From MartijnN: A very tiny Director's Challenge - 2mm TYW and Empire Steam Tank (Director's Chair) (91 points)

Last week I finally arrived at the Director's Chair and awaited, rather ironically, directions. The Show Lord asked me if I had anything in my collection that I'd been avoiding or putting aside due to its complexity, or because it seems intimidating. Ha! Talking about an embarrassment of riches! Answering the question alone was already a cause for stress by itself.

However. During this Challenge I have been following Ray's progress with his 2mm Almansa project with much interest. I have had in my collection quite a substantial number of Irregular's 2mm blocks for years, and have added tot that considerably since the advent of my 3D printer. However, I had not yet been able to find the courage to actually try painting any of them. There was my Show Lord's Challenge!

So, without further ado, I present my first ever 2mm troops:

These are from Irregular Miniatures' Thirty Year Wars packs. I bought two armies over time, an Imperial one and a French one, but to be honest I could not really tell the difference and I guess most types of troops will be found in most armies anyway. It was not, in the end, a very quick job. Because uniforms were largely unheard of in this period, I wanted the troops to have a rather mixed outlook. But that meant picking out 2mm figures and painting them in different colours, which in the end is rather time consuming. I suppose painting uniformed blocks will be a much quicker job.

Artillery and generals

Cavalry

Infantry

Actually, the sculpts themselves are really quite good. I honestly would not have expected to see muskets and crossbelts on figures this small, but they are there. Obviously, nobody is going to paint them (I didn't), and nobody would ever notice them, but they are there!

It was a learning experience. For instance, I love contrast paints, and they work for these figures, but in hindsight I probably should have used bolder colours, so traditional paints would have worked better. Also, because of the contrast paints, I undercoated them in a creamy white; a dark undercoat would have worked better in hiding any unpainted areas in dark shadows.

Still, I am not dissatisfied with this first attempt. On the table they work fairly well (provided that you can see the little rascals, that is).

I told the Show Lord I might have a little something to honour his latest project too, and that is this:

More than two decades ago I acquired a fair number of Warmaster figures, largely through Ebay when they still could be found at prices that did not require you to re-mortgage your house. As things go, I admired them, assembled the coolest model, the Steam Tank, and put the rest in a drawer somewhere. The Steam Tank ended up, unpainted, on a bookshelf in my study, and has moved to a new shelf in every study or hobby room in any house I ever lived in since, looking at me with reproachful eyes (or gun barrel, rather). So now, having seen Curt's wonderful Empire army, I decided that it was time to paint it. It is actually a very nice model to paint, so perhaps I should dig out the other Warmaster figures and have a go.

So that's it, my last contribution to this Challenge (bar the wrap-up post). My final map:

I will reserve the official thanksgiving for the wrap-up, but I had a great time again and will probably start prepping for the next Challenge in a week or so. For now, I'll just say thank you all for making this once again a fantastic experience!

Points:

Going on Ray's posts the 2mm bases should, I guess, net me 2.5 points each, and 0.5 for the generals, so:

- 25x 2mm bases @ 2.5 = 62.5 points 

- 5x 2mm generals @ 0.5 = 2.5

- 1x 10mm vehicle @ 3 = 3

- Director's Chair bonus= 20

Grand Total = 88 91points. And a final squirrel!

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I think you've provided us a wonderful Director's Chair submission, Martijn. SidneyR and I did some of these a few years back for a joint 30YW project, and I think your efforts here are better than ours. I especially like the minimalist green groundwork you've created. Something that many overthink and overdue with these tiny miniatures.

I also really like your Steam Tank! I've been having a great time working on my Warmaster Empire force and quite look forward to you showing us your efforts next Challenge. Who knows, maybe we can organize a game the next time Sarah and I visit the Low Countries.

Congratulations on completing the Challenge Studios and shattering your initial points target. Bravo!

- Curt