From JohnE - 28mm Dutch Garage with Attendant (25 Points)

My first terrain submission for the challenge is a Warbases Dutch Shop that I converted into a garage. After watching the Band of Brothers "Replacements" episode for the...I don't know...12th time, I decided a rural garage was in order. I already had this wonderful little kit from Warbases so hacked an opening for the bay door, added some plastic tiling to the roof and raided my accessories box for the various "garage-esque" items. The lettering on the one gable end is an inkjet printed dry transfer. The main building is about 125 cubic inches, so with the small annex on the back I figure I just make the 20 point threshold.

The way the attendant is wielding that wrench I thought he looked like he would be using it for something non-mechanical. I clumsily added a greenstuff armband so he could join the Dutch Underground.

Points Summary:

1 x 28mm terrain @ 20 points = 20 points

1 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 5 points

Total = 25 points

That's a very nice conversion on that building, John. I like the addition of moss patches on the roof.

Tamsin

From TomG - Soviets in the Mud (65 Points)

"I'M BACK!"

In the words of an NFL quarterback last year, I bring you my return to this wonderful challenge! Since my last post I got one year older, now a whopping 35 years old, celebrated my second daughter's 4th birthday, and now planning the thirds 2nd birthday on the 18th. So a very busy time in Godson Manor, but not busy enough to stop me painting my first Soviets, all in preparation to play the Chain of Command campaign, Operation Citadel. 

Starting with my Ra-Ra-Rasputin Cheerleader, ready to call in a barrage of epic proportions! Now I know the bases should really be on different terrain, but I wanted to have Soviets that could fit plans for future games, so I challenged myself to doing thick mud bases. Initial thoughts included dead grass, but I didn't like it, so she's the only one. 

I loved painting this figure, she was not only easy to work with, but the miniature had such a great pose it allowed for subtle colour placement, alongside the bold red of the flags. If you give the image a zoom in, I even had a go at painting eyes, and it went well in my opinion. 

We next finish off the female presence of the set, we have a radio operator, and the ever important medic. Again both were a joy to paint, and with the addition of blue as a spot colour, really welcomed some character development pre-campaign. Warlord Games really delivered with these sculpts, dynamic and cinematic, but we'll grounded. As you can see just simple mud effects were used for these, and all following bases, just gives that atmosphere of a blasted mud season battlefield. 

Now for the chaps...

This Forward Observer brought up some interesting challenges when it came to painting; not only did I have to look up what the fur hats looked like (not that I ended up being that authentic) but I got the chance to do the glass in his binoculars. 

Next is flame-boy, another fun model to paint up, and due to a casting issue, he had a mess of a left eye, but that let me paint it up as a bruised and scarred area. Sadly I couldn't get a good photo of it, but I enjoyed painting it. I was fascinated to look up the Soviet flamethrower and to find it had a wooden stock, which felt dangerously low budget to me.

So here we have my least favourite model of the bunch, and also the last of the metal figures. The pose is great, but the casting around the face had made it very difficult to paint much detail in, but that's a first world problem for you! However as an officer he'll fit nicely in with the rest of the men. 

Below we have the 4 squad Serzhánt built from the box set by Warlord Games. Each one will only be designated by the smg however having two in helmets and two in caps helps me keep a record of them in game. 

They were, as always, easy to build and simple to paint. For all of my Soviets I wanted to give them a uniform more suited to the summer colours, as it satisfied my need for my buying new paint last month. Fortunately I enjoyed the process, and have used the "paintRack" app to keep a record of my choices and stages. If anyone is interested just let me know, I'm more than happy to share. 

Now on to some terrain, which I think is the only scatter terrain I've painted since leaving Games Workshop 12 years ago! Although I'm not certain where I bought them, I get the feeling they were bought from the Too Fat Lardies stand at Salute 2016/2017, so I had to get some dust off them first. 

The three pieces will work nicely as either road blocks, objectives or just debris, but I'm pleased with them. I did think about adding labels or product placement on the boxes but couldn't make my mind up in time, so just didn't bother. If you have any good ideas on what I could put on them let me! Maybe some Vat 69 for any of you Band of Brothers fans out there! As they would take up a 6 inch footing on a gaming table, but at only an inch in height, I've scored it at 10 points for the low height.

Well here we are at the end of all things, models and words brought together in a chaotic ride through the last few weeks of my painting, and it is time for the points. 

28mm infantry x10 = 50 points

Shadow 6 inch cube x1 = 10 points 

Total = 60 points

Thank you for reading, let me know your thoughts below, and in the spirit of the same quarterback mentioned at the start I'll now go sit down and be relieved of responsibilities hahaha!

Tom

Dave is having some tech issues, so has asked me to cover for him this afternoon. 

Those Soviets are rather characterful, especially the ladies. Lovely stuff, Tom! I'm not sure those supply dump pieces quite add up to a 6" x 6" x 6" cube, but I think it would be fair to score each of them as equivalent to a 28mm foot figure. Which is actually more points!

Tamsin

From MartijnN: Cruisers and Cossacks (Perelandra and back to Corsucant) (78 points)

Having left Corsucant we make our way to Perelandra. Its Oceanic theme gave me the perfect excuse to paint some of my backlog of WW1 1/3000 ships by Navwar (actually, there are not very many left now). Here are 8 Royal Navy destroyers. Six are M class (Magic, Marne, Minion (!), Mystic, Nestor, and Obdurate), one is I (or Acheron) class (Badger), and one K (or Acasta) class (Owl). All saw service at Jutland.

Magic, Marne, Minion, Mystic, Nestor and Obdurate

Badger and Owl

HMS Badger picked survivors from HMS Invincible when she exploded after a direct hit from the German Battlecruisers Lützow and Derfflinger.

Next there are five German Light Cruisers. These are Augsburg, Kolberg, Karlsruhe, Rostock and Regensburg. Two of the Kolberg class (Cöln and Mainz) were sunk at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1914, where the British destroyers also served, while Kolberg took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915. Karlsruhe was in the Carribean when the war broke out and did some raiding, causing quite some concern, if not actual damage, before being destroyed by an accidental internal explosion. Rostock and Regensburg saw heavy action at Jutland, where they were leader of torpedo boats; Rostock was scuttled by her crew after the battle to avoid capture. 

Regensburg, Karlsruhe, Rostock, Kolberg, Augsburg

After exploring Perelandra we return to Corsucant, in order to proceed to Vogsphere next week. For Corsucant I offer these Imperal Russian soldiers. They are 15mm Minifigs and have that special toy soldier feel to them. They were (and are) sold as Caucasian Lancers. The Minifigs Crimean War range is not very accurate historically, and whether these lancers even existed I don't know; I decided to paint them up as cossacks. The details of their dress are rather obscure, but they are good enough for me.

So there we are.

Points:

13 hulls @ 2 points = 26 points

8 15mm horse @ 4 points = 32 points

Perelandra planet bonus = 20 points

Total: 78 points. And two squirrels!

___________________________________________________

Lovely work Martijn, and what a wonderful juxtaposition in both scale, warfare and period. I quite like your Minifig 'theoretical Cossacks'. They certainly look the business to me, and I quite like the large basing you've used. What system are they set-up for? Of the two groups, my favourites have to be your WWI ships.  I have a real soft-spot for this coal-driven period ever since reading Massie's 'Castles of Steel' years ago.  You've given them such nice definition with your brushwork and, similar to your cossacks, I really admire your basing for these. 

78 points it is, but please remember to label your squirrel submissions. This will avoid the embarrassing scene of Stuart gleefully flashing you a yellow card as he did to me! :)

- Curt

From LeeH - French Foreign Legionnaries in Greatcoats - (106 Points)

A couple of weeks ago I posted half of my French Foreign Legionnaires, wearing their white Fatigue uniforms. This week I have the same number of Legionnaires, but these wear the classic blue Capote Greatcoats seen in films like Beau Geste and March or Die. 

These were a little easier to paint than the ones in whites although I have firmly decided I should have stuck with a dark undercoat rather than white. I stopped painting with a white primer undercoat years ago because I realised any small missed area when painting the base colours stand out as something horrible. I guess I needed to re-learn that lesson with these guys. I’m happy with the way the figures turned out in the end, but the white primer made them just that little bit harder to get right. 

Next on my paint desk are some Mounted Legionnaires and a field gun, but you’ll have to wait for these. I’m taking a week off for a short family holiday during the half-term holidays. I’m ahead of where I expected to be at this stage of the Challenge, even after raising my target last week, so I can spend a week away from the brushes. I plan on visiting some of my favourite museums and catching up on some reading. 

Points:
Four units of 12 Legionnaires plus a Leader each and one spare leader, just in case.
53x15mm Foot = 106 points

_________________________________________________

Curt here. It seems that Dave's retirement from BT works both ways as he's having issues with his internet connectivity. But never fear, that's why we have a squad of Minions waiting in the wings!

Lovely work as usual Lee. Though the previous white uniforms were very nice, you can't deny the immediate 'brand recognition' of the blue Capote greatcoats - it's just such a classic look. Like you, I gave up priming in white decades ago (except for Stormtroopers), so I both feel your pain and welcome you back to the fold.  I think I'm not the only one who'll be looking forward to your return from holidays so we can see your mounted legionnaires and the field gun. Nonetheless, enjoy your hard-earned break!

- Curt

From DaveD - It’s Friday !

 Well it’s here again .. time flies as they say 

** edit . Having a few internet/pc gremlins today , I’ve asked for some minion support until I get it sorted to be able to post some of the Friday crews work ***

 

Today sees another fun filled day :-

So far I have lined up 

Lee is still in North Africa 

JohnE has gone all Dutch

Tom is back with Russkie goodness .

Yours truly is off for a week of gaming next week - yep you read that right . I am popping along to old friend Gerry’s “Situation Room” to play with some of his 100,000 10mm toys - yes he’s properly bonkers .Along with a bunch of other power mad gamers we are doing a re fight of the 1813 battle of The Katzbach , rain and black powder muskets , what could possibly go wrong I ask . 

 

Have a great week people