From AdamW: Up the Tigris (other rivers are available) (90 points)

 Similarly to the junks these are some old projects that I have had in boxes for some time.

These two 15mm gunboats will be employed in some Mesopotamia games, but hopefully will be employed in other theatres as well.

The first is a rear paddle steamer that I scratch built probably about twenty years ago. I decided to upgrade it a bit with some decking and rails and a few hasty repairs, before completely repainting it and adding some new crew.  It has plenty of flaws and is a bit childlike/amateur, but so am I :)

The second is a resin  model my friend gave me to revamp. I did have a search but couldn't find out who manufactured it. Some railings added and repairs also needed on this one before painting.

The photos definitely show up plenty of flaws, but it's two more pieces completed and ready for the table. The crew are a mixture of figures. mostly Peter Pig and QRF with a few odd minifigs and other unknown ones.

Points

Hopefully straightforward as the crew are all from a large batch of sailors I had already painted, so I am only claiming for the ships. On is 11" long and the other 10".

2 x 15mm gunboats @40pts = 80pts.

More great riverine goodies! I like these a lot Adam, you may think them an little toyish, but for me they perfectly represent the image of colonial gunboats! The little paddle steamer is especially nice. Yes, 40 points each seems about right, but I'll give you 10 extra for scratchbuilding, renovation and general coolness. So 90 points it will be. Now go find yourself a nice river to steam up!

Martijn

From AdamW: 15mm Chinese rocket battery (The Inconstant) (66pts)

A quick last minute entry for this week.

 After a long time in hell I have finally reached paradise!  Some rapid painting and basing and I present my entry for the first Sphere, the Inconstant, something which may try its best but often falls a bit short.

For this I present a battery of Chinese rockets in 15mm.  Throughout history rockets always seem to be fairly erratic and inconstant in their accuracy, so they seemed a good subject.

In our rules we usually make them less accurate than other artillery, but more deadly if they hit.

The rockets and most of the figures are Museum miniatures, with three Lancashire games figures added for variety. 

Points claim

15 x 15mm crew @2pts = 30pts

4 x artillery pieces @4pts = 16pts

Inconstant bonus @20pts = 20pts

Total 66pts

A very fitting subject for The Inconstant, Adam! They are very nice models, and you did a great job on them. Now let's just hope they will not backfire too much... 66 more points to you.

Martijn

From GregB - More Afghan Regulars (60 points)

Another unit of 28mm Afghan regulars for the late 19th century - metal castings from Perry Miniatures.

As we get down to the short strokes on the clock, I have one more unit of 28mm Afghan Regulars for my Second Anglo-Afghan War project. These are metal castings from Perry Miniatures, sporting different head coverings from the last group. As with the previous such entry, this group is meant to represent a unit of infantry in the Osprey game "The Men Who Would Be Kings".

Opted for Khaki colours on these lads...

Some different head wear to capture the variety to be found among the Afghan forces of the period.

I opted for more of khaki look for this unit - still a bit of colour on the red facings and straps, but on balance not as bright as the previous unit of regulars. This choice was made in part to create some variety, but I also wanted to practice painting khaki tones so I could come up with a paint "recipe" that I like when the time comes to paint some of the British units.

Officer and musician to rally the troops!

So that makes four units for the Afghan side of this project - still not a complete force, but getting close. Not bad for a new project started from scratch!

A couple of the riflemen.

Afghan regulars ready to resist the British!

So, for points, we have another 12 different 28mm figures, which should be good for 60 points. Thanks for reading, and good luck to everyone in these last few hours of AHPC XIV. Thanks!

____________________________________

Terrific work on these reinforcements to your Afghan Regulars, Greg! Your khaki recipe for these fellas looks pretty darn solid to me, especially with that vibrant red accent with the cuffs, sash and shoulder boards. Very sharp. I look forward to hearing what you think of the rules once you have enough of these lads (and the Brits) ready for a game. Lovely stuff my friend!

- Curt

From DaveD - 44th Foot , Last Stand at Gandamak - (90 points)

Well I am signing off this years challenge with something that’s been set up on the paint desk since Christmas Eve with an odd twiddle of brushes every now and again . 

As with most challenges this one involved ending  up going down a route that wasn’t anticipated so this is from that particular fork in the road. I blame MartinC for talking us into a visit to the Hindu Kush .. but perhaps I am easily led. Anyway having bought Afghans various (not done yet ) and having knocked off my Ghurkas I then remembered that I had bought the wonderful Last Stand at Gandamak set from Iron Duke Miniatures  (sculpted by Paul Hicks) after it was first released and it has seasoned in the lead pile for a few years . The set is modelled on the painting by William Barnes Wollen which now hangs in the Regimental museum.

The 13th of January 1842 saw a battle near the village of Gandamak on the road from  Kabul to Jalalabad The 44th foot were the last remnants of the 16,000 that tried to retreat from Kabul in the First Afghan war.  . It depicts their last defence of a rocky outcrop just outside the village It is said that bones could still be found at the site of the battles up to the late  1970’s . Lt Thomas Souter wears the regimental colour wrapped around his waist under his Poshteen coat - something that saved his life as when captured they thought he was important enough to ransom. There was one acknowledged survivor of the whole column who made it out to Jalallabad , but several hundred others who were captured and eventually released .Of course it’s another in the line of great colonial disasters depicted in pictures of the time .

Lt Thomas Souter wears the Regimental around his waist to protect it.

 

 

The last group cling to the rocky outcrop .

Consultant geologist Martin C says it’s made of sandstone ..

 

And here is the picture 

And just a little bit of creating it . Figures are based on 20mm MDF circles. 

The large display base started out as various MDF bases and was built up.

Eventually covered in tile grout, rocks , PVA and sand.
With the figure positions marked out .
 I also has to make about 200 snowy tufts !

These should do nicely for Martins next visit up the Khyber 

16 figures = 80 pts 

So that is me done . I have posted every week - the painting target points wise has been met with it nearly all being actual painting not just bonus stuff and a number of collections have had some love. There are a few quick wins to do after the challenge , I need to give the 10mm AWI some attention , and of course there are still some hangers on that  will be held over until next time. I normally write out an Autumn / Winter wish list - so here is the progress , a good 50% completed 

I will see what can be moved into Spring /Summer list coming up . 

If any of you are getting your 10mm stuff from Pendraken then you might just find me making it as I now have a hobby job casting toy soldiers for a few  hours a week . Toy soldier heaven .😀😀. 

If you are in the UK and attending Partizan in May , please pop by , the Sudan stuff will be out for a demo game (look for North Riding Wargames Club).

So thats me - over and out - Huzzah! 

***

 

Thanks Dave for this wonderful entry, and for another terrific Painting Challenge. I have to say, this whole "I know, I'll do a list" thing seems a touch heretical to me, but you can't argue with results. 

This submission is particularly lovely, very well done, and will be inspiring for a number of us who have some projects on the go for this general period and setting. And it's always great to see a Challenger complete something that has been sitting on their shelves for a while!

Given the terrain work, and what a hassle that can be, as well as the general awesomeness, I have added 10 bonus points - so that will be 90 points for you!

Great stuff Dave, a wonderful Challenge!

GregB

From GregB - 28mm Afghan Regulars (60 points)

Afghan Regulars in 28mm for the Second Anglo-Afghan War; 28mm figures from Perry Miniatures.

This week we swing back to a historical subject - more troops for my Second Anglo-Afghan War project. Here we have a unit of Afghan Regulars for the period. These are 28mm metal figures from Perry Miniatures. They will join with the Tribal warriors painted earlier in this edition of the Challenge to represent an infantry unit for the Osprey game "The Men Who Would Be Kings". 

Making ready for a firefight!

Information about the uniforms of Afghan regulars in this period is kind of spotty, and to the extent it is available, the consistent theme is a certain inconsistency in the reports...so I took some basics and just sort of improvised. I thought the red coats with yellow facings would make for a nice splash of colour, and an ideal combo to engage with the troops of the British Empire.

Officer and musician...had no idea what colours to use for the drum, so I just improvised with some green!

As always, the Perry Miniatures sculpts are top shelf, and it is a joy to paint proper metal figures. Trimming the flash is always a chore, and can be a particular issue with these Perry castings, but in general these are just a treat to work with.

The count down is upon us, and this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is nearly closed. I hope to get one more unit finished for this project before the deadline arrives, but, as ever, I have five projects "on the go" at once, so we'll see :) 

These fellows are ready to skirmish!

For scoring purposes we have 12 figures in 28mm size, which should be good for 60 points. That's all for this week! Looking forward to sharing more as the final few days approach.

A very fine last regular Tuesday contribution, Greg! As usual you have done a great job on them, and it is always nice when you get to choose how to paint as there is little information available. The red coats and the yellow facings work very well . Hmm, they almost remind me of a lot of sons.... I am very exited though to see you tackling this colonial project, and I hope we will get to see more of them in the future! 60 points added, well done indeed!

Martijn

From GregB: 28mm Afghan Tribal Warriors (155 points)

28mm Afghan tribal warriors from Perry Miniatures, ready to close in on the British columns...

For my second submission today, I'll be switching gears to a completely different setting and a new project for me - the Second Anglo-Afghan War. These are 28mm Afghan tribal warriors, multi-part plastic figures from Perry Miniatures. There are 32 figures, enough for two units/groups of tribal warriors for the Osprey skirmish game "The Men Who Would Be Kings". 

An assortment of rifle-armed tribal warriors.

This setting seems to be popular among colonial wargamers, including several fellow Painting Challenge participants. Their various efforts through the years have intrigued me, and between looking at those, and a couple of "just browsing" sort of visits to the Perry Miniatures web site, I was intrigues enough to take the plunge myself. Reading through the "The Men Who Would Be Kings" rules sealed the deal for me...

Very basic hand-painted flag.

This project has been under way for quite some time. I had started the majority of these figures right around Christmas last year. But owing to the disruption caused by moving to a new house, I was not able to complete the basing and the (very basic) hand-painted flags until last week. So here they are today!

I love the guy loading the jezzail!

These multi-part plastic from Perry Miniatures are fantastic. The metal castings are still better (because obviously) but the plastic boxes are very well done and have been an excellent way to accumulate a relatively large number of tribal warriors. I plan to add units of cavalry and regular infantry from the Afghan army, but the tribal elements would be core to any Afghan force and I wanted to start with them. 

There are lots of swords and shields in the mix too!

I tried to mix up the colours a bit, and sought out different bits of inspiration in the hopes of not completely f*cking everything up, which is always a risk when one comes to a new period/setting. The warriors are equipped with a broad mix of muskets, rifles, jezzails, swords and knives of various sizes, and even shields! It all gets abstracted in the rules, allowing for a nice and motley appearance for the tribal warriors.

This lot is ready for battle!

One area that still needs a ton of practice is the skin tones. I wanted to get some different skin tones, and it was quite hit-and-miss, owning in large part to the fact that GW paints I use have tended to be out of stock, leading to improvisation, and combined also with the fact that, in the chaos of moving, I haven't really kept careful track of what worked and what didn't...maybe this will improve when I get to the next round of Afghan units for this project...

A 16-figure unit of Tribal infantry for "The Men Who Would Be Kings", ready for action on the table

Anyway, for scoring purposes, we have 32 figures in the photos, but there are a couple of pre-Challenge test paint jobs in there, so this will only count as 30 figures in 28mm scale - should still be good for 150 points, and by my recent standards it feels like a "points bomb" for me (even if, by current Challenge standards, 150 points does not even count as a "points candle" but who cares). Thanks for reading!

In my this book this is a points bomb, Greg, and what a great one! I really like how you achieved some uniformity while still keeping it so diverse and interesting. Great figures and a great paint job! An excellent start to a promising new project, and I am already looking forward to the next installment. The swordsmen are especially fine, I love the striped turban! And you may call them basic, but I think your hand-painted flags still warrant some bonus points. As I like round numbers, that's another 155 points in the bag. 

Martijn