From MilesR: Abd al Rahman - The Falcon of Andalus Piper's Peak (758 Points)

It's been awhile since I've posted anything (again) but with the wheels coming off the real world, I've been a bit busy.  Anyway, I was struggling to come up with something for Piper's Peak and remembered I had a 15mm figure of Abd al Rahman - the Falcon of Andulus.  The figure is from West Wind's War & Empire range.  I got it as one of the stretch goals from their War & Empire III kickstarter.

So how does this meet the requirement for Pipers Peak - Well Abd al Rahman scaled the heights of power in establishing the Caliphate in Iberia and he's got a bird and birds can fly high.  Kind of weak but it's all I got.

After looking at the figure, two things struck me (i) I'm not that good of a painter of 15mm figures for the "show quality" Piper's Peak deserves and (ii) he looks kind of lonely and thought I should paint up some friends.  So I did.

How about a complete 15 unit Arab Conquest army in 15mm painted and based in 72 hours while on innumerable conference calls.  All of the figures are from West Winds War and Empire line are are very nice.

Speed painting like this doesn't looks great up close but does look fine on the table top.

I've also mastered conducting board meetings while painting - a skill I really wish I didn't have to acquire but painting reduces my stress and business wise this is a pretty stressful time.  The key is rigging a foot controlled mute on/off switch and mounting my trusty iPad Pro at eye level on my painting desk.  It's worked surprisingly well.

The only draw back is I can't use my terrain bench so the base work is pretty simple - he these guys are from the desert any so sand, sand and more sand.

I really like the ancients line from West Wind and have painted up Imperial Roman and Sassanid Persian armies in previous Challenges.  There is also an Early Byzantine army waiting to be painted but I just will not get to that this Challenge.  I'm hoping to stage the battle of Yarmuk at the club.

Both the Byzantines and Arabs came from West Wind's third Kickstarter for the line and I was very pleased with both the pricing and delivery timeframe.  If West Wind does another Kickstarter, I'll definitely participate and recommend you do so to.

These may even show up in a future LittleWars TV episode....

Lets see - so what is the pointage?  Well

Abd al Rahman 4pts
Pipers Peak  30pts

Arab Army
Infantry 202 figures = 404 pts
Mounted 80 figures = 320 pts

Grand Total: 758 pts

Well that gets me in spitting distance of my target of 3000 points!



(slightly smaller) Kaboom! And Miles drops a points bomb right after Grahame's! I do feel some concern that the roster might not be able to take it, but as Miles built it, he's only got himself to blame if it crumbles to dust.

That's a very impressive army - I'll look forward to seeing them appear on Little Wars TV.

TamsinP

From MikeF - Imperial Militia Force Commander (5 Points)

I'm a bit late to the party as this is my first submission. The challenge started when I was midway through a project and I couldn't set it aside. For the Challenge, I've decided to work on an old project that lost steam during the summer. 

I posted several units for the Inferalti Hussars during painting Challenge 9. They represent an Imperial Army regiment during the Horus Heresy and were defending the outer reaches of the solar system. 

My first unit for this edition of the Challenge is the Force Commander wearing power armor. I wanted something that looked like power armor, but was clearly less sophisticated than space marine armor. I managed to find an old model from West Wind Productions that represented British weird war boiler suit armor. I went with the gold color scheme because I figured any human commanders posted in the Sol system would probably think highly of themselves, while at the same time be suffering from an inferiority complex due to being surrounded by Imperial Fists, Custodes, Primarchs, Mechanicum and an assortment of Solar Auxilia units who are also all trying to impress the hell out of each other.

I guess he's in charge!

He looks ready for action, but he's pretty squishy inside that armor.

Next up will be the prize for Challenge Island. 

***

MikeF is a Challenge Participant of few words but tremendous painting skills. I do recall the appearance of the Inferalti Hussars during the last edition of the Painting Challenge, and it is great to see not only that the project moves forward, but that you are continuing to find some very cool and fun alternate figures from non-GW sources and fitting them into the 30k period. 

I think you describe the setting among the assorted senior commanders in the Sol System well.  Yes, Horus is coming, and we should get ready etc. etc. but, do I look sharp? Is there more gold I could put somewhere on my armour? Those Space Marines will like me at some point, I'm sure of it...

Great stuff Mike! Five points on the pile, looking forward to more. 

GregB

From RussG - Painting desk flotsam and jetsam. (35 points)

This weekend has seen one big miniature completion already, but I did squeeze in some poor figures that have been floating around the desk for ever.

Here we have 2 ladders and 2 battering rams I have had since Warhammer 3rd edition.

The Viking is for scale purpose.

They were fixed to the bases this way so they could be placed inside a unit so as to appear as if they were being carried. The ladders also conveniently will appear as if leaning against a wall.

They came with a covered battering ram in the box set, this may appear later in the challenge.

Next up we have a dark age warrior from West Wind, 3 villagers from Midlam, and another plastic gripping beast Viking (I will finish all of them one day, I promise).

The west wind model is very nice but they are always on the big side for 28mm.

The villagers from Midlam are nice enough. I did notice that both the gents have what appears to be a beard on one half of their face only, I thought it was meant to be a pony tail on the figure with the hat, but pitchfork man has it too. As they are from a fantasy range it may be from a specific background story or something, if you know what, please enlighten me.

Thank you for looking.

 A very nice bunch of figures Russel! The siege equipment looks very well painted, but I really would like to see a picture with some figures to show us how they look in working order. I agree the West Wind figure looks far better than the Midlam figures, but the paintjob is great on all of them. 
The figures will be worth 25 points and I am going to set the siege equipment at 10 points. The total will thus be 35 points for this particular entry but you will be back later today for more!

Form ClintB - 28mm Biker (10 Points)

Here is a 28mm West wind Biker. I do have a stock of these to complete sooner or later so expect regular visitors to my blog to get mighty bored over the coming year. Having painted the WW1 motor bikes I have decided that I do not like painting motor bikes!

Anyway I do need to get some bikers done for upcoming zombie games so I though I would bash this one out in my spare moments before the Challenge ends.

Nice one Clint! I love his hair and tats. The green flames on the bike is an ace touch. Classy. :)

From JohnM - Holmes and Watson and an Imam! (15 Points)

These are the last of figures, I had prepped for last years Challenge. First up we have Holmes and Watson. The Holmes figure is pretty traditional but the Watson figure has a lot of strange equipment. Something to do with the Empire of the Dead ruleset, I presume, as the the figures are from Westwind.

Next up we have an Imam from Gripping Beast, I must of bought this for my SAGA Musselman warband. I like SAGA, but it has been difficult to get off the ground here in Boston. If I remember correctly my friend Nico in Montreal put together a Frankish warband, but we have had little opportunity to get together over the last year.

Well that clears the table for what I have prepared for this year's challenge. This includes some 18mm AB Napoleonics, 20mm Japanese and USMC forces for Chain of Command, a somewhat unusual warband for SAGA (can anyone guess) and maybe some Frostgrave figures (not really sure about the game yet, but I like the figures).

Nice looking 'dregs' John! As you say, Holmes looks great but Watson seems a bit bogged-down with a bewildering assortment of accouterments. I guess being Holmes' 'caddy' comes with the job.

I've always liked the elegant simplicity of that Imam figure and you've done a nice job on him.

These three figures will give you 15 points. Good work, now you can get out of the blocks with your new stuff!

From JohnM - The Inscrutable Tong & Minions (45 Points)

For my first submission to this year's Painting Challenge I decided to go with the leftovers from last year's Challenge. I had 12 figures primed that I never got around to painting. These are the first nine. They are of course from West Wind Productions Empire of the Dead line and are their Chinese Tong boxset with the Inscrutable Tong.

What is somewhat strange to me is that even though I clearly devote a couple of hours a day to wargaming, these are the first 28mm figures I have painted since last year's Challenge! It is amazing to me that my hobby time has so shifted from painting to wargaming and terrain planning. I do like painting but enjoy wargaming much more so it is all good.

 

 

The figures are very nice, but my painting is a little rough but at 12" they look OK. This set joins the Nemesis Criminals and the London Bobbies sets I have already painted from this line. I am not sure if I will ever get to play Empire of The Dead. There are at least a couple of people in my club who seem to regularly play In Her Majesty's Name which is quite similar.

Ah, it's good to have another one of the Challenge's Grognards back in the stirrups - welcome back John and welcome back to painting figures!

These figures have such great character and would be fabulous for many Pulp scenarios and, really, who can resist a character named 'The Inscrutable Tong'? Now you need a Chinese Junk or perhaps a Warlord's armoured train for them to inhabit.

The Inscrutable Tong and his Gang will give John 45 points. Well done!

From AlanD - More Sub-Post-Roman, Late-Antique-Arthurian-Romano-Britons (84 Points)

Real life is rubbish. It took me two weeks to get these chaps painted. Still, here they are. Another unit of Romano-Britons based for Impetus and Dux Bellorum. Fourteen figures should give me a base of 70 points. 

Figures are a mix of Westwind, Artizan, Crusader (I think?) and Gripping Beast. Hand painted shields, natch. Using shield decals is exactly the kind of thing that brought about the collapse of Roman authority in Britain in the first place. I'm usually a big fan of Westwind Arthurians, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the 'Spearmen at Rest' pack.

The next unit I do is going to be more active. But first! Curtgeld.... 

From ClintB - 28mm WW2 25lbers (70 Points)

These have been languishing at the bottom of the lead mountain for about 10 years. For some figures 10 years or more waiting in the paint queue is not all that long. (I do have older figures waiting). As one of my aims for this years challenge was to get some old things finished off, which may be why you have seen me unable to stick to a single project.

Due to the time delay I was only able to find 1 Limber so they are going to be short of ammunition for a while. And also I have long since given up trying to do 28mm WW2 so with regret this depleted battery is eBay bound.

These are West Wind Productions from the Berlin or Bust range and are still available should anyone want to get some. I had lost a couple of pieces other than the limber like the to parts that attach the base plate to the carriage but some small self tapping screws a hack saw and a file managed to fix that problem and unless you look closely you can hardly tell. I know suspect you are trying to look closely you cheeky moo you! So I am cunningly not taking any obvious pictures of my make do and mend!

So to sum up.

• 8 crew in WW2 British army uniforms with Royal Artillery badges.
• 2 25lbers artillery pieces
• 1 Limber (Cassion) Yes there should be two but I lost 1! (So only 1 painted)

From AlanD - Post-Romano-Sub-Arthurian-British Infantry (168 Points)

It has been quite a while since I painted any multi-figure bases, and I already have a number of sub-Roman British figures painted up that are individually based. However, I've been wanting to put together some larger armies for Impetus and Dux Bellorum, and wanted some bases that looked a bit more realistically packed with spearmen than is possible with movement trays.

School started back this week, but I wanted to make a last push to reach my 1500 point total before work inevitably cuts too deeply into hobby time. The figures are a real grab bag of whatever spearmen at rest I could find in the lead pile, so I think there are Westwind, a couple of Black Tree Design, Musketeer and Crusader figures. I painted most of them to look somewhat Romanised, and a few with decorated tunics and Late Roman helmets that they no doubt bought from an army surplus shop in Silchester before heading off to fight the Saxons. Shields are hand painted, natch.

28 figures gives me 140 points. Along with the 65 points that my entry to the Myth Bonus Round will get me, this means I've reached my 1500 point total, and also smashed my total for the whole of last year's challenge (1349 points). I'm feeling pretty happy as a result. I leave it up to Curt to judge whether I should now claim victory in my side bet with Tamsin :).

From Curt:

Beautiful work Alan! I love these closely-packed units as they really give the sense of how these formations must have looked.  As usual, your shields are gorgeously painted and give the whole unit a wonderful, bespoke quality about it. 

This past weekend Tamsin, Alan and I discussed their 1500 point duel, as their relative scores were so close, and Tamsin has graciously conceded the contest. Congratulations go to Alan for the win, but also to Tamsin for keeping us all (especially Alan) at the edge of our seats with her flurry of entries. It was a wonderful match to see played out. I tip my hat to you both - thank you!

From SanderS - Fireman Sam (32 points)

Dear Ladies and Gents,

As a part of my ever expanding Victoriana Project, my latest contribution is a Victorian Fire Engine. This nice little piece is a West Wind Productions model for their Empire of the Death line. Upon researching the colours of this vehicle, I stumbled upon the museum of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in London. They actually have some of these and this model is very close to the original. It's a horse driven vehicle, as you can plainly see, but it has a steam-powered pump.

My 3 year old son is totally hooked on Fireman Sam and all things connected to firemen, so the driver was named Sam pretty quick. He's also made me promise him, to visit said museum the next time we visit London.

I would like some more firemen to fill out the engine's benches but that's for the future, now I'm off painting some more regular troops.

Cheers Sander

From KevinS - 28mm US 3" Anti-Tank Gun (30 Points)

Here's another submission this week: a US 3" anti-tank gun and crew of four by West Wind. 

While not as detailed as those of some other manufacturers, I still like West Wind's "Berlin or Bust" range. The gun is nicely cast, and the crew show some uncommon poses. I particularly liked their obvious desire to make as much as they can out of the meager cover offered by their gun. 

Once I get a little more painting done, we'll see how these guys stand up against advancing Panzers. Pretty much everything was painted with Vallejo Colors, with the exception of the skin tones which are Foundry. I used Games Workshop flesh tone wash to give depth to the American uniforms, before highlighting with original colors.