From DavidB - Kill Team, Modern US Army, WW1French (145 points)

Don't judge me! 

A very messy desk with lots of things piled up...It must be close to midseason of the Challenge! ;)

I think I could finish an army in a week, but I just can't help myself. Every time I change the wet pallet, it is a challenge just to keep the same colors I have been using. I now have it loaded with the John Blanche paints just to force myself to focus on the next batch. So, while I was clearing the Deathguard from the table...a few more units snared my attention before the pallet change.

  I prevail- Breaking Down

I had to see the VA shrink this week just to check a box and talking to psychologists has never been on my list of things I want to do on any day. I still text my old doc (actually, she is young) about once a few months as she wants to be sure I am still doing well. My only anger issues spring from editorial news and online "social" media. The new trigger is when I fall and dealing with getting older and not being as able bodied as I once was. I cannot kick in doors anymore and running and ruck marches are rapidly fading to my past. Heck, climbing stairs and ladders is rough now. I have to accept a reality of age and injury where it is no longer my job to perform missions and hunt bad guys and even if it was, I am not mission capable. My anxiety is still crowds as I cannot stop assessing for threats but also being unable to do things I wish to do. 

The Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org) is my charity for this season and they do quite a bit for assisting Vets in getting homes and vehicles to outdoor activities and mental health. Camp Winlow here in Michigan is another place that they help. Winlow is funded by the VA, Michigan, and private donations. It is a Boy Scout camp in pristine North Michigan woods and has the same shoddy Wi-Fi as the Upper Peninsula. The Veteran Village is a small collection of cabins with indoor plumbing and cozy rooms with fire pits. A veteran only needs to bring food and clothes and can enjoy catch and release fishing or being in a serene forest. It is my favorite place to just unwind and escape the internet and the world for a few days. Quiet and woods reminds me I am not quite done and have a few more years before I can have my own quiet, serene place.

Now on to the minis....

First up is the Deathguard that came with the space marine kill team and is the plague marine blind box set. They are newer than the Ultra marine set and each marine has a splendid scenic base that really tells a story with an accompanying nurgling.

a regular trooper throwing a grenade with a nurgling sitting atop a pile of grenades

even with the grenade pin in hand, there are others scattered on the base with grenades and maggots

The nurgling has another pin hanging on it's horn.

A gunner with fungal/coral growths and a leaky toxic gun. The Nurgling is enjoying the toxic goop leaking from the gun.

similar growths a sprouting on the ground.

This marine has a flail with a nurgling enjoying the free swing

The missing chain and ball is at the marine's feet

another trooper with a fetish for skulls

Yes, I did count them! 27 skulls on that shoulder!

more on his base.

The most disgusting one of the lot and he is spreading nurgle's gift

he has no nurgling except for a lot of flies and maggots as well as his own set of wings.

The champion with a rotten bone sword and plasma pistol

and a very fine, but tattered cape

My favorite of the bunch is the icon bearer. I used a head that reminds me of some old Chaos marine artwork from years past. he as a tube inserted into his mouth and vanishing to places I do not want to think about, not a rebreather but a cable connecting his mouth to his own rot.

there is nurgle worms and tentacles and at his foot is a nurgle medallion.

A nurgling removed the medallion and has stuck his own head in the icon to take its place.

Using a lot of the greens and browns, I have a small group of US infantry. A Ssgt with a m4 and 203 grenade launcher leads a sgt, a gunner with a 249 saw and three scouts. This is what a squad of scouts would look like...but bear in mind that scout infantry is light infantry, and we are known to cheat A LOT

I bought them at Adepticon from a loose box of minis and traded a ten for them. Together they make a heavy weapon squad of ten with three fireteams and three support weapons. I can also make them a squad of eight with two support weapons for standard infantry.

The sgts have holstered pistols and are posed to direct traffic.

two grunts with m4 and one with a saw, the fellow to the right is popping smoke.

The squad leader is upfront with his m4 and underslung 203. the Staff Sgt makes sure the sgts leading the fire teams are doing well and can use the 203 to direct traffic or remove impediments to traffic.

They are going to be used in Spectre operations, pulp, and zombie gaming.

Speaking of Pulp....WW1 French Infantry

These are Wargames Atlantic WW1 French. I was thinking of Forbidden Psalm when I got them but ended up building them for pulp/interwar games.

I added an officer in his snazzy cap and a machine gunner. I have a few Germans and Russians and other sorts of monsters and mad scientists. My adventure heroes only have a few Harlem Hellfighters to back them up, so 12 French Infantry will help even things up for my small band of heroes.

 7 Deathguard for 35 points

10 US infantry for 50 points

12 French for 60 points

29 troops for 145 points

squirrels --40k White scars, Mongolian Orcs, WW2 American infantry, WW2 German Infantry, WW2 allied Vicks, WW2 German Vicks, Iron Snakes, Wood Elf warband, Stormtroopers, Deathguard, Modern US infantry, WW1 French

skulls- 47 new skulls for a total of 91

stompy robots of death- 8

Excellent production this week David! First of all, good shout for the Wounded Warriors Project. I can imagine that Camp Winlow is a lovely place and good for the spirit. Peace and quiet can be restorative, that's for sure.

I think the Plague Marines have fogged up your camera lens a bit with their... emanations but from what I can see they look great. Those new GW models have a ton of detail and Easter eggs for painters and you've done a nice job. The modern US infantry are very nice and you've assembled a useful squad there. I also really like the late-war French, I think you've really nailed their Horizon-Blue greatcoats. 

One hundred forty-five points added to your total!

Dallas

From Barks: Who ate all the pies? (Gluttony) (44 points)

I painted a yellow Nurgle marine for the Challenge a few years ago- they're wonderfully ridiculously overdetailed, and quite draining to paint. But I enjoyed it, and a few more have landed in my pile of potential. Last year I painted a lot of zombies, and some had a more orange tint that I liked. So this is a new Nurgle lord that I'm using for 'Gluttony'. He's a cheerful chap, generously handing out Grandfather's gifts. I quite like the cartoony splashes of vibrant colours.

I'm very happy with the hot pustules on his knee. Ready to burst!

His cloak is crawling with maggots.

To get to this circle, I summoned these Ynfernael Hulks from the Descent boardgame. Over a white undercoat I painted the same orange as the marine (Army Painter Speed Paint 2.0 Zealot Yellow) and drybrushed them black then grey. I'm not quite satisfied with the eyes.

That's three big boys; each is on a 50mm base. I'm claiming 8 points each, and +20 for the Glutton.

3 x monsters 24 points

Gluttony +20 points

Can opener side duel +8

From Millsy:

The title of this post made me laugh out loud and for that you have my thanks Barks! If there's anything more appropriate for the Gluttony bonus then I have no idea what it is.

He's absolutely revolting and I love him, from the tip of his hideous pestilent horns to the tips of his disgusting pus filled boots. The saturated green really gives off a vibe of something clearly not right and the yellow armour is a great choice as it really works and I'm sure I've never seen yellow Death Guard before.

Chuck in a couple of creepy lava monsters and you're earned a tidy 44 points. Nice one mate!

Cheers,
Millsy

From PeterA: 15mm Death Guard Tactical Marines & Dreadnaught (44 points)

Happy New Year to all!

Back to work after the hols means most painting gets done at the weekend now, but I am trying to squeeze in a bit during the week, even if it is just 30 minutes here or there. My latest entry was mostly done last weekend, with finishing touches the other night. These are more 3d printed Space Marines for the Horus Heresy in 15mm, this time a big tactical squad of 17 Death Guard Marines, led by a fancy character with a big power scythe, as befits one of Mortarian's sons. 

As before, they are all individually mounted but can be put on a magnetic base for ease of movement. I wanted something a bit duller than the usual white armour, so have used a heavy drybrush of Vallejo Splinter Camo base over a GW Contrast Skeleton Horde basecoat. Shoulder pads are GW Loren Forest. The character has a bit more bling, with GW Runelord Brass used on some of the armour details and shoulder pad trims, as well as a red cloak.

Accompanying the Marines is a Contemptor Dreadnaught with twin-lascannons. The paint scheme is essentially the same, although the larger model has allowed for a bit more detailing - in this case some 'chipped' armour using a dark brown and muzzle burn effects using various shades of GW washes. As you can see the ends of the muzzles unfortunately didn't fully print out, but it is not enough of an issue for me to get another one printed. I have since come across a different set of files for the Dreadnaught which give some more dynamic poses, so I might get one of those printed off this weekend.

Anyway, the Marines clock in at 36 points, but I am not quite sure what the Dreadnaught is worth points wise - I think classing it as 'artillery'  is probably best, but will abide by the Friday Minion's final decision! So that is 40(?) points to count towards my target and also to the Heresy Side Duel.

These are looking good , Peter! I know very little about Warhammer 40K or the Horus Heresy, but these Death Guard Marines look the part. I also like the dreadnought. Having them all in this very effective colour scheme brings a nice degree of uniformity, and not dull at all, says my somewhat autistic self.

Dreadnoughts have been traditionally classed as a vehicle, so this one will net you 8 points for a total of 44. Well done!

Martijn

From KyleC - Let's Go! (116 pts)

So we are down to the line, and the painting desk has been heavy in painting to get ready for more gaming in various games. 

First up is the leader of my Legion forces, Mortarion. Although no rules exist for him, yet, I am using him for my Legions command base. He is an absolute unit of a model when compared to the normal troopers, and fills out a base like he is a dreadnought ready to smack units around. Sadly the legion command base is not as tough so its all intimidation tactics being used here instead. 

Speaking of absolute units.. these Deredeos are also impressive compared to their plastic counterparts. Mostly due to me incorrectly guessing their size when printing and making them about 20% larger than needed. But when on the table, it is barely noticeable. 

Switching over to units used in my game this week are 2 units of 6 Javelins. Only got to use one, the missile launchers, and overall they failed to do much in their game. Though hoping to bring them back into a game once more this Sunday. I do hope that they help more in clearing buildings as I suspect many a Raven Guard will be squatting in more than one on Sunday. 

Flipping to over to their heritage within the World Eater faction... are their forefathers from the god of war. Rounding out the first main unit of Warriors now with 6 more to join their cause. 

This now gives me a solid unit as an anchor for the army, and I will get my first game in this coming Tuesday ( club night ) with them. 

To join them though, and this was a rough unit to get finished, are the chaos knights. 

Every time I had thought they were finished, I found new parts or details that needed dealing with. 

I do hope that this is a hammer among hammer units from all the work I put into it here. 

They join their brothers now ready to go to battle very soon!

So a bit of painting this past week, and I have some more to go over the next few days.. as I hope to get in another game this Sunday with Legions. So plenty of WE units to get finished for that game ( or as much as I can ). Let's see how I get on with it all!

Points wise.. 

18*6/8mm Vehicles/Monsters - 36 pts

6*28mm Infantry - 30 pts

5*28mm Calvary - 50 pts

Total here - 116 pts

Skulls - 30 between the Khorne models and Mortarion ( he had 6! )

____________________________________

Fabulous work Kyle! I'm very jealous with all the Legions Imperialis gaming you're getting in. We've had a few great matches to date, but I'm eager to get in some more. 

Your 8mm Mortarian is awesome. Are there rules for the Primarchs for LI yet? If so, I'm sure they're awful/wonderful depending on your perspective or side of the table. I'm not a fan of the Deredeo design, but your renditions here look great, even if they are a little over scaled (but this is 30K where EVERYTHING is over scaled). 

Your 28mm Khornate brethren look amazing. I really like the oversaturated shades of red set against the blasted groundwork. Very nice.

- Curt

From KyleC - Death Guard LI infantry (180 pts)

So have almost been broken by this lot of Infantry for my LI DG army project.. I had originally thought I had gone overboard on printing and building too much infantry and yet already I can see that is not the case 😳

So 6 bases of Middle Launchers.. and from what I hear this is light years ahead on build quality Vs the plastics (where many a missile has been lost to the carpets..) 

6 bases of Plasma and I suspect this will not be sufficient for a game.. but I do like how the glow came out on the guns.. easier at this scale than many others.. 

9 bases of Terminators.. which is 1 base too many as they all need to be chosen in pairs of 2.. plus the special and heavy weapons haven't been revealed yet so there is that.. I have more printed but need to get more bases made for them as well.. 

And then the main stay of the game.. the tactical units.. 51 bases in all.. with a mix of command and breacher models throughout.. will make for some interesting combinations.. though still have to build some proper command bases with banners and such. 

Overall this makes 72 bases of 5 models per base (though one base only has 4 models on it).. gives me 359 models painted up here.. and almost a full nervous breakdown on trying to get through them all 😅

So that's 359*0.5 per model makes for 179.5 PTS (I've rounded to 180 - Dallas)

And now I can begin to look at the actual starter box of models to begin to assemble and paint up 😅

Meanwhile I have this all painted and ready to play with... Just got 2 tanks to finish and that's a cool 3000 points of DG to game with . 

Some bits painted before the challenge like the Thunderhawk and the predators..

Now to switch gears onto something that doesn't make me squint while painting.. let's see! 

Ooooooh cool - loving these Legions Imperialis models Kyle! And Death Guard too, one of my fave Space Marine Legions as I've got a ton of Plague Marines in the regular scale. You've done great work here and your forces appear to be building up nicely! I've rounded your total to 180 because math is hard!

Dallas