From Nick: 20mm WW2 Soviet reinforcements (100 points)

Well, clearly I had hoped to have a little more to show for my efforts today, but alas I fell somewhat short of my self imposed goal. Anyway, I've got a few more figures finished for the 20mm Soviet force I started during last years challenge. By now it has grown somewhat in size and I keep adding to it.

In 28mm it's the Germans I keep returning back to whenever my painting mojo is at a low ebb, but in 20mm it obviously is the Soviets. The first few figures I painted for this force where done using the simple triad method, but by now I'm using as many layers as I'd use on a 28mm figure. There's just so much detail packed into these small fellas.

First off the starting block today is a DShK 12,7mm HMG with five crew. The DShK, it's gunner and the loader are from SHQ Miniatures while the other three figures are AB Figures. I'm not particularly fond of the SHQ castings, but once painted they fit reasonably well with AB.

Next we have a 76mm M1927 regimental gun by Zvezda crewed by AB miniatures again. Zvezda make nice and cheap kits in 20mm and while the figures fit quite well with AB I prefer the latter and if it's just for the later uniforms as worn by AB.

No, the rear left figure isn't prone, it's crawling ;-)

This is followed by a RM-38 50mm mortar. Again this is a SHQ casting, as is the loader. As before I opted to replace the other figure as they're so much nicer.

Also on offer today is a ROKS-3 flamethrower team. A nasty piece of equipment you shouldn't leave home without.

And last there is a tank hunter team armed with liberated Panzerfäuste. Not really suited for Kursk but quite appropriate for Operation Bagration in 1944.

As for points it's:

14x 20mm figures (Upright/ Kneeling) = 56 points
5x 20mm figures (prone) = 20 points
3x 20mm artillery piece / crew served weapon = 24 points

Total: 100 points

Gorgeous work on these Soviets, Nick. I always like a flamethrower team. I thought they were 28mm, and can see how much attention you lavish on them. I know so many of us do the same period in multiple scales, but 20 and 28mm? Carry on, sir.

Barks

From ChrisK: French Army 1940 (Caprica)(145pts)

 Bonjour, tous le monde!

I was delighted to be accepted back to the AHPC this year, alongside (and in friendly competition with) my fellow painters from Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy Magazine. I'm aiming for 650 points, and my general plan is to try to get most - if not all - of the way there with the early-WW2 French force I'm assembling for the magazine's in-house Battle of France campaign using Bolt Action rules in 28mm. 

For my first entry, I offer one Lieutenant and two infantry sections, each of 12 men: 

They're painted using mostly Citadel Contrast Paints on all surfaces save the gunmetal and the helmets, and if you look super-carefully, you might just notice that one of the soldats has dark breeches: this is because since finishing them last week, I have transferred that particular fellow to a different section, who are wearing the more fancy pants. But more on them anon. Below are some slightly different angles of the men, including a closer shot of the rear view, and a couple more of the nonchalant officer. 

( - sorry his back is out of focus: I'll take more deliberate pics next time.)

Obviously, as soon as I saw that Caprica was an option for a jumping-off point, I realised it simply had to be the plac for me: nothing says 'doomed' quite so well as the conscripted infantry of the hapless French army of Summer 1940, right? Right?

MODELS:

The officer model here is by Warlord Games (metal); the infantrymen are from Wargames Atlantic (plastic).

POINTS: 

By my calculations, then, my claim is for 

25 x 28mm infantry figures for 125pts, and 

a bonus Caprican claim of 20pts for a total of 145pts...

...and thank you so much for having me back!

- ChrisK

Welcome back! I'm impressed by the natural colours you've achieved with Contrast. Are these raw from the pot, diluted with medium, or mixed tones? What colour undercoat did you use? Good luck in achieving your goal!

Barks

From GeoffreyT: Silver Bayonet Spaniards (40 points)

On to less loquacious things (I think).  The Silver Bayonet Spaniards.  There probably is a friendship story in these too...  In 2000 I moved to a remote mine-site in Arnhem land in the Norther Territory (Australia).  I was not expecting any tabletop gaming so I went armed only with a console game.  

I did as the locals did up there, fishing, golfing, footy, shooting and of course drinking.  

I befriended a colleague and we went halves in an old aluminium fishing boat (a tinny in colloquial terms).  We had a number of adventures in the boat, including breaking down and being rescued, but we were no fishermen.  One day whilst throwing our tackle into the pristine mangroves whilst attempting to simulate barramundi fishing, we got to discussing other matters.  He mentioned his interest in wargaming, and immediately I mentioned mine.  So soon enough we broke our gear out from storage and got underway.  

After 5 years or so we moved back to the big smoke to work where we joined clubs and became integrated into the local gaming community.  We still game together about fortnightly, and mostly enjoy campaigns.

Recently we have done several campaigns in both Chain of Command and Frostgrave.  We really enjoyed Studio Tomahawk's "Mungo Mah Lobeh" campaign for Congo, and I cannot recommend it enough.

As soon as we saw The Silver Bayonet, we both dived in head first, and here is my Spanish.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have seen these lurking in the background of other photos half complete.

Again I am really happy with the white.  It is GW contrast white, then layer painted with GF9 gelatinous blue (not very blue) to remove the blotchiness off the flat areas and a final highlight layer of Vallejo titanium white.

Close up of glorious white.  I did the piping on the officer in yellow.  It was blue in the irreproducible paint work of Kev Dallimore on the flyer.   I was unable to find my copy of the Osprey book on "Uniforms of the Spanish Vampire Hunters of the Peninsular War" so could not validate the colour.  I'm sure it is here somewhere.

The swordsman is my favourite.  I really like his hat.  If one is going to fight a war by standing in line shooting at close range, with only rudimentary medical help and no food, then one must be compensated by having a nice hat.  

Thats me for this week.

8 x 28mm scale miniatures = 40 points

A squirrel for 28mm Napoleonics. (my 3rd, Pulp, Fantasy and Napoleonics all in 28mm)

In the alphabet soup challenge, N is for Napoleonics.  I better tally these letters up soon, as I am losing track of which ones I have bagged.

Kind Regards

Geoff

These were amalgamated with Geoff's Asterix entry, but I thought they deserved to be split up and appreciated separately. Your whites are great, and I'm sure they all match the Osprey colour plates!

Barks

From KenR: 28mm 1st Battalion Papal Zouaves (150 points)

I've been looking forward to doing this unit for some time and I'm glad to say I'm really happy with the result. So here is my representation of one of the two Battalions of Papal Zouaves which fought at the Battle of Mentana. These formations were 750 men strong so I've made them 36 figure units as opposed to the earlier Garibaldi Infantry which are 24 figures representing  350 to 400 men.

The unit was truly international and was made up of volunteers from all over the world. Large contingents came from Holland, France and Belgium but most European countries had some representation in the unit along with smaller groups from the Americas, Africa, India and China. Initially a single Battalion in 1861, it increased in strength to 4 Battalions in 1867-8.

The figures are 28mm (of course, I have a reputation to keep 😁). The bodies are from the plastic Perrys ACW Zouave box set, which I had lying around from a previous projects whilst the heads were bought separately from Steve Barber Models. There are some minor variations in the sources I have about the uniform so I picked a version and went for it. The flags are a research project in themselves and for the moment I've just used a generic Papal States flag,

One of the bases was done pre Challenge as a tester so I'm just claiming for 5 bases, or 30 figures at 5 pts each for a total of 150 which keeps me on track for my target of 1500.

So let's get back to our History at the end of part one of Rome or Death, Garibaldi was neither in the Papal capital or deceased, however French troops had withdrawn and Garibaldi sniffed a chance.

In September 1867 at a Congress in Geneva, Garibaldi announced his intention to take Rome for Italy. His popularity and reputation brought around 10,000 volunteers to his flag. A mix of the veterans of his previous Campaigns along with a good amount of less experienced but enthusiastic new comers.

Unfortunately for Garibaldi announcing his intentions at an International conference did not go unnoticed by the French who slammed the troop ships in reverse and were able to get a contingent back to Rome to support the Papal forces.

The plan was a simple one, March on Rome with the main Army whilst a group of insurrectionists within the city itself would start an uprising, splitting the already small  Papal Forces in half and overwhelm them.

In October 1867 the main force commanded by Garibaldi invaded the Lazio area whilst 70 men entered the City to assist with the planned uprising on the 22nd (to be continued...)

Next up I will be back with another Battalion of Red Shirts 👍

No red shirts today, Ken, but still some red details on this lovely big unit. I'm used to seeing red trousers on the Zouaves I'm familiar with, and this is a nice variation. The bold yellow standards really pop and the faces are full of character. We await more history lessons!

Barks

From SimonM: Robots & Hydra (Skaro)(Sarah's Star Yacht)(60 points)

For my fourth post I thought I would take a trip on Sarah's Star Yacht from Istvaan V to Skaro, and test out both some of the metallic Alchemy paint range by "Scalecolor", as well as the Grey Surface Primer by "Vallejo". As a result my opening model is the now out of production (OOP) Morrigun by "Wargames Factory". This waitress droid "was the only female robot member the ABC Warriors have ever had", and was recruited "principally for her skill at the martial arts."

The 28mm metal figure was undercoated using Grey Surface Primer by "Vallejo", before being layered with "Scalecolor" Blue Alchemy, shaded in Drakenhof Nightshade, and dry-brushed with (more) "Scalecolor" Blue Alchemy. The automaton's armour was picked out with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, whilst her (somewhat misshapen lips) were lightly highlighted using a mixture of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

Having arrived on Skaro, I thought I would subsequently paint two decidedly weird robots in the shape of Walter The Wobot by "Mongoose Publishing" and Ro-Jaws by "Wargames Factory". As with Morrigun, this pair of 28mm metal miniatures are now long OOP, but again they gave me an opportunity to further explore the "Scalecolor" Alchemy line.

Walter, who for many years was Judge Dredd's house robot, had originally been primed with "Vallejo" Gunmetal. However, having done some research on the robo-servant with a speech impediment, it was clear he was actually grey in colour. Resultantly, I re-primed him with a couple of coats of "Scalecolor" Thrash Metal, washed him with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and then dry-brushed him with (more) "Scalecolor" Thrash Metal. I also 'picked out' his supposed "I'm Walter Try Me" sign using a mixture of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, and gave his face-screen a coat of "Citadel" Ardcoat (gloss varnish).

Ro-Jaws, who was "originally named Federal Recycling & Environmental Droid 2-L", was undercoated in "Vallejo" Grey Surface Primer before receiving a double-helping of "Scalecolor" Emerald Alchemy. The ex-municipal sewage robot was then shaded using "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, Agrax Earthshade and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. He was subsequently dry-brushed using (more) "Scalecolor" Emerald Alchemy, and "Vallejo" Gunmetal.

Lastly, I rather embarrassingly found this 28mm plastic sculpt of a Hydra Infiltrator by "Wizkids" from their Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Marvel Heroclix expansion buried away in my basing grit box, having presumably been lost there for quite some time. The figure had already been popped off of his 'clicky base', so was quickly given a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Grey and washed with "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green. To be honest the sculpting on this figure was incredibly soft, and not helped at all with the thick pre-paint I was working over-the-top of. However, a quick dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Grey seemed to do the villain's costume some justice, and I was later able to paint a few fingers on the chap's balled fists using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

Morrigun - 5 Points

Sarah's Star Yacht - 20 Points

Walter The Wobot & Ro-Jaws - 10 Points

Skaro - 20 Points

Hydra Infiltrator - 5 Points

Total - 60 Points

It is interesting to see the effects of this Alchemy range, and the variety of robots and droids you've provided certainly allows that. A good save on the Hydra figure- an improvement on a limited sculpt.

Barks

From SamuliS: The Pestilent Horde (Death Star) (132 points)

A short hiatus from painting for the challenge and finishing up quite a lot of half painted minis I had lying around, but I'm back and with somewhat of a horde. Our club has been bitten by a Warmaster bug last year and new armies have been popping up everywhere since the start of last year. There's quite a big hype going around with us and also elsewhere in Finland and we've actually had some Warmaster events with around 20 players playing in a single mega battle. Probably more than there ever were when Warmaster was actually being produced by Games Workshop.

 

A lot of the hype has been coming from the vast quantity of quality 3D files for Warmaster that starting popping up in the wake of Forest Dragons popularity. The first army I did when we started building armies was Forest Dragons Vampire Counts. Lovely models, but it was quite a chore building that up. I wanted to do another army, but this time instead of hordes of skeletons and zombies something much more elite. When I saw the first pictures of Varus Miniatures Demons I immediately knew that I wanted to paint them. Nurgle has always been my favorite of the Chaos  Gods and these models really look the part and are pretty faithful to the GW originals (some could even say almost direct copies...) The copying ties nicely into the Death Star quadrant theme of Hubris. With the inspiration being so clear it is only a matter of time before GW lawyers strike with a cease & desist letter like actually happened with Forest Dragon at the start. And of course you could argue that Nurgle's cures are of quite a questionable design at least if you are not a demon yourself. It might cure your pains, but there are quite a few side effects.

Before the challenge I had mostly tackled the elite part with cavalry, monsters and greater demons so now it was time to start building up the bulk of the army. This is the first three units of  Plaguebearers to the army. Three basic demonic infantry units are needed per 1000 points so I still need to do another  set to bring the army up to full size. I also painted up some more heroes in the form of a Demon Overlord to act as a general and two sorcerers to spice up the magic game. 

These are quite fast to paint with a violet brown and white zenithal followed by mostly contrast paints and some tactical highlights to bring out certain details. I find that the coloured zenithal basecoat really helps define the details as it forces some shadows and increases contrast between different areas. Really makes the contrast paints function much better.

Taking photos was a pain as I my mobile phone just doesn't seem to be capable of getting any decent photos of such tiny models. I really need to get my DSLR back in use so I can take better pictures. I'm unfortunately just unable to locate the battery and charger after our house move. Probably have to just give up soon and go buy a new set.

I also got around to building a proper gaming table for myself at our newish house. I have the attic mostly for my hobby and remote working space so there was plenty of room for gaming. I ended up building a slightly larger table with storage space below. Coming in at 240cm x 120cm it allows for plenty of space on the sides for beers and snacks when playing on a regular sized gaming area and I can extend it at least a bit for larger games. My joinery won't win any contests, but the goal was anyways more to do a sturdy table that would be fairly fast to put together. My wife has already taken over one end for puzzle building, but luckily there is still enough space to game on the other end!

Overall there are 108 Plaguebearers, two sorcerers and one larger demon. I'm going to count the big guy as a mounted figure so 112 points for them and a further 20 points for the Death Star quadrant "planet"

Those are lovely purulent prints! I'm enjoying this resurgence of 10mm fantasy and am sensing I will have to resist the siren call myself... I haven't mastered a consistent zenithal application myself, but yours works very well. I like your take on 'hubris' as the rebels take on the evil empire...

Barks

From JezT: Italian Wars Pike 28mm (111 points)

 Dear All 

Hi everyone as first post of this challenge will give a brief intro. 

Jez Todd - a UK wargamer based in Kenilworth near Coventry. Mainly play ancients 28mm games using the Basic Impetus rule set, and my main opponent is my brother Matt - also in the challenge. Have really enjoyed the challenge for a few years now and it is great motivation for me to blast through some painting and then I tend to relax and play games for the rest of the year. 

Anyway starting with a pike block and looks like Italian Wars pike are already very popular. In Basic Impetus I have a number of Italian Wars armies and can replay Fornova 1495 the French v Italian coalition clash. I already had some elements for a straight Venetian army but lacked a dedicated Venetian pike block - now sorted!

I went with Old Glory Landsknechts as I had some figures already and painted these in a uniform red and white scheme. To these I then added some new figures bought from Redoubt - you can buy these as single figure and I especially wanted these to add a bit more "personality" to the finished block and make it stand out as more Italian.  

Old Glory but figure front left is odd TAG figure

  

Redoubt and flag is from Pete's Flags

Next a few photos after basing for Impetus and have 12 figures on front base and 10 on rear base.

 

Tried to hand paint Venetian lion on shield - think this is old GW figure converted

Points wise for 22 figures - make this 110 points. Also as am going for some "Squirrel action" this challenge I get the first point for this. Hopefully will be able to later paint some Redoubt new cavalry I bought. Think first though will do some smaller entries in other periods to get some extra Squirrel points. 

Cheers Jez  

Welcome back, Jez. Your colour scheme works really nicely on these figures and I hope to see your cavalry in the future. I've given a bonus point for your Venetian lion freehand.

Barks

From AlanD: A Brace of Romanian Anti-Tank Guns (50 points)

After painting lots of infantry, my Romanians having been getting some support this week for games set in the latter part of the war. Here we have two anti-tank guns and crew, all from Great Escape Games.

The first is a M1936 (F-22) 76mm gun that the Soviets developed as a combined artillery and anti-aircraft gun (??!!), and which was captured in large numbers by German and its allies in 1941-2. The wheels on the kit are unusual, having what appear to be steel covers with teeth bolted on to improve traction (?) Does anyone know anything about this feature? I can't find it in any photos of actual guns.

The second gun is a Resita Model 1943. This was an interesting weapon developed by the Romanians during the war that combined features from the Soviet ZiS-3, the German PaK 40 and the Vickers/Resita anti-aircraft gun from 1936, and was apparently superior to all of them. The model is resin, and went together nicely, although I'm pretty sure the shape of the muzzle brake is wrong. Now that he knows this, PaulOG will point it out in any game we play, implementing the kind of psychological warfare at which he excels.

This week also saw me splashing out on a little photo lighting booth, and I'm pretty happy with how the pics came out. Two guns and six crew should give me 50 points. Thanks Barks, and happy Thursday minioning!

Your new lighting booth shows these off a treat, Dux. It is a bit of a refresher to have some WW2 pieces that are less common. Your groundwork is lovely, and I can't wait to see the group shot at the end. Hopefully 50 points will alleviate PaulOG's cruel barbs!

Barks

From GeoffreyT: Obelix and Co (Noel's Comet)(46 points)

Hello Challengers,

The warp maelstrom deposited me adjacent to Noel's comet.  I took some time pondering a suitable topic for this locale, and have decided to wind back to Tasmania in the 1970's where I was born and bred.  

When I was a young boy, my mother met an elderly lady whilst out dog walking, and our families soon became friends.   She was a long term resident of the area, and she took us walking to some local places we had not seen and which were quite beautiful.  Waterfalls and a penguin rookery to name a few.

Her, her husband and I were all avid fans of Asterix books.  They had every book, whereas I had merely a few.  I was allowed to borrow their books, I would present to her husband in his study and request which one I would like to borrow and by when I would return it.  As the collection was their pride and joy, they were very valued.  I could only borrow one at a time and must return it by a specific date, and I was to look after most carefully, all of which I did.  Once acquired, I would take it home and consume it cover to cover multiple times.  I loved the art, the names, the stories and the history in the books and I could never get enough.

On occasion I was also the beneficiary of chocolates.  Each week the venerable couple would purchase a block of chocolate which had five different soft centre fruit flavours.  Each of them chose two flavours and the fifth unwanted flavour (strawberry) was stored in bags for visiting children such as myself.

As I grew older, they also grew older.  In their latter years I would mow their lawn, prune their trees and chop their wood which they could not do.  The old dears would wish to pay me a token amount which I was embarrassed to take.

Whenever I see the Asterix books in a shop, I instinctively look through the display in case there is one I have not read yet (but of course there is not).  It always brings me back memories of the couple and the places we went and our common interest in these amazing books.

A few years back I acquired a few of the old metal Asterix miniatures from a friend who got them from e-bay.  They were originally produced in the 1980's, but I'm sure the ones I have are recasts, as they have tell-tale bubbles from drop casting, and were pretty rough and took a bit of filling and filing to prepare.  Nevertheless here they are painted up for the challenge.

Unhygienix, Obelix and Fulliautomatix, and of course Dogmatix.   These guys are about 25mm scale.

I kept the shading to a minimum, just using two tones with a clear delineation in shades.  I also added some black lining where it suited.  I did this to try and keep the models colour and style as similar as I could to the original art of Albert Uderzo.

The faces were particularly challenging, and I don't think I really captured them on Unhygienix and Fulliautomatix, but I am pretty happy with how Obelix came out.  Uderzo often did not always draw in the eyes, they were often closed.  The expression drawn simply with a line on their eye brows and lids.  Probably should add Dogmatix's eyebrows, but only noticed they were missing after I took the photos.

Obelix has some small fish in his hand and on his helmet, which are a bit indistinct in the cast, luckily I know the books well and can add the detail in my mind.

Well, that's my story.  I don't know what loquacious means, hopefully it has met that requirement.

3 x 28mm scale miniatures = 15 points

+30 point bonus for arriving at Noel's Comet by warp maelstrom for a Thursday total of 45 points.

Alphabet soup challenge: O is for Obelix

Kind Regards

Geoff

Geoff, I've taken the liberty of splitting your post in twain to allow each magnificent entry room to breathe- I don't know if this benefits your squirrel! Your tale of friendship for Noel's Comet really hit the spot. I had about five Asterix books myself, and would often find myself in the library borrowing ones I hadn't read and waiting for others to be returned. The puntastic names still hold up. Your bright style works so well here, and matches the Uderzo originals. I do so hope your figures get to take part in games against the occupying Romans! And I've given a bonus point for Dogmatix.

Barks