From EdwardG: Corps de Chariot, a mad man, and a trip to Solaris (97points)

Bonjour tout le monde!

For the 12th Challenge, I have decided to organise myself slightly differently compared to last year. Towards the end of the 11th Challenge I dropped a large points bomb, that was my  28mm DBA Sub-Romano British DBA army. This year one of the, if not the main, projects for my challenge painting time is again a DBA army this time of the Gallic variety. I have decided to do the honorable thing and post up the elements as they are completed. 

The first elements completed (and possibly a motivational mistake on my part) are the Corps de Chariot. These chaps are all Victirx figures from their nice Gallic range. I must admit I have a few gripes about this set. Firstly, when supplying a pack of 3 chariots, I am at a loss as to why they only supplied 2 variants. I understand the prices of tooling etc. But it seems it would have been a much better move to scrap the Budicca figure, and allow for a third driver. The number of heads supplied is nice, but I am finding not a fan of the heads and faces of the Victirx figures. I am finding that the sculpturing is far too fine and detailed. It does not really suit my style of painting. I prefer to be able to have a little bit more freedom when painting faces. But, apart from this, I do like the minis. The plastics are very easy to put together and there is a reasonable amount of variability.

 

The chariot with the cloaked rider will be my General's element. I decided against a large banner or anything like that this time. I found that the banners I did last year were a pain that I did not wish to repeat! That said my attempt to paint plaid material isn't the best, and was so frustrating that I have decided to only go as far as stripes for the rest of the army! :D 

This next figure was a little bit of a disappointment in the way he came out, but as I painted him, I felt it would be a waste to not base and present him to the CurtGod for a few unashamedly needed points. 

He is from the Victrix chariots pack, and originally he was intended to be my General figure. The idea was that he would strike fear into the tribal opponents, by displaying the heads of their relatives on the way into battle. I had originally planned to paint the majority of this army with Contrast paints and that is how I began this figure. But as I progressed, I became less excited by the figure. I am not sure if it the colour scheme I ended up with, or the rather (in hindsight) ridiculousness of the figure itself. But which ever it was, I ended up building a new General figure, with cape, as seen above to replace him. 

After the annoyance of the figure above, I decided that the contrast paints are best suited to smaller miniatures. This lead me on to the next figures on my painting desk. The furry friends of Boris, who was recently posted. These small fiends are my submission to Solaris...as I can think of nothing less deceptive as a small fluffy bunny, with large POINTY TEETH! I managed to paint all three of them, and I am quite pleased with the outcome. I hope that they do well in their first game of Moonstone, which will be this Sunday coming!  

This trip to Solaris ticks off the third of my planetary visits. I now just need to think of some figures that might suit Vulcan!?!

 As for scoring, I am taking the chariots as 28mm vehicles (after all they have wheels!) and the bunnies as 15mm mounted figures as they are about the same size despite being 28mm scale. I calculate the following: 

3 x Chariots = 3 x 20points = 60points

1 x Madman with a poor choice of fashion = 1 x 5points = 5points

3 x Bunnies with POINTY TEETH! =  3 x 4 points = 12points

Visit to Solaris = 20points

Total = 97points

For those of you who are interested, below is a picture of the bundle of fluff which has (along with a busy job) been the largest factor distracting me from my painting table! His name is Squirrel (Yep, for real, he is the same colour as the red squirrels here), and he likes shoes, and shoe laces, and most things that he can chew. But he is a very Good Boy! 

Hope to catch you next week!  

Cheers,
Ed

***

Hi Ed - very nice work on these chariots. They seem like finickity kits, but you should be pleased with the results. They look great, and I can picture the rumble and hear the shouts of joy as they charge into battle against the Romans! As for your adventures with your general, I would say you adjusted nicely - and who wouldn't want a mad man - either in charge, or just handy - with their army on the table?

And you are correct - bunnies with sharp teeth are just evil! Call in the flame throwers...

GregB

From RayR - Arrakis/Machiavellian - Barbed Tormentor & Sarah's Star Yacht Lady (50 points)

  

I'm paying a visit to Planet Arrakis for this post and using the tag Machiavellian. No I'm not painting anything from Dune, this is one of the few planets I didn't have to look up!

But first I have to pay the fare from Corsucant to Arrakis using Sarah's Star Yacht

Hmmm? This is Mellusa, a slave in chains, from Col Bill's Belt Said Girls

Believe it or not, but she was quite an easy paintjob!

This rather devilish looking chap is a Barbed Tormentor, from the Denizens of Hell series from the game Kingdoms of Hell by Ill Gotten Games.

This isn't your usual type of figure? I hear you say

Well I purchased this beast at Salute from Encounter Prints, I always buy a few strange (for me) figures when I go to a show, just incase Curt puts something strange on the Bonus rounds. 

Just like this!

The definition of Machiavellian is cunning, scheming and unscrupulous, which I think for a Denizen of Hell fits in particularly well

2 x 25mm figures @ 5 pts each 

Arrakis Bonus 20 pts 

Sarah's Sky Yacht Bonus 20 pts

60pts

***

Oh my, 50 points for two 28mm figures? Squeeze any more and this post will turn into juice. This almost feels naval. 

(And it is 50 points, not 60).

Nonetheless, the "Denizen of Hell" lines up well with Arrakis...heck, with a slightly different shade, he could be a Harkonnen relative!

50 points for you. For two 28mm figures.

GregB

From GeorgeS - GW 28mm " Arwen" - Ticket payment for Sarah (25 points)

Hardly managed to finish this figure today.

So here it is my first female figure for Lady Sarah and the teleport services I have used through my chaotic journey on the outer ring.

Two more will follow next week in order to proceed in the middle ring.

The figure is a classic 28mm white metal model from Games Workshop Lord of the Rings game.

About scoring, 25 points for me for this week.

That's all for now :)

...'till next time...

Keep Up TheBrushes!!!

***

Well done George, getting a submission in. And what extravagant talent you have displayed on this figure! The results are stunning - such smooth colour transitions, very impressive work!

GregB 

From RayR - Cosucant/Imperial - Imperial Austrian Cuirassiers 100pts

 

From the Vogshere and my Clergy its a quick trip to my last planet on the middle ring.

My trip takes me to Corsucant where I'll be using the Imperial tagline to get my next Donnybrook fix.

 The Imperial tag turns into an  Imperial Austrian Cuirassier regt

The regiment is that of Conte Aena Silvio Caprara who took over as the head of the regt in 1663.

The regt was raised in 1629 and  formally known as Piccolomini d'Aragona, the Duca d'Amalfi, before being taken over by Luigi Geronimo Conte Caprara in 1656.

In 1683 they were in camp at Pressburg in Hungry, then were called to be part of the relief force at Vienna.

The figures are from Reiver Castings and the flag is from the book Uniforms and Flags of the Imperial Austrian Army 1683-1720, by Robert Hall and Giancarlo Boeri. Sadly unavailable from the Pike & Shot Society.

As for the points....

8 x 25mm Cavalry figures @ 10 pts each = 80 points

20 points for the Corsucant Bonus

Total 100 pts

From RayR - Haitian Revolution - Spanish Infantry and Commanders (125 points)

 

Finding any information about the Spanish army in Haiti has proved to be quite difficult.

I do know they fought in 2 major battles, The Battle of Gonnaives and the Battle of Saint-Raphael , both in 1794.

I did find a picture online of the Batallon Auxiliar de las Tropas Espanolas de la isla de Santo Domingo.

Which looked pretty fancy, with their light blue cuffs and facings.

So I decided to paint them up as that unit, with the longest name EVER!

The figures are from Trent Miniatures, now sold by Skytrex and Warlord.

The command are from Front Rank, as Trent don't sell Spanish command figures.

Also from Front Rank are these three mounted Colonels.

Two are painted in the same uniform as the infantry, while the last figure is painted up in the normal Spanish dress of a General.

I found the Spanish flag image online, its not specifically for this unit, I don't even know if they carried a flag or not, but I think it adds a little panache to the unit.

Brigadier General

Mounted Infantry Officer

Field Officer

There are 19 x 25mm Foot figures @ 5 pts each = 95pts

and 3 x Mounted 25mm figures @10 pts each = 30pts

Total 125 pts

***

Great work on these fellows Ray - smashing uniforms all around. Projects like this are one of the things that makes the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge so much fun - interesting ones that I never would have considered myself. 

Have to say, much as the light blue facings are lovely, that Spanish general sure looks dashing - what a great uniform...although I expect wearing that outfit in the heat and humidity of Haiti may have been a bit of a challenge!

GregB

From PaulSS: Hostess of The Gem (Lady Sarah's Star Yacht) - (25 points)

Like a truculent teenage we again need transport, so we call in to visit those delightful ladies at The Gem to arrange passage on Lady Sarah's Star Yacht to Vogsphere.

This delightful darling was more than willing to help.

This is another figure from the Brigade Games Brothel set based on the characters in the HBO Deadwood series. great sculpt from Hicksey.

A single 28mm figure with the location bonus will add 25 points to the score board for me.

***

Fine brushwork as always Paul, and I'm confident this will more than cover the toll for passage on Lady Sarah's Star Yacht. 

GregB

From Kyle C: Chaos Dwarf Oathmark forces (365 points)

 

Ok yes, I have been a bit behind the others for posting/commenting/etc.. apologies for that.. No idea on why work has been a complete pain this year but it has really cut into my holiday/new year painting time significantly! 

That said, I had a recent Etsy order fall through ( customer had an emergency and cancelled his order before it was ready ) of Warp Miniature's Chaos Dwarves. Sitting on them for a bit, and then said well.. this would look nice all painted up.. so here is my initial take on it! 

So I bought a few bottles of GW contrast paint, and set to work! 

Considering that they are a bit cartoony to begin with, and followers of chaos, I figured some nice out there colors for their beards would not be out of place. And I think they worked nicely to contrast the more bland aged copper and browns I used elsewhere. 

So I did end up printing a few more to make full units of 20 here. Originally there were just 3x 10 units ( 2 cc and 1 ranged ) but upped the count a bit more there. Also added some Bulltaurs, a cannon ( just the crew painted so far ) and some more Heroes and adventurers. 

The adventurers here were a lot of fun to paint up. Some might call the duo on the left a tribute of sorts, while the right ones hunt monsters or are a bit more wild.. 

I now prep the last of the heroes, including one on a massive mount, the cannon itself, before starting in on the Kobolds ( Hobgoblin substitutes ) that are numbering over 100 atm.. 

All in, this is 67 infantry (335 pts), and 3 calvary (30 pts) making for 365 pts total here.. Hopefully the next post will come sooner, and as always thanks to Curt and others here for encouragement to get back to painting! Even if it is making a new grey pile to paint instead of tackling the ones that have sat for a while lol. 

Oh and the movement trays will all get done once they all arrive as am missing enough to cover the full force atm. 

***

Very nice Kyle - I've heard good things about "Oathmark", and you join the list of Challengers who highlight the quality of the figures with fine brushwork (even if they are Dwarves). As for motivation, well, you are in a "safe space" - all of us have struggled at that moment of really wanting to game with figures, but also not quite really wanting to start painting them yet. AHPC was made to still such feelings, and replace them with fiery determination to press on! A 365-point-bomb drop would show to me, at least, that you are moving forward with sufficient "oomph" - well done.

GregB