From SteveA: Cowboys at Church [New Acquisitions] (115 points)

Heya there, my first post here on the last possible day before getting the boot.  

To check out a 20 point challenge tome from the Front Desk and New Acquisitions  I have here a fist full of western gunslingers (mostly 3D prints from 3dbreed's  'Join or Die wanted collection'  along with a couple model finds from Thingaverse)  as well as a MDF model church from NorthernLightsTerrain which I had converted a bit by cladding it in stir-stick 'lumber' and cardboard 'shingles'. 

What I have painted up here are New Acquisitions because these are among the very newest additions to my pile of unpainted shame  potential....... representing a rare occurrence where my models are fully painted before receiving a layer of dust while awaiting the touch of a brush.  I'm happy to say it was only a mere few weeks between a conversation with ByronM about Western themed minis and games sparked getting these printed-up shortly before start of this year's challenge and posting them painted here now.

I'm not sure with what system these models will first give cause for me to roll some dice in a old west style shooty-shooty-bang-bang skirmish game. So in addition to these being among the quickest turnaround between acquired to painted in my collection, they are also the first set of models I completed painting before ever putting them into the field of play.

I learned a bit in this painting effort to push a the edges of my comfort zone, as this was the first time I used a variety of  Army Painter speed paints on models I finished, getting used to how each speed paint provided coverage and color, while also spending some time mixing speed paints for different shades of blues, browns and reds used here. I don't think I figured out yet  how to best get speed from these speed paints, but they did boost my rate of progress to be a tick quicker than that of a tortoise on a tea break.  Also, this is first time I painted with white on modules and terrain to any significant degree of satisfaction where I decided it was good enough to game with and time to move on to the next  in my pile of unpainted.

I started this painting effort on the first day of this year's challenge, working them as a batch of somewhat related color schemes.  I'd like to say a combination of xmas holiday and familiy events kept me away from my paints to delay readiness for my first post until now,  but I confess it was more due me getting back into the painting groove, trying out new "speed" paints and more than a few rounds of paint correction due to color experiments gone awry (and due to accidental pigment applications to unintended targets arising from unfortunate incidents of suboptimal brush control).  So now with my painting digits recalibrated, paint pots relocated, and ocular orbs re-sighted I aim to pick up the pace to stay on my total challenge points target, and prepare more models for future game tables.

Cowboys, Bandits, Marshalls (28 mm Foot Figure) 15x5pts = 75pts

Church  (Terrain) 5x7x8 inches, score as 6x6x6 inches @50% off due to simple color scheme  = 10 pts
Topic "New Acquisitions" =  20 pts

Total = 105 Pts

TeemuL: Welcome back to the Challenge Steve! It is a nice group of cowboys, bandits and marshalls to play with. I agree the "Speed" is sometimes not so obvious, especially when learning new things. But they do give some kind of a boost, I'd say. Unfortunately the Score Sheet (nor I) doesn't recognize "terrain with simple color scheme" so I must reward you with fully 20 points. Terrain scoring  is bit hazy and usually terrain is painted very simply (like hills for example) so I don't see any issues with rewarding you fully 20 points. But I might be more pedant in the future, if you don't add your Challenge Map. ;)