From JP : Last Cimbrian German Units (I hope) (130 points)

These are the last of my Foundry Cimbrian Germans, excepting leaders and heroes (for To The Strongest). It has taken me a while and I wanted to put them in together instead of a boring trickle...

The cavalry unit is one of three I plan to field and is a mix of  noble horse with their mixed foot contingent, which helped Germanic cavalry have some 'punch'.

As you can tell from the number of pics, I'm rather fond of how these turned out!

And now the foot unit:

So:

 Cavalry    6 x 28mm     =  60

Foot         14 x 28mm    =  70

                                         130 points

Thanks for looking folks 

 What a whopper to finish this great project JP! I specially love the combined mounted and foot troops base, it gives for a very dynamic looking unit indeed! Awesome painting as always and I am looking forward to what you will be showing us next!

 Cheers Sander  

From TeemuL: Army of the Dead (50 points)

I told last week, that I was going away for the weekend, and I did. It was hard to get back to painting minis after the break and I was busy with other life, too. I decided to paint something simple I had prepared and here you are. Feels almost like cheating, I could send these to Byron as statues and he'd give me 1 point per model, but since they are not terrain, I get 5 points per mini! :)

These are all old metal minis, Army of the Dead for the world of Lord of the Rings. I have previously painted a lot of plastic ones and some characters, but these are the really old stuff I have managed to acquire somewhere sometime. Nice minis, lots of different sculpts and being ghost-like rather easy to paint, since ghost skin, ghost clothes, ghost armour and ghost weapons are exactly the same colour. There is one king of course and then nine soldiers, these were sold in boxed set like this.

King of the Dead

Here's what I painted 8 years ago: 2018 Army of the Dead

And 4 years ago I toyed with idea to paint these ten during that challenge (Fool of a Took!): 2022 Army of the Dead

Lots of ghosty cloaks

Minis were primed black and then two coats of grey to get an even finish. Then some very old Dark Blue Ink all over them before a light bone coloured drybrush. Basework is my usual Lotr base, brown with brown sand and brown wash and finally brown drybrush. :) Some tufts here and there. It is kind of shame to paint these nice metal sculpts so fast, but I don't know how paint them "better" either. Looking at the photos again, I think they are quite nice in the end, the deep blue shadows and pale highlights create kind of a ghosty feel - I've never seen a ghost, so I'm not sure, but something I might imagine.

Ten of these nice minis should give me 50 points (I told this feels like cheating!). They are ghosty, but there are no skulls. One squirrel though, "Lotr Forces of Good", which should give me a total of 10 at the moment.

There's no cheating here Teemu, these are proper 28mm figures and you can paint them as complicated as you like or not. They still look really good! I also really like that you have included your earlier efforts in bringing these to the table, brings back good memories to earlier Challenges!

 

Go strong Pippin me lad! 

MarkG: Bolshevik infantry from the Russian Civil War (75 points)

This week I’m continuing the Russian Civil War project with a unit of Bolshevik infantry. 

All Copplestone Castings again. Given the add-hoc, and often ragged appearance of the Red armies, I’ve tried to mix up the uniforms a bit, and equally give them a toned-down look.

I painted one of the officers/commissars in a conjectural Cheka uniform, with the mandatory black leather jacket and hat (though at the time, they were most likely dressed the same as the rest of the infantry). Let’s just say he needed to resemble “Strelnikov.”

The flag is one I lifted off the internet, apparently representing some Red unit opposing Yudenich’s White Army near St. Petersburg in 1919.

The points summary:

15 x 5 = 75 points for fifteen 28mm foot miniatures.

Mark, you are beavering away on this most excellent Civil War project of yours for sure. Another great unit to bolster the bolshevik ranks. The banners really enhance the overal look of the unit. Well done can't wait to see a group shot of the entire project!

From MartijnN: Silver Bayonets and Bold Action (82 points)

No, that's not a typo. These vehicles are indeed for the game Bolt Action, but I consider myself taking up any 28mm WWII game at all, as quite a bold action, as I have often said that my wargaming interests do not stretch beyond 1918. I have dabbled in 6mm Western Desert, and still have armies for that, but I can't remember when I played my last game with them. Sometime in the last century I think. However, I recently joined a local club (The Tin Soldiers of  Antwerp, known for organizing the Crisis show here in Belgium), which of course I should have done years ago, and Bolt Action is quite popular with them. To keep somewhat in the spirit of my self-imposed time limitation, though, I have opted for an early war French army. These two tanks are the first units of my new army. A Char D-1 infantry tank and a Renault F35/39 light tank. They are the first 28mm vehicles I have ever painted, I believe.

I like the fancy camouflage patterns the French used. Apparently, once the war truly started they switched over to a more practical scheme, as the originals did not do very well what they were designed for (that is, camouflaging). But I just applied the rule of cool. And contrast paints.

Infantry tank Char D-1

Renault F39

Anyway, I am very happy with how they came out. They are Warlord models, which are OK (though not great) but ridiculously overpriced. I did buy a French starter army from them, which provides good value, but I also found some digital sculptors online who produce STL's for some very nice figures, equipment and vehicles, so my printer has been running pretty continuously. I hope to finish some more during the Challenge.

Now, I have been aware of the game The Silver Bayonet for quite some time, but again, that was nothing I thought I could be interested in. Weird sh***, as some would call it. However, once again this is popular at the club, and people are quite obviously having a great time with it. As a warband numbers only eight figures, I thought I'd give it go and bought a unit of North Star Austrians for the game.

I found these a lot of fun to paint, something out of the ordinary and I like how they turned out. I am less enthusiastic about the cuirassier officer, as the right arm came separately and I quite dislike that with metal figures, but he is still OK. I struggle with white uniforms in any case, but I have not found a way yet to do them satisfyingly with speedpaints, so I had to fall back on acrylics. It did not turn out completely like I was hoping for, but let's say he is acceptable.

 

Cuirassier and Hussar

 

Coachman and Highwayman (Think I would rather not let either of them drive my coach)

 

Doctor ("trust me, I'm the doctor") and Tactician

 

Irregular and Woodsman

So there you have it, two new projects (as if I needed those). 8.5 28mm figures for 42 points (let's not go down the .5 route, and the tank commander is not only half a figure but a very simple one too), and two 28mm vehicles for 40 points. And two squirrels!

8.4 28mm foot @5 = 42

2x 28mm vehicles @20 = 40

Two squirrels

Total 82 points

Oh boy Martijn, those are a lot of "first times" for you here! Great work all round, I specially the FT's since they are your very first 28mm vehices and still have turned out gorgeous! Painting white is one of those old problems we painters face but we should meet up one time and we could exchange tips and perhaps the good people here can help you? 

From the Saturday Minion: another shinig new day in the Challenge!

 Hoi there,

 

Yes yes, it's Valentine's Day, the perfect day for your loved ones to show you they love you by leaving you alone so you can paint figures just the way you want it!

The Saturday crew has some lovely stuff in store for us, amongst this is:

- Teemu revisits an old love

- Mark just loves his Russian Civil War project

- Martijn has not just found 1 new love but 2! 

- JP sure loves his Cimbrians 

 

For the rest of you: open the paintpots and get those brushes cracking and paint paint PAINT!