From TeemuL: The Last Sludge (70 points)

Here you are Millsy, if these are worthy of the Challenge, so be it. :)

More Sludge this week. Here are some Jaegers, they are not conversions of Perry Miniatures like most of my army, they are metal miniatures from Warbases, Red Guard models from their Mousquetaires range. I have painted them in similar yellows and browns and even though their style is bit different and proportions are not the same, they fit quite ok, especially when they are based individually. My heroes and leaders are also from the same range, so they don't look that odd.

That's dried grape wine branch (in lack of a proper English term) on the bases, if you wonder. Painted yellow to give a low fantasy look of strange bushes and roots. Some orange sand, too.

The crossbows are handy weapons, they have longer range than muskets, but is more difficult to hit and they hit armoured troops harder.

But these are plastic Perry's, similar conversions of foot knights and Zouaves as before. Two bases here, one marching and one charging. They have same colours as the previous unit (brown pants and yellow shirts) so they will expand the unit to five bases. That's pretty hard one to crack.

I managed to play my first game of Sludge last week against a friend of mine on our kitchen table, here are some photos. We had a 200 point game where there were 3 objectives in the middle, which could be plundered for points. Points were also scored for having units left on the table and killing the enemy commander. I had a narrow loss, but of course this was my first game and lots of the mechanics and tactics were new. The rules were rather simple, we only browsed the rules quite rarely. I definitely want to play more.

My kitchen table, but the mat and the terrain (excluding the grey hut) was provided by my friend Joonas. The greenish army is of course his.

We had a nice duel in the end between the commanders, both of them survived. The orange tokens represent "gore", or chaos on the battlefield. That makes it more difficult for units to operate and stay on the field, heroes can remove that stuff, but then of course they can't do other nice stuff, like buff the troops...

Scoring wise, that is 10 new Sludge minis in 28mm scale for 50 points. No skulls of squirrels.

From Millsy;

LOL, I had no idea when I suggested more Sludge for your Challenge Quadrant Hub task that you were already way ahead of me! Congrats on both your foresight AND the fact you've produced another great addition to your army Teemu. Wonderful to see the army in use for the first time too, and as we all know units are destined to die ingloriously on their first run out :-P

Like all your past Sludge posts I really dig everything here, but for me the standouts are the Warbases' Red Guard. One of the things I really enjoy as a counterpoint to kitbashing is finding an existing miniature that fits your theme and can slide right in. If they're not intended for what you use them for then so much the better.

50 points for the minis, plus another 20 for the Hub. Well done mate!

From StephenS: Vampire and retinue [Arda] (125 points)

G'day,

I'm finally on a roll, with two posts in two weeks (if I have made the deadline...)
and my painting is not the only thing to rise from the dead this week.

I have a Vampire Lord and 20 faithful, or at least compliant, skeleton warriors to accompany her as she stomps around the planet of Arda, looking for someone to discuss the literary merits of various fantasy tropes with.

The Vampire was bought on a whim as I really liked the model. The skeletons were a study in speed painting, it has been a long time since I have bashed out a 20 strong unit in one go. I'm pretty happy with the quality verse speed trade off I achieved. Hopefully, this will form the core of a generic undead army for use in a few different skirmish systems.

All up there are 21 x 28 mm (or whatever scale GW uses now) plastic miniatures. With the bonus for making planetfall, it is hopefully 125 points.

Cheers,
Steve

From Millsy:

These are absolutely smashing Steve! The vampire's shield is great and the red of the hair, shield motif and banner really pops against the black used everywhere else. I also really like the subtle edge highlighting on the armour which is just enough to prevent the armour being flat whilst still maintaining the overall dark tone. Who makes the vampire miniature BTW

Well done mate, that's another 125 points added to your total!

From ScottM: Noel's Comet - Samurai Characters (40 pts)

Been a bit of a slow month for me, but I'll hopefully get a few more figs done before the end. As I venture further into the system, I end up at Noel's Comet. I didn't really have a wide selection of figs in my unpainted pile that actually fit into this category, so my choice might be a bit off. For this stop I went with a pack of Samurai Heroes. These are 28mm metal figs from Kingsford Miniatures.

For the actual location I've got a Not-Lone Wolf and Cub. I've embarrassingly never actually read the stories, but if it's about some lone samurai roving around with a kid in a cart, it should involve some sort of friendship.

There's two other characters in the pack: Not-Yojimbo and Not-Zatoichi.

And now for the story. My friend and I have known each other since high school (we're 50/51 now). A few decades ago there was a bar in town (it's still there - the old Boston Pizza lounge), that we would frequent. Well, there was a stretch where we would go every night. We'd end up spending all evening there till almost closing time. We went there so often, that we knew all the staff, they knew us and when they'd see us drive up, by the time we got in the door and sat down, our drinks (Big Rock Grasshopper for me, Rickard's Red for him) would be sitting there waiting. We'd usually just spend the evening watching the TV and having a few pints. We wouldn't say much to each other, just sit, enjoy our drinks and each others' company. The end of the evening would roll around and we'd get ready to head home (usually it was me driving), so I'd head off to take care of an excess liquid problem and ask him to grab the tab. And it would never fail that I'd come back and sure enough he's ordered another round to go with the bill. Argh! Good times, although my bank account wasn't having a good time.

We're still great friends, he lives a couple blocks away and we hang out regularly (for some reason his wife is able to tolerate me). Might even end up there tonight for some beverages.

So that should be:

• 4 - 28mm figs = 20 points
• 1 location (Noel's Comet) = 20 points

Total = 40 points

And now the mad scramble as the end nears!

From Millsy:

That's a great story Scott. I have a mate who I've known for a similar amount of time (I'm 52) so I totally get the amount of history there, especially the ability to just sit in companionable silence.

I really like your colour choices for these dudes, that blue-grey is really eye catching and goes really well with the hair and leggings. Nice work all round.

From TobiasK: Rangers for Oathmark (50 points)

Besides my Afghanistan project, I am currently working on an Elf army for Oathmark. Oathmark is a rank and file system in a fantasy setting.

Unfortunately, painting time was short, so I only painted 10 Rangers. Rangers are skirmishers in Oathmark.

Book keeping:

10 x 28mm figures = 50 pts

From Millsy:

Ten figures is nothing to sneeze at Tobias. Sometimes you just have to accept that you've only go so much time and make the bets use of it. Great brushwork mate and I'm hoping to see more of your elves before the challenge is done for the year.

From PeterB - Squirrels! (No not those squirrels) - 55 Points

Nope, I'm not squirrelling in on the Squirrel challenge (How many times do I type squirrel before it starts to look weird and spelt wrong?) I actually painted some squirrels.

A kind friend did some 3D printing for me the other day and when he dropped off the models, he had also added these cute little squirrels.

Of course I had to paint them as red squirrels, those underdogs of the British Isle, who unfortunately are bullied by their larger cousins, the Greys.

They were great fun to paint and an excuse to try out my new wet pallette that Mrs B got me for Christmas. I can heartily recommend getting one, it meant I could mix up various shades of orange safe in the knowledge that over the week they were still usable even today. I did try a bit of Zenithal priming with darker greys on the undercoat for shadows. It is more apparant in real life than the photos I think.

Also this week I have made a start on a Victrix plastic box set. I have only built the archers so far from the unarmoured hoplites set.

As I already have some Vikings I am now building up a Greek force to try out Of God's and Monsters, from Osprey.

I've just got to decide on a suitable Greek hero now.

So simple points, 11 models at 28mm 

55 points.

From Millsy:

Whilst I think you've done a great job with the Greeks in this submission Peter,
I have to say the squirrels really do it for me.

I've always suspected that Alvin and the Chipmunks were just a rubbish cover band and now we have conclusive proof :-P Great work on the fur and especially their faces!

55 points it is mate. Looking forward to your next squirrel effort, whatever for it takes.

From Paul O'G: Beastmen! (50 points) (LV426)

Due to work travel its been a good few weeks since I touched a brush. This gave me time to reflect on this year's Challenge and I realised I was missing something - I've painted no Beastmen - for shame! So this week I've rectified that with some characterful Beastmen models from the Underworlds "Grashrak's Despoilers" set.

BFFs Grashrak and Draknar are the bruisers of this warband

Grashrak Fellhook is a magical Bray-Shaman, and his buddies are Gor Draknar the Cruel and the Ungor Hunters Gnarl, Ushkor, Murgoth Half-Horn, and Korsh the Sneak. Together they 'hate all things pure with a bestial vehemence that knows neither reason nor restraint' - nice lads to gatecrash your forrest outing. With the idea that these would be a flavoursome raiding force for WHFB as well as a Warcry Warband, I lavished attention on their lovely details and tried some different flesh tone colours and shades.

That's 6 beastmen figs for 30 points plus the LV426 planetary bonus because its a really, really bad idea to wander into the Drakwald Forrest while these guys are lurking about..., for a total of 50 points.

From Millsy:

I knew something was missing from your efforts this year Paul, and now I know what it was! I have to say these are some of the best beastmen sculpts GW have ever produced IMHO and for an Oldhammer aficionado that's not an easy admission to make.

These are wonderfully painted mate, some of your best brushwork in all the challenges you have participated in from my POV. The palette is muted, and the contrast low-key but you have sacrificed nothing in terms of detail, character or interest. The bases are really top notch too and the lack of tufts or other staples we all use with impunity now really enhances your brushwork.

Smashing stuff all round!

From Codsticker: Yet More Rohirrim and Orcs (75 pts)

After a brief hiatus from posting (Real Life can be a drag sometimes) I have returned with my LoTR rehab project: Mordor Orcs and mounted Rohirrim.

Most of the Orcs in this batch are archers - not as nice as the Orcs with hand weapons IMO. There are just two pose which is a bit limiting. I am under the impression that there are some Orcs with bows that were released in metal at one point; I may try to pick a few up for variety.

These Rohirrim, like the ones posted previously, came primed black and in disrepair: two horses broken off at the fetlock, the axe was broken and the sword is actually from Conquest Games' Norman Knights set.

Shit's about to get real for these Orcs!

So, points wise that is:

7 x 28mm foot figures at 5 pts each = 35 pts

4 x 28mm mounted figures at 10 pts each = 40pts

Total = 75 pts.

From Millsy:

More great looking LotR material Rob! I have thoroughly enjoyed the brushwork you've shared with us this year not least because you've done such a wonderful job rescuing minis that were much the worse for wear. Once again I find myself really impressed by your smooth, convincing metals, earthy palette and realistic horseflesh.

Well done once again and 75 points added to take you even further beyond your initial target. Nice!

PS. Of only they'd had Eomer yell "Shit's about to get real for these Orcs!" at some point during the films.

From TeemuL: Gotrek Gurnisson [Krypton] (27 points)

After a wild ride we found ourselves again from the Inner Ring on the planet Krypton, where we find some "friendly" company (friendly meaning non-hostile). A superhero of his universe, Gotrek Gurnisson, oath-sworn Slayer seeking his glorious death. Well, after a bit of grumble we continue our way to the center of the Quadrant...

We have seen some imaginative offerings on the Krypton, so I'll continue with the flow. Gotrek Gurnisson is your superhero today, a grumpy dwarf, who has shamed himself and his house, is trying to settle things by seeking a glorious death, but so far he has failed. The World that Was is destroyed, aeons have passed and he still is not dead. He has faced skavens, vampires, trolls, dragons and all kind of nasty creatures, he has cursed gods, because they won't allow him to die and he is still going strong currently in the Mortal Realms.

He has no superpowers as such, nor fancy gadgets, just strength, thick skull and favour(?) of gods. He wears just pants and holds a mighty axe. If those blue pants were spandex, he would fit better in the superhero genre...

There were two possibilities for the base in the box, either this bigger pile of trash for display or a smaller one for gaming. I went for the bigger one, since I don't feel I'll be using him in any games and if I do, the bigger base will work out. In the end the miniature is not that display level, rather quick and easy paint job, but it will do. I kept the base rather dark, muted and colourless to keep the attention on the mini itself, that's why lots of brown wood and brown skavens with dark metal and just red clothes, paint and eyes. I kind of like how much of the wood and skaven skin come out, basically just several layers of different drybrushes.

I gave the axe some golden details, since it is a very special axe. The ancestral heads are golden, too. I skipped the blue tattoos, which he should have, since I'm not that good with that kind of painting. I like the clean and simple output better. The hair and beard should have been more fiery orange, deeper and darker, but I wasn't able to do that. Looks ok in the pictures, though. Quite a lot of complaints of the mini from me, but yes, it is done now and time to move on. :)

After completing 4 planets on Outer and Middle Rings, 5 on Inner Ring and several stops at Sarah's Star Yacht, I'm ready to take the Challenge XII Challenge! Oh Great Inspiring Minion Patreon (GIMP for short), servant of Snowlord, what do you ask?

A single 28mm miniature for 5 points and 20 for planet Krypton. No skulls, Gotrek doesn't stay on one place that long...

From Millsy:

Gotrek Gurnisson is a long time favourite of mine in terms of Warhammer lore,
I think partly because as you say Teemu, he makes do with just his weapons, muscles and wits. Often when GW reimagine one of their character minis they lose something of the original character but I feel that here. If anything they've reinforced his reputation by perching him atop a pile of broken equipment and vanquished foes.

I really like how you've painted him mate, especially his enormous axe and the base. Given there is so much going on there I've awarded a couple of extra points to bring your total to 27. Top work!

In terms of a personal task for the Quadrant Hub, I'd love to see some more Sludge-themed material. I've really enjoyed your kitbashing and backstory so far, so it would be great to have another instalment!