From MilesR: A Rather Eclectic First Post (480 Points)

I am a little slow off the mark this year, and that's after a rather slim showing in last year's challenge.  I've had some issues with Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands which has required me to learn a new way to paint.  Don't worry, I'm still a poor painter but just a bit slower.

My first submission is a rather mixed lot of 28mm and 10mm figures.

First up is the start of a Warband to use for games like Mordheim at the club.  These are all 3D printed figures which were mostly designed for 10mm but I "embigended" to 28mm and I think they came out fine

This is a motley warband of 6 Dwarves and 3 non-Dwarves.  I used army painter speed paints for these and I think they came out fine for club play>

A close up of the three "non-Dwarves" - a human pistoleer, a Orc bruiser and a goblin scout.

The Dwarves come out super stocky when enlarged to 28mm, but I really like the look.

Next up are 8 Varagian Guards.  A few challenges ago, I painted up a Byzantine skirmish forces to use with Barrons War.

These are 8 metal figures from a long forgotten manufacture that I found in a drawer as I was redoing the game storage closet.

These were also painted with Army Painter Speed paints, which I have grown fond of for fantasy-type paint schemes.

Lets shift scales and go full on "Lord of the Rings".  LWTV is embarking on a big 10mm scale LOTR the rings project and you'll be able to figure out what armies I've been assigned in this post.  First up is the start of a large Easterling Army.  These are all 10mm 3d prints from Wakes Emporium (the infantry and Trolls) and the cav are made by Greenskin Miniatures (their Araby line)

There are 20 lance armed heavy cav and...

Just 12 Horse archers - don't worry more are on the way.

10 Armored Trolls, these were really fun to paint up

there is also a 2 figure command stand.

The heart of any Easterling army is it's Infantry and I've complete 8, 18 figure bases.  These were painted up to look like the ones in Peter Jackson's movies

I'm maybe 1/4 through what I need to complete - it will be a big army

Opposing the Easterlings is my other assignment - Dwarves.  These are from the new Wargames Atlantic 10mm plastic Dwarven set and represent 1 full sprue.  I have 2 more to paint up

You can't beat the price (274 minis for under $30 bucks but some of the casting choices are odd - some shields are really think.  Its hard to see from three feet away but pretty glaring while painting.  I do like the Ram Cavalry.

OK so what the tally?  Well, Curt and my minion have one decision to make.  The 10mm trolls are much bigger than 10mm

In fact they are 25mm high so, I'm going to suggest that we score them as 20mm figures, which is 4 points per figure - I'll leave the final decision up to my betters

The total figure count is:

17x 28mm Inf @5pts = 85 points
10x 20mm Trolls @10pts = 40 points
38x 10mm Cav @3pts = 114 points
144x Easterling Inf @2pt= 144 points
93x Dwarven Infantry @1pt = 93 points

Total 476 Points

At the start of this post I mentioned learning a new way to paint. My RA results in my hand loosing its grip on a brush and it clattering down on the workbench maybe every 10 minutes or so, which can be frustrating.

The solution was as simple as it is effective and my brilliant wife came up with it.  I used an elastic wrap to essentially pin a brush to my hand and then hold and manipulate the brush like I'm using chopsticks.

It works surprisingly well and now I'm looking forward to painting again.  Of course my training required MANY trips to our local Chinese restaurants to practice with chop sticks, but that is just the kind of sacrifice I'm willing to make for this hobby.

Sorry for the long winded post.  Next up will be some 28mm North Vietnamese Regulars from Empress Miniatures - you can see them in progress in the last picture.

 

========================================== 

Sylvain: Miles, I don't know which impress me most, your productivity or your resilience. It takes a dedicated hobbyist to train its art at the local noodle shop (Karate Kid style: "noodle up, noodle down"). And the results looks fabulous! The individual figurines ooze character while your rank and file units show conformity with their army. The floating banners are a nice touch and are worth an extra 4 points, for a total of 480. Joli travail!