From ChristopherS: New Orleans Greys (100pts.)

The last challenge or the challenge before that I introduced my first miniature for my Texas War of Independence project which was a mounted Texian figure and since followed it up with a Mexican regiment outside the challenge. I decided I wanted to add to the project and thought it would fit right in with the challenge and the first thing I wanted to do were the New Orleans Greys.

The Texas War of Independence project is for Sharp Practice II which I think is absolutely ideal for this period due to the small size of the forces involved. I wouldn't want to build large armies for this as there were few large engagements(That came latter in the Mexican/American War), but the opportunities for skirmish is very large indeed with raids, feats of daring, rescues, and ambushes to name few!

The New Orleans Greys were a Military Volunteer unit comprised of 2 companies (122 men) that requested permission from Texas Provincial Government to fight in Texas War of Independence which agreed and also provided some financial assistance.

They were very well equipped compared to most volunteer militia with a uniform, musket, ammunition provided and often mistaken for US regulars and attempted to conduct themselves as soldiers so were also better disciplined then most volunteers. 

Of the 122 Greys 22 of them fought and died at the Alamo with their flag being the one raised over the fort. and reportedly on display in a Mexican museum. Some claim it was the 1824 flag which of course could be a possibility, but the only flag that I know of in existence is the Greys flag. The Greys also took part in the Siege of Bexar, Goliad campaign, and San Jacinto.

The New Orleans Grey flag in Mexico City which was once a light blue has faded to cream white.

When painting the figures I wanted to have a campaign look while still looking like they were part of the same unit so I went with a darker blue grey as standard uniform and then added a couple different shades of grey into the mix to show different dyes and the effects weather can have in changing the base fabric color. I also added some tan and brown pants as replacements or civilian clothes in leu of unissued trousers. Anytime I can find an excuse to mix and match I tend to take advantage of that as I like variety in a unit.

The figures are from Boot Hill miniatures are so packed with character one can't help smiling as you paint them. Just fantastic sculpting and a real joy to paint I must say!  The colors I used were Foundry paints and a small selection of Vallejo. 

I plan on doing some more units for the project as I just need to make a few more and I could have a small game and I really just enjoy doing the figures.

That's 20 x 28mm figures for 100pts.

Thanks for viewing!

Miniature Company-Boot Hill Miniatures

Fine work on these figures Christopher.  This is a historical conflict that I know very little about, and I really enjoyed the unit history. 

You've really managed to make it a cohesive unit while having aviation in poses and colouration.  Also really fine base work on view here.

From ForestP: 15mm Alamo (yes, the whole thing) [Arrakis] (480 points)

So, after my last post I decided to dive headfirst into a Warp Maelstrom and humbly asked Millsy to give me a challenge. He sent me to Arrakis... the desert world, vast and deadly. In the immortal words of Frank Herbert, "You never talk of likelihoods on Arrakis, you only speak of possibilities." So, of course I needed to do something to match this sandy and lofty challenge, but what? 

"Remember the Alamo."

Oh yeah, I have one of those! Purchased nearly a year ago from Old Glory Miniatures and languishing on my "to do" shelf.

It's... a lot.

Why languishing you say? Well, the whole thing, when put together is 40" x 58" (see below). Even when piled up, and not laid out in it's proper configuration, it fills a 44" x 18" shelf. Most of the buildings and walls are 2.5" tall, but the largest piece, the Church is 3.75" tall. Doing some math the whole thing in component parts would fit in 22 6" cubes... 

In all it's glory.

I started out laying it out as you see above, just to see what I am getting myself into. Next I used a Dremel to grind out windows and doors/entrances that should be open, and made some minor repairs to cracked pieces.

This is going to be fun to paint.

You know, one good thing about the pandemic is that I now have plenty of disposable masks laying around that I can use when grinding resin. Nasty stuff, but oddly enough has a rather sweet, almost apple-like smell when grinding. How odd. Once I was satisfied with opening up the windows, doors, and other entrances that I wanted I gave everything a quick bath to clean up resin dust and mold release agents. No pictures here; too wet.

The next couple nights, and a few early mornings before work, I ended up priming ever piece in Krylon Colormaxx Paint+Primer Matte Sand Dollar (5600). I went through an entire can of primer, plus part of another before I was finished with the job. There are a few spots that only got a light coat, but I figure they will look just fine once I started with the dry-brushing.

The whole jobber primed up. What a beast!!!

Since I had much of Thursday devoted to, yet again, another online training where I primarily just had to listen, I decided to go ahead and start on the dry-brushing. I am using both George Nelson's "The Alamo: An Illustrated History", as well as my own photographs from visiting the Alamo multiple times during my many TDY's to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.

The first step was tackling the church interior, going from the lightest-to-darkest. The interior walls were slathered on with Folk Art Vintage White (4646), and the areas of rubble also got a light dry-brush coat of the same color. The wooden ramp was painted/dry-brushed with Apple Barrel Brown Oxide (20511), and more of the same color was lightly brushed onto the rubble to provide more depth and variety. The exterior brick was all dry-brushed with Folk Art Linen (879). The marble columns and sculpture at the front of the church were also brushed in the same Folk Art Vintage White as above. I finished up the rubble with a very light dry brush mix of 2:1 Folk Art Vintage White and Pure Black (2957CA/4656). The last bits were dry-brushing the wooden door with the Apple Barrel Brown Oxide, and highlighting over that with a bit of the Folk Art Linen mixed 1:1 with the Vintage White, painting the bricked over windows with Vintage White, and finally the sand bags with a 1:1 mix of Folk Art Linen and Vintage White (then hitting them with the lightest dry brush of 1:1 Folk Art Vintage White to make them pop).

That looks like it was properly weathered in the desert if I don't say so myself.

Great detail, even on the interior of the model.

This piece me a whole night to paint, it's so large.

Saturday was the main day for painting for me. After fortifying myself with coffee I decided to simply work around the Alamo and just knock out as much as I could. Wooden parts, like the artillery battery positions were dry-brushed with more Apple Barrel Brown Oxide, then given a light wash of Vallejo Sepia Shade (73.200) before being highlighted with a 2:1 mix of Brown Oxide and Folk Art Camel (953). Areas of exterior brick were still dry-brushed with Folk Art Linen, with plaster being painted with a 1:1 of Linen and Vintage White. Thatched roofs were brushed with Folk Art Camel, and given a Sepia Shade wash to give depth, and then a Linen highlight. Areas of rubble were dry-brushed with a mix of any of the aforementioned colors, or mixes thereof, to give depth and an interesting visual look to each.

Here are a few simpler pieces to give you an idea of detail.

Interior view of the kitchens. Man, these models really have great detail.

Main gate with the roof on.

The Trevino House.

And here is the entire thing in al its glory! Took me about a week and a couple days of working every night, plus all day on an entire weekend to knock it out. I think I'm done with terrain/scenics for a while...

View from the South.

View from the West.

View from the North. Note, the model comes with the northeast corner before it was breached.

View from the East.

The entire piece did come with two small scenic pieces in metal/wood, the well, and the rubble and flagpole. 

Well with 15mm figures to give a scale reference.

Same with the flagpole.

I love the fact that one of the details were the outside latrines!

Soldiers got to poop!

This is a great model. My only gripe is the some of the buildings don't quite like up like the should. If you see in the above overall images the long barracks don't quite line up all the way. It's fixable with how I've laid things out, but still annoying. Other than that, a great bit of kit.

In summation, my points estimation is as follows:

22 x 6" cubes @ 20 = 440 points

Arrakis (Middle Ring via Warp Maelstrom) = 30 points

From Millsy: Monster crafting bonus: 10 points

Total = 480 points

Until next time, folks. Where I'll be painting something... smaller. 

Forest

From Millsy:

I'm kind of lost for superlatives here to be honest Forest. When you told me what you were up to I knew it was going to be worth waiting for, but even then I wasn't prepared for what you've delivered. This is something else mate. This would have to be right up there with one of the largest terrain submissions we've ever had.

Never mind the size of the thing, the level of care and attention to detail you've thrown on top is wonderful. The stonework on the church, the weathering on the walls and thatch, even just the consistency of the finish across such a big piece is brilliant. It would be a privilege to game on a table graced by your Alamo and no mistake.

Cracking effort Forest. Worth absolutely every minute you invested. BOOM! 480 points!

From Mike W, 28mm Mexican Cavalry [Altar of the Snow Lord] (110 points)

I'm really pleased to get this post completed, after a challenge from Curt to get some of this Mexican cavalry completed - I had forgotten what a joy these Boot Hill Miniatures figures were to paint.

Completed Troop of Mexican Active Militia Cavalry 

And the same troop - Dismounted

And sitting in their boxes at the start of last week!

The challenge was to complete 6 mounted figures but as luck would have it I also had the corresponding dismounted figures for these guys in my metal pile, so I have done both to complete this challenge.

A Mounted and dismounted version of one of the troopers

In the home brew rule set that I use for fighting these games these six figures will represent a troop of cavalry, with an officer and bugler incorporated in the group. 

Another Mounted and Dismounted pair

If anyone knows much about the Texas War of Independence and the whole Alamo saga then they will be familiar with the classic Mexican Regular Cavalry Uniforms - red with green trim. I already have a couple of troops of these guys so I decided to paint these up as the less well known Active Militia Cavalry, which were distinguished from the Regulars by having reverse coloured uniforms - hence green jackets with red trim.

Third Trooper in the group

So at the risk of repeating myself for the umpteenth time I used a white undercoat on  the figures and then blocked in the main colours, I kept the mounted figures separate form the horses until nearly completed so that they were easier to paint.

Final Trooper pairing

I particularly like the trousers on these guys, grey overalls but lined with leather for hard wear when riding, when shaded they look particularly nice on these figures. The Boot Hill Miniatures figures have such well moulded detail that they were very easy to paint and add complete, I used a flesh wash on the skin areas and Citadel  'Nuln Oil' on the grey helmet crests to give a dark finish.

Hard to see on the photos but the red trouser stripes were done with a red Sharpie pen with an appropriately fine nib, they use an oil based 'ink' and so do not run when applying acrylic varnish over the top.

Mounted and Dismounted Bugler

The rest of the figure was washed with a watered down Army Painter Dark Tone before applying a matt varnish. The bases were given a chocolate brown emulsion / PVA glue mix covering to allow fine sand to adhere to. I then used a variety of dried grass tufts to add sparse vegetation to give a classic 'Hollywood' Texas feel.

Finally the Officer pair of figures

POINTS

6 x 28mm Mounted Figures @ 10 Pts ea = 60 Points

6 x 28mm Foot Figures @ 5 Pts ea           = 30 Points

TOTAL                                                        = 90 Points

Don't they look simply splendid. A fitting challenge to you by the Snowlord, which you have risen to superbly.

As for your total, you forgot the 20 bonus points which brings your total to 110 points.

Tamsin