From TeemuL: Outer Space Jungle [DIY] (35 points)

I was away for the weekend, playing boardgames and stuff (sauna was included, some did swim in the ice, but not me, and there was no sauna whisks), so I was forced to finish the minis and write this entry on Monday and quite fast.

The next stop in the Challenge Library is DIY and I went for the classic spiky cactii piece, made famous by GW in the 1990s. There are four styrofoam balls with toothpick stick to them and then painted. I covered them in PVA glue before spraying green, but some went through. The melting fits nicely to the plant deceases I was thinking about, so it is naturally not an error, but a visual representation of the hostile environment.

Speaking of hostile environment, I added 10 skulls from the GW skulls box to get more skulls for the Skull Duel and get some details on the base. Also, visual representation of the hostile environment. There's all kinds of sand, sawdust and turf on the base, too. The base itself is MDF pond base from Warbases, the edges rounded.

Here you can see two bots exploring the hostile environment. These are from Crooked Dice, Servobot B and Spybot, discount finds from some time ago. Painted mostly in metallic and contrast with little bit of highlights.

These were quite fast to paint, not so many details, although I tried to pick up lights, cables and other details in bright colours. Bases were covered in PVA before dipping in sand. After dry, soaked in Reikland Fleshshade and gentle drybrush with light grey in the end.

So now I have completed three sections of the mandatory four, quite well in the planned schedule. One more section before the grand finale. Let's see where I go next...

The jungle piece is 5"x3"x2", which means 30 cubic inches, being roughly 1/7 of a terrain cube, so three points. The bots are 28mm minis, so 10 points from them.

 

Sylvain: Nice submission this week. Your robots look goofy enough to be part of any sci-fi universe (Star Wars, WH40k, etc.) I like how simple the process of creating your scenery was, yet the result is quite satisfying. Since 1/7 or 1/6 of a cube comes up with a weird fraction for the data sheet, I settled for 1/5 (5 points). Also, I will add 20 points for the library location, which you seems to have forgotten to claim. Great start of the week for you! 

From Iain W: 28mm Napoleonic French Artillery (180 points )

 Here is an expansion to my Napoleonic French artillery to add to recently painted limbers.  Six pieces, 12lb, 8lb and howitzer, all foot,  guard and line. Three are from the Victrix plastic set up to 1814 the other three are made up of the 3d printed carriages that came with the limbers and a mix of Victrix and 3d printed barrels.  The wheels that came with the carriages were just too big ( I'm sure I'll find a use for them) so they have been substituted with some resin wheels which while not having the right number of spokes, are at least the right size, the carriages are closer in size to 25mm rather than 28mm but are good enough in my view by using four crew for each gun I ended up with six spare Victrix crew and by utilising left over Perry elite bodies I was able to make up two more Guard crews, the Victrix heads and arms being entirely compatible with the Perry plastic figures.  There is also a 3d printed freebie I got with the limbers, a command figure with a slightly incorrect headgear but he fills a gap and looks good enough to me!

Painted in my usual slapdash or if one is being generous, impressionistic manner they're done,following on from these chaps and in the effort of balance I have rather more Austrian artillery in an attempt to even up the arms race. Batteries are single pieces in Valour and Fortitude so my artillery park for both armies are a little excessive but they were primed so they must be painted, thems the rules and I quite like the effect of the grand battery!

Six times thirty ( crew served weapon 10 points, four 28mm figures @ 5 points each, 20 points) for a total of 180 points to my total and the Napoleonic duel. 

All the best 

Iain 

Sylvain: Nothing says "Napoleonic" like a good piece of artillery and your rendition is impeccable. I especially like your bases, evoking a rough field. Great entry for you this week!

From BobV: Two SYW Brigades [Overdue and Returns] (320 points)

 Hello again all!

As I am sure some of you can sympathize, I have a lot of unpainted lead. My goal for this challenge is to finish off all of my unpainted 18mm Napoleonics. So far I've succeeded in finishing off a couple of brigades and I am within sight of reaching my goal with just a couple of brigades left. However, the monotony of painting only Napoleonics was risking my mojo and I decided that I needed to break out something else to keep my interest up and keep me going. I am aware that one might argue that the similarities between armies only 50 or so years apart are too minuscule to make any difference in interest, but I'll get to that point in a minute.

In addition to my Napoleonic armies, I have a decent collection of unpainted SYW armies. This portion of the collection goes back more than 30 years. My painted figures from this collection are old minifigs that were painted as a newlywed on our then new glass top coffee table (yes I painted at great risk). The remaining unpainted figures have resided in an old dusty box since the late 80's. I believe that qualifies for the Overdue Library Section Bonus. To rejuvenate  my painting spirit, I decided to break them out and see what I could do with them.

Here is the initial now completed batch:  

There are at total of 12 battalions of 15mm Prussians and Austrians. (144 figures). Each side has four battalions of line and two battalions of grenadiers. I am unsure of the manufacturer but I believe that the figures are from Old Glory. I have no recollection of who made the flags.  

SYW has always been one of my favorite eras to to study, paint and game. The era was at the cusp of modern organized armies and thus balances the uniformity of regimental dress and the variety of independent units. I enjoy the wider variety of uniform choices and the flair of colors and lace. It may not seem like it to some, but this set was much more fun to paint than the my last brigade of simple redcoats. 

These figures are based for Tod Kershners's Warfare in the Age of Reason Rules. The rule set has always been one of my favorites. It was a gift from my father. He wasn't a huge fan of my hobby but I did convince him to visit the Emperor's Headquarters in Chicago once when he was on a business trip. He was much more excited about the sausage he found in the Emperor's Polish neighborhood than he was about visiting "some damn hobby shop" but he made the effort and that set of rules remains special to me to this day. Here are some closer photos:

These need a bit more work before I am completely happy with them. The flag edges need painting and some other minor clean up, but for the most part they are ready to go on campaign.

For Points I am claiming the following

144 15mm Infantry @ 2 pts    =                                       288 Points

 Bonus points for Overdue Section of the Library =          20 Points

                                                                                  Total 308 Points

I'll be back again soon with more Napoleonics. Happy Monday.

Sylvain: Lovely stands of figurines! The old esthetics of rows of similarly posed miniatures has its charm. I will add a few points (12) for all the flags waved by your units. I enjoyed reading about your risky business of painting on the new coffee table and the good will of your father who found some kind of compromise between sausages and wargaming. Awesome painting job!

From SanderS: More Bretonnians, the Knights Errant (60 points)

 Hoi,

Finally I was able to finish more Bretonnians! I simply love the look of those knights on barded warhorses, but boy are they a pain to paint, they take ages to complete! My Bretonnian Army comes with a big tale behind it; both in in-game lore as in real-life backstory but for now I will need to tell you only a bit of the in-game lore. My force will comprise of two combined forces which hail from the Dukedom of Brionne. One part will be the house troops of the Duke himself (I have the character depicting him as well so it was a no-brainer to choose him as leader for the army, mainly because I like the huge axe he uses as main weapon) and the other half will consist of the forces of Louis the Baron of Montelor. It is the latter's unit of 6 knights Errant that are shown here, Louis has a blue and black checkered heraldy and so I used these colours as the base for these guys as Knights Errant are not real knights in their own right just yet. I will strife to paint my higher level knights in more individualistic liveries when I get to them. 

I do like the details on these old white metal miniatures like the banner head. The banner itself is made from copperfoil and I painted it in Louis'colours with a white rendition of his tower/ castle as emblem. 

These chaps ooze character just like pretty much every model in the old range for this army and I have still soo many figures to paint... I think I will get some more foot units done next first. I guess I have to gather some more courage to actually get cracking on more horses.  

Unless I am mistaken, these 6 mounted 28mm figures should be worth another 60 to the list. See you all next week I am sure!

Cheers Sander,

Sylvain: Nothing is more appealing to a classic wargamer than a charging knight of the old ages. Your attention to the details and your rendition of the livery ooze your passion for these figurines. I can't wait to see more of these. Keep them coming!