From TeemuL: The Last Ducks and Orcs (50 points)

My last post of the Challenge has elements of two of my favourite fantasy worlds, Glorantha and Middle-Earth. First Glorantha and heroic ducks. I recently painted first five of them here: Ducks from 2022. And now was the time to paint the rest and claim one more squirrel!

They being fantasy ducks and not real I was able to use varied colours - one of them is blue, another one is green, one yellow and light and dark grey pair to finish them off. I tried to again use a limited palette to tie them together, look unified, but not uniformed. So lots of greys, greens and browns, followed by wash and gentle drybrush. It is a miracle indeed how many colours you can shade with Reikland Fleshshade and drybrush with Caucasian Flesh and the end result is great! I give you hint, basically anything but blue and green on these ducks...

For those of you don't know, ducks from Glorantha are barbarians and live side by side with other barbarians following their Storm God called Orlanth. Ducks don't take criticism well, especially if it is targeted towards their height, size or skills with weapons. They are short tempered, I wonder if Donald Duck is related to them...

Times like these, Challenge coming to end, skull duel almost tied, every skull counting, it would be tempting to paint free hand skulls everywhere, for example on the shields of these ducks. But skull is not a symbol widely used in Glorantha, so one of them got a storm rune and other one got a luck rune. Whirling storm rune is also the mark of Orlanth. They are smallish minis, 20mm in height, but in 28mm scale and previously counted as 28mm so it would be 5 points per mini and total of 25 points and a "Glorantha Duck" squirrel.

<Enter some quack jokes here>

And lets move on. Here are five more Uruk-hais for my army. You might remember my earlier entry where I said these were surprisingly easy and fast to paint. So I primed five more and they were still easy and fast to paint. I need to remember that, because I have quite a lot of them waiting for paint.

The recipe is the same and since there are dozens of entries on the final hours, I'll save you from long rants. 5 minis for 25 points, no squirrels or skulls. 50 points total. Thank you and "See You In December!"

From Millsy:

One of my favourite aspects of Gloranthan lore is the quirkiness of it and the ducks are the epitome of that quirkiness. I would never have though to use such bright colours on them as you've done mate but it really works.

Lovely work Teemu and another 50 Lunars added to your tally.

PS. I tried to think of a duck joke that would quack you up but couldn't manage it.

Cheers,

Millsy

From TeemuL: Orclike creatures (70 points)

Couple of weeks ago I posted an entry about all things green. Today I'm not far off that subject, but this is more a study of orcs rather than of a green. And the "study" is created while typing, after I managed to create a topic which would gather all the models of this week. Orc is a tricky word, I believe, everyone knows what orcs are, but no-one really knows what orcs are or what they look. :) It is a specific but generic term with many different points of view, different lores and different authors/artists.

These are Uruk-Hai from Games Workshop Lord of the Rings range based on the movie trilogy by the same name. In the movies Uruk-Hai are creatures created by Saruman, in the books they come from Mordor, but Saruman just manages to enhance them to not be afraid of daylight.  Tolkien's orcs were originally corrupted elves, Jackson's version is mix of orcs and goblin.

I chose to paint 5 of these, just enough for another squirrel, but they were so quick to paint, that I primed another 5, which might get painted later in the Challenge. I have largish collection of painted Uruk-Hai, but only 3 with pikes before this. Definitely need for more, luckily I have lots to paint. These are 20 years old or so, gathered from here and there over the years. These "orclike creatures" are brown skinned and heavily armoured and have long pikes, which gives them unique fighting abilities in the game. Very quick to paint, like I told. brown skin and armour cover almost everything. The photos are quite bright, but there are two layers of black wash over the plate mail to give them darker and more industrial look. Brown bases to finish them off, green tufts to add some colour to all brown, black and metal.

The next one is a mean, green killing machine, so I'd say an orclike creature. For Toy Story bonus round I painted a Centurion tank for my Delmonteland project, but since Wars of Insurgency rules are not really about tanks, I thought the jungle troops would need another kind of vehicle. The answer came from the box of toy cars I bought Gaslands in mind, but this 4x4 Cherokee is claimed to be 1/64 scale, so the same as the Centurion, so it should be a perfect fit.

I painted the car green, then added lighter green highlights, painted the windows and tires black and bumpers brown. A little bit colour to the lights and then some muddying. The freehand palm tree and slogan on the roof were painted light grey and highlighted with white.

The trunk opens, so I painted the inside yellow, looks quite practical. Some thin lines to windows to mimic reflections. Not necessarily the best effect, but at least something to break the blackness.

In the photo below I have included two jungle warriors I painted before to better show the size and scale. Looks may be a bit big, but probably just big business... "Let's go Bananas" is something I invented tongue in the cheek, something eager mercenaries might think when going to fight in the jungle. Afterwards I learnt that there is a Canadian TV show for children with the same name, so salute to Canadians is included (unintentionally).

Another size comparison, this time with Warlord Games WW2 jeep. Again, looks a bit bigger, but clearly the design is not so Spartan, so not a problem for me. Someone might argue about the correct scale for 25/28 minis, but for me this is close enough - especially when this was supposed to be a cheap side project.

The following 3 photos show the Cherokee before my salvage job. I liked the red paint and "Mad Bull" text, may be I should have stick to that instead of "Let's go Bananas"?

It can clearly be seen that this toy car has seen lots of action and most likely love. I hope to field it for my games so it can enjoy the new life and love.

And the last photo shows the technical details, 4x4 Cherokee by Majorette, Made in France, 1/64 scale and No 256.

And then some actual orcs, at least the Games Workshop version of them. Games Workshop orcs in the Fantasy (or Grim Dark) setting are greenskinned. They are not evil as such, they just like a good fight and enjoy destruction. Back in the days orcs were considered brave warriors, nowadays they are cowards hiding inside armours, made of metal gone through pigs... This entry shows the more heroic orcs rather than those cowards. These are (or were) called Savage Orcs and as you can see, their equipment and weapons are from the lo-tech end of the technology tree.

Yes, good old metal orcs with goblin green bases and red weapon shafts! I guess I'm bit of a dwarf and savage orc inside me, dirstrusting pretty everything too new and modern...

I added some variety, each one has different coloured skin or fur and there are actually 5 different sculpts here, even though two pairs look quite the same - but not exact. Shields are quite modern, but they are rather rough, so they fit these savages better.

In general they were painted basecoat, highlights and gentle wash, but there are some variations here and there. The bone weapons of the boss guy have severel layers for example where as the red eyes have just the basecoat.

What might surprise you, there savage beasts (as some imperial scholar might call them) have zero skulls on them! Bone and stone weapons, feathers, severed head, all kinds of armbands, bracelets and nose rings, but not a single skull. Well, if you want skulls, you'll have them next week!

"28mm LotR Forces of Evil" squirrel, no robots or skulls, 25 points for 5 minis.

25mm vehicle for 20 points, no skulls or new squirrels.

"28mm Warhammer Fantasy Orcs" squirrel, no robots or skulls... 25 points for 5 minis.

Total 70 points, 2 squirrels.

With all these points I reach the halfway of my target with two weeks to go!

Oh boy Teemu, what a great mix of offerings you have for us today! I do like both the versions of that architypal enemy: the trusty Orc or Ork. Those Uruk Hai really look good, but I like the Savage Orcs better they are goofy and just ooze charakter! That Cherokee is the cream of the crop for me, what a nice rescue job, the banans theme does really work well indeed, so get those brushes started and try to paint some more we sure like to see more of these kinda posts!

Cheers Sander 

From TeemuL: Elven Heroes (25 points)

My last entry for AHPC XV are these metal High Elf heroes from Games Workshop's LotR range.

There's Elladan and Elrohil (or vice versa), Erestor and then two different sculpts of Glorfindel. All painted with blue cloaks, golden armour with bluish mithril chainmail and green pieces of clothes to mark their nobility - my high elf infantry are coloured in similar way, but they don't have any greens.

They are bit rushed here and there, but on the other hand I'm very happy with some of the details or colours, the cloaks look quite like what I intended for example. The golden armour too, especially the helmets. They are all heroes, but they all from the same force, so limited palette was chosen. It might be easier to game with these if Elladan and Elrohir would have different colours for example, but not me!

Erestor and armoured Glorfindel are very similar, clearly sculpted at the same time, I assume. The newer Glorfindel is a different thing, very heroic and massive cloak compared to the other two. The cloaks of the brothers are similar to this one, probably from the same era. Although there are newer sculpts of the brothers, so I might be mistaken.

I believe 25 points is correct for 5 minis. Now I go to sleep and wake up tomorrow morning about an hour before the Challenge ends. I hope Curt and other minions can handle the barrage of remaining hours! 

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Lovely work Teemu. I really like saturated blues and greens you've used for these figures - it gives them a very regal air. As time passing from the release of the first LotR movies I am constantly astonished at the number and variety of models GW has created describing Tolkien's character, with some having many different models depicting them at different times in their lives. It's amazing. 

Teemu, thank you for your participation, your faithful and kind comments to others and your minioning of the Thursday crew. It's all very much appreciated by myself and others. I look forward to seeing you with us for the next edition of the Challenge.

- Curt

From TeemuL: Haldir's elfs (35 points)

It is March and I present you the first LotR minis of the current AHPC from me... I guess that shows how varied, unfocused and distracted my Challenge has been. Anyway, here they are. Seven of Haldir's elfs, one carrying the banner and rest holding dangerous elven swords. I painted Haldir himself and six archers late last year, so these models quite nicely wrap this small project up.

Gold and blue work very well together, I even gave the chainmail a blueish tone applying a watered down blue ink over metallic paint. It gives an elven feel to the armour, I guess. One problem is that golden armour, yellow hair and pale skin get easily looking quite the same, especially when all of them got a Reikland Flesh Shade treatment.

The banner was painful, it has very fine sculpted detail which I tried to follow with golden paint. Of course there are folds, too. It looks quite ok in photos, but do not zoom or came here to take a closer look. :) If you take a close look, you might notice that there are two slightly different sculpts of warriors. They are very minor, but still. I have three of each. Same story with archers. I guess they were made in a hurry with very little film material to work from. Anyway, quite nice metal minis, the swords are rather thick, but that's understandable.

Previous elfs were happy to have base colour and wash, but I thought giving the banner bearer couple of highlights on his cloak and then carried the same, very quick and dirty, approach to rest of the group, too. Archers will stay darker, but maybe they are in the shadows aiming Uruk-Hais...? The hightlight could have been stronger, but at least it is better than nothing.

In other news, I'm stuck in Paradise after finishing the first circle, but I do have some plans. I hope I have enough time...

7 28mm minis for 35 points, please.

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Oh what lovely additions to your LOTR collection! The Blue Gold colour palette is striking  and I do see what you mean by the elves looking too uniform. 

The banner was definitly worth the pain, it looks terrific :)

Another 35 points to your scoreboard

- Sarah

From TeemuL: Cirdan the Shipwright [Maritime] (25 points)

A quick post this week, because I was travelling last week. Happily I was a bit prepared and had this Cirdan half painted when I got home and finished him during the lunch break. He is a metal mini from GW for their Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. A very small role in the movies, seen getting the ring Narya and then in the Grey Havens. Painted mostly with Contrast paints, seemed to work very well on all the elven robes, cloaks and other elven clothes.

Cirdan, or Cirdan the Shipwrigth, is my entry for the Maritime section. He was also the Lord of the Harbours of Falas and later Guardian of the Grey Havens.

In the book he has a beard, but in the movie he has not, and the mini is based on the movie, so no beard. I have not read his rules recently, but I have played against him once and if I remember correctly he was a powerful support hero when used correctly. I don't know if I field him, since he is not really a warrior and was not mentioned to take part in the wars in the books or movies. Might be nice to try in one scenario or other.

A simple entry, 5 points for a single mini and 20 points for the Library section. I think I visit couple of the finished sections next week before heading to the final section.

 Sylvain: You are just motoring through the library sections! Your justification for "Maritime" is well argued, so you can bag that extra 20 points. I like the effect you obtained with the contrast paint on the clothes of your figurine. I have not tried such a technique yet, but I'm getting more and more tempted. Nice entry for Monday.

From TeemuL: Amroth of Lorien [Fantasy] (25 points)

For the Fantasy section at the library I chose the old and faithful J.R.R. Tolkien (you might be familiar with recent film flop "Wild Wandering Adventures of Murin and Drar during the time of Lord of the Rings" from the last Challenge). This is again an old metal Mithril Miniature, M208 to be precise from the year 1991. He is called Amroth of Lorien, a former king of Lothlorien and a victim of tragic love story with elf maiden Nimrodel.

I tried to choose simple but elegant colours, fit for a king and chose dark blue and green. The blue cloak was inspired by the high elf cloaks of the Fellowship of the Ring movie.

I am quite happy with the blue cloak, but there are some fine details on the model, that I just couldn't catch before taking photos, so some of the details are "faint"...

Three different shades of blue on the cloak, looks quite good. :)

I had a plan before the Library theme was released and I was certain, that my plan would not survive. So far I have finished 0 models from the plan and 6 outside the plan...

One 28mm model with 20 points from the Fantasy location should give me 25 points. I'm now ready to move on in the Library and guess what - the next minis aren't part of the plan... :D

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I always enjoy seeing your work with these old school LotR minis from Mithril (and they seem to have a figure for every character that Tolkien put pen to paper). I agree, the blue cloak is terrific. Well done! More please. :)

I like that I've messed with your Plan, Teemu. My work here is doing its task. *wipes hands together*

- Curt

From TeemuL: The Last Rohans (30 points)

"Here we have more riders of Rohan, on their way to the great outdoor studio. Yes, Murin and Drar will make an appearance in the Pelennor Fields as I told you earlier. No more elfs there, though. It is about the time to take the comic-sidekick-label out of the dwarfs and show them as serious heroes who can fight and drink all night! I need to leave you for a moment, the main director of the Studio has an important announcement, most likely some fresh Oscar winners have been casted to our lovely movie! I'll be right back and then we can continue our tour."

I guess I will not achieve my points target this year, but I'm making great progress on my Ikea box. The dwarfs I finished last week and now I have the last Rohans from the box. There are still a number of lovely Mithril minis there, but I knew I won't be painting all of the during the Challenge. I'm also working on my Director's Chair entry, so I should be able to finish this Theme Target, too. But time is running out, the end of the winter is close and the points target is too much. The absences in March and the usual slacking took their toll. After this post I plan to post the Director's Chair entry and then one other post to publish the rest and give the latest (last?) updates from Murin and Drar movie.

Here we have neglected bunch of Rohans, these were left last, because they were missing parts. Earlier in the Challenge I sculpted some flags and horns and I could have done that again, but I'm out of time. These chaps are mostly missing shields, so I just filed the studs away and they will be shieldless warriors. If I want to optimize my list, I can save one point, when the shield is not included. Cunning, I know. The lonely rider is combined from two models, one had broken horse and other a broken rider, so I managed to separate them and glue the unbroken pieces together.

There are 4 models on foot and 1 mounted model, all in 28, so that would be 30 points.

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Wonderful work Teemu! I like your idea of fielding these brave fellows without shields. It reflects them being shattered in combat AND as you say, it craftily shaves a few point offs for your list. I think you've had a great Challenge, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with in our final days before close.

- Curt

From TeemuL: Free Peoples of Middle Earth (50 points)

Going through my Ikea box this week, last of the dwarfs and some Rohans. They were rather fast to paint, since I have painted lots of them in the past and I know the colours and painting order etc.

Here are the last 5 dwarf warriors from the box and the last unpainted Lotr dwarfs I have, so army is more or less finished. I will buy reinforcements though, so don't worry. I need some specialists and rangers at least.

As I said, painted in the familiar way, green and blue for clothes and brown leather armour with yellow pouches and black shafts. Based on my usual Lotr way, paint brown, glue sand, brown wash and brown drybrush. Simple but rather nice, I think.

Next some Rohans from the same box, but there are still some to paint. I hope to finish the last during the Challenge. This army will be more or less finished by then, I wil probably buy only some character models in the future, but we will see.

This is actually Mithril mini of King Theoden, so coming from the Mithril department of the previously mentioned Ikea box. Two challenges ago I painted the old metal GW mini and the "new" plastic models from the Pelennor box. This one is mounted and without a shield, so gives some options. And I think I like this more than the plastic one, the horse has a nice pose, could be from the movie...

Not as detailed as modern plastics, but very characterful metal mini, I'd say. Painted with Contrast paints and metallics from GW.

Then three metal Rohan Royal Guards from GW. I painted three mounted and unmounted with spears some time ago, but managed to buy these second hand. I decided to give two swords and one spear, just to get some variation and options. I have painted the characters and royal guard with red cloaks, regular warriors with green cloaks, and I think these elite warriors pop up rather nicely. I especially like how the shields came up, I got lucky with the Contrasts, I guess.

From this angle they don't look that special... I'm writing this on Sunday, since I will be the whole week in the military refreshment and the following weekend at the scout camp. My access to phone will be limited (and no laptop at all), so I won't be able to comment much this week. Next week I need to focus on my Director's Chair challenge, but I won't be able to finish it by Wednesday, so I will need to think something else to keep my at-least-one-post-a-week schedule. And I guess I need to give some updates regarding the Muir and Drar movie, too. I have been too busy to write anything.

8 28mm minis for 40 points and 1 28mm mounted for 10 points, 50 in total.

Minion Miles: Love the shields!  

From TeemuL: More Dwarfs (40 points)

Yes, more dwarfs for Lotr. This time those plastic ones again, 8 in total. A nice mix of archers and axemen with axe and shield or a two-handed axe. I again painted the armour brown and clothes with rather bright green and blue. Some variation in colours in beards and hairs. Very nice minis to paint, couple of more to go.

8 plastic warriors, 28mm scale, so 40 points, please.

Minion Miles: 8 Dwarves you shall have, Sir (at least in the spreadsheet)