From AndrewG - Rise of the Robot Army part 1 - Drone Team (30 points)

 

Several sci-fi skirmish game scenarios I’m playing involve fighting nefarious robots, cyborgs, and drones, so I went digging through the pile of opportunity last week to see what I had readily available that might be useful to create my own horde of evil mechanical minions. I found lots of useful stuff, but this is a project that will grow over time, so I figured I’d start small with a drone team and their handler.

 

Since I’ll be using models from several different manufacturers for this project, I needed to choose an overarching colour theme to tie them all together. After all, robots like uniformity and who am I to challenge them? Recalling an image of an old copy of ‘I Robot’ I saw not too long ago, I settled on a dark turquois / deep teal as the base colour for my clanker horde.

The handler is a plastic Northstar Stargrave Crew figure more or less straight out of the box. The metal hoverbots are from Hydra Miniatures’ Retro Raygun Robot Legion line of figures, and the drone gunship is a decades old WH40K Tau mixed metal/plastic model. All went together fairly quickly, though the hoverbots can be a bit finicky to assemble as their servo-claws come separately and needed to be carefully pinned for better long-term stability.

 

Last, the industrial display base is a simple 3D print of a free stl file I found on Thingyverse. I gave it a base coat of olive drab, then some metallic dry brushing followed by a bit of rust and weathering effect. Overall, I’m happy with how they turned out and look forward to making the next unit.

Points-wise, I’d suggest the following:

1x 28mm figure = 5pts

1x gun drone (20mm figure) = 4 pts

5x hoverbots (10mm mounted figure) = 3pts each

1x display base = 0 pts

Total: 24 points

A great team of drone Andrew, I like the uniform blue consistent between handler and handlees.  of course with robots, you never are sure who is controlling whom.  I’m never sure on the points for drones and the like, so I’m rounding this up to 30 points since I think you’ve short changed yourself.

From AndrewG - More Fantasy/Sci-Fi Characters & Creatures (56 points)

This week I continued plugging away at my fantasy and sci-fi skirmish game requirements in between some historical figures (see other post) and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

First up, a rider to add to the Guards of Traitor’s Toll (GoTT) patrol detachment I showed last week. Interestingly, GoTT includes rules for mounted troops, wagons, animals, etc. but there are not many figure options readily available yet, so I made my own kit bashing some town guard bits with a Wargames Atlantic medieval mounted sergeant. The bed roll is from a 30+ year old Italeri 1/35 scale German soldier kit (never throw those extra bits away!). Overall, he turned out pretty good. Additionally, I finished one more townsfolk – a distracting puppeteer – who keeps the guard preoccupied while someone else fleeces his saddlebag of goodies.

 

Next up, a small addition to my monster library. These three Constructs are metal miniatures from Northstar’s Frostgrave line, and I have to say I really enjoyed painting them up. For ‘Barrel Man’ and ‘Pencil Head’ I followed the grain so to speak and kept my paint strokes all in one direction. For ‘Creepy Muppet’, I kept the colours drab as he would be put together from abandoned clothing items. By the way, I have no idea if that’s the actual names of these figures but that’s what I’m going with. The winter bases were made with Vallejo rough grey pumice (26.213) that dries lighter than the picture on the container, and little pieces of quartz, which pass for decent ice blocks.

Turning to Sci-Fi, I knocked out a big stompy mining robot and its handler for my Stargrave campaigns. Again, both are Northstar figures – the mining robot is multi-part metal, and the handler is a plastic figure kit bashed from the Crew and Mercenaries sets. Being a mining robot, I added some access panel decals, serial numbering, and gave it a couple of washes of nuln oil to dull down the brighter colours. Off he goes to drill holes!

Claiming the following points:

1x mounted figure = 10 pts

5 x 28mm figures = 25 pts

1x 28mm vehicle = 20 pts

1x Squirrel points – different genres – riders, monsters, robots

Total = 56 points

I am enjoying your GoTT pieces Andrew, nice guard and puppeteer.  If you're looking for mounted figures, you might want to check out the Perry WoR "Light Cavalry" kit.  Those creepy constructs as almost as unnerving as Byron's KD stuff.  But I have to say that you christened them with appropriate names.  Do the blue base rings have any significance in game play?  And I like the Rompy Stompy Robo-miner and handler.  I don't want to be on the receiving end of those.

I can give you 55 points for the figures, but the Squirrels are a separate tally. I've tagged this post to give the Squirrel Finder General (SFG) a heads up.

 

From AndrewG: Fantasy/Sci-Fi Characters, Creatures, [squirrel] (130 points)

I’ve had a growing interest in a number of skirmish adventure games lately – rules like Frostgrave, Guards of Traitor’s Toll (GoTT), Five Leagues from the Borderlands (5LFTB), Five Parsecs from Home and Stargrave to name a few. As most of my miniatures collection consists of historical units, I’ve started plugging away at a few warbands for these other games.

This first group is a detachment of 9 city guards in Lady Eryka’s colours for GoTT. You only need 6 figures or so to play co-op or competitive, but the rules recommend up to 9 figures for solo play so I went with that. These models are plastics produced by Wargames Atlanticand are an absolute joy to build and paint. Nice sculpts overall that are detailed without drowning in it (looking at you Warhammer).

For games of GoTT you need about two dozen townsfolk to populate your busy streets – everything from thugs to barmaids - so I have started getting stuck in on creating a variety of a different folks. Again, these figures are plastics from WGA and I was impressed with how much variety one can achieve from a single box. As well, as with most plastic figures they scale well with many other sets so kit bashing possibilities are endless.

A bit of detail - tattoos on the arms. The dagger is from a Warlord Games Dark Ages set

My only criticism of the WGA plastic sets is that there are surprising few pouches and daggers on the town guard and townsfolk sprues, especially given that the guards have waist belts suggesting they're carrying extra weapons or gear. I had to dig some out of the bits box to give my figures the bare essentials - something to keep in mind when building these.

For games of Frostgrave and 5LFTB I needed some good old fashioned baddies to fight and nothing says evil like a bunch of cultists. This first batch were built straight from a box of Northstar/Osprey Frostgrave plastic Cultists. Again, there are nice clean sculpts with great detail – easy to assemble and quick to paint up.

The 4 rats are also destined for Frostgrave. These critters are old Reaper metal figures that I bought forever ago and were just sitting. Super quick paint job and a bit of winter basing to match the genre.

Last in this week’s entry – two more test figures for the next warbands I’m working on. First, a second detachment for GoTT in different livery. Second, a sneak peak at a kit bashed Frostgrave Gnoll for a new Stargrave or Five Parsecs from Home warband. More pics of him and his companions to follow in a future post.

Thus, this week I’m claiming the following points:

22 x 28mm figures = 110 pts

4x 28mm giant rats = 20 pts

1x Squirrel points – different genres

Total = 130 points.

Wow Andrew that's a fantastic bunch of figures in several factions, and that doesn't include the Terrain bits that I weeded out for Byron to admin on Sunday.  really like that guard set in the green, especially the stocky officer with his blue hat and feathers.  You've done some fine wrk wit these various plastic kits.  A shame about the lack of pouches etc on the WGA kit.  Have a look at some of the Victrix dark age kits, they have spare bits and bods and I think the torsos would work well with your other figures.   I have counted the rates as 5 points each like a human or large animal as they are giant rats!

From Barks: Space cops (35 points)

One of my main goals this Challenge is to paint some figures for Guards of Traitors Toll... in space! I've been inspired by GoTT, which has you play as City Guards in a fantasy town- very Ankh-Morpork Night Watch. You need a good amount of town scenery, scatter, and citizens- not to mention some watchmen.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it the lightest of re-skins so I can play it in a Necromunda-type setting. I made my own Enforcers mostly using Stargrave Troopers. One of the first challenges is to port across the weapons- ranged weapons are rare, and empty hands are useful. Not to mention spears, swords, billhooks etc. Despite having a plethora of bits, the Stargrave sprues rarely have exactly what you need in the pose you want, so there's a lot of green stuff going on.

I like this guy's thumping arm, from the Automatons kit. I went for a black beret, I think it suits the paramilitary look.

I used a blue wash (Army Painter Magic Blue) over the shock mauls for that electric look.

I think this hand was reloading a grenade launcher, but it looks like she's using her wrist comms. I should paint her amazing eyebrows.

A few scratches really help add subtle texture and interest to the plain armour plates.

I'll make another shotgunner (I'll use the crossbow rules from GoTT).

I was pleased with this torch- it's a big RPG rocket with the nose cone cut off.

This shield is Imperial Roman, with a transfer. Are chequers used for police in many jurisdictions? I'd like to do a second one, but will need to kitbash a different right arm as that's the only pose holding a maul.

I've got a few more figures I'd like to build for this watch house, but this first bunch were a good test of concept. They're lacking in the grimdark gothic over-the-top-ness I enjoy (not to mention the absence of skullz), but I like the blue and black scheme. It's fun to try and make them all have character, despite wearing identical black uniforms, helmets, and glasses. I know gloves would make more sense, but it adds a bit of visual interest.

7x 28mm

From Millsy:

Dang! I've been tempted by GoTT and this is an angle I'd not considered. I can feel my limited resistance crumbling by the minute, thanks in part to this wonderful lot.

The way you've edge highlighted the armour, and used a blue tint across the minis to accentuate the cool black/grey is some amazing brushwork mate. And the stubble effect! Very cool indeed.

35 moving violations added to your total Barks.

Cheers,
Millsy

From Barks: Journey through the spheres (Wise, Warriors of Faith, Just Rulers, Contemplative) (130 points)

I have a selection of figures today to propel me around the last of the spheres of Paradise.

To get me there, I summoned Sarah with these Sci-fi civilians I made from assorted Stargrave kits. I love putting these together and matching bits, and then experimenting with colours I don't often use. The fifth civilian is made with a Fireforge zombie body (hence the unhealthy legs). I think she lives somewhere in the ash wastes protecting her claim.

My favourite is the surrendering one in green...

Sarah Connor vibes.

The Wise

You can tell this person is wise, just look at the size of their brain! Surely it won't implode and release warp daemons everywhere. He's made from the excellent Frostgrave wizard sprue, with a spare head I had.

The Warriors of Faith

Hot on his heels are these two thugs warriors of faith. The photos make me think I should redo the robe highlights.

1998 metals

The Just Ruler

Faramir. What a guy. Briefly the Steward of Gondor before some smelly ranger waves some jewellery about and claims he's the long-lost king.

2003 metal sculpt

Contemplative

I liked painting this Genestealer Cult character, who is Contemplating the plan of attack on this awesome hovering holo-map. I used Contrast Aethermatic Blue for the hologram. I'm thinking of adding somemorehighlightsand glow, but don't want to ruin it. The building complex is based on Warhammer World in Nottingham- a little Easter Egg.

That completes my journey though Hell and Paradise!

10x 28mm figures (50 points)

4 x locations (80 points)

Side Duels:

Squirrel +1 (sci-fi civilians)

Skull Duel +6 (total 18)

From Millsy:

What a great collection of painted miniatures and I love how you have aligned them to the various spheres mate. I've been very tempted by that Genestealer character myself for some time. It's a great sculpt with loads of interest and the composition is excellent. There's so much story telling going on there.

The warriors of faith are really cool too and I'm pleased to see you sticking with canon by painting hazard stripes on the chainsword. If ever there was pointless and redundant safety labelling this is it!

130 pointeriffic points for your tally sir!

Cheers,
Millsy