From Curt - Oni Villains for 'Hametsu' (35 points)

Back to my Hametsu project. Here are five Oni demons to pit as villains against our intrepid heroes. This is the the first group of five.

I wanted a motley bunch of rogues for the Oni, thinking they should all be unique in their overall look. Thankfully, there are a load of suitable models available on Myminifactory, so I was fairly spoiled for choice.

I printed these at 40mm to make them a little more opposing when set against the character figures which are around 30-35mm. The red edge on the base is to denote their 180 degree field of vision in the game.

These 5 red nasties should give me 35 points to add to my tally.

Thanks for popping in. I hope you have a great weekend!

- Curt

From Millsy: Very nice indeed Curt! Oni are such an iconic creature from Japanese mythos and the raft of different ways they can be represented is one of the most interesting facets from a modelling perspective for me. You've got a great bunch here, ranging from the more humanistic versions right through to the more beasty types, all tied together with a great colour scheme. If I had to pick a favourite it would be number two who has a distinctly Hellboy vibe for me. Lovely brushwork mate and another 35 points for your tally!

Duels and Side Challenges Update 2

Just past the halfway mark and some new leaders are emerging as the competition heats up...

Legions and Auxillia

• AlanD 600 - showing us why he is the Dux Humonculorus
• PaulOG 465 (and proud of it!)
• StuartL 350
• GregB 210
• SimonG 80
• SebastianR 2

Modern Things

• DaveD 40 - showing the rest of us up for crusty old folks!

The Old World...is heating up!

• Curt 480
• Tom 125
• SanderS100
• PaulOG 75
• ReillyOG 25

Really Little Guys...some big numbers on small models

• Curt 480
• Sylvain 476
• DaveD 305
• MartijnN 228
• EdwardG 180
• Sebastian 36.5
• Greg 18

Big Stompy Robots of Death

• Still nil entries submitted thus far!

Squirrels (till relatively quiet compared to previous years)

• MikeW 5
• KerryT 4
• ChrisW 3

Ray's homage to the really awesome Napoleon Movie

• Kent 1130
• DaveD 305
• Millsy 255
• EdwardG 155

Skully McSkullface's update to follow...when he is good and ready!

Remember - no form, no points! (yes you can do so retroactively). Submit or be crushed mercilessly by your adversaries!

From StuartL - Bio-Booster Armor Guyver - Manga & Library Cart (85 Points)

Hello again,

    For my last post today I have a bunch of 3d printed minis for you. My first model and the price of admission to the Manga section of the library is a 3d Print from a maker called Papsikels over on MyMiniFactory. Papsikels makes a range of SF and Anime inspired minis and has a large catalogue to choose from.

    Back when I was a teenager, anime and manga were just starting to become popular in the UK. I had seen anime before (most notably G-Force, or Gatchaman as the original Japanese show was titled), but after Akira proved to be a big hit, there were suddenly a lot of anime shows being broadcast and not all of them were cartoons for young kids. One of my favourites was the Guyver series, a story about a nerdy kid who winds up in possession (or possessed by in some cases) an armoured suit of alien origin that turns him into an unstoppable killing machine. He then winds up fighting a bunch of alien monstrosities and the like and then the series abruptly ends after only 12 episodes. It turns out though, that while the animated show only lasted for half a season, the manga ran for about 25 years. The series isn't finished yet, but has been on hiatus since 2016.

    Sadly the print didn't come out perfectly and the backs of the shoulders are a mess, so you only get a front shot. I've asked my friend to reprint it, but as I have made a lot of other requests, it is unlikely I'll get the mini before this challenge ends.

    To bulk out this post a bit, I have some more cyberpunk minis. Again, these are 3d prints and they are from Papsikels and Unit9 over on MMF. For these figures and the two girls I showed in my other two posts today, I wanted to try out something new. 

    I am not, by any standards, a great painter. I usually go for base, wash and highlight and that is it. I do watch YouTube videos about painting, but that is more for background noise than any desire to improve. Recently though, I saw a video by a painter called Ninjon about using odd coloured base-coats instead of the more traditional method. The idea is that you do a zenithal undercoat (I used black paint with a light grey drybrush), followed by contrast paints. For each of these minis I used 3 different colours of contrast and applied them roughly over large areas of the mini, though not following any particular design or style. After that, I went over the minis and highlighted them with the colours I wanted that part of the mini to be. This leaves you with a lot of colourful and strange looking shadow areas. I don't think I followed the YouTube tutorial exactly right, but I'm happy enough with the outcome to do it again.

    
    I like the colourful effect that it gives the minis and I think that it works quite well for this particular genre. I probably wouldn't use it for fantasy or historical minis. The effects can be seen on the mini below, particularly the legs and the boxes she is resting on.

    I'm going to hop over to the Sci-Fi area next and for that I need to hitch a ride on the library cart, so here is one last cyberpunk girl to pay for my ride. 

For my scores.

9 x 28mm minis = 45 points

Manga section = 20 points

Sarah's Library Cart = 20 points

TOTAL = 85 Points

    Hopefully I will see you all next week.

From Millsy: I'm a bit like you Stuart in that I don't watch painting videos so much to improve as to just keep me interested and motivated. Even so, I was also a bit intrigued by that Ninjon video and the same approach is also being used by Jay from Eons of Battle. I agree that the approach works well for a genre where the colours are vibrant and highly saturated. Nice work and another well earned 85 points.

From PaulOG: Caesarian Light Troops and a Hero (110 points)

Lower output recently with work travel taking a toll, so its good to be back at the brushes! Those on our antipodean paint and chat know that Cavalry is my hobby kryptonite, and the lads there have been demanding encouraging me to man up and get some done!  So here are my first: 2 units of Roman light cavalry to skirmish ahead of my Caesarian army.

These are OOP plastic Roman Cavalry by Wargames Factory; rather average models TBH but good enough for support troops. I did some head swaps and changed the shields - hand painted of course! - to give them a more dynamic look, which has helped a lot overall.

Overall they are ok, very useful on the tabletop, and have nudged me onto doing my Cavalry units. I did enjoy doing the casualty, complete with javelin in his back, and Alan even painted up a shield to match his own army. Thanks mate!

"Caesar Aeternum!" (Caesar Forever!) and take that you traitorous son of Sassanid!

Continuing the light troops theme, a unit of Numidian foot skirmishers to precede the Legionary heavy infantry. These are also OOP Wargames Factory figs, kindly donated by Alan to fill this gap in my army. 

Again, nothing special about these figs but they are fine for their role and painted accordingly.

And lastly onto this lovely Aventine miniature - so wonderfully evocative I felt compelled to make him a standalone Hero; battered, bloodied and undaunted in the face of the enemy.

Gaul blood stains on your tunic are hard to clean... 

Wounded and sans armour post medicae treatment, he has discharged himself from the hospice tent to fight with his Comrades for his beloved legion and Caesar. "Greater Love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends". How noble, even Romantic, one might say with a more Victorian era interpretation of nationalism and brotherly love.

Vulneratus non Victus! (in fact, this is my traditional family motto!)

6 x mounted 28mm Figs (60 points), 6 x infantry models (30) and I would like to claim the Romance bonus for this admittedly non traditional interpretation: after all, "Legio patria nostra"!

From Millsy: Great work on these horsey chaps Paul. I nearly bought WF Numidians a couple of times but they proved too awkward for me to pull the trigger so I can understand how you were reluctant to paint these Romans. Having said that I love what you've done with them but maybe I'm just an old romantic? (see what I did there???). Five extra shekels for the hand painted shields brings you up to 115 points for this entry. Well done mate!

From TomL: Literature & Sarah's Cart (55 points)

Hmm. Snooty, highbrow and a bit wordy. Why we have the perfect lady to lead us to the Literature stacks where we can find works from the pen of Agatha Christie.  Joining us from High Street, in the village of St. Mary Mead, Miss Jane Marple shall guide us. 

Ever insightful with regard to human nature her thoughtful but odd ways usually see the case to it’s conclusion.  Much like her friend and well known sleuth Hercule Poirot.  The Belgian detective appeared in 33 novels and 65 short stories and is the only fictional character to be honored with a front page obituary on The New York Times.

Oh, Just One More Thing...
They are joined by their compatriot from that relatively new upstart media called TV.  The rumpled, seemingly confused and absolutely relentless Lt. Columbo. 

All figures are from Artizan Designs. These were painted using the Two Thin Coats paint line designed by Duncan Rhodes.  I took an enjoyable painting class or two with Duncan at Adepticon and couldn’t resist picking up his first KS release.  I tended to pick up paints and related materials almost as frequently as I bought miniatures.  

Points are straight forward this time for 55 points.
3 x 28mm figures * 5 pts = 15 points.
Library cart - 20 points.
Literature - 20 points. 

From Millsy: I'm a huge fan of Duncan's style and his easy going approach and I have to admit I am quite jealous of you time spent with him which was clearly worthwhile Tom! Lovely brushwork on these and the colour choices are wonderful, really making these pop. Nice one.

From KentG: 28mm Napoleonic cavalry and 40mm musketeers (261pts)

 Here we are again this week has been a busy one
I did two 11 hour days along with painting every other night 3-4 hours
most of the time was spent on doing fine details on the two regiments
 of cavalry, which I must admit I am very very happy with

These fellas are 28mm Perry Miniatures painted as 

Polish guard lancers, the Pennants once again are from 

the free download that you can get from Piano wargames

then painted in the correct colors, it sure does make life a little easier

I tried to use a three different ways of using white on these guys

brown base on plumes and lace, blue base fore the gloves and on the

 belt actually used white as the final layer

had fun painting the leopard skin on the commander

I wasn't sure if I was going to do the fiddly work on the 

saddle blankets but was then how can I not after spending 

so much time on the rest

These fine young gentlemen are 

1st Reg French Chasseur's a Cheval

I started painting these and another 76 cavalry on day one

I have just 12 cavalry to go and I will need to undercoat some more so 

I better get gluing figures

it was so much fun painting the cords around the trumpet

and the lace work on the guy, when it all came together

I'm sure I had a wee grin on my face

Lastly I manage to complete 3 more 40mm figures from the 

Musketeers set I have, just two more figures to start then the 

tables and chairs and stuff and that's all completed

They really are fun figures if not a little clumsy being sold metals

and seem to tip over unless secured to the base

I might end up putting magnets in them.

There’s a couple of pictures of the Napoleonic French cavalry 

That I’ve painted in this challenge. 66 cavalry figures so far.

                Points

               12 x 28mm Polish Cavalry 120 Pts

                12 x 28mm French Cavalry 120 Pts

                 3 x 40mm foot    21pts

                For a grand total of 261pts

From Millsy: You've pushed all my Napoleonic buttons with this post Kent. French? Check! Cavalry? Check! Lancers? Check! Absolutely beautiful work as always mate, especially the Poles who are one of my favourite units of the period. Congrats on producing such a wonderful collection of troops. Please tell me you won't just sell them all now!

From StuartL - A Simple Wooden Shack - DIY & Sarah's Library Cart - 60 Points

Hello again,

    For my second post today, I have an entry for the DIY section of the Library. In May, I am running an event for my local players and a few gamers from out of town. As 40K is the most popular gaming system locally, that is what will take centre-stage at the event. (Even though I don't like or play the current edition). As the organiser, I have to prepare terrain for the event, but as I need a lot of it, I don't want to spend a lot of money.

    So, I have been raiding my bits box for parts and combining them with some cheaper materials to build some quick and simple buildings and ruins.

    The building itself is a large wooden box I picked up at my local 100 yen (about $1) store. The box is glued down to some foamboard (from the same store) and a layer of torn up cork tiles (same store again) has been placed around the base of the building. I then used some spare bits from an old GW Cities of Death terrain kit to make it look more 40K. The basing style I have used actually matches my 30K armies rather than my 40K armies as I intend to use this terrain in my home games too.

    I need to make about a dozen more buildings like this by early May, so my painting has been similarly cheap and simple. After a quick spray from a rattle can, I painted everything with some grey paint from the same store as the box and then drybrushed with some beige. After that, I mixed up a wash using some cheap reddish-brown paint and washed the whole thing. After that I simply painted in the metallics and gave them a wash, though I did use Vallejo for that part.

    The building is about 8 inches long (not counting the small supports), 5 inches wide and 4 high, for a total of 160 cubic inches, or about 3/4 of a terrain cube.

    I still have one more post today, so I will need to take a Library Cart over to the Manga section, to help pay my fare, I have another 3d Printed cyberpunk mini from Unit 9.

    I have bought several of Unit9's STL files as I really like the style and design of the characters. While I don't have my own printer, I find that having the files saved means I can get them printed whenever I need a particular figure for a project.

And for my score for this section.

1 x 160 Cubic Inch terrain piece = 15 points.

1 x 28mm mini = 5 points.

DIY section = 20 points

Sarah's Library Cart = 20 points

TOTAL = 60 points

For my duels:

Skulls (394) +32= 426

From Millsy: You can never have too much terrain Stuart especially as someone who organises and puts on games for others. Kudos to you for making the effort! 60 more points added to your tally mate.