SkullWatch XIV 3

StuartL consolidates his strong lead, and there's a bit of jostling further back. A few new entrants, and I think a slight tilt to fantasy over scifi.

• StuartL 315
• Barks 128
• DavidB 29
• CurtC 17
• PaulOG 19
• TeemuL 10
• MikeW 7
• GregB 6
• ReillyOG 6
• GeoffreyT 1

Notable skullz:

ArthurS shows us sauruses with skully helms

I, myself, was unable to resist this colossal cranium

BrettM has these classic skellie sculpts

DavidB's 'Axehole' sports a few skullz

JimG has a wonderfully weathered industrial skull.

KyleC's Chaos Warriors  have some skully motifs...

...whilst his champion screams "Skullz for the skull duel!"

Millsy knows ogres like skullz.

All the best ogres have skullz.

Former Skull Champion PaulOG shows us how it is done...

... and has passed it on to ReillyOG

If no sculpted skull, StuartL uses transfers...

... whilst PeterB paints his on.

ThomasG has subtle orkanography

... and TomL sneaks one into his colourful ratmen.

To enter, tag your post with 'Skull Duel' and state in the post both how many skullz you have painted, and what your running total is. Feel free to enter the duel at any time in the Challenge.

Skull of the Week:

Even in death, we still serve as GregB's fashion accessories.

From Rhunt - Rebel Troopers (168 pts)

This week's entry is Star Wars Legion Rebels from Atomic Mass Games. I recently started playing Rebels, like my dad. I was playing clones but they didn't really fit my play style. The rebels seem to be better.

24 Rebel Troopers. Ready to die gloriously and loudly for the Rebellion.

I painted these in a desert camouflage pattern. There is one Pathfinder in here as well. These are really cheap troops so they are great for filling the 3 core slots you have to take or for carrying heal-bots or special weapons. They die very fast though.

The same from the other side.

I only have two pictures because my dad has the flue and he said to tell you all that he's mailing it in this week. I think that means he's being lazy since he doesn't feel good.

This is 24 x 32mm models at seven points each = 168 pts.

Rhys.. wow! Amazing work here! Love me some Star Wars Legion models, and these are fantastic! And we can see you took the basing comment into consideration, as they look so well uniformed, and fit so nicely together here. Great job here!

Am sure you will enjoy playing rebels over Clones. A bit more straightforward force to play with, and their core are quite good overall. More so when painted up like you have done here. 

And goes without saying that this powerbomb of a points drop is the best way to round out the Sunday crew here. Thanks for the post today!

168 pts for you. 

Kyle

From ScottR December Painting (470 Points)

Well its taken awhile to get thinks started this year.  However, I managed to get my Wild West painting sorted out to run a game from Wargames Foundry called 'Rules with No Name'.  I had painted up some western figures during my year studying in the UK.  I then attended a game at Historicon last year and really enjoyed it.  So for the start of the challenge I figured I would add all the painting work i have been doing for the game.

So here is the Town for the first game.  Most of the buildings here were painted for the game.  The mexican style buildings on the left side have not been finished yet.  

This was the table layout for the second game after the cactus plants and outcrops had been printed and painted.

First off, i managed to pick up a few MDF buildings at Historicon and they sat around until I had the time to get them done.  I spent half a day just building them and working out what they needed to be, Undertaker, Bank etc.  I base coated them in a few different browns and then went on to do the different colour frontages.  After that was some minor detail work like windows, doors and posters.  Here are some photos of the MDF buildings.

The centre building.  The Barber shop even had some NPCs done up to add some character.  This included a barber and a customer in the barber chair.

The barber, customer, chair, wagon, barrels and standing horses are all 3D prints.  The two figures are metals with one from Colonel Bills and the other is from Wargames Foundry I think.

Part of the game is to have factions consisting of three, four or five members.

These are the lawmen, 3D prints.

Comanches', 3D prints.

Comancheros, 3D prints.

Oh and While I dont have a Saloon yet, I do have some of the staff with these Can Can Girls and the Piano and Piano player, also 3D prints.

I needed some specific terrain to give the table the proper look.  The next step was to find some suitable terrain pieces to add to the game table.   I found some individual Cactus's and clusters which printed and painted up nicely.  A wagon, some horses, water troughs and barrels.  I need to find some more items and add some extras later but for now. here is what's been done.

Final casting, getting ready for the undercoat.

  

So here is the game in progress with one of the new buildings and the cactus adding a bit of character to the table.

Ok so now for the second part of the article.  Yes I could have done a completely new article but hey.  

Next up.  A few of us are old 40K players and decided after 10 years to jump back into 10th edition.  For me I started with a Sisters of Battle Force, a few marines on the side and for a second force the Eldar which are now called Aeldari.  I managed to finish off some small units to fit out my 1000 point starting force.

So like all, there is always the preparation.  With Games Workshops new plastic miniatures, I like the build these days.  They are easier to clean and the figures go together really well.  There is a little bit of gap filling to be done but this is fairly easy to do.

Then of course base coating or undercoating and then the real fun begins with the painting.

First up was a unit of Dire Avengers.  This were done with a two layer coat of citadel contrast paint to give it the dark but rich blue that they are best known for.

The next unit off the bench was a unit of wraithguard.  these were fairly easy to do as they have far less attachments and they consist of mainly wraithbone armour and weapon system.

The last unit out and by far one of my favourites was a unit of Howling banshees.  The red hair on these is awesome.  I tried to keep the brightness with a small amount of shade at the base only.

I have included the 3 veteran blade guard marines I did as test figures.  The armour colour was taken from a mix of Imperial Fists and Salamanders.  I have kept the Salamander iconography and written a small amount of lore to support the establishment of a sub chapter of the Salamanders called the Basilisks.

So thats it for this one.  Up next will be some more 40K.  With the Eldaeri done for now, well a few more but not a priority.  No, next up will be some Thousand Sons.  Rubic Marines, Scarab Terminators, Ahriman, chaos spawn and an infernal master.

As to points:

5 Buildings that are 5" x 11" so say 30 points each = 150 points
1 building 4" x 3" 10 points
Scatter cactus terrain 8 pieces 20 points.
2 walkways 6" long by 2"wide each so 12 x 4 maybe 10 points
Carriage vehicle 15 or 20 points
Cactus large pieces x 3 each is about 5-6" round say 15 each for 45 points
24 western 28mm figures 5 each for 120 points
20 40K figures 5 each for 100 points

Total points 470 points roughly, maybe....

_____________________________________________

In the flurry of under-the-wire posts last week I regrettably forgot to upload this one from Scott - my most sincere apologies sir!

You may have been holding back but the wait was well worth it. Wow, what a tremendous amount of wonderful work. Your Western town along with its various protagonists and antagonists are excellent, though I must say my favourites have to be your large cactus bases - those outcrops are magnificent. 

With the outriders of Eldar and Space Marines on offer I very much look forward to seeing your upcoming 40K submissions. 

Well done, Scott!

- Curt