From KenR: 28mm Spanish Italian Wars Cavalry (62 points)

 

Part 2 of the Yarkshire Gamer entry for this week are my first unit of Spanish Heavy Cavalry for my Italian Wars collection. Many will know I have a rather larger collection for the Italian Wars but I haven't done many Spanish so it's time to put that right.

The figures are of course 28mm, I hear rumours of other scales but these are surely just rumours. Made by TAG they are one of the few manufacturers who sell specific nationality Heavies for the period rather than generic Gendarme.

Heavy Cavalry units in this period were relatively small with maybe 100 to 150 men so a 6 figure unit it much more representative of what would be seen on the battlefields of the time, especially when compared with a Pike Block.

So I make it 62 points, 6 x 28mm Cav at 10 points each with a point each for the flags. I've got another 6 of these on the go which hopefully should be ready for next week.

TeemuL: I guess I like colours, because I like these riders and horses more than grey ships that some paints... But it is good to have variety, of course. Very crisp, bright, neat colours and details combined with the soft and natural look of the horses. I guess the experience shows here? :)

From Curt: 'Ned & Norri' - The Giant & The Faerie (25 Points)

Hi All!

Today I have another set of figures from the talented folks over at Westfalia Miniatures. 

Here is a foraging giant ('Ned') and his faerie friend ('Norri'). I imagine Norri being very annoyed with Ned for messing with the poor cow, and so is giving him a bit of the cold shoulder. 

I loved this model from the first time I saw it online and had to get one (Listed as the 'Fey Giant' sculpted by Boris Woloszyn). I'm glad I did as it seems to have gone OOP on the Westfalia website, but perhaps I'm just not looking in the right spot. It's a bit of complex kit and so had been languishing in the Pile of Possibilities for a few years. I uncovered it again this summer and resolved to get it done during this Challenge.

Most of this was airbrush work, with some of the details brought out with a brush. I'm quite happy with how his skin tone turned out, as I wanted something akin to the greyish trolls in the LotR movies. I had a bit of fun experimenting with spot-shading using contrasting colours. Anyway, I'm happy to have them done up and in the cabinet.

Not sure on the points for these two. The giant is around 115mm tall so in mass sort of equivalent to a 28mm scale vehicle. I will happily abide to whatever our terrific Thursday Minion decides.

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

TeemuL: That's an excellent giant and quite big, too. You have managed to catch the feel of the three trolls from Hobbit, but bring some colour, too, here and there. Lots of bare skin on the giant, but there seems to be enough wrinkles to keep it interesting. Norri looks nice and well, shows quite a lot skin, too. Let's say the giant is a vehicle and the faerie is the crew, so 25 points to you.

From JamesM: Primaris Jump Assault Squad (37 points)

Hi folks,

Another small entry of bigger than usual models from me. A squad of five Primaris assault marines of the Crimson Fist chapter. These are the newer GW figures, wearing the jump-pack-equipped version of Mk.10 armour. 

At the end of December, I used this squad in a basecoat stage for our club's 'one-page rules' tourney. They were less effective than I'd hoped, but fingers crossed, now that they are properly painted, their performance will increase!

Still, they are cool models with lots of nice details. I've decalled them up as per the rest of my painted collection of these marines. Rather than putting them on flight stands, I decided to have them land, take off, and leap over piles of rubble. This should hopefully provide a bit more stability than flight pegs. 

In total points, 5 x 40mm minis are at 35pts in total. 

TeemuL: A nice group and variation for the wintery theme we have had today. I guess I have painted one squad of those, too, and I have another one in a box. Crimson Fists are iconic part of the 40k lore and you have done terrific job on highlighting them. Extra mention to the dusting of legs and tying them to the bases. I'll give a small bonus for the overall effect.

From DaveD: Volksgrenadiers (53 points)

This weeks post sees the first of my Volksgrenadiers being added to the table . These have greatcoats , smocks etc on. They also have a lot of automatic weapons and Panzaerfausts to make up for their limited numbers . 

I picked up metal Battlefront stuff over the last few years and am working my way through the pile finding nice bits to do, I have a least 3 more units like this to add . These were nice to paint which is a bonus.

I also found a house ruin diorama base with a few command figures and map table etc so that has been done too 

25 figures = 75 points . 

The bases are done using my own home made winter tufts and AK Snow .

I have a few other non winter things on the table but they will be along in February some time . 

TeemuL: Back to the harsh reality and wintery projects with Dave! Excellent minis to fill your great winter board. I have found Battlefront minis quite nice to paint, too, even though I've been focusing on the summer of 1944 and Bagration campaign. And I guess Battlefront minis are 15mm and worth 2 points a piece, so you get only 50 from this post. Please correct me, if I'm wrong. In fact the Spreadsheet doen't know any infantry worth 3 points. :) But I'll give you a few extra points for the dioramic base of the commanders. Yes, it is not terrain, it is a vignette or a small diorama and definitely worth of some bonus points. :)

From MattW: Pantserwagen M38 (32 points)

Back from Australia, this week airbrushing and assembling kits for my ww2 collections. First off the desk is two 20mm Pantserwagen M38, a resin kit I picked up quite a few years ago and I cannot recall the manufacturer. Airbrushed in dark green, then a dry brush, hand painted markings. Really happy with them 

2 x 20mm models @ 15 points = total 30 points 

More armour coming next week

Cheers

MattW

TeemuL: Thank you for your refreshing post Matt! I can believe you are happy with these.  I'm happy to see them. So happy that I give you two bonus points for the free hand markings on these. 20mm, I'm quite sure they are much larger, but I guess that is the magic and skill of miniature painting, making small objects look larger.

From JezT: The Silver Bayonet Skirmish Characters Part 1 - 28mm (60 points)

Dear All 

A new project this challenge is to paint up some skirmish figures for "The Silver Bayonet". You may have already seen some of my brother Matt's Silver Bayonet Zombie figure posts and we are basing the game in the Russian 1812 Winter campaign - I am taking on the French faction. 

Not sure what it is with the Thursday crew and more snow based figures - must be having TeemuL as our minion.  

Anyway here are the first 4 French characters. These are from the Perry Retreat from Moscow Cavalry pack. 

Love the Dragoon with the Musket and converted the Polish figure to have a musket rather than carbine

Next up are some Revenants from North Star.

I also have some North Star individual figures - very handy as I especially want figures in winter uniforms. Am French so must have a Guard character option. 

Two against One isn't fair ...

Finally got the North Star pack of Hounds. 

Altogether 12 figures for 60 points - fingers crossed will be Part 2 coming up with my Officer character. 

Cheers Jez 

TeemuL: Excellent Jez, something new! :) Well, good old Retreat from Russia and snow bases, but from different contributor. I'm glad to have any changes. You have an interesting take to bases, clear bases, but still some basing material glued on. It might be the best of both worlds, clear base area, but it is not that visible. Great idea! In general I like your brushwork and the bases look very real. Good luck with your brotherly project! That starts to sound quite familiar, two particants working on a same project, where I have heard that before...

From PaulSS: Another batch of Prussian reinforcements (89 points)

 

The Prussian Production Line slowed a little this week as we had a cracking game of GDA, starting on  on Friday evening and playing through Saturday:

So, not quite as much painted as earlier weeks but more stuff was done, some of it featured in the game.

Firstly a battalion of Prussian Landwehr.

And another battalion of Prussian Landwehr.

This is the last of the Landwehr figures in the backlog and brings me up to eight battalions of these in the collection now.

I needed a few more brigade commanders for the game, so painted up the last few mounted generals I had and made up the numbers on the bases with a few Reservists that did not fit in the unit structures I had. 

The Baccus cavalry comes in packs of 45 and I make two 18-man units out of a pack, leaving quite a few figures left over.

There were enough Uhlans left over to add another single base to the 1st Uhlans, and enough Landwehr cavalry to add a double base to the Westphalians I featured in my last post.

These extra bases will allow me to field both of these as large units in our GdA games.

There were a lot more cavalry commanders left over, so I made a couple of Brigade command stands, one of Dragoons and one of Uhlans.

The rest of the cavalry figures were mounted individually to represent Aide de Camp that you never seem to have enough of when playing GdA.

Finally I had a few spare reservists, so I made a couple of stands of them guarding piles of cannon balls to use to denote objective markers. Not sure why cannon balls need to be guarded, I don't think they are goings anywhere.....

The backlog in the Prussian Production Line is quite depleted now and I reckon there are likely only one or two mores posts before I switch over to something else.

There are 113 infantry plus 32 cavalry that should add 88.5 points for the week.

TeemuL: I guess the Thursday Team this year has excellent focus on the projects, am I alone? Have you ever heard of squirrels or theme rounds? Jokes aside, excellent quality again and good to see that the painted minis have already been used in battles.

Quite depleted, only one or two more posts on this subject? I'm already getting excited to see something else from you. :)

From RayR: Retreat from Moscow - 25mm French & Allied Officers (30 points)

I've been a very busy boy over the last few weeks, I've done a heck of a lot of painting!

Unfortunately most of it has been on walls and ceilings! Me & Mrs R have decided to move house, so the house is up for sale and I'm going from room to room, tarting it all up, ready for some photos to be taken in a couple of weeks. I've been in the same house now for 35 years, so its about time I get my own wargaming table and a new house of course.....

Its no surprise that my entry this week is yet more figures for my and Lee's joint project, 

"The Retreat from Moscow in 1812"

Both myself and Lee have well over indulged in the number of figures we've bought, these were part of my horde I bought at the Warfare show last year.

They are all from Perry Miniatures Pack FN170 Officers

Rear view

They can and will be used for any unit, as none are in a proper uniform as such and could be pressed into any service. I've gotta admit, these are really beautiful figures and were a pleasure to paint up. Perry's do make some crackin' figures.

As to the points, only 6 figures this week, so 6 x 5pts each is 30pts!

I've been asked several times what's our recipe for the snow. Its really not rocket science, Woodland Scenic Snow, tipped into an old jam jar (Damson Jam, my fav), its not measured out, then tip in some PVA, give it a stir, if its too dry, add more PVA, if to wet, add more snow. I added a little water, not even a spoonful. it just loosens on the pva. I've only made one batch so far, each week when I go back to the jar all it needs is a tiny splash of water and a stir and its back to its spreadable consistency. Surprisingly it doesn't go hard in the jar, unlike on the figure bases, where it ends up rock hard.

TeemuL: Continuing the well trodden path of Thursday Traditions we encounter Ray with Retreat from Moscow. As I have mentioned, your snow bases look great and thanks for the scientific recipe for the snow. I like the colourful and mixed look of these figures, I'm sure they'll give nice variation and realism to the units which are trying to survive the retreat.

Good luck with the house and move - and the future game table.