from RayR - Retreat from Moscow - Survivors 85 pts.

  

Its back to the Retreat from Moscow once again for my next entry into the Challenge.

Yet more bedraggled French foot figures!

The 16 figures on show are a mixed bag of manufacturers.

Mainly being Perry Miniatures with a smattering on Murawski Miniatures just to make up the numbers.

Me and Lee were busy this week building more terrain for this period, including some ice as seen in the pics above.

The figures are mainly from Perry's Dismounted cavalry marching, pack FN174 and I thought I'd go for something different and bought a pack of  Armed Russian Peasants pack RN58. The fleeing French would pick up anything they could be keep warm, so why not a peasant coat of hat?

There are 4 Murawski figures in the group 2 Officers and 2 Sappers, which were spare figures.

Added to this post are 3 small barricade bases from Ironclad Miniatures

Just to help fill the battlefield with.

16 figures@ 5pts each gives me a total of 80pts, plus whatever Dave gives me for the barricades.

From DaveD. These are looking great Ray a proper frozen rabble indeed .no two figures the same . I love the setting too - that ice on the river is great . Certainly time to man the barricades - I’m make that 85 .

From JezT - Lady Sarah's Cart and "Odd's and Sod's" (75 points)

Hi All 

Thanks to everyone for another great challenge. With this post counted I will have made a personal best and made over 600 points for the first time. I have enjoyed being part of the Library Challenge and have one final post for this. 

So far I completed 4 rooms in the entrance block, then used Lady Sarah's cart to enter the back room and completed two rooms there - to finish will drop by the Cafe and Gift Shop with a final Lady Sarah's cart to move from the Biography room to the Gift Shop. 

This entry adds to my Edwardian figures from Ironclad Miniatures - the armed flower seller!

Next have some "odds and sods" that nicely finishes some of the projects I did this challenge. I started with some Gripping Beast Arthurian figures but as I changed my mind on the basing style after purchase had an odd pack unpainted. Glad to get these painted up ....

Four new figures ....

On impetus bases with earlier figures behind ..

Also finished off the Gripping Beast pack of disorder marker wounded figures with two models painted but will count as just 5 points.

New figures in front with earlier posted behind ..

Next switching to Footsore Miniatures and have a pack of 3 Priests painted up. Here painted one for my Crusader army with desert basing and the other two for my Dark age Anglo Saxon / Welsh armies. 

And a final two more character figures from Footsore as Dark Age archers - will most likely use these in the Later Welsh army.

Points wise should be 75 in total. 25 for Lady Sarah figure and bonus, 25 for the 5 Gripping Beast and 25 for the 5 Footsore Miniatures. 

Great being part of the Challenge again - take care everyone, until next year!

Cheers Jez

_______________________

Fabulous work on this wide selection of minis, Jez! It was great to have you with us again for this year's Challenge and I'm delighted to hear that this was a personal best for output - Bravo! Of this assortment, I have to say my favourite is the Edwardian flower seller. Not a lass you want to shortchange for a rose. Formidable!

Thanks again and hopefully we'll catch up next winter!

- Curt

JezT - Library True Crime Room - (60 points)

 Dear All 

Another small post to tick off a new Library Room "True Crime" for me but keeps the scoreboard ticking over. First as I am in the entrance area I have to use a Lady Sarah post to get to the back area. These are a pair of North Star figures painted up as armed and dangerous female archaeologists. 

I play Bolt Action but using a 1930's Very British Civil War theme and in previous challenges posted armed village policeman and so on. Against my brother now decided we will start a new desert based setting for the same period, and thinking of an "Indian Jones meets Casablanca" type setting.  Here is the start of my force. 

Using the library cart I can cross the building to the True Crime section and present "Sherlock and Watson". I know we have had some posts of these two already in the challenge and my versions are from Ironclad Miniatures. I think they have gone for the Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock and Watson as seen in the UK TV dramas in the 1980/1990's.

 

Anyway that should be a simple 30 points (two figures and bonus) for Lady Sarah and the same for True Crime so 60 in total. 

Five rooms now completed for me ....

Happy painting all - Jez

Great work Jez, and excellent models for both Sarah's cart and for the True Crime Section. 

An solid 60 pts here for you it seems. 
Kyle

   

  

From AndrewB: High Martian Adventure and a Casting Couch [High Adventure][Casting Couch] (158pts)

This is a rather larger installment, but here we go!  First off, in the idea of the High Adventure room, we’re venturing all the way to Mars with Victorian adventurers!  Starting off, we have 13 of RAFM’s colonial martians, who have joined with British forces against their planetary brethren.  There aren’t many sculpts, but I like them, and they paint up fairly well, even by a goof like me.  

Next, we have a stationary gun(RAFM), and a couple delightful vehicles that would make any Victorian scientist squeal with delight, both from Ironclad miniatures! I’m always torn as to how to paint vehicles from this setting, but with these looking like one-off experimental vehicles, we left them looking like raw materials.  

I’m not delighted with the base of the gun, but it will hopefully be mounted on a sky galley before long, using magnets like most of my other weapons of the setting, so the large cast-iron looking mount seemed appropriate for use as an emplaced gun or ship-mounted weapon.  

Last, and certainly least-  I was at a loss for a fun miniature calling out to me from a casting setting, but I ran across a very ‘casting couch’ looking small set of scatter terrain.  As the room is described as ‘discrete’, I figured we may as well look directly into the belly of that particular beast.  Here is my admittedly ruined version of the casting couch!

Not my favorite work, but it may earn the points through creativity and realism.  

Points total for this post-

13 28mm figures- 65pts

2 28mm vehicles- 40pts

1 28mm gun- 10pts

2 studios- 40pts

Crummy casting couch terrain- 3pts?  

Looking at a tentative total of 158 for this post!  Oh boy!  More coming soon!  I’ll get my map of the studio updated and posted with my next installment!

From TeemuL: Aaaand the third post from AndrewB for today! Victorians in Mars is a setting I'm not that familiar with, but I have seen posts here and there in this Challenge blog. Sounds interesting, but I'm resisting... Casting Couch is spot on for Casting Couch, if you ask me and the terrain points you suggest, seem about right. Very tricky to score these, but sounds right. Looking forward to see your map next week. ;)

From MartinC: A Slither of Skinks (Arrakis)(435pts)

 So a lot of skinks is called a slither. No preamble, lets get straight to it.

All big events have an undercard. Don't tell these guys they are the undercard

Think I got these Saxons from a Northstar mystery box

After that thrilling bout, sports fans, we have a stone golem (from the same mystery box)

Basalt grey, stone grey and a black wash.

Next the interlude, 2 scarecrows, no clue from where. These get used as objective markers

Almost time ladies and gentlemen. But for now you will have to make do with a Reaper Bones Werebear. 

He's a big unit, standing at 54mm

Final bout before the main event. All the way from Arrakis I give you some Sanwar, lizard mounted warriors. They are so used to the heat that even when photographed they look like a mirage 

I do like these Ironclad Miniatures figures and may get a couple more

Time for the main event. After going into retirement for 30 years, the Warhammer 2nd Edition Skinks have made their way to the top of the bill.

At first glance these guys are showing their age, poorly cast, only have 2 poses and out classed by newer arrivals. But if you have loads of them then they could be a handful.

These red guys will match well with their blue, green and brown cousins

Scores on the doors

64 skinks = 320

8 saxons = 40

2 scarecrows = 10

1 stone golem = 5

1 werebear = 10

3 lizard cavalry = 30

Arrakis = 20

Total = 435pts

Boom! What a points bomb! OK, maybe not a Miles-sized one, but still devastating! And not just skinks - lots of other great stuff too. 435 points seems to be the correct figure...

Tamsin

From: Jez Todd - Final Post - Command and Curtgeld - 30 points

 Hi All, 

Sad to see the end of another challenge - couple of things on the painting table but getting tired so calling it quits with this final post. 

Although did not enter the Dungeon Challenge I especially enjoyed seeing all the themed entries. Somehow I always seem to leave my Curtgeld till the end. Anyway its an Ironclad Miniatures figure that I amended to being shot gun armed. 

I thought it could follow on from my last years figure, that I still have here, and it continues the theme of a "shotgun wedding". 

   

Curt - hope you dont mind waiting if I make this part of a "mini series" and aim to paint up a bride to complete the set in next years Challenge? 

Also just adding in a small entry of some Command disorder markers for the Alexandrian Macedonians - the main army I finished this Challenge. This extra gives me 6 disorder markers in total - over half the army units in Basic Impetus, so I am in deep trouble if I need more than that!

If I get 5 points for the disorder markers and 25 for the Curtgeld that gives an extra further 30. Pleased to have managed to get over 500 points again this year. 

Thanks Curt and all to a great Challenge!  

Cheers Jez

 

From LeeH - Well built Trenches

I have a sizable collection of terrain suitable for WWII 15mm wargaming but I realised that I didn't have any trenches. I couldn't let that oversight be ignored and I briefly toyed with the idea of making some myself but quickly discarded that idea as madness... especially when I saw these models from Ironclad Miniatures. Collectively this lot cost me a shade under fifty quid, but in reality, it was pretty economical considering I have nearly 6ft of trenches to show for my money. Made from a really nice quality resin they didn't need any cleaning up (aside from a wash and scrub) or repairs prior to Priming. 

It has taken a lot longer than expected to paint these. They are such good models, with so much detail, they deserved a bit more time and attention to make them look as good as I could get them. As with all my terrain and miniatures I gave them several coats of varnish (4 in fact) to ensure they will survive rough handling and keep looking good for many years to come. So long as I store them properly I can see myself gaming with these for a long time. 

I had hoped to have a couple of German PAK anti-Tank guns painted up an as well, but I'm still waiting for these to arrive so they will have to be entered at a later date. They are 3D Prints and I'm rather looking forward to seeing what the quality is like. 

As for scoring, I piled the lot up, and got a couple of tape measures out before I primed them. They measured roughly 7"x8"x4" which is a little over one terrain cube. 

Incidentally is it bad that I really like the smell of resin? 

(Scoring: 20 Points)