From TeemuL: Back to the Delmonteland [New Acquisitions] (45 points)

My last post for this Challenge is a return to the Delmonteland. I was so inspired by the game and possible campaign that we might play, that I ordered more troops for my imagination force. These are WW2 Americans from Warlord Games just like the US Marine Raider Squad I painted earlier. This time there is a heavier punch, two man bazooka team and three man MMG team relocating themselves.

The MMG team are US Marines as well, but the Bazooka team are US Airbourne, but with my very clever camouflage they look pretty much the same. :) I even have an US Army Jeep to add to my force. The paint scheme is basically the same, I used a bit different yellows and brown washes, so the uniforms and skin tones are even more varied than before. I think the next batch I need to vary the tones within figure, different wash for trousers and jacket for example.

I followed my basing from the first entry, maybe putting even more stuff on the bases. I tried to blend the different materials together with some washes and drybrushes, but I need to work on that, too.

The back of the Bazooka guy shows the camouflage I aimed for, 5 spots in a circle and quite far from other clusters. Some are better than others.

5 28mm miniatures and a location bonus should give me nice 45 points. I didn't reach my target, that was obvious after a very slow start during the Christmas break and week-off in the North, but I really had a good pace at the end and I hope to keep my painting productivity quite high in the near future!

The Final Map

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I really am enjoying your developing WWII Imagination force, Teemu. I  especially like your take on their camo and find their basework to be wonderfully verdant. Maybe next year we'll get to see some of their opposition? I hope so.

Thank you Teemu for all your excellent submissions over the Challenge, and for your wonderful minioning of the Thorsday crew. Another year of your insightful Finnish lessons and I think Sarah and I will be ready to immigrate. :)

- Curt 

From JP: Ral Partha's Idol Theft! [New Acquisitions] (65 points)

 This is a new acquisition, I have long been a fan of Tom Meier's vignettes and thought I would never find them again. Enter Jacob, owner of Ral Partha Legacy, who has allowed me to revel in my teenage delights of D&D!

I will start out with an unabashed shout out for Ral Partha Legacy. Jacob sent a parcel of vignettes from the US to me in Belgium. UPS didn't do a great job and it went walkies - permanently. Jacob diligently tried to track the parcel down, when UPS just shut the file, so to speak, Jacob recast the three vignettes I ordered and re-sent them to me at no cost (we are still wrangling as I want to contribute and order more!). They arrived two weeks ago.

The castings are superb! Clean, fine details, animated and each tells its own tale. Thank you for the superb service and perseverance Ral Partha Legacy. Firms like this allow me to continue enjoying the hobby.

I puzzled how best to assemble/paint the model - 7 pieces and all 25mm - super fine detail, a tiny bit delicate. I played around a bit with it and came to the conclusion I really should paint each part separately and then assemble them. Sounds obvious, but I have bad experiences from painting parts and putting it all together afterwards, even with good prep work.

I decided that the idol should be painted, as I have seen in India, that was key to adding extra life and colour. There are no washes, only brush and dry brush - I was afraid washes would take away from the end result. Here is the outcome:

I am still hunting for a base that is 65mm in diameter as well as a 'dome' to put over it - if anyone has recommendations, pray tell!!!!

Points... not certain! I'll give the following a try:

6 x 25-28mm figs 

(2 whole humans, 2 whole skeletons and a number of partial skeletons)    30

1 x idol as a 40mm figurine                                                                           7

1 x hobbit as a 15mm fig (on top of the idol if you missed him!)                 2 5

New acquisition                                                                                            20

Possible total:                                                                                                59 62

Once again - I would not normally get off my duff to paint a vignette so quickly - so thank to the Analogue for pushing me along!!

It's your stand-in minion Martijn again. Wow, JP, what a fantastically cool vignette! I am very happy you got in the end, for I would not have wanted to miss this contribution for the world. Great choice, and great painting too! You have managed to bring the whole scene to life, and I love the painted idol! I think you are being modest on the points side, a 28mm hobbit is still a 28mm hobbit, and I will round your total up to 65 for special coolness. And even that seems a little skimpy for this magnificent entry. However, that's what it is; 65 points for you. Well done!

N.B. Please mark your entry in the title, I almost missed it. And a map would be nice to!

 

From DavidB: the Wrath of Khan, new acquisitions (190 points)

 Hu wolf Totem

The White Scars are my favorite Space Marine faction. It has been a long time before I could indulge in collecting them as my earliest attempts were chalky or glossy. The color white is a complicated color in miniature painting as well as it is in spiritual beliefs( like Pottawatomie or Mongol) White is the color of death like ash, bone, winter snow. It is also the color of purity like clouds and winter snow. I will have to give a nod to my grandparents for the stories which have led me to enjoy dualities and double entendre.

On a whim when dabbling with the speed and contrast paints I found a quick method to lay down base colors and get a nice effect for white that is very pain free and quick. I have found that contrast paints are great for blocking in base colors and highlights are now a breeze. The first gen army painter speed paints are a great glaze too. This brings up the zenithal highlights and slap-chop style of painting. Zenithal gives a great smooth transition and slap chop gives a nice texture. I can add to that as ink never really dries and will reactivate when made wet. If you use a spray coat of workable fixative( like krylon that i use) it leaves a matt finish and slight texture but it great for fixing ink and pastel colors in place.

If you use ink in zenithal highlights, paint and ink applied over it will reactivate. I'm pretty sure the 1st gen army painter speed paints were high in ink pigment which is why they reactivate and mix when painted over. Some of the models bellow used white ink as a zenithal highlight, but I wanted the reactivation to chip at the armor push some sharp whites. 

Why I like the White Scars....besides the obnoxious white. They are Space Mongols and with the markings on their armor and equipment( made and applied by the individual) they are always discounted on first glance as a barbarian rabble. They have artists, poets, and artisans in their number and they are shrewd as much as being straightforward in combat. Like having their fleet look like a confused cluster before rocketing away from an Alpha Legion trap, laughing while fighting traitor brother marines, doing fantastic lightning strikes on Horus's forces using speed and misdirection before they strike then fade away. Not to mention totally smacking and routing the massive Death Guard force at the Lion's Gate in a surprise assault that saw Mortarion banished and the Great Khan himself near death. The White Scars triumphed in a berserk fury of grief while the Death Guard fled in despair.

You cannot have white scars without bikes. I was tempted to get into the HH with all the enthusiasm that Greg has shown with the wonderful eyecandy, but the sky hunter bikes made me serious.

I can have 10 in a squad...er squadron but only have six total.I will need a lot more and at $60 a box it will be a minute. Do not expect the Golden Keshig as those bikes are 60 a piece rather than 3 for 60.

I think my White Scars will be fine with a couple of hordes of the regular sky hunters.

They are wonderful kits and an absolute joy to paint. A good thing i like building and painting them as there needs to be many more including a 30k smash captain.. er praetor ...

I am still waiting for the transfer sheets and the decal solvents before final weathering

Greg painted the deredeo and the plastic version is pure awesome...(Greg, get magnets as GW made it so you can swap all the weapons by providing chambers in the components for magnets)

I did not have magnets, so this one is glued together but given twin linked plasma rifles because why not. this Deredeo has heavy flamers to deal with what survives being shot at a distance.

This one was fun to paint too and I will get at least one more if not two.

The Contemptor dreadnought was fun to build, but paint wise it is lacking in comparison to the other dreadnaughts available. He will be getting lots of decals later.

The leviathan!.....slow but powerful I plan on using the speedy sky hunters to funnel the opponent into the anvil of my hardy units. I think I need another of these as I am sure this monster will be a shot magnet.

I like the heavy look even though it is all plastic.

That is a Son of Horus deredeo armor plate at his feet in the ash and rubble of Terra.

No magnets needed to swap weapons with these fellows!

Some Mk3 iron armor White Scars armed with volkite weapons. 

Two squads of 5 support marines for my two blocks of troops. 

I need to get more troopers for other heavy and special weapons. 

I liked these much more than the mk6 armor with the cables and trim on the armor. I painted them white but swapped in colors of red, gold, and silver for various pieces to show the individual flair of each White Scar. 

This one won't count yet as i painted him and photographed him before I made it to the giftshop.

Should the White Scars not make the top of the Legion duel, he will be the token sent to the victor. An old comm marine from the RT days and actual lead....he looks very smol with the HH marines. he does show where the master of signal got the design from though!

I can, but will not paint the white scar insignia on the horde of plastics primed. way too much time spent getting this one right!

Mk6 marines with the Sharknose missile  rocket launcher( let's not use the word with miss innit)

All the support weapon marine sergeants got the signal backpack extra for the servo skull and optics there....I needed the sgt models to look extra special in their role and optics to assist aiming seemed appropriate. I need to find more such bits in my bit box to add to the sensor/optic array.

I used every one of the launchers from the old RT box of plastics so it was no question about my white scars having a rocket launcher support section.

The Praetor....I like Greg's naming of the Axehole and it definitely suits this fellow. It was a chore to assemble this guy and an equal pain to paint him. I may get another HH box just to try him again, but block paint him before assembly.

The initial force of 30k HH. I got the Astartes  battle force with the special weapons, land raider and MKIII marines with the sky hunters( two boxes) and the leviathan dread  because I quit smoking. If I last another month I have been promised HH assault marines and the new primaris assault marines.

I built the jetbikes, dreads, and mkIII marines just a few weeks ago. The rest will have to wait until I run out of HH stuff to paint and have time to build them.

Scoring:

• three jet bikes at 10 points each- 30 points
• three dreadnoughts at 20 points each-60 points
• 16 marines at 5 points each- 80 points
• new acquisitions 20 bonus points

       a total of 190 points

side duels

• legion duel-8 units or 22 legionnaires
• stompy robots of death- three
• skullz- 29...not too many skullz in 30k

I will do a proper post and more closeups when I get to the gift shop for the master of signals, but he is now complete. the studded shoulder plates are difficult, but i like them better now that they are painted! I am thinking of combining the mkIII and mkVI armor to show the desperate logistics of the loyalist troops too in later additions. Jaghati Khan and other FW units will probably find their way into my collection now that I have a reason to add them...and a few may join the 40k White Scars as legendary units hence the urban rubble bases to fit in with the 40k cohorts.....especially the Leviathan!

Great looking models and impressive production here David, and welcome to the madness that is Horus Heresy gaming! The jetbikes are certainly very cool, and you cannot possibly go wrong with Deredeo dreadnoughts and MKIII Marines. I have a feeling that this is but the beginning of a wonderful and impressive collection! 190 points for you!

Dallas 

From RayR: New Acquisitions & History Bonus rounds (85 points)

For my second entry into Challenge 14, I've entered the Library with 2 entries.

The first is a Dark Age Welsh Priest, holding a wooden cross, from The Miniatures Company, sold by Eureka UK.

Ok, he's Welsh from the Dark Ages, but I think he could and will fit into many other periods.

New Acquisitions: Give us something brand new and shiny.

He's a new figure, I bought him at Partizan in October, I knew he'd come in handy for the Challenge!

Next up we have another Library visit.....

History: In the AHPC Library History is not written by the victors, but by our painters!

This was probably the easiest visit ever to any of the bonus rounds. As anything I paint could go here!

So its back to the late 1600's for some Wargames Foundry French Grenadiers.

They were a doddle to paint up and will add a little colour to my Donnybrook collection.

So to the points 

Monk 5 pts + 20 bonus points = 25pts

8 x Grenadiers - 40 pts + 20 bonus points = 60pts

For a total of  85pts

TeemuL: Very nice monk, Ray. It was a good idea to purchase him and I'm sure he can carry the cross across several centuries. Grenadiers are fine looking chaps, too. I like the non-white you have used. A map of the Library would be most useful for tracking your progress. ;)

From PhilH: Learning New Skills at New Acquisitions (55 points)

Hello, sorry for the radio silence from my paint desk and on people’s posts but it’s quite a disrupted time for my family and my hobby setup isn’t what I’d like for the foreseeable. Still, I’ll at last be joining in Challenge XIV. I’ve painting as much as my schedule allows, but been very lax on the finishing and photographing. I’ll have a few posts to follow this one once I’ve staved off The Cut. 

It seems appropriate to start my journey around the Analogueville Public Library at ‘Front Desk & New Acquisitions’. Start at the front door and for a jaunty hello from the staff and all that. My new hobby acquisition since the last challenge has been an Elegoo Saturn resin printer. I’ve been incorporating resin prints into my hobby for a few years now, but finally I can industrialise production and despair at the prospect of ever painting it all. 

As with all new skills there’s a learning curve, though once I’d looked at looked at a few setups and figured out what to do about the toxic gunk, I found resin printing quite straightforward. My entry here of five Wookie Warriors for Star Wars was once of my first print runs, and I’d not quite got my exposure settings dialled in, so the details are a touch soft and the cheapo resin quite brittle. The keen eyed might spot some damages from prep and painting, and two of the seven I printed were unsalvageable once I’d pinged their weapons off.

The fur was all drybrushed, just leaving the picking out of facial details, their webbing and weapons to match the rebel troopers I did last year. The files are from the sadly now-defunct Squamous Miniatures Patreon. I love the obscenely big support weapon and Vietnam-era marines look to the webbing and helmets, a nice twist on wookies. The designer now operates as David Sheff Models (DSM) and releases via Kickstarter, I thought his Patreon was the most interesting and best value Star Wars-inspired Patreon and miss it.

Five big wookies in 40mm scale is 35 points, plus the location bonus opens my tally at 55 points. 

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Wonderful to see you join us, Phil! Cutting it a little fine mate, but well worth it, and all in the spirit of these magnificent Wookie warriors who look more than ready to pull-off any daunting rescue mission. Very nice models (too bad they're not available anymore). As you say, they really take well to the 'Nam-like webbing, and your smooth brushwork really does them justice (really like the amber lenses and metallic glints from the hafts of their blades. Yes, 3d printing has a bit of a learning curve to it, but it looks like you have everything well in hand. You're now fully empowered to (like me) produce metric sh*t tonnes of stuff that you'll never manage to paint. :)  

Welcome back!!

- Curt

From MikeF - Overdues and Returns - Steel Legion Lascannons; New Acquisitions and the dangers of smoking - Burnt Tree Terrain - 106 points

Getting my first post in under the wire (and only one shot across the bow from Curt!). For the past year Ive been working on and off on an Imperial Guard Steel Legion army for 40k. I've decided to make a final push to finish the few remaining and overdue units. The models below are from Victoria Miniatures, with heads from Mad Robot Miniatures. They represent lascannon heavy weapon squads. 3 Crew served weapon for 30 points, plus the room = 50 points.

This guy couldn't be less interested in the battle or his lungs!

Second up is a new terrain acquisition. I wanted to make some trees that looked like they have been burned as opposed to the many trees I have with full and lush foliage. I bought some Woodland Scenic tree frames and did some minimal paint and ground work. Pretty quick and simple and will serve their purpose.  I think I worked these out to about 6 points, plus the room = 26 points.

Oops! That's going to be a steep fine.

 

76 points total.

Welcome to the Sunday Crew mike, and a great first post! Glad that you made it!

Great models there. Just right for weapon platforms! And those lascannons.. I think I had some of those back in the day when I was still in Canada! Very nostalgic for me there. Though were the crew AND guns painted here? If so then its a bit more than 30 pts. As each gun is 10 pts, and the infantry is still another 5 pts each. So that would give you 60+20 for the room!

And those trees are exactly how I envision a burned forest. Maybe a bit more soot spread on the base, but looks the bit!

Great work and 106 pts added for you on your first post!

Kyle