From DaveV: 28mm Flame Drake (a.k.a. 4-hex Dragon): 40 points

Dragons are traditionally known for their Greed. One series of fantasy novels assigns differently  coloured dragons to all of the Seven Sins. The Violet Dragon of Lust is a YA novel, an allegorical tale of a knight fighting an undying violet dragon. This WIZKIDS model, though not using that novel as its inspiration, caught my eye immediately when I saw it sitting on the shelf at GameKnight Games, here in Winnipeg.

The plastic model came pre-assembled and primed in white primer. Not my usual undercoat, but I forged ahead to paint it in a purpley-red scheme. I sketched in the basic colours in acrylics, adding shading with various GW and Army Painter washes, emphasizing the shapes of the scaly hide and picking out all the myriad claws, horns, and teeth. I then used tube oil paints both as washes and for some wet-on-wet blending. I tried to render the thin, leathery wings differently from the scales.

I based the model on a diamond shaped piece of thick plastic card. Below, the finished model compared with a cardboard counter from the Wizard microgame, one of the components of The Fantasy Trip:

As with my previous entry, it is based specifically for use with Steve Jackson Games' system, The Fantasy Trip ("TFT"). Such a large model takes up four hexes on the gaming surface; centaurs and horses take up two hexes, and humans, elves, or dwarves only one hex. So, this is a "4-hex Dragon". Larger in-game dragons cover 7 or even 14 hexes. (Note, the grey-edged parts of the base correspond to the model's 4 front facing hexes.)

I ended up super gluing on the groundwork; white glue just contracted as it dried and pulled away in a thin film from the plastic surface. 

Giants in TFT are 3-hex creatures. Below I have another couple of such monsters, pre-painted models from em4, ready for basing and groundwork. Also on the cutting mat can be seen the next 6 Talisman figures in my painting queue (the Sorceress, Assassin, Thief, Halfling, Druid, and Ghoul).

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Painting Challenge Total:

The Flame Drake is larger than a 28mm cavalry figure, about the size of a small vehicle or walker.

(1 x 28mm vehicle) + (Lust) = 20 + 20 = 40 points

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Hey Dave!

Beautiful Greedy Dragon! I love your attention to all the details of the scales, teeth, claws etc. The dragons pose is really dynamic and I think your colour choices have really helped emphasized a dragon in motion.

Well done!

40 points to your scoreboard

-Sarah

From GregB - Let Slip The Dogs Of War! (150 points)

The Alcatani Fellowship march forth, accompanied by the beautiful and dangerous Lucrezzia Belladonna. These are all old metal figures from GW's "Dogs of War" range. 

Very excited for this week's submission, as this kicks off a project which has been "in the works" for quite a while! Here we have the mercenary pikemen of The Alcatani Fellowship accompanied by notorious hireling sorceress Lucrezzia Belladonna. These are all old metal figures from GW's "Dogs of War" figure range for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. These are very, very old figures, more than 20 years old. 

The "Dogs of War" were a faction GW released for their Warhammer Fantasy Battle game, comprised of mercenary units and characters from the region of Tilea in GW's Old World fantasy setting. Sculpted by the amazingly talented Perry twins, the "Dogs of War" were one, in my opinion, of the most creative and most fun factions that GW ever released. GW came out with a wide assortment of Mercenary regiments and characters which could be added on to offer a creative twist to your existing army or could come together on the table as an all-mercenary force. The Dogs of War were the first Warhammer Fantasy army that I ever collected and painted. In fact, I was playing that army at a tournament in Winnipeg when I first met Curt back in 1998/1999.

The classic army book!

Later, I sold that old army and moved on to other things. How foolish of me! But the fond feelings for this old collection never left me, and with the help of, and inspiration from, Dallas, I started to hunt down these old figures on eBay. Not the easiest or most economical endeavor...but by late 2023, I was ready to go! In fact, I thought it would be a primary project for AHPC XIV. But there was just one problem...I moved house mid-Challenge...and so the project was postponed...

But the AHPC is back, and I was careful to put all of my carefully assembled Dogs of War bits aside, ready for this edition of the Painting Challenge...and here we go!

The Alcatani Fellowship

A 24-figure pike block ready for action! Many thanks to Byron for the awesome tray...

A group of farmers who lost their crops and livelihoods (presumably with no Tilean equivalent of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy to help them) and were forced to turn to the mercenary life to earn a living, the Alcatani Fellowship represent the more communal, lower-cost end of Tilea's mercenary service offerings. They are lightly armoured, of middling fighting capabilities and the character leading the unit, Rodrigo Delmonte, is a fairly average fighter. For all that, they have one attribute that sets them apart on the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop...they have pikes!

A view of the ranks...nice variety of poses, but it makes assembling a larger unit a bit tricky as you need to find some specific poses...that was easy in the late 90s, but is trickier on eBay today.

The world of Warhammer Fantasy takes so much inspiration from late Renaissance-era Europe, but the pikes were oddly missing from the figure range. They had been in the rules, but you did not see them on the tabletop. The Empire had halberdiers, swordsmen, spearmen...but no pikes. The Dogs of War changed all that. Many of the initial wave of the "Regiments of Renown" were pikemen, and any Dogs of War army would be built around two or three of these pike-armed regiments. 

This one figure holding his helmet came among the blister packs...I thought it was nice to have one non-conformist in the ranks...they are mercenaries after all...

This was so fun because even very established players had seldom encountered pikes on the table. The rules reflect the effects of the weapon very well, but this would take even established Fantasy players by surprise. The pikes are particularly murderous against cavalry (as you would expect), and so it was always great fun to encounter Brettonian players, with their insufferable and unstoppable knights (which often have special rules compelling them to charge any target they can reach), have their faces fall off as their stupid noblemen charge right at the pike blocks and directly into oblivion. 

A solid core unit for a "Dogs of War" army. 

This solid 24-figure block of Alcatani pikemen is a great basic building block for a mercenary force - modest in their fighting ability, but murder with their pikes. You can try and wear them down with missile fire - and thus sparing other, more dangerous fighting units from that effect - or you can charge right at them...and see how you like eating 24 pikes before you ever get to strike a blow...these fellows will serve as an excellent foundation for my renewed Dogs of War collection. 

Lucrezzia Belladonna

"What a lovely day for a ride..."

All Warhammer Fantasy armies must wield magic in some way in order to be successful, and the mercenary armies of Tilea are no exception. While the rules allowed for you to simply designate any of the (at the time) widely available different human spell-casting figures as a hireling wizard for your mercenary force, the Perrys did sculpt one Tilean-specific figure - the alluring and dangerous Lucrezzia Belladonna. 

Lucrezzian rides at ease...but her magic skills are not to be trifled with. And say, does this drink taste a little funny....?

"The most beautiful woman in all Tilea, and some say even the Old World, is Lucrezzia Belladonna. She is also the most dangerous to know! Lucrezzia is a renowned sorceress and rumored to be an arch-poisoner and mistress of many assassins!" Lucrezzia has been married seven times, as suitors from across Tilea, and even the Old World, are drawn to her, um, significant assets. I think she should do the trick for the "Lust" bonus category. 

A super-fun sculpt to paint up!

Lucrezzia is a powerful wizard and fun special character to use as part of a "Dogs of War" army, and I thought it would be great to have her as part of this nostalgia project. This is a tremendous sculpt, with all sorts of great details. I took a fair bit of extra time with this figure in an effort to capture these details...I got some of them, maybe not so much others, but this is a fun, unique sculpt and I'm glad to have Lucrezzia Belladonna in this collection.

Scoring

Ok, for scoring we have:

24 x 28mm foot figures - 120 points

1 x 28mm mounted figure - 10 points

"Lust" bonus - 20 points

Total = 150 points

Thanks very much for reading. It has been a pleasure to share this project with fellow Challenge participants, and I hope a couple more "Regiments of Renown" will cross the painting desk before AHPC XV concludes! 

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Well these ARE a treat Greg - classic Old Hammer Dogs of War done up beautifully! Of all the Regiments of Renown they made, this was one of favourite sets of scultps - you've done them fine justice with your brush

And Lucrezzia Belladonna is quite the Lady of Renown to lead them too. I'm mean who WOULDNT want to follow her? 150 points well earned!

- Paul

From SidneyR - Lust: The Potentially Simmering Rivalry of Ping-Xi and Pong-Li (40 points)

 

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"They're just the latest fashion.  Everyone, and I mean everyone at the Imperial Court has taken a pair of Chinese bodyguards into their retinue.  They're just the most adorable addition to the Castle.  They're strong, totally unemotional and just completely uninterested in calligraphy, or the tea ceremony.  They just... stand there and....and stare at me, all day long.  I tell you, I feel completely safe with Ping-Xi and Pong-Li in my apartment."

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For my entry for "Lust", I admit I was unsure what to prepare.  I did have a lovely pair of Games Workshop Chinese (or maybe Japanese) bodyguards based up and undercoated, and a Citadel female Samurai to accompany them.  And, Ladies and Gentlemen, the attraction of figures undercoated and ready to paint won the day.

So here we have Ping-Xi and Pong-Li, experienced and no doubt well-travelled Chinese bodyguards brought to the Imperial Court of Japan by Lady Machiko.  They'll be perfect for another frivolous game of "When the Last Sword is Drawn", my skirmish game of swordplay in medieval and Edō period Japan.  Maybe they'll prove to be dedicated and selfless guardians of Lady Machiko's honour. 

Or, just possibly, there might be something in the way that they both look at her as she pours some tea from a beautiful pottery tea service?  I always felt there was bound to be some kind of romance lurking with two bodyguards and an attractive female noblewoman.  One wonders if Ping-Xi or Pong-Li, or maybe both, have fallen for the unusual allure of Lady Machiko's blackened teeth?

I also added a 3D-printed large Japanese-style tree to the submission.  There was no reason for this, other than it gave me the chance to make the submission a little more points-worthy.   And, of course, it allowed me to take some ABBA-style "Knowing Me, Knowing You" photos of Ping-Xi and Pong-Li in front fo the tree, looking in different directions before they slaughter each other in a deadly context for Lady Machiko's hand.

The figures for Ping-Xi and Pong-Li are about forty years old, being from the "Oriental Heroes" range originally created to accompany the AD&D "Oriental Adventures" supplement published in 1984.  They've spent the years since 1984 in bubble-wrap until I finally painted them.  The metal studs on the leather armour of Ping-Xi and Pong-Li were horrifying to paint.  All of 58 tiny studs on each of the figures.  Good job Lady Machiko did not employ a whole regiment in studded leather armour.

I did remember to paint one base with black edging, and the other in brown edging.  Otherwise, Ping-Xi and Pong-Li might get mixed up.  I hope Lady Machiko can tell them apart.  Or, maybe, its more entertaining if she can't.

And finally, as this is me, here's two more ludicrously self-indulgent character cards to add to your Japanese collection for Challenge XV.  And yes, they are different figures in the Characters' photographs.   At least I think they are...!

For the points, there's 5 for each 25mm figure.  I feel it's a bit unfair asking for the usual points for a terrain addition - so maybe 5 points for a painted tree (and tree roots!) is fair?  And 20 points for "Lust".

That would all add up to a symmetrical 40 points.

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Hello Sydney!

Sooo beautiful and one of my favourite entries so far! 

Your hypothesis of  bodyguards Pong-li and Ping-Xi both being in love with Lady Machiko would be an excellent plot point in a Shogun-like series.

I am looking forward to seeing more of this project.

40 well deserved points for you

- Sarah

40 points for you!

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AndrewB Season Opener Inferno Blitz! Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed! 260pts

Hello folks!   Sorry for the delay, but let’s get to posting!  I decided this year aside from a couple projects I’m working on, I’d blitz through the Inferno Challenge as best I could. Now that I’ve gotten some basing glue, here we go!  

First is Limbo!   These are some Old Glory ‘voodoo’ warriors I acquired many years ago to attempt to play some good James Bond style Baron Zavoodie henchmen.  Alas, they’ve sat unpainted on washers for the better part of a decade, and I ran across them while digging for other projects, so here we go!  They’re quite characterful, despite lacking many different sculpts   

The second circle provided me some trouble as I don’t have many figures which are particularly ‘Lusty’.  That said, I ran across this bundle of cave folk while shuffling through shelves, and here I am.  Not outright lusty, but she’s got her chest out, and the boys seem to be enjoying it, so here we are!  I’ll try and find some relevant 3D prints to come back here maybe.  In the meantime, it makes good sense in that monosyllabic, unshaven way.  

Next, we have gluttony!  While trying to find a suitably rotund model, a four-legged friend knocked me on the knee with a stainless steel bowl, and then proceeded to eat the dog food I put inside with a vigor that would put the Cookie Monster to shame.  Bam! Gluttony!  Not sure where all these doggos are from, but they’re certainly hungry, and will certainly serve my games of 02 hundred well until I get the plastics in the box built and painted.  

Moving right along to Greed, this group of unsavory bootleggers, loan sharks, and bookies along with some of their other flunky buddies   I like to think of these folks as side characters like Forrest Gump at some of history’s most notorious gangster moments, all with the dreams of bags of stolen cash. I even managed to sneak in a dashed my lady gangster for Lady Sarah, so that was fun to find.  We’ll see if crime really pays!  

That’s about all I can get into this post, so look for more next week!  As for my points, I think we’ve got 13 Voodoo warriors for 65pts, four cave people for 20pts, seven puppies for 35pts, and 12 gangsters for 60pts.  There are four circles in the challenge for 80pts, and two women for Lady Sarah at 40pts.  This rounds me to an even 400, which I’ll need to be picking up the pace on!  

See you all next week, and happy painting!

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A fine opening Salvo there Andrew! I like the variety of figures you've been able to get done

I'm sure it was satisfying to finally get those Voodoo warriors completed too!

Unfortunately, there are no bonus points for female figures in this year's challenge.

65+20+35+60=180 + 80 bonus points = a total of 260

- Paul

From TomL, Stompy robots & Lust ( 55 points)

This is the first of two posts for this Tuesday. Continuing on with our tour of the Abyss This Pulp Figures Gangland Gal will accompany us to the second circle: Lust

 

Here we meet the beautiful, self-centered, hedonistic, lustful Dorian Grey from Westwind Productions.

These figures were painted using Foundry, Reaper and Two Thin Coats acrylics.  Taking a break from the Abyss we have some stompy Battletech robots.

These were painted using my airbrush and Vallejo Model Air paints, Vallejo deck tan drybrush and a light game colour wash.  This will get me on board with the Stompy Robot side duel.

Following previous years posts the Battltech Mech points would be:
2 40-50mm mechs @ 7 points = 14
3 roughly 28 mm mechs @ 5 points = 15
Lust = 20 pts
2 x 28 mm figures = 10 points

Total: 59 points.

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Ahhh Mr Dorian - a wonderful character. I wonder what he would do with all this social media stuff? Probably have a few million 'followers' I guess!

Great to some Mechs hit the table and get on with your Big Stompy Robots duel! I'll score them as 28mm figures, which seems consistent with their size as well as previous submissions

- Paul

From QuinnM: 4 Layers of Hell (150 points)

For this week I have 4 models for 4 different games(WH40K, AOS, TOW, Warcry) for 4 different layers of hell(lust,gluttony,Greed, Wrath)  

I am not a fan of only panting the same model over and over again so the challenge really appeals to me so i spent this week working thru some layers of hell and will be back to a unit of elves next week as my ultimate goal is to get all of them done by the end of the challenge.  

First up we have lust and we have a big one. a 3d printed proxy for a knight tyrant. by Ghamhk . Even though I only started painting this year, I have loved the setting of 40K since i was a kid, follow that up with a love of robots, big guns and excessive violence. all that led to my favorite 40K faction being genestealer cults (lore wise not to play). My second is chaos knights so when i found this model i knew i needed to do a whole list in Khorne colors. I didn't intend to paint up this knight till all my chaos wardogs were done but I pushed it forward for this challenge.

It was an interesting challenge to paint as this is by far the biggest model I have painted. Despite it having relatively simple geometry there was no good spot to hold it, and the shoulder pads took the longest to paint as the spikes got in the way. I have been told it is too clean for chaos but am happy with it, so if there are any suggestions other than more rust and more grim let me know.   

 

Next we have a troll for gluttony . His name is Frank and he is feeling sick today as he ate a few too many fish and elves. I painted this up in a more standard paint scheme for a river troll. This is the first time I have shaded this much flesh (only ever faces and hands) even if it is green. The rest of the unit may be hard to paint as I had to mix all the flesh shades from my 1 dark green and the scales for the same dark green and some blues but may make for some subtle variations. as i only have so many paints 

We have greed for this one, and it was fun to paint. This is a free guild cavalry from AOS(cities of Sigmar). I like to treat them as Bretonnian knights and am painting each one in different heraldry. I am taking inspiration from my favorite books and shows for the whole unit. Introducing Sir Dlimount of the throne bearers of Calanfer. a whole order of knights decorated in gold and purple to demonstrate the wealth of the kingdom From the book “The wandering Inn” 

 

And lastly we have a Ogre form warcry as my entry for Wrath. This was my angriest model and painted it up to work on flesh tones. I don't have much to say. I am happy with the paint job but i feel it is missing something. There are 2 skulls on the base.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1x 28mm on horse @ 10pts =10 points 

2x 54mm footman @ 10pts = 20 points

2x 28mm vehicle @ 20pts = 40 points  (for one knight)

Lust = 20 points (for the Chaos Knight)

Gluttony = 20 points (for the troll)

Greed = 20 points (for the Bretonnian Knight)

Wrath = 20 points (for the Ogre)

Total = 150 points

 

2 skulls

Sylvain: You offer us a BIG post this week. The Bretonnian knight is colorful and the metal of its armor is perfectly done. The troll shows that you are a master of shading. The ogre is crisp despite a limited palette from ivory to light brown. Finally, the Chaos Knight dwarfs all the other models in size and details. Because of the point system, I have to consider it a 28mm vehicle for 20 points, but because of its humongous size, as demonstrated in the first picture, I will count it as equivalent to 2 vehicles. So, a total of 150 points for you. Well done!