From Curt: 'Ned & Norri' - The Giant & The Faerie (25 Points)

Hi All!

Today I have another set of figures from the talented folks over at Westfalia Miniatures. 

Here is a foraging giant ('Ned') and his faerie friend ('Norri'). I imagine Norri being very annoyed with Ned for messing with the poor cow, and so is giving him a bit of the cold shoulder. 

I loved this model from the first time I saw it online and had to get one (Listed as the 'Fey Giant' sculpted by Boris Woloszyn). I'm glad I did as it seems to have gone OOP on the Westfalia website, but perhaps I'm just not looking in the right spot. It's a bit of complex kit and so had been languishing in the Pile of Possibilities for a few years. I uncovered it again this summer and resolved to get it done during this Challenge.

Most of this was airbrush work, with some of the details brought out with a brush. I'm quite happy with how his skin tone turned out, as I wanted something akin to the greyish trolls in the LotR movies. I had a bit of fun experimenting with spot-shading using contrasting colours. Anyway, I'm happy to have them done up and in the cabinet.

Not sure on the points for these two. The giant is around 115mm tall so in mass sort of equivalent to a 28mm scale vehicle. I will happily abide to whatever our terrific Thursday Minion decides.

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

TeemuL: That's an excellent giant and quite big, too. You have managed to catch the feel of the three trolls from Hobbit, but bring some colour, too, here and there. Lots of bare skin on the giant, but there seems to be enough wrinkles to keep it interesting. Norri looks nice and well, shows quite a lot skin, too. Let's say the giant is a vehicle and the faerie is the crew, so 25 points to you.

From Curt: Five Denizens from Mork Borg (33 points)

Hi There,

Kawe from Westfalia Miniatures has been a Challenge supporter from pretty much the beginning, in fact he was a participant himself, creating some terrific work for visitors to enjoy. As many know, Westfalia began focusing exclusively on Napoleonics, then moved on to pulp subjects, and now concentrates primarily on dark fantasy and sci-fi.

I always try to jump in to support each of Westfalia's Kickstarters and these five figures are from one of their earlier releases. They're lovely boutique minis sculpted by Boris Woloszyn and themed around the wonderfully strange and creepy world of Mork Borg. For a few years I've been GMing some out-of-town friends using Mork Borg and the Roll20 app. We've been having a lot of fun with it as the system is very rules-lite, encouraging on-your-toes creativity, which often makes for some very funny (and bloody) game sessions.

Anyway, here are five denizens from the grim world of Mork Borg:

The Gutterborn Scum

'C'mon my pretties! There's work to be done...'

The Heretical Priest

This fella looks like he's been huffin' a bit too much from the 'mystical censer'.

'Skelly Jo'

'What? The horns are too much, eh?'

Wrat

'Come now, let's all sing the chorus together...'

Wretched Royalty

'The world may be descending into rack and ruin but I'm still on the top of the heap.'

As to points, four of these five are over 40mm so I'll claim 7 points for each of those, giving me a total of 33 points.

I'll use the 'Wretched Royalty' to move from Gluttony to The Ninth Circle: 'Treachery'.

I'll also claim a Squirrel Point for this crew of degenerates.

Aaaand 5 skulls for Barks.

Thanks for dropping by!

- Curt

From Millsy:

Yikes! These are weird and creepy enough to keep John Blanche awake at night!

They're all spectacular mate but if I had to pick a favourite it would be the Wretched Royalty. I love the saturated blue/greens paired with the muted palette on the rest of the miniature and the face is just packed with character too.

33 Challenge points for your total! Keep em coming...

Cheers,
Millsy

From Curt: 'A long time ago in a fantasy far, far away...' (Corsucant and Sarah's Yacht to finish in Cybertron) (126 Points)

Hi All,

I've landed on Corsucant and thought that I'd try for something close to home for the planet's theme of 'Imperial / Good vs Evil'.

I've been a big Star Wars nerd ever since seeing the first movie as a kid in '77.  So when I discovered that my friend Kawe over at Westfalia Miniatures/One Gold Piece had done a brilliant range of fantasy not-Star Wars minis I knew I had to give them a go.

First up are our doughty heroes. These seven adventurers will be very recognizable as: The Apprentice, The Princess, The Old Master, The Smuggler, The Bugbear, The Butler Construct and the Trashcan Construct. 

Then we have our iconic arch villains, with The Liche Lord and his Honour Guard, and the terrifying Death Knight.

I actually had a print fail on the Death Knight where his sword didn't properly resolve. So I replaced it with some plasticard, doing a sort of anime thing with the shape of the blade. It's a bit of a bodge but I actually don't mind it.

The other fun thing about these being 3d prints is that it allowed me to scale up the Death Knight to be a little more imposing.  David Prowse would be pleased.

As to points, most of these models are 28mm, but The Death Knight, Bugbear and Liche Lorde are well over 40mm, so let's say 66 base points. The Corsucant location will give me another 20, and I'm going to be a clever lad and use The Princess for Sarah's Star Yacht to drop me into Cybertron, where I can use the two constructs for the Robot theme. So all this will give me a total of 60 bonus points for a grand total of 126. 

This will also give me another Squirrel point (my 6th)

There are 5 skulls tucked away in there with the baddies.

I will fill in 'N' for 'Not Star Wars' for my Alphabet Soup challenge.

Thanks for dropping in for a look! 

- Curt

From Millsy:

Oh my. How cool are these Curt?!?! This may well be the thing that finally flips my Star Wars switch from 'meh' to 'yeah'! Maybe. :-P

The deep rich red of the Honor Guard has a distinct Inquisition vibe about it and these feel far more scary than the movie version henchgoons. I can see myself using these as cultist/harem guards or something of that nature. The Death Knight's sword is an amazing piece of brushwork too and I would love to know how you achieved that effect on the edge. I absolutely love all of these.

I naturally gravitate to the bad guys in almost all sci-fi and these are no different but there are definitely elements of the good guys that resonate for me. The subtle Disney Beauty and the Beast homage is just brilliant (or is that just me?) and The Butler Construct is particularly good. I love that you've kept one leg a different colour too.

Well done working the Challenge Quadrant to get yourself a tidy bonus on top of the minis themselves mate. 126 points it is!

From: MartinC - Sorry Sander but you will need your Maths Head on (460pts)

I am now off strike - parties are talking, the management, not my University who have been honourable but others, tried to be hard assed and got called out for it. Like most public service bodies, education, health etc. the organisation runs on staff goodwill  to go above and beyond their contracted duties and their desire to meet the demands of the users. Mess with this and the whole thing falls apart very quickly. Both sides are talking, all that you can ever ask.
So 3 days on strike this week,and yes I did some work from home whilst on strike (see above)  but I did do  a lot of painting. So Sander you will need to check the maths.

This is my 1st ever Napoleonic unit, in any scale. We have been thinking about the Peninsular War and these are the 12th Portuguese Line Infantry. Warlord Plastics and nice to paint. Flags come with the kit

Every army needs baggage and this mule train is from Westfalia, I picked it up as part of my Challenge prize a couple of years ago

I found these in the wrong box, couple of Trojan types and a Cretan archer (I've been looking for him for ages) Northstar and Warlord

These are the fur clad female warriors form the Hasslefree kickstarter. Great to paint and will form a nice force for Blood Eagle or frostgrave

Couple  of the women are more suited to hot climes and the white hunter is from the Northstar DITDC safari set.

Last week I posted the WW2 British Para company from Plastic Soldier company. So this week are the support forces

Pioneer platoon and command stand - spares from the infantry box

3 PIAT sections. These are adapted by replacing the rifle with the head of a nail. Rough and ready but OK from far away

6lb AT guns and command

3" mortars plus command and observer

4.2" mortars plus command and observer. Not in the Flames of War lists but rules are meant to be bent

Vickers MGs plus command

I have now finished my Para forces except for a couple of 17lb AT guns and a handful of  jeeps and transports. Off to the Albanich show next week to play a Barbarosa demo game. It's a tiny show but always fun. Will pick up some gliders from Warbases - not very good models and more like markers but only £2.50 each compared to £30 for an actual model. In reality the gliders will only work as markers

And now for the maths

42x28mm infantry and pack mules = 210pts

Paras = 16 crew served guns plus 1 platoon plus etc

           = 64 pts for guns

           = 186 for infantry

           = 250pts

Total = 460pts

Knackered now

Martin, who spilled the beans and told you how much I HATE doing math? Was it Miles? Ray? Anyway, after a literally mind boggling math-marathon, getting the 15mm  figures right was a special pain, my conclusion just has to be that you got it right in one go. On to the entry itself, that's mind boggling as well. I wish my unpainted lead pile includes so many beautiful figures as yours because there's something for everyone here. While I guess the Portuguese are not the logical starting point into Napoleonics you sure nailed the Fighting Cocks of Wellington's army with these, a stunning unit for sure! The Trojan figures really look tough too, great sculpts, oh and those ladies are not to be forgotten either, great painting on them there Martin. 460 points will be added tonight mate.

 

From AlanD - Artillery for the Retreat from Moscow

This gun is a wonderful little kit, that comes with wheels with and without skis, as well as a limber and other bits and bobs of equipment (which will be painted in due course). I think it was made by Westfalia Miniatures, but now that they are focusing on fantasy figures it seems to have vanished from their website. Maybe somebody could tell us who makes it now?

With this, I have probably finished my Grande Armee force for Sharp Practice, in so far as any project is ever finished. If the Perrys add more to their retreat range I will be snapping them up like a starved crocodile.

_________________________________________

Oh, this is very nice work Dux! I have a few of these sets from Kawe over at Westfalia, but now, after seeing yours here, I definitely need to move them up the 'to-paint' roster. I really like that they include the sledge/skis in the kit.

You've really done a great job on the snow over this project, Alan. With these fellows you get the impression that its falling at this very moment, as there is accumulation on the gun's wheels, barrel and on the the men's shoulders. Nonetheless, I suspect it will soon melt as they go into action and the gun heats up!

It was wonderful seeing this project come to fruition BUT don't you need some winter Russians as opponents now?

From AlanD - Women from the Retreat from Moscow (35 points)

In a shameless bid for the coveted Sarah's Choice, I present some women from Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow in 1812.

The experience of women in Napoleon's invasion of Russia is very difficult to reconstruct, given the nature of our sources. Certainly hundreds of women at least accompanied the Grande Armée, ranging from officers' wives to cooks and providers of other services to the troops. They suffered terribly along with the men during the Retreat, and none more so than the unfortunate young mothers trying to protect their children, some of whom were born during the campaign. Memoirs written by (male) survivors of the retreat, such as that by General de Segur, often include poignant episodes of the suffering of women and children, and the efforts made to protect them. 

Kudos to the Perry twins for not shying away from this aspect of the Retreat, but including a number of women in their figure range for 1812. They range from women acting as combatants, to those trudging wearily through the snow, as well as a young mother sitting in despair. 

I have also included a vivandiere, from Westfalia Miniatures. She isn't really dressed for the Russian winter, but is too nice a figure to go unpainted.

Assuming the vignette of the cuirassier and his (perhaps) wife count as two figures, these should add 35 points to my total.

____________________________________

Ahh, you've beat me to the punch on these Alan. I had a few of these models racked-up and ready to go, but as you've done such a marvelous job I think I'll quietly tuck them aside for another day. 

What a poignant and themed entry. We've chatted in the past about the Perry's Retreat figures, and I think we both agree that they are probably the most evocative range of miniatures that the brothers have produced. The abject misery and suffering is so readily apparent in both their facial expressions and their postures. One looks at these castings and can almost feel the freezing wind and muscles ache at each laborious step taken through the snow and ice. 

Your snow basework looks excellent and I like that you've added frost to the cuffs and hems of their clothing along with their faces and scarves. The entire set gives a snapshot of many of the emotions these women must have felt during the retreat from Russia, from terror to bitter resolve, misery to grim companionship. Really good work here.

35 well-earned points for you, sir.