From Curt: 10mm Empire Artillery (21 Points)

Yes, it's me with yet another Empire entry, weee!! Today we have another support unit in the form of a battery of heavy artillery.

In the world of Warhammer, the army of the Empire is pretty much made up of regular baseline humans, so that means no troops with fancy inherent martial abilities, or huge scary monsters to fall back on. The regiments of the Empire must instead rely on iron discipline, a fatalistic faith in their cause, and lots of firepower. Lots and lots of firepower. Some of that firepower comes from the Steam Tanks, Volley Guns and Handgunners, but its the Empire's artillery park that are the long distance heavy hitters. Even an ancient dragon, a hulking giant, or a monstrous daemon is going to feel it if they get a direct hit from a 36 pounder. Guaranteed, it's gonna smart.

So, here is the first base of what will be several batteries of heavy guns for my Imperial force.

For the most part, this base is made up of old GW Warmaster castings, which I think still look great after all these years. Such fun to paint. 

I had fun with the base with the earth scorched dark by the fire of the guns.

While the gun and crew models are great, they are a bit bland just by themselves on the base. So I tarted them up by popping on an ammunition wagon, a 3D print from MinRat, and a tree from Thingiverse. 

And here is the collection to-date. Now, that's starting to look like a decent-sized detachment, or perhaps a wing of a larger army. Sure, there's more work to be done, but it's nice to see it beginning to come together.

For scoring, this base has three guns, one vehicle and a scattering of six gunners for a total of 21 points. 

Hopefully tomorrow will see some crossbowmen for the collection!

- Curt

From SimonM: Panzer IVs by "Battlefront Miniatures" + Books Studio Bonus (44 Points)

These three plastic 15mm Panzerkampfwagen IV tanks are sold by “Battlefront Miniatures” and can be found inside the company’s “Hit The Beach” starter set for “Flames Of War”. The models consist of three basic armoured vehicles equipped with "Bazooka Skirts", and will form part of a larger Panzer IV Tank Platoon for my German Beach Defence Company.

The medium tanks were assembled and glued straight onto some large bases before being re-primed with a double coat of "Vallejo" German Grey after an unsuccessful attempt to paint them with a camouflage colour scheme. They were then all washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and heavily dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" German Grey. Thinking the miniatures looked a tad bland and uninteresting, I subsequently gave them a lighter dry-brush of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey.

With the basics completed, I decided to 'pick out' a few of the models' details such as spades, stowage, tow-cable and extra pieces of tank-track using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil" or "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. In addition I painted each Panzer IV's machine gun and rear-situated muffler with "Vallejo" Gunmetal and shaded these parts in "Citadel" Nuln Oil and Agrax Eathshade respectively.

I also pigmented the tank's tracks with some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and daubed them with "Citadel" Rakarth Flesh so as to help blend the muddy caterpillar treads into my basing palette once 'drowned' in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Finally, I applied some decals across the Panzer IV's using the guidance given in the excellent hardback book "Colours Of War" by "Battlefront Miniatures".

Having previously used Sarah's Limousine to travel to the Books Studio I thought these historical pieces would be perfect to bag my second Blue Pass by tying in to Cornelius Ryan's non-fictional book "A Bridge Too Far". As I'm sure you're aware this book was later turned into a marvellous Oscar-nominated motion picture by Sir Richard Attenborough.

Three x 15mm scale Vehicle = 24 Points

Books Studio Bonus = 20 Points

Total = 44 Points

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Excellent work on these workhorse panzers, Simon, and a nice tie-in with 'A Bridge Too Far'. I actually liked the look of your early camo efforts, but I can understand wanting to try something different if you just weren't feeling it. Will you be doing more in this period?  I hope so.

- Curt

From TeemuL: The Last Rohans (30 points)

"Here we have more riders of Rohan, on their way to the great outdoor studio. Yes, Murin and Drar will make an appearance in the Pelennor Fields as I told you earlier. No more elfs there, though. It is about the time to take the comic-sidekick-label out of the dwarfs and show them as serious heroes who can fight and drink all night! I need to leave you for a moment, the main director of the Studio has an important announcement, most likely some fresh Oscar winners have been casted to our lovely movie! I'll be right back and then we can continue our tour."

I guess I will not achieve my points target this year, but I'm making great progress on my Ikea box. The dwarfs I finished last week and now I have the last Rohans from the box. There are still a number of lovely Mithril minis there, but I knew I won't be painting all of the during the Challenge. I'm also working on my Director's Chair entry, so I should be able to finish this Theme Target, too. But time is running out, the end of the winter is close and the points target is too much. The absences in March and the usual slacking took their toll. After this post I plan to post the Director's Chair entry and then one other post to publish the rest and give the latest (last?) updates from Murin and Drar movie.

Here we have neglected bunch of Rohans, these were left last, because they were missing parts. Earlier in the Challenge I sculpted some flags and horns and I could have done that again, but I'm out of time. These chaps are mostly missing shields, so I just filed the studs away and they will be shieldless warriors. If I want to optimize my list, I can save one point, when the shield is not included. Cunning, I know. The lonely rider is combined from two models, one had broken horse and other a broken rider, so I managed to separate them and glue the unbroken pieces together.

There are 4 models on foot and 1 mounted model, all in 28, so that would be 30 points.

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Wonderful work Teemu! I like your idea of fielding these brave fellows without shields. It reflects them being shattered in combat AND as you say, it craftily shaves a few point offs for your list. I think you've had a great Challenge, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with in our final days before close.

- Curt

From SarahHC: Lady Sarah’s Space Yacht (8 points)

Hi Everybody!

Today, I present a luxury Space Yacht, part of Lady Sarah’s Transportation Service which was the preferred mode of transport around Chalrlenge 12 Quadrant.

After searching for a suitable 3D print, I found this steampunk inspired space ship on My Mini Factory. Thankfully, my personal 3D printer engineer agreed that this was indeed a cool ship and my print request would head to the top of the printing queue.

I wanted the yacht to be both elegant yet formidable. There also had to be an appropriate area for Chief Flight Attendant Tamsin to wheel the drinks trolley … priorities!

I do think that deck area on the Space Yacht has seen some drinks trolley-related shenanigans, but like Las Vegas - what happens on the Space Yacht stays on the Space Yacht …..

Yay! Cool space yacht printed and now to work out the paint scheme. I knew that I wanted to mash up futuristic space technologies with the classic style from the Age of Sail. So, of course that meant metallics and wood.

The space yacht was primed with gesso, then dry brushed grey, then multiple coats of ivory. Once I decided on which fiddly details would be metallic, these details were painted black (again).

I used Emerald Getaway colour shifting paint on the front and side armour panels and Toxic Purple on the exposed pipes/exhaust system. For a little fun, I added some Burning Gold colour shift paint to random parts of the HVAC system.

For the wood grain, I used Aggaros Dunes Contrast,  and on the canvas sail, a couple coats of an ivory craft paint followed by Apothecary White as a highlight.

Once again, my ambitions nearly defeated my modest painting skills. I took my time as I figured out the colours and actually paid attention when Curt offered his ideas about paint techniques. I may not have entirely followed his suggestions… but definitely paid enough attention that I feel I have learned some nifty new tricks!

Points wise, Curt suggests that this should be the equivalent of a 15mm vehicle, so that should place it at 8 points.

Thanks for reading

Happy Wednesday!

- Sarah

Cool looking Space Yacht. The colour-shift paints give it a nice SF aesthetic, good choice. One thing to bear in mind when painting is that while suggestions and advice from more experienced painters can be helpful, it is ultimately the decision of the painter how they want their finished model to look. Trying new things and finding your own favourite techniques is part of the fun.

- StuartL

From FrederickC - Medieval German Army for De Bellis Antiquitatis [Director's Chair] (162points)

 There is now less than a week left in the challenge, and I have been knocked out of 'The Top Ten'. Will I be able to claw my way back against the fierce competition of the 'Power Painters'? Too many factors out there to make a prediction.

Ten days ago I received an email from the Snow Lord that read as follows - "Okay, do you have anything that you've been avoiding for whatever reason, or perhaps something that you've been meaning to get to, but it's always managed to slip back to the rear of your hobby desk? Let's do something along those lines so I can tease out an Oscar level performance from you."

I give you the animated movie, 'Ritter Trenk' which I hope will fit the bill.  

'Ritter Trenk' from 2015

My submission is a De Bellis Antiquitatis army for the High Medieval Period, specifically IV/13(a) Medieval German 1106 - 1235CE consisting of 1 x 3Knights (General), 4 x 3Knights that can dismount to 4Blades, 4 x 4Spear, 1 x 4Crossbow, and 2 x 2Psiloi(Skirmishers). This is another army that has been sitting in the 'Pending' tray for at least quarter century. I had bought it as an alternative to my Teutonic Order army that I had been using in a local biannual DBA tournament, but never got beyond the priming stage. It gathered dust for many years in a tray on top of my filing cabinet before being put in a storage box where it was 'out of sight, out of mind', keeping my unpainted Spartan army company until now.

The figures are all Gladiator Miniatures from prior to the line being taken over by Black Hat Miniatures. Since 2018 they have been available from Fighting15s. While some of the figures look a bit chunky, I liked the attention to detail that the sculptor put into the armour. The only down side was that the mounted figures don't come with spears, so I had to make them from florist wire. I probably thought I needed to have bright colours on the figures, so I had primed them in white rather than black so many years ago. They were painted using Vallejo acrylics, including all the shield designs. The foot figures looked a little too clean, so they got a wash of Citadel Seraphim Sepia at the end. Here is the final result.

 

IV/13(a) Medieval German 1106 - 1235CE

5 stands of Knights with the General in the center

A side view to show off the shield designs

4 stands of dismounted Knights that count as Blades

4 stands of Spears

1 stand of Crossbows and 2 stands of Psiloi

 

The points being claimed are as follows:

40 x 15mm foot figures @ 2 points = 80 points 

15 x 15mm mounted figures @ 4 points = 60 points 

1 x Director's Chair @ 20 points = 20 points

I may try to squeeze out one more small submission before the deadline. Otherwise, I will see you all on the 'flip size' for the post-challenge wrap up. Cheers.

A wonderful set of medieval figures and a great entry for the Director's Chair. Hand painting shields on 15mm seems like a lot of work, so I have added a couple of bonus points to your total.

- StuartL

From MikeF - Horus Heresy Militia Tanks - 85 points

 One of my ongoing projects is my Imperial Guard / Traitor Militia for Horus Heresy. It's a simple olive green paint job that goes on quick and looks decent. Late last year I painted up some Alternative Armies Ion Age Retained Knights to represent Rogue Trader humans in power armor to be used for the Age of Darkness H H rule set.  I decided they needed some transports, so dug out some old rhinos and gave them a 30k makeover with bits from Blood & Skulls Industry. The rhinos are about 20 years old and were originally for my Salamanders Army. They were then repainted and then stripped. As such, they were in rough shape. Here are some work in progress pictures.

The resin parts come in several pieces and you have to saw off the Rhino exhaust pipes to fit the new bits on. It was actually pretty easy, so long as you have a small saw. Here are the completed rhinos:

28mm Infantry is for scale only

The Eye of Horus displayed prominently.

I also picked up the new plastic Land Raider Proteus for Horus Heresy and painted it up for the command squad. I went light on the upgrades as this army is lucky Horus gave them a Land Raider at all!

 

4 x 28mm vehicles for 80 Points

I also added up my total points to date and I should be at 410 including the above submission. Not sure where those extra 140 points came from, but I fear someone else may have been shorted.

Not sure if I'll get a final entry done in time, but I'll do my best.

Thanks for visiting.

Fantastic looking AFV's for your Militia, your men must be honoured by the Warmaster's generosity in granting them a Land Raider.

Miles has only been absent for a day and already there are claims of points irregularities and abuse of the system. Luckily for you, Miles didn't pick just any old minion to cover his shift, he picked me! After a thorough search of the Spreadsheet of Doom, I managed to track down the culprit, assign the points to their rightful owner and wrap things up with a neat little bow on them for Miles upon his return from the financial frontlines. It looks like another minion entered the wrong number into the spreadsheet and you were awarded the points by mistake. As a reward for your honesty, I have added a few bonus points to your total. 

- StuartL

From BruceR; More bayonets with armor support project complete (160 pts)

With Winter stubbornly refusing  to give up to Spring, I opened the dungeon to my gaming chums.  I've only played a few Chain of Command games and would prefer this to Bolt Action, but I'll play what the group enjoys and that is Bolt Action.  So Last Sunday and this past Saturday we played BA.  4 wheel drive required to get to my house (in town) Saturday, but most of us have 4 wheel living in the North.  So, with playing I naturally gravitate to the pile of opportunity for the period played (WWII).  Back to my Italians.  I had the command and one squad left of the Great Escape Games and knocked them out.   

The view of the drift outside the dungeon on Saturday morning.  About 5 foot, so why not game and paint.

Continuing on with my Russian Front Italians.  To crank these out, I've again used contrast for a bulk of the miniatures.  Some flesh highlights and few others to get the end result.  I did make the choice to vary the soft caps, setting a background my lads had freed a supply of Russian winter head gear.  The green sets off the grey of the uniforms IMHO.  

Squad #3 (some of the command got mixed in the squad photo)

Squad leader sporting a magnifico mustache, directing the LMG.   

The platoon leaders Mario, Luigi, and Franco.  These miniatures are great.  I love the faces and different poses.  Yelling is a prerequisite of any good officer/NCO.  One is reaching into his goodie bag and the other working the slide on his side arm.   Great figures.   The tufts are gamers grass.  

A gaming buddy, who moved from the great white North, built Italians a few years ago and gifted me some of his extra armor so why not.   I did try to spice up the photo a bit with back ground.  

These were base coated with a lighter green base and hit them with diluted (with Windsor Newton thinner) burnt umber oils.  The oils are applied and immediately whipped away to leave the weathered and grimy look.  I than highlight with sponge.  Some brown added with the makeup brush to give Russian road dust.  No decals so had to hand paint the markings.  

One Carro Armato M13/40 and one Autoblinda AB41.  Both old Warlord resin, so minor gluing and building.  Much to my taste.

The same chum gifted or threw away to me a box of Warlord infantry.  When I opened the box I found they also had Bersaglieri heads.  What force does not need some elites.  I wanted them to look a little worn so used some non-feathered heads.  These I painted in my old way of black undercoat.  Block in the colors.  Wash with either Agrax or Army Painter Strong Tone. Highlight with the basic color and done. 

Who doesn't like Elites sporting feathers and big bushy mustachos?

NCO with LMG and loader.  Corporal reaching for a lucky strike.  

Assault section.  Loading, firing, charging, and lobbing grenades.  I read Italian grenades were red.  Helps the figure pop, even if not correct.  

  

I hate to see the challenge end, but I'm really tired of winter and will welcome spring.  Hopefully my group gets time to play some Stalingrad games allowing me to get the Italians on the board.  Always fun to play with what you paint.   Project complete.  Many more to come I hope.

Points.

24 28mm @ 5                    =  120

2 28mm @ 20 AFV's         =    40

Total                                        160

Great looking work on these Italians, they look positively chilly. The armoured car and the tank came out very nicely, I should try that oil wash technique myself some time.

- StuartL