From Kerry T: Men in Black II or Deja Vu - or out with the old and in with the new (240 points)

Morning, afternoon & evening all

Men in Black II, Deja Vu....

Now that line sounds like the start of a poem so maybe I'm a poet but I don't know it!

Seriously its new year and as the saying suggests - "out with the old and in with the new"......

 Thus, I give you "Men in Black" - but hang on that was my first entry in last years AHPC

My entry on 26/12/23

But red and blue as just so passe this year and so now its onto Men in Black II

My entry 31/12/24

There's no photo shopping here I promise just a bit of paintwork though I thought it might be fun to try and take a similar photo to last year. Last year's post is here https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/search/label/Kerry%20T?updated-max=2024-01-05T03:43:00-06:00&max-results=20&start=14&by-date=false

Today's entry is my latest attempt to continue to grow my Moorish/El Cid armies and are from Artizan Designs range of Moors. So more Moors (shall I get my coat?)

More specifically they are my fourth unit of Black Guard infantry and 3rd Unit of Hashim Black Guard Cavalry in a project that I think was started in 2011 when I first saw  the then Musketeer Miniatures Armies of the Caliphate range. That range is now available from Footsore. It sort of started with a Crusades project and then sort of wandered off into Spain and I've quietly been adding units from several manufacturers over the years..

The picture below shows a unit of Blackguard spearmen, 24 strong

Led by the Imam

I managed to rescue that flag after sticking it on upside down at first

The obligatory running away photo

All in a line

Next up is the accompanying cavalry, just 12 figures strong

The cavalry prepare to charge

I'd not realised I had run out of printed flags so quickly painted some

The cavalry ran away as well

Its funny how usually we rush to finish a project but in reality we all know that no wargames project really finishes, it just gets added to after lying dormant for a while. As time has gone on I've come to realise that this is one of the hidden pleasures of painting. An old blog post highlighted the state of play with my Crusades/Reconquista project in April last year

https://valleyboyinnz.wordpress.com/2023/04/30/crusaders-saladin-el-cid-normans-all-mixed-up-somehow/

Now that I've acquired a resin printer there's no doubt this project will continue to grow slowly as my roving eye has been caught by the siren call of Reconquer Designs though I doubt any more will get  painted this challenge. Perhaps that's how it should be, no mad rushing around, just a quiet plod over years adding units that take your fancy once the core troops have been completed. What I'm really pleased about though is the appearance of the recent Midguard rules. Played my first game 2 weeks ago with my mate, I lost but managed to kill off El Cid.

So if you feel daunted by the enormity of a project my advice is just plod along quietly and before you know it you'll get there, that is of course if you're like me and like collecting large armies to play big games

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda to you all

In summary

24 x 28mm Foot figures @ 5 points = 120 points

12 x 28mm Mounted figures @ 10 points = 120 points

Is this 1 Squirrel or two? Can't recall the rules

Many thanks

________________________________________

Beautiful work Kerry on these two units of Moors. They really look the business, ready to give El Cid a run for his churros and hot chocolate. Well done and Happy New Year!

- Curt

From BenitoV: Under Construction - The Moor Warband Completed (55 points)

My initial post was a group of 5 moor archers and today I finish this levy unit with additional 7 models, to complete the 12 required to score 1 point in a Saga warband. 

But more important, I just realized that after painting the unit I'm also completing a Moor Warband which started ... more than a decade ago (!) when I was immersed in playing El Cid supplement of the Warhammer Ancient Battles system.  

 

For different reasons, I abandoned both WAB and this army project, turning my attention chiefly into the WW1 and WW2 periods, hand in hand with some Too Fat Lardies sets discovered in those years.

The project has resurfaced with Saga. I clean the dust from my Gripping Beast moor models (all metal) from the late 80s, and have also recovered from the unpainted pile of lead, close to 100 Christian/Norman models that I bought to build an El Cid army. Not sure if I'll be able to paint some for the Challenge but I'll try.

In any case, I think this last archer contingent can score for the "Under Construction" set in the Challenge studios (... unless the Snow Lord objects, of course).

Going back to the models, as in the previous post these are a mix of two Gripping Beast plastic boxes Dark Age Archers and Arab Spearmen and Archers to get more variety of models and poses. 

Scoring:

• 7 x 28mm models @5 points each = 35 points
• Bonus "Under Construction" stucio = 20 points
• Total = 55 points

As today is Decemeber 25th, I wish all Challengers a very festive day in the company of your beloved ones. And if you live in North America, I saw in the news there's a very nasty snowstorm sweeping Canada and the US, stay safe!

______________________________________

More lovely Moorish archers, Benito!

I have fond memories of all of those Warhammer Historical expansion books, even though I never played the game - they were such quality products. I really like that you're resurrecting your El Cid army project for a run during the Challenge. I very much look forward to seeing more units come out from under your talented brush.

- Curt

From BenitoV: Moor Archers Levy (25 points)

My parting opening shot for this year's Challenge is a first group of Moor archers for a 4-points Saga warband that I'm about to complete now. The unit can be used either as part of an Iberian Peninsula Reconquista game (either in a taifa kingdom army or as a mercenary contingent in a Christian warband) or in a wider Arab invasion campaign.

Since the end of the summer, I have been mainly playing Saga games. Not exactly the most "historical" set of rules, but easy, fast, bloody and perfect for a Sunday morning game at the club. I wrote a few days ago a post in my blog explaining in detail the pros and cons of Saga if you are interested. 

These are 28 mm plastic models produced by Gripping Beast, owner of the Saga franchise. Here I have combined parts from two different sets: the Dark Age Archers and the Arab Spearmen and Archers boxes to get a wider variety of poses and models.

The Gripping Beast plastic boxes are one of the best value for money offering currently in the market if you are in the late Roman Empire to the El Cid/Normans period. Good level of sculpting and 30 to 40 multipart and multipose models in the infantry boxes and 12 models for horse mounted boxes for a price below €30. 

Parts are also interchangeable between boxes; this combined with lack of uniformity in the period, means that you have an almost infinite variation potential for your armies with 3 or 4 boxes. 

 

Scoring: 5 x 28mm model @5 points each = 25 points.

I also score 1 point in the Squirrel Duel Challenge.

____________________________________

Lovely work Benito. Your efforts here offer a great testimony to Gripping Beasts plastic sets. I love the variation of both the poses and clothing on these fellows. Great brushwork! I'm definitely going to check out your blogpost as I've a real soft spot for SAGA, and I'm thinking our group should bring it out again for a revisit.

Welcome back to the Challenge!

- Curt

From KerryT: P is for Plastic Fantastic (280 points and a Squirrel bomb )

Morning afternoon and evening all

Plastic figures have made such a difference to the hobby haven't they - for me they've changed an influenced my hobby in two ways.

Firstly the availability of plastic figures is what got me moving from 15mm figures and to those 28s that in my younger days  I felt were unaffordable. I've always hankered after the massive table groaning under the weight of those massed 28mm Napoleonics , the siren calls of those pictures leaping out of the pages of Miniature Wargames in the 80s by the likes of Peter Gilder could more easily be answered.

What can you get for 75 pence now!

 About 10 years ago I remember wrestling with the thought that "look you've got more than 10,000 15mm Napoleonic figures, why on earth do you want Napoleonics in 28mm? Their affordability won the argument though I have restricted myself the French, Russians and Polish

The second thing is that its done is allow me to go big when I got mesmerised by the "oh look shiny" spell. This happened a few years ago and I remember being one of those early punters through the door at Salute a few years ago (fair play I had come all the way from NZ - in those days it was possible to travel easily and we would time visits home to see family to coincide with a major show like Salute or Partizan)

I remember hurrying to the then Musketeer Miniatures trade stand and buying from their 28mm Caliphate range because I had been previously dazzled by the "oh look shiny" effect. Since then you can credit Artizan Designs  with having the same effect. Somewhere along the line I've got a bit lost and I think I'm collecting for both Crusades and Spain with El Cid but it matters not! Consequently I have decent sized armies for both sides now but you know what I wanted was more... or Moors!

This is the infantry in 2012, which meant Salute must have been 2011!

That's where these Gripping Beast Plastic Arabs come in- this is the second advantage of Plastic figures - it allows you to beef out what you have and make the big game possible because you have Moors ( ok no Moor puns I promise! - oops)

Its funny painting plastics isn't it - the first mistake I made a few years ago was to undercoat them in my usual way - Matt Black Humbrol enamel  thinned with turpentine and sloshed with a large brush. They got a little bit warm and I noticed they were beginning to melt and the faces ended up looking a bit funny

Since that early mistake  I've used Vallejo black primer but it doesn't flow over plastic figures as easily as metal and I've also noticed that when you start to paint plastics the initial coat of paint doesn't seem to adhere easily and washes don't seem to flow into the crevasses so I have had to adapt my painting technique just a little. On the plus side I have noticed that once the paint has finally adhered it doesn't seem so easy to rub off as with metal figures

So here is my 10th P unit - P is for Plastic, leaving me with just P for Posh and P for Pagan to follow.

So here we are a unit of plastic Gripping Beast Arabs to beef out my Islamic/Moorish army. The box contains 40 figures and my initial intention was to paint the lot but as my units are usually 24 figures strong, made up of 6 figures on 4 bases I realised I wouldn't be able to complete 2 units as I'd be eight figures short.

The figures are nice enough but not as nice as Artizan's Moors, shield transfers by LBSM.

They certainly will bulk an army out though

Gale Force 9 arid grass seems to have changed from 2012

Moor figures running away!

I'm reasonably happy with these, they were quick to pain and will beef out the army, but they could do with a few banners - I think I'll get 2 command groups from the Groping Beast metal range which when complete will give 2 x 24 figure units. The other thing I need to do when the challenge is over is make a desert kind of basecloth that I can use for Moors, Crusades and Pony Wars

The figures are fairly simple, there little detail that needs to be painted and so I completed the unit earlier in the week than I had expected. So rather than be satisfied and continue on with the next P unit (Probably Pagans = Vikings) I had an idea....

The Squirrel Bomb...

My main aim with the challenge so far has been to reduce the lead pile and churn out game sized units  but as I'm not lagging too far behind in the Squirrel challenge at the moment I've taken a side track, trawled through my leadpile (in this case plastic pile) and selected 6 figures each from several ranges languishing in boxes and painted them up. Yes this will give me  a few extra Squirrels but the resulting impetus might mean I will actually tackle them in earnest once the challenge has ended 

So here they are

First up a the command stand from some Perry Napoleonic Russian infantry

I know Jaeger did not carry standards but this is superseded by the first law of wargaming that all units should have big flags - GMB Design in this case. This is from a spare box of Perry plastic, I have another 20 figures to paint to make them up to a 32 figure unit

Next up some Perry Billmen, this must have been the first box of plastics I ever bought and these have languished for an age though the Pikemen were painted ages ago

GW LOTR Harradrim

I just love these figures

I have quite a few painted black but they've never made it onto the wargames table

Next are some Rangers in the same Range

There are still a good few left to paint, others from the box made an appearance in a Lead Adventure Forum Lead Painters League Challenge in April 2012. Picture below

and finally some Orcs, again left overs from those used from the same box in the above  picture

So in conclusion I'd have to say that Plastic really is fantastic though I do prefer the heft of metal figures. I've also really enjoyed the past few nights delving into storage boxes and digging things out from the past and with the relatively quick time it took to knock off 6 from each set I now feel less daunted about finishing the remainder with the aim of getting them on the table in the months to come

So if my calculations are correct

 

24 Arabs @ 5 points = 120

8 Russian Napoleonic infantry = 40

6 Billmen, Harradrim, Rangers and Orcs @ 30 points each

Hopefully that's also 6 squirrels 

____________________________

Wow, Kerry, you've given us a very nice variety pack here. I'm much the same as you in finding that plastic figures play a big role in making mass unit armies more attainable. Their cost is an undisputed benefit, and their overall quality has improved by leaps and bounds. This all being said, I still have a soft spot for good old metal figures, warts and all. There is something inexplicable that just makes them 'better' to me. They still have a crispness and weight that appeals to my lizard brain - also, they seem to be a bit more resilient to tabletop mishaps than plastic or resin. Anyway, all this aside, I think your new units of (deep breath) Moors, Jaegers, Harradrim, Rangers and Orcs are terrific. I especially like the Moors and fully endorse that ALL units be allowed big, honkin' banners. Well done!

- Curt  

Group shot from RossM

Another year, another Challenge ends. This is my ninth time in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and it has become not only an annual event but a great source of inspiration and motivator for myself and many others.

Hats off to Curt, Sarah and all minions and participants for making this such a great experience.

This year saw my points total exceeded for my highest score in all the Challenges I have participated in. Whilst this isn't a target that many would struggle to achieve, I have always been a slow but steady painter.

So here are the painted offerings from this year's Challenge all together.

The 28mm submission

The 20mm submissions

The 15mm submissions

Selfie

One of the strange parts of our hobby is that we invest considerable amounts of money and time in collecting, assembling and painting our chosen miniatures. Some, my wife for one, would say too much of all. Then  we put them all in boxes only to be seen every once in a while.

The entire submission for AHPC X 2019-20

Thanks again to eveyone involved in this hobby extravaganza and see you all in the QC2020.

Cheers, Ross

From RossM - 15mm, 20mm and 28mm figures - (96 points)

A mixed bag here showing the varied projects that are nearly always on the painting table in some way or another.

First up are 5 Arab swordsmen in 15mm, the manufacturer is unknown although recon it to be Minifigs. One of these was painted prior to the start of the Challenge no idea which one it is now

Next up are support elements in 20mm for the D.A.K that where started at the beginning of the challenge. With no real crewed weapons here these count as infantry figures only.

Now there are a few different 28mm figures. Greek skirmishers from Wargames Foundry for Mortal Gods and a piece of scatter terrain from Grand Manner for the same.

A Moor command stand for ADLG in 28mm. The standard bearer and command figure have been painted to join the religious type on this stand. The figures are from Gripping Beast and there will be more from this range on my blog later this year. The flag originally had a green trim and green triangles on the inner panels however, as red and green should never be seen this was over painted in a muted red to fit better with the colours on the figures.

Some armies are just never finished and the Late Romans would be that one for me. These figures from Gripping Beast have been gathering dust since being prepped for last year's Challenge and never made the painting line. Well that has now been rectified and all that is needed now is a game for them to be used in.

The scores so far

5 x 15mm infantry - 10 points
6 x 20mm infantry - 24 points
11 x 28mm infantry - 55 points
1 scenery piece (1.5" radius and 1.5" tall - 10.6 cubic inch or 5% of the 6" cube) - 4 points

The running total

440 points - 88% of the Challenge total

This is beautiful and eclectic submission. Loving the basing and the pile of pots is worth more than 4