From ByronM - New Acquisitions: Turnip28 Snobs (30 Points)

Last year, just before the challenge began, Curt introduced me to the insanity that is Turnip28. I got so excited about it that I painted up a unit last year just to give it a go.  However it was so late into my planning that I could only commit to a single unit last year.  That changes this year though, as I aim to complete a whole force for T28.

In fact, once committed I got to printing everything up to get ready for the challenge in October/November.  That is where these two dashing gentlemen come from, fresh off the printer and ready for paint are my 2 toadies/snobs for my force.

One has a very napoleonic feel to him while the other is more of a preacher kind of vibe to me.

I will be using the napoleonic one as the snob taking care of my forthcoming artillery, as his crooked scope should work nicely to counteract the crooked cannon barrel (that's how science works, right???).

The preacher will be in charge of the existing Radish worshiping Fodder that I painted last year, hence his red cloak.  It also looks a little fitting as I started him on Christmas, so has a little bit of a Saint Nic vibe going.

Being newly printed (acquired) miniatures I am going to count these for the new acquisition section of the library for 20 bonus points, and add that to the 5 points each for these 28mm figures.  Once again though, at the beginning of the challenge I have forgotten how to take decent pictures (yet again!!) so please excuse how bad these are, I will get it all sorted out of the next few posts.

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Ahh, such Rooty Goodness - The Great Tuber will be very pleased. 

Wonderful work Byron! I admire the buzzard on the shoulder of the red-robed fellow, but I'm partcularly taken by the chap sporting the big bicorne, epic epaulettes and the slightly timid telescope (I'm sure there's a root-based remedy for that...). An most excellent pair. I look forward to the upcoming Fodder!

- Curt

From MilesR: Conquistadors, Aztecs and Lizardmen, an Overdue Library Challenge Submission 135 points

 

I've had these figures primed for at least 2 maybe even 3 years so I think they qualify as an Overdue Library submission.  All of these figures are plastics from Atlantic models and were my first attempt at using speed paints in a "production mode"

In the front rank are 12 Conqustadors with various weapons and rather shabby armor.

Behind them are 5 lizard men and 6 Aztecs.  Why Lizardmen - because they look cool - is there really any better reason?

I'll likely use these figures as a mordheim crew of some kind and will add to there ranks over the course of this year's Challenge

Lets see that's 23 figures 28mm infantry figure for 115 Points and 20 for the overdue Library challenge.  That's 135 points.

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It's wonderful to have our infamous spreadsheet archeo-mage and latent (with the stress on 'late') minion step onto the Challenge XIV stage. Welcome Miles! :)

A very nice mix of minis my friend. I agree wholeheartedly about the Lizardmen (and Aztecs for that matter) - they ARE just cool - enuf said. Also, thank you for bringing to my attention these wonderful Atlantic Conquistadores. I'm especially keen to get my mitts on a set, thinking that they'll fit nicely for my Great Siege of Malta collection. A solid opening volley for your campaign up the points roster, Miles! Well done!

From PaulSS - New Acquisitions - M16 MGMC and M20 Scouts - 44pts

 

Last years challenge I painted up both US and German forces for O Group. I'm ashamed to say that since those forces were done, they have played exactly one game and I've not done anything else with them, so I'm I could claim the "Overdue and Returns" bonus here. However, I decided that Challenge XIV would see me revisiting this project so I placed an order on Pendraken last month, hence 'New Acquisitions', and you'll (hopefully) be seeing more troops added to the forces over the coming weeks.

First up is a pair of M16 MGMC to provide close air defence for the Americans. This is a lovely crisp model and a really easy paint job.

One of the stowage packs allowed for quite a bit of variety in the vehicles, I do think they would have been better with some crew sculpted in them.

The other pair of vehicles are M20 Scout/Utilities, these seem to be older castings and the detail a bit more "soft" on these, but they came out ok after a lick of paint.

Four12mm vehicles at 6pts each plus the location bonus should net me 44 more points towards my total and break me into double figures.

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Great work on these little Yanks, Paul! In looking at these vehicles, it illustrates the American tendency to just plop on a .50 cal on anything that rolled. Incredible.

- Curt

From TomC: Ranging In [History] (38 points)

Hello everyone, good to see you all again and to see the Challenge off to a wonderful start! I myself have been a little slower off the mark, a period away with family has kept me otherwise occupied so looking to make up some lost time with my first entry, four 28mm IJA infantry from Warlord Games's Bolt Action range.

 These are three artillery spotters from their forward observation team and a slightly incongruous flamethrower-armed soldier. He did ship with an assistant but said assistant is in much more of a 'spotting' pose so I have reassigned him to a mortar team and left his flame-throwing comrade on his lonesome (perhaps safer?).

 I found all sorts of different painting guides online but little consensus other than that Vallejo English Uniform was more appropriate than the more temptingly named Japanese Uniform WWII, so that was about the only element I relied on, the rest is improvised from squinting at various sources and I make no representations as to accuracy! I did enjoy painting this little group, it's been good to get back into the swing of painting after a preparatory period of sticking my fingers together...

The scoring should be relatively simple for today's gang: three upright 28mm miniatures at 5 points apiece with a further prone 28mm miniature at 2.5 points, in the History section for a bonus 20 points and a grand total of 37.5 points. 

 Now to keep this up!

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Welcome back Tom!

Fabulous work on these Japanese infantry. Your brushwork is wonderfully crisp and smooth, really benefiting these models. I especially like the fellow on the rangefinder and the one with the binoculars, looking back and signalling to his mates. As he's semi prone I'm going to round your score out to an even 40. Well done!

- Curt

 

From PaulSS - History - Bijleveld's Battery - 110pts

 

Capitaine Bijleveld's battery of Dutch-Belgian horse artillery was one of the first units of the Anglo-allied army in action at the Battle of Quatre-Bras on the 16th June 1815 when they supported the Nassauers driving off the French cavalry advancing on Frasnes. Two days later they were again in action at the Battle of Waterloo in support of van Bylandts brigade. 

The figures are from the Perry Miniatures range and are very nice sculpts but do take a little cleaning up.

Some shots of the individual pieces:

I'll leave this post with a parting shot of a targets eye view.

Twelve 28mm foot figures, three guns and the History location bonus should add another 110pts to my total.

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Fabulous work on these Dutch-Belgian artillery bases, Paul! Beautiful, clean brushwork on their uniforms and the guns themselves. Very nice and an excellent entry for the Historical topic. Well done!

- Curt

From SimonG: Premier Post of Praetors (50 points, Legions duel)

It's wonderful to be back again and finally have my first submission ready. I have at least managed to prepare this time around and have dozens of Chinese restaurant plastic trays full of assembled and undercoated miniatures ready to go including a brand new project and context.

First up however is a continuation and extension of my Jewish Wars project -- after doing a series of skirmish figures I discovered that there is a set of army lists for Impetus for this conflict so I'm starting on an Impetus based set of armies for the first Jewish Revolt. In addition to exploring this period I will also have a early imperial Roman army that can be put up against all manner of other opponents.

The first submission of this project is a trio of Roman leader figures. They are all Victrix plastics assembled straight up -- nice characterful figures, maybe the horses are a bit too chunky but they look cute!

I've also finally (after four years) discovered how to expand depth of field in macro photography (long exposures on a timer, duh!) so have been able to do away with the time and complexity of focus stacking.

One thing I really like is painting horses -- every one is a chance to explore a new coat and combination of markings and I'm particularly pleased with these two, and the spots on the gray really make it come to life (although it does look as if it belongs on a carousel!)

My thanks as always to Curt and the minions and the theme of library is really positive -- donation was made to Multnomah County libraries in Portland, OR where we used to live and my wife was a volunteer -- unfortunately the libraries here in the UK are in a dire state. It also strikes me that what we are doing with our painting and gaming is telling stories as well -- each miniature encapsulates its own tale and I really like thinking about what the character might have been up to to end up looking this way -- looking forward to sharing more stories with you all.

Points wise it's three 28mm mounted figures plus a 20 point Historic AHPC Library bonus for 50 in total plus my first contribution to the Legions and their auxilia duel.

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Welcome back and wonderful work, Simon! 

This trio of mounted Romans look fabulous. I love how you picked out the details of their armour, barding and musculature - really excellent work and fine additions to your marvellous Jewish Revolt project. Also, thank you for donating to the libraries in Multnomah County. That's wonderful to hear and I'm sure much appreciated by them.

Oh, and if you haven't already, remember to notify Paul to your points for the Legion duel. You can use the link on the right sidebar to let him know.

- Curt

From TomL: Modern Civilians, Overdue and Returns (75 points )

I am another long time watcher who decided to join this year. For various reasons I have painted very little the last few years so I am hoping to reverse that trend with the AHPC this year. First entry for me is at the Overdue & Returns desk.

Purchased long ago from a LAF posting for a doomed pulp project around 2010, these are 28mm  “Unarmed Civilians” originally from Akuna miniatures. Most of these sculpts are now with Crooked Dice. These are painted mostly with contrast paints except where I hated the coverage and repainted it with Foundry paints (first figure). Originally primed black, I experimented with a heavy drybrush of white as opposed to priming again with white. Not 100% sure that was a good idea for some colors but overall I am happy.

These figures have a lot of character. I think the Box guy & Mr Cargo pants are my favorite.

Having cleared this group from their long wait, I will jump on the library cart and head over to History to save the final remnants of my canceled Sudan project .  Accompanying me will be a 28 mm Bob Murch Daughters of the Empire figure (PHP-22).

For scoring, I have:

7x28mm minis = 35 points

Overdue & Returns = 20 points

Library Cart = 20 points

Total = 75 Points

 

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It's wonderful to have you with us this year, Tom! Welcome aboard!

These are great looking civilians. I too quite like Mr. Cargo Pants and Box Boy, though The Photographer is excellent as well. I love Bob Murch's stuff and this Daughter of the Empire does no dissappoint. You've done her proud. I like the yellow sun hat and her burgundy vest. Yeah, I find Contrast Paints seem to work to their strength on small areas, or with figures that have a lot of texture, in order to allow of their 'wash' quality to do its thing, otherwise I find I'm in for a few streaky coats, hoping for the best. Nevertheless, these look the business - well done!

- Curt

AdamC- History Jean Bart and Richelieu (22 Points)

Greetings once again Challengers and Challenge Fans I'm off to a typically slow start with kids and the Holliday madness.  I hope you all had a good Christmas here is an shot of the family for those who may wish it. The one to one miniatures are progressing admirably. 

Ok on to my small first offering. Two French Battleships.  Last year I did the USS Massachusetts this year we add her only Battleship opponent of the war the French Battleship Jean Bart from the Naval Battle of Casablanca.  

Jean Bart was not quite finished at the time of the fall of France but French Shipyard workers got her ready enough for sea to sail to Casablanca to keep her out of German (and British perhaps) hands.  

Facilities where not quite up to finishing a battleship in Casablanca so the French made do.  Plugging her unfinished gun emplacements with concrete and turning her into floating Battery. 

Photo of Jean Bart taken by an unknown American pilot from USS Ranger.   

Despite some serious handicaps (being stationary and don't believe she had all her fire control   Jean Bart did manage to land hits on the USS Massachusetts though no serious damage or casualties were caused (Massachusetts is a lucky ship).   Still it was a gallant if somewhat misguided effort.  Between Massachusetts and Ranger she was put out of action and remained out of action until after the war final coming into full commission in 1949. 

The Richelieu by comparison was completed and commissioned in the early days of World War II.  She fled to Dakar where she had to fight off (successfully) several British attempts to either disable her to keep her from joining the Germans.

After the Colonial empire of France joined the Free French Richelieu was repaired and refitted at the Brooklyn Navy yard.   She went on serve in the Free French Navy working with the Royal Navy. 

1/2400 scale ships are 1 point 2 points each with another 20 for history so 22 points and hope you have enjoyed my first entry of the 14th Challenge. 

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First, welcome back to the Challenge, Adam! That's a wonderful pic of you and your family. 

It's great to have you continuing your naval interests from previous years. Great work on these two French battlewagons, backed with interesting history of their WWII service. Well done!

- Curt