From BradS Heroes of Hoth [Glorantha][Istvaan V](95 Points)

 After a lot of Soviet miniatures I decided I needed a break. I have always thought about doing a Hoth battle from Star Wars. It has always appealed to my gaming side. The Idea of entrenched troops desperately holding off a superior foe has all the foundations for a great miniatures game. Put on top of that the magic of Star Wars and you have the formula for a great convention game. So this week I have decided that when I am not working on my Cold War forces I will chip away at a Table Top version of Hoth.

First up is a trip to planet Glorantha with two heroes of Hoth, Chewy and Han Solo. These are 3D printed figures and were a lot of fun to paint. Defiantly different than my Soviet figures.

I couldn't resist doing a downed pilot fresh from his shot down T-47 Airspeeder. The Orange flight suit was really fun to paint! Finally another color besides green and brown.

Next up I have a all Female Rebel Recon Squad always loyal to the Rebel Cause! These tough fighters are heading to planet Istvann V to recon. 

Finally I have assembled all of the forces I painted up this week. 11 Figures in total. 

I thought it would be a ton of fun to paint these up but in the end the dominate white color proved to be really tricky. Not really happy with how they turned out but I am done with them. I will see how the next set turns out. It defiantly pushed by boundaries. Now back to my Vietnam project for next week.

Point Summary

11 28mm figures = 55 points

2 Planets = 40 points

Total: 95points.

Nice work on the Star Wars figures Brad.  That one pilot does stand out doesn’t he?  At least he gives the enemy someone to shoot at.

Phil M [Ready] [Friday] 28mm Front Rank Napoleonics - 130 Points

** reverted to draft for Friday posting = DaveD **

Evening, This is my first entry and hopefully am posting it correctly- apologies if not. i have completed this French battalion albeit some figures were completed before the challenge started so will only be claiming for 26 of the 42 figures you see before you so am claiming 125 points. I tend to use foundry paints but some vallejos thrown in or good meausre and happy to answer any questionsre painting or baing if required. thanks Phil

From DaveD

Welcome along to the party Phil. Just under the cut - always nice to see the mass ranks of a Napoleonic Battalion - so that's 130 points to the get you moving 

 

From DaveD

Welcome along to the party Phil. Just under the cut - always nice to see the mass ranks of a Napoleonic Battalion - so that's 130 points to the get you moving 

AdamC: Vlogsphere Pontoon Bridge and Turtle Fleet 40 Points

 A smallish entry this week from the American Civil War. 

The Vlogsphere theme is Bureaucracy that works nicely for the American Civil Pontoon Bridge.  The Battle of Fredericksburg featured these.  I have no ambitions of doing anything so large but I wanted to make one, I used some of Arofan's 3D printed boats and some coffee sticks.   

The Bureaucracy comes in because these where part of the Engineering train of the Army of the Potomac and wasn't in the direct chain of command. Burnside gave them orders but it took days for the orders to reach the troops and they arrived late. The result was Lee had was able to oppose the crossing resulting in a Union disaster.

 

Points wise its a very small terrain piece so maybe 1 point flat terrain is confusing so up my total if appropriate. I'll also get 20 points for Vlogsphere.

Here are two Union "city class" gun boats.  These where the first Iron clads commissioned by the Union.  They were nick named Pook's Turtles so called for one of the designers and there look. 

These ships took part in all the western river battles of the Civil War.  Bombarding forts, fighting Confederate ships and blockading Mississippi the river. Their most lopsided victory was the Battle of Memphis  where 4 of them helped defeat a fleet of 8 confederate gunboats and/or rams. 

These are two 15mm vehicle so anther 16 points Combining that with the points for the USS Tylor and the pontoon bridge that's 25 points of Union "aquatic transport" for another Squirrel points.  

17 points for the miniatures and another 20 points for the planet. 

Nice homemade pontoon bridge Adam, could have uses both on land and sea.  And loving these cumbersome looking Turtles.  Great work all around.  I've rounded you up to 40 points for the scratch build and so your score is less confusing.

From Mike W - 28mm Irish Foot (Dark Age through Elizabethan) (120 Points, Squirrel, Caprica)

These figures are from the new Gripping Beast Dark Age plastic boxed set, that I acquired over the Xmas Holiday as a present. The aim is to paint these up to join my existing Irish collection, that I use for both Dark Ages / Medieval Saga type games and also allow these to be used in Elizabethan period games as well.

All 20 of the Irish Warriors

The Gripping Beast figures come 5 to a frame, with a selection of heads, weapons and shields.

Those in the know will spot that I have only built 20 of the 25 figures in the boxed set, there are two reasons for this...

The first five Irish Warriors, I've gone with the smaller shield option as this allows
me to use them in later periods, and I have stuck to a muted colour scheme. The guy with the raised axe is the only one I have equipped with a large shield.

First I only started on Monday with a frame of these as a tester, whilst in between other figures that I have on the workbench but I enjoyed making up these figures and painting them so much that on Tuesday I made-up and painted another five.

Wednesday evening  upped the ante and made 10 more figures before painting these and completing their washes and varnishing on Thursday. Almost a definition of a true squirrel project.

Cloaks are optional on figures, there are three per frame supplied with the set

Oh and for the second reason - I held back five figures as I want to model these with muskets and or cross-bows to give them a more specific Elizabethan usage.

The figures are virtually flash free and to add variety I used some other Gripping Beast heads and arms from the spares box.

I swapped around heads from the spares box, there is a Victrix Anglo-Dane head and a Gripping Beast Dark Ages Warrior head here. I also gave the guy wit the raised sword an arm from the Conquest Games Norman set - to give a better quality Sword for him to be waving around

All figures were undercoated white, I used a predominantly yellow ochre type colour scheme for these men - to fit in with others in my collection but added more colours in their additional layers of clothing and cloaks. 

All got a watered down black ink wash and a varnish before being based.

The last set of five figures in this batch.

A Squirrel Point is claimed for Irishness of the group in Dark Ages / Elizabethan times

I'll also claim a Bonus for visiting Caprica, the Irish were doomed as a fighting force against the overwhelming power of the invading Normans and English throughout this period.

POINTS

20 x 28mm Foot Figures = 100 Points

Caprica Bonus                 = 20 Points

TOTAL                             = 120 POINTS

I think we have now run out of Mike posts...and it's good to end on an up note.  I was curious about these plastic Irish and now I think I'll have to get a box or three.  They have come up nicely indeed.  For the Elizabethan era ones, I suggest adding arms from the Perry European Mercenaries or Light Cavalry from their WotR ranges.  

From FrederickC: T'rana from Strike Team Alpha (LV426) (208 points)

Having left Noel's Comet, I am heading to Planet LV-426 with the theme of 'Aliens' in mind. I am going to do this challenge 'old school' with some Ral Partha miniatures from their Galactic Grenadiers range from the late 1970s. These figures were sculpted to go with the Strike Team Alpha rules that came out at the same time

 

Cover of the Strike Team Alpha rules

One of the three types of aliens in the rules is the T'rana, a reptilian race that makes me think of what might have happened to the genus of velociraptors had dinosaurs not gone extinct.  I have a large collection of the various human figures in the range, all of which were painted many years ago. For some reason, I never finished the T'rana. They had been primed grey, and a base of dark green had been applied to the bodies, but then they languished in a drawer for decades until now. (The Challenge Quadrant has certainly proved its worth in inspiring me to get some of the deadwood completed and ready for the tabletop)

To complete these miniatures for the Challenge, I mounted them on 1" fender washers and glued on sand and a few pebbles to blend everything together. The earlier dark green I had used wasn't working for me, so I repainted the figures using Vallejo Lime Green for the bodies and Gunship Green for the crest along the spine and tail. Gunmetal and Black were used for weapons and equipment respectively. When that was all done, they all got a treatment of Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade. Eventually I will hit them with some matte spray when it's warm enough to use it outside. I was thinking 'Jungle' with these minis, but the bases ended up more like 'Desert'. Still I am happy to transfer these to the 'Out' basket.

"Lizards, Mr Frederico! Zillions of them!"

 

 

 

T'rana (Reptilian) Advancing

 

T'rana (Reptilian) w/Hand Weapon

 

The points being claimed are as follows:

47 x 20mm foot figures @ 4 points each = 188 points

(While they are '28mm scale', the T'rana are rather small compared to humans. Why only 47, and not 48? One must have gone missing in action during renovations on my work area.)

Quadrant Challenge 'LV426' - 'Aliens' - 20 Points

 

"On, Teb, on!"

I am old enough to remember seeing these rules, but don't recall the figures.  They certainly have a 70s old stool vibe to them and you've painted them up nicely.  Nice "scale" tones on the lizards.

From JamesM: 15mm WW2 British battalion CP, commanders and signals vehicle (61 points)(Vulcan)

Hi folks,

It appears that with every challenge, I come up with some elaborate 15mm diorama idea at the last minute - regardless of what else I had prepped! 

This year has been no exception, with a last minute concept taking up far too much time and brain power. This entry features a battalion command team (medium base with four men), battalion 2ic team (small base with three men), a Bedford MWR Radio Truck and an battalion command post. All at 15mm and for my WW2 Normandy collection. 

Behind this entry is a convoluted story about searching my collection for a model to replace one with weak ankles, and a distant idea about a 'command post' diorama for my British infantry battalion. I set about digging though loose models and bits boxes, and came up with something suitable. 

The bunker model is a Battlefront one, which is long out of production. Possibly from 1st or 2nd edition. I had one given to me by a friend and it just was not busy enough for my tastes - so I added figures and 'stuff'. The aim is to tell a story, with radio operators, a runner receiving directions from an officer and a bored Jock guarding the post.  

The boxes, sign post, barrels and other kit all came from my bits box and supply of 15mm stowage. I believe the table with maps, etc, came from Peter Pig. The radio on the table is a Battlefront bit from somewhere, while the aerials are all fishing line. The infantry figures are all 15mm Battlefront models, from various eras and sets. 

The decals on the signpost came from Doms Decals and Modeldads. My idea is that this will be placed on the table near my battalion aid post model, hence the 'CCP' (Casualty Clearing Post) sign. 

Alongside this, I had a specialise radio truck from Battlefield3d so decided to do a signals vehicle supporting the infantry battalion command post. This vehicle is decaled up as one from the 51st HD's divisional signals unit. 

And since I have a full infantry battalion for Flames of War at 15mm scale, I thought I had better have a battalion commander and 2nd in charge, just in case. No rules for any such thing in FoW, but we are suitably megalomaniacal in our games that I'm sure we can make some up. I've used a medium command base for the big boss just to make him stand out a bit as a commander. I may add some markings to the rear of the base just to mark these out as special as well. 

Scoring wise, I have counted the CP base as a 15mm vehicle - I know it's technically terrain, but it's around the size of a large 15mm vehicle and involved some brush work and decals. The CP model also has a figure 'half out' of the resin using a radio, so I have counted that as a half model. 

15mm infantry x 12.5 = 25 points

15mm vehicles x 2 = 16 points

Finally, this entry is for the planet Vulcan. While there are no pointy ears in sight, I consider that if anything on a WW2 battlefield full of MG42s can be considered logical, it's going to battle with nothing but a swagger stick or walking cane...

More seriously, my thinking was that a command post and communications network are logical things and so should qualify.  

Vulcan landing = 20 points. 

Total = 61 points

Love the story on the diorama that grew out of looking for a figure without weak ankles!  Great work on this little gem and all the supporting stuff.  Your logic is sketchy but so is my brain today so I'll buy it.  It is great to see the support stuff painted up so nicely, it's add's skids of colour to the table top and makes for great scenario ideas.

From Mike W - More 28mm Zombies (140 Points, Lady Sarah)

Here is a second instalment of 24 Zombies for my growing horde! Again these are all Zombicide models and represent a cross section of different real life activities etc that these unfortunates were doing at the time of their demise!

Right hand side of Panoramic view of the group!

There is again a cross section of various Zombie types and a few characters that add 'colour' and interest to the horde.

On the character side I have done a former judge, a nun and a stage magician - struck down in mid act!

Again all figures were undercoated in white before appropriate colourings were blocked in. Skin as mentioned in the previous post was again randomly selected as being based upon a normal flesh colour, a rotting green colour or grey - depending on eth age of the zombie.

And the right hand side of the view.

On these models I think it is a little easier to see the way that I have done the bases, with a grey concrete finish to eth paving slabs, with regular lining for eth cracks between slabs and the odd tuft of grass on show - where they are becoming overgrown.

I am also claiming a Lady Sarah bonus for the nun, so that I can continue my journey on the challenge's star chart!

Two female 'Runners' and a stage magician 'Walker'

Three Walker: A hiker, a Disco Guy and a woman in a Mac.

Three more Walkers - two shop assistants and a former Judge.

The fisherman in yellow waterproof and wellies, is a conversion of the
sandwich board man in the centre, left a Fighfighter.

Three more Walkers, left hand figure is a conversion of the central figure - with impaled sign removed and arms repositioned. Right a highway patrol woman.

The figures are made of a plastic that can be repositioned, so they allow for minor modifications to be made to give repeat figures some individuality. Arms and legs can quite easily be altered. The Judge figure came with an arm missing, I was able to simply add an arm (from the project X frame) carrying a briefcase to the figure with superglue.

Three Runners: Left and centre variations on the same figure and right a male in tracksuit.

Left and Centre, two more runners, again same model in different colour schemes, right a business woman.

Two Fatties. Left a Sports Fan and Right a former Sumo Wrestler!

Rear view of the Fatties...

The blistering skin / boils effect on these Fatties was achieved by painting the raised blisters / boils Foundry's Phlegm Green (currently one of my go to colours), washing over this when dry with a very watered down wash of Citadel Imperial Purple before picking out each blister / boil in yellow.

The Zombie Nun

POINTS

24 x 28mm Foot Figures = 120 Points

Lady Sarah Bonus           = 20 Points

TOTAL                            =140 POINTS

As a departure from normal - I have included a short video of these figures rather than a panoramic view!

Back to Mike and back to hordes of shambling undead.  I love the various characters in the mix made made better by your conversions.   I think the Sports Fan fatty could be seen on the NFL broadcast this weekend, sitting shirtless in freezing weather with his teams logo emblazoned on his chest.