From Curt - Jan Zizka as a young mercenary (History) - (32 Points)

For my entry to the Historical theme I have Jan Zizka, who was the military leader of the Hussites during their struggles against, well, everyone in Europe it seems. 

As a short backgrounder, the Hussites were a 15th century proto Protestant sect that adhered to the theological arguments of Jan Hus who preached that fundamental reforms were needed within the Catholic Church to bring it in line with the religion's preachings of humility and simplicity. As one can imagine, Rome had a very dim view on this kind of thing and after promising Hus safe passage to explain himself, took the opportunity to summarily burn him at the stake (as the Inquisition was often wont to do). Not surprisingly, Hus' followers in Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic) took a rather dim view of this and so an armed revolt soon broke out.

Jan Zizka, previously outlaw and mercenary, was an ardent supporter of Hus and became the military leader of the Hussites. Zizka is considered by many military historians as one of the most gifted commanders of the late medieval period. He trained and galvanized Hus' peasant followers, utilized heavily armed wagon lagers as strongpoints, and defeated not one, but three holy crusades sent to eradicate them. He also quelled civil war within Bohemia and prosecuted a war against Hungary. He never lost a battle, even when he was made completely blind by mid life. It is recorded that on his deathbed he desired his body to be flayed and his skin used to furnish drums so he could continue to lead his people into battle. So. Damn. Hardcore. My grandpa was Czech and enjoyed telling me about Zizka's exploits, so I've done this entry in fond memory of him.

I found a great figure of Zizka by Northern Crusades Miniatures. He's depicted here as a young man, still with one eye in the game, being all medieval and badass. 

I imagine him at the titanic battle of Grunnewald in 1410 (which saw the collapse of the Teutonic Order), so I've set him against a knight who is rising from his downed mount, ready to carry the fight on foot. Great minis and real joy to paint. Gosh, who knows, maybe there will be more Hussites down the road. Wagons Ho!!

For points, I'll ask for 10 for Zizka and the knight, 2 for the downed mount and 20 for the History bonus. So, 32 in total.

Thanks for dropping in for a look. I hope you have a great day!

- Curt

****

Dude, some brilliant painting here, and some brilliant history too! I was so pumped when I saw the title of this post. Not only was the painting and story excellent, as expected, but my immediate thought was "oh F*CK YEAH, CURT'S GONNA HAVE TO DO WAR WAGONS NOW!" You will now have this figure of Zizka on your shelf, telling you to paint some up...having the Hussite leader with no war wagons would just be an un-earned victory for the empty Catholics in Rome, right?

Maybe you could start in 10mm? Just saying...

Asking to have your skin flayed to make drums...sounds like something out of a Siege of Terra novel!  

Wonderful submission as ever dude, thanks so much. 

GregB

From GrahameH - More 15mm Cold War Battlegroups (746 points)

In a previous post I showed my US Cold War Battlegroup (BG) which I had finished and was then hoping to get some other non-completed NATO BGs completed without getting distracted. So in order to give myself a little encouragement I listened to the "Team Yankee" book. All was going well until they described the attempt by a US Armoured Cavalry Squadron to act as a speed bump in the face of the Warsaw Pact armoured advance. Spoiler - it didn't go very well for the US. Then the troubled started. "I'd like a Armoured Cavalry Squadron" I said even though it not on my list to do. However, I summoned up all my will power to keep to my original plan, failed and here it is. 

 Its not to big as I left out the artillery battery as it the same as the other US BG. The figures etc are all 15mm Battlefront. 

The HQ - MG, Stinger, CO and a M113 (20pts)

Armoured Cavalry Troop

There are 2 of these each consisting of 8 men and a M113 ACAV. (24pts x 2 = 48pts)

Support

M113 ACAV for the Recce Unit and 1 M106 with a 120mm mortar. (16pts and 4 for the mortar crew (20pts)

Two Armoured Cavalry Tank Troops (Each of 2 M60s) (32pts)

So the US Armoured Cavalry Squadron = 120pts 

Then I thought I wonder if I could add a US Air Assault BG. I have a Russian one and a British one. 

Never really sticking to a painting plan due to my butterfly issues, here is my US Air Assault BG.

A A10 Warthog, a AH-1 Cobra and 2 Chinooks (32pts) (the Cobra is Battlefront, the Chinooks are 3D printed and I have no idea where the A10 came from. 

The Ground Forces 

HQ and the 3 Infantry Companies 

This was before the entry of the Humvees so most of the transport is Mutt 151 jeeps (From Army Bits) 

(2 vehicles and 34 figures, including crew for the jeeps) = 84pts

Support Company - M151 with TOW (2 vehicles and 6 crew) = 28pts

Recce Platoon - M151 and 7 figures (22 pts)

Airborne Tank Sqn - 3 X M551 Sheridans (Army Bits). Apparently the 82nd kept their Sheridans during this time period. (24Pts)

The Artillery Battery (2 Guns, 3Vehicles and 12 figures) = 56pts (all Army Bits who make some wonderful US Infantry) I think the guns are a bit late for 1984 but they will do. 

So that the US Airborne BG at 246 Pts. 

Right back to the Plan

West German BG 

West German BG (most of the infantry was already painted so just the vehicles)

HQ and two Sqns of Leopards (7 vehicles) 56pts - Battlefront

Leopard Recovery Vehicle (8pts) (Army Bits)

4 Marder 1s for the HQ, if not an armoured BG and three Infantry Coys (Battlefront) (32pts)

Second Part of the West German BG.

The Artillery Battery - 2 X M109s and a M113 FO (Battlefront) (24pts)

Support Company - 2 M113 (for the Milan Teams) and a M106 with 120mm Mortar - 2 crew. (28pts)

AA Platoon - a Roland (this was suppose to be a Gepard, but that model has been drafted into the Dutch BG) (8pts)

Recce Plt - a Luchs (8pts)

Any then the Butterfly Syndrome hit again 😒

West German Fallschirmjager BG

AT Company - 2 Wiesels with TOW and 2 with 20mm *Butler 3d printing) (32pts)

Pts = 112pts

I need 5 KraKa transport for this unit. These are little go-kart things but I can't find any in 15mm. Anyone know of anyone who produces these please let me know?

So the Grand Total 

61 Vehicles

123 Figures

3 Served Guns 

Grand Total = 746

***

Did the Painting Challenge start much earlier than I realized? On days like this, it seems so, as with today's posts, Grahame has surpassed what most Challengers manage in an entire AHPC. 

However it happens, that is another 746 points. 

GregB 

From AndrewB - Rabbits and Martians! Science fiction! (425 points)

Hello!   This week we’ve got some fun projects that I pushed hard to complete big pieces of this week, and I’m really excited to show them to you!  

First, some stellar rabbits from Thomas Foss over at Skull and Crown!  I’ve placed several orders for these, and they’re so simple to paint, yet incredibly characterful, so I keep finding myself drawn to acquiring and painting more and more of them!  This week, I have a group of rabbits, with some dogs as well, and two incredibly unfortunate monks who seem to have fallen afoul of the furry beasts! 

Interestingly enough, Thomas bases all of his figures on illustrations from the margins of illuminated manuscripts, which were transcribed by monks, so maybe there was some internal frustration going on in whatever monastery produced the source material!  

I particularly enjoy the rabbit priest with a censer, and my mounted commander, ready to lead his forces into battle upon his hound.  I have no idea if these gents will be taking over Peter cottontail’s place, or fighting to defend Watership Down with some new technology!  Maybe they’ll just beat up monks, who knows?   In any case, they’re some of my favorite minis, and I’ll work on getting they and the rest of the collection together for a group picture amongst the DIY terrain I made a few weeks ago, which should be pretty fun!  

Next up- coming soon to March to Victory, a fantastic convention in Kansas City next month(more on that later), this project fell perfectly into the Sci Fi section!  Fresh from the mind of Frank Chadwick, a small horde of Martians for the Space 1889 setting, as originally published by GDW, with miniatures still available from RAFM.  Quite possibly my favorite strain of Victorian Sci-Fi, the setting’s support died out fairly quickly, and it’s mostly fan-driven nowadays, so what better entry for the sci-fi room!  These are a split between the more civilized, advanced Canal Martians, and the more primitive, but flying Kraag Martians!  

 

These Canal Martians are the more civilized of Martian inhabitants, clinging to the former glory of the red planet.  There’s a good mix of firearms, and they tend to perform rather like humans.  The gashant-mounted leader and bards to find leader with his polearm and sword on the far right are two of my favorites! 

 

These ‘Kraag’ Martians are the more primitive cousins of the Canal Martians, and have lost the ability to produce firearms, but can curiously take to the skies in flight, so they shouldn’t have any problem presenting real troubles to the humans they’re fighting.  

Lastly, a group photo of the week’s progress!  That was a push!

As for points, we have 30 28mm Rabbits and company, as well as a single mounted figure, for 160pts!  The 47 Martians and single mounted figure brings me to 245, plus the 20 for the Science Fiction section, for a whopping total of 425!  You’ll have to forgive me if this next week is a bit light on the figures, this week was a real push. 

With 12 sections completed, I’ve emailed Curt, and we’re working on getting my Rare and Antique section hammered out, so I can get started!

***

An unusual assortment indeed. I had no idea Thomas Foss was doing these sorts of figures, although I am sure all Challengers can relate to the sentiment of enjoying a particular figure or sculptor so much that one keeps acquiring more of it...certainly my basement would not be the absolute mess it is without that feeling! It would be interesting to actually get a look at these rabbit miniatures...perhaps you can take some close ups next time?

Between the rabbits and tide of VSF Martians, that is 425 points. Best of luck with your Rare and Antique Challenge.

GregB

From DaveD - ACW Union Artillery (195 points)

Over this challenge most of my collections will have had some new additions.  This week it is back to 10mm ACW. I am planning a big ACW game later in the year and will be providing a lot of the forces for both sides .  The first top up is for the Union artillery to fill them out my existing ones to full 3 gun model batteries (currently using 2 - with one gun model = 2 real) and take me towards 16 full batteries each complete with a limber. There are a range of different gun types right up to big mortars. 

All figures are 10mm Pendraken and are finished in my usual satin varnish  that i use for small scale to help the colours pop . We have been playing Alter of Freedom from LWTV over the last year - it’s given us some great games . 

2 x Limber and 2x Caisson teams 

Next the 6 large mortars 

The 13 guns that are also completed 

And here is the Union artillery park as it currently stands .

Still another 18 guns to add at some point , but at least the limbers are done in advance.

I checked back on a previous post from 4 years ago when I last did limbers for  scoring these, plus there has been an upgrade in 10mm pts since then,

So here is the tally :-

gunners x 70 , unridden horses x8 = 78

mounted rider & horses x 10 = 30 

guns  x19 = 57

vehicles / limbers/etc x4 = 24

Seated crew on the limbers x12 = 6

 total = 195 to my total, and the little things duel

more next week I think 

 

***

 

Kaboom! That is a serious artillery park Dave, well done. As ever, I have much respect for any hobbyist who would tackle the utterly futile task of painting artillery limbers! That must be a very big game coming up indeed, and I have no doubt that it will look amazing with Pendraken figures - and that the Union commanders will be thrilled to have all of this additional firepower to assist them!

 

195 points of bombardment for you!

 

GregB