paint up something just because I needed to for the challenge).

Firstly we have a preacher, who is destined to join my Scots Covenanters and inspire them into battle, if he can stop reading and see where he's going... His bible is, of course, a King James VI. 

Next to our preacher is a leveller, who would see commoners and nobles equal in law (the horror!). He has his 'Agreement of the People' pamphlet tucked into his hat. Finally, as we are a multi-faith shrine, we have an Iman, ready to lead his brethren in prayer. Allah be praised! I would have liked to do a druid but ran out of time. 

The models are Warlord (ECW models) and Gripping Beast (Iman). I make that 15 points, plus the bonus. I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed painting them.

From Guy B: [Guardroom] The Preobrazhenski Guards (oh and some more Scots!) [175 points]

What could be more fitting to guard than a unit of Life Guards? Here I present the Preobrazhenski Guards of Peter the Great - HUSSAR! 

So why on earth did I decide to collect a Great Northern War army? Was I hit on the head? No, I was jointly inspired by a ruleset Pikeman's Lament and by an article in Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy on the Carolean Death March. Yes, I must stop reading and being inspired by my own magazine, it gets expensive! 

The models are old Wargames Factory ones, which I intend to supplement heavily with metal models from Warfare Miniatures and Ebor. I already have a few of the excellent Wee Wolf Swedes, but could do with more of their Swedes or Russians. However, I think I'm stuck buying locally (UK) for now...

Here, I've tried creating some other regiments (the red is Moscowski and the green and white with the Karpus hat is Vologodski). Where possible, I've used cavalry heads as they are superior to the infantry ones. They have less 'googly' eyes, what I call the Farage look... (or Innsmouth look for you Lovecraft fans).

 But what are these guards guarding? It must be something pretty valuable, surely!

That's right! Peter the Great's latest great cannons to pound those Swedes into meatballs! Hussar! The guns are more Wargames Factory and the photo does not do them justice. The cannon crew were ... disappointing so again I will be finding metal crews. The cannons are painted Ork Flesh Contrast. Hussar!

Oh and here's some more Scots, all Crusader Miniatures. I had these spare just in case my Guards weren't ready in time. All are contrast paints with highlights. So now to totals, there are 23 GNW Russians, two cannon and four Scots. I roughly make that (assuming 10 points each for the cannon) 155 points plus the 20 points bonus. Hussar!*

* A reference to the TV series The Great. I only found out about it after I'd started this project!

From GeorgeS - The Snowlord Treasury - Timpo 1:32 - (30 points)

    I think I can see the Finish line ahead..!!!

    Another classic 1:32 figure from a great brand from the 70's. This is a Timpo Action pack figure from the Wild West set. He has stolen the Wells Fargo treasury box, so he is our guy for the job :)

 

 

  Now lets go for some creatures!!

'till next time

Keep Up The Brushes!! 

 

from RayR - Haitian Revolution - York Hussar Colonel - What's his name? 10 pts

This Trent Miniature French Commander came in my first French force I picked up second hand from Col Bill. He is a representation of General Humbert click. But he closely follows the same uniform of my previously posted unit. The York Hussars, see below.

The figures is a tad smaller than the other Trent minis I bought, but hey ho, everyone's not the 

same size are they?

This chap has no name, so I give it to you luvvly lot, give me a suitable Anglo-Germanic name for him?

It took all my brainpower to work out that this fine looking chap will earn me 10 points!

From DaveS - Across the Line (77pts)

 I've managed to paint up another couple of units of hands for WWX.  The first of these are my Constructed Henchmen.  Variations on a theme of "resurrectable but ultimately rubbish meat shields", these ones have longer range guns to make them marginally more useful.

Painted at the same time as these, were the Phonic Blaster armed minions.  An upgrade option when they are bought with Thomas Edison, these may be slightly more useful.  They come in a rather interesting pack, in that you get 3 of a single sprue which would provide 3 identical minions. You then also get 2 additional sets of resin arms, a resin leg, and 2 resin heads, which combine with the plastic parts to give 3 different models.  So, clearly, I painted 2 sets of them (one from the Posse box, and one bought separately, because it provided 2 of the phonic blasters for the K9's in my last post.)

So, that's 11x40mm models, for 77 points, which should take me over the finish line for my target of 1000 points.  Given that I didn't think that I would get anywhere close after the first few weeks, I'm pretty pleased with myself.

From: AngusW - 28mm Burial Mounds - The Tomb - 25pts

 I've had a good run during the AHPC of painting scatter for the table, we have here x3 graves from Any Scale Miniatures. I figure they'll fit almost any period so a handy piece of table fluff.

I'm not sure how to score these, 5pts for all three?

Burials x3 (5pts) + The Tomb (20pts)

For Sidney: The Altar of the SnowLord

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

 

Sidney, as co-architect of the 'Chambers of Challenge' it is wonderful to see you entering the Altar of the SnowLord after a arduous campaign through caverns and darkened halls. Well done! As your final challenge, I seem to remember you mentioning wanting to add another casualty stand to your excellent Laarden project, so let's see something along those lines. Do you think you can manage it in a little over two days?

Sidney's Prize: Curt's 'Saruman'

From MartinC Stick a Fork in Me, I'm Done (100pts)

 So the end is near and this is my final post for the challenge. Once again it's been a fab way to spend a winter. The posts and community have as always been amazing, the challengers choice will be a bugger this year, when was it not. Thanks to Curt and the minions for all their hard work and a special mention to Tamsin, the world's greatest air steward without an plane.

I have painted 2 WW1 armies, an unexpected Vietnam project (I've talked DaveD into this so I expect I will need millions more and play on a 20ft by 6ft table), a 3-D map I'm absolutely loving (thank you Mr Roundwood), some other stuff, I failed to complete the chambers of challenge (which is a pity cos it was a great idea, but I'm running out of random fugures to paint) and I made a start on the actual planned army for the challenge, 10mm Renaissance Italian Wars. 

It therefore seems appropriate to end on them

2 regiments of stradiots

There are no stats for these in KoW so I will have to make some

Regiment of mounted crossbowmen. 

Troop of crossbowmen

2 regiments of crossbowmen. These need pavaises but not got any. On the shopping list

And finally 2 knights command stands

Score on the final door

40x10mm infantry = 40pts

30x 10mm cavalry = 60pts

total = 100pts

Hope to see you all at Hammeread in July, drinks in the Prince Rupert, curry and a comedy amount of shopping

Martin

From SidneyR: The Spider Demon for "The Lair of the Great Beast (35 points)

 

"Come into my parlour...."

So, dear Challengers, I have finally arrived at the Altar of the Snowlord, with just the final  Chamber to go.  When Curt suggested a creepy-crawly for the Chambers of Challenge XI map, I had in mind to paint a guardian spider-demon as my last Challenge to face before arriving at the final Chamber in the dungeon.

Maybe that's because I have had this magnificent sculpt in my lead mountain since I bought it in 2006.  I had originally purchased Him/She/It to complement my Japanese fantasy collection, but somehow - why oh why? - I'd left it until just about the last piece to paint in that collection. 

With the result that, as no collection is ever finished, I never painted it!  Not until now, that is... 

It is a wonderful sculpt, from Citadel Miniatures.  It comes in two parts, the body and legs as one casting and then a separate, malevolent head.  And its just incredibly.... brrrrr.... I don't now but it looks just - poised and ready.

Spiders are incredible creatures, and I have no problem in seeing this spider-demon as a fitting and cunning adversary for any brave adventurer getting this far into the dungeon. 

This Challenge I have loved painting ...pink.  What with the pink Book Golem leading the way, the pink Demon facing down the adventurers, and the pink Turtle Dragon all being painted, there was only one colour for this creepy dungeon dweller.  

A truly Slaanesh spider, then - enticing, cunning, exotic and chaotic - in the lurid pink shades of the Prince of Pleasure.   

As with so much in this Challenge, the non-historical sculpts have taken me back to the Village of Hommlet, to Starstone, to Cirith Ungol and to the adventurers in hundreds of dungeons of my youth in the Realms of Chaos.

Somehow, giant spiders seem so very AD&D - which to me, is another way of saying "they're so 1981"!

I'd painted up this female bard for a teleport within the Challenge, but I've not needed her in the end.  So, it's long overdue that she now is able to join her fellow adventurers in fighting their way into the Altar of the Snowlord.

She's a Midlam Miniatures sculpt, and - like all of the Midlam figures - is very cleanly cast and sculpted.  

I've had a thing for bards of all kinds for decades.  No, not the ludicrously over-blown bards of 1st Edition D&D, but the far more useful, rogues of later editions.  I always was entranced by their fighter/ thief/ magic-user/ Swiss Army Penknife skill-set - which is all a bit silly, but is the kind of thing which fits into so many fantasy settings.  

So here she is, plucking her lute and charming the spider-demon - well, at least she hopes so...

I added some additional green-stuff tresses to her hair.  I have no idea why I did this!  She had enough hair to start with, but now has lots more.  No doubt that strange fashion detail can come to the fore in some adventure.  Maybe she uses her hair to string her lute...?

And, because every adventure is better with friends, here's both the spider demon, the bard and her fellow adventurers from the Second Level, finally arrived at (nearly) Journey's End!

And for the points, there's one 25mm figure - the female bard - for 5 points, and then there's the sipder-demon.  He/She/It is quite large, so can I claim 10 points for the spider as a cavalry figure?  Miles can set me straight if that's 5 points too many (although, Miles, dear friend, be careful before you start any argument with a giant pink spider!!)  

And then there's 20 points for "The Lair of the Great Beast", totalling 35 points for this entry.

******* 

It is a very nice pink spider but ten points well.... oh hell I'm feeling generous but you'll need to let me interview you on the LWTV podcast sometime!  35 Points it shall be!

Miles

Richard P - 10mm Battlescale Buildings, Walls and Hedges (30 Points)

So the mad dash begins to get things finished before the 21st. Unfortunately I will get nowhere near my original points target due to illness and other real life issues but I hope to complete a big chunk of stuff over the next couple of days.

First up is a collection of 10mm Battlescale buildings, walls and hedges for use in various parts of the world and in various periods.

Total: 16 x Buildings, 36 x Wall Sections, 12 Vineyard Sections and 40 x Hedge Sections

3 x timber framed buildings including Merchants house and Gatehouse

2 x Timber framed buildings plus Covered Well

2 x European houses

2 x European houses

3 x timber buildings

Bridge and Church

Mill

20 x straight wall sections, 8 x corner wall sections, 4 x gate wall sections and 4 x collapsed wall sections

12 x vineyard sections

24 x straight hedge sections

8 x corner hedge sections, 4 x T hedge sections, 4 x gate hedge sections

Theres a lot of stuff hear that is superbly painted - I'm going with 30 points!

Miles