From NoelW for Thursday: Three more units (123 points)

Hopefully this will make up for the pile of boring Romans in the first of this week’s posts. I’ve three small contributions.

Firstly, I’ve a small squad of six SAS soldiers from the Western Desert in WW2. These were the freebies on the cover of the most recent Wargames Illustrated. Warlord have been putting free plastic frames on the magazine for the last three issues, and I think they’re going to do so for some while. Next month’s is Napoleonic French cavalry, I believe. This frame was from their new WW2 British Commonwealth troops. There’s a great selection of heads on this frame – allowing for Australian, New Zealand or South African versions, but I’ve wanted to venture into an SAS setup for a while, so this was an opportunity for a small experiment.

My Western Desert setup is almost entirely Perry figures. These Warlord figures, which are basically their standard British frame with new heads, are a little cartoon-like, rather chunkier than the Perrys’ which are slighter, having more realistic proportions. Both firms have their charms and, though I prefer the Perrys I’ll probably end up with a box of the Warlord to develop this small squad into a rather larger setup, though I won’t mix the figures from both manufacturers in any unit. Presumably I’m falling exactly for Warlord’s plan – a free frame to whet the interest, leading to the purchase of just a couple of boxes, perhaps.

One attraction of the Western Desert SAS – and, indeed, just about any troops in the same theatre – is campaign dress, varied, ragged, half naked in many photos, with varied head coverings to keep off the sun, so that's what I'm aiming for here. I think the Perrys' set will offer more options, but the Warlord frame is still pretty good.

My second offering consists of 12 sci-fi figures. They’re made by EMP miniatures, a small manufacturer run from my local wargames shop, Wargames Emporium. I’m not sure how they’re catalogued – a sort of futuristic militia type force, suitable perhaps for games such as Necromunda and 40K or indeed any sci-fi skirmish. In fact, thinking about it, they could make a great Kill Team. (And good for a Squirrel, too).

And finally a few more medievals. I enjoy the look of medieval armies, though the battles often seem to be very similar. Here are 7 Perry crossbowmen for the French army at Agincourt.

Hopefully there’ll be more Agincourt figures before the end of the challenge, as I’ve a couple of boxes of the new cavalry to enjoy. Really, I’d like the Perrys to step back to Crecy and Poitiers, when we can justify hordes of beautifully caparisoned French cavalry. But an enduring, if incorrect, image for me is the French cavalry charge in Laurence Olivier’s “Henry V” (here’s a Youtube clip, if you don’t know it). It was one of the first historical scenarios I tried to reproduce, way back in the late sixties, with the Airfix set, and I come back to it periodically. It’s disappointing that the closer you get to history, the further you go from such spectacle.

I’ve painted them in a muted and drab style, which I guess is reasonably accurate, but I think I may also add a few more colourful colleagues for them in the name of spectacle.

That’s 6 + 12 + 7 = 25 figures = 125 points


What a varied entry from the king of squirrel! I like your SAS figures,a nice campaign finish to them and your stand in guardsmen work really well, the French crossbow men are very good. I'm afraid prone figures are only counted as 50% so 2.5 for 28mm but let's round it up to to 123 points!

All the best Iain

From NoelW - ECW, fantasy and the Alamo (320 points)

Luckily for me, I’ve been ill this week. So I’ve not had enough energy for much, other than sitting in front of the painting desk. Consequently, I’ve managed to finish a mass of figures that I thought would take me much longer. I’ve also made a first foray into the backlog of terrain. Apologies, though, for the quality of photos here. I've not figured out a decent setup yet and some are horribly dark.

First then is the Perry/ Renedra shack. This model is simple to build, and easy to paint – you can get a very effective job with relatively little effort (which I’m all in favour of!) Should be useful in multiple periods and theatres. I'm not sure what its points score should be, though. It’s roughly 4 inches * 4 inches * 5 inches, so perhaps worth 10 points? 

Next are seven more EMP figures I've painted for the display cabinet at Wargames Emporium. These are Texians from the Alamo, including Bowie and Crockett (sounds like a duo of TV detectives). They’re larger and chunkier than your average 28mm figure, and full of character. I enjoyed painting these, especially as they made a change from what I'm mainly doing.

Which is English Civil War. I’m pleased to making such good progress with these. As a result of this week’s work, I’m a good distance along the way to having an army completed well ahead of schedule. As I posted before, I’m trying to hold back on quality in order to push on with as many figs as possible, so there are quite a few weaknesses in this collection, but I think they pass muster in the mass, which is the aim. Firstly there’s the six missing musketeers from the green regiment, previously posted.

Then a Blue regiment of 18 figures.

Then a Grey regiment, also 18 figures.

Then four more cavalry 

and a couple of spare command figures.

You’ll notice that there’s currently no ensign in the grey regiment. I’m basing all the figures on individual bases, and using sabots. This way figures can readily be reconfigured for different purposes, such as changing the proportion of pike to musket, or creating deeper formations (e.g. if I stray into the Thirty Years War). It also means regiments can be used either as Parliamentarian or Royalist, merely by switching command figures. So my plan is eventually to paint up a selection of ensigns who can be used in different units as needed. Obviously, there may be some regiments limited in this way – I plan the King’s Lifeguard to be distinctive in some way, for example. But the aim is to get the maximum flexibility from the minimum array of figures.

All the ECW are a mix of Warlord and Perry figures.

Next, in order to give myself a bit of variety, here’s an invisible woman. Perhaps an adventurer under a spell. Or possibly a spirit or demon of some kind. Either way, she goes into the Frostgrave/Archipelago box. I was really pleased with the red shading, but this was muted a bit by the varnish, and even more so in photographing. I've no idea who makes this figure - possibly Reaper.

And last in this week’s offering, especially for Curt, is a boardgame figure: Shyla Varad, from Imperial Assault. My eldest son is running these campaigns for a group of us within the family. He paints up the dastardly Imperials (and does a brilliant job of it) whilst I paint the occasional heroic Rebel character (huzzah!) I was pleased with the core figure, especially the silver-blue metal, which perhaps doesn’t show up as well as it might in the photos. But I couldn’t get the cloak right – it looks too plastic-y to me. (There’s a reason for that, of course).

If I’ve got my maths right, that’s more than enough to now take me well over my target of 500 points, so everything from this point is a bonus! I make it:

4 * 28mm cavalry @ 10pts, 53 * 28mm inf  @ 5 points and 1 shack @ 10(?) pts = 315 points

After all that lot, I need a lie down...

Oh wow, Noel that is worth a lie down or two ;-) I do hope, however, that you are well on the mend by now. This entry of yours does contain quite an eclectic spread of subjects. If I really had to choose a favourite I would say either the ECW cavalry or the invisible woman. All your ECW troops are ace, but these troopers really look the part, great work. The invisible woman is a rare figure indeed, it makes you wonder what use it is to be invisible if you're going to wear highly visible red clothing anyway, but that said, the figure has turned out wonderfully well. 
Your Texians (Texans?) are very nice too by the way as is the Imperial Assault figure which must tickle Curt's fancy no end for sure. 

I just did a card mock up of the shed with the dimensions you've mentioned and I think it rather comes to 2/3 of the 6x6x6" box and thus I will award you 15 points. That makes your total 320 points.  

From NoelW: ECW and Boxers (168 points)

Two different sets of figures this time.

Firstly, the beginnings of my ECW armies. For this period, I need to get lots of figures done in a comparatively short time, so the quality has to be middling - not my best, but good enough to get on the table. However, for general figures, personalities etc, I'm going to up the quality where I can. Sometimes I can't resist adding that one extra detail or highlight. Looking at these, the hoi poloi are a bit disappointing, and I may be forced back into a bit of touching up when I'm closer to finishing the whole ECW setup, but I think they're decent enough for the time being.

This first of my ECW are a unit of twelve infantry, six cavalry, and one general. There should be six more musketeers on their way, but they seem to have lost themselves somewhere in the muddy lanes of Yorkshire. (My target is for Marston Moor, sometime in the summer of this year).

I picked the general up in a miscellany of medievals, strangely. No idea of manufacturer, but I really like his flamboyant outfit, so painted him in line with some of the more extravagant costumes in the film "Cromwell". I can't imagine anyone actually going to war dressed like this.

I thought I might use him for Rupert, but he's not right for the role, really. (I imagine Rupert as mounted on a silver charger, waving a wild sword and shouting incoherent exhortations). However, he does seem the sort to follow Rupert's example of taking pets onto the field of slaughter, so he has an enthusiastic follower. Not sure of a name yet. Any suggestions?

My second set of figures are Austro-Hungarian sailors from the Boxer Rebellion. In Sheffield, we're lucky enough to have a wargames shop: Wargames Emporium, and they have their own range of games and figures: EMP games. They've some unusual and some weird and wonderful figures, including a Boxer Rebellion range. This is not a period I know much about, but they've asked me to paint a few samples for display. Chunky in style, they're easy to paint. It's not my job to advertise them, but they're worth checking out if you're interested in unusual figures.

So that's a total of 21 foot @ 5 points =105, six cavalry @10 points = 60 and a dog at, maybe 2 points? Total: 167.

What a great bunch of figures Noel! I really cannot choose between the ECW troops and the Russian Sailors. Oh if you point a gun at my head and force me to choose I'd probably go for the ECW figures because they include a dog and I do like dogs! Tell you what since I get to decide, I'll give you 3 points for the dog instead of 2, that sound okay? Apart from the excellent painting, you've done the bases up a treat as well!

From RoyW: 28mm EMP Games Assortment (31 points)

My first offering to the Challenge takes the form of six 28mm miniatures from EMP Games, though painted up for the Colonel Bill's Wargames Depot trade stand (apologies, for the shameless plug!)

First off we have three 28mm Jungle Goblins

Apologies for the "Roy@Col.Bills", its there to help should my photos be published on another forum and the person doing the redistributing fails to credit me ownership. 

I never got around to painting any of Games Workshop's Forest Goblins, so I quite enjoyed painting these 'Green-skinned' miniatures. Plenty of character to the sculpts, which made them a pleasure to paint. 

Next up are three 28mm Toadstool men.

I did go to the lengths of researching actual toadstools for the colours, but I've since gone and deleted the files with my research so I can't label the correct identities of each painted miniature - Doh!

To be honest, I wished I'd painted the markings on the 'red cap' as stylised white circles as I'm not keen on how the paint job has turned out. But you live and learn, as they say.

The finished six miniatures, all shown together.

And a bonus photo showing two, additional, EMP Games miniatures that I painted before the Challenge commenced.

Next up for me will be my contribution to the 'Flight' bonus round, then some more EMP Games miniatures - four 28mm Pineapple Tribes miniatures.

Cheers 

Roy

From Ray

Welcome to the Madhouse Roy, you're in for 3 months of craziness, I hope you know what you've volunteered for? 

I'm sure Stuart will be impressed to add these little devils to his stock cabinets. While not the most colourful, I do like the grey mushroom, reminds me of my old pal Fran!

Your 6 EMP figures will give you 30 points but I'm going to add an extra point for the grey muzzy!