LeeH - People of the Veil - Tuareg Berbers of the Algerian Sahara (64 Points)

My big project for Challenge XII takes me to the inhospitable rocky desert of Southern Algeria in the first few years of the 20th Century. Here the indomitable French Foreign Legion battled with Burbours and Arabs from Morrocco and the Algerian Sahara in the largely lawless region (at that time) known as the Sud-Oranis. So that is the historical context of my new period but there is also the fictional, romantic context displayed in dozens of films from Beau Geste to March or Die. I love these old films and I’m looking forward to learning more of the actual history of the period as the project develops. I fully expect the romantic image and the reality to part ways pretty quickly!

This is my 8th Painting Challenge and I’m usually known for painting 6mm armies. This time, however, I’m shifting up to 15mm and most of the figures I have bought for Challenge XII are by Blue Moon and sold by Old Glory UK. I think I have pretty much cleared them out of their stock having purchased a lot of what I needed at Salute and then put in two subsequent ‘top-up’ orders by mail (the last of which, arrived yesterday). I’m starting with some of the Touregs to ease myself into the project.

I will be using these with The Men Who Would Be King's ruleset and these sword-wielding fellows will be Fierce Tribal Infantry Units of 16 men each. I have yet to find any suitable figures for leaders but that’s the beauty of the challenge, there’s plenty of time to revise that starting target upwards!

I’ll be taking a few days off to recover from what has been a tough week running up to Christmas. Work has gone crazy the last couple of weeks and I have a stinker of a cold (another Christmas Tradition for me) so I’m looking forward to putting my feet up and sleeping off lots of food and wine. I’m off work next week so hopefully, I will get a load more painting done before the New Year arrives. I will refrain from saying "let's hope 2022 is better" because that's pretty much what I said about 2021 last Christmas and I don't want to tempt fate! 

(Scoring: 32x15mm Foot = 64 Points)

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Oooh, these are fabulous, Lee. What a great period to get into. I quite like the look of these Touregs, especially those blue-clad chaps. Very nice indeed. I'm also admiring how your bases blend nicely with your desert mat. Where is that backdrop from?  I'm looking forward to seeing this project develop over the coming months! (I have a bunch of French Foreign Legion, but have never taken the plunge. Maybe your fine efforts here will spark me (takes note on Blue Moon's offerings).)  

Great work, Mr. Hadley! Now, go and shake that cold with some rum and sweets. :)

- Curt

From PeteF: Woodland Indians - First, it's the Mohicans - Istvaan V (60 points)

Istvaan V is Betrayal; Heretical/Heretics or Loyalty/Loyalists and this group of Woodland Indians fits all of these, depending on where you stand. They are Revolutionary War era Native Americans - but could be used for French and Indian War skirmishes too. Most remained loyal to the Crown, likely calculating it was in their interests as they were promised protection of their land and trade.  Most of the Eastern Woodland Indians were forced off their land and resettled in faraway Oklahoma.  Even  the Oneida "Stockbridge Indians" who sided with the revolutionaries had most of their land illegally taken from them by the early twentieth century.

The figures are from Warlord Games "Liberty of Death!" box of plastic AWI goodness - a few years ago I got this box for a steal on EBay (a theme in my over zealous collecting of many more miniatures than I can paint) and then added to the AWI pile with a rash purchase of almost a whole 'nother Liberty or Death from someone on The Miniatures Page. They are the old Wargames Factory sculpts - from the 90s? - not really the best - Wargames Factory was very keen on lots of straps and crinkles (advantage of crinkles - they take a wash). You can have fun with the variety of poses and weapon options.

If they ever see the gaming table it will probably be for Rebels and Patriots - it's been a while since I played any AWI - other periods/shiny objects have supplanted it over the last year or two. They were assembled and primed two (three?) challenges ago and completing them has renewed my interest in a Revolutionary War game.

These were quite challenging to paint - the skin tone took many attempts and is probably still a little too much on the dark side. I've had to buy a nail varnish shaker as many of my paints have settled and separated. My eyesight isn't what it was - even a year ago - so I'll need to up the strength of my readers before Challenge 12 is out!  

The Shelf of Hope

Looking a bit lonely

Eight 28m figures.

8x5= 40 points  + 20 points for my first outer ring planet = 60 points. 

Squirrel Points: 1 (Total: 1)

Skulls: 0 (Total:0)

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Great work Pete, on these, 'the first patriots'. These figures seem to be pretty good models from the somewhat chequered Wargames Factory stable.  I like the poses you've assembled them in, and your excellent paintwork really does them proud.  I also really like your 'Shelf of Hope' - great motivation that. Funny enough, yesterday I cleared off a space on our fireplace mantle for both Sarah and my efforts this year. We'll see how it goes.

So, back to the Minifig Napoleonics, Pete? I'm looking forward to seeing some of those units this season.

Welcome back to the Challenge!

- Curt

From Curt: French during the 1812 Russian Retreat (45 Points)

The Caprica challenge asks us for something that depicts either an ambush or something that is doomed. I think the Great Retreat of 1812 fits the latter category quite well, so I decided to add a few more models to this slowly growing collection.

These are all Perry metals, and in my opinion, some of the best work they've done. These figures skilfully capture the utter desolation, the complete despair of these men trying to fight their way out of frozen Russia. Brrr! Just looking at them makes me want to turn up the heat and put on another pair of socks.

I have to apologize as my iPhone camera struggles with the grey and white of my snow bases. I finally had to shrug and give up.

Hmm, I'm thinking that these figures would be great for a Silver Bayonet scenario - perhaps a story built around ferocious Ithaqua pursuing a group of cut off French and Russian infantry... Excuse me as I dash to get my notepad!

These five poor frozen poilu will give me 25 points, plus another 20 for Caprica's theme while also checking-off one of the twelve project objectives I've set for myself this year.

1. French Indochina
2. 10mm Fantasy
3. Moonstone
4. Malta
5. Italian Wars
6. Sisters of Battle
7. 28mm Napoleonics
8. Spanish Civil War
9. 28mm Modern
10. 20mm WWII
11. Retreat from Moscow
12. Dungeon Crawl

They'll also give me one Squirrel Point and count as 'R' for Retreat in our Alphabet Soup Challenge - 3 letters down, just 23 to go (yiiikes...). Win!

- Curt

From KenR - 28mm Garabaldi Artillery (90 pts)

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the Big Yarkshire Gamer Project for this challenge and after all the white of the Allied Italian Legion I have steered away from that colour and towards a lovely shade of red. I always like to get a post in before Xmas and get some points on the board early doors.

This year I am tackling one of the more obscure European Wars and I am looking at the Italian Wars of Independence (Risorgimento)  in the late 19th century but more specifically I am trying to build up both forces for the Battle of Mentana in 1867 with the plan to put it on as a display game around the UK in 2022/3. It goes without saying that the Project is in 28mm (after all I have a reputation to keep 😄)

I will talk more about the Battle itself during the course of my posts this year, but the forces involved were those of General Garabaldi of around 10,000 men against those of a joint Papal / French Army of around half that strength. I'm a bit stuck waiting for the Perrys to release their Franco Prussian French range to do the Galic half of the Papal Army but I have a big chunk of figures prepped and ready to go over the next 3 months.

The first unit completed are the Artillery for the Garabaldi Forces, a three gun battery with 4 figures per gun, which by my calculations should be 30 pts for the guns (10 each) and 60 for the 12 figures (5 each) giving 90 points in total. 

The figures themselves come from an Italian company called Shako 64, they do a pretty comprehensive range of figures for the Wars, they are pretty decent quality too and as you can see paint up nicely. My only minor quibble with them is that they are very "flat" when you look at them sideways on.

So there you have my first entry of the Challenge, I'm already working through my first unit of Garabaldi Infantry which should appear between Christmas and New Year. Until then all the best for Xmas.

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Welcome back Ken! I remember chatting to you about this project during our podcast a few weeks back, and have been looking forward to seeing your opening volley. These figures look terrific. I really like how lanky they are, and your brushwork really does them justice. I'm keen to see some of Garabaldi's infantry next week!

- Curt

From SimonM - "Games Workshop" Epic Black Templars - Istavaan V (36 points)

These 6mm scale plastic models of a Conqueror Robot, three Rhinos, two Land Raiders and ten Adeptus Astartes all used to be produced by “Games Workshop” as part of their now long out of production (OOP) “Epic” range. I actually acquired most of these figures second-hand, and as they had already been predominantly primed black by their previous owner, decided to paint them up as part of the Black Templars chapter.

Resultantly, they were all glued onto small “Flames Of War” stands by “Battlefront Miniatures” or wooden sticks, and given a coat or two of watered down “Citadel” Abaddon Black. I then had to decide which areas such as the vehicles’ door were going to be ‘picked out’ with “Vallejo” White, and, perhaps more importantly, whether I should try to actually pigment the space marines’ individual shoulder-pad ridges.

In the end I decided that my sanity would not survive such attention to detail, and ended up ‘simply’ applying a couple of coats of “Vallejo” White and a splash of Pale Grey shade to the armour of both the ‘Beaky’ marines, as well as the more detailed (and slightly larger) Mark VII warriors. Furthermore, alongside the Adeptus Astartes’ bolters, I determined that the vehicles would have all their weapons, tracks, handles, and hatches painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

Only on the Chapter’s robot did I spend a little extra time giving the automaton a noticeably “Vallejo” White and Pale Grey giant power-fist. The heavily-armed machine heavy bolter and auto-cannon were initially layered with some “Citadel” Abaddon Black, before receiving some “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Whilst the killing machine’s eyes were dabbed with “Vallejo” Heavy Red, washed with “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson, and finally spotted with a little more “Vallejo” Heavy Red.

I believe this first of several planned “Epic” deployments during the AHPC will provide:

3 x Rhinos –6 Points

2 x Land Raiders – 4 Points

1 x Robot – ½ Point

10 x Space Marines – 5 Points

Istvaan V – 20 Points

Total – 35 ½ Points 

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Ahh, it's wonderful to see some old school Epic stuff getting the love. Wonderful work Simon!  I like that you are using FoW bases as opposed to those hideous strips they foisted on us. I scored the Robot/Dreadnaught as 1 pt, same as cavalry. Are you doing several different 'Epic' contingents, or concentrating purely on the Black Templars? I look forward to seeing more of this project over the coming months!

Welcome back Simon!

- Curt

From StuartL - A Mammoth 1st Post - Skaro - 117 points

Hello everyone.

As this is my first post for this challenge, a quick introduction (for the newcomers to the AHPC) and a quick recap (for people who have been around for the last couple of challenges), seem in order.

My name is Stuart, I was born and grew up in the UK, but I emigrated to Japan about 17 years ago. I have been working over here as an English language trainer for various corporations and businesses for most of that time. After Covid came along, a lot of businesses started to work from home and stopped providing training to their staff, so this time last year I found myself with a lot of free time. I was able to get some more work this spring and I am now teaching part time at a Junior High School. It's not what I want to be doing, but it pays the bills. Japan was a little slow with the vaccines, I got both of my shots in October. No plans for a third jab yet, but that might happen next year as Omicron has been found in a couple of places over here. 

And now, on to the painting. 

As I have the opportunity for gaming again (at least until Omicron spreads and shuts everything down again), I plan on trying to get armies/warbands/crews etc. done so that I can A) play the games I want to play, and B) put on demo games to get my local group to try them. I also have a mountain of Reaper Bones minis from their various kickstarters that I need to make a dent in. So for the most part I will be focusing on these two goals. Plus the Challenge XII sector of course. I've also been asked to take on the role of Squirrelfinder General after having decided that I didn't need the distraction of chasing squirrels myself. And to round things off, I'm participating in the Skullz Duel this year. I'm hoping to function as a 'pace car' and not get too carried away.

To start off my Challenge XII, I have painted up this set of demons/devils from Reaper. They were all simple enough to paint and I made use of GW's contrast paints to do their skin. Some of them are in strange poses, (check out the guys flexing their muscles in the back row), but overall they'll do for D&D or similar games. All of the models have a skull icon on their belts for those of us who care about such things.

More Reaper minis here, a set of gorillas including one wearing armour. No contrast here, these were all done in a mix of standard Citadel colours and Vallejo. One of the many things I'm working on is a couple of armies for Saga: Age of Magic. Unlike the more historical versions of Saga, Age of Magic allows you to take pretty much any minis you want and fit them to one of six themes. These gorillas will be Biped Creatures for the Lords of the Wild theme. Saga: AoM is definitely worth checking out if you like mini-agnostic skirmish games.

And here we have the mammoth from the post title. This was part of the most recent Reaper kickstarter and it is absolutely massive. It stands about 13cm tall and is 20cm from tusk to tail. Its base is an old CD. One of the best parts of the Reaper KS's is the price. This gigantic chunk of plastic only cost $14. While some of the smaller minis are a bit bendy (see the gorilla's sword in the picture above), their big models are amazing, and very sturdy.

For the fur, bones, tusks and the armour, I used GW Contrast paint, followed by a metallic drybrush on the metal plates. The skin, chains and harness were all done in regular paints. For things with a lot of texture Contrast works well, but sadly Bones minis tend to be a bit hydrophobic and need a couple of attempts to get the paint to sit correctly. The model is still a bit glossy, so I might have to hit it with another coat of varnish before putting it away.

To help give you a sense of scale, I have enlisted the help of Jarl Hvat-Skael to show the sheer size of this beasty. The Jarl was painted years ago, so isn't part of this entry. There are two skulls hanging on chains on the side of this monster and its leg armour also has large skulls on it.

And finally, on to the Challenge Sector. My destination? Skaro.

Now, I grew up watching/being terrified by Doctor Who on a weekly basis. (Mainly Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy), but I don't really have any Doctor Who themed minis. Luckily our most generous Snow Lord left a little room for manoeuvre with the theme of weird robots and I do have a few of those.

This model is a kit bash for a game called This is Not a Test, or TNT for short. TNT is a post apocalyptic skirmish game which has a bit of a Fallout feel to it if you are familiar with that series of PC games. The model consists of a vending machine scenery piece from Reaper, with added legs and cannons built from spare GW Necron parts.

Sadly, just as I finished painting this, I dropped it and managed to sheer off three of the four legs. Originally, the legs all had plastic pins on them that allowed me to assemble the robot in an upright pose. After the break, I had to drill out all the holes again and insert metal pins. Getting the correct angles was nearly impossible, so the repaired model is slightly more wonky. 

TNT is another model-agnostic system and consists of a base rule book and half a dozen pdf expansions, one of which includes robots. In said pdf, there is a scenario where both players are fighting to control a Quantum Cola Vendo - An advanced robotic vending machine. Rather than paint the mini in the colours shown in the PDF, I decided to model it after my favourite imaginary beverage Brawndo! What is Brawndo? It's from the movie Idiocracy and plays a central role in that film. You can see a commercial for Brawndo here: Youtube.

And for a final TL;DR recap.

All of the models were at least 40mm tall (50 in the case of the gorillas), so that should be:

11x 40mm minis = 77 points.

1x mammoth = 20 points?? I have no idea how to score it, it dwarfs most tanks I have.

1x Sector Planet = 20 points.

Grand total = 117 points.

Skullz Tally - 13

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Wow, great first post! That mammoth is an absolute beast - what an impressive tusked lump! I think my favourites are the ferocious apes, though I also really like the whacky vending machine/robot. Sorry to hear of your mishap with its legs. Reading it made me cringe. I've been there too many times, pinning shorn limbs, muttering unmentionable things under my breath - I feel your pain.

Finally, good opening volley on the Skull count. I need to get a wiggle on with my figures to try to catch up.

Welcome back to the Challenge, Stuart!

- Curt

From AlanD - Romanians from Uranus/Caprica (70 points)

 Hello everyone, and what a great pleasure it is to be back in your company for the Challenge! Thank you Curt and Minions for making this highlight of the hobby year possible.

One of my goals for the year is to paint a Romanian army for WWII, using the figures from Great Escape Games. With very few changes, I'll be able to use this for Battle Group, Bolt Action and Chain of Command, and against Soviets from 1941-1944, and Hungarians or Germans from August 1944 until the end of the war. Not the most visually exciting army, but I've tried to liven them up by placing them in early winter with snow bases to contrast with the Fifty Shades of Mud colour of their uniforms. I've gone for the look of snow when it's still melting a bit, and after years of mockery over failed attempts to make realistic-looking snow, I'm feeling good about this. I anxiously await 'Miss Smilla' Curt's judgement.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, while German troops were being constantly sucked into the fight to take the city, their flanks were held largely by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian troops. When the Soviets launched Operation Uranus in November 1942, the Romanians were rapidly overrun, lacking the artillery and armour necessary to hold a major Soviet offensive. As a result, I think we can consider the ill-equipped troops left unsupported by their German allies as doomed, and worthy of claiming Caprica on the Quadrant map. Really, with Operation Uranus, I should be claiming two planets - but is Uranus a planet anymore? I lose track.

Anyway- this first squad of 10 with the Caprica bonus should get me on the scoreboard with 70 points.

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Oh, that's very nasty, slushy, miserably looking snow, and I say that in the best possible way. Well done, Alan! I think it's great that you're doing one of the unsung Axis contingents of WWII. The Romanians, Hungarians and Italians often got the icky end of the stick, both from their opponents and their unthankful allies, so it's good to see them getting some representation on the tabletop. I look forward to seeing more of these in the coming months.

Welcome back to the Challenge, Dux!

- Curt

From TomG - "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" Captain Picard - Modiphius - (Vulcan) - 25pts

Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages of my paint brushes. It's continuing mission: to explore strange new challenge planets, to seek out new life in my hobby and new painting experiences, to boldly go where no one has gone before! 

Hello all, I have returned for my 3rd challenge, and have been inspired by the challenge planets to kick things off with a Starfleet trip to Vulcan. Although not a pointy eared option, Picard always felt like the most logical of captains. 

This 28mm figure of Jean-Luc was a pre-release freebie from Modiphius that I received at the Warfare games show in Reading, WAY TOO LONG AGO, and he originally had a Captain Kirk companion, but he's nowhere to be seen... Sus! 

For the rest of the challenge I'll be trying to get as many 15mm ACW models done, whilst also smashing my way through the planets at warp 9. 

I don't have a great deal more to say really. I'm excited to be back, and can't wait to get some painting done after having nearly completely walked away from the hobby this year.

So points - 

28mm single infantry = 5pts

Vulcan Challenge Planet = 20pts

Total = 25pts

Be well all, have a great first week and until then; engage! 

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Oh, that's a very nice mini of Picard (one of the best Starfleet captains) and you've done a cracking job on him, Tom! The red is excellent and you've done a brilliant job on the blacks as well. Top marks!

PS: Remember to put in the Notes metada, if you can. Otherwise, I'll have to send Tamsin after you. :)

Welcome back to the Challenge, Tom. I look forward to seeing your upcoming ACW offerings soon!

- Curt

From SanderS: Christmas Truce (25 points)

 Hoi,

Here we go, my first post of this Challenge and I am happy to be back again. Since we have just done down into another lock-down here in the Netherlands, a lot of time last week has gone into preparing for online-teaching when the break is over. That left me only limited time for my first post and I really wanted to make something Christmas related but the only figures I had lying around for this were the two WW1 soldiers playing a game of soccer during the Christmas Truce of 1914 made for Wargames Illustrated. 

From the start I intended this piece to be a showcase vignette and not a wargames figure and so I made the scenics more to give the impression of nearby trenches and battlefield debris, rather then really recreating an actual battlefield with trenches and all. 

In the end I am very happy with how this piece turned out and it nets me my first 10 points for the two 28 mm figures.

Now on to some more point-heavy posts.

Have a great Christmas everyone, cheers Sander

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Wow, you've done fabulous work on this vignette, Sander! I'm gobsmacked, really. I've seen these figures several times, but think this the best treatment of them. On top of the excellent figures, I really admire the judicious use of battlefield scatter to set the scene - wonderful. I'm going to add a few extra points for your work on this wonderful vignette.  

Welcome back to the Challenge, Sander!

- Curt