From ChrisW Pax Dwarven [500 POINTS]

This week we take a nostalgic ride to the late 1980's to some figures that I bought back then from RAFM. So, for 33 years, more or less, these have been languishing in a M&M box. Oh they have emerged from time to time had a limited amount of paint slapped on them (all vestiges being removed prior to this challenge), but really they have been out of site, though never entirely out of mind.

Limo ride 

She should pay for this ride. She is an Alternative armies 28mm Dwarf rogue. You are allowed one rogue in your Fantastic Battles army.

[1 x 28mm Dwarf rogue]

 

1980's retro studio [81 x 28mm dwarf warriors]

Recently, a few of us have started to play Fantastic Battles. The game uses multi figure bases with no figure removal for casualties. So far I have been using my WH based figures on 60mm by 60mm movement trays. However I decided it my be nice to have purpose based figures and I thought about these guys. They are markedly different from any other Dwarf figures that I own and were not likely to ever grace a WH table. Therefor affixing them to proper bases is not likely to cause future problems.

They are straightforward figures, not a lot of extra or extraneous details. This was really my first attempt to just sit down and paint 'regulars', three sets of 24 figures plus command. It went better than I thought it would, I manage to stay on topic, I did not get distracted just kept plugging away. Maybe I really could actually try my hand at painting more rank and file troops of a more historical nature.

So I now have 18 bases of Dwarf Roman style troops in 3 different styles/colours. In the game, a unit is composed of from 1 to 4 bases, so there is some flexibility in each of the groups of 6 bases. There are 24 rank and file, and 3 command figures per style/colour.

Waaaay back in the old days I had planned them to be three separate colour coded units: red, blue and green. These days I saw no reason to revise that plan. I did change the shields a bit, as they were originally going to match the uniform and while the red unit does the others do not so much.

 

At any rate I am quite happy that they are done. This was a Monday to Friday project that by Friday had become much more of a chore than a fun time. Thankfully that thrill of nearing completion reinvigorated me so that I could tackle the basing. A note on the basing, I am still working out how I want the bases to look, so for now they have just been flocked. I think some outcrops of rock, some loose stones and of course tufts will get added, just have to decide what style to use.

So I was going to leave it at that for this weeks entry, a focused entry with only one topic. However, I finished painting them early Friday afternoon and being who I am I just had to try to finish off a few more items. I started on some scuba figures, but found that after a week of painting those Dwarfs I just could not bring myself to start another project. So, I went to my grouping of done/nearly done figures. One figure, Otis, had actually been painted in week one, but I wanted to place him in a group of like minded figures. At any rate here is some more lunacy from me...

FREE RANGE CRAZIES [5 x 28mm escapees ranging freely]

That's Otis in the back center.

I believe they are mostly West wind figures, though I do not know where Otis came from, maybe RAFM. So, last week I  posted up some institutionalized inmates, this week some escapees will grace my post. It may seem odd that I have so many crazy figures (maybe it does not seem that odd) but I should add that these are not the only figures I have in straitjackets, that is  probably a bad thing..

HATCHET WIELDING MANIACS [5 x 28mm figures]

There is a theme to my posts of late. There were times this week that these figures really spoke to me, perhaps I should rephrase that...😕 A mix of figures here, 1 West wind, 2 RAFM and the guy in plaid is from a board game, maybe Mansions of Madness. It was my first time trying plaid, I think the best I can say is that one gets the sense of plaid.

Points total this time

• 20 points for the Limo ride
• 20 points for the Studio 
  
• 405 points for 81 x 28mm foot 
• 5 points for Dwarf rogue
• 25 points for 5 x 28mm roving lunatics
• 25 points for 5 x 28mm hatchet wielding crazies

Total of  500 points

Oh yes almost forgot, how does the directors chair assignment work? 

Squirrels this time around [+3]

1. Dwarf Roman style troops
2. Hatchet/axe wielding maniacs
3. Free range lunatics
   

 New squirrel total 35.

 Previous squirrels

1. Back of Beyond
   
2. Mad figures (Top hat toffs and companions)
3. Greek skeletons
4. Sisters of Sigmar
5. Ancient Germanic women
6. ECW cuirassiers
   
7. Monsters large
8. Post apocalypse
9. Tekumel Palanquin
10. Empire Pike
11. Jazz Band
    
12. French Cuirassiers on Mars
13. Court of Dr Koo
14. Movie makers
15. Gothic/movie Vampires 
16. Gladiators
17. Women rocket corp
18. Supers
    
19. Forest scenery
20. Robin Hood
21. Gorillas 
22. Dr and his pets
    
23. Nuns
24. The flying squad 
25. Mechanical spiders from Mars 
26. The Gorgons
    
27. Cthulhu creatures
28. Mad gardeners and their plants
29. Pulp mummies
30. Pulp Egyptian skeletons
31. Jason and the Argonauts
32. Asylum residents
    

So far we have had: 'Mad people in hats,' 'Mad doctor making mad monsters,' 'Monsters of Madness' 'Mad people in a garden,' 'Mad people inside an asylum,' 'Mad people outside an asylum' and 'Mad people with axes.' I don't want to read too much into this but....

Great work on the dwarven force. Speaking as someone who really prefers batch painting to doing lots of individuals, you would probably have found it less of a drag if you had done one unit per week rather than trying to do them all at once. Batch painting 80 or so figures would feel like a chore for even the maddest among us.

As for the director's chair, I suggest that you get in touch with the studio head himself. The show lord will give you your assignment as you have finished enough of the studio to qualify.