From JohnS: More Spanish Heroes (50 points)

As the closing time looms I have managed to complete ten more Spanish for my Peninsular War army.

 

 

A mix of Perry and Brigade Games (with perhaps an Offensive Miniatures officer on the right) these ten militia were actually a lot of fun to paint.

I like my armies to consist of individuals, not all the same figure in the same pose. Militia units give me a chance to scratch that itch.

Every figure is dressed differently, with a range of equipment but I have tried to tie them all together with pops of the Spanish national colours of red and yellow. I can just imagine these two officers walking into a cantina and saying "Hey you, you're in the army now. Do you want the hat or the sash?"

I must mention the basing. Our regular gaming buddy Gavin is a big fan of Peninsular War games and has created an enormous batch of Gav's Special Spanish Basing, made up of a host of "secret" ingredients. He has gifted us regulars with a 2 litre bottle of each. It may take some time to use up!

Thanks to the regular chats with the other Challengers (organised by the Magnificent Millsy) I have achieved a Personal Best this Challenge. They don't call me Slowpainter for nothing!

10 x 28mm Infantry @ 5 ea = 50 points to finish

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These Spanish militia look magnificent John. I really like how you've made each unique yet managed to maintain a consistency so the look like a unit when brought together. That secret mix of Gavin's looks the business and with two litres you'll have a lot of arid basing ahead of you.

Finally, congratulations on achieving a personal Challenge Best this year. I'm delighted that it provided you with good impetus for getting models off the paint desk and on the game table. Bravo!

- Curt

From JohnS: At the Sharpe End (40 points)

Continuing in my random historicals Stretch Goal today I am visiting the Peninsular War.

Anyone familiar with the Sharpe TV series of the 1990s-2000s will recognise a few of these Riflemen and their trusty Spanish allies.

SB himself is not among this lot. He is with another group that is partially painted so not Challenge material. These five include two officers (Sweet William and Lord John) and three Riflemen including a Chosen Man.

These miniatures are from Brigade Games and are very finely sculpted and were quite a pleasure to paint.

Accompanying our Rifle heroes are three unnamed Spanish Militia. Bad Things always seem to happen to these poor chaps so it is best if we just refer to them as Brave Spanish Martyrs 1, 2 and 3.

The Spanish are from Perry Miniatures.

These eight figures will be added to my large Peninsular War collection of British, French and Spanish (plus a few Portuguese) that started as a couple of Sharp Practice armies and have grown considerably over the years.

8 x 28mm Infantry @ 5 = 40 points

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How wonderful that at last I get to minion one of your posts John! Great to see you expanding your retinue to fight that despot "El Guapo", who has plagued so many of our tabletop adventures!

A doubty looking bunch of riflemen able to swat a gnat at 300 yards no doubt, but my favourite is Sweet William, who I always found to be a rather engaging character in the books. His appearance in the TV Show also reminds me of a tabletop opponent you and I regularly see across the table John! (sans eyepatch of course)

Well done - that puts you ahead of a certain other challenger at this late stage of the game... 

Can Mssr Alan pull one of of ze bag or have you got him pipped at ze post????

- Paul

From GrahameH: Lord of the Rings and even more Napoleonics (1410 Points)

The second and final post contains some Games Workshop Lord of the Rings (LOTR) figures and even more Napoleonic cavalry and artillery. Hopefully, there is a little more colour than the last entry, well apart from the Gondor troops.

LOTR - Gondor

The LOTR are again Gondor figures, although this time I have put some grass on the bases which I think I like better than just a lonely tuft, as show on the figures in a previous post. These figures were a cheap purchased, years ago, from Ebay. 

Numenor Warriors (12 Figures = 60pts)

Gondor Archers (31 figures = 155pts)

Gondor Swordsmen (2 Figures = 10pts) - Photo bombed by a couple of Gondor spearmen

Gondor Spearmen (13 Figures = 65pts)

Total for Gondor Figures = 290pts

MORE NAPOLEONICS "HURRAH"

Love Napoleonics, and some of you may have noticed I love painting Napoleonic Cavalry 

Spanish Cavalry (AB Figures - Unit of 24 Cavalry = 96pts)

This was the only Spanish Cavalry I had left to paint and I can't now remember which regiment I painted it as, and I can't find the Reference Book at the moment. Anyhow they are done. 

Russian Napoleonics (AB Figures)

Some of the Cavalry Units are not shown here in full, as I had already painted part of the unit before the challenge. However, all the Cavalry would usually be 30 figures strong. 

The Lithuania Uhlans (27 Figures = 108pts)

Pavlograd Hussars (27 figures = 108pts). Front rank with lances.

Irhoutz Hussars (30 Figures = 120pts)

These don't have the lances in the front rank, this is because they were Dragoons converted to Hussars in 1812 so I don't know if they received lances. Some Hussars Regts didn't get their lances until 1813. Really, I forgot to order hussars with lancers and only ordered normal hussars 😫

Mitau Dragoons (30 Figures = 120pts)

Kharkov Dragons (30 Figures = 120pts)

Mounted Guard Regt (30 Figures = 120pts)

Empress' Cuirassiers (18 Figures = 72pts) because you have got to have troops with pink facings in your army

Don Cossack (20 Figures - 80pts) One of the many small Cossack units in my army. Don Cossack were apparently known for their red lances.

Russian Limbers (4 Limbers (3 Foot and 1 Horse). Gun 4pts, Limber 4pts and crew and horses 18pts = 26pts per Limber.

Total 4 Limbers = 104 pts 

Russian Heavy Battery (6 Guns and 24 crew = 72pts)

Russian Batteries were large units and so are represents in General de Brigade with 4 Guns and two howitzers. Being a heavy battery these are modelled with  4 X 12pdrs and 2 Licorne. 

And that is it.

Total for this post 

Gondor 290pts

Spanish 96pts 

Russian 904pts

=1290pts 

I can now take down the table that I have had set up in the living room for painting for the last three months. Thank everyone running and taking part in this year challenge, especially Curt and my long suffering "Friday Minion" PhilH, who has had to re-total every entry I have submitted. REALLY SORRY PHIL 😳 

So Overall Result

Tennis elbow, a sore neck, a stiff back and a very small bit of the lead mountain painted, which I dare say will be replaced by new lead in the near future. My name is Grahame and I have a problem....

But best of all, loads of fun.

Again thank you to every one involved in this years challenge, can't wait for next year. Might have to buy some more Napoleonic Cavalry though.

Friday Minion: Congratulations on a spectacular challenge Graham, great to have you along for the ride. I do not know how you can bear to paint so many Napoleonic cavalry, it is extremely impressive.

You under counted your Russians and missed a unit, I make them 1024 points, plus the rest for this post totalling 1410! Meaning you've hit 5500 points, which is a massive score  (if a suspiciously round number). Not that it's about scores, folks. Now you can kick back and relax for the year knowing you've painted enough to last until next challenge.