Spanish Pirates and Indians by JohnSe (45 points)

I've completed just a handful of figures this week as I make the first dent into the Blood and Plunder Kickstarter package I received a few weeks ago.

After visiting the fort at St. Augustine and watching the first season of Black Sails, I decided to go with a Spanish crew to face off against my opponent's English sea dogs. I'm excited to get in some games of Blood and Plunder (their example game videos convinced me to back the project), and I was thrilled with the ships, dice, coins, cards and rulebook I got from the Kickstarter. The figures on the other hand aren't quite up to snuff.

From a distance I think they'll look great. I appreciate the variety of poses and ethnicities, but there's just something off about them. I'm chalking it up to the conversion of 3D renders to physical metal minis. I love chunky models like Mark Copplestone's, and I've even had some success with model's that were either created as 3 ups or 3D rendered (the Perry and Fireforge plastic figures for example), but these Blood and Plunder figures are both overly large and have a lack of detail. Features are indistinct, hands are tiny, and clothing ripples and wrinkles react strangely to washes. They're just... odd. Not terrible, but different from what I'm used to.

Lanceros, spear armed Spanish troops

Indios, native islanders put to work
defending Spanish outposts in the New World.

Despite my reservations about the figures, I did have some unexpected success with some Vallejo paints. Using the paints and instructions from the Vallejo Leather and Wood paint set, the deck planking of the bases came out better than I'd hoped.

I also did a quick paint up of an Imperial Assault figure as we're sharing the burden of getting our game master's set finished up.

All told that's 8 pirates and 1 medical droid for 45 points by my calculations.

MilesR: John the pirates are really very nicely done - I like the decking format you used for the basing!

Medieval Archers by JohnSe (

I've had some plastic 5th edition Brettonian archers knocking around my lead pile for 20 years, but didn't have a reason to get them onto the table until I started playing Lion Rampant. I've been working on English army circa 1250-1315 and they desperately needed a missile contingent, but the monopose Brettonians didn't quite match the more dynamic modern Firefroge figures that made up my the bulk of my army.

Doing some research over the Summer I found that Front Rank's figures seemed to be the best match to Games Workshops old sculpting style, and had a variety of poses and equipment that would help break up the ranks of identical plastic Brettonians. I've had these figures primed and ready to go since then, just waiting for the Painting Challenge!

My English army uses a variety of red and yellow liveries for the knights and all of the troops they would have mustered. I don't believe soldiers would be fielding identical uniforms, as each was responsible for providing their own gear, so I'm depicting a rag tag look to these units, with some figures sporting more formal livery, while others making do with something vaguely red or yellow colored from their own meager clothing collection.

To help identify the units on the table I've grouped together figures into a red unit, a yellow unit and a neutral unit. Some of these figures are individually based so I can always mix the colors up if necessary, but in the end these are game pieces we need to keep track of on the table.

Red Unit

Yellow Unit

Neutral Earth Tones Unit

Three 16 man units give me 48 figures, which should give me a total of 240 points.

MilesR: great looking Archers and yet another points bomb on a Monday!

Star Wars Armada Z-95s and Havoc by JohnSe (7 points)

Despite painting furiously over the last week, I still have lots of figures that aren't quite ready to be posted. I did manage to finish off some more itty bitty spaceships for Star Wars Armada. While meager in points, I'm excited to get these finished ships onto the table.

The Z-95 Headhunter was created for the Star Wars RPG back in the 80's. I believe it incorporates rejected design elements for the film's X-Wings, and while it's undeniably an X-Wing knock off, I've always liked the design. The Z-95 has shown up in a number of games (tabletop, RPG and video) as either a second line Rebel ship or in the service of various planetary defense forces, pirates or other malcontents. With a wide variety of organizations flying them each sporting their own custom paint jobs, there's a wide variety of color schemes to choose from or plenty of room to make up your own. After a cursory search I picked a style that would help distinguish these Z-95s from my Red Squadron X-wings, but wouldn't look too out of place in service to the Rebel Alliance.

The Havoc, a heavier fighter bomber available to the Rebels in Armada belongs to Nym, some sort of tentacle headed alien I'd never heard of. Nym appears in some old Clone Wars era comics and video games, and in the extended Star Wars fiction has apparently stuck around until the Rebellion era.

Being unfamiliar with the ship, and unwilling to do TOO much research, I picked a bright orange and white color scheme that showed up in Nym's Wookipedia entry. It's a tasty little ship on the table, and I'm pretty happy that I can field it in a flashy paint job.

All told, it's a tiny entry of 7 ships but every bit counts towards that point goal, right?

MilesR: Great looking Paint job! and such tiny ships

Star Wars Armada Rebel Freighters - JohnSe (12 points)

The space battle in the recent Rogue One flick has inflamed my enthusiasm for Star Wars Armada, and reminded me that I have some tiny spaceships that still need to be painted up. I love Fantasy Flight's game pitting Evil Imperial Space Triangles against the noble Fish People Pickles, but the vessels come already painted save for the miniscule starfighters. Still getting the colors and markings on such tiny subjects is a different sort of challenge which is pretty fun.

Han Solo's Millenium Falcon will be recognizable to even casual fans of the Star Wars movies, but the other bugger in the picture is the off-brand knockoff Outrider, created for a story set between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi"

Just as obscure are the freighters and patrol craft from the animated "Rebels" series. They may not look like much, but the hexagonal ships are able to manipulate the various objective points (sensor buoys, targeting beacons, etc.) within the game while the disc-like vessels are fearsome interceptor bombers.

These were quick paints, and being flying garbage scows they hide mistakes easily. I'm sure these are worth only a pittance in points, but  I was happy to get them painted up in preparation for our upcoming Corellian Campaign Armada battles.


MilesR: You just made it in under the wire John, but these are some mighty fine Star Wars Armada paint ups.  I think there about the same size as a 6mm vehicle so thats will net you a total of 12 points for your six ships.  We need to get together for a game seeing how you live in the great state of Maryland!

And with this final entry from a galaxy far, far away Momentous Monday has drawn to a conclusion, let the other days of the week tremble as they gaze upon the Magnificence of Monday.  

From JohnSe - Curtgeld - Dick Winters (20 points)

This is it! My last miniature for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! This is my first year, and I'm a little fuzzy on the requirements for the miniature donated to Curt. I believe the theme is "Daredevils, Gamblers and Risk Takers", though I may have missed the deadline for that particular bonus round.

No matter, the figure I picked to donate to Curt is "Dick Winters", the U.S paratrooper featured in the HBO series "Band of Brothers".  If jumping out of an airplane, behind enemy lines into Nazi occupied France doesn't make him a daredevil AND risk taker I'm not sure what does! He received a variety of Olive Drab, Khaki and Dark Green paint, but I've left his base with only a simple brown coat, ready for basing material to match the collection he eventually settles into.

This was a Historicon exclusive figure I've bee saving for a special occasion and completing my first Painting Challenge fits the bill. I've thoroughly enjoyed it, painted up a bunch of figures that have been lingering on my lead pile for ages, and been re-energized to tackle some new projects. Big thanks to Curt, my reviewer Dave, and all the other assistants who made the Challenge possible!

I'm hoping to get another 5 points for old Dick here, just squeaking over the 500 point mark. Looking forward to next year's challenge and tackling a larger point goal!

Thanks so much John! Captain Winters was an amazing fighting man; fierce, honest and almost painfully honourable. Serving as a frontline paratroop officer at D-Day, Market Garden, Bastogne and Germany is as much a 'risk taker' as anyone could hope to be - a very fitting figure for this year's Challenge.

It was a pleasure to have you join us this year John. I'm delighted the event contributed to an advancement through your lead reserves - now you have room to buy some more!

Again, thank you John. I hope to see you out for the next one.

From JohnSe - 65 points of Fireforge Knights

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is swiftly approaching its deadline, and I'm trying to cram a few more figures in to boost my point total (gotta set a bar to hurdle next year!)

I finished up another set of Fireforge Medieval Knights, this time painted in largely yellow heraldry. Most of these are knights who served in the Scottish Wars, so I've cribbed a few helmets from a set of Teutonic Knights (snipping off some of the more fanciful horns) to represent gear from the latter half of the 13th century.

I selected what I hoped were easier heraldic devices to paint. Little did I realize that "straight lines" are pretty tricky to pull off.

Gilbert de Clare and Thomas de Clare

This is the leader of our merry band, Gilbert de Clare, the Earl of Gloucester. Gilbert de Clare "the Red" (so named for his red hair) fought in the 2nd Baron's War and pledged service to Edward I on crusade. His son (also named Gilbert, and conveniently bearing the same heraldry) also fought in the Scottish Wars. Here he is joined by Thomas de Clare, bearing a banner bearing the de Clare arms.

Piers Mauley and Robert Mauley

Next up is Sir Robert Mauley and Piers Mauley, veterans of the Scottish Wars. Yellow with a black stripe was fairly simple to pull off, but the tiny birds decorating that stripe were pretty fiddly. Props to those who can pull those off!

Robert de Vere and John/William de Vescy

Finally a pair of knights, Robert de Vere and John (or William, they used identical arms) de Vescy. I put off de Vere until last, hesitant to paint the star that adorns his arms. I even tried to find a decal I could borrow from a 15mm WWII Sherman, but without luck. I finally bit the bullet and attempted those daunting stars only to find they were dead simple. Easy! I was worried for nuthin'.

That completes this set of "yellow knights", ready for some skirmish battles.

And also fills out a complete 12 base cavalry unit for mass battles.

That should give me another 60 points. Here's hoping I can squeeze in a few more before the deadline to hit 500!

Sorry for delayed posting - had a mare of journey back from the wilds of Scotland. 

 More knightly loveliness. Cracking. The colour scheme really work well together. I am awarding extra minion bonus points for "easy " -oh yeah been there- stars and the overall composite luck! and let there be no hope about - you must submit some more of these..

From JohnSe: Fireforge Medieval Mounted Knights (72 points)

When I started the Analogue Painting Challenge, I had written off some Fireforge Mounted knights stashed towards the bottom of my lead pile. I vacillated on which heraldry to use and was intimidated by trying to hand paint teeny tiny crosses and birds in 28mm. I figured they'd be too tough to deal with during the speed painting of the competition. After painting up my medieval foot though, I was hooked. I took the "challenge" portion of the painting contest to heart and decided to tackle some medieval knights.

When looking for a period to run Lion Rampant I settled on the reign of Edward I. He was mixed up in internal strife with the 2nd Baron's War, a brief stint on crusade and clashes in Wales and Scotland, providing lots of variety from which to pull scenarios. I collected heraldry from knights in his service, cross referenced them against the number of conflicts they engaged in and picked half a dozen knights and earls who appeared in multiple battles so I could paint a figure once and use it in scenarios throughout the later half of the 13th century.

Then I realized nobody I play against will care, so just got started on painting and didn't sweat the details. So here are my guys!

Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham

First up is Antony Bek, the Bishop of Durham. I know it's pretty common among medieval fantasy games (hence the bludgeoning weapon I gave Tony), but I'm fascinated by the idea of a holy man going to war. Antony served Edward on crusade and in his Scottish wars. I gave Antony an attendant with simple cross heraldry (painting that curley cross with ermine pattern was enough the one time).

Thomas de Berkely and his son Maurice

Next up is Thomas de Berkeley, a grizzled veteran of numerous battles. He fought at Evesham, Falkirk, the siege of Caerlaverock, and Bannockburn. His son Maurice (indicated with the extra blue label on his shield) also served in the Scottish wars, and later served Edward II. Those teeny tiny crosses? Such a pain.

Robert de Neville and retainer

Finally it's Robert de Neville and a member of his retinue. Robert de Neville was involved in the 2nd Baron's War and also has a really simple heraldic device. I love you Robert de Neville.

Six mounted knights completed. Painting (and repainting) the heraldry took longer than expected, but I'm happy with how they turned out and I'm looking forward to finishing up the next six mounted figures from the boxed set. I'm still getting my bearing with the period, so if you have any tips or info to help correct any mistakes (either painting or history) I'd be happy for the advice!

A lovely job on these John, I can hear the thunder of hooves. Good to hear you challenged yourself too - and you got a grand result - i have topped you up with extra minion bonus points for the hard work , and the overall effects. That takes you nicely over your challenge target of 400 - with time left for "more please"...

From JohnSe - Fireforge Medieval Foot (240 points)

Medievals have turned out to be the trickiest period I've tried. With World War II there are reams of uniform information to reference for painting. Dark Ages are pretty much "muted earth tones to taste" and information for Ancients is so spotty you can get away with painting them however you'd like, but Medievals... there's just enough heraldry to be confusing and intimidating enough to put me off getting started.

Luckily the Analogue Painting Challenge was just the kick in the rear I needed to throw caution to the wind and paint up these Fireforge Foot with a "good enough for now" paint scheme.

Researching potential paint schemes, I became interested in Edward I. The bad guy from Braveheart was involved in battles from his youth until his death, fighting across the British Isles in the Baron's War and against the Scots, even taking part in the Crusades. His livery was a striking yellow and red, also used by his son Edward II at Bannockburn, and variations on that color scheme appear amongst much of the nobility that fought with or against him. Standardized uniforms were not used during the medieval period, but it's not beyond reason that soldiers would use some sort of identifying color (either a piece of clothing, strip of cloth, or shield color) to identify themselves as belonging to the retinue of a lord.

I painted these Fireforge figures up in various earth tones, with a number of red or mustard yellow tunics, surcoats, and leggings. I gave the shields a variety or yellow and red color schemes. I thought there might be some shields provided by a lord, but most would be provided by the men themselves. Without a factory stamping these shields out I tried to vary the color tones and patterns to represent the variety of sources these shields would come from.

Hopefully the colors will tie the figures together but avoid looking like a uniformed Napoleonic regiment. I'm planning on using these as Edward's household troops, but with such a common color combination I can also use these as the retinue for any knights or nobility with red or yellow heraldry.

I sabot based these for mass battles (such as Hail Caesar), but based them individually so I can try them out with Lion Rampant.

That's 48 foot, at 5 points each, gives me an extra 240 points by my count.

Despite your difficulty in getting started with these John you clearly made a great success of them in the end. Red/yellow is one of my favourite colour combinations for any period but works especially well for medieval as it combines well with earthy browns and muted greens. I can't fault your reasoning regards the shields, quite the opposite in fact. 

48 figures in one batch is a cracking effort and your resulting 240 points gets you well within sight of your initial target of 400. Nice work!