From StuartL: Even in death, I still serve (20 points)

Hi all,

    Just a short post from me this week. I work part-time teaching junior high school students to speak English here in Japan. I have roughly 300 students at any given time, and this month is when they write essays. So, I have 300 essays to proofread and spell check. Fun. Unfortunately that really eats into my painting time. I had hoped to get more done for today, but even getting this done was a struggle.

    This model is a contemptor dreadnought of the XIII Legion, Ultramarines for my Warhammer 30,000 army. (Well, one of them). It is an older plastic kit from the Betrayal at Calth box set that came out in 2015. The model is very mono-pose, so I used a spare arm from the newer kit to build it's melee arm, complete with a massive chainfist and built-in melta gun.

    I originally had the model done yesterday, except for the decals, but when I went to apply them, I had a number of mishaps. The first few just would not release from the backing paper and wound up disintegrating instead. Once I got a new batch cut and ready, the first one went on fine, but as I moved the model to set up the next one, I touched it and it adhered to my finger. The decal on the kneepad refused to line up where I wanted it. It was.... frustrating.

    Eventually, I got everything in place and varnished, so those pesky things are there for good now.

    One of the differences between Warhammer 30K and 40K is that the 30K models have less skulls on them, a travesty, I know. So I did what any right thinking person would do and added some of my own. There are only 4 skulls, so not an amazing increase. I will take what I can get. It also adds to my Big Stompy Robots count for that side duel. Not enough for a Squirrel point sadly.

    This is a single 28mm scale vehicle, so 20 points for my tally this week. Not a lot, but it keeps my score moving in the right direction.

    My ongoing duels information:

Skulls - 222 (+4)
BSRoD - 17 (+1)
Squirrels - 14 (+0) - D&D Animals, 30K Militia, Plague Clowns, Afghans, Robots, Anglo-Saxons, Medieval Polish, Clan Smoke Jaguar, 81st West Africans, Undead, 10mm FPW French, Daemons of Khorne, Modern Vehicles, Turnip28

    That's it from me for now, back to the proofreading. See you all next week.

From Millsy:

Your line about "right thinking people" and extra skulls made me laugh mate. Clearly you are fully invested and anyone who thinks differently is a heretic and should be purged!

As someone who has been suffering the pain of decals of late I can sympathise. Seems like there is no way to know if a set have degraded until you try to apply them unfortunately. They came out well in the end so kudos for persisting! He looks sweet and the script on his chest is a great touch.

Well done! That's another 20 points added to your tally.

Cheers,

Millsy

From SteveG: Scipios of Rome. 3 Generations in 28mm (60 points)

Multiple famous Scipios of Rome are well documented in the historical archives.  Here's the most famous few....

Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, Consul 260 and 254 BCE

Earned the dubious title Asina ( female donkey) after his fleet was cornered and surrendered in 1st Punic War at Lipari, off Sicily. He was commanding an inexperienced fleet cornered by the more experienced sailor headed by Hannibal Gisco. After his later release he managed to be re-elected consul in 254 BC. Back in action he captured Panormus in northern Sicily and so redeem his reputation. But the cognomen " Asina" stuck :)

figure by Battlecat

I couldn't resist using a donkey transfer for his shield.

Publius Cornelis Scipio is best remembered as the father of Scipio Africanus. He first came to prominence early in the 2nd Punic war when his scouting cavalry skirmished w Numidians in northern Italy. He was wounded and assisted , or possibly even rescued , by his teenage son.

Once fully recovered, he was sent, along with his brother Gnaeus Calvus Scipio, to Iberia. Hannibal received much financial support from the mines there as well as many hardy infantry and cavalry mercenaries. As such the Romans wished to disrupt his war efforts in Italy by cutting off supply.

The brothers fought many successful campaigns over a number of years. They managed to get many cities to defect to their cause. In 211 they fought a series of engagements with Mago Barca and Hasdrubal Gisco. At Castulo , in central Iberia, the Carthaginians had then surrounded so Publius slipped out at night with 1/2 the army. He was possibly attempting to attack hsotile Iberians before they could join the Carthaginians. They clashed in a narrow pass. Numidian Cavalry soon added to their woes. It was all over when Mago and Hasdrubal Gisco brought up forces to attack their rear. Publius died from a spear wound to the chest. Little of his force escaped.

Gnaeus Calvus was now the next prey. He withdrew to the east but was caught up with by his 2 adversaries as well as Hasdrubal Barca. In the Battle of Ilorca his force built a stockade atop a hill and fought gallantly but were overrun by a larger force attacking form all sides. Gnaeus Calvus Scipio perished here just 1 month after his brother.

Publius Cornelis Scipio model with downed horse by Aventine. Covering hastati is plastic Agema figure.

Gnaeus Calvus Scipio is Agema w Aventine head. 

Publicus Cornelius Scipio (the younger) was present, with his father, from Hannibal's initial invasion of northern Italy. He is believed to have fought at the disastrous battle of Cannae. When his father and uncle died in Spain years later he petitioned the Roman Senate to send him as their replacement. His youth was against such an important command but due to a lack of other keen applicants and his family name he got the job. Quickly he earned a reputation for daring command as well as diplomat skills. He brought many Iberian tribes to the Roman cause. His conquest of Nova Carthago on the south east coast of Iberia was a masterful deception. With a large force attacking 1 wall he snuck another across a lagoon at low tide and caught the Carthaginians completely by surprise.

Later he visited North Africa and succeeded in bringing Massanisa and his Numidian Cavalry across to Rome. These were pivotal in his successful defeat of Hannibal's army at Zama in 202BC. Hereafter known as Scipio Africanus. Model is 3D print by ResinWarfare. Lovely model. The best Scipio Africanus 28mm mini I've seen.

Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus was the brother of the legendary Scipio Africanus. They served together in the Spain in the 2nd Punic War. He was elected consul in 190 BC, and later that year led (with his brother) the Roman forces to victory at the Battle of Magnesia against Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire ( featured a few weeks ago). His victory earned him the title Asiaticus and spelled the end for the Seleucids. Figure is by Aventine.

After the successful conclusion of the 2nd Punic war, soon post Zama , Rome moved onto other area and the hugely truncated Carthage scraped by. In surprising time, however, Carthage began to recover and even begin to prosper. This sent fear into the paranoid Roman'. Cato The Elder was infamous for repeating the line "Carthage must be Destroyed" at every opportunity. His persistent genocidal rhetoric eventually triggered the 3rd Punic War. Despite stripping Carthage of most of its weapons in pre war negotiations the initial invasion was a complete flop due to Punic desperation. Aemlianus was the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus . He fought in The Macedonian Wars at the decisive battle of Pydna. He was friends with the famous historian Polybius. Scipio displayed great personal courage in Spanish campaigns; in 151 he killed a Spanish chieftain who had challenged him to single combat, and at Intercatia he won the mural crown (corona muralis), which was awarded to the first man onto the walls of an enemy town.

From 150BC Rome invaded Carthage and besieged the city. After 2 years of indecisive combat he was given full African Command and in the spring of 146 it fell to his final assault: after six days of street fighting the citadel was captured and Carthage was destroyed. He later defeated the stubborn Celtiberians with the siege of Numantia in 132 BC. He was active in Roman politics championing Italic allies rights and came into conflict w Tiberius Gracchus. In suspicious circumstances he suddenly died when he was due to make a speech on the Italian question in 129BC. So ending 3 generations of remarkable Scipios of Rome !

Model is a Victrix Roman w Aventine head.

Scipio Amelianus- 3rd Punic War

S.Asiaticus

Warlord Games metal

 

Hastati by Battlecat.  

From Millsy:

Great stuff Steve. Loved the potted history behind your submission which capped off some wonderful modelling and painting work. The armour on Scipio Asiaticus is particularly impressive!

I count this as 8 x 28mm foot and 2 x 28mm cavalry (including one "dismounted") so that's another 60 points for your total. Nice one mate.

Cheers,

Millsy

Cast your Votes for your Favourites for 'Toy Story'

 

Hi All!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the voting poll for 'Toy Story' was slightly delayed, but it is now is available. Hooray and Huzzah!!

Please follow this link to review the submissions for the 'Toy Story' theme and cast your votes for your three favourite entries.

The voting poll will be open until 11:49pm (CST) Friday, February 20th, with the results announced on the 22nd.

Also, as an FYI, the scoring for the entries will be completed this weekend with the points roster updated.

Thank you for your patience!

Curt

From GeoffT: Fantasy miniatures (67 points)

Hello Challengers,

This week I have a group of varied fantasy miniatures.  They are a mixed lot scavenged from bargain bins, nice miniatures left over from the 90s.  I collect and use these in miniature agnostic skirmish games such as Frostgrave and its variants.

We have three K’dillians by Harlequin miniatures.  These are Egyptian style crocodile men, close enough for snake men in “Ghost Archipelago” game.  There are four “Avalanche men” from Legends of the five rings game, not quite sure what they will be for yet, I did their skin like blue scales, but is supposed to be rocky.  A Gnoll by Reaper miniatures, a quite a big one, will be a great Gnoll chieftain for “Rangers of Shadow deep” which features Gnolls as the predominant bad guys.  Then we have five figures from Grenadier miniatures.  There is a hatchling dragon, a devil, a sea troll, a troglodyte, and finally a shape changer, who is a wizard/cleric on the front and a lizard man on the back.  I don’t know if the shape changers natural form is be the lizard thing, or if it is changing from a lizard to a wizard or something. Will be useful figures for sure, and I am glad to give these long forgotten beauties some life.

There are 13 figures, 12 of them are 25-28mm sized for 5 points each, the Gnoll is 40mm for seven points, making a total of 67 points.

Kind Regards

Geoff

From Millsy:

What a cracking collection of fantasy miniatures Geoff! A real mix of old school and newer models which all look equally good and which demonstrates how a top paint job can elevate a miniature and help it mix with others from different lines and even ages.

I really like your saturated colours on these especially the blues and greens. The red vs. green on the shape changer is an interesting way to represent the ability. Mostly you see before and after representations of shape changes, not captured mid change. So cool!

Lovely work all round and well done indeed mate.

Cheers,
Millsy

From Richard M - Peninsular War 6mm Confederation of the Rhine dump (162 points)

I've only got Confederation of the Rhine troops to show this week - all fought for the French in the Peninsular, albeit at different times in some cases.

All together 

Firstly there are four battalions of Nassau troops with their green uniforms and rich yellow colours.  These are the 1st and 2nd Battalions of both the 1st and 2nd Nassau Regiments.  In the main the units are uniformed identically, except for the Grenadiers.  In the 1st Regiment, they were meant to wear leather helmets with a caterpillar crest - but were only able to acquire enough for the 1st Battalion.  Consequently, the 2nd Battalion has been painted with shako and red plume and epaulettes.   Then in the 2nd Regiment the Grenadiers used brown colpacks with red bags.  The other neat thing with their uniforms is that they had buff straps - I've used a buff / yellow colour but given their size it is hard to see.

Leather helmets for the Grenadiers on the left of the photo

Colpacks for the Grenadiers on the left of the photo

Then we have the two battalions of the 4th Baden Infantry Regiment.  Nothing much to say about their uniforms but I do like their yellow focused colours.

These are followed by one half of the 5th Confederation Regiment.  These are the Anhalt Battalion with their colour that looks like a pineapple on a white field (from a distance).  These again have a pretty simple uniform but I think the pink facing and shako pompon set them apart.  The other half of the 5th Regiment is the Lippe Battalion but I have found conflicting information on their uniform and am questioning whether I have the correct figures.  I'll hopefully resolve that in the next week or two. 

Don't look at the colour bearer's superglue face

I have kept the white uniformed troops until last.  These are two battalions from Cleve-Berg.  My reading suggests that they did not take colours to the Peninsular - but mine did not get that instruction.

Keen readers of my entries will recall my comment last week after posting a number of white uniformed battalions, that I needed to find a way to add some depth to the white.  

I had some good suggestions from Iain and Tom regarding possible use of speed paints as a way to deal with this.  I did a test with some Citadel Contrast Colours and Washes as well as Army Painter Speed Paints and Washes.  I have decided to use Army Painter Blinding Light Speed Paint for when I want a colder white colour and I will use Army Painter Soft Tone Wash for warmer Austrians white uniform.  In all cases these are over an Off-white basecoat and then I use pure white for the straps.  I'm not sure this all comes out too well in the photos but it is sufficiently noticeable on the desk / table for me to persevere with the extra steps. 

The other liberty I have taken with my Confederation troops is with regard to state of uniform - it is all over the place.  All written accounts and also the wonderful plates from Bob Marrion show them as disheveled with whatever they could find to wear.  I have tried to replicate this in some instances with different coloured trousers and no shako cords on some units.  In other cases I have done them with shako cords and plumes.  Sometimes all mixed up.  Based on nothing more then the figures I am using (eg: I couldn't bring myself to cut off the plumes on the Nassauers) as well as whim.

Points

Pretty simple this week, 9 battalions each of 36 figures at 0.5 points per figure = 162 points

From Millsy:

More 6mm goodness Richard! Will it ever end? If our regular chats are anything to go buy not for a long time yet.

I think you've really nailed the look of troops who were treated with some disregard in terms of both their quality and equipment. Despite the fact so many fought for Napoleon he only ever really treated them like he was doing them a favour by letting them fight. Colpacks on infantry are something I love to see, they're just so different from more typical elite headgear for foot troops.

Really looking forward to seeing the massed ranks of all your 6mm stuff in late March. Great work mate as always.

Cheers,

Millsy

From AaronP: Gnomes! (100 points)

Hello again,

I am running out of things to paint... especially things I have brought with me to my current home away from home. 

My 15mm ECW project for ADLG-R (I think I got the letters in the right order) is going well. I am going to wait to post them until they are finished mostly cause I haven't done their bases. I need to bring some static grass from home.

I am returning home on Friday, so I'll dig around and see what else I can find to get paint onto. 

Enough preamble

Gnomes

I have been sitting on these since they came out; the Gnome Bloodbowl team. Also, who know Gnomes were part of the Warhammer Fantasy deep lore??? 

Anyway, I though the minis looked fun to paint, and I love playing stunty teams for their ridiculousness. There are probably enough Stunty teams now to run a Stunty only league and have some variation. 

So points,

I assume the Gnomes still count as 28mm despite their diminutive size?

14 x 28mm platers = 70 points

2 x trees (54mm?, they are like 80mm tall but also super easy to paint) = 30 points [Edit Millsy]

So 90 points? Does that work?

Also I keep forgetting to do labels, so sorry about that. I did some this time.

Thanks

From Millsy:

You can't fail to love a gnome! Blodbowl is such a great game, still going strong and the whimsical nature of it combined with absolute mayhem is part of the appeal. Stunty teams are the prefect example of that.

Really nice work all round Aaron. I like how you've varied the bark colour on the two treemen in partciular. 20 points seems a paltry return so I've thrown another 10 in to make them 15 each. Your numbering on the bases is a great solution to remembering who is who vs. trying to write a name.

100 points it is mate. Bring on the stunty league I say!

Cheers,
Millsy