From RossM: 15mm Crusaders (27 points)

Here is the first of a few posts of finished items for the end of this years AHPC.

A small addition in both numbers of figures and points, however every little counts. These are part of a second DBA sized army that has been getting painted over the last 12 months to boost this towards an ADLG army. 

The figures are from the Gladiator Miniatures Crusaders range and paint well. 

The colours reflect the Knights of Jerusalem, although I haven't been able to find any suitable decals in 15mm scale for their shields. It's the shape of the cross that is causing the issue. 

The knights and sergeants never may the painting table this time round...

In terms of points, this works out as:

11 x 15mm infantry - 22 points

1 x 15mm cavalry - 4 points

1 x 15mm horse casualty - 1 point

Sub-total 27 points

Running total 147 points (59% of 250 revised total and 20% of 750 original)

Stay safe and paint.

Ross

From Millsy:

Lovely work on these Gladiator Games minis Ross. I've painted a few and found them difficult for a number of reasons but you've really proved how good they can look treated right.

Speaking as a fellow crusader who hand painted a bunch of Knights of Jerusalem heraldry in 28mm a couple of Challenges ago, I'd encourage you to try free handing the heraldry. It's all straight lines and dots and looks better en masse anyway. It's easier than you might think and certainly not as daunting as a Maltese cross.

From PeterB. Zulu war gatling gun and crew (30 points)

Oh go on then, just one more post.

I know I said I might be done, but after finally finishing my Zulu War project, I said I might get a gatling gun. Well, I did. I wasn't sure it was going to arrive before the end of the challenge, but luck was on my side.

Of course now I will have to paint more Zulu's to justify the presence of such a weapon. So I guess I know what will be on my to do pile for next years challenge.

I did originally start painting them in red uniforms, then remembered that that might not be accurate, so a quick bit of photo research (These chaps know their stuff.) and I think I have their colours correct. I have even copied the colour of the gun carriage from the Die Hards own.

Perry Miniatures as you probably know just make lovely models, so these were a joy to paint. The gun was a tad fiddly to put together, but didn't need much done to it to make it fit neatly together. I thought you might appreciate seeing the awesome little boxes these models come in.

I could even use the cotton wool for some smoke markers later.

So, points.

10 points for the gun

4 crew at 5 points each.

Total 30 points.

I'm done now, I promise. ;-)

From Millsy:

Just one more post indeed, especially when it is something this cool Peter. Few things are more evocative of colonial wars for me than early automatic weapons. A bit crazy, unreliable and almost as terrifying to the operator as the receiver these things must have been an absolute nightmare to lug about in the heat and rough terrain. The "This is not a toy" label is unintentionally ironic I feel.

Lovely brushwork mate, that blue/grey is spot on and the red trouser strips are a nice flash of colour. Congrats on a wonderful Challenge and thanks for sharing your creations with us.

From TobiasK: Afghan civilians (45 points)

So, it is time for my final entry to this year's Painting Challenge. My plan was to present you some more Elves today, but unfortunately, I forgot to order the proper decals. After realizing that, I had to improvise. So we are back in Afghanistan today.

Luckily I had some civilians on the lead pile to paint for this week's entry. Without further ado, let's take a look at the miniatures.

All miniatures are by Empress, and I had a great time painting them. It's also worth mentioning, that they lack any modern "items", so they can also be used in other encounters in Afghanistan. In conclusion, great bystanders to add to the gaming table.

Book keeping:

7 x 28mm foot figure = 35 pts

1 x 28mm mounted figure = 10 pts

Total: 45 pts

From Millsy:

Our games always need more civvies to make them interesting. Lovely work on these Tobias, right up to the wonderful standard you've shared with us all the way through this Challenge. I particularly like the tea drinking vignette, showing the simple but important things in life - being present for others and sharing time with people who matter to you. And tea :-P

45 more points for your tally mate. Congrats on a cracking effort overall.

From GregB - Warmaster Orc Characters and Support (14 Points)

Some supporting bits for my 10mm Warmaster Orcs - metal figures from GW.

The end of another Painting Challenge approaches, and for one of my final submissions, I thought I would round out my Warmaster Orcs a bit more. That project was a major focus for me during this edition of the Challenge, and it seemed right to make the initial force more complete. Here we have an assortment of Orc characters and commanders, as well as a good old rock lobber - fun awaits! These are all metal castings from GW's long-lost "Warmaster" figure range.

Here's a serious Orc Lord!

One of the (many) things the "Warmaster" rules get so perfectly right is the use of characters. I know one common detraction for the "Warhammer Fantasy Battle" game was the way overpowered characters can take over the game. "Warmaster" is much better - the characters are essential, of course, but indirect. They cannot succeed on their own, they have to work through the units they command. They can enhance them, yes, and have a notable impact, but in doing so they are also creating risk. 

The Wyvern is tricky to assemble (and needed a pin for the base), but what an awesome figure, I just loved it.

Tried to get a leathery look for the wings on this monster.

Even the characters riding terrifying creatures, like this Orc Warlord on a Wyvern, are therefore very influential, and powerful, but also at much more risk than the equivalent in a standard Fantasy Battle game. This figure is a favourite, something I have wanted to paint ever since I saw it in a GW catalogue so long ago. It has been sitting in a blister pack in my horde for something like ten years? How fun to get some paint on this beast at last!

Let's go ladz!

Suitably angry and armed boyz for the chariot.

Nasty war boars ready to charge home!

We also have an Orc hero riding a war chariot of some sort - will be a useful commander to use when the big guy on the Wyvern is not around. That chariot looks like a totally safe ride, I'm sure everyone on board will be fine, right? 

A weedy little gobbo shaman...

Orc Shaman with handy skull supply!

"Warmaster" also totally gets the magic aspect of fantasy wargaming correct - the magic is important, but won't win anything on its own. Still, the Orcs can now get in on the spell-casting with two of the heroes here - one is an Orc Shaman (with a handy skull-shaped altar, just for Barks!) and the other is a Goblin Shaman, with a couple of squigs on hand because obviously...squigs, right?

"Put yer back inno it!"

Finally, we have a rock lobber and crew. The Orcs don't really have much in the way of missile-armed troops in their army. Given their preference for brute force, that makes sense, but going up against all of those cannons and crossbows in the Empire, they could use a little bit of artillery, and this rock lobber fits the bill. 

Troll-powered trebuchet. I'm sure things will be OK with this, right?

You get more crew figures than can actually fit on the game-sized base, so I put the "commander" for the lobber on a seperate base, leaving the poor troll and two gobbos on the same base as the lobber. Looking at the contraption, I can see the orc wanting to keep a bit of distance, in case things go wrong...

Ok, lets figure out points, looking in the 10mm column. We have four orcs, three goblins and one troll - nine points there. Two squigs...maybe one point for that? There is one artillery piece, so that is two points, and the Wyvern, which is a mounted figure, for two points. I think that will work out to 14 points? 

And, we also have some SKULLZ. Maybe small ones, but they count! TEN more skullz for the skull duel!

Thanks for reading - I hope to share at least one more submission before things conclude, but happy brushing everyone!

From DaveD - Lovely bit of work there Greg - always good to paint on old stuff! 

From FrederickC: Yet Another Shambling Horde of Zombies (285 points)

 

Just when I thought Mike W had done all his zombies, he posts another twenty. Well, I will see your twenty zombies, and raise you forty more. 😉

This is definitely my last post for the Challenge, and my last batch of zombies as well. It is a mix of 36 Wargames Factory Zombie Vixens, and 24 Zombicide Box of Zombies Set 1 Walk of the Dead. 

 

Horde #2 out for a shamble

The Zombie Vixens come as 3 identical sprues of 12 figures of which 10 are standing, one is missing its lower legs, and the last is missing everything below the diaphragm. All the figures have separate heads and some choice of arms, so it is possible to do a fair bit of 'mix and match', although some combinations fit together better than others. The bases also come as a separate piece, but only enough for the standing figures. I had a half dozen wooden discs of the right diameter in the bits box to put the half figures on, so it all worked out in the end. The figures are finely sculpted with a variety of open wounds, with some showing exposed bones and/or skulls, all looking appropriately gruesome.

The Zombicide set consists of three figures each of eight different poses which are described as 'walkers', 'runners', or 'fatties'. They come as one piece, including the base, so no assembly required. The latter two types will add some variety to the usual slow moving undead, being faster or tougher respectively.

Once the Zombie Vixens were assembled both sets were primed flat grey using a rattle can, and then painted with Vallejo acrylics, followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. I deliberately left the bases plain so they would look like concrete, rather than adding sand or flocking. As with my earlier Challenge submissions, the Quickshade leaves everything rather glossy, so I will hit these with some clear matt spray once it is warm enough to do it outside.

 

The points being claimed are as follows:

57 x 28mm figures @ 5 points each = 285 points

(I am counting the six literal half figures as half figures 😁)

And with this final submission, my 2021-2022 Painting Challenge comes to a close. Once again, a big thank you to all who left encouraging comments on my posts. They were much appreciated.

Cheers,

FrederickC

From DaveD - Well another great horde of Zombies for this challenge. a great way to finish off!

 

From LeeH - Foreign Legion Casualties (14 points)

My final entry to the Painting Challenge is a small group of Legionnaire Casualties. With these completed, I have achieved all of the items on my pre-challenge planner (it's not just random, I always have a plan!). It has been a wonderful Painting Challenge and I remain in awe not only of the painting skills of many of the Challengers but the output of some of the leaders (you guys are machines!). I’ve had a great time and got everything I wanted painted, and a bit more, so once again the group motivation of the event has served its purpose.

These models are from Blue Moon and are wonderfully detailed for 15mm figures. I only need a few of these and will be using them as set decoration rather than as casualty markers. I was going to base them individually but as they are purely for decorative purposes I decided to base them on little multi-figure vignettes. I will be using these inside the Desert Fort that I painted earlier in the Challenge to add a bit of life (and death) to the scene.

Points wise, I’m only claiming 1 point for the completely prone figures (because I only have to paint one side!), but 2 points for the figures that are sitting up or crawling because they are more 3d. So I make that a modest 14 points bringing my Challenge total to a respectable 923. Not my highest challenge total, but as I said, I have painted everything I wanted to, without getting too stressed in the process.

Now I am going to sit back and watch the mayhem of the last few hours of the Challenge and marvel at the wonderfully talented painters that have taken part this year. All that remains after that is to clean up my painting desk and get all my figures out for the traditional wrap-up shot. Kudos as always goes to Curt for running this amazing crazy event, and the incredible Minions for their tireless effort which keeps the runaway train on the tracks.

(And yes, I’m already planning for AHPC XIII).

From DaveD - an excellent completion entry there Lee. It's been a real pleasure to watch the creation of this project! 

From BenitoM: Landing at Arda with The Fellowship (30 points)

Likely my last entry in the Painting Challenge this year, and also the last planet I'll be scouting in the Challenge galaxy.

 

I brought today two remarkable characters of the Fellowship of the Rings: Aragorn and Boromir. But instead of the well-known models from the early 2000s Warlord range, I have unearthed two quite old (mid 80s) Mithril Miniatures castings from the deep layers of my lead pile.

In those years I was mainly an RPG player and a Tolkien fan. The release in Spanish of the Lord of the Rings RPG manual was like a lighting ball and triggered a frenzy hunt for miniatures to be used in our adventures.

 

The models here are truly old school (old in the wider sense of the word), but despite the age, I still find them nicely sculpted and full of character.

This is Boromir:

 

   

An here Aragorn

Now some of you may wonder, if I were such a LOTR fanboy how it is possible that almost 30 years passed until I painted this models? No surprise to anynone, we wargames are like butterflies: not much later  these models were acquired in several trips to UK as student (and later for professional reasons) I shifted my sights to boardgaming and historical figures games.

In any case I'm quite happy to have contributed these models to the Challenge this year.

In terms of points, I'm scoring my last 30 points today: 2 x 28mm models @5points + 20 planet bonus

To conclude the Challenge this year, I'd like to thank Dave for taking care of us on Fridays, Curt and Sarah for organizing again this edition of the Challenge and to all of you taking the time to look at my entries and leaving comments. Take care and will hopefully see you in 9 months from now.

 

From DaveD - an excellent end to your challenge Benito its been a joy to see your creations. 

From ChrisK - A Final Push with 1940 French (315 points)

Hello,

This is my last gasp, and I've been sitting on a couple of these in their finished state, so as to not overload poor dear, sweet, patient Barks...

...but then I couldn't get pics of them in time, so it's aaaaaall ended up being last minute anyway. Ugh. Sorry!

ANYWAY, please find below, for your perusal, the last AHPC submissions from my ongoing 28mm '1940 Battle of France' project for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine. I'll keep the blurb brief as I'm late, but thank you everyone for your kind comments, questions and encouragement over the last three months! 

Especially Barks.

Senegalese Tirailleurs = 80pts: 

60pts + 20pt 'Imperial' bonus for Coruscant, as they're troops of the French Empire(!).

These are Warlord's metal set of ten figures, with two additional from Wargames Atlantic, with their red headgear re-sculpted to match. They've got covers rolled-up over their headgear, leaving only the tops visible. 

Fire Support = 30pts:

(six troops @ 5pts/each)

Also from Warlord, a Hotchkiss MMG team and a medium mortar.

More yet from Warlord (of course)...

...Assorted specialist troops = 45pts:

(nine troops @ 5pts/each)

A sniper, an AT rifle and 3 miscellanous loaders/spotters

A medic dragging a casualty (this one's a 3D print), plus an observer/radio op and medic from Warlord. 

Three motorcycle/sidecar combinations = 60pts:

The middle one is a 3D print (from Eskice; the same as the medic, above) and the two flanking it are the beautiful sculpts from Crusader MIniatures.

AMC 35 = 20pts:

This one is a resin print of a cheap and cheerful (free and pretty ropey) STL file; origin unknown.

Two Laffly S35T heavy artillery tractors = 40pts:

These are great models from Mad Bob Miniatures, although I've added a plasticard French towing sign to the top of the cab:

Two comandeered civilian trucks = 40pts:

 

One plainly painted in olive, the other with a more creative crew. Both of these are repainted diecast Fordson truck toys. 

Aaaaaaaand that's it. C'est fini.

I've painted something like 75 troops and 16 vehicles for this challenge, and I'm really proud of myself...although I'm ashamed to say I've not painted a single female figure this time. Mea culpa.

Thank you to everyone, and I hope to see you all next year. 

- ChrisK,

for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy.

From DaveD - Well nothing like going out with a bang! mighty fine!